The Patriot Post® · Monday Short Cuts

Insight: “We must not permit our respect for the dead or our sympathy for the living to lead us into an act of injustice to the balance of the living. I will not attempt to prove that Congress has no power to appropriate this money as an act of charity. Every member upon this floor knows it. We have the right as individuals to give away as much of our own money as we please in charity; but as members of congress we have no right to appropriate a dollar of the public money.” —Davy Crockett (1786-1836)

Re: The Left: “For most Americans, things like free speech, freedom of religion and freedom of movement are not ancillary. They are central to our lives. They can’t be traded away for a year of extra day care. The left does not share this view. Worse, as proven repeatedly in many corners of the world, the left is ready and willing to crush those who do.” —Neil Patel

Good question: “Most requirements found in H.R. 1 have never existed in most states. So how could failing to implement them bring us to the edge of the abyss?” —David Harsanyi

For the record: “Democrats have won numerous elections across the country and nationally under laws they now claim are authoritarian. They will likely win many more. The fact is that it is easier to vote today than ever before. Any citizen can obtain an ID and request a mail ballot in every state. No amount of cynically manufactured hysterics changes that fact.” —David Harsanyi

Observations: “I think it’s really scary to have the federal government of the United States [and] the White House compiling lists of people, organizations, whatever, and going to a private company that by the way is a monopoly — Facebook — and saying you need to censor. … At this point, you really have to wonder how private of companies they are. I mean, if you are taking direction from the federal government, openly coordinating with the federal government, you have got the government saying we think this speech ought to be censored and Big Tech if they carry out those instructions, I mean, that looks like they are starting to operate as a public utility and there are many people out there who say we ought to just treat them as public utilities.” —Senator Josh Hawley

The BIG Lie: “No Democrat has never been against voter ID.” —House Majority Whip James Clyburn

Credit where it’s due: “Communism is a failed system, a universally failed system, and I don’t see socialism as a very useful substitute.” —Joe Biden (On the other hands, the president’s statist actions speak louder than words…)

Non compos mentis: “We stand in solidarity with the Cuban people and condemn the suppression of the media, speech and protest. We also call for an end to the U.S. embargo and additional Trump-era restrictions that are profoundly contributing to the suffering of Cubans.” —Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez

And last… “[Jen] Psaki says the White House has been flagging ‘problematic posts’ on Facebook they believe are misinformation about [the] Wuhan coronavirus. Reminder: [Anthony] Fauci worked with Facebook to ban the lab leak theory … for more than a year.” —Katie Pavlich