The Patriot Post® · Thursday Short Cuts

Insight: “The shallow consider liberty a release from all law, from every constraint. The wise see in it, on the contrary, the potent Law of Laws.” —Walt Whitman (1819-1892)

For the record: “In his remarks Wednesday, Mr. Obama praised Judge Garland for ‘building consensus’ among colleagues and showing an ability to ‘assemble unlikely coalitions, persuade colleagues with wide-ranging judicial philosophies to sign onto his opinions.’ But that’s also what President Bill Clinton said when nominating Ruth Bader Ginsburg in 1993. Mr. Clinton said then Judge Ginsburg was a ‘moderate’ who was ‘balanced and fair in her opinions’ and would be ‘a force for consensus-building on the Supreme Court, just as she has been on the Court of Appeals.’ Today, Justice Ginsburg is the most liberal member of the Court and uses her consensus-building skills to keep fellow liberals in lockstep.” —Wall Street Journal

Upright: “President Obama claims that picking Judge Merrick Garland rises above politics. It does the exact opposite: He would have chosen someone else if he weren’t pressuring Republican senators not to wait until next year. … If Republican senators give in to the pressure and even consider Garland after pledging not to, they would be telling the world that they believe Hillary Clinton will be elected president in November, and that Garland is the best they can get. … ‘I hope they’re fair,’ Obama said of GOP senators. Fair is the position they’ve already taken: Leave this court pick to the president that Americans elect this year.” —Investor’s Business Daily

Race bait: “There’s going to be a lot of concern about this choice by many people who are Obama supporters who wanted to see more diversity on the court. [Judge Garland] is a white male.” —NBC’s Ron Allen

Took you long enough: “[I]n my judgement [the Islamic State] is responsible for genocide against groups in areas under its control, including Yazidis, Christians and Shia Muslims. [ISIL] is genocidal by self-proclamation, by ideology, and in what it says and what it believes and what it does.” —John Kerry

Late-night humor: “Harrison Ford and Steven Spielberg have signed on to make a new Indiana Jones sequel set for release in 2019. It will be like the other movies, but now when he cracks his whip the sound is actually coming from his knees.” —Seth Meyers