Insight: “Men in authority will always think that criticism of their policies is dangerous. They will always equate their policies with patriotism, and find criticism subversive.” —Henry Steele Commager (1902-1998)

“Even if something does emerge from the ashes of Build Back Better, it is going to be much less revolutionary than Democrats had hoped. Remember, this was a bill that they initially hoped would finance subsidized child care, government preschool, paid leave, an expansion of Obamacare, a souped-up Medicare, ongoing monthly payments to families, portions of the Green New Deal, and even amnesty for illegal immigrants. With Republicans poised to take back at least the House next year, Manchin’s statement likely forecloses the opportunity for any sort of mega-bill to pass in the rest of Biden’s presidential term. That gives conservatives something to celebrate going into the new year.” —National Review

“I knew where [Democrat negotiators] were and I knew what they could and could not do. They just never realized it because they figured, ‘Surely to God we can move one person, surely we can badger and beat one person up, surely we can get enough protesters to make that person uncomfortable enough.’ Well, guess what? I’m from West Virginia. I’m not from where they’re from, and they can just beat the living crap out of people and think they’ll be submissive, period.” —Joe Manchin

A blind squirrel finds a nut I: “The emergency is over. You know, public health doesn’t get to tell people what to wear. It’s just not their job. You don’t tell people to wear a jacket when they go out in the winter and force them to. If they get frostbite, it’s their own darn fault.” —Colorado Governor Jared Polis

A blind squirrel finds a nut II: “I think it’s really important that our leaders, whether they’re governors or mayors, local influencers, lead with facts rather than fear. People just don’t react well to this ongoing environment of fear for two years.” —Jared Polis

Follow the Science™: “We didn’t see Delta coming. I think most scientists did not — upon whose advice and direction we have relied — didn’t see Delta coming. We didn’t see Omicron coming. And that’s the nature of what this, this awful virus has been, which as it turns out, has mutations and variants.” —Kamala Harris

Season’s Greetings! “We are intent on not letting Omicron disrupt work and school for the vaccinated. You’ve done the right thing, and we will get through this. For the unvaccinated, you’re looking at a winter of severe illness and death for yourselves, your families, and the hospitals you may soon overwhelm.” —White House COVID Czar Jeff Zients

Non compos mentis: “I’m really sorry that the lab leak has become such a distraction for so many people because frankly, we still don't know. There is no evidence really to say. Most of the scientific community, myself included, think that is a possibility, but far more likely, this was a natural way in which a virus left a bat, maybe traveled through some other species and got to humans.” —former National Institutes of Health Director Dr. Francis Collins

Swamp Doctor: “Do not do things like go to gatherings where there are people who you do not know what their vaccination status is.” —Anthony Fauci

Disinformation: “On a flight now to Bay Area and it is one-hundred percent batty that the unvaccinated are allowed to fly. It’s unsafe in the cabin and we are transporting the virus. Requiring the vaccine to fly is the LEAST we can do to stop the spread.” —Congressman Eric Swalwell (“The statistics, I recall, is that 99.97 percent of airborne pathogens are captured by the HEPA [high-efficiency particulate air] filtering system, and it’s turned over every two or three minutes. I think the case is very strong that masks don’t add much, if anything, in the air cabin.” —Southwest Airlines CEO Gary Kelly)

And last… “Biden spent the weekend in Wilmington. He isn’t giving an address about the latest Wuhan coronavirus variant until Tuesday… Quite the ‘emergency.’” —Katie Pavlich