Jim Edmunson Quotes
If a state can't be first, it better be big.
Commenting on the fact that candidates for presidential primaries would campaign in New Hampshire which was the first primary and then in the large states only:
Jim Edmunson, Democratic Party Chairman of Oregon, Quoted in New York Times, August 15, 1999
Sourced by: Eigen's Political and Historical Quotations
By not always using its size and power in all international issues, the United States retains much admiration of people in other nations as often operating by humanistic and democratic principles, we also retain enough influence that we can influence many events and issues where very often, in a unipolar world, other countries would tend to stick together to thwart the one superpower and the US would have to use force more and more to get cooperation and often not be able to. However, although the US certainly acts in its vested interests, it restrains itself sufficiently to also be able to exercise soft power.
Shahin’s empire which he conquered for Khosrow II comprised all of the Middle East into parts of India. The Byzantine Roman Empire controlled everything from Constantinople to the West. They were the two “superpowers” of the day. It seemed to Shahin that no empire could ever be greater, but that is the common hubris of siperpowers.
He was referring to Russian elections. The reasons that elections in Russia are not necessary for legitimizing state power to be used by the current government, is that from the early days of the Russian Czars, the tradition and culture assumed that if there is a threat to "Mother Russia", everyone and everything in the state is at the disposal of the government, no matter who is in power. It is so strongly embedded in the culture that although many Russians want fee elections and the right to choose their leaders, they have no question that the government alway has the right and duty to marshall amm the human and physical resources to protect the state, See Quotation 644072 for more on this imporatnt concept in Russia.
