The Patriot Post® · Thursday Short Cuts

Insight: “The world always makes the assumption that the exposure of an error is identical with the discovery of truth — that the error and truth are simply opposite. They are nothing of the sort. What the world turns to, when it is cured on one error, is usually simply another error, and maybe one worse than the first one.” —H. L. Mencken (1880-1956)

Upright: “When it comes to the controversy surrounding the White House’s tardy response to an ambush in Niger that killed four U.S. Green Berets, there are no winners. Not President Trump. Not the reporters and pundits who’ve piled on to criticize the White House’s long response time. Not the members of Congress who’ve basked in the media spotlight with their passionate denunciations of the administration’s handling of this crisis. The families of the fallen are getting the worst of it as they’re being made into political pawns by both the pro- and anti-Trump factions. We’re all losers, and the men who died serving this country deserve better.” —Becket Adams

For the record: “You Can’t Buy the Presidency for $100,000”: “The fake news about fake news is practically endless. Americans worried about Russia’s influence in the 2016 election have seized on a handful of Facebook ads — as though there weren’t also three 90-minute debates, two televised party conventions, and $2.4 billion spent on last year’s campaign. The danger is that bending facts to fit the Russia story line may nudge Washington into needlessly and recklessly regulating the internet and curtailing basic freedoms.” —former Clinton strategist Mark Penn

Friendly fire: “This is an industry rife with racism, sexism and homophobia. … Oh we’re very quick to point the finger at others and address the issue with social action and fundraising. Yet there is a clear disconnect between how we practice what we preach in our industry.” —actress Jessica Chastain

And last… “There are some surprising similarities in Weinstein’s and Clinton’s scandals, though the journalists reporting on Weinstein have been treated much more respectfully than those reporting on Clinton. It took the reporters who exposed Weinstein about 24 hours to gain respect. I am not clear that those exposing Clinton will ever gain respect.” —R. Emmett Tyrrell