Category: Media Watch

If you’re like us, most of the movies you see are via Netflix or HBO. So when you actually do venture out to a theater–and steel yourself for the uber loud, chase-scene dominant trailers sure to proceed the movie you’re actually there to see–it has to be good. “The Walk,” the story of Philippe Petit’s 1974 tightrope walk between New York’s World Trade Center Twin Towers, qualifies. It’s hardly pedestrian. Indeed, the concluding minutes have been accurately described as “armrest-clutching.”

It’s fun, it’s 3-D, it’s edgy (literally), it’s poignant–and you can bring other members of the family along. The worst language–and it’s not that bad–is in French, and the subtitles even clean that up. There’s nothing gratuitous; the vertiginous scenes are necessary.

With a deft parlay of digital effects and models, appropriate homage is given to the iconic, 110-story Towers. We all know the back story. The movie ends the way it should.

* “Our revolutionary armed forces are ready to fight any form of war the American imperialists want.”–North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, in his first public speech in three years.

* “To be clear: Putin is a Russian nationalist, not a leader of Spectre or the League of Shadows. He doesn’t want chaos for its own sake, and he no doubt believes that a weakened NATO, a divided E.U. and a crumbling Pax Americana are necessary preconditions for his own empire’s return to greatness.”–Ross Douthat, New York Times.

* “I have had a gun held on me when I was in a Popeyes. Guy comes in, put the gun in my ribs. And I just said, ‘I believe that you want the guy behind the counter.'”–Ben Carson.

* “In a sense, Mr. Trump’s immersion in the medium of reality TV normalizes his wealth. He connects with an audience for whom he represents the sort of rich guy they would be if they had the money.”–Seth Grossman, filmmaker and reality television producer.

* “Whether a Cuban-American will be able to win over (non-Cuban) Latinos, the answer is yes. … The problem with Marco Rubio is not that he’s Cuban-American, but that he’s endorsed Republican positions that Latinos oppose.”–Sergio Garcia-Rios, assistant professor of government and Hispanic studies at Cornell University.

* “If you go back to 2004, opposition researchers were very much in the shadows. … It’s much different now. Some of this (oppo) has yielded great results. Candidates now know they’ve got to always be on.”–Shane D’Aprile, co-publisher of Campaigns & Elections magazine.

* “Essentially, Boehner is the kindergarten teacher who is leaving his flock unsupervised and wants to get all the sharp objects out of the room before he goes off into the sunset.”–Chris Krueger, policy analyst for the investment firm of Guggenheim Partners.

* “One attempt at a shoe bomb and we all have to take off our shoes at airports; 31 school shootings since Columbine and no new gun safety laws.”–HBO news satirist John Oliver.

* “Cars exemplify the public health approach we need to apply to guns. We don’t ban cars, but we do require driver’s licenses, seatbelts, airbags, padded dashboards, safety glass and collapsible steering columns. And we’ve reduced the auto fatality rate by 95 percent.”–Nicholas Kristof, New York Times.

* “Even 50 to 100 years from now, print will be a big chunk of our business.”–Markus Dohle, chief executive of Penguin Random House, in noting that while analysts once predicted that e-books would overtake print by 2015, digital sales have instead slowed sharply.

* “Cars these days are reaching biological levels of complexity.”–Chris Gerdes, professor of mechanical engineering at Stanford University.

* “What I’ve picked up here and I hope you can relay back to your board, the folks running Volkswagen back in Germany, is that the response so far is inadequate. It’s a sign of arrogance. It’s a sign of not admitting yet the severity of your problem.”–Rep. Chris Collins, R-N.Y., to Volkswagen of America CEO Michael Horn, during his testimony on VW’s emissions scandal.

* “I frankly don’t like your attitude.”–State Sen. Jack Latvala, R-Clearwater, to Jesse Panuccio, executive director of the Department of Economic Opportunity.

* “This initial citrus crop estimate confirms that Florida’s citrus industry is in a fight for its life.”–State Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam, on the forecast that Florida’s orange crop will hit a 52-year-low in the upcoming season.

* “This campus does not scream university, but it does scream innovation.”–Florida Lt. Gov. Carlos López-Cantera, at the swearing in of Dr. Randy K. Avent, Florida Polytechnic University’s first president.

* “We need to discuss more funding options than what’s been presented to us. We need to have a full-blown discussion on everything.”–Hillsborough County Commissioner Sandy Murman, on the need to consider transportation-funding options aside from a sales tax.

* “I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, this city has its swagger back and I could not be more excited about these numbers.”–Mayor Bob Buckhorn, in reference to the announcement that Tampa gave permits for $2.4 billion in development through the 2015 financial year–an increase of about 20 percent from 2014.

* “I think it represents a healthy balance between what it is that we’ve been talking about here  and what the mayor has been talking about across the courtyard.”–City Council member Lisa Montelione, on a compromise reached with Mayor Bob Buckhorn on a Citizens Review Board for police that would give city council four appointees on an 11-member board.

* “I’m tired of being held to a G-rated standard that I probably can’t maintain.”–Sam Rashid, who recently resigned from the Hillsborough County Aviation Authority.

* “Everything they do here, they do it the right way. People can’t get enough of this team and fan support is on another level. I think Tampa is really a hockey town now.”–Former Lightning captain Vinnie Lecavalier, now a member of the Philadelphia Flyers.

* “Ideology is not defeated with guns. It is defeated with better ideas.”–President Barack Obama at the UN.

* “Instead of the triumph of democracy and progress, we got violence, poverty and social disaster.”–Russian President Vladimir Putin at the UN.

* “As a consequence of these brilliant moves, their economy is contracting 4 percent this year. They’re isolated in the world community.”–President Barack Obama, in response to those saying he has been outsmarted by Vladimir Putin.

* “Each time we see one of these mass shootings, our thoughts and prayers are not enough. It’s not enough. It does not capture the heartache and grief and anger that we should feel. It does nothing to prevent this carnage from being inflicted someplace else in America.”–President Barack Obama.

* “All his life, Trump has had a deep need to be perceived as a ‘winner.’ … That’s why, ultimately, I don’t think he’ll ever put himself at the mercy of actual voters in a primary. To do so is to risk losing. And everyone will know it. He’ll be out by Iowa. You read it here first.”–Joe Nocera, New York Times.

* “There is no real estate without government. Donald Trump and his dad built their fortunes on government.”–Julia Vitullo-Martin, senior fellow at the New York-based Regional Plan Association.

* “Today was a win for the Washington cartel, and another setback for the American people.”–Sen. Ted Cruz, on the stopgap spending bill that averts a federal government shutdown.

* “The latest smear campaign is based on efforts by our opponents to entrap our doctors and clinicians into breaking the law–and once again our opponents failed.”–Cecile Richards, president of Planned Parenthood, in testimony before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee.

* “Stylistically she (Carly Fiorina) is a renegade outsider, but substantively she’s completely establishmentarian. … When she ran Hewlett-Packard, the core critique against her was that she was really good at marketing but not good at tech or operations.”–David Brooks, New York Times.

* “Everybody thought Hillary Clinton was unbeatable, right? But we put together a Benghazi special committee, a select committee. What are her numbers today? Her numbers are dropping.”–House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy.

* “The cable TV chatter is obsessed with early polling and that has the lowest correlation of nominating success of almost any indicator you can find. This campaign is built for a long nominating process. Few others are.”–Bush senior campaign strategist David Kochel.

* “If Jeb doesn’t get an early win, all the money in the world isn’t going to change the direction of the race.”–Democratic strategist Steve Schale.

* “We will either renegotiate it or we will break it.”–Donald Trump, on the North American Free Trade Agreement.

* “The system was created for the work force we needed 100 years ago.”–Laurene Powell Jobs, Steve Jobs’ widow, who is starting a $50 million project to rethink high school.

* “Looking forward, we certainly need to take a look at whether (a) winner-take-all (primary) makes sense for Florida.”–Pinellas County GOP chairman Nick DiCeglie.

* “We won’t rule that out.”–Florida CFO Jeff Atwater, on the possibility that he may run for Marco Rubio’s senate seat in 2016.

* “They’re not exactly drinking buddies.”–GOP strategist J.M.”Mac” Stipanovich, on the relationship between Gov. Rick Scott and Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam.

* “Let’s be honest, the collapse of the testing system this spring proved that Florida’s accountability system is a house of cards.”–Florida Education Association.

* “For many people, painkillers have been a gateway into heroin. … Heroin availability in Florida is particularly high and especially cheap.”–Khary Rigg, professor of mental health law and policy at USF.

* “Following phase one, if things are going well, we see an opportunity for up to another billion dollars of development.”–Jeff Vinik.

* “If a vote was taken today, the votes aren’t there for this thing to pass.”–Hillsborough County Commissioner Al Higginbothan, on the county’s transportation referendum.

* “We’re all looking at things that should have been looked at a long time ago.”–Hillsborough County School District Superintendent Jeff Eakins, on a pattern of overspending that has been eroding the district’s reserves.

* “As we dug into it, we realized that it had a common factor. It was the Howard Frankland Bridge.”–Tampa Police Chief Eric Ward, on the reasoning behind TPD’s coordination with the St. Petersburg Police Department and the Pinellas Sheriff’s Office in pooling resources to catch car-theft suspects.

* “Criminals seems to be really proud of what they do. That’s fine. Keep on snapping selfies.”–Pasco County Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman Melanie Snow, noting that police are increasingly using social media to find suspects.

* “It used to be just a great place to live, not necessarily a great place to be an NHL hockey player. But I think if you did a poll around the league, Tampa would probably be top-five for sure now. … It’s the whole package.”–Tampa Bay Lightning captain Steven Stamkos.

* “The question now is, are words followed by actions? We will be watching carefully.”–President Barack Obama, at a news conference with Chinese President Xi Jinping.

* “Under international law, this incident is absolutely subject to prosecution. They have to know that we will pursue the trial of Al-Saud for the crime they have committed against the hajj pilgrims through international courts and organizations.”–Iranian State Prosecutor Ebrahim Raisi, in vowing to take legal action against Saudi Arabia for the hajj stampede that killed more than 700 people, including 136 Iranians.

* “The South China Sea is no more China’s than the Gulf of Mexico is Mexico’s.”–Adm. Harry Harris, commander of U.S. Pacific Command.

* “We still need to do more and we understand that.”–Secretary of State John Kerry, in announcing that the Obama administration will increase the number of refugees the U.S. is willing to accept in 2017 to 100,000.

* “If you are different than me, why don’t we talk? Why do we always throw rocks at that which separates us?”–Pope Francis.

* “A delicate balance is required to combat violence perpetrated in the name of a religion, an ideology or an economic system while also safeguarding religious freedom, intellectual freedom and individual freedoms.”–Pope Francis.

* “God bless America.”–Pope Francis.

* “We are now in a new gilded age similar to the first Gilded Age, when the nation’s antitrust laws were enacted. As then, those with great power and resources are making the “free market” function on their behalf. Big Tech–along with the drug, insurance, agriculture and financial giants–dominates both our economy and our politics.”–Robert B. Reich, former secretary of labor and current professor of public policy at the University of California, Berkeley.

* “You can observe a lot by watching.”–Yogi Berra.

* “I don’t want my members to go through this, and I certainly don’t want the institution to go through this.”–House Speaker John Boehner, in announcing his resignation as a way of averting another government shutdown.

* “If Boehner had stayed through December, you’d feel better about this. Now you’ve really emboldened the right. They feel at least they have a head on the mantle.”–Tom Davis, retired House member from Virginia.

* “The resignation of the speaker is a stark indication of the disarray of the House Republicans.”–House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif.

* “He’s overly ambitious, too young, and I have better hair than he does, right?”–Donald Trump’s reference to Marco Rubio.

* “He’s not well-informed on the issues. He really never talks about issues and can’t have more than a 10-second sound bite on any key issue.”–Marco Rubio’s reference to Donald Trump.

* “I oppose it. I don’t think it is in the best interest of what we need to do on climate change.”–Hillary Clinton, on the Keystone XL pipeline.

* “Our message is one of hope and aspiration. It isn’t one of division and get in line and we’ll take care of you with free stuff.”–Jeb Bush.

* “This is a contest, and it’s fair game for people to raise whatever they choose to raise. …You know, they’re not giving this job away.”–Hillary Clinton.

* “The cable TV chatter is obsessed with early polling and that has the lowest correlation of nominating success of almost any indicator you can find. This campaign is built for a long nominating process. Few others are.”–Bush senior campaign strategist David Kochel.

* “If Jeb doesn’t get an early win, all the money in the world isn’t going to change the direction of the race.”–Democratic strategist Steve Schale.

* “We will either renegotiate it or we will break it.”–Donald Trump, on the North American Free Trade Agreement.

* “Florida is the only state where Lufthansa has service in three markets. We’ve been very successful all over Florida, and see great potential in Tampa.”–Karl Ulrich Garnadt, CEO of Lufthansa, which recently inaugurated non-stop service between TIA and Frankfurt, Germany.

* “If a vote was taken today, the votes aren’t there for this thing to pass.”–Hillsborough County Commissioner Al Higginbotham, on the county’s transportation referendum.

* “We’re all looking at things that should have been looked at a long time ago.”–Hillsborough County School District Superintendent Jeff Eakins on a pattern of overspending that has been eroding the district’s reserves.

* “As we dug into it, we realized that it had a common factor. It was the Howard Frankland Bridge.”–Tampa Police Chief Eric Ward, on the reasoning behind TPD’s coordination with the St. Petersburg Police Department and the Pinellas Sheriff’s Office in pooling resources to catch car-theft suspects.

* “We can’t wait forever for St. Petersburg to decide what to do with the Rays.”–Clearwater Mayor George Creketos.

* “He rose above what is a very partisan town, and hopefully people were paying attention. He lives his life the way we all should and most of us don’t.”–Mayor Bob Buckhorn, who attended a White House reception for Pope Francis.

* It happens more often than you think–and more often than we point out. It is the contrasting treatment given the same news item by media outlets, notably our two dailies. And it has nothing to do with whose investigative-journalism team initiated it. It has everything to do with news judgment. Case in point: The first measure passed by Florida legislative committees (in preparation for the 2016 session) is a bill that allows concealed weapons at colleges and universities.

The Tampa Bay Times accorded it front-page, above-the-fold placement in the Local section. The Tampa Tribune gave it a three-graph, page-four “Briefly” placement in the Metro section.

* While paging through the October issue of Southern Living, I glanced at the full-page, color ad for Natural American Spirit cigarettes. The print ad copy as well as the colorful box with the silhouetted Indian prominently noted that it was “100% additive-free natural tobacco.” Also underscored: the tobacco was “organic.” What’s not to like? And a special $2-a-pack price.

How presumably tempting–if you don’t read any of the obligatory product disclaimers. One says: “No additives in our tobacco does NOT mean a safer cigarette.” Oh. Another acknowledges that “Organic tobacco does NOT mean a safer cigarette.” Alas. And then there’s the all-too-familiar, beyond-blunt Surgeon General’s Warning: “Smoking Causes Lung Cancer, Heart Disease, Emphysema, And May Complicate Pregnancy.” What a drag.

And yet, as we know, such tobacco products continue to enjoy a growing market.

Maybe an even better disclaimer alert is, inexplicably, still needed. If so, I’d suggest a peer pressure, product-labeling strategy. Maybe a boldly lettered “I’m-a-dumb-ass-for-being-so-easily-misled-into-buying-this-misrepresented-hardly-harmless-product” approach. Maybe that would work. Maybe.

* “Don’t come here anymore. Stay in refugee centers in Serbia and Macedonia and Greece. This is not the road to Europe. Buses can’t take you there. It’s a lie.”–Croatian Interior Minister Ranko Ostojic’s message to migrants.

* “The legislation is necessary in order to protect the people’s lives and their peaceful livelihood, and it is to prevent a war.”–Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, on contentious legislation that loosens post-World War II constraints on Japan’s military.

* “Twitter has promised to remove jihadi content from its platform, but its efforts have failed miserably, and the company’s sincerity in its pledge should be scrutinized, given that groups such as the Islamic State continue to thrive there.”–Steven Stalinsky, executive director of the Middle East Media Research Institute.

* “It’s like a divorce. They are saying: ‘The relationship we had is over. We’ve had enough of your efforts to change us. We’re doing our own thing now.’ But they don’t know what their own thing is.”–Keith Darden, American University political science professor, on Russia’s relationship with the U.S.

* “There is a growing pluralism in Cuban civil society and among Cuban elites. The business of revolution for the grandchildren of those who fought in Sierra Maestra or Bay of Pigs is not communism but business.”–Arturo Lopez-Levy, University of Texas-Rio Grande Valley lecturer.

* “For some months now, we have witnessed an event which fills us with hope: the process of normalizing relations between two peoples following years of estrangement.”–Pope Francis, in a speech at Jose Marti International Airport in Havana.

* “We’re gonna kill every one of these bastards we can find.”–South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham, on his desire to fight ISIS.

* “If she’d worked for me, I would have fired her. There’s a place where religion supercedes the rules of law. It’s called Iran.”–Former New York Gov. George Pataki, on how he would have handled Kentucky court clerk Kim Davis.

* “If you look at the collective political experience today of everybody in Congress, it comes out to something like 8,700 years. Where has it gotten us?”–Former neurosurgeon Dr. Ben Carson.

* “… It’s clear the guy lives his life with the caps-lock key on.”–Democratic consultant Tracy Sefl, on Donald Trump.

* “One-woman edict.”–Former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley, on the role of Florida congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz, the DNC chairwoman, on limiting Democratic presidential debates to six.

* “A driver’s license works in every state, so it’s common sense that a concealed carry permit should work in every state.”–Donald Trump.

* “As of now, in 2012, Rick Perry was ahead at 29.9 percent, and we had seven more leads before it finally settled on Mitt Romney… .”–Conservative analyst Karl Rove.

* “I believe that I am being called to lead by helping to clear the field.”–Scott Walker.

* “Every (Fed) meeting is a live meeting. October, it remains a possibility.”–Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen, on the ongoing assessment of an interest rate hike this year.

* “First unwritten rule is that nobody speaks twice until everybody speaks once at the conference. Great rule. Everybody feels they’re treated fairly. Second: Tomorrow is another day.”–U.S. Supreme Court Justice Stephen G. Breyer, referring to the private meetings where the justices cast their votes.

* “Hispanics in the United States have many reasons to feel proud, and one of the reasons is to have the privileged heritage of two global cultures.”–Spanish King Felipe VI, speaking at Miami Dade College.

* “Florida’s economic growth is driven primarily by what is going on in the U.S. economy, and that still looks pretty solid.”–Mark Vitner, senior economist with Wells Fargo Securities.

* “Florida’s vision for the space industry is for Florida to become the creator of and global leader in space commerce. We’re pleased to see this pad come back to life.”–Frank DeBello, CEO of Space Florida, the state-run economic development group, on the announced plans of Jeff Bezos to bring his Blue Origin space business to a location near the Kennedy Space Center.

* “The (Florida Legislature) pyramid of power is so sharp that the rank-and-file members can’t even get close to it. They are ignored.”–Pasco County Republican Mike Fasano, who spent 19 years in the Legislature.

* “I give him points for high-minded platitudes, but it’s not going to matter unless they actually do something.”–Former state Democratic legislator Dan Gelber, on the release of the “Blue-Print Florida” manifesto by newly designated House Speaker Richard Corcoran of Land O’Lakes.

* “When you look at the local economy, the good news is that we’re at record high numbers in payroll, 2.5 percent growth and job creation is a good mix of high skill and low skill. … We don’t want to depend on real estate and government for job creation.”–Nathaniel Karp, chief economist for BBVA Compass Bank.

* “Business people and leisure folks in Tampa have a one-stop connection to South Africa, Copenhagen, Prague, Budapest. Basically all of Europe and the Middle East. Suddenly Tampa has become very accessible and robust in the connections we have around the globe.”–TIA CEO Joe Lopano, on the implications of non-stop Lufthansa flights to Frankfurt, Germany.

* “Our business model is very different from Pinellas. We not only have to focus on leisure travel and tourism, but we also have a convention center that we have to make sure stays busy.”–Visit Tampa Bay CEO Santiago Corrada.

* “It’s really the holy grail of technology for transportation. … Autonomous vehicle technology will be as big of a deal as the Model T.”–State Sen. Jeff Brandes, R-St. Petersburg.

* “We’re happy with where we’re at, but we’re not done yet. We haven’t won any Stanley Cups yet.”–Lightning owner Jeff Vinik.

* Mulchgate? The Tampa Bay Times has uncovered a possible conflict-of-interest over playground parts and accessories purchased by the city from a company that employs the wife of Tampa’s parks and recreation director. The material, worth more than $60,000, ranges from mulch to a rockslide. It was a page-one, above-the-fold piece.

* Speaking of the Times, it recently did a piece on the “perfect (movie) ending” and how we, as viewers, are pining away for them. It reminded me of my two, decidedly different, favorite endings: the Rosebud sled from “Citizen Kane” and the protruding remnant of the Statue of Liberty from “Planet of the Apes.” Those were conclusions, not mere literal endings.

I was also reminded that there is a lot of sentiment for the final scene of “Dr. Strangelove,” the one where cowboy-bomber pilot Slim Pickens rides a nuclear bomb on its apocalyptic descent. In a black comedy dominated by satire and irony, it was slapstick dumb. Still is.

* Two take-aways after watching Stephen Colbert’s “Late Show” debut:

First, he has a big challenge ahead if he’s going to transcend his parody character. He’s been a caricature performer, rather than having classic stand-up or comedy writing in his background. It showed in a lot of ways, most notably interviewing. The George Clooney exchange was winceable.

Second, you have nine months of network hype and post-Letterman preparation, and this is what happens?

* “There is not enough Europe in this union. And there is not enough union in this union. We have to change this.”–Claude Juncker, president of the European Commission, urging the bloc to put aside deep divisions over welcoming refugees from the Middle East and Africa.

* “This refugee flow has outraged the right wing (of highly homogeneous Eastern Europe). If you scratch the surface, why are they so upset? It’s not about jobs or the ability to manage them or social welfare. What it is really about is that they are Muslim.”–Kenneth Roth, executive director of Human Rights Watch.

* “The Gulf countries–Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Bahrain–have offered zero resettlement places to Syrian refugees.”–Amnesty International.

* “I’m not destroying the Bolivarian revolution. The revolution is self-destructing because of its own effects, not because of the Colombians.”–Colombia President Juan Manuel Santos, responding to Venezuela’s anti-smuggling offensive that has closed major border crossings with Colombia.

* “Republicans were never going to go for the Iran deal. Their apocalyptic statements were written well in advance and they just had to hit “Send” followed by a fundraising appeal to Jewish donors.”–Maureen Dowd, New York Times.

* “Like many others, I know that this (Iranian nuclear) deal is not perfect. But there is no practical alternative that is perfect.”–U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor, D-Tampa.

* “Diplomacy is about minimizing differences. Pol Pot and the Pope–surely there’s something they can agree on. A political campaign is exactly the opposite. It’s about taking a minor difference and blowing it up into something transcendent.”–Richard Fontaine, president of the Center for a New American Security.

* “The discourse in Washington just becomes like a self-licking ice cream cone of maximalist foreign policy. That’s what gets you on television. That’s what gets your think-tank paper read.”–Ben Rhodes, deputy national-security adviser for President Obama.

* “The concept of opening with Cuba–50 years is enough–is fine. I think we should have made a stronger deal.”–Donald Trump.

* “The only wall that Trump is going to be successful building is a wall between the Republican Party and the White House.”–Florida Republican strategist Bettina Inclan.

* “Look at that face! … Can you imagine that, the face of our next president?”–Donald Trump’s reference to Carly Fiorina.

* “I want to say that I cherish women, and I will protect women, and I will take care of women, and I have a great respect for women.”–Donald Trump.

* “I think Donald Trump is an entertainer. I’m a leader.”–Carly Fiorina.

* “Moving jobs to Mexico has not been the major reason for the decline in manufacturing jobs in the U.S. Manufacturing jobs as a share of total jobs have been declining in the U.S. for over 50 years; same is true in all other advanced economies.”–Martin Baily, senior economics fellow at the Brookings Institution.

* “I am not perfect. No one is. But I am forgiven, and I love my Lord and must be obedient to Him and to the Word of God.”–Kim Davis, Kentucky county clerk who refused to issue marriage licenses to gay couples.

* “I heard about a new trend where people make marijuana-infused wine. They say it’s the first wine that pairs well with EVERY food.”–Jimmy Fallon.

* “Without doubt, El Nino is creating the factors that play into an inactive (storm) season. Clearly, nothing will change over the next few months.”–Mike Halpert, deputy director of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Climate Prediction Center.

* “I think it’s absolutely the worst thing that could happen to the citizens of Florida.”–State Supreme Court Justice R. Fred Lewis, on a Florida Bar recommendation to let lawyers from other states practice in Florida without taking the Florida Bar exam.

* “If you don’t win Hillsborough County, you don’t win Florida. You don’t win Florida, you don’t win the White House.”–Deborah Tamargo, chairwoman of the Hillsborough County Republican Party, at the opening of Jeb Bush’s Florida campaign headquarters near TIA.

* “When in crisis, the first thing to go for Americans is a vacation. But for Canadians and Europeans, they still travel but might not spend as much when the euro or pound is in decline.”–David Downing, executive director of Visit St. Pete-Clearwater.

* “The executive order stands. City Council cannot change that executive order. They cannot codify the law. It has nothing to do with City Council.”–Mayor Bob Buckhorn on his executive order establishing a Citizens Review Board for police.

* “This is not about Ybor City. This is about a tragic event at a nightclub where bad things happen. It could’ve happened anywhere.”–David Scott, past chairman of the Ybor City Development Corp., on the recent stabbing death of a former USF football player.

* “You don’t get new business by email. You get business by establishing personal relationships, going to places and meeting with decision makers.”–Mayor Bob Buckhorn, on his recent trade mission to Dublin, Ireland.

* “Teams are trying to enforce the fact that a ticket is a license and not a guaranteed right. As teams become more popular and the tickets become scarce, they want to make sure that the supporters of the team can buy it at an affordable price. This is the way right now in pro sports.”–Bill Sutton, director of the sports and entertainment business program at USF, on the announcement by the Lightning that it will be watching to see how often season ticket holders sell their tickets.

Fortunately, we were able to catch the documentary “The Best of Enemies,” during its brief stay at Tampa Theatre. It’s a look back at ABC’s presidential convention coverage of 1968 that included an unprecedented series of debates between the conservative commentator William F. Buckley Jr. and the liberal author Gore Vidal. A one-time-only clash of eloquent, ideological and cultural titans who held each other in obvious disdain.

It’s worth renting or streaming. But here’s a spoiler alert. There’s no accounting for editing and what was left on the cutting room floor. But from what was shown, Vidal got the better of the sardonic, mano a mano exchanges. The documentary revealed that while Vidal was doing pre-debate, opposition research, Buckley was cruising around on his sailboat. It showed.

It also hit a sad note at the end, but I’m not revealing any more.

* “If we let everybody in, it’s going to destroy Europe.”–Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban.

* “The right to political asylum has no limits on the number of asylum seekers. As a strong, economically healthy country, we have the strength to do what is necessary . … But I still have to insist on a fair distribution of the burden across all of Europe.”–German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

* “The only reason the ayatollah and his henchmen aren’t dancing in the streets of Tehran is they don’t believe in dancing.”–Republican presidential candidate Sen. Lindsey Graham.

* “The fact remains that Saudi Arabia’s export of Wahhabi puritanical Islam has been one of the worst things to happen to Muslim and Arab pluralism–pluralism of religious thought, gender and education–in the last century.”–Thomas Friedman, New York Times.

* “We’ve really never seen a time when Fed policy has been so uncertain.”–Paul Christopher, head global market strategist for Wells Fargo Investment Institute.

 

* “He’s still ambitious and has a vision for the world. My guess is that his post presidency will be more of an activist one.”–Mark K. Updegrove, author and director of the Lyndon Baines Johnson Library and Museum in Austin, Tex., on the post presidency of Barack Obama.

* “So, I will be totally pledging my allegiance to the Republican Party and the conservative principles for which it stands, and we will go out and we will fight hard and we will win.”–Donald Trump.

* “El hombre no es conservador.”–Jeb Bush, telling reporters at a campaign stop that “the man (Donald Trump) is not conservative.”

* “It has got to be disconcerting to him (Jeb Bush), because truthfully it’s disconcerting to me and disconcerting to everybody I know, that a bombastic, demagogic phony like Trump has to be dealt with as if he were a real threat to be president of the United States.”–Florida Republican strategist J.M. “Mac” Stipanovich.

* “It’s worth saying again: Human rights are women’s rights and women’s rights are human rights, once and forever.”–Hillary Clinton.

* “The people who are rallying behind her (Hillary Clinton) today are the people who put Puerto Rico in this fiscal mess to begin with.”–Marco Rubio, in a campaign appearance in Puerto Rico.

* “It would be a short-term job, but it would be … really great to have someone who knows energy and is pro-responsible development to be in charge.”–Sarah Palin, on speculation that a President Trump would appoint her Energy Secretary.

* “They’re (political nonprofits) actually more dangerous. At least with super PACs, the press can report on who the contributors are, what they want.”–Larry Noble, former general counsel of the Federal Election Commission.

* “If you allow the right to control the term (socialism), that limits what type of reform you can achieve. If you allow the right to define it as totally un-American, it takes it off of any agenda for reform.”–Democratic Socialists of America vice-chairman Joseph Schwartz.

* “It’s very clear to me that the system of electric power we have in North America and Europe, which is now being instituted in much of China and India and elsewhere, is not sustainable for the future of the planet. So we’re going to have to figure out something else, and soon.”–Former Duke Energy CEO Jim Rogers.

* “A major factor affecting retail growth in Florida is a dwindling number of skilled workers in the construction industry. There are so many major projects on the books right now, but if we don’t find the laborers we need to build them, this is going to become an industrywide problem.”–Dale Scott, International Council of Shopping Centers ambassador.

* “I don’t think we can push away Hispanics and blacks and gays and union members and still have a majority made up mostly of white men. That’s what I stand for and that’s why a lot of people target me–because I’m a little different.”–Republican state Sen. Jack Latvala of Clearwater, who’s bidding to become Florida Senate president in 2016.

* “So much of our business is changing, and at an accelerating rate. But our business is still about converting consumers into visitors. That much hasn’t changed.”–Susannah Costello, vice president of global brand for Visit Florida.

* “If I had to brand Tampa Bay, I’d say it’s the most welcoming region.”–Jeff Vinik.

* “I think they’ll prove a pretty good owner. The Canadians have a pretty good track record for safety and reliability. … They have a long-term approach.”–Utility analyst Roger Conrad, on the purchase agreement between TECO and Canada-based Emera Inc.

* “This is a bull’s-eye. It is the perfect match for us.”–Emera CEO Chris Huskilson.

* “They (TECO) were always willing to do whatever the city needed. All that’s going to be bygones now.”–Former Tampa Mayor Dick Greco.

* “It reminds me that we’ve been a puppet for the administration, and I’m past the days of being a puppet. I’m tired that we’ve been embarrassed, overlooked, overshadowed. It’s disrespectful.”–City Council Chairman Frank Reddick, in response to Mayor Bob Buckhorn’s executive order setting up a citizens’ police review board.

* “What has been proposed by the mayor is an ineffective model and is a rubber stamp for existing policies and practices that the community is saying are problematic.”–ACLU Director of Advocacy Joyce Hamilton Henry.

* “Ultimately, a stadium conversation would be part of a larger conversation about the type of industry and business we want to bring to this area.”–Mark Sharpe, executive director of the Tampa Innovation Alliance, on speculation about a USF football stadium near campus.

* “We know that a number of families in this area choose to go to institutions with academic affiliations because the level of specialized care and research is higher than what they might find in their local community. Now they won’t have to travel for that.”–Bayfront Health Market president Kathryn Gillette, in announcing a partnership agreement between Bayfront Health St. Petersburg and the University of South Florida.

* “Having a Cuban consulate would be a very good thing for us.”–St. Petersburg Mayor Rick Kriseman, after his recent trip to Cuba.

* “Our nation’s ethos is built upon the concept of equal opportunity. But without equal education, there is no equal opportunity.”–Pinellas County Commissioner Ken Welch.