The Patriot Post Digest 1-22-2014

[nChrist]

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The Patriot Post Digest 1-22-2014
From The Federalist Patriot
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Daily Digest

Jan. 22, 2014

THE FOUNDATION

“It becomes all therefore who are friends of a Government based on free principles to reflect, that by denying the possibility of a system partly federal and partly consolidated, and who would convert ours into one either wholly federal or wholly consolidated, in neither of which forms have individual rights, public order, and external safety, been all duly maintained, they aim a deadly blow at the last hope of true liberty on the face of the Earth.” –James Madison, Notes on Nullification, 1834

TOP 5 RIGHT HOOKS
Nobody Likes Obama Anymore

One year ago Monday, Barack Obama once again took the oath of office that he has no intention of keeping. At the time, his job approval rating was 52% with disapproval at 43% – a comfortable position after his election victory in 2012. Then he chose to shamelessly exploit the deaths of 20 children at Sandy Hook Elementary. Once his gun control agenda fell flat, however, scandal took hold – Benghazi, the IRS and the appalling launch of ObamaCare. Now, a year after his second inauguration, Obama’s approval ratings have reversed: 43% approval and 52% disapproval. In our opinion, though, that’s still far too high and far too late for a decline. He still has three years to go, buyer’s remorse notwithstanding.

Wright on the Tea Party

The “Rev.” Jeremiah Wright, Barack Obama’s former pastor and mentor, told a Martin Luther King Jr. Day crowd that the Tea Party is – wait for it – racist. What an original thought. “One branch of the Tea Party,” he said, is “nothing but a 2.0 upgrade of the lynch mobs … with some folks doing everything they can to get that black man out of their White House.” Well, we confess to having done everything we could to get Obama out of the White House, but rest assured our opposition has nothing to do with race. He is half white after all. The Tea Party exists to oppose Obama’s socialist agenda and to promote traditional American values.

Those Darn Gun Terminologies

If the lawmakers writing gun laws knew a thing or two about firearms, they might make better decisions. Unfortunately, that’s often not the case as demonstrated by California state senator Kevin de Leon (D-Los Angeles). During a recent hearing on gun control, de Leon presented a homemade automatic rifle, saying, “This right here has the ability with a .30-caliber clip [sic] to disperse with [sic] 30 bullets within half a second. Thirty magazine clip [sic] in half a second.” This blather is reminiscent of Rep. Carolyn McCarthy’s (D-NY) pathetically hilarious claim that a barrel shroud is the “shoulder thing that goes up1.” But as Thomas Sowell appropriately points out, “Facts are not liberals' strong suit. Rhetoric is.”

WWII Vet May Lose Grocery

If officials in the upscale resort of Saltaire on Fire Island, New York, get their way, World War II vet Frank Whitney will be forced to give up the grocery store he’s owned for 25 years. Despite a village-wide protest, Saltaire leaders want to rebuild a more pristine version of the store, which sustained some damage during Hurricane Sandy. After being denied funding by the state in 2009 to purchase the property, officials are now attempting to acquire Whitney’s land by exercising their eminent domain power. The family claims they have the funds for the necessary repairs but are being prevented from working on them by the Board of Trustees who are using the damage as a ploy. The final outcome will be determined in court, but this is a gross overstep on an individual’s property rights. Source2].

Hot Air Award Goes To…

Another week, another climate alarmist wins an award for his research on climate change. Professor Chris Turney, an Australian Research Council Laureate Fellow in the UNSW Climate Change Research Centre, received the 2014 Frederick White Prize that he is “absolutely delighted and incredibly humbled to receive.” Turney was probably also “incredibly humbled” recently when his ship got stuck in the Antarctic ice on a research mission. But as Mark Steyn quipped, “of course the thickest iciest ice on record could well be evidence of ‘global warming,’ just as 40-and-sunny and a 35-below blizzard and 12 degrees and partly cloudy with occasional showers are all apparently manifestations of ‘climate change.’”

For more, visit Right Hooks3.

RIGHT ANALYSIS
Sanctity of Life Day

Today marks the 41st anniversary of the two most tragic Supreme Court decisions in American history, Roe v. Wade and Doe v. Bolton. Those decisions sparked a contentious debate between those who would deny legal protection for babies in the womb, and those who rightly acknowledge that those babies constitute “life” as understood throughout history and affirmed in our Declaration of Independence4. Tragically, that right has been denied to 56 million unborn children sacrificed on the altar of “choice” since 1973.

Roe v. Wade was the infamous case in which Norma McCorvey was used as a plaintiff by Leftist attorneys to overturn laws restricting abortion in Texas. A decision upholding Texas law was ultimately overturned on appeal by the Supreme Court, which found a heretofore unprecedented “right to privacy” in the so-called “due process clause” of the Fourteenth Amendment. The “Despotic Branch5” divined from their “living constitution” that this right entitled a mother to end the life of her baby before its birth.

Simultaneous with Roe v. Wade, in Doe v. Bolton, using the plaintiff Sandra Cano, the Supremes determined that any complaint – including headaches – could be used as grounds for requesting an abortion.

Since the decisions in those cases, both McCorvey and Cano have recanted their testimony. Norma McCorvey said plainly, “I think abortion’s wrong. I think what I did with Roe v. Wade was wrong,” and she has stood by those words in the years since.

Sandra Cano, in her 2005 testimony before the U.S. Senate, said: “Using my name and life, Doe v. Bolton falsely created the health exception that led to abortion on demand and partial birth abortion. How it got there is still pretty much a mystery to me. I only sought legal assistance to get a divorce from my husband and to get my children from foster care. … At no time did I ever have an abortion. I did not seek an abortion nor do I believe in abortion. Yet my name and life is now forever linked with the slaughter of 40-50 million babies. … How can cunning, wicked lawyers use an uneducated, defenseless pregnant woman to twist the American court system in such a fraudulent way? Doe has been a nightmare. … My name, life, and identity have been stolen and put on this case without my knowledge and against my wishes. How dare they use my name and my life this way! One of the Justices of the Supreme Court said during oral argument in my case ‘What does it matter if she is real or not.’ Well I am real and it does matter.”

[nChrist]

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The Patriot Post Digest 1-22-2014
From The Federalist Patriot
Free Email Subscription
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So are the babies who have been ripped from wombs.

Both women have been guests in my home. They are good and decent people who at a very vulnerable time in their lives were used by Leftist jurists to advance a horrific agenda. Both women were instrumental in the establishment of the National Memorial for the Unborn6, and their respective statements on abortion are enshrined there.

It has always been evident, scientifically and morally, that life begins at conception. For the last word on the matter, we consult our Creator’s guidebook. The Psalmist wrote, “For You formed my inward parts; You wove me in my mother’s womb.” He then noted, “Your eyes have seen my unformed substance; and in Your book were written all the days that were ordained for me, when as yet there was not one of them.”

Imago Dei!

Semper Vigilo, Fortis, Paratus et Fidelis! Libertas aut Mortis!
Mark Alexander, Publisher, The Patriot Post

Oil Exports Endorsed by IEA

There may be a surprising bright spot in this era of Big Government and regulation; even more surprising is the affected industry and the source of the support. Dr. Ernest Moriz, Barack Obama’s new Energy Secretary, has indicated a willingness to reevaluate the restrictions placed on U.S. oil exports during the 1970s. In December, Moriz appeared to be much more receptive to lifting these restrictions than his predecessor, Stephen Chu.

Moriz’s position received additional support from the International Energy Agency this week. The IEA recently acknowledged that American oil production has surpassed even the best estimates. Indeed, reports the IEA, “U.S. crude oil supply in 2013 registered the fastest absolute annual supply growth of any country in the last two decades, rising 15 percent in 2013.” The IEA added that increased exports would help meet greater world demand. However, while both Moriz and the IEA wield considerable power, it’s up to Congress and/or the Commerce Department to remove the restrictions.

In the meantime, American companies would love to take full advantage of this economic opportunity. Since the U.S. has been the world’s largest importer of oil for decades, its refineries are outfitted for the heavier crude from Mexico and the Middle East. Oil companies have been renovating their refineries to accommodate the lighter, higher-quality American shale oil, but if the export restrictions are not lifted, they won’t be able to sell their oil outside the U.S. and Canada. These restrictions will drive prices down and – since producers of shale oil say prices must remain between $80 and $90 a barrel to be profitable – hamper the industry. For now, all we can do is wait to see whether this typically anti-business administration will move toward a freer market.

For more, visit Right Analysis3.

TOP 5 RIGHT OPINION COLUMNS

    Michael Reagan: The Super Bowl and Sex Trafficking7
    Rebecca Hagelin: March for Life & Pro-Life Movement Now Led by Young Adults8
    John Stossel: Chill Out9
    Jonah Goldberg: A New York State of Mind: Illiberal Liberal Values10
    Walter E. Williams: OK to Feel Sorry11

For more, visit Right Opinion12.

OPINION IN BRIEF

Columnist Jacob Sullum: “Running for the Senate in 2004, [Obama] condemned the PATRIOT Act for ‘violating our fundamental notions of privacy,’ declaring that ‘we don’t like federal agents poking around our libraries.’ As a senator in 2005, Obama continued to criticize the PATRIOT Act and sponsored a bill aimed at raising the standard for using national security letters to obtain business records. As a candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2007, he promised that in his administration there would be ‘no more illegal wiretapping of American citizens’ and ‘no more national security letters to spy on citizens who are not suspected of a crime.’ Last week Obama said, ‘I maintained a healthy skepticism toward our surveillance programs after I became president.’ … By his account, Obama did not understand [the privacy threat] until critics started complaining about the NSA’s heretofore secret database. He also was suddenly troubled by the fact that the program ‘has never been subject to vigorous public debate,’ although his administration did everything it could to prevent such a debate.”

Columnist Ben Shapiro: “Sex and drugs have replaced building for the future; abortion and the welfare state have replaced consequences. In the end, this philosophy will lead to the dominance of the state. … How can we solve all of this? Not through the law – the law follows culture. The only way to restore an American future is to restore the social and religious institutions that fostered genuine American values. This means fighting back against the tyranny of those who conveniently proclaim to ‘live and let live’ while simultaneously demanding that Americans with traditional values shut the hell up.”

Thomas Sowell: “A recent survey of employers asked if they would fire workers if the minimum wage were raised. Two-thirds of the employers said that they would not. That was good enough for a minimum wage advocate. Unfortunately, the consequences of minimum wage laws cannot be predicted on the basis of employers' statements of their intentions. Nor can the consequences of a minimum wage law be determined, even after the fact, by polling employers on what they did. The problem with polls, in dealing with an empirical question like this, is that you can only poll survivors.”

Fred Thompson: “During the first cold-weather Super Bowl, Fox Sports will use an infrared camera that will show how players' body temperatures change throughout the game. And MSNBC will have a simulcast, blaming the changes on global warming.”

Semper Vigilo, Fortis, Paratus et Fidelis!
Nate Jackson for The Patriot Post Editorial Team

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.

Links

1 -    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tAlsu0xikco&feature=share&list=PL9B4F9011CD8A636C
2 -    http://nypost.com/2014/01/19/grocer-at-center-of-fire-island-land-grab-controversy/
3 -    http://patriotpost.us/
4 -    http://patriotpost.us/documents/28
5 -    http://patriotpost.us/alexander/2937
6 -    http://www.memorialfortheunborn.org/
7 -    http://patriotpost.us/opinion/22879
8 -    http://patriotpost.us/opinion/22877
9 -    http://patriotpost.us/opinion/22871
10 -    http://patriotpost.us/opinion/22865
11 -    http://patriotpost.us/opinion/22838
12 -    http://patriotpost.us/opinion