Old Fogey's Quotes for Sunday

"We did not call the shots here."
Incoming House Appropriations Committee Chairman David R. Obey (D-Wis.), referring to the failure of the Republicans to pass most spending bills for the fiscal year that started in October
Congress's Inaction Threatens Funding
[I'm sure the Democrats will make many mistakes (don't we all?), but killing the earmarks for this fiscal year will be an act of true courage. Will some good projects be killed? Of course, but earmarks are like a cancer in the budgeting process that requires excision until healthier tissue has time to grow. It would be nice to have some grown-ups taking care of the nation's monies, rather than running up deficits like an identity thief maxing out stolen credit card numbers.]

"Don't worry, it's not as bad as it looks."
King George the Ridiculous
Stubborn or Stalwart, Bush Is Loath to Budge
[Is it just me or is George looking more and more like Alfred E. Newman, the Mad Magazine character whose slogan was, "What me worry?" Newman, however, was a parody; Bush is the president. I keep thinking that the last six years are either a bad dream or a fictional piece of political satire. Then I wake up.]

"There's no doubt that this was a mistake on my part. 'Boneheaded' would be accurate."
Barack Obama, referring to a land deal with a shady Chicago figure
Obama Says He Regrets Land Deal With Fundraiser
[One of the advantages of Obama's current rock star status is that his closets will be examined now, instead in the middle of a campaign. Unless, there are larger surprises than this, the Republican's will have to resort to fiction (Perhaps some story about his killing baby seals?) in order to discredit him. I just don't believe the American people are as gullible as they were in 2004. Let's hope not.]

"It's not the least of John McCain’s political talents that he comes across as a paragon of straight talk even when he isn’t talking straight. So it was a surprise to see him reduced to near-stammering on ABC’s “This Week” two Sundays after the election. The subject that brought him low was the elephant in the elephants’ room, or perhaps we should say in their closet: homosexuality."
Frank Rich in NYTimes Select editorial
Mary Cheney’s Bundle of Joy
[While a history professor, I encountered students would simply could not fathom how Americans 200 years ago could tolerate slavery in their midst. I would ask them what they thought Americans 200 years from now would find just as untolerable in our society. Personally, I believe it will be a tie between the existence of poverty and the discrimination against gays. What about you?]