* “And on nights like this one we can say to families who have lost loved ones to al-Qaida’s terror: Justice has been done.”–President Barack Obama on the killing of Osama bin Laden.
* “If one-man, one-vote democracy across the Maghreb and Middle East is almost certain to strengthen the Muslim Brotherhood and to liberate Islamists to persecute Christians, why are we for it?”–Patrick Buchanan, Creators Syndicate.
* “Presidential administrations don’t get to choose their historical challenges. But they can firmly take a side.”–Michael Gerson, Washington Post.
* “No amount of tea with Afghans will persuade them that we are like them, that our war is their war or that our interests are their interests.”–Michael Miklaucic, National Defense University.
* “Today there is no actual shortage of crude oil. But fear stalks the trading floors because fear is good for traders; and fear is a critical part of the oil price.”–Llewellyn King, executive producer and host of “White House Chronicle” on PBS.
* “Over the past months, we’ve seen a fascinating phenomenon. The public mood has detached from the economic cycle. In normal times, economic recoveries produce psychological recoveries. At least at the moment, that seems not to be happening.”–David Brooks, New York Times.
* “We have much to be proud of. And we know it. But take a look around us. Don’t we have some reasons for pause, for self-questioning? Don’t we have a lot of cultural repair that needs doing?”–Peggy Noonan, Wall Street Journal.
* “President Obama, if you look closely at his positions, is a moderate Republican of the early 1990s. And the Republican Party he’s facing has abandoned many of its best ideas in its efforts to oppose him.”–Ezra Klein, Washington Post.
* “At this point there appears to be a flatness in the field. There’s a void right now and even clowns can fill voids.”–Peter Wehner, former George W. Bush adviser, on the current status of the Republican presidential field.
* “The pros are that he is experienced in politics, the Hill, the budget and intelligence. The cons are that he is not generally known as a classic defense strategist or planner in terms of deep familiarity with operational concepts of war.”–Brookings Institution analyst Michael O’Hanlon on the appointment of CIA Director Leon Panetta to succeed Robert Gates as Secretary of Defense.
* “Today, I am very proud of myself because I have accomplished something that nobody else has been able to accomplish. I was just informed while on the helicopter that our president has finally released a birth certificate.”–Donald Trump, in reacting to the news that the White House had just distributed President Barack Obama’s Certificate of Live Birth.
* “Minority students are especially prone to the fear of failing. As early as kindergarten, nearly a quarter of African-American boys–three times the percentage of whites–are convinced that they lack the innate ability to succeed in school. These students do badly, their fears confirmed and the cycle repeats itself.”–David L. Kirp, professor of public policy, the University of California Berkeley, and author of “Kids First: Five Big Ideas for Transforming Children’s Lives and America’s Future.”
* “Although Florida has at least three years from the date of the oil spill to assert its legal rights under OPA (the federal Oil Pollution Act), we intend to file a claim with BP this summer. If BP does not do the right thing and pay that claim, I will not hesitate to take BP and any other responsible party to court.”–Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi.
* “(Rick) Scott is the face of the (Florida) Republican Party. His image presents not only a problem for him if he wants to run again, but for other Republicans.”–Retired University of South Florida political scientist Darryl Paulson, a Republican.
* “We’re talking about a Super Bowl on steroids. We’re talking about five Super Bowls on four to five consecutive days.”–Santiago Corrada, chief of staff for Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn, assessing the impact of next year’s GOP Convention in Tampa.