The Patriot Post® · Friday Short Cuts

Insight: “Shame is a kind of anger turned in on itself. And if a whole nation were to feel ashamed it would be like a lion recoiling in order to spring.” —Karl Marx (1818-1883)

Upright: “Far be it from me to lecture anyone on how to love their country, but if your devotion to America is contingent upon the party or the person in office, you’re probably not doing it quite like the Founding Fathers envisioned.” —David Harsanyi

Food for thought: “Trump likes it this way, because when the press is constantly attacking him over trivialities, it strengthens his position and weakens the press. Trump’s ‘outrageous’ statements and tweets aren’t the product of impulsiveness, but part of a carefully maintained strategy that the press is too impulsive to resist.” —Glenn Reynolds

Spillin’ the beans: “This law was never supposed to help everybody.” —ObamaCare architect Jonathan Gruber

Non Compos Mentis: “Since Roe v. Wade first guaranteed the right to abortion throughout the United States 44 years ago, opponents of abortion have been systematically working to establish their own ‘alternative facts’ and have turned those lies into harmful laws. … The real facts (or ‘facts,’ as we used to know them) show that abortion is one of the safest medical procedures provided in the United States.” —National Partnership for Women & Families vice president Sarah Lipton-Lubet

For the record: “That’s a very serious charge. They’re not saying the bust is taken out, what they’re saying is I’m a racist.” —Donald Trump responding to fake news that he removed MLK’s bust on inauguration day

Late-night humor: “There are reports that Trump adviser Kellyanne Conway actually punched a guy while trying to break up a fight at Trump’s inaugural ball. Though she says it wasn’t a punch, it was an ‘alternative high-five.’” —Jimmy Fallon