In their own words

Body

There are times when it isn’t?

“At times downright malicious and dishonest.” – NSW Shires Association president Bruce Miller, describing the state Labor government.

Why bother?

“We weren’t going around telling America to give up its nukes because that’s not going to happen.” – Former foreign minister Alexander Downer on why the Howard government was silent about nuclear disarmament.

Nor individually

“None of them are a bunch of peaceniks, none of them.” – PM Kevin Rudd on Henry Kissinger and other US warmakers who issued a call for nuclear non-proliferation (i.e., maintaining the current monopoly of such weapons).

Such willingness

“When presented with such willingness on the part of the Australian government, we wanted to be very proactive in responding to that.” – Katsuaki Watanabe, president of Toyota, expressing appreciation for a $35 million handout from the Rudd government.

Silver lining

“Because of the time and effort devoted to the forensic audit, the NRCC is in a much stronger position to protect against such a fraudulent act from happening again.” – US member of Congress Tom Cole, chairperson of the National Republican Campaign Committee, after an audit confirmed that the NRCC’s former treasurer had stolen US$725,000 from it between 2002 and 2006.

Outlook or look out?

“The recent incoming data, taken as a whole, have affected the outlook for economic activity and employment only modestly.” – US Federal Reserve Board chief Ben Bernanke, June 9, a week after the US recorded its largest monthly rise in unemployment in two decades.

Looking up

“The image of the United States has improved slightly in many countries over the past year, the poll [Pew Global Attitudes Project] results show. But the new optimism appears to be driven largely by the fact that Mr Bush will soon be leaving office.” – New York Times, June 13.

Humanitarian

“If the detainee dies, you’re doing it wrong.” – CIA lawyer John Fredman in October 2002, telling commanders at the US prison in Guantanamo how far they could go in abusing prisoners, reported by Associated Press, June 17.

In Their Own Words
The World