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’Net Junkie Shawn "Speedy" Lopes |
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Quayle quotesThey may not rank up there with George Washington's first inaugural address, Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address, John F. Kennedy's inaugural address or Richard Nixon's resignation speech, but many of the utterances to slip out of Dan Quayle's mouth were pure classic.
At the age of 41, the Indiana native reached yet another stunning accomplishment in his political career in becoming the 44th vice president of the United States of America. The feat added to his already impressive list of achievements in being elected to Congress at the age of 29 and the U.S. Senate at 33.
Though perhaps not the most eloquent or among the most revered figures at his position, Quayle held strong to his beliefs on morality, freedom and the betterment of America and the world.
At www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/d/danquayle126374.html, you'll find his staunch views on family values:
"Republicans understand the importance of bondage between mother and child."
And the ailing environment:
"It isn't pollution that's harming the environment. It's the impurities in our air and water that are doing it."
Judging by a trio of quotes found at www.quotationspage.com, Quayle was a VP who cared intensely about the nation's future: "The future will be better tomorrow," "I have made good judgments in the past. I have made good judgments in the future" and "We don't want to go back to tomorrow. We want to go forward."
Skim through the quotes found at www.meer.net/~mtoy/ dan_quayle.html, and one soon realizes that Quayle was also quite keen on seeing the propagation of the democratic process around the globe. "I believe we are on an irreversible trend toward more freedom and democracy," he once stated. "But that could change."
As second in command of the United States of America, he understood his obligation to the free world. "One word sums up probably the responsibility of any vice president," he is reported to have said. "And that one word is 'to be prepared.'"
As for his tormentors who poked fun at his ill-chosen words, he proclaimed, "I stand by all the misstatements that I've made." You tell 'em, D.
"Verbosity," he also claimed, "leads to unclear, inarticulate things." Could anyone have said it better?
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’Net Junkie drops every Monday.
Contact Shawn "Speedy" Lopes at slopes@starbulletin.com.
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