The Patriot Post® · Wednesday Short Cuts

For the record: “To give you a sense of the magnitude of the conservative rebellion [Tuesday], consider some numbers. Donald Trump won Alabama by 28 points. Jeff Sessions had such a hammerlock on this seat that he ran unopposed in 2014 — collecting more than 97 percent of the vote. The closest Senate election in a generation was a 19-point GOP victory in 2002. In other words, what happened [last night] wasn’t the result of changed hearts and minds in a tiny few swing votes. It was a mass rebellion.” —David French

Food for thought: “[Steve Bannon] has a very definite interest in maintaining his political street cred as a sort of blue collar Robespierre. He doesn’t care whether Republicans win or lose — he’ll just keep on blaming the ‘establishment’ for the candidates he supports losing unlose-able races, and hoping that anti-media, 'anti-establishment’ ire will carry the day. But Republicans would be fools to think of him as anything but the charlatan he is.” —Ben Shapiro

Non Compos Mentis: “The president would have us believe there is honor in his declaration of Jerusalem as capital of Israel. … Oh, yeah? I can distinctly remember a far larger promise Trump made in the campaign, far more important and far more wide-ranging in its consequences. He promised again and again and again that he would not enter this country into what he called stupid wars.” —MSNBC’s Chris Matthews

What could possibly go wrong? “Move over, taxes on carbon and sugar: the global levy that may be next is meat. Some investors are betting governments around the world will find a way to start taxing meat production as they aim to improve public health and hit emissions targets set in the Paris Climate Agreement.” —Bloomberg

And last… “One would hope that Republicans would now recognize how ridiculous it would be for them to continue acting like Mitch McConnell is the problem. McConnell is the single most important person for getting the ‘Trump agenda’ passed, and declaring open war on him and backing fourth rate candidates is not just dumb, it actually hurts Trump more than it does McConnell.” —Jonah Goldberg