“I would love…some full

explanation of why you did

what you did with my husband.”

— Virginia Thomas, wife of Justice

Clarence Thomas, in a voice mail left
for Anita Hill.
“I’m afraid the obituary will talk
about the felony.”

— Former Congressman Dan

Rostenkowski (D.-Ill.) in 1998, after
serving time for felony fraud. He died
on Aug. 11. The quote is from his
obituary.
“Corporations hate juries. It’s
the one part of government
you can’t buy.”

— U.S. Sen Sheldon Whitehouse (D-

R.I.), quoted by Washington Post
columnist E.J. Dionne.
 “Holy f-----g s--t!”

— New York Post headline over its

report that the 2d Circuit had tossed
the FCC's ban on “patently offensive”
references to sex or excrement.
Elisions in the original.
 “All talk, no action.”
— Talk radio host Hal Turner,
testifying in federal court that, when
he wrote on his Web site that he
hoped to incide “vicious, brutal,
savage revenge” against three federal
judges, he didn’t mean it.
“I wonder if folks will complain
about Breyer & Ginsburg citing
foreign precedent here.”
— Blogger Matt Yglesias. The justices
dissented from the decision to seal the
Supreme Court’s front doors for security
reasons, noting that no other high court in
the world has done so.
 “In God we rust.”
— Sign behind a bench in New York City’s
aging criminal court building. Defense
attorney Gerald Lefcourt reports that the
“T fell off and no one repaired it.”
“I’d do it again to save lives.”

— Former President George W. Bush, in

remarks quoted by The Grand Rapids
Press in Michigan, acknowleging that he
authorized the waterboarding of Khalid
Sheikh Mohammed.
 “This was the most
conscientious example of
justice in America that…I’ve
ever seen.”

— Ted Olson, on the decision striking

down California's same-sex marriage
ban.
 “I have been found
guilty of nothing.”
— Former Congressman Tom DeLay in
September, after the Justice Department
dropped a probe into his dealings with Jack
Abramoff. In November, DeLay was
convicted of money laundering.
“Having nine children is much
more unusual…than, say,
being a lesbian.”

— Columnist Michael Kinsley,

remarking on Justice Antonin
Scalia’s lifestyle choices.
“Toyota will experience some pain
from this process."
— Plaintiffs' attorney Tim Howard,
of the many lawsuits filed over the
company's sticky accelerators.
 “The governor’s judgment is
horrible. I mean horrible.
Just horrible.”

— Sam Adams Jr., attorney for former

Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, as his
corruption trial opened. Blagojevich was
convicted in August on a single count.
“I am not a political naif.”
— Attorney General Eric Holder Jr., on
managing the politics surrounding
terrorism trials, to The New York Times.
 “The defendants are fools, but
that’s not the same as being
incompetent.”

—U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit

Judge Barry Silverman, of two tax-fraud
defendants who insisted on representing
themselves and wearing prison garb to
trial.
“Originalism is a philosophy of fiery
revolution, wrapped in a rhetorical
shell of keeping everything the
same.”

—Blogger John Holbo of

crookedtimber.org.
“I can see a liability chase
that’s going to go on.”

—Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.),

during a hearing into the Gulf of
Mexico oil spill.
 “I have a Glock 9-millimeter,
and I’m a pretty good shot.”

—U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.) to

The New York Times. The door to her
district office was shattered after she
voted for health care reform.
 “To have appointees who had
represented detainees now setting
the federal detention policies…is
an inherent conflict of interest.”

—U.S. Rep. Frank Wolf (R-Va.), in a letter

to Attorney General Eric Holder Jr.
 “You don’t bring a gun to a
snowball fight.”

—A snowball-throwing Washington crowd

to a police detective who stopped his car
and drew a handgun.
“There is a big difference between
pursuing fraudulent activity and
proving it.”
—Assistant Attorney General
Lanny Breuer, explaining why there
haven’t been more high-profile
financial fraud cases.
“If judicial excellence is cast upon a
sea of congressional indifference,
the rule of law is imperiled.”
—U.S. Supreme Court Justice
Anthony Kennedy at the 9th Circuit
conference.
 “Dope!”

—New York Daily News headline

regarding Roger Clemens’s indictment
for obstructing a congressional probe
into the use of performance-
enhancing drugs in baseball.
“I’m happy to say I meant every
word of it.”

—Long Beach Township, N.J., attorney

Richard Shackleton, who told a
protester outside his hunting club to
“go fuck yourself.”
 “Running a democracy takes a
certain amount of civic courage.”

—U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin

Scalia, during oral argument on
whether the names of petition-
signers should be made public.