Lingua publica
The
good and the bad...presented with permission from The Patriot E-Journal
web posted November 12, 2007
"No [I don't agree with giving drivers' licenses to illegals]. What I have said is that I support what governors are trying to do. And governors are on the front lines because of the failures to get comprehensive immigration reform." —Hillary Rodham Clinton, who first supported, then didn't support, and then supported this same proposal
"We have put together a documented portfolio that frankly puts their lies in such a total light of absurdity and indecency, that should they ever rear their ugly heads again, we have every single ‘t' crossed and ‘i' dotted... It's a shame we weren't able to produce all that [in 2004]." —John Kerry preparing for the Swift Boat Vets in cases he runs for President again
"Despite her muddled comments [last] week, there's no doubt where Mrs. Clinton stands on ballot integrity. She opposes photo ID laws, even though they enjoy over 80% support in the polls. She has also introduced a bill to force every state to offer no-excuse absentee voting as well as Election Day registration—easy avenues for election chicanery. The bill requires that every state restore voting rights to all criminals who have completed their prison terms, parole or probation." —John Fund
"Senator Clinton is determined not to tell us where she stands on anything. Instead, she has come to believe, probably correctly, that if we knew what she really wants to do as president, we would never vote for her." —Dick Morris
"For today's Democrats, resistance to unilateral presidential war-making reflects not principled constitutionalism but petulance about the current president. Democrats were supine when President Bill Clinton launched a sustained air war against Serbia without congressional authorization. Instead, he cited NATO's authorization as though that were an adequate substitute for the collective judgment that the Constitution mandates." —George Will
"Contemporary politics is all about phony energy, about running around slamming doors for the sake of it—or, more to the point, opening them and tossing through a huge sack of taxpayer dollars." —Mark Steyn
"Washington needs to get out of education altogether. Congressional meddling is unconstitutional: You won't find ‘education' or ‘schooling' anywhere in the federal government's enumerated powers." —Neal McCluskey
"Ron Paul's extraordinary fundraising success is a clear sign that there is a yearning by the Republican grassroots for the party to return to its historic small-government roots. Paul's message of limited government, free markets and peace obviously has touched a chord. Perhaps the other candidates and the big-government conservatives in Washington should take notice." —Michael Tanner
"I had a dream that before I died I would see a woman as President of the United States. I think you are the woman and I think this is the time." —ABC's Carole Simpson to Hillary Clinton
"When [Hillary] Clinton was asked why she wouldn't release her White House records from the time she was First Lady, her answer was, ‘Well, that's not my decision to make.' Baloney, whose decision is it, the Easter Bunny's? Come on." —CNN's Jack Cafferty
"The notion that there's stuff that's being restricted potentially opens the door to asking questions about, well, the travel office where the independent counsel said she had been factually false. How did her brothers get pardons for two felons after being paid hundreds of thousands of dollars? How did she raise $100,000 trading cattle futures? This stuff hasn't come up in the campaign, but you could almost hear the opponents beginning to chomp at the bit, waiting to ask, ‘What is she hiding?"' —CBS political correspondent Jeff Greenfield
"The beauty of our system isn't that we have the right to vote. No, the nice thing is that people who are too dumb or lazy or uninformed to bother casting a ballot aren't compelled to vote." —Burt Prelutsky
"The surgeon general really needs to slap a health warning on The New York Times. My blood pressure increases a few points every time I read it." —Michelle Malkin
"At the recent Democratic debate in Philadelphia, [Hillary] was asked whether she supports New York Gov. Elliot Spitzer's plan to give illegal immigrants driver's licenses. Her response can be summarized as: ‘Yes, no, maybe, sorta, kinda; Hey, look over there!" —Jonah Goldberg
"[Hillary Clinton's] great advantage in the Democratic field is that she is the only one of the top candidates who comes across as a grown-up. Barack Obama seems like a bright young man who may do great things when he grows up. John Edwards is Peter Pan, Esq." —James Taranto
"My concerns began with Judge Mukasey’s answers to our questions about waterboarding. Waterboarding is a barbaric practice in which water is poured down the mouth and nose of a detainee, to simulate drowning. It’s an ancient technique of tyrants. The prisoner is bound to an inclined board, feet raised and head slightly below the feet. Cellophane is wrapped over the prisoner’s face and water is poured over him. Unavoidably, the gag reflex kicks in, and a terrifying fear of drowning leads to an almost instant plea to bring the treatment to a halt. If it goes wrong, it can lead straight to terminal hypoxia. When done right, it is controlled death." -- Ted Kennedy, an expert on water based death
web posted November 5, 2007
"Perpetual adolescence is not just a cultural drag, but also dangerous to our way of life... The leveling of adult authority over the past half century or so was accompanied by a leveling of cultural authority. This brought on the age of multiculturalism, a time when Western Civ (like the adult) no longer occupies its old pinnacle atop the hierarchy of cultures. The multiculti conception of equally valuable cultures (except for the West, which is deemed the pits) depends on a strenuous non-judgmentalism. This non-judgmentalism expresses itself in a self-censoring adherence to political correctness. Such non-judgmentalism, such PC self-censorship, is infantilizing because it requires us to suppress our faculties of analysis and judgment." -- Diana West
"If there is one idea that Democrats and Republicans, conservatives and liberals, share on how to fight the war on terror, it is that we need to reach out to and win the hearts and minds of the moderate, modern, peaceable, more secularist Muslims and empower them to defeat by both persuasion and other methods the radical, violent fundamentalists in their religion. That would be a very, very good idea. But consider the Turkish experience in the past six years. The Turks are the moderate, modern, peaceable, more secularist Muslims. Moreover our countries have been close allies for a half-century. And Turkey has had extensive friendly commercial relations with Israel. They are Turks, not Arabs, and are therefore less susceptible to the emotional plight of the West Bank Arabs under Israeli occupation. And yet we have lost the Turks almost as badly as we have lost the angriest fundamentalist Arab Muslims. If we can't keep a fair share of their friendly attitude, how do we expect to win the much vaunted and awaited hearts and minds campaign?" -- Tony Blankley
"College liberals are in a fit of pique because various speakers are coming to their campuses this week as part of David Horowitz's Islamo-Fascism Awareness Week -- not to be confused with Islamo-Fascism Appreciation Week, which I believe is in April. Apparently liberals support Islamo-fascism... Liberals claim to be terrified that the Religious Right is going to take over the culture in a country where more than a million babies are exterminated every year, kindergarteners can be expelled from school for mentioning God, and Islamic fascists are welcomed on college campuses while speakers opposed to Islamic fascism are met with angry protests. If liberals want to face real fascism, try showing up on a college campus and denouncing fascism." -- Ann Coulter
"So what is the best thing America could do ‘for the children'? Well, it could try not to make the same mistake as most of the rest of the Western world and avoid bequeathing the next generation a system of unsustainable entitlements that turns the entire nation into a giant Ponzi scheme... And so in a democratic system today's electors vote to keep the government gravy coming and leave it to tomorrow for ‘the children' to worry about. That's the real ‘war on children' -- and every time you add a new entitlement to the budget you make it less and less likely they'll win it." -- Mark Steyn
"If you think American politics have gotten nastier, crueler and more symbolic over the last 20 years, blame Ted Kennedy. This month marks the 20th anniversary of the borking of Judge Robert Bork, Ronald Reagan's failed Supreme Court nominee. And it was Ted Kennedy's bilious bugle blast that brought the man down... In Ted Kennedy's America, it's blow for blow and eye for eye now, and everyone is blind to how we got here." -- Jonah Goldberg
"We're going to make it clear there are no invisible people [for tax purposes] in America." -- Hillary Clinton
"More than unworkable, liberal ideas are preposterous, impossible -- refuted by logic and human experience. That liberals continue to believe the impossible is due to their peculiar mental makeup. Liberals believe what they want to believe, the overwhelming weight of evidence notwithstanding. Once a liberal stops clinging to certain illusions central to his worldview, he stops being a liberal." -- Don Feder
"The liberal interpretation of history holds that the United States is not merely a flawed country -- all countries are flawed -- but a deeply flawed one. It was founded by statesmen who subscribed to a deeply flawed philosophy; statesmen who believed that all men are created equal, and that all men are entitled to life, liberty, and the fruits of their industry... The shapers of America's philosophy of freedom were corrupt; therefore the philosophy they espoused was also corrupt." -- Michael Knox Beran
"Notice that neither Mr. Gore nor his environmentalist friends who are so worried about saving the trees have arrived on the fire lines with even a thimbleful of water to douse the flames. Instead they stand far off, tut-tutting about the horror of it all, blaming global warming, President Bush and the Iraq war for a tragedy to which they so abundantly contributed." -- Michael Reagan
"Many elected to office are agenda and ideologically driven, simply engaged in the pursuit of power. To these people, the truth is a ‘good thing' when it aids their cause and something to be spun or ignored when it stands to detract from their agendas." -- Frank Salvato
"Republicans have 4 1/2 good presidential candidates. All five would make fine Cabinet members: Romney at Treasury, Thompson at Justice, McCain at Defense, Giuliani at Homeland Security, Huckabee at Interior. All the team needs now is to pick a captain who can beat Hillary." -- Charles Krauthammer
"Just in time for Halloween comes House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Charles Rangel -- henceforth known as Count Rangula -- with a bill that would suck more blood from the American taxpayers. Like Dracula the vampire, Count Rangula is cagey about his intentions, luring his victims (us) with promises of ‘reforming' the tax code." -- Cal Thomas
"Presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich says that he once had an encounter with a UFO. Apparently, several weird looking, little men got off the ship, saw Kucinich, and said, ‘It's alright. He's one of us'." -- Conan O'Brien
"You might think nobody could make politics of a tragic fire, but if you think that you would be wrong. Not only is the personal political, so is the fiery impersonal...It's not quite clear how fire can be credibly blamed on George W. Bush, but some people are working on it." -- Wesley Pruden
"Comedians all support Hillary. The idea of Bill Clinton being in the White House for eight years with nothing to do in the afternoon is the closest thing there is to the chemical formula for comedy." -- Argus Hamilton
"The president of France, Nicolas Sarkozy, and his wife have gotten a divorce. Apparently, there were rumors of infidelity and lack of trust. To which Bill and Hillary said, ‘Well, that's no reason to get divorced'." -- Jay Leno
web posted October 29, 2007
"Not everything you may care about is in the Constitution. It is a legal document that had compromises in it. What it says it says; what it doesn't say it doesn't say." -- Justice Antonin Scalia
"Our sovereignty is the foundation for our freedom. Sovereignty should rest strictly with the American people. We cannot allow a foreign country or an international organization to make decisions that should be our own exclusive province, based on our own national interests." -- Sen. John Cornyn
"Our republican form of government requires lawmakers who carefully consider the consequences of every law they pass and every treaty they approve." -- Ed Feulner
"Bad ideas don't die. Nor do they fade away. They just translate themselves into different forms, in different places, in different times." -- Matthew Continetti
"Political competition is the lifeblood of American politics. The ability to vote out incumbents has proved to be far more effective than selectively enforced ‘ethics' rules." -- John Fund
"While I'm crying inside and my heart's breaking, my chest is puffed out and I'm saying, my son, this is what he did and I hope the country appreciates it and realizes it." -- Dan Murphy, father of Medal of Honor recipient Navy SEAL Lt. Michael Murphy, KIA in Afghanistan
"[O]n the trail, Hillary comes across more as a pile of diligently digested data than a joyful flesh-and-blood creature." -- The New York Times' Maureen Dowd
"You may not like it. You may want parents to go in and take care of their own children and make sure that they're not sexually active that young, but it's happening. It's happening." -- ABC's Diane Sawyer defending the use of birth control by middle-school age children
"I sure don't want Democrats or the supporters of Democrats to be engaging in the politics of personal destruction. I think we should stay focused on what we're going to do for America." -- Hillary Clinton
"Sons respect and admire their fathers, but they love their mothers against cheating g**d*** husbands... I'm sorry this d***ed thing turned out so early because, really... it would have bombed his a** out'." -- Hillary Clinton booster Rep. Charlie Rangel, not on Bill Clinton, but Rudy Giuliani
"In explaining any puzzling Washington phenomenon, always choose stupidity over conspiracy, incompetence over cunning. Anything else gives them too much credit." -- Charles Krauthammer
"Hillary tried to get a million dollars for the Woodstock museum. I understand it was a major cultural and pharmaceutical event. I couldn't attend. I was tied up at the time." -- John McCain
"Now, let's see if I understand this. In Chinatown, people who live in tenements are giving $1,000 and $2,000 in campaign contributions to Mrs. Clinton, but they can't afford healthcare. Is that not just cute?" -- Rush Limbaugh
"The Gallup Poll indicates that the presidential race is still up for grabs. The voters sound a bit disgruntled. In a match-up of the two most likely nominees, She's No Bill Clinton has a three point lead over He's No Ronald Reagan." -- Argus Hamilton
"Adults should take a course in common sense before they upset more kids' lives over things like a hug or a silly game." -- John Stossel
"What a terrific audience we have. We have 500 people here tonight. We have straight people, we have gay people, we have white people, we have black people. It's like a Dick Cheney family reunion. ... Dick Cheney and Barack Obama are eighth cousins. Isn't that amazing? Even more amazing: Dick Cheney, Darth Vader -- second cousins. ... Lynne Cheney says that Obama and Cheney's connection was the result of one of Obama's ancestors marrying one of Cheney's ancestors in 1650. You know who introduced them in 1650? Bob Dole." -- Jay Leno