The 20 Stupidest Quotes of Campaign 2006

10. "Now I've seen what happened in Abu Ghraib, and Abu Ghraib was not torture. It was outrageous, outrageous involvement of National Guard troops from (Maryland) who were involved in a sex ring and they took pictures of soldiers who were naked. And they did other things that were just outrageous. But it wasn't torture." –Rep. Christopher Shays (R-CT) (Watch video clip)

9. "As the hobbits are going up Mount Doom, the Eye of Mordor is being drawn somewhere else.... It's being drawn to Iraq and it's not being drawn to the U.S. You know what? I want to keep it on Iraq. I don't want the Eye to come back here to the United States." --Sen. Rick Santorum (R-PA), comparing the Iraq war to the Lord of the Rings (Watch video clip)

8. "Overly friendly." --the initial characterization of Mark Foley's emails by House Speaker Dennis Hastert's office (Source)

7. "We have brave men and women who are willing to step forward because they know what's at stake. They're willing to sacrifice their lives for this great country. What I'm asking all of you tonight is not to put on a uniform. Put on a bumper sticker. Is it that much to ask? Is it that much to ask to step up and serve your country?" --Sen. Rick Santorum (R-PA), urging supporters to put a Rick Santorum bumper sticker on their cars (Source)

6. "I said a little prayer before I actually did the fingerprint thing, and the picture. And my prayer was basically: 'Let people see Christ through me. And let me smile.'" --Former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, on being arrested and posing for his mug shot (Source)

5. "Congressman Hoekstra and I are here today to say that we have found weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, chemical weapons.” –Sen. Rick Santorum (R-PA) (Source)

4. "I enjoy cocaine because it's a fun thing to do. ... I enjoy the company of prostitutes for the following reasons: it's a fun thing to do. ... If you combine the two together it's probably even more fun." --Rep. Robert Wexler (D-Fla.), after being egged on to make those statement during an interview with Stephen Colbert (Watch video clip)

3. "We're not going to tell you what our plan is, Jon, because you're just going to go out and blow it." --Sen. Conrad Burns (R-MT), on the secret plan he and President Bush have to win the Iraq war, in a debate with his Democratic challenger, John Tester (Source; watch video)

2. "This fellow here, over here with the yellow shirt, macaca, or whatever his name is. He's with my opponent. He's following us around everywhere. And it's just great. ... Let's give a welcome to macaca, here. Welcome to America and the real world of Virginia." --Sen. George Allen (R-VA), ridiculing S.R. Sidarth, a 20-year-old Virginian native of Indian descent, by using an ethnic slur referring to a type of monkey found mainly in Asia (Watch video clip)

1. Congressman Mark Foley (R-Fla.): "Do I make you a little horny?"
Teen: "A little."
Foley: "Cool."
--from the transcript of a sexually explicit IM chat Foley had with a 16-year-old male, the revelation of which prompted him to resign (Read more)

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