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« on: October 21, 2015, 06:57:19 PM » |
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The Patriot Post Digest 10-21-2015
From The Federalist Patriot
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Daily Digest
Oct. 21, 2015
THE FOUNDATION
“I suppose, indeed, that in public life, a man whose political principles have any decided character and who has energy enough to give them effect must always expect to encounter political hostility from those of adverse principles.” —Thomas Jefferson, 1808
FEATURED RIGHT ANALYSIS
Ryan’s Conditions for Speaker Run1
By Nate Jackson
Paul Ryan said Tuesday he’s willing to take a shot at being House speaker, but only under certain conditions. “If I can truly be a unifying figure, then I will gladly serve,” Ryan said. “I’ll be happy to stay where I am at the Ways and Means Committee.” Not only are other Republicans drafting Ryan to run for speaker, but he has repeatedly insisted he doesn’t want the job. “This is not a job I’ve ever wanted,” he told reporters after a meeting with Republicans, yet he “came to the conclusion that this is a very dire moment.” That position as the reluctant warrior2 likely means he’ll be able to secure at least some of the concessions he seeks.
First, Ryan aims to delegate some of the traditional traveling and fundraising duties of the speaker to someone else. John Boehner spends about 200 days on the road every year. But Ryan has a young family back home in Wisconsin, and he isn’t going to sacrifice them on the altar of politics. (Would that more men were willing to be husbands and fathers first.)
Second, and far more significant, Ryan wants unity among Republicans — support from the Republican Study Committee, the Freedom Caucus, the moderate Tuesday Group, and so on. Members have until Friday to decide whether they’re willing to put aside their quarrels and rally behind him, or whether he should leave the job nobody wants to someone else.
Republican unity has been particularly hard to come by over the last few years, as most agree on what to oppose but not how to oppose it. Those intraparty fights often resulted in self-inflicted defeats, and, eventually, frustration boiled over and conservatives forced Boehner’s resignation3. We believe that’s a good thing, but Republicans need someone around whom they can rally. Ryan could very well be that guy.
That doesn’t mean there aren’t some reservations about his conditions. For example, National Review’s Elaina Plott reports4, “Among Ryan’s terms was the repeal of the Motion to Vacate the Chair, which Thomas Jefferson authored and which gives House members the power to oust a sitting Speaker. It was the piece of parliamentary procedure used to dethrone John Boehner just last month, and based on conversations with two Freedom Caucus members, could prove Ryan’s most difficult obstacle to gaining their support.”
Fox News' Chris Stirewalt adds, “What Ryan wants is to change the rule that allows for a GOP minority to team up with Democrats to dethrone a speaker. In exchange, he is offering to democratize some parts of House procedure, which meets some demands of the holdouts who decry the heavy-handed tactics of the current regime.”
It’s understandable that Ryan isn’t keen to take a job he never wanted only to have Republicans draw their knives on him after a move some don’t like. That said, it’s also a considerable red flag for conservatives who’ve learned not to trust leadership. We’ll see if Republicans or Ryan concede on this one.
Ryan is a good man and a good conservative on most issues. Time will tell if he’s asking too much to do a job Republicans need him to do. But it’s hard to deny his reasoning isn’t motivated by love of family and country first.
He closed his remarks by saying, “I consider whether to do this with reluctance. And I mean that in the most personal of ways.
"Like many of you, Janna and I have children who are in the formative, foundational years of their lives. I genuinely worry about the consequences that my agreeing to serve will have on them. Will they experience the viciousness and incivility that we all face on a daily basis?
"But my greatest worry is the consequence of not stepping up. Of some day having my own kids ask me, ‘When the stakes were so high, why didn’t you do all you could? Why didn’t you stand and fight for my future when you had the chance?’
"None of us wants to hear that question. And none of us should ever have to.”
TOP RIGHT HOOKS
The Only Half-Decent Democrat Candidate Drops Out5
Presidential candidate Jim Webb has left the Democrat primary race, and maybe the Democrat Party. On Tuesday, Webb stood before a group of reporters with his wife at his side and said he is dropping out of the Democrat primary because his views are opposed to the “nominating base” of the party that really should be renamed the Party of Marx6. Now, he’s mulling running for the White House as an independent candidate. The Democrat Party “is filled with millions of dedicated, hardworking Americans, but its hierarchy is not comfortable with many of the policies that I have laid forth,” Webb said. “And quite frankly, I’m not comfortable with many of theirs.”
Webb has what other Democrat candidates lack: Character and the integrity not to play identity politics. When asked during last week’s Democrat debate who was their greatest enemy, the rest of the candidates named some fellow Americans with whom they disagreed; Webb, who was awarded the Silver Star, two Bronze Stars and two Purple Hearts for his service in Vietnam, said7 his was the foreign combatant who threw a grenade at him.
Ever since Webb announced his candidacy8 amidst the tumult of the Independence Day weekend, his campaign has struggled with polling numbers of about 1%. Webb attributes this to the atmosphere created by the Democrat elite, who are more willing9 to embrace socialists than decorated veterans, who chase lobbyists for the green industry rather than listen to the voices in “West Baltimore and the Appalachian mountains.” Indeed, Ronald Reagan’s former Navy secretary could borrow his old boss’s famous line: “I didn’t leave the Democratic Party; the party left me.”
‘Assault Weapon’ Bans Are a Step Closer to Supreme Court10
On Monday the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit issued a ruling on gun restrictions in Connecticut and New York — including the latter’s SAFE Act — ultimately delivering a victory to the liberal leadership of both states. There were just a few exceptions. According to the Democrat & Chronicle11, “The court … found New York’s requirement that only seven bullets can be loaded into a 10-round magazine is unconstitutional, upholding a previous court ruling.” Meanwhile, “In Connecticut, the court ruled against a provision that prohibits the ownership of a non-semiautomatic Remington 7615.” The measures otherwise remain intact. The leftist fanfare may be temporary, however. The constitutionality over so-called assault weapon12 bans, which the courts have interpreted in conflicting ways, will eventually have to be taken up by the Supreme Court. But the final arbiter should think carefully before undermining the Rule of Law. |
