"We all read news stories about the difficulties and tensions that the United States has with our allies and even with coalition partners in Iraq, but we rarely read about the good news"
About this Quote
The line is a politician's quiet reprimand masquerading as a media critique: stop fixating on friction, start noticing functional cooperation. Simpson frames diplomacy as a story with a biased narrator. By invoking "we all read news stories", he recruits the audience into a shared experience of saturation and fatigue, then pivots to the punch: "but we rarely read about the good news". It's not just a complaint about coverage; it's a bid to redefine what counts as reality.
The phrasing matters. "Difficulties and tensions" is broad enough to include anything from trade spats to battlefield disagreements, while "allies" and "coalition partners in Iraq" anchors the quote in the post-9/11 era when international legitimacy became a daily political battleground. Mentioning Iraq specifically telegraphs the stakes: if the coalition looks unstable, the entire mission looks suspect. "Good news" becomes shorthand for endurance, incremental progress, and the mundane competence required to keep alliances from cracking.
Subtext: trust the institution, not the headlines. Simpson doesn't name outlets or accuse anyone directly, which keeps the posture statesmanlike and avoids sounding like sour grapes. Yet the implication is clear: media incentives reward conflict, and that reward structure distorts public perception, which in turn constrains policy. The quote is less about optimism than about narrative control - an attempt to shift the public from scandal-driven consumption to a more patience-friendly view of coalition politics.
The phrasing matters. "Difficulties and tensions" is broad enough to include anything from trade spats to battlefield disagreements, while "allies" and "coalition partners in Iraq" anchors the quote in the post-9/11 era when international legitimacy became a daily political battleground. Mentioning Iraq specifically telegraphs the stakes: if the coalition looks unstable, the entire mission looks suspect. "Good news" becomes shorthand for endurance, incremental progress, and the mundane competence required to keep alliances from cracking.
Subtext: trust the institution, not the headlines. Simpson doesn't name outlets or accuse anyone directly, which keeps the posture statesmanlike and avoids sounding like sour grapes. Yet the implication is clear: media incentives reward conflict, and that reward structure distorts public perception, which in turn constrains policy. The quote is less about optimism than about narrative control - an attempt to shift the public from scandal-driven consumption to a more patience-friendly view of coalition politics.
Quote Details
| Topic | War |
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