* “Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the assessment that something else is more important than fear.”–Franklin D. Roosevelt.
* “Things are looking a great deal better for multilateralism this year … and that has a lot to do with Joe Biden having become the president of the United States of America.”–German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
* “(President Biden) is prepared to go to the table to talk to the Iranians about how we get strict constraints back on their nuclear program.”–National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan.
* “Biden is asking not for a few minimal immigration fixes but for a comprehensive solution. This is a president who wants more than a return to the old days: He’s shooting for a truly new normal.”–Eugene Robinson, Washington Post.
* “The subtext under every one of the images we are seeing from the White House is the banner: ‘Under new management.’”–Robert Gibbs, press secretary for President Barack Obama.
* “The long-term goal of a de-Trumpified GOP will take years. In the meantime, this trend to a smaller and more divided Republican Party could give Joe Biden the breathing room he needs to govern. … If Biden can push ahead with a robust stimulus, a large infrastructure bill, and a Federal Reserve committed to full employment, Democrats will have a much better chance of winning in 2022 and 2024.”–Jeet Heer, The Nation.
* “Republicans have taken politics as theater to an entirely new level in the Donald Trump era.”–Veteran GOP strategist Mac Stipanovich, who is now NPA.
* “The GOP of the last 30 years is over.”–David Marcus, The Federalist.
* “This is a president that lost the House, the Senate, the White House in four years. I think the last person to do that was Herbert Hoover. … (Trump should have) very little if none at all (influence) on the party going forward.”–Former Texas GOP Congressman Will Hurd.
* “We’re recovering, but to a different economy.”–Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell.
* “2021 began with the same market conditions we saw over the previous months, such as very low mortgage rates, high buyer demand and a lack of inventory.”–Florida Realtors President Cheryl Lambert.
* “A uniform signal across the state of what sea level rise projections should be used over what time periods.”–Department of Environmental Protection Secretary Noah Valenstein, in referencing the DEP rule being crafted that will lay out a standard for considering sea level rise before starting construction on some publicly projects along the coast.
* “I voted to acquit former President Trump because I will not allow my anger over the criminal attack of Jan. 6 nor the political intimidation from the left to lead me into supporting a dangerous, constitutional precedent.”–Sen. Marco Rubio.
* “Joe Biden is considering treating Florida like East Berlin and shutting down our border over ‘coronavirus concerns.’”–Gov. Ron DeSantis, in a fund-raising email. East Berlin?
* “I would say everything is on the table.”–Florida Senate President Wilton Simpson, R-Trilby, on the Legislature’s approach to crafting a balanced budget amid an economy hit hard by the pandemic. That legislative table includes considering the reduction of Medicaid payment rates for hospitals and nursing homes.
* “She was a trailblazer. … Her spirit is always present in the theater.”–Andrea Graham, former president of the Stageworks Theatre board, on the death ofAnna Brennan, Stageworks’ founder.
* “We anticipate the number of colleagues and services in our Tampa hub to grow and evolve over time.”–Pamela Eisele, spokeswoman for Pfizer, which is opening a 100,000-sq.-ft business hub in Tampa’s Heights Union, an office complex next to Armature Works.
* “The development of this land is critical to creating a seamless connection between Ybor, the Channel District, Encore, our downtown and even Tampa Heights.”–Developer Darryl Shaw, on completing the purchase of more than half of the Tampa Park Apartments housing complex that abuts Nick Nuccio Parkway.