They Said It…

JAY LENO — BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU WISH FOR: “We wanted a president who listens to all Americans. Now we have one.” — Jay Leno, June 7, 2013.

WELCOMING THE DEBATE: “President Obama said he welcomes a national debate over our surveillance policies. He said that’s a debate we wouldn’t have had five years ago. Five years ago? It’s a debate we wouldn’t have had two weeks ago if they all hadn’t gotten caught.” — Jay Leno, June 11, 2013.

ANYONE KNOW? “Anyone know if President Obama intends to perform background checks on the Syrian rebels before providing them weapons?” — tweet from Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX), June 18, 2013.

RAND PAUL — DON’T TRUST GOV’T: “Our Founders never intended for Americans to trust their government. Our entire Constitution was predicated on the notion that government was a necessary evil, to be restrained and minimized as much as possible. Indiscriminate monitoring of citizens’ records is precisely the kind of general warranting we fought a revolution over. The Colonists did not appreciate a British government that could go door to door, searching anyone and everyone without probable cause or suspicion. …the proper order of things in our constitutional republic is that the government is supposed to fear its citizens, not the other way around.” — Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), “Americans who cherish freedom must push back against government surveillance,” Washington Times op-ed, June 7, 2013.

DEMOCRATS EMBRACE THE SURVEILLANCE STATE:  “The most vocal media critics of our NSA reporting, and the most vehement defenders of NSA surveillance, have been, by far, Democratic (especially Obama-loyal) pundits. …one of the most significant aspects of the Obama legacy has been the transformation of Democrats from pretend-opponents of the Bush War on Terror and National Security State into their biggest proponents: exactly what the CIA presciently and excitedly predicted in 2008 would happen with Obama’s election.” – civil liberties journalist Glenn Greenwald, “On Prism, partisanship and propaganda,” The Guardian, June 14, 2013.

WE NEED TO MOVE TO LIBERTARIANISM:  “The only truly new political idea in the last couple thousand years is this libertarian idea, broadly understood. The revolution wrought by John Locke, Edmund Burke, Adam Smith, and the Founding Fathers is the only real revolution going. And it’s still unfolding. …it’s an ideal I’d like America to move closer to, not further away from as we’ve been doing of late…” — bestselling conservative author and founding editor of National Review Online (NRO) Jonah Goldberg, “Freedom: The unfolding revolution,” NRO, June 14, 2013.

SARAH PALIN SAYS LISTEN TO LIBERTARIANS:  “The scandals infecting this city [Washington D.C.], they are a symptom of a bigger disease, and it doesn’t matter if it’s a Republican or a Democrat sitting atop a bloated boot on your neck, out of control government, everybody gets infected, no party is immune. That’s why, I tell you, I’m listening to those independents, those libertarians, who are saying, it is both sides of the aisle, the leadership, the good ol’ boys in the party on both sides of the aisle, they perpetuate the problem.” — 2008 GOP vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin, speaking to Ralph Reed’s Faith and Freedom Coalition conference, June 15th, 2013.

BEST IDEA YET: “Marco Rubio announced a new bill that would require immigrants to learn English to become citizens. Many Americans already say it’s the goodest news they have heard all year.” — Conan O’Brien, June 11, 2013.

LETTERMAN SKEWERS IRS: “We put up with the IRS. They weasel you and take your hard-earned money. They’ve been taking their tax dollars and throwing themselves lavish parties. I was thinking, ‘Yeah, well, what good is it being a bunch of power-hungry, jack-booted goons if you can’t enjoy yourselves, if you can’t every now and then pat yourself on the back?'” — David Letterman, June 4, 2013.

“They Said It…” is compiled by Liberator Online editor James W. Harris.