The Patriot Post® · Wednesday Short Cuts

For the record: “I believe that the bathroom-usage issue constitutes a far more intrusive assault on our traditional mores than same-sex marriage. Many Americans who have zero inclination toward homosexuality were willing to accept same-sex marriage on the grounds that what other people do is their business and not our own, and that two gay people getting married isn’t going to infringe upon one’s own personal space. The bathroom issue is obviously different: Going to the bathroom is one of the most personal and private acts a person does; it is a situation in which individuals can feel particularly vulnerable; and now the government wants to take away that feeling of personal privacy and safety.” —Mark Hendrickson

Non Compos Mentis: “It is true that the idea of conquest is inherent in the soul of Islam. However, it is also possible to interpret the objective in Matthew’s Gospel, where Jesus sends his disciples to all nations, in terms of the same idea of conquest.” —Pope Francis

A vast right-wing conspiracy: “It’s time people stop listening to Republican propaganda about the economy, education and health care.” —Hillary Clinton

Predictable: “There have been leaks from the Justice Department that willfulness has not been established and that there is scant evidence of any illegal conduct [by Hillary Clinton in the email scandal]. That is coming from the national security section of the Justice Department and that is a sign that the fix is in on any criminal case against Hillary and her aids.” —Joe diGenova, former U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia

And last… “One thing Trump isn’t is a ‘far-right populist’; he’s a centrist populist. This is going to make the attacks on him trickier than the usual paint-by-numbers attack on the typical Republican. (The match-up is going to be Trump, moderate in substance and outrageous in demeanor, vs. Hillary, left in substance and moderate in demeanor.)” —Rich Lowry