Insight

“Those who profess to favor freedom and yet depreciate agitation, are people who want crops without ploughing the ground; they want rain without thunder and lightning; they want the ocean without the roar of its many waters. The struggle may be a moral one, or it may be a physical one, or it may be both. But it must be a struggle. Power concedes nothing without a demand; it never has and it never will.” —Frederick Douglass (1818-1895)

Upright

“What are we going to transmit to the next generation? We can’t sit back on our laurels and say, ‘Well, we did the best we could. Time for bourbon on the rocks,’ or something like that. That’s not what we’re about as conservatives. That’s not what we should be about, anyway. We should be out there saying, ‘Hey, what can we do today to make the world a better place for the ideas we believe in?’” —former Heritage Foundation President Ed Feulner

“Afraid for the nation? Buy a house. Plant a garden. Get married. Have lots of babies. Help your children marry well, be great grandparents. You needn’t run for office, start a podcast or lead a thinktank. The most powerful & countercultural work happens in your home.” —Katy Faust

For the Record

“In an interview with ABC News [last] week, Dr. Fauci said he was really worried about people losing trust in science. I am worried, too. I’m worried people may be losing trust in science because of people like Dr. Fauci! I’m also worried that bureaucrats like Fauci do not appear to have a patriotic bone in their bodies. From day one of the pandemic, Fauci was constantly making excuses for communist China. He still defends Beijing’s heavy-handed tactics in handling the pandemic. And he is still stonewalling efforts to get to the truth.” —Gary Bauer

“As transformative as Musk has been in the nascent stages of his Twitter ownership, it is crucial to not forget the bigger picture. Twitter, though the preferred communicative organ of the American political class and the broader commentariat, pales in comparison to most other Big Tech platforms in terms of its reach. … The problems with Big Tech are structural and sprawling; they are not idiosyncratic to Twitter, which has among the smallest user bases of any of the internet platforms typically included when politicians and commentators speak of ‘Big Tech.’ When a new Congress is sworn in in January, it is imperative not to forget this.” —Josh Hammer

Food for Thought

“Why drag queen story hour? Why not military veteran, firefighter, or police officer story hour? Why is the entire political left so obsessed with trying to gaslight us into thinking it’s normal for men dressed provocatively as women to read stories to children?” —Michael Seifert

The BIG Lies

“The president has done the work to deal with what we’re seeing at the border since day one.” —White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre (If by “done the work” she means “opened the border,” then yes.)

“[Republicans] want to secure the border. We’ve been doing that work on our own.” —Karine Jean-Pierre

Theater of the Absurd

“I think President Biden has done an excellent job as president of the United States. I hope that he does seek reelection. He’s been a great president.” —House Speaker Nancy Pelosi

“He’s done an excellent, excellent job. And [if] he runs, I’m gonna support him all the way.” —Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer