Presidential Wisdom, Then And Now

                 A comparison of U.S. Presidential quotes and speeches, older to newer, has a sobering effect on a knowledgeable person. First, the older oratory:

“Few men have virtue to withstand the highest bidder.”- George Washington

“One man with courage is a majority.”- Thomas Jefferson

“I pray Heaven to bestow the best of blessing on this house and on all that shall hereafter inhabit it. May none but honest and wise men ever rule under this roof!”- John Adams

“It is not strange… to mistake change for progress.”- Millard Fillmore

“Four score and seven years ago, our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal. Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure.”- Abraham Lincoln

“Speak softly and carry a big stick.”- Theodore Roosevelt

“I have never been hurt by anything I didn’t say.”- Calvin Coolidge

“The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.”- Franklin Roosevelt

“Let all nations know, whether they wish us well or ill, that we will go anywhere, and pay any price, in defense of freedom.”- John Kennedy

“Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall.”- Ronald Reagan

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                Now the new and improved, progressive utterances from our modern-day leaders:

“I remember landing under sniper fire. There was supposed to be some kind of greeting ceremony at the airport, but instead we just ran with our heads down to get into the vehicles to get to our base.”- Hillary Clinton, ‘falsely describing’ her arrival in Bosnia in 1996. (Hillary, George Washington was under sniper fire. For seven years).

“I say a lot of things- millions of words a day- so if I misspoke, that was just a misstatement.”-Hillary to the Philadelphia Daily News’ editorial board, “explaining” her previous quote. (Well, that clears it up!).

“I want you to listen to me. I’m gonna say this again. I did not have sexual relations with that woman…Miss Lewinsky. I never told anybody to lie. Not a single time! Never! These allegations are false.”- Bill Clinton, addressing the nation regarding allegations of an affair with a young White House intern.

“Indeed I did have a relationship with Miss Lewinsky that was not appropriate. In fact, it was wrong.”- Bill Clinton, addressing the nation one week later. (He should have heeded old Silent Cal’s advice).

“YEEEEEAAAAAHHHHHH!!!”- Howard Dean, ‘excitedly’ addressing supporters in Iowa after finishing third in a primary. (Some folks are more easily pleased than others).

“But we have to pass the bill…so that you can, uh, find out what is in it.”- Nancy Pelosi ‘lobbying’ on behalf of the Affordable Care Act. (Wow. Scary. Ready. FIRE! Aim).

“We are the ones we’ve been waiting for.”- Barack Obama  (addressing those of his followers with over-inflated egos and under-inflated brains).

“This was the moment when the rise of the oceans began to slow and the planet began to heal.”- Barack Obama, on what people will say when they look back at the moment he was elected. (Bad news, Barry, your people claim that the oceans are rising faster than ever and that the planet is rapidly becoming overheated. It certainly is succumbing to overheated rhetoric and hyper-inflated egos).

“I think that I’m a better speech writer than my speech writers. I know more about policies on any particular issue than my policy directors, and I’ll tell you right now that I’m gonna think I’m a better political director than my political director.”- Barack Obama actually said this, according to Patrick Gaspard, Obama’s first White House political director. Gaspard was himself quoted in an interview with The New Yorker in November, 2008. (Yes, everyone knows that “community organizer” is the best way to acquire the knowledge and skills required to become the leader of the free world).

“Over the last 15 months we’ve travelled to every corner of the United States. I’ve now been in 57 states, I think, one left to go. Alaska and Hawaii I really wanted to go to, but my staff would not…uh, justify it.”- Barack Obama, May 9, 2008, at a campaign event in Beaverton, Oregon. (Since you were attempting to become the President of the United States, we were hoping you’d know how many of them there are. Maybe another year or two as community organizer would have been best).

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                In the immortal words of Ricky Ricardo, “Darwin, you got some ‘splainin to do!”