* “In the face of authoritarianism, the response is not authoritarian democracy but the authority of democracy.”–French President Emmanuel Macron.
* “Hungary and Poland are turning the clock back to Europe’s darkest hours. … Taken to its end point, the new Hungarian and Polish authoritarianism means danger. It is more dangerous because Trump’s despot-coddling America has disappeared as a countervailing force. The president has ceased upholding the values that advance liberty.”–Roger Cohen, New York Times.
* “Intent is the problem when you’ve got a (Syrian) regime that loves using (chemical weapons). You either have to deter the regime from using it by imposing significant costs, or you have to get rid of the regime. But there is no way you can get rid of the capability.”–Michael Knights, fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.
* “It isn’t all about Donald Trump. Mr. Trump came from the chaos, but didn’t cause it. He just makes it worse each day by adding his own special incoherence. The party’s intellectual disarray both preceded and produced him.”–Peggy Noonan, Wall Street Journal.
* “We are experiencing a dangerous time in our country, with a political environment where basic facts are disputed, fundamental truth is questioned, lying is normalized and unethical behavior is ignored, excused or rewarded.”–James Comey, in “A Higher Loyalty: Truth, Lies and Leadership.”
* “Barbara Bush was the First Lady of the Greatest Generation.”–Presidential historian Jon Meacham.
* “Your privacy is disappearing because it is profitable for it to disappear, just as it is profitable to dig fossil fuels out of the ground or to deny health care to millions of Americans. A small number of people get very rich, while everybody else suffers the personal, social and ecological consequences.”–Ben Tarnoff, Jacobin Magazine.
* “What compelling government interest is served by felon disenfranchisement. This is not a legitimate objective for elected officials to pursue.”–George Will, Washington Post.
* “Rick Scott is going to shake down Washington–not shake up Washington. Scott cannot run against insiders when they’re funding his campaign.”–Florida Democratic Party spokesman Sebastian Kitchen.
* “Most of our election officials in Florida, I believe, with all due respect, are overconfident. I don’t think they fully understand the nature of the threat.”–Sen. Marco Rubio, in warning election officials of Florida’s vulnerability to election-system hacking.
* “Politicians come and go, but the fundamental relationship between our two countries remains, and it’s a relationship developed over centuries, a relationship of blood.”–Perrin Beatty, CEO of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, in remarks to local business leaders.
* “With only three municipalities, Hillsborough ranks dead last among similar counties in Florida in the number of incorporated areas. … With so few incorporated areas, Hillsborough has taken on the traditional role of a city. … The formation of new cities might be the answer to maintaining a high level of service, with a model of government closest to the people.”–Hillsborough County Commissioner Stacy White.
* “This is, in my mind, raw partisan politics. This is commissioners trying to draw districts for themselves to keep themselves on the commission.”–Hillsborough County Commissioner Pat Kemp, one of the commission’s two Democrats, on a plan to eliminate at-large, countywide seats and move to a commission comprised of nine single-member districts.
* “We think it’s going to be the front door of downtown Tampa.”–Larry Feldman, president of Feldman Equities, on recently released plans for Riverwalk Place, which is being touted as the tallest building on Florida’s West Coast.
* “(The Rays) realize, as all teams do, that the world of sports financing is changing and everyone is having to adapt.”–Hillsborough County Administrator Mike Merrill.