The Patriot Post® · Friday Short Cuts

Upright: “[The American people] are interested in solutions, not slogans. It’s easy to say, make things better, make things great. You can even print it and put it on a baseball cap. But the question is, do you understand the principles that made America great in the first place?” —Ted Cruz

For the record: “Those who say it’s hopeless to launch ads against Trump at this stage of the process overestimate how much voters know about his history. A recent poll found that 55 percent of adults had never heard about Trump University, Trump Mortgage and other disqualifying aspects of the con man’s past. … Too late? Hardly. It’s still two weeks until the critical winner-take-all primaries in Ohio, Florida, Illinois, Missouri and North Carolina. Consider what happened between Newt Gingrich and Mitt Romney in 2012.” —Mona Charen

Reality check: “If opposing Trump is now the definition of the establishment, then roughly 66 percent of GOP primary voters are members of the establishment. The ‘silent majority’ isn’t a majority and most certainly isn’t silent. … Trump is stoppable, according to the rules. And if he is stopped and that makes you sad, don’t hate the players, hate the game.” —Jonah Goldberg

Observations: “Thursday’s debate showed important signs of a shift. None of the other candidates on stage took even passing shots at one another. Every attack was aimed at Trump. You can call it the start of the Romney Plan. … Romney said that as a voter he would choose whichever candidate in his state had the best chance of defeating Trump.” —Chris Stirewalt of Fox News

Braying Jenny: “[The Republican primary] all sounds kind of like children in a school yard calling each other names. We have examples of the kind of discussion that is in the gutter, and it’s really embarrassing.” —Madeline Albright (You mean like saying supporters of another candidate are going to hell?)

With friends like these… “I support politicians. In 2008, I supported Hillary Clinton. I supported many other people, by the way. And that was because of the fact that I’m in business.” —Donald Trump

21st century politics: “I can’t believe I’m gonna ask you this question, but do you realize you’re probably the first person in American history, maybe world history, to make a joke about your you-know-what on a debate stage?” —CNN’s Dana Bash to Donald Trump

Late-night humor: “Hillary Clinton had a big night [on Super Tuesday], picking up victories in seven states. While speaking in Miami … Hillary said, ‘I believe what we need in America today is more love and kindness.’ Then she added, ‘And I will crush anyone who won’t let me do it.’” —Jimmy Fallon