Oct.19

electoral-vote.com

Dem 51

   

GOP 49

Scavenger Hunt, Part VII: Pithy Quotes

There are three things that are true right now: (1) The writing staff is actually a solo operation until Sunday, due to travel; (2) It's been a downer of a week, news-wise; and (3) the news is very top-heavy, with nearly everything being about Israel or the Jim Jordan circus. So, it's time to return to some content that moved to the back burner, namely the scavenger hunt that was launched on July 4.

As a reminder, these were the prompts:

1. The single photograph or image that best encapsulates the Trump presidency. (click here and here)
2. Something that would make a terrible Christmas gift for Joe Biden. (click here)
3. A book that Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell would never, ever read. (click here)
4. A t-shirt that would be very apropos for Chief Justice John Roberts to wear. (click here and here)
5. The wisest, most insightful, or most pithy quote ever to be uttered by a politician or political figure (need not be limited to Americans).
6. The worst bumper sticker, button, yard sign or other campaign-related ephemera in U.S. history. (Still time to submit here)
7. A portrayal of a key figure in U.S. history—image, song, verse, book, etc.—that is even more ridiculous than Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter. (Still time to submit here)
8. This isn't exactly a scavenger hunt type question, but we're going with it anyhow. Finish this joke: "Donald Trump, Ron DeSantis and Hillary Clinton walk into a bar..." (Still time to submit here)

And now, in hopes that it lightens the day a bit, some pithy political quotes:

• M.S. in Las Vegas, NV: "Mistakes are a part of being human. Appreciate your mistakes for what they are: precious life lessons that can only be learned the hard way. Unless it's a fatal mistake, which, at least, others can learn from." — Comedian and Senator Al Franken
  
  
• W.R. in Tyson's Corner, VA: "There go the people. I must follow them, for I am their leader." — French politician Alexandre Auguste Ledru-Rollin
  
  
• S.C. in Farmington Hills, MI: "Anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that 'my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge.'" — Author Isaac Asimov
  
  
• C.K. in Jacksonville, FL: "You can always count on Americans to do the right thing... after they've tried everything else." — U.K. Prime Minister Winston Churchill
  
  
• C.B. in Ashburn, VA: "Events, my dear boy, events!" — U.K. Prime Minister Harold Macmillan, when asked "What is the greatest challenge to your administration?"
  
  
• P.J.T. in Raton, NM: "Wisdom without eloquence is useless, and eloquence without wisdom is dangerous." — Roman orator Cicero
  
  
• J.K. in New York City, NY: "When fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross" — attributed to author Sinclair Lewis
  
  
• P.D. in Charlottesville, VA: "Reasoning will never make a man correct an ill opinion, which by reasoning he never acquired." — Author Jonathan Swift
  
  
• C.M. in Bridgewater, NJ: "That's great, son, but I need a majority to win." — Adlai Stevenson, allegedly in response to a supporter who said "Mr. Stevenson, you have the vote of every thinking American!"
  
  
• J.M. in New York City, NY: "While you're saving your face, you're losing your ass." — Lyndon B. Johnson
  
  
• R.R. in Nashville, TN: "Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day; teach a man to fish and he will eat for a lifetime; give a man religion and he will die praying for a fish." — U.K. Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli
  
  
• D.S. in Albuquerque, NM: "If you wait by the river long enough, the bodies of your enemies will float by." — General Sun Tzu
  
  
• R.V. in Pittsburgh, PA: "Republicans approve of the American farmer, but they are willing to help him go broke. They stand four-square for the American home—but not for housing. They are strong for labor—but they are stronger for restricting labor's rights. They favor minimum wage—the smaller the minimum wage the better. They endorse educational opportunity for all—but they won't spend money for teachers or for schools. They think modern medical care and hospitals are fine—for people who can afford them. They consider electrical power a great blessing—but only when the private power companies get their rake-off. They think American standard of living is a fine thing—so long as it doesn't spread to all the people. And they admire the Government of the United States so much that they would like to buy it." — Harry S. Truman
  
  
• M.C. in Los Angeles, CA: "The future will be better tomorrow" — Dan Quayle
  
  
• J.L. in Los Angeles, CA: "No one party can fool all of the people all of the time; that's why we have two parties." — Bob Hope

We shall have some more tomorrow, and then we'll continue with our fall cleaning (fall clearance?) next week. There are some pretty darn good Trump/DeSantis/Clinton jokes in the hopper, among other things, and we also have a fair bit of other stuff that is on the back burner that we want to get to. (Z)