I wish the intelligence had been different, I guess.
— President George W. Bush, in an interview with ABC News, blaming poor information for his decision to go to war in Iraq.

“Don’t be yourself. Be someone a little nicer.”
— Mignon McLaughlin (1913-1983), journalist, author

Some of us — especially those under 60 — have always wondered what it would be like to live through the kind of epochal event one reads about in books. Well, this is it. We’re now living history, suffering one of the greatest financial panics of all time. It compares with the big ones — […]

I think he’s impatient. I think, my summation: He doesn’t like homework. And homework means reading or getting briefed or having a debate. And part of the presidency, part of governing, particularly in this area, is homework, homework, homework.
— Bob Woodward, reflecting on President Bush’s governing style

I’ve got some in my fridge. It tastes fine to me.
— NASA engineer Bob Bagdigian, on a new $250-million water-recycling device that will process the International Space Station crew’s urine for communal consumption

Terry could sell shit to the zoo. He’s the best salesman in the world.
— Democratic strategist Paul Begala, quoted by Politico, on former DNC Chairman Terry McAuliffe’s “charm offensive” as he ramps up his gubernatorial campaign in Virginia

It unfortunately sent a message that she was the de facto leader of the party.
— A Republican governor, quoted by CNN, on Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin’s three-minute press conference yesterday at the Republican governors’ conference in Miami

“This country will not be a permanently good place for any of us to live in unless we make it a reasonably good place for all of us to live in.”
— Theodore Roosevelt (1858-1919), 26th President

I’d never seen anything like that ad. Putting pictures of Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Laden next to the picture of a man who left three limbs on the battlefield — it’s worse than disgraceful, it’s reprehensible.
— Sen. John McCain, quoted by CNN, on the campaign ads used by Saxby Chambliss (R) against Sen. […]