Clever turns of phrase, special splashes of wit, provocative insight — all in a sentence or two.
“There’s just one little problem with this story, which reappears every so often in conservative discourse on the environment. Specifically, it’s a crock of shit.”
Nate Silver, FiveThirtyEight.com speaking specifically of George Will, but with broader implications.
“Well, my general view is that this isn’t your father’s recession; it’s your grandfather’s recession.”
“Isn’t the Internet just one big op-ed page?”
Steven Stark in The Phoenix in an article on “How to save your local newspaper.”
“We’re wearing short sleeves because we have to roll up our sleeves and clean up the mess that we inherited.”
Obama senior adviser David Axelrod reacting to criticisms from Bush chief-of-staff Andy Card that the new administration was denigrating the presidency be wearing short sleeves in the Oval Office, as reported by
Political Animal.
“Let me tell you, it’s one thing to mouth the pieties of alternatively fueled transportation — hybrids, diesels, electrics. It’s quite another to feel the arch-adrenaline of dinosaur-fueled horsepower and say, ‘Never again.’ ”
Dan Neil in a review of the 2009 Corvette ZR-1
60 in 3.4.
“It’s always shocking to me that smart people do really dumb things.”
“Some sort of nationalization is inevitable. Why the Obama team thinks it’s a good idea to light a pile of money on fire first is beyond me.”
“An old joke from my younger days: What do you get when you cross a Godfather with a deconstructionist? Someone who makes you an offer you can’t understand.
“I found myself remembering that joke when trying to make sense of the Geithner financial rescue plan.”
When they hand out the Nobel Prize for Best Lines of the Day Krugman may take home a second laureate.
“Anyway, this is the starting point for any analysis of the Senate from now on: 36 Senators — 87.8% of the Republican delegation — are irresponsible hypocrites.”
Paul Krugman, who explains briefly in a blog post titled “The crazy 36.”
“I really don’t understand how bipartisanship is ever going to work when one of the parties is insane.”
“A slew of recent studies have shown that naps boost alertness, creativity, mood, and productivity in the later hours of the day.”
The secret of life is finding the balance between the health benefits of naps and the health benefits of caffeinated coffee.
“My children’s school was canceled today, because of what? Some ice,” Obama said, and all at the table started laughing.
“As my children pointed out, in Chicago school is never canceled,” he continued. He said that in their old hometown, “you’d go outside for recess in weather like this. You wouldn’t even stay indoors.”
“It’s customary to say that someone will be missed. In Updike’s case it’s more important that he will be remembered.”
“I won.”
President Obama after listening to Republican gripes about his stimulus package, as reported by Politico.com.
“John Cornyn is such a weenie. First he holds up Hillary’s nomination, and then the next day he votes for her. Anybody in the mental health field will tell you that’s a clear sign of an impotent man. No, seriously, men with real power don’t need to pull stunts like that. Look it up.”
Cornyn is now holding up Eric Holder’s confirmation.
I don’t know about you, but seeing this recession coming on I sort of feel like I’m on the streets of Baltimore and I just heard somebody whistling “The Farmer in the Dell.”
NewMexiKen (one year ago today)
“The answer to the question, ‘How many former editors of the Harvard Law Review does it take to administer the Presidential oath properly?’ is ‘More than two.'”
“Who invited Mr. Potter?”
Former President Bush
“President Bush gave his farewell address last week. Let’s hope he doesn’t give a forwarding address.”
Found on the internets.
“You know the country is in the middle of a honeymoon when six in 10 Republicans have a positive view of Obama.”
CNN Polling Director Keating Holland
“68 percent of those questioned say they are personally thrilled or happy that Obama will soon be inaugurated”
As this is written, 46 hours, 10 minutes.
“In good years, the highest paid bank executives could make more money in an hour than a UAW autoworker earns in a year.”
“Everybody was okay. The pilot did a terrific job of landing the aircraft. The passengers did what panicking people rarely do – they helped each other out.
“Back in coach, in the middle of all the chaos, people were lending total strangers the $10 life jacket fee.”
Jimmy Kimmel
“Now, I realize that Steve King is a couple of crayons short of a box … ”
Benen is referring to Rep. Steve King (R-Moron) who questions Obama’s including his middle name at the swearing-in next Tuesday.