The Patriot Post® · Thursday Short Cuts

Insight: “Our own heart, and not other men’s opinions, form our true honor.” —Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772-1834)

For the record: “At the height of the socialistic world in 1980, 44.3 percent of the world lived in extreme poverty. By 2017, that number was around nine percent. Nearly every nation on earth that has turned away from collectivist economic policies and embraced market-based capitalism has seen the lives of their people improve dramatically.” —David Harsanyi

Re: The Left: “[Hillary Clinton] ran one of the worst campaigns ever. … Honestly, I have to tell you: It’s one thing to lose to President Obama. It’s entirely another thing to pull off losing to President Trump. And you have to come up with a better excuse than this.” —Meghan McCain

Friendly fire: “[Clinton’s] argument doesn’t hold water. Whether you say black people voted for Obama because he’s black, or women voted for a woman because she’s a woman, I think everyone just needs to stop talking. I don’t know why she was answering these questions.” —Whoopi Goldberg

Braying Jenny: “The NRA has held Congress hostage for years now. These young people have shown up to spring us free; to say you’re not here to do the work of the gun lobby, you’re here to do the work of the American people. I believe they will lead us. They are making a huge difference in our democracy.” —Sen. Elizabeth Warren

And last… “School walkouts show two of the Left’s worst tendencies: the rejection of any boundaries on political activism (kids should be off-limits), and identity politics. Gun control debate never had an identity politics angle. Now it does, in the form of 7th graders.” —Noah Pollak