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« on: August 28, 2013, 10:55:33 PM » |
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The Patriot Post Wednesday Digest 8-28-2013
From The Federalist Patriot
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Leading From Behind in Syria
August 28, 2013
THE FOUNDATION
"A universal peace, it is to be feared, is in the catalogue of events, which will never exist but in the imaginations of visionary philosophers, or in the breasts of benevolent enthusiasts." --James Madison
NATIONAL SECURITY
Leading From Behind in Syria
Turning another page in his Lead-From-Behind World Tour, President Seven-Iron dithered enough that he perfected U.S. security strategy regarding Syria: Wait so long that no matter what side we help, we're on the wrong side. Case in point: Intervening on Bashar al-Assad's behalf seats us next to a chemical-weapon-using mass murder and madman; on the opposite side, we're with a coalition of people who hate and want to destroy the U.S.
The good news is that Mr. Nobel-Peace-Prize-Laureate will no doubt reach deep into his usual bag of tricks -- ignoring the Constitution, abusing his executive authority and failing to run any of his plan by Congress even for tacit approval -- to drag America into yet another war.
Expect a predictable, Clinton-esque fusillade of cruise missiles, but no actual boots on the ground to ensure no more chemical weapons are used -- it's too close to mid-term elections for that. Preparation for such attacks is already underway, notwithstanding the fact that despite the ill-advised artificial "red lines" drawn in the sand by our Dear Leader, no vital U.S. interests -- even with confirmed chemical attacks -- are at stake. Yes, Syria is a hotbed; yes, it could potentially become a threat to vital U.S. security interests; and yes, we want it to end. But none of that yet justifies one boot on the ground, one missile in the air, or one U.S. service member in harm's way.
A few more nagging questions: What, exactly, would be the objective if we did use military force, how would we know when we had achieved it, and how would we get out once we got into such a mess?
Finally, a parting thought from Joe Biden: "The president has no constitutional authority ... to take this nation to war ... unless we're attacked or unless there is proof we are about to be attacked. And if he does, I would move to impeach him." Of course, that was 2007...
GOVERNMENT AND POLITICS
Immigration Front: He Has a DREAM
Continuing his pattern of rule by fiat, Barack Obama directed his administration to ignore another law by taking steps toward granting amnesty to millions of illegal aliens. His most recent breach is a directive1 issued by Immigrations and Customs Enforcement ordering the now ironically named agency to avoid enforcing immigration law if it might "disrupt the parental rights" of illegally present parents or guardians of minors. "In other words," The Washington Examiner points out2, "as long as an illegal immigrant can show they have a child in the United States, they can stay."
Bypassing the law is nothing new for this president, whose Oval Office would more aptly be named the Star Chamber. Unable to get his DREAM Act through Congress, in 2012 Obama ordered3 U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services to consider "deferred action" for illegal immigrants meeting certain criteria -- criteria established, of course, by the president. Taking seriously its role of checks and balances, the House Judiciary Committee recently approved legislation4 requiring a review of the administration's "abuse of prosecutorial discretion." Even were such a bill to reach Obama's desk, though, we're sure he'd be too busy trying to erase the Constitution to sign something that actually agrees with it.
ECONOMY
Regulatory Commissars: Big Corn
The Renewable Fuel Standard signed into law by President George. W. Bush has rightly been chastised by the oil industry, which requires refineries to add (or blend) massive quantities of biofuels into gasoline. The predictable results have been disastrous. Consider just a few of the consequences: The ethanol mandate means that nearly 50% of the country's corn harvest goes toward biofuels, which artificially drives up inflation in the food market. Additionally, a lackluster 5% of autos are under warranty for concentrations of ethanol higher than 10%, leaving "Big Oil" to buy ethanol it can't blend into gasoline5 just to meet EPA requirements. In short, the fantasies that ecofascists dreamed up while expanding the law over the years have devolved into failed expectations -- but at least it makes them feel good about "saving the planet."
Given the odious effects of the mandate, legislators on both sides of the isle have taken steps toward repealing the law. And Big Ethanol isn't happy about the interest in shutting it down. Growth Energy, a corn ethanol group, is launching an advertising campaign set to air on major networks, blasting Big Oil. "While Big Oil may be one of the largest and well-funded industries on the planet," the group said in a statement, "they are not entitled to use their influence to control Congress to maintain unbridled control over the transportation fuels marketplace." Cute, considering that's exactly what these hypocrites have done to implement draconian biofuel mandates.
It's a stretch to expect the law's repeal, but that won't stop environmentalists from demonizing Big Oil. If it weren't for double standards...
CULTURE
Second Amendment: Gun Use Doesn't Fit Narrative
In January, Barack Obama was leading the charge for federal gun control measures, standing on the caskets of the children killed at Sandy Hook Elementary in December. He asked the Centers for Disease Control to "research the causes and prevention of gun violence." His objective, of course, was to reinforce the leftist narrative that guns were to blame for acts of evil. Instead of blaming the perpetrator, the Left focuses on the implement.
The CDC passed the job to the Institute of Medicine and National Research Council, which completed the study in June. But because it didn't follow BO's preferred BS storyline, it's only now seeing the light of day. One inconvenient truth for the Left is that guns save lives. According to the report, "Almost all national survey estimates indicate that defensive gun uses by victims are at least as common as offensive uses by criminals." Indeed, while there were "about 300,000 violent crimes involving firearms in 2008," most by gang bangers on the Democrats' inner city poverty plantations, defensive gun use incidents ranged "from about 500,000 to more than 3 million per year."
The study elaborated on the benefits of defensive gun use: "Studies that directly assessed the effect of actual defensive uses of guns have found consistently lower injury rates among gun-using crime victims compared with victims who used other self-protective strategies." On the other hand, gun buy-backs, a favorite of leftists to reduce "gun violence," were found to be "ineffective." Obviously, in a culture as debased as ours has become, guns will be used for evil purposes. But that makes it all the more important for the good guys to have them. |
