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Melissa Lafsky Writer for publications including The New York Times, The New York Post, Salon, Wired, Page Six Magazine, and Radar. She spent a year as a contributor and then associate editor at The Huffington Post, where she wrote reported pieces, editorials, and media commentary.

Quote ""We don't know how much [Ted] Kennedy was affected by her [Mary Jo Kopechne's] death, or what she'd have thought about arguably being a catalyst for the most successful Senate career in history. [. . .] [One wonders what] Mary Jo Kopechne would have had to say about Ted's death, and what she'd have thought of the life and career that are being (rightfully) heralded. Who knows -- maybe she'd feel it was worth it."

Writing in the Huffington Post, August 27, 2009. Source: "Long Live Camelot Award for Lionizing Ted Kennedy -- Quote of the Year," Watchdog, February 2010, page 5. Posted here: June 7, 2010. Quotes Homepage. Website Homepage.

Comment: Sometimes boundless partisanship elicits utter silliness. I think we have an example here. Ms. Lafsky would have us believe Kopechne's influence on Kennedy's life [probably miniscule to insignificant] was sufficient to justify her dying a disparate and agonizing death by drowning. Such silliness borders on absolute looniness!

Michael Lemonik Senior staff writer at Climate Central and former senior science writer at Time magazine. He has written for Discover magazine, Scientific American, and other publications, as well as several books on science and astrophysics.

Quote "[S]hould we tell the whole truth about climate change? [. . .] [W]here’s the right balance between telling the whole truth and being truthful in an effective way?"

In an early-2001 remark to journalists at Climate Central. Source: Should We Tell the Whole Truth about Climate Change? by Judith Curry. Also. Posted here: March 26, 2012. Quotes Homepage. Website Homepage.

Comment: Mr. Lemonik's remark is not unlike Al Gore's: "I believe it is appropriate to have an over-representation of factual presentations." Or Stephen Schneider's statement: "Each of us has to decide what the right balance is between being effective and being honest." That is to say, falsification in the name of achieving a desired outcome is perfectly acceptable.

Bertha Lewis Chief Executive Officer and Chief Organizer of ACORN (2008-2010), which used to be a non-profit social justice organization with national headquarters in New York, New Orleans and Washington, D.C. until the organization disbanded in 2010. Ms. Lewis was a founding co-chair of the Working Families Party.

Quote "The Tea Party movement, a grassroots reaction against Big Government, is a bowel movement in my estimation."

In remarks before the Young Democratic Socialists, in April 2010. Source: "Bringing Down the System," by Matthew Vadum, Whistleblower magazine, May 2011, page 21. Address: PO Box 2450, Fair Oaks, California 95628. Phone: 916-852-6300. Fax: 916-852-6302. Website. Posted here: August 29, 2011. Quotes Homepage. Website Homepage.

Comment: The Source states that Ms. Lewis openly embraced socialism. "First of all," she said, "let me just say any group that says,'I'm young, I'm democratic, and I'm a socialist,' is all right with me." In her YDS speech, she told the audience, "Immigration, immigration, and immigration. And the reason that this is so important is, you know, here's the secret. (Whispering.) We're getting ready to be a majority-minority country. Shhhh. We'll be like South Africa. More black people than white people. Don't tell anybody."

Adam Liptak A lawyer and writer for The New York Times. He joined the news staff in 2002 and began covering the Supreme Court in 2008. He has written a column, "Sidebar," on developments in the law, since 2007.

Quote "[The U.S.] Constitution has seen better days [and] its influence is waning [partly because] it guarantees relatively few rights. [. . .] [T]he Constitution is out of step with the rest of the world in failing to protect [. . .] a right to travel, the presumption of innocence and entitlement to food, education, and health care."

Written in a New York Times front-page article February 7, 2012. Source: "'Old' Constitution," The Watchdog, March 2012, page 5. Posted here: April 9, 2012. Quotes Homepage. Website Homepage.

Comment: Yes, yes, the Constitution is clearly out of step with something. Oh, I know, Marxism. Really, Mr. Liptak, "entitlement to food, education, and health care"? Hey, you forgot a 60-inch flat-screen TV, BMW, and vacation in Hawaii. And why not a guaranteed annual income of 100K while you're at it? You mentioned a right to travel. I guess all the travel restrictions in the Constitution are a real problem. No, wait. There aren't any travel restrictions in the Constitution. Mr. Liptak, what are you talking about? The New York Times has described the Constitution as "terse and old." Further, "The rights guaranteed by the American Constitution are parsimonious by international standards, and they are frozen in amber." "Parsimonious"? Let me draw your attention to the Tenth Amendment: "The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people." That doesn't sound very parsimonious to me. "Frozen in amber"? I guess the Times prefers something loose and fluid, so it can be tweaked frequently as liberals change their minds about things. The Times apparently doesn't like writings that are "terse and old" and "frozen in amber." Writings like, I suppose, the Ten Commandments.