The Patriot Post® · Monday Short Cuts

The Gipper, who died 12 years ago Saturday: “When the Lord calls me home … I will leave with the greatest love for this country of ours and eternal optimism for its future.”

Upright: “After days of prayer, reflection, and serious study of the possibilities, I am not going to run as an independent candidate for president of the United States. … [I]t would be tempting to say that when it comes to confronting this national moment, ‘somebody’ stepping up is better than nobody. But somebody is not always better than nobody. … [N]ations are built on virtue — and courage is indispensable. But there is also prudence, and it was simply not prudent for me to take on this task. I remain against Trump and against Hillary, but I will do all I can where I am.” —David French

Friendly fire: “If you ask me about the Clinton Foundation, do I have a problem when a sitting secretary of state and a foundation run by her husband collects many millions of dollars from foreign governments, governments which are dictatorships? … Yeah I do.” —Bernie Sanders (Where was this criticism earlier in the campaign?)

Braying Jenny: “She has said she made a mistake, and nobody is going to die as a result of anything that happened on emails.” —Madeleine Albright defending Hillary Clinton (Perhaps, but four Americans DID die because of Clinton’s dereliction in Benghazi.)

Braying Jackass: “We don’t get too disappointed when jobs numbers one month are lower than expected.” —Josh Earnest

Will the real Donald Trump please stand up? “Muhammad Ali is dead at 74! A truly great champion and a wonderful guy. He will be missed by all!” —Trump on Saturday (“Obama said in his speech that Muslims are our sports heroes. What sport is he talking about, and who? Is Obama profiling?” —Trump on Dec. 7)

And last… “The only things Hillary and Trump say the truth about are each other.” —Frank Fleming