The Patriot Post® · Wednesday Short Cuts

Insight: “If men use their liberty in such a way as to surrender their liberty, are they thereafter any the less slaves? If people by a plebiscite elect a man despot over them, do they remain free because the despotism was of their own making?” —Herbert Spencer (1820-1903)

Upright: “Throughout history, work was rarely seen as a primary provider of importance or meaning — for either sex. Work was little more than a necessity, and the vast majority of people would have happily abandoned their often back-breaking, drudgery-inducing work if they could afford to. For the most part, people sought — and found — importance and meaning outside of work. This was especially true in America, where ‘associations’ provided both importance and meaning. … Yet, to progressives, government is, or should be, almost everything in people’s lives. It should take care of as many people as possible. However, at a massive price: The more one relies on the government, the more one will inevitably lack a sense of importance. … The bigger the government, the fewer the institutions in which people can feel important. Therefore, given the deep human need to feel important, people will look elsewhere for their importance — like fighting systemic racism, heteronormativity, capitalism, patriarchy and transphobia. And, most of all, global warming — because you cannot feel more important than when you believe you are saving the world.” —Dennis Prager

For the record I: “When President Trump began promising a vaccine before the end of 2020, no one believed him. The Hill ran a piece headlined, ‘Trump’s new vaccine timeline met with deep skepticism.’ NBC News published an article titled: ‘Fact check: Coronavirus vaccine could come this year, Trump says. Experts say he needs a "miracle” to be right.’ Similarly, ABC News ran a report titled, ‘Trump promises coronavirus vaccine by the end of the year, but his own experts temper expectations.’ Back then, vaccine skepticism, which is now nearly universally condemned, was acceptable at the highest levels of our politics. Asked if she would take a vaccine approved prior to the election, then-vice presidential candidate Kamala Harris said, ‘Well, I think that’s going to be an issue for all of us.’ Now, these same vaccines are a key part of the success story that Biden wants to tell about his response to the pandemic.“ —Rich Lowry

For the record II: "It’s even worse to overturn a predecessor’s success and then falsely hold him responsible for the failure. This is what Biden is doing at the border. He has begun to dismantle the policies that Trump put in place to control the migrant crisis of 2018-2019. … The Trump administration had found ways, entirely in keeping with our laws, to turn away illegal immigrants during the pandemic, and to discourage bogus asylum-seekers by making them wait in Mexico while their claims are adjudicated. The Biden administration has blown holes in this arrangement without any evident follow-up plan except, of course, to maintain that Trump is to blame.” —Rich Lowry

Friendly fire: “No king in history of the world has been the ruler of two billion people, but Mark Zuckerberg is. … You should not have power over two billion people. I just think that’s wrong.” —Facebook executive Benny Thomas

Non sequitur: “The Catholic Church, and many other churches, really need to reexamine themselves and their teachings because that is not what God is about. God is not about hindering people or even judging people.” —CNN’s Don Lemon on the Catholic Church’s stance against same-sex marriage (“He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.” —John 3:18-19 [NKJV])

Double standards: “Rather than protecting the finely balanced system our founders created, today’s filibuster throws a system out of balance, giving one half of one branch of government what amounts to a veto over the rest of government. It promotes gridlock, not good governance. It’s not the guarantor of democracy. It has become the death grip of democracy.” —Senator Dick Durbin, who had no qualms about stifling Donald Trump with the filibuster

A trip down memory lane: “[The legislative filibuster] is the most important distinction between the Senate and the House. Without the 60-vote threshold for legislation, the Senate becomes a majoritarian institution like the House. … No senator would like to see this happen.” —Senate Democrat Leader Chuck Schumer on April 7, 2017

Tone-deaf: “I am not going to take this recall attempt lying down. And let’s call it what it is: it’s a partisan, Republican recall — backed by the [Republican National Committee], anti-mask and anti-vax extremists, and pro-Trump forces who want to overturn the last election and have opposed much of what we have done to fight the pandemic.” —California Governor Gavin Newsom

Non compos mentis: “In a naked partisan power grab, extreme right-wing Republicans are trying to recall [Newsom]. Why? Because he dares to listen to scientists and fights to put power in the hands of working people.” —Senator Elizabeth Warren

The BIG Lie: “Antifa [is] a thing that doesn’t even exist.” —"The View" cohost Joy Behar

And last… “A society sensitive to 80-year-old children’s books and desensitized to porn is a society that’s degenerating, not progressing.” —Allie Beth Stuckey