Insight: “Political ideas that have dominated the public mind for decades cannot be refuted through rational arguments. They must run their course in life and cannot collapse otherwise than in great catastrophe.” —Ludwig von Mises (1881-1973)

“Marist … shows that only 29% of independents support Joe Biden. That is a very bad number. How bad is it? For perspective, in the last election, Donald Trump took 41% of independent voters and lost. So if you’re a political consultant, a poll that shows 29% independents support sends you immediately to the liquor cabinet for more vodka. It means your candidate is going to lose along with everyone who’s connected to your candidate. You’re looking at this tsunami forming on the horizon aimed at you. It’s terrifying. But for Joe Biden, that’s just the beginning of the bad news. That same Marist poll shows Biden at 33% among Hispanic voters. In other words, 67% of the so-called Latino community does not support Joe Biden. It’s hard even to process a number like that. It’s just too far from the conventional view of American politics. … If these new polling numbers are right, even if they’re just sort of right, this is the end of the Democratic Party as a governing majority. It’s bewildering to think that.” —Tucker Carlson

“What isn’t patriotic, Mr. President, is not securing the border. What isn’t patriotic is running up inflation… What isn’t patriotic is turning your back on America and the principles and values that our country was founded on. … This president has lost the country — he has lost the country — and he will never get it back because he is a man of no hope.” —Texas Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick regarding Joe Biden’s assertions about your patriotic duty

“Biden was finally right about something. He said the [Build Back Better] bill wouldn’t cost anything. Well, if they don’t pass it, he’s right!” —Gary Bauer

“Today, inflation’s the biggest threat I think we have right now. … No matter what we have done, we’ve sent out $5.4 trillion to try to help people to try to stave off a medical disaster, if you will, because of COVID when it first came. So, we’ve dodged that. We got a vaccine out earlier than anyone thought could happen. And then, on top of that, we dodged a financial crisis. But we’re getting into it because they’re making more of a crisis on the individual person today because of the high cost of inflation.” —Senator Joe Manchin

Race bait: “Joe Manchin, as a white man … doesn’t care about black people, he doesn’t care about Latinos, he doesn’t care about immigrants, he doesn’t care about women, and he doesn’t care about the poor.” —Congressman Jamaal Bowman

Braying jenny I: “What Joe Manchin, who represents a population smaller than Brooklyn, has done to the rest of America, who wants to move forward, not backward, like his state, is horrible. He sold us out. He wants us all to be just like his state, West Virginia. Poor, illiterate and strung out.” —actress Bette Midler

Braying jenny II: “Joe Manchin and his whole family are a criminal enterprise. Is he really the best WV has to offer its own citizens? Surely there’s someone there who has the state’s interests at heart, not his own!” —Bette Midler

Democracy dies in authoritarianism I: “No one should think that we are going to be satisfied with an even smaller package that leaves people behind or refuses to tackle critical issues like climate change. That’s why it is now incumbent on President Biden to keep his promise to us and to the American people by using the ultimate tool in his toolbox of executive action in every arena immediately.” —Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal

Democracy dies in authoritarianism II: “Biden needs to lean on his executive authority now. He has been delaying and underutilizing it so far. There is an enormous amount he can do on climate, student debt, immigration, cannabis, health care, and more. Time is running out — we need to move and use alternative paths.” —Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez

Hot air: “We cannot allow the climate crisis to become a catastrophe. … Some of us are actually gonna have to live on this planet in 50 years.” —Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez

Grand delusions: “Standing here in December, that [Afghanistan] strategic decision remains the right decision. For the first time in 20 years, there are no U.S. troops in harm’s way in Afghanistan this holiday season. We safely and effectively drew down our diplomatic presence. We lifted tens of thousands of vulnerable Afghans to safety in a unique American example of capacity, commitment, and sheer logistics.” —National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan

A blind squirrel finds a nut: “Don’t wear a cloth mask. Cloth masks are little more than facial decorations.” —CNN medical analyst Leana Wen

Swamp Doctor: “‘Mandates.’ That’s a radioactive word. ‘Requirements’ — people seem to respond better to that.” —Anthony Fauci

And last… “The Biden Administration had time to write a whole-of-government 42-page ‘national gender strategy.’ But they didn’t have time to work on increasing test availability until now?” —Senator Tom Cotton