Quotes of the Day...

These quotes are all from a single article, and mostly what makes them notable is who said them.  Read the quotes first, then click on the link to see who said them – and read the whole piece:

If Americans are worried about money in politics, there is no larger concern than the Clintons, who are cosseted in a world where rich people endlessly scratch the backs of rich people.

I never thought I’d have to read the words Ira Magaziner again. But the man who helped Hillary torpedo her own health care plan is back.

You never hear about problems with Jimmy Carter’s foundation; he just quietly goes around the world eradicating Guinea worm disease. But Magaziner continues to be a Gyro Gearloose, the inept inventor of Donald Duck’s Duckburg.

Clintonworld is a galaxy where personal enrichment and political advancement blend seamlessly, and where a cast of jarringly familiar characters pad their pockets every which way to Sunday.

Until Harry Truman wrote his memoirs, the ex-president struggled on an Army pension of $112.56 a month. “I could never lend myself to any transaction, however respectable,” he said, “that would commercialize on the prestige and dignity of the office of the presidency.” So quaint, Packer wrote, observing, “The top of American life has become a very cozy and lucrative place, where the social capital of who you are and who you know brings unimaginable returns.” 

The Clintons want to do big worthy things, but they also want to squeeze money from rich people wherever they live on planet Earth, insatiably gobbling up cash for politics and charity and themselves from the same incestuous swirl. 

Ouch! Who dumped on the Clintons?  Hint: it's someone whom you'd expect would be leaping upon the Hillary bandwagon right about now, winding up for 2016...

Like Shaking Hands with a Dead Fish...

This isn't pretty.  Charles Woods is the father of Tyrone Woods, an ex-SEAL who was one of the four Americans killed on 9/11 in Benghazi, Libya.  Just a few days later, Charles Woods attended a memorial ceremony at Andrews Air Force Base.  There he met Obama, Hillary Clinton, and Biden.  Here's some of what Mr. Woods (during an interview with Glenn Beck) had to say about those meetings:

Vice President Biden, as he has become known to do, reportedly made a wildly inappropriate comment to the father who had just lost his hero son.

Woods said Biden came over to his family and asked in a “loud and boisterous” voice, “Did your son always have balls the size of cue balls?”

“Are these the words of someone who is sorry?” said Woods.

The grieving father also described his brief encounter with President Obama during the ceremony for the Libya victims.

“When he finally came over to where we were, I could tell that he was rather conflicted, a person who was not at peace with himself,” Woods said. “Shaking hands with him, quite frankly, was like shaking hands with a dead fish. His face was pointed towards me but he would not look me in the eye, his eyes were over my shoulder.”

“I could tell that he was not sorry,” he added. “He had no remorse.”

...

Hillary Clinton’s comments to Woods raise even more questions about the White House’s official story on the Benghazi attack, which has already been extremely inconsistent.

After apologizing for his loss, Woods said Clinton told him that the U.S. would “make sure that the person who made that film is arrested and prosecuted.”

More here and here.

George W. Bush had many faults, but this kind of disrespectful and inappropriate display was not amongst them...

Huh? of the Day...

Our Secretary of State (Hillary Clinton, if you've forgotten) had this to say on her recent trip to Pakistan:

“Maybe that’s the case; maybe they’re not gettable. I don’t know... As far as we know, they are in Pakistan,” Clinton told senior Pakistani newspaper editors in Lahore, AFP reported. “The percentage of taxes on GDP (in Pakistan) is among the lowest in the world... We (the United States) tax everything that moves and doesn’t move, and that’s not what we see in Pakistan,” she said.

What the heck is she saying?  That first sentence is, I believe, referring to Bin Laden and al Qaeda.  The rest of it is slamming the low tax rates in Pakistan.

First, you gotta love the frank admission of the Democratic strategy: tax it, whether it moves or not.  No wonder our wallets are getting lighter.

But then she seems to be implying that the reason Pakistan is suffering from terrorist attacks is the low tax rates there.  Is that really what she means?  If so, she's even wackier than I thought (and that takes some doin', if you know what I mean)!

Oh, Noz!

If there is any such thing as a merciful god, then this will not happen.

Hillary for SecState!

From Richard Miller, on the notion of Hillary Clinton as Secretary of State in the Obama administration (this possibility is the subject of many current rumors):

She’s not too bothered by morals, and assuming at least some devotion to U.S. interests, she might combine a pinch of Machiavelli, two shakes of Tallyrand, perhaps and a maybe even a quarter cup of Henry the K. If Hillary’s moral-free, say-do-and-cry-for-anything standards could be put at the service of U.S. diplomacy (instead of her overweening ambition), the country just might benefit.

Doesn't really sound like a ringing endorsement – at least, not until you consider the alternatives that have been swirling in the rumors. I mean, really, wouldn't you rather have Hillary Clinton than John Kerry as your Secretary of State – no matter what your personal politics? I know I would, though that's a bit like choosing between death by ingestion of used motor oil or death by drowning under an outhouse...

Watching Hillary...

I did not watch Hillary's speech last night – that is not the sort of thing that I could stand to sit through an entire hour-plus of. But, thanks to the magic of the Internet, this morning I watched several clips of the “highlights” of her speech. Here's some things that occurred to me as I watched:

• Her loss to The One has spared the U.S. citizenry from possibly dangerous exposure to one of the worst public speakers on the national stage since the dawn of television.
  
  
• What's up with the bright orange pantsuit? As my retinas burned, I had two thoughts: (1) she looked like a sort of psychodelic Chairman Mao, and (2) Sheriff Joe Arpaio must have been involved in the design.
  
  
• Those bulging eyeballs have to be mechanically aided somehow. Normal human anatomy does not include eyeball pusher-outers.
  
  
• Jaysus, woman, the shriek – please, please, please do something about the shriek!
  
  
• I didn't detect even a whiff of genuine support for The One – my overwhelming impression was of someone bulling through an extremely uncomfortable duty in a minimally acceptable fashion, giving off vibrations of righteous indignation that nearly shimmered in the air. The frequent cut-aways to Mrs. One showed her looking less-than-thrilled, and it's easy to understand why.
  

Hey, I didn't promise you intellectual stimulation at 5 in the morning!

Grim Polka...

Peggy Noonan on Hillary Clinton's performance in Tuesday night's Democratic 2008 presidential candidate debate:

The story is not that Mrs. Clinton signaled, in attitude and demeanor, who she believes is her most dangerous foe, the great impediment between her and an easy glide to the nomination. Yes, that would be Tim Russert.

The story is that she talked about policy. Not talking points, but policy. In talking about it she seemed, for the first time, to be revealing what's inside.

It was startling. It's 1993 in there. The year before her fall, and rise.

I spent a day going over the transcripts so I could quote at length, but her exchanges are all over, it's a real Google-fest. Here, boiled down, is what she said.

Giving illegal immigrants drivers licenses makes sense because it makes sense, but she may not be for it, but undocumented workers should come out of the shadows, and it makes sense. Maybe she will increase the payroll tax on Social Security beyond its current $97,500 limit, to $200,000. Maybe not. Everybody knows what the possibilities are. She may or may not back a 4% federal surcharge on singles making $150,000 a year and couples making $200,000. She suggested she backed it, said she didn't back it, she then called it a good start, or rather "I support and admire" the person proposing such a tax for his "willingness to take this on."

She has been accused of doubletalk and she has denied it. And she is right. It was triple talk, quadruple talk, Olympic level nonresponsiveness. And it was, even for her, rather heavy and smug. Her husband would have had the sense to look embarrassed as he bobbed and weaved. It was part of his charm. But he was light on his feet. She turns every dance into the polka. And it is that amazing thing, a grim polka.

After those debates (which I watched online, growing more and more frightened as the candidates droned on endlessly with amazingly leftist positions), my impressions of Hillary were hard for me to articulate. The summary was clear, though: anybody but Hillary, please. Ms. Noonan has nailed it, though, with her characteristic ability to vividly describe people and impressions. Her whole piece is on OpinionJournal, free. I hope you'll read the whole thing…

Hillary

An Associated Press photographer captured this image of Hillary Clinton as she greeted people before President Bush’s State of the Union address earlier this week.

I spotted this a few days ago, and saved it. I find myself revisiting it from time-to-time. There’s something about this photograph that compels me to examine it carefully, looking for … what?

I think I’m looking for reassurance that Hillary is a relatively normal human being, and I’m not finding it. We’ve all had many moments where a candid picture would have caught us in an embarrassing or inappropriate pose — so I guard against reading too much into this photo. Nevertheless, as I view this picture I find myself fearing that Hillary really is as unhinged and disturbed as she appears in this photo (and in others before it). And that’s kinda chilling, as she’s one of — perhaps the — leading Democratic candidate for president in 2008. She might win.

That oughta keep you up at night…

Hillary

Offered without comment, for your entertainment:

“Hillary Clinton’s 506-page memoirs have come out. So much of her personality shines through, that in the end, you, too, will want to sleep with an intern.” — Craig Kilborn

In Hillary Clinton’s new book 'Living History,' Hillary details what it was like meeting Bill Clinton, falling in love with him, getting married, and living a passionate, wonderful life as husband and wife. Then on page two, the trouble starts.” — Jay Leno

“In the book she says when Bill told her he was having an affair, she said 'I could hardly breathe, I was gulping for air.' No, I’m sorry, that’s what Monica said.” — David Letterman

“Hillary Clinton, our junior senator from New York, announced that she has no intentions of ever, ever running for office of the President of the United States. Her husband, Bill Clinton, is bitterly disappointed. He is crushed. There go his dreams of becoming a two-impeachment family.” — David Letterman

“Last night, Senator Hillary Clinton hosted her first party in her new home in Washington. People said it was a lot like the parties she used to host at the White House. In fact, even the furniture was the same.” — Jay Leno

“Senator Hillary Clinton is attacking President Bush for breaking his campaign promise to cut carbon dioxide emissions, saying a promise made, a promise broken. And then out of habit, she demanded that Bush spend the night on the couch.” — Craig Kilborn

“CNN found that Hillary Clinton is the most admired woman in America. Women admire her because she’s strong and successful. Men admire her because she allows her husband to cheat and get away with It.” — Jay Leno

“Hilary Clinton is the junior senator from the great state of New York. When they swore her in, she used the Clinton family Bible… the one with only seven commandments!” — David Letterman