Insight: “[T]he Government is merely a servant — merely a temporary servant; it cannot be its prerogative to determine what is right and what is wrong, and decide who is a patriot and who isn’t. Its function is to obey orders, not originate them.” —Mark Twain (1835-1910)

Non Compos Mentis: “We … have to be very careful about the language we use to talk about [the situation in Baltimore]. I’m not calling these people rioters. I’m calling these uprisings and I think it’s an important distinction to make. This is not a riot. … [R]esistance looks different ways to different people and part of what it means to say black lives matter, is to assert our right to have rage — righteous rage, righteous indignation in the face of state violence and extrajudicial killing. … The city is burning because the police killed Freddie Gray and that’s a distinction we have to make.” —Morehouse College professor Marc Lamont Hill (How can anyone argue that turning a city into a war zone isn’t rioting? Moreover, there’s this thing called “due process.” And until the courts rule otherwise, the police are innocent.)

Dezinformatsia: “I don’t remember seeing anything like this in the United States of America in a long time.” —CNN’s Wolf Blitzer on the Baltimore riots (Was Ferguson really that long ago?)

The annals of the absurd: “Looting [is] a real shame. But FAR MORE shameful is [the] pattern of police violence against [the] black community! Perspective, people.” —CNN contributor and Daily Beast columnist Sally Kohn

The BIG Lie: “[Loretta Lynch] is a woman who is incredibly qualified, just like Eric Holder, who I’ve known and has been my close friend for years and years and years, over 30 years. He might be one of the finest attorney generals we have had. He has been in this environment of such political hostility. He has stood his ground on principle. He has never yielded. And he has been right.” —Joe Biden

Late-night humor: “New York Mayor Bill de Blasio has been positioning himself to challenge Hillary Clinton for the Democratic nomination. Hillary once developed a program to deliver rural healthcare, while de Blasio once dropped a groundhog on its head.” —Jimmy Fallon