The Patriot Post® · Friday Short Cuts

Insight

“Congress have no power to disarm the militia. Their swords, and every other terrible implement of the soldier, are the birth-right of an American… The unlimited power of the sword is not in the hands of either the federal or state governments, but, where I trust in God it will ever remain, in the hands of the people.” —Tench Coxe (1755-1824)

Upright

“The only thing keeping us a free country is our Second Amendment. … I will protect that until my last dying breath. I really will.” —Arizona Republican gubernatorial nominee Kari Lake

“I ended up as an activist in a very different place from where I started. I thought that if we just redistributed resources, then we could solve every problem. I now know that’s not true. There’s a funny moment when you realize that as an activist: The off-ramp out of extreme poverty is, ugh, commerce, it’s entrepreneurial capitalism.” —U2’s Bono

For the Record

“Robbing a child of a good education is a form of abuse. It also deprives a nation of its future and ability to compete on the world economic and intellectual stage. … The problem is and almost always has been that too many in the education and political establishments prefer the status quo, because for many it serves their interests more than the interests of the nation’s children.” —Cal Thomas

“How did we arrive at this point in American life? How did our country decline to the point that a geriatric dotard, representing the global hegemon, can declare it immoral to prevent genital mutilation of young people in the name of anti-scientific ‘gender theory’? The answer is obvious: traditional values are losing. They are losing because the best defense of tradition is tradition itself. … The burden of proof must be on those who wish to destroy, not on those who wish to maintain. This means that Americans must have confidence enough to say, ‘It’s worked before, and it works still. I will not surrender it simply because you demand that I do so.’” —Ben Shapiro

“As Republicans diminished the role of race, the Democrats grew ever more obsessed about it — and ignored class. The Oprahs, Meghan Markles, and MSNBC anchors of the world fixate over skin color in direct proportion to their own affluence, status, and privilege — as their hypocrisy turns off the middle classes of all races. In sum, the party of old left-wing progressives has become one of rich regressives. And once country-club Republicans are becoming a party of middle-class populists. And the election will reflect both those changes.” —Victor Davis Hanson

“When I look at [yesterday’s GDP] report I caution against looking at this as an indication of upward momentum. This is likely a static temporary increase. … It’s likely the only positive quarter we will see for quite some some time going forward." —Lindsey Piegza, chief economist with Stifel Financial, with a nonpartisan assessment

"The big red flag [in the GDP report] is consumer spending, which is down. Consumer spending is 2/3 of our economy. Also mortgage interest rates, a year ago 3% now over 7% — the highest in 20 years." —The Wall Street Journal’s Jason Riley, who added: "It’s not going to change the political narrative between now and election day. The Democrats thought they could run on Donald Trump and abortion, voters are concerned about the economy and crime. Nothing in this report is going to change that narrative.”

The BIG Lies

“Today, the most common price of gas in America is $3.39, down from over $5 when I took office.” —Joe Biden

“The price of inflation is down, real incomes are up, and the price of gas is down.” —Joe Biden

“It’s not record inflation anymore. I’m bringing it down. Look what we inherited.” —Joe Biden

“The American people are seeing the benefits of this economy that works for them. Families have more net worth today than they did before the pandemic.” —Joe Biden

“When I took office, the economy was in ruins.” —Joe Biden

“I married a beautiful woman from Skaneateles Lake… I met her on spring break and fell head over heels in love with her and gave up a starting job on a football team in Delaware to come up every weekend because I couldn’t stay away.” —Joe Biden (“This is completely made up. Biden briefly played football at Delaware as part of the freshman team, not the varsity. He … never had a ‘starting’ job. And why’d he quit? His father made him because he had terrible grades.” —Zach Parkinson)

Grand Delusions

“The extreme Republicans who have spent decades trying to overturn Roe v. Wade have no clue about the power of women. They’re about to find out.” —Joe Biden

Yellow Journalism

“Whatever voters ultimately decide at the polls, [John] Fetterman’s performance marks something of a milestone for the disability community, which remains underrepresented at every level of elected office.” —The Washington Post’s Amanda Morris