The Patriot Post Daily Digest 1-7-2014

________________________________________
The Patriot Post Daily Digest 1-7-2014
From The Federalist Patriot
Free Email Subscription
________________________________________

Daily Digest

Jan. 7, 2014

THE FOUNDATION

“I am commonly opposed to those who modestly assume the rank of champions of liberty, and make a very patriotic noise about the people. It is the stale artifice which has duped the world a thousand times, and yet, though detected, it is still successful.” –Fisher Ames (1789)

RIGHT HOOKS
‘Polar Vortex’ Scaremongering

Remember back in the good ‘ole days when everyone expected winters to be, well, cold? Well, forget that. The Leftmedia is having a field day with this week’s furious Arctic outbreak across a large portion of the U.S., thanks to what is alarmingly being called the “polar vortex.” Climate alarmists were quick to blame the cold snap on variable weather patterns being created by man-made global warming. The Weather Channel wondered, “Is The Record Cold Arctic Outbreak Tied To Global Warming1”? while CBS’ Charlie Rose2 asked, “Is it definitely connected to global warming?” Putting scaremongering aside, the “polar vortex” is an upper-level cyclone that is always present. Pieces of the vortex occasionally break from the cyclone, taking with it pools of sometimes very frigid air. Bottom line: Mother nature gets the last laugh.

Chicago Gun Sales Ban Struck

U.S. District Judge Edmond E. Chang on Monday struck down Chicago’s ban on the sale of guns within the city. Chang, an Obama appointee, ruled that the “ordinance goes too far in outright banning legal buyers and legal dealers from engaging in lawful acquisitions and lawful sales of firearms.” The city enacted the ordinance in 2010 in response to the U.S. Supreme Court striking down its outright ban on handguns. In 2013, there were 415 murders and 1,864 reported shooting incidents, so it’s pretty obvious that Chicago’s gun laws aren’t helping. Fortunately, a string of good court rulings is forcing Chicago – and Illinois – to reckon with the Constitution.

Reid’s Shot Across the Bow

Back in November, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) surprised many by going nuclear3 and eliminating the filibuster for judicial nominees. Now Reid is even seemingly warning that the filibuster for legislation isn’t off limits. “This filibuster that they so love is not part of the Constitution,” Reid said, feigning concern for that dusty parchment. “It’s a privilege, not a right.” Reid also complained that the nation was “paralyzed” by the “craziness” of a small band of Republicans, but he wouldn’t rule out another rules change. If he’s going to do it, though, it will be soon – before the midterm elections in November when the GOP might just retake the chamber.

‘GOP Hates the Unemployed’

CNN’s Candy Crowley once again carried water for Barack Obama’s class warfare narrative4, saying, “If I am an unemployed American and I hear from Republicans that, ‘Yeah, you know, we should go ahead and [extend benefits] provided we do the following three things,’ and it’s a caveat approval of extending those [unemployment] benefits, or if I am a minimum wage worker and I find, I see Republicans who say, ‘You know what? It’s artificial, it messes with the marketplace, it might mean some teens can’t get into the job market,’ why would I become a Republican?” Democrats have indeed succeeded in securing a base of low-income and low-information voters by swearing they are the only ones that care. The truth is far from it, however, as the free market is the only real hope of economic improvement – not redistributed income.

Senator Sues Over His Own Benefits

Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) is suing the Obama administration over the special treatment Congress and members' staffs receive under ObamaCare. Johnson is drawing attention to the inequality between the people who must live with the laws passed and a Congress that thinks it’s above the law. “The American people have an expectation,” Johnson said, “that members of Congress should be subjected to the letter of the law just like they’re held to the letter of the law.” The problem is that Congress has an expectation that it can do whatever it pleases and insulate itself from the consequences.

For more, visit Right Hooks5.

RIGHT ANALYSIS
Arguing Over NSA Snooping Continues

The fight over the NSA’s vast surveillance programs is long from settled. In December, U.S. District Judge Richard Leon ruled6 that the dragnet likely violates the Fourth Amendment, but that was soon followed by U.S. District Judge William Pauley’s ruling upholding the program and citing its importance in the fight against terrorists. “This blunt tool only works because it collects everything,” Pauley wrote. “The collection is broad, but the scope of counterterrorism investigations is unprecedented.” Still, Pauley acknowledged that the program, if not properly overseen, “imperils the civil liberties of every citizen.” That’s precisely the complaint of its opponents.

Meanwhile, Michael Morell, the former acting CIA chief and a member of Barack Obama’s surveillance task force charged with reviewing the NSA program, says that it should be expanded to include more email collection. “This program … has the ability to stop the next 9/11, and if you added emails in there it would make it even more effective. Had it been in place in 2000 and 2001, I think that probably 9/11 would not have happened.” Perhaps, but there were far more fundamental failures to blame.

The program’s continuance, much less its expansion, isn’t going to happen without a fight. Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) plans to file suit “to stop Barack Obama’s NSA from snooping on the American people.” Paul also weighed in on Edward Snowden, saying that his theft of classified material and subsequent leaks were illegal and he should have a “fair trial and a reasonable sentence,” but also that “what he revealed was something the government was doing was illegal.” He hammered National Intelligence chief James Clapper, too, for lying to Congress before Snowden’s leaks, and Paul suggested, “Maybe if [Clapper and Snowden] served in a prison cell together, we’d become further enlightened as a country over what we should and shouldn’t do.” Indeed, at least the debate is now out in the open.

Warfront With Jihadistan: Al-Qaida Gains in Iraq

Al-Qaida has made significant military gains in Iraq recently, as one of its front groups, the Islamic State of Iraq and Levant (ISIL), seized Fallujah and Ramadi in Anbar province and forced out the Iraqi army. The U.S. won control of Fallujah in one of its hardest fought victories in the war – at the cost of 1,300 American soldiers. ISIL already controls much of eastern Syria, and they’re now running freely across the border between the two countries. Secretary of State John Kerry pledged to help the Iraqi government “in any way possible” – as long as that help doesn’t involve the U.S. military. “This is a fight that belongs to the Iraqis,” Kerry added.

While the Obama administration doubles down on its failed Middle East policy, violence continues to spread across the region. The Syrian civil war that Obama washed his hands of has left at least 100,000 dead (the UN has even quit keeping count), and America’s lack of involvement has emboldened Hezbollah to stir up more trouble in neighboring Lebanon. Two deadly car bomb attacks took place in Beirut in the last two weeks, and reports indicate that Hezbollah is stockpiling missiles in anticipation of Israeli strikes on their arms shipments in the region.

As for Iraq, Obama’s move to summarily end America’s involvement there has now led to a near-complete reversal of the gains made during the 2007 surge. His report of al-Qaida’s demise was completely untrue, but most of America doesn’t know this because the Leftmedia are downplaying events. Obama’s actions were completely motivated by politics, and now the spread of violence in the region means that at some point the U.S. will have to return in force, perhaps paying a much higher price than we would have paid if we had stayed all along.

For more, visit Right Analysis5.