Insight: “Freedom is the right to be wrong, not the right to do wrong.” —John G. Diefenbaker (1895-1979)

“We could expect the Chinese government to do everything possible to hide evidence and keep investigators from getting to the bottom of the origins of the virus. We should, on the other hand, expect much more from the U.S. government and its grantees. We need complete transparency, which we should have gotten from the beginning, and a full congressional investigation of the role U.S. research dollars played at a lab that may have been at the epicenter of a global catastrophe.” —National Review

“I have never been so jarred by anything a president said. … To hear the leader of the free world stand up and say, ‘This [the vaccine mandate] isn’t about your freedom,’ I thought, ‘Oh, my God. It is always about our freedom.’ … If we don’t have freedom over our own bodies … we aren’t free. That was scary to me… That [is] something a dictator says.” —former ESPN reporter Allison Williams

“While Stacey Abrams and the MLB stole the All-Star Game from hardworking Georgians, the Braves earned their trip to the World Series this season and are bringing it home to Georgia. Chop On, and Go @Braves!” —Governor Brian Kemp

Fact-check: False: “Whether the president has ever visited the border — or will — is a bit of a gotcha question. Given the level of briefings a president receives, a visit may not necessarily add to his body of knowledge.” —Washington Post “fact-checker” Glenn Kessler

Spin doctor: “[Biden] does not need a visit to the border to know what a mess was left by the last administration. That’s his view.” —White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki

Famous last words: “Monthly rates of inflation have already fallen substantially from the very high rates that we saw in the spring and early summer. On a 12-month basis, the inflation rate will remain high into next year because of what’s already happened. But I expect improvement … by the middle to end of next year.” —Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen

Baghdad Bob: “Let’s not forget consumers who have a record level of demand as we have made a historic economic recovery. … Do we have more work to do? Absolutely. That’s why we’re trying to get this Build Back Better plan. But the Biden administration, as it comes to the supply chain, continues to serve as an honest broker.” —White House Deputy Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre

Lack of self-awareness: “We don’t have time to be wasted on these phony trumped-up culture wars, this fake outrage, the right-wing media’s pedals to juice their ratings.” —Barack Obama (“The President who forced nuns to pay for birth control has some thoughts on the ‘phony’ culture wars.” —Buck Sexton)

Theater of the absurd: “All across the country, Democrats are trying to make it easier to vote, not make it harder to vote, and push back on Republicans who are trying to systematically prevent ordinary citizens from making their voices heard.” —Barack Obama

The BIG Lie I: “There is no deficit of resources in this country, only a deficit of empathy and political courage. Let’s pass the Build Back Better Act.” —Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley

The BIG Lie II: “Some of these voting laws that are being enacted around the country in Republican states really are eroding our democracy.” —Congressman Ami Bera

Hot air: “Climate change is an existential threat to humanity. That’s why I’m making a commitment to get to net-zero emissions on electric power by 2035 and net-zero emissions across the board by 2050 or before.” —Joe Biden

Grand delusions: “I ran for president for three reasons: To restore the soul and decency of our country. To rebuild our economy from the bottom up and the middle out. And to help unite our country. We’re on the right track — but there’s still work to be done.” —Joe Biden

Non compos mentis: “Biden’s performance is plenty to be satisfied about.” —CNN “analysis”

Moving the goalposts: “Right now we don’t have booster eligibility for all people currently. So we have not yet changed the definition of fully vaccinated. We will continue to look at this. We may need to update our definition of fully vaccinated in the future.” —CDC Director Rochelle Walensky

And last… “The American people will be a lot better off if this reckless tax and spending package never passes. They didn’t get a mandate from the American people to do this. American people didn’t vote to turn this country into Bernie Sanders’ socialist vision.” —Senate GOP Leader Mitch McConnell