Re: The Left: “Much of the social history of the Western world, over the past three decades, has been a history of replacing what worked with what sounded good.” —Thomas Sowell

Observations I: “Contrarianism has run amok in the United States. It is a byproduct of moving into postmodernism. Instead of focusing on what is true, we now all focus on our personal truths with no regard to actual truth. If we believe it is true, then by God in heaven it is true! Combine that with our increasing divisions as a society, and many people’s truth is now based on being exactly opposite their opposing tribe. Everyone prides themselves on their individual thought when really their thoughts are not individual but based on tribal consent.” —Erick Erickson

Observations II: “America is no longer a true community based on shared ideals and principles. It’s now a group of segregated societies. There is still racial segregation (something the left bizarrely and sadly even encourages these days), but class separation is what most divides Americans. Elite Americans live in private, high-end communities, dine at private clubs and fly in private planes. The economic divide has always existed, but the scale and extent of it has reached new highs. America is no longer a cohesive society.” —Neil Patel

Observations III: “During the Eisenhower and Kennedy administrations, about 75 percent of Americans trusted Washington to do the right thing most of the time. That number began to sink during Lyndon Johnson’s presidency in the ‘60s and never recovered. By the time Barack Obama was in the White House, in 2009, public trust was down to the teens or low 20s, where it has remained ever since. With so many Americans mistrusting their government, should it really surprise anyone that many balk at answering nosy census questions? In a society plagued by declining social capital, a fall-off in the census response rate is all too predictable. Besides, it isn’t only the census that people have been turning their backs on. Just ask anyone in the polling industry, which has been convulsed in recent years by the plunge in Americans’ willingness to answer survey questions.” —Jeff Jacoby

No big deal… “To merely keep pace with the IPCC recommendations on carbon emissions, Americans, who use around 20 million barrels of petroleum every day, would be compelled to induce a pandemic-level shutdown of the economy every year for 30 years.” —David Harsanyi

Indeed: “Children need germs. They cannot permanently wear masks. The longer we keep them in masks, the more we delay a cold and flu season that will just get more dangerous with time.” —Congressman Dan Crenshaw

Political futures: “No ID to vote, but proof of a vaccine to travel isn’t really the talking point Democrats should be running on headed into 2022.” —Erick Erickson

Straight from the horse’s mouth: “We are encountering an unprecedented number of migrants in between the ports of entry at our southern border.” —Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas

For the record: “Remember when Obama’s Secretary of Defense said Biden has been ‘wrong on nearly every foreign policy and national security issue over the past four decades’? It turns out he was spot on.” —Congressman Ronny Jackson (ADM-USN, Ret.)

A trip down memory lane I: “The Taliban is not the … North Vietnamese army. They’re not … remotely comparable in terms of capability. There’s going to be no circumstance where you see people being lifted off the roof of a[n] embassy.” —President Joe Biden, July 8, 2021

A trip down memory lane II: “Do I bear responsibility? Zero responsibility.” —Joe Biden in February 2020 when asked, “Don’t you bear some responsibility for the outcome if the Taliban ends up back in control and women end up losing the rights?”

Non compos mentis: “The President is to be commended for the clarity of purpose of his statement on Afghanistan and his action. The Taliban must know the world is watching its actions. We are concerned about reports regarding the Taliban’s brutal treatment of all Afghans, especially women and girls. The U.S., the international community and the Afghan government must do everything we can to protect women and girls from inhumane treatment by the Taliban. As we strive to assist them, we must recognize that their voices are important and respect their culture.” —House Speaker Nancy Pelosi

And last… “Biden’s military policies have helped the Taliban. His energy policies have helped Russia. His border policies have helped people come here illegally. His domestic policies pay people not to work. What has he done, other than not tweet, that hasn’t backfired?” —Ari Fleischer