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The good and the bad...

web posted May 24, 2004

"Those who are wringing their hands and shouting so loudly for 'heads to roll' over [the Iraq prison abuse] seem to have conveniently overlooked the fact that someone's head has rolled -- that of another innocent American brutally murdered by terrorists. Why is it that there's more indignation over a photo of a prisoner with underwear on his head than over the video of a young American with no head at all?" -- Sen. Zell Miller

"Terrorists are attempting to acquire weapons of mass destruction. If they get them they will try to use them. Their brutal slaying of a single American with a knife is a demonstration of what they are eager and planning to do to millions of innocent Americans with such weapons." -- The Washington Times

"The ideology that Michael Moore uses and the vision that he's created of the country [is] we're all sort of doomed to a life of poverty and a lack of success." -- Mike Wilson, on his upcoming documentary film called Michael Moore Hates America

"If we want to save the whales, we call the Democrats. If we want to save the world, we call the Republicans." -- Tom Adkins

"Yes, this is a complicated struggle with many elements, but one thing it doesn't have, this struggle between us and them, is any kind of moral equivalence." -- Paul Greenberg

"The Marines fought hard in Fallujah and took a lot of very evil people out of the fight. That effort, and the associated loss of Marine lives, was not in vain... [However], we're reading that everyone back home is starting to lose faith in our efforts in Iraq. The last CBS poll put the numbers under 50 percent for the first time. I know that doesn't mean a loss in support for the troops, but supporting 'the troops' while not supporting the mission doesn't do much for us." -- Unnamed Marine Corps officer

"You would have thought that the discovery of an actual weapon of mass destruction in Iraq would be big news, especially since it was aimed at American soldiers. But apparently not in the eyes of most U.S. newspaper editors and network television producers, who chose largely to ignore one of the major stories coming out of Iraq this week." -- Linda Chavez

"In discrediting the war, the Democrats have pushed the idea that neither dangerous weapons nor terrorist networks existed in Saddam Hussein's Iraq. How do they explain that terrorists Hussein harbored are beheading American civilians and trying to kill American soldiers with poisons he spread?" -- George Neumayr

"To illustrate a fraction of the bias problem, we counted the number of prisoner-abuse stories on NBC's evening and morning news programs... from April 29, when the [Abu Ghraib] story emerged, through May 11. There were 58 morning and evening stories. Using the Nexis news-data retrieval system, we counted the number of stories on mass graves found in Iraq from the reign of Saddam Hussein in 2003 and 2004. The number of evening and morning news stories on those grim discoveries? Five." -- Media Research Center

"I think it's very useful for you folks (reporters) to try your damndest to be precise. And don't repeat things that are inaccurate if you can possibly avoid it. And when you see things that are inaccurate, knock them down -- because there's a bucket of it floating around." -- Donald Rumsfeld

"But I do wonder, did they [conservatives now going weak in the knees over Iraq] ever really think America could transform the Middle East with fewer than 750 American deaths? Did they really think the elites in the chattering classes would sit back passively and be proven wrong again by George Bush, just like they were proven wrong by Ronald Reagan in the Cold War? And did they really think America could bring freedom to the most tyrannical country in the world on the cheap? I hope not, because this war is not about saving American lives or Iraqi lives overseas. This war on terrorism is about saving American lives at home in this war on terror. We've got to win this war, liberate Iraq from terror, and make the Middle East and the world unsafe for terrorists wherever they may roam." -- Joe Scarborough

"The price of gas is up about 50 cents a gallon since George Bush took office. Already that translates to an extra $499 a year for the average American household." -- DNC Chairman Terry McAuliffe, willfully ignoring  John Kerry's attempts to raise the gas tax by 50 cents a gallon

"The Iraqis who have risen up against the occupation are not 'insurgents' or 'terrorists' or 'The Enemy,'... "They are the REVOLUTION, the Minutemen, and their numbers will grow -- and they will win." -- Michael Moore

"Congress is the third branch of government... which makes every one of the 535 members of Congress 1/535th of that important one-third, which works out to, hmmm, well, someone else can do the math. You wouldn't think such little wheels could make so much noise." -- Wesley Pruden

"But are we to credit... seriously the crackpot supposition that this was a war for oil, the price of which, since the war, has gone up? And why then did we not invade Venezuela? It's closer, and the food is better." -- Mark Helprin

"You say the average American can't regurgitate liberal talking points on command? Well, I'll be darned! And the public schools are trying so hard!" -- Ann Coulter on the latest Program on International Policy Attitudes poll showing Fox News watchers' "misconceptions" on the Iraq War

"I wonder who passed the Massachusetts law mandating that incumbents get their names listed first on the ballot? Why... it was the incumbents! Surprise, surprise." -- Paul Jacob

"Of course, I would support Bush over Kerry even if we weren't at war, because Bush is the more conservative candidate and I'm not on crack." -- Jonah Goldberg

"The Ohio Democrat Party has named raunchy former talk show host Jerry Springer as a delegate to the Democrat National Convention in Boston, the Associated Press reports. The party also named Springer 'Democrat of the Year.' Imagine how humiliating this was to the runner-up." -- James Taranto

"President Bush was in Little Rock Tuesday to hail the success of his No Child Left Behind policy in Arkansas. Bill Clinton would never have made a speech like that. People there are still debating how many children he left behind in Arkansas." -- Argus Hamilton

"They asked President Bush today why we didn't observe the Geneva Convention in Iraq and Bush said, 'That's easy, we weren't in Geneva.'" -- Jay Leno

web posted May 17, 2004

"Just because somebody has an interesting accent, a nice suit, and a good table at a New York restaurant doesn't make him a foreign leader." -- U.S. President George W. Bush on John Kerry's claim to have support from foreign leaders

"One of the Iraqi prisoners who was abused by U.S. reservists says he is so humiliated he can't return to his hometown. So, he wants to come live in the United States. Think about this for a minute. This Iraqi is abused by Americans. As a result of that abuse he wants to go live in America... We are one evil, horrible country, aren't we?" -- Neal Boortz

"It really gets me when the critics say I haven't done enough for the economy. I mean, look what I've done for the book publishing industry. You've heard some of the titles. 'Big Lies,' 'The Lies of George W. Bush,' 'The Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them.' I'd like to tell you I've read each of these books, but that'd be a lie." -- U.S. President George W. Bush

"John Kerry fell off his bicycle on Sunday in Massachusetts and put in for the Purple Knee." -- Argus Hamilton

"Al Gore announced Tuesday that he plans to launch a 24-hour cable news network for young adults. Gore claims he's been wanting to do this since he invented cable TV in the 1990s. -- Tina Fey

"Foreign policy experts now say this Iraq prison abuse scandal could be a real setback in relations between America and the Arab countries in the Middle East. And things were going so well." -- Jay Leno

"It's a grotesque and timely reminder of who our real enemies are. Ted Kennedy, take note." -- James Taranto, on the execution of Nicholas Berg

"Do you suppose there is a single prisoner being held by any of the countries in the President's listening audience in the Middle East who wouldn't eagerly switch places with a detainee in the custody of the American military? In their much-vaunted oversight role, Congress failed to detect almost every recent development, from al-Qa'ida's domestic threat to the crippling structural problems in our intelligence agencies, corrupt corporate accounting, and the vulnerabilities in our electricity grids. Little wonder that these all escaped Congress's notice when press releases are ignored by the public's watchdogs." -- Kate O'Beirne

"The fact is that there is now, we know well, a proliferation of nuclear weapons, and that many weapons that Saddam Hussein had, we don't know where they are. That means terrorists have access to all of that." -- Canadian PM Paul Martin

web posted May 10, 2004

"As long as judges tinker with the Constitution to 'do what the people want,' instead of what the document actually commands, politicians who pick and confirm new federal judges will naturally want only those who agree with them politically." --Justice Antonin Scalia

"[Rene] Gonzalez, a grad student and vehement opponent to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan...would do well to remember that he eats, sleeps, and writes, under the very blanket of freedom that soldiers like Pat Tillman provide." -- Sarah Longwell, Collegiate Network

"[Kerry] is intrinsically weak on defense and national sovereignty, especially on foreign policy and environmental matters, anemic on traditional values and passionately in favor of redistributing wealth -- except for his own." -- David Limbaugh

"After all that's been in the press this past week, The Poodle still hasn't told the truth about what happened to his Vietnam war medals... 33 years, several different stories. Which one do you believe? And what else is he lying about? We have six months to find out." -- Neal Boortz

"Today the Taliban dictatorship is gone and Afghanistan's 12 million women are free of its cruel fanaticism. For that they can thank the US military and its commander-in-chief -- the same commander-in-chief so stridently denounced on the Mall last week as an enemy of women." -- Jeff Jacoby

"The last thing I want to say is that I’m a victim, but I am. I believe it’s a trickle down from Bush." -- Courtney Love in an interview with Rolling Stone explaining why she is facing felony drug charges, why she could lose custody of her daughter, and why she is reportedly broke

"When it comes to politicians, you may think you've seen 'em come and you've seen 'em go, but Bill Clinton refuses to go. And now, just in time for the Democrat national convention in July, he's coming out with a book and all the attendant foofaraw. Once again he'll have a half-nelson on the American consciousness. John Kerry won't stand a chance. Can't you see the caption under their picture when they pose together at the Democrat convention? ('Former President Bill Clinton with unidentified man.')" -- Paul Greenberg

"How many times can a flip-flop flip before a flip-flop becomes a flop?" -- Steve Schmidt, of Campaign Bush

"This guy [Kerry] changes his mind so much and so fast he must bump into himself when he turns a corner." -- Alan Cauba

"I don't know if it's a stream of consciousness or stream of unconsciousness." -- Democratic political operative John Weaver on Kerry's public speech utterings and mutterings

"First and foremost, the purpose of a business is not to provide jobs, but rather to produce goods and services. If the purpose of a company were to create jobs, then I would form the Wolfram Canal Digging Company, hire thousands of people, give them spoons, and dig a canal across the state of Michigan." -- Dr. Gary L. Wolfram

"Teresa Heinz, the wife of Senator John Kerry, is on the cover of 'Newsweek- magazine this week. In fact John Kerry said he first noticed her when she was on the cover of another magazine, 'Fortune'." -- Jay Leno

"The Concord Coalition in Virginia complained about pork projects and wasteful spending in the federal budget. Consider the Senate chaplain's salary. As occupations go, only mind readers in Los Angeles have fewer things to do all day." -- Argus Hamilton

web posted May 3, 2004

"The problem with the idea of a liberal talk radio network is that they believe there is a conservative talk radio network. They think there is some conspiracy by conservatives to dominate the airwaves, when in all reality it comes down to serving the market and giving people what they want." -- Neal Boortz

"If 5,000 Iraqi children were dying every month under Saddam, and we have now been in Iraq one year, it means that 60,000 children have been saved. That's a number worth remembering." -- Helle Dale

"Arlen Specter is the man who voted in favor of Bill Clinton during impeachment, voted against Robert Bork for the Supreme Court, voted against school choice for the District of Columbia, endorses an absolutist interpretation of abortion rights. He is bright and he is tough and he belongs elsewhere." -- William F. Buckley, Jr.

"I asked Lieutenant David Dobb, who sustained injuries to his hand, why so many of these young men decided to stick it out even though they'd been hurt. 'This is what these Marines signed up to do...and we're going to see this mission through until the job's done the way it is supposed to be done'." -- Oliver North

"Though the [Kerry] campaign released more than 120 pages of Navy records...Mr. Kerry still refused to release medical records that more thoroughly describe the injuries. Among the records that the campaign will not release is any explanation for the injuries that led to Mr. Kerry's first Purple Heart, less than a month after going into combat." -- The Washington Times

"Eternal vigilance is only part of the price of freedom. The maturity to live with imperfections is another crucial part of the price of freedom." -- Thomas Sowell

"[T]he AP reports Kerry may own a 'gas-guzzling SUV' -- depending on what the meaning of own is: 'Kerry thought for a second when asked whether his wife, Teresa Heinz Kerry, had a Suburban at their Ketchum, Idaho home. Kerry said he owns and drives a Dodge 600 and recently bought a Chrysler 300M. He said his wife owns the Chevrolet SUV. 'The family has it. I don't have it,' he said. Kerry also 'said it's important for his family to buy American cars.' But that Chrysler 300M of his turns out to be made in Canada." -- James Taranto

"The nation waits with bated breath to see if, this term, the court will strike 'under God' from the Pledge of Allegiance. Liberals are so desperate for this to happen that some of them are actually praying for it." -- Ann Coulter

"[Bill Clinton's] book's title hasn't been leaked yet, but this I can tell you: If it accurately reflects Bill Clinton's favorite topic, consuming interest and political career in general, it'll be called 'Me.' " -- Paul Greenberg

"I just want to make sure Senator Kerry understands that just because you go into an International House of Pancakes does not mean you are meeting with foreign leaders -- unless of course you are referring to their Belgian waffles, stuffed French toast or German pancakes. But at least he would feel comfortable, since IHOP flips pancakes as often as he flips on issues." -- Rep Mario Diaz-Balart

"The decision [to create a theme park called "EuroWorld"] was made by the EU countries in response to their collective realization that no one in Europe has had an innovative idea in well over a century." -- Jonah Goldberg

"Heinz executives were reported Tuesday to have donated to President Bush and given nothing to Teresa Heinz Kerry's husband. Everyone is surprised that Heinz doesn't support John Kerry. He has fifty-seven varieties of positions on every issue." -- Argus Hamilton

"As we mark the one-year anniversary of the beginning of Operation Iraqi Freedom, it is useful to recount why we have fought. ... Americans do not come easily to war, but neither do Americans take freedom lightly. But when freedom and self-government have taken root in Iraq, and that country becomes a force for good in the Middle East, the rightness of those efforts will be just as clear as it is today in Korea, Germany, Japan and Italy. ... Today, as we think about the tens of thousands of United States soldiers in Iraq -- and in Afghanistan and elsewhere around the world fighting the global war on terrorism -- we should say to all of them: 'You join a long line of generations of Americans who have fought freedom's fight. Thank you'." -- U.S. Secretary of Defense, Donald Rumsfeld

"[D]rawing up 'secret war plans' for a possible attack on Iraq wasn't irrational. The low-level war against Saddam was 12 years old, with no end in sight. American and British pilots were getting shot at, sanctions weren't working, and Bush was getting warnings that Saddam had all those terrible weapons and would use them against America. Bush would have been a fool not to draw up plans. Gee, wait till the critics find out that FDR, without ever informing the media, was plotting to fight Japan and Germany before Pearl Harbor." -- John Leo

"Is it just me, or does this weaponry arriving [to Jordan] via Syria -- explosives, detonators and poison gas -- sound like those fabled weapons of mass destruction? ...Former Iraq Survey Group chief David Kay named Syria as a likely repository for Iraq's missing WMD. 'We know from some of the interrogations of former Iraqi officials that a lot of material went to Syria before the war, including some components of Saddam's WMD programs,' Kay told the London Telegraph in January. I wonder: Did these al-Qa'ida chemical bombs come from Syrian 'components' of Iraq's WMD programs?" -- Diana West

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