The Patriot Post® · Wednesday Short Cuts

Insight: “Knowledge without integrity is dangerous and dreadful.” —Dr. Samuel Johnson (1709-1784)

Upright: “One wonders just how far spineless college administrators will go when it comes to caving in to the demands of campus snowflakes. … Generosity demands that we forgive these precious snowflakes and hope that they grow up. The real problem is with people assumed to be grown-ups — college professors and administrators who tolerate and give aid and comfort to our aberrant youth.” —Walter E. Williams

For the record: “Few journalists have appreciated the degree to which Mr. Trump’s entire political and governing strategy depends on trolling them. They’ve mostly assumed his penchant for exaggeration and invention was the result of psychosis, or just ego. By now, though, it ought to be apparent that he’s doing it intentionally, and strategically.” —Barton Swaim

Hyper hypocrisy: “None of us can go into this world of alternative facts.” —Dan Rather, who ruined his own career with a faked report in 2004 about George W. Bush’s National Guard service

Speaking of alternative facts… “At six weeks, the ‘heartbeat’ is not audible; it is visible, a flickering that takes place between 120 and 160 times per minute on a black-and-white playback screen. As cardiac cells develop, they begin to send electrical pulses that cause their neighbors to contract. Scientists can observe the same effect if they culture cells in a petri dish. Doctors do not even call this rapidly dividing cell mass a ‘fetus’ until nine weeks into pregnancy. Yet, the current debate shows how effectively politicians have used visual technology to redefine what counts as ‘life.’” —Moira Weigel in a seriously flawed op-ed for The Atlantic

Late-night humor: “Hillary Clinton said … that the images of the Women’s March were ‘awe-inspiring.’ Adding, ‘Nice to see you all come out in full force, finally.’” —Seth Meyers