December 24, 2003
QUOTES OF 2003 - JANUARY
• "I say to Osama and the boys, bring it on." -- Rolling Stone Keith Richards pre-empts a Presidential one-liner
• "He completely lost the plot. He stormed around all day screaming at everyone, even the £5-an-hour bar staff, telling them how we were all conmen and useless. Then he went on stage and did it in public." -- a member of the stage crew at Michael Moore’s London show
• "He is the shambling, wide-eyed, compassionate person in all of us." -- James Norman in the Melbourne Age doesn’t share the crew member’s opinion
• "For me, I hope last year was the last when anger, frustration and despair ruled my professional psychology." -- Margo Kingston speaks too soon
• "As John Howard tours Canberra's charcoal suburbs, I wonder if the unsigned Kyoto agreement pricks his conscience." -- Sydney Morning Herald letter-writer Warren Tindall believes a global warming protocol would halt Australian fires
• "Why won't Labor and the Australian Left call for the removal of Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein on human rights grounds alone?" -- Jim Nolan questions his fellow leftists
• "My SUV, assuming Hummer comes out with a model for those who find the current ones too cramped, will look something like the Louisiana Superdome on wheels. It'll guzzle so much gas as I walk out to my driveway there will be squads of Saudi princes gaping and applauding. It'll come, when I buy it, with little Hondas and Mazdas already embedded in the front grillwork." -- David Brooks
• "With Australia and the UK standing beside my nation in times of trial, I neither need nor want anyone else." -- Stephen Den Beste
• "Heed that greatest of Middle East correspondents, Robert Fisk, who warns in The Independent of London that truth already lies adying." -- Sydney Morning Herald columnist Mike Carlton
• "I really haven't researched him. He's not an interest of mine." -- Iraq-bound Australian human shield Gordon Sloane knows all he needs to know about Saddam Hussein
• "What has happened to the kind people of Australia that I knew and loved when I immigrated here eight years ago? Now all the Australian people seem to have for me is hatred and scorn and bigotry. By the way, I'm not a Muslim from the Middle East; I'm a Jew from the United States." -- SMH letter-writer John Burnett
• "We're not yet at a stage of cultural maturity where we even know what racism is." -- The Age’s Malcolm Knox
• "I never got the memo telling me that 'cowboy' is an insult. And if someone wants to try to convince me that being a cowboy is something to be ashamed of, I say, 'Let's take this discussion outside and settle it.'" -- reader Polly Bolton
"I am not anti-American." -- Margo Kingston
Posted by Tim Blair at December 24, 2003 05:58 PMCheers for this recap of 2003 Tim; some funny memories; and some not so funny as well.
Have a great Christmas and all; and a moderately happy 2004. (Sorry, I can't see Collingwood winning in 2004 either.)
Posted by: Scott Wickstein at December 24, 2003 at 06:17 PMThanks for the Fucktard Hall of Shame. The traditional Christmas liquid lunch should be particularly interesting this year as I recite choice extracts to drive people away from the drinks trolly.
Posted by: Craig Ranapia (Other Pundit) at December 24, 2003 at 08:08 PMTim, you're working way too hard for Christmas Eve. Go put your feet up. Hope you got the card from H and myself. Go pour a drink, look at the label, and let me know what it says so that I can send you and The Girl two more in a week or so.
Merry Christmas & Take care of yourselves. ;-)
Does anybody rock harder than Tim Blair? Well, maybe Treacher, but otherwise, the answer is no! Thanks for the best Christmas present I'm likely to get this year.
Posted by: Bovious at December 25, 2003 at 01:52 AMHey, next time Tim comes to the States, we're kidnapping him. He can do more help down here (up here?). We'll let him visit home periodically.
Merry Christmas to our Aussie friends. Your support for us will never be forgotten. Never.
Any time y'all need our help, just holler.
SMG
Posted by: SteveMG at December 25, 2003 at 04:01 AM"Does anybody rock harder than Tim Blair? Well, maybe Treacher, but otherwise, the answer is no!"
I'd say it's a tie!
Posted by: Jim Treacher at December 25, 2003 at 04:26 AMThanks for going all this hard work, Tim...and Merry Christmas. I look forward to seeing what 2004 brings...
Posted by: debbie at December 25, 2003 at 08:53 AMThanks for going to all this hard work, Tim...and Merry Christmas. I look forward to seeing what 2004 brings...
Posted by: debbie at December 25, 2003 at 08:53 AMWhile googling for your predictions for 2003, I came across a Right Wing News article with predictions for 2003.
Will there be a war with Iraq before the end of March of 2003? Tim Blair: Yes.
Saddam Hussein: will he still be in power at the end of 2003? Tim Blair: No.
Will there be a terrorist attack in the United States that kills more than 100 people? Tim Blair: No.
All correct so far.
If we go into Iraq, how many casualties do you expect to see (on the side of the US and our allies) Tim Blair: "Below 50"
Tim, did you underestimate the extent of post-major-operations fighting that would happen?
Do you see Syria continuing to openly support Hizbollah for the remainder of the next year?
To anyone: Syria is still openly supporting Hizbollah, right?
Do you believe their will be any battles in Afghanistan in 2003 that will have over 100 casualties on either side?
Tim Blair: N/A
(I wouldn't have a clue about Taliban casualties, but I guess if there were such casualties to western forces the media would not hesitate to report it)
Will the Palestinians get a state in 2003?
Tim Blair: No.
They seem not to have gained one.
Do you expect a revolution in Iran during 2003?
Tim Blair: No.
:(
Will the US and Korean sign a deal that will end North Korea's nuclear program?
Tim Blair: No.
Not that a deal would truly stop the DPRK.
At the end of the year, will Yassir Arafat still be the man in charge in the 'disputed territories' or will he be a figurehead / out of power?
Tim Blair: In Charge.
Yep.
By the end of the 2003, do you think the general consensus will be that the anthrax letters were mailed by "domestic terrorists", by agents of a "foreign terrorist group", or do you think the case will still be unsolved?
Tim Blair: unsolved.
There hasn't been an awful lot of interest in it this year, has there?
Osama Bin Laden -- do you believe he's still alive?
Tim Blair: No.
Was looking good because there were hardly any video recordings of him, but the same could be said of Saddam and he is alive.
Pick the candidate who will receive the Democratic nomination from President? (Ok, we won't know this for sure until 2004, but what the heck).
Tim Blair: Joe Lieberman.
I hope so. The "anti-war" candidates will probably become less likely to have nomination as the situation in Iraq gets better.
Do you think Bush will end 2003 with his approval rating still above 60%?
Tim Blair: Yes.
Wouldn't have a clue what his approval rating is or will be in a few days time.
Do you think the Dow Jones will crack 10,500 in 2003?
Tim Blair: No.
I don't really care.
Will a human baby be cloned in 2003?
Tim Blair: No.
No sign of any. However, absence of evidence is not evidence of absence.
Posted by: Andjam at December 26, 2003 at 12:26 AMI think I'm tied with Henry Hanks in that list of predictions, Andjam. By my quick count, we've each got 11 -- and we'd both have 12 if Bush gets above 60%. He's now on 59%.
I'm counting Dean as the Dem candidate. Dow Jones made it to 10,300 or so. Close!
Posted by: tim at December 26, 2003 at 01:27 AMThese 12 months’ worth of quotes are a wonderful compendium & resource, with links back to Tim’s original entries with links to the original articles & sufficient quotations to google up the original articles whose links have died. Merry Christmas!—ForNow in Woodside, Queens.
Posted by: ForNow at December 26, 2003 at 02:28 AMWhat a wonderful resource for identifying where everyone should go instead of relying on the second-hand hearsay of a two-bit cut-and-paste merchant.
Posted by: Miranda Divide at December 26, 2003 at 02:38 AMThe enemy is incompetent & has never even bothered to study the techniques of Lord Haw-Haw & Tokyo Rose. A third-rate site pest indeed!
Posted by: ForNow at December 26, 2003 at 03:31 AM"With Australia and the UK standing beside my nation in times of trial, I neither need nor want anyone else." -- Stephen Den Beste
With France and Belgium standing against my nation in times of trial, I know we're right.
Posted by: PJ at December 26, 2003 at 10:19 PMJust a heartfelt "Thank You" to our Aussie brothers and sisters for all of your help this past year...in every aspect....in every battle... in everything right that we Americans (aka/Big Brother) attempt to do when it comes to issues of freedom worldwide. We couldn't have done it and been so successful without you! On a personal note: You guys really know how to get the job done and, obviously, you're damned good at just "kicking butt"!! If our politicians have been too distracted to do, I'll do it for them: We salute you!!
Posted by: PAT, New Jersey, USA at December 26, 2003 at 10:36 PM