The Patriot Post® · Monday Short Cuts

The Gipper: “Regardless of their sincerity, their humanitarian motives, those who would sacrifice freedom for security have embarked on this downward path. Plutarch warned, ‘The real destroyer of the liberties of the people is he who spreads among them bounties, donations and benefits.’”

Upright: “Don’t mistake the sidelines for the moral high ground.” —Mark Steyn

Non Compos Mentis: “[I’m] just grateful that nobody got hurt.” —Libertarian presidential nominee Gary Johnson on this weekend’s terrorism in New York City

For the record: “Mrs. Clinton has been in America’s national life for a quarter-century, and in that time people watched, observed and got an impression of her character. If you give the prompt ‘Clinton scandal’ to someone under 30, they might say ‘emails,’ or ‘Benghazi’ or ‘Clinton Foundation,’ or now ‘health questions.’ But for those who are older, whose memories encompass the Clinton era, the scandals stretch back further, all the way to her beginnings as a national figure. … You have to wonder, what are the chances it will change?” —Peggy Noonan

Belly laugh of the week: “Every time I hear Hillary Clinton, I’m always inspired by her. I’m inspired by her example, because she’s someone who will lead us. … [A]lthough she had to be lifted into that van [on 9/11], you know what? She got up, like most of us, she got up and she kept fighting, so that’s the Hillary Clinton that I hope people get to know.” —Democratic National Committee chairwoman Donna Brazile

Alpha Jackass: “This should not be a close election, but it will be and the reason it will be is not because of Hillary’s flaws, but because, structurally, we’ve become a very polarized society. … We as a society still grapple with what it means to see a powerful woman. And it still troubles us in a lot of ways, unfairly.” —Barack Obama

And last… “Hillary Clinton is featured in the upcoming issue of Women’s Health magazine. While next month she’ll be featured in ‘Bad Timing’ magazine.” —Jimmy Fallon