Insight: “It was leadership here at home that gave us strong American influence abroad, and the collapse of imperial Communism. Great nations have responsibilities to lead, and we should always be cautious of those who would lower our profile, because they might just wind up lowering our flag.” —Ronald Reagan

For the record: “The highest praise for Marxism comes from those who have never lived under it. History shows that academics and the press in free countries (as opposed to those in the Marxist countries themselves) continue to praise and tout Marxist regimes, even when they are aware of their brutality. True of The New York Times in the 1930s. True of the New York Times today.” —Laura Hollis

Picking up where Obama left off: “We’re going to beat Donald Trump. And when we do, we won’t just rebuild this nation — we’ll transform it.” —Joe Biden

Race bait: “Black ppl have been dehumanized, brutalized, criminalized + terrorized by America for centuries, & are expected to join your commemoration of ‘independence’, while you enslaved our ancestors. We reject your celebration of white supremacy & look forward to liberation for all.” —Colin Kaepernick

Grand delusions: “Overwhelmingly, most people I hear from are black or mixed or non-white in some way, and a lot of people have said, ‘This is your moment. You’re vindicated.’ I have received hundreds of messages. Most of it’s been overwhelmingly positive.” —faux African American Rachel Dolezal

Braying jackass: “I think we should listen to everybody. I think we should listen to the argument [for purging George Washington monuments], but remember that the president at Mount Rushmore was standing on ground that was stolen from Native Americans who had actually been given that land during a treaty.” —Senator Tammy Duckworth

Dezinformatsiya: “Trump choosing Mount Rushmore for a Fourth of July campaign stop is like when he chose Tulsa, the site of the 1921 massacre against black Americans, for his Juneteenth weekend rally. It’s that cold, tired, and familiar jab to black, brown, and indigenous people that makes the shrinking MAGA voter feel as big as a 60-foot face of a colonizing slave owner.” —MSNBC’s Tiffany Cross

And last… “Because I don’t think of myself as a victim, I’ve been asked, ‘How many times have you been called a "n-word”?’ Rarely am I asked, ‘How many times have you been called an “Uncle Tom”/“coon”/“sellout”?’ — even though I’ve long since lost count.“ —Larry Elder