Russell Casse: Hello boys! I'm baaack!
President Whitmore: Good morning. In less than an hour, aircraft from here will join others from around the world. And you will be launching the largest aerial battle in the history of mankind. Mankind, that word should have new meaning to all of us. We cannot be consumed by our petty differences anymore. Perhaps it is fate that today is the fourth of July, and we will once again be fighting for our freedom. But not for freedom from tyrrany or oppression or persecution. We're fighting for our right to live, to exist. And should we win the day, the Fourth of July will no longer be known as an American holiday, but as the day when the world stood up and declared in one voice that we will not go quietly into the night! We will not vanish without a fight! We're going to live on! We're going to survive! Today we celebrate our Independence Day!
President Thomas Whitmore: I don't understand, where does all this come from? How do you get funding for something like this?
Julius Levinson: You don't actually think they spend $20,000 on a hammer, $30,000 on a toilet seat do you?
Captain Steven Hiller: Y'know, this was supposed to be my weekend off, but noooo...you got me out here draggin' your heavy ass through the burnin' desert with your dreadlocks stickin' out the back of my parachute. You've gotta come down here with an attitude, actin' all big and bad...and what the hell is that smell?! I could've been at a barbecue!
President Thomas Whitmore: Sir, regardless of what you may have read in the tabloids, there have never been any spacecraft recovered by our government. Take my word for it, there's no Area 51. There's no recovered spaceship.
Albert Nimziki: Uh, excuse me, Mr. President. That's not entirely accurate.
Captain Steven Hiller: I have got to get me one of these!
Constance: Haven't you ever wanted to be part of something special?
David Levinson: I was part of something special.
Albert Nimziki: I'm not Jewish.
Julius Levinson: Well, nobody's perfect.
Party attendee: Oh god, I hope they bring back Elvis!
Russell Casse: You read my mind! We've gotta get as far away from these things as we can!
Miguel Casse: They let you out?
Captain Steven Hiller: Elvis has left the building!
David Levenson: Uh... Thank you very much.
Julius Levinson: You punched the President of the United States!
David Levinson: He wasn't the President *yet*!
Captain Steven Hiller: Is that an earthquake?
Jasmine Dubrow: Not even a four pointer. Go back to sleep.
President Thomas Whitmore: The only mistake I ever made was to appoint a sniveling little weasel like you Secretary of Defense. However, that is a mistake, I am happy to say, that I don't have to live with. Mr. Nimziki... You're fired.
Julius Levinson: Everyone's trying to get out of Washington, and we're the only schmucks trying to get in.
Jasmine Dubrow: There you go, thinking you're all that. But you are not as charming as you think you are, sir.
Captain Steven Hiller: Yes, I am.
Julius Levinson: Vultures. They take and then they go.
David Levinson: They're going. They're going faster than we are.
President Whitmore: Isn't it amazing how quickly everyone can turn against you?
President Thomas Whitmore: It's a fine line between standing behind a principle and hiding behind one. You can tolerate a little compromise, if you're actually managing to get something accomplished.
Albert Nimziki: If we don't act now, we may not have much of an America left to defend.
Answer: This is indeed a mistake. The character is played by Bill Smitrovich and is listed as playing Captain Watson, but in the briefing scene he is wearing collar insignia for a Lt. Colonel.
lionhead