Insight

“The right to discuss freely and openly, by speech, by the pen, by the press, all political questions, and to examine the animadvert upon all political institutions is a right so clear and certain, so interwoven with our other liberties, so necessary, in fact, to their existence, that without it we must fall into despotism and anarchy.” —William Cullen Bryant (1794-1878)

“On issue after issue, the morally self-anointed visionaries have for centuries argued as if no honest disagreement were possible, as if those who opposed them were not merely in error but in sin.” —Thomas Sowell

Upright

“The real president is whoever controls the teleprompter. The path to power is the path to the teleprompter. I do feel like if somebody were to accidentally lean on the teleprompter, it’s going to be like ‘Anchorman.’” —Elon Musk

“This administration doesn’t seem to get a lot done. The Trump administration, leaving Trump aside, there were a lot of people in the administration who were effective at getting things done.” —Elon Musk

“The obvious reason for inflation is that the government printed a zillion amount of more money than it had. … If the federal government writes checks, they never bounce. So that is effectively creation of more dollars. … If the government could just issue massive amounts of money and deficits didn’t matter, then, well, why don’t we just make the deficit 100 times bigger? The answer is, you can’t because it will basically turn the dollar into something that is worthless.” —Elon Musk

For the Record

“The horrific massacre in Buffalo, New York, has created a debate about the ‘great replacement theory,’ the rancid theory adopted by white supremacists that Jewish people are conspiring to destroy the influence of white Americans by importing non-white immigrants. … Yet, there is an attempt to tar Republicans more broadly with the theory and somehow attribute responsibility for the atrocity in Buffalo to them on this basis. The argument is that the likes of Elise Stefanik, a Republican congresswoman from New York, have warned that the Democrat party views immigration as a way to change the electorate in their favor, and so are mainstreaming the hateful replacement ideology. This is a smear, and especially perverse since Republicans sounding the alarm about this Democratic view have been unquestionably correct. … But the left wants to create rules that define it as perfectly acceptable for Democrats to advocate high levels of immigration as a means of gaining political power, and out of bounds for Republicans to call them on it. … Yes, by all means, further shun and marginalize replacement theory, but don’t support high levels of immigration for partisan reasons and expect the other side not to notice.” —Rich Lowry

“In the alleged shooter’s own manifesto, he slanders Fox News as being run by Jews and part of the global replacement theory conspiracy. He never mentions Tucker Carlson. He also disowns the conservative movement, labeling it corporatism, and echoes the sentiments of the far Left when it comes to eco-fascism. But none of this is useful to a media that see this as an opportunity to regain the narrative on policing speech online after having their favorite toy in Twitter taken away from them.” —Stephen L. Miller

Demagogues

“My 4-year-old just FaceTimed to ask what I’m doing to ‘help the people in Buffalo’ and ‘why did the bad man do this?’ Absolutely gutting. This cannot be his normal. It’s time to BAN ASSAULT WEAPONS.” —Congressman Eric Swalwell

“White supremacy is a poison. It’s a poison … running through our body politic, and it’s been allowed to fester and grow right in front of our eyes. No more. I mean, no more. We need to say as clearly and force [sic] as we can that the ideology of white supremacy has no place in America.” —Joe Biden

“These hard-right MAGA Republicans argue that people of color and minority communities are somehow posing a threat — a threat — to the American way of life. And let’s be clear: It’s a message that has also found a special home in several right-wing outlets, and on one cable news channel in particular: Fox News. In a craven quest for viewers and ratings, organizations like Fox News have spent years perfecting the craft of stoking cultural grievance and political resentment that eerily mirrors the messages found in ‘replacement theory.’ … It is not enough for outlets like Fox News to simply condemn Saturday’s violence, and condemn the shooter’s racist views, and then return to their regularly scheduled programing. To have an impact in the fight against domestic violent extremism, Fox News and their hosts need to actually stop spreading dangerous ideas like ‘replacement theory’ on their shows.” —Senate Democrat Leader Chuck Schumer

Theater of the Absurd

“I think it’s time to name names and point fingers. Tucker Carlson mentioned the ‘great replacement theory’ or some version of that more than 400 times on his show since 2016, according to The New York Times. Elise Stefanik bought ads on Facebook. And it’s not just them. It’s other hosts of Fox News. It’s other Republican leaders. And they need to be called out. And listen, if you are an advertiser advertising on that station, you are part of the problem. If you sit on the board and are trying to be a civilized person … you are part of the problem. If you’re a Republican donor tweeting about how bad you feel about [the Buffalo shooting] but you’re donating to people like Elise Stefanik, you are part of the problem. If you are a staffer working for them, you are part of the problem. If you are voting for them, you are part of the problem. I’ll tell you what great replacement theory should be: We should replace all these people peddling hate and making financial and political gains from spreading racism.” —"The View" co-host Ana Navarro (“Putting a target on Fox News and Carlson is simply the latest subtle push at censorship. In recent weeks, corporate media have been caterwauling at the idea of looser content moderation politics on social media, and you can bet that Elon Musk and his pending deal with Twitter will be tied to the Buffalo shooting next.” —Stephen L. Miller)

“The Republican Party has moved further to the right than Democrats have to the left. … That idealogical divide breaks down to the the Republican Party being an extremist party, and the Democratic Party actually … moving more to the center.” —"The View" cohost Sunny Hostin (“49 out of 50 Senate Democrats just voted to require states to allow abortion on demand up until the moment of birth. This notion that the Democrat party has ‘moved to the center’ completely ignores everything elected Democrats have done these last few years.” —Matt Whitlock)

Lying Megalomaniac

“I don’t like mandating things. I don’t like punishing people for not doing something.” —Anthony Fauci

Non Compos Mentis Award

“Parents unfamiliar with the existing networks of homeschooling run the danger of being drawn into Christian conservative networks and theocratic teaching.” —MSNBC columnist Anthea Butler in her op-ed, “How the conservative Christian right is hijacking homeschooling”

And Last…

“All race politics is bad, no matter what flavor it is. It’s poison. It subsumes the individual into the group. It dehumanizes people. It elevates appearance over initiative and decency, and all the other God-given qualities that make people unique yet morally equal to each other.” —Tucker Carlson