Verbatim

"As China reforms its economy, its leaders are finding that once the door to freedom is opened even a crack, it cannot be closed."
GEORGE W. BUSH, U.S. President, exhorting China's leadership to allow greater political freedom in a speech last week in Japan during his eight-day Asia tour

"It's kind of like virginity. It's hard to get back."
JOHN ZOGBY, pollster, on Bush's chances of regaining public trust, based on the experiences of previous embattled Presidents such as Lyndon Johnson and Richard Nixon

"It was a big mistake. The American government...