The Patriot Post® · Monday Short Cuts

Insight

“No nation, ancient or modern, ever lost the liberty of speaking freely, writing, or publishing their sentiments, but forthwith lost their liberty in general and became slaves.” —John Peter Zenger (1697-1746)

“Inflation is in effect a hidden tax. The money that people have saved is robbed of part of its purchasing power, which is quietly transferred to the government that issues new money.” —Thomas Sowell

Observations

“Imagine sitting in your car crying because you can’t afford to drive to work anymore, coming home that night, turning on the TV, and seeing Democrats doing a TV event for January 6th.” —Jesse Kelly

“Pundits and politicians talk about the ‘coming’ economic struggles as if they’re not already here. They are. Poor people are suffering. But they’re at the bottom. The people on top are too far removed to see it. Folks are ALREADY drowning. And the water is rising.” —Jesse Kelly

A Trip Down Memory Lane

“Conservatives predict gas prices will spike under Biden. Experts say those fears are overblown.” —The Washington Post’s Dino Grandoni, November 2020

“To the millions of Americans struggling to get by right now — those who can’t find a job or pay the bills: I want you to know that I see you, and I won’t forget you — and I’m going to fight every day in the White House to build an economy that works for you.” —Joe Biden, August 2020

The BIG Lies

“If you really isolate what’s going on here [with gas], it’s because Vladimir Putin decided to take on this irresponsible war.” —White House National Economic Council Director Brian Deese

“[Friday’s] inflation report confirms what Americans already know — Putin’s price hike is hitting America hard.” —Joe Biden

“It’s outrageous what the war in Ukraine is causing. And we’re trying very hard to make sure … we significantly increase the number of barrels of oil that are being pumped out of the reserve we have.” —Joe Biden

“Exxon made more money than God this year. … By the way, one thing I want to say about the oil companies: They talk about how we have — they have 9,000 permits to drill. They’re not drilling. Why aren’t they drilling? Because they make more money not producing more oil. … Exxon, start investing, start paying your taxes.” —Joe Biden

“It’s time to put a nail in the coffin, in my view, of trickle down economics. … It doesn’t work. It keeps yielding the same results: greater inequity, slower growth, less competition, and less innovation.” —Joe Biden

Theater of the Absurd

“You know what [Mitch McConnell is] thinking tonight? ‘Boy, I sure hope gas prices stay really high.’ That’s what he’s thinking. Because he really wants to distract the American public from the reality of what we saw [in the J6 dog-and-pony show] and how complicit they all are in allowing Trump to remain in this lock-grip position of power within their party. And I think he’s hoping that the high gas prices and the inflationary pressures in our economy will be enough to make people forget and just want to change out the Democrats.” —former Senator Claire McCaskill

Non Compos Mentis Award

“I will remind folks again that Hitler rose to power with 1/3 of voters in Germany with a message on inflation, etc. The voters in Germany, as well as the media and many politicians, paid attention too late to the threat he was to their democracy.” —former George W. Bush chief strategist Matthew Dowd (“In Mein Kampf, Hitler mentions ‘inflation’ three times. He mentions ‘Jew,’ ‘Jewish,’ and ‘Judaism’ 517 times.” —Jeff Jacoby)

Dezinformatsiya

“Thursday’s primetime hearing will take Americans back to January 6, when an estimated 2,000 rioters breached the Capitol building, causing the deaths of five police officers." —CBS "journalist" Bob Costa

Dumb and Dumber

"We need to start a movement to repeal the Second Amendment and replace it with something that says it’s not about the right of somebody to own a gun, it’s the right of all of us to be protected from gun violence. We have a right to live. If you’re afraid of somebody breaking in, get a dog… You don’t need a gun.”“ —filmmaker Michael Moore

"An 18-year-old deranged killer … had a weapon of war [AR-15]. … A weapon more deadly — more deadly — than the weapons we gave our soldiers and our Marines when they went to Vietnam.” —MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough

“Guns can be used for hunting or for sport shooting in Canada … but you can’t use a gun for self-protection in Canada. That’s not a right that you have in the Constitution or anywhere else.” —Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau

Non Sequitur

“Child pornography hurts children, so we fight it with all the legal might our nation can bring to bear, even if it infringes on fundamental freedoms. To summarize: an essential part of the Constitution gives Americans a right, but that right is limited when the free exercise of it harms children. So why all the trouble with guns? Why does a logic universally accepted regarding the First Amendment completely fall apart when we get to the Second? The harm to children from guns far exceeds the harm done by child pornography.” —Chicago Sun-Times columnist Neil Steinberg

Demagogue

“I have little sympathy for reactionaries who cynically condemn identity politics or cancel culture when, really, all they’re doing is trying to preserve existing privilege or excuse entrenched injustice or bigotry. I mean, the original identity politics is racism and sexism and homophobia. That’s nothing if not identity politics, and it’s done a lot more harm than some tweet from an aggrieved liberal.” —Barack Obama

“We have to take steps to detoxify our discourse, particularly the scourge of disinformation and conspiracy theories and hate online that has polluted our political discourse.” —Barack Obama