The Patriot Post® · Wednesday Short Cuts

Insight: “There is a place for government in the affairs of men, and our Declaration of Independence tells us precisely what that place is. The role of government is to protect individuals in their God-given individual rights. Freedom is the natural birthright of man, but all that government can do in behalf of freedom is to let the individual alone, and it should secure him in his rights by making others let him alone.” —Rev. Edmund A. Opitz (1914-2006)

Upright: “For too long politicians have tried — oh have they tried — to centralize authority among the hands of a small few in our nation’s capital. I see them all the time. Bureaucrats think they can run over your lives, overrule your values, meddle in your faith, and tell you how to live, what to say, and where to pray. But we know that parents, not bureaucrats, know best how to raise their children and create a thriving society. And we know that families and churches, not government officials, know best how to create a strong, loving community. And above all else, we know this: in America, we don’t worship government, we worship God.” —Donald Trump

Braying Jenny: “[Ben Carson] knows nothing about the mission of HUD. He doesn’t care about people in public housing. He believes that if you are poor, it is your own fault. … If he thinks when he comes before my committee where I am the ranking member of the financial services that I am going to give him a pass, I am going to take his a— apart.” —Maxine Waters

Settled Science™: “We are close to the tipping point where global warming becomes irreversible. Trump’s action could push the Earth over the brink, to become like Venus, with a temperature of two hundred and fifty degrees and raining sulfuric acid.” —Stephen Hawking

And last… “Did you think about the signing of the Declaration of Independence this week? The July 4 holiday is meant to honor that, not just fireworks. Ironically, government’s grown so much since 1776 that fireworks might be illegal in your town.” —John Stossel