The Patriot Post® · Thursday Short Cuts

Insight: “If the Union was formed by accession of States then the Union may be dissolved by the secession of States.” —Daniel Webster (1782-1852)

For the record: “It probably won’t be celebrated at the White House, but the Trump administration passed a major milestone last week: It added its first $1 trillion to the national debt.” —Michael Tanner

Upright: “No, I don’t like that [Trump congratulated Putin], but you know what I like even less? There’s someone close to him leaking this stuff out. … If you don’t like working for the president, you should resign your job.” —Sen. Marco Rubio

Dubious, to say the least: “I am committed to doing things objectively and independently and by the book. … I will tell you that my commitment to making sure that our process is followed, that it relies on objective input, and that, most importantly, it is not based on political or partisan influence is something I am utterly unyielding on.” —FBI Director Christopher Wray

Belly laugh of the week: “One thing we’re not is the opposition. We’ve never tried to be part of the political debate, but people want to drag us [the press] into it. We shouldn’t take the bait. We’re simply a voice of truth.” —NBC’s Chuck Todd

Would you say this about Obama? “I mean, this is where the Second Amendment comes in quite frankly, because you know, what if the president was to ignore the courts? What would you do? What would we do?” —Rep. Tom Suozzi (D-NY)

Plausible satire: “As we look in Arizona, we often look into the dangers of the southern border. But if these dangerous policies continue out of California, we might need to build a wall between California and Arizona as well to keep these dangerous criminals out of our state.” —Rep. Martha McSally (R-AZ)

Late-night humor: “Robert Mueller wants to interview Trump, but the president’s lawyers want to limit the conversation to certain topics. So right now they’re trying to compromise based on what Mueller wants to talk about and what Trump wants to talk about. … Mueller wants to talk about George Papadopoulos. Trump wants to talk about John Kelly. They’re compromising and talking about Papa John’s.” —Jimmy Fallon