A decade of quotes

The Mail & Guardian brings you the most memorable political quotes of the decade.

1.“Our enemies are innovative and resourceful, and so are we. They never stop thinking about new ways to harm our country and our people, and neither do we.”
George W Bush in an address in Washington, DC, on August 5 2004

2.

“Brownie, you’re doing a heck of a job.”
George W Bush praises US Federal Emergency Management Agency director Michael Brown in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Brown resigned 10 days later amid criticism over his handling of the debacle—September 2005

3. “It doesn’t matter who you are or how much money you have, nothing goes fast in Africa.”Madonna denies she used her celebrity status to hasten the adoption of 13-month-old David Banda in Malawi—October 2006

4. “The Zionist regime will be wiped out soon the same way the Soviet Union was, and humanity will achieve freedom.”Iran President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad at a meeting of Holocaust deniers on December 12 2006



5. “The strangest thing I’ve tried to snort? My father. He was cremated and I couldn’t resist grinding him up with a little bit of blow.”

Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards admits snorting his father’s ashes—March 2007

6. “We are not going to give up our country because of a mere X. How can a ballpoint fight with a gun?”
Zimbabwe’s President Robert Mugabe hints he will cling to power, whatever the outcome of the country’s 2008 presidential elections







7. “If there is anyone out there who still doubts that America is a place where all things are possible; who still wonders if the dream of our founders is alive in our time; who still questions the power of our democracy, tonight is your answer.”Barack Obama in his victory speech in Chicago on November 4 2008, after winning the US elections to become the country’s first African-American president


8. “I want to see hedge-fund managers tipped into cage fights with naked Gypsies; bank managers wrestle with lions in the O2 arena; failed regulators thrown to alligators in the Royal Docks; short sellers in pits of snakes; and distinguished City economists try their luck with sharks. They’ve had their heyday, their bonuses, their Porsches, their fine wines and oafish ostentation—they’ve had their fun. Now for ours. To the guillotine!”Matthew Parris writing in The Times of London, December 2008, after the world went into recession


9. “We have now declared war on the residents of Gaza. I reiterate that we will treat the population with silk gloves but will apply an iron fist to Hamas.”Former Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert as Israel’s offensive in Gaza continued—December 2008



10. “Aids is a tragedy that cannot be overcome by money alone, and that cannot be overcome through the distribution of condoms, which even aggravates the problem.”

Pope Benedict, March 2009






11. “He is like some sherry-crazed old dowager who has lost the family silver at roulette, and who now decides to double up by betting the house as well.” London Mayor Boris Johnson launches an extraordinary attack on UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown’s handling of the financial crisis in November, 2009

Top Ten: your decade in review
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