* “All are going to have to play a meaningful role in this new government in order for it to work. My plea to you is finish what you started.”–Vice President Joe Biden to Iraqi political-coalition leaders.
* “What is it that the British expats so like about their American cousins’ homestead? Probably, it’s the sense of possibility that permeates American life. It’s what has made the word ‘America’ a metaphor for hope, going back to the English poet John Donne.”–Southern Rhodesia (Zimbabwe)-born Llewellyn King, host of PBS public affairs program, White House Chronicle.
* “There is no intrinsic contradiction between providing additional fiscal stimulus today, while the unemployment rate is high and many factories and offices are underused, and imposing fiscal restraint several years from now, when output and employment will probably be close to their potential.”–Douglas Elmendorf, director of the Congressional Budget Office.
* “Sarah Palin has revealed that she tried marijuana, but didn’t like it. You know, 200 million Americans have tried marijuana, and the only people that don’t like it are elected officials.”–Jay Leno, host of The Tonight Show.
* “Dynastic plutocracy.”–Billionaire Warren Buffet’s term for a permanent, inherited system of privilege in the context of Buffet’s support for estate taxes.
* “Excuse me, but haven’t we met in California last summer?”/”No, I think it was the Hamptons.”–recent password exchange between accused Russian spy Anna Chapman and a Russian-speaking FBI undercover agent.
* “High-speed rail is an absolute essential for regional growth. The state of Florida has a lot of destinations and having the choice of going by air or driving is not enough…Florida’s super region will look like an ‘H’ with density along each coast and I-4 as the connector.”–Regional planner and University of Pennsylvania professor Jonathan Barnett.
* “…I’ve been reminded of why our men and women in uniform and their families ask to come to Tampa–and why so many choose to stay.”–Gen. David Petraeus, former head of MacDill AFB-headquartered U.S. Central Command.
* “Dead man walking, homie.”–Johnny Compton to Dontae Morris during the latter’s 2 a.m. perp walk at Tampa Police Headquarters.
* “We need something like that down in our place, Tampa and St. Pete shaking hands over the bay.”–Tampa Bay Rays’ manager Joe Maddon upon seeing the Minnesota Twins new Target Field, one that features a large sign of twins–representing Minneapolis and St. Paul–shaking hands over the Mississippi River.