The Patriot Post® · Wednesday Short Cuts

Insight: “The highest proof of virtue is to possess boundless power without abusing it.” —Thomas Babington Macaulay (1800-1859)

“These celebrities are going freaking crazy and I don’t want to be one. I denounce my celebrity-ness today. I’m done with it. I don’t want to be in that category. Celebrities are crazy, they really are. Don’t call me that anymore. These people are out of their freaking mind with how they treat people, what they do, what they say. That’s never been me. I never want to be looked at like that.” —former NBAer Shaquille O'Neal

“One premise of Biden’s primary campaign was that Twitter isn’t real life, but now he’s letting Twitter — and the activist Left — dictate his stances as president. Anyone paying attention and with an interest in the truth knew that no one was whipped in Del Rio almost immediately after this became a trending topic. But Kamala Harris and Jen Psaki for days have pronounced themselves outraged by the allegedly horrific images anyway. … Biden and his supporters have talked much of the importance of restoring norms in Washington. Among the most basic of these, surely, is the obligation of a president not to perpetrate misinformation in the cause of smearing people whose only offense was doing their job.” —National Review

Gaslighting: “I think anybody who pretends that it’s a hardship for billionaires to pay a little bit more in taxes so that a single mom gets childcare support or so that we can make sure that our communities aren’t inundated by wildfires and floods and that we’re doing something about climate change for the next generation — you know, that’s an argument that is unsustainable.” —Barack Obama

A blind squirrel finds a nut: “We’re a nation-state. We have borders. The idea that we can just have open borders is something that … as a practical matter is unsustainable.” —Barack Obama

The BIG Lie: “We don’t have open borders.” —White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki

Non compos mentis I: “Yes, I know you’re vaccinated. You’re the smart ones. But you know, there is [sic] people out there who aren’t listening to God and what God wants. You know this. You know who they are. I need you to be my apostles. I need you to go out and talk about it and say, ‘We owe this to each other. We love each other.’ Jesus taught us to love one another. And how do you show that love but to care about each other enough to say, ‘Please get vaccinated because I love you. I want you to live’?” —New York Governor Kathy Hochul

Non compos mentis II: “There are not legitimate religious exemptions [for vaccination] because the leaders of all the organized religions have said there’s no legitimate reason.” —Kathy Hochul

Grand delusions: “There is one political party in this country that is working on reality, and that is the Democratic Party. … [Republicans] should pay the consequences for what they’re doing to our democracy … and the damage they’re doing to this republic.” —CNN’s Don Lemon

Woke fail: “We won’t be altering people’s quotes. It was a mistake among the digital team.” —ACLU Executive Director Anthony Romero

And last… “President Biden received his COVID booster shot on camera in front of reporters. When they offered Biden the booster, he said, ‘I’ll take one in my arm and another for my approval rating.’” —Jimmy Fallon