Verbatim

'Those who at times are not good, let them for just four weeks be good.'

JACOB ZUMA, President of South Africa, addressing a crowd during the Free State for a World Cup prayer service, ahead of the June 11 opening of the tournament

'It would seem highly unlikely that this individual was attacked by a tiger as he was walking home.'

MICHAEL WYSOCKI, a lecturer in forensic anthropology and archaeology who studied dozens of headless skeletons excavated in northern England; the remains appear to be those of Roman gladiators, one of whom had bites from a large animal

'We can't just sit here and hope for the best.'

DAVID CAMERON, announcing that further budget cuts beyond the already announced $9 billion reduction would be needed to prevent the government from having to pay $102 billion in debt interest by 2015

'I did not want to do it. The girl intruded into my private life.'

JORAN VAN DER SLOOT, admitting to Peruvian police that he murdered 21-year-old Stephany Flores in a Lima hotel room; Van der Sloot, 22, was a suspect in the 2005 disappearance of American teenager Natalee Holloway in Aruba

'The governor's judgment is horrible.'

SAM ADAM JR., lawyer to former Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich, saying that his client, on trial for corruption, was "fooled" by untrustworthy people around him

'The doughnut hole will be gone.'

BARACK OBAMA, addressing senior citizens' concerns about a Medicare coverage gap known as the doughnut hole, in which they are forced to pay 100% of prescription-drug costs. The government has begun distributing $250 checks to those affected to start the process of closing the hole by 2020

'That's how he's going to be, so buy your tickets now.'

DREW STOREN, on fellow Washington Nationals pitcher Stephen Strasburg, 21, who made his highly anticipated major league baseball debut June 8 and struck out 14 hitters--the third most by any pitcher in a big-league debut

TALKING HEADS

Leonard Pitts Jr.

Writing in the Houston Chronicle about reporter Joe McGinniss, who moved next door to Sarah Palin to research a book about her:

"For some, she is the folksy, straight-talkin' avatar of conservative principles, while for others, she is the leader of an intellectually incoherent movement that has no idea where it's going ... Under neither interpretation, however, does she forfeit ... her right to expect that she will be treated with basic human decency. And stalking another person ... violates that expectation. This is not immersion or even intrusion. This is invasion."

--6/7/10

Fred Barnes

Criticizing the President's obstinacy, in the Weekly Standard: