The Patriot Post® · Wednesday Short Cuts

Throwing down the gauntlet: “Getting attention does not equal effective leadership. That is a reality that U.S. House Rep. Ilhan Omar urgently needs to grasp as she settles into her new role representing Minnesota’s Fifth Congressional District. … With an apology comes the expectation of change and personal growth. Omar’s two tweets from the past weekend made it clear that hasn’t happened. The flippant tone of one of her statements also underscores doubts about her judgment, particularly when this latest communications crisis could have been easily avoided.” —Star Tribune editorial

Race bait: “Republicans have prospered as a party that has appealed to fear for years. … The appeals to fear are always sort of the man behind the screen, or now the man in front of the screen, in Republican Party politics. So because we don’t have candidates that do that and we don’t have a recent party history of doing that, we will not produce anybody like Donald Trump from a crowded primary field.” —Sen. Sherrod Brown

Braying Jackass: “The reason that they [ICE] are already 8,000 [beds] over their budgeted amount — so they’re violating the budget — is because of the president’s zero-tolerance policy that has turned everyone, regardless of their record, into a criminal. For example, if you cross the border undocumented, [Trump] has now made you a criminal. If a person has a driving while under the influence violation, he is now making that, saying that’s criminal.” —Sen. Bob Menendez

Non Compos Mentis: “Don’t let Mitch McConnell fool you: this is nothing but an attempt to sabotage the movement we are building. He wants to silence your voice so Republicans don’t have to explain why they are climate change deniers.” —Sen. Ed Markey complaining that McConnell will actually hold a Senate vote on the Green New Deal

And last… “[The Green New Deal] sounds like a high-school term paper that got a low mark. It would shut down American energy. … It would shut down a little thing called air travel. How do you take a train to Europe?” —Donald Trump