* “The generation gap in Russia is stunning. Young Russians from the post-Soviet generation lack the fear and timidity instilled in their parents and grandparents.”–Trudy Rubin, Philadelphia Inquirer.
* “Some have argued that the president is required to get permission from a federal court before taking action against a United States citizen who is a senior operational leader of al-Qaida or associated forces. This is simply not accurate. Due process and judicial process are not one and the same, particularly when it comes to national security. The Constitution guarantees due process; it does not guarantee judicial process.”–U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder.
* “The best Republican candidates have taken themselves out of the running. The party has fielded a roster of second-rate candidates and in a frenzy of mutually assured destruction is thinning this list down to the one it dislikes least.”–Clive Crook, Bloomberg News.
* “Every day that goes by that they campaign against each other, particularly with the tenor of this campaign, the unfavorables of Mitt Romney go up and it’s a day lost where he is not able to campaign against President Obama.”–Sen. John McCain.
* “The rise of the independent voter (40 percent of Americans, according to Gallup) signals a deep dissatisfaction with both parties.”–Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine.
* “Women who assumed that electing Obama would lift all minority boats are beginning to think: Maybe he’s not enough.”–Maureen Dowd, New York Times.
* “Decades after the dawn of feminism, women are still seen through an erotically censorious prism, and promiscuity is still the ultimate putdown.”–Frank Bruni, New York Times.
* “When sacred objects are threatened, we can expect a ferocious tribal response. The right perceives a ‘war on Christianity’ and gears up for a holy war. The left perceives a ‘war on women’ and gears up for, well, a holy war. … But when your opponent is the devil, bargaining and compromise are themselves forms of sacrilege.”–Jonathan Haidt, University of Virginia professor of psychology.
* “The firm changed the way it thought about leadership. Leadership used to be about ideas, setting an example and doing the right thing. Today, if you make enough money for the firm–and are not currently an ax murderer–you will be promoted into a position of influence.”–Greg Smith, the recently resigned head of Goldman Sachs’ U.S. equity derivatives business in Europe, the Middle East and Africa.
* “Wherever we want to go, we can only get there from where we are. Not where we think we are, or wish we are, or where we want others to think we are, but where we are, in fact, right now.”–Thomas Sowell, senior fellow, Hoover Institution at Stanford University.
* “You have a lot of these state legislators that work part-time and a lot of time they’re relying very heavily on lobbyists. There’s no one really checking to make sure that those relationships are kosher.”–Caitlin Ginley, project manager for the national State Integrity Investigation report that looked at states’ transparency in government.
* “My general belief is Tampa thinks Polk County should be landfills, prisons and things they don’t want. I don’t see our future that way.”–Sen. JD Alexander, R-Lake Wales.
* “Our County Center is made of glass. It’s a no-brainer.”–Tax Collector Doug Belden on the rationale for closing the County Center during the GOP Convention.
* “All of the business, we know, will be here in the city of Tampa. We will be the place to get away.”–St. Petersburg Mayor Bill Foster on St. Petersburg’s niche during the GOP convention.