The Patriot Post® · Friday Short Cuts

Insight: “Fear of serious injury cannot alone justify suppression of free speech and assembly. Men feared witches and burned women. It is the function of speech to free men from the bondage of irrational fears.” —Justice Louis D. Brandeis (1856-1941)

For the record: “[Ethanol] is government moonshine, and like moonshine in the 19th century, it’s sold as snake oil for what ails ya. … [T]he ethanol subsidy isn’t the reason we should get rid of the caucuses, it’s an illustration of the problem. We’ve created a monster. It hasn’t always picked the winner, but they all bent the knee to an un-representative cabal of consultants, politicians and plutocrats. In effect, the Iowa caucuses are a subsidy for the Iowa political establishment. Get rid of that subsidy, and maybe some others will go with it.” —Jonah Goldberg

Observations: “It was a very spirited debate, much more substantive than any other and there were almost none of the ad hominem insults that were heard in the earlier debates. It was a lot of hard questioning and tough exchanges, but it did not have anything to do … with the kind of personal level that we heard before. I’ll leave it to the viewers to figure out why.” —Charles Krauthammer

Alpha Jackass: “If the Republicans win, we’ll all lose. They want to roll back the clock on civil rights. They want to make it harder for African-Americans to vote — not easier. And they’ve got no plan to deal with gun violence or any of the issues we’re facing in our communities.” —Eric Holder

Braying Jackass: “Democrats will win in November, and we will have a Democratic president succeeding me — just in case there’s any confusion about that.” —Barack Obama

The BIG lie: “I’m not worried … about this party staying united. The other side may have some stuff to work out.” —Barack Obama (Actually, the Democrat Party is wrestling its own disarray.)

Late-night humor: “An analyst for Time magazine says the key to the survival of the Republican Party is bringing in young women. When told this, Bill Clinton said, ‘Hey man, that’s the key to every party.’” —Conan O'Brien