These days we hear about "Bushisms." For those of us old enough to remember Dan Quayle's vice-presidency, though, there's no doubt that Quayle was the best at saying ridiculous things. Here are a few old chestnuts for the fans:
"The Holocaust was an obscene period in our nation's history. I mean in this century's history. But we all lived in this century. I didn't live in this century."
Senator Dan Quayle, 9/15/88 (reported in Esquire, 8/92, The New Yorker, 10/10/88, p.102)
"Hawaii has always been a very pivotal role in the Pacific. It is in the Pacific. It is a part of the United States that is an island that is right here."
Vice President Dan Quayle, Hawaii, 4/25/89 (reported in Esquire, 8/92)
"We are on an irreversible trend towards more freedom and democracy - but that could change."
Vice President Dan Quayle, Hawaii, 5/22/89 (reported in Esquire, 8/92)
Here's Quayle's attempt to quote the motto of the Negro College Fund, "A Mind is a Terible Thing to Waste":
"What a waste it is to lose one's mind. Or not to have a mind is being very wasteful. How true that is."
Source: (USA Today 5/10/89)
"Mars is essentially in the same orbit...Mars is somewhat the same distance from the Sun, which is very important. We have seen pictures where there are canals, we believe, and water. If there is water, that means there is oxygen. If oxygen, that means we can breathe."
Vice President Dan Quayle, Hawaii, 8/11/89 (interview broadcast on CNN, referenced in 9/1/89 Washington Post article: "A Quayle Vision of Mars")
"For NASA, space is still a high priority."
Vice President Dan Quayle, talking to NASA employees, 9/5/90 (reported in Esquire, 8/92)
"We are ready for any unforeseen event that may or may not occur."
Vice President Dan Quayle talking about the Mideast situation, 9/22/90 (reported in Esquire, 8/92)
"I have been asked who caused the riots and the killing in LA, my answer has been direct & simple: Who is to blame for the riots? The rioters are to blame. Who is to blame for the killings? The killers are to blame."
Vice President Dan Quayle (during the Commonwealth Club speech 5/19/92)
I remember this next one well, but I couldn't find a reliable citation for it. Here is Quayle addressing the Samoan people:
You all look like happy campers to me. Happy campers you are, happy campers you have been, and, as far as I am concerned, happy campers you will always be. - to local residents upon arriving in American Samoa
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2 comments:
Dude spent a lot of time in hawaii, didn't he? And Samoa. Maybe all that sun fried his brain. Didn't kant explain the laziness/stupidity of the Pacific Islanders, in part, through the geography- too much sun, and the living too easy?
The campers one is hilarious. One of my favorite stories of Bushisms is when he used the image of a crawdad in some speech and the French papers wrote "untranslatable" in brackets for the word. That's him in a nutshell.
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