Quotes

From the April 2007 issue

“I think the fence is least effective. But I’ll build the goddamned fence if they want it.”

—Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) on border control in the February Vanity Fair

“I’m basically a libertarian. I don’t want to restrict anyone from doing anything unless it’s going to harm me. I don’t want [to] pass a law stopping someone from smoking. It’s just too dangerous. You lose the concept of a free society. Since we are genetically so diverse and our brains are so different, we’re going to have different aspirations.”
—James Watson, Nobel Prize winner and co-discoverer of DNA, in the January Esquire

“God willing one day our village will be full of Saddam Husseins.”
—Ejaj Alam of Lakhanow, a heavily Sunni village in northern India, where many parents have taken to naming their children Saddam Hussein, quoted by the BBC, January 9

“I bet the number of assaults goes down until the police get their guns back. I feel pretty safe right now.”
—Tijuana resident Gregorio Martinez on the decision to disarm municipal police, known for their corruption and involvement with drug gangs, and replace them with state troops, quoted in the Los Angeles Times, January 6