Quoteworthy

* “We will continue to prosecute the campaign against terrorists, but great-power competition–not terrorism–is now the primary focus of U.S. national security.”–Defense Secretary Jim Mattis.

* “I cannot believe that in the history of the White House in that Oval Office, any president has ever spoken the words that I personally heard our president speak.”–Illinois Democratic Sen. Richard J. Durbin on that infamous WH meeting with lawmakers on immigration.

* “The wall is the wall. It has never changed or evolved from the first day I conceived of it. The $20 billion wall is peanuts compared to what Mexico makes from the U.S. NAFTA is a bad joke.”–Donald Trump.

* “Shutting down the government of the United States of America should never, ever be used as a bargaining chip for any issue, period. It should be to governing as chemical warfare is to real warfare. It should be banned. It should be unthinkable.”–Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn.

* “I think we look petty. We look that we care more about the party flag than the American flag.”–Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C.

* “It’s unfortunate it took a shutdown to get an agreement for a Senate vote to protect our DREAMers. … The fact remains that in a Republican-controlled Washington, we still don’t have a budget four months into the new fiscal year. … This is no way to run a country–much less the most powerful one in the world.”–Florida Democratic Congressman Charlie Crist.

* “Certain things are said during the campaign that are uninformed. One thing is to campaign, another thing is to govern. It’s really hard.”–White House Chief of Staff John Kelly.

* “The phrase ‘fake news’–granted legitimacy by an American president–is being used by autocrats to silence reporters, undermine political opponents, stave off media scrutiny and mislead citizens. … Without strong leadership in the White House, Congress must commit to protecting independent journalism, preserving an open and free media environment and defending the fundamental right to freedom  of opinion and expression.”–Sen. John McCain.

* “This was effectively a gag order by the White House.”–California Congressman Adam Schiff, the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, on why Steve Bannon refused to answer the Committee’s questions.

* “Sleeping with a porn star while your wife has a newborn, then paying the porn star to be quiet? That’s what everyone expects of this president.”–Michelle Goldberg, New York Times.

* “The age of chivalry is no more. We now have raw patriarchy, which asserts its rights through naked displays of power.”–Jeet Heer, New Republic.

* “A gentleman is good to women because he has his own dignity and sees theirs.”–Peggy Noonan, Wall Street Journal.

* “It’s hard to see when you’re in the middle of it. But it feels like something’s happening, a fervor, an excitement, an optimism.”–Historian Doris Kearns Goodwin, on a sense of increasing activism among women voters.

* “It’s 2018, a big election year, and women are going to be running everywhere. … That’s Hillary’s gift.”–Gail Collins, New York Times.

* “We march, we run, we vote, we win.”–Democratic Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi, at the female empowerment march in Washington.

* “So far, a record 31 Republicans are quitting the House. That’s 13 percent of the entire caucus–and it’s only January. Perhaps they sense a Democrat wave in November. … If you thought 2017 was full of political turmoil with an unorthodox president who isn’t really a Republican feuding with factions in the House and Senate that seem like several GOP parties, wait until Democrats get control of congressional committees with the power of subpoenas, investigations and even possible impeachment.”–Andrew Malcolm, McClatchy Washington Bureau.

* “Let me say it again, because there’s been a lot of noise from Donald Trump over the past year since he’s been president. Vladimir Putin has something that he is holding over Donald Trump’s head. (Trump’s) hoping when the truth comes out … that we will all be too numb to notice.”–“Morning Joe” host Joe Scarborough.

* “One simply cannot keep up with, much less respond with proper outrage to, all of (Trump’s) scandals, bungles, blame-shifting, name-calling and missteps, his sundry acts of mendacity, misanthropy, perversity and idiocy. … Give him this much, though. He has banished apathy. … He’s galvanized a powerful resistance that has claimed upset victories from Alabama to Wisconsin and left Gumby-spined Republicans looking over their shoulders.”–Leonard Pitts, Miami Herald.

* “Mr. Trump’s first year has been an unremitting parade of disgraces that have demeaned him as well as the dignity of his office, and he has shown that this is exactly how he believes he should govern.”–Author and Princeton University professor of history Sean Wilentz.

* “Apple is a success that could only have happened in America, and we always felt a very big sense of responsibility to give back to our country and the people who have made our success possible.”–Apple CEO Tim Cook, in announcing plans to build another corporate campus and hire 20,000 workers as part of a commitment partially financed by the new tax law.

* “Going to sleep with the lights off doesn’t make us anti-electricity. In the same way, turning off our phones to be able to reconnect with the people and things we most value doesn’t make us anti-technology.”–Arianna Huffington.

* “Extending this moratorium (scheduled to end in 2022) will ensure that there is no question that Florida is off the table from drilling and not at the mercy of politicians like Gov. Rick Scott and President Donald Trump who have flip flopped on the issue.”–U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor, D-Tampa.

* “The elected officials running for office in Florida have to be told, and we’re saying this over and over: Puerto Ricans here are voting for Puerto Rico. If you vote against helping Puerto Rico help itself, then we’re going to vote against you, whoever you are. I don’t care if you’re a Democrat or a Republican.”–Luis de Rosa, president of the Puerto Rican Chamber of Commerce of South Florida.

* “I cannot more enthusiastically endorse and completely support your run.”–Sean Hannity’s gubernatorial endorsement of Florida Congressman Ron DeSantis.

* “We are transitioning from an economy that was focused on construction and tourism and agriculture to an economy that is built on technology. We are global in our perspective. That is why we love companies like yours.”–Mayor Bob Buckhorn, in addressing Kristo Kaarmann, co-founder of London-based TransferWise, which now operates out of the J. Seidenberg & Co./Havana-American Cigar Factory in Ybor City.

* “It is not so expensive that it really is out of the realm of us figuring out how to pay for it.”–Tampa City Council member Harry Cohen, on the financial perspective of the bus rapid transit proposal.

* “It is an awesome opportunity to take a hidden jewel with Gasparilla that doesn’t have a lot of national familiarity and expose it to a new audience.”–Rob Higgins, executive director of the Tampa Bay Sports Commission, on the Gasparilla Parade and the NHL All-Star Game sharing the same spotlight in downtown Tampa this weekend.

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