Lingua publica

The good and the bad...

web posted January 24, 2005

"If you hold power long enough in a one-party state -- North Korea, Cuba, Massachusetts -- you can believe anything. Fidel Castro says he speaks for the Cuban people. Kim Jong believes those he holds in bondage adore him. Ted Kennedy thinks he's a megaphone for the masses." -- Don Feder

"In Abbas's first moment of real leadership, his long-anticipated emergence from the shadow of Arafat, he chooses to literally hoist the flag of the terrorist al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades. Can Abbas turn into a Sadat, who also emerged from the shadow of a charismatic leader, reversed policy and made peace with Israel? I'll believe it when I see it. And hear it." -- Charles Krauthammer

"[T]he distance Iraq has come in less than two years is remarkable. In January 2003, all political power in the country was concentrated in the hands of a single sadistic dictator. He represented, and answered to, no one but himself. Today, 7,200 candidates are campaigning for the privilege of holding office in a government of, by, and for the Iraqi people. If that isn't progress, nothing is." -- Jeff Jacoby

"The movement to smuggle foreign jurisprudence into Supreme Court opinions, which picks up speed each year, is a de facto left-wing Constitutional Convention." -- George Neumayr

"It's depressing that after three years the Democrats seem incapable of any kind of characterization of the enemy that approximates to reality. But it's not surprising. In the landscape of modern progressive pieties, there are no enemies, just friends whose grievances we haven't yet accommodated." -- Mark Steyn

"[T]housands of people were suppressed in the effort to vote. Voting machines were distributed in uneven ways. In Democratic [sic] districts, it took people four, five, eleven hours to vote, while Republicans [went] through in 10 minutes -- same voting machines, same process, our America." -- John Kerry, unwittingly acknowledging that the problems were in Democrat-controlled precincts

"In America, black people doesn't really have an opportunity at nothin.' ... It's kinda bad bein' black in America." -- Richard Williams, father of tennis sensations Venus and Serena Williams, who also has three stepdaughters -- one is an actress and singer, one is a lawyer, and one, now deceased, attended medical school

"Michael Moore and I actually have a lot in common. We both appreciate living in a country where there's free expression. But Michael, if you ever show up at my front door with a camera, I'll kill you. I mean it." -- Actor and director Clint Eastwood

"'Disenfranchisement' actually means being denied the vote, but Democrats of late have started using it as a dysphemism for 'losing'." --James Taranto

"What's the big problem at CBS News? Well, for one thing, it has no credibility. And no audience, no morale, no long-term emblematic anchorperson and no cohesive management structure. Outside of those annoyances, it shouldn't be that hard to fix." -- Former CBS News executive Van Gordon Sauter

"Congress will investigate radio commentator Armstrong Williams for accepting money from the Department of Education. Members are outraged. If he wants to take money under the table to support a bill he can run for Congress like everybody else." -- Argus Hamilton

"In a beautiful bit of corporate doublespeak, [Les] Moonves said Rather would be on ['60 Minutes Wednesday'] 'provided the show continues.' If I'm Mr. Rathergate, I'm making vacation plans. Long ones." -- Michael Goodwin

"George W. Bush is about to send a lot of people to the dentist. If history is a guide, when the President takes his oath at noon Thursday he will include in his remarks an affirmation of religious faith in American life, a tribute to the cherished convictions that most of us follow (or say we do). The grinding of teeth in the enlightened precincts will be long and loud enough to wake the newly dead. The dust of molars and the residue of bicuspids will lie heavily upon the land." -- Wesley Pruden

"Ted Kennedy said today the Democrat Party is still the majority party. So you know what that means: Ted's been drinking again." -- Jay Leno

"Ponder the opening paragraph in an article from today's Washington Post: 'President Bush will begin his second term in office without a clear mandate to lead the nation, with strong disapproval of his policies in Iraq and with the public both hopeful and dubious about his leadership on the issues that will dominate his agenda, according to a Washington Post-ABC News poll.' If the president doesn't have a clear mandate to lead the nation, what is he supposed to do for the next four years? Just hang around the ranch goofing off? Someone should explain to the good people at The Post that in democracies we have these things called elections, in which people called voters give candidates a mandate to lead." -- James Taranto

web posted January 17, 2005

"The last thing the Democrats want now is a federal bench dominated by fair and honest referees, who are guided by the rulebook known as the U.S. Constitution, not the eccentric policy aims of the Democrat liberal elite." -- Terence Jeffrey

"If current birthrates and immigration patterns continue, France will be a Muslim country sometime in this century. When Notre Dame is a mosque, and Paris has a Grand Mufti, let's see how smug the French are about their superior culture." -- Don Feder

"Truth be told, Mr. Egeland's real complaint isn't about the amount of aid. It's about who controls that aid. Money given to voluntary charities ends up buying silly, non-essential things like food, water and medical care for displaced millions, instead of a new suit for Koffi Annan or a new BMW for Jan Egeland to attach diplomatic plates to." -- Paul Jacob

"The Dems might get lucky. The GOP might nominate some freaky goofball in '08, and the other fellow will win by default. But, as the 2004 field reminded us, this isn't a party exactly brimming with talent and fresh faces. And, as for ideas, when was the last time you heard a fresh policy from a Democrat?" -- Mark Steyn

"In their zeal to punch around the first Hispanic attorney general, no one thought about the other 99% of the job of being the nation's top law officer. There were no real questions about how Gonzales would keep us safe from terror and crime or anything else most people care about. That would be too mainstream, too ordinary for the exalted likes of Kennedy, Biden, et al. Give them fringe or give them death." -- Michael Goodwin

"Hillary Clinton's former finance director was indicted Friday. He tricked up the numbers so she would have hundreds of thousands of dollars more than she really had. He should not be indicted, he should be put in charge of Social Security reform." -- Argus Hamilton

"In the weeks since the election, the Democrats have yet again updated their version of the Book of Lamentations." -- Walter Shapiro

"Speaking of world leaders admired by liberals, why isn't Fidel Castro giving the tsunami victims some of that terrific medical care liberals tell us he has been providing the people of Cuba? Stipulating that liberals love America -- which apparently depends on what the meaning of "love" is -- do they love America as much as they love bin Laden and Castro?" -- Ann Coulter

"Did anybody get this week's Newsweek? In this week's magazine, John Kerry says he didn't lose the election, he just didn't win. There's that clear decisive thinking we all loved about him." -- Jay Leno

"I assured [the American people] that I will remain firm and committed to fighting and winning the war on terror. We will deploy assets to defeat people before they come and hurt us. I believe that we are in a global war against an 'ism' that can be defeated, and must be defeated. One way you defeat them is to find them and bring them to justice. That's why we need good intelligence, the capacity to move quickly, a military that understands the stakes and is preparing the troops to meet the challenges. The other way is to spread freedom. And I believe that...free societies will be peaceful societies." -- U.S. President George W. Bush

"It remains to be seen whether the rhetoric of the campaign will be manifest in Washington in the coming years. Sadly, commitment to principle has been missing in Washington's politics for quite some time now. Ronald Reagan's summary of how the government thinks -- 'If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidize it' -- remains very much alive today." -- Ed Feulner of The Heritage Foundation

web posted January 10, 2005

"The size, scope and purposes of our government are no longer anchored in and limited by our Constitution. For conservatives who want to restore limited government, their first order of business is to restore the authority of the Constitution's original intent." -- Tom Krannawitter

"Selective enforcement of our Immigration laws will be the downfall of our nation, it already was the cause of the downfall of the Twin Towers and the death of over 3000 Americans here on our home soil." -- John Ferguson

"The dynamics of 2006 are in play here. Those Democrat senators up for re-election in states Bush did very well in have to be looking at what happened to Tom Daschle in South Dakota and wondering if the same fate is in store for them if they continue to obstruct and prevent up or down votes on the president's [judicial] nominees." -- Senator John Cornyn

"If you have a right to someone else's approval, then they do not have a right to their own opinions and values. You cannot say that what 'consenting adults' do in private is nobody else's business and then turn around and say that others are bound to put their seal of approval on it." -- Thomas Sowell

"The enemy in Iraq is brutal, ruthless and, yes, evil. There's no other word for people who murder civilians organizing elections, bomb churches and mosques, and saw the heads off innocents while screaming slogans and making home videos. But they are not stupid. They know that every time they stage a massacre, millions of people get angry -- not at them, but at Don Rumsfeld and President Bush and Prime Minister Blair...." -- Clifford May

"The organizers of the movement against the war in Vietnam were activists who thought the Communists were liberating Vietnam in the same way Michael Moore thinks Abu Musab al-Zarqawi is liberating Iraq." -- David Horowitz

"We must do what it takes in Iraq. We cannot allow those who chop off people's heads to take control of a country from which they could plot and organize and indoctrinate people against everything that they don't espouse." -- Donald Rumsfeld

"It doesn't matter who replaces [Dan] Rather. Everyone at that level of broadcast journalism has been ideologically vetted. No one who is a conservative is allowed to ascend to the top of major news organizations. If you disagree, try naming one." -- Cal Thomas

"It was a unique scheme. Yes, there may have been some corruption. There may have been some mismanagement. But the program achieved its results." -- UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan on the Oil for Food program in Iraq

"Michael Moore announced that his next documentary film will attack the health care industry in America. He's not out to get the pharmaceutical companies. He's just looking for something to relieve the redness in the center of the country." -- Argus Hamilton

"As Americans, we must ask ourselves: Are we really so different? Must we stereotype those who disagree with us? Do we truly believe that all red-state residents are ignorant racist fascist knuckle-dragging NASCAR-obsessed cousin-marrying roadkill-eating tobacco-juice-dribbling gun-fondling religious fanatic rednecks; or that all blue-state residents are godless unpatriotic pierced-nose Volvo-driving France-loving left-wing communist latte-sucking tofu-chomping holistic-wacko neurotic vegan weenie perverts? Yes. This is called 'diversity,' and it is why we are such a great nation -- a nation that has given the world both nuclear weapons and SpongeBob SquarePants." -- Dave Barry

"We are six percent or less of the world's population, yet we give almost half. We are a very small number of people, relatively speaking, and we carry the weight of a dozen countries. Secondly, we maintain a military structure that keeps the peace of the world. ... Who is in the Indian Ocean with the aircraft carriers, helicopters, skilled personal? No one has the infrastructure in the world, we spend almost half a trillion dollars a year on our military structure, which is essentially the fire department of the planet and it is always at the disposal of people hit in a national disaster. ... Incidentally on food aid, we give 60% of all the food aid in the world. It is simply irresponsible to talk about the U.S. as anything other than the most generous nation on the planet." -- Charles Krauthammer

Home

Site Map

Email ESR

Home