THIS IS A SPECIAL YEAR-END EDITION OF WEEK-ENDS
HEROES OF THE YEAR
Linda Lubotsky does it AGAIN! … MORE
VILLAINS OF THE YEAR
Election fraudsters on skid row in LA
QUOTES OF THE YEAR
January quotes
“Give me a shovel. Put me to dig the trench. I would be happy to do that. Rain or shine, 100 degrees, 120, I don’t care. I will be honored to do it.”
Agnes Gibboney, 62, lost her son Ronald da Silva in 2002 when he was shot dead in El Monte, California by Luis Gonzalez, an illegal immigrant from Mexico. Gonzales, a known gang member, was jailed over the fatal shooting after pleading guilty to voluntary manslaughter. Gibboney said her son’s death destroyed her family and for that reason applauds Donald Trump’s stance on immigration, including his plans to construct the controversial wall he has long said Mexico will pay for.
“Mary Tyler Moore deserves a spot in the pantheon of great comic actresses like Gracie Allen, Lucille Ball and Carol Burnett, and it is for this that she will be most remembered.”
TV historian Robert Thompson of Syracuse University, on the death of Mary Tyler Moore, a television cultural and feminist pioneer
“Why are we having all these people from s***hole countries come here?”
President Donald Trump reportedly referring to Haiti and countries in Africa during a discussion with members of Congress about a bipartisan immigration deal
“This was not the language used.”
President Trump denied he said “anything derogatory” about Haitians or Haiti except that it’s a “very poor and troubled country.”
“So, the first thing that came to my mind was very unfortunate, unhelpful.”
House Speaker Paul Ryan’s reaction to President Trump’s reported comments
“It’s time — time to say thank you, time to say goodbye.”
Milwaukee Police Chief Edward Flynn announced his retirement Monday
“I know that it is certainly the news of the day. Let me say that I am frankly pleased to say that Chief Flynn has chosen to resign. He has lost the confidence of the rank and file of his department. He has lost the faith of the wide majority of the Common Council. He has clearly alienated the board of fire and police commissioners — and he has lost the confidence of a growing number of state legislators on both sides of the aisle. I wish Chief Flynn no ill. I do however believe it is in the best interest in the City of Milwaukee that he move on. When it comes to public safety, Milwaukee needs a fresh start and a new direction.”
Milwaukee Alderman Bob Donovan
“Not one of those fancy people wearing black to honor our rapes would have lifted a finger.”
Rose McGowan accused A-listers who wore black to the Golden Globes to protest the Harvey Weinstein sex scandal of “Hollywood fakery.” The actress and director, who has been one of Weinstein’s most vocal accusers, skipped the awards ceremony to release a trailer for her upcoming documentary. But she made her feelings about the Why We Wear Black movement clear. McGowan responded to a tweet from Asia Argento, who also accused disgraced former Miramax producer Weinstein of sexual assault. Argento tweeted that McGowan was “the first one who broke the silence.”
“All the Hollywood gals, and many of the guys, are desperate to show how protective they are of women being exploited by men, but few of them mean it. If they did, they wouldn’t continue to make shows and movies that debase women. Hollywood literally created the culture which spawned the objectification of women, and now it is reaping what it has sown. Worse, its support for the #MeToo crusade shows how utterly disconnected from reality it is.”
Catholic League president Bill Donohue
“What a clown show we’ve become. The year is a week old today and already dumb enough to make me yearn for 2017.
“The big story this week was a book written by a guy known for exaggerating about a guy known for exaggerating with the main source being another guy known for exaggerating. And I’m not exaggerating.”
Columnist Derek Hunter
“The first time I was on ‘The Tonight Show’ with Johnny Carson I walked out and I had a beautiful silk blouse on and he went ‘Oh it’s cold backstage, huh?’ You would never see that now. That’s like crazy. It’s that ‘Mad Men’ sort of generation that got away with a lot of things. Women were just used to being discussed a certain way; body parts being focused on. You knew that there were certain auditions where you were like ‘uh oh’ did they really have to crawl on all fours wearing a bikini? You just kind of took it for granted that that was okay. It’s becoming not okay.”
Actress Marilu Henner saying she experienced some instances that would never be tolerated today
February quotes
“This in fact is our new American moment. There has never been a better time to start living the American Dream. If you work hard, if you believe in yourself, if you believe in America, then you can dream anything, you can be anything, and together, we can achieve anything.”
President Trump during his State of the Union address
“Tonight I call upon all of us to set aside our differences, to seek out common ground, and to summon the unity we need to deliver for the people. This is really the key. These are the people we were elected to serve.”
President Trump during his State of the Union address
“My duty, and the sacred duty of every elected official in this chamber, is to defend Americans, to protect their safety, their families, their communities, and their right to the American Dream. Because Americans are dreamers, too.”
President Trump during his State of the Union address
“There should have been one school shooting and we should have fixed it. And I’m pissed. Because my daughter, I’m not going to see again. She’s not here. She’s not here. She’s in North Lauderdale King David cemetery — that is where I go to see my kid now.”
Andrew Pollack, at the White House listening sessions after the mass shooting at the high school in Parkland, Fla.
“When we declare our schools to be gun-free zones, it just puts our students in far more danger. A teacher would’ve shot the hell out of him before he knew what happened.”
President Donald Trump
“In the chief job, you have to be willing to alienate everybody at some point. I kept having to go to public meetings and be told stupid stuff to which I make faces that kind of invited criticism of me.”
Retired Milwaukee Police Chief Ed Flynn
“It’s the stopping of Milwaukee’s legacy of free parks for all.”
Roger Bybee at a meeting to discuss a pay-to-park proposal at Milwaukee County parks
“Nobody’s wrong to not want to pay more for government. They’re right. (But) It’s hard to say what’s more important. Parks are important. But so is transit, and services for people with disabilities, and senior centers. All these services are important and shouldn’t be cut.”
Milwaukee County Executive Chris Abele defending the proposal to charge parking fees at parks
“There’s pretty clear evidence that the Russians meddled. Whether they affected the outcome is another question. It’s problematic that a foreign nation is involved in our election system. Our democracy is only as good as people trust the results.”
Former President George W. Bush in remarks at a conference in Abu Dhabi
“He shot the girl next to me. I stepped on so many shell casings. There were bodies on the ground, and there was blood everywhere.”
Catarina Linden, a 16-year-old sophomore, said she was in an advanced math class Wednesday when gunfire began at a Florida school
“Take everything you’ve heard and multiply it by 50. No president has ever had to deal with so much so fast: a special counsel and an investigation into Russia and then subpoenas immediately, the media insanity. Not to mention we were pushing out executive orders at record pace and trying to repeal and replace Obamacare right out of the gate.”
Reports of chaos and disorganization inside the White House through the first months of President Donald Trump’s administration are accurate, former chief of staff Reince Priebus said in a new book, “The Gatekeepers”
“At some point we’re going to be fatigued with everybody being a victim. You always have to play the hand you’re dealt. If you’re dealt a bad hand, you still have to play it.”
In a rare public statement, Justice Clarence Thomas decried the contemporary culture of victimhood, telling an audience at the Library of Congress that constant aggrievement would exhaust the country
Christian Britschgi at Reason.com recently published a column that poignantly illustrates yet another example of knee-jerk legislation based upon an embarrassing lack of research.
The articulate (and likely unpronounceable) Britschgi shares the woeful tale of several California municipalities where ignorant or perhaps pandering politicians have outlawed the serving of plastic straws to restaurant patrons.
Sure, we’d all like to rid our planet of plastic litter, but is it truly wise to fine a waiter $1,000 and bill California taxpayers for six months room and board in one of their fine prisons because a server offered one plastic straw to a customer?
Columnist Rick Jensen
“I have always loved the Grammys but to have artists read the Fire and Fury book killed it. Don’t ruin great music with trash. Some of us love music without the politics thrown in it.”
U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley on a reading by Hillary Clinton during the Grammys broadcast
“It was unbelievable, man. Frank was always trying to hook me up with Marilyn Monroe, but Marilyn Monroe had a chest that looked like pears, man.”
84-year-old record producer Quincy Jones revealed his friend Frank Sinatra wanted to set him up with Marilyn Monroe. But Jones refused.
“The celebration got crazy back in Philly. People knocked over lamp posts, overturned a car, ran around naked, set things on fire — and that was just the mayor.”
Tonight Show host Jimmy Fallon discussing the Philadelphia Eagles winning their first Super Bowl
March quotes
“If we don’t keep the House, we lose the opportunity to enact the next stage of great things for the economy; the reform that’s needed to continue this growth in the long run. The whole government shuts down and Trump can’t do anything in the last two years because we’re in an impeachment battle. That would be just heartbreaking for us.”
Wisconsin Congressman Sean Duffy during an interview on WISN
“The one time I thought that we were going to lose was actually in early September of 2016. We had had a bad August … and then Hillary came down with pneumonia herself. Trump had just kind of hit his stride. Bannon had been named CEO, he [Trump] was being more disciplined. This was before the debates started. And I thought, ‘Why do we think that we’re going to be the ones that can stop this guy?’ He just rolled over 16, 17 candidates on the Republican side. It seemed to me, we’re going to look back in 2016 and say the only possible outcome with Trump wins.”
Jennifer Palmieri, former communications director for Hillary Clinton’s last presidential campaign
“Sunday night’s 60 Minutes interview with ex-porn star Stormy Daniels ended up being the Al Capone’s vault of anti-Trump news. A big, fat nothing.
“Back in 1986, Geraldo Rivera hosted a live, two-hour special surrounding the opening of a vault owned by the late gangster Al Capone. After two hours of buildup, all Rivera found was dirt, empty bottles, and an embarrassment he will never live down.
“On Sunday night, all 60 Minutes was able to deliver was dirt, empty promises, and defeat.”
John Nolte, Editor-at-Large, Breitbart.com
“I really believe–you don’t know until you test it, but I think–I’d really believe I’d run into–even if I didn’t have a weapon, and I think most of the people in this room would have done that too, because I know most of you. The way they performed was really a disgrace.”
President Donald Trump said Monday that he would have charged into a Florida school during the shooting there earlier this month even if he were unarmed. He slammed as “frankly, disgusting” the armed school guard who remained outside the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland that left 17 students and teachers dead. The president also criticized several deputies who failed to immediately enter the school, telling the governors that the law enforcement officers “weren’t exactly Medal of Honor winners.”
“Deputy Scot Peterson, who refused to help in Parkland, knew that the shots were coming from inside the building and said so over the radio. Then, afterwards, he brazenly lied about it, and said he thought they were outside. The whole department is rotten to the core. And it almost certainly comes from the top, from Sheriff Israel, who knew a lot more than he let on when he tried to blame everyone except himself at CNN’s town hall.”
National Review’s Charles Cooke did not mince words about his feelings on the Broward County Sheriff’s Office
“Channing Dungey, president of ABC Entertainment, said during their Oscars telecast, the campaign against sexual harassment should be limited to a prescheduled ‘moment,’ so viewers don’t feel it ‘overshadows the artists and the films being honored.’
“If the Academy Awards people wanted to recall how Hollywood has behaved, they would take a ‘moment’ to replay the standing ovation for child-raping director Roman Polanski when he won best director in 2003. The audience could see Meryl Streep standing and applauding, and then there’s director Martin Scorsese doing the same, being a good sport about losing to Polanski, and standing up and clapping behind him is … Harvey Weinstein.
“That’s a good clip of Hollywood’s history on opposing sexual assault.”
Brent Bozell, lecturer, syndicated columnist, television commentator, debater, marketer, businessman, author, publisher and activist
“It’s not easy to discuss…This is hypothetical. I remember I grabbed a knife. I do remember that portion. Where are the bloody clothes so somebody had to get rid of the bloody clothes. We’ve all seen the grizzly pictures after, I think everything would have been covered in blood. It was horrible. It was absolutely horrible.”
O.J. Simpson in a two-part interview with Judith Regan in 2006. The interview was buried until this weekend. Fox recently unearthed the controversial footage and is set to air it as a two-hour event on Sunday night. O.J. Simpson gives a ‘hypothetical account’ of the night his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ron Goldman were murdered in 1994.
“As I see it, if DST (Daylight Savings Time) is going to keep us forever disoriented, why adjust our clocks forward and backward by only one hour? Why not move them forward to 2030 so I can begin collecting Social Security – or backward to 1984, when I had a 29-inch waist and was still able to date really good-looking ladies?
“Whatever the case, my mother is especially worried about my difficulty adjusting to DST changes. She jokes that I’ll be late for my own funeral. Or an hour early.”
Columnist Tom Purcell
April quotes
“I wanted to share with you a little of what I just told my colleagues a few minutes ago. You realize something when you take this job. It’s a big job with a lot riding on you. And you feel it.
“But you also know that this is a job that does not last forever. You realize that you hold the office for just a small part of our history—so you better make the most of it. It’s fleeting, and that inspires you to do big things. And on that score, I think we have achieved a heck of a lot.
“You all know that I did not seek this job. I took it reluctantly, but I have given this job everything that I have. And I have no regrets whatsoever for having accepted this responsibility. This has been one of the two greatest honors of my life.
“The job provides incredible opportunities, but the truth is it’s easy for it to take over everything in your life. And you can’t just let that happen. Because there are other things in life that can be fleeting as well: namely your time as a husband and a dad, which is the other great honor of my life.
“That’s why today I’m announcing that this year will be my last one as a member of the House. To be clear, I am not resigning. I intend to serve my full term as I was elected to do. But I will be retiring in January, leaving this majority in good hands with what I believe is a very bright future.
“It’s almost hard to believe, but I have been a member of Congress for almost two decades. This is my twentieth year in Congress. My kids weren’t even born when I was first elected. Our oldest was 13 years old when I became speaker. Now all three of our kids are teenagers. One thing I have learned about teenagers is their idea of an ideal weekend is not necessarily to spend all of their time with their parents. What I realize is if I am here for one more term, my kids will only have ever known me as a weekend dad. I just can’t let that happen.
“So I will be setting new priorities in my life. But I will also be leaving incredibly proud of what we have accomplished. Some of you know my story—my dad died when I was 16, the age my daughter is. And I just don’t want to be one of those people looking back on my life thinking, ‘I should’ve spent more time with my kids.’ When I know if I spend another term, they will only know me as a weekend father.
“So I’m really proud of what we’ve been able to do. When I took this job, one of my conditions was that we aim high. That we do big things. That we fashion an agenda, that we run on that agenda, that we win an election, and that we execute that agenda. I am so proud that that is exactly what we have done and what we are doing right now.
“We’ve accomplished so much since then. Probably the two biggest achievements for me are, first: the major reform of our tax code for the first time in 36 years, which has already been a huge success for this country. And that’s something I’ve been working on my entire adult life.
“Second, something I got much more invested in being Speaker is to rebuild our nation’s military. And after tax reform, addressing our military readiness crisis, that was a top priority that we got done last month as well.
“These I see as lasting victories that will make this country more prosperous and more secure for decades to come.
“There are so many other things that we have gotten done, and of course I’m going to look back proudly on my days at the Budget Committee and the Ways and Means Committee. But I don’t want to be too sentimental here. I want to be clear: I’m not done yet. I intend to run through the tape, to finish the year.
“Some of you wonder why I can’t just do the normal politician thing—which is to run and then retire after the election. That is what I’m told is the politically shrewd thing to do. I considered that. But just as my conscience is what got me to take this job in the first place, my conscience could not handle going out that way.
“I pledged to serve the people of Wisconsin, the First District, honorably. And in order to serve the people of my district honorably, I have to serve them honestly. And for me to ask them to vote to re-elect me, knowing that I wasn’t going to stay is not being honest. I simply cannot do that. So that’s why I’m announcing this today.
“Again, I am proud of what this conference has achieved and I believe its future is bright. The economy is strong, we have given Americans greater confidence in their lives, and I have every confidence that I’ll be handing this gavel on to the next Republican Speaker of the House next year.
“So just to close, I said earlier that I didn’t want this job at first. And most of you know this—I really actually didn’t. But, I have to thank my colleagues for giving me this opportunity and this honor. I am really grateful for it.
“I also want to thank the people of southern Wisconsin for placing their trust in me as their representative for the past 20 years. I’ve tried to bring as much Wisconsin to Washington as I can in that time.
“It has been a wild ride, but it has been a journey well worth taking to be able to do my part to strengthen the American Idea. That pursuit is never ending, much work remains, but I like to think I have done my part—my little part—of history to set us on a better course.
“Thank you.”
House Speaker Paul Ryan
“One of the things that’s concerning me is the assassination risk may become a factor. You have to wonder with that kind of disproportionate retirement number whether what happened in June played a factor.”
Alabama Rep. Mo Brooks suggested in a radio interview that Republicans are retiring en masse because of assassination fears and referred to last year’s shooting at a Congressional baseball game that left Majority Whip Steve Scalise severely injured
“There were compelling editorial reasons for the content of NPR’s news coverage. The word in question was an integral part of the news of that day and using it was necessary for the audience to understand what was happening. We limited the number of times it was said on the air and each time we gave a warning about profanity.”
NPR spokesperson Isabel Lara on why NPR chose to air the word “sh*thole” unedited. President Trump’s description of “sh*thole countries” prompted 162 complaints to the FCC about news coverage of it, according to public records obtained by CBS News through a Freedom of Information Act Request.
“When you’re building something like Facebook that is unprecedented in the world, there are going to be things that you mess up.”
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg after the company revealed that the personal information of up to 87 million users may have been improperly shared with data firm Cambridge Analytica
“I’m going to suggest you go home and rewrite it, and tell your $1,200 dollar and hour lawyer…you want it written in English not Swahili, so the average American user can understand.”
Republican Senator John Kennedy of Louisiana confronted Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg about the transparency of the social media company’s policies during a joint hearing of the Senate Judiciary and Commerce committees
“I went to see her a week ago, Saturday. We had a wonderful visit. She and I were needling each other. The doctor came in and she said to the doctor, ‘Do you want to know why George W. is the way he is, doctor? Because I drank and smoked when I was pregnant with him.’”
President George W. Bush relaying a story about his mother, Barbara, following her death
“You don’t have to agree with Trump but the mob can’t make me not love him. We are both dragon energy. He is my brother.”
Rapper Kanye West
“In a related story, Trump just made Kanye the new secretary of Dragon Energy.”
Tonight Show host Jimmy Fallon
May quotes
“We have people coming into the country, or trying to come in — and we’re stopping a lot of them — but we’re taking people out of the country. You wouldn’t believe how bad these people are. These aren’t people. These are animals. And we’re taking them out of the country at a level and at a rate that’s never happened before. And because of the weak laws, they come in fast, we get them, we release them, we get them again, we bring them out. It’s crazy.”
President Trump at a roundtable meeting on Wednesday about U.S. immigration policies. His remarks sparked intense backlash from the media.
“We have elections. Go vote if it’s a policy thing and a behavior thing. I don’t know if you can get impeached for being a jerk, but if we did, this guy would be long gone. But that’s not unifying.”
Democratic House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, rejecting calls for President Donald Trump to be impeached at this time
“Do we really want peace? Then let’s ban all weapons so we don’t have to live in fear of war”
Pope Francis
“After seeing the young female hired to verbally bully anyone who worked for @realDonaldTrump I now understand why eating Tide Pods is popular. That level of vulgarity is best handled with a mouth washed out w/ soap. @PressSec handled it professionally but I pray her kids never see that. I pray more they never bully another person like that.”
Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee whose daughter, White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders, bore the brunt of some of the harshest lines from Michelle Wolf’s routine at last Saturday’s White House Correspondents’ Association dinner
“In the interests of the country, I think it’s time to wrap it up. I would very respectfully encourage the special counsel and his team to bring their work to completion.”
Vice President Mike Pence said Thursday that he believes it’s time for Special Counsel Robert Mueller to finish his investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 election. Pence said the Trump administration has ‘fully cooperated’ with Mueller’s probe, including turning over more than 1 million documents.
“He’s dying anyway.”
White House aide responding to Senator John McCain’s opposition to CIA Director Gina Haspel
“May I remind you my husband has a family, 7 children and 5 grandchildren.”
McCain’s wife Cindy
“Since my dad has been diagnosed (with brain cancer), I feel like I understand the meaning of life. It is not how you die, it is how you live.”
Meghan McCain
“I still do not believe that what I said constitutes a disorderly conduct, nor that it was a racial slur. I didn’t say the n-word.”
State Senator Lena Taylor defending her encounter with an African-American bank teller that got her a citation. Taylor said she used a different word that’s similar to “Negro.” She says she often refers to friends as “my kind of Negro.” “I say it at all the time,” and also said she’s a victim of a “political lynching” and will not quit the Legislature.
“(State Senator Lena) Taylor might have simply apologized for an encounter she says happened after having to wait 20 minutes for service (we’ve all been there), and promised to learn and improve in her handling of staff. If she was a contrite defendant, odds are the judge would dismiss the disorderly conduct charge. Most people — even hard hearted reporters — are willing to forgive and forget once an apology is offered.
“Instead, Taylor chose to make a mountain out of a mole hill, to turn two minor situations into a community-wide — if not national — case of racism.”
Bruce Murphy of Urban Milwaukee
“My experience in January with the Milwaukee Police Department was wrong and shouldn’t happen to anybody. What should have been a simple parking ticket turned into an attempt at police intimidation, followed by the unlawful use of physical force, including being handcuffed and tased, and then unlawfully booked. This experience with the Milwaukee Police Department has forced me to stand up and tell my story so that I can help prevent these injustices from happening in the future.
“I will take legal action against the Milwaukee Police Department to continue forcing change in our community.”
From a statement by Milwaukee Buck Sterling Brown
The abuse and intimidation that Sterling experienced at the hands of Milwaukee Police was shameful and inexcusable. Sterling has our full support as he shares his story and takes action to provide accountability.
From a statement by the Milwaukee Bucks
“The department conducted an investigation into the incident which revealed members acted inappropriately and those members were recently disciplined. Criminal charges against Mr. Brown were not pursued. I am sorry this incident escalated to this level.”
Milwaukee Police Chief Alfonso Morales said that the officers involved in the Jan. 26 incident acted “inappropriately” and have since been disciplined. In the body cam footage released by the police, officers can be seen confronting Brown for a parking violation as he walks out of a store. The situation escalates, as Brown is pulled to the ground. One officer can then be heard shouting “taser, taser, taser.”
“High school and college graduates don’t know very much about the world. Maybe before they set out to change things, they should get a good grasp of how things actually work. Ask them the difference between term and whole life insurance, or how to change a tire, or how much to save every month, or whether you should call a cop after a fender bender. Ask them if they’ve ever organized a dance, far less a factory.
“Before graduates are urged to change the world, perhaps they should be encouraged to change themselves or, at least, to look inward. How many people have vainly resolved to lose 10 pounds or to donate 10 percent of their income to the less fortunate? Change is hard, even when — or perhaps especially when — you’re trying to change yourself. If you’ve been unable to reform yourself, take that humility to the world, and remember it when you notice others’ flaws. Each graduate can ask himself: How kind was I to my siblings this year, and how dutiful to my parents? Taking his place in the adult world, he should resolve first of all to do the things within his own power: to be a faithful spouse and a reliable parent.”
Columnist Mona Charen
“You know what, he doesn’t (miss Milwaukee). Because the thing is, you don’t know this about the Fonz, he’s actually a wimp in the snow. He’s cool until he sees the first snowflake. And then he goes right to his condo in Palm Beach.”
Henry Winkler about his character Fonzie in an interview with GQ
June quotes
“This plant will manufacture state-of-the-art LCD (screens) adding an average of $3.4 billion to the state’s economy every single year. We are reclaiming our country’s manufacturing legacy.”
President Trump at the groundbreaking of Foxconn in Mount Pleasant, WI. He even called the facility the “eighth wonder of the world.”
“Today we break ground on the largest economic development in our state and one of the largest economic development projects in the history of our country. Foxconn will ultimately do $1.4 billion in business with Wisconsin companies each year … this is a big deal for people all across the state.”
Gov. Walker at the Foxconn event
“This project is going to bring a whole new sector to our state’s economy, to Wisconn Valley. Our best days as a state, our best days as a country are ahead of us because of projects like this.”
House Speaker Paul Ryan at the Foxconn event
“A strong Wisconsin is good for the Midwest. A strong Midwest is good for America. A strong America is good for the world.”
Foxconn CEO and Chairman Terry Gou at the groundbreaking
“I’m just an intern from Gateway Technical College and I walked right into this. It’s very easy, they’re very friendly here, it’s a family atmosphere which is one of the rare things you see in a company this large is they actually care about you.”
Racine native Nathan Pritikin, 20, is one of those working through an internship he received from a partnership between Gateway and Foxconn
“These child actors weeping and crying on all the other networks 24/7 right now — do not fall for it, Mr. President. As long as you incentivize people to come here from south of the border, they’re going to keep dying, crossing through the desert. As long as you keep that magnet on, and what greater magnet than citizenship, Medicare, Medicaid, free healthcare. Yeah, that’s why people voted for a wall.”
Ann Coulter said President Trump should not believe the media hype about immigrant children at the border
“After six months of this president, I’m suffering from Trump fatigue. And I’m pretty sure I’m not alone. But I’m also suffering from Trump-bashing fatigue, the nonstop drumbeat of negative news about the president; the crazy speculation about whether he’ll be impeached for high crimes including treason. This isn’t honest journalism. It’s wishful thinking.
“And even when I agree with liberal journalists who point out the president’s defects, I find myself thinking that I don’t want to be on their team anymore. As much as I dislike President Trump’s demeanor, I dislike their demeanors at least as much. They’re smug. And if arrogance were a crime, they wouldn’t be on TV or writing op-eds; they’d be behind bars.”
Bernard Goldberg, Emmy award winner and author of the New York Times best-seller, “Bias”
“Actually, Trump may actually be better than Reagan. Reagan produced millions of good-paying middle class jobs, unprecedented prosperity and the greatest economic expansion in world history. Trump is on track to surpass Reagan’s economic success.
“It’s a new day under President Trump. We are free to make money again. We are free to practice capitalism without guilt. The sun is out. The skies are blue. There’s a job in every pot. The Trump Miracle lives.”
Radio host Wayne Allyn Root
“Maybe we’re just in an era of fighting in the gutter. There’s also the notion that even if we’re in a race to the bottom, does the American voter care? If jobs are being created, if the economy is good, if more money is being added into your paychecks, are you really jolted by the president being a little kooky on Twitter? My bet: not much.’”
Columnist Matt Vespa
“Did you get a beautiful photo that makes me look nice and handsome and thin and perfect?”
President Trump questioning photographers at the North Korean summit
“Why do we see kids being so violent? What’s out there? What makes them do that? Because, as a nurse, I go back to root cause. And I think it’s a couple things. Pornography. It’s available. It’s available on the shelf when you walk in the grocery store. Yeah, you have to reach up to get it, but there’s pornography there. All of this is available without parental guidance. And I think that’s a big part of the root cause, that we see so many young people that have mental illness get caught in these places.”
Republican Rep. Diane Black of Tennessee cited pornography, along with the deterioration of the family and violent movies, as a contributing factor to gun violence in schools
“We’ve heard from a lot of young woman who say, ‘We’d love to be a part of your program but we don’t want to be out there in high heels and a swimsuit.’ So guess what, you don’t have to do that anymore.”
Gretchen Carlson, the new head of the Miss America board of directors, revealed that the pageant will no longer judge women based on their physical appearance
(Carlson) “further clarified: ‘It’s what comes out of their mouths that we care about.’ Really? I’ve got some news for you, Gretchen: nobody on the entire planet cares what comes out of the mouths of Miss America contestants unless they say something so dumb it makes us laugh out loud. They’re not competing to see who is smartest, funniest, or most environmentally concerned. They’re there because they’re smoking hot.”
Piers Morgan
“Even though I am a woman who struggles with body image, I think that this change erases the history of the pageant. Miss America started as a swimsuit competition in the 1920s. And it was the only phase of competition. Yes, swimsuits have changed over the years and are a little more revealing, but I think that women should be able to choose what they wear for a ‘physical fitness’ competition.”
Miss South Carolina USA 2016, Leah Lawson
“You don’t look like a legislator.”
What a statehouse security guard said to Ohio state Rep. Emilia Sykes, a 32-year-old black woman, as she walked into work with one of her older, white, male colleagues. Sykes had her bag searched — even after her colleague corroborated Sykes’ job.
“Disney World announced they are finally serving alcohol at every restaurant in the Magic Kingdom. Parents will say, ‘These giant teacups are spinning too fast,” and the kids will be like, “We are not even on the ride yet.’”
Tonight Show host Jimmy Fallon
“Applebee’s is offering $1 Long Island iced teas for the entire month of June. So if someone tells you they just spent $20 at Applebee’s, get them to a hospital.”
Tonight Show host Jimmy Fallon on Applebee’s June $1 deal for the 10 oz. drink, which includes vodka, rum, gin, tequila and triple sec, mixed with a sweet & sour mix, topped with cola
July quotes
“There was no collusion, there was nobody to collude with. We ran a brilliant campaign.”
President Trump denied collusion with Russia during the election at joint news conference with Russian President Putin
“There is no question that Russia interfered in our election and continues attempts to undermine democracy here and around the world. That is not just the finding of the American intelligence community but also the House Committee on Intelligence. The president must appreciate that Russia is not our ally. There is no moral equivalence between the United States and Russia, which remains hostile to our most basic values and ideals.”
House Speaker Paul Ryan
“Disgusting. I’m sorry. It’s the only way I feel. It’s not a right or left thing for me—it’s just wrong. A U.S. president on foreign soil, talking to our biggest enemy or adversary or competitor, is essentially letting the guy get away with this and not even offering a mild criticism. That sets us back a lot.”
FOX News conservative commentator and host Neil Cavuto
“I accept our intelligence community’s conclusion that Russia’s meddling in the 2016 election took place. Could be other people also. There’s a lot of people out there.”
President Trump having a change of thought
“You know, it was something that happened when I was 17 years old. As a child, I was immature, and I obviously said some things that were inexcusable. That doesn’t reflect on who I am as a person today.
“There’s no excuse for what was said. I’m deeply sorry for what I’ve said and what’s been going on, and like I said, it doesn’t reflect any of my beliefs going on now.
“I’m ready for any consequences that happen for what happened seven years ago.”
Milwaukee Brewer pitcher Josh Hader. Late during baseball’s All-Star Game, some racist and anti-gay tweets that Hader sent when he was a teenager surfaced.
“My mom was a trailblazer. When I was 10, she went to law school and became a prosecutor. My introduction to law came at our dinner table when she practiced her closing arguments. Her trademark line was: “Use your common sense. What rings true? What rings false?” That’s good advice for a juror and for a son.”
Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh
“The nomination of Judge Brett Kavanaugh will threaten the lives of millions of Americans for decades to come and will morph our Supreme Court into a political arm of the right-wing Republican Party.”
Terry McAuliffe, former Governor of Virginia
“I would not support a nominee who demonstrated hostility to Roe v. Wade because that would mean to me that their judicial philosophy did not include a respect for established decisions, established law. I want a judge who will apply the law to the facts of the case with fidelity to the Constitution. Roe v. Wade is a constitutional right that is well established.”
Maine’s moderate Republican Senator Susan Collins
“I can’t help but wonder when I see you looking there with a little smirk — how many times did you look so innocently into your wife’s eye and lie to her about Lisa Page?”
Rep. Louie Gohmert, R-Tyler, alleging Peter Strzok, the FBI agent who oversaw the Russian investigation, had an extramarital affair with the woman he texted. Strzok was under question from the the House Judiciary and Oversight and Government Reform committees about texts that showed political bias.
“I got on the phone with her and I was talking to a person who didn’t have any hope. She said, ‘I don’t have any purpose and I’m tired. My body’s failing me and I don’t know why. I’ve had pain for a long time and I don’t want to endure it anymore and I’m just a burden.’ And I told her why she wasn’t and told her she was loved. And as a guy who, professionally, is supposed to be able to convince people with words to do something, I couldn’t reach her. She said, ‘I’m tired of being tired. And I just want to go. And she said, ‘Do you want to hear it?’ And I said, ‘No, I don’t.’ And she hung up the phone.”
Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall on his last words to his wife before she hung up the phone and died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. He says his wife struggled with mental illness and substance abuse.
“Our policy is you stand during the anthem, toe on the line.”
Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones saying Cowboys players will be required to stand during the playing of the National Anthem before home games
August quotes
“It’s incredible to me that a player can beat up a woman and play for the Dallas Cowboys. A player can use illegal drugs time and time again and still play, but you take a knee to protest the racial injustice in America, and now you’ve crossed a line that he will not allow.”
WFAA sports anchor Dale Hansen on owner Jerry Jones’ rule that players must stand for the anthem
“It is not right, it is not fair, it is not just, it is un-American to come out here and call the press the enemy of the people.”
CNN’s Jim Acosta
“It’s ironic, Jim, that not only you and the media attack the president for his rhetoric when they frequently lower the level of conversation in this country. Repeatedly, repeatedly the media resorts to personal attacks without any content other than to incite anger.
“Repeatedly, the media has attacked me personally, on a number of occasions including your own network. Said I should be harassed as a life sentence. That I should be choked. ICE officials are not welcome in their place of worship and personal information is shared on the Internet. When I was hosted by the Correspondents Association, of which almost all of you are members of, you brought a comedian up to attack my appearance and call me a traitor to my own gender. In fact, as far as I know, I’m the first press secretary in the history of the United States that required Secret Service protection.”
White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders responding to a question from CNN’s Jim Acosta
“Mike Ellis was a larger-than-life personality who loved Wisconsin and passionately served the people for more than 45 years. Today, as we gather in Neenah to celebrate Mike’s life, I am announcing that I will include in our budget, or will sign a bill drafted by the Legislature, naming the brand new I-41/U.S. 10/WIS 441 Interchange in his honor—whichever comes first. It would be a fitting tribute for a man who contributed so much to his community and his state.”
Governor Scott Walker called on the Wisconsin State Legislature to name the newly constructed I-41/U.S. 10/ WIS 441 Interchange in honor of the late Wisconsin State Senate President Michael G. Ellis. A celebration of life memorial service was held August 7, 2018, in Neenah. Ellis served the State of Wisconsin over the course of five decades.
“Some people leave and go home and go to sleep and come back, that’s how long the wait time is.”
Austin, Texas resident Lorenzo Spurlock, on the wait times at driver’s license offices
“My two teenage sons start school Monday. They’ve been walking through metal detectors to get to class since sixth grade. I don’t mind that at all anymore. This year, their public high school will start another kind of program. A different, new trend. Students will have their smartphones locked up in pouches.
“I do get some parents’ concerns. But — insert my applause emoji — I am thrilled my high-schoolers won’t be able to use their phones at school. In a note to parents, the principal says this will help stop a string of problems. Students cheating on math tests, distracting themselves and friends, even taking calls during class.
“The school also says ‘a large portion of students’ rush to lunch to get on their phones, isolating themselves while playing games. It hopes this new policy will help kids develop crucial face-to-face social skills. And use their new free time to join the extracurricular clubs that meet during lunch period.
“Maybe they’ll also tell more silly jokes. Flirt. Actually finish their lunch?! And I can think of another benefit.
“My sons will have six hours of the day free from the nonstop barrage of bad news alerts. The latest shooting, terror attack, disaster or potty-mouthed tweetstorm. Invaluable time to relax, and connect, without phones. I’m grateful to see some schools investing in that.”
Jennifer Ludden, National Public Radio
“Aretha helped define the American experience. In her voice, we could feel our history, all of it and in every shade — our power and our pain, our darkness and our light, our quest for redemption and our hard-won respect. May the Queen of Soul rest in eternal peace.”
Former President Barack Obama on Aretha Franklin who died at the age of 76
“Before the election, we did a lot of Trump material, a lot of political material, and it was fine. … After the election, you started to hear comments from the audience, whether it was a yay or a boo, and we said, ‘We don’t want that. We’re not here to preach.’ So we started limiting the divisive political material from the act because you get that on late-night TV. It’s not something you want to pay [for]. We’re just trying to be funny.”
Comedian Steve Martin
“When it comes to politics, you don’t want to make half the audience feel like they’re inappropriate.”
Comedian Martin Short
September quotes
“The Times today is taking the rare step of publishing an anonymous Op-Ed essay. We have done so at the request of the author, a senior official in the Trump administration whose identity is known to us and whose job would be jeopardized by its disclosure. We believe publishing this essay anonymously is the only way to deliver an important perspective to our readers.”
The NY Times
The root of the problem is the president’s amorality. Anyone who works with him knows he is not moored to any discernible first principles that guide his decision making.
From the White House to executive branch departments and agencies, senior officials will privately admit their daily disbelief at the commander in chief’s comments and actions. Most are working to insulate their operations from his whims.
Meetings with him veer off topic and off the rails, he engages in repetitive rants, and his impulsiveness results in half-baked, ill-informed and occasionally reckless decisions that have to be walked back.
The bigger concern is not what Mr. Trump has done to the presidency but rather what we as a nation have allowed him to do to us. We have sunk low with him and allowed our discourse to be stripped of civility.
The anonymous author of the NY Times op-ed piece
“Freedom of speech is an important pillar of our nation’s founding principles and a free press is important to our democracy. The press should be fair, unbiased and responsible. To the writer of the op-ed — you are not protecting this country, you are sabotaging it with your cowardly actions. Unidentified sources have become the majority of the voices people hear about in today’s news. People with no names are writing our nation’s history. Words are important, and accusations can lead to severe consequences. If a person is bold enough to accuse people of negative actions, they have a responsibility to publicly stand by their words and people have the right to be able to defend themselves.”
First Lady Melania Trump
“Do you still expect that apology? A personal apology?”
Channel 2 news anchor Yonit Levi questioning Monica Lewinsky at an event in Jerusalem. Levi brought up Bill Clinton’s comments in June when he said he didn’t believe he owed Lewinsky an apology.
“I’m sorry, I’m not going to be able to do this.”
Lewinsky responded, before putting down her microphone and walking off stage
“We are women who have known Brett Kavanaugh for more than 35 years and knew him while he attended high school between 1979 and 1983. For the entire time we have known Brett Kavanaugh, he has behaved honorably and treated women with respect. We strongly believe it is important to convey this information to the Committee at this time. Brett attended Georgetown Prep, an all-boys high school in Rockville, Maryland. He was an outstanding student and athlete with a wide circle of friends. Almost all of us attended all girls high schools in the area. We knew Brett well through social events, sports, church, and various other activities. Many of us have remained close friends with him and his family over the years.
“Through the more than 35 years we have known him, Brett has stood out for his friendship, character, and integrity. In particular, he has always treated women with decency and respect. That was true when he was in high school, and it has remained true to this day. The signers of this letter hold a broad range of political views. Many of us are not lawyers, but we know Brett Kavanaugh as a person. And he has always been a good person.”
Five dozen women who went to high school with Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh wrote a letter to Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley and Ranking Member Dianne Feinstein backing his character
“I am here today not because I want to be. I am terrified. I am here because I believe it is my civic duty to tell you what happened to me when Brett Kavanaugh and I were in high school. I believed he was going to rape me. I tried to yell for help. When I did, Brett put his hand over my mouth to stop me from yelling. It was hard for me to breathe and I thought that Brett was going to accidentally kill me. Brett’s assault on me drastically altered my life for a very long time. I was too afraid and ashamed to tell anybody these details.
“Indelible in the hippocampus is the laughter. The uproarious laughter of the two, and their having fun at my expense … I was underneath one of them while the two laughed. Two friends having a really good time together.”
Dr. Blasey Ford testifying
“My family and my name have been totally and permanently destroyed by additional and false accusations. The 10-day delay has been harmful to me and my family, to the Supreme Court and to the country. I was not at the party described by Dr Ford. This confirmation process has become a national disgrace. You have replaced advise and consent with search and destroy. There has been a frenzy on the left to come up with something, anything, to block my nomination. I will not be intimidated into withdrawing from this process. You may defeat me in the final vote, but you will never get me to quit, never. I have never sexually assaulted anyone — not in high school, not in college, never.”
Brett Kavanaugh testifying
“Maybe Brett Kavanaugh is a gang-raping attempted murderer who managed to live a public life of acclaim and honor. Maybe the devotion to his wife and two daughters, his respect for countless women and their careers, and his wisdom on the bench are parts of an elaborate plot to get away with it. Anything is possible.
“But the idea that the country should convict him and destroy his life with no evidence other than recovered and uncorroborated memories and creepy porn lawyer Michael Avenatti’s say-so is quite insane.”
Mollie Ziegler Hemingway, a senior editor at The Federalist
“Oh my god. This is every woman’s nightmare. This is a terrifying image.”
Maria Shriver, reacting to above image of Lindsey Graham
“Just asked my wife. She said being left to drown in a car like your uncle did to Mary Jo Kopechne is a bigger nightmare than being yelled at by Lindsey Graham.”
A tweet in response to Shriver
Alleged cover-ups in the Church were making it look like ‘a conspiracy of silence not so dissimilar from the one that prevails in the mafia. Pope Francis has repeatedly asked for total transparency in the Church. In this extremely dramatic moment for the universal Church, he must acknowledge his mistakes and, in keeping with the proclaimed principle of zero tolerance, Pope Francis must be the first to set a good example for cardinals and bishops who covered up McCarrick’s abuses and resign along with all of them.”
Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano, a former Vatican ambassador to the United States, said he told the Pope about allegations of sexual abuse against then-Cardinal Theodore McCarrick five years ago, but the Pontiff did nothing about it
“When we read that a cardinal asked young seminarians to sleep with him, thus corrupting them before they became ordained, and when we read that a few Pennsylvania priests used sacred objects like the crucifix to molest their victims, we cannot plausibly say that this is simply the work of men gone bad. No, it is the work of the devil. What other source would provoke such monstrosities?”
Catholic League president Bill Donohue
“With shame and repentance, we acknowledge as an ecclesial community that we were not where we should have been, that we did not act in a timely manner, realizing the magnitude and the gravity of the damage done to so many lives. We showed no care for the little ones; we abandoned them.”
Pope Francis sent a letter to Catholics worldwide following the shocking revelations of sexual abuse by over 300 priests and cover-ups by bishops in a Pennsylvania grand jury report
“My heart is broken. I am so lucky to have lived the adventure of loving this incredible man for 38 years. He passed the way he lived, on his own terms, surrounded by the people he loved, in the the place he loved best.”
Cindy McCain
“Few of us have been tested the way John (McCain) once was, or required to show the kind of courage that he did. But all of us can aspire to the courage to put the greater good above our own.”
Barack Obama
“I’ve been here since 1949. I’m used to these hurricanes. Me and my cat, Maybank, we’re staying.”
87-year old Bert Kilpatrick said she’s not concerned about Hurricane Florence and was planning to stay in her house on Charleston’s James Island, where she is just a stone’s throw from the Stono River, a huge tidal estuary that runs to the Atlantic Ocean
“I’m staying here because he won’t leave. It’s a no-win situation. You leave, you stay safe; but your home may be gone.”
Patsy Cather, 75, said she and her husband, Joe, were planning to remain
“I’ve never seen a game like that. It was incredible. He’s coming up and you’re thinking he can’t do it again, and he does it again. He did everything tonight, he really did. He’s driving the bus home tonight.”
Brewers manager Craig Counsell talking about Christian Yelich’s 6-for-6 performance against the Cincinnati Reds. Yelich hit for the cycle as Milwaukee beat the Reds in 10 innings, 13-12.
The flirtatious man in his late 50s gets a swift verbal smack-down from his friend, a woman in her 70s who knows he has a wife and is keeping an eye on him. She’s wearing a yellow volunteer shirt at the Worth Harley-Davidson dealership in Kansas City, Missouri, where at least 400 people turned out for a party with beer and a KISS cover band.
“If you do anything wrong,” she says to the man, “your ass is grass and I’m the lawnmower.”
Then she turns to me and says, “Go sit on his lap so I can take a picture.”
Hmmm…maybe next time.
From a Milwaukee Journal Sentinel story on Harley-Davidson’s 115th anniversary celebration
October quotes
“Any acts or threats of political violence are an attack on our democracy itself. No nation can succeed that tolerates violence or the threat of violence as a method of political intimidation, coercion, or control. We all know that. Such conduct must be fiercely opposed and firmly prosecuted. We want all sides to come together in peace and harmony. We can do it.
“We should not mob people in public spaces or destroy public property. There is one way to settle our disagreements. It’s called: ‘peacefully at the ballot box.’ That’s what we want.” President Trump at a GOP rally in Mosinee, WI
“I am hopeful that despite all the noise, and the lies, and the distraction, we are going to cut through all that and remember who we are. The antidote to government by a powerful few is government by the organized, energized many.”
Former President Barack Obama at a rally in Milwaukee
“Better hold onto your wallets and purses, because he’s going to raise your taxes.”
WI Gov. Scott Walker at a debate with opponent Tony Evers
“Gov. Walker has been a career politician. I’ve been a lifelong educator. As a career politician, he has put his own political interests ahead of the people of Wisconsin and it’s played out in a negative way.”
Tony Evers during the debate
“Honestly, I don’t think I have ever been so angry in all of my adult life. It (The Kavanaugh hearing) brings me to the point of tears, it makes me so angry. The anchors … were just praising this woman like she was the next Rosa Parks or something. I mean, I was screaming at the TV.”
Ginger Howard, a Republican national committeewoman from Georgia
“You’ve humiliated this guy enough and there seems to be no bottom for some of you. Why don’t we dunk him in water and see if he floats?”
While discussing Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation battle with reporters on Thursday, a protester interrupted Senator Lindsey Graham, demanding Kavanaugh take a polygraph test. Graham responded.
“Based on all of the information I have available to me, including the recently completed FBI report, I have found Judge Kavanaugh to be a qualified jurist who will follow the Constitution and determine cases based on the legal findings before him.”
US Senator Joe Manchin (D-West Virginia)
“Refusing to pay child support. Randy Bryce is a deadbeat. He’s not fit to serve in Congress.”
Nancy Douglass — the head of a Lake Geneva radio station and chair-elect for the Wisconsin Broadcasters Association — has resigned from the trade association’s board amid criticism for appearing an ad ripping Congressional candidate Bryce
“Thinking of having kids? My toddler just cried for 45 minutes because her poop didn’t float in the toilet for her to see before she flushed.”
Christine Plumridge, single mom and blogger in Australia
November quotes
“In no way did I see it as a rejection, but rather just a larger electorate than we’ve ever seen in the past. The state of Wisconsin isn’t going to go backwards. We’ve been such reformers, I may have reformed myself out of a job.”
WI Governor Scott Walker
“They want to throw rocks at our military, our military fights back. I hope there won’t be that. But I will tell you this: Anybody throwing stones, rocks – like they did to Mexico and the Mexican military and Mexican police, where they badly hurt police and soldiers of Mexico – we will consider that a firearm.”
President Trump on the caravan
“We have to… realize the biggest terror threat in this country is white men.”
CNN host Don Lemon
“CNN should be ashamed of itself having you working for them. You are a rude, terrible person.”
President Trump speaking to CNN’s Jim Acosta at a news conference at the White House
“Jim Acosta, not just yesterday but for two years now, has been making it about his own narcissistic purposes. Jim Acosta is not a serious White House correspondent; he is a 40-something member of a high school debate system who goes in there, takes a policy position, usually obviously against the administration, and debates the president, or debates Sarah Huckabee Sanders, and that’s not the role of a White House correspondent. He should be either going forward, a campaign strategist, a campaign spokesperson on the Democratic side, or perhaps an opinion host in CNN prime time, or a pundit, because that is what Jim Acosta really is.”
Joe Concha who writes for The Hill
The president’s attacks on the news media constitute “the greatest threat to democracy in my lifetime.”
Retired Navy Adm. William McRaven. The former Navy SEAL led the operation that killed Osama bin Laden.
“Wouldn’t it have been nice if we got Osama bin Laden a lot sooner than that, wouldn’t it have been nice?”
President Trump in response to McRaven
“Three chambers of government…presidency, the Senate and the House.”
Gaffe by Rep.-elect Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-NY
“Put away your stupid iPhones and computers. Yes, I know I’m on Twitter all the time and I’m writing all the time on my computer, but I have a freaking wife, and she’s not made of electrons. She’s Cuban, so she’s made of fire and viciousness.
“Just get off the electronics. Talk to people. Try it. Yes, if you say ‘Hi, my name is Kaden. Would you like a drink?’ at least 17% of the recipients of this polite inquiry will blow their rape whistles and preemptively wet themselves. But this gives you important information – that person is an idiot. Go talk to the next one.”
Columnist Kurt Schlichter reacting to an Atlantic article that millennials aren’t having sex. The article stated “According to a November 2017 Economist/YouGov poll, 17 percent of Americans ages 18 to 29 now believe that a man inviting a woman out for a drink ‘always’ or ‘usually’ constitutes sexual harassment.”
“I went to dinner that night. None of these people said to me, ‘Hey, you’ve got to go to the bathroom, you’ve got stuff all over your dress.’”
Monica Lewinsky in “The Clinton Affair,” a new A&E series, referring to her stained blue dress. Lewinsky says when she wore it after her widely chronicled hookup with President Bill Clinton, no one noticed. In 1998 grand jury testimony, she said she initially thought the marks on her dress “could be spinach dip or something.”
“In order to save time, Florida election officials have announced that the 2020 recount will begin immediately.”
Wheel of Fortune host Pat Sajak
“I swear Florida could be voting between ice cream and a kick to the head and the results would be 50.5%-49.5%.“
Benjamin Park, a professor at Sam Houston State, on the close races in Florida for the U.S. Senate and governor
“He’d throw for 7,000 yards every year. He’s so much more talented than me.”
New England QB Tom Brady referring to Packer Aaron Rodgers. In a conversation with another NFL coach within the past few seasons, Brady said Aaron Rodgers — who he will be facing on Sunday Night Football — would have even more success than he’s had if the Green Bay quarterback played for Bill Belichick.
“I am onstage all the time. I have peed myself onstage. … The show must go on! I was very clever in this one moment. I stood up from my chair to get up and sing, I peed myself, and the puddle? I just knocked my glass of water over. I was wearing a skirt, thank goodness. … I stood up, it all came out, I was dry and the glass of water (was) on the seat. I think when you’re dyslexic you think ahead of these things.”
Country singer Shania Twain
December quotes
“I will take the mantle. I will be the one to shut it down — I’m not going to blame you for it.”
President Trump telling congressional Democratic leaders that he would block full funding for the government if money were not allocated for a border wall
“The Democrats now own the shutdown!”
President Trump after the government partially shut down
“You will not get your wall.”
Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer of New York
“I am done with the lying. I am done being loyal to President Trump. I will not be the villain of this story.”
Michael Cohen, President Donald Trump’s longtime personal lawyer said that Trump directed him to buy the silence of two women during the 2016 campaign because he was concerned their stories of alleged affairs with him “would affect the election.” He says Trump knew the payments were wrong.
“Why should we believe you now?”
Considering Cohen was charged for lying to Congress, ABC’s George Stephanopoulos asked Cohen that question
“He showed me what it means to be a president who serves with integrity, leads with courage, and acts with love in his heart for the citizens of our country.
“I once heard it said of man that the idea is to die young as late as possible. … One reason Dad knew how to die young is that he almost did it twice. When he was a teenager a staph infection almost took his life. A few years later, he was alone in the Pacific on a life raft, praying that his rescuers would find him before the enemy did. God answered those prayers — it turned out he had other plans for George H.W. Bush.
“In his 90s, he took great delight when his closest pal James A. Baker smuggled a bottle of Grey Goose vodka into his hospital room. Apparently it paired well with the steak Baker had delivered from Morton’s.
“He taught us that a day was not meant to be wasted, and he played golf at a legendary pace. I always wondered why he insisted on speed golf — he was a good golfer. Well here’s my conclusion: He played fast so he could move on to the next event, to enjoy the rest of the day, to expand his enormous energy, to live it all. He was born with just two settings: Full-throttle, then sleep.”
George W. Bush speaking at his father’s funeral
“Whatever one thinks of what Trump says or tweets, particularly about his hope to build a massive border wall, it doesn’t excuse migrants rushing at our border patrol. We have laws governing immigration — whether for people seeking asylum, for those looking to gain work visas or those hoping to become citizens. Immigrants must respect our laws, just as we must. Border Patrol agents used the tear gas as a last resort, not as a first option. We’re sympathetic to the frustrations of those who made the dangerous trip to the border. The application for asylum takes time and right now, U.S. officials don’t have the resources to do the job.”
The Dallas Morning News Editorial Board
“America has reached the point of a full-blown national security crisis. If the United States had to fight Russia in a Baltic contingency or China in a war over Taiwan, Americans could face a decisive military defeat. These two nations possess precision-strike capabilities, integrated air defenses, cruise and ballistic missiles, advanced cyberwarfare and anti-satellite capabilities, significant air and naval forces, and nuclear weapons — a suite of advanced capabilities heretofore possessed only by the United States.”
From a report by The National Defense Strategy Commission, led by former undersecretary of defense Eric Edelman and retired Adm. Gary Roughead. The Commission was tasked by Congress to review the United States’ defense posture to determine whether it will keep us safe.
“A Johns Hopkins University survey reveals that one-third of Americans can’t name their governor and 80 percent can’t name their state legislator. The majority surveyed have more faith and trust in their state government than the federal government.This knowledge void is partially to blame on the media’s focus on national politics and the decline of statehouse reporters.”
Governing.com
“Kill yourself!”
A tweet from New York Democratic state Sen. Kevin Parker to a Republican Senate staffer, Candice Giove, after she accused Parker of blocking a bike path with his car. Parker deleted the tweet and apologized.
“Folks can go to the San Diego Zoo to see the endangered pandas and then visit San Diego City Hall to see one of the last California Republicans.”
San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer, a Republican, joking about the state of his political party. In the midterm election, the GOP lost every statewide office in California, and Democrats regained their supermajority in the legislature.
“(Rodgers) may be happy, but I don’t think he doesn’t come out of this looking good. He got a coach fired. Aaron to me looks like the prima donna basketball player in the NBA that wants his coach fired. There were rumblings last week…that Aaron Rodgers is difficult to coach.”
Former Packer Mark Chmura said that the reputation of Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers will be sullied with the events that led up to Coach Mike McCarthy’s dismissal, and that his actions even led up to that firing
OUTRAGE OF THE YEAR
Suspect in Milwaukee officer’s killing has long criminal record
Teachers who sexually abuse students still find classroom jobs
Lie detector tests at airports?
American Women Can Now Get Abortions by Mail
MOST OVER-HYPED STORY OF THE YEAR
Inflated mass shooting numbers
Red Christmas trees at the White House
Impeach
MOST UNDER-REPORTED STORY OF THE YEAR
Child Abuse: Not Just a Catholic Problem
The booming economy
MOST UNUSUAL STORY OF THE YEAR
A woman called police on a man who was getting into his own car in Milwaukee
Pair of twins to marry another pair of twins
High fives, sneezes, and imaginary spiders: An ode to dumb baseball injuries
Dutch man, 69, who ‘identifies as 20 years younger’ launches legal battle to change age
Oakland University professors given hockey pucks to fight potential future gunmen in classrooms
Irish woman who married ghost of 300-year-old pirate says they have split up
Office potluck planning spirals to hell after reply-all email sent to 25,000 employees
This Just In... From Franklin, WI 