The Patriot Post® · Tuesday Short Cuts

For the record: “Unless and until China comes forward with convincing evidence that the lab-leak theory is wrong, the position of the United States and the world must be that China is culpable.” —Andrew McCarthy

Judicial benchmarks: “This case is not about extraordinary weapons lying at the outer limits of Second Amendment protection. The banned ‘assault weapons’ are not bazookas, howitzers, or machineguns. Those arms are dangerous and solely useful for military purposes. Instead, the firearms deemed ‘assault weapons’ are fairly ordinary, popular, modern rifles. This is an average case about average guns used in average ways for average purposes.” —Judge Roger T. Benitez in striking down California’s “assault weapons” ban as unconstitutional

Upright: “Most Americans — and that includes a good number of Democrats — are sick of the transgender assault. They’re tired of being force-fed radicalism that denies reality on everything from Blue’s Clues to Fruit Loops. They’re not sitting at home celebrating the movement that’s robbed us of girls’ sports, children’s privacy, women’s rights, and free speech. They’re not sprinting to Twitter to applaud a cause that’s suspending Christian teachers, rewriting the English language, and advancing its agenda on the backs of mutilated teenagers’ bodies.” —Tony Perkins

Beltway protection racket: “No.” —Biden’s spokesperson Jen Psaki when asked if she could “imagine any circumstance where President Biden would ever fire” Anthony Fauci

Inflation of a different sort: “Prices increasing due to major supply chain price pressure industry-wide. Raw materials especially. … Our biggest challenge is supply chain, especially microcontroller chips. Never seen anything like it.” —Elon Musk

And last: “There are times when I consider what people like Biden, Schumer, Pelosi, Soros, Bezos, Gates and their trained monkeys in the media, are doing to America and I find myself wondering if I’m suffering from the onset of Tourette’s Syndrome or if, all things considered, disgorging a constant torrent of obscenities is perfectly reasonable.” —Burt Prelutsky