Did You Hear What They Said?

Hello True Believers!

Once again, it's time for another edition of "Did You Hear What They Said?"

This is where we quote public figures, people in-the-know, and various media figures IN CONTEXT on a variety of today's issues.

Just remember, folks, it's not a hit-piece..... it's direct quote!

And now, ON WITH THE SHOW!!!

FILIBUSTERING PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEES

Remember how Democrats recently defended filibustering President Bush's nominees ? Let's take a look at their position on the matter when THEIR man was in the Oval Office:

Sen. Joseph Biden (D-Delaware) March 19, 1997: “But I also respectfully suggest that everyone who is nominated is entitled to have a shot, to have a hearing and to have a shot to be heard on the floor and have a vote on the floor.”

Sen. Richard Durbin (D-Illinois)September 28, 1998: “We should meet our responsibility. I think that responsibility requires us to act in a timely fashion on nominees sent before us. ... Vote the person up or down.”

Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-California) September 11, 1997: “Let’s bring their nominations up, debate them if necessary, and vote them up or down.”

Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Massachusetts)February 3, 1998: “We owe it to Americans across the country to give these nominees a vote. If our Republican colleagues don’t like them, vote against them. But give them a vote.”

Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont) May 10, 2000: “The Founding Fathers certainly intended that the Senate advise as to judicial nominations, i.e., consider, debate, and vote up or down. They surely did not intend that the Senate, for partisan or factional reasons, would remain silent and simply refuse to give any advice or consider and vote at all.”

Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA) 5/14/97 : “It is not the role of the Senate to obstruct the process and prevent numbers of highly qualified nominees from even being given the opportunity for a vote on the Senate floor.”

Sen. Tom Daschle (D-SD): “I find it simply baffling that a Senator would vote against even voting on a judicial nomination.” (Congressional Record, 10/5/99)

(Yes, my friends, he really DID say that!)

Sen. Tom Daschle (D-SD): “Hispanic or non-Hispanic, African American or non-African American, woman or man, it is wrong not to have a vote on the Senate floor.” (Congressional Record, 10/28/99)

Sen. Byron Dorgan (D-ND): “My expectation is that we’re not going to hold up judicial nominations. …You will not see us do what was done to us in recent years in the Senate with judicial nominations.” (Fox News’ “Special Report With Brit Hume,” 6/4/01)

Richard Durbin (D-IL) "If, after 150 days languishing on the Executive Calendar that name has not been called for a vote, it should be. Vote the person up or down." (Cong. Rec., 9/28/98, S11021)

Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA): “Let’s bring their nominations up, debate them if necessary, and vote them up or down.” (Congressional Record, 9/11/97)

Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA): “It is our job to confirm these judges. If we don’t like them, we can vote against them.” (Congressional Record, 9/16/99)

Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA): “Our institutional integrity requires an up-or-down vote.” (Congressional Record, 10/4/99)

Sen. Tom Harkin (D-IA): “[The filibuster process] is used … as blackmail for one Senator to get his or her way on something that they could not rightfully win through the normal processes.” (Congressional Record, 1/4/95)

Tom Harkin (D-IA) "Have the guts to come out and vote up or down….And once and for all, put behind us this filibuster procedure on nominations." (Cong. Rec., 6/22/95, S8861)

Sen. Tom Harkin (D-IA): “I urge the Republican leadership to take the steps necessary to allow the full Senate to vote up or down on these important nominations.” (Congressional Record, 9/11/00)

Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-MA): “It is true that some Senators have voiced concerns about these nominations. But that should not prevent a roll call vote which gives every Senator the opportunity to vote ‘yes’ or ‘no.’ ... Parties with cases, waiting to be heard by the federal courts deserve a decision by the Senate.” (Congressional Record, 9/21/99)

Sen. Herb Kohl (D-WI): “These nominees, who have to put their lives on hold waiting for us to act, deserve an ‘up or down’ vote.” (Congressional Record, 9/21/99)

Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT): “I hope we … will accept our responsibility and vote people up or vote them down. … If we want to vote against them, vote against them.” (Congressional Record, 10/22/97)

Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT): “Now, every Senator can vote against any nominee. … But it is the responsibility of the U.S. Senate to at least bring them to a vote.” (Congressional Record, 10/22/97)

Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT): “ "I have stated over and over again … that I would object and fight against any filibuster on a judge, whether it is somebody I opposed or supported …” (Congressional Record, 6/18/98)

Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT): “[E]arlier this year … I noted how improper it would be to filibuster a judicial nomination.” (Congressional Record, 10/14/98)

Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT): “[I]f the person is otherwise qualified, he or she gets the vote. … Vote them up, vote them down.” (Congressional Record, 9/21/99)

Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV): “[W]e should have up-or-down votes in the committee and on the floor.” (CNN’s “Evans, Novak, Hunt & Shields,” 6/9/01)

Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY): “[W]e are charged with voting on the nominees. The Constitution does not say if the Congress is controlled by a different party than the President there shall be no judges chosen.” (Congressional Record, 3/7/00)

(Uh, Chucky....you...are....BUSTED!!!)

Carl Levin (D-MI) "If a bipartisan majority of the U.S. Senate is prepared to vote to confirm the President's appointment, that vote should occur." (Cong. Rec., 6/21/95, S8806)

(Are we having fun yet?)

AMBASSADOR JOHN BOLTON

"No one should make prejudgments on reputation. One must do it on the merit of the facts. We'll do that when we see what happens here."--Chile's UN ambassador Heraldo Munoz

"He's a colleague like any other. He will be received as such."-- Denmark's UN ambassador Ellen Margrethe Loj

"No American ambassador arrives at any appointment anywhere with a cloud hanging over his head; the representative of the president of the United States makes his own weather."--Wesley Pruden

JUDICIAL

"On every question of construction [of the Constitution] let us carry ourselves back to the time when the Constitution was adopted, recollect the spirit manifested in the debates, and instead of trying what meaning may be squeezed out of the text, or invented against it, conform to the probable one in which it was passed." --Thomas Jefferson, letter to William Johnson, June 12, 1823

"Fidelity to the original intent of the Constitution must be the sole ideological criterion used to evaluate any nominee. Everything else is noise. Originalism alone produces a body of law evincing the will of America's citizenry." --Steven Geoffrey Gieseler

"A resumè is no substitute for answering questions about whether the nominee respects the basic rights and freedoms on which the nation was founded." --Ted Kennedy "
At Thurgood Marshall's 1967 Supreme Court confirmation hearing, a young Sen. Edward Kennedy lectured his colleagues on the Judiciary Committee, saying it was not their responsibility to question a nominee's judicial philosophy, only to ascertain his legal credentials and qualifications." --Jill Zuckman, Chicago Tribune.

"Senator Boxer, the Constitution says 'Advice and Consent,' not nag and meddle. If you want to be involved in the nominating process, run for president." --Duane Patterson

"I hope Judge Roberts, understanding how important this nomination is, particularly when replacing a swing vote on the court will decide to answer questions about his views. Now that he is nominated for a position where he can overturn precedent and make law, it's even more important that he fully answers a broad range of questions."--Sen. Charles Schumer, July 19, 2005

(Uh, Senator...judges don't MAKE LAW, they INTERPRET it.)

"Judge John Roberts cannot be given the opportunity to make law for what may well be the next 30 years." --spokesman for "Gay Men's Heath Crisis"

(Apparently, they don't get it, either.)

"A judge's personal policy preferences are not supposed to matter when it comes to doing their job from the bench."--Rush Limbaugh

"The only way a Supreme Court nominee could win the approval of NARAL and Planned Parenthood would be to actually perform an abortion during his confirmation hearing, live, on camera, and preferably a partial-birth one."--Ann Coulter

"I know no safe depository of the ultimate powers of the society but the people themselves; and if we think them not enlightened enough to exercise their control with a wholesome discretion,the remedy is not to take it from them, but to inform their discretion by education. This is the true corrective of abuses of constitutional power."
-- Thomas Jefferson (letter to William Charles Jarvis, 28September 1820)

"The truth of the matter is that no matter who the President nominates, Harry Reid and his merry band of obstructionists will do everything in their power to delay the nomination, smear the nominee, make outrageous demands and whine every step of the way." --Kay Daly, president of the Coalition for a Fair Judiciary

"Pretty soon, Supreme Court nominees will be asked to supply the Senate with their high-school papers in an effort to determine their future votes on key issues like abortion and the Ten Commandments." --Dan Thomasson

"John Roberts is a Roman Catholic. How important to him is his religion? Do you think it might affect him as a Supreme Court Justice?" --ABC's Barbara Walters

(It didn't seem to bother John F. Kennedy.)

SOCIAL SECURITY

"Do you know where your Social Security taxes are? Some of them went to pay for the National Cowgirl Hall of Fame and Museum in Fort Worth, Texas. The same monies helped the State Historical Society of Iowa in Des Moines pay for the development of exhibits for the World Food Prize. And we should all be happy that some of our Social Security surplus funded a study of mariachi music for the Clark County (Nevada) School District. As we know by now, Social Security is facing many problems that will require long-term, comprehensive reform. But before a doctor operates on a patient, the first step is to stop the bleeding. And the first step toward Social Security reform should be to stop Congress from spending Social Security money on anything except workers' retirement." --Michael Tanner

"Liberals, Democrats and others on the Left frequently state that they 'support the troops.' For most of them, whether they realize it or not, this is not true. They feel they must say this because the majority of Americans would find any other position unacceptable. Indeed, for most liberals, the thought that they really do not support the troops is unacceptable even to them. ... Many on the Left express far more contempt than support for the troops. ... Supporting people who wish to fight entails supporting their fight; and if that fight is opposed, those waging it are also opposed. Many on the Left angrily accuse the Right of disparaging their patriotism. That charge, too, is false. I have never heard a mainstream conservative impugn the patriotism of liberals. But as regards their attitude toward our troops, the patriotism of those on the Left is not the issue. The issue is their honesty." --Dennis Prager

What are the odds that a state as miniscule as Vermont could have so many braying jackasses representing them? Ranked 48th in population and 43rd in land area, Vermont has a public image dominated by some of the most quaint and curious specimens known to mankind.

A crypto- socialist like Patrick Leahy;

a political transvestite like Jim Jeffords;

a hate-monger of like Howard Dean;

and a couple of closet Marxists exploiting the capitalistic market like Ben & Jerry, Vermont's ratio of flakes to normal folks appears to be way out of kilter. Glad I don't have to take responsibility for that bunch!" --A Patriot in Manns Harbor, North Carolina

WAR

"The next time someone demands a timetable for the war in Iraq, ask them to name just one war -- anywhere -- that had such a thing." --Thomas Sowell

"Not much has changed since the mid-1980s. Substitute 'insurgent' for 'Sandinista,' 'Iraq' for 'Soviet Union,' 'Bush' for 'Reagan' and 'war on terror' for 'Cold War,' and the stories need little editing. The U.S. is 'bad,' our enemies 'understandable' if not downright 'good.' ... When's the last time you read a story about the progress being made on the power grid [in Iraq]? Or the new desalination plant that just came on-line, or the school that just opened, or the Iraqi policeman who died doing something heroic? No, to judge by the dispatches, all the Iraqis do is stand outside markets and government buildings waiting to be blown up. ... And reporters wonder why they're despised." --Mark Yost, St. Paul, Minnesota Pioneer Press

"There are those who believe that men in uniform are somehow associated with starting wars. That's like saying policemen cause crime. ... Keeping the peace is the most important problem we face. And I believe that because young men...are willing to put on the uniform and endure the rigors of military life, peace is more secure." --Ronald Reagan

"Clearly, a civilisation that feels guilty for everything it is and does will lack the energy and conviction to defend itself."--Jean-Francois Revel

"[I]n this battle against fundamentalist Islam, I am hardly preoccupied with political correctness, or who may or may not be offended. Indeed, al-Qa'ida cares little if the Western world is 'offended' by televised images of hostages beheaded in Iraq, subway bombings in London, train attacks in Madrid, or Americans jumping to their death from the Twin Towers as they collapsed. ... As long as this war goes on, being 'offended' should be the least of anyone's worries." --Rep. Tom Tancredo

"Buried in all the mainstream media coverage this week over new terrorist bombings in London, space shuttles that didn't launch, the trashing of Karl Rove and the nomination of a new Supreme Court justice was a little-noted item about reenlistments in the U.S. armed forces exceeding expectations. USA Today offered some prominence to the story, but it was widely ignored by most of the Fourth Estate. Perhaps that's because it's a 'good news story.'" --Oliver North

"Present suffering is not enjoyable, but life would be worth little without it. The difference between iron and steel is fire, but steel is worth all it costs. Iron ore may think itself senselessly tortured in the furnace, but when the watch-spring looks back, it knows better." -Maltbie Davenport Babcock

"While it's true that hundreds of millions of Muslims live in miserable circumstances, who's actually responsible for that oppression? Fifty nations boast Muslim majorities and not one of them boasts economic prosperity and a functioning democracy. ... The true oppressor of Muslims is Islam itself, with teachings that destroy any chance of progress, peace or freedom." --Michael Medved

MEDIA

" It is a pretty sorry situation in the media when you can trick them by telling them the truth."--Rush Limbaugh

"I'll never talk to a reporter again! We were just talking -- I was ranting -- and he wrote about it. That isn't right. We all say stuff we don't want printed." --Helen Thomas after Albert Eisele, editor of The Hill, published her suicidal threat if VP Dick Cheney were to run for president

"If a million people say a foolish thing, it is still a foolish thing." --Anatole France

ETHICS

"As eugenics passes through each of its stages -- from sterilizing the enfeebled at the beginning of the 20th century to aborting the disabled at the end of it and the beginning of the 21st -- man is indeed playing God but without any of His providence or care." --George Neumayr

"There's nothing so absurd that if you repeat it often enough, people will believe it." -- William James

"Of all the dispositions and habits which least to political prosperity, Religion and morality are indespensable supports. In vain would that man claim the tribute of Patriotism who should labor to subvert these great Pilliars of human happiness."
-- George Washington (Farewell Address, 19 September 1796)

LABOR

"Union leaders seem genuinely to believe that their glory days will return if only they can defeat President Bush, or oust Tom DeLay as House Majority Leader. But their real obstacle is the reality of the modern global economy. Until they offer workers something more than class warfare, circa 1955, they will continue to decline." --The Wall Street Journal

FREEDOM

"No one more sincerely wishes the spread of information among mankind than I do, and none has greater confidence in its effect towards supporting free and good government."
-- Thomas Jefferson (letter to Trustees for the Lottery of EastTennessee College, 6 May 1810)

GAS PRICES
“As bad as prices are now, the surprising fact is that gasoline is still cheaper than in 1981, at least adjusted for inflation.”--NBC reporter Andrea Mitchell
(A barrel of oil will need to top $90 to set an actual record high price.)

And now for our multiple choice question: Who said the following?

"You vote yourselves salaries out of the public funds and care only for your own personal interests; hence the state limps along."

A) Victor Hanson
B) Aristophanes
C) Plato
D) Barry Goldwater

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B) Aristophanes

Have a great day and thanks for visting The Perspective!!!