Top 10 Quotes of the Week

1) "We are the people who run this country. We are the deciders. And every single day, every one of us needs to step outside and take some action to help stop this war. Raise hell. ... Make our troops know we're for them and trying to get them out of there. Hit the streets to protest Bush's proposed surge. ... We need people in the streets, banging pots and pans and demanding, 'Stop it, now!'"

– Syndicated political columnist Molly Ivins of Austin, who passed away from breast cancer on Jan. 31 at the age of 62 (Feb. 2 issue)

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2) "You know, when I was raised, I didn't have insurance, and my family did just fine."

– Rep. Robert Talton, R-Heartless, on why he prevented a vote to expand the Children's Health Insurance Program (March 23 issue)

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3) "The bill says those that are married live longer. It's not really true. It just seems longer."

– Rep. Pat Haggerty, R-El Paso, during a debate on Rep. Warren Chisum's bill that would require couples applying for a marriage license to take a marriage class (April 20 issue)

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4) "The president can veto our attempt to secure a safe, orderly phased redeployment of our troops, but he cannot veto reality. Our troops will return; it is only a matter of how much blood and money will be lost before they do."

– Austin Rep. Lloyd Doggett, on President Bush's veto of a war-appropriations bill that included a timetable for the troops to exit Iraq (May 4 issue)

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5) "I detest the word 'illegal aliens.' ... My friends, look at me. I am a brown man. Where do you think this came from? This came from my Indian heritage. ... My family has been all over North and South America for centuries and centuries. Yes, we have been here a long, long time, and we should not be called illegal aliens."

– El Paso Rep. Paul Moreno, responding to Tyler Republican Leo Berman's complaint about "illegal aliens" spreading disease and problems in East Texas (May 11 issue)

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6) "I knew we had a speaker. I didn't know we had a dictator."

– State Rep. Charlie Geren, R-Fort Worth, when Speaker Tom Craddick refused to recognize a motion to declare the speaker chair vacated (June 1 issue)

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7) "Our culture typically acknowledges people for qualities such as intelligence, physical strength, and personal bravery. This may be the first award the city ever gave for stubbornness to acknowledge an activist that wouldn't go away."

– Paul Robbins, a constant critic of Austin Energy, quoted in In Fact Daily after a Downtown chiller plant was named after him (June 29 issue)

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8) "We close at 5."

– Court of Criminal Appeals Presiding Judge Sharon Keller, rejecting any extension of court hours for a pending death penalty appeal, for which colleagues were waiting (Oct. 19 issue)

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9) "If you were confronted with someone who wished to do you harm, you could put on your best Clint Eastwood persona and say, 'OK, creep, am I complying with national parks rule 36.1 or am I not? Make my day.'"

– Texas Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson on why he thinks the National Park Service should allow loaded guns in national parks (Nov. 9 issue)

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10) "Although individuals from all faiths are welcome to worship with us at Hyde Park Baptist Church, the church cannot provide space for the practice of these non-Christian religions on church property."

– Hyde Park Baptist Church statement explaining its last-minute cancellation of a Thanksgiving prayer service at its Quarries location, four months after Austin Area Interreligious Ministries had reserved the facility for the annual event (Nov. 23 issue)