quote/unquote

(Editor's Note: This is the second in a series of seemingly random quotes compiled by a guy in St. Louis who hosts a weekly pickup basketball game in the alley behind his house on Arsenal Street.)

"I appeal to everyone who can do me absolutely no good."
-- Rodney Dangerfield, circa '70s

"The city (Ashgabat) was an example of what happened when absolute political power, money, and mental illness are combined. Tukmenbashi's acolytes had recently pronounced him the "national prophet," a harmless enough conceit if you're a civilian, but a pathological, if not fatal, one in a despot. In support of this claim, Turkmenbashi had written a sort of national Bible, called "Ruhnama" ("Book of the Soul") and he regarded himself as an accomplished writer * a clear sign of madness in anyone."
-- Paul Theroux, 'The Golden Man' story on Turkmenistan dictator, New Yorker, 5.28.07

SEN. ARLEN SPECTER: No, I want to move to the point about how can you get approval from Ashcroft for anything when he's under sedation and incapacitated -- for anything.. . .
ATTY. GEN. GONZALES: Senator, obviously there was concern about General Ashcroft's condition. And we would not have sought nor did we intend to get any approval from General Ashcroft if in fact he wasn't fully competent to make that decision.. . . there are no rules governing whether or not General Ashcroft can decide, "I'm feeling well enough to make this decision."
SPECTER: But, Attorney General Gonzales, he had already given up his authority as attorney general....
GONZALES: And he could always reclaim that. There are no rules...
SPECTER: While he's in the hospital under sedation?
--- U.S. Senate Judiciary Hearing, Tuesday, July 24, '07

"I never thought that this day would come where I would actually be back here. It's been overwhelming. I still can't come to grips with it."
--- Steve Francis, on his return to the Houston Rockets