The Patriot Post® · Monday Short Cuts

The Gipper: “You and I have a rendezvous with destiny. We will preserve for our children this, the last best hope of man on earth, or we will sentence them to take the first step into a thousand years of darkness.”

Endorsements: “You will never, ever have to worry about [a president moving to the left] with Ted Cruz. Let me say one thing: If conservatism is your bag, if conservatism is the dominating factor in how you vote, there is no other choice for you in this campaign than Ted Cruz, because [he] is the closest in our lifetimes we have ever been to Ronald Reagan. In terms of doctrinaire, understandable, articulated, implementable conservatism, there’s nobody closer.” —Rush Limbaugh

Braying Jackass: “The World Trade Center came down during [George W. Bush’s] reign. … That’s not keeping us safe.” —Donald Trump at Saturday’s GOP debate (“Had bin Laden been taken out [when Bill Clinton had the chance], it is doubtful that 9/11 would have happened, at least on September 11th of 2001, because al-Qaida would not have been in the position to be able to carry something like that out.” —Marco Rubio)

Prepare for battle: “Whatever precedent says, if Republicans truly believe Obama has displayed a contempt for the Constitution, they have a moral obligation to reject his choice — whether it’s someone who argues in favor of book banning or enables abusive power. Because we’re not talking about good-faith disagreements over what the Constitution says anymore, we’re talking about a party that believes enumerated powers stand in their way.” —David Harsanyi

Alpha Jackass, part I: “Dedicating the rest of this weekend’s marital sodomy to the memory of Antonin Scalia.” —Dan Savage

Alpha Jackass, part II: “Justice Scalia Dead Following 30-Year Battle With Social Progress” —headline from satirical website The Onion

Dezinformatsia: “Supreme Court Conservative Dismayed Liberals.” —Washington Post front-page headline

Demo-gogues: “I plan to fulfill my constitutional responsibilities to nominate [Justice Scalia’s] successor in due time. There will be plenty of time for me to do so, and for the Senate to fulfill its responsibility to give that person a fair hearing and a timely vote. These are responsibilities that I take seriously, as should everyone. They’re bigger than any one party. They are about our democracy.” —Barack Obama

And last… “Someone on this stage will get to choose the balance of the Supreme Court, and it will begin by filling this vacancy that’s there now. And we need to put people on the bench that understand that the Constitution is not a living and breathing document. It is to be interpreted as originally meant.” —Marco Rubio