Perrspectives - Bringing light to Darkness

Today's Mantra

April 10, 2020

Here's a set of quips, quotes, comments and critiques to keep in mind while fighting the power (i.e. the GOP, the conservative threat, forces of darkness, right-wing agents of Satan - that kind of power). Use the Feedback Form to submit your own mantra of the day.

(For a complete listing of the verbal incontinence of George W. Bush, visit Jacob Weisberg's "Complete Bushisms") over at Slate.

"If I may say, if this is going to be bipartisanship, the country's screwed." Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC), February 15, 2009.

"I think there are a lot of people in the Republican caucus who are glad to see this action taken without their fingerprints, without their participation." Senator Arlen Specter (R-PA), on the Obama stimulus bill, February 13, 2009.

"You have absolutely no reason, none, to trust our word or our actions at this point." Michael Steele, Republican National Committee chairman, February 13, 2009.

"This is the bill that the Republican Party will be running against in 2010 and 2012 and 2014." Grover Norquist, February 13, 2009.

"I may have embarrassed myself but hopefully not him." Senator Judd Gregg, on withdrawing as President Obama's choice for Commerce Secretary, February 12, 2009.

"When (President Franklin) Roosevelt did this, he put our country into a Great Depression. He tried to borrow and spend, he tried to use the Keynesian approach, and our country ended up in a Great Depression. That’s just history." Rep. Steve Austria (R-OH), February 11, 2009.

"It's the wussy Republicans."  GOP consultant Alex Castellanos, describing Republicans supporting President Obama's stimulus bill, February 6, 2009.

"He was the victim of a serious miscarriage of justice, and I strongly believe that he deserved a presidential pardon. Obviously, I disagree with President Bush’s decision." Dick Cheney, on Scooter Libby, January 22, 2009.

"We have spent hundreds of millions of dollars to build a facility that has more comforts than a lot of Americans get." John Boehner (R-OH), on Gitmo, January 22, 2009.

"The last thing he said as he was getting off the plane - he kissed me on the forehead - and he said, 'Just stay strong.'" Alberto Gonzales, on George W. Bush, January 21, 2009.

"When I go home tonight and I look into the mirror, I’m not going to regret what I see." George W. Bush, January 20, 2009.

"I just have you talk to the hand when it comes to pardons."  Dana Perino, January 15, 2009.

 "I think so." Dick Cheney, asked if 4500 Americans killed in Iraq was worth it, January 14, 2009.

"It allowed everybody to believe that this Sarah Palin–like president—because, let’s face it, that’s what he was - was going to be protected by this national- security elite, tested in the cauldrons of fire." Col. Lawrence Wilkerson, aide to Colin Powell, on George W. Bush's nationals security team in 2001, reported December 30, 2008.

"Politically, it was the final nail in the coffin." Dan Bartlett, former White House communications director, on Bush's handling of Hurricane Katrina, reported December 30, 2008.

"Katrina to me was the tipping point. The president broke his bond with the public. Once that bond was broken, he no longer had the capacity to talk to the American public."  Matthew Dowd, Bush's pollster and chief strategist for the 2004 presidential campaign, reported December 30, 2008.

"In 100 years people aren’t going to remember Guantánamo or Abu Ghraib, they’re going to remember 9/11 and Bush’s reaction to it."  John Bolton, former Bush ambassador to the UN, December 29, 2008.

"I don't have any idea. I don't follow the polls."  Dick Cheney, asked to explain his unpopularity, December 28, 2008.

"Well, I know it's not. And so I don't really feel like I need to respond to people that view it that way."  Laura Bush, December 29, 2008.

"Generations pretty soon are going to start to thank this president for what he's done. This generation will."  Condi Rice, December 28, 2008.

"I'm sure that there are some that deserve an A-plus and some that deserve a lot less." Condoleezza Rice, grading the Bush record on foreign policy, December 28, 2008.

"I absolutely am so proud that we liberated Iraq...as a political scientist."  Condi Rice, December 18, 2008.

"I think that that’s been debunked."  Press Secretary Dana Perino, on British charges in Downing Street memo that the facts of Iraq intelligence would be fixed around the politics, December 4, 2008.

"I would do the same thing over again because I don’t think I hurt Valerie Plame whatsoever." Robert Novak, whose outing of covert CIA operative Valerie Plame ended her career, December 1, 2008.

"We've won the war." William Kristol, December 2, 2008.

"Yeah, that's right. So what?"  President Bush, acknowledging Al Qaeda was not a threat in Iraq prior to the invasion,  December 15, 2008.

"So?"  Vice President Cheney, on Americans' disapproval for the Iraq war, March 19, 2008.

"My friend, if you think we’re going to spend a billion dollars of our money over there, you are sadly mistaken."  Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, to General Jay Garner, administrator for Iraq Office of Reconstruction and Humanitarian Assistance, March 2003.

"It is regrettable that they had to die, but I believe they did have to die." Frank Gaffney, on U.S. casualties in Iraq, December 16, 2008.

"I mean, no one could have anticipated that kind of attack- or very few people."  White House spokesman Tony Fratto, on 9/11 attacks using airplanes, December 17, 2008.

"History though is going to be kind to him at the end. I'm absolutely confident of that."  Karl Rove, on President Bush, December 27, 2008.

"We did it in a manner that I believe and the lawyers that we looked to for advice believed was fully consistent with the Constitution and with the laws of the land."  Dick Cheney, on President Bush's exercise of wartime power, December 22, 2008.

"General proposition, I'd say yes."  Vice President Cheney, asked "If the president during war decides to do something to protect the country, is it legal?" on December 22, 2008.

"I feel very good about what we did. I think it was the right thing to do. If I was faced with those circumstances again I'd do exactly the same thing."  Vice President Cheney, December 18, 2008.

"Was it torture? I don't believe it was torture."  Vice President Cheney, December 18, 2008.

"I think it would have been unethical or immoral for us not to do everything we could in order to protect the nation against further attacks like what happened on 9/11."   Vice President Cheney, December 18, 2008.

"I think Guantanamo has been very well run."  Vice President Cheney, December 15, 2008.

"So I think detaining people, removing them from the stream of battle by the collective wisdom of mankind, has been a humanitarian act in terms of war circumstances." Former Attorney General John Ashcroft, December 12, 2008.

"Once they get here and they're faced with the same problems we deal with every day, then they will appreciate some of the things we've put in place."  Vice President Cheney, on the incoming Obama administration, December 15, 2008.

"I don't want it to be -- you know, kind of a real emotional goodbye. If I give it, it's going to be trying to leave behind some lessons learned." President Bush, on the prospect of giving a farewell speech, December 19, 2008.

"I am the very last President not to really have to worry about YouTube."  President Bush, December 19, 2008.

"I didn't compromise my soul to be a popular guy." President Bush, December 17, 2008.

"I would like to be a person remembered as a person who, first and foremost, did not sell his soul in order to accommodate the political process."  President Bush, November 20, 2008.

"So I analyzed that and decided I didn't want to be the President during a depression greater than the Great Depression, or the beginning of a depression greater than the Great Depression." President Bush, on Wall Street bailout, December 18, 2008.

"I've abandoned free market principles to save the free market system."  President Bush, December 16, 2008.

"If we don't do this, we will be known as the party of Herbert Hoover forever." Vice President Cheney, on auto bailout, December 12, 2008.

"One thing I'd sure not want to have on my record is I'm known as George Herbert Hoover Bush."  Senator George Voinovich (R-OH), December 12, 2008.

"You know, I'm the President during this period of time, but I think when the history of this period is written, people will realize a lot of the decisions that were made on Wall Street took place over a decade or so, before I arrived in President, during I arrived in President."  President Bush, December 1, 2008.

"I'm sorry it's happening, of course."  President Bush, on the recession, December 1, 2008.

"How did we get here?" President Bush, on the economic crisis, September 18, 2008.

"I never said the Taliban was eliminated."  President Bush, December 15, 2008.

"As a result of the United States military, Taliban no longer is in existence. And the people of Afghanistan are now free."  President Bush, September 27, 2008.

"It is true, as I have said many times, that Saddam Hussein was not connected to the 9/11 attacks. But the decision to remove Saddam from power cannot be viewed in isolation from 9/11."  President Bush, December 5, 2008.

"I think I was unprepared for war." President Bush, December 1, 2008.

"Absolutely. Absolutely, no question in my mind...this really, really good person got chucked out there and, man, the lions tore her up."  President Bush, asked if Harriet Miers would have been an "excellent" Supreme Court justice, December 8, 2008.

"It's not a clean-cut division." EPA administrator Stephen Johnson, on religion versus science, December 7, 2008.

"Well, the economy’s in the present state because when the Democrats took the House and Senate in 2006, you knew that those tax increases were going to come in 2010." Grover Norquist, November 25, 2008.

"It was his campaign. Nothing ever happened that he didn't want to happen." Campaign chairman Rick Davis on John McCain, November 14, 2008.

"Do you want to end up like [President] Bush?" French President Nicolas Sarkozy to Vladimir Putin, August 12, 2008.

"I don't think I'd define it that way." Governor Mark Sanford (R-SC), asked if Sarah Palin is the future of the Republican Party, November 13, 2008.

"I think just throwing out a symbol or an icon is not enough."  Governor Tim Pawlenty (R-MN), on John McCain's use of "Joe the Plumber," November 13, 2008.

"I say God bless George W. Bush." Sarah Palin, November 13, 2008.

"God bless Barack Obama and his beautiful family." Sarah Palin, November 5, 2008.

"Wasilla hillbillies looting Neiman Marcus from coast to coast." Anonymous John McCain aide, November 5, 2008.

"The American people have spoken, and they have spoken clearly." John McCain, conceding defeat, November 4, 2008.

"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 Palin, October 31, 2008.

"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." Sarah Palin, October 16, 2008.

"I love to bash the media all the time." John McCain, October 2, 2008.

"I do not complain about the media." John McCain, October 1, 2008.

"You are interviewing the greatest free trader you will ever interview, and the greatest deregulator you will ever interview." John McCain, May 29, 2007.

"The fact is, it was the wrong thing to do, and it will be on my tombstone and deservedly so." John McCain, on his Keating 5 role and the savings and loan scandal, December 12, 1999.

"The fundamentals of our economy are strong." John McCain, September 15, 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." Sarah Palin, June 8, 2008.

"However, in flight school in Pensacola, he did drive a Corvette and date a girl who worked in a bar as an exotic dancer under the name of Marie, the Flame of Florida."  Fred Thompson, on John McCain, September 2, 2008.

"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?" Governor Sarah Palin, McCain VP choice, August 1, 2008

"I don’t see America having problems." President Bush, August 10, 2008.

"I don’t think our campaign is negative in the slightest." John McCain, August 1, 2008.

"We need to drill more, drill now, and pay less at the pump." John McCain, August 1, 2008.

"There is some indication, and I don’t have the conclusions, but some of this anthrax may - and I emphasize may - have come from Iraq." John McCain, October 18, 2001.

"What is it about George W. Bush that makes you want to serve him?" Monica Goodling, interview question for DOJ applicants, reported July 29, 2008.

"The disappointment doesn’t necessarily go to the attorney general." Dana Perino, on President Bush's reaction to the DOJ report on illegal discrimination in hiring by Alberto Gonzales' aide Monica Goodling, July 30, 2008.

"What's interesting, however, is that people are plenty wise about how to conserve. You're making the choices about whether you want to drive a little extra more or not drive extra more." President Bush, July 29, 2008.

"F**king stupid."  David Kilcullen, aide to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, on the decision to invade Iraq, July 28, 2008.

"I've met too many times with him. And I know what they want." John McCain, rejecting Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's call for a U.S. timetable for withdrawal from Iraq, July 21, 2008.

"I said we would have an easy victory. We did."  John McCain, on the war in Iraq, July 28, 2008.

"No regime should ignore the will of its own people and calls from the international community without consequences." President Bush, on the Mugabe regime in Zimbabwe, July 25, 2008.

"There is nothing that’s off the table." John McCain, on the possibility of raising payroll taxes for Social Security, July 28, 2008.

"No new taxes."  John McCain, February 17, 2008.

"There's no question about it. Wall Street got drunk ---that's one of the reasons I asked you to turn off the TV cameras -- it got drunk and now it's got a hangover." President Bush, reported July 22, 2008.

"If they were to say, leave, we would leave."  President Bush, on a U.S. withdrawal from Iraq, May 24, 2007.

"I know how to win wars." John McCain, July 15, 2008.

"Keep up the fight." AP DC bureau chief Ron Fournier to Karl Rove, on the Pat Tillman friendly fire episode, 2004.

"I regret the breezy nature of the correspondence." AP DC bureau chief Ron Fournier regarding his 2004 email to Karl Rove on the Pat Tillman friendly fire episode, July 14, 2008.

"I'm drawing a blank." South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford, asked if there "significant economic differences" between John McCain and President Bush, July 13, 2008.

"Goodbye from the world's biggest polluter."  President Bush, to the assembled leaders of the G8, July 10, 2008.

"Amigo, amigo!" President Bush, greeting Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi in Spanish, July 10, 2008.

"You've heard of mental depression; this is a mental recession...We have sort of become a nation of whiners." Phil Gramm, McCain adviser and UBS vice chairman, July 9, 2008.

"I would imagine we are." John McCain, asked if the nation is in recession, July 8, 2008.

"I want Democrats to be back in the majority in Washington and elect a Democratic president in 2008. This man and his supporters will frustrate and defeat our hopes of doing that." Joe Lieberman, current McCain backer on his 2006 opponent Ned Lamont, July 6, 2006.

"I am proud of the decision of this administration to overthrow Saddam Hussein." Condoleezza Rice, July 3, 2008.

"It never would have happened in the Republican party. Republicans are much more open to strong women." Bill Kristol, on the claim that Hillary Clinton was the victim of sexism during the Democratic primaries, June 29, 2008.

"John Kerry with a tan." Grover Norquist, on Barack Obama, June 27, 2008.

"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." President Bush, to Philippine President Arroyo, June 24, 2008.

"It was special treatment." Scott McClellan, on President Bush's commutation of Scooter Libby's sentence, June 20, 2008.

"Everybody hates George Bush." Rep. Pete Sessions (R-TX), reported May 25, 2008.

"It's not a timetable; it's victory. It's victory, which I have always predicted. I'm not putting a date on it. It could be next month, it could be next year, it could be three years from now." John McCain, on the U.S. leaving Iraq, May 15, 2008.

"I would hope that we could bring them all home." John McCain, on U.S. troops in Iraq, January 2005.

"As soon as we can reduce our visibility as much as possible, the better I think it is going to be." John McCain, on the U.S. military presence in Iraq, January  2005.

"I'm afraid that the label occupation sticks to us even to this day, although the occupation ended in June of 2004." Paul Wolfowitz, April 28, 2008.

"It's nonsense, it's nonsense, it's nonsense, it's nonsense, its nonsense."  John McCain, on endorser Pastor John Hagee's comments about Hurricane Katrina being divine retribution for New Orleans' sins, April 24, 2008.

"Maybe I'm digging for the pony here." John McCain, on his upbeat assessment of the latest fighting in Iraq, April 15, 2008.

"It simply was an aircraft, residue of the aircraft and residue of the materials used to build this building." Rep. Darrel Issa (R-CA), on his refusal to support federal funds for World Trade Center rescue workers in New York, April 1, 2008.

"I must say, I'm a little envious." President Bush, to U.S. personnel in Afghanistan, March 13, 2008.

"I'm just a simple president." President Bush, March 13, 2008.

"The House Republican brand is so bad right now that if it were a dog food, they'd take it off the shelf." Rep. Tom Davis (R-VA), March 13, 2008.

"I'm under strict instructions, and have been from the beginning, to not talk about the dollar, and I'm not going to get fired to satisfy your question." Dana Perino, March 12, 2008.

"I disagree with what the majority of the American people want." John McCain, March 10, 2008.

"Well, I reject his disavowal." Rep. Steve King (R-IA), on learning that John McCain disavowed his comments that terrorists would be "dancing in the streets" if Obama won, March 9, 2008.

"There's problems in America with safe neighborhoods as we well know." John McCain, on Iraq, March 8, 2008.

"I would say that if Mike McConnell worked for me, I'd fire him."  Retired Lt. Gen. Harry Soyster, on DNI's defense of waterboarding, March 8, 2008.

"He said he was having a hot dog, so I had a hot dog." John McCain, on lunch with President Bush, March 7, 2008.

"It's clear our economy has slowed." President Bush, March 7, 2008.

"I call them evil because if you murder the innocent to achieve a political objective, you're evil." President Bush, March 6, 2008.

"I believe we ought to say thank you." President Bush, on telecom firms that complied with his demands for electronic surveillance of Americans without warrants, March 3, 2008.

"I sort of liken it to a grieving process. You come to acceptance." Senator John Cornyn (R-TX), on his endorsement of John McCain, March 2, 2008.

"It's not like I'm some homophobe." Mike Huckabee, March 1, 2008.

"The truth is that political reconciliation in Iraq is going better there than it is here at home because of better security." Senator Lindsay Graham, February 26, 2008.

"[Democrats would put] a bullet right in the hearts of our troops who are there." Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison, on Iraq funding bill, February 26, 2008.

"My friends, the war will be over soon, the war for all intents and purposes although the insurgency will go on for years and years and years." John McCain, February 24, 2008.

"I believe 50 years from now, people will look back at this period of time, and say, thank God the United States of America did not lose its faith in the transformative power of liberty." President Bush, on the U.S. invasion of Iraq, February 25, 2008.

"I think that people will look back at the Iraq war and say 'Thank God, he had the courage to do what he did.'" Karl Rove, February 18, 2008.

"U.S. solutions should not be imposed on African leaders." President Bush, February 19, 2008.

"I think history will prove me right." President Bush, on his efforts to rid the world of tyranny, February 19, 2008.

"I will tell you personally that I think it was probably a mistake going to Iraq." Senator Tom Coburn (R-OK), February 16, 2008.

"Why is Chelsea Clinton so ugly? Because her father is Janet Reno." John McCain, reported June 25, 1998.

"White women are a problem[...]But we all live with them." Bill Kristol, February 3, 2008.

"We haven't violated anybody's civil liberties." Vice President Cheney, January 31, 2008.

"The beauty of America is that a person can come and even make a disruption, and you know what, that person is not going to be taken out and shot." Mike Huckabee, January 31, 2008.

"I would feel that it was." Attorney General Michael Mukasey, asked if he could consider waterboarding torture if it were done to him, January 30, 2008.

"I don’t know whether he acted in violation of statutes." Attorney General Michael Mukasey, regarding President Bush and FISA, January 30, 2008.

"As you might remember, I drank too much at one time in my life." President Bush, January 29, 2008.

"Yeah, there’s a bubble but life’s pretty comfortable inside the bubble." President Bush, January 28, 2008.

"I didn’t say I wouldn’t answer it. I didn’t say that I would." Attorney General Michael Mukasey, on the question as to whether waterboarding is torture, January 26, 2008.

"He'll be gotten by a president." President Bush, on whether Osama Bin Laden will be captured, January 24, 2008.

"Actually, I don't know where you got that quote from. I'm very well versed in economics." John McCain, asked about his 2005 quote below, January 24, 2008.

"The issue of economics is not something I’ve understood as well as I should. I've got Greenspan's book." John McCain, December 17, 2007.

"I'm going to be honest: I know a lot less about economics than I do about military and foreign policy issues. I still need to be educated." John McCain, November 2005.

"Well, I'm not concerned about the voters." Mitt Romney, asked to tell Florida voters ho  much of his own fortune he had spent on his campaign there, January 24, 2008.

"Just because you didn't find every Easter egg didn't mean it wasn’t planted...good chance they may have gone to Jordan. We don’t know where they are." Mike Huckabee, on Iraq WMD, January 24, 2008.

"It's possible. It's entirely possible." Mitt Romney, on whether Iraq WMD's had been moved to Syria, May 7, 2007.

"We think we won’t know that we’ve reached a turning point until we’re six months past it." General David Petraeus, January 22, 2008.

"So what am I supposed to do? Go in the fetal position because of your polls?" President Bush, January 16, 2008.

"What's a Kurd, anyway?" Norman Podhoretz, to Jeffrey Goldberg in 2003, reported January 16, 2008.

"As soon as they put those cameras away, I’m going to flip you the bird." John Boehner (R-OH), to Democrat Steny Hoyer, January 15, 2008.

"I'm sure people view me as a war monger and I view myself as peacemaker." President Bush, January 15, 2008.

"I think that was one evil son of a bitch." Glenn Beck, on FDR, January 15, 2008.

"But I believe it’s a lot easier to change the Constitution than it would be to change the word of the living God. And that’s what we need to do is amend the Constitution so it’s in God’s standards." Mike Huckabee, January 14, 2008.

"Whether it's torture by anybody else's definition, for me it would be torture." Mike McConnell, director of national intelligence, January 13, 2008.

"Everybody gets it wrong at the beginning of a war." Tony Snow, former Bush White House press secretary, January 11, 2008.

"It could easily be that, absolutely." President Bush, asked if the U.S. presence in Iraq could last another 10 years, January 11, 2008.

"If I were running for office at this point, I'd be saying, 'Vote for me. I’m gonna be an agent of change.'" President Bush, January 11, 2008.

"I don't think Americans are concerned if we’re there for one hundred years or a thousand years or ten thousand years." John McCain, January 6, 2008.

"If I were some of these guys, I'd have to be sitting in a warm tub of water with razor blades." Mike Huckabee, on his GOP rivals, October 10, 2007.

"He [God] told me some things about the election, but I’m not going to say." Pat Robertson, January 3, 2008.

"God's going to give us China. And China will be the largest Christian nation on the face of the earth. They’re going to come to Jesus." Pat Robertson, January 3, 2008.

"We also love a president who has kept us safe these last six years." Mitt Romney, January 3, 2008.

"President Bush didn't read it for four years; I don't know why I should read it in four hours." Mike Huckabee on his ignorance of the Iran NIE, December 31, 2007.

"I don't know that you'd put him in prison." Mike Huckabee, on punishing doctors who perform abortions, December 30, 2007.

"We ought to have an immediate, very clear monitoring of our borders and particularly to make sure if there’s any unusual activity of Pakistanis coming into the country." Mike Huckabee, December 28, 2007.

"We need to keep the feet to the fire and keep pressing these people [Muslims] 'til we defeat them or chase them back to their caves, or in other words, get rid of them."  John Deady, Co-Chair for New Hampshire’s Veterans for Rudy, December 28, 2007.

"This is what happens…You vote for me, you live. You don’t…there you go." Mike Huckabee, on shooting pheasant during recent hunting trip, December 27, 2007.

"I think we can safely assume that 95% of the black males in that city [DC] are semi-criminal or entirely criminal."  Ron Paul, from 1992 article, reported December 26, 2007.

"He voted against the Bush tax cuts. That's failing 'Reagan-101.'" Mitt Romney, attacking John McCain, December 22, 2007.

"I was an independent during the time of Reagan-Bush; I'm not trying to return to Reagan-Bush." Mitt Romney, during run for U.S. Senate, 1994.

"The inmates there were getting a whole lot better treatment than my prisoners in Arkansas...If anything, it’s too nice." Mike Huckabee, on Guantanamo, December 21, 2007.

"It's what I do during my presidency. I go around spreading good will." President Bush, December 20, 2007.

"There's not much that entices about the job. There's no money in it, no privacy, no big houses, and from an ego standpoint, it does nothing for me." Justice Clarence Thomas, December 18, 2007.

"It reminds me of what Sinclair Lewis once said. He says, 'when fascism comes to this country, it will be wrapped in the flag, carrying a cross." GOP Candidate Ron Paul, on opponent Mike Huckabee using the image of a cross in a TV ad, December 18, 2007.

"We have fabulous health care in America, just so you know." President Bush, December 17, 2007.

"Keep it up. We need you guys." President Bush, to WMAL General Manager Chris Berry, whose station features such conservative hosts as Sean Hannity and Rush Limbaugh, December 13, 2007.

"I don’t care what this latest NIE says." Fred Thompson, December 12, 2007.

"There are different ways of doing it. It's like swimming, freestyle, backstroke." Senator Kit Bond (R-MO), December 12, 2007.

"It will be interesting to know what the true facts are." President Bush, on the  CIA tapes case, December 11, 2007.

"I doubt I'd be standing here if I hadn't quit drinking whiskey, and beer and wine and all that." President Bush, December 11, 2007.

"It'll be interesting to know what the true facts are." President Bush, on the CIA's destruction of detainee interrogation videotapes, December 11, 2007.

"'Wasn't that like the Bay of Pigs thing?" Dana Perino, White House press secretary on the Cuban missile crisis, December 8, 2007.

"Once a Bushie, always a Bushie." Dana Perino, December 9. 2007.

"People were saying, 'It was like George Washington,' 'It was the Gettysburg Address." Ann Romney, on her husband's speech on Faith in America, December 6, 2007.

"OK, look. I can see where you could see that the president could have been more precise in that language. But the president was being truthful." Dana Perino, on President Bush's assertion he learned about the new Iran NIE the previous week, December 6, 2007.

"No." Mike Huckabee, asked if he had heard of the new National Intelligence Estimate on Iran, December 4, 2007.

"It wouldn't quite be fair to say September 11, like, made my career." Rudy Giuliani, December 4, 2007.

"Nobody is happy about losing lives but remember these are not draftees, these are full-time professional soldiers." Senator Mitch McConnell (R-KY), on casualties in Iraq, November 28, 2007.

"Suddenly I seem to be in the cross hairs of every predator who is out there.  To me that seems to be a good sign of life." Mike Huckabee, trying to deflect questions about his role in the parole of convicted rapist Wayne Dumond, who later raped and murdered another woman, October 31, 2007.

"No - I’ve never - nobody ever told me that."  President Bush, asked if his intelligence advisors asked him to tone down his World War III rhetoric towards Iran after seeing the new NIE, December 4, 2007.

"It wouldn't quite be fair to say September 11, like, made my career." Rudy Giuliani, December 4, 2007.

"No one is perfect." Alberto Gonzales, November 19, 2007.

"Mr. President, you are such a man." Frances Townsend, comparing President Bush to George Washington, in her resignation letter, November 19, 2007.

"In our opinion, no."  Dana Perino, White House press secretary, asked if it is ever reasonable to restrict constitutional freedoms in the name of fighting terrorism, November 5, 2007.

"Too often Muslims are against physical labor, so they bring in Koreans and Pakistanis while their young people remain unemployed." Donald Rumsfeld, from May 2004 memo, reported November 1, 2007.

"That's one way to ensure that I am relevant." President Bush, explaining his veto of S-CHIP, October 17, 2007.

"I gave my blood for the Republican Party in New York." Rudy Giuliani, October 16, 2007.

"I hate all Iranians." Debra Cagan, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Coalition Affairs to Defence Secretary Robert Gates, to visiting British MPs, reported September 29, 2007.

"I remind people that, like when I’m with, Condi, I say she’s the Ph.D. and I’m the C student and just look at who’s the president and who’s the adviser."  President Bush, September 20, 2007.

"I don't know." Defense Secretary Robert Gates, asked if invading Iraq was a good idea, September 19, 2007.

"The cockiest guy I have ever met in my life." Former Mexican President Vicente Fox, on George W. Bush, September 17, 2007.

"One, I’m too old to be out there, and two, they would notice me." President Bush, on serving in Iraq, September 14, 2007.

"I learned early on that if you don’t want your memos to get you in trouble some day, just don’t write any." Vice President Cheney, September 14, 2007.

"Sir, I don't know, actually." General David Petraeus, asked by Sen. John Warner if the strategy in Iraq is making America safer, September 11, 2007.

"It has not worked out as we had hoped." General David Petraeus, on political progress in Iraq, September 7, 2007.

"There are some people who might try to deride this trip as a photo opportunity." Dana Perino, on President Bush's trip to Iraq, September 3, 2007.

"This is news to me." Defense Secretary Robert Gates, on President Bush's $50 billion Iraq funding request, August 29, 2007.

"The fact that we're doing it this [discussing NSA domestic surveillance] way means that some Americans are going to die." Director of National Intelligence Mike McConnell, August 22, 2007.

"No, I can't. I can barely speak English." President Bush, asked if he can speak French, August 11, 2007.

"Mr. Attorney General, do you expect us to believe that?" Senator Arlen Specter (R-PA), to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, July 24, 2007.

"He's a good man, we're gonna get him some new legs." President Bush, discussing an Iraq veteran and amputee, July 20, 2007.

"I'm pleased to say that I am not an expert in prostitution law." Senator Susan Collins (R-ME), asked about her GOP colleague David Vitter, July 17, 2007.

"I don't believe my role is to replace the verdict of a jury with my own." Governor George W. Bush, 1999.

"Now is not the time to go in the fetal position and whine." Karl Rove, to audience at Marquette County Republicans Reagan Dinner, June 23, 2007.

"If it was up to me, I would close Guantanamo - not tomorrow, this afternoon." Colin Powell, June 10, 2007.

"I think some people see Guantanamo as a source of America's arrogance, and I see it as a source of America's resolve." Mitt Romney, June 5, 2007.

"Does it solve the problem for the woman that's been raped?" Sam Brownback (R-KS), on his opposition to abortion for rape victims, June 9, 2007.

"Homosexuality isn't natural or healthy." Dr. James Holsinger Jr., Bush nominee for Surgeon General, in 1991 paper, reported June 7, 2007.

"I'm sorry it's come to be, but that's what happens in life. We'll move on." President Bush, on the resignation of Tony Blair, June 7, 2007.

"Sir, that's the design." Proposed U.S. Iraq War Czar General  Douglas Lute, on National security Adviser Stephen Hadley having no role with regards to Iraq and Afghanistan, June 7, 2007.

"I don’t believe it undercuts their morale. and, in fact, that’s what we’ve sworn to protect and defend." Proposed U.S. Iraq War Czar General  Douglas Lute, on domestic debate over Iraq war strategy and funding, June 7, 2007.

"During the review, I registered concerns that a military 'surge' would likely have only temporary and localized effects unless it were accompanied by counterpart 'surges' by the Iraqi government and the other, nonmilitary agencies of the U.S. government."  Proposed U.S. Iraq War Czar General  Douglas Lute, June 7, 2007.

"What is taking place in Anbar is almost breathtaking." General David Petraeus, on progress in Iraq, June 8, 2007.

"We haven’t started the surge - the full surge - yet. So let me have a few months." General David Petraeus, June 5, 2007.

"We're only about two months into the surge." General David Petraeus, April 25, 2007.

"I don’t see an end game, as it were, in sight." U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker, June 6, 2007.

"CIA clearly didn't really give a shit about keeping her identity secret if she's going to work at f**king Langley...I call bullshit on that, I don't care what they say." MSNBC host and son of Scooter Libby Defense Fund adviser Tucker Carlson, on outed CIA agent Valerie Plame's confirmed covert status, June 6, 2007.

"For [Libby prosecutor Patrick] Fitzgerald, to get on his high horse, it’s disgusting and he should be ashamed of himself." Richard Carlson, Scooter Libby Defense Fund adviser and father of MSNBC host Tucker Carlson, May 29, 2007.

"Speaking as friends, we hope that our system will return a final result consistent with what we know of this fine man." Vice President Cheney, on the sentencing of Scooter Libby, June 5, 2007.

"Well, it's a setting that's almost a null set. Which is, if we knew that Saddam Hussein did not have weapons of mass destruction, and if he had complied with the United Nations resolutions to allow IAEA inspectors into his country, we wouldn't be having this conversation." Mitt Romney, asked by Sean Hannity if he would have supported war in Iraq knowing what he knows now, May 8, 2007

"Well, the question is kind of a non sequitur, if you will. And what I mean by that -- or a null set -- and that is that if you're saying, let's turn back the clock and Saddam Hussein had opened up his country to IAEA inspectors and they'd come in and they'd found that there were no weapons of mass destruction...we wouldn't be in the conflict we're in." Mitt Romney, asked by Wolf Blitzer if he would have supported war in Iraq knowing what he knows now, June 5, 2007.

"Strong, clear, gives good soundbite and has shoulders you could land a 737 on." Roger Simon of Politico.com on Mitt Romney, June 5, 2007.

"I would certainly not send him to the United Nations." Tommy Thompson, asked what role George W. Bush would play in a Thompson administration, June 5, 2007.

"I'd tell George W. Bush never to darken the door of the White House." Rep, Tom Tancredo, asked what role George W. Bush would play in a Tancredo administration, June 5, 2007.

"Mr. Comey's testimony related to a highly classified program which the president confirmed to the American people sometime ago." Alberto Gonzales, on revelations by Comey on March 2004 confrontation with Gonzales at John Ashcroft's bedside, June 5, 2007.

"There has not been any serious disagreement about the program that the president has confirmed." Alberto Gonzales, February 6, 2006.

"The worst terrorist we had in Iraq was a guy named Abu Musab al Zarqawi." Vice President Cheney, claiming Saddam harbored the terrorist the Senate Intelligence Committee report conclusively showed Hussein was trying to capture, June 4, 2007.

"I was no longer committing adultery by that time, the impeachment trial. There's a big difference. Also, I had returned to Christ and repented my sins by that time." Tom Delay, on the difference between his adultery and that of Newt Gingrich, June 4, 2007.

"God has spoken to me. I listen to God, and what I’ve heard is that I’m supposed to devote myself to rebuilding the conservative base of the Republican Party." Tom Delay, June 4, 2007.

"Well, the whitest man in America, who is the black man’s best friend, is now being alleged to be a racist for having invented something called ooga booga fever." Fox's John Gibson, describing himself, June 4, 2007.

"It sounds like Abu Ghraib." Fox Morning show host Greg Kelly, on Paris Hilton not being allowed to use her cell phone while it jail, June 4, 2007.

"Russia is not our enemy." President Bush, to Russian President Vladimir Putin at G8 Summit, June 4, 2007.

"It would be funny if it was not so sad." Russian President Vladimir Putin, on Bush's proposed missile defense system in Czech Republic and Poland, June 4, 2007.

"I looked the man in the eye. I was able to get a sense of his soul. I knew that President Putin was a man with whom I could work." President Bush, on Vladimir Putin, November 15, 2001.

"John Glenn - who was a wonderful man, but not somebody normally you would think capable of being a real partisan spearchucker." Brit Hume, June 3, 2007.

"Lots of things." Fred Thompson, likely GOP White House contender asked by NBC's Tim Russert what he'd do as President, June 3, 2007.

"No." Fred Thompson, likely GOP White House contender asked by NBC's Tim Russert if he would elaborate on what those "lots of things" would be, June 3, 2007.

"The government is not functioning. It’s not getting the job done. Republicans need to confront this reality." Newt Gingrich, on the Bush administration, June 3, 2007.

"If the charges against Congressman Jefferson are true, he should be expelled from the House of Representatives, or he should resign to spare his constituents and colleagues any further indignity." House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH), on whether indicted Democratic Congressman William Jefferson should resign, June 4, 2006.

"That's a decision that he and his family are going to have to make." House Minority Leader John Boehner, asked by Fox's Chris Wallace if indicted Republican Congressman Bob Ney should resign, September 17, 2006.

"The country owes Tom a great debt of gratitude for helping lead America in a new direction...He has served our nation with integrity and honor, and I'm honored to call him my colleague and friend." House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH), on indicted Republican Congressman Tom Delay, April 3, 2006.

"I believe fully the president is doing the right thing, and I think all we need is some attacks on American soil like we had on [Sept. 11, 2001 ], and the naysayers will come around very quickly." Dennis Milligan, chairman of the Arkansas Republican Party, June 3, 2007.

"You think she thinks she works the pole?" MSNBC host Joe Scarborough, on Fred Thompson's supposed "trophy wife," June 2, 2007.

"I intend to spend the next year and a half in a sprint to the finish line." Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, facing imminent no-confidence vote, June 1, 2007.

"I think we've had a very great week this week." White House spokesperson Dana Perino, June 1, 2007.

"Well, there's too many to count now." Outgoing White House communications director Dan Bartlett, asked what mistakes the White House would like to "do over," June 1, 2007.

"I am the president!" President Bush, while thumping his chest, reported May 31, 2007.

"He’s got the jaw going on, the little gray thing in there. And I think that means a lot in America." Bill O'Reilly, May 31, 2007.

"The Vice President and his wife Lynne are joining their daughter Mary in playing this homosexual game of 'house.'" Stephen Bennett, spokesman for Concerned Women for America, on the birth of Mary Cheney's son, May 30, 2007.

"I'm not an architect of anything." Paul Wolfowitz, former Iraq war architect at the Pentagon, May 30, 2007.

"I'm deeply concerned about America losing its soul...if we don't solve the problem it's going to affect America. It will affect our economy and it will affect our soul." President Bush, on importance of his immigration bill, May 29, 2007.

"Disagreeing with your government is not unpatriotic and most certainly should not be a crime in any country, especially a democracy." Condi Rice, May 28, 2007.

"I think he's crazy." Ronald Reagan, on Rudy Giuliani, reported May 28, 2007.

"I recognize there are a handful there, or some, who just say, 'Get out, you know, it's just not worth it. Let's just leave.' I strongly disagree with that attitude. Most Americans do as well." President Bush, contradicting polls showing that 63% of Americans want to withdraw from Iraq by 2008, May 28, 2007.

"I told my press secretary when she was asked that...just better play it close to our vest. So, I guess I won’t answer your question." Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA), asked whether he still supports Alberto Gonzales, May 27, 2007.

"By September, when General Petraeus is to make a report, I think most of the people in Congress believe, unless something extraordinary occurs, that we should be on a move to draw those surge numbers down." Senator Jeff Sessions (R-AL), May 27, 2007.

"The handwriting is on the wall. We are headed in a different direction, in the fall, in Iraq. And the president is going to be the one to lead the way." Mitch McConnell (R-KY), May 26, 2007.

"Oh my God, is that right?...It’s a nice day, the weather's nice." John McCain, on missing the equivalent of six weeks worth of Senate votes while campaigning, May 26, 2007.

"Capture one of these killers, and he'll be quick to demand the protections of the Geneva Convention and the Constitution of the United States." Vice President Cheney, May 26, 2007.

"We're fighting a war over there because the enemy attacked us first." Vice President Cheney, May 26, 2007.

"Nobody can promise us we won't be hit again." Vice President Cheney, May 26, 2007.

"If we make the wrong choice then the danger is that we'll get hit again." Vice President Cheney, on why Americans should vote for George W. Bush and not John Kerry, September 7, 2004.

"This investigation is taking a long time, kind of being drug out, I suspect...for political reasons." President Bush, on U.S. attorneys purge inquiries, May 25, 2007.

"If there's wrongdoing, it will be taken care of." President Bush, on U.S. attorneys purge, May 24, 2007.

"It's their government's choice. If they were to say, leave, we would leave." President Bush, on Iraq,  May 24, 2007.

"We’re not leaving [Iraq] so long as I’m the president. That would be a huge mistake." President Bush, on Iraq, August 21, 2006.

"They are a threat to your children, David." President Bush, on the enemy in Iraq, to NBC's David Gregory, May 24 2007.

"This notion about how this isn’t a war on terror in my view is naive." President Bush, May 23, 2007.

"We actually misnamed the war on terror." President Bush, August 16, 2004.

"After 3,000 of our fellow citizens died at the hands of these terrorists, when are we going to stand up and take them on?" House Minority Leader John Boehner, on Iraq war funding, May 24, 2007.

"I want more babies. More babies. We love babies." Leslie Unruh, president of the National Abstinence Clearinghouse, speaking out against a new contraceptive, May 24, 2007.

"I promised the President today that I wouldn't say anything bad about...this piece of shit bill." House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH), on the immigration bill, May 23, 2007.

"It is a very careful process, and not one that's used indiscriminately or just for political purposes." Trent Lott (R-MS), on President Bush's declassification of two-year old classified report days before war funding vote hoping to show Al Qaeda role in Iraq, May 23, 2007.

"The statements made by the attorney general during this meeting were intended only to comfort her in a very difficult period." DOJ spokesman Brian Roehrkrasse, on whether Alberto Gonzales tried to influence the testimony of Monica Goodling during a meet with her, May 23, 2007.

"There not only is no evidence of wrongdoing, but there is no allegation of any wrongdoing on your part." Rep. Steve King (R-IA), to Monica Goodling, during House hearing in which she admitted violating the Hatch Act, May 23, 2007.

"I believe I crossed the line, but I didn’t mean to." Monica Goodling, May 23, 2007.

"I don't think that I could have done it more than 50 times, but I don't know." Monica Goodling, asked how often she considered political affiliations in hiring of career DOJ personnel, May 23, 2007.

"I stand by Al Gonzales." President Bush, May 21, 2007.

"I don’t know if they're going to do a reprinting of the book to try to get the facts straight." Tony Snow, on Al Gore's book correctly identifying President Bush's deceptions in the run-up to the war in Iraq, May 23, 2007.

"I am never going to hire another woman because they just get pregnant and leave." Howard Zinsmeister, Bush domestic policy adviser, May 21, 2007.

"Maybe his solution will be to get out his small varmint gun and drive those Guatemalans off his lawn." John McCain, on Mitt Romney's immigration stand, May 21, 2007.

"I do not believe in teaching about sex or contraception in public schools." Governor Mike Huckabee (R-AR), May 21, 2007.

"Anybody on the left who hopes that when people like Reverend Falwell disappear that the opportunity to convert all of America has gone with them fundamentally misunderstands why institutions like this were created." Newt Gingrich, delivering commencement address at the late Falwell's Liberty University, May 19, 2007.

"Iraq has not been a big thing in our district." Rep. Charlie Norwood (R-GA), May 19, 2007.

"I'd rather trade places with Jose Padilla." Viet Dinh, ormer senior Justice official under then-Attorney General John Ashcroft, about replacing Paul McNulty as Alberto Gonzales' deputy attorney general, May 19, 2007.

"I don’t have confidence in Gonzales." Senator Norm Coleman (R-MN), May 18, 2007.

"The president might decide that the current leadership remaining at DOJ is doing more harm than good." Senator Kit Bond (R-MO), May 18, 2007.

"If you vote for Mitt Romney, you are voting for Satan!" Bill Keller, host of the Florida-based Live Prayer TV, May 11, 2007.

"I cannot, and will not, vote for Rudy Giuliani in 2008.  My conscience and my moral convictions will allow me to do nothing else." James Dobson, May 18, 2007.

"As conservative Christians who take the Bible seriously, we have probably irreconcilable differences on life and family and that kind of thing...I couldn't support him for president." Jerry Falwell, on Rudy Giuliani, April 17, 2006.

"Falwell was a perfected Christian. He exuded Christian love for all men." Ann Coulter, May 16, 2007.

"I really believe that the pagans, and the abortionists, and the feminists, and the gays and the lesbians who are actively trying to make that an alternative lifestyle, the ACLU, People For the American Way, all of them who have tried to secularize America. I point the finger in their face and say 'you helped this happen." Jerry Falwell, September 13, 2001.

"F**k you! I know more about this than anyone else in the room." John McCain, speaking to fellow Republican Senator John Cornyn (R-TX) about immigration bill, May 17, 2007.

"Could be." President Bush, on whether he is responsible for Tony Blair's downfall, May 17, 2007.

"The president’s proposal provides a good quality of life for service members and their families." White House statement of President Bush rejection of 3.5% pay increase for U.S. military servicemen and women, May 16, 2007.

"I haven't changed my position in even-numbered years or ... because of the different offices that I may be running for." John McCain, regarding Mitt Romney, May 16, 2007.

"Neither party should be defined by pandering to the outer reaches of American politics and the agents of intolerance, whether they be Louis Farrakhan or Al Sharpton on the left, or Pat Robertson or Jerry Falwell on the right." John McCain, on Jerry Falwell, February 28, 2000.

"I join the students, faculty, and staff of Liberty University and Americans of all faiths in mourning the loss of Reverend Jerry Falwell.  Dr. Falwell was a man of distinguished accomplishment who devoted his life to serving his faith and country." John McCain, May 16, 2007.

"We're not hostile to the administration. We just want it to be over." Unnamed Republican Congressman, to Robert Novak, May 16, 2007.

"You have to undercut the perception of occupation in Iraq. It's very difficult to do that when you have 150,000-plus, largely western, foreign troops occupying the country." Bush "War Czar" Lt. General Douglas Lute, August 24, 2005.

"Well, people know we're still in Germany and in South Korea." Rep. Jack Kingston (R-GA), asked whether the American people will support U.S. troops remaining in Iraq for 10 more years, May 16, 2007.

"No one knows how to define progress in such a mixed-up situation.  We’re having trouble measuring it. Imagine building a house without a ruler. It would be like the Dow Jones. Nobody accuses the Dow Jones of being biased. It would be good information for all of us. And then you could say who’s winning and losing." Rep. Jack Kingston (R-GA), on creating benchmarks for Iraq, May 13, 2007.

"Being able to go and having a very candid conversation and telling the president: 'Mr. President, this cannot be done. You can't do this,' - I think you want that." Alberto Gonzales, May 19, 2007.

"No." Alberto Gonzales, asked to share an example of a time he told President Bush "you can't do this," May 19, 2007.

"I had just witnessed an effort to take advantage of a very sick man." James Comey, on then-White House Counsel Alberto Gonzales' browbeating the hospitalized John Ashcroft on March 10, 2004 to approve illegal NSA domestic spying,  May 16, 2007.

"There’s a lot of speculation about what happened and what didn’t happen. I’m not going to talk about it." President Bush, asked if he sent Gonzales to coerce the bed-ridden John Ashcroft in 2004, May 17, 2007.

"Trying to take advantage of a sick man. Because he had an appendectomy, his brain didn’t work?" Tony Snow, on Comey's assertion that Alberto Gonzales tried to coerce John Ashcroft, then bed-ridden with a pancreatic condition following gall bladder surgery, May 16, 2007.

"I wouldn't characterize those as top aides." Alberto Gonzales, regarding chief-of-staff Kyle Sampson and White House liaison Monica Goodling, May 15, 2007.

"At the end of the day, the recommendations reflected the views of the deputy attorney general. He signed off on the names." Alberto Gonzales, following the resignation of Deputy Attorney General Paul McNulty, May 15, 2007.

"The one person I would care about would be the views of the deputy attorney general, because the deputy attorney general is the direct supervisor of the United States attorneys." Alberto Gonzales, following the resignation of Deputy Attorney General Paul McNulty, May 15, 2007.

"Looking back, things that I would have done differently? I think I would have had the deputy attorney general more involved, directly involved." Alberto Gonzales, testifying to the Senate Judiciary Committee, April 19, 2007.

"I'm looking for Jack Bauer." Tom Tancredo (R-CO), supporting waterboarding and other detainee interrogation techniques, May 15, 2007.

"I would say every method they could think of." Rudy Giuliani, supporting waterboarding and other detainee interrogation techniques, May 15, 2007.

"My view is, we ought to double Guantanamo." Mitt Romney, May 15, 2007.

"Here in the womb is a child that we’re talking about doing this to." Senator Sam Brownback, pointing to his abdomen, May 15, 2007.

"If they f**k with me or Shaha, I have enough on them to f**k them, too". Paul Wolfowitz, on his opponents at the World Bank, May 15, 2007.

"He could come back without arms, legs or eyeballs, and you're (whining)?  You’re not dodging bullets, so I don’t want to hear any whining." Laura Schlesinger, speaking to military wives, May 14, 2007.

"We’ve told people they can air those trailers out." FEMA Director David Paulison, on high levels of formaldehyde in FEMA trailers used by Katrina victims, May 16, 2007.

"We tend to not deal with them very often.  We have our own mission, and we do our own thing." Paul Brinkley, undersecretary of defense, on working with the State Department officials at the U.S. embassy in Baghdad, May 14, 2007.

"If they vote to ask us to leave, we'll be glad to comply." Senator Mitch McConnell, on the Iraqi government, May 13, 2007.

"As far as the Iraqi parliament is concerned, the Iraqi government obviously doesn't feel that way." John McCain, on the majority vote of the Iraqi parliament calling for the U.S. to withdraw, May 13, 2007.

"I had an armed escort because, because that's what General Petraeus thought we ought to have.—I didn't call for the kind of, quote, protection that was around me.  I'll be glad to go back to that market...with or without military protection and humvees, etc." John McCain, on repeating his April trip to a Baghdad market, May 13, 2007.

"I am not happy with the Republican Party today." Chuck Hagel (R-NE), May 13, 2007.

"This is fundamental blocking and tackling. This is your line in football. If you don't have a line, how many passes can Peyton Manning complete? Greatest quarterback, maybe, in NFL history." Sam Brownback, speaking about families in Wisconsin, home of Green Bay Packers and legendary quarterback Brett Favre, May 12, 2007.

"He's no more racist than any white male." Rice University professor Bob Stein, on Ted Poe (R-TX) who approvingly quoted Ku Klux Klan founder Nathan Bedford Forrest, May 12, 2007.

"Let's don't declare this war lost because you're telling all these soldiers and Petraeus that they're losers." Lindsay Graham (R-SC), to Senator Barbara Boxer, May 13, 2007.

"Keep your mouth shut." Governor Sonny Perdue (R-GA), to Iraq war critics, May 11, 2007.

"Obviously, the President bears the major part of the burden." Vice President Cheney, asked if he considered himself a "cold-blooded warmonger" who doesn't care about U.S. war casualties, May 10, 2007.

"You compare Bill Clinton's peccadilloes for which he was impeached to George Bush's high crimes and misdemeanors or Dick Cheney's high crimes and misdemeanors, and I think they pale in significance." Colonel Lawrence Wilkerson, former aide to Colin Powell, May 10, 2007.

"Let other federal agencies, as more than a dozen already do, cover the 'bugs and bunnies.' But let our spies be spies." Rep. Pete Hoekstra (R-MI), regarding CIA analysis of impact of global warming, May 10, 2007.

"People are now asking, if you're a good U.S. attorney, why aren't you getting fired?" Fired Seattle U.S. prosecutor John McKay, May 9, 2007.

"[Y]ou’re asking me a question I hadn’t really thought about." Alberto Gonzales, asked if any U.S. citizens were being denied their habeas corpus rights, May 10, 2007.

"There is no express grant of habeas in the Constitution." Alberto Gonzales, January 19, 2007.

"I think I may be aware of that." Alberto Gonzales, May 10, 2007.

"My feelings and recollections about this matter have not changed." Alberto Gonzales, testifying before the House Judiciary Committee on his purge of U.S. prosecutors, May 10, 2007.

"The list of accusations has mushroomed, but the evidence of wrongdoing has not.  We should not conduct an endless piscine expedition." Rep. Lamar Smith (R-TX), on Gonzales' U.S. attorneys scandal, May 10, 2007.

"I only thought it was the radical left in our own nation which enjoys likening the United States to Nazi Germany." Tom Delay, May 10, 2007.

"Liberals have finally joined the ranks of scoundrels like Hitler." Tom Delay, March 26, 2007.

"I think he was a little - I don’t know if surprised is the right word, probably maybe sobered." Rep, Ray Lahood (R-IL), on meeting of 11 GOP lawmakers with President Bush on Iraq, May 10, 2007.

"My mission is to -- today, though, is to lift people's spirits as best as I possibly can and to hopefully touch somebody's soul." President Bush, on visiting tornado victims in Kansas, May 9, 2007.

"Then we kick the press out." Vice President Cheney, overheard by reporters as he addressed his staffers in Iraq, May 9, 2007.

"This is just a photo spray." Vice President Cheney, meeting with reporters in Iraq, May 9, 2007.

"I work for the White House, you work for the White House." Alberto Gonzales, in a speech to U.S. attorney John McKay and all other 92 U.S. attorneys, early 2005.

"I'm not going to speculate or comment."  FBI director Robert Mueller, on whether Alberto Gonzales  should step down, May 9, 2007.

"I think the GOP was dissolving. Now it's drying up and the wind's going to blow it away. I just don't think we have the depth of knowledge, intellect, and experience necessary for a viable political party any more." Rep. Wayne Gilchrist (R-MD), May 8, 2007.

"Every time I go over there the improvements in the conditions are truly amazing." Senator Saxby Chambliss (R-GA), on progress in Iraq, May 8, 2007.

"Git thar fustest with the mostest." Rep. Ted Poe (R-TX), quoting Confederate terrorist and Ku Klux Klan founder Nathan Bedford Forrest to support his position on Iraq war funding, May 8, 2007.

"The Iraqis need to know that we are not looking to leave Iraq." Secretary of State Condi Rice, May 7, 2007.

"It’s entirely possible." Mitt Romney, on whether Saddam moved WMD to Syria before the U.S. invasion, May 7, 2007.

"It's game time." Vice President Cheney, on Iraq, May 9, 2007.

"You kill my dog, I'll kill your cat." Rep, John Doolittle (R-CA), now under investigation in Abramoff affair, on Republican response to Democrats bringing ethics charges against Tom Delay, June 15, 2004.

"She gave me a look that only a mother could give a child." President Bush, of Queen Elizabeth's response to his blooper below, May 7, 2007.

"You helped our nation celebrate its bicentennial in seventeen seventy... in nineteen seventy-six." President Bush, to Queen Elizabeth, May 7, 2007.

"I'm honored to be here with the Eternal General of the United States, mi amigo Alberto Gonzales." President Bush, May 5, 2007.

"I have found that exercise not only is a good excuse to get outdoors. It helps to relieve stress as well." President Bush, May 5, 2007.

"I do not believe it was a coincidence that the leak came the day before Attorney General Alberto Gonzales testified before Congress on charges that his office was overly partisan in its firing of eight U.S. Attorneys." Rep. John Doolittle, on the FBI leaking word of his home being searched in connection with the Abramoff affair, May 6, 2007.

"If there’s one empire I want built, it’s the George Bush empire." Former RNC head Ken Mehlman, 2005.

"I was struck by how long it took for anyone to say anything in support of him." Former FEMA head Michael Brown, on the White House's backing of Alberto Gonzales, May 6, 2007.

"It is the issue of our culture itself, and whether we will survive." Tom Tancredo (R-CO), on immigration, May 4, 2007.

"You know, nightly news is one way, of course, but it's also moving through the blogosphere and through the Internets." President Bush, on how people get their information, May 2, 2007.

"I'm not fortunate enough to be a person of faith." Karl Rove, according to interview with Christopher Hitchens in New York Magazine issue, May 7, 2007.

"This isn’t that kind of event." Jeff Gannon, spokesman for the International Bible Reading Association, discussing sparsely attended Bible reading marathon outside the U.S. Capitol, May 4, 2007.

"I never believed Saddam Hussein was responsible for 9/11." Richard Perle, May 4, 2007.

"Even if evidence does not link Iraq directly to the attack, any strategy aiming at the eradication of terrorism and its sponsors must include a determined effort to remove Saddam Hussein from power in Iraq." Richard Perle, September 20, 2001.

"He will be, I believe, a president who will be viewed by history for this one decision as being a great president." Rudy Giuliani, on President Bush, May 5, 2007.

"I think it was really the right thing to do, and I think history will bear that out." Outgoing Bush deputy national security adviser, J.D. Crouch, on the wisdom of invading Iraq, May 4, 2007.

"If they go off on vacation for two months while our troops fight - that would be the outrage of outrages." Rep. Chris Shays (R-CT), May 3, 2007.

"I think we missed Cheney." Geoffrey Hoon, former British defense secretary, on mistakes in pre-war planning, May 2, 2007.

"I used to run a small business. I owned a small business. I have benchmarks every month, but if I didn’t meet the benchmarks and if I missed the profit margin, I didn’t shut down the business." John Boehner, on benchmarks for the Iraqi government, May 6, 2007.

"By the time we get to September or October, members are going to want to know how well this is working, and if it isn't, what's Plan B." House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH), May 6, 2007.

"I have no Plan B." John McCain, on his support for the Iraq surge, April 13, 2007.

"Plan B was to make Plan A work." Joint  Chiefs Chairman General Peter Pace, on Iraq, March 5, 2007.

"I don't think you go to Plan B.  You work with Plan A." Secretary of State Rice, asked what the U.S. should do if the Iraqi government does not live up to its assurances, March 5, 2007.

"This university, its students, its alumni and the faculty serve as an example of Dr. Robertson's dedication to strengthening and then nurturing the pillars of this community and our country: education, fellowship, and advancement." Mitt Romney, speech at Pat Robertson's Regent University, May 5, 2007.

"When it comes to spiritual matters, the Mormons are far from the truth." From a page on Pat Robertson's CBN web site titled "How Do I Recognize a Cult," 2007.

"In France, for instance, I'm told that marriage is now frequently contracted in seven-year terms where either party may move on when their term is up. How shallow and how different from the Europe of the past." Mitt Romney, May 5, 2007.

"He's going to pay, and he will die." Mitt Romney, on Osama Bin Laden, May 3, 2007.

"It's not worth moving heaven and earth spending billions of dollars just trying to catch one person." Mitt Romney, on Osama Bin Laden, April 26, 2007.

"It would be OK."  Rudy Giuliani, asked his response to the Supreme Court overturning or upholding Roe v. Wade, May 3, 2007.

"I believe polarization of the personnel and breakdown of unit effectiveness is too high a price to pay for well intentioned but misguided efforts to elevate the interests of a minority of homosexual servicemembers above those of their units." John McCain, April 16, 2007.

"I'm the commander guy." President Bush, May 2, 2007.

"Either we'll succeed, or we won't succeed." President Bush, May 2, 2007.

"We thank 'American Idol' viewers who have shown the good heart of America." President Bush, May 2, 2007.

"Imagine my beloved St. Louis Cardinals are playing the much despised Chicago Cubs. The Cardinals are are up by five, finishing the top of the ninth. Is this a cause for celebration?" Rep. John Shimkus (R-IL), comparing Iraq withdrawal to a baseball game, May 2, 2007.

"The president never said 'mission accomplished'...We did prevail, in terms of toppling the Iraqi army and Saddam Hussein." Dana Perino, asked about President Bush's statement four years ago that the "United States and our allies have prevailed" in Iraq, May 1, 2007.

"It makes no sense to tell the enemy when you plan to start withdrawing." President Bush, May 1, 2007.

"I think it's also important for the president to lay out a timetable as to how long they will be involved and when they will be withdrawn." Candidate George W. Bush, regarding U.S. troops in Kosovo, June 5, 1999.

"Victory means exit strategy, and it's important for the president to explain to us what the exit strategy is." Candidate George W. Bush, regarding U.S. troops in Kosovo, April 9, 1999.

"So America will hold the Iraqi government to the benchmarks it has announced." President Bush, January 10, 2007.

"To begin now to tie our own hands and to say 'We must do this if they don't do that' doesn't allow us the flexibility and creativity that we need to move this forward...That's the problem with having so-called consequences." Condi Rice, April 29, 2007.

"[There] is something of an al-Qaida surge going on." Ryan Crocker, U.S. Ambassador to Iraq,  May 1, 2007.

"That would put a kid in harms way, more so than he or she already is." President Bush, on how withdrawing U.S. troops from Iraq would put them in greater danger, April 27, 2007.

"The president loves him and Condi absolutely loves him." Anonymous friend of Deputy Secretary of State Randall Tobias, who resigned amid revelations he availed himself of the services of the DC Madam, April 27, 2007.

"I don't know what we were supposed to preemptively strike in Afghanistan." Secretary of State Rice, trying to rebut George Tenet's assertion that she ignored his July 2001 warnings about Al Qaeda, April 29, 2007.

"I will never give that medal back." George Tenet, on the Medal of Freedom presented to him by President Bush, May 1, 2007.

"You had the impression that some Office of the Vice President and DOD reps were writing Chalabi's name over and over again in their notes, like schoolgirls with their first crush." George Tenet, book excerpt, April 29, 2007.

"I can't help wondering if the day may yet come when the only thing that can save this country is a military coup." National Review Columnist Thomas Sowell, May 1, 2007.

"Now, I'm not saying that anybody's going to -- you know Al Gore's not going to be rounding up Jews and exterminating them. It is the same tactic, however." CNN's Glenn Beck, April 30, 2007.

"If you're saying it's our fault that we unmasked them as knuckle-dragging savages from the 10th century -- fine." Fox's John Gibson, on the Iraqi people, April 23, 2007.

"They're trying to destroy Christian America and install godless order." Don Larsen, Utah Republican Party district chairman, backing resolution blaming Satan for illegal immigration, April 30, 2007.

"I'm not in favor of his religion by any means.  But he wrote a book called 'Battlefield Earth' that was a very fun science-fiction book." Mitt Romney, naming Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard's book as his favorite novel, April 30, 2007.

"It's not worth moving heaven and earth spending billions of dollars just trying to catch one person." Mitt Romney, on Osama Bin Laden, April 26, 2007.

"So I don't know where he is. You know, I just don't spend that much time on him...I truly am not that concerned about him." President Bush, March 13, 2002.

"No one suffers more than their President and I do." Laura Bush, April 25, 2007.

"If the standard of success is no car bombings or suicide bombings, we have just handed those who commit suicide bombings a huge victory." President Bush, April 25, 2007.

"Nobody ever called me to say, 'Why are you going to Syria with those people?'" Rep. David Hobson (R-OH), April 24, 2007.

"This would be America's most shameful act of immorality since slavery." Glenn Beck, on withdrawal from Iraq, April 24, 2007.

"I think Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi are getting very, very close to treason." Tom Delay, April 24, 2007.

"America will be safer with a Republican president." Rudy Giuliani, April 24, 2007.

"There might be a little Bush fatigue now." George H.W. Bush,  April 24, 2007.

"I am still confused as to why they chose to lie." Jessica Lynch, on Pentagon's false stories of her heroism, April 24, 2007.

"I don't know the answer to that." Rudy Giuliani, asked if the "surge" in Iraq is working, April 24, 2007.

"I hope it's your family members that die when terrorists strike." Rep. Dana Rohrbacher, (R-CA), to members of the EU regarding U.S. practice of extraordinary rendition, April 20, 2007.

"If there is anything that we should have learned from the Duke Lacrosse case, it is that the destruction of the reputations of innocent people can occur when the government, the press and the public jump to unfounded conclusions." Rep. John Doolittle, (R-CA), April 20, 2007.

"I'm presently under indictment for laws that don't exist in Texas by a Nifong of Texas called Ronnie Earle, undermining our justice system here in Texas." Tom Delay, April 16, 2007.

"He may be an idiot, I don’t know." Rush Limbaugh, on Alberto Gonzales, April 20, 2007.

"He is our No. 1 crime fighter." Dana Perino, on Alberto Gonzales, April 20, 2007.

"I believe you ought to suffer the consequences that these others have suffered, and I believe the best way to put this behind us is your resignation." Senator Tom Coburn, (R-OK), April 19, 2007.

"The moment I believe I can no longer be effective, I will resign." Alberto Gonzales, April 19, 2007.

"I don’t think you’re going to win a debate about your preparation." Arlen Specter (R-PA), to Alberto Gonzales, April 19, 2007.

"I now understand that there was a conversation between myself and the president." Alberto Gonzales, April 19, 2007.

"Senator, that I don't recall remembering." Alberto Gonzales, April 19, 2007.

"I recall making the decision. I don't recall when the decision was made." Alberto Gonzales, April 19, 2007.

"I think it was Osama bin Laden's." Karl Rove, on whose idea it was to launch a pre-emptive invasion of Iraq, April 19, 2007.

"Putting up with me requires a lot of patience." President Bush, April 19, 2007.

"Death is terrible." President Bush, April 19, 2007.

"If you've got a chicken factory, a chicken-plucking factory, or whatever you call them, you know what I'm talking about." President Bush, April 19, 2007.

"My response is, lighten up and get a life." John McCain, responding to criticism of his "Bomb Iran" performance, April 20, 2007.

"Bomb bomb bomb, bomb bomb Iran." John McCain, responding to a question on Iran by singing to the tune of the Beach Boys' "Barbara Ann," April 19, 2007.

"I know what’s best for the security of this nation." John McCain, April 17, 2007.

"The President believes that there is a right for people to bear arms, but that all laws must be followed." White House spokesperson Dana Perino, on President Bush's reaction to the massacre at Virginia Tech, April 16, 2007.

"Our party has to get beyond issues like that." Rudy Giuliani, on abortion, April 16, 2007.

"Thank youse all very much for invitin' me here tuh-day, to this meeting of the families from different parts'a California." Rudy Giuliani, imitating the Godfather while on the stump, April 14, 2007.

"Who's the master and who's the slave in that relationship?" Indiana Republican Secretary of State Todd Rikita, on African-Americans' 90% support for Democrats, April 16, 2007.

"I'm in the private sector and for the first time in my life I'm earning money. You know that's sort of part of the Jewish tradition." Tommy Thompson, April 16, 2007.

"We've got issues we need to work through." Dick Cheney, asked about White House credibility problems, April 15, 2007.

"He has the same sense of humor that Imus has." Mary Matalin, on her former boss Dick Cheney, January 24, 2005.

"I am hesitant to see Southern Methodist University welcoming the institute of a Methodist who has been so contrary to the teachings of the Methodist Church."  Reverend C. Joseph Sprague, on proposed George W. Bush presidential library at SMU, April 13, 2007.

"We screwed up and we're trying to fix it." Dana Perino, on White House's handling of staff's RNC emails, April 12, 2007.

"When I said a handful I was asked based on something that I didn’t know." Dana Perino, White House spokesperson, on revelations that up to 50 Bush aides used external RNC email accounts for official business, April 12, 2007.

"The very fundamental issue is, they don't know where the hell they're going." Retired Marine Gen. John J. "Jack" Sheehan, on why he turned down the role of Bush "war czar," April 11, 2007.

"Running a country is no fun at all." Laura Bush, reading to children on Easter, April 11, 2007.

"You have to ask yourself, the first black man is running for president and nobody's afraid of him, because everybody's afraid of Hillary." Dick Morris, April 10, 2007.

"I don't care what the administration says on this." Rep. Frank Wolf (R-VA), on his trip to Syria, April 4, 2007.

"It was just like any open-air market in Indiana in the summertime." Rep. Mike Pence (R-IN), April 4, 2007.

"I bought five rugs for five bucks." Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC), on his claims of improving safety in Baghdad, April 1, 2007.

"They were just making fun of us and paid this visit just for their own interests. Do they think that when they come and speak few Arabic words in a very bad manner it will make us love them?" Jaafar Moussa Thamir, Iraqi merchant at market visited by Senators John McCain and Lindsey Graham, April 3, 2007.

"The Democrats' honeymoon is fixing to end. It's going to explode like an IED." Rep. Jack Kingston (R-GA), April 1, 2007.

"I think the testimony obviously ought to be sworn testimony." Senator Mitch McConnell (R-KY), on the need for sworn testimony by Clinton White House aides, June 16, 1996.

"With regard to White House officials, it’ll be up to the president to decide, frankly, whether and when and under what circumstances members of his own administration testify."  Senator Mitch McConnell (R-KY), on need for sworn testimony by Bush White House aides, April 1, 2007.

"We should replace bilingual education with immersion in English so people learn the common language of the country and they learn the language of prosperity, not the language of living in a ghetto." Newt Gingrich, March 31, 2007.

"Well, that did not refer to Spanish...frankly, ghetto, historically had referred as a Jewish reference originally. I did not mention Hispanics." Newt Gingrich, April 2, 2007.

"The debate here on the Hill and the issues that have been raised have been helpful." Defense Secretary Robert Gates, on Iraq funding debate in Congress, March 30, 2007.

"I don't recall being involved in deliberations involving the question of whether or not a U.S. attorney should or should not be asked to resign." Alberto Gonzales, March 30, 2007.

"I don't think the attorney general's statement that he was not involved in any discussions of U.S. attorney removals was accurate." Kyle Sampson, Alberto Gonzales' former chief-of-staff, March 29, 2007.

"I wish the Department hadn’t gone down this road at all." Kyle Sampson, Alberto Gonzales' former chief-of-staff, March 29, 2007.

"I'm not going to resign. I'm going to stay focused on protecting our kids." Alberto Gonzales, March 22, 2007.

"Put your big-girl panties on." Education Secretary Margaret Spellings, to Dana Perino on filling in for Tony Snow, March 27, 2007.

"The administration doesn’t like me to say civil war, but I’m afraid that’s the way it is." Colin Powell, March 26, 2007.

"There are neighborhoods in Baghdad where you and I could walk through those neighborhoods, today." John McCain, March 26, 2007.

"Liberals have finally joined the ranks of scoundrels like Hitler." Tom Delay, March 26, 2007.

"It's possible to be a conservative without appearing to be an idiot." Roscoe Bartlett (R-MD), during Gore hearings on global warming, March 22, 2007.

"We are fighting for the freedom of our children more than any war we have ever been in." Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison, March 19, 2007.

"What do you gain from a transcript?" Tony Snow, on why Karl Rove et al should not testify under oath with transcripts, March 21, 2007.

"Zip it." Tony Snow, to Ed Henry of CNN, March 19, 2007.

"I am some kind of optimistic about where we're headed." President Bush, March 16, 2007.

"Anything's possible, but I don't think so." Tony Snow, on whether President Bush suggested U.S. attorney firings, March 16, 2007.

"At this juncture, people have hazy memories." Tony Snow, March 16, 2007.

"You've stumped me." John McCain, asked about his approach to fighting HIV/AIDS, March 16, 2007.

"We are getting into a, uh, uh, tar baby of enormous proportions." John McCain, on fathers' divorce rights, March 16, 2007.

"She's the stereotypical bitch." CNN/ABC host Glenn Beck, on Hillary Clinton, March 15, 2007.

"I believe homosexual acts between two individuals are immoral and that we should not condone immoral acts." Joint Chiefs Chairman Peter Pace, March 12, 2007.

"There must be public funding for abortion." Rudolph Giuliani, November 3, 1989.

"We're too few because too many of our babies have been killed." Zell Miller, on  the link between abortion and America's military manpower shortage, March 9, 2007.

"There is no military solution to a problem like that in Iraq, to the insurgency of Iraq." General David Petraeus, March 8, 2007.

"If you leave food around in a motel room or a dorm room at a college, you’re going to get some mice." Rep. Phil Gingrey (R-GA), March 8, 2007.

"This was a lengthy trial on a serious matter and a jury of his peers convicted him and we've got to respect that conviction." President Bush, on Scooter Libby conviction, March 7, 2007.

"We're gonna f**k 'em." Harriet Grant, wife of Scooter Libby, reacting to her husband's conviction, March 6, 2007.

"Knowing what I know today, I would have never said that back then." Former press secretary Scott McClellan, on his 2003 assurances that Libby and Rove were not involved in outing CIA agent Valerie Plame, March 7, 2007.

"People have to believe in what we say." Alberto Gonzales, March 9, 2007.

"One day there will be a new attorney general, maybe sooner rather than later." Senator Arlen Specter, (R-PA), March 8, 2007.

"I can't even tell you how upset I am at the Justice Department." Senator John ensign, (R-NV), March 7, 2007.

"I hope that this episode ultimately will be recognized for what it is: an overblown personnel matter." Alberto Gonzales, March 7, 2007.

"I would never ever make a change in a United States attorney position for political reasons or that in any way would jeopardize an ongoing investigation." Alberto Gonzales, January 18, 2007.

"I think that the American people lose if I spend all my time worrying about congressional requests for information, if I spend all my time responding to subpoenas." Alberto Gonzales, March 3, 2007.

"When I hear you talk about the politicizing of the Department of Justice, it's like a knife in my heart." Deputy Attorney General Paul McNulty, February 6, 2007.

"He’s not accountable anymore." Senator Chuck Hagel, (R-NE), on President Bush, March 6, 2007.

"I have been called - my kids are all aware of this - dumb, crazy man, science abuser, Holocaust denier, villain of the month, hate-filled, warmonger, Neanderthal, Genghis Khan and Attila the Hun.  And I can just tell you that I wear some of those titles proudly." Senator James Inhofe (R-OK), March 3, 2007.

"22,000 people were so uneducated and so unprepared, they literally couldn't get out of the way of a hurricane." Newt Gingrich, on Katrina victims in New Orleans, March 3, 2007.

"General Petraeus tells me we have a one in four chance that Bush's plan will work." Oregon Senator Gordon Smith, March 2, 2007.

"They can go to Starbucks. It’s just a short trip, and many of them want to get out [of the hospital] anyway." Paul Boyce, Army spokesman on ending media access to wounded at Walter Reed, March 1, 2007.

"Well, I don’t know." Tony Snow, asked whether Osama Bin Laden is the head of Al Qaeda, March 1, 2007.

"We didn't create the war in Iraq. We didn't create the war on terror." Tony Snow, March 1, 2007.

"In many ways, conservatives are like the Biblical Jews who had to wander through the desert for 40 years." Richard Viguerie, addressing CPAC conference, March 1, 2007.

"The federal government still knows you exist." President Bush, to residents of Katrina-ravaged Gulf Coast, March 1, 2007.

"A lot of them come in for dental problems." VA Secretary Jim Nicholson, on the health care needs of Iraq and Afghan war veterans, February 27, 2007.

"What we see on television is the one bombing a day that discourages everybody." Laura Bush, February 26, 2007.

"Satan's attempt to redirect the church's primary focus [from evangelism to environmentalism]." Jerry Falwell, on global warming, February 26, 2007.

"It’s called secondary virginity.  It is a big movement in high school and also available for politicians." Grover Norquist, on 2008 GOP White House hopefuls who could reverse course to meet his litmus tests, February 25, 2007.

"Standing next to Shaq is an awe-inspiring experience." President Bush, February 27, 2007.

"I'm like President Bush. You may not like me, you may not respect me, but you voted me in." Shaquille O'Neal, on making the NBA All-Star team despite playing only 10 games, February 25, 2007.

"This loyal soldier in the War on Terror doesn’t have to go at it alone." Former Cheney aide Mary Matalin, on Scooter Libby, February 24, 2007.

"When we look back on this period of time, that will have been a remarkable achievement." Dick Cheney on the U.S. in Iraq, February 23, 2007.

"What's wrong with sucking up to everybody?" John McCain, February 23, 2007.

"Well, I look at it and see it is actually an affirmation." Vice President Cheney, on the planned British withdrawal from Iraq, February 21, 2007.

"The wheels are falling off the Bush administration." Ted Wells, attorney for Scooter Libby, February 20, 2007.

"I will screw him in the ass." President Bush to Ariel Sharon, on what he would do when he caught Bin Laden, reported February 18, 2007.

"It is interesting to me that it seems that some politicians maybe are trying to protect Iran." Tony Snow, February 18, 2007.

"I'm not running for pastor-in-chief." Mitt Romney, February 18, 2007.

"I'm not sure anything went wrong." Tony Snow, on Iraq, February 15, 2007.

"It's hard for me, living in this beautiful White House, to give you an assessment." President Bush, on civil war in Iraq, February 14, 2007.

"I made a name by being compassionate." President Bush, February 12, 2007.

"Could be dinosaur flatulence." Rep. Dana Rohrbacher, (R-CA), on the cause of global warming, February 10, 2007.

"I don’t want my 17-year-old son to have to pick tomatoes or make beds in Las Vegas." Karl Rove, February 9, 2007.

"This is a silly story and I think it's been unfair to the speaker." Tony Snow, on right-wing's Nancy Pelosi airplane smear, February 8, 2007.

"From me?" Dick Cheney, when told by Scooter Libby that he had learned about Valerie Plame from him, 2003.

"Get the story out." Dick Cheney, according to Scooter Libby grand jury testimony, 2003.

"I like to be around people that keep expectations low." President Bush, February 2, 2007.

"The best plan is to have [the president's] plan succeed."  Stephen Hadley, February 2, 2007.

"I'm not that good at pronouncing words anyway." President Bush, January 29, 2007.

"I just want to tell you, I didn't do it." Scooter Libby, as quoted by current Cheney chief of staff David Addington, September 2003.

"My first reaction on this report from the battlefield is that the Iraqis are beginning to show me something." President Bush, January 29, 2007.

"Well, I'm vice president and they're not." Dick Cheney, on his critics, January 29, 2007.

"I see that the Democratic ideas are more related to reality."  Ammar Tuma, a member of Iraq PM Maliki's ruling Shiite coalition, January 28, 2007.

"The Iranian people are more pro-American than any American university faculty." Tony Snow, January 26, 2007.

"I'm the decision maker." President Bush, January 26, 2007.

"Because I told them it had to."  President Bush on why Iraq surge plan will succeed, January 25, 2007.

"I just think it's hogwash." Dick Cheney, asked about White House mistakes in Iraq, January 25, 2007.

"I will not be sacrificed so Karl Rove can be protected."  Scooter Libby to Dick Cheney, 2003.

"It's like looking in a drawer full of diamonds."  Tony Snow on President Bush's 2007 State of the Union address, January 22, 2007.

"The situation in Iraq is dire." Lt. General David Petraeus, new U.S. commander in Iraq, January 23, 2007.

"Death is terrible." President Bush, January 16, 2007.

"They sacrifice peace of mind when they see the terrible images of violence on TV every night."  President Bush on the war-time sacrifices of the American people, January 16, 2007.

"Using bad language like, you know, 'bring them on' was a mistake." President Bush, January 14, 2007.

"I think the Iraqi people owe the American people a huge debt of gratitude." President Bush, January 14, 2007.

"I would confess I'm no expert on Iraq." Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, January 11, 2007.

"Tell me how this ends."  Lt. General David Petraeus, new U.S. commander in Iraq, in 2003.

"I do believe this issue [Iraq] isn’t going to be around in 2008." John McCain, January 3, 2007.

"It's Alice in Wonderland.  It's folly." Senator Chuck Hagel, (R-NE), on President Bush's proposed troop "surge" in Iraq, January 2, 2007.

"The Lord didn't say nuclear. But I do believe it will be something like that."  Pat Robertson, on God speaking to him of "mass killing" in the United States in 2007, January 2, 2007.

"It's [the capture of Bin Laden is] a success that hasn't occurred yet." Fran Townsend, Bush Homeland Security Advisor, December 28, 2006.

"I have no future." Jeb Bush, December 20, 2006.

"I'm not playing the game anymore."  Tony Snow, asked whether the U.S. is winning in Iraq, December 18, 2006.

"I believe that we’re going to win."  President Bush, December 20, 2006.

"We're not winning, we're not losing."  President Bush, December 19, 2006.

"Absolutely, we're winning." President Bush, October 25, 2006.

"We are losing." Former Bush Secretary of State Colin Powell, December 17, 2006.

"No, sir."  Defense Secretary nominee Robert Gates, asked if the U.S. is winning in Iraq, December 5, 2006.

"There are really no additional troops [to send to Iraq.]"  Former Bush Secretary of State Colin Powell, December 17, 2006.

"I must tell you, I'm sleeping a lot better than people would assume." President Bush, December 14, 2006.

"I'll be dead when they get it right." President Bush, on his legacy, reported December 10, 2006.

"I don't recall, seriously, that he asked any questions." Iraq Study Group member Lawrence Eagleburger, regarding panel's meeting with President Bush, December 6, 2006.

"It's bad in Iraq." President Bush, December 7, 2006.

"We've been in this phase [in Iraq] for a while." President Bush, November 28, 2006.

"This business about a graceful exit just simply has no realism to it at all." President Bush, November 30, 2006.

"The reality on the streets of Baghdad suggests Maliki is either ignorant of what is going on, misrepresenting his intentions, or that his capabilities are not yet sufficient to turn his good intentions into action." National security Advisor Stephen Hadley, November 8, 2006.

"He [al Maliki] is the right guy for Iraq." President Bush, November 30, 2006.

"It was going to be more of a social meeting anyways." White House spokesman Dan Bartlett, on Bush meeting cancelled by Iraqi Prime Minister al-Maliki, November 29, 2006.

"Obviously I’m not going to say that I am perfect and that I’ve been perfect in doing my job." Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, November 30, 2006.

"I appreciate the fact that you got a flat tax." President Bush during a visit to Estonia, November 28, 2006.

"We typically ignore them [the British] and take no notice — it’s a sad business." Kendall Myers, Senior State Department analyst, November 28, 2006.

"Yo, Blair." President Bush to British Prime Minister Tony Blair, at the G8 Summit, July 2006.

"It [a North American Union with Canada and Mexico] is something in the head of the president of the United States." Rep. Tom Tancredo (R-CO), November 24, 2006.

"Loyalty appears to be a one-way street for Bush." Robert Novak, November 23, 2006.

"My son is an honest man."  George H.W. Bush, November 21, 2006.

"Heck, even the white rednecks who go to church on Sunday didn't come out to vote for us."  Rep. Adam Putnam (R-FL), November 16, 2006.

"Sir, prove to me that you are not working with our enemies." CNN host Glenn Beck, to Muslim Congressman Keith Ellison, November 14, 2006.

"What complaint do you have with a man who has been so successful?" Tony Snow on UN Ambassador John Bolton, November 11, 2006.

"Americans will speak of the battles like Fallujah with the same awe and reverence that we now give to Guadalcanal and Iwo Jima." President Bush, November 10, 2006.

"Either the beer is free or you're happy that Donald Rumsfeld resigned today." Dixie Chicks lead singer Natalie Maines, to cheering Marines, November 9, 2006.

"It was a thumping." President Bush, on midterm election results, November 8, 2006.

"You're going straight to hell with a nonstop ticket." Texas Governor Rick Perry, to non-Christians, November 5, 2006.

"I am a deceiver and a liar. There’s a part of my life that is so repulsive and dark that I have been warring with it all of my adult life."  Ted Haggard, November 5, 2006.

"We don’t have to debate about what we should think about homosexual activity, it’s written in the Bible." Ted Haggard, from the film "Jesus Camp," 2006.

"Both men [Rumsfeld and Cheney] are doing fantastic jobs." President Bush, November 2, 2006.

"Donald Rumsfeld must go." The Army Times, November 4, 2006.

"It may not be popular with the public...it's full speed ahead [in Iraq]."  Dick Cheney, November 5, 2006.

"I have no idea that I’m going to be subpoenaed." Dick Cheney, November 5, 2006.

"I haven't had no ethical problems." Tom Delay, October 31, 2006.

"It’s always easy to manipulate people’s feelings." Laura Bush, on Parkinson's victim Michael J. Fox, October 31, 2006.

"Rumsfeld is the best thing that’s happened to the Pentagon in 25 years." House Majority Leader John Boehner, (R-OH), October 29, 2006.

"It’s [waterboarding] a no-brainer for me." Vice President Cheney, October 24, 2006.

"I have not read one book about me." President Bush, October 22, 2006.

"He shouldn't be speculating like this, because -- he should have called me ahead of time and I'd tell him they're not going to (win)."  President Bush, on his father's prediction of a Democratic victory in the midterms, October 22, 2006.

"'We tried to do our best but I think there is much room for criticism because, undoubtedly, there was arrogance and there was stupidity from the United States in Iraq."  Alberto Fernandez, Director of Public Diplomacy in the Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs at the State Department, October 22, 2006.

"I would hate to think what my son's life would be like." Former President George H.W. Bush, on the prospect of a Democratic victory in November, October 22, 2006.

"He [Rumsfeld] leads in a way that the good Lord tells him is best for our country." Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Peter Pace, October 19, 2006.

"House Democrats plot to establish a Department of Peace, raise your taxes, and minimize penalties for crack dealers." House Majority Whip Roy Blunt (R-MO), October 18, 2006.

"If you look at the general overall situation [in Iraq], they’re doing remarkably well." Vice President Cheney, October 17, 2006.

"As we go through the city of Baghdad, it was like being in Manhattan." Rep. Peter King (R-NY), October 17, 2006.

"The stakes are too high for that kind of illogical behavior." President Bush, regarding Iraq war criticism,  October 17, 2006.

"Dennis Hastert didn't kill anybody." Rep. Christopher Shays (R-CT), October 13, 2006.

"I am, you know, amazed that this [Iraq] is a society which so wants to be free that they’re willing to — you know, that there’s a level of violence that they tolerate." President Bush, October 11, 2006.

"To link me to George Bush is like linking me to an Oscar." Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, October 11, 2006.

"There must be no question among the administration, the Congress and the Iraqi unity government that staying the course is neither an option nor a plan." Senator Olympia Snowe (R-ME), October 10, 2006.

"I don't care if we offend our allies in the Middle East." Senator Rick Santorum, October 10, 2006.

"It’s a silly question." Tony Snow, asked whether President Bush had many any mistakes in handling the  North Korea crisis, October 10, 2006.

"Why should I care about North Korea?" Candidate George W. Bush, to advisor Saudi Prince Bandar, 1999.

"We will not tolerate nuclear weapons in North Korea." President Bush, May 23, 2006.

"I got paid in stock options which were worthless." Senator George Allen (R-VA), regarding undisclosed Xybernaut stock options once worth $1.1 million, October 10, 2006.

"My first sin each night is the failure to forgive the [San Diego Union Tribune]." Convicted Republican Congressman Duke Cunningham, October 6, 2006.

"It seems to me that the situation [in Iraq]  is simply drifting sideways." Senator John Warner (R-VA), October 5, 2006.

"A submarine could take this place out." President Bush, at the dedication of the Clinton  Presidential Library, November 2004.

"I change constitutions, I put churches in schools." Karl Rove, November 2004.

"Just get me a f**king faith based-thing." Karl Rove, as reported on October 15, 2006.

"Staying the course [in Iraq]  isn't good enough because a course has to have an end." Colin Powell, October 4, 2006.

"I know that he wants all the facts to come out and he wants to ensure that these children up there on Capitol Hill are protected." President Bush on Dennis Hastert, October 3, 2006.

"Would have, could have, should have." Dennis Hastert on his handling of Foley emails, October 2, 2006.

"I will not withdraw [from Iraq] even if Laura And Barney are the only ones supporting me." President Bush, as related by Bob Woodward, October 1, 2006.

"I'm Mark Foley from Florida's 16th District. I'm co-chairman of the Missing and Exploited Children's Caucus, and I hope today's bill is a pedophile's worst nightmare and a parent's best hope."  Mark Foley (R-FL), as recalled by ABC, October 2, 2006.

"I think had they overly aggressively reacted to the initial round [of Foley emails], they would have also been accused of gay bashing." Newt Gingrich, October 1, 2006.

"We've got to get the [expletive] out [of Iraq]." General John Abizaid, March 2005.

"We’re urging people to buy the book [Woodward's 'Plan of Attack']. What this book does is show a president who was asking the right questions and showing prudence as well as resolve during very difficult times. This book undermines a lot of the critics’ charges. " White House Spokesman Dan Bartlett, April 21, 2004.

"I think as we worked with Bob on this project [Woodward's 'State of Denial'] from the very outset, it was unfortunate that we felt he had already formulated some conclusions even before the interviewing began." White House Spokesman Dan Bartlett, October 1, 2006.

"The 130 most treacherous people, probably in the world, and they [the Democrats] want to put them and release them out in the public eventually." House Speaker Dennis Hastert, September 29, 2006.

"Why do Sunnis kill Shiites? How do they tell the difference? They all look the same to me." Trent Lott (R-MS), September 28, 2006.

"The idea of trying to cast blame on President Clinton [for 9/11] is just wrong for many, many reasons, not the least of which is I don't think he deserves it." Rudy Giuliani, September 28, 2006.

"This battle [to ban same-sex marriage] is the most important issue that we face today." Rep. Marilyn Musgrave (R-CO), September 27, 2006.

"When the final history is written on Iraq, it [the growing violence] will look like just a comma." President Bush, September 24, 2006.

"Nothing will energize my [constituency] like Hillary Clinton. If Lucifer ran, he wouldn't." Reverend Jerry Falwell, September 24, 2006.

"It seems that the President was very sad to have to come out negatively regarding Israel, but that they needed to mollify the Arabs for the upcoming war on Iraq." Jack Abramoff, March 18, 2002.

"I still had a ham sandwich for lunch. And my mother made great pork chops." George Allen (R-VA), on his newly found Jewish heritage, September 20, 2006.

"This cannot be." Judge T. Jackson Bedford Jr., striking down Georgia's voter ID law,  September 19, 2006.

"It's unacceptable to think that there's any kind of comparison between the behavior of the United States of America and the action of Islamic extremists who kill innocent women and children to achieve an objective." President Bush, September 15, 2006.

"The world is beginning to doubt the moral basis of our fight against terrorism." Colin Powell, September 14, 2006.

"Emphasis on bin Laden doesn't fit with the administration's strategy for combating terrorism." Fred Barnes, interview of President Bush, September 13, 2006.

"The president has been more respectful of civil liberties and civil rights than any previous wartime president in the history of the United States." Former Attorney General John Ashcroft, September 12, 2006.

"If Saddam Hussein were still in power in Iraq, he would be rolling in petrol dollars. Think of the price of oil today." Donald Rumsfeld, September 11, 2006.

"I wonder if [Democrats] they're more interested in protecting the terrorists than protecting the American people." House Majority Leader John Boehner (R-OH), September 12, 2006.

"I know Iraq is a mess and we have screwed up seven ways from Sunday." Senator Lindsey Graham, (R-SC), September 10, 2006.

"One of the hardest parts of my job is to connect Iraq to the war on terror." President Bush, September 6, 2006.

"They [Cuban and Puerto Rican women] are all very hot.  They have the, you know, part of the black blood in them and part of the Latino blood in them that together makes it."  Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, March 3, 2006.

"I know there were people who said, 'Why don’t we get out of this now, take a peace with the South, but leave the South with slaves?'" Condi Rice, September 4, 2006.

"I'm not going to have a philosophical debate over politics." President Bush to Maine war widow, August 25, 2006.

"God is the one who chooses our rulers."  Florida Congresswoman and Senate candidate Katherine Harris, August 24, 2006.

"Stuff happens, mission accomplished, last throes, a few dead-enders...It grieves me so much that we had not told the American people how tough and difficult this task would be." Senator John McCain (R-AZ), August 22, 2006.

"What's happened there [Iraq] is nothing short of a miracle." Senator James Inhofe (R-OK), August 22, 2006.

"We're not leaving [Iraq], so long as I'm the President." President Bush, August 21, 2006.

"I think George Bush is in a league by himself. I don't think he has the intellectual depth as these other people." Joe Scarborough, MSNBC host and former GOP Congressman, August 15, 2006.

"I can self-destruct in one sentence. Sometimes in one word." Senator Conrad Burns, (R-MT), August 15, 2006.

"This [Islam] is a Johnny-come-lately religion." Bo Dietl, Fox News analyst, August 14, 2006.

"The president is not believing the happy talk any more that he was getting from Rumsfeld." Weekly Standard Editor Bill Kristol, August 14, 2006.

"Weeks before September 11th, this is going to play big." Anonymous White House official, on British airliner plot, August 10, 2006.

"I hear people say, well, civil war this, civil war that." President Bush, August 7, 2006.

"It is very wrong, Bob, to put American troops in a hopeless, winless situation...That’s irresponsible and that is wrong." Senator Chuck Hegel, August 6, 2006.

"I have not been one who believed in the global warming. But I tell you, they are making a convert out of me as these blistering summers." Pat Robertson, August 3, 2006.

"If this race is about Republicans and Democrats, I lose." Michael Steele, Republican Senate candidate in Maryland, July 24, 2006.

"Obviously the violence in Baghdad is still terrible." President Bush, July 25, 2006

"If you had a European prime minister who experienced what we've experienced it would be expected that he would retire or resign." William F. Buckley, July 22, 2006.

"It [the global warming argument] kind of reminds...I could use the Third Reich, the big lie." Senator James Inhofe, (R-OK), July 22, 2006.

"All of the recent science...confirms that I was right on this thing [global warming]. This thing is a hoax." Senator James Inhofe, (R-OK), July 21, 2006.

"See the irony is that what they need to do is get Syria to get Hezbollah to stop doing this s**t and it's over." President Bush, regarding the UN and Hezbollah, at the G8 Summit, July 16, 2006.

"If there is a leak out of my administration, I want to know who it is. And if the person has violated law, the person will be taken care of." President Bush, on Plame leak, September 30, 2003.

"The President is always right." Steven Bradbury, head of the Justice Department’s office of legal counsel, July 12, 2006.

"It's not really a reversal of policy." Tony Snow, on Bush administration decision after the Hamdan decision to apply Geneva Conventions to terrorist detainees, July 11, 2006.

"I'm not sure what this Congress has accomplished." Former House Majority Leader  Dick Armey, July 10, 2006.

"Have confidence in the process." Karl Rove, on the investigation into the Valerie Plame leak, July 9, 2006.

"The U.S. Congress simply should not have to play Twenty Questions to get the information that it deserves under our Constitution." Rep. Pete Hoekstra (R-MI), letter to President Bush, May 18, 2006.

"Guantanamo ought to be closed immediately." Colin Powell, July 7, 2006.

"Let's get this out." President Bush to Vice President Cheney, regarding information to discredit Joseph Wilson, July 2003.

"It’s [Cheney chief if staff David] Addington. He doesn’t care about the Constitution." Colin Powell, on the architect of the NSA domestic spying program, December 18, 2005.

"It's [The estate tax is] in keeping with the idea of equality of opportunity in this country, not giving incredible head starts to certain people who were very selective about the womb from which they emerged." Warren Buffett, June 26, 2006.

"Because he wanted to." Tony Snow, on why Transportation Secretary Norm Mineta resigned, June 23, 2006.

"[The Iraq debate] should be taken more seriously than to simply retreat into focus-group tested buzz words and phrases like “cut and run,” catchy political slogans that debase the seriousness of war." Senator Chuck Hagel, (R-NE), June 21, 2006.

"All right. You've covered your ass, now." President Bush to CIA briefer on PDB titled "Bin Laden Determined to Strike in U.S.", August 6, 2001.

"Taliban no longer is in existence." President Bush, September 27, 2004.

"There's only so much of that trailer trash pie to go around." Cal Thomas, Fox New analyst, on other cable networks going after Fox's audience, June 18, 2006.

"It's a number." Press Secretary Tony Snow, on President Bush's reaction to U.S. death count reaching 2,500 in Iraq, June 15, 2006.

"We have no excuses to make for it [Iraq]." Karl Rove, June 13, 2006.

"I’m really proud to say that in the recorded history of our family, we’ve never had a divorce or any kind of homosexual relationship." Senator James Inhofe (R-OK), June 6, 2006.

"DHS and the administration have declared war on New York City." Rep. Peter King (R-NY), May 31, 2006.

"People in Washington are morally repugnant, cheating, shifty human beings." Karl Zinsmeister, President Bush's domestic policy adviser, August 2004.

"I learned some lessons about expressing myself maybe in a little more sophisticated manner -- you know, "wanted dead or alive," that kind of talk." President Bush, May 25, 2006.

"We have to pray for your brother. He's in real trouble." Justice Clarence Thomas to Doro Bush Koch, May 22, 2006.

"You have no civil liberties if you are dead." Senator Pat Roberts, May 18, 2006.

"I don’t want to hug the tar baby of trying to comment on the program." Tony Snow, May 16, 2006.

"I don't really believe those polls. A lot of people come up to me and say, 'Stay the course.'" Laura Bush, May 14, 2006.

"I’m not going to defend the indefensible." Newt Gingrich, on Bush's NSA phone records program, May 11, 2006.

"You look mighty comfortable." President Bush, to a man in a wheelchair, May 9, 2006.

"I would say the best moment of all was when I caught a 7.5 pound perch in my lake." President Bush, on the highlight of his presidency, May 7, 2006.

"Somebody sends me a blue dress and some DNA, I'll have an investigation." Porter Goss, on the outing of Valerie Plame, October 2003.

"Well, from my perspective, Heather and I already are married...The way I look at it, is we're just waiting for state and federal law to catch up with us." Mary Cheney, May 4, 2006.

"What's the point of having a statute if . . . the president can cherry-pick what he likes and what he doesn't like?" Senator Arlen Specter (R-PA), May 3, 2006.

"I have said on many occasions I don’t think we had enough force there [Iraq] at that time to impose order." Colin Powell, April 30, 2006.

"George Bush has become something of an embarrassment." Tony Snow, November 11, 2005.

"[The] Strategic Reserve should not be used as an attempt to drive down oil prices right before an election. It should not be used for short-term political gain at the cost of long-term national security." Candidate George W. Bush, September 21, 2000.

"I base a lot of my foreign policy decisions on some things that I think are true. One, I believe there's an Almighty. And, secondly, I believe one of the great gifts of the Almighty is the desire in everybody's soul, regardless of what you look like or where you live, to be free." President Bush, April 24, 2006.

"You have somebody being fired from the CIA for allegedly telling the truth, and you have no one fired from the White House for revealing a CIA agent in order to support a lie." John Kerry, April 24, 2006.

"I'm the decider, and I decide what is best. And what's best is for Don Rumsfeld to remain as the secretary of defense." President Bush, April 18, 2006.

"Ask him [Rumsfeld] about the 14 months we spent planning this thing." General Tommy Franks (Retired), April 14, 2006.

"I think the proudest thing I have done on the bench is not allowed myself to be chased off that [Cheney energy] case." Antonin Scalia, April 12, 2006.

"I have never – ever – heard anyone get booed like that man [Dick Cheney]." Harry Horton, Washington Nationals usher, April 11, 2006.

"The president of the United States owes a specific explanation to the American people...about exactly what he did." Arlen Specter (R-PA), April 9, 2006.

"The president is revealed as the leaker-in-chief." Rep. Jane Harman, (D-CA), April 6, 2006.

"Let people see Christ through me." Tom Delay, April 3, 2006.

"Nothing worse than a woman know-it-all." Tom Delay, on Hillary Clinton, April 4, 2006.

"He [Delay] has served our nation with integrity and honor." Majority Leadership John Boehner, (R-OH), April 4, 2006.

"I know we've made tactical errors, thousands of them I'm sure." Condoleezza Rice, March 31, 2006.

"I say let the prisoners pick the fruits." Dana Rohrbacher (R-CA), March 30, 2006.

"There's no penalty for having lied." Donald Rumsfeld, March 28, 2006.

"That [the withdrawal of all U.S. troops] will be decided by future Presidents and future governments of Iraq." President Bush, March 21, 2006.

"Turning our backs on postwar Iraq today would be the modern equivalent of handing postwar Germany back to the Nazis." Donald Rumsfeld, March 19, 2006.

"Right now, I wouldn't vote Democratic if Jesus Christ was running." Judy Deats, Texas Republican, March 16, 2006.

"Incompetent."  Most common one-word description of President Bush, Pew Research Poll, March 15, 2006.

"Earlier today, reports began circulating across the globe that I have recently stated that Jews can go to heaven without being converted to Jesus Christ. This is categorically untrue." Jerry Falwell, March 2, 2006.

"What are you benching, buff guy?" President Bush to Jack Abramoff, as reported March 8, 2006.

"I wouldn't put a great big smiley face on it [Iraq], but I would say they're going very, very well from everything you look at." General Peter Pace, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, March 5, 2006.

"We are fully prepared." President Bush, the day before Hurricane Katrina struck, August 28, 2005.

"I think the U.S. is better prepared than woefully unprepared." President Bush, February 28, 2006.

"People don't need to worry about security." President Bush, February 23, 2006.

"Nobody denies that he [Saddam] was supporting al-Qaida. Well, I shouldn't say nobody. Nobody with brains." Senator Orrin Hatch (R-UT), February 18, 2006.

"We don’t want to have any kind of debate about whether it’s  constitutional or not constitutional." Senator Mike DeWine, (R-OH), regarding the NSA domestic spying program, February 17, 2006.

"The responsibility for handling this, of course, was Cheney's. [He] ignored his responsibility to the American people." Marlin Fitzwater, Reagan press secretary, February 14, 2006.

"I support the free press, let's just get them out of the room." President Bush, February 10, 2006.

"The guy [President Bush] saw me in almost a dozen settings, and joked with me about a bunch of things, including details of my kids.  Perhaps he has forgotten everything. Who knows." Jack Abramoff email, Reprinted February 8, 2006.

"President Washington, President Lincoln, President Wilson, President Roosevelt have all authorized electronic surveillance of the enemy on a far broader scale." Alberto Gonzales, February 6, 2006.

"I believe that contention is very strained and unrealistic. The authorization for the use of force doesn’t say anything about electronic surveillance." Senator Arlen Specter, (R-PA), February 5, 2006.

"In fact, the President is living in a pre-1776 world." Senator Russell Feingold, (D-WI), February 2, 2006.

"Congress did not act last year on my proposal to save Social Security -- (applause)." President Bush, 2006 State of the Union Address, January 31, 2006.

"He [Bush] just can’t unilaterally decide that that 1978 law is out of date and he will be the guardian of America and he will violate that law." Senator Chuck Hagel (R-NE), January 29. 2006.

"It may not be the case that the probable cause standard has caused any difficulties in our ability to seek the FISA warrants we require." James Baker, Counsel for Intelligence Policy, July 31, 2002.

"It's always good to have a plant in every audience." President Bush, January 19, 2006.

"[Sam Alito is the] worst nightmare of liberal Democrats." Bill Frist, January 21, 2006.

"We do not revisit our abortion precedents today." Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, Ayotte v. Planned Parenthood, January 18, 2006.

"Since they [House Democrats] think it is their job to run the plantation, it shocks them that I’m actually willing to lead the slave rebellion." Newt Gingrich, October 20, 1994.

"Whether you agree with me or not, we're doing the right thing." President Bush, January 11, 2006.

"I do not question that the Attorney General should have this immunity." Samuel Alito, on Nixon Attorney General John Mitchell's use of illegal wiretaps, June 12, 1984.

"It will be over and be over very, very soon. And I think I will go back to be majority leader." Tom Delay, October 3, 2005.

"I do not agree with the legal basis on which they are basing their surveillance." Senator Sam Brownback (R-KS), December 24, 2005.

"He [Sharon] was dividing God's land, and I would say woe unto any prime minister of Israel who takes a similar course." Pat Robertson, January 5, 2006.

"These are designed to monitor calls from very bad people to very bad people who have a history of blowing up commuter trains, weddings, and churches." Trent Duffy, White House spokesman, December 27, 2005.

"There's been a constant, steady erosion of the prerogatives and the power in the Oval Office, a continual encroachment by Congress, War Powers Act...So the office is weaker today than it was 30, 35 years ago." Vice President Cheney, January 29, 2002.

"Now, by the way, any time you hear the United States government talking about wiretap, it requires — a wiretap requires a court order. Nothing has changed, by the way. When we’re talking about chasing down terrorists, we’re talking about getting a court order before we do so." President Bush, April 20, 2004.

"There is oversight. We're talking to Congress all the time." President Bush, December 19, 2005.

"Republican Congresses tend to overinvestigate Democratic administrations and underinvestigate their own." Rep. Tom Davis (R-VA), December 17, 2005.

"I'm confident the president knows who the source [of the Plame leak]  is. I'd be amazed if he doesn't. So I say, 'Don't bug me. Don't bug Bob Woodward. Bug the president as to whether he should reveal who the source is." Robert Novak, December 13, 2005.

"It’s not in the Constitution that a United States Senator specifically has the up or down – the right for an up or down vote." Bill Frist, on the Nuclear or so-called "Constitutional" Option, December 12, 2005.

"For the last 10 or 11 years, I have no idea no earthly idea at any point in time how much stock of anything, not just that particular stock [HCA], but all of the stocks that I’ve owned in the past." Bill Frist, December 11, 2005.

"To the reticent nations, including the United States, I say there is such a thing as a global conscience, and now is the time to listen to it." Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin, December 8, 2005.

"My message to corporate America is 'You need to fulfill your promises,' " Mr. Bush said. "When you say to a worker this is what they're going to get when they retire, you better put enough money in the account to make sure the worker gets that which you said." President Bush, December 5, 2005.

"The fetus is the property of the entire society."  Romanian Dictator Nicolae Ceausescu, 1966.

"In Iraq, there will not be a signing ceremony on the deck of a battleship." President Bush, November 30, 2005.

"In the battle of Iraq, the United States and our allies have prevailed."  President Bush, aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln, May 1, 2003.

"[Cheney must have sincerely believed that Iraq could be a spawning ground for new terror assaults, because] otherwise I have to declare him a moron, an idiot or a nefarious bastard." Former Colin Powell Chief of Staff Lawrence Wilkerson, November 28, 2005.

"I pledge to walk in the shoes of my colleagues and refrain from name-calling or the questioning of character." Representative Jean Schmidt, September 6, 2004.

"I didn’t advocate invasion." Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, November 20, 2005.

"The Bush administration must understand that each American has a right to question our policies in Iraq and should not be demonized for disagreeing with them." Senator Chuck Hegel (R-NE), November 15, 2005.

"Wow. Brazil is big." President Bush, November 7, 2005.

"Every word that was said in there [in the GOP Senators' meeting with Cheney about CIA prisons] went right to the newspaper. We can't keep our mouths shut." Trent Lott (R-MS), November 8, 2005.

"In my administration, we will ask not only what is legal, but what is right - not just what the lawyers allow, but what the public deserves." Candidate George W. Bush, October 26, 2000.

"I have nothing but contempt and anger for those who betray the trust by exposing the name of our [CIA] sources. They are, in my view, the most insidious of traitors." Former President George H.W. Bush, April 26, 1999.

"When a vice president's chief of staff is charged with perjury and obstruction of justice, it does show the world that this is a country that takes its law seriously; that all citizens are bound by the law." Special Counsel Patrick Fitzgerald, October 28, 2005.

"It would be seen as a tremendous sign of weakness to have her [Harriet Miers] withdraw."  Senator Arlen Specter (R-PA), October 18, 2005.

"I think they [Rove, Libby et al] should step down. I do think that's appropriate ... if they're in the midst of an indictment." Senator George Allen (R-VA), October 23, 2005.

"You’ve got a president who is not versed in international relations and not too much interested in them either." Colonel Lawence Wilkerson, State Department Chief of Staff from 2002-2005, October 19, 2005.

"You are the best governor ever - deserving of great respect." Harriet Miers to George W. Bush, July 1997.

"Happy days are here again." Aide to Saudi Prince Bandar, on meeting with newly elected President George W. Bush, March 2001.

"Is she [Miers] the most qualified person? Clearly, the answer to that is no." Trent Lott, October 5, 2005.

"The President’s optimism and faith in the American people and our economy helped inspire a remarkable recovery." White House Counsel Harriet Miers, October 29, 2004.

"People hate the messenger. That's why they killed Christ." Tom Delay, May 13, 2001.

"Bill Frist lied twice. Terri Schiavo was blind.  His trust was not."

"You get the impression that we're more than listless. We're sunk." Anonymous Bush administration official, September 19, 2005.

"I can do more than one thing at one time." President Bush, September 12, 2005.

"Maybe you know something I don’t know." President Bush, September 12, 2005.

"We finally cleaned up public housing in New Orleans. We couldn't do it, but God did." Congressman Richard Baker (R-LA), September 8, 2005.

"Our infrastructure is devastated, lives have been shattered. Would the president please stop taking photo-ops?" Louisiana Senator Mary Landrieu, September 4, 2005.

"Out of the rubbles of Trent Lott's house -- he's lost his entire house -- there's going to be a fantastic house. And I'm looking forward to sitting on the porch." President Bush, September 2, 2005.

"The critical thing was to get people out of there before the disaster. Some people chose not to obey that order. That was a mistake on their part." Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, September 1, 2005.

"He can understand that people don't share his view that we must win the war on terror."  White House press spokesman Trent Duffy, August 23, 2005.

"I think it's also important for me to go on with my life, to keep a balanced life."  President Bush, refusing to meet with Cindy Sheehan, August 13, 2005.

"Always remember, others may hate you, but those who hate you don't win unless you hate them, and then you destroy yourself." Richard Nixon, August 9, 1974.

"Rafael Palmeiro is a friend. He testified in public and I believe him. He's the kind of person that's going to stand up in front of the klieg lights and say he didn't use steroids, and I believe him. Still do." President Bush, August 6, 2005.

"Karl's got my complete confidence. He's a valuable member of my team." President Bush, August 1, 2005.

"I told one person in the White House...I told the chief of staff." Attorney General (and then White House counsel) Alberto Gonzales, July 24, 2005.

"I've already said too much." Karl Rove to Time's Matt Cooper, July 11, 2003.

"I didn't know her name. I didn't leak her name...I'm confident that the U.S. Attorney, the prosecutor who's involved in looking at this is going to do a very thorough job of doing a very substantial and conclusive investigation." Karl Rove, August 31, 2004.

"Unlike abortion today, in most states even the slaveholder did not have the unlimited right to kill his slave." Senator Rick Santorum (R-PA), July 6, 2005.

"I don't know if we're going to find out the senior administration official. Now, this is a large administration, and there's a lot of senior officials."  President Bush, on the source of the Valerie Plame outing leak, October 7, 2003.

"F**k Saddam. we're taking him out." President Bush, March 2002.

"My comments were brought to you by the Boeing Company." Pentagon spokesman Lawrence T. Di Rita, January 31, 2003.

"People...had been trained in some instances to disassemble -- that means not tell the truth." George W. Bush, May 31, 2005.

"See, in my line of work you got to keep repeating things over and over and over again for the truth to sink in, to kind of catapult the propaganda." George W. Bush, May 24, 2005.

"It's the partisan leadership-led use of cloture vote to kill, to defeat, to assassinate these nominees." Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, May 19, 2005.

"Military action was now seen as inevitable. Bush wanted to remove Saddam, through military action, justified by the conjunction of terrorism and WMD. But the intelligence and facts were being fixed around the policy." The Downing Street Memo, July 23, 2002.

"Just think of what we could accomplish...if we spent less time on our soapboxes and more time on our knees."  Tom Delay, May 5, 2005.

"The great thing about America, David, is that you should be allowed to worship any way you want, and if you choose not to worship, you're equally as patriotic as somebody who does worship. And if you choose to worship, you're equally American if you're a Christian, a Jew, a Muslim. That's the wonderful thing about our country, and that's the way it should be." George W. Bush, April 28, 2005.

"No, I don't know that atheists should be considered as citizens, nor should they be considered as patriots. This is one nation under God."  George H. W. Bush, August 27, 1987.

"I'm a radical! I'm a real extremist. I don't want to impeach judges. I want to impale them!" Senator and American Taliban member Tom Coburn (R-OK), April 7, 2005.

"There does seem to be this misunderstanding out there that our system was created with a completely independent judiciary." Jeff Lungren, aide to House Judiciary Committee Chairman James Sensenbrenner Jr. (R-WI), April 8, 2005.

"The time will come for the men responsible for this [Schiavo judicial decisions] to answer for their behavior."  Tom Delay, April 1, 2005.

"If sacrifices to the independence of the judiciary are permitted today, precedent is established for the constitutional transgressions of tomorrow." Judge Stanley F. Birch Jr., 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, ruling in Schiavo case, March 30, 2005.

"I tell you, ladies and gentlemen, one thing God has brought to us is Terri Schiavo to elevate the visibility of what's going on in America...This is exactly the kind of issue that's going on in America, that attacks against the conservative moment, against me and against many others." Tom Delay, March 23, 2005.

"My party is demonstrating that they are for states' rights unless they don't like what states are doing." Representative Christopher Shays (R-CT), March 23, 2005.

"I've said he's a man of good experiences." George Bush, on his choice for World Bank president, Paul Wolfowitz, March 16, 2005.

"People hate the messenger. That's why they killed Christ." Tom Delay, May 13, 2001.

"What that means is if you're the Methodist church and you sponsor an alcohol treatment center, they can't say only Methodists, only Methodists who drink too much can come to our program. All drunks are welcome, is what the sign ought to say." President Bush, on his Faith-Based Initiative, March 1, 2005.

"He is like, you know, a pit bull and he's got a pair of trousers in his mouth and he's not going to let go." Man-on-Dog foe Rick Santorum, on George Bush, February 15, 2005.

"Does that make any sense to you? It's kind of muddled."  President Bush, explaining his Social Security plan at a Tampa rally, February 4, 2005.

"Yes. Because you're not a senior citizen yet. Acting like one, however...Faulty memory."  President Bush, answering a reporter's question on supposed Social Security crisis, January 26, 2005.

"And our country must abandon all the habits of racism, because we cannot carry the message of freedom and the baggage of bigotry at the same time." President Bush, Second Inaugural Address, January 20, 2005, speaking prior to GOP Senator Trent Lott.

"Some of them were bad decisions." Secretary State nominee Condoleezza Rice, on Iraq war planning and reconstruction, January 19, 2005.

"Punish France, ignore Germany and forgive Russia."   Secretary State nominee Condoleezza Rice, on her foreign policy approach, 2003.

"Secondly, the interesting -- there's a -- African American males die sooner than other males do, which means the system is inherently unfair to a certain group of people." President Bush on Social Security privatization, January 12, 2005.

"Another interesting idea...is a personal savings account...which can't be used to bet on the lottery, or a dice game, or the track." President Bush on Social Security privatization, January 12, 2005.

"If he were alive today, Joseph Goebbels would no doubt applaud the pay-for-punditry scheme of the Bush White House."

"Rumsfeld clearly fails the GOP's own "Aspin Test" which states that decisions that needlessly cost American lives in battle cost defense secretaries their jobs.  The test, though, only seems to apply when Bill Clinton is president."

"For the life of me, I cannot understand why the terrorists have not attacked our food supply because it is so easy to do."  HHS Secretary Tommy Thompson, December 3, 2004.

"Guns don't kill people, but they sure help."  From The Deer Hunter, 2004 Edition.

"With the campaign over, Americans are expecting a bipartisan effort
and results. I'll reach out to everyone who shares our goals
."  President Bush, November 4, 2004.

"Whether or not we can be ever fully safe is up -- you know, is up in the air." President Bush, October 24, 2004.

"Gosh, I just don't think I ever said I'm not worried about Osama bin Laden. It's kind of one of those exaggerations." President Bush, Debate III, October 13, 2004.

"I don't know where he [Osama Bin Laden] is. You know, I just don't spend that much time on him... I truly am not that concerned about him." President Bush, news conference, March 13, 2002.

"You know, I think about Missy Johnson. She's a fantastic lady I met in Charlotte, North Carolina. Her husband PJ got killed...You know, it's hard work to try to love her as best as I can..." President Bush, Miami Debate, September 30, 2004.

"I looked the man in the eye. I was able to get a sense of his soul. I knew that President Putin was a man with whom I could work."  President Bush, November 15, 2001.

"Too many OB/GYNs aren't able to practice their love with women all across this country."  President Bush, September 6, 2004.

"He's talking about getting rid of the current tax system and replacing it with a national sales tax. It's in interesting idea. You know, I'm not exactly sure how big the national sales tax is going to have to be, but it's the kind of interesting idea that we ought to explore seriously."  President Bush, August 10, 2004.

"The really rich people figure out how to dodge taxes anyway."  George Bush, criticizing John Kerry's tax reform plan, August 9, 2004.

"A dictatorship would be a heck of a lot easier, there's no question about it."   President George W. Bush, July 26, 2001.

"If this were a dictatorship, it'd be a heck of a lot easier, just so long as I'm the dictator."  President-elect George W. Bush, December 18, 2000.

"You don't get everything you want. A dictatorship would be a lot easier." Texas Governor George W. Bush, July 1998.

"I can't say it, but it rhymes with rich." Barbara Bush, on her husband's 1984 opponent, Geraldine Ferraro, October 15, 1984.

"Son, I love your strategy: Don't let them get to know you." Barbara Bush.

"You [expletive] son of a bitch.  I saw what you wrote. We're not going to forget this."  George W. Bush, to then Wall Street Journal DC bureau chief Al Hunt, April 1986.

"Victory means exit strategy, and it's important for the president to explain to us what the exit strategy is." Candidate George Bush, April 9, 1999.

"I want to change the tone of Washington to one of civility and respect." Candidate George Bush, August 3, 2000.

"F--k yourself."  Vice President Dick Cheney to Vermont Senator Patrick Leahy, on the Senate floor, June 22, 2004

"I believe the title was, 'Bin Laden Determined to Attack Inside the United States.'" Condi Rice, responding to 9/11 Commission question about the title of  the infamous August 6, 2001 PDB warning of Al Qaeda strikes in the U.S., May 19, 2004.

"The liberation of Iraq is a crucial advance in the campaign against terror. We have removed an ally of Al Qaida and cut off a source of terrorist funding."   George W. Bush, aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln on May 1, 2003.

"Not all the American bishops are with me." President George W. Bush, reportedly to a Vatican official during June 2004 visit with the Pope.)

"Ronald Reagan knew his own mind."  Margaret Thatcher (2004 Tribute)

"Poor dear. There's nothing between his ears."  Margaret Thatcher (1988 Interview)

"I never knew anything above C's."  Ronald Reagan

"I've seen how things can work out pretty well for a C student."  George Bush (LSU commencement address, 5/21/04)

"Ronald Reagan was the father of Republican fiscal irresponsibility.  That makes George W. Bush his bastard love child."

"If we're an arrogant nation they'll resent us. If we're a humble nation but strong they'll welcome us."  Candidate George W. Bush (10/12/00 presidential debate).

"A country that hides something is a country that is afraid of getting caught, and that was part of our calculation."  George W. Bush, perhaps self-referentially, during his 4/13/04 press conference.

"I'm sure something will pop into my head here...maybe I'm not as quick on my feet as I should be in coming up with one."  George W. Bush, asked to name his biggest mistake, during his 4/13/04 press conference.

"So when I put my hand on the Bible, I will swear to not only uphold the laws of our land, I will swear to uphold the honor and dignity of the office to which I have been elected, so help me God."  George W. Bush, accepting the Republican nomination, August 2000.

"I knew he was a menace, but I didn’t feel that sense of urgency."  President Bush on Osama Bin Laden in Bob Woodward's book, Bush at War.

"Those weapons of mass destruction have got to be somewhere ... nope, no weapons over there ... maybe under here?" President Bush supporting U.S. troops at the dinner of Radio and Television News Correspondents Association (3/24/04).

"Everything you need to know about the GOP can be gleaned from the politics of three states.  They cheat when they win (Texas); they cheat when they lose (California); they cheat when they're just not sure (Florida)."

"As a result of George W. Bush’s 'steady leadership', America is feared but not respected, hated and not admired, and even among friends, a force to be resisted, not emulated or followed. Our victories of arms can’t make up for losing the battle of hearts and minds."

"It's no wonder the Bush folks want John Kerry to reveal his endorsements from foreign leaders. They remember the bounce W got from the backing of Canadian Prime Minister 'Jean Poutine' four years ago."

"George W. Bush has a faith-based environmental policy.  It took God six days to create the world. The President has a four-year timeline to destroy it."

"Every time George W. Bush opens his mouth, the American Dream dies a little."

"Bush's approach to the WMD fiasco is to play dumb. That should come naturally."

"Of course, the public's assumption of his feeble intellect remains President Bush's most potent weapon. His entire presidency, to paraphrase his own words, represents the tragedy of low expectations."

"We live in the greatest country on earth. Only in America can the developmentally disabled rise to the highest office in the land."

"The GOP platform for 2004: protecting the right of fetuses to carry concealed weapons."

"Richard Nixon represents the dark side of the American spirit."

Robert F. Kennedy, 1968

"He (RFK) never met George W. Bush."

"Never one for irony, the President would do well to remember that the Taliban is a faith-based organization."

"America's children are not just being left behind; they're being left in the dust."

"The Bush philosophy represents an all-out assault on common national purpose in the United States."

"[To the GOP], government not only can't solve problems, it has no moral claim on its citizens' participation in a shared national effort to try."

"At the end of the day, the message from Bush and the GOP is that you're on your own in a Hobbesian struggle of each against all; the government's role is to stand aside and let you fight it out."

All quotes are from Jon Perr unless otherwise attributed.


About

Jon Perr
Jon Perr is a technology marketing consultant and product strategist who writes about American politics and public policy.

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