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* “What is history but a fable agreed upon?”–Napoleon Bonaparte.

* “We are a country that is fighting to get away from a legacy of populism that has failed.”–Marcos Pena, chief of cabinet ministers under Argentinean President Mauricio Macri.

* “The United States is not seeking war with the Iranian regime, but we are fully prepared to respond to any attack, whether by proxy, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps or regular Iranian forces.”–National security adviser John Bolton, in addressing the Trump Administration’s message with its deployment of the USS Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group and a bomber task force to the Middle East.

* “It is John Bolton, not Iran, who poses the greatest threat to American national security today.”–Scott Ritter, the American Conservative.

* “I believe that Kim Jong-un fully realizes the great economic potential of North Korea and will do nothing to interfere or end it. He also knows that I am with him and does not want to break his promise to me. Deal will happen!”–President Donald Trump.

* “Trump promised a disruptive foreign policy that would deliver results, but instead is alarming Americans with impulsive and erratic decisions that leave us less safe and less respected.”–Jeffrey Prescott, senior Middle East policy director at the National Security Council during the Obama Administration.

* “(Beijing poses) a new kind of challenge; an authoritarian regime that’s integrated economically into the West in ways that the Soviet Union never was.”–Mike Pompeo.

* “Tariffs will make our Country MUCH STRONGER, not weaker. Just sit back and watch!”–Donald Trump.

* “We appear to be in a slow motion train wreck, with both sides sticking to their positions. As is often the case, however, the losers will not be the negotiators or presidents, but the people.”–William Reinsch, trade analyst at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

* “The question is how do you use U.S. leadership? Do you use it to try to force a major counterpart to capitulate and do it in a humiliating way? Or do you use your moral leadership, which has driven the process forward in the past?”–Former Treasury Secretary Jack Lew, who served in the Obama Administration.

* “It will not be indefinite.”–Acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan, on the status of those 4,364 military troops on the Southwest border.

* “The House’s most appropriate response to an attorney general who has dissembled about the Mueller report, refused to produce the report for Congress and defied a duly passed contempt citation would be impeachment. Impeachment of a cabinet secretary (the first since Reconstruction) would be a fitting capstone to a career that will be defined by William Barr’s rabid partisanship and disdain for the Constitution.”–Jennifer Rubin, New York Times.

* “Why do rural areas support Trump? A lot of it has to do with cultural factors. In particular, rural voters are far more hostile to immigrants than urban voters… . Rural voters also feel disrespected by coastal elites, and Trump has managed to channel their anger.”–Paul Krugman, New York Times.

* “Sexual violence is a national crisis that requires a national solution. We miss that point if we end the discussion at whether I should forgive Mr. Biden.”–Anita Hill.

* “There’s a lot of hate out there on the internet. Violent extremists around the world have access to our local communities to target and recruit and spread their messages of hate on a global scale.”–Mike McGarrity, the FBI’s top counterterrorism official.

* “My career in the CIA was cut short by partisan politics, but I’m not done serving our country.”–Valerie Plame, the former CIA officer whose cover was blown in a leak that touched off a political scandal during the George W. Bush Administration, in announcing that she plans to run for Congress as a Democrat representing New Mexico.

* “Silicon Valley’s touted utopia helped deliver our current dystopia.”–Maureen Dowd, New York Times.

* “Senate Bill 168 (“Federal Immigration Enforcement Act”) is a solution for a problem we do not have in Hillsborough County. It has long been our practice in Hillsborough to cooperate with federal law enforcement and that will not change.”–Hillsborough County Sheriff Chad Chronister.

* “My position is that we’re too big of an area to lose a professional sports team. I believe there are spots throughout the area that would work. If it turns out to be in Pinellas County, that’s fine. We want the team to stay in the area, and I believe that’s what the Rays want too.”–Tampa Mayor Jane Castor.

*So how does President Trump spend an hour and a half on the phone with Vladimir Putin, and the subject of future Russian interference in our elections never comes up? Only if your sovereign counterpart is also your handler. But they did broach the subject of the “Russian hoax.” No wonder Putin “sort of smiled,” however inexplicably, over the phone. The joke’s on us.

* “Mueller, Mueller… .” It sounds like a line from “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.” But there’s nothing funny in needing Bob Mueller to step up and publicly put his report into non-William Barr, agenda-driven language. It’s past Mueller Time, and America needs him to re-capture and re-affirm his report’s conclusions. In short, its “context, nature and substance.” 

* Another untimely, unforced error by the Dems. This time it was Tennessee Congressman Steve Cohen of the House Judiciary Committee trying to heap ridicule on William Barr for his no-show at the committee’s hearing. Barr, in effect, was “chickening” out because he didn’t want to face questions from staff attorneys. An empty chair with a nameplate should have been sufficient optics. But not for Cohen, who proceeded to re-focus attention from Barr’s lack of cooperation. First, he munched on Kentucky Fried Chicken on the dais as press cameras clicked. He looked stupid. Then he doubled down by placing a ceramic chicken on the table at which Barr would have sat. It was so dumb that “Saturday Night Live” passed on it for its cold opening, and that’s saying a lot.

* The latest D.C. oxymoron: “the Honorable William Barr.”

* First the good news: The (Democratic-controlled) House has approved a bill that would prevent President Trump from fulfilling his pledge to formally withdraw the U.S. from the Paris climate agreement. It would also affirm that the U.S. will honor its commitments under the global accord. The bad news: No way does it move forward in the (Republican-controlled) Senate. The consoling news: Congresswoman Kathy Castor, D-Tampa, is on the case as chairwoman of the Select Committee on the Climate Crisis. “This is just the start of climate action in this Congress,” vows Castor. You go, KC.

* A lot of Democrats are making the case that while it’s urgent to replace Trump, it’s not smart to make him the singular focus of the 2020 campaign. It has to be about principles and game-changing programs. It’s also a jab at Joe Biden, who is a moderate septuagenarian with across-the-aisle bona fides. That’s utterly understandable if these were remotely normal times. They’re manifestly not. The overriding priority has to be the removal of Trump, who remains an existential threat–not just an off-putting, opposition occupant of the Oval Office.

How to prioritize the electoral ouster of Trump? Think Hitler and Kim–or Rev. Jim Jones and Charles Manson. Nothing less than the removal of an authoritarian, pervertedly charismatic cult figure who literally embodies a movement is required. Then we can talk policies and plans and business, however cantankerous, as usual.

* Here’s hoping that Sen. Michael Bennet of Colorado doesn’t become the Democratic nominee. Can you imagine the “fake news” and journalistic “collusion” Trump push-back on a candidate whose younger brother is the editorial page editor of the New York Times? While Jim Bennet has already recused himself from weighing in on the upcoming election, that won’t matter to those in bed with Fox.

* Too bad Trump can’t reprioritize a big chunk of the money he wants for his wall into the immigration court system.

* On his way to the Big House, erstwhile Trump “fixer” Michael Cohen took a parting shot at the occupant of the White House. “I hope that when I rejoin my family and friends, this country will be in a place without xenophobia, injustice and lies at the helm of our country.”

* Yes, there’s enough of Trump every news cycle to cause despair. But we shouldn’t forget; we still outnumber them, even if we don’t out-decibel them. Remember that Republicans have lost the popular vote in six of the last seven presidential elections–and Trump was not the exception. The Republicans–and Trump–can’t win without Democratic compliance: sheer laziness and/or ideological stubbornness.

* It’s still weird that Sen. Bernie Sanders, stoked for another run at the Democratic presidential nomination, still can’t actually call himself a “Democrat.”

* We all know the pragmatic reality: If the Democrats had a sure-fire, baggage-free, kick-ass candidate who could go after Trump as well as rally all Dem troops for the progressive cause, we wouldn’t have nearly two dozen, formally-declared candidates.

* But say this forCaliforniaSen. Kamala Harris: She made good use of her Senate Judiciary Committee forum in her questioning of Attorney General William Barr. Most senators come equipped with staff-prepared queries. But staff can’t prepare ad hoc follow-ups, which she is really good at. Her prosecutorial chops were more than a match for Trump-surrogate Barr, who seemed more DOJ grunt than grandee. Presidential candidate Harris’ persistent probing–OK, “performance”–does make you fantasize how she would handle the pompous, sophomorically-spoken, detail-challenged Trump one on one.  

* On balance, Gov. Ron DeSantis has been much better than expected by Democrats who knew they were getting a governor vetted in the Fox News green room. And not being Rick Scott, however subterranean that bar is, was a decided plus. But his de facto victory speech after the 2019 legislative session ended, was disappointingly disingenuous. He portrayed the session, which was an homage to the right-wing agenda (from school vouchers and armed teachers to “sanctuary city” bans, free-market health care reforms, a certain rural toll road and Amendment 4 retreat), as a win for both sides. As if.

“There’s really something in here, I think, for everybody, in one way or another, so that’s a good thing,” declared DeSantis. “There are great wins for conservatives, but there’s also, with the environmental stuff, that appeals to a lot of Democrats.” As if “environmental stuff”–and, BTW, whatever happened to enough Florida Forever money to really matter?–was purely the purview of Dems. As if this wasn’t everybody’s “environment.” As if this wasn’t business as usual–even without Scott.

* When it comes to legislation about distracted driving and voting rights for ex-felons, not nearly enough is made of this obvious rationale: It doesn’t just impact texting drivers and former felons. It impacts ALL of us. Those who, otherwise, have to run the risk of being on the road with drivers who menace the rest of us. Those who have to live in a society where former felons remain second-class citizens with predictably disturbing recidivism rates. Talk about a vested interest.

* As we know, the residents of Panama City Beach and Bay County still await federal help after the devastating hit by Category 5 Hurricane Michael last summer. This is the longest delay in memory–even though President Donald Trump inspected damage last fall and has scheduled a (swing state) return trip for this week.

“We’re not a community that has ever asked for handouts,” said Bay County Commissioner Philip Griffitts. “The one time that we need Washington to step up to the plate, they’re really failing the Panhandle.”

One ironic postscript: In 2016, Trump carried Bay County by more than 70 percent. Karma, anyone?

* Tampa has always been diverse, and now it’s on a downtown, revitalizing roll. How symbolic that our new mayor, Jane Castor, is the first gay woman to serve as mayor of a major city in the Southeast, and her inauguration was held at the Armature Works, emblematic of the new waterfront vibe and the resurgent Tampa Heights community.

* If we’re talking about signs after an election, it’s usually in the form of complaints about how too many, winners and losers, are still up there–some way beyond the legal grace period. Here’s a different scenario: the prominent sign on North Dale Mabry in front of the “TK” civil-trial law offices of Trentalange & Kelley. It arguably, alas, speaks for a lot of voters: “Shame on You, David Straz.”

* Word out of Philadelphia is that Phillies fans are still Phillies fans. Bryce Harper, who signed an obscene, 9-figure contract in the off-season is hearing his share of boos for not playing better. But it comes with the territory. Ask Mike Schmidt. He’s a 12-time All-Star and Hall of Fame third baseman with more than 500 home runs, plus three National League MVPs and 10 Golden Gloves. He also bore the brunt of lots of hometown boos. I was there for some of them. The fans–as well as the media–always wanted more.

Of the love/hate paradox, Schmidt famously once said: “Philadelphia is the only city where you can experience the thrill of victory and the agony of reading about it the next day.” It is what it is, Bryce.

But they don’t just boo their own. Ask Joe Maddon. When the Rays were in Philly for the 2008 World Series, his family had to watch the last two games from a hotel because the fans were so vulgar and threatening at the park. It is what it is.

* It’s hard to see some of those Lightning flags still flying around neighborhoods. It comes from a good, loyal-fan place, but it’s a graphic, depressing reminder of all that should not have happened.

* The Rays just made the cover of Sports Illustrated. “The Amazing Rays” was the article headline. No, it won’t affect attendance, but it’s a nice, national shout-out about what the low-budget Rays are accomplishing by being smart and creative.

* “Step up to stamp out anti-Semitism, anti-Muslim hatred, persecution of Christians and all other forms of racism, xenophobia, discrimination and incitement.”–What U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres demanded of the world.

* “More (U.S.) saber-rattling would weaken the broad regional coalition that supports a return of democracy to Venezuela. And six decades of a failed trade embargo has shown that such pressure, though it may garner some votes and bring in campaign donations in South Florida, has little effect on the Cuban regime and serves only to diminish the United States’ standing in Latin America and elsewhere.”–Michael Shifter, president of the Inter-American Dialogue.

* “China is set on an implacable course to run the world in the second half of this century.”–Roger Cohen, New York Times.

* “The whole idea behind the notion that a sitting president cannot be indicted is that the responsibility lies in Congress.”–Georgetown law professor Neal K. Katyal, former acting solicitor director in the Obama Administration.

* “The attorney general of the United States of America was not telling the truth to the Congress of the United States. That’s a crime.”–House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

* “Amoral leaders have a way of revealing the character of those around them. … Often, proximity to an amoral leader reveals something depressing. I think that’s at least part of what we’ve seen with Bill Barr and Rod Rosenstein. Accomplished people lacking inner strength can’t resist the compromises necessary to survive Mr. Trump, and that adds up to something they will never recover from. … Mr. Trump eats your soul in small bites.”–Former FBI Director James Comey.

* “I’m living rent free inside of Donald Trump’s brain, and it’s not a very nice place to be, I can tell you that.”–Hillary Clinton.

* “Even if we should get a Democratic president and retain a Democratic House, if Mitch McConnell stays the majority leader, nothing will get done.”–Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer.

* “What accounts for the extremes in U.S. healthcare spending? At every single turn, the U.S. healthcare system is designed to limit choice and gouge the consumer.”–Jonathan Tepper, the American Conservative.

* “Experts know the plural of ‘anecdote’ isn’t data.”–Dr. Michael Segal, neurologist and neuroscientist.

* “I don’t think we ever would have tried what we did this year under the old Supreme Court, because we know it would have gone right into the  ditch.”–State Sen. Tom Lee, R-Thonotosassa, on how much having a Supreme Court with no Democratic appointees meant to the effort to allow students to get public-money vouchers to spend at private schools.

* “You have to market to draw visitors. Coke spends a fortune on marketing, and they’ve been around more than a century.”–Santiago Corrada, chief executive of Hillsborough County tourism agency Visit Tampa Bay, on why Visit Florida deserves continued funding.

* “We needed a city where we could attract the best talent. Tampa quickly rose to the top of the list. This region has emerged as a driving force behind the state’s fast-growing life science industry.”–Karen Zaderej, president and CEO of AxoGen, a nerve-regeneration start-up that has signed a lease at the Heights Union project.

* “The Tampa Bay region has continued to transform into an attractive environment for innovation.”–Steve Case, co-founder of AOL and author of “The Third Wave.”

* “Tampa Bay is on fire. I can’t go a day without hearing from somebody who wants to invest in Tampa Bay or lend in Tampa Bay.”–Yakhin Israel, senior vice president of the brokerage firm CBRE, in assessing Tampa Bay’s building boom.

* “Plastic straws, bags should be phased out in Florida. You don’t need to do a study to understand the harm plastic does.”–St. Petersburg Mayor Rick Kriseman.

At some point, historians will have a field day with the Trump Administration and how the hell this all happened. We’ll see references to those left behind finding a (scapegoating) voice, those white nationals needing demonized targets, those greed-heads celebrating non-progressive economics, those hypocritical evangelicals rationalizing anything in the name of anti-abortion, those protectionists and isolationists defying all things global and those spineless GOP enablers prioritizing party and career over country. And, yes, those far-left Bernie Sanders activists who sat out 2016 because they couldn’t rally around the establishment Democratic alternative.  

There likely will be references to Huey Long, Fr. (Charles Edward) Coughlin, George Lincoln Rockwell and maybe Richard Spencer of contemporary “peaceful, ethnic cleansing” notoriety. And the increasingly authoritarian pattern we’re seeing internationally–from Brazil to Hungary–will not go unnoted.

But no explanation would be complete without these two names: Sarah Palin and Barack Obama. While it’s sacrilegious to even include those two in the same sentence, it’s also relevant in chronicling how we got here. The year 2008 could live, ironically, in infamy as well as fame.

As soon as John McCain, unconscionably playing the non-patriot, pander card, put Palin on the ticket, the stage was set for the American devolution. No longer would it be unprecedented to put somebody so blatantly, embarrassingly unqualified on a presidential ticket. By lowering the credible-candidate bar to such depths, we had raised the possibility that a narcissistic, pop-culture con man would have a shot at getting elected and establishing a Whites-only House.

And even though President Obama was hardly the embodiment of all things liberal, he was still the first African-American president. But while many celebrated the symbolic ascendance of an eloquent, minority president, the pendulum came careening back to taunt those who were decidedly not celebrating.

The tauntees only needed a perfect-storm, anti-Obama candidate to vent with and vote for. The political version of the Rev. Jim Jones was ready with the faux-populist Kool Aid.

Now we await 2020 to see if 2016 was a teachable moment in our history–or its turning point.

* Would that Jared Kushner’s take on the Mueller report were merely partisan. Would that he wasn’t self-servingly doubling down on the pathological lying of his father-in-law.

“It’s a terrible thing, but I think the investigations and all the speculation that happened for the past two years has had a much harsher impact on democracy than a couple of Facebook ads,” was how Kushner preposterously framed the upshot of Mueller looking into Russian meddling in the 2016 campaign to the benefit of Trump. He really did say that. But Mueller, as we know, had categorically concluded that “The Russian government interfered in the 2016 presidential election in sweeping and systematic fashion.” In short, the Russians trafficked in a lot more than “a couple of Facebook ads.”

Kushner sounds more like the duplicitous, disingenuous son-in-law who had been caught meeting up with Russians over ostensible “dirt” on Hillary Clinton than some Administration hack. He doesn’t do bombast like Ivanka’s father, but he does do whatever is necessary to enable the family. Roy Cohn would be proud.

* According to Vladimir Putin, North Korea’s Kim Jong-un asked him at their summit to “inform the U.S. side of his position about questions he has regarding what’s happening on the Korean Peninsula.” But if Putin, whose agenda-driven veracity rivals that of Sarah Huckabee Sanders, is telling the truth, it begs an obvious question. Why doesn’t Kim just say that directly to the one who “fell in love” with him?

* You never know what the “new normal” will bring in the era of Trump. It’s a daily given. But some observers seemed genuinely taken aback by revelations of the former chief of Homeland Security, Kirstjen Nielsen, that the president–ever uber-sensitive to his election legitimacy–could not even be spoken to about Russia’s interference in the 2016 presidential election.

Such parallel-universe perversity, however, shouldn’t seem as shocking to Floridians, where former Gov. Rick Scott enjoined state officials to avoid referencing “climate change.”

* For those Dems wary about a moderate white male with some baggage representing the party in 2020, it would be prudent to remember that Joe Biden was vetted by Barack Obama. He found that Biden’s working-class roots and real-world experience in a dangerous world more than offset political liabilities.

* For those looking to Biden as the most likely Dem to confront and take down Donald Trump, the early polling looks positive, even if some of the other primary candidates are taking some shots. But it’s still very early. It’s hardly a precise parallel, but remember where we were in 2008 as the Republicans were sorting out their candidates. At this point in the calendar, Rudy Giuliani–still “America’s mayor”–was topping the field at more than 30 percent.

* Thanks, Mayor Bob. Thank you for your service. A lot happened on your watch–and the momentum is part of the Buckhorn legacy. You were the right mayor at the right time. One who appreciated what it meant for a major city to have a river running through it. One who realized what ripple effects–from quality of life to millennial appeal–result from revitalization. One who was pragmatic about working across the political spectrum to get things done for Tampa. One who realized that the CEO-mayor is also the city’s chief recruiter and salesman.

And, of course, timing is everything. The vision, money and credibility of Jeff Vinik and Bill Gates was fortuitous. The passage of a transit initiative was better late than never. Lots of neighborhoods still need attention.

And for a fellow Mick who was married on St. Patrick’s Day–and a fellow Penn State alum–thanks for the River O’Green and the “We are Penn State” shout-outs.

* As for Buckhorn’s successor, former Tampa Police Chief Jane Castor, she made national news by becoming the first openly gay woman to lead a major city in the Southeast. She’s being touted as a rising political star.

But first things first. Castor handles herself well and embodies competence as much as diversity. She knows the city. She’s a mayor who happens to be gay. In that order.

* And, finally, the recent mayor’s race–and run-off–underscored a sad reality. There are some people–who because of their skills, values, impact, generosity, work ethic and concern for others, have carved out almost iconic reputations. You want these folks, who have meant so much to their communities to go out on top. David Straz’s denouement should be legacy building, not an ill-advised, embarrassing mayoral campaign that ended in a one-sided defeat and diminished standing.