* “Russians and Ukrainians are one people.”–Russian President Vladimir Putin.
* “It is hard to know what is more depressing: that (Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu went for the gutter in the last few days in order to salvage his campaign … or the fact that this seemed to work.”–Thomas Friedman, New York Times.
* “If you cross her, you end up dead. … There’s a whole list of alpha males who thought they would get her out of the way, and they’re all now in other walks of life.”–Former U.S. ambassador to Germany John Kornblum, speaking about German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
* “Less and less does multiculturalism look like the wave of the future.”–Pat Buchanan, Creators Syndicate.
* “For six years the right has told America we made a mistake hiring a one-term senator for president. So it is going to be awfully hard to say the GOP should nominate a one-term senator. That’s just the truth.”–Conservative blogger Erick Erickson, on a Marco Rubio candidacy.
* “You’re not going to hear me speak ill of Jeb. He’s a friend of mine. … I just think voters are going to look at this and say, ‘If we’re running against Hillary Clinton, we’ll need a name from the future–not a name from the past–to win.'”–Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker.
* “You couldn’t pick two more resonant issues for Republican primary voters than immigration and Common Core. … Jeb says to them, ‘Not only do I not agree with you, I don’t agree with you at all–and I don’t really respect your views on it.’ That’s not a starting point for dialogue with conservative voters. That’s more like a middle finger.”–Tucker Carlson, Daily Caller editor-in-chief.
* “The political leadership of Florida is going to be with Jeb Bush.”–State Sen. Jack Latvala, R-Clearwater.
* “I am the only one who can make America truly great again.”–Donald Trump, in announcing plans to form a presidential exploratory committee.
* “Hillary Rodham was a young staffer on the House Judiciary Committee investigating Nixon (Watergate). She saw. She learned. Today you don’t burn tapes. You delete emails.”–Charles Krauthammer.
* “If everybody voted, then it would completely change the political map in this country.”–President Barack Obama.
* “It’s a matter of time. It’ll be lifted and we’ll have normal relations. We should have done it a long time ago.”–John Block, former agriculture secretary under President Ronald Reagan, on the Cuban embargo.
* “The only thing I’d like to do is to be able to go out one day without anyone recognizing me and go get a pizza.”–Pope Francis.
* “Our infrastructure’s on life support. It’s falling apart because we haven’t made the investments. We haven’t got the money.”–Ray LaHood, former U.S. transportation secretary.
* “I strongly urge Congress not to raise the federal gas tax or any tax and instead come up with innovative solutions to fund priorities as we have done in Florida.”–Gov. Rick Scott.
* “As the planet heats up, Florida faces sea level rise on our coasts, increased salinity in our underground drinking water supplies, dying coral reefs and flooding along our populated coasts. We know this. … Climate change is coming and telling people not to utter the words won’t make it go away.”–David Hastings, professor of marine science and chemistry at Eckerd College.
* “If a state has a climate-denier governor that doesn’t want to accept a (FEMA disaster-preparedness) plan, that would risk mitigation work not getting done because of politics. The governor would be increasing the risk to citizens in that state.”–Becky Hammer, attorney with the Natural Resources Defense Council’s water program.
* “Can’t we just ban the term ‘Rick Scott’?”–The Nightly Show’s Larry Wilmore.
* “It has not worked. Secondary enforcement of this (texting and driving) ban has not been effective at stopping the loss of lives.”–Sen. Maria Sachs, D-Delray Beach.
* “It will be eye-opening for investors and capital. As we continue to make the Riverwalk the focus of our downtown, it presents opportunities that have never existed before.”–Mayor Bob Buckhorn.
* “I still believe in the area, more so than the people in baseball, more so certainly than national media. I believe in it and I want to make it work. But it’s got to be in the right spot.”–Tampa Bay Rays principal owner Stuart Sternberg.
* “I’d really like to see less cronyism and more democracy at City Council.”–Tampa City Council member Mary Mulhern.
* “We see Evan (Longoria) as our Derek Jeter, with that kind of commitment to lead the team.”–Darcy Raymond, Tampa Bay Rays marketing director.