Talking Points: Did You See What They Said?

"I swear, [the Office of Management and Budget] just went through and whenever there was 'grant,' they just X it out. With no measurement, no thinking about it, no metrics, no nothing. It's just incredibly irresponsible." — Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, whose comments about the Trump administration's chaotic budget-making process were caught on an open microphone (New York Post, Tuesday)"Yeah, let me go, though, because I've gotta start tweeting some [expletive] to make this guy crazy." — White House communications head Anthony Scarmucci on a call to a reporter, demanding to know whether Reince Priebus had leaked information (The New Yorker, Thursday)"Some of the people that are opposed to this, there are female senators from the Northeast ... if it was a guy from South Texas, I might ask him to step outside and settle this Aaron Burr-style."— Congressman Blake Farenthold, R-Corpus Christi, criticizing senators who oppose the latest version of the GOP health care bill (TexasTribune.org, Monday) "This commission, led by a fact-challenged zealot, will come up with bogus reasons why further restrictions should be placed on the right to vote. This commission is up to no good." — Former Attorney General Eric Holder (Politico.com, Monday) "If I decide to throw my hat in the ring for U.S. Senate, believe me ... it's game on." — Musician Kid Rock, hinting that he could mount a run for the U.S. Senate (USAToday.com, Wednesday)"Why'd he need to throw me out? I was not trying to be funny. He told me to stand on the mat, so I pulled the mat where I was. And I stood on. I actually did what he told me." — Texas Rangers third baseman Adrian Beltre, on getting ejected after a dispute with umpires over where he should stand while waiting for his turn at bat (Dallasnews.com, Wednesday)"A uniform statewide law is ideal, but we should adopt one that is stronger, not weaker — more enforceable, not less." — State Sen. Judith Zaffirini D-Laredo, on an attempt to roll back local ordinances on cellphone use in cars (TexasTribune.com, Thursday) "Harry and I were in a desperate rush to say 'goodbye, see you later, can I go off?'" If I'd known what was going to happen I wouldn't have been so blasé about it. That phone call sticks in my mind quite heavily." — Prince William, describing the last conversation with their mother, Princess Diana, in an upcoming documentary (Time.com, Monday)"It's dedicated to the pop culture phenomenon and our culture's relationship with this [case] as an entity; as something that happened. It was a historical event — something that we all lived through." — Adam Papagan, who is planning a pop-up museum in Los Angeles featuring O.J. Simpson memorabilia (Mashable.com, Wednesday)"We went and found it rolled up in a tube." — Shep Gordon, rocker Alice Cooper's longtime manager, on discovering a 40-year-old forgotten Andy Warhol silkscreen titled "Little Electric Chair" stashed away in Cooper's storage locker (New York Post, Tuesday)"The dry ice method serves as a safe and quick approach that essentially puts rats to sleep before they perish." — Chicago Streets and Sanitation Commissioner Charles Williams, on the city's resumption of the rat-suffocation experiment after getting the go-ahead from the Environmental Protection Agency (Chicago Sun-Times, Tuesday)What's your view?Got an opinion about this issue? Send a letter to the editor, and you just might get published.  Continue reading...