Category: Media Watch

We’re all familiar with the challenges facing print media these days–from New York to Tampa Bay. Downsizing doesn’t ignore proofreaders and doesn’t reward experience. Deadlines and accuracy have never been a more volatile mix.

But notice how precise the wording is when a name such as Santo Trafficante Jr. pops back into the news, whatever the context. In this case, heirs wanting to split the property and sell the family home in South Tampa. Trafficante is still a “reputed gangster,” a “supposed gangster” and a “reputed mobster.” Can never be too careful with mob bosses. Oops. Reputed mob bosses.

* Presidential candidates going on late-night, TV entertainment shows is nothing new. It harkens back to John F. Kennedy’s appearance with Jack Paar on the old “Tonight Show” in 1960. It was a savvy move to get in front of a demographic far removed from newspaper editorial pages and Sunday morning political talk shows.

It still is, if done right.

Bill Clinton playing the sax on Arsenio Hall in 1992 was cool. Then submitting to questions–including one about “shorts or briefs?”–wasn’t. You know it when you see it.

A few weeks back Hillary Clinton appeared on “Saturday Night Live” and arguably helped herself. It was a self-deprecating, three-minute cameo as “Val” the bartender chatting with cast member Kate McKinnon, who regularly plays Clinton. Net result: Clinton can deliver a punch line set-up, she can take a joke, and she can look likeable.

Last Saturday Donald Trump went on “SNL”–but as the host. Not such a good move–even for somebody for whom most political rules of thumb don’t apply. His best moment was the opening “monologue,” which included “heckler” Larry (Bernie Sanders) David and featured Trump between his two send-up impersonators, Taran Killam and Darrell Hammond.

But as a scripted host, he was a 90-minute player. He was in the sketches, none of which were memorable, unless lame and cringeworthy count. He also introduced and interacted with “Sia,” the semi-visaged singer who gives gimmick a bad name.

In short, Trump was in his over-the-top, look-at-me element.

As a pop-culture “entertainer” of sorts, he genuinely belonged on the set of something that was more self-indulgent and off-putting than funny. He wasn’t just showing that he could take a joke. He was reminding viewers why he is a political punch line.

As predicted, the ratings were good, which also meant a lot of people other than Republican primary hero worshippers were watching–and probably remembering how much they missed Adam Sandler.

Perhaps the picketer signs outside 30 Rock will be prophetic as well as pejorative: “Basta Trump.”

* Given his obvious vulnerabilities, it makes strategic sense for Ben Carson to go after the media.

First, defending himself against a self-labeled media inquisition has animated him. He no longer looks sedated, hardly a quality anyone would want in a would-be leader of the Free World.

Second, he turns the legitimate issue of all his informational deficits back on the media that has been calling him out about particulars of a West Point “scholarship” offer and memoir details about his pre-redemption days as an unhinged Detroit kid. It makes the press look petty.

“The American people are waking up to your game,” sanctimoniously reproached Carson.

Instead, the press should be calling him out over a myriad of issues that really matter–from ignorance of NATO membership and total unfamiliarity with “wet foot, dry foot” Cuban policy to his Affordable Care Act-slavery analogy and embarrassing confusion of the debt ceiling with the budget.

Didn’t we go through this eight years ago with Sarah Palin?

The point is this: Dr. Ben Carson, great back story notwithstanding, is not some hatchet-job victim of PolitiFact. He is simply unprepared to be president when it comes to what matters most.

Carson the candidate needs serious media vetting–not scrutiny that parses West Point nuances over “scholarship” and “appointment.”

* “We do not seek a cold, let alone a hot, war with Russia. We do not seek to make Russia an enemy. But make no mistake; the United States will defend our interests, our allies, the principled international order, and the positive future it affords us all.”–Defense Secretary Ash Carter.

* “We should use our actions to demonstrate to the world that Chinese people on both sides of the strait fully have the ability and wisdom to solve their own problems.”–Chinese President Xi Jinping to Taiwanese President Ma Ying-jeou in their breakthrough meeting in Singapore.

* “The (Keystone XL oil) pipeline would not make a meaningful long-term contribution to our economy.”–President Barack Obama.

* “I’m not stepping into the role of angry agitator that they have created for us, because it’s not in my heart. In the end that role is just a bit part in the story of another conservative loss, and another liberal victory.”–Jeb Bush.

* “Live free or die, brothers and sisters, that’s what I’m for.”–Jeb Bush in New Hampshire.

* “(Ben) Carson may no longer be a practicing physician, but he is a full-time profiteer, selling his story in books and speeches and paid handsomely to do so. Good work, if you can get it.”–Charles M. Blow, New York Times.

* “Everybody’s going, ‘Oh, Marco was great.’ No, Marco lied about his financials.”–Joe Scarborough, host of “Morning Joe” and former Republican congressman from Florida.

* “I’m told that I don’t have a sense of humor, so I’m going to start off with a joke. I’m Larry David. Bernie sent me.”–Bernie Sanders.

* “Just iron-ass. His seeming knuckling under to the real hard-charging guys who want to fight about everything, use force to get our way in the Middle East.”–Former President George H.W. Bush, on Dick Cheney’s role as vice president under George W. Bush.

* “The high cost of paid television is the main reason modern presidential campaigns must raise so much money–a trend that will probably continue until political consultants become convinced that voters are more likely to be influenced by other cheaper methods of communication, like social media.”–Author and presidential historian Michael Beschloss.

* “They don’t want you to vote. If they did, we wouldn’t vote on a Tuesday.”–Chris Rock.

* “We very much support baseball being a part of the opening between the United States and Cuba. It’s an institution that is revered in both countries, and insofar as we are deepening our people-to-people ties with Cuba and rebuilding bridges between our two societies, clearly Major League Baseball has a role.”–Benjamin J. Rhodes, deputy national security adviser for strategic communications.

* “Few would willingly embrace the title of ‘denialist.’ It sounds so much more rigorous and fair-minded to maintain one’s ‘skepticism.’ … People claiming to be ‘skeptics’ about climate change often start off by saying something like, ‘Well, I’m no scientist, but …’ and then proceed to rattle off a series of evidential demands so strict that they would make Newton blush.”–Lee McIntyre, author and research fellow at the Center for Philosophy and History of Science at Boston University.

* “Too many law schools are filling their entering classes with people who face serious risk of not passing the bar exam.”–Kyle McEntee, executive director of Law School Transparency.

* “The pharmacy consolidation endgame has begun.”–Adam J. Fein, president of Pembroke Consulting, after Walgreens Boots Alliance said it would buy Rite Aid for more than $9.4 billion in cash.

* “This could open up years of litigation and settlements in the same way that tobacco litigation did.”–Brandon L. Garrett, professor at the University of Virginia School of Law, after it was revealed that the New York attorney general had begun an investigation of Exxon Mobil to determine whether the company (had previously) lied about the risks of climate change.

* “Right now the labor market is good if you’re a new graduate of Harvard or Stanford in computer science or a new economics Ph.D. or if you’re coming out with a specialized skill in some health occupation. The upper 10 percent are probably doing O.K. in the labor market, but typical workers are still facing a lot of difficulties.”–Lawrence Katz, Harvard labor economist.

* “It’s been getting worse year after year, session after session. I think the process has deteriorated to the point where not a whole lot of work gets done during committee weeks.”–Florida House Democratic Leader Mark Pafford, D-West Palm Beach.

* “People seem to be coming together and grasping that CSX provides a great path forward for regional mobility.”–Ed Turanchik, on the potential of converting CSX freight lines into commuter rail.

* “Google Fiber will amplify our attractiveness to tech companies, entrepreneurs and professionals who want access to innovative technology and services. Other communities with Google Fiber have … have benefited by attracting businesses, as well as millennial talent, to their community.”–J.P. DuBuque, interim president of the Tampa Hillsborough Economic Development Corp.

* “I do not hold you accountable for the past. I hold you accountable for the solutions.”–Hillsborough County School Board member April Griffin to Superintendent Jeff Eakins.

* “The majority of teachers I’ve talked to feel an absolute pressure not to take a variety of disciplinary actions with students, but they’re not being given adequate alternatives to help kids or change behavior. It appears being able to provide numbers that look good is more important.”–Stephanie Baxter-Jenkins, executive director of the Hillsborough County Teachers Association.

* “People want to live where people care about one another.”–Suzanne McCormick, CEO of United Way Suncoast, in underscoring her organization’s role as a regional economic development player.

* “We’ve primed the pump, we’ve got the development, but I think you can have too much. And I think we’ve gotten to that point.”–Former Clearwater Mayor Frank Hibbard, on the wall of hotels recently built along Clearwater Beach.

When it comes to political debates in the post Lincoln-Douglas era, there are some obvious trends and givens:

* There are multiple, overlapping agendas at play. For candidates–as well as moderators.

* Each presidential candidate needs to connect with viewers, starting with activist, primary constituencies who always require the reddest-meat sound bites. Nominal answers to actual moderator questions typically precede a pivot to an agenda answer, which may or may not have anything to do with the question.

* Don’t like a question? A favorite candidate ploy is to turn the question on the questioner and blanketly blame the media for its “gotcha” gestalt. Almost always works.

*Whatever else these debates are–from credibility litmus tests to informative give-and-take exercises–they are also show business vehicles. Ratings–and attendant ad revenues–matter mightily. Moderators are not just First Amendment enablers and truth seekers, they’re also network performers.

As we’ve seen on cable TV’s political talk shows, conflict sells. From Fox to CNBC. Save reasoned discussion for C-SPAN and PBS.

* If candidates can’t handle Megyn Kelly or John Harwood, perhaps they’re not ready for prime time. Let alone Vlad Putin, Xi Jinping or Raul Castro. I think Chris Christie would agree.

* Frankly, if Donald Trump and Ben Carson decided to double down and say, “We’re only going to talk to Sean Hannity: Deal with it,” who would bet against them getting their way? The process–with this cycle’s infotainment inclusion of Trump–has devolved that much.

* Context matters. I watched an NBC interview earlier this week with Lester Holt sitting down with President Barack Obama. Among Holt’s areas of inquiry: America’s decision to send a small team of commandos into Syria as part of the broader war against ISIS. This, of course, was in the aftermath of the president’s repeated rejections of “boots on the ground” deployment. Holt’s operative question was ultimately phrased as: “So, did you go back on your word?”

Now on a politically-dynamic and-optic stage in front of a live audience and record-setting millions at home, such a question might be perceived as “gotcha.” Comes with the territory. But it’s actually an eminently fair–and likely expected–question to ask in an interview. In fact, to not ask it is to fall shy of a journalistic standard that holds ultimate decision-makers accountable for their actions and motives.

* Is it journalism or show business? Frankly, I have a problem with any serious presidential debate that begins with asking candidates what their greatest weakness is, carving out time for a fantasy football question and then never getting around to the debt ceiling. That only invites the sort of over-the-top, blame-the-media outbursts that resulted.

Candidly, we all deserve better.

* “We won’t hold back from supporting capable partners in opportunistic attacks against ISIL (ISIS), or conducting such missions directly, whether by strikes from the air or direct action on the ground.”–Defense Secretary Ash Carter, in signaling a possible escalation of U.S. military action in the Middle East.

* “He refused to give up his dream of peace in the face of violence. The next step will be determined by whether you decide that Yitzhak Rabin was right, that you have to share the future with your neighbors … that the risks of peace are not as severe as the risk of walking away from it.”–Former President Bill Clinton in Israel to mark the 20th anniversary of the assassination of Prime Minister Rabin.

* “If we believe this will be the second American century, that time is on our side, that Chinese communism is a dead faith, we ought to avoid a clash and show our opposition to Beijing’s (South China Sea) excesses, if need be, by imposing tariffs on all goods made in China. China’s oligarchs will understand that message.”–Pat Buchanan, Creators Syndicate.

* “We are not going to have a House that looks like it’s looked the last few years. … Our party lost its vision.”–New Speaker of the House Paul Ryan, R-Wisconsin.

* “I’m not a performer. If they’re looking for an entertainer-in-chief, I’m probably not your guy.”–Jeb Bush.

* “While Jeb was offstage, the whole party and political environment had passed him by. He came back looking very ’90s. He’s talking about pragmatic government at a time when the drivers in his party are talking about tearing it down.”–Maureen Dowd, New York Times.

* “I still have tremendous admiration for him both as a person and what he did as governor of Florida, and I’m not going to talk bad about Gov. Bush. My campaign is not about him.”--Marco Rubio.

* “When Jeb drops out, the question is whether he backs Marco for the nomination or whether he’s too ticked off at Marco for running in the first place.”–Tony DiMatteo, former Pinellas Republican chairman.

* “The media used to present him as the smarter Bush, the more capable Bush, the Bush who should have been president. Now that’s all gone.”–Josh Voorhees, Slate.

* “Folks, we’ve got to wake up. We cannot nominate somebody that doesn’t know how to do the job.”–Ohio Republican Gov. John Kasich.

* “Republicans have enjoyed a summer of reality show politics, flirting with candidates like Ben Carson, Donald Trump and Carly Fiorina, who have almost no chance of defeating the Clinton juggernaut.”–George LeMieux, former Republican U.S. senator from Florida.

* “As long as Americans put one party in charge of the executive branch and another in charge of the legislative branch, successful governance will depend on mutual compromise.”–Bloomberg View.

* “If we use absolute values and not rates, then the following statements are both true: There are more people who are poor than ever today. But GDP is much higher today than it ever was under a Republican president, so the Obama administration economic policy is a smashing success.”–Sheldon Danziger, president of the non-partisan Russell Sage Foundation.

* “I can’t stop thinking about it. Cuba and the cruise industry are just a match made in heaven, waiting to happen.”–Frank Del Rio, CEO of Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings.

* “People will agree or disagree about casino gambling. But regardless of your position, given the stakes involved and the money that the gambling industry puts into campaigns and lobbying, the people of Florida should have the final say on whether or not to legalize casino-style gambling.”–John Sowinski, chairman of Voters in Charge, which wants to pass an amendment that would make clear that no additional gambling can be allowed in Florida without a statewide public referendum on the issue.

* “Many thoughtful citizens have grown weary of politicians demanding that a college education be primarily job-oriented training.”–Donald Eastman, president of Eckerd College.

* “Just what we needed. Another non-educator to have zero understanding of best education practices and policy.”–Cindy Hamilton, co-founder of Opt Out Orlando, on the appointment of securities lawyer Tom Grady to fill a vacancy on the State Board of Education.

* “This whole issue about the open carry law, I really don’t get that. My interpretation of that is that you’re going to be the first one to die when the shooting starts. … A large number of Americans believe they’re safe by virtue of owning a firearm. The truth is that the majority of firearms are taken away from the owners and used on them in violent encounters.”–Former Tampa Police Chief Jane Castor.

* “If we’re going to create an entrepreneurial ecosystem here, we’ve got to have the ability to move data. And our ability to move data gives us a competitive advantage.”–Mayor Bob Buckhorn, at the announcement that Google may bring its ultra-fast Internet service, Google Fiber, to Tampa.

* “It has become very scientific.”–Santiago Corrada, president and CEO of Visit Tampa Bay, on the increased need to connect digitally with prospective tourists.

* “Our urban experience in the next five years will change the skyline in ways we cannot imagine.”–Mayor Bob Buckhorn, speaking at the annual meeting of the Tampa Hillsborough Economic Development Corp.

* “Economic development is a contact sport.”–Incoming EDC chairwoman Colleen Chappell, CEO of the Ybor City-based Chappell Roberts marketing firm.

* “The board ultimately feels like they want to take responsibility and go to the private sector and raise these dollars to offset our operating expenses for the fall.”–MOSI president and CEO Molly Demeulenaere, in turning down a $400,000 loan–and its demanding conditions–from Hillsborough County.

The “mainstream media,” as we recently heard, has been likened to a Hillary Clinton Super PAC. Good line, Sen. Rubio. The redder the raw-meat sound bite, the better the debate dynamic. To the victors go the gotcha spoils. Are we ultimately electing a quipster-in-chief?

These are not Lincoln-Douglas rejoinders. This isn’t Howard K. Smith moderating Kennedy-Nixon–or even Buckley-Vidal.  It’s what we’ve devolved into. We’ve all seen it coming.

The die was cast when Rupert Murdoch knew he had a rich niche programming against the status quo, moderate-left media. Ideological overcompensation resulted. And thank you, cable-TV epoch. Game on.

Whether it’s Sean Hannity or Rachel Maddow, it’s all about ratings. And sponsors. And conflict. Viewers know where to go for validation–not news analysis.

Indeed, well measured discussions about anything might suit C-SPAN or PBS, but it’s the conflict sizzle that sells–from the right or left–and attracts viewers. Can’t outshout? Can’t interrupt? Can’t demonize? Can’t defer? Tough shtick.

It’s no quantum leap to apply the formula to presidential debates. When the first question to a would-be leader of the free world is asking about their greatest weakness–and then never getting around to inquire about the debt ceiling–you know you’ve reached the point of no return. “What’s My Line?” had better queries.

While put-downs and show-stopping zingers are on the rise, context and accuracy continue to spiral down in presidential debates. The serious, world-impacting process of such debates has never been so trivialized. Then add the circus-act candidacy of uber infotainer Donald Trump.

The result leaves little debate. At best, this is show business. At worst, this is a democratic embarrassment–and grist for the fall-of-the-Roman-Empire-analogy mill.

We deserve better.

* After listening to Ben Carson on the hustings, you have to wonder how long the lexicon will continue to countenance: “This isn’t brain surgery.” At least Lincoln Chafee wasn’t a rocket scientist.

* Cartoonist speaks volumes. Here’s the sobering perspective of Laurent Sourisseau, who replaced a slain colleague as editorial director of “Charlie Hebdo“: “It’s worrying to hear people tell us, ‘You’re the only ones who can say such things.’ We don’t want to be alone in seeing the world the way we do.”

* How’s this for irony? Germaine Greer, the iconic, Australian feminist author best known for her best-seller, “The Female Eunuch,” has sparked a student protest over her speaking engagement at Cardiff University in Wales. What has prompted such a response? Greer, 76, has an unenlightened take on transgender women.

While noting that she has no issue with those having sex-reassignment surgery, she does stress that “it doesn’t make them a woman.” She has also commented that “a great many” women don’t dare deign to say transgender people “don’t look like, sound like, or behave like women.”

Imagine, Germaine no longer germane.

* “A positive, optimistic, hopeful vision of public life isn’t a naive dream–it can be a powerful force for change.”–Newly elected Liberal Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

* “What is America’s cause today? What is our mission in the world? Where is the coherence, the consistency, of U.S. policy in the Middle East that should cause us to draw red lines, and fight if they are crossed?”–Pat Buchanan, Creators Syndicate.

* “Learning is about so much more than just filling in the right bubble. So we’re going to work with states, school districts, teachers, and parents to make sure that we’re not obsessing about testing.”–President Barack Obama.

* “Imagine what it would be like if we weren’t present is a strong reason to participate, but at the same time I hate to give them any patina of respectability.”–Rep. Adam B. Schiff, D-Calif., on being a member of the House Select Committee on Benghazi.

* “I have disavowed all Super PACs, requested the return of all donations made to said PACs, and I am calling on all presidential candidates to do the same. The character of our country is only as strong as our leaders.”–Donald Trump.

* “This means lean and mean, and means I have an ability to adapt. The circumstances when we started the election were different.”–Jeb Bush’s explanation of his campaign’s announcement that there would be a substantial downsizing of his political operation and changes in strategy.

* “I’m getting old–at just the right time.”–Former President George H.W. Bush.

* “Unfortunately, I believe we’re out of time, the time necessary to mount a winning campaign for the nomination. But while I will not be a candidate, I will not be silent.”–Vice President Joe Biden.

* “We’ll think about it.”–Jim Webb’s answer to a question on whether he still considers himself a Democrat.

* “The president is not going to get involved in this primary. … While he has respect for both Charlie Crist and Eric Lynn, he is going to leave the choice between the two up to Florida voters.”–White House statement regarding Pinellas County’s open congressional seat.

* “There’s no one path that’s going to lock you into being a CEO. Technology is a detriment in some ways because of how it’s changed the way we communicate. Those skills are so important.”–Mindy Grossman, CEO of HSN.

* “My No. 1 responsibility as a leader is to make myself replaceable. It’s important to mentor those under me. Leaders who don’t aren’t being transparent.”–Liz Smith, CEO of Bloomin’ Brands.

* “The fact that the digital side of the business has leveled off has worked to our advantage. It’s resulted in a far healthier independent bookstore market  today than we have had in a long time.”–Oren Teicher, chief executive of the American Booksellers Association.

* “What I worry about gun ownership is this: that amateurs like me, wanting to keep themselves safe, will make our country a much more dangerous place.”–Gina Barreca, feminist scholar and English professor at the University of Connecticut.

* “There is a consensus in the scientific community that global warming is real. There’s no question about it, really, and yet when you listen to the news or read the newspaper, you often see people say things like ‘I don’t believe in global warming’ and things like that. And it’s not a matter of belief. These are hard, solid facts.”–Craig Joseph, professor of astronomy and planetarium director at St. Petersburg College.

* “That money is sacred. That money is in a lock box. … That’s our way of telling the company , ‘Your money is guaranteed. It’s assured, once you perform.”–Enterprise Florida CEO Bill Johnson, on the more than $300 million set aside for incentive programs, including $141 million in escrow accounts promised to future jobs that do not exist.

* “Public service is in my heart.”–Charlie Crist, at his congressional (District 13) campaign kickoff.

* “I care too much about this district, the institution of Congress, and who represents us to lay down and let this huckster walk into office.”–Incumbent Republican Rep. David Jolly after the Crist campaign kickoff.

* “Education malpractice.”–How U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan characterized the rapid decline of five predominantly black neighborhood schools in St. Petersburg.

* “The days of Hillsborough and Pinellas fighting about our respective areas and touting ourselves at the expense of others are done.”–Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn.

* “Two of the fastest-growing segments of our tourism demographics are international visitors and millennials. They consider it a failure if a destination doesn’t offer robust transit options.”–David Downing, executive director of Visit St. Pete-Clearwater, speaking in behalf of a recently proposed ferry service between Tampa and St. Petersburg.

* “People ask why we need an event center. The answer is because we need one for the 250 events we have every year, and we currently don’t have a facility to seat 150 people.”–Thom Stork, president and CEO of the Florida Aquarium, at the ground-breaking for the 2,500-square-foot event center.

* “I’ve been clear that I want to bring St. Pete along to a point where we act like, and are run like, the fourth largest city in Florida.”–St. Petersburg Mayor Rick Kriseman.

* “The biggest challenge was filling all the spaces. But the space has evolved a lot in a year. … You have to feel your way through it in this first year, which I think all the retailers did very well.”–Bill Edwards, who redeveloped St. Petersburg’s BayWalk shopping center into Sundial.

* “Those who live in America, or visit it, might do best to regard (mass shootings) the way one regards air pollution in China: an endemic local health hazard which, for deep-rooted cultural, social, economic and political reasons, the country is incapable of addressing.”–The Economist.

* “When Americans think about deaths from guns, we tend to focus on homicides. But the problem of gun suicide is inescapable: More than 60 percent of people in this country who die from guns die from suicide.”–Margot Sanger-Katz, New York Times.

* “The real goal of gun control supporters is gun confiscation.”–Chris Cox, the NRA’s chief lobbyist.

* “Shut up talking about things that you don’t know anything about. And unless you’re on the committee, you have no idea what we have done, why we have done it and what new facts we have found.”–Rep. Trey Gowdy, R-S.C., chairman of the House Benghazi committee.

* “We can’t look backward–we have to move forward. And to stand in the way of TPP (Trans-Pacific Partnership) is to do nothing but preserve the long-term status quo for American workers and make it even harder for them to succeed. And if we don’t write the rules in the fast-growing Asia-Pacific, countries that don’t share our values will write those rules instead.”–President Barack Obama.

* “North Korea this weekend held a military parade celebrating the 70th anniversary of their communist party. People who attended the parade called it ‘amazing’ and ‘mandatory.'”–Seth Meyers.

* “They are in the same establishment bracket and there’s no front-runner. I know they each say it’s a big party and a big field is welcome, but it doesn’t help Bush or Rubio to have the other one in.”–Jennifer Duffy, Cook Political Report.

* “Candidates are like sports teams: They are either improving or getting worse, never static. As the campaign unfolds, watch your favorite candidate for signs of improvement, and if you don’t see it, you’re probably pulling for a loser.”–Stuart Stevens, chief campaign strategist for Mitt Romney in 2012.

* “Clinton won the debate because it didn’t change the dynamic. It froze the race, and she’s far in the lead.”–Charles Krauthammer, Washington Post.

* “I think everybody on that stage at the debate affirmed what I have said in the past, which is we agree on 95 percent of stuff and on the basic vision of a country.”–President Barack Obama.

* “At the federal level, the Republican-led Congress has imploded. It’s very chaotic. They’ve failed to get a budget agreement and now do not have a leader.”–U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor, D-Tampa.

* “The NRA and gun rights advocates have rooted gun ownership in the Bible, Constitution and the flag. Those who seek more significant gun regulation may not persuade those who have fixed ideological and fixed quasi-mythic commitments to guns.”–David Frank, professor of rhetoric at the University of Oregon.

* “Nobody will ever win the battle of the sexes. There’s just too much fraternizing with the enemy.”–Henry Kissinger.

* “It’s primed and pumped, but it hasn’t been road-tested yet.”–Neuroscientist-author Frances Jensen analogizing the adolescent brain to a newly minted Ferrari.

* “We believe there is tremendous pent-up demand in the marketplace to visit this extraordinary country–particularly in the U.S. where travelers are eager to experience Cuba–so we wanted to share as much of the country as possible.”–Tara Russell, president of Fathom, a new brand of Carnival Corp., the first company to receive U.S. approval to sail from Miami to Cuba–with stops in Havana, Cienfuegos and Santiago de Cuba.

* “You have to be exceptionally cautious. Who you are and the way you comport yourself on Twitter also becomes who you are. If you’re a jackass on Twitter, people are going to think you’re a jackass.”–Democratic consultant Steve Schale.

* “The threat to access to a fair and impartial judicial system in the United States … is driven by economic disparity. Simply put, those who can afford it will have access to civil justice; those who cannot afford it will not.”–Florida Chief Justice Jorge Labarga.

* “You have 40 self-interested actors now, all with seats at the table, all with leadership ambitions, all with their political careers on the line.”–State Sen. Tom Lee, R-Brandon, on the inherent challenge involved as lawmakers convene to re-draw the Senate map.

* “Obviously, if you can have computer language skills, you can communicate with people all over the world. Technology is the great equalizer.”–State Sen. Jeremy Ring, D-Margate, who has filed a bill to allow high school students to replace their two-year foreign language graduation requirement with two years of computer coding courses.

* “It’s a risky game. But there is a reward to it if a show is successful.”–Tampa Sports Authority Executive Director Eric Hart, on the TSA’s strategy of promoting its own concerts–such as the upcoming one with Taylor Swift.

* “If those who are so captured by the green-eyed monster spent more time on their businesses and less time envying me, they would have more successful businesses.”–Beth Leytham.

* “It’s the truest form of philanthropy. It lives on.”–Wayne Atherholt, director of St. Petersburg’s office of cultural affairs, in response to Mayor Rick Kriseman’s proposal to use $1 million from the $6.5 million BP settlement for an arts endowment.

This just in: Cheap Trick singer–and Safety Harbor resident–Robin Zander has been nominated for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, class of 2016. Others on the ballot include: Steve Miller, Los Lobos, the Spinners, Yes, Chaka Khan and Nine Inch Nails. One begged question: Where’s Chubby Checker? He’s still not in.

Did the induction committee never forgive him for covering Hank Ballard on “The Twist”?