*“Twenty years ago, the idea of North Korea being able to deliver a nuclear warhead to the U.S. seemed far-fetched. They’re not there yet, but with each round of tests, they inch a little bit closer.”–Sharon Squassoni, director of the proliferation prevention program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
* “No one is basing this on trust. We are basing it on oversight and compliance.”–Secretary of State John Kerry, on the deal with Russia to reduce violence in Syria.
* “The most enduring memorial to those we lost is ensuring the America we continue to be, that we stay true to ourselves, stay true to what is best in us, that we not let others divide us.”–President Barack Obama, speaking at the Pentagon Memorial service on Sept. 11.
* “And, by the way, with Iran, when they circle our beautiful destroyers with their little boats, and they make gestures at our people that they shouldn’t be allowed to make, they will be shot out of the water.”–Donald Trump.
* “Vote this year like your future depends on it, because it does.”–Hillary Clinton, during her campaign stop at USF.
* “(Donald Trump) is temperamentally unfit and totally unqualified to be president. I’m a very patient person. I don’t quit. I don’t give up. I don’t blink.”–Hillary Clinton.
* “We all understand, more or less, what Trump is getting at. In American politics, ‘law and order’ is lock-em-up language, tough talk that is used to vilify far more than crime and criminals. It also tends to encompass the supposed disorder created by poor people, African-Americans, street protesters and immigrants.”–Beverly Gage, New York Times Magazine.
* “To understand the racial divide in the electorate, consider the sharp contrast between white men and nonwhite voters in Florida.”–Quinnipiac pollster Peter Brown.
* “A fraud from beginning to end.”–New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman’s assessment of Trump U.
* “The Republican Party is now a coalition of globalization-loving business executives and globalization-hating white workers. That’s untenable. … The Democratic Party is a coalition of the upscale urban professionals who make up the ruling class and less-affluent members of minorities who feel betrayed by it. That’s untenable too.”–David Brooks, New York Times.
* “I hope she gets well soon.”–Donald Trump.
* “In retrospect, we could have handled it better.”–Clinton spokesman Brian Fallon, on the delay in informing the public about Clinton’s diagnosis of pneumonia.
* “Democrats really blew it when it comes to (Senate) recruiting in Florida. They thought they had a half-decent candidate, and then he turned out to be problematic.”–Chuck Todd, host of NBC’s Meet the Press.
* “We are now essentially out of money.”–Tom Frieden, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, on the state of dwindling, Zika-aid funding.
* “Unchecked incentives can lead to serious consumer harm, and that is what happened here.”–Richard Cordray, director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, in reference to the illegal and widespread banking practices at Wells Fargo. The CFPB leveled a $100 million penalty on Wells Fargo, one of the nation’s largest banks.
* “One of the most religious countries on earth (U.S.) is also a nation of religious illiterates.”–Stephen Prothero, author of “Religious Literacy.”
* “Children being forgotten in cars coincides with the development of air bags, when children were put into the back seat instead of the front seat. You just didn’t see children getting forgotten before air bags developed.”–David Diamond, USF professor of psychology, physiology and molecular pharmacology–and leading expert on “forgotten baby syndrome.”
* “I am in doubt that there’s anything she could say that would put this to rest.”–Florida Republican consultant Mac Stipanovich, on the ongoing controversy over Donald Trump’s $25,000 contribution to Attorney General Pam Bondi’s re-election campaign in 2013.
* “Perhaps the (Hillsborough County) commission can fool themselves into thinking this road-repair, road-widening patch solves transportation needs. But informed people, especially those without cars, will recognize that it is only for show; it won’t get us where we need to go.”–Former Florida legislator Mary Figg.
* “The development community hasn’t embraced sustainability here in the way other cities have. (Strategic Property Partners’) commitment to this standard is something Tampa hasn’t always had. On a large scale, I hope it inspires others to do the same because it can only be good for Tampa.”–Taylor Ralph, founder and president of REAL Building Consultants.
* “The festival market is just too competitive. … We can’t afford to play. It’s just too much money.”–WMNF general manager Craig Kopp, on the community radio station’s decision to suspend its long-running Tropical Heat Wave music festival.
* “Tampa has a nationally renowned reputation for great customer service and information technology talent–a perfect combination of skills that will help us ramp up quickly in our new location.”–Rene LaVigne, president and CEO of Iron Bow Technologies, on the Virginia company’s opening of a new customer service center–including 170 new jobs–in Tampa.
* “We cannot go backward on our protection of the environment.”–State Sen. Jack Latvala, R-Clearwater, on Pinellas County’s recent sewage woes.
* “We don’t have to listen to what everybody else wants us to do with our lives. We get to do what we want.”–Tim Tebow.