Imprisoned Cuban physician and dissident Oscar Elias Biscet, awarded the Medal of Freedom in absentia, in a letter to his wife explaining why he will not accept freedom (as offered by the Castro regime) if he will agree to leave Cuba: “My suffering is much, much less since I began to seek after my dream of being free, but not only for me personally. If I thought only of myself, you know that I would have been free a long time ago, and I would have been rid of these unsettling anxieties. But I want to see my friend’s son and my adversary’s son, or any citizen, laughing happily from the satisfaction in their lives and enjoying a wealth of freedom, because it is the only way human talent reaches its maximum splendor.”
Garry Kasparov, former world chess champion and leader of The Other Russia — a pro-democracy coalition: “The (regime of Vladimir Putin took) Russia from a frail democracy to an efficient mafia state. It was an impressive balancing act — behaving like a tyrant while at the same time staying in the good graces of the West. After each crackdown, with no significant international reaction forthcoming, Mr. Putin knew it was safe to take another step. As ever, appeasement in the name of realpolitik only encourages would-be dictators. And such moral weakness inevitably leads to very real costs in human life.”
Al-Qaedist Osama bin Laden, in an audio tape released through jihadist television: “We intend to liberate Palestine, the whole of Palestine from the (Jordan) river to the sea. (It will be) blood for blood, destruction for destruction. . . . We will not recognize even one inch for Jews in the land of Palestine.”
Actress Jennifer Love Hewitt, responding to Internet comments about pictures of her on a Hawaii beach suggesting she is overweight: “A size 2 is not fat! . . . To all girls with butts, boobs, hips, and a waist, put on a bikini — put it on and stay strong.”