Say What? 3/22/2011 edition [Reader Post]

Liberals:

President Barack Obama, about Brazil’s President Dilma: “I have told her that the United States wants to be a major customer [of Brazilian oil], which can be a win-win for both our countries.”

President Obama on his gun-control record: “My administration has not curtailed the rights of gun owners, it has expanded them, including allowing people to carry their guns in national parks and wildlife refuges.”

Reporter Tina Brown: “With the world exploding as it is, I must say that Obama has the worst inbox of any president in history.”  Miss Brown has apparently forgotten about the economic conditions which greeted President Reagan on day 1; WWII and the depression during the time of FDR, a dissolving union facing Lincoln, and W facing back to back recessions and 9/11 within the first 2 years of his presidency.

Harry Reid [defending federal funding for NPR]: “They had a great piece on public radio before the race started; it was really very, very good, about why the [sled dog] race takes place.”

Nancy Pelosi: “Democrats have long fought for fiscal responsibility as a top priority of this Congress.  We won’t go into the history right now, but it’s well known.”

Nancy Pelosi: “I think this debate is on a higher ground of our values. It’s not about money. It’s about the morality of what we’re doing.”

Paul Krugman: “[T]he nation is not, in fact, broke. The federal government is having no trouble raising money, and the price of that money – the interest rate on federal borrowing – is very low by historical standards. So there’s no need to scramble to slash spending now now now; we can and should be willing to spend now if it will produce savings in the long run.”

Top security advisor John Brennan: “Closing Guantanamo Bay is important for our national security interests.  But there are many, many complex complex elements to Guantanamo Bay that truly are going to make it very difficult to move swiftly with the closing of that facility.”

A disenchanted Louis Farrakhan: “And I warn my brother [Obama] don’t you let these wicked demons move you in a direction that will absolutely ruin your future with your people in Africa and throughout the world. . . . You can’t order him to step down and get out – who the hell do you think you are? – that you can talk to a man that built a country over 42 years and ask him to step down and get out – can anybody ask you?”

Joe Biden at a virtual townhall meeting to political activists and union members: “Let’s get something straight.  The only people who have the capacity – organizational capacity and muscle – to keep, as they say, the barbarians from the gate, is organized labor. And make no mistake about it, the guys on the other team get it. They know if they cripple labor, the gate is open, man. The gate is wide open. And we know that too.”

Joe Biden, shooting from the hip again: “When a woman got raped, blame her because she was wearing a skirt too short, she looked the wrong way or she wasn’t home in time to make the dinner.  We’ve gotten by that.  But it’s amazing how these Republicans, the right wing of this party – whose philosophy threw us into this God-awful hole we’re in, gave us the tremendous deficit we’ve inherited – that they’re  now using, now attempting to use, the very economic condition they have created to blame the victim – whether it’s organized labor or ordinary middle-class working men and women. It’s bizarre. It’s bizarre.”

Rob Andrews, the ranking member of the House Health, Employment, Labor and Pensions Subcommittee: “Drilling for oil off the coast is a problem, not a solution.”

Muammar Ghaddafi, in a letter to the President: “To our son, his excellency, Mr Barack Hussein Obama. I have said to you before, that even if Libya and the United States of America enter into a war, god forbid, you will always remain a son. Your picture will not be changed.”

Bill Maher: “Governing this country with Republicans is like rooming with a meth addict.  Every black person scares you unless they look like Urkel, talk like Colin Powell and wear Bill Cosby sweaters”

The uncivil left:

Bill Maher: “Did you hear this – Sarah Palin finally heard what happened in Japan and she’s demanding that we invade `Tsunami.  I mean she said, `These `Tsunamians’ will not get away with this.’ Oh speaking of dumb twats, did you…”

Tweet from Mikeclark2, another from the civil left: JamesOKeefeIII someone needs to f***g find you and assassinate you, like, seriously, you get off by f***g up the truth.  I should do it.

Walker protester shouts, “Hang then all!”

Helen Thomas: “Well, there’s no understanding of the Palestinians at all. I mean, they’re living there and these people want to come and take their homes and land and water and kill their children and kill them….I want people to understand why the Palestinians are upset. They are incarcerated and living in an open prison. I say to the Israelis, “Get out of people’s homes!” It’s unacceptable to have soldiers knocking on a door at three in the morning and saying, “This is my home.” And forcing people out of homes they’ve lived in for centuries? What is this? How can anybody accept it?”

Michael Moore is unhappy about the no-fly zone being established over Libya, but his tweets on this subject seem to be directed more at Bush than at Obama: “Khadaffy must’ve threatened to kill somebody’s daddy”  “Khadaffy must’ve had WMD!”  “Khadaffy must’ve planned 9/11!” etc.

Liberals making sense:

Dayton NAACP President Derrick Forward said about lowering the test scores to allow more minority applicants to become policemen: “The NAACP does not support individuals failing a test and then having the opportunity to be gainfully employed. If you lower the score for any group of people, you’re not getting the best qualified people for the job.”  I don’t know if Forward is a liberal or not; I just assume so, since he belongs to the NAACP.

Jon Meacham regarding Obama filling out his NCAA tournament brackets: “My only point is that Bush would have gotten more barbecued for this.”

Liberals from the past:

Louis Farrakhan on Obama: “You are the instrument that God is gonna use  to bring about universal change.  And that is why Barack has captured the youth…When the messiah speaks, the youth will hear.  And the Messiah is absolutely speaking”

Bill Maher, about 6 months ago: “I mean, Brazil got off oil in the last 30 years, we certainly could have.”

Ed Scultz before the 2010 election: “I think the best way for the 99ers to get the attention of the Congress is to form an unemployed coalition and just flat-out tell the Democrats, we’re not voting in the midterm…And I’m announcing today, I’m not gonna vote in the midterm. I’m not gonna do it!”

Crosstalk:

Playboy: Do you acknowledge that some Palestinian behavior over the years, including hijacking and the use of suicide bombers, has been wrong and has added to the problem?

Helen Thomas: In an ideal world passive resistance and world disarmament would be great. Unfortunately we don’t live in that world. Of course I don’t condone any violence against anyone. But who wouldn’t fight for their country? What would any American do if their land was being taken? Remember Pearl Harbor. The Palestinian violence is to protect what little remains of Palestine. The suicide bombers act out of despair and desperation. Three generations of Palestinians have been forced out of their homes-by Israelis-and into refugee camps. And the Israelis are still bulldozing Palestinians’ homes in East Jerusalem. Remember, Menachem Begin invented terrorism as his MO-and bragged about it in his first book. That’s how Israel was created, aided and abetted by U.S. money and arms. To annex and usurp an occupied people’s country is illegal under international law. The Israelis know that, but their superior military force has always prevailed against the indigenous people.

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President Obama, this week: “I’ve taken this decision with the confidence that action is necessary, and that we will not be acting alone. Our goal is focused.  Our cause is just.  And our coalition is strong.”

President George W. Bush, 10 years ago: “To all the men and women in our military … I say this: Your mission is defined. Your objectives are clear. Your goal is just.”

President Obama: “The United States did not seek this outcome.  Our decisions have been driven by Qaddafi’s refusal to respect the rights of his people and the potential for mass murder of innocent civilians.”

President Bush: “We did not ask for this mission, but we will fulfill it. … We defend not only our precious freedoms, but also the freedom of people everywhere to live and raise their children free from fear.”
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Paul Krugman: “On the other side, we’ve been assured that spending cuts would do wonders for business confidence. But that hasn’t happened in any of the countries currently pursuing harsh austerity programs. Notably, when the Cameron government in Britain announced austerity measures last May, it received fawning praise from U.S. deficit hawks. But British business confidence plunged, and it has not recovered.”

According to KPMG: “Preview figures from the Global Business Outlook survey, compiled by Markit Economics on behalf of KPMG, show that 68% of manufacturing industry respondents expect activity to improve during the next 12 months, compared with just 8% anticipating a decrease.”
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Hillary Clinton: “They are not asking for ground troops, they don’t want us to get in the fight.  Nobody wants to see an arms race in Libya, but it’s not a fair fight.”

President Obama: “I’ve dispatched Hillary to the Middle East to talk about how these countries can transition to new leaders – though, I’ve got to be honest, she’s gotten a little passionate about the subject.  These past few weeks it’s been tough falling asleep with Hillary out there on Pennsylvania Avenue shouting, throwing rocks at the window.”
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Wolf Blitzer’s questions for Hillary Clinton: “If the President is reelected, do you want to serve a second term as Secretary of State?”

“No.”

“Would you like to serve as Secretary of Defense?”

“No.”

“Would you like to be vice president of the United States?”

“No.”

“Would you like to be president of the United States?”

“No.”

Mrs. Clinton said, “No.”

Conservatives:

Sarah Palin: “It’s not government business to spend the working man’s tax dollars recklessly – & certainly not government’s business to centrally “plan” an economy & control an entrepreneurial spirit! That doesn’t work. Government should lay infrastructure, level the playing field, then get out of the way.”

Newt Gingrich on Obama’s slow reaction to Libya: “Well, I think what is increasingly clear is that we have a spectator in chief instead of a commander in chief.”

Newt Gingrich, clearly running for president, remarking on Sarkozy’s lead in Libya: “I was, frankly, very disappointed that [Nicolas] Sarkozy did not share with us his Final Four picks.  And i think it’s his failure to understand the Final Four that allowed him to focus on Libya on a way tha. Clearly, if he had understood the American system he would have understood that his is not a good week to deal with Libya because this is the week to deal with Kansas, Ohio State, and you know things that were really important.”

Rudy Giuliani: “Hillary Clinton would have been better.”

Herman Cain: “That’s what will happen in this Republican competition, the butter will rise to the top because the American people are churning the candidates who are there.”

Former UN Secretary John Bolton: “When President Obama took the office on Jan. 20, 2009, when it came to foreign policy and national security, he wasn’t qualified to be president.  Today, more than two years later, he’s still not qualified.”

Andrew Breitbart: “I actually like NPR’s programming; I just don’t believe that we the people should be paying for it…I do believe that they put our a superior liberal product, and if I want to hear what liberals have to say, there’s no better place to go than NPR.”

Gary Kukis : “Michael Moore will lead the revolution, if it goes by a donut shop.”

Michele Bachmann: “What I love about New Hampshire and what we have in common is our extreme love for liberty.  You’re the state where the shot was heard around the world in Lexington and Concord.”  This turns out to be incorrect, and she was corrected by many newspapers (I would assume mostly by people who did not know this fact either).

Michele responded on her Facebook: “So I misplaced the battles Concord and Lexington by saying they were in New Hampshire. It was my mistake.  And by the way… That will be the last time I borrow President Obama’s teleprompter!”

Carl Gatton, Alaska State lawmaker, when presenting a bill to outlaw Sharia law: “As a kid, we had Italian neighborhoods, Irish neighborhoods . . . but they didn’t impose their own laws.  When these neighborhoods are occupied by people from the Middle East, they do establish their own laws.”

Jodi Miller: “Now that Guantanamo Bay will remain open indefinitely, the Obama administration has requested that Gitmo trials be restarted.  So, liberals, are you now ready to impeach Obama?”

Rush Limbaugh: “I know this is probably not possible, but I would like somehow to have a calculation on how many people in this country actually work for a living rather than siphon for a living.”

Rush: “They should ask: ‘Mr. Obama, you were not in favor of regime change in Iraq, but you have said Mubarak has to go, and you now think Khadafy has to go. Was Saddam not as bad as Khadafy?'”

Rush: “So we’re borrowing $5 billion a day just to service the debt, and the House wants kudos for a continuing resolution that cuts $6 billion in three weeks. It doesn’t add up.”

Rush: “Obama’s just so smart, so advanced, just lives on a different astral plane than we do, and we can’t hope to understand. We should just be thankful we’re alive at the time he is.”

Rush: “David Brooks was smitten with Obama because of the freaking crease in his pants. He said that! And these are the intellectuals.” [Recall that David Brooks is NPR’s lone “conservative”]

Rush: “Remember how they said Gitmo was going to create a whole new generation of terrorists? Well, how about this? Any criticism of the Tea Party will create a whole new generation of freedom lovers.”

From the Conservative Review #170 (HTML)  (PDF)