Insight: “A patriot must always be ready to defend his country against his government.” —Edward Abbey (1927-1989)

“By lying about being attacked because of his race, Jussie Smollett has spit in the face of actual victims of bigotry. He needs to apologize to the American people and should be prosecuted to the full extent of the law to send a strong message to any potential future hoaxers.” —Tulsi Gabbard

“White House press secretary Jen Psaki says the Congressional Budget Office’s verdict that the Democrats’ Build Back Better Act could add as much as $3 trillion of federal debt over ten years is a ‘fake score for a bill that doesn’t exist.’ … Psaki’s not wrong. She’s just not wrong for the wrong reasons. The CBO forecasts on important bills are rarely in the vicinity of correct. … Some of this isn’t the CBO’s fault. It underestimates the cost of a bill because it can only measure the numbers it is given. And those numbers are often manipulated. … What we do know is that ‘Build Back Better’ … will cost trillions more than ‘zero dollars,’ and it won’t be even close to ‘fully paid for.’” —David Harsanyi

Belly laugh of the week: “Now [as] we look at 2022, I wanna tell my Republican friends: Get ready, pal! You’re gonna [be] in for a problem!” —Joe Biden (The generic ballot says otherwise…)

Letting the cat out of the bag? “We’re making progress. We’re going to keep at it to ensure the American people are paying their fair share for gas — not being gouged for gas.” —Joe Biden

Dezinformatsiya: “Why does Jen Psaki even continue to call on Fox in the briefing room? … If your network is … helping to inspire and incite an insurrection, why should they even be able to take part in a legitimate press briefing and legitimate journalism? … Why did they even allow Fox to pretend in the briefing room that they’re a real news organization?” —CNN’s Don Lemon

The BIG Lie: “Our economy is growing faster than it has in decades.” —Kamala Harris

And last… “One of the most powerful and corrupt individuals in our entire government is worshipped by an entire political party to the point where they will blindly follow literally anything he says and if you doubt him, you’re somehow the crazy one. His name is Dr. Fauci.” —Caleb Hull