Two-Tiered Justice

“Under New York state law, it is a felony to falsify business records with intent to defraud and intent to conceal another crime. That is exactly what this [Trump] case is about. … No matter who you are, we cannot and will not normalize serious criminal conduct.” —Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg (“In 2022, Bragg’s first year as Manhattan district attorney, the prosecutor reduced more than half of felony cases to misdemeanors.” —Fox News)

Belly Laugh of the Week

“We’re not going to comment specifically on the case itself, but, look, the president is going to focus on the American people, like he does every day. This is not something that is a focus for him. He is going to focus on things like making sure that we continue to lower prices for the American people.” —White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre

For the Record

“Even though Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg made a campaign promise to ‘get Trump,’ and the case reportedly involves hush money paid to a porn star and testimony by Trump’s personal attorney Michael Cohen, who served time for facilitating those payments, it is Trump’s bad character, displayed in many ways and over many years that has brought him to this breaking point. … Today, it seems virtually any form of behavior is to be tolerated unless it leads to someone’s death. The moral guardrails have been removed and we are reaping the consequences. If Donald Trump had focused as much on building good character as he did on constructing buildings and being famous he likely would not be in the trouble in which he now finds himself.” —Cal Thomas

Insight

“Our national circulating medium is now at the mercy of loan transactions of banks, which lend, not money, but promises to supply money they do not possess.” —economist Irving Fisher (1867-1947)

Upright

“Society seems willing to completely ignore the needs of those who are literally dying because we choose to ‘affirm’ their life choices as opposed to helping them deal with conflict. The rate of suicide in the trans community is higher than the national average. Of course, trans activists say that this has to do with lack of acceptance, but the rate has not decreased as our societal acceptance has increased. Mental illness is no longer a badge of shame, a scarlet letter. Those who are suffering from it are rightly considered courageous when they seek help. Why, then, are we afraid to say the obvious: transgenderism can be a sign of mental illness, and mere acceptance is not compassionate. Perhaps Nashville will be the moment when we speak frankly to the emperor.” —Christine Flowers

“One of the undeniable objectives of wokeism is to disrupt current systems, crippling society by eliminating the common ground of facts and replacing it with ideas that can and will cause constant conflict. This is no longer a battle between the sane and the insane, where the vast majority of people used to agree that the greatest prosperity for human beings was to be grounded on a foundation of realism. The woke have created an alternate universe in which what each individual person thinks and feels takes precedence over facts. … If we cannot count on facts as the basis for our human rights and the laws by which society is governed, then there are no limits or boundaries within which those that create laws are required to operate.” —Samantha Koch

“Christians who lie by using trans pronouns in the name of ‘kindness’ believe they are more loving than God. That’s worshiping the god of self, not the God of Scripture.” —Allie Beth Stuckey

Non Compos Mentis

“In terms of gender identity, I think people define their gender identity for themselves.” —New Zealand Prime Minister Chris Hipkins

Village Academies

“Our universities have become moral and intellectual wastelands — almost as ideologically pure as Moscow State University was in the Soviet era. As of December 2022, there were seven times more administrators (15,750) at Stanford University than faculty (2,288).” —Dennis Prager

And Last…

“Weakness is provocative abroad. And dishonesty is corrosive at home.” —Douglas Andrews