I saw this quote today direct from the 'brilliant' minds at Google:

"Democracy works best when we all participate.  Please take time to vote..."

I disagree with their take on Democracy and offer this quote instead:

"Democracy works best when we have politicians worth voting for."

And wait a minute, isn't America supposed to be a Republic anyway?  If not, then what the heck is the Pledge of Allegiance talking about?

Ok, this guy can't talk without mangling the English language.  Here are some of George W. Bush's more memorable Bushisms.

“I’m the commander — see, I don’t need to explain — I do not need to explain why I say things. That’s the interesting thing about being president."

“I just want you to know that, when we talk about war, we’re really talking about peace.”

“As you know, these are open forums, you’re able to come and listen to what I have to say.”

“There’s no doubt in my mind that we should allow the world’s worst leaders to hold America hostage, to threaten our peace, to threaten our friends and allies with the world’s worst weapons.”

“The ambassador and the general were briefing me on the — the vast majority of Iraqis want to live in a peaceful, free world. And we will find these people and we will bring them to justice.”

“I’m looking forward to a good night’s sleep on the soil of a friend.”

“He has a little trouble with the English.”

“Well, I think if you say you're going to do something and don't do it, that's trustworthiness.”

“One of the common denominators I have found is that expectations rise above that which is expected.”

“The California crunch really is the result of not enough power-generating plants and then not enough power to power the power of generating plants.”

“I have opinions of my own, strong opinions, but I don't always agree with them.”

“To those of you who received honors, awards and distinctions, I say well done. And to the C students, I say: You, too, can be president of the United States.”

“Wow! Brazil is big.”

Amazing how words uttered long ago can still ring true today. Here's some timeless wisdom from Mark Twain:

"Sometimes I wonder whether the world is being run by smart people who are putting us on... or by imbeciles who really mean it."

And if you don't believe those words, here's a quote by US President George Bush just after the second largest bank collapse in U.S. history:

In regards to our monetary and financial system, it is "Basically sound".

I wonder if Bush is the same guy who called the Titanic "Unsinkable"... Nah, that was too long ago for Bush, it must have been John McCain who uttered those words.

This has been said before but it is probably most famous when uttered by Robin Williams in the movie: Man of the Year.

"Politicians are like diapers. They both need changing regularly and for the same reason."

One of the great founding fathers of the US saw the inherent evils of private banks, including the present day "Federal Reserve" (a quasi-private - FOR PROFIT - organization with nothing "federal" about it and no "reserves" beyond their unlimited ability to create new currency backed by nothing.)  Sadly, the "issuing power" will not be restored to the people, and the US government will continue a futile attempt at fixing problems by spending ever increasing amounts of new dollars.  Maybe we should be listening to the people who made America great in the first place and not those who have siphoned away our wealth and left America (and her people) bankrupt...
"If the American people ever allow private banks to control the issue of their currency, first by inflation then by deflation, the banks and the corporations will grow up around them, will deprive the people of all property until their children wake up homeless on the continent their fathers conquered. The issuing power should be taken from the banks and restored to the people, to whom it properly belongs."

- Thomas Jefferson

"The most important decision we make is whether we believe we live in a friendly or hostile universe."

- Albert Einstein

"In political life today, you are considered compassionate if you demand that government impose your preferences on others."

- John Stossel

For those of you who are like me and don't waste time learning words we'll never use, "panacea" is another way of saying remedy or cure. Dang fancy words and their evil ways.

"The first panacea for a mismanaged nation is inflation of the currency; the second is war. Both bring a temporary prosperity; both bring a permanent ruin. Both are the refuge of political and economic opportunists."

- Ernest Hemingway

Unlike Paris Hilton, at least Alan Greenspan has said at least one smart thing in his lifetime.

"In the absence of the gold standard, there is no way to protect savings from confiscation through inflation.  There is no safe store of value."

- Alan Greenspan - 1966

Here's one to think about.

"There is no subtler, no surer means of overturning the existing basis of society than to debauch the currency. The process engages all the hidden forces of economic law on the side of destruction, and does it in a manner which not one man in a million is able to diagnose."

- Lord John Maynard Keynes (1883-1946), renowned British economist.