Best and Worst Political Quotes of 2006

Top 5 Worst

5. "I don't know where you're from but in Austin, TX in August, if you see some guy on top of a roof slinging tar, odds are he is not a U.S. Citizen." -- Karl Rove, Deputy Chief of Staff to Mr. Bush, during a speech at the conservative National Federation of Independent Business.

4. "We need somebody to put rat poisoning in [Supreme Court] Justice Stevens's creme brulee." -- Right wing pundit Ann Coulter on Justice John Paul Stevens (who is a Republican) serving as a roadblock to the anti-abortion movement's takeover of the courts. By the way, during the same speech at Philander Smith College (an historically black institution), Coulter also stated that the crack cocaine problem in the United States "has pretty much gone away".

3. "And don't forget, Sherrod Brown is black. There's a racial component here too. And now, the newspaper that I'm reading all this from is The New York Times and they, of course, don't mention that." -- Rush Limbaugh on the Ohio Senate primary race involving Rep. Sherrod Brown (D-OH). However, it was somehow not apparent to Limbaugh that Mr. Brown is actually white.

2. "Bob Sherwood's seat would have been overwhelmingly ours if his mistress hadn't whined about being throttled."-- Grover Norquist, head of the conservative organization called Americans for Tax Reform, on Sherwood's election defeat in November as fallout from the former Congressman (R-PA) being accused of assault by his former mistress. Note: Sherwood's first name is actually Don, not Bob. (You have got to hand it to the Republicans--they are definitely sticklers for details.)

1. "You know, one of the hardest parts of my job is to connect Iraq to the war on terror." -- Mr. Bush in an interview with Katie Couric on "CBS Evening News". This is easily the most mind boggling statement of the year, especially considering the fact that Mr. Bush was quoted on September 24, 2002 saying "You can't distinguish between Al Qaeda and Saddam when you talk about the war on terror".

Top 5 Best

5. "You're putting words in my mouth. Just the way you put artificial facts in your head." and
"I have the feeling about 60% of what you say is crap." -- David Letterman to Bill O'Reilly during the right wing commentator's appearance on "Late Show with David Letterman".

4. "When we are scolded that, if we merely question, 'we have forgotten the lessons of 9/11', look into this empty space behind me and the bipartisanship upon which this administration also did not build, and tell me: Who has left this hole in the ground? We have not forgotten, Mr. President. You have. May this country forgive you." -- Keith Olbermann as he reported in front of the former site of the World Trade Center on the 5th anniversary of 9/11.

3. "It is the oldest story in the coverage of government: the failure to tell the truth." -- Bob Woodward, of Watergate fame and author of "State of Denial: Bush at War, Part III", on the fact that the Bush administration has been completely dishonest during the entire course of the Iraq War.

2. "I want to make sure the decision is right for me, my family, my party and my country." -- Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton on her potential 2008 presidential bid during an interview on "The Today Show." (Let's keep our fingers crossed!)

1. "It was a perfectly legitimate question but I want to know how many people in the Bush administration you asked this question of. I want to know how many people in the Bush administration you asked, 'Why didn't you do anything about the [USS] Cole?'. I want to know how many you asked, 'Why did you fire Dick Clarke?'." -- Former President Bill Clinton in response to an unsuccessful ambush from weasely Chris Wallace on "FOX News Sunday with Chris Wallace".