Insight: “The most important service rendered by the press and the magazines is that of educating people to approach printed matter with distrust.” —Samuel Butler (1835-1902)

Friendly fire: “Over the course of this year, Democratic leaders have made conflicting promises that could not all be kept — and have, at times, pretended that differences of opinion within our party did not exist, even when those disagreements were repeatedly made clear directly and publicly. Canceling the infrastructure vote further erodes that trust.” —Democrat Senator Kyrsten Sinema

Non compos mentis I: “I don’t think they’re appropriate tactics but it happens to everybody. … It’s a part of the process.” —Joe Biden regarding activist harassment toward Senators Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema

Non compos mentis II: “We’re able to borrow because we always pay our debt. We always pay what we owe. We’ve never failed . … Raising the debt limit is about paying off our old debts.” —Joe Biden

Non compos mentis III: “Democrats will meet our responsibility and obligation to this country. We’re not expecting Republicans to do their part. They’ve made that clear from the beginning. We’ve tried asking to no avail. We’re just asking them not to use procedural tricks to block us from doing the job that they won’t do. A meteor … is headed to crash into our economy. Democrats are willing to do all the work stopping it. Republicans just have to let us do our job; just get out of the way. If you don’t want to help save the country, get out of the way so you don’t destroy it.” —Joe Biden

The BIG Lie, continued: “The Build Back Better Agenda costs $0. The plan will ensure the ultra-wealthy pay their fair share and won’t raise taxes on anyone making less than $400K a year. That’s a big deal.” —The White House

Spendapalooza: “Here’s where I think the problem is. It’s that when we talk about top-line numbers, there’s a lot that is hidden in that discussion. And so … this conversation shouldn’t be about numbers, but it should be about what substantive programs are willing to be excluded.” —Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez

Gaslighting: “If you are going to engage in riskier actions that increase health care costs and health care burdens on all of us, then you should be the one paying for the increased risk.” —Congressman Ted Lieu

Follow the Science™: “It is an assumption that [it’s] okay to get infected and to get mild and moderate disease, as long as you don’t wind up in the hospital and die. And I have to be open and honest: I reject that.” —Dr. Anthony Fauci (“I’ve known Anthony Fauci for years. I worked with him during the Reagan Administration, and he was a problematic bureaucrat even then. He is nothing more than a political hack with authoritarian impulses who is doing tremendous damage to the public health agencies of our nation.” —Gary Bauer)

A trip down memory lane: “Until I came to the US, I couldn’t imagine that things like gender pay gap still existed in today’s world. Say what you will about old USSR, there was no gender pay gap there. Market doesn’t always ‘know best.’” —Biden’s Comptroller of the Currency nominee Saule Omarova in 2019 (“After Twitter users criticized her ignorance, she added a caveat: ‘I never claimed women and men were treated absolutely equally in every facet of Soviet life. But people’s salaries were set (by the state) in a gender-blind manner. And all women got very generous maternity benefits. Both things are still a pipe dream in our society!’ Sure, there was a Gulag, and no private property, but maternity benefits!” —Wall Street Journal)

Racism: “I’d rather them keep a Confederate monument than a statue of Clarence Thomas. That’s how much I don’t like the idea.” —Georgia State Representative Donna McLeod

And last… “How incoherent can Biden be? He says Trump’s ‘reckless’ spending got us in trouble, yet he wants to spend more than has ever been spent in the history of the world? This administration’s policies and messaging are more puerile than a petulant child.” —David Limbaugh