The Patriot Post® · Monday Short Cuts

The Gipper: “We don’t have a trillion-dollar debt because we haven’t taxed enough; we have a trillion-dollar debt because we spend too much.”

Upright: “Young Democrats who line up behind the likes of Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez are in for everything and anything so long as it’s free. The only item they seem ready, even eager, to forego is freedom.” —Burt Prelutsky

Braying Jackass: “I’m so conflicted on this issue because on the one hand [devastating disasters are] good news in a sense that we can feel [climate change] in our lives now — that we’re beginning to see floods and wildfires and all sorts of things that are directly being produced by the forces at work here in our changing climate. And yet, at the same time, scientists have always said to us that by the time we actually tangibly feel it in our own lives, it’s kind of too late. And so, there’s a real sort of real mixed blessing here in the fact that we’re actually experiencing it day-to-day now.” —NBC’s Jacob Ward

Hyper-drooling: “There’s a very real prospect that on the day Donald Trump leaves office, the Justice Department may indict him.” —Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA)

Friendly fire I: “Part of being an elected official is not only taking strong political positions and executing them fairly, it’s also being able to manage the people you entrust with responsibility. In this case, [Sen. Kamala] Harris has fallen short. Harris owes the voters more than just a four word denial on the steps of the U.S. Senate. She should fully explain her relationship with [Larry] Wallace, and, by extension, her staff and why it insulated her from an issue upon which she has taken a leading national role.” —Sacramento Bee editorial board showing vexation with Harris’s supposed cluelessness regarding harassment by a now-fired aide

Friendly fire II: “[Sen. Elizabeth] Warren missed her moment in 2016, and there’s reason to be skeptical of her prospective candidacy in 2020. … While Warren is an effective and impactful senator with an important voice nationally, she has become a divisive figure. A unifying voice is what the country needs now after the polarizing politics of Donald Trump.” —Boston Globe editorial

And last… “People keep saying you shouldn’t be penalized for old opinions. You shouldn’t be penalized for your opinions now! You have a perfect right to disapprove of homosexuality or heterosexuality or anything else. Censorship won’t create a world of tolerance, just a world of lies.” —Andrew Klavan