|
Political
Babble
|
| The following
are all of the Weekly Babble that have appeared on Mindless
Crap, followed by the date in which it appeared.
|
"We're
very proud to have Sugar Ray and Mrs. Ray here."
- President Ronald Reagan in 1981,
welcoming boxing champion Sugar Ray Leonard and his
wife to the White House (4-1-04) |
|
|
"It's hard when you have to choose between a
crook and a Nazi."
- Former Louisiana governor David
Treen summing up the choices facing voters in the 1991
gubernatorial race in which former KKK leader David
Duke lost the election to twice-indicted, but never
convicted former governor Edwin Edwards (4-1-04)
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|
"Do
candidates now pose for office, rather than run for
office?"
- Harry Boyle, Canadian journalist (2-1-04) |
|
|
"Make no mistake about it: Operation Desert
Storm was a victory of good over evil, of freedom over
tyranny, of peace over war."
- Vice President Dan Quayle to a
Memorial Day audience in 1991 (2-1-04)
|
|
"There's
no moral problem there. I used to teach ethics -
trust me."
- William Bennett, antidrug czar in
the George H. W. Bush administration, championing the
idea of decapitating convicted drug dealers in
1989
(12-1-03) |
|
|
"I will remember I was in
the desert."
- Alabama congressman Sonny
Calahan , noting where he was when the Persian Gulf
war started - at a luxury resort in Palm Springs,
California
(12-1-03)
|
|
"I
declare this thing open, whatever it is."
- Britain's Prince Philip, upon dedicating
the Vancouver City Hall
(10-1-03) |
|
|
"Religion is excellent stuff
for keeping common people quiet."
- Napolean Bonaparte, expressing
his thoughts on religion
(10-1-03)
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"They're
always very relieved when Congress is not in session."
- Senator David Pryor of Arkansas
in 1989, returning to Washington after recess, on the
mood of his constituents
(9-1-03) |
|
"Let
each of us ask, not just what will government do for
me, but what I can do for myself."
- Richard Nixon in his second inaugural
address in 1973, butchering John F. Kennedy's famous
line from Kennedy's inaugural address twelve years earlier
(9-1-03) |
|
"A
conservative is a man with two perfectly good legs who,
however, has never learned to walk forward."
- President Franklin D. Roosevelt
(8-1-03) |
|
|
"Dewey has thrown his diaper into the
ring."
- Harold Ickes, on Thomas Dewey's
announcing his presidential candidacy against Harry
Truman
(8-1-03)
|
|
"We
are powerless in cases of oral-genital intimacy, unless
it obstructs interstate commerce."
- Former FBI director J. Edgar Hoover
(7-1-03) |
|
|
"What am I supposed to order?"
- President Ronald Reagan in 1984,
to an aid while campaigning at a McDonald's in Tuscaloosa,
Alabama
(7-1-03)
|
|
"Being
president is like being a jackass in a hailstorm.
There's nothing to do but stand there and take it."
- Former U.S. President Lyndon B.
Johnson
(6-1-03) |
|
"Those
who are too smart to engage in politics are punished
by being governed by those who are dumber."
- Plato
(6-1-03) |
|
"My
choice early in life was either to be a piano player
in a whorehouse or a politician. And to tell the
truth, there's hardly any difference."
- Former U.S. President Harry S. Truman
(4-1-03) |
|
|
"One-fifth of the people are against
everything all the time."
- Robert Kennedy, talking about
public opinion polls
(4-1-03)
|
|
"I'd
rather be watching you in bed with my wife."
- Former presidential candidate Barry
Goldwater, when asked if he'd appear on a talk show
(3-1-03) |
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|
"I could take this home, Marilyn.
This is something teenage boys might find of interest."
- Dan Quayle during a 1990 visit
to Chile, moments before purchasing a South American
Indian doll that, when lifted, displays an erection
(3-1-03)
|
|
"Wait
a minute, I'm not interested in agriculture. I
want the military stuff."
- Virginia senator William Scott to
Pentagon officials who were attempting to brief him
on missile silos
(2-1-03) |
|
|
"We like you! But you're sleeping
with the enemy."
- A message on a placard held by
a protester who greeted Barbara Bush when she campaigned
for her husband in the New Jersey primary in 1992
(2-1-03)
|
|
"You
allow me to license and regulate marijuana, and I'll
fill every hotel and motel room in the state of Kentucky."
- Gatewood Galbraith, Democratic gubernatorial
candidate, on his campaign platform for legalizing pot
in order to boost tourism, in 1991
(1-16-03) |
|
|
"Swearing is an art form. You can
express yourself much more directly, much more exactly,
much more succinctly, with properly used curse words."
- Detroit mayor Coleman Young in
1991, defending his frequent use of expletives
(1-16-03)
|
|
"Warren,
it's a lucky thing you weren't born a girl, because
you can't say no."
- President Warren Harding, recalling
his father's advice after the Teapot Dome scandal
(12-16-02) |
|
|
"What is the difference between the Conservative
caucus and a porcupine? Well, you see, a porpupine
has all its pricks on the outside."
- Deposed Conservative leader John
Diefenbaker of the Canadian House of Commons
(12-16-02)
|
|
"It's
Robert Dole's misfortune that when he does smile, he
looks as if he's just evicted a widow."
- Columnist Mike Royko in 1988, commenting
during Dole's presidential campaign
(12-1-02) |
|
|
"Our beautiful Hawaiian isle is, for
us, worse than Alcatraz. Alcatraz at least gives
free room and board."
- Imelda Marcos in 1988, on the
difficulties of life in exile
(12-1-02)
|
|
"The
real question for 1988 is whether we're going forward
to tomorrow or past to the - to the back!"
- Dan Quayle in 1988, losing his train
of thought during a presidential campaign speech in
1988
(12-1-02) |
|
"Never
believe in anything until it has been officially denied."
- Eighteenth century German leader
Otto von Bismarck
(11-1-02) |
|
|
"Congress would exempt itself from the
laws of gravity if it could."
- Congressman Henry Hyde in 1988.
Congress is exempt from many of the provisions of
its own laws that are imposed on the general public.
Examples include the Equal Opportunity Act, the Civil
Rights Act, the Occupational Safety and Health Act,
and the Fair Labor Standards Act
(11-1-02)
|
|
"I
don't understand it and it doesn't interest me."
- Senator Gordon Humphrey commenting
on his wife Patricia's work in creating a national organization
devoted to orgonomy, a field of psychology that holds
that orgasms are essential to mental health
(11-1-02) |
|
"Yeah,
I think there's some social changes going on....AIDS,
for example, uh, is a, is a, uh, disease of poverty
in a sense. It's where hopelessness is.
It's bigger than that of course."
- George Bush in 1988, asked a straightforward
question about why so many Americans use illicit drugs
(10-16-02) |
|
|
"Get that whore off that chair."
- Attributed to Senator Steven Symms
of Idaho, directed at a female TV reporter who was
critical of him in her coverage
(10-16-02)
|
|
"Well,
did you do any fornicating this weekend?"
- Richard Nixon to David Frost, moments
before taping am interview in 1976
(10-16-02) |
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"You
don't have to go to college to achieve success.
We need the people who do the hard physical work of
our society."
- George Bush, who labeled himself
as "the education president," during a 1988
talk with Hispanic high school students in East Los
Angeles
(10-1-02) |
|
|
"The party of homosexuals."
- Utah senator Orrin Hatch, describing
the Democratic Party at a Republican fund-raiser
(10-1-02)
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"A
left wing cult dedicated to bringing down the type of
government I believe in."
- James Watt in 1982, describing the
environmental movement
(10-1-02) |
|
"You
no buy our rice, we no buy your cars."
- Presidential candidate David Duke
in 1991, issuing a warning to the Japanese
(9-16-02) |
|
|
"I'm the Prime Minister of Canda, I live
here and I'm about to go and have a leak."
- Lester Pearson in 1967, during
a meeting between himself and President Lyndon Johnson,
whose Secret Service detail had taken over Pearson's
cottage rettreat. At one point, a Johnson guard
asked Pearson, "Who are you and where are you
going?"
(9-16-02)
|
|
"Why
you got your boob covered up?"
- Ernest Konnyu, Republican congressman
from California, to a 26-year-old female aide.
He later tried to extricate himself from controversy
by saying, "At the press conference, she wore her
name tag...right over her boobs...I didn't think it
was right for her to have her name tag on in a
- it should be up high. She's not exactly heavily
stacked, OK?...So I told her...to move the darn name
tag off her boobs."
(9-16-02) |
|
"Damn
it, when you get married, you kind of expect you're
going to get a little sex."
- Alabama Senator Jeremiah Denton,
commenting in 1981 on the prosecution of a man charged
with raping his wife
(8-16-02) |
|
|
"Behind every successful man stands a
surprised woman."
- Maryon Pearson, wife of Canadian
prime minister Lester Pearson
(8-16-02)
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|
"I'm
gonna be so tough as mayor I'm going to make Attila
the Hun look like a faggot."
- Philadelphia police commissioner
Frank Rizzo during his 1971 successful campaign for
mayor
(8-16-02) |
|
"If
you don't want to work for a living this is as good
a job as any."
- Congressman John F. Kennedy in 1946
(8-1-02) |
|
|
"We don't want war. We hate war.
We know what was does."
- Iraqi president Saddam Hussein
in 1990, about a month before invading Kuwait
(8-1-02)
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|
"We
are so much alike. Don't you think we could have
a beautiful chocolate-colored daughter together?"
- Margaret Trudeau, wife of Canadian
prime minister Pierre, to Lou Rawls in 1979
(8-1-02) |
|
"Facts
are stupid things."
- Ronald Reagan addressing the Republican
National Convention in 1988. He was misquoting
John Adams, who in 1770 wrote, "Facts are stubborn
things; and whatever may be our wishes, our inclinations,
or the dictates of our passions, they cannot alter the
state of facts and evidence."
(7-16-02) |
|
|
"Let us not forget we are in the Balkans,
where lies and deceit are the highest moral values."
- Viktor Zakelj, Socialist Party
deputy in Slovnia, addressing the secessionist republic's
legislature in 1991
(7-16-02)
|
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"That's
garbage. Why can't they catch me in a sex scandal?
I could use some good publicity."
- California assembly speaker Willie
Brown in 1990, on an FBI investigation into his connection
with a garbage company
(7-16-02) |
|
"You
can lead a dead horse to water, but you can't make him
drink."
- Toronto mayor Allan Lamport
(7-1-02) |
|
|
"Any tree in America would gladly give
its life for the glory of a day at home plate."
- Congressman Dick Durbin in 1989,
condemning the possible use of aluminum bats in major
league baseball
(7-1-02)
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|
"It
gives me great pleasure to welcome Prime Minister Lee
Kuan Yew and Mrs. Yew to Singapore."
- Ronald Reagan in 1985, welcoming
Mr. and Mrs. Lee (surnames come first for Singapore
natives). President Reagan was also in the process
of welcoming the prime minister to a state function
at the White House, not to Singapore
(7-1-02) |
|
"Your
dedication and tireless work with the hostage thing,
with Central America, really gives me cause for great
pride in you and thanks. Get some turnkey, George
Bush."
- George Bush's written note of thanks
to Oliver North sometime around Thanksgiving 1985.
It was read by North on the television program Nightline
in 1991
(6-16-02) |
|
|
"As we debate these matters, at Exhibition
Stadium the Blue Jays are trouncing the Cleveland
Indians 9-1 and Dave Stieb is pitching a one-hitter."
- Gregory Sorbara, Ontario labor
minister, during a legislative debate in 1988, responding
to a question about reforming the laws dealing with
sexual assault
(6-16-02)
|
|
"What
a great saving!"
- Former Chilean dictator Augusto
Pinochet in 1991, reacting to news that victims of his
1973 coup had been buried two to a coffin
(6-16-02) |
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"If
Lincoln were alive today, he'd roll over in his grave."
- Newly inaugurated President Gerald
Ford
(6-1-02) |
|
|
"What a waste it is to lose one's mind
- or to not have a mind. How true that is."
- Dan Quayle in 1989, addressing
the United Negro College Fund
(6-1-02)
|
|
"I
think Comrade Gorbachev is a little nervous about me.
Yes, unfortunately I think he has the idea I want his
job."
- Ousted Politburo member Boris Yeltsin
in 1989
(6-1-02) |
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"I'm
busier than a whore working two beds."
- C.D. Howe, Canadian cabinet minister
of the 1940s and 1950s
(5-16-02) |
|
|
"The people have spoke - the bastards."
- Dick Tuck, on his 1966 loss in
a California state senate race
(5-16-02)
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|
"My
fellow Americans, I've talked to you on a number of
occasions about economic problems and opportunities
our nation faces and I am prepared to tell you , it's
a hell of a mess."
- Ronald Reagan in 1982, during a
sound check prior to a radio address
(5-16-02) |
|
"I
think if they had known I was a member of Congress,
I could have understood it."
- Congressman Gerry Studds in 1990,
after being mugged by two Washington youths
(5-1-02) |
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|
"You'll hear from 20 senators before
you get a chance to speak. It may be the most
painful part of the process."
- Senator Joseph Biden, chairman
of the Senate Judiciary Committee, to Supreme Court
nominee Clarence Thomas at Thomas's confirmation hearings
in 1991
(5-1-02)
|
|
"Just
quiet down, baby."
- Canadian justice minister John Crosbie
to parliamentarian Sheila Copps in 1985. At the
time, Crosbie was responsible for laws respecting the
equality of women.
(5-1-02) |
|
"If
I win, I win. And if I lose, I spare myself untold
agony."
- John Crosbie, unsuccessful candidate
for the Progressive Conservative Party leadership in
1983
(4-16-02) |
|
|
"If I didn't like Senator Dole, I'd say
he's being deceptive. But I do like him, so
I'll just say he's waffling."
- John Sununu, spearheading George
Bush's successful bid to win the New Hampshire primary
in 1988, on his allegation that Bush rival Robert
Dole had been inconsistent in his position on a possible
oil-import fee
(4-16-02)
|
|
"The
truth is no ugly woman can succeed in politics."
- Edith Cresson, former prime minister
of France, in 1991
(4-16-02) |
|
"No
matter how we define the term, Canada has an acute shortage
of rich people."
- Canadian finance minister Michael
Wilson in 1985, defending his decision not to raise
taxes on the wealthy
(3-1-02) |
|
|
"I make no apologies for telling him
(Ronald Reagan) what I thought. For eight years
I was sleeping with the President, and if that doesn't
give you special access, I don't know what does!"
- Nancy Reagan in her autobiography,
My Turn
(3-1-02)
|
|
"Warren,
it's a lucky thing you weren't born a girl, because
you can't say no."
- President Warren Harding, recalling
his father's advice after the Teapot Dome scandal
(3-1-02) |
|
"You
just give me the word and I'll turn that fucking island
into a parking lot."
- Attributed to Secretary of State
Alexander Haig by Nancy Reagan in her autobiography,
My Turn, on advice Haig gave President Reagan
about Cuba
(2-16-02) |
|
|
"I have climbed to the top of the greasy
pole."
- British statesman Benjamin Disraeli
in 1868, on becoming prime minister
(2-16-02)
|
|
"Capital
punishment is our society's recognition of the sanctity
of human life."
- Senator Orrin Hatch of Utah in 1988,
advocating the use of the death penalty for murders
committed during drug deals
(2-16-02) |
|
"Eddie,
you know why [the local paper] doesn't endorse you...it's
because you're an asshole."
- George Keverian, speaker of the
Massachusetts House of Representatives, denouncing Massachusetts
Congressman Edward Markey
(2-1-02) |
|
|
"Don't tempt me."
- George Bush in 1989, when reporters
asked him to display the middle finger from which
he was about to have a cyst removed
(2-1-02)
|
|
"Cabin
boy."
- Mario Cuomo's name for Dan Quayle
(2-1-02) |
|
"If
you feel guilty, see a priest."
- Ed Koch in 1988, launching his campaign
to discourage people from giving money to panhandlers
and homeless people on the city's subways
(1-16-02) |
|
|
"I know inside I've got a lot of fiber
here"
- George Bush in 1988
(1-16-02)
|
|
"If
it's inevitable, just lay back and enjoy it."
- Clayton Williams at a rained-out
campaign event during the 1990 gubernatorial race in
Texas. Williams was advising reporters at the
event to compare the weather with how one should cope
with rape
(1-16-02) |
|
"The
hardest thing about any political campaign is how
to win without proving that you are unworthy of winning."
- Adlai Stevenson in 1952, during
his unsuccessful presidential campaign against Dwight
Eisenhower
(1-1-02) |
|
| Voice
in the crowd: "Vive la France!"
(Long live the French!)
Pierre Trudeau: "Si vous voulez.
Vive la France, et vive les Anglais, aussi.
Et vive la république des patates frites."
(If you like. Long live the French, and long
live the English, as well. And long live the
French fries republic."
- Pierre Trudeau campaigning in
1968
(1-1-02)
|
|
"Another
Jimmy Carter grain embargo, Jimmy, Jimmy Carter, Jimmy
Carter grain embargo, Jimmy Carter grain embargo."
- Dan Quayle going ballistic
in attempting to ridicule the Democrats' position on
grain embargoes
(1-1-02) |
|
"Who
is this chickenshit?"
- George Bush in 1991, on Senator
Paul Wellstone of Minnesota
(12-1-01) |
|
|
"I never trust a man unless I got his
pecker in my pocket."
- Former President Lyndon Johnson
(12-1-01)
|
|
"Why
are we more shocked when a dozen people are killed in
Vilnius than by a massacre in Burundi? Because
they are white people. That's who we are.
That's where America comes from."
- Former Presidential candidate Pat
Buchanan in a 1991 interview with Britain's Sunday
Telegraph. Buchanan began his run for the presidency
by worrying that Judeo-Christian values in America were
in danger of being dumped into "some landfill called
multiculturalism"
(12-1-01) |
|
"Tell
me, General, how dead is the Dead Sea?"
- Former Vice President George Bush to
Jordanian chief of staff Zeid bin Shaker
(11-16-01) |
|
|
"Is that racist?"
- D.A. Coon, mayor of Petersburg,
Alaska, after telling a joke about "barbequed
black boys" in 1991
(11-16-01)
|
|
"How
can anyone govern a nation that has 246 different kinds
of cheese?"
- Charles de Gaulle
(11-16-01) |
|
"How
are you, Mr. mayor? I'm glad to meet you.
How are things in your city?"
- Ronald Reagan in 1981, mistaking
the only black member of his cabinet, housing secretary
Samuel Pierce, during a White House reception for mayors
(10-16-01)
|
|
|
"Does Mike Tyson live near here?"
- Nelson Mandela in 1990, during
a walking tour of Manhattan after reporters asked
if he had any questions about the city
(10-16-01)
|
|
"What
a slut."
- Canadian member of parliament William
Kempling in 1991, attacking Liberal Party deputy leader
Sheila Copps
(10-16-01) |
|
"Thirty
years ago, I would have tried."
- Georgia House speaker Tom Murphy
to fellow representative Anne Mueller after she protested
having her microphone switched off, saying "Mr.
Speaker, will you please turn me on!"
(10-1-01) |
|
|
"To err is human. To blame someone
is politics."
- Hubert Humphrey
(10-1-01)
|
|
"Under
the present Prime Minister parliament has been compared
to a cemetary operated by its own occupants."
- John Diefenbaker in 1970, faulting
prime minister Pierre Truduea for his disrespect of
Parliament
(10-1-01) |
|
"I
think I could bring some new blood to the office."
- Campaign slogan of Mike Pulliam,
who lost his 1988 bid for coroner of Hughes County,
South Dakota
(9-16-01) |
|
|
"When you've had a long life and you're
ripe, then it's time to go."
- John Silber, 63, explaining why
he favors rationing of health benefits for the elderly
(9-16-01)
|
|
"What's
wrong with barbers?"
- Alberta premier Don Getty in 1991,
defending the appointment of his barber to the Alberta
Gaming Commission
(9-16-01) |
|
"Who'd
you sleep with to get your job?"
- Jon Peck, press secretary to Florida
governor Bob Martinez, to a female Miami Herald
reporter
(9-1-01) |
|
|
"He has Minnesota running-water disease.
I've never known anyone from Minnesota that could
keep their mouth shut. It's just something in
the water out there."
- Lyndon Johnson on his vice president,
Hubert Humphrey
(9-1-01)
|
|
"Yes
I am. And you're ugly. But tomorrow I'll
be sober."
- Winston Churchill, to a woman who
complained that he was drunk
(9-1-01) |
|
"The
good news is that the lesbians are upset with Kerrey.
The bad news is that they'll be coming our way to support
us."
- David Beckwith, Dan Quayle's press
secretary, in 1991
(8-16-01) |
|
|
"Trees cause more pollution than automobiles."
- President Ronald Reagan in 1981
(8-16-01)
|
|
"Well,
if I had, I wouldn't tell you."
- Presidential candidate Bill Clinton
in 1992, responding to a reporter's question: "Have
you ever had an extramarital affair?"
(8-16-01) |
|
"The
White House really badly, badly needs china."
- Newly inaugurated First Lady Nancy
Reagan, explaining why during the recession of 1981
she ordered $200,000 worth of new china for the presidential
mansion
(8-1-01) |
|
|
"I haven't really been able to sort out
exactly there has been this degree of pessimism."
- President George Bush in December
1991, during the 18th month of the longest, if not
deepest recession since the Great Depression
(8-1-01)
|
|
"This
is just my contribution to perestroika."
- Texas congressman Charlie Wilson
in 1990, when a Washingtonian magazine writer
saw him inspecting some lace panties with a young Soviet
woman in a lingerie shop
(8-1-01) |
|
"That
was the ultimate heckle."
- Presidential candidate Al Gore in
1988, responding to a university student who yelled
that Gore would make a good vice president
(7-16-01) |
|
|
"A billion here, a billion there and
pretty soon you're talking about real money."
- Senator Everett Dirksen on fiscal
policy
(7-16-01)
|
|
"Unemployment
insurance is a paid vacation for freeloaders."
- Ronald Reagan in the late 1970s
(7-16-01) |
|
"Why
in God's name we're going to punish a man for having
sex with his wife when she says, 'No, not tonight,'
I don't know."
- Bud Long, South Carolina state senator,
opposing a spousal rape law
(7-1-01) |
|
|
"Why you got your boob covered up?"
- Representative Ernest Konntu (R,
California) to a female aide
(7-1-01)
|
|
"I
have made good judgements in the past. I have
made good judgements in the future."
- Dan Quayle in a Los Angeles
Times interview
(7-1-01) |
|
"Desert
Storm was a stirring victory for the forces of aggression
and lawlessness."
- Vice President
Dan Quayle
(6-16-01) |
|
| Q:
Did President Clinton ever lie to you?
A: I've never talked about my private
conversations with the president and I'm not going
to start now.
- Vice President Al Gore
(6-16-01)
|
|
"Following
a nuclear attack on the United States, the United States
Postal Service plans to distribute Emergency Change
of Address Cards."
- U.S. Federal Emergency Management
Agency (FEMA) Executive Order 11490
(6-16-01) |
|
"It
depends on what the meaning of is is."
- President Bill Clinton
(6-1-01) |
|
"There
are a bunch of other rats lining up to jump on board."
- Vermont congressional candidate
Susan Sweetser after a shuffle in her top staff during
her campaign
(6-1-01) |
|
"Are
those what regular people call clams?"
- Republican representative Roy Brun
during a Louisiana state legislative hearing on regulating
freshwater mussels
(6-1-01) |
|
"Even
if he were mediocre, there are a lot of mediocre judges
and people and lawyers. Don't they deserve some
representation on the court?"
- Roman Hruska (R-NE), defending Judge
Harold Carswell, the first Nixon nominee for the Supreme
Court, against charges that he was mediocre
(5-16-01) |
|
"I
made no attempt to be inaccurate, but I want to be clear
I was not attempting to be precise."
- Treasury chief of staff Josh Steiner,
accused by Congress of lying when his diary entries
did not jibe at all with what he told them
(5-16-01) |
|
"Well,
shit!"
- Nashville councilman Ludye Wallace
expressing his sentiments on television after losing
a 1995 election
(5-16-01) |
|
"It's
a question of whether we're going to go forward into
the future, or past to the back."
- Vice
President Dan Quayle
(5-1-01) |
|
"Things
happen more frequently in the future than they do in
the past."
- Washington governor Booth Gardner
(5-1-01) |
|
"I
think incest can be handled as a family matter within
the family."
- Representative Jay Dickey (R, Arkansas)
defending his position against abortion even in the
case of rape or incest
(5-1-01) |
|
"There
are different Klans - just like there's different fraternities
at a college."
- Louisiana state representative David
Duke in 1990, explaining his former leadership role
in the Ku Klux Klan
(4-16-01) |
|
"Thanks
very much for sending me the clipping...I have never
felt so young and virile."
- California governor Ronald Reagan,
responding to a friend who sent a clipping in which
a state senator charged that, "Illegitimate births
to teenage mothers have increased alarmingly while Reagan
has been in office."
(4-1-01) |
|
"I
would have made a good Pope."
- President Richard Nixon
(3-16-01) |
|
"It's
a very good question, very direct, and I'm not going
to answer it."
- President George Bush in 1990, on
what sort of deficit-reduction proposals he would present
to Congress
(3-1-01) |
|
"Here's
to the great people of the government of Israel...Egypt,
excuse me."
- President Gerald Ford, lifting his
glass in a toast, at a state dinner given by Egyptian
president Anwar Sadat
(2-1-01) |
|
"Now
the only thing that remains unresolved is the resolution
of the problem."
- Ontario education minister Tom Wells
in 1976
(1-1-01) |
|
"I
have opinions of my own - strong opinions - but I don't
always agree with them."
- President George H. W. Bush
(12-18-00) |
|
"Madam,
if I were your husband I'd eat it."
- Winston Churchill to a woman who
admonished him, saying, "If you were my husband,
I'd poison your food."
(12-11-00) |
|
"Now
we are trying to get unemployment to go up, and I think
we are going to succeed."
- Ronald Reagan during a 1982 GOP
fund raiser speech
(12-1-00) |
|
"It
was involuntary. They sank my boat."
- John F. Kennedy on how he became
a war hero. His patrol boat was rammed by a Japanese
warship
(11-16-00) |
|
"Hawaii
has always been a very pivotal role in the Pacific.
It is in the Pacific. It is a part of the United
States that is an island that is right here."
- Dan Quayle in 1989, during a visit
to Hawaii
(11-1-00) |
|
"No
one wants to go back to their district and say that
taxes are going up. That's why I'm in Hong Kong!"
- Congressman Esteban Torres of California
in 1990, on his tour of Asia during the congressional
summer recess
(10-23-00) |
|
"I'm
pro-death. I believe in the death penalty. Let's get
on with it."
- Chicago mayor Richard Daley in 1990
(10-16-00) |
|
"Do
you come here often?"
- Senator Edward Kennedy in 1988,
to a patron of a Brooklyn soup kitchen
(10-1-00) |
| |
