The Patriot Post® · Friday Short Cuts

Insight: “We are so concerned to flatter the majority that we lose sight of how very often it is necessary, in order to preserve freedom for the minority, let alone for the individual, to face that majority down.” —William F. Buckley Jr. (1925-2008)

Observations: “Sanders is a candidate of pure conviction. Clinton is a candidate of pure ambition. That — not the finer points of how to socialize U.S. health care or whether Barack Obama is a true progressive — is what the 2016 Democratic primary choice really comes down to.” —Jeff Jacoby

Good question: “[Barack Obama] talks about how awesome Islam is all the time. … My question is, given all this, why did he choose to become a Christian? I’ve always wondered that. He’s such a defender and promoter of Islam, and, on the other hand, he and his party are constantly denigrating Christians.” —Rush Limbaugh

The BIG Lie: “I went to Wall Street before the crash. I was the one saying you’re going to wreck the economy because of these shenanigans with mortgages.” —Hillary Clinton (So Wall Street handed over $675,000 just so you could scold them?)

Non Compos Mentis: “If it weren’t for Ted Cruz — he’s the one that got Justice Roberts onto the United States Supreme Court. … Justice Roberts approved ObamaCare twice when it should have been rejected. His vote got it over the top. Ted Cruz did that. Ted Cruz gave us ObamaCare, believe me.” —Donald Trump

Braying Jenny: “The tax breaks that we all voted for on Nov. 15 is spending, people. It’s spending. You can say we’re putting monies back into our constituents’ pockets, whatever you want to say. It’s spending.” —Rep. Gwen Moore (D-WI) explaining why all the money belongs to the government, and anything you get to keep is “spending”

Late-night humor: “This Sunday is Super Bowl 50, between the Denver Broncos and the Carolina Panthers. Of course it’ll be weird when they do the coin toss before the big game, and the winner is still somehow Hillary Clinton.” —Jimmy Fallon