Inmates are running the asylum: “One of our nation’s most storied newspapers just had its intellectual independence challenged by an angry mob, and they folded like a house of cards. A jury of people on Twitter indicted them as accessories to a thought crime, and instead of telling them to go take a hike, the paper pleaded guilty and begged for mercy.” —Mitch McConnell on The New York Times and Tom Cotton’s op-ed

Re: The Left: “While it might not be popular to say in the wake of the recent social disorder, the true plight of black people has little or nothing to do with the police or what has been called ‘systemic racism.’ Instead, we need to look at the responsibilities of those running our big cities.” —Walter Williams

Observations: “You may see the wave of conflicting messages emanating from the press and wonder just what you’re supposed to do. But the chaos is the point. You are supposed to be confused. Confusion is a political weapon. Clarity is a shield. If our media and political class can prevent clarity, they can prevent unity; if they can obscure, they can demand acquiescence.” —Ben Shapiro

Upright: “If black Americans are victims of anything, it is that they live in a country that has become a wasteland of moral relativism.” —Star Parker

Good question: “The federal government cannot even run its own limited law-enforcement missions properly. Where does it get off micro-managing policing on a nationwide scale, which deals with community-safety issues that are outside the federal ken?” —Andrew McCarthy

Wandering minds want to know: “My brother wore a uniform, and he wore that uniform proudly. I’m wondering, where is the outrage for a fallen officer that also happens to be African American?” —Angela Underwood Jacobs (“[Angela’s] brother Dave Patrick Underwood was killed recently in the line of duty during a riot in Oakland, California,” The Daily Caller reports, adding, “Underwood, 53, was a federal officer for the Department of Homeland Security and was guarding a federal courthouse in Oakland when he was shot multiple times by an unidentified person in a vehicle. It was most likely a targeted attack on police officers, according to Oakland Police.”)

For the record I: “They’re asking us to pull back. They’re asking us to walk away from you. They’re asking us to abandon our communities.” —New York City Police Benevolent Association President Patrick Lynch

For the record II: “Stop treating us like animals and thugs and start treating us with some respect. That’s what we’re here today to say. We’ve been left out of the conversation. We’ve been vilified. It’s disgusting.” —New York State Association of PBAs President Mike O'Meara

Race bait: “[Systemic racism is] not just in law enforcement. It’s across the board. It’s in housing, and it’s in education, and it’s in everything we do. It’s real. It’s genuine. It’s serious. Look, not all law enforcement officers are racist. My lord, there are some really good, good cops out there. But the way in which it works right now is — we’ve seen too many examples of it.” —Joe Biden

Political futures: “It’s really important that whomever you pick as a vice president agrees with you in terms of your philosophy of government and agrees with you on the systemic things that you wanna change. … I want someone strong. I want someone strong, and someone who can — who is ready to be president on day one [emphasis added].” —Joe Biden

And last… “Have we reached the ultimate stage of absurdity where some people are held responsible for things that happened before they were born, while other people are not held responsible for what they themselves are doing today?” —Thomas Sowell