Quoteworthy

* “Where once (Vladimir Putin) seemed out of step with the liberalizing West, he now seems to be the vanguard of a new generation of leaders–in Turkey, Hungary, Italy and even America–who are challenging it. He offers no coherent or comprehensive ideology, as Communism once did, but rather an amorphous model for protecting national sovereignty against international organizations.”–Steven Lee Myers, author of “The New Tsar: The Rise and Reign of Vladimir Putin.”

* “He is a fervent believer in pre-emptive war.”–Maureen Dowd, New York Times, on John Bolton, Donald Trump’s new national security adviser.

* “(Bolton) generally disparages international law.”–Amnesty International.

* “The full truth is that it’s stone-cold stupidity on his part if he actually did.”–Attorney Paul Rosenzweig, formerly part of Ken Starr’s independent counsel team, on whether Trump lead lawyer John Dowd floated the idea of a pardon for Paul Manafort and Michael Flynn.

* “The president divides the Right while he unifies the Left.”–Jonah Goldberg, National Review.

* “A shallow, lazy ignoramus.”–Updated assessment of the president by former Trumper-turned-critic Ann Coulter.

* “I think Trump is royally pissed about the Mueller subpoena of the Trump Organization records. He fears the nakedness of his true business activities  being revealed far more than the shame of ‘Access Hollywood’ or Stormy Daniels.”–Trump biographer Michael D’Antonio.

* “As I prepare to leave government, I am struck by a recurring thought: It should not have to be this hard to serve your country.”–Dr. David J. Shulkin, former secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs.

* “Without Facebook, we wouldn’t have won.”–What Theresa Hong, a member of the digital arm of the Trump presidential campaign, told the BBC.

* “We must demand that legislators and regulators get tougher. They should go after Facebook on antitrust grounds.”–University of Virginia media studies professor Siva Vaidhyanathan, the author of “Antisocial Media: How Facebook Disconnects Us and Undermines Democracy.”

* “One thing our campaign was never able to move beyond was the vexing issue of Hillary’s emails. … I have weathered a lot of political crises, but never encountered one quite like this. It was a box we could never get out of.”–Clinton campaign communications director Jennifer Palmieri, author of “Dear Madam President.”

* “Much of what’s going on with Oprah Winfrey and (actress-New York gubernatorial candidate) Cynthia Nixon–and what went on with Trump–is about the lazy deference to celebrities in these fame-mad times.”–Frank Bruni, New York Times.

* “What Cambridge Analytica did was, in many ways what Facebook was optimized for–collating personal information about vast numbers of people in handy packets that could then be used to try and sell them something.”–Will Oremus, Slate.

* “We made mistakes. There’s more to do. And we need to step up and do it.”–Mark Zuckerberg, in a post on, uh, Facebook.

* “We should be concerned about automated driving. We should be terrified about human driving.”–Bryant Walker Smith, University of South Carolina technology analyst.

* “But they’re tiny steps.”–U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson’s characterization of the Florida Legislature’s steps toward gun reform.

* “It’s shocking, and it’s embarrassing.”–Democratic Congressman Charlie Crist, the former governor of Florida, on this state’s stance on felon voting rights that have resulted in an estimated 1.5 million disenfranchised voters.

* “When unemployment gets this low, it becomes increasingly difficult to see further decreases. I think it will drift a little lower, but we are certainly closing in on full employment in the labor market.”–UCF economist Sean Snaith, on Florida’s unemployment rate of 3.9 percent for the sixth straight month. The February unemployment rate for Tampa Bay was 3.6 percent.

* “It is ours for the taking. We put our minds to it, together, collectively, as a group, five to 10 years from now we will be the leader in Florida, if not the Southeast, in terms of startup activity entrepreneurialism, which will do wonders for the culture of the area and the growth of this area overall.”–Jeff Vinik, speaking at the Synapse Innovation Summit at Amalie Arena.

* “Our vision is to inspire a transformative, truly walkable district connecting downtown Tampa and (the)West Shore Business District.”–Nicholas Haines, CEO and master developer of Bromley Cos., on plans for Midtown Tampa, a $500 million, mixed-use project at the southeast corner of I-275 and N Dale Mabry Highway.

* “We think Tampa is the next great Florida market. And if you look at Tampa and put a pin down in the center of it all, it’s just a spectacular site.”–Reid Boren, managing partner of Two Roads Development and a partner with Larry Feldman on the 50-plus-story Riverwalk Place on South Ashley Drive, site of what was once to be the Trump Tower Tampa project.

* “I have one fundamental role … to make sure it’s real BRT. That’s what I’m dedicated to doing.”–Jim Holton, chairman of the Tampa Bay Area Regional Transit Authority, in advocating for a bus rapid transit line that uses dedicated lanes for the full St. Petersburg to Tampa route.

* “It’s an experiment worth pursuing. The problem for us is the cost.”–Mayor Bob Buckhorn on police body cameras.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *