The Patriot Post® · Thursday Short Cuts

Insight: “The collection of taxes which are not absolutely required, which do not beyond reasonable doubt contribute to the public welfare, is only a species of legalized larceny. The wise and correct course to follow in taxation is not to destroy those who have already secured success, but to create conditions under which everyone will have a better chance to be successful.” —Calvin Coolidge (1873-1933)

Telling it like it is: “We are under attack from terrorists both within and outside of our borders. They are without conscience, and they operate without rules. They despise the United States, because we are a nation of rights, laws, and freedoms. They have a single mission, and that is our destruction. And I tell you, without exaggeration, they try to carry out this mission each and every single day and no one can tell you how to stop it. No one.” —DHS Secretary John Kelly

Non Compos Mentis: “Trump and the climate-destroyers he brought into office with him such as Rex Tillerson and Scott Pruitt are not driven by compassion for victims. They are animated by a callous and rapacious search for profits for themselves and their cronies. If they cared about children killed by noxious gases, they wouldn’t want to ban Syrian refugees like the Kurdis [sic] from the United States. Nor would they want to spew ever more tons of the most noxious gas of all into the blue skies of the only planetary home the human race has.” —professor Juan Cole in The Nation (Yes, CO₂ is so dangerous that Professor Cole wouldn’t be alive to pen this nonsense without it.)

Doomed to repeat failure? “Yes [Trump will be re-elected]. I think that the Democrats have overplayed their hand. … [W]hat the Democrats needed to do — and what the major media … needed to do — was to do some soul-searching.” —Camille Paglia

Alpha Jackass: “So we know that he is an unstable man who has nuclear weapons. About to deal with an unstable man who has nuclear weapons. What could possibly go wrong?” —Sen. Elizabeth Warren portraying Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un as equally dangerous

Late-night humor: “JetBlue is holding a sweepstakes where if you owe money to the IRS, you can enter to win a free flight. And get this, United’s offering just to drag the tax collector out of your home.” —Jimmy Fallon