Upright

“Work for something because it is good, not just because it stands a chance to succeed.” —Václav Havel (1936-2011)

For the Record

“I used to tweet, as a joke, that the Dem answer to high gas prices was to say ‘all the poors can just go buy a Tesla.’ And then, in the face of nearly $5/gallon gas…they actually said it.” —Rachel Bovard

“‘Just buy an electric car’ is the modern version of ‘let them eat cake.’” —Eric Matheny

“I don’t have a problem with electric vehicles. I do have a problem with the lie that they are a) affordable for everyone [and] b) they are ‘green’ or ‘clean.’” —Katie Pavlich (“They also depend on minerals primarily produced in China. But why not shift our energy dependency from one dictator to the next.” —Kelsey Bolar)

“So Biden is banning Russian oil imports (which he should have done since the beginning if he wanted the sanctions to be serious) but is looking to substitute for those imports oil from…Venezuela, a Russian ally and authoritarian socialist state. Makes sense!” —Ben Shapiro

“Reminder: The Biden administration WANTED this. Their policies were specifically intended to drive up gas prices to force people into electric cars. This is not an accident, and it’s not just a result of the crisis in Ukraine.” —Matt Whitlock

A Trip Down Memory Lane

“We have more oil than anybody. … And you’re paying, what, $2 a gallon for your gasoline? … If Biden got in, you’d be paying $7, $8, $9. Then they’d say, ‘Get rid of your car.’” —Donald Trump, November 2020

Village Idiot

“The average gas price in America hit an all-time record high of over $4 per gallon. OK, that stings, but a clean conscience is worth a buck or two. … I am willing to pay $4 a gallon. Hell, I’ll pay $15 a gallon because I drive a Tesla.” —Stephen Colbert (“Stephen Colbert — who earns $15 million per year from CBS and has a net worth approaching $100 million — says it’s worth it to endure higher gas prices so that you have a ‘clean conscience.’” —Glenn Greenwald | “We don’t have a political divide, we have a class divide. So many in the elite cannot fathom that their fellow Americans aren’t bad people, they just don’t have enough disposable income for vanity morals.” —Batya Ungar-Sargon)

Non Compos Mentis Award

“It’s true that the Russians are earning money from oil and gas, but to compound that problem by accelerating oil and gas in America would go against the climate goals, and climate is like war: If we don’t handle it, people are going to die and they’re going to be suffering. Not immediately, but over time.” —former California Governor Jerry Brown

The BIG Lies

“It’s simply not true that my administration or policies are holding back domestic energy production. It’s simply not true.” —Joe Biden

“Loosening environmental regulations or pulling back clean energy investment … will not lower energy prices for families. But transforming our economy to run on electric vehicles powered by clean energy with tax credits to help American families winterize their homes and use less energy, that will. That will help.” —Joe Biden

“[Prices are] gonna go up. Can’t do much right now. Russia’s responsible.” —Joe Biden

Lack of Self-Awareness Award

“How did we get to the place where, you know, Putin decides he’s gonna just invade Russia? Nothing like this has happened since World War II.” —Joe Biden

Dezinformatsiya

“Swing voters — Trump-Biden voters — they seem to buy the idea that Putin wouldn’t have done this if Trump were president. … I don’t buy that. I don’t think that that matches logic, but voters do. That’s a perception issue.” —MSNBC’s Chuck Todd

Race Bait

“The coverage of Ukraine has revealed a pretty radical disparity in how human Ukrainians look and feel to western media compared to their browner and blacker counterparts, with some reporters using very telling comparisons in their analyses of the war. … If this was happening anywhere else would we see the same outpouring of support and compassion? Well, we don’t need to ask ourselves if the international response will be the same if Russia unleashed their horror on a country that wasn’t white and largely Christian.” —MSNBC’s Joy Reid

Theater of the Absurd

“I don’t think anybody is advocating for Iran to continue acquiring a nuclear weapon, perhaps except for the former president who pulled us out of the deal.” —White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki

And Last…

“For reasons that are still unclear, the Biden administration has long sought to revive the failed Obama-era 2015 nuclear deal with Iran. Reports suggest an agreement is imminent, with the lead Russian negotiator in the talks saying Russia and China teamed up and ‘Iran got much more than it could expect. Much more.’ … By reviving the failed Iran deal, the Biden administration will fill the coffers of a murderous, terrorist regime, without putting an end to Iran’s nuclear weaponization. And some of that windfall may find its way to Russia, fueling Putin’s war machine. It will go down in history as one of the president’s most disastrous foreign policy decisions.” —Senator Marco Rubio