Insight: “A man has honor if he holds himself to an ideal of conduct though it is inconvenient, unprofitable, or dangerous to do so.” —Walter Lippmann (1889-1974)

“American parents are organizing to fight racist critical race theories being taught in their kids’ schools. Attorney General Merrick Garland, once touted as a moderate, has responded by asking the FBI to treat them as domestic terrorists.” —Glenn Reynolds

“I am shocked — SHOCKED — to report that the SNL Season 47 premiere turned in the lowest ratings among adults 18-49 in the show’s history. What started as a great comedy program decades ago is now a leftists bust.” —Mark Alexander

“When you’re a small business already squeezed by the rising costs of goods, taxes and ever-changing government COVID regulations, how can you possibly succeed? The only way is raising prices. It’s all become a feedback loop that hits your grocery bill. Now is the time for the government to step back and let the economy find normalcy again. Suppliers get back up and running, people return to jobs, prices stabilize. Except that’s not what Biden is doing. He wants to spend another $5 trillion, as if the economic laws of inflation don’t exist anymore. All that government money will drive up prices even more. … Biden likes to argue that the tax increases to pay for all this spending will hit only the rich. But inflation is a tax, a merciless one that’s already hitting Americans hard.” —New York Post

“Joe Biden … is taking a victory lap on the September jobs report because the unemployment rate went down. He further highlights growth in average wages, but those increases have been wiped out by inflation.” —Spencer Brown

Spin doctor: “The unemployment rate is now down to 4.8% — in just eight months. We’ve created 2x more jobs under @POTUS in his first nine months than any administration in history.” —White House Chief of Staff Ronald Klain

The BIG Lie I: “Gun violence is a public health crisis, a moral epidemic and a scourge on our very way of life, whether it happens on our streets, in our houses of worship, in our workplaces or in our schools. It doesn’t happen in other countries, and we must work to end it here.” —American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten (“Mass shooting at Russian university, at least 8 dead.” —Fox News headline, September 20)

The BIG Lie II: “[Critical Race Theory is] not taught in Virginia and it’s never been taught in Virginia. And … I’ve said this a lot: It’s a dog whistle. It’s racial. It’s division.” —Virginia gubernatorial candidate Terry McAuliffe

Non sequitur: “We still have … 20% of the country who’ve decided not to get vaccinated. No question that’s having an impact [on polling].” —White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki

Fact-check: False: “Fox News requires vaccinations for all employees. Give me a break. Fox News.” —Joe Biden (Fox has no corporate mandate for vaccinations.)

Missing context: “We’re making sure healthcare workers are vaccinated, because if you seek care at a healthcare facility, you should have the certainty that the … people providing that care are protected from COVID and cannot spread it to you.” —Joe Biden (Obviously, many of the people who are getting COVID and spreading it now are vaccinated.)

Non compos mentis I: “Go out there and enjoy Halloween.” —Dr. Anthony Fauci giving children “permission” to trick or treat

Non compos mentis II: “Especially with holidays coming, [vaccine mandates] will be a powerful incentive for people to say, ‘Look, you can stay unvaccinated if you want, but you’re not going to be able to travel to see your family.’” —CNN medical analysis Dr. Leana Wen

Authoritarianism: “Dismiss anything else. We will continue to be your single source of truth.” —New Zealand Prime Minister George Orwell Jacinda Ardern

And last… “Despicable. Un-American. This is the only way to describe efforts by Attorney General Garland to intimidate the American people into silence and compliance. If we passively accept this flagrant abuse of power, our country will descend further into a police state.” —Tulsi Gabbard