Category: Media Watch

* “It’s not the dumbest idea I’ve ever heard, but it’s pretty close.”–Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., on the Trump Administration’s endorsement of a proposed partnership with Russia on cybersecurity.

* “It won’t happen.”–President Donald Trump, when first apprised earlier this year of a possible North Korean ICBM test launch.

* “North Korea has just launched another missile. Does this guy have anything better to do with his life? Hard to believe that South Korea and Japan will put up with this much longer. Perhaps China will put a heavy move on North Korea and end this nonsense once and for all!”–Donald Trump, after North Korea’s recent launch of its first ICBM.

* “Self-restraint, which is a choice, is all that separates armistice and war.”–Gen. Vincent K. Brooks, commander of troops in Seoul.

* “Global action is required to stop a global threat.”–Secretary of State Rex Tillerson.

* “Donald Trump’s election was possible because both political parties mistakenly decided several decades ago to have binding primary elections determine presidential nominations. Rather than having party leaders vet candidates for competency and sanity, as most democracies do, our parties turned the nomination process into a reality show in which the closest things to vetting are a clap-o-meter and a tracking poll.”–Eitan D. Hersh, associate professor of political science at Tufts University.

* “It is a sad day when the president of the United States encourages violence against reporters. Clearly, Sarah Huckabee Sanders lied when she said the president had never done so. … We will keep doing our job. He should start doing his.”–CNN statement.

* “I think the American people elected somebody who’s tough, who’s smart, and who’s a fighter, and that’s Donald Trump.”–White House deputy press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders.

* “We’re okay; the country’s not.”–Joe Scarborough, co-host of the Trump-targeted “Morning Joe” on MSNBC.

* “Trump has moved his shallow kiddie wading pool of gossip and ridicule from Trump Tower to the White House, where it is so outlandishly out of place. … Before he got to D.C., Trump was used to media that could be bought, sold and bartered with. He is not built for this hostile environment and it shows in his deteriorating psychological state.”–Maureen Dowd, New York Times.

* “My problem isn’t just that the president is a lying, petty, hateful and incompetent man. It’s also that millions of Americans see that–they see it–and do not care.”–Leonard Pitts, Miami Herald.

* “To me, only (Fox News) has the power to convince conservatives that, if one or more of the investigations raises the question of impeachment, it’s in the best interest of the party and the conservative agenda to dump Trump. … Right now (Sean) Hannity might have more power over an impeachment process than Paul Ryan or Mitch McConnell.”–Robert Leonard, news director for radio stations KNIA/KRLS, Des Moines, Iowa.

* “This cake is baked, ladies and gentlemen. They intend to bring a charge against our president despite a total lack of evidence.”–Donald Trump adviser Roger Stone, referencing special counsel Robert Mueller, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein and fired FBI Director James Comey at a Tampa book signing.

* “Just the number of environmental rollbacks in this time frame is astounding. (EPA Administrator Scott) Pruitt has come in with a real mission.”–Richard Lazarus, professor of environmental law at Harvard University.

* “In Paris, we came together around the most ambitious agreement in history about climate change, an agreement that even with the temporary absence of American leadership, can still give our children a fighting chance.”–Former President Barack Obama.

* “One of my proudest moments was when I looked Barack Obama in the eye and I said, ‘Mr. President, you will not fill this Supreme Court vacancy.'”–Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.

* “It’s up to us to speak up against the three most dangerous voices in America: academic elites, political elites and media elites. These are America’s greatest domestic threats.”–Wayne LaPierre, executive vice president and CEO of the NRA.

* “Airplanes do not fly through a vacuum. The atmosphere is being modified by climate change.”–Paul D. Williams, meteorology professor at the University of Reading in Britain, on how climate change can affect aviation.

* “We desperately need to revive a second route to the middle class for people without four-year college degrees, as manufacturing once was.”–Robert Reich, professor of public policy at the University of California Berkeley and former labor secretary in the Clinton Administration.

* “As we all know, being a mayor is the toughest job in politics. People hold you accountable for what happens.”–Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

* Florida right now is on the cutting edge of ‘stand your ground.’ We quite frankly don’t yet know what the impact will be.”–Stetson University Law Professor Charles Rose, commenting on revisions in the law that shifts the burden of proof to the state.

* “I think continuing the acquisition of private property is tremendously destabilizing to the existing communities.”–Hillsborough Metropolitan Planning Organization board member Trent Green, on what some community members are calling a DOT “land grab” for toll lanes and other aspects of transportation expansion plans that are supposed to be on hold.

* “Tampa has been and will continue to be a corridor of technological and health care innovation, which creates a strong base for talent and collaborative partnerships with other adjacent industries.”–Paul Berman, president of Corin USA, an orthopedic device manufacturer that is hiring 100 employees at its Tampa headquarters.

* “I think Tampa’s in a position now that we are attractive to the best candidates around the country for this job.”–Mayor Bob Buckhorn, in announcing that he will open a national search to find a successor to Police Chief Eric Ward, who recently–and unexpectedly–announced his retirement.

* “Picasso is the ultra male, constantly cheating on his wives, while Dali is seen as sort of the consummate celibate, cheating with nobody. The idea that he could have an affair that led to a child seems totally out of character.”–Peter Tush, curator of education at the Dali Museum in St. Petersburg.

That was quite the revealingly testy exchange recently between a reporter and Sarah Huckabee Sanders, the White House deputy press secretary. The reporter called out Sanders for her–and the Trump Administration’s–“bullying” and “inflammatory” approach to the media.

Three takeaways:

* Sanders, more off-putting than the uncomfortably uninformed, gaffe-prone Sean Spicer, is a contentious, communications harlot, disingenuously fronting for this outliar administration.

* You go, Brian Karem, the Playboy Magazine White House correspondent who wouldn’t yield the journalistic high ground. “Everybody in this room is only trying to do their job,” he stated unequivocally.

* Playboy has a White House correspondent?

* “Today, we find it with enormous influence, influence that far outstrips where it was six or seven years ago. … Iran is everywhere throughout the Middle East.”–CIA Director Mike Pompeo.

* “Here we are 14 years after the start of the Iraq War, and the United States government is finding fresh ways to dig the country into war in the Middle East–this time, risking a proxy war with Russia over Syria. And there’s no protest anywhere! You’d think people would be tired of all this fighting, and be asking hard questions in public of why our government, no matter which party holds power, backs endless war.”–Rod Dreher, American Conservative.

* “Trump sees America as a victim, beset by outside evils: marauding Mexicans, Muslim terrorists. The Germans sell us too many cars; the Canadians dump subsidized lumber on our markets; NATO owes us money. ‘Greatness’ to Trump has nothing to do with leadership or example. It’s a zero-sum game: If Europe or China or India do well, America loses.”–Diane Roberts, author and professor of literature and writing at FSU.

* “For the United States, the biggest institutional lie of the moment is that we have a government of the people, responding to majority will. … We have a fake democracy, growing less responsive and less representative by the day.”–Timothy Egan, New York Times.

* “A 14th-century solution to a 21st-century problem.”–Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-Texas, on President Donald Trump’s proposed Mexican border wall.

* “Trump’s rural support was (also) driven by a feeling among voters that urban and even suburban Americans do not share their values, and that the news media disrespects them.”–Dan Balz, Washington Post.

* “This (Senate health care) bill, in short, is a sham. Those most hurt would be the ones who put Trump in the White House.”–Former Marine and Emmy Award-winner Montel Williams.

* “The rationale for gutting Medicaid has been stated as ‘providing flexibility’ for states in managing their programs. This is nonsense. … Florida is 48th in spending on Medicaid recipients. … Consequently, in a capped program, we would start way back and fall further behind year after year.”–Paul F. Robinson, M.D., a Copello Fellow with the National Physicians Alliance.

* “Clearly there is an audience for speeches that rally nationalist causes and against amorphous perceived threats. What I think may be driving some of the appeal of the politics of fear is the state’s low education and demographics.”–Scott Crichlow, political science professor at West Virginia University.

* “Fear resonates.”–Wheeling, West Virginia Mayor Glenn Elliott.

* “We congenitally believe that our motives are pure and our goals are right. Therefore, we should win by default.”–Chicago’s Democratic Mayor Rahm Emanuel.

* “Nothing is easier or more pathetic than being a critic, because they’re people that can’t get the job done.”–President Donald Trump.

* “Obama’s legacy would be under much greater threat by a more competent president than Donald Trump. His inexperience and lack of discipline are an impediment to his success in implementing policies that would reverse what Obama instituted.”–Josh Earnest, former Obama White House press secretary.

* “The Cubans who flock to meet President Trump, their legacy will be that they lost two democracies to two nations.”–Tampa attorney Ralph Fernandez.

* “There are going to be a lot more places that are going to be functionally in play in 2018 than in 2016 or 2014, but to win those races you’re going to have (to have) extraordinary candidates.”–Florida Democratic consultant Steve Shale.

* “It’s not perfect. I’m going to sue for the smoking, but I know there are sick people who will see relief starting in July.”–John Morgan, after Gov. Rick Scott signed the medical marijuana bill into law.

* “This does have the potential to allow a lot of new utility poles in the right-of-way in places where people might not expect it. … We just don’t think it’s responsible to move forward without us having an opportunity to fully vet this.”–Rebecca Kert, Tampa’s senior assistant city attorney, on legislation that paves the way for 5G wireless communications in Florida.

* “I don’t think either of them would fail to cooperate across the bay. Everybody’s beginning to see how necessary that is.”–Dick Greco on the regional priorities of St. Petersburg mayoral candidates Rick Kriseman and Rick Baker.

Sorry to have missed the showing of “The Graduate” last Sunday at Tampa Theatre. It’s now–say what?–50 years old. It’s my all-time favorite movie. A sure sign of a movie’s greatness: Does it still work across the generational years–and even on the small screen? Yes. It’s universal–in so many “dramedy” ways.

And, BTW, Benjamin Braddock (Dustin Hoffman)–the boyish, coming-of-age graduate–was 30 years old in 1967. The eponymous seductress “Mrs. Robinson” (Anne Bancroft) was 36. And it–koo, koo, ka-choo–worked. And it still resonates.

Indeed. “Where have you gone Joe DiMaggio? Our nation turns its lonely eyes to you.”

* “The great Muslim civil war, centered in Syria, is approaching its post-Islamic State phase. … The parties are maneuvering to shape what comes next. … (The Islamic State) is being squeezed out of existence. … It’s Europe, 1945, when the war was still raging against Nazi Germany, but everyone already knew the outcome.”–Charles Krauthammer, Washington Post.

* “South Korea must realize that following psychopath Trump will only lead to disaster.”–North Korean leader Kim Jung-un.

* “While there may be a global effort under the Paris agreement to reduce emissions, that certainly has not stopped the international race for Arctic oil.”–Somini Sengupta, New York Times.

* “I felt I wanted out, but then decided to stay in and work out a role for myself.”–Great Britain’s Prince Harry, on earlier reflections about being part of the royal family.

* “Our power comes with a responsibility to lead.”–Hillary Clinton.

* “This is in my mind something that could be well characterized as colonialism.”–Former Florida Democratic Congressman Alan Grayson, in reference to the U.S. Naval Base at Guantanamo, Cuba.

* “Russia violated our sovereignty, meddling in one of our most sacred acts as a democracy–electing our president. The Kremlin should have paid a much higher price for that attack. And U.S. policymakers now–both in the White House and Congress–should consider new actions to deter future Russian interventions.”–Michael McFall, U.S. ambassador to Russia during the Obama Administration.

* “Americans embarrassed by President Trump are experiencing vicarious embarrassment not for him but for the country. They’re embarrassed that, with Mr. Trump as president, the country’s claims to virtue, leadership and moral standing ring hollow.”–Colby College sociologist Neil Gross.

* “Hillary Clinton colluded with the Democratic Party in order to beat crazy Bernie Sanders.”–Donald Trump.

* “If there’s a chance you might get sick, get old or start a family, this bill will do you harm.”–Former President Barack Obama, on the “fundamental meanness at the core” of the Senate health care bill.

* “I think how you comport yourself and the example you set can be infectious. I hope so. Because the country does need that.”–Florida Congressman Charlie Crist.

* “Few things are more attractive than violence cloaked in righteousness.”–Leonard Pitts, Miami Herald.

* “Antitrust officials would be naive to view this (Amazon acquisition of Whole Foods) deal as simply about groceries. (It) will enable Amazon to leverage and amplify the extraordinary power it enjoys in online markets and delivery, making an even greater share of commerce part of its fief. … Think of Amazon as a 21st-century version of the 19th-century railroads that connected consumers and producers.”–Lina M. Khan, author of “Amazon’s Antitrust Paradox.”

* “Citizens United blew open the floodgates to allow corporations to spend unlimited sums in our elections. But iron-clad federal law prohibits foreign nationals from directly or indirectly spending in our elections at any level. … But when a corporation spends in politics, no one is asking, ‘Does any of your money come from foreign nationals?'”–Ellen Weintraub, Federal Elections Commission member.

* “We have a very heavy lift, but we also have a lot to be hopeful about. Thank you, Donald Trump.”–Hillsborough County Democratic Party chairwoman Ione Townsend.

* “While state lawmakers are often preoccupied with the business of politics, local leaders must focus on the business of government–filling potholes, putting out fires and picking up trash. After all, law enforcement, libraries, parks or public works are not partisan issues; they’re simply jobs that need to be done. … Florida’s 412 municipalities or its 67 counties don’t need Tallahassee’s sledgehammer solutions.”–Susan Haynie, president of the Florida League of Cities and the Republican mayor of Boca Raton.

* “The Tampa Bay metro area is the 18th largest in the country and home to more than 3 million people, yet we are glaringly out of step with other great markets across the nation that have developed regional structures to operate regional transit.”–Rick Homans, president and CEO of the Tampa Bay Partnership.

* “This will really be a game changer for those in the military, for the high-tech business community and for travelers who just want to visit.”–TIA CEO Joe Lopano, on the announcement that Southwest Airlines will be offering daily nonstop service from TIA to San Diego.

* “I am absolutely 100 percent against what the president of the United States is trying to do by pushing the relationship and the opening to Cuba backward.”–Tampa City Council member Harry Cohen.

* “It’s a slap in the face. It shows that we haven’t come that far.”–Hillsborough County Commissioner Les Miller, on the vote to keep the Confederate monument outside the old County Courthouse in downtown Tampa.

* “I’ve been a supporter of the LGBT community for 24 years. It didn’t take a tragedy or an election to get me to the (Pride events).”–St. Petersburg Mayor Rick Kriseman.

* “I’m glad I came. A lot of positive energy here. It’s good to see people participating. And it’s a good economic boost.”–Rick Baker at the St. Pete Pride Festival.

* “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.”–Edmund Burke.

* “Trump’s effort to impose his undeveloped and unexamined personal will on the world is causing foreign officials to lose confidence in the United States as an informed, engaged and credible ally.”–John Nichols, The Progressive.

* “Mr. Trump has genuine affection for strongmen like Mr. Putin (see also: Egypt, the Philippines, Saudi Arabia). His corresponding dislike for democratic and female leaders like Angela Merkel, who happen to be constrained by the rule of law, also seems sincere.”–Stephen Kotkin, Hoover Institution fellow and author of “Stalin: Waiting for Hitler, 1929-1941.”

* “The message the president is sending through his tweets is that he believes the rule of law doesn’t apply to him and that anyone who thinks otherwise will be fired.”–California Sen. Diane Feinstein, top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee.

* “It’s not enough just to call this administration out. … We need more Democrats in the Senate. … This next election is a make-or-break opportunity to stop Trump’s agenda and improve people’s lives.”–Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn.

* “This daily Trump melodrama is worth it ONLY if he’s really going to build the wall, cut off Muslim refugees and deport illegals.”–Conservative commentator Ann Coulter.

* “I have people knocking down my door to talk to the presidential personnel office. There is a huge demand to join this administration.”–White House press secretary Sean Spicer.

* “When I was at the absolute lowest point of my professional life, he’s who I called.”–New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, in noting that when the “Bridgegate” scandal broke, he called Christopher Wray to serve as his counsel. Wray is Donald Trump’s nominee for FBI director.

* “(Patriotism) means having the courage to re-examine your beliefs when data and science contradict them. It means having the courage to stand up to members of your own party when you believe they are wrong–or when their actions put our great American experiment at risk.”–Michael Bloomberg, former Republican mayor of New York City.

* “Rage and sanctimony always spread like a virus–and become stronger with each iteration.”–Peggy Noonan, Wall Street Journal.

* “(Today’s partisans) have made anger into an industry–using it to run up the number of listeners, viewers and hits. … If words can inspire, then they can also incite or debase.”–Michael Gerson, Washington Post.

* “We can’t keep ignoring the fringe. We have to expose it.”–Charles J. Sykes, author of “How the Right Lost its Mind.”

* “An explanation of climate change from a Nobel Prize-winning physicist looks exactly the same on your Facebook page as the denial of climate change by somebody on the Koch brothers’ payroll.”–Former President Barack Obama.

* “I’m honored to be here with you today because, let’s face it, you accomplished something I never could.”–Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg in his Harvard commencement address. The former Harvard student never graduated.

* “Songs are unlike literature. They’re meant to be sung, not read.”–Bob Dylan.

* “It’s a bad bill with some good stuff sprinkled in.”–Tim Harris, president of the Florida School Boards Association, on the massive education bill (HB 7069) signed into law by Gov. Rick Scott.

* “As a citizen I’m embarrassed about the performance of our Legislature over the last three or four years.”–State Rep. Dan Raulerson, R-Plant City.

* “I care more about the people of this state than I care about the governments of this state.”–Florida House Speaker Richard Corcoran.

* “The biggest challenge we have facing the United States is without question Donald Trump. And quite honestly, he’s the biggest challenge facing the world as well.”–Florida Democratic gubernatorial candidate and former congresswoman Gwen Graham.

* “Over the year, the Tampa area added more than 41,000 new jobs and led the state in job growth for several industries, which is great news.”–Gov. Rick Scott.

* “You can’t build your way out of congestion. You need to get cars off the road. We are going to cause a stranglehold here on transportation if we don’t start investing in ourselves.”–Hillsborough County Commissioner Pat Kemp.

* “I still can’t wrap my head around why we need these express toll lanes.”–Tampa City Council member Guido Maniscalco, on Tampa Bay Next interstate expansion.

* “If you’re talking about spending tens of millions on mass transit, I think you’re better off taking a big swing at this technology. It’s going to be a hit.”–Tampa Bay Rays owner Stu Sternberg, making the case for the Bay Area becoming an incubator for the driverless car industry.

* “I just want the youth to put the guns down.”–Antwan Jenrette, whose teen-aged son was shot and killed last weekend.

* “Markets like St. Pete and Tampa are running out of room. Let’s be honest, you’ve got to find creative ways to repurpose existing real estate.”–Mark Eilers, managing director of land services for Colliers International in Tampa.

RIP, Batman, aka Adam West. The one who really mattered. Before Batman became an over-hyped, big-budget, Hollywood industry, it was high-camp, network fare. It was certainly a fraternity house favorite in the 1960s. By spoofing Batman with odd camera angles and “pow!”/”splat!” dialogue balloons, it accorded a comic book icon proper, pure-fun portrayal. We’ll not see those days again.

* “What the country needs more than ever is certainty.”–British Prime Minister Theresa May, after her Conservative Party lost its majority in Parliament.

* “There may have been, in aggregate, more terrorism in the seventies and eighties, but it was discriminate. They kept their terrorism within boundaries related to their cause. Today it’s different. … ISIS posts pictures of a vehicle and says get in your car and drive into people–and that’s all it takes.”–Bruce Hoffman, author and director of security studies  at Georgetown University.

* “I hope you can see your way clear to letting this go.”–James Comey quoting President Donald Trump.

* “I didn’t say that. And there’d be nothing wrong if I did say it.”–Donald Trump.

* “Despite so many false statements and lies, total and complete vindication … and WOW, Comey is a leaker!”–Donald Trump.

* “As you know, we’re under siege, you understand that. But we will come out bigger and better and stronger than ever. You watch.”–Donald Trump, in his remarks to evangelical supporters.

* “He’s standing increasingly on his own island and the question is whether he’s going to have the means and the ability to come to shore because that island isn’t big enough to win again.”–Democratic pollster Paul Maslin.

* “Trump’s decision to withdraw the United States from the Paris Climate Agreement … sends the wrong message. It says that the United States is retreating, that we are not the leader we once were and that others, maybe Europe, maybe China, will have to bear the mantle of leadership on the world stage.”–George LeMieux, former Florida Republican U.S. senator.

* “You know you’re in trouble when beclouded Beijing, where birds go to die, replaces you as a leader on climate change.”–Maureen Dowd, New York Times.

* “Climate change is real. Industry must now lead and not depend on government.”–Jeffrey R. Immelt, chairman and chief executive of General Electric.

* “I think Trump is the collateral damage of the times we’re living in. You know, it’s not that we’re living in these times because of him. No, I think it’s the eye opening of an America that was not clear before.”–Actress Salma Hayek.

* “A lot of people didn’t want to wear the Trump jersey. Well, he was our nominee and frankly, I find him to be an incredibly fine human being.”–Florida lobbyist Brian Ballard.

* “Republicans should be on the lookout. While we try to muddle through repealing and replacing Obamacare, Democrats are sharpening their message on health care. In their race to the left, Democrats are increasingly calling for a full-fledged single-payer system.”–Republican political consultant Ed Rodgers.

* “One hundred percent federal funding is just not realistic, so the challenge is: How do we take a portion of the government money and leverage it to get the private sector involved in financing public infrastructure?”–Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao.

* “There is living and dying; there’s no retirement.”–Comedian Mel Brooks, 90.

* “It is my duty to advocate for the issues that are important to my constituents, and I will not apologize for using every available avenue to effectively resolve them.”–Florida Congressman Mario Diaz-Balart, in underscoring that he still favors a hard line on Cuba.

* “We’ve got three fiefdoms in Tallahassee–the House, Senate and the governor.”–Senate Appropriations Chairman Jack Latvala, R-Clearwater.

* “I wholeheartedly support Ashley.”–Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi, in endorsing former Hillsborough Circuit Judge Ashley Moody as her successor.

* “I think it’s a good transition from the state House and state funding to county funding.”–State Rep. Janet Cruz, the term-limited, Democratic leader of the Florida House, who looks likely to run for a Hillsborough County Commission seat.

* “We’re going to innovate, collaborate and partner with USF and community physicians.”–John Couris, newly named president of Tampa General Hospital.

* “We can’t be silenced by a very small minority of agitators and dissenters and Internet trolls that continue to say that we don’t need rail and we don’t need mobility options and that, instead, we can build more roads to get out of this problem.”–Mayor Bob Buckhorn.

* “What we’ve noted in the past few years, with our salary schedule being better than maybe surrounding counties, is (teachers) tend to transfer into Hillsborough County at a higher level of pay.”–Hillsborough County Schools Superintendent Jeff Eakins.

* “China’s economic ties to the North (Koreans) should be the leverage that forces change, not the reason it never comes.”–Victor Cha, director of Asian studies at Georgetown University.

* “Russo-phobic hysteria.”–Russian President Vladimir Putin’s take on America’s view of his government.

* “I feel like Woodward and Bernstein’s “All The President’s Men” may be due for a reprinting in the not-too-distant future.”–U.S. Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn.

* “The president has become a farce to be reckoned with.”–Graydon Carter, Vanity Fair.

* “America is living through a fractured fairy tale, in the grip of a lonely and uninformed mad king, an arrogant and naive princeling, a comely but complicit blond princess and a dyspeptic, dystopian troll under the bridge.”–Maureen Dowd, New York Times.

* “There is one page in the Trump White House crisis-management playbook. And that is simply to tweet or say something outrageous to distract from a scandal.”–Josh Earnest, former White House spokesman under President Obama.

* “(Big falsehoods) are like a neutron bomb. They just take over the discussion and obliterate a lot of other things that we should be discussing.”–PolitiFact creator Bill Adair.

* “This is an historic restoration of American economic independence.”–EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt, on the withdrawal of the U.S. from the landmark Paris climate agreement.

* “I was elected to represent the citizens of Pittsburgh, not Paris.”–President Donald Trump.

* “It’s a disappointing and embarrassing day.”–Former Obama Administration EPA Director Gina McCarthy.

* “Even in the absence of American leadership, even as this Administration joins a small handful of nations that reject the future, I’m confident that our states, cities, and businesses will step up and do even more to lead the way and help protect for future generations the one planet we’ve got.”–Former President Barack Obama.

* “This decision can’t and won’t stop all those of us who feel obliged to protect the planet.”–German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

* “#Make Our Planet Great Again.”–French President Emmanuel Macron.

* “I’m not going down that path.”–Florida House Speaker Richard Corcoran’s response to a direct media question asking if he believed that human activity contributes to climate change.

* “With 40 percent of Florida’s population at risk from sea-level rise, my state is on the front lines of climate change.”–Florida Congressman Carlos Curbelo.

* “Most Republicans still do not regard climate change as a hoax. But the entire climate-change debate has now been caught up in the broader polarization of American politics.”–Republican strategist Whit Ayres.

* “Meals on Wheels, even for some of us who are considered to be fiscal hawks, may be a bridge too far.”–Rep. Mark Meadows, R-N.C., the chairman of the House Freedom Caucus, on President Trump’s budget, which proposes deep cuts to programs for the poor, including Meals on Wheels, which delivers food to older people.

* “The president keeps saying the tax bill is moving through Congress. It doesn’t exist.”–House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif.

* “The Russia investigation takes a lot of oxygen, it takes a lot of attention.”–U.S. Rep. Tom Cole, R-Ok.

* “(Trump’s) antitrade agenda is bad for growth, and he’s missing in action on controlling spending.”–Dan Mitchell, senior fellow at the libertarian Cato Institute.

* “Republicans need a fresh formula that can both win elections and govern. Mr. Trump’s populist nationalism certainly isn’t the answer.”–Will Wilkinson, vice president for policy at the Niskanen Center.

* “When the Trump experiment is finally over, hopefully there will be some of us around to pick up the pieces.”–Former Florida Republican Congressman David Jolly.

* “This is an atypical year. Our headquarters’ phone hasn’t stopped ringing, and the number one question we’re asked is ‘What are we going to do about Vern Buchanan’s seat?'”–Manatee Democratic Chairman Cheryl Wilson.

* “The press corps has really been decimated in the last several years. There’s a lot of things that we’d have never gotten away with back in the ’90s that people get away with now.”–State Sen. Jack Latvala, R-Clearwater.

* “Allowing Americans to travel to whatever country they want is not a concession.”–Al Fox, founder of the Alliance for Responsible Cuba Policy Foundation.

* “It’s on time, on budget and on schedule.”–Edmund Funai, USF Health’s COO, on how plans are proceeding for the construction of the new medical school facility in downtown Tampa.

* “(Principals) want people in front of students who are in the same diversity of their student population.”–Pinellas County Schools Superintendent Mike Grego, on the need to recruit more black teachers.

Amid all the controversy about all things Trump, observers have been noticing a bit of a comeback, even if not appreciated in certain circles, of print media. Thank you, New York Times and the Washington Post. You don’t traffic in fake news. You still have source-tracking–and confirming–journalists, however under siege from the culture, technology and the current administration. What Trump shared with Russian envoys, what Trump asked James Comey to do with his investigation of Michael Flynn were old-fashioned scoops. Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein would agree. And no manner of Trump demonization changes that.