* “Let me be very clear: The policy of strategic patience has ended. We are exploring a new range of diplomatic, security and economic measures. All options are on the table.”–U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, in reference to North Korea.
* “If there were ever a conflict, Pyongyang would have nowhere else to go but up the escalation ladder after artillery except to its nuclear weapons.”–Victor Cha, former director of Asian affairs on President George W. Bush’s National Security Council.
* “Populism is sweeping across the Western world. Populists of the right like Marine LePen in France and Geert Wilders in the Netherlands are different in some ways, but they have a few important things in common: They despise the European Union and see Muslim immigrants and refugees as an existential threat to national identities–or what some now grandly choose to call ‘Judeo-Christian civilization.'”–Ian Buruma, Bard College professor and author of “Murder in Amsterdam: The Death of Theo Van Gogh and the Limits of Tolerance.”
* “Much better to talk to one another than about one another.”–German Chancellor Angela Merkel, during her joint news conference with Donald Trump.
* “No one is above the law, not even the president–and I will hold him accountable to the Constitution. Cutting some illegal aspects of President Trump’s original travel ban does not cure his affront to our Constitution.”–Washington State Attorney General Bob Ferguson.
* “President Trump’s proposed budget is not only unrealistic, it’s reckless for America’s cities.”–Mayor Bob Buckhorn.
* “Ronald Reagan made deals with Tip O’Neill on Social Security.”–Ohio Republican Gov. John Kasich.
* “Performance art can be so hard for normal people to understand.”–Republican strategist John Feehery.
* “Do we want a country where ‘vulgar and outrageous’ supplant solving problems?”–Jeb Bush.
* “Single best thing the president’s done.”–Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., on Trump’s selection of Judge Neil Gorsuch for the Supreme Court.
* “Five decades of reporting have taught me that whenever a president starts screeching about the media, it’s a sure sign he’s in hot water and fearing revelations about some policy disaster, damaging mendacity or political villainy.”–Hedrick Smith, former Washington bureau chief for the New York Times and the author of “Who Stole the American Dream?”
* “Few economists point to flawed trade agreements as the main source of the (economic-divide) problem, as the president often does. More important is what economists call skill-based technological change.”–Harvard economics Professor N. Gregory Mankiw.
* “We are on offense and united. They are on defense and divided, the opposite of what people would have predicted a month or two ago.”–Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer.
* “Less than three months into full control of the government and the chance to reshape the American system for a generation, Republicans are doing something no one thought possible: They are re-inventing the circular firing squad.”–Daniel Henninger, Wall Street Journal.
* “The folks who Hillary Clinton called the ‘deplorables’ are actually those who want better coverage, who we’d be hurting if we don’t change this bill.”–Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La.
* “The essence of the Trump budget released a few days ago is to cut aid to the needy, whether at home or abroad, and use the savings to build up the military and construct a wall on the border with Mexico.”–Nicholas Kristof, New York Times.
* “A quarter of a billion dollars is a gosh lot of money.”–Dominic Calabro, president of Florida TaxWatch, on the amount of money ($237 million) the state has spent on legal fees since 2011.
* “Absolute cesspool.”–How Florida House Speaker Richard Corcoran characterized Enterprise Florida.
* “The (Florida) DEP is just a shadow of its former self. It’s a mess.”–Former DEP attorney Jerry Phillips, the current head of the Florida office of Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER).
* “Florida is growing, and the state’s infrastructure needs a growth spurt of its own to keep up.”–Excerpt from the American Society of Civil Engineers’ “Infrastructure Report Card.”
* “I don’t want to do anything to help Dana Young. I don’t think I would get into it again.”–Joe Redner, in indicating that he likely wouldn’t run in a 2018 Florida Senate rematch pitting Rep. Sen. Dana Young and Democratic challenger Bob Buesing.
* “We added Seattle and then San Francisco and now Salt Lake City. It’s very difficult to get that first route, but once you start adding routes, people start noticing. Our strategy is working.”–TIA CEO Joe Lopano.
* “Law enforcement won’t win the battle by ourselves. It takes a community to get involved.”–TPD Chief Eric Ward.
* “Teachers do their jobs because it’s a calling; they do get joy out of reaching out to kids. And Tallahassee has done everything in its power to eliminate the joy of teaching–and the joy of learning.”–Mike Gandolfo, president of the Pinellas Classroom Teachers Association.