Non Compos Mentis

“If I were him, I’d want him to debate me, too. He’s got nothing else to do.” —Joe Biden on Donald Trump

The BIG Lies

“All indications are this [border] bill won’t even move forward to the Senate floor. Why? A simple reason: Donald Trump. Because Donald Trump thinks it’s bad for him politically. … Frankly, [Republicans] owe it to the American people to show some spine and do what they know to be right. … So, Republicans have to decide: Who do they serve — Donald Trump or the American people?” —Joe Biden

“If the bill fails, I want to be absolutely clear about something: The American people are going to know why it failed. … Every day between now and November, the American people are going to know that the only reason the border is not secure is Donald Trump and his MAGA Republican friends.” —Joe Biden

“We need [border] help. Why won’t [Republicans] give me the help?” —Joe Biden

Circling the Wagons

“What they’re doing to Secretary Mayorkas is baseless, is shameful.” —White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre

“Mayorkas has been doing a very competent and excellent job under trying circumstances.” —Congressman Jamie Raskin (D-MD)

“What does the impeachment of Secretary Mayorkas have to do with building a healthy economy? Nothing. What does the impeachment of Secretary Mayorkas have to do with addressing the inflationary pressures that have existed on the economy since the shutdown of the economy as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic? Nothing. And it has nothing to do with fixing our broken immigration system.” —House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY)

Pot Calling the Kettle Black

“We, at this point, really need our Republican colleagues to choose to walk away from chaos, which is what they want … and join us in a commonsense approach to meeting the needs of the American people.” —Hakeem Jeffries

“We’ve got to move past this toxic politics. … We can’t continue to let petty, partisan politics get in the way of our responsibility.” —Joe Biden

Belly Laugh of the Day

“I serve the American people. I’m here to solve problems.” —Joe Biden

Dumb & Dumber

“I think it’s critically important that the U.S. be on a fiscally sustainable path, and President Biden has put forward a series of budget proposals … and also tax proposals and investment proposals that would, I believe, guarantee that we are on a fiscally sustainable path.” —Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen

“Both inward and outward investment [in China] are economically beneficial.” —Janet Yellen

Political Futures

“In 2012, [Taylor] Swift told Time, ‘I don’t talk about politics because it might influence other people. And I don’t think that I know enough yet in life to be telling people who to vote for.’ She’s older now — but is she politically wiser, or just wise to the risk of remaining neutral when her industry and audience profile demand taking a side? Left-of-center social and economic attitudes are, for Millennial and Generation Z women, the closest thing to not having any politics: They are the path of least resistance — and least reflection.” —Daniel McCarthy

“There are so many women who are legitimate role models in the world: Malala Yousafzi, who took a bullet in the head because of her advocacy for female education; Riley Gaines, who has made it a life’s mission to protect women in sports; Amal Clooney, who has used her legal skills to obtain justice for female victims of genocide; and Giorgia Meloni, the first female prime minister of Italy. These are women who have accomplished things of substance, things that will be remembered long after the last chords of ‘Shake it Off’ fade away into the ether.” —Christine Flowers

“Men who like Trump don’t necessarily want to be him — especially if they’re conservative Christians — but they think the forces against him, or that he’s against, are the same ones against them: political correctness, globalization, a credentialist elite. Those forces are against masculinity, too, as PC demands sensitivity, the economy turns labor unisex, and education favors conscientious girls and women over individualistic (for better or worse) boys and men.” —Daniel McCarthy

Re: Big Tech

“The key question is why we are subjecting our children to a vast, real-time experiment in exposure to a radically new medium that evidence suggests is harmful to their emotional and mental health. … Congress should press the brakes on the revolution that has given Mark Zuckerberg and other tech titans an outsized role in raising our kids and require that users of social media be age 18 or older. Surely, it’s not too much to ask that Zuckerberg and Co. make their fortunes exclusively off adults.” —Rich Lowry

“Let’s say the research and everyone’s intuition is wrong, and social media isn’t driving worse outcomes for kids. What’s the harm in staying off social media until they’re older? That kids will miss out on the latest absurd and perhaps dangerous TikTok trend? That they won’t get to envy people posting photos on Instagram to make themselves look more interesting and beautiful than they really are? That they will talk to their families and friends more and engage in more activities in the real world?” —Rich Lowry