The Patriot Post® · Friday Short Cuts

Insight: “In the hands of a skillful indoctrinator, the average student not only thinks what the indoctrinator wants him to think … but is altogether positive that he has arrived at his position by independent intellectual exertion. This man is outraged by the suggestion that he is the flesh-and-blood tribute to the success of his indoctrinators.” —William F. Buckley (1925-2008)

Draining the swamp: “The Democrats ObamaCare is imploding. Massive subsidy payments to their pet insurance companies has stopped. Dems should call me to fix! ObamaCare is a broken mess. Piece by piece we will now begin the process of giving America the great HealthCare it deserves!” —Donald Trump announcing his executive order on ObamaCare

Demo-gogues: “[Trump’s executive order] is a spiteful act of vast, pointless sabotage leveled at working families and the middle class in every corner of America. Make no mistake about it, Trump will try to blame the Affordable Care Act, but this will fall on his back and he will pay the price for it.” —Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi in a joint statement

For the record: “Trump’s order [on ObamaCare] is intended to create less regulated, less expensive alternatives to Obamacare. It is not an attempt to unwind the law so much as to work around it, providing options that do not exist under the current scheme, which has resulted in steady and significant increases in health insurance premiums and limited health insurance choices in many parts of the country. The order is less a direct attack on Obamacare and more of an attempt to escape its failings.” —Peter Suderman

Resist: “I love this trend. I hope that others follow suit. You know Eminem could be the ‘Colin Kaepernick’ of the rap world if he just keeps it up.” —Rep. Keith Ellison on rapper Eminem’s “brave” opposition

And last… “The NFL misunderstood its own nature. It’s not just that it is a game that should be a respite from political and social contention; as a quasi-national festival, it should be identified with a certain baseline of patriotism (the national anthem, the enormous American flags on the field before games, the military flyovers, etc.). Colin Kaepernick cracked this image, and Donald Trump drove a wedge through it.” —Rich Lowry