Goldwater Quotes

Barry Goldwater is a true patriot, a promoter of freedom, and, from what I read in these quotes attributed to him, he’s pretty funny as well:

“If everybody in this town connected with politics had to leave town because of chasing women and drinking, you would have no government.”

“Everyone knows that gays have served honorably in the military since at least the time of Julius Caesar.”

“You don’t have to be straight to be in the military; you just have to be able to shoot straight.”

“I think any man in business would be foolish to fool around with his secretary. If it’s somebody else’s secretary, fine.”

“If you don’t mind smelling like peanut butter for two or three days, peanut butter is darn good shaving cream.”

Goldwater was an opponent of religion being injected into politics.  He famously spoke this great condemnation:

“On religious issues there can be little or no compromise. There is no position on which people are so immovable as their religious beliefs. There is no more powerful ally one can claim in a debate than Jesus Christ, or God, or Allah, or whatever one calls this supreme being. But like any powerful weapon, the use of God’s name on one’s behalf should be used sparingly. The religious factions that are growing throughout our land are not using their religious clout with wisdom. They are trying to force government leaders into following their position 100 percent. If you disagree with these religious groups on a particular moral issue, they complain, they threaten you with a loss of money or votes or both. I’m frankly sick and tired of the political preachers across this country telling me as a citizen that if I want to be a moral person, I must believe in “A,” “B,” “C” and “D.” Just who do they think they are? And from where do they presume to claim the right to dictate their moral beliefs to me? And I am even more angry as a legislator who must endure the threats of every religious group who thinks it has some God-granted right to control my vote on every roll call in the Senate. I am warning them today: I will fight them every step of the way if they try to dictate their moral convictions to all Americans in the name of “conservatism.”

Goldwater was famously a critic of Jerry Falwell, as well as the rising contingent of fundamentalist Christians in the Republican party in the 1990′s, who set the stage for the election of George W. Bush in 2000.  Had Goldwater been alive today, he’d undoubtedly be a harsh critic of Bush’s big-government tendencies, as well as his policies on faith-based initiatives.

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