Insight: “Everyone wants to live at the expense of the state. They forget that the state lives at the expense of everyone.” —Frederic Bastiat (1801-1850)

Observations: “Obama Defense Secretary Leon Panetta told CNN, ‘I think the president ought to issue an order requiring everybody in the military to get a COVID-19 shot — period. That’s an issue involving our national security,’ he argued. ‘The last d— thing you need is to have those in the military that are our warriors unable to respond to a mission because they’ve gotten COVID-19. There’s no excuse for that.’ Interesting, considering that the same military leadership has been cheerleading the troops’ gender reassignment surgery, which renders patients completely undeployable for months. Apparently, it’s no problem if you skip out on your job for the extreme LGBT cause. But if you have a personal objection to the vaccine, well then, a handful of potential sick days is unacceptable.” —Tony Perkins

Re: The Left: “We are supposed to believe that Cuba was sunk in medieval illiteracy until enlightened Communists came to power who cared above all about social progress and just happened to jail, torture and kill lots of people in the course of teaching kids to read. … There is a revolutionary movement afoot in Cuba, one that is courageous, inspiring and — one hopes — truly democratic. It is the ordinary people of Cuba attempting to vindicate their rights against the left’s favorite dictatorship.” —Rich Lowry

Upright I: “In communist Cuba, the government-run schools teach students that America is evil. But countless Cuban youth don’t believe that. In this country, Marxists in our government-run schools are teaching our children that America is evil. And in far too many cases, the freest young people in the world actually believe it. … I’m all for a student exchange program where we send our socialist-loving students to Cuba and Cuba sends us their kids who love America.” —Gary Bauer

Upright II: “What do those abroad know that those at home don’t? That totalitarianism is far more common throughout the world, and throughout world history, than freedom; that individual rights may be universal, but they only manifest when those with the courage of their convictions fight for them; that in a world of darkness and chaos, America — for all of its flaws, both historic and present — has been and remains a force for good.” —Ben Shapiro

Double standards: “Allow me to be clear: If you take to the sea, you will not come to the United States … Again, I repeat, do not risk your life attempting to enter the United States illegally. You will not come to the United States.” —DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas to Central American Cuban migrants (“The new rule is that only refugees the Democrats presume will vote Republican will be turned away.” —Ben Shapiro)

Non compos mentis: “I want to unmask the lie that evolution denial is about religion and recognize that at its core, it is a form of white supremacy that perpetuates segregation and violence against Black bodies. Under the guise of ‘religious freedom,’ the legalistic wing of creationists loudly insists that their point of view deserves equal time in the classroom.” —filmmaker Allison Hopper in Scientific American

Grand delusions: “Celebrating public sexuality is an important step toward a future free of racism and homophobia.” —Yale University professor Joseph J. Fischel

And last… “Cuba’s communist dictator … has shut down the Internet in his country, called for violence against democracy protesters, & directed their arrest, imprisonment and beatings. Yet Twitter does nothing to his account. Yet they banned Donald Trump. Explain the ‘logic.’” —Clay Travis