Memorable quotes are in the ear of the beholder

How did this guy get appointed as chooser of the year's most memorable quotes? I suspect it is because his taste closely reflects the taste of most journalists. The statements they enjoyed most were slip-ups by conservative politicians like John McCain and Sarah Palin. Similar statements by Barack Obama and Hilary Clinton were deemed unimportant.

When conservatives make dumb statements, liberal journalists believe they reveal something important about the politicians: that their suspicions about the politicians' true colors and character are correct - they really are foolish and evil - while dumb statements by liberal politicians are overlooked as being excusable because they do not reflect the politicians' true intelligence or intentions.

President-elect Barack Obama didn't make the list, not even for his much-criticized remark in which he said some small-town Americans "cling to guns or religion."

"To me it didn't seem like a very remarkable or very foolish quote," said Shapiro, who describes himself as a liberal Democrat.