Non Compos Mentis

“Although we’re all making fun of DeSantis’s humiliation, we shouldn’t forget that his anti-vax crusade — in service of his doomed run — probably killed thousands of people.” —New York Times columnist Paul Krugman

Delusions of Grandeur

“We have a lot of accomplishments. … We haven’t taken adequate credit for it, frankly, and we gotta do a better job of getting the word out.” —Kamala Harris

“We have historic accomplishments in terms of the economy.” —Kamala Harris

Emphasis on the Adverb

“I’m supposedly an expert in foreign policy.” —Joe Biden

Freudian Slip?

“I am the last speaker before the Big Guy comes out.” —Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers regarding Joe Biden

Useful Idiot

“We’re going to support Israel as they defend themselves. They have to do it … in a more precise way. They have to make sure that they protect civilian lives.” —White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre

“I hear that, and it’s a good question to ask.” —Karine Jean-Pierre when asked, “Is not slaughtering 25,000 people actually a terrorist recruitment ad for Hamas?”

Dumb & Dumber

“Abbott is using the Texas Guard to defy a Supreme Court ruling. When Gov. Faubus did this in 1957, Eisenhower federalized the Arkansas Guard to ensure compliance with the law. Biden must follow this example of bold, decisive leadership to end this crisis before it gets worse.” —former Congressman Beto O'Rourke (D-TX)

“[Biden] needs to establish sole federal control of the Texas National Guard now.” —Congressman Joaquin Castro (D-TX)

“I agree with [Joaquin Castro]: if Abbott is defying [the] Supreme Court ruling, [Biden] needs to establish sole federal control of the Texas National Guard.” —Congressman Greg Casar (D-TX)

The BIG Lies

“The president has been clear … in stressing the importance of action on the border. … This is a president who … is working in good faith to try to make that happen, and we just see no reason for politics to get in the way here.” —White House Principal Deputy Press Secretary Olivia Dalton

“We want to make sure we get something done at the border.” —Karine Jean-Pierre

“We’re working very hard to try to fix [the border].” —National Security Council spokesman John Kirby

“It is not President Biden’s priority to increase the flow of people into the United States.” —Senator Chris Coons (D-DE)

Lack of Self-Awareness

“There’s no question our immigration system is broken and it needs to be fixed. And as with any problem, then leaders will participate, true leaders, in the solution.” —Kamala Harris

Dezinformatsiya

“There is no better example of what MAGA World wants for the rest of America than Texas — a total ban on abortion, failing infrastructure, and draconian measures meant to secure the border, which includes letting migrants, including a mother and her two children, drown; setting up buoys with buzz saws; barring federal agents from assisting with border control.” —MSNBC’s Joy Reid

Race Bait

“Republicans now see calling for zero tolerance on the border as the only way to animate their base. … This massive resistance, it sounds like the old Southerners who said that we will resist integration by any means necessary.” —Joy Reid

For the Record

“There’s never been a president who refuses to follow the law like Joe Biden. … Biden is actively litigating against the state of Texas to stop Texas from securing the border. That’s what they want. They want this invasion. And that’s exactly what the Biden administration is doing with the emphatic support of essentially every Democrat member of the Senate and every Democrat member of the House.” —Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX)

“If people are willing to break the law to enter our country, then what is stopping them from breaking other laws once in our country?” —Thomas Gallatin

“Defending borders from invasion is, of course, one of the fundamental reasons governments exist. If a government does not do that, it would seem it has forfeited its legitimacy.” —John Daniel Davidson

Political Futures

“As the most known quantity in history who has already been president for four years, Trump is running as a quasi-incumbent. Indeed, in the eyes of what is now the Trump Party, in which it remains an article of faith that the 2020 election was stolen, he is the incumbent. When incumbents seek reelection, they should get close to 100 percent of the vote from their own putative supporters. Trump is barely getting half — 51 percent last week in Iowa, 54 percent in New Hampshire (where independents as well as nominal Republicans were eligible to vote).” —Andrew McCarthy

The Nanny State

“The more control one person or a small cadre of people have — politically or economically — the greater the risks to everyone. Consider: If one company’s leadership makes a catastrophically bad decision, that company may fail. But in a free, entrepreneurially capitalist country, other companies will be available to provide the goods and services that the failed company can no longer produce. The risk of error is borne by a relative few. However, if those making a catastrophically wrong decision are in control of an entire industry or an entire economy, then the whole system can collapse, with devastating consequences for millions — tens of millions — of people.” —Laura Hollis