Column by KOA Radio Talk Show Host Mike Rosen in the Denver Post and Colorado Springs Gazette

It's time for the Media Research Center's annual awards for the most biased, manipulative or downright goofy quotes uttered by liberals in the "mainstream" news media." Once again, I'm honored to have served on MRC's distinguished panel of conservatively biased judges. Herewith, highlights from among the winners and runners-up of Best Notable Quotables of 1998:

Wired Wicked Witch Award (for Loathing Linda Tripp)

"If there were an Ig-Noble Peace Prize, who would win it?
• Slobodan Milosevic
• Osama bin Laden
• Saddam Hussein
• Linda Tripp"
-- "What do you think?" question of the day on the abcnews.com home page, October 15.

Good Morning Morons Award (for foolishness in the morning)

"Women who've been polled seem to put it behind them as well, and are willing to move on and forget about it. Is that because Bill Clinton's been such a great president whom they elected in great part, or is there something I want to say almost sexy about a man who can get away with things over and over again?"
-- Good morning America co-host Lisa McRee to Deborah Tannen, August 18

Politics of Meaningless Award (for the Silliest Analysis)

"I was thinking about what Jane Fonda said the other night about North Georgia and how she thought North Georgia was not unlike parts of the developing world and some politicians in Georgia jumped all over her...And the truth is there are parts of America which are just as bad as some of the worst parts in the rest of the world and that's desperately sad."
-- ABC News anchor Peter Jennings on Jane Fonda's charge that children are "starving to death" in Georgia, April 23 CBS Late Late Show with Tom Snyder.

Move Over Buddy Award (for Geraldo's Clinton Lapdoggery)

"Twinkle, twinkle Kenneth Starr, now we see how crude you are / Up above your jury high, like the judge up in the sky / Twinkle, twinkle little Starr, now we see how wrong you are / When you drag the agents in, when you bully moms and kin / then you kiss the treacherous Tripp, twinkle, twinkle DC drip/Twinkle, twinkle little Starr, now we see how small you are."
-- NBC News personality Geraldo Rivera singing his version of "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star" after playing video of U.S. Rep. Mike Pappas (R-NJ) on the House floor singing his version in a birthday tribute to Starr, July 21 "Rivera Live" on CNBC.

Presidential Kneepad Award (for Best Lewinsky Impression)

"The ironies for a president not given to irony are endless. Consider this: the best chance for Clinton to shine in history might be for Congress to force him to pay the price for lying about sex. In the unlikely event he is pushed from office, it would take only weeks, maybe just days, before a vast national remorse set in. We destroyed our lovable rogue prince of prosperity over this? Clinton would become a martyr to a legal system run amok. His defeat would mean victory over not just sheet-sniffing prosecutors but all those who would criminalize politics with endless investigations. As legacies go, balancing the budget might look puny by comparison."
-- "Newsweek" Senior Editor Jonathan Alter in the August 24 issue.

Quote of the Year

"I would be happy to give him (oral sex) just to thank him for keeping abortion legal. I think American women should be lining up with their presidential kneepads on to show their gratitude for keeping the theocracy off our backs."
-- "Time" contributor and former reporter Nina Burleigh recalling what she told the "Washington Post's " Howard Kurtz about her feelings toward Bill Clinton, as recounted by Burleigh in the July 20 "New York Observer."

If your stomach is strong enough to handle the complete awards list, you can obtain it by calling the Media Research center at 1-800-672-1423, or by visiting their web site: www.mediaresearch.org and clicking on the "Best of NQ" button.

Rosen's radio talk show can be heard on 85-KOA radio in Denver, weekdays from 9 a.m. to noon. Write him in care of 1380 Lawrence St., Suite 1300, Denver 80204.