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Monday, January 02, 2006
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Washington State Schools Gives Patriotism Tests to Students
(Via Dvorak Uncensored.)
8:43:34 AM 
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I was never a big Bill Clinton fan — so much ability squandered on just keeping himself afloat, no willingness to take a tough stand on principle alone. But he did have his charms. Here’s Gabriel García Márquez, describing a dinner with William Styron, Carlos Fuentes, and Clinton:
When we asked him what he was reading, he sighed and mentioned a book on the economic wars of the future, author and title unknown to me.
“Better to read ‘Don Quixote,’” I said to him. “Everything’s in there.” Now, the ‘Quixote’ is a book that is not read nearly as much as is claimed, although very few will admit to not having read it. With two or three quotes, Clinton showed that he knew it very well indeed. Responding, he asked us what our favorite books were. Styron said his was “Huckleberry Finn.”
I would have said “Oedipus Rex,” which has been my bed table book for the last 20 years, but I named “The Count of Monte Cristo,” mainly for reasons of technique, which I had some trouble explaining.
Clinton said his was the “Meditations of Marcus Aurelius,” and Carlos Fuentes stuck loyally to “Absalom, Absalom,” Faulkner’s stellar novel, no question, although others would choose “Light in August” for purely personal reasons. Clinton, in homage to Faulkner, got to his feet and, pacing around the table, recited from memory Benji’s monologue, the most thrilling passage, and perhaps the most hermetic, from “The Sound and the Fury.”
The resemblance to GW Bush is uncanny! He’s an avid reader too. Really!
(Via Cosmic Variance.)
8:40:00 AM
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Remember these quotes? Take a stroll down Memory Lane:
"What I'm hearing, which is sort of scary, is that they all want to stay in Texas. Everybody is so overwhelmed by the hospitality. So many people in this arena, here, you know, were underprivileged, so this is working very well for them."
- Barbara Bush (September 25th, 2005, talking about Katrina evacuees)
"Brownie, you're doing a heckuva job."
- George Dubya Bush (September 2nd, 2005)
"If you'll look at my lovely FEMA attire you'll really vomit. I am a fashion god… Anything specific I need to do or tweak? Do you know of anyone who dog-sits? … Can I quit now? Can I come home? … I'm trapped now, please rescue me."
- Michael Brown (August 29th, 2005)
"If I would do another 'Terminator' movie I would have Terminator travel back in time and tell Arnold not to have a special election."
- Arnold Schwarzenegger (November 10th, 2005)
"Get some devastation in the back."
- Bill Frist (to a staff photographer as he posed for a photo op while visiting tsunami-ravaged Sri Lanka - January 6th, 2005)
"I am not going to give you a number for it because it's not my business to do intelligent work."
- Donald Rumsfeld (February 16th, 2005)
"I think they're in the last throes, if you will, of the insurgency."
- Dick Cheney (June 20th, 2005)
"Now tell me the truth boys, is this kind of fun?"
- Tom Delay (to hurricane evacuees, September 9th 2005)
"You work three jobs? … Uniquely American, isn't it? I mean, that is fantastic that you're doing that."
- George Dubya Bush (February 4th, 2005)
"He [Bridges] will either use the proportional analysis as proposed by the Republicans or punt on the issue by using an even more generous standard for tossing out illegal votes that will help the Republicans. I believe the Democrats have little credibility with the judge on this issue, and only the Republicans have given him a practical (if imperfect) path for moving forward....As I've mentioned before, I'm predicting that Judge Bridges will set aside the election."
- Stefan Sharkansky (June 4th, 2005 and June 5th, 2005)
"I say the 'Yes' vote on 912 will be at least 57.5%. If I’m right, you send $100 to Eyman’s compensation fund. If I’m wrong, I’ll send $100 to whoever you specify."
- "Mark the Redneck" (commentor on David Goldstein's HorsesAss.org, September 20th, 2005)
"Same goes for I-912, the gas tax repeal initiative. Put a fork in it, it's done. It's going to be approved overwhelmingly in November. Why? Because we've beaten this coalition of opponents (Big Business, Big Labor, politicians, and the press) year after year after year in these same tax battles. Even opponents know it's over."
- Tim Eyman (September 26th, 2005)
"With today's decision, and because of the political makeup of the Washington State Supreme Court, which makes it almost impossible to overturn this ruling, I am ending the election contest."
- Dino Rossi (June 6th, 2005)
"Over 90 percent of what we've done is accurate. ... The focus should not be on our errors, but on King County's errors."
- Chris Vance (after the GOP admitted it erred in challenging some voters' registrations, November 5th, 2005)
"It's very simple...My mother's a diabetic, she had a diabetic reaction. And, like with most diabetics, has actually a memory problem during that diabetic reaction...Mr. Sims has a track record of throwing mud. And quite frankly, he did it again last year with Christine Gregoire when he played the race card."
- David Irons (October 30th, 2005, responding to accusations that he had previously hit his mother)
"It could very well be that people we have on our list didn't have their voting rights taken away".
- Mary Lane (Rossi spokeswoman, March 17th, 2005, acknowledging errors in the GOP's list of alleged felon voters)
"This is a case of election fraud..The evidence will show partisan bias. And partisan bias is a very politically correct way of saying, 'Somebody stuffed the ballot box.'"
- GOP lawyer Dale Foreman (Opening statement in election challenge trial, May 23rd, 2005)
Also see Media Matters'
Most Outrageous Statements of 2005
. Any more quotes to add? Feel free to add them in the thread.
(Via Northwest Progressive Institute.)
8:35:16 AM
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 From The Pensito Review
via firedoglake
GOP Investigated Pres. Clinton’s Cat But Only Plans ‘Oversight’ on Pres. Bush’s Admitted Illegal Spying
"Compare and contrast:
1995: Rep. Dan Burton (R-IN), then chair of the House Government Reform and Oversight Committee, investigated whether taxpayers were footing the cost of stationery and postage for the fan club dedicated to President Clinton’s cat, Socks. (They were not - and it turns out Barbara Bush’s dog Millie had a fan club too.)
2005: Two weeks ago, President Bush admitted he willfully flouted a law that requires him to get warrants before wiretapping U.S. citizens. His justification for ignoring the law appears to be nobless oblige. In reaction, Republicans in charge of the Senate Judiciary Committee announced on Friday that they are planning “oversight” hearings into the matter.
The president has admitted he broke the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) hundreds of times. Isn’t it a bit late for “oversight?”"
(Via Bedazzled!.)
8:32:14 AM
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© Copyright 2006 Steve Michel.
Last update: 2/1/2006; 8:43:41 PM.
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