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PERSPECTIVES

It's your loss, Democrats. I had a lot of good ideas.

Comedian Stephen Colbert, to South Carolina legislators who voted to keep him off the state ballot and squashed his White House bid

This is not just the worst natural catastrophe in the state's history but, I would venture to say, one of the worst in the recent history of the country.

President Felipe Calderón, on the massive flooding in the Mexican state of Tabasco that left 80 percent of the region submerged

I believe that America is behind this matter.

Iraqi fisherman Hatim Karim, on a seven-foot shark caught in a Euphrates River irrigation canal more than 160 miles from sea

Does that mean they should ban deaf people, too?

Marathon runner Jennifer Lamkins, on USA Track & Field's decision to ban iPods and other portable music players in official races

What do you do? It was a kid.

California resident Peter Kaulbach, on learning that a 10-year-old boy started the blaze that destroyed his home

Basically, that's a potential death sentence, and you know it. Who will raise our children if we are dead or seriously wounded?

Senior diplomat Jack Croddy, on the State Department's decision to force Foreign Service officers to take assignments in Iraq or risk losing their jobs

It is as important an issue as anything.

Bindeshwar Pathak, joint organizer of this week's World Toilet Summit in New Delhi, on the need for basic sanitation in developing countries

It was like 'Whack a Mole.' He just popped right back up.

Former senior CIA official Margaret Henoch, on Rafid Ahmed Alwan, a.k.a. Curve Ball, a recently unmasked Iraqi defector whose fabricated story of biological weapons in Iraq was openly refuted by Henoch but still helped drive the administration's argument for war

There's only three things he says in a sentence: a noun, a verb and 9/11.

Delaware Sen. Joe Biden, during the Democratic debate, offering his summary of Rudy Giuliani's campaign message

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Send us a topical quote from your local media and we'll run our favorite submission - along with the name of the reader who sent it - in next week's magazine. To be eligible, your quote must be reported in the last seven days, and you must include its source.

Nathan Wise of Preston, Conn., submitted:

It doesn't mean diddly-squat because the people of Argentina aren't going to vote here.

Radio shock jock Rush Limbaugh, on Argentina's first elected female president, Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, a former First Lady, lawyer and senator who has been compared to Sen. Hillary Clinton

Sources: AP (2), The Washington Post, New York Times, AP, Rushlimbaugh.Com, La Times, National Journal, CBS News, BBC, AP