Quotes of the Morning: Compromise

“In the Senate, Rove and associates believe, a Democratic victory would require the opposition to ‘run the table,’ as one official put it, to pick up the necessary six seats — a prospect the White House seems to regard as nearly inconceivable.”
-Washington Post, October 15, 2006

“You keep using that word -- I do not think it means what you think it means.”
-Inigo Montoya, The Princess Bride

“Still, the Democrats won, and now Fearless Leader is forced to compromise and work with Congress to get things done. Aw, who am I kidding?”
-Skippy

“The Bush administration said on Sunday that it would strenuously oppose one of the Democrats’ top priorities for the new Congress: legislation authorizing the government to negotiate with drug companies to secure lower drug prices for Medicare beneficiaries.
In an interview, Michael O. Leavitt, the secretary of health and human services, said he saw no prospect of compromise on the issue.”
-New York Times, November 13, 2006

“Healthcare costs? No, we don’t need compromise for that. Still, there are other important issues in this country. Things like the war…”
-Skippy

“Iraq is the central front in this war on terror. I look forward to listening to ideas from the new leaders of Congress on the best way to support our troops on the front lines -- and win the war on terror.”
-George ‘Dubya’ Bush, November 11, 2006

“So Fearless Leader believes in listening to congress about supporting our front line troops in Iraq. This is a brilliant political statement. It implies compromise, but at the same time assumes that Iraq is part of the War on Terra and that our troops will be stationed there. Brilliant.”
-Skippy

“Vizzini: I can't compete with you physically, and you're no match for my brains.
Wesley: You're that smart?
Vizzini: Let me put it this way. Have you ever heard of Plato, Aristotle, Socrates?
Wesley: Yes.
Vizzini: Morons!”
-The Princess Bride

“But there must be compromise with the new Congress, and Fearless Leader is a man who understands compromise. He understands it. He just doesn’t do it.”
-Skippy

“While [James] Baker has been testing the waters for some time to determine how much change in Iraq policy will be tolerated by the White House, [former Democratic Rep. Lee] Hamilton perhaps faces the now even-more-difficult challenge of cajoling Democrats such as former Clinton administration chief of staff Leon E. Panetta and power broker Vernon E. Jordan Jr. to sign on to a plan that falls short of a phased troop withdrawal, the position of many congressional Democrats.”
-Washington Post, November 12, 2006

“So the White House is willing to work with the Democrats, as long as the Democrats are willing to do something that the White House wants to do anyway (something that can be ‘tolerated’ by the White House). All that Fearless Leader asks is that they sign on the dotted line so that any blame for what might happen is bipartisan.
There are at least some changes are in the works for Iraq. Sen. McCain has some ideas.
-Skippy

“Arizona Sen. John McCain said yesterday the United States needs to send another 20,000 troops to Iraq.
[…]
’Roughly, you need another 20,000 troops in Iraq, but that means expanding the Army and Marine Corps by as much as 100,000 people,’ the Arizona senator told reporters after a campaign event for Republicans in New Hampshire's North Country.”
-Union Leader, October 28, 2006

“We need more troops in Iraq. A bold initiative in a time when Iraq has basically fallen to civil war, so they had better get moving…”
-Skippy

“If you talk to most military experts, we’re in a critical and crucial time. We’re either going to lose this thing or win this thing within the next several months.”
-Senator John McCain, November 12, 2006

“Yes… According to Senator McCain we need to win this thing in the next several months, and that means increasing the military by about 100,000 people. I hope that the recruiters have plenty of coffee. They’ve got a lot of work to do.”
-Skippy