NOTE: SOME IMAGES MAY BE OFFENSIVE
Clueless, arrogant, cynical, stupid, greedy, heartless bastards.
"I stand for 8-10 hours a day. Why is standing limited to 4 hours?"
- Former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, in a note to Defense Department General Counsel Jim Haynes, on Haynes' recommendation for approved torture techniques
KARL: Did you authorize the tactics that were used against Khalid Sheikh Mohammed?
CHENEY: I was aware of the program, certainly, and involved in helping get the process cleared . . . I supported it.
KARL: In hindsight, do you think any of those tactics that were used against Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and others went too far?
CHENEY: I don't.
KARL: And on KSM, one of those tactics, of course, widely reported was waterboarding. And that seems to be a tactic we no longer use. Even that you think was appropriate?
CHENEY: I do.
- Vice President Dick Cheney,
in an interview with ABC's Jonathan Karl
CASSEL: If the President deems that he's got to torture somebody, including by crushing the testicles of the person's child, there is no law that can stop him . . . ?
YOO: . . . I think it depends on why the President thinks he needs to do that.
- Former Deputy Asst. Atty. General John Yoo,
author of a key White House "torture memo," during
a debate with Notre Dame professor Doug Cassel
[F]or some reason, I am portrayed as the one who is evil in formulating policies that people disagree with. I consider myself a casualty, one of the many casualties of the war on terror . . . What is it that I did that is so fundamentally wrong, that deserves this kind of response to my service?
- Former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales,
quaintly defending himself in an interview
with the Wall Street Journal
PELLEY: Do you think you owe the Iraqi people an apology for not doing a better job?
BUSH: I don't - that we didn't do a better job, or they didn't do a better job? . . . Not at all . . . I think the Iraqi people owe the American people a huge debt of gratitude. That's the problem, here in America - [Americans] wonder whether or not there is a gratitude level that's significant enough in Iraq.
- President George W. Bush,
in an interview with CBS's Scott Pelley
CURRY: You know the American people are suffering, watching [scenes from the Iraq war].
LAURA BUSH: Oh, I know that, very much. And believe me, no one suffers more than their president and I do when we watch this.
- First lady Laura Bush,
in an interview with NBC's Ann Curry
"How many Iraqi citizens have died in this war? I would say 30,000, more or less."
- President George W. Bush,
December 2005; a study in
the New England Journal
of Medicine in June 2006
put the number at 151,000
"Oh, come on. People are fungible. You can have them here or there."
- Former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld,
responding to a reporter's question about why 20,000 American troops had to stay in Iraq 90 days longer than originally scheduled
"The president carries the biggest burden, obviously. He's the one who has to make the decision to commit young Americans, but we are fortunate to have a group of men and women, the all-volunteer force, who voluntarily put on the uniform and go in harm's way for the rest of us."
- Vice President Dick Cheney
"You go to war with the army you have - not the army you might want or wish to have at a later time."
- Former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld,
responding to a soldier's question about why American troops
had to rummage in garbage dumps for additional vehicle armor
"My position is that it’s regrettable that any Americans died. It is regrettable that they had to die, but I believe they did have to die."
- National Review columnist Frank Gaffney,
in an interview with NBC's Chris Matthews, on the
necessity for the death of 4,000 American troops
in Iraq
"Those weapons of mass destruction have got to be here somewhere . . . No, no weapons over there . . . Maybe under here?"
- President George W. Bush
BUSH: One of the major theaters against al Qaeda turns out to have been Iraq. This is where al Qaeda said they were going to take their stand . . .
RADDATZ: But not until after the U.S. invaded.
BUSH: Yeah, that's right. So what?
- President George W. Bush,
in an interview with ABC's Martha Raddatz
"This President's pretty much a victim of success. We haven't had an attack in five years. The perception of the threat is so low in this society that it's not surprising that the behavior pattern reflects a low threat assessment . . . The correction for that, I suppose, is an attack."
- Former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld,
speaking to a group of media military analysts
at his retirement luncheon
RADDATZ: Two-third of Americans say it’s [the Iraq war’s] not worth fighting.
CHENEY: So?
RADDATZ So? You don’t care what the American people think?
CHENEY: No.
- Vice President Dick Cheney,
in an interview with ABC's Martha Raddatz
"I remain deeply saddened by this tragedy."
- Vice President Dick Cheney,
on the sentencing of Scooter Libby
[W]e’re leaving [the Israeli/Palestinian situation] in a lot better shape than we found it . . . [I]n terms of changing the conversation in the Middle East about democracy and values, this Administration will be judged well . . . I think generations pretty soon are going to start to thank this President for what he’s done. This generation will.
- Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice,
two weeks ago
"I want to assure the folks at the state level that we are fully prepared to . . . help you during the storm . . . "
- President George W. Bush,
August 28, 2005
"So many of the people in the arena here, you know, were underprivileged anyway, so this is working very well for them."
- Former First Lady Barbara Bush,
speaking of New Orleans evacuees temporarily housed
in the Houston Astrodome after Hurricane Katrina
"This is really shameless of Michael J. Fox. Either he didn't take his medication or he's acting, one of the two."
- Rush Limbaugh,
on Michael J. Fox's campaign ad appearance for
Missouri Senate candidate Claire McCaskill
"We've been hearing and reading for at least three days now that Obama's grandmother is deathly ill, and that he's going out to rush to her side in Hawaii. Now, if he's already won the presidency, why hasn't he already gone to Hawaii? Why is he not already there? What's he waiting for? . . . If Obama's grandmother is deathly ill, why has this been announced days ago, and he's only going now or tomorrow or whenever it is?"
- Rush Limbaugh
Under Palin, Wasilla charged rape victims for exam
In 2001, a belt foreman named Tom Ciszewski had his arm ripped off by a conveyor belt at Ohio Valley Coal’s Powhatan No. 6 mine in Belmont County, Ohio. He bled to death.
Later, a belt repairman testified that Robert Murray pressured miners not to shut down the belt, "unless there’s a man in it," and that he would fire them on the spot.
Robert Murray, co-owner of the mine, knew of the severe mine "bounce" on March 10 that forced the mine to shut down and reposition its operations. Murray, who led the rescue effort in August, said at that time he had no knowledge of the bounce.
"It's absolutely required in our industry to have an adequate level of profit to be able to continue to invest."
Later in the program, when asked whether Exxon's profits were "obscene," he said: "No, I don't think they're obscene. I don't think they're obscene at all."
- Former Exxon CEO Lee R. Raymond,
after ExxonMobil posted a $10-billion net profit
for the third quarter of 2005; the company went on
to earn a record $36 billion net profit for the year, while
Raymond took a $400 million retirement package
"[W]henever I hear anything described as 'a heartless assault on our children,' I tend to think it’s a good idea. I’m happy that the President’s willing to do something bad for the kids."
-Bill Kristol,
on Bush's veto of the SCHIP bill
MS. MORNIN: I'm a divorced, single mother with three grown, adult children. I have one child, Robbie, who is mentally challenged, and I have two daughters.
THE PRESIDENT: Fantastic . . .
MS. MORNIN: I work three jobs and I feel like I contribute.
THE PRESIDENT: You work three jobs?
MS. MORNIN: Three jobs, yes.
THE PRESIDENT: Uniquely American, isn't it? I mean, that is fantastic that you're doing that. (Applause.) Get any sleep? (Laughter).
- President George W. Bush,
speaking with Omaha resident Mary Mornin
while campaigning for the privatization
of Social Security
"Now, watch this drive."
UPDATED: Thanks to ohcanada, who reminded me in the comments about John Yoo's horrifying comments on child torture, which now have been added to the diary.