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PERSPECTIVES

I didn't do anything. Don't Tase me, bro! Don't Tase me! I didn't do anything! Owwww! Owwww!

University of Florida student Andrew Meyer, 21, screaming to no avail as police shocked him with a Taser and then arrested him following an outburst during a John Kerry speech.

A year ago my approval rating was in the 30s, my nominee for the Supreme Court had just withdrawn and my vice president had shot someone. Ah, those were the good ole days.

George W. Bush, poking fun at himself during the Radio and Television Correspondents' Association dinner

It was an attack on democracy by those who are against the unity and integrity of Pakistan.

Pakistan's former prime minister Benazir Bhutto, on a pair of suicide bombs that killed 134 people and wounded 450 others, scattering screws and shrapnel among the crowds gathered to celebrate her return from self-imposed exile

America is living a nightmare with no end in sight.

Retired Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez, former commander in Iraq, on the Bush administration's "catastrophically flawed" strategy, which he says will not achieve long-term stability in the country. Sanchez is the highest-ranking military officer to criticize the prosecution of the war.

I was responsible for the 9/11 operation, from A to Z.

Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, a chief aide to Osama bin Laden, confessing in a military hearing to planning the 9/11 terrorist attacks

This is it. This is where it all ends. End of the road. What a life it was. Some life.

Virginia Tech senior Seung-Hui Cho, 23, in a videotaped message he mailed to NBC News on the day he killed 32 people, then himself, making it the deadliest school shooting in American history. "When the time came," he said, "I did it. I had to."

Dick Cheney is still a war criminal. Hillary Clinton is still Satan. And I'm back on the radio.

Don Imus, on his return to the airwaves on ABC Radio, eight months after he was fired for his racially disparaging remarks. He promised a smooth ride but vowed that the core of the show "is not going to change."

There's better things in this world to be thinking about than who served Hillary Clinton at Maid-Rite and who got a tip and who didn't get a tip.

Iowa waitress Anita Esterday, on the media circus that ensued after she said that Clinton failed to leave a tip when Esterday served her a sandwich during a campaign visit in October. The Clinton camp says it left a $100 tip on a tab of $157.

I feel happy, but my happiness is not complete.

Refugee Suhaila al-Aasan, on returning home to southern Baghdad after weeks of decreased violence in Iraq. Those returning are still only a fraction of the 2.2 million who had fled.

People make mistakes; they do stupid things sometimes.

Erik Prince, chief executive of security contractor Blackwater USA, refuting accusations that his employees in Iraq are trigger-happy killers. The FBI is investigating whether Blackwater guards should be prosecuted for a Baghdad shooting that left 17 Iraqis dead.

PHOTOS

The Year in 'Toons

Iraq surged. California burned. Scooter squirmed. And Paris got sent to the slammer. The cartoons and quotes of 2007.

Leave her alone … Leave Britney alone!

YouTube user Chris Crocker, then 19, in a shrieking defense of Spears's lackluster comeback performance. The video earned Crocker 18 million downloads and his own reality show.

I don't give a damn that you're 12 years old or 11 years old or that you're a child or that your mother is a thoughtless pain in the ass who doesn't care what you do … I'm going to let you know just how I feel about what a rude little pig you really are! You are a rude, thoughtless little pig, OK?

Angry dad Alec Baldwin, in a phone message to his 11-year-old daughter when she missed a scheduled call. The message was allegedly leaked to the media by his ex-wife, Kim Basinger.

I can't believe it's happening to us.

NBA Commissioner David Stern, on allegations that veteran referee Tim Donaghy conspired with gamblers and bet on games that he officiated. Donaghy pleaded guilty on both counts and faces up to 25 years in prison.

I think the presidency ought to be held at a higher level than having to answer questions from a snowman.

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, criticizing the CNN/YouTube presidential debates, in which videotaped questions were submitted online. The Democratic debate included a question on global warming from an animated snowman.

Give us freedom! Give us freedom!

Antigovernment protesters led by Buddhist monks, during demonstrations in Burma against the country's repressive junta. At least 31 people were killed, nearly 100 are missing and more than 500 were arrested in clashes with the military.

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

Delaware Sen. Joe Biden, during MSNBC's Democratic debate at Drexel University, offering his summary of Rudy Giuliani's campaign message

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.

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

This doesn't mean the epidemic is going away.

Harvard University epidemiologist Daniel Halperin, on a United Nations report correcting an overestimate in the number of people infected with AIDS. The new worldwide total is approximately 33 million, down from last year's figure of nearly 40 million.

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Hand on heart, I did what I thought was right.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair, announcing his resignation after more than a decade in office

Our characterization was thoughtless and stupid, and we are sorry.

Radio host Don Imus, apologizing for calling the Rutgers University women's basketball team "nappy-headed hos." As a result of his comments, the "Imus in the Morning" program was canceled by CBS Radio.

I heard an awful noise and saw what looked to me like a piece of the freeway just going down flat. I clearly recall horns honking. I was screaming.

Minnesota resident Janet Stately, on seeing a downtown Minneapolis bridge loaded with rush-hour traffic plunge more than 60 feet into the Mississippi River, killing seven people and injuring more than 60 others

In hindsight, maybe it wasn't the best decision.

Andrew Speaker, 31, of Atlanta, on his choice to board an international flight despite being diagnosed with a drug-resistant strain of tuberculosis. Upon returning to the United States, Speaker became the first person quarantined by the centers for disease control since 1963.

"The intelligence community was willing to reconsider an important judgment: Iran doesn't appear to be currently working on a bomb."

Missouri Sen. Kit Bond, ranking Republican on the Senate Intelligence Committee, on the results of a new U.S. National Intelligence Estimate, released in November, that suggests Iran ended its nuclear-weapons program in 2003

I've told people that if you're interested in avoiding World War III, then it seems like you ought to be interested in preventing [Iran] from having the knowledge necessary to make a nuclear weapon.

George W. Bush, in an October speech on the implications of a nuclear-armed Iran, marking the first time that he had publicly raised the prospect of world war

Quotation Sources:

AP (4), USA Today, Reuters, Fox, NBC, CNN (2), Youtube (2), New York Times (9), The Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Guardian (U.K.)