Insight (and memo to Michael Bloomberg): “Let us not forget that the cultivation of the earth is the most important labor of man. When tillage begins, other arts will follow. The farmers, therefore, are the founders of civilization.” —Daniel Webster (1782-1852)

Observations: “Overall the Empire State, with not even 6 percent of the nation’s population, has accounted for fully 24 percent of America’s traceable pandemic deaths, as well as 22 percent of its confirmed caseload. Whether these statistical curves will flatten over time remains to be seen, but right now, there is no obvious reason to award [Andrew] Cuomo any medals for insightful leadership.” —Bob McManus

For the record: “I just filed a lawsuit in federal court to overturn Speaker Pelosi’s unconstitutional proxy voting scheme. It could allow as few as 20 Representatives to control the votes of 220. This is NOT the representative democracy our Founders envisioned or what our Constitution allows.” —House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy

Food for thought: “One problem is Twitter is now implicitly endorsing content they don’t flag.” —Jason Willick

Irony: “I’m just saying, we fly over those states that voted for a racist tangerine for a reason.” —Twitter Head of Site Integrity Yoel Roth, November 2016

Belly laugh of the week: “I am America’s hope and President Trump’s nightmare.” —Islamist Representative Ilhan Omar

A blast from the past: “Paper ballots are extremely susceptible to fraud.” —Representative Jerry Nadler, 2004 (“There’s nothing rogue about encouraging Americans to participate in elections [via absentee ballots] — you’re just worried that they won’t vote for you.” —Jerry Nadler to Donald Trump, May 20, 2020)

The buck stops… “[Saying ‘You ain’t black’] was a mistake, number one. And I was smiling when [Charlamagne tha God] was asking the question. I shouldn’t have been such a wise guy to him. He was being a wise guy, and I responded in kind [emphasis added].” —Joe Biden

Grand delusions: “[Not wearing a mask is] stoking deaths. That’s not going to increase the likelihood that people are going to be better off. Presidents are supposed to lead, not engage in folly and be falsely masculine.” —Joe Biden

Demo-gogues: “Now, people can speculate [about reopening]. People can guess, ‘I think next week.’ ‘I think two weeks.’ ‘I think a month.’ I’m out of that business, because we all failed at that business. All the early national experts … were all all wrong.” —Governor Andrew Cuomo

And last… “Twitter to fact-check by pointing users to sites that repeatedly called the president a compromised seditious traitor based upon an unverified dossier paid for by his enemy.” —Twitter satirist @hale_razor