Quotes from 2008

Some of the odder statements from the year gone by.

I remember landing under sniper fire. There was supposed to be some kind of a greeting ceremony at the airport, but instead we just ran with our heads down to get into the vehicles to get to our base.
Hillary Clinton, on visiting Bosnia in 1996, a visit that cameras show was as peaceful as could be.

So?
Cheney, responding to an ABC News correspondent after she cited a recent poll showing that most Americans do not believe the Iraq War was worth fighting.

Yeah? So?
Bush's reaction when after saying that Iraq was where al Qaeda wanted to make a stand, a reporter points out that this was only AFTER the US invaded Iraq. Dec. 14, 2008, following well in his leader's footsteps.

Our economy, I think, is still -- the fundamentals of our economy are strong.
McCain's response to the economic crisis, Sept. 15, 2008

In the 21st century nations don't invade other nations.
McCain's response to Russia's military action against Georgia, Aug. 13, 2008. (John, tell us - what is the US doing in Iraq and Afghanistan again?)

And then Sarah Palin took it to a whole new level - -

They're in charge of the U.S. Senate so if they want to they can really get in there with the senators and make a lot of good policy changes that will make life better for Brandon and his family and his classroom.
Palin, after being asked by a third grader what the vice president does.

As Putin rears his head and comes into the air space of the United States of America, where– where do they go? It's Alaska. It's just right over the border.
Palin to Katie Couric, Sept. 24, 2008.

We believe that the best of America is not all in Washington, D.C. ... We believe that the best of America is in these small towns that we get to visit, and in these wonderful little pockets of what I call the real America, being here with all of you hard working very patriotic, um, very, um, pro-America areas of this great nation.
Palin, speaking at a fundraiser in Greensboro, N.C., Oct. 16, 2008 (for extra credit, google Greensboro and Klan sometime for a fun history lesson on this great "real America" town).

Well, let's see. There's ― of course in the great history of America there have been rulings that there's never going to be absolute consensus by every American, and there are those issues, again, like Roe v. Wade, where I believe are best held on a state level and addressed there. So, you know, going through the history of America, there would be others but ―
Sarah Palin, unable to name a Supreme Court decision she disagreed with other than Roe vs. Wade, Oct. 1, 2008

I'm very, very pleased to be cleared of any legal wrongdoing ... any hint of any kind of unethical activity there. Very pleased to be cleared of any of that.
Palin, after an Alaska legislative report found she had broken the state's ethics law and abused her power in the Troopergate scandal, Oct. 12, 2008

But ultimately what the bailout does is help those who are concerned about the healthcare reform that is needed to help shore up our economy.
Palin, explaining the $700 billion government bailout of Wall Street to Karie Couric, Sept. 24, 2008

I think God's will has to be done in unifying people and companies to get that gas line built, so pray for that.
Palin, on the $30 billion national gas pipeline project that she wanted built in the state, June 2008

Absolutely. Yup, yup.
Palin when asked if she was ready to be a heartbeat away from the presidency

And maybe Sarah IS ready to be a heartbeat away - for when it comes to messing with the English language, few in that office could come close to George W. Bush. So as we look into 2009 with hope for a better future, here's a few more Bushisms from 2008. Yes, it really WAS that bad.

I reminded the President that I am reminded of the great talent of the — of our Philippine-Americans when I eat dinner at the White House.
Bush when meeting with President Arroyo of the Philippines.

I'll be long gone before some smart person ever figures out what happened inside this Oval Office.
Bush, May 12, 2008

First of all, I don't see American having problems.
Bush in an interview with Bob Costas at the Beijing Olympics, Aug. 10, 2008.

And they have no disregard for human life
Bush, on the brutality of Afghan fighters, Washington, D.C., July 15, 2008

I remember meeting a mother of a child who was abducted by the North Koreans right here in the Oval Office.
Bush, Washington, D.C., June 26, 2008

Throughout our history, the words of the Declaration have inspired immigrants from around the world to set sail to our shores. These immigrants have helped transform 13 small colonies into a great and growing nation of more than 300 people.
Bush, Charlottesville, Va., July 4, 2008

We've got a lot of relations with countries in our neighborhood.
Bush, Kranj, Slovenia, June 10, 2008

There's no question this is a major human disaster that requires a strong response from the Chinese government, which is what they're providing, but it also responds a compassionate response from nations to whom -- that have got the blessings, good blessings of life, and that's us.
Bush, on relief efforts after a Chinese earthquake, Washington, D.C., June 6, 2008

Removing Saddam Hussein was the right decision early in my presidency, it is the right decision now, and it will be the right decision ever.
Bush, Washington, D.C., March 12, 2008

And so the fact that they purchased the machine meant somebody had to make the machine. And when somebody makes a machine, it means there's jobs at the machine-making place.
Bush, Mesa, Arizona, May 27, 2008

So long as I'm the president, my measure of success is victory -- and success.
Bush, on Iraq, Washington, D.C., April 17, 2008

Thank you, your Holiness. Awesome speech.
Bush, to Pope Benedict, Washington, D.C., April 15, 2008


And then finally, maybe this one wasn't a mistake, maybe after all this time George finally got it?

And so, General, I want to thank you for your service. And I appreciate the fact that you really snatched defeat out of the jaws of those who are trying to defeat us in Iraq.
Bush, to Army Gen. Ray Odierno, Washington, D.C., March 3, 2008

Oh Lordy

Yeah? So?

Bush's reaction when after saying that Iraq was where al Qaeda wanted to make a stand, a reporter points out that this was only AFTER the US invaded Iraq. Dec. 14, 2008

And More Palin

OK, we're confident that we're going to win on Tuesday, so from there, the first 100 days, how are we going to kick in the plan that will get this economy back on the right track and really shore up the strategies that we need over in Iraq and Iran to win these wars?

Sarah, discussing our "war" with Iran. Misspeaking? Or just thinking ahead?

More Palin

Sarah's doing her best to keep this blog alive with fresh material. Thanks Sarah!

COURIC: Have you ever been involved with any negotiations, for example, with the Russians?
PALIN: We have trade missions back and forth. We– we do– it’s very important when you consider even national security issues with Russia as Putin rears his head and comes into the air space of the United States of America, where– where do they go? It’s Alaska. It’s just right over the border. It is– from Alaska that we send those out to make sure that an eye is being kept on this very powerful nation, Russia, because they are right there. They are right next to– to our state.

When Straight Talk Wanders

I have a clear record of working with leaders in the hemisphere that are friends with us and standing up to those who are not. And that's judged on the basis of the importance of our relationship with Latin America and the entire region.
McCain response when asked if he would invite Spanish President Jose Rodriguez Louis Zapatero to the White House

Our economy, I think, is still -- the fundamentals of our economy are strong.
McCain's response to the economic crisis, Sept. 15, 2008

In the 21st century nations don't invade other nations.
McCain's response to Russia's military action against Georgia, Aug. 13, 2008. (John, tell us - what is the US doing in Iraq and Afghanistan again?)

I'm running for president of the United States, because I want to help with family values. And I think that family values are important, when we have two parent -- families that are of parents that are the traditional family.
McCain trying to prove he really can step in for George Bush in every way, July 27, 2008

We have a lot of work to do. It's a very hard struggle, particularly given the situation on the Iraq-Pakistan border.
McCain, July 21, 2008 (where did Americans rate in geographic knowledge again?)

I was concerned about a couple of steps that the Russian government took in the last several days. One was reducing the energy supplies to Czechoslovakia.
McCain concerned about Russia's reduction of supplies to a nation that no longer exists.

I would rather have a clean government than one where quote First Amendment rights are being respected, that has become corrupt. If I had my choice, I'd rather have the clean government.
No matter how many times I read this, I still don't know what he's trying to say - but I can tell it's not good news for the country.

Yeah, That's the Reason

Until . . . the news media is going to treat her with some level of respect and deference . . . it would be foolhardy to put her out into that kind of environment.
Rick Davis - McCain campaign manager on Palin's low press interview count.

Because, let's face it - if there's two things that all other politicians can count on from the press, it's respect and deference.

The Sarah Palin Experience

As the head of Alaska’s National Guard and as the mother of a soldier herself, Governor Palin understands what it takes to lead our nation and she understands the importance of supporting our troops.
McCain Campaign

As for that VP talk all the time, I'll tell you, I still can't answer that question until somebody answers for me what is it exactly that the VP does every day?
Palin before her nomination as Republican Veep candidate

[Palin] has Foreign Policy Experience Because Alaska is Close to Russia
Cindy McCain

Our national leaders are sending them out on a task from God.
Palin on her son's posting to Iraq

If it was good enough for the founding fathers, its good enough for me and I’ll fight in defense of our Pledge of Allegiance.
Palin on the phrase “Under God” in the Pledge of Allegiance (thankfully a number of media folk pointed out that the founding fathers had never heard of either the pledge of allegiance, let alone the addition of the phrase "under God" to it.)

I'm the mayor, I can do whatever I want until the courts tell me I can't.
Palin, to objections about the $50,000 she spent renovating the mayor's office without city council approval

Oil and coal? Of course, it's a fungible commodity and they don't flag, you know, the molecules, where it's going and where it's not. But in the sense of the Congress today, they know that there are very, very hungry domestic markets that need that oil first. So, I believe that what Congress is going to do, also, is not to allow the export bans to such a degree that it's Americans that get stuck to holding the bag without the energy source that is produced here, pumped here. It's got to flow into our domestic markets first.
Palin showing that experience of being Governor of energy-rich Alaska

The fact is that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have gotten too big and too expensive to the taxpayers.
Uh Sarah, those are PRIVATE companies, not government agencies.

I have not, and I think if you go back in history and if you ask that question of many vice presidents, they may have the same answer that I just gave you.
Nice try Sarah, but seems that EVERY vice president in the last 32 years had met a foreign head of state prior to taking office. But none of them were beauty contestants, so hey, you've got THAT on them.

And our congressional delegation, God bless 'em. They do a great job for us. Representative Don Young, especially God bless him, with transportation -- Alaska did so well under the very basic provisions of the transportation act that he wrote just a couple of years ago. We had a nice bump there. We're very, very fortunate to receive the largesse that Don Young was able to put together for Alaska.
It seems Sarah had a great appreciation for federal earmarks.

Wit and Wisdom of Chairman Helms

To rob the Negro of his reputation of thinking through a problem in his own fashion is about the same as trying to pretend that he doesn't have a natural instinct for rhythm and for singing and dancing.
Helms response in 1956 to criticism that a fictional black character in his newspaper column was offensive. (what, no reference to eating watermelon? Jesse was getting soft!)

The Negro cannot count forever on the kind of restraint that's thus far left him free to clog the streets, disrupt traffic, and interfere with other men's rights.

I shall always remember the shady streets, the quiet Sundays, the cotton wagons, the Fourth of July parades, the New Year's Eve firecrackers. I shall never forget the stream of school kids marching uptown to place flowers on the Courthouse Square monument on Confederate Memorial Day.
Helms, 1956, on life in his hometown of Monroe, NC. (ah, but don't we all have happy childhood memories of Confederate Memorial Day?)

The destruction of this country can be pinpointed in terms of its beginnings to the time that our political leadership turned to socialism. They didn't call it socialism, of course. It was given deceptive names and adorned with fancy slogans. We heard about New Deals, and Fair Deals and New Frontiers and the Great Society.
Helms editorial on WRAL-TV.

I have tried at every point to seek God's wisdom on the decisions I made, and I made it my business to speak up on behalf of the things God tells us are important to Him.
(That was one bad translation Helms was getting.)

I was with some Vietnamese recently, and some of them were smoking two cigarettes at the same time. That's the kind of customers we need!

Mr. Clinton better watch out if he comes down here. He'd better have a bodyguard.

Your tax dollars are being used to pay for grade school classes that teach our children that cannibalism, wife-swapping and the murder of infants and the elderly are acceptable behavior.
(finally, my tax dollars being well used!)

• It's their deliberate, disgusting, revolting conduct that is responsible for the disease.
• There is not one single case of AIDS in this country that cannot be traced in origin to sodomy."
• I've never heard once in this chamber anybody say to the homosexuals, 'stop what you're doing.' If they would stop what they're doing there would not be one additional case of AIDS in the United State.

A trio of Helms' insights on AIDS

What is really at stake is whether or not America will allow the cultural high ground in this nation to sink slowly into an abyss of slime to placate people who clearly seek or are willing to destroy the Judaic-Christian foundations of this republic.
Jesse Helms in 1990, on funding for the NEA

In the 18 years and 5 months I've been in the senate, none, none have been more capable than Dan Quayle.
Jesse shows off his skills at reading people

Democracy used to be a good thing, but now it has gotten into the wrong hands.

If God had wanted us to use the metric system, Jesus would have had 10 apostles.
Jesse shows off his analytical skills

There are more and more and more. But honestly I've lost my taste for the moron at this point and will leave it here.

An Oldie But a Badie From McCain

Do you know why Chelsea Clinton is so ugly? Because Janet Reno is her father.

John McCain at a 1998 Republican fundraiser

When Memory Fades - Embroider

I remember landing under sniper fire. There was supposed to be some kind of a greeting ceremony at the airport, but instead we just ran with our heads down to get into the vehicles to get to our base.

Hillary Clinton, on visiting Bosnia in 1996, a visit that cameras show was as peaceful as could be.