Insight: “There are a thousand hacking at the branches of evil to one who is striking at the root.” —Author Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862)

Non Compos Mentis: “If Freddie Gray’s killers walk you will see cops being killed in broad daylight. Many are being killed now. In self defense blacks must kill. If you can find the snake that bit you in the garden, any old snake in blue will do! Kill in self defense the one in blue who’s killing you!” —Dr. Mauricelm-Lei, a Black Panther and Ferguson organizer who describes himself as a “psychotherapist”

The annals of the absurd: “[I]f you look at the red-letter version of the Bible, Jesus was probably to the left of the Democratic Party.” —Howard Dean (Wrong. Jesus was not a socialist.)

Dezinformatsia: “I made charitable donations to the [Clinton] Foundation in support of the work they’re doing on global AIDS prevention and deforestation, causes I care about deeply. I thought that my contributions were a matter of public record. However, in hindsight, I should have taken the extra step of personally disclosing my donations to my employer and to the viewers on air during the recent news stories about the Foundation. I apologize.” —ABC’s George Stephanopoulos

Village Idiots: “We have to have jobs for young people. I probably shouldn’t say this in a room like this, but occasionally when I go home I’ll sit down with some of the gang leaders back home in Chicago, and I ask them … ‘What’s the biggest impediment to getting your guys off the streets?’ It’s jobs. So we need to think about what we do at scale to create those kind of opportunities for young people who just have to make some money, want to do it in a positive way, but in too many places they don’t exist.” —Education Secretary Arne Duncan

Late-night humor: “Even the White House is weighing in on the deflate-gate scandal. [This week] they encouraged Tom Brady to ‘be mindful of the way he serves as a role model.’ And then President Obama stuffed out his cigarette and went golfing at noon on a weekday. … They would’ve said more, but there was a drunken Secret Service agent streaking across the Rose Garden.” —Jimmy Fallon