The Patriot Post® · Thursday Short Cuts

Insight

“Finding the occasional straw of truth awash in a great ocean of confusion and bamboozle requires intelligence, vigilance, dedication and courage. But if we don’t practice these tough habits of thought, we cannot hope to solve the truly serious problems that face us — and we risk becoming a nation of suckers, up for grabs by the next charlatan who comes along.” —Carl Sagan (1934-1996)

Political Futures

“The case for term limits is straightforward: Men and women cannot be trusted for too long with too much power. That is why presidents may be elected to a maximum of two terms, why the governors of 36 states are term-limited, why 15 states impose term limits on legislators, and why nine of the 10 largest cities, including New York and Los Angeles, apply term limits to their mayors and (in most cases) city councilors. Power not only tends to corrupt, it tends to do so fairly quickly. Term limits are a check on that corruption. … Addiction to incumbency has greatly harmed American politics. The cure for that addiction is a constitutional amendment limiting the terms of senators and representatives.” —Jeff Jacoby

For the Record

“One of the many reasons why people from all over the world come to the U.S. is because they want to live in a country where the rule of law, undergirded by the Constitution, matters and is honored. The rule of law is the cornerstone of an ordered society. But when ‘progressive’ officials — from the president down to local district attorneys — refuse to enforce the law, chaos ensues. It’s time to end the chaos, enforce the law, and hold Biden and all federal and state executive branch officials accountable for failing to do their jobs.” —Hans von Spakosvky and Cully Stimson

“Here’s the key difference between Republicans and Democrats on the border. With unprecedented numbers of illegal border crossers entering the United States, Republicans want policies that will stop, or at least dramatically reduce, the flow. Democrats want policies that will accommodate the flow.” —Byron York

Open Borders

“President Biden, you are the first president of the United States in a very long time that has not built not even one meter of wall. And we thank you for that.” —Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador

Non Compos Mentis

“House Republicans passed an extreme bill [Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act] … that will further jeopardize the right to reproductive health care in our country. This is yet another attempt by Republican legislators to control women’s bodies.” —Vice President Kamala Harris

“House Republicans have put forth an insufficient and divisive resolution that advances their extreme anti-choice agenda and diminishes a woman’s right to choose.” —former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi

“The MAGA Republican-controlled House is putting on display their extreme views on women’s health with legislation that does not even have the support of the American people.” —Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer

“As a pro-choice Christian who chose life, this issue is personal to me. … When I read scripture, I turn to Jeremiah 1:5 which states ‘I knew you before I formed you and placed you in your mother’s womb.’ It doesn’t say the government’s womb.” —Congresswoman Hillary Scholten

Village Idiot

“Justice Scalia was basically a Klansman." —Emory law professor Darren Hutchinson

Hot Air

"We need to be nicer to Mother Nature because Mother Nature is not happy with us.” —television host Ellen DeGeneres

And Last…

“The deepest fault line in these United States lies … between the sort of person who spends their days wondering how many more hours they might be able to eke out if they lived in a pillow-lined concrete bunker, and the sort of person who intuits somewhere deep down in their soul that a world without any rough edges is a world that is less worth living in.” —Charles C.W. Cooke