* “I’m confident that we will keep the economic pressure in place until such time as Chairman Kim fulfills the (denuclearization) commitment he made to President Trump back in June in Singapore.”–Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.
* “(The U.S.) will no longer appease dictators and despots near our shores in this hemisphere.”–National Security Adviser John Bolton, in announcing new sanctions being imposed on Venezuela and Cuba and additional penalties against Nicaragua.
* “Scholars are still struggling to understand what will happen to democracy, whose growth stalled over a decade ago and may now be receding. … We had long thought that democracies in regions like Latin America or Southeast Asia would catch up to those in the West. And maybe they will. Or maybe we had it backward all along.”–Max Fisher, New York Times.
* “The world of inequality, corruption and violence (Central Americans) are fleeing is a world that American elites have helped build. To shrug off the struggles the region confronts today is to deny responsibility for decade after decade of neocolonial meddling.”–Miles Culpepper, Jacobin Magazine.
* “Paul Ryan should be focusing on holding the majority rather than giving his opinions on birthright citizenship, something he knows nothing about!”–President Donald Trump.
* “We’ll go up to anywhere between 10,000 and 15,000 military personnel on top of Border Patrol, ICE and everybody else at the border.”–Donald Trump.
* “In this campaign, fear is what’s on the Republican menu. Peace and prosperity? Mere side dishes.”–Bret Stephens, New York Times.
* “The fake news media, the true enemy of the people, must stop the open and obvious hostility and report the news accurately and fairly.”–Donald Trump.
* “Denigrating the media diminishes an institution that is critical to democracy, both here and abroad. As a political tactic, it may be brilliant, but it comes with a larger cost to the cause of freedom.”–Mitt Romney, the 2012 Republican presidential nominee and current Senate candidate from Utah.
* “(Presidents) heal. They unite. They inspire. … It’s not in Donald Trump’s software to do this.”–Historian Michael Beschloss.
* “The president is trying to heal the country.”–White House counselor Kellyanne Conway.
* “Being in (Trump’s) orbit, I think, has been good for me and good for him. … I enjoy his company. I’ve spend more time talking to him than any president–all of them combined.”–South Carolina Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham.
* “It is now impossible to have intellectual integrity and a conscience while remaining a Republican in good standing. … Those who remain are either fanatics willing to do anything in pursuit of power, or cynics willing to go along with anything for a share of the spoils.”–Paul Krugman, New York Times.
* “One election won’t eliminate racism or sexism or homophobia … but it will be a start. And when you start down that path, momentum starts to build.”–Former President Barack Obama.
* “One unintended effect of Donald Trump is that has alleviated fears of people who thought they were unqualified for office.”–Sayu Bhojwani, founder of New American Leaders.
* “Our debts are growing faster than our means to discharge them. It strains credulity to think that our creditors are unaware of the fact. Some of us fret about foreign hackers tilting American elections with lies. We should all spare a worry about hackers causing a bond-market crisis by spreading the truth.”–James Grant, Weekly Standard.
* “The economy is roaring, but the mood is so sour. It’s a very sad time in this country.”–South Florida Republican Congressman Carlos Curbelo.
* “The key distinction is the number of people per vehicle. Without pretty radically increasing the number of people per vehicle, autonomous systems will increase total miles traveled.”–Transportation planner Jerry Walters.
* “Cyber. Could be banks. Could be transportation systems. Could be communications systems. It’s going to happen.”–Former senator and presidential candidate Gary Hart on what he thinks will be the next major threat.
* “I voted for Andrew Gillum. The reason is simple: It’s because I’ve served with Ron DeSantis.”–Former Florida Republican Congressman David Jolly.
* “Drinking and driving in the Tampa Bay area is a public health epidemic.”–Larry Coggins, executive director of the West Central Florida chapter of Mothers Against Drunk Driving.
* “Without a dedicated funding source, we’ll never break gridlock.”–Hillsborough County Administrator Mike Merrill.
* “This next phase, we hope, is going to be a bridge (between) a seasonal service and a permanent ferry service that connects our communities.”–St. Petersburg Mayor Rick Kriseman.