Just weeks removed from their midterm calamity, the leading lights of the right continue to suffer from rhetorical destruction. The entropy in Baghdad, the looming report of the Iraq Study Group and the last throes of a rudderless Bush administration have produced yet another bumper crop of classic Conservative Quotes of the Week:
"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.
Click here for a complete list of GOP mantras.