* “This whole conflict has the feel of a proxy war. Turkey and Qatar are backing Hamas in the hopes of getting the upper hand in their regional rivalry with Egypt and Saudi Arabia. The Egyptians and even the Saudis are backing or rooting for the Israelis, in hopes that the Israeli force will weaken Hamas.”–David Brooks, New York Times.
* “Every vote they’re taking like that means a vote they’re not taking to actually help you.”–President Barack Obama to an audience in Kansas City, in response to the House GOP vote to sue him.
* “Adding an unprecedented legal maneuver to a long list of what Democrats view as extraordinary slights against this particular president is likely to excite a liberal base in dire need of excitement.”–Charles Blow, New York Times, on the upshot of the House vote to sue the president.
* “The partisan primary system, which favors more ideologically pure candidates, has contributed to the election of more extreme officeholders and increased political polarization. It has become a menace to governing.”–U.S. Sen. Charles E. Schumer, D-N.Y.
* “I have grave concerns that there remains a troubling pattern in your state of measures that make it more difficult, not easier, for Floridians to vote.”–U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, in a Justice Department letter to Gov. Rick Scott.
* “I mean, this is pure politics. … This is just them trying to help Charlie Crist, the failed candidate that lost jobs and cut education funding.”–Gov. Rick Scott’s response.
* “We are backing (Crist) so aggressively because we feel we have given every governor in the governor’s seat a fair deal in treating public employees fairly, but that hasn’t happened with this governor.”–Jeannette Wynn, Florida president for the American Federation of State, County& Municipal Employees, in referencing AFSCME’s $1 million contribution to the Charlie Crist campaign.
* “Union bosses endorse Charlie Crist. In other news, water is wet.”–Greg Blair, spokesman for Gov. Rick Scott.
* “To make it clear, the doctors in Florida have spoken.”–Dr. Aaron Elkin, chairman of the Broward County Medical Association’s board of trustees, who wrote the FMA’s resolution endorsing Medicaid expansion in Florida.
* “It’s good to be seen and not viewed.”–Hall of Fame quarterback Jim Kelly, who is battling cancer, was among those in attendance at last Saturday’s NFL HOF induction ceremony.
* “I am often asked about the most important impression I have as a new member of Congress. And it’s this: We should be in session more.”–U.S. Rep. David Jolly, R-Indian Shores.
* “The ‘humanitarian quotient’ of the unaccompanied minors we see coming our way cries out to heaven for a humanitarian and not a politically timed or motivated response.”–Catholic Bishop Robert Lynch of the five-county, Diocese of St. Petersburg.
* “We’re talking about nothing short of changing the culture about how we travel and move around the county.”–Hillsborough County Administrator Mike Merrill on what is riding with a transit-tax proposal on the 2016 ballot.
* “Cigars are to Tampa what wine is to Napa and automobiles are to Michigan.”–Eric Newman, co-owner of J.C. Newman Cigar Co. in Ybor City.
* “I’m able to put stuff down, to decompress. I meditate every day.”–Rays manager Joe Maddon.