Sunday, October 26, 2008 – Regarding the Presidency
There are blessed intervals when I forget by one means or another that I am President of the United States. ~ Woodrow Wilson
Americans have different ways of saying things. They say “elevator”, we say “lift” … they say “President”, we say “stupid psychopathic git” ~ Alexai Sayle
To those of you who received honors, awards and distinctions, I say well done. And to the C students, I say you, too, can be president of the United States. ~ George W. Bush
Knowledge will forever govern ignorance; and a people who mean to be their own governors must arm themselves with the power which knowledge gives. ~ James Madison
If we are to have another contest in the near future of our national existence, I predict that the dividing line will not be Mason and Dixon’s but between patriotism and intelligence on the one side, and superstition, ambition and ignorance on the other. ~ Ulysses S. Grant
Frankly, I don’t mind not being President. I just mind that someone else is. ~ Edward Kennedy
This is Preservation Month. I appreciate preservation. It’s what you do when you run for president. You gotta preserve. ~ George W. Bush
I think a good gift for the President would be a chocolate revolver, and since he is so busy, you’d probably have to run up to him real quick and give it to him. ~ Jack Handy
The question is, why are politicians so eager to be president? What is it about the job that makes it worth revealing, on national television, that you have the ethical standards of a slime-coated piece of industrial waste? ~ Dave Barry
Sometimes I think I have no idea how I got to be president, and I am sure the people who oppose me don’t either. ~ Bill Clinton
I never thought I would end up being the Senator from New York. I never thought that the long haired, bearded guy I married in law school would end up being President. ~ Hillary Rodham Clinton
Presidential ambition is a disease that can only be cured by embalming fluid. ~ John McCain
I have come to the conclusion that the major part of the work of a President is to increase the gate receipts of expositions and fairs and bring tourists to town. ~ William Howard Taft
The country needs and, unless I mistake its temper, the country demands bold, persistent experimentation. It is common sense to take a method and try it; if it fails, admit it frankly and try another. But above all, try something. ~ Franklin Delano Roosevelt
I think this is the most extraordinary collection of talent, of human knowledge, that has ever been gathered at the White House – with the possible exception of when Thomas Jefferson dined alone. ~ John Fitzgerald Kennedy
No man will ever bring out of the Presidency the reputation which carries him into it. ~ Thomas Jefferson
If the end brings me out all right, what is said against me won’t amount to anything. If the end brings me out wrong, ten angels swearing I was right would make no difference. ~ Abraham Lincoln
Doing what’s right isn’t the problem. It is knowing what’s right. ~ Lyndon B Johnson
A democratic despotism is like a theocracy: it assumes its own correctness. ~ Walter Bagehot
I like the noise of democracy. ~ James Buchanan
Democracy consists of choosing your dictators, after they’ve told you what you think it is you want to hear. ~ Alan Corenk
An honest man can feel no pleasure in the exercise of power over his fellow citizens. ~ Thomas Jefferson
Any single man must judge for himself whether circumstances warrant obedience or resistance to the commands of the civil magistrate; we are all qualified, entitled, and morally obliged to evaluate the conduct of our rulers. This political judgment, moreover, is not simply or primarily a right, but like self-preservation, a duty to God. As such it is a judgment that men cannot part with according to the God of Nature. It is the first and foremost of our inalienable rights without which we can preserve no other. ~ John Locke
The aim of every political constitution is, or ought to be, first to obtain for rulers men who possess most wisdom to discern, and most virtue to pursue, the common good of the society; and in the next place, to take the most effectual precautions for keeping them virtuous whilst they continue to hold their public trust. ~ James Madison
It is necessary for me to establish a winner image. Therefore, I have to beat somebody. ~ Richard M. Nixon
I believe we are on an irreversible trend toward more freedom and democracy. But that will change. ~ Dan Quayle
All in all, the framers would probably agree that it’s better to impeach too often than too seldom. If presidents can’t be virtuous, they should at least be nervous. ~ Joseph Sobran
When even one American – who has done nothing wrong – is forced by fear to shut his mind and close his mouth, then all Americans are in peril. ~ Harry S. Truman
If voting changed anything, they’d abolish it. ~ Andrew Lack
Constantly choosing the lesser of two evils is still choosing evil. ~ Jerry Garcia
Does history record any case in which the majority was right? ~ Robert Heinlein
Just Above Sunset 