Category: Media Watch

* “We are very much confused. Therefore, we think that now the American government has moved from ‘strategic patience’ to ‘strategic confusion.'”–Moon Jung In, policy adviser to South Korean President Moon Jae In.

* “There’s no military solution (to North Korea’s military threats), forget it.”–Steve Bannon, in his controversial interview with American Prospect magazine.

* “All my life I’ve heard that decisions are much different when you sit behind the desk in the Oval Office.”–President Donald Trump in his Afghanistan strategy.

* “The Trump presidency that we fought for, and won, is over. … That presidency is over.”–Steve Bannon.

* “We cannot pretend that the ugly bigotry unleashed in the streets of Charlottesville, Va., has nothing to do with the election of Donald Trump.”–Michael Eric Dyson, author of “Tears We Cannot Stop: A Sermon to White America.”

* “The beauty that is being taken out of our cities, towns and parks will be greatly missed and never able to be comparably replaced.”–Donald Trump on the issue of confederate statue and monument removal.

* “What about the ‘alt-left’? Do they have any semblance of guilt?”–Donald Trump.

* “Think before you speak.”–Advice to Trump from Susan Bro, mother of Heather Heyer, the woman killed in Charlottesville.

* “Our allies around the world are stunned and our enemies celebrate.”–Mitt Romney, on impact of Trump’s words and actions.

* “Trump hasn’t been exercising the duties of his office. He’s been excising them, one by one. The moral forfeiture of the past week was the capper.”–Frank Bruni, New York Times.

* “Ignoring your hateful rhetoric would have made us complicit in your words and actions.”–Excerpt from the letter from the members of the President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities, announcing their resignations.

* “These executives cannot live with customers thinking they are in cahoots with someone who supports white supremacists or neo-Nazis.”–Goldman Sachs board member Bill George on why CEOs are publicly condemning Trump’s response to the events in Charlottesville.

* “Six months into the new administration, the movement to “Make America Great Again” appears to be little more than a re-mastering of Jim Crow Culture’s  greatest hits: Negrophobia, anti-Semitism, xenophobia and Ku Kluxism.”–Ray Arsenault, professor of Southern History at USF St. Petersburg.

* “Segregation is not all bad. Have you ever heard of a collision where the people in the back of the bus got hurt”–Dick Gregory, the pioneering black satirist, who died last Saturday.

* “Don’t waste time trying to talk Trump’s fans out of supporting him. Convince those who didn’t care enough to vote to get involved.”–Mark Cuban.

* “Resign.”–Al Gore’s advice to Donald Trump.

* “The seeds of many of the troubles that beset us today–alienation, resentment and cynicism; mistrust of our government and each other; breakdown of civil discourse and civic institutions–were sown during the Vietnam War.”–Filmmaker Ken Burns, whose latest documentary is ‘The Vietnam War,’ a 10-part series beginning next month on PBS.

* “We are not the gate-crashers of today’s Democratic Party. We are not a wing of today’s Democratic Party. We are the heart and soul of today’s Democratic Party.”–Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren.

* “Everyone knows the partisan affiliation of the candidates, but it is illegal to conduct partisan local elections. Stop making both citizens and candidates pretend that local elections are nonpartisan.”–Darryl Paulson, former political science professor at USF St. Petersburg, who’s an advocate for Florida law being changed to allow partisan city elections.

* “It is my goal to make it harder for politicians to raise taxes on Florida families and businesses, and that can be achieved with an amendment to our state’s Constitution.”–Gov. Rick Scott, in announcing that he wants to require a new “supermajority” vote by the state legislature for tax hikes.

* “This achievement is a direct reflection of the collaborative efforts of our public and private sector leaders to make Tampa and Hillsborough county the most desirable place in the nation to build, relocate or expand a business.”–Craig Richard, CEO of Tampa Hillsborough Economic Development Corp., on news that Tampa Bay led the state in over-the-year job creation–with 40,800 jobs added since July 2016.

* “No one’s trying to erase history. History cannot be erased. But we need to get rid of monuments that are painful to the community.”–Hillsborough County Commissioner Les Miller.

* “The paradigm for stadium financing continues to include increased team participation.”–Hillsborough County Commissioner Ken Hagan.

* “The market has swung in our favor. We hope to have letters of intent very soon.”–LeRoy Moore, COO of the Tampa Housing Authority, indicating that a deal is close to bring a well-known grocer to its Encore project.

* “North Korea better get their act together, or they are going to be in trouble like few nations have ever been in trouble.” –President Donald Trump.

* “Things will happen to them like they never thought possible, okay?”–Donald Trump.

* “I don’t have any concern about inflaming anything. All the inflaming here is coming from this crazy guy in North Korea.”–Sen. Marco Rubio.

* “When you get close to the point of a fight, the one who is stronger and wiser should be the first to step back from the brink.”–Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.

* “I don’t see a military solution, and I don’t think it’s called for. I think escalating the rhetoric is the wrong answer.”–German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

* “Let her speak for Germany.”–Donald Trump.

* “There’s a lot of theater to this whole thing.”–Bob Carlin, former Northeast Asia chief for the State Department’s intelligence arm.

* “Now we have a president who reacts to braggadocio with an attempt to top it on his own side. He’s out there is territory he thinks is familiar, which is meeting exaggerated statement with exaggerated statement, convincing the other side that we’re tough, you’re going to fold.”–Retired Adm. Dennis C. Blair, former head of the U.S. Pacific Command and director of national intelligence.

* “Trump is a democratically elected strongman, and Kim is a fratricidal despot, but they both live in bizarro fantasy worlds where lying and cheating is the norm.”–Maureen Dowd, New York Times.

* “If China helps us (with North Korea), I (would) feel a lot differently toward trade.”–Donald Trump.

* “We’re only six months into the experiment with Trump. Some experiments are ended early for ethical reasons.”–Al Gore.

* “If there is one consistent thread through Mr. Trump’s political career, it is his overt connection to white resentment and white nationalism.”–Carol Anderson, Emory University professor and author of “White Rage: The Unspoken Truth of Our Racial Divide.”

* “I’m not going to make any bones about it. I place the blame for a lot of what you’re seeing in America today right at the door step of the White House and the people around the president.”–Charlottesville Mayor Michael Signer.

* “I would urge the president to dissuade these (white nationalist) groups that he’s their friend.”–Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina.

* “They shouldn’t be claimed as part of a base. Call it for what it is–it’s evil. It’s white nationalism.”–Republican Sen. Cory Gardner of Colorado.

* “Investors may be a little more cautious in treating the dollar as safe haven.”–Jeremy Cook, chief economist at World First, on how volatility in Washington is making the dollar less appealing on the financial markets.

* “Country, president, self.”–Outtakes from a pep talk to White House staffers by Chief of Staff John Kelly reminding them of their priorities.

* “As chaotic and dysfunctional as (the Trump White House) looks from the outside, from my experience with Sarah Palin, I know what’s known and discussed publicly is usually just the tip of the iceberg. … Only Donald Trump’s White House could make the Bush years look like the golden age of presidential history.”–Nicolle Wallace, political analyst and anchor for MSNBC and a former Republican communications strategist who worked for George W. Bush, John McCain and Sarah Palin.

* “The left is coming for us.”–Adam Putnam, at a Republican Party state gathering in Orlando.

* “They have modern buildings … and they are key players in Pentagon operations around the world, and thus extremely unlikely to be moved.”–Former Veterans Affairs Secretary Anthony Principi, explaining why MacDill Air Force Base is in good shape to weather the next round of base closings.

* “Our business community is behind (a transit fix). The political community is mixed and not there yet.”–Jeff Vinik.

* “Nothing is more urgent. If people can’t get off the roads to get in or out of the airport, that’s a critical problem.”–Al Illustrato, executive vice president of facilities and administration at TIA.

* “It’s time for us to rethink magnet altogether, and all schools altogether.”–Hillsborough County Public Schools Superintendent Jeff Eakins.

It has been well noted in media circles that Kayleigh McAnany is no longer at CNN, where she had carved out a niche as a pro-Trump contributor. Networks, as we know, like to offset criticism of their political leanings by having a token or two on board to symbiotically represent the other side. McAnany, an attractive, well-spoken, blonde conservative, certainly qualified. But now she will be making pro-Trump news videos, starting with the recent hosting of a segment on Trump’s Facebook page.

BTW, McAnany, 28, is a Tampa native and a graduate of the Academy of Holy Names. In previous incarnations, she interned for Adam Putnam and worked as a producer for Mike Huckabee’s TV show.

Pam Bondi must be proud.

* “As the principal economic enablers of North Korea’s nuclear weapon and ballistic missile development program, China and Russia bear unique and special responsibility for this growing threat to regional and global stability.”–Secretary of State Rex Tillerson.

* “We felt the readiness of our U.S. colleagues to continue dialogue. I think there’s no alternative to that.”–Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, after meeting with Secretary of State Tillerson.

* “‘America first’ does not mean America alone.”–Vice President Mike Pence, at the Adriatic Charter Summit in Montenegro.

* “This is just a tiny example of what’s coming for everyone that dares to oppose this totalitarian form of government. If they’re doing this to the chief prosecutor, imagine the helpless state all  Venezuelans live in.”–Luisa Ortega, the chief prosecutor who was ousted by Venezuela’s newly installed constitutional assembly.

* “…We firmly believe that the Paris Agreement cannot be renegotiated.”–Joint statement from the leaders of Germany, France and Italy.

* “Our interests in the end rest on our values. I am concerned because the country seems to be veering away from values that are so foundational for us.”–Former Secretary of State Colin Powell, in assessing what he has been seeing at the State Department.

* “Rexit.”–The term already coined for a possible Rex Tillerson resignation as secretary of state.

* “Look, I spoke to Putin, Merkel, Abe of Japan, to France today, and this was my most unpleasant call.”–Outtake from Donald Trump’s January telephone call with Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull.

* “The special counsel is subject to the rules and regulations of the Department of Justice, and we don’t engage in fishing expeditions.”–Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein.

* “We have an empty majority, a party that can rule but cannot govern.”–Ross Douthat, New York Times.

* “If (supporting Trump) was our Faustian bargain, then it was not worth it.”–U.S. Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz.

* “Anyone in a position of responsibility in GOP politics is quickly losing patience with President Trump. The dysfunction is beyond strange–it’s dangerous.”–Republican strategist Alex Conant.

* “The stunning Senate rejection of repeal was also a pointed rejection of Trump’s health care hectoring. And a show of senatorial disdain for Trump craving a personal legislative ‘win’ on an issue about whose policy choices he knew nothing and cared less.”–Charles Krauthammer, Washington Post.

* “Only the fake news media and Trump enemies want me to stop using social media.”–Donald Trump.

* “I think he’s the most deplorable person I’ve ever met in my life.”–U.S. Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif.

* “This is the high-water mark of post-World War II, right-wing crazy, but this is not unique in American history. … (Donald Trump) is Huey Long with bad hair, he’s George Wallace with a jet.”–Republican strategist Mac Stipanovich.

* “In 26 years as a public servant, I’ve had a lot of tough issues. But the meanness, the anger, the hatred, the fighting, the discontent, on both sides, is unprecedented.”–Hillsborough County Commissioner Victor Crist, on the contentious issue of Tampa’s Confederate monument.

* “Light rail should be one of our options. I don’t think it’s the solution to all of our problems, but I think it’s part of the solution.”–St. Petersburg Mayor Rick Kriseman.

* “Growing pains are difficult. St. Petersburg will become a big, cool city.”–Eastman Equity developer and relocated New Yorker Jonathan Daou.

*”Dunkirk.” It’s rare that a movie this well done is one that, at some point, you can’t wait for it to end. It’s that shell-shocking, nerve-wracking, claustrophobia-inducing–and riveting.

* Rachel Maddow. What a cable-news host anomaly. Imagine, somebody whom you agree with on so much is also somebody who is so annoying. She doesn’t speak softly; she carries a big shtick. But she’s well-informed, smart and on the correct side.

I still prefer to bypass the redundancy and posturing of 24-7 commentary and wait for MSNBC’s Brian Williams at 11:00.

* A recent local section, front page of the Tampa Bay Times featured a moving photo of a quadriplegic, 54-year-old Albert Hort of Tarpon Springs. His condition also included unsettling uncertainty about a change–the dropping of a Medicaid waiver program–in Florida health care law that might result in Holt being forced into a nursing home. Holt wasn’t saying: “Feel sorry for me,” but, in effect, “Don’t let them move me.” He was lobbying to stay put, not bemoaning his paralyzed plight.

I doubt I’m the only one who had a visceral response to that bedroom photo and feisty attitude of Hart. It put into perspective all that isn’t right in our own lives. And all the woe-is-me excuses we make for life being unfair.

* Another photograph left a gut impression. It was a widely circulated AP photo of Valerie Castile, a black woman, embracing Don Damond, a white man. Castile was the mother of Philando Castile, who was fatally shot by Minneapolis police. Damond was the fiancé of Justine Damond, who was also fatally shot by a Minneapolis officer. Both incidents remain highly controversial and flat-out suspect.

The photo, however, was a reminder that racial targeting, typically the go-to speculation, is not automatically applicable. Especially when the officers are not always white and the victims not always black–as in the case of Justine Damond. Sometimes it’s just disturbingly poor policing or the adrenaline rush that prompts overreaction that can accompany an anything-can-happen-at-any-time scenario for officers doing a job that few of us would want to do.

* John McCain, who returned to Washington for on-the-record, health-care input, hadn’t really been in the crosshairs of media coverage since his presidential campaign. And he made the most of it with his emphatic, thumbs-down “no” to health care repeal sans well-thought out replacement. Had he voted with the “ayes,” Mike Pence would have cast another tie-breaker. But it’s what Sen. McCain said in a broader context that mattered most.

First, he extolled the virtues of Senate compromise, seemingly an oxymoron these days. Then he doubled down with a two-pronged, mini-lecture. “We are not the president’s subordinates,” he reminded Trump. “We are his equals.” Then to his colleagues: “Stop listening to the bombastic loudmouths on the radio and television and the internet,” he implored. “To hell with them. They don’t want anything done for the public good. Our incapacity is their livelihood.”

Don’t look for him on “Fox and Friends” any time soon.

The Maverick had, indeed, returned.

* “We’ll handle North Korea. We handle everything.”–President Donald Trump.

* “Pleased be advised that the United States Government will not accept or allow transgender individuals to serve in any capacity in the U.S. military.”–President Donald Trump.

* “It’s about time that a decision is made to restore the warrior culture and allow the U.S. military to get back to business.”–Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Calif.

* “All of my actions were proper and occurred in the normal course of events of a very unique campaign.”–Jared Kushner.

* “Your political options are kind of limited–rally your base and do what you can to question the credibility of the investigation.”–Former Bill Clinton adviser James Carville, in assessing the Trump strategy regarding the investigation of special counsel Robert Mueller.

* “If Robert Mueller does the investigation that I think he’s going to do, I think he will connect the dots. I think that they’re going to find not only conflict of interest but also obstruction of justice. I think (Trump’s) in for new possibilities of either being charged criminally or, as I think, impeached.”–U.S. Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., the ranking member of the House Financial Services Committee.

* “No point is of more importance than that the right of impeachment should be continued.”–George Mason to the Constitutional Convention in 1787.

* “(Trump) can’t collude with his own government. Why do you think he’s colluding with the Russians?”–Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C.

* “We see today a president at war with his own party, and that to my mind never turns out well.”–Jeffrey Engel, director of the Center for Presidential History.

* “First shock, then surprise, then Whiskey, Tango, Foxtrot (WTF).”–Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., on his Trump coping strategy.

* “It makes sense that foreigners will be reluctant to invest in the United States when they don’t know what Congress or the president are going to do, or what specific policies are going to be enacted.”–Marina Azzimonti, former research economist with the Philadelphia Fed. and current associate professor of economics at Stony Brook University.

* “The ‘swamp’ feels anything but drained; more like remodeled into a gold-plated hot tub.”–Mark Leibovich, New York Times Magazine.

* “Outsourced the whole issue to Congress.”–U.S. Rep. Charlie Dent, R-Pa., on what Trump’s health care strategy was.

* “Now I’m letting my guard down.”–Hillary Clinton, commenting on her upcoming book, “What Happened.”

* “Solar energy is good for the environment and for consumers’ pocketbooks, but there are starting to be complaints concerning misleading sales practices, confusing contracts and shoddy installation.”–Susan Grant, consumer protection and privacy director for the Consumer Federation of America.

* “It’s the first time I’ve taken on any kind of historical truth, and that was very daunting.”–Christopher Nolan, the director of “Dunkirk.”

* “Aren’t you tired of the liberals taking fake news to new extremes? I am.”–Republican gubernatorial candidate Adam Putnam.

* “This legislature is hell-bent on doing whatever they can to limit local government and to hamstring our ability to do what we do better than they do, which is provide services and do it at a reasonable (cost) with a reasonable number of employees.”–Mayor Bob Buckhorn, who recently proposed the first property tax increase since 1989–in part because of revenue the city could lose from an expanded homestead exemption.

* “We’re going to face a $30 million reduction in our budget as a result of the additional homestead exemption.”–Hillsborough County Commissioner Ken Hagan.

* “We’re headed into uncharted territory.”–Commissioner Sandra Murman.

* “I won’t be here.”–Retiring Commissioner Al Higginbotham.

* “(The late dissident writer) Liu Xiaobo understood that the Chinese model of economic modernization without political reform was destined to fail.”–Bret Stephens, New York Times.

* “If you want a single word to summarize American war-making in this last decade and a half, I would suggest ‘rubble.'”–Tom Engelhardt, the Nation.

* “What I try to tell everybody is, ‘Forget the federal government. Come directly to the states.'”–Terry McAuliffe, Democratic governor of Virginia and chairman of the National Governors Association.

* “We’ve never had a president who has deliberately made decisions the effect of which is to tear down America’s standing in the world.”–Former Vice President Al Gore.

* “Sessions should have never recused himself, and if he was going to recuse himself, he should have told me before he took the job and I would have picked somebody else.”–President Donald Trump, on Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ recusal on the overseeing of the Russia investigation.

* “Russia revelations show just how shamelessly Republican lawmakers will stand by a longtime Democrat who switched parties after the promotion of a racist theory about Barack Obama gave him standing in Lincoln’s once-proud party. … It is a dying party that I can no longer defend.”–Joe Scarborough, a former Republican congressman from Florida, is the host of MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.”

* “Health care policy is only partisan in the abstract. When you or your loved one is sick and needs care, ideology is irrelevant; getting well is all that matters.”–John Kasich, Republican governor of Ohio.

* “Democratic presidential hopefuls will be campaigning two years from now on single-payer, whatever happens with this bill.”–Peggy Noonan, Wall Street Journal.

* “(Republicans) do very little to protect their president.”–Donald Trump.

* “Create a more positive mojo.”–Anthony Scaramucci, in describing his goal as White House communications director.

* “A change in communications personnel will not solve the central problem for President Trump. He doesn’t understand that Robert Mueller is not a contractor he’s in a civil litigation dispute with, someone he can intimidate and wear down and threaten and bleed out. Bringing in another New York deal maker won’t help him understand the existential threat he faces in Washington from Mueller.”–Maureen Dowd, New York Times.

* “It would be in the president’s best interest if he removed all of his children from the White House, not only Donald Trump but also Ivanka and Jared Kushner.”–U.S. Rep. Bill Flores, R-Texas.

* “Right now, it doesn’t appear that they have a plan. The president doesn’t know what his own party wants, and he’s not sure what he wants. He can’t get his own party to pony up the money for infrastructure.”–Richard L. Trumka, president of the A.F.L.-C.I.O.

* “It’s contrary to everything we’ve heard, but travel is in slightly better shape than it was a year ago. Everyone wants me to tell the story of the sky is falling, but for the travel industry, the sky is not falling.”–Roger Dow, CEO of the U.S. Travel Association.

* “There is a giant mismatch between what Americans want from government and what they’ll pay for with taxes.”–Robert Samuelson, Washington Post.

* “(Opinions) have become loyalty badges for one’s tribe.”–Psychologist Steven Pinker.

* “You could lengthen the green light dynamically to reduce congestion.”–James R. Sayer, director of the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute, describing how a line of self-driving cars at a stoplight could communicate with the signal network to improve traffic flow.

* “There’s just a hidden supply of labor out there that is allowing businesses to hire without pushing up wages yet.”–UCF economist Sean Snaith, in noting that Florida’s unemployment rate dropped from 4.3 percent in May to 4.1 percent in June, although wage growth remained static.

* “Next month at my cabinet meeting I will be proposing a resolution that will say any organization that does business with the (Nicolas) Maduro regime (Venezuela) cannot do business with the state of Florida.”–Gov. Rick Scott.

* “There is absolutely a pathway for Florida to get to a form of open carry.”–Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam, a top Republican candidate for governor in 2018, voicing his support for NRA-backed endorsements of open firearms-carry proposals.

* “He’s got  to have at least a three-person race, and the more the better.”–Former Florida Secretary of State Jim Smith, in assessing the gubernatorial chances of Republican state senator Jack Latvala of Clearwater.

* “We’re absolutely more reliant on property tax revenues, because many of those other sources are drying up.”–Mayor Bob Buckhorn, on the rationale for proposing to raise the city’s property tax rate for the first time since 1989.

* “I serve at the board’s pleasure, but my objective is to make sure MOSI is a financially sustainable institution and a successful and important part of our community. I’m not looking at this as a short-term gig.”–Julian Mackenzie, newly named CEO of MOSI.

* I just finished an absorbing tome, “American Dreamer,” about the life and times of Henry Wallace, the FDR vice president who was dropped from the ticket in 1944 amid big-city-boss/ Southern backlash and “Red Scare” dynamics. Arguably he and America deserved better.

Wallace later ran unsuccessfully as the Progressive Party’s presidential candidate in 1948, but timing–and third party realities–were everything. Wallace actually finished fourth (behind Harry Truman, Tom Dewey and Dixiecrat Strom Thurmond), won no electoral votes and only carried 30 precincts. But seven of those precincts were in the “Tampa area,” where Wallace was “popular with Spanish-speaking cigar crafters.”

* Here’s an ironic quote for the American ages: “I had expected to vote against Senator (John) Kennedy because of his religion.” That was the Rev. Martin Luther King SR. in November of 1960. Here’s the rest of the quote: “Now he can be my president, Catholic or whatever he is.”

What prompted that response was word that presidential candidate John Kennedy had made a couple of calls on behalf of his son, Martin Jr.–to Georgia Democratic Gov. Ernest Vandiver and to Coretta Scott King–after Martin Jr. had been arrested during a sit-in at an Atlanta department store. He had been sentenced to six months’ hard labor at a maximum security state prison. King was released on bail a day later.

Kennedy’s response to the irreverent King Sr. quote: “Well, we all have our fathers, don’t we?”

The account was passed along by Arthur Schlesinger Jr. in “A Thousand Days,” published in 1965. It surfaces again in the recently published “Kennedy and King: The President, the Pastor and the Battle Over Civil Rights” by Steven Levingston.

* Author and RollingStone editor Jason Diamond recently did a Florida-travelogue piece for the New York Times. It included a nice shout-out for Ybor City. Cuban sandwiches and cigars were highlighted. The Columbia Restaurant and The Bricks were well noted. From a sidewalk table, Diamond takes in the aromas that underscore “Cigar City.”

“I look around and, for the first time on my trip,” he muses, “feel as if I’m in a place where I could see myself living.”

* Too bad that when it comes to the polarizing issue of health care, the media can’t ignore partisanship in labeling. Exhibit A: It’s the Affordable Care Act or just the (incumbent, 7-year-old) health care law. “Obamacare” is how demonizing GOPsters labeled it right out of the blocks, and the media, especially electronic, dutifully picked it up and turned it into de facto usage. And, yes, there’s also the ACA’s putative alternative, the American Health Care Act–or “Trumpcare.”

“Care,” (and, yes, there was “Romneycare”) has become the new “gate.” It makes for lazy, media shorthand, but more importantly it trivializes a critically important issue and helps it maintain embittering, partisan status. MediaGate?

* “We spend an inordinate amount of time and resources as the United States, but also as partners, trying to not only defeat ISIS and their control of the physical caliphate, but their virtual space that they own. They’re proselytizing. It’s troubling.”–Thomas P. Bossert, President Trump’s Homeland Security and counterterrorism adviser.

* “If it’s what you say, I love it–especially late in the summer.”–The response of Donald Trump Jr. to the promise of assistance from a “Russian government lawyer” with “high level” information on Hillary Clinton.

* “It is clear the Kremlin got the message that Donald Trump welcomed the help of the Russian government in providing dirt on Hillary Clinton.”–California Congressman Adam Schiff, the top Democrat on the House intelligence committee.

* “It is wrong to let another nation take an active role in a campaign for the U.S. presidency. It is imprudent and also rather unpatriotic. … Was it collusion? It was worse; it was classless.”–Peggy Noonan, Wall Street Journal.

* “This was a bungled collusion. It undoes the White House story completely.”–Fox News pundit Charles Krauthammer.

* “Right now, the 2018 Congressional elections promise to be a de facto referendum on impeachment.”–Ross Douthat, New York Times.

* “I do not consider director Mueller to be on a witch hunt.”–Christopher Wray, nominated to replace James Comey as FBI director.

* “The next time I’m with Putin, I’m going to ask him: ‘Who were you really for?’ Because I can’t believe that he would have been for me.”–President Donald Trump.

* “I am done asking–or caring–what’s wrong with him? Six months in, it’s time we grappled a far more important question. What in the world is wrong with us?”–Leonard Pitts, Miami Herald.

* “Politics is downstream from culture.”–The late Andrew Breitbart, founder of Breitbart News.

* “I will be very angry about it, and a lot of people will be very upset. Mitch (McConnell) has to pull it off.”–Donald Trump, on the revamped Republican health care bill.

* “It’s a unifying strategy to be outraged at the other guy. The hard part is when you get in and have to deliver.”–Adam Brandon, president of the conservative advocacy group FreedomWorks, describing Republicans’ difficulty in passing a health care bill.

* “By now, it’s become clear that an understaffed and inexperienced Trump White House is incapable of knocking heads together and moving the GOP agenda forward.”–Reihan Salam, Slate.

* “Democrats have to move from resistance to offense. Being not-Trump is not nearly enough. We have to put forward our positive vision for the future.”–California hedge fund billionaire Tom Steyer, the largest donor to the Democratic Party.

* “The greatest enemy of knowledge is not ignorance; it is the illusion of knowledge.”–Historian David Boorstin.

* “The diesel engine is getting more expensive. We would prefer to talk about the alternatives.”–Volvo Chief Executive Hakan Samuelsson, explaining why his company is moving away from fuel-efficient diesel cars to fuel-free electric ones.

* “If we don’t resolve the educational crisis that we’re faced with, and I use that word correctly, then how can we really resolve the criminal justice system?”–Central Florida Urban League CEO Glen Gilzean.

* “What we learned is that the old model did not work, because the lack of a permanent address could create a problem for employment, school enrollment and other issues. The new model is collaborative and has housing partners working together to arrive at new and better solutions.”–Antoinette Hayes-Triplett, CEO of Hillsborough’s Homeless Initiative, on a key factor for the homeless count in the county falling by 15 percent.

* “Steel is our core business. We’ve been at it forever.”–Wade Elliot, vice president of marketing and business development at Port Tampa Bay, which recently approved a 25-year lease with Steelco Florida for a 35-acre site on port property.

* “The numbers over the past few years reflect a more healthy and sustainable real estate market. You see a slow and steady growth in value, rather than the fast run up in values that you saw before the Great Recession.”–Hillsborough Property Appraiser Bob Henriquez, on projections that the total value of taxable property around the Tampa Bay area will grow 8 percent or more this year.

* “It’s realistic to say we’re going to move this.”–Hillsborough County Commissioner Victor Crist, on the status of Tampa’s Confederate Monument.

* “I am not going to indefinitely leave a club in a market without a major-league quality facility.”–Major League Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred.

* The upshot of President Trump’s tweet storm against “Morning Joe” co-hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski is an ironic one. “Morning Joe” MSNBC viewer numbers have never been higher.

* Is there a better international reporter than NBC’s–and MSNBC’s–Richard Engel? He’s on site and on assignment anywhere that matters–from Syria and Iraq to the G-20 streets of Hamburg, Germany. His recent interview with Gary Kasparov, the Russian chess champion now in political exile in Paris, was spot-on for those craving more background on Vladimir Putin’s motivation and agenda.

* I still say “Doonesbury” belongs on the editorial page–not juxtaposed next to “Marmaduke,” “Dennis the Menace” and “Family Circus.” And that also goes for “Classic Doonesbury.” It’s been a recent reminder that Trump was satiric fodder a generation ago too.