Insight

“The right to life is the source of all rights — and the right to property is their only implementation. Without property rights, no other rights are possible.” —Ayn Rand (1905-1982)

Non Sequitur Award

“My background and the background of my family is Irish American, and we have a long history not fundamentally unlike the Palestinian people, with Great Britain and their attitude toward Irish Catholics over the years for 400 years.” —President Joe Biden (“In the framework that Biden has set up here, Israel is presumably the colonial power that is oppressing other people out of sheer religious bigotry. This is absolutely disgusting. There has been a Jewish presence in Israel for thousands of years. Modern Israel serves as a crucial ally for the United States and as a safe haven for the most persecuted religious group in world history. To indulge his stupid analogy a bit further, Irish Catholics seeking independent control over their homeland did not fight toward the goal of conquering England and driving the British from their own homeland and denying its right to exist altogether. Yet for decades, Arabs have sought to drive Jews out of the region through war and terrorist attacks.” —Philip Klein)

Non Compos Mentis Award

“With our basic rights under threat from a rogue Supreme Court, Congress needs to exercise our legal authority to the fullest extent. That’s why today we called on [Chuck Schumer] and [Nancy Pelosi] to support stripping the Supreme Court’s jurisdiction over abortion. Congress is granted the authority to remove the Supreme Court’s jurisdiction under Article III. To protect marriage equality, contraception, and more, we need to limit the power of the far-right Court that’s already overturned Roe v. Wade.” —Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez

The BIG Lie

“President Biden was on [inflation] fast.” —Biden economic advisor Gene Sperling

Complaint Department

“[The president] had so many hopes and plans for things he wanted to do, but every time you turned around, he had to address the problems of the moment. He’s just had so many things thrown his way.” —Jill Biden

Think of the Children

“Thank you for your friendship. … Thank you for caring. … Thank you for putting this organization first, every single day.” —Dr. Jill Biden, Ed.D., thanking teachers union chief Randi Weingarten for putting the teachers unions first

Dezinformatsiya

“Over the course of the most fractious term in modern history, [Justice Amy Coney Barrett] rarely bothered to explain herself. While Donald Trump’s other two justices spilled much ink defending their positions, Barrett remained reticent. … This tactical retreat from the public eye hints at the headwinds that Barrett faced in her second year on the court. The justice was ill-prepared for many aspects of her job, and after a series of unforced errors, she has faded into the background whenever possible. … It may be tempting for progressives to assume that Barrett is cynically withdrawing into the intellectual shadows so she can inflict maximum damage with minimal backlash. But the better explanation may be that the justice is simply in over her head.” —Slate senior writer Mark Joseph Stern

“We sit around and we talk about these things and we want to give this false equivalence to Democrats and Republicans. That is not where we are right now. Republicans are doing something that is very dangerous to our society and we have to acknowledge that. We have to acknowledge that as Americans, we must acknowledge that as journalists, because if we don’t, we’re not doing our jobs. We cannot sit here and pretend like, ‘Well, Republicans, cut them a break…’ They have a lot to answer for in this moment. … You have the inmates running the asylum, basically. You have the extremists, because I know there are Republicans sitting out there going, ‘No, Don Lemon, that’s not what we are.’ It’s maybe not what you are, but it’s what your party’s become. It is what you have allowed to happen.” —CNN’s Don Lemon

Rare Bit of Genuine Journalism

“The preferred term for a rifle that fires one bullet each time the trigger is pulled, and automatically reloads for a subsequent shot, is a semi-automatic rifle. An automatic rifle continuously fires rounds if the trigger is depressed and until its ammunition is exhausted. Avoid assault rifle and assault weapon, which are highly politicized terms that generally refer to AR- or AK-style rifles designed for the civilian market, but convey little meaning about the actual functions of the weapon.” —AP style manual (But will any of its scribes and talkingheads take note?)

Swamp Doctor

“Because you go into a situation where many people are not wearing masks is not a reason for you not to wear a mask.” —National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases director Anthony Fauci

And Last…

“Joe Biden traveled over 7,000 miles to beg Saudi Arabia for more oil, even as he continues his attack on American energy producers. We are still waiting for Biden to travel to Texas, Alaska, and North Dakota to meet with American energy producers.” —Tommy Pigott