* “I would say that the North Koreans do one thing a lot, and that’s bluff.”–David R. Stilwell, assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs.
* “Russia’s successful attempt to co-opt the Republican Party closely parallels its broad campaign to compromise right-wing populist politicians in Europe with offers of cooperation, loans, propaganda and disinformation campaigns. … It is highly likely that Russian money played a significant role in the successful pro-Brexit campaign to withdraw the U.K. from the European Union.”–Kenneth F. McCallion, author of “Treason & Betrayal: The Rise and Fall of Individual-1.”
* “We’re going to stay until such time as we have a deal, or we have total victory, and they want to make a deal very badly.”–President Donald Trump, in his unannounced visit to American troops in Afghanistan.
* “The Republicans in the Senate and in the House think they’re in a Parliament, and their responsibility is to a prime minister to whom they owe party loyalty.”–Stuart Gerson, a member of the conservative group Checks & Balances and a former campaign adviser to President George H.W. Bush.
*”Salem witches got a better deal than this.”–South Carolina Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham, in denouncing the House impeachment inquiry.
* “Our separation of powers, the guard rail of our Constitution, fails when half the legislative branch abdicates its duty to hold the executive branch accountable. The cost of this failure will endure long beyond this presidency and is already signaling that our democracy is not only diminished but also increasingly dysfunctional.”–Susan Rice, the national security adviser under President Barack Obama.
* “(Trump’s) performance as president has confirmed my worst fears: trade wars, denial of climate change, huge budget deficits, attacks on the Federal Reserve, a chaotic White House and betrayal of our allies abroad. Worse yet, Congressional Republicans have done little to check Mr. Trump’s egregious behavior.”–Harvard economics Professor N. Gregory Mankiw.
* “A Moscow-loving grifter is on the loose in the White House. Shame on the Vichy Republicans who constantly enable (Trump).”–Republican consultant Michael Murphy.
* “I think sometimes the populist left is overrepresented in places where reporters sometimes spend a lot of time. Like on Twitter.”–David Axelrod, Democratic strategist and former White House aide to President Obama.
* “Undecideds almost always break toward the challenger. It happened in 2016 to Trump.”–Amy Walter, national editor of the Cook Political Report.
* “Any scenario where an impeached president is trying to jam through a Supreme Court pick in an election year, in direct defiance of the precedent Mitch McConnell set with Merrick Garland in 2016, would rightly spark a war.”–Brian Fallon, the co-founder and executive director of Demand Justice, a progressive judicial nominee advocacy group.
* “It’s time to put term limits on the Supreme Court.”–John Fund, the National Review.
* “The ugliness my jokes help reveal is why I’m so worried about our pluralistic democracies. … Social media platforms make it easier for people who share the same false premises to find one another, and then the technology acts as an accelerant for toxic thinking. … Fake news outperforms real news on social media; studies show that lies spread faster than truth.”–Comedian Sacha Baron Cohen in an Anti-Defamation League speech.
* “He’s the intellectuals’ James Bond.”–How James Baldwin once referred to William F. Buckley Jr.
* “We’re in a race right now to save the Florida citrus industry.”–Michael Rogers, director of the University of Florida’s Citrus Research and Education Center.
* “That was an unintended consequence. I don’t think any of us saw that coming.”–Former Florida Republican minority leader Curt Kiser, on how term limits resulted in the process of picking the leaders of the two chambers years in advance.
* “The most powerful man in the state.”–That’s what U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fl., may be, according to Rep. Gus Bilirakis, because of Gaetz’s friendships with Gov. Ron DeSantis and President Donald Trump.
* “Just because Ron DeSantis is no longer the tip of the (Fox) spear on impeachment doesn’t mean he’s not advancing the Trump agenda in Florida.”–Rep. Matt Gaetz.
* “Our obligation to the public is to put this into context and make them realize this could affect you, your children, your grandchildren, if we don’t start now, becoming more adaptive and mitigated through sustainability and resiliency process.”–John Bennett, Mayor Jane Castor’s chief of staff, on climate-change impact. Tampa is currently in the midst of a national search for a chief resiliency officer.
* “The market demand in Tampa has been strong from the start. Ybor City is also home to a budding film and creative industry, which makes it the perfect place for this unique movie theater conversion.”–Industrious Florida manager Jen Reilly Kelmer, on the conversion of the Centro Ybor AMC movie theater into 45,000 square feet of flexible working space. Industrious, which has 90 locations nationwide, is partnering with the investment firm Third Lake Capital.
* “I’ve always said that the only way to be successful in politics is to compromise, and right now we’re not there. I’m going to try my best, with the Lord’s help and prayers, to try to bring some collegiality back to this board and back to this county before I leave. Our success depends on that.”–Outgoing Hillsborough County Commission Chairman Les Miller.
* “I fully support the decision to reorient our football program in a new direction.”–New USF President Steven C. Currall, on the firing of head football coach Charlie Strong.