Insight

“Suppression of expression conceals the real problems confronting a society and diverts public attention from the critical issues. It is likely to result in neglect of the grievances which are the actual basis of the unrest, and this prevent their correction.” —Thomas I. Emerson (1907-1991)

For the Record

“[Progressives] want a news environment in which nothing is real, everything is partisan and you are free to ignore and even disdain the other side. If conservatives adopt these despicable tactics, they will lose the war for our culture and society before a shot is even fired. You beat conspiracy theories with truth and facts, not by inventing more and more disgusting conspiracy theories of your own.” —David Marcus

“On day one, Joe Biden canceled the Keystone Pipeline, but he wants you to believe oil companies are at fault.” —Senator Marsha Blackburn

“Remember that time Republicans opened the border, spiked inflation, caused a fuel crisis, freed violent criminals, fired people for not getting vaxxed, AND ran out of baby formula? NO, you DON’T? Now would be a good time to vote accordingly kiddos.” —Jimmy Failla

Belly Laughs of the Week

“If you believe the recent headlines, you would think that MAGA fascism is ascendant. If you get past those headlines and dig a little deeper, you uncover an insidious and seemingly intentional campaign by Republican-backed polling firms to flood the zone and tip the balance of polling averages in favor of their candidates, to create a narrative that Republicans are surging and that a red wave is imminent and inevitable.” —MSNBC’s Joy Reid

“In six major battleground states, more than half the polls conducted in October have been conducted by Republican firms. That means basically we can’t trust the data on RealClearPolitics or FiveThirtyEight any longer. It’s essentially Republican propaganda. … The Republicans, this is part of the information war. They’re trying to suppress Democratic turnout, create more negative sentiment for Democrats and more positive sentiment for them.” —Democrat pollster Simon Rosenberg

Demagogues

“Enough is enough. Gun violence in this country is an epidemic that will not end with thoughts and prayers alone. President Biden will continue to do everything in his power to reduce gun violence, including by calling on Congress to increase community violence intervention funding, ensure universal background checks, and send legislation to his desk banning assault weapons and high-capacity magazines. It’s past time we turn our pain into purpose.” —White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre

“Charlie [Crist] is running against Donald Trump incarnate.” —Joe Biden

The BIG Lies

“[Insulin] was invented by a man who did not patent it because he wanted it available for everyone. I spoke to him, okay?” —Joe Biden (“Dr. Frederick Banting died nearly two years before the president was born.” —Virginia Kruta)

“Inflation is a worldwide problem right now because of a war in Iraq… excuse me, the war in Ukraine. I’m thinking about Iraq because that’s where my son died.” —Joe Biden

“Putin’s invasion of the Ukraine in March set gas prices soaring, literally, around the world. Not just here, but around the world. And because of the action we’ve taken since then, gas prices have actually come down.” —Joe Biden

“Republicans have made it clear — and they’ve said it out loud on the floor — if they win control of the Congress, they’re going to shut down the government, refuse to pay America’s bills — and really put us in a serious recession; put us in default — unless we yield to their demands to cut Social Security and Medicare. They’re so determined to cut Social Security and Medicare, they’re willing to take down the American economy over it.” —Joe Biden

“When gas prices go up, when grocery prices go up, that takes a bite out of people’s paycheck. That hurts. But the question you should be asking is: Who’s going to do something about it? Republicans are having a field day running ads talking about it, but what is their actual solution to it? I’ll tell you. They want to gut Social Security, then Medicare, and then give some more tax breaks to the wealthy.” —Barack Obama

“I’m not sure [voters] really understand the threats to their way of life. They may think that whoever’s chairing a committee is, you know, kind of abstract. But the Republicans in the House and others like the chair of the Republican Senate Campaign Committee are on record saying that they are going to put Social Security and Medicare up for a vote.” —Hillary Clinton

“Crime is not on the rise. It’s actually going down under Joe Biden.” —"The View" co-host Joy Behar (“Democrats have become such a party of elites, they now openly tell the people they’re stupid for being concerned about what they’re concerned about. They tell them it’s not really happening and if they weren’t so stupid, they’d realize it. They all do this now.” —Jesse Kelly | “Joy should ride the subway to work.” —Katie Pavlich)

Theater of the Absurd

“Who knows what [crisis pregnancy centers] are doing with that [privacy] information, if they may be selling it, if they may be making data available to other terrorists or activists that can cause harm to patients or the providers to whom they actually wind up going eventually to seek care." —Penn Medicine physician Courtney A. Schreiber

"Abortion can be another word for mercy.” —actress Anne Hathaway