The Patriot Post® · Wednesday Short Cuts

For the Record

“It is clear that thought is not free if the profession of certain opinions make it impossible to earn a living.” —Bertrand Russell (1872-1970)

“The left is not necessarily aiming at totalitarianism. But their know-it-all mindset leads repeatedly and pervasively in that direction, even if by small steps, each of which might be called ‘micro-totalitarianism.’” —Thomas Sowell

“Thanks to Joe Biden’s inflation, the value of your savings account is dropping by nearly 1% every month. This economic disaster is a direct result of Joe Biden’s incompetence.” —Tom Cotton

Grand Delusions

“Most Americans have come out ahead economically in the pandemic, despite inflation.” —CNN’s John Harwood (“CNBC already reported last week that despite the rapid increase in wages over the past year, the high rate of inflation actually means that real wages have declined by nearly two percent over the past year. So, who does CNN think they’re fooling? Perhaps they’re not trying to fool anyone so much as they are hoping to please the Biden White House.” —Matt Margolis)

Non Compos Mentis Awards

“The idea that … you get on an elevator and people refuse to wear a mask, and your choices are to either get off the elevator or to get on the elevator and to tell them to wear a mask — that should not be a problem in the United States Congress. And I really believe that our colleagues who refuse to even adhere to the basic norms of civility are undermining our democracy, and of course we’re seeing it in all kinds of even more serious ways like the January 6th insurrection [which] is just part of that and part of the attempt to take down a legitimate democracy from functioning in the way it should.” —Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal (“She’s going to restaurants and bars and I’m sure parties and whatever else. No one’s got masks on. But when you step on an elevator with me, sir, without a mask on for that 20-second ride, you’re undermining our democracy.” —Buck Sexton)

“The surge in violence is being driven by young people, particularly young men. And we allow the discourse to make it sound as though it’s, like, these shady figures in the bush, jumping out from a corner. These are young men. These are boys. We’re also not discussing the mental-health crisis that we are experiencing as a country as a result of the pandemic. Because we run away from substantive discussions about this, we don’t want to say some of the things that are obvious, like, Gee, the child-tax credit just ran out, on December 31st, and now people are stealing baby formula.” —Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez

A Trip Down Memory Lane

“There’s a level of admiration I actually have for China. Because their basic dictatorship is allowing them to actually turn their economy around on a dime.” —Justin Trudeau in 2013

And Last…

“Trying to imagine the outrage if President Trump froze the assets of anyone who donated to Black Lives Matter, which, by the way, hasn’t exactly been forthright about what it’s been doing with its donations.” —Dan O'Donnell