Insight: “You can only protect your liberties in this world by protecting the other man’s freedom. You can only be free if I am free.” —Clarence S. Darrow (1857-1938)

“A humble request: Can someone in the White House press pool please ask @JoeBiden who behind the scenes keeps telling him not to take any questions & on the rare occasion when he does, who tells him which reporter he’s allowed to call on. Sincerely, America.” —Sean Parnell

“[Joe Biden] needs to be held to account for what he did. His generals are to be held to account, his secretary of defense, his secretary of state, his national security adviser. We’ve never seen so many lightweights gathered in one place in the history of this country.” —Mark Levin

“Just because we decide to quit fighting doesn’t mean the terrorists go away. So they’re still out there, they’re invigorated, they’re emboldened, and excited about the success they see in bringing America to its knees in Afghanistan.” —Senate GOP Leader Mitch McConnell

“There is clearly no plan. There has been no plan. Their plan has basically been happy talk. People have died and people are going to die because President Biden decided to rely on happy talk instead of reality.” —Senator Ben Sasse

“This war ended in self-defeat. … We surrendered to a jihadist organization and assumed that there would be no consequences for that. And we’re seeing the consequences today.” —former National Security Advisor H.R. McMaster

Friendly fire: “If you think America is irredeemable, turn on the news or get a passport and a ticket on one of those sketchy airlines that puts its web address on the plane. There’s a reason Afghan mothers are handing their babies to us. … We’re not the bad guys. Oppression is what we were trying to stop in Afghanistan. We failed, but any immigrant will tell you we’ve largely succeeded here. And yet, the overriding thrust of current ‘woke’ ideology is that America is rotten to the core, irredeemably racist from the moment it was founded and so oppressive, sexist, and homophobic, we can’t find a host for the Oscars or ‘Jeopardy!’ … America may not be the country of your faculty lounge and Twitter dreams, but no one here tries to escape by hanging on to an airplane. No, we wait till we’re inside the plane to fight — and then only because they cut off the beverage service.” —Bill Maher

Tone-deaf: “I urge all Americans to join me in grateful prayer.” —President Joe Biden

A trip down memory lane: “We are so much better than who Donald Trump thinks we are. This is the United States of America. We treat each other with dignity, we leave nobody behind, and we give hate no safe harbor.” —Joe Biden, March 6, 2020 (“Blinken Confirms U.S. Left Hundreds of Americans Behind in Afghanistan.” —National Review)

Non sequitur: “A new chapter of America’s engagement with Afghanistan has begun. It’s one in which we will lead with our diplomacy. The military mission is over. A new diplomatic mission has begun. … As of today, we have suspended our diplomatic presence in Kabul … [because of] the uncertain security environment and political situation in Afghanistan.” —Secretary of State Antony Blinken

Nah, go ahead and let it happen: “At this unprecedented moment in American history, when we’re trying to address the crisis of climate change, guarantee healthcare for all, and pass real immigration reform, the last thing we need is to have some right-wing Republican governor in California. The September 14th recall of Governor Newsom is a bold-faced Republican power grab. Don’t let it happen.” —Senator Bernie Sanders

And last… “President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris want to use California’s far-left governance as a model for the rest of the nation. But it should be obvious what sort of epic disaster that would be merely from all those Californians voting with their feet. The Golden State’s middle class has been escaping for a decade now, but if California’s disastrous policies are instituted nationally, no one will have anywhere to flee to. California voters can do better, and they can still save America by rejecting the failing California model. That starts with the recall of Newsom on Sept. 14.” —Washington Examiner