Insight

“Persecution for opinion is the master vice of society.” —Frances Wright (1795-1852)

For the Record

“Putting aside the fact that loan forgiveness is bad policy that raises serious constitutional questions; it is also inflationary. … As an example, let’s say that after forgiveness, somebody expects to pay $200 less per month in debt payments. That person could now decide to spend the money on a new phone, or car lease, or any number of goods and services. In fact, it is for this very reason that for years, proponents of student loan forgiveness touted it as economic stimulus. … Democrats cannot have it both ways. They cannot claim on one hand that a given policy is going to boost the economy, and then on the other hand, ignore the fact that in doing so, it would drive up inflation.” —Philip Klein

A Blind Squirrel Finds a Nut

“People think that the president of the United States has the power for debt forgiveness. He does not. … That has to be an act of Congress.” —House Speaker Nancy Pelosi

Observations

“If the U.S. or various states want to change their gun laws because of the mass shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, logic dictates that they should focus on enacting reforms that would have prevented the Uvalde shooter from obtaining his weapons. Based on anecdotes relayed by the shooter’s former friends and classmates, before the attack, he committed multiple felonies for which he was never charged and demonstrated behavior that suggested he was a danger to himself or others, making him a strong candidate for involuntary committal. Once again, the problem looks less like a lack of laws than a lack of enforcement of laws that are already on the books. … Ideally, every state in the country would have a ‘red-flag law’ that sorted out the legitimate cases of threatening behavior from people venting grievances by making unserious claims, that had a clear appeals process, and that took the mentally ill and treated them so that they were no longer a threat to others. And then, instead of just nicknaming a troubled teenager ‘school shooter,’ people would take action to ensure that he did not actually become a school shooter.” —Jim Geraghty

“Hunter Biden lied on his background check and allegedly dumped a gun near a high school. Seems like the kind of thing a nation serious about gun crimes should be prosecuting.” —David Harsanyi

“When the Founding Fathers wrote the Second Amendment, they had just finished a war to liberate themselves from tyranny. They didn’t just get back from a hunting trip. This is about your freedom.” —Congresswoman Lauren Boebert

“We have fathers who aren’t home. We have emasculated our men. Our children are at stake. You notice that these shooters, they have had family problems. The Parkland shooter — 37 times police were called to his home. It’s not the gun.” —Virginia Lt. Governor Winsome Sears

“America is in a battle for her children. We weep for the breakdown of the family. We weep for fatherless homes. We weep for the lack of respect for fellow men. We weep over the countless Black men murdering each other. We weep at the onslaught against the liberty of thought and expression. Indeed we have left goodness, gentleness, and kindness behind, only to be left loathing, crudeness, greed, and sloth.” —Winsome Sears

“The vague and ever-changing definition of ‘assault weapon’ is deliberately designed to slowly include all guns.” —Ian Haworth

“Giving up our rights increases everyone’s vulnerability. It’s the worst way to try and love your neighbor.” —Seth Dillon

Demagogues

“You know what an assault weapon is? You know how an assault weapon was designed? It was designed for a specific purpose: to kill a lot of human beings quickly. An assault weapon is a weapon of war with no place — no place! — in a civil society.” —Vice President Kamala Harris

“The only constituents that Greg Abbott is listening to is the NRA. He’s a coward. Let’s be real clear. This man has made it easier and easier for people to access this type of weaponry.” —Texas State Senator Roland Gutierrez

“We’ve introduced legislation to further strengthen gun control in Canada. … In other words, it will no longer be possible to buy, sell, transfer, or import handguns anywhere in Canada once this Bill becomes law.” —Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau

Useful Idiots

“The reason that we’re so obsessed with guns and personal gun ownership going back to the Second Amendment is because the Founders were so afraid that black people were going to rebel against enslavement, that indigenous people would rebel against being pushed off their land and killed and removed, that we wanted to make sure that white men could have all the guns that they could possibly possess in order to put down the rebellions of the dangerous racial violence.” —"anti-racist" educator Tim Wise

“I don’t want all your guns the way you don’t want to take all my rights to abortion. I don’t want all your guns. I want that AR-15. I want it. And we’re going to vote it out, so it’s not going to be acceptable. … Keep whatever else you’ve got. Get rid of the AR-15.” —"The View" co-host Whoopi Goldberg

Belly Laugh of the Week

“I told the truth to the FBI, and the jury clearly recognized this in their unanimous verdict [yesterday]. I’m grateful to the members of the jury for their careful thoughtful service. Despite being falsely accused, I believe that justice ultimately prevailed in my case.” —Hillary Clinton campaign lawyer Michael Sussmann (“Besides limiting the scope of evidence involving Clinton, the judge allowed three Clinton donors to sit as jurors, along with another juror who is a supporter and donor to liberal firebrand Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D., N.Y.). For special prosecutor John Durham, it must seem like the only juror missing is Chelsea Clinton.” —law professor Jonathan Turley)

Non Compos Mentis Award

“Trans people don’t transition for athletics. We transition to be happy and authentic and our true selves. Transitioning to get an advantage is not something that ever factors into our decisions. … Trans women are not a threat to women’s sports.” —swimmer Lia Thomas (“She’d have never been anywhere near Olympic standard had she stayed competing as a man — which says it all about the threat she poses to the integrity of women’s sport.” —Piers Morgan)