A few days back, Glenn put up his list of notable quotes from 2007, which got me searching my own archives.
Some of the best and worst ones follow.
[The key distinction] “between you and the guy you are torturing is that he might be innocent, but you are not.” — Sideshow blog commenter thebewilderness
“I’m not informed enough on it. Let me find out. You know, I’m sure I’ve taken a position on it on the past. I have to find out what my position was. Brian, would you find out what my position is on contraception – I’m sure I’m opposed to government spending on it, I’m sure I support the president’s policies on it.” — John McCain, on whether condoms prevent the spread of HIV
“It’s fine to be a religion man. But if you get too much of the religion, you get out of your mind and do stupid things.” — an accused Fort Dix terror plotter
“I also learned today the president was sorry for Mr Libby
and his family. I wish he would express his sorrow for my wife, whose career was destroyed and also express his regret to all the to service people fighting a war justified by lies.” — Joe Wilson
“One of the things, though, that I think the antiwar crowd has not considered is that, if we’re putting the Americans right within their arms’ reach, they don’t have to come to Wall Street to kill Americans. They don’t have to knock down the trade center. They can do it around the corner, and convenience is a big factor when you’re a terrorist.” — Dick Morris
“I’m not angry as a taxpayer, I’m angry as an attention payer.” — Jon Stewart re: Dick Cheney’s fourth-branch-of-government claim
“There was never a serious debate that I know of within the administration about the imminence of the Iraqi threat.” — George Tenet
“Presidents who win are usually very athletic. Bush runs like a seven minute mile! And Clinton liked hamburgers but he worked out. Those are the little things that actually matter.” — Karen Hanratty
“So many military believe that Republican administrations are good for the military. That is rarely the case. And we have got to get a message through to every soldier, every family member, every friend of soldier, that the Republican Party, the Republican-dominated Congress has absolutely been the worst thing that has happened to the United States Army and the United States Marine Corps.”—Paul D. Eaton, Maj. Gen. U.S. Army (Ret.)
“I’m sorry this, frankly, has bubbled to the surface the way it has…. But that’s Washington, D.C. for you. You know, there’s a lot of politics in this town.” — George W. Bush, about the exposure of the politically based DOJ firings
“What’s worse, that the government knew, or that the government didn’t know?” — George W. Bush
“Money trumps peace sometimes. In other words commercial interests are very powerful interests….” — George W. Bush
“People are going to look back and say, you know, how come they couldn’t see the impending danger? What happened to them?” — George W. Bush
“I can only tell you what people on the ground whose judgment, it’s hard for me in the, living in the uh, this beautiful White House to give you an assessment, a first-hand assessment. I haven’t been there. You have, I haven’t.” — George W. Bush
Front page
George Bush
“Stop waving the Constitution in my face. It’s only a goddamned piece of paper.” George W. Bush
Tom, I'm trying to find out whether that quote is real
Alas, Snopes doesn’t weigh in on it.
Lowest point of the year;
“I have lived the American dream. Even my worst days as attorney general have been better than my father’s best days.” — Attorney General Alberto Gonzales.
Ruth
As I understand it, Alberto's Dad...
… used to sit around muttering, “Boy, I wish I could politicize the Justice
Department and roll back the Geneva Conventions. But I can’t, goddamnit! My life is shit!”
The Gonzales Equation
Every time Abu’s memo was used to justify torturing, his dad’s life lost that much more meaning. You can see how his dad’s best moments would look so worthless.
Ruth
So the best days of Abu's life...
… were the worst days of his dad’s life. If his dad had a conscience or sense of shame.
You just know...
…that sadly there’s a whole bunch of Pentagon swabbies and desk bound fighter jocks thinking Eaton’s just a jealous whiny ass titty baby because the Navy has a whole new generation of super carriers and the Air Force shiny new F-22s to play with.
“So many military believe that Republican administrations are good for the military. That is rarely the case. And we have got to get a message through to every soldier, every family member, every friend of soldier, that the Republican Party, the Republican-dominated Congress has absolutely been the worst thing that has happened to the United States Army and the United States Marine Corps.”—Paul D. Eaton, Maj. Gen. U.S. Army (Ret.)
Conservative Richard Viguerie on Tom Delay
“He’s like a lot of these guys. They campaign against the cesspool. ’I’ll clean up the cesspool of government,’ but after a while they all say, ’I made a mistake—it wasn’t a cesspool, it was a hot tub.’”
Joseph Palermo on Ann Coulter
“News” people who can’t write, interview Ann Coulter, who can’t talk, for the benefit of people who can’t read.
"i don't recall"
how many times did abu G say that to the senate committee? of course, he knew it was ok. it’s not like any of his buds in congress were serious about enforcing their constitutional authority to get the bottom of…what scandal was that again? oh, who cares, one of the spears girls is going to have a baby.
seriously, it sums up this year’s lost promise perfectly. reid, pelosi- did you make promises to end the war if given a majority this year?
“i don’t recall.”