Top 11 Presidential Republican Candidate quotes of 2011

The Washington Post’s Chris Chilliza’s The Fix has recently put together a list of the 11 best /worst political quotes of 2011. Inspired by his twitter appeal, I compiled my personal favorite list of the 11 worst Presidential Republican Candidate quotes of 2011. For those of you who might wonder why I get fixated on GOP (God’s Own Party?), the answer is rather plain. At the moment I am half the way around the world and GOP is (one of) my source(s) of entertainment.

1. 'The first thing I'm going to do is build a double fence' - M. Bachmann (H. Cain, on the other hand, will build a fence twenty feet high, with barbed wire, electrified. With a sign on the other side that says ‘it can kill you’)

2. ‘The third agency of government I would do away with - the Education, the Commerce and let's see. I can't, the third one, I can't, sorry’ – R. Perry (Ooops!)

3. ‘That’s the order: religion, morality and knowledge’ – N. Gingrich (followed by How can I trust you with power if you don’t pray?)

4. ‘That's what freedom is all about: taking your own risks’ – R. Paul (in response to W. Blitzer’s question ‘He [30 year old man] doesn't have it [insurance] and he needs intensive care for six months. Who pays?’)

5. ‘You'd think by now they [politicians in Washington] would get the message. An earthquake, a hurricane. Are you listening?’ – M. Bachmann

6. ‘No, I will not. There is this creeping attempt to gradually ease Sharia law and the Muslim faith into our government’ – H. Cain (in response to ‘Would you be comfortable appointing a Muslim, either in your cabinet or as a federal judge?’)

7. ‘I ‘ve never hired an illegal in my life’ – M. Romney (actually, he did)

8. ‘Social security is a Ponzi scheme’ – R. Perry

9. ‘We should be like 1900, we should be like 1940, 1950, 1960. I propose [..] we tide people over until we come to our senses and realize that FEMA has been around since 1978’ – R. Paul (arguing that the federal government should reduce FEMA’s role in disaster relief. In fact, ‘the greatest natural disaster to ever strike the United States occurred in 1900 at Galveston, Texas’ according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. More than 6,000 people died)

10. ‘Evolution is a theory that’s out there and it’s got some gaps in it’ – R. Perry

11. ‘Removing "Don't Ask /Don’t Tell" I think tries to inject social policy into the military [..] and that’s tragic’ – R. Santorum