Citation du Jour

"If they fuck with me or Shaha, I have enough on them to fuck them too."

Paul Wolfowitz, according to Xavier Coll, head of human resources at the World Bank.

It seems Mr. Wolfowitz was using all of the legendary Neoconservative tact, diplomacy, and subtlety to try to convince World Bank staff to not reveal the 'sweet heart' deal he gave to Shaha Riza.

The report by the World Bank panel to which Mr. Coll repeated the quote in testimony, states that "Mr Wolfowitz saw himself as the outsider to whom the established rules and standards did not apply," "had a dramatic negative effect on the reputation and credibility" of the bank, and displayed "questionable judgment and a preoccupation with self-interest."

Wolfowitz, who still enjoys Dick Cheney's support, faces a number of possibilities ranging from a reprimand to a vote of no confidence to an outright firing.

As a side note, the Guardian reported the quote exactly as you see it. No examples yet of how the word "fuck" would be quoted by U.S. media (F*ck, F-, @#(&, ?) but I'd imagine that it won't be as 'uncensored' as the Guardian's quote.

Paul Wolfowitz World Bank

Bonus Citation du Jour

Dick Cheney on FoxNews this morning:

"We didn't get elected to be popular."

Mission Accomplished, Mr. Vice President, mission accomplished.

Dick Cheney FOX News
Thanks to Mustang Bobby at Shakesville for pointing that one out.

Citation du Jour

From Glenn Greenwald we get this gem from John Yoo (who worked in the Bush Administration's Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel) at an April 18 Civil Liberties debate:

[Since 9/11] we have had outpourings of new political speech through new methods and means, for example, uh, people I wish never existed -- bloggers.

'God damned well informed citizens reading and thinking and writing and having opinions. Don't they know their place?'

Just so you know, John, the feeling is mutual.

John Yoo Bush Administration Bloggers

More in the 'I Hope Nobody Will Notice' File

Today's Citation du Jour comes from the distant past our President has chosen to forget because it makes him look bad.

"Victory means exit strategy, and it's important for the president to explain to us what the exit strategy is."

- George W. Bush, 4/9/99, criticizing President Clinton for not setting a timetable for exiting Kosovo.

"I think it's also important for the president to lay out a timetable as to how long they will be involved and when they will be withdrawn."

- George W. Bush, 6/5/99

Nothing like intellectual honesty from the man who restored dignity to the Office of the President...

George W. Bush War in Iraq Timeline Withdrawal Redeployment Victory

Citation du Jour

"He has 24 months left in his presidency. I don't think I'm being mean-spirited by saying [that in] the first six years of his presidency, there's been nothing accomplished except the biggest foreign policy fiasco in the history of our country."

- Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV), in Time magazine.

And don't forget curtailing our freedoms, dragging America's reputation through the mud, engaging in torture in America's name, packing courts with right-wing judges, destroying any semblance of fiscal sanity, and forcing the American Public to listen to him say 'new-kyu-lar' over and over again...

Citation du Jour

"I would confess I'm no expert on Iraq" and "no expert on military matters."

- New Defense Secretary Robert Gates in testimony to the House Armed Services Committee, as quoted by CBS/AP.

Robert Gates Secretary of Defense War in Iraq SurgeCongress

Citation du Jour

"He was a pro-choice, he's anti-choice, he's multiple choice."

- Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-MA), on Hardball, on possible Presidential candidate Mitt Romney (R), who ran against Kennedy in 1994

No Wonder We're Not Winning

"Stability in Iraq ultimately depends on spreading the message of Jesus Christ, the message of peace on earth, good will towards men. Everything depends on everyone learning about the birth of the Savior."

- Rep. Robin Hayes (R-NC)

That lovely little bit of mind killing drivel brought to your attention via BlueNC.

Robin Hayes Jesus Christ Christianists War in Iraq

Citation du Jour

"I fear that in the next century we will have many more Muslims in the United States."

- Rep. Virgil Goode (R-VA) in a letter to constituents.

The problem with writing bat-shit crazy things in letters to constituents is that one of those letters may inadvertently end up on the possession of someone who will send it to a newspaper.

Think Progress has more from the letter:

I do not subscribe to using the Koran in any way. The Muslim Representative from Minnesota was elected by the voters of that district and if American citizens don’t wake up and adopt the Virgil Goode position on immigration there will likely be many more Muslims elected to office and demanding the use of the Koran.

You wouldn't even use it to keep your sofa level? That's what I'm doing with the NRSV...

The Ten Commandments and "In God We Trust" are on the wall in my office. A Muslim student came by the office and asked why I did not have anything on my wall about the Koran. My response was clear, "As long as I have the honor of representing the citizens of the 5th District of Virginia in the United States House of Representatives, The Koran is not going to be on the wall of my office."

Virgil Goode (if that name doesn't scream 'Antebellum South' I don't know what does) seems to be concerned that there will be more Muslims in America in the coming century. First, I'm more concerned that the number of Christianists will be higher in the coming century. Second, Rep. Goode is 60 years old. I'm less than half of his age. My opinion about what's happening in the coming century means a hell of a lot more than his because I'm gonna be alive for most of it.

Bigotry, hatred, and intolerance - alive and well in the U.S.A.

Talking Points Memo has an image of the letter here.

Virgil Goode Bigotry Muslims

Citation du Jour

"Some reports are issued and just gather dust. And truth of the matter is, a lot of reports in Washington are never read by anybody. To show you how important this one is, I read it."

- President Bush, at a press conference, on the Iraq Study Group report.

Unlike the memo titled, "Bin Laden determined to strike America."

Also, note that the President of the 'small government' party admits that many (very expensive) studies 'gather dust.' Way to use our tax dollars, Dear Leader.

George W. Bush Baker Commission Iraq Study Group War in Iraq

Citation du Jour

"Keeping us up here eats away at families…The Democrats could care less about families -- that's what this says."

-- Rep. Jack Kingston (R-GA), in the Washington Post, whining about incoming-Majority Leader Steny Hoyer’s (D-MD) plan to make lawmakers work the same work week that everybody else does.

Every Republican sited in the article bitches and moans about having to work. The article sites two Democrats other than Steny Hoyer - one laments the change, the other calls it "long over due."

I don't know what that says more about our party, the new Republican Minority, or the fact that Lyndsey Layton, the Washington Post report who wrote the story will now have to cover the congressional beat 5 days a week.

I some ways, I sympathize with the Representatives. Being a Senator or Congressperson is all about being in Washington. It's important for members of congress to be visible in their own communities, not just for election purposes. It's important that they be available to talk to constituents, see the effects of the laws they pass in their own communities, and see the issues that their constituents face.

Then I remember that I work 50 hours a week and 'Tuesday afternoon to Thursday afternoon' is, at most, 14 hours.

So fuck 'em.

Steny Hoyer

Citation du Jour

Bob Harris: "It must be puzzling... And here the Republicans thought the voters would greet them as liberators…"

Photo: Alex Wong/Getty Images

Citation du Jour

"My penchant for saying what I think probably makes me a particularly unsuitable candidate for vice president."

- Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell (D), quoted by the Philadelphia Daily News.

Citation du Jour

"Everything is done to preserve the Christian image -- President Bush as Pastor-in-Chief. Because when he's pastor-in-chief, Christians don't have to think critically."

-- David Kuo, Former White House aide in the Wall Street Journal

Citation du Jour

"We’re on the verge of chaos and the current plan is not working."

- Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC)

Asked if Rumsfeld or top generals should be held responsible, Graham answered, "All of them. It’s their job to come up with a game plan to end the violence."

How about holding the President that got us into this mess responsible? The situation on the ground has gotten so bad that even he's abandoned the 'stay the course' mantra in favor of... Well, we'll find out soon enough.

The reason why nobody can come up with a viable plan for victory is that driving the car off the cliff limits your options. When George W. Bush invaded Iraq he destabilized a situation we didn't understand in a region we cannot relate to for reasons that the rest of the world cannot agree with.

So while the Iraq war costs tax payers $6,300.00 per second, we look for new ways to win in a situation where the chance for victory as defined by the Bush Administration has long since past.

Where is the politician that has the courage to stand up and say that? Why do more Americans need to die for what is a lost cause? And why does my pointing out that our civilian leaders in the Pentagon have royally fucked up get construed as me 'not supporting the troops?'

Lindsey Graham War in Iraq George W. Bush

Citation du Jour

"It’s a lot safer than it was when he didn’t go the first time."

- Former Texas Lt. Gov. Ben Barnes, in Cox Newspapers, on President Bush's upcoming trip to Vietnam.

Citation du Jour

"When you spend nine to 10 months calling each other names, and when the person best at that wins, you get a Congress just as we have -- addicted to the kind of wedge-issue, name-calling politics that has people so fed up with the Congress."

- Washington U.S. Senate candidate Mike McGavick (R), quoted by the Wall Street Journal.

Respectfully stolen from The Political Wire.

Citation du Jour

"What you see here is a split between the theorists who have never been on a battlefield or never worn the uniform and those who have."

-Senator James Webb (D-VA), on Meet the Press, on BushCo. vs. McCain, et al. on the Geneva Conventions, Tribunals, etc.

I like the quote, but I disagree with it. What you have here is an Administration so in love with its theory that it's unwilling to listen to people who have worn the uniform and been on battlefields.

Not all presidents must be former soldiers, but all presidents must be willing to listen to the advice of our military.

Of course this problem is an outgrowth of religious zealotry. 'How's that?' you say? Simple. Bush knows that Jesus is coming back because he believes it. There is no question. It's simply fact. It is undeniable. It is a fact that in the future, Jesus will come back. All because Bush believes that it's true.

Along the same lines, Iraq will become a pro-America Democracy and act as a beacon freedom in the Middle East. It is a fact that the future will bring this Iraq to us because George Bush believes. For Bush, enough faith, enough conviction of belief is enough to make something - anything - true. And having 'experts' tell him otherwise is just as productive as having Atheists tell him Jesus ain't coming back.

That's why you shouldn't elect fundamentalist zealots. (Among other reasons.)

George W. Bush War in Iraq Religion

Citation du Jour

"I've lost my confidence in Joe Lieberman and don't wish to see him re-elected."

-Former President Jimmy Carter, quoted by CNN.

Citation du Jour

Yep, that's French. Just to piss off the people that brought us Freedom Fries. Whatever happened to Freedom Fries?

The Hill, in a story about the Republican's mad scramble to get bills passed in the House before going home to face re-election, House Majority Leader John Boehner gives us this wonderful quip:

"“Everybody wants their bill up this week. It is as if we were never coming back."

With a little luck, you won't be.

BONUS QUOTE!

"Condoms and teenagers work about 50 percent of the time."

Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) as quoted by Roll Call.

John Boehner Republicans 2006 Elections