The Patriot Post® · Wednesday Short Cuts

Swamp politicking: “Last year, I tried to attach to a spending bill a prohibition to have any money spent by Planned Parenthood. You know what happened? [GOP leadership] sat me down and one of the senior Republican senators said, ‘We cannot have the vote today.’ I said, ‘Why?’ He said, ‘We might win.’” —Sen. Rand Paul

For the record: “It’s harder to raise money because … we’re not promising free health care or, you know, free tuition for everyone, forgive student debt.” —Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper

A blind squirrel finds a nut: “Democrats have spent most of their efforts … assailing the Trump administration for its heartlessness. Fine. But that does not address the roots of this genuine crisis. If things continue to spiral downward and America’s southern border seems out of control, Trump’s tough rhetoric and hard-line stance will become increasingly attractive to the public.” —CNN anchor Fareed Zakaria

Non sequitur: “The [United States women’s national soccer team] scored more goals in their first World Cup match against Thailand than the U.S. men’s team scored in the 2010 and 2014 World Cups combined. We’re beyond past time to pay these championship athletes what they deserve.” —Sen. Kamala Harris

Race bait: “All of American life takes place under these [racial] shadows, not as some distant, historical artifact, but as a burning present reality that hurts everyone and everything it touches. And if we do not tackle the problem of racial inequality in my lifetime, I am convinced that it will up-end the American project in my lifetime.” —Mayor Pete Buttigieg

Braying Jenny: “Those people who are online making fun of members of Congress are a disgrace, and there is no need for anyone to think that is unacceptable. We’re gonna shut them down and work with whoever it is to shut them down, and they should be prosecuted.” —Rep. Frederica Wilson

Alpha Jackass: “[Trump] sort of aspires to be sort of a mini-Putin or Kim Jong-un. He wants to have that kind of absolute power. … What is the message Donald Trump is trying to send by rolling tanks down Constitution Avenue? … The message is a threat, but it’s always a threat when you roll out your military. But it’s to whom is the threat, and I suspect that the threat is to his fellow Americans. And I hate to say that, but I think that Donald Trump styles himself a tyrant, not a defeater of tyrants.” —MSNBC’s Joy Reid

And last… “People like AOC are operating off of a false premise [that’s] deliberately designed to misinform the American people for her own political ends. Remember, first there was no crisis at all. Then it was a manufactured crisis. Then it was a crisis completely created by Trump. Then there were concentration camps. Then people are Nazis. Now she is saying that Border Patrol agents harassed her and forced migrants to drink out of toilets? This is insanity.” —Rep. Dan Crenshaw