"I am not ashamed that we use a lot of energy in this country. It has made us the most prosperous Nation on the face of the planet. ... Using energy makes us prosperous." — Congressman Bill Sali (R-ID-01) during debate on an energy bill that, among other things, invested in alternative and renewable energy sources and repealed tax subsidies for large oil companies. (H.R.6899)
"If [Oversight Committee Chairman] Henry Waxman was interested in doing more than just showboat, we'd be there in a heartbeat. It's political grandstanding." — spokesman Wayne Hoffman explaining why Congressman Bill Sali (R-ID-01) was absent from congressional oversight hearings into the financial crisis where, among other things, it was learned that AIG executives indulged in a lavish retreat a week after the bailout.
"You know what, campaigns are fast and furious, I accept responsibility that we don't have the right citation there, but the facts I stand by - we are correct about that." — Congressman Bill Sali (R-ID-01) reacting to a campaign commercial fact-checking report.
"There are people out there without health care, and we need to address that, but it's not as big of a problem as some people would make it out to be" — Congressman Bill Sali (R-ID-01) in a Lewiston, ID debate
"People the world over have always been more impressed by the power of our example than by the example of our power." — President Bill Clinton in a speech at the 2008 DNC
"To my supporters, to my champions, to my sisterhood of the traveling pantsuits, from the bottom of my heart, thank you." — Senator Hillary Clinton in a speech at the 2008 DNC
"The America that we know, that the founding fathers envisioned, will cease to exist." — Congressman Bill Sali (R-ID-01) speaking at the state GOP convention about the possibility of a Democratically controlled White House and Congress.
"Sometimes the problems have to get larger before you can solve them. We can still drive around the potholes, so they must not be big enough." — House Speaker Lawerence Denney (R-Midvale), explaining that lawmakers still need to be convinced about the extent of road maintenance problems before they'll agree to tax or fee increases.
"Those people that believe in shooting animals through the fences . . . ought to turn the rifle the other way." — Former Governor Cecil Andrus, at sportsmen's rally, decked out in full camouflage, urging opposition to "shooter bull" operations on domestic elk farms.
"GARVEE is like swallowing a raw egg - it seems to be one of those things that's really hard to stop in the middle of." — Rep. Marv Hagedorn (R-Meridian), in comments on a package of transportation bills introduced by House GOP leaders at an emergency committee meeting.
"I'm a professional dairyman. I have milked and milked everything I can possibly milk." — State Police Maj. Ralph Powell, arguing that the state crime lab's bare-bones operation has reached its limit and now costs the state money as testing is sent to private labs.
"Idaho is ranked last in the nation in protecting the safety of children in day care centers." — Sen. Kate Kelly (D-Boise), in support of an unsuccessful move by Senate Democrats to force a daycare standards bill out of committee.
"This [anti-discrimination bill] is something we will propose every year until it passes." — Rep. Nicole LeFavour (D-Boise), responding to the latest BSU Public Policy survey in which 63 percent of Idahoans think it ought to be illegal to fire someone for being gay or seeming to be gay.
"I assumed it would be a bunch of radical college students, so to fit the part, I grew a goatee, got a revolutionary T-shirt and put on some ratty jeans." — Rep. Curtis Bowers (R-Caldwell) in an Idaho Press-Tribune opinion explaining how he disguised himself to uncover alleged communist plots.
The Boise Guardian has a scoop as well. Click my name
Posted by: Sisyphus | October 16, 2007 at 04:12 PM
Boise Weekly has this quote from Craig: "I've got a bit of a streak of civil libertarianism right down my middle." Click my name again and find out the degree to which he's lying ...again.
Posted by: Sisyphus | October 16, 2007 at 04:26 PM
I sort of half-watched the interviews, going back and forth between Channel 7 and the Red Sox-Indians game.
The obvious comment: Mark Johnson lobbed softballs and Matt Lauer tried to get at the truth.
At this point, I don't care any more.
Posted by: Julie in Boise | October 16, 2007 at 08:22 PM
Lauer asked some very good questions, and to the casual observer, Craig comes off as very sympathetic..
He's still dead in the water by pleading guilty.... Dumb, dumb, dumb.
Posted by: NR | October 16, 2007 at 08:34 PM
Yeah, I watched both interviews and, like Julie, don't really care anymore or I would have been blogging some of it.
Mark Johnson's "interview" was more like an hour-long campaign commercial with Mark chiming in an occasional "um-huh." KTVB was used.
Remarkable how some of the same phrasing and anecdotes were used by the Craigs in both interviews, some of that from having the interviews taped on the same day, but it also was very rehearsed.
I don't think this will change the minds of very many people--those who believe Craig will think he helped himself, those who don't, won't.
Posted by: MountainGoat | October 16, 2007 at 10:39 PM
Okay, I care but I don't care--does that make any sense? I'm just sick of it all.
Posted by: MountainGoat | October 17, 2007 at 12:38 AM
This sentiment seems to be pervasive among the people I talk to. I sympathize but there are so many negative qualities on display here which are pervasive in the Republican party that I for one will not let it die.
Posted by: Sisyphus | October 17, 2007 at 10:47 AM