* “Call me a hopeless optimist, but I actually think we can get this done.”–President Barack Obama on chances that a stripped-down deficit-reduction compromise, which would prevent a tax increase for all but the richest taxpayers and extend aid for 2 million unemployed Americans, could still be reached by year’s end.
* “Nobody interacts with Hillary Clinton like she’s fading off into the sunset.”–State Department spokesman Philippe Reines.
* “He’s (Secretary of State nominee Sen. John Kerry) seen war. He knows it ain’t pretty, and very often it doesn’t work.”–Jonah Blank, South Asia specialist and former Kerry aide.
* “Depending on what happens, and where we go, all of us, we may obviously meet again.”–Massachusetts Sen. Scott Brown in his farewell address on the Senate floor.
* “Aircraft, ships, tanks bases, even those that have outlived their usefulness, have a natural political constituency. Readiness does not. What’s more, readiness is too often sacrificed in favor of a larger and less effective force. I am determined to avoid that outcome.”–Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta.
* “She was from gun culture, ‘Live free or die.’ That was truly her upbringing.”–A reference to Nancy Lanza, mother of mass killer Adam Lanza, by Russell Ford, a friend of Mrs. Lanza’s.
* “I don’t know anybody in the sporting or hunting arena that goes out with an assault rifle.”–U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin, a gun-rights Democrat from West Virginia.
* “We cannot tolerate this any longer. Congress has within its ability to bring up common sense gun regulation very quickly.”–U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor, D-Tampa.
* “The only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun.”–Wayne LaPierre, NRA executive vice president and CEO.
* “You can’t make this (school) an armed camp for kids.”–New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie.
* “We would welcome that discussion, although I don’t know if that is the answer.”–Hillsborough school district spokesman Stephen Hagerty on state Rep. Mike Fasano’s suggestion to hire school resource officers for every Florida elementary school.
* “If assault rifles are evil things that ought not be in the hands of decent Americans, why do ‘shoot-to-kill’ video games feature those weapons? Why does Hollywood glamorize assault rifles in action-packed films of slaughter starring Bruce Willis, Sylvester Stallone, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Chuck Norris and Jason Statham?”–Patrick J. Buchanan, Washington Post.
* “If we’re serious about curtailing future Columbines and Newtowns, everything–guns (institutional) commitment and culture–must be on the table. It’s not hard for President Obama to call out the NRA. But will he call out the ACLU? And will he call out his Hollywood friends?–Charles Krauthammer, Washington Post.
* “If you wanted to create a system that would make it easy for criminals and mentally ill people to get guns, I would design it based on Florida’s system.”–Arthur Hayhoe of the Florida Coalition to Stop Gun Violence.
* “Obviously, the (Florida) governor has almost two years to go until the election and anything is possible, but he faces a herculean task in changing public opinion to his favor.”–Quinnipiac University pollster Pete Brown.
* “Cargo is the future.”–William “Hoe” Brown, chairman of the Tampa Port Authority.
* “He embraced life so that it seems all the more shocking that his life has ended. There was so much good in him.”–Former Tampa Mayor Pam Iorio on the late Bill McBride.
* “We have been jumping for joy. You could hear kids screaming all throughout the school. It’s a great feeling.”–Robinson High School principal Johnny Bush reacting to news that his school received an A grade from the state Department of Education.
* “This project presents the perfect opportunity to own the hippest hotel in the most dynamic location in Tampa Bay.”–Punit Shah of Liberty Group, a joint-venture partner in converting the Mercantile Bank building at Ashley Drive and Kennedy Boulevard into an Aloft boutique hotel.