Lingua publicus

The last month in quotes...the good and the bad

"[In] not one of those 81 answers could he bring himself to answer simply 'yes' or 'no'. He is so afraid of answering questions directly that even when they asked him about his oath of office, whether he took this particular oath of office, he couldn't simply say 'yes.' He had to explain it in the third person," Rep. Bob Barr on Clinton's 81 answers

"You can imagine worse public displays of the tactics of politics and evasion, but it's hard to actually recall one." -- USA Today on those 81 answers

"There are some who insist the Republican era is over. But that's like saying the American dream is over. It isn't true, and they know it." -- Rep. Bob Livingston

"This censure idea, without an admission on the president's part, is a political cop-out. I do not want to have an unrepentant perjurer leading the nation into the 21st century." -- Rep. Lindsey Graham

"...[T]his president's concept of the truth is whatever he wants it to be and whatever he thinks will play....But it's hard to have an honest debate when the guy who's leading it doesn't say what he means or mean what he says." -- Robert J. Samuelson

"But according to polls, the public is really coming away saying, we are sick of it, get it over with." -- ABC's Lisa McRee, who in 1998 was unable to saying anything close to the truth

"Your daddy helped you more. No, your daddy helped you more. You spent more time growing up in the East. No, you did. Your daddy got you a better deal during Vietnam. No, yours did. Harvard's better. No, Yale's better. Andover rules. No, St. Alban's rules." -- Maureen Dowd with an excerpt from the 2000 presidential campaign debate between Bush and Gore

"You must ... not set so high a bar as to make it impossible to act when our system of government is threatened. You must not set so low a bar that you encourage future Congresses to set foot on this perilous path when the matter is uncertain and there is a danger that partisan forces alone will tip the balance." -- White House counsel Charles Ruff to the House Judiciary Committee

"I urge Congress to consider the high standards of personal conduct it has set for leaders of the American military, and to hold the Commander-in-Chief accountable to at least those standards -- for the good order and discipline of the United States Armed Forces and for the survival of the American Rule of Law." -- Admiral Thomas H. Moorer, U.S. Navy (retired), Former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, to the House Judiciary Committee.

"The American dream will be kept alive if you will today answer the call to service." -- Bill Clinton. I'd hate to think of what he refers to as "service"

"I asked if you've been naughty or nice, not to see your poll numbers...." -- A Steve Kelley cartoon depicting Santa, holding a sheaf of papers, addressing Bill Clinton.

"No matter if the science is all phoney, there are collateral environmental benefits." -- Canada's Minister of the Environment Christine Stewart on December 14

"Climate change (provides) the greatest chance to bring about justice and equality in the world." -- Canada's Minister of the Environment Christine Stewart on December 15

"Well, IS "is" "is" or isn't it? I mean, if not, then what is "is"? If "is" was "was," which it isn't, then that would also mean "was" was "is." But "is" isn't that, either. So, just what is "is? Maybe it's easier to decide what "is" isn't. Well, "is" isn't "were," because if "is" were "were" then "was" would be "is," but we already know it isn't. "Is" could be "are," but if "is" is "are" ... no ... let's not go there because "are" implies plural, and surely he didn't mean "is" was "are." So, if "is" wasn't "were," and "is" isn't "was," and "is" are not "are," just what is "is"? "I think "is" IS "is." Isn't it?" -- Michael W. Reece in a letter to the Wall Street Journal

"If Jesus Christ had taken a poll, he would never have preached the Gospel." -- Henry Hyde

"[I]f the people don't care about any of it, out of ignorance or fatalism, we have surely lost our way. America will have moved closer to that time when historians may add to the story of the magnificent rise of the greatest nation in history a full account of its inglorious fall." -- Linda Bowles

"[Ken Starr] already has given many people the impression he's on a mission. That may have a lot to do with Starr's religious and Republican roots." -- CNN's "legal analyst" Greta Van Susteren

"Frankly, if the Republicans want to go ahead and do this, I think they disgrace themselves in a more profound way than President Clinton has...." -- Newsweek's Eleanor Clift

"I don't believe it's in the interest of the United States and the American people to go through this impeachment process and have a trial in the Senate." -- Bill Clinton on the "interest of the United States and the American people."

"In a media sea of scolds and hysterics, Geraldo Rivera has emerged as the voice of reason." -- David Brock

"NOW's position may seem enigmatic -- Self-serving, two- faced, or erratic -- However embarrassing -- All sexual harassing is okay if the jerk's Democratic!" -- F. R. Duplantier

"By being pro-impeachment, the Republicans have finally found an issue that Democrats won't steal." -- National Review Online

"I don't believe any reasonably astute person in Washington would believe that Secretary [of Defense] Cohen and [Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman] Shelton, and the whole rest of the national security team, would participate in such an action," Bill Clinton on whether the Ango-American bombing of Iraq was a Wag the Dog operation

"You cannot, you must not, you cannot, you must not, you cannot, you must not resign," Dick Gephardt on Clinton must not, cannot, must not, cannot, must not do

"I told her, 'You are very alive.' And she said, 'Maybe that was the appeal (to President Clinton).'" -- Barbara Walters of ABC, quoted in TV Guide, on her meeting with Monica Lewinsky