The Patriot Post® · Wednesday Short Cuts

Insight: “Nothing is more despicable than respect based on fear.” —Albert Camus (1913-1960)

Observations: “Now that the great victories in these movements, civil rights, equal rights, have been basically won, [leftists] are looking for new fields to conquer, new grievances to work on. And now, we have them wanting to suppress speech in the name of diversity, in the name of tolerance and so on. It’s remarkable.” —Brit Hume

Friendly fire: “[College] protesters — some of them non-students — are involved in what’s called, to invoke a trendy term, ‘cultural appropriation.’ In this case, it is the culture of fascism. Benito Mussolini’s rise to power in Italy was facilitated by the steady use of violent protesters to break up meetings and silence opponents. The tactic proved successful, and in 1922  Mussolini became dictator of Italy. Hitler, on the other side of the Alps, took careful notes.” —Washington Post columnist Richard Cohen

Non Compos Mentis: “The [Trump] budget is downright mean-spirited, it’s dangerous. In my estimation, what he’s proposing is a threat to the future of America and maybe the future of the planet. That’s why we must resist.” —Rep. John Lewis

Braying Jenny: “Other governments [and] other leaders think [Trump’s] a clown, and they think we’re a clown by association.” —The View’s Sunny Hostin

Alpha Jackass: “I sincerely apologize. I am just now seeing the reaction to these images. I’m a comic. I crossed the line — I moved the line then I crossed it. I went way too far. The image is too disturbing. I understand how it affects people. It wasn’t funny, I get it. I’ve made a lot of mistakes in my career. I will continue. I ask your forgiveness.” —"comic" Kathy Griffin, who, before getting raked over the coals, thought a jihadi-level depiction of a decapitated president is humorous

And last… “#YouMightBeALiberal if crosshairs on a map were a violent threat to Gabrielle Giffords, but a pic of a decapitated president is no big deal.” —Twitter satirist @hale_razor