The Patriot Post® · Tuesday Short Cuts

Insight: “Not until right is founded upon reverence will it be secure; not until duty is based upon love will it be complete; not until liberty is based on eternal principles will it be full, equal, lofty, and universal.” —Henry Giles (1809-1882)

For the record: “A great many people have strong belief systems, and at the core of those strong belief systems is the idea that they are good and people who disagree are bad; alternately, my tribe is good and the other tribes are bad. If new information comes along and appears to confirm that they and their tribe are good, or that the other tribes are bad, then they choose to believe it. If new information comes along and appears to confirm that they and their tribe are bad, or that the other tribes are good, they will declare the information false.” —Jim Geraghty

Political futures: “A leading Democratic criticism of the tax bill is that the middle-class tax cuts expire. This should be very easy to remedy — Republicans should make the Democrats vote on extending them as soon as Congress comes back.” —Rich Lowry

Resistance is futile: “2017 was the impossible year. It was not supposed to happen. Yet, we survived it. 2018 is the year of the resistance.” —Univision anchor Jorge Ramos

Dezinformatsiya: “A lot of nations and their populations, no matter how they feel about their governments in particular, do perceive the United States as not really having a moral leg to stand on.” —CNN International Senior Correspondent Arwa Damon on Trump’s promoting regime change in Iran

Friendly fire: “I think that the 2009 timeframe is very instructive. I think we chose to not be as supportive [of Iranian protesters] as we could have been then. And I hope we can be right now, so that Iran can continue to evolve.” —former Joint Chiefs Chairman Admiral Mike Mullen

And last… “The Iranian people are once again attempting to rise against their oppressor. If only the US & free world had supported their previous attempt in 2009 instead of choosing appeasement and formally allying with the dictatorship in 2013.” —Human Rights Foundation Chairman Garry Kasparov