* “Anyone who has followed Middle East policies knows that this is a region where extremists tend to go all the way and moderates tend to just go away.”–Thomas L. Friedman, New York Times.
* “So much depends on the Internet that its vulnerability to sabotage invites doomsday visions of the breakdown of order and trust.”–Robert Samuelson, Washington Post.
* “Why should America involve itself in a sectarian civil war in Syria? Which side are we on–Sunni or Shiite? We send arms to rebels knowing they will wind up in the hands of al-Qaida? Why spend American treasure or risk American lives to escalate a war in which neither side can be counted as an ally? How is this in our national interest?”–U.S. Rep. Tom Rooney, R-Okeechobee.
* “You can’t outsource national security. As long as we depend on the intel-industrial complex for vetting, we’re going to get more Snowdens.”–Former CIA agent Robert Baer.
*”It is better to do this right than fast.”–Adam Jentleson, spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada, on the rationale for the Obama Administration’s one-year delay of the Affordable Care Act’s larger-employer mandate.
* “Requiring all candidates for a high-school diploma to pass the U.S. Citizenship Exam might be one way to raise public awareness and begin to exert pressure to restore essential knowledge to the K-12 curriculum.”–Robert Holland, Lexington Institute policy analyst.
* “The ability to connect with others is developed by studying the humanities, and in the global community this skill is not optional–it’s essential.”–James Cuno, president of the J. Paul Getty Trust.
* “Today’s vote suppressionists are driven less by discrimination for its own sake than fear that their hold on power will weaken if minorities and the young vote in large numbers.”–Harold Meyerson, Washington Post.
* “Marriage equality absolutely is coming to Florida, without a doubt. The question is what’s the quickest path.”–Nadine Smith, president of Equality Florida, the state’s leading gay rights group.
* “There are people who are looking at loopholes and these things expand gambling. I’m for closing loopholes. I’m not for expanding gambling in Florida.”–Florida Sen. John Thrasher, R-St. Augustine.
* “It’s kind of a brave new world we’re heading into with online education, and I’m not sure the state of Florida has really done a good job examining all the questions that come to mind to make sure it really is a good system before we throw a lot of money at it and go full scale.”–Mark Pudlow, Florida Education Association teachers union spokesman.
* “It could be negative. It could be positive because it brings more visitors to the market. What would be the impact of Clearwater’s plan? I don’t know.”–Thom Stork, CEO of the Florida Aquarium, speculating on the impact of Clearwater Marine Aquarium’s plans to build a much bigger, state-of-the-art facility in downtown Clearwater.
* “By all standards, this is a huge event. To get this to Tampa is really cool because nobody believed it could be done.”–Dr. Kiran Patel on the effort that successfully wooed the International Indian Film Academy’s Weekend and Awards to Tampa next June.
* “We want this to be a city young professionals want to be a part of. I look at the food trucks as my offspring. The craft beer guys are really putting us on the map and creating Tampa’s next chapter. I’m a proud papa.”–Mayor Bob Buckhorn.