Insight: “[T]o say that the CIA and the KGB engage in similar practices is the equivalent of saying that the man who pushes an old lady into the path of a hurtling bus is not to be distinguished from the man who pushes an old lady out of the path of a hurtling bus: on the grounds that, after all, in both cases someone is pushing old ladies around.” —William F. Buckley Jr.

Upright: “Let’s be clear: Has the U.S. ever made any mistakes? Of course. Is the U.S. at all like Putin’s regime? Not at all. … There is no moral equivalency between the United States of America, the greatest freedom-loving nation in the history of the world, and the murderous thugs that are in Putin’s defense of his cronyism. There’s no moral equivalency there.” —Sen. Ben Sasse rebutting Trump’s seeming moral equivocating

For the record: “We don’t appoint judges to our district courts to conduct foreign policy or to make decisions about the national security. Under statutory law and under the Constitution, that authority belongs to the president of the United States.” —Mike Pence

The truth hurts: “[There] are grounds for displeasure and unease in the public about the performance of this president, who has acted in a way that is strategically incoherent, that is incompetent and that is reckless. [But] that is not grounds for impeachment.” —Nancy Pelosi

Alternative facts: “Any negative polls are fake news.” —Donald Trump

And last… “The Berkeley riot fires caused groundhog Punxsutawney Phil to see his own shadow, thus predicting another 6 weeks of stupidity.” —Twitter satirist @weknowwhatsbest