* “No matter where you are, we are a target these days. No matter where we go, countries like China, Russia and much of the Arab world have assets and are trying to spy on us so you have to think about that and take as many precautions as possible.”–R. James Woolsey Jr., the director of central intelligence during the Clinton administration.
* “When we emphasize the uncertainty of climate change, we appear to justify a course of no action on climate. … At present, it seems that the human race stands little risk of overreacting to global warming but a great risk of underreacting.”–Adam Sobel, author, atmospheric scientist and professor at Columbia University.
* “Right now, governors are the most popular political players in the country, mainly because of the dysfunction in Washington and because the public perceives governors as being bipartisan, pragmatic and able to work things out. Governors are the hot political items right now.”–Bill Richardson, former governor of New Mexico and Democratic candidate for president in 2008.
* “The fact that there is a little bit of a disagreement between the press corps and the White House press office about how much access the press corps should have to the president is built into the system. If that tension didn’t exist, then either you or we aren’t doing our jobs.”–White House spokesman Josh Earnest.
* “Politics is a team sport. Obama’s the blue team captain, and he’s not doing well. So it’s no surprise the president’s teammates are not doing well, either.”–Quinnipiac pollster Peter A. Brown.
* “Without a doubt, the conduct uncovered in this investigation helped sow the seeds of the mortgage meltdown.”–U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder on the $13-billion settlement penalty reached by the U.S. Justice Department and JPMorgan Chase over the bank’s peddling of toxic mortgages.
* “The failures of massive online education come as no shock to those of us who actually educate students by being in the same room with them. … Successful education needs personal interaction and accountability, period. This is, in fact, the same reason students feel annoyed, alienated and anonymous in large lecture halls and thus justified in sexting and playing World of Warcraft during class.”–Rebecca Schuman, adjunct professor of humanities at the University of Missouri-St. Louis.
* “All of us have entered into a compact, a conspiracy. For the pleasure the sport (football) gives us, we’ll tuck away our reservations about its culture of violence. We’ll turn a blind eye to the wreckage.”–Frank Bruni, New York Times.
* “They should have checked with us before they scheduled the game in New Jersey. If I was paying that much for a ticket, I might not want to sit in the snow.”–Sandi Duncan, managing editor of the Farmers’ Almanac, commenting on the site of this year’s Super Bowl: New Jersey’s outdoors MetLife Stadium.
* “Everybody has been putting their toe in the water, but Toyota putting its toe in the water is a bit more significant.”–Auto industry analyst Alan Baum on Toyota’s announcement that it plans to begin selling a hydrogen fuel-cell car by 2015.
* “It’s hard to say stocks are expensive when you compare them to any other asset class.”–Brian Hogan, director of equities at Fidelity Investments.
* “Harry Potter is not American. It’s foreign, and it’s so blatantly commercial it’s off the charts.”–John Hotchner, former president of the American Philatelic Society, on the U.S. Postal Service plans to issue a Harry Potter stamp.
* “I have yet to have a bad martini in DC.”–Florida Congressman Trey Radel, R-Fort Myers.
* “There is a desire to have a broad, one-size-fits-all answer to cyberbullying. I don’t know if this phenomenon lends itself to that kind of solution.”–Lyrissa Lidsky, First Amendment and cyber law professor at the University of Florida.
* “When I look at what is happening in other states across the country, Florida is way back. I think (consumers) are mad, but they’re feeling helpless.”–Florida Congresswoman Kathy Castor, D-Tampa, on this state’s need to invest in energy efficiency and renewable energy.
* “Florida faces a preponderance of needs that have been neglected by, and in some cases caused by, the Republican leadership.”–Rep. Perry Thurston, D-Fort Lauderdale, the House minority leader.
* “People are looking at this as a very nationalized race, a bellwether for the country–one of the first congressional races to be held in the actual election year.”–USF political scientist Susan MacManus on the significance of the March special election to replace the late Republican Rep. C.W. “Bill” Young in Pinellas County.
* “It’s a message that Tampa is open for business and welcoming of talent.”–Nadine Smith, CEO of Equality Florida, in response to the Human Rights Campaign’s ranking of Tampa as first in the state in the promotion of equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender residents.
* “Major League Baseball does not believe in Tampa Bay as a baseball region. I am convinced of that. I believe that Mr. (Stuart) Sternberg believes it could work. I’m not sure he’s convinced, but he believes it could work.”–St. Petersburg Mayor Bill Foster.