Thirty (or so) favorite quotes of 2010

I can't call these the best quotes of the year. But among them are deft turns of phrase, clearly stated truths, and a few revealing lifts of the veil. And most of them were handily accessible in my archives. If I had time to sift through all my 2010 posts I'd find many more which belong here. But I don't, and the list would be too long, anyway. Enjoy, and feel free to add your own favorites in the comments.


The border’s too big. The hole in the Gulf is too deep. The recession is too stubborn. Maybe we should find the president a smaller, easier-to-manage country to govern. You know - send him to the minors for a few years. Michael Graham

Woodward Shock Expose: Unqualified Community Organizer With Teleprompter Dependency Makes Surprisingly Lousy Commander-in-Chief Doug Ross

Jon Stewart on Obama: “I thought he’d do a better job.” You did, huh? Based on what, his extensive experience? Rube. Glenn Reynolds

Meet the Beltway bloodsuckers. They convene in the dead of night, when most ordinary mortals have left work, let their guard down, or are lying asleep in bed. Pale-faced and insatiable, the nocturnal thieves do their nefarious business in backrooms and secret chambers. Their primary victims? Taxpayers, the free market, and deliberative democracy. Michelle Malkin

Rumor has it Christine O'Donnell also loved horses and once played with a Malibu Barbie dunebuggy. Kathy Shaidle

. . . I have to be cautious here, because I believe it’s a condition of my Green Card that I’m not allowed to foment armed insurrection against the government of the United States. . . . But with that stipulation, I think we will be pushing the temperament of the people in a revolutionary direction, and that is something that the Republicans ought to understand. Mark Steyn

I went into the process thinking that green homes were ugly because hippies have bad taste. That turns out to be nothing but a coincidence. The problem is deeper. Scott Adams

We can't just leave it up to the parents. Michelle Obama

When a reporter asked what kind of complaints he was hearing from fellow leaders, Mr. Obama laughed it off, asking, “What about compliments?” NYT

Another thing we can do for jobs is make toys of me, especially for the holidays. Little dolls. Me. Like maybe little action dolls. Me in an army uniform, air force uniform, and me in my suit. They can make toys of me and my vehicle, especially for the holidays and Christmas for the kids. That’s something that would create jobs. Alvin Greene

Are we really such an advanced nation that even an extreme "staunch social conservative" has to deny opposing pornography? There's something depressing about that. Mickey Kaus

You might care more about porn when you have kids. Steve Jobs

Barack Obama is a Class Warrior with every fiber of his being. And he isn't happy.  Daniel Henninger

This is a small man. Jim Hoft

I don’t have a degree in psychology, but I think lies are like lies. Jennifer Rubin

Because once you establish the principle that the state has the right to police ideas, sooner or later one of yours will catch their eye. Mark Steyn

Don’t ask! It’s hell. I can’t stand it! Michelle Obama, allegedly

But community organizers, though often charismatic, can also be annoying jerks. Daniel Henninger

But we have to pass the bill so that you can find out what is in it. Nancy Pelosi 

Lindsey Graham getting hot for cap and trade is like watching your parents do the twist. It’s embarrassing, and it isn’t half as hip as they think it is. Mark Steyn

Damn him and his awesomeness. The Hyacinth Girl

Obama loses the support of Christopher Buckley. Apparently ObamaCare is not elegant enough or something. Backyard Conservative

The Romans hated Carthage above all because its people sacrificed their infants to Ba’al. For the Romans, who themselves were a hard people, that was a unique kind of wickedness and barbarism. As a nation, we might profitably ask ourselves whom and what we’ve really been worshipping in our 40 million “legal” abortions since 1973. Archbishop Chaput

An enjoyable slow decline is apparently preferable to a short, but painful rethinking and rebirth. Victor Davis Hanson

Let's give a shout out to our prolific Catholic brethren. I think Mr. and Mrs. Middle America need to take each other's hand and head to the bedroom. No joke. snaggles

Hamas is a mental illness masquerading as a nationalist movement. Mark Steyn

This being a democracy, don't the Democrats see that clinging to this agenda will march them over a cliff? Don't they understand Massachusetts? Well, they understand it through a prism of two cherished axioms: (1) The people are stupid and (2) Republicans are bad. Result? The dim, led by the malicious, vote incorrectly. Charles Krauthammer

Booo-hooo, Obama, put on your big-boy pants or get out of the White House. Weasel Zippers

Maybe his “eloquence” wasn’t eloquence at all but a short list of buzzwords and New Age window dressing meant to disguise a candidate with a thin resume and limited repertoire of executive skills. Just wondering. Jennifer Rubin


I've saved my three favorites for last:

Ain’t that a kick in the head, ladies? The Pill has not only increased your potential for STDs and infertility, but also increased the chances you’ll marry a loser. RS McCain

This is not an election on November 2. This is a restraining order.  PJ O'Rourke

Please go. Bill Clinton


Many thanks to Mark Steyn for the link.

***

Bear with me. This is fun. A few more:

Her voice quivering, she asked, "Is this Styrofoam?" Robin of Berkeley

There is only one thing worse than one-party autocracy, and that is one-party democracy, which is what we have in America today. Thomas Friedman

Octopus Paul is “a symbol of all that is wrong with the western world.” Mahmoud Ahmadinejad

. . . the American voters have indulged in a violent but purgative episode of reverse peristalsis with respect to the Obama-Reid-Pelosi stew of statist, high-tax, politically correct European-style government bureaucracy.  Roger Kimball

When they resort to impenetrable legislative monstrosities to implement their own will without our consent — indeed, over our objection — that is not governing. It is dictating.  Andy McCarthy

What is so strange about the idea that President Obama might be a socialist? Stanley Kurtz

*Thanks also to William Jacobson for linking, though he was inexplicably not among the quoted. Had I done this properly and methodically he would no doubt have been here.
Also linked by Larwyn -- thanks!
Likewise, Backyard Conservative, RS McCain, Milton Wolf, Bride of Rove, and Ol' Broad. Many thanks and Happy New Year.

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