* “Opening cinemas will act as a catalyst for economic growth and diversification.”–Awwad Alawwad, head of the Saudi Arabian Ministry of Culture and Information, in explaining why the Saudis are lifting a decades-old ban on movie theaters.
* “The World Trade Organization is losing its essential focus on negotiation, and is becoming a litigation-centered organization.”–Robert Lighthizer, U.S. trade representative to the WTO.
* “If (Mueller) finds crimes and (Congress) goes Democratic, there will be moves for impeachment in 2019.”–Peggy Noonan, Wall Street Journal.
* “There’s no collusion whatsoever.”–President Donald Trump.
* “Russia’s two subversions, of global sports and American democracy, have more in common than you may think. Both involved intelligence agents, Russia’s will to win and the same cyberespionage team. Both have … challenged public confidence–in the purity of sport and in the strength of democracy.”–Rebecca R. Ruiz, New York Times.
* “I think we could go to 4, 5 or even 6 percent, ultimately. We are back. We are really going to start to rock.”–Donald Trump, in predicting that the economic rate of growth would soar as a result of Republican tax cuts.
* “We benefited from an enlightened period in the post-war United States. Our National Institutes of Health have enthusiastically and generously supported basic research … (but) the current climate in the U.S. is a warning that continued support cannot be taken for granted.”–Michael Rosbash, the American researcher who shared this year’s Nobel Prize for medicine.
* “…someone who would come to my office ‘begging’ for campaign contributions not so long ago (and would do anything for them) is now in the ring fighting against Trump.”–Donald Trump, in responding to Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., who called for Trump to resign over allegations of sexual improprieties.
* “But let’s not kid ourselves. We all know what (Trump) was saying. In so many words, the president basically just shouted “Whore!” at a U.S. senator.”–Paul Waldman, American Prospect.
* “I think any woman who has felt violated or felt mistreated in any way, they have every right to speak up.”–U.S. Ambassador to the UN Nikki R. Haley.
*”We cannot have a rash of people coming out and people getting fired and then back to business as usual.”–Facebook CFO Sheryl Sandburg.
* “We’ve got to make sure that in this crossroads in Alabama’s history, we take the right road. We’ve lagged behind in industry. We’ve lagged behind in education. We’ve lagged behind in health care.”–Newly-elected Alabama Democratic Sen. Doug Jones.
* “Steve Bannon is a cancer. Good people in Alabama were the first dose of chemo.”–Rick Wilson, Florida-based, Republican strategist.
* “The rot afflicting the GOP is comprehensive–moral, intellectual, political and reputational.”–David Brooks, New York Times.
* “I think there’s a huge, simmering energy among Democrats right now, and many moderate Republicans are concerned about Trump and the direction of the country.”–Dan Gelber, newly elected Democratic mayor of Miami Beach.
* “Trump’s inability to distinguish his grandiose fantasies from reality will give the midterms an urgency rarely seen in a non-presidential election. … Democrats will ask voters: Do they want to bring the Trumpian nightmare to an end? … Election of a Congress of the opposite party would, for most presidents, be daunting. For Trump, it would be politically fatal.”–Jennifer Rubin, Washington Post.
* “If the consensus is that the (baseball) stadium should be in Tampa at the site that’s been reported then I think you’re going to see, not necessarily just the chamber, but the business community really show its support more so than it had been in the past.”–Mike Griffin, outgoing chairman of the Greater Tampa Chamber of Commerce.
* “I don’t need a job, and I really enjoy what I do. It’s not about the title or the trappings, but the ability to work and get things done.”–Attorney, civic activist and transit advocate Ed Turanchik, who says he’s taking another look at a run for mayor in 2019.