Top Ten Quotations Of 2008
Posted December 15, 2008 12:00 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
“And here we go.”
The memorable lines uttered by Heath Ledger’s Joker in The Dark Knight certainly made their mark, but they didn’t make the list.
Neither did anything Barack Obama said on his way to his historic White House victory and it was the same for the current US President George W Bush.
Though they made headlines, it wasn’t enough for the Yale Book of Quotations.
When editor Fred R Shapiro set out to make his annual list of the Top 10 quotes, he pored through newspapers and magazines, watched countless hours of TV, and asked loyal readers for help finding gems uttered in the United States.
His findings ranged from the intentionally funny to the unintentionally hilarious – or sad, depending on your perspective. The falling economy and the ensuing bailout figured prominently, as did the election campaign.
Here’s what he found:
1. “I can see Russia from my house!” — Comedian Tina Fey, while impersonating Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin on “Saturday Night Live,” broadcast Sept. 13
2. “All of them, any of them that have been in front of me over all these years.” — Palin, responding to a request by CBS anchor Katie Couric to name the newspapers or magazines she reads, broadcast Oct. 1
3. “We have sort of become a nation of whiners.” — former Senator Phil Gramm, an economic adviser to Senator John McCain, quoted in the Washington Times, July 10
4. “It’s not based on any particular data point, we just wanted to choose a really large number.” — a Treasury Department spokeswoman explaining how the $700 billion number was chosen for the initial bailout, quoted on Forbes.com Sept. 23
5. “The fundamentals of America’s economy are strong.” — McCain, in an interview with Bloomberg TV, April 17
6. “Decisions by the secretary pursuant to the authority of this act are non-reviewable and committed to agency discretion, and may not be reviewed by any court of law or any administrative agency.” — the Treasury Department’s proposed Emergency Economic Stabilization Act, September 2008
7. “Maybe 100.” — McCain, discussing in a town hall meeting in Derry, N.H., how many years American troops could remain in Iraq, Jan. 3
8. “I’ll see you at the debates, b***ches.” — Paris Hilton in a video responding to a McCain television ad, August 2008
9. “Barack, he’s talking down to black people. …I want to cut his n*** off.” — Rev. Jesse Jackson, overheard over a live microphone before a Fox News interview, July 6
10. (tie) “Cash for trash.” — Paul Krugman discussing the financial bailout, New York Times, Sept. 22.
10. (tie) “There are no atheists in foxholes and there are no libertarians in financial crises.” — Krugman, in an interview with Bill Maher on HBO’s “Real Time,” broadcast Sept. 19
10. (tie) “Anyone who says we’re in a recession, or heading into one — especially the worst one since the Great Depression — is making up his own private definition of “recession.” — commentator Donald Luskin, the day before Lehman Brothers filed for bankruptcy, the Washington Post, Sept. 14
Palin passes back a camera-phone she signed for a supporter at her campaign rally at the Home Depot Center in Carson, California on October 04, 2008. In message reads ‘I’m not Tina Fey -SP.’ Photo credit Robyn Beck/AFP/Getty Images.
