The Patriot Post® · Tuesday Short Cuts

Insight: “An able, disinterested, public-spirited press, with trained intelligence to know the right and courage to do it, can preserve that public virtue without which popular government is a sham and a mockery. A cynical, mercenary, demagogic press will produce in time a people as base as itself.” —Joseph Pulitzer (1847-1911)

Upright: “One of the reasons our politics is so contentious and angry is that we can’t agree on what the rules are. Some of us want to argue that certain policies are good and certain policies are bad. But a vocal chunk of Americans don’t really care about what the policies are; they would much rather argue that their side is right. They don’t care if these are the same policies or comparable to those they denounced earlier. The system is clogged with bad-faith arguments, hypocrisy, and flip-flopping.” —Jim Geraghty

The BIG Lie: “I do reject socialism as a[n] economic system. If people have that view, that’s their view. That is not the view of the Democratic Party.” —House Speaker Nancy Pelosi

Non compos mentis: “There’s something bigger going on with this story. It tells us something about the right-wing rage machine and about how news priorities are set. The history of the United States is a tug of war over who belongs and who is equal and who has power. It’s the biggest story of all. And yet, those of us in the press often-times cover this just in tiny discreet bits.” —CNN’s Brian Stelter defending Rep. Ilhan Omar’s “some people … did something” statement regarding 9/11

Who knew? “Economic justice does include a living wage for everyone.” —Sen. Cory Booker

Braying Jackass: “The vice president is entitled to his religious beliefs. My problem is when those religious beliefs are used as an excuse to harm other people.” —Mayor Pete Buttigieg

Friendly fire: “[Joe Biden] does not particularly animate right now.” —Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez

Dear Diary: “I personally gave up Facebook, which was kind of a big deal because I started my campaign on Facebook. And Facebook was my primary digital organizing tool for a very long time. I gave up on it.” —Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez

And last… “Look for facebook’s stock to plunge today since the Boss has quit it.” —Twitter parody account @AOCpress