The Patriot Post® · Tuesday Short Cuts

Insight: “The state is the great fiction by which everybody seeks to live at the expense of everybody else.” —Frederic Bastiat (1801-1850)

For the record: “[I]t is not Trump’s nomination until after he has earned it, under the rules that apply to all candidates. Nobody can ‘steal’ what was not his in the first place. The rules are the rules. As an old New York Yankees fan, I still have a painful memory of the 1960 World Series, where the Yankees scored 53 runs and the Pittsburgh Pirates scored 27. But the Pirates won the World Series, because the rules go by how many games were won, not how many runs were scored. … The time to change rules is before the game starts. If the current rules need changing, there will be four long years before the 2020 elections in which to try to create better rules. The 1960 Yankees never whined that the World Series had been ‘stolen’ from them. They were adults who knew the rules in advance.” —Thomas Sowell

Village Idiots: “It is an obscene amount of money. The Sanders campaign, when they talk about it, is absolutely right. It’s ridiculous that we should have this kind of money in politics. I agree completely.” —actor George Clooney on his own big-money fundraisers for Hillary Clinton (There’s an obscene amount of money in Hollywood.)

With friends like these… “I firmly believe that the actions that Israel’s government has taken over the past several years — the steady and systematic expansion of settlements, the legalization of outposts, land seizures — they’re moving us and more importantly they’re moving Israel in the wrong direction.” —Joe Biden

Non Compos Mentis: “A woman voting for Ted Cruz is like a chicken voting for Colonel Sanders.” —Planned Parenthood President Cecile Richards at a Hillary Clinton rally

And last… “Single greatest reform for limited government: Make Tax Day and Election Day the same day (plus get rid of withholding).” —Jonah Goldberg