The Patriot Post Digest 6-17-2016

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The Patriot Post Digest 6-17-2016
From The Federalist Patriot
Free Email Subscription
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Mid-Day Digest

Jun. 17, 2016

THE FOUNDATION

“Arms like laws discourage and keep the invader and the plunderer in awe, and preserve order in the world as well as property. The balance of power is the scale of peace. The same balance would be preserved were all the world destitute of arms, for all would be alike; but since some will not, others dare not lay them aside.” —Thomas Paine (1775)

TOP RIGHT HOOKS

Obama Blames Liberty1

On Thursday, Barack Obama made his way to Orlando to grieve with those mourning the loss of loved ones in Sunday’s brutal Islamist attack2. But let’s face it — Obama politicizes everything, and never more than when attending funerals for the victims of mass murder committed with a gun.

“The notion that the answer to this tragedy would be to make sure that more people in a nightclub are similarly armed to the killer defies common sense,” Obama declared. “Those who defend the easy accessibility of assault weapons should meet these families and explain why … it is that we think our liberty requires these repeated tragedies. That’s not the meaning of liberty.”

As if Obama, of all people, is the authority on defending Liberty. Quite the opposite. Obama is arguing that Liberty is the problem. If he were truly honest, he’d start pushing for gun confiscation and see what happened.

“They pleaded that we do more to stop the carnage,” he said later. “They don’t care about the politics. Neither do I.” Give us a break — this is all about politics for Obama. If he really wanted to stop Islamist attacks on U.S. soil, he’d pursue a different strategy against the Islamic State. But that’s not his goal. Indeed, he again denied the ties that the Orlando and San Bernardino attackers had to a larger movement and insisted they were “home-grown” and “deranged individuals.” Oh, and all this “hatred towards people because of sexual orientation” has got to stop, he lectured. Such stubborn denial3 of the real problem defines the Obama era.

CIA Chief: ISIL Has a Lot of Western Operatives4

Earlier this week, Barack Obama boasted of the success of his strategy against the Islamic State. Here’s a sampling: “We are making significant progress. … ISIL is under more pressure than ever before. … ISIL continues to lose key leaders. … As ISIL continues to lose territory, it also continues to lose the money that is its lifeblood. … ISIL’s ranks are shrinking as well. Their morale is sinking.”

Time for a reality check.

CIA Director John Brennan told some inconvenient truths to Congress Thursday, warning, “ISIL has a large cadre of Western fighters who could potentially serve as operatives for attacks in the West.” He continued, “Unfortunately, despite all our progress against ISIL on the battlefield and in the financial realm, our efforts have not reduced the group’s terrorism capability and global reach. … In fact, as the pressure mounts on ISIL, we judge that it will intensify its global terror campaign to maintain its dominance of the global terrorism agenda.” Not only that, but Brennan cautioned that ISIL aims to smuggle in jihadis among refugees. Translation: Obama’s “strategy” is absolutely not working.

It’s no surprise that the Islamic State is in fact a real threat, contrary to what Obama regularly insists. Recall that he initially dismissed them as the “JV team” just after they’d retaken Fallujah, and that we had them “contained” just before last year’s Paris massacre. Obama has been asking for cooked intelligence5, and Brennan aided in removing politically incorrect language6 from training material — at Obama’s direction. Five years ago, Brennan told American Muslims that he was striving to avoid “unnecessarily creating tensions” and valued the “promotion of an inclusive society.” Those are not bad things in and of themselves — most Muslims are peaceful people, especially in America, and we need their help to stop terrorist threats. Yet you might notice a pattern of appeasement with the Obama administration rather than appropriate countermeasures. That’s why Obama was more angry3 about having to use the words “radical Islam” than about the Orlando attack itself.

Everybody Saw It Coming but the FBI7

The signs were there. Nearly everyone who came in contact with Orlando jihadist Omar Mateen saw him as dangerous. His co-workers reported him. His first wife said he abused her and had mental health issues. Even Disney contacted the FBI to say Mateen was possibly casing “the happiest place on earth.”

This concern extended to one of the gun shops Mateen visited. Lotus Gunworks in Jensen Beach, Florida, contacted the FBI after Mateen entered the shop looking to buy “high-end body armor.” When the shop informed Mateen it didn’t sell what he was looking for, Mateen asked about bulk ammunition. The shop turned him away. Unlike cake bakers, gun shops can decide with whom they want to do business. The takeaway: Gun store owners generally know what they’re doing and when leftists clamor for more regulation, they ignore the protections already in place.

Case in point: CBS wanted to scare viewers by making them think it’s too easy to acquire an AR-15. Thanks to modern technology that allows gun store owners to run an instant background check on a potential gun buyer, the reporter was able to purchase her AR in 38 minutes. A law-abiding citizen passed a background check and legally exercised her Second Amendment rights? Horrors! But she might have broken federal law hours later when she transferred the rifle to a licensed firearms dealer. According to the gun store’s manager, the reporter claimed she wanted to “undergo training,” though she declined the shop’s free firearm safety instruction. Suspecting that the reporter made a straw purchase, the gun store reported the incident to the ATF and Virginia State Police.

If there is room for improvement, it’s with the FBI. Politically correct directives from Obama hamstring the agency, causing them to let men like Mateen off the hook. And let’s not forget that the government itself breaks gun laws in order to “justify” more gun laws. Remember how the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms let straw purchases go through during Obama’s Fast and Furious gun control scheme8. The government didn’t enforce the law, and people died as a result. It’s time to quash the leftist gun-grabbing agenda and focus on the real problems.

BEST OF RIGHT OPINION

Ken Blackwell: Endorsing Lawlessness9
Charles Krauthammer: Trump Is Running as Trump. Surprise!10
David Harsanyi: By Rejecting ‘Radical Islam’ Obama Rejects Reality11

TOP HEADLINES

State Dept. Officials Call for Strikes Against Assad12
Leaked Document Shows the DNC Wanted Clinton From Start13
Taliban Now Holds More of Afghanistan Than at Any Time Since 200114

For more, visit Patriot Headline Report15

FATHER’S DAY

Sunday is Father’s Day, a fitting day to consider four contexts for “father” — God the Father, our own earthly fathers, the role of men as father to their children, and the legacy of our forefathers. They combine to create a rich and abiding sense of what fatherhood means, as well as what it should look and feel like in heart and practice.

But for tens of millions of Americans from broken homes, the consequences of failed fatherhood are the enormous obstacles of rebuilding a relationship with their Creator and with their own spouses and children, and in their ability to honor their forefathers' legacy.

Patriot fathers, if you want to extend the Legacy of Liberty to the next generation, there is no better place to start than in your own home.

In the words of the Father of our country, George Washington, “May the father of all mercies scatter light, and not darkness, upon our paths, and make us in all our several vocations useful here, and in His own due time and way everlastingly happy.”

For more, read Mark Alexander’s essay, Fathers and Freedom: Irrevocably Linked16.

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The Patriot Post Digest 6-17-2016
From The Federalist Patriot
Free Email Subscription
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FEATURED RIGHT ANALYSIS
Failing Another Common Core Test17

By Allyne Caan

In a shocking and utterly unanticipated turn of events, a new report suggests that pedagogy which teaches 2+2 is 4 only by way of 17 does not adequately prepare students for college or life thereafter.

Okay, we’re completely kidding. Because the latest report is that Common Core has failed the test, and that’s not shocking at all.

ACT, the organization best known for its college admissions testing, recently released its National Curriculum Survey18, a survey conducted every few years that asks educators what they do — or don’t — teach and solicits input on what prepares students for academic success. While ACT typically questions educators from elementary to postsecondary levels, this year, for the first time, the survey also included “workforce supervisors and employees” to identify what they see as essential for career readiness.

You’ll recall, of course, that Common Core proponents touted19 its ability “to ensure that all students graduate from high school with the skills and knowledge necessary to succeed in college, career, and life,” and assured that the standards are “aligned with college and career expectations.”

Who knew such promises were only an exercise in creative writing? In truth, the standards are disconnected from the reality of college and career expectations and instead are simply aligned with Washington bureaucrats' expectations.

The ACT report found, for example, that just 16% of college instructors believed students entered their classes prepared for college-level work — a drop from 26% in 2009 and 2012.

What’s more, ACT notes20 that while secondary teachers may adhere to Common Core standards in teaching “source-based writing,” college teachers “appear to value the ability to generate sound ideas more than some key features of source-based writing.”

Relatedly, just 18% of college professors said their students were prepared to distinguish among fact, opinion and reasoned judgment. Naturally, colleges will now need to develop “safe spaces” and “trigger warnings” for those who haven’t developed these fundamental abilities. Newsflash: These skills are also critical for pursuing a successful career outside of government.

Other notable findings pointing to Common Core’s deficiencies include the fact that some teachers are teaching math topics not included in Common Core — indicative of the standards' deficiencies. And many fourth- to seventh-grade math teachers begin teaching STEM-related topics sooner than Common Core dictates.

Meanwhile, as Reason notes21, “The survey also showed critical gaps between what is considered in the workforce as necessary for success and what is actually included as part of the standards.” What matters to employers? Things like problem solving, technology and the ability to work with others face-to-face.

The ACT survey is simply the latest “F” in a string of failing report cards22 for Common Core. It’s little wonder states are rejecting the standards23 faster than you can solve a Common Core math problem.

The real takeaway here is that the federal government makes an abysmal schoolteacher and is no better at being principal or superintendent. Perhaps that’s one of many reasons our Constitution does not include education among Congress' enumerated powers. Instead, education is rightly a state, local and primarily parental responsibility.

Let’s face it. The federal government doesn’t know what’s best for your child and clearly doesn’t understand what private employers value. And in superimposing one-size-fits-all mandates on classrooms across America, Washington is harming — not helping — kids' chance at succeeding in life, regardless of whether or not they attend college.

Beltway bureaucrats simply have no business in Johnny’s fifth-grade science — or math, English, history, or P.E. — class. But like a classroom bully, the federal government won’t back down on its own. It’s up to states — and we the people — to stand up to the bully and not relent until he leaves school grounds once and for all.

MORE ANALYSIS FROM THE PATRIOT POST

The Hidden Cost of Climate Compliance24
Another Year, Another ObamaCare Rate Increase25
House Oversight Committee Censures IRS Chief26

OPINION IN BRIEF

Ken Blackwell: “Just as Trump addressed concerns over his potential judicial picks by offering a list of possible Supreme Court nominees, he should promise to appoint a principled independent to be attorney general. Not a long-time partisan, like so many attorneys general in a succession of administrations, Democrat and Republican. There will be abundant clean-up work to do once President Obama leaves office. It should not appear to be a partisan witch-hunt. Moreover, Republicans, too, need oversight. There never was much doubt that between Obama the partisan activist and Obama the man of character, the former would win out. Hence the president’s endorsement of Hillary Clinton even as his administration investigates her for serious security offenses. Which should remind us what is at stake in November. It’s not just a few minor policy disagreements. It’s the integrity of our entire political system.”

For more, visit Right Opinion27.

SHORT CUTS

Upright: “It ought to be common sense — even the most ardent gun-control advocate would never put ‘Gun-Free Zone28’ signs on their homes. Let’s finally stop putting them elsewhere.” —John Lott

Re: The Left: “To call these guns ‘assault weapons’ is just an attempt to instill irrational fear in people with little knowledge of guns. And again, never mind that blunt objects such as clubs and hammers kill more people each year than all rifles put together. [They’re] far too busy for facts, [they’re] trying to scare people into this terrorist watch-list proposal, which obliterates not just the Second Amendment, but also their Fifth Amendment right to due process of law as a prerequisite for the loss of liberties.” —Ashe Schow

Observations: “The presidency as it exists today is a mess. Presidents have too much power, too little accountability and too high a public profile. That makes the job attract the wrong sort of people, and then ensures they’re not up to it. If we were to shrink the government, and shrink the presidency, we might find that what was left would attract better people — and would be easier even for lesser mortals to execute.” —Glenn Reynolds

Braying Jackass: “There is … the need for Islam as a whole to challenge that interpretation of Islam, to isolate it, and to undergo a vigorous discussion within their community about how Islam works as part of a peaceful, modern society. [But] I do not persuade peaceful, tolerant Muslims to engage in that debate if I’m not sensitive to their concern that they are being tagged with a broad brush.” —Barack Obama, at pains to explain his refusal to accurately name the enemy

Belly laugh of the week: “The president is quite proud, as he should be, of his record of making the country safer.” —Josh Earnest (He should check in with CIA Chief John Brennan4.)

Say what? “Obama believes a clash is taking place within a single civilization, and that Americans are sometimes collateral damage in this fight between Muslim modernizers and Muslim fundamentalists.” —The Atlantic’s Jeffrey Goldberg after an interview with Obama

And Last… “So [Omar Mateen] raised the suspicions of Disney World, gun shops, & just about everybody else except the federal government.” —David Burge

Semper Vigilans Fortis Paratus et Fidelis!
Managing Editor Nate Jackson

Join us in daily prayer for our Patriots in uniform — Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, Marines and Coast Guardsmen — standing in harm’s way in defense of Liberty, and for their families.