The Patriot Post® · Monday Short Cuts

Insight: “Restriction of free thought and free speech is the most dangerous of all subversions. It is the one un-American act that could most easily defeat us.” —Justice William O. Douglas (1898-1980)

Re: The Left: “The Equality Act would send a clear moral message throughout the culture, with both national and international consequences. The forces pushing for the passage of the Equality Act clearly intend these consequences. A moral message will be telegraphed throughout society, normalizing virtually everything comprehended within the ever-expanding categories of LGBTQ. Yet the Equality Act is not merely a message. It is a draconian threat of legal, political, financial, and cultural coercion, and the coercive powers of the new moral order will be directed — as the Equality Act makes clear — against any resistance. Make no mistake about it: That coercion will be brought against religious schools, ministries, non-profits, and all religious institutions.” —Southern Baptist Theological Seminary President Albert Mohler

Political futures: “If we don’t take steps to shore up [Georgia’s] ability to grow the conservative tent in the same way that [Stacey Abrams’s] Fair Fight has grown the liberal tent, it won’t matter who runs for office. The numbers will go against us.” —former Senator Kelly Loeffler

For the record I: “What Biden said about [Vladimir] Putin … was incredibly dumb, even for a president. He obviously didn’t have a note card with the diplomatically correct answer printed on it in caps for him to read. So, thinking on his feet, the president did some quick knee-jerk Democrat virtue-signaling: Because President Trump never called Putin a killer, Biden figured he had to. What good did it do for the country for Biden to say Putin was a killer — even if he is one? No good at all. Ronald Reagan got grief for calling the Soviet Union an ‘Evil Empire,’ which it was. But my father didn’t call Mikhail Gorbachev a killer — and FDR and Truman didn’t call Stalin a mass murderer — because once you do that, there’s no way you can sit down with the guy at a summit conference.” —Michael Reagan

For the record II: “Vladimir Putin challenging [Biden] to have an open and live discussion with him in front of the world because he knows that senile Biden cannot do that is objectively hilarious. Knowing that world leaders are openly mocking the sham of our election results is objectively sad.” —Candace Owens

Touché: “Chinese officials and Putin himself basically doing donuts on the White House front lawn and calling out Biden as a decrepit clown is a fitting start for this administration’s foreign policy.” —Buck Sexton

Upright: “Strength deters bad guys. Weakness begets war.” —Mike Pompeo

Observations: “Many on our side seem to be falling into the trap of thinking that Biden stupidly made an error when he repealed Trump [border] policies and is compounding it by using the wrong rhetoric. My friends, this was not an error. Biden and the progressives know exactly what they are doing. … The only unintended consequence is that the illegal immigration is happening too fast and is too obvious. The bottom line is that Democrats are putting the demands of non-citizens and their political self-interest ahead of the American people. They are bringing in massive numbers of people who will compete for American jobs and burden taxpayers, all with the goal of securing political power.” —Gary Bauer

Indeed: “It’s no wonder that Joe Biden has gone longer than any president in history without talking to the press. He might actually have to answer for his America-Last policy.” —Tony Perkins

Non compos mentis: “I urge — I urge all local docs and — and ministers and priests and every — to talk about why — why it’s important to get it — to get that vaccine, and even after that, until everyone is in fact vaccinated, to wear this mask.” —Joe “Mask Up for the First 100 Days” Biden

D'oh! “When President Harris and I took a virtual tour of a vaccination center in Arizona, not long ago, one of the nurses on that tour injecting people, giving vaccinations, said that each shot was like administering a dose of hope [emphasis added].” —Joe Biden

And last… “Speaker Pelosi just reappointed [Eric] Swalwell to the Intelligence Committee and, get this, also put him on the Homeland Security Committee. Swalwell couldn’t get clearance to be a mall security guard yet he is on the two most important national security panels in Congress? Only in Washington.” —Congressman Vern Buchanan