OPINION SHAPER: No campaign for cranky old men
On George W. Bush's gift for public speaking: "We need a president who's fluent in at least one language." Buck Henry
On exposing Valerie Plame as a CIA operative: "A government is the only known vessel that leaks from the top." James RestonOn fixing Social Security: "A government that robs Peter to pay Paul can always depend upon the support of Paul." George Bernard Shaw
On political science: "Politics is the art of looking for trouble, finding it, misdiagnosing it, and then misapplying the wrong remedies." Groucho Marx
On negative campaign ads: "Abuse of words has been the great instrument of sophistry and chicanery, of party, faction, and division of society." John Adams
On honesty in politics: "An honest politician is one who when he is bought will stay bought." Simon Cameron
On exit polls: "Ask a man which way he is going to vote, and he will probably tell you. Ask him, however, why, and vagueness is all." Bernard Levin
On getting into the war in Iraq: "Diplomats are just as essential to starting a war as soldiers are for finishing it. You take diplomacy out of war, and the thing would fall flat in a week." Will Rogers
On getting out of the war in Iraq: "I think that people want peace so much that one of these days government had better get out of their way and let them have it." Dwight D. Eisenhower
On negotiating with Iran: "Diplomacy is the art of saying 'Nice doggie' until you can find a rock." Wynn Catlin
A message for the League of First Time Voters: "Half of the American people have never read a newspaper. Half never voted for President. One hopes it is the same half." Gore Vidal
On decorum in office: "Gentlemen, you can't fight in here! This is the war room!" President Merkin Muffley, in "Dr. Strangelove"
On seating delegates from Florida and Michigan: "I belong to no organized party. I am a Democrat." Will Rogers
On how the Democrats see themselves: "In this world of sin and sorrow there is always something to be thankful for; as for me, I rejoice that I am not a Republican." Henry Louis Mencken
On How Republicans see themselves: "A leader in the Democratic Party is a boss, in the Republican Party he is a leader." Harry S. Truman
On how Democrats see Republicans: "Conservatives are not necessarily stupid, but most stupid people are conservatives." John Stuart Mill
On how Republicans see Democrats: "A liberal is a man too broadminded to take his own side in a quarrel." Robert Frost
On Congressional reform: "Asking an incumbent member of Congress to vote for term limits is a bit like asking a chicken to vote for Colonel Sanders." Bob Inglis
On how other nations perceive us: "I don't know exactly what democracy is. But we need more of it." Anonymous Chinese student, during protests in Tianamen Square, Beijing, 1989
On reflecting on elections past: "In America, anybody can be president. That's one of the risks you take." Adlai Stevenson
On choosing your words carefully: "It is dangerous for a national candidate to say things that people might remember." Eugene McCarthy
On choosing your words even more carefully: "Assassination is the extreme form of censorship." George Bernard Shaw
On campaign promises: "People never lie so much as after a hunt, during a war or before an election." Otto von Bismarck
On incumbency: "Power corrupts. Absolute power is kind of neat." John Lehman
On the wisdom of the American electorate: "Too bad all the people who know how to run the country are busy driving cabs and cutting hair." George Burns
And on knowing when to bow out: "Politics is not a bad profession. If you succeed there are many rewards, if you disgrace yourself you can always write a book." Ronald Reagan
Neal Powers of O'Fallon is a retired aviation safety inspector. He is one of 21 Opinion Shaper columnists for the Suburban Journals of St. Charles County. Opinion Shapers are chosen annually to write five columns on topics of interest to them.
