Talk:Daniel Patrick Moynihan

Sourcing "...his own opinion, but not his own facts"

For those wanting to find a source for the quotation "Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not his own facts," a search of the New York Times for 1994-95 found no source. The Times did, however, refer to a debate between Moynihan and his Republican challenger, Bernadette Castro, which was broadcast on WNBC-TV at noon on 30 October 1994. This may be the debate to which Ellen Hume refers. --Steve McCluskey 14:59, 19 March 2009 (UTC)

Update from February 10, 2020.

We were trying to track down this quote ourselves. We found as close to a primary source as we could via Nexis. This is an Associated Press story by Larry McShane, as published in the Buffalo News on October 29, 1994. Note that the debate aired on WNBC on October 30th, but it was taped on Friday, October 28, 1994 in Manhattan. It didn't specify the venue. It ran on Page 4 of the News section: [1]

MOYNIHAN, CASTRO MAKE SENATOR'S RECORD THE ISSUE DEBATE OFFERS CONTRASTING VIEWS OF INCUMBENCY

Buffalo News (New York)

October 29, 1994, Saturday, Final Edition

Section: NEWS; Pg. 4

Byline: By LARRY McSHANE, Associated Press

Dateline: NEW YORK

But Moynihan showed a sharp tongue of his own. At one point in a discussion of Moynihan's role in raising taxes on Social Security benefits, the senator informed Ms. Castro:

"Everybody's entitled to their own opinions, not their own facts."

Unsourced

If we get into the mind-set where the good becomes the enemy of the best, we will get nothing.
- July 23, 198

There are some mistakes only someone with a Ph.D. can make.
- As quoted by Francis Fukuyama

If the news papers of a country are filled with good news, the jails of that country will be filled with good people.

The amount of violations of human rights in a country is always an inverse function of the amount of complaints about human rights violations heard from there. The greater the number of complaints being aired, the better protected are human rights in that country.

Addition? At one time I think I sourced this to a speech but I am not able to source it now

Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan, D-N.Y.: “The point to be driven home is that if your constitutional rights are to remain secure, `You have to be careful to protect the rights of people you despise.’”