The Patriot Post® · Friday Short Cuts

Insight: “There is no absolute knowledge. And those who claim it, whether they are scientists or dogmatists, open the door to tragedy. All information is imperfect. We have to treat it with humility.” —Jacob Bronowski (1908-1974)

“Since wealth is the only thing that can cure poverty, you might think that the left would be as obsessed with the creation of wealth as they are with the redistribution of wealth. But you would be wrong.” —Thomas Sowell

“China’s recent test of a nuclear-capable hypersonic missile was largely condemned, but few stopped to question exactly how China got its hands on this technology. For years, the People’s Republic of China (PRC) has sought to undermine American intellectual property by targeting our academic institutions, conducting cyber espionage, and forcing the transfer of technology. In a clear escalation of this malign behavior, the hypersonic weapon tested recently by the PRC appears to have been created in part with American technology obtained through a variety of shady business deals and technology transfer schemes. … Ensuring our sensitive information is not being transmitted to the CCP under the guise of academic advancement should be job one.” —Congressman John Katko

“A new Wall Street Journal poll contains some big news. Hispanic voters have moved significantly to the right, and are now evenly split in their support between the two parties heading into the 2022 elections. That’s great news, but here’s my concern: The GOP party establishment and its corporate wing will misread this news and argue that we need to be more open to mass immigration. That would be a huge mistake! … Contrary to the ‘conventional wisdom,’ we are seeing growing Hispanic support at the very time we are insisting on stopping illegal immigration.” —Gary Bauer

“We’re not going to surrender to those who are saying, ‘We’re going to burn down New York.’ Not my city. We’re not going to have a city where anarchists come from outside our city and go into a community such as Queens and destroy the community for their own selfish needs or desires.” —New York City Mayor-elect Eric Adams

Grand delusions: “New unemployment claims fell to their lowest level in more than 50 years. That’s not an accident — it’s a result of my economic plan.” —Joe Biden (What was a result of your economic plan was November’s cold jobs report.)

Belly laugh of the week: “I’m a good friend of Bernie’s, but we disagree. I’m not a socialist, I’m a capitalist. You should be able to make a million or a hundred million bucks if you can, but pay your fair share.” —Joe Biden

The BIG Lie: “We don’t have a crisis of lawlessness, we don’t have a crisis of crime, we don’t have a crisis of violence. It’s important that we don’t let this become mushy and bleed into the notion that there is some kind of big spike in crime. There isn’t.” —Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner

Swamp Doctor: “People should, if they invite people over their home, essentially ask and maybe require that people show evidence that they are vaccinated.” —Anthony Fauci 

Non sequitur: “There is something clearly unique about a country engaging in chattel slavery that says it was founded on ideas of individual rights and liberty. And that was not Brazil. That was not Jamaica. That was not any of the islands in the Caribbean. They didn’t pretend to be a nation founded on God-given rights. We did.” —1619 Project author Nikole Hannah-Jones (“So in other words, she’s admitting that what made us unique wasn’t slavery, it was that we had founding ideals that argued in favor of slavery’s abolition. Which means we were founded in 1776 not 1619.” —Ben Shapiro)

And last… “When Democrats said in March that their $2 trillion spending bill would be ‘transformational,’ they were right. Inflation is now at a 30-year high, and consumer confidence is at a 10-year low. It’s clear that another round of reckless spending is NOT what we need.” —Senator Tim Scott