Michael Hastings Quotes

What the fuck? Didn't you tell him you had a boyfriend?" "I did. He asked if I loved you." "Who is this guy? What's he do?" "He's an accountant in Boston." "An accountant? Jesus Christ, didn't you tell him you're dating a fucking war correspondent? ~ Michael Hastings

General McChrystal wanted to be on the cover of 'Rolling Stone.' ~ Michael Hastings

Whenever you're reporting, there's always something you can't say or write, but the questions, you always want to get as close to that line as possible. You want to ask the tough questions. ~ Michael Hastings

The night before I began my career as a presidential campaign reporter, in September 2007, I finished Theodore White's 'The Making of the President,' the classic account of the 1960 race, which opened up a new era of campaign reporting. ~ Michael Hastings

I went into journalism to do journalism, not advertising. ~ Michael Hastings

Andrew Warren was a rarity in the CIA's Clandestine Service - African-American, fluent in Arabic, and relatively young for an agent who'd already spent nearly a decade chasing terrorists in Afghanistan, Egypt, Iraq and Algeria, so deep undercover that few of his friends or family knew the nature of his work. ~ Michael Hastings

General David Petraeus was so successful at getting on covers of magazines, having journalists fall in love with him, that in fact he was able to use that power to go around the normal chain of command. ~ Michael Hastings

It's never a good thing to see a government agency talk in secret about the need to 'control protestors' - especially when that agency is charged with protecting the homeland against terrorists, not nonviolent demonstrators exercising their First Amendment rights to peaceable dissent. ~ Michael Hastings

A new software is being developed so the psychological operations guys and the Pentagon's strategic communications guys - and we don't really know who's running it - but this is all totally out in the open. It's this new program that will allow them to have like ten fake Twitter accounts and ten Facebook accounts so you can pretend. ~ Michael Hastings

In late 2009, I returned to Baghdad after a lengthy absence. I was living alone, in the Hamra Hotel, the twice bombed-out de facto international news bureau. ~ Michael Hastings

For me, when I go in to write a profile, and no ground rules are laid down, and I'm there to write an on-the-record profile and cover readings while in the room, then that means it's on the record. ~ Michael Hastings

The minute you start arming people in these conflict zones, things don't go as expected. We also need to look at precedent before making these decisions. Instead of listening to Muammar Qaddafi's rhetoric, we should look at how he's behaved. The fact is he's been making concessions recently. He gave up his nuclear weapons. He allowed hundreds of Americans to evacuate Tripoli. Did he crack down on his people who revolted? Yes, but that's not so unusual. ~ Michael Hastings

As for the like of Hillary Clinton, I - you know, I've covered Secretary of State Clinton before. I covered her during her campaign. And she's a very likable and charismatic person once you get the chance to spend any time close to her. ~ Michael Hastings

When journalists are 'accused' of being 'advocates', that means: challenging and deviating from DC orthodoxies. ~ Glenn Greenwald

Obama's drone program, in fact, amounts to the largest unmanned aerial offensive ever conducted in military history: never have so few killed so many by remote control. ~ Michael Hastings

The way the Pentagon and its defenders have pushed back against this story is to say: "They weren't doing psychological operations, they were doing information operations and public affairs. They were just helping us spin senators like we normally do." ~ Michael Hastings

I want to be the greatest investigative reporter of my generation. ~ Michael Hastings

Gore Vidal, Glenn Greenwald, Noam Chomsky, all these guys talk about how the United States became a national security state after World War II. I agree with that thesis. Essentially there's this bipartisan foreign policy elite who've been calling the shots for the last few decades and they're clearly still in control regardless of how clownish or absurd or stupid they demonstrate themselves to be. There's no shaking their orthodoxy. ~ Michael Hastings

The humanitarian argument is so selective I find it difficult to swallow. It's not even so much about the choice as to where we should get involved and where we shouldn't. ~ Michael Hastings

Obama's people will all often complain about how trivial and silly the media is, but there's no president who's probably benefited from this sort of trivialness or superficial nature as President Obama. ~ Michael Hastings

I think when war becomes your life, I think it's very difficult to have the proper perspective to be able to create a fully balanced policy. ~ Michael Hastings

I write for fun. I had written a kind of media satire, but I doubt it will see the light of day. It was just a personal project. ~ Michael Hastings

If someone tells you something is off the record, I don't print it. If they don't tell me something is off the record, then it's fair game. ~ Michael Hastings

If the thumbnail version of the Iraq war was that Bush lied about WMD, the thumbnail version of Obama's war in Afghanistan is that the generals pushed him into a war he didn't want to fight. ~ Michael Hastings

When writing for a mass audience, put a fact in every sentence. ~ Michael Hastings

The guys on the ground are the guys I care about. I've had the most satisfaction telling their stories. But when you're in combat with somebody, yes, a bond does grow. ~ Michael Hastings

Her name has been released to the press. Her photograph is released, too. I want to talk to the press about it. I don't want Andi to be a one-day story. I don't want her to be just a headline on the wires. ~ Michael Hastings

The fact is, psychiatric help is not widely available to CIA agents - and as in the military, there is a stigma attached to admitting post-traumatic stress. ~ Michael Hastings

I thought Gen. McChrystal was unfireable, that his position was secure. ~ Michael Hastings

During the invasion of Iraq in 2003, the military conducted only a handful of drone missions. ~ Michael Hastings

In campaign reporting more than any other kind of press coverage, reporters aren't just covering a story, they're a part of it - influencing outcomes, setting expectations, framing candidates - and despite what they tell themselves, it's impossible to both be a part of the action and report on it objectively. ~ Michael Hastings

Clearly the American military has been a force for good for the United States. There's a reason we have a standing military. But there's something to be said for having a much smaller military because then we wouldn't be tempted to get involved in things we shouldn't be getting involved in. ~ Michael Hastings

I have to admit that the empty prestige and the stupid glory - yes, the horrible rush, the deadly sense of importance that war brings to life - are hard illusions to shake off. Look at me, a war correspondent. ~ Michael Hastings

My younger brother is a decorated combat veteran and was a platoon leader in Iraq. ~ Michael Hastings

After a decade of war you have this Pentagon-military apparatus run amok using resources that they shouldn't be to try to manipulate U.S. public opinion. ~ Michael Hastings

If Bill O'Reilly is calling you a far-left critic, in my book, no matter what your political persuasion is, that's probably - that probably means you're doing a good job. ~ Michael Hastings

When interviewing for a job, tell the editor how you love to report. How your passion is gathering information. Do not mention how you want to be a writer, use the word 'prose,' or that deep down you have a sinking suspicion you are the next Norman Mailer. ~ Michael Hastings

If feels good to live after death. It feels good to not be dead. It feels so good to find myself alive and flying home. The music plays in my ears and I float further and further away from war. Fucking Baghdad. ~ Michael Hastings

The idea of aerial military surveillance dates back to the Civil War, when both the Union and the Confederacy used hot-air balloons to spy on the other side, tracking troop movements and helping to direct artillery fire. ~ Michael Hastings

When my editors and I at 'Rolling Stone' came up with the idea to do a profile of General McChrystal, I simply just e-mailed General McChrystal's press staff, said we wanted to do a profile, and said if you could give us any time to hang out with the general, that would be great. ~ Michael Hastings

It was either write or die for me. ~ Michael Hastings

But the frightening aspect is that it's part of a larger effort from the Pentagon to tear down the wall between public affairs and propaganda, and essentially say there is no difference between information operations, public affairs and psychological operations. It's all one and the same. They have a new name for that too, it's called Information Engagement. ~ Michael Hastings

The first time I met President Obama was 2006 in Baghdad. He was the senator from Illinois; it was a month before he actually ended up declaring. He had to come to Baghdad to kind of check that box, and I was the correspondent for 'Newsweek' at the time. ~ Michael Hastings

Things weren't permanent, things could always fall apart, never get too comfortable, and even those you trust, those you trust as authority figures and role models, are liable to show themselves as illusions. ~ Michael Hastings

Look at the violence in Pakistan and the presence of U.S. troops in Afghanistan: the more troops we put in the more violent Pakistan becomes. ~ Michael Hastings

I have hardly ever worked with the same director twice. But when you have worked with a director before, you understand his behavior. ~ Michael Douglas

If you want to be an agent of change, it starts with you and what you're made of. ~ Michael J. Fox

As the medieval historian Richard Kieckhefer notes, the people of medieval Europe thought of magic as rational for two reasons: first of all, that it could actually work (that its efficacy was shown by evidence recognized within the culture as authentic) and, secondly, that its workings were governed by principles (of theology or of physics) that could be coherently articulated. ~ Michael Shermer

Design with skepticism, and you will achieve resilience. Ask, "What can system X do to hurt me?" and then design a way to dodge, duck, dip, dive, and dodge whatever wrench your supposed ally throws. ~ Michael T. Nygard

I do not argue that nature is sacrosanct in the sense that we must never tamper with nature. That would disempower, really, all of medicine. That would mean that we can't combat dread diseases - malaria, polio, all of which are given by nature, if one thinks about it. ~ Michael Sandel

Scientists suggest that the link between consuming poultry and cancer spread may be due to carcinogens in cooked meat. For unknown reasons, these carcinogens build up more in the muscles of chickens and turkeys than in those of other animals. ~ Michael Greger

I think finding that happy medium is pretty much impossible. I have never seen or heard of a cheerful ghost talker. ~ Michael Kroft

had been published years earlier, Bosch was nevertheless ~ Michael Connelly

My experience of working on this show, even though there is so much about sex and sexuality, and we find out a lot of facts and statistics that are very interesting, in their own right, I found that I started talking about relationships more, and the emotions, the difficulties and the challenges. So, I became far more open about that, which I think is probably an indication with the show itself. ~ Michael Sheen

Some people want it to happen, some wish it would happen, and others make it happen. ~ Michael Jordan

If you're not falling, you're not really trying hard enough. JOE QUESADA Joe Quesada is an award-winning comics creator and the chief creative officer of Marvel Entertainment, who served as editor-in chief of Marvel for over a decade. ~ Brian Michael Bendis

The mask of kindly patronage had dropped away to show the hatred and the fear beneath. ~ Michael Moorcock

A strong and variegated publishing environment helps create deliberative, reflective societies. Publishing ~ Michael Bhaskar

Consensus is invoked only in situations where the science is not solid enough. ~ Michael Crichton

The experiences, the lessons, and the defeats,
They were all necessary for me to be me,
took me a while being blind before i could see,
had to crawl on my knees before i stood on my feet,
once i stood on my feet i found out i had wings,
the flight is amazing, i felt like a king,
and when no one is listening, i found out i can sing,
what happy times and thoughts does it bring,
whatever it takes just make sure you are free,
free to live, and grow like a tree,
The people you love are the branches you need,
its not about the type, the color, or breed,
Live life with ambition, ambition indeed,
Thats what it took, and thats what i need. ~ Michael Perez

We could not, for example, arrive at a principle like that of entropy without introducing some additional principle, such as randomness, to this topography. ~ Michael Polanyi

I decided on a vision. I think I maybe join Toyota at the midpoint of a project, whose long-term goal is winning world championships. Also I have my big ambition, the drivers' world championship. That is not abandoned - entirely the opposite. I am young enough and motivated enough to make a new start in order to reach this goal. ~ Michael Schumacher

I've been working on something that merges rap with classical…. I call it Baby's Got Bach. ~ Michael LaRocca

Like a bullet out of a gun. His big paws had caught the dog before the dog could even flinch. ~ Michael Grant

It's easy to fall in love online with someone you'd slide away from on a bus stop bench. A little too damn easy. ~ Michael Makai

Inside each one of us there is a mostly hidden, mostly golden, mostly eternal image or aspect of being, similar to the gold that is buried in the earth. We are the earthlings, the children of the earth, and therefore we are a replica, in a sense, of the earth itself. One of the ideas that is important is: As above, so below. As outside, so within. ~ Michael Meade

Forgers can start with the same photographic images Warhol did, and sometimes knock off silkscreens only an expert can distinguish from the originals. ~ Michael Shnayerson

Of course, we avoid death. To know something is inevitable is one thing. To accept, to truly feel it ... that's different. ~ Michael Haneke

One of the things I like to do is people's hearts are on their sleeve, whether it's a good or a bad heart. And I think that's one of the things living in a world with Powers would do: it's too theatrical not to express yourself constantly. It would change them socially and sexually, everything would be altered because of superheroes. ~ Brian Michael Bendis

I love the look of books published by the firm of Rupert Hart-Davis: They strike me as handsome, elegant, and inviting. I'll pick up almost anything with that imprint, especially if it's in a jacket or priced low. ~ Michael Dirda

Corrupted truths concocted and retold by corrupted men. ~ Aaron-Michael Hall

Eviction day at the orphanage loomed large over Giti--and I worried deeply for her. 'Allah will provide,' I whispered. But Giti rolled her eyes, unconvinced. ~ Michael Ben Zehabe

In the words of Yellowstone Park's wolf biologist Michael Phillips, wolf conservation has become "a dramatic expression of the goodness of the human spirit. It shows that we respect the rights of other life-forms, even when they may cause problems. It shows that we are capable and committed to correcting the mistakes of the past. Wolf restoration is a touchstone for measuring our reverence for what we have inherited and for the legacy we leave our children. ~ Bruce Hampton

I very rarely saw Tom Kite around. I've talked to Tom about it. I don't think Michael Jordan needed to be on the captain's cart with Kite; he needed to be walking in the gallery, supporting them from outside the ropes. ~ Payne Stewart

I can at any moment convert my time into money, but I do not require more of the latter than is sufficient for necessary purposes. ~ Michael Faraday

my grandmother would freak you the fuck out. ~ Michael Chabon

Coke and Pepsi, with the acquiescence of the FDA, are needlessly exposing millions of Americans to a chemical that causes cancer, ~ Michael F. Jacobson

Me and the folks who buy my food are like the Indians
we just want to opt out. That's all the Indians ever wanted
to keep their tepees, to give their kids herbs instead of patent medicines and leeches. They didn't care if there was a Washington, D.C., or a Custer or a USDA; just leave us alone. But the Western mind can't bear an opt-out option. We're going to have to refight the Battle of the Little Big Horn to preserve the right to opt out, or your grandchildren and mine will have no choice but to eat amalgamated, irradiated, genetically prostituted, barcoded, adulterated fecal spam from the centralized processing conglomerate. ~ Michael Pollan

After receiving such a warm welcome, it sounded to me like the Directorate of Intelligence had placed me on the CIA's "don't screw with this guy list". This list was something of an urban legend throughout The Company. Once on it, you had it made. Everyone at the CIA would go out of his or her way to be helpful and red tape would magically vanish for you. It meant that you had a very powerful patron at the top levels of the Agency. I may have been hustled out of Headquarters but I apparently still had a very powerful friend in high places. ~ Michael Connick

It is an almost infallible rule that the more permissive a person is on social and moral issues the more in favour they are of strict gun control. ~ Michael Coren

Toronto is hard to capture in a few strokes. ~ Michael Helm

To the deficit commission, a depression is the solution to the problem, not a problem. ~ Michael Hudson

What better way to actually deal with L.A. than to get above it and engage with the horizontality and scale of the basin itself? ~ Michael Light

Definitely, as I get older and my taste buds change, I want to do different things. I'm not ready for directing yet, you know, maybe when I get my big boy voice; I don't have that yet, but right now definitely producing for sure. ~ Michael B. Jordan

Usually it's just material that resonates with me and I never know exactly what that's gonna be. And there's obviously a certain persuasion, if you will. It's dependent upon the fact that I'm known for certain genres. So, that influences my decision making as well. I mean I'd love to, for example, do an action thriller but there are a lot of very talented people doing that and so it would be very difficult for me to switch over to that genre. So, I do look for things that I know (will resonate with) my audience. ~ Michael Landon, Jr.

As for comics, one has only to turn to the characteristic output of Marvel Comics, for the period from about 1961 to about 1975, to find not an expression of base and cynical impulses but of good, old-fashioned liberal humanism of a kind that may strike us today, God help us, as quaint, but which nevertheless appealed, in story after story, to ideals such as tolerance, technological optimism, and self-sacrifice for the benefit of others. ~ Michael Chabon

He makes her think sometimes of a mouse singing amorous ballads under the window of a giantess. ~ Michael Cunningham

A lot of times, when you have a disability, one of the things you deal with is other people's projections of what your experience is and their fear about it, and not seeing the experience you're having. There's nothing horrifying about [Parkinson's disease] to me. It is what I deal with. It is my reality and my life, but it's not horrible. ~ Michael J. Fox