|
nChrist
|
 |
« on: December 15, 2015, 01:40:39 PM » |
|
________________________________________
The Patriot Post Digest 12-15-2015
From The Federalist Patriot
Free Email Subscription
________________________________________
Daily Digest
Dec. 15, 2015
THE FOUNDATION
“Resolve to perform what you ought. Perform without fail what you resolve.” —Benjamin Franklin, 1771
TOP RIGHT HOOKS
Leader Low on Resolve Attempts Smack Talk1
Speaking at the Pentagon, the commander in chief with an approval rating2 that has steadily declined since the beginning of September made an attempt to talk smack against the Islamic State. “As we squeeze its heart, we’ll make it harder for ISIL to pump its terror and propaganda to the rest of the world,” Obama said in a follow-up to his Oval Office speech3. “ISIL leaders cannot hide and our next message to them is simple: You are next.”
The only thing that’s changed is the rhetoric. After the recent attacks on the West, Americans are increasingly worried about Obama’s strategy against the group, a strategy the chief executive only doubled down on Monday, naming off a list of eight Islamic State leaders that coalition airstrikes supposedly killed. Obama continued, saying the Islamic State has not made any major advancements in Iraq and Syria since the summer. So we’re winning, right?
According to commentator Charles Krauthammer, it’s the same rhetorical trick presidents used to convince Americans the Vietnam War was a success. Meanwhile, the Islamic State struck San Bernardino, Paris and downed a Russian passenger plane over the Sinai Peninsula. “When you have to resort to statistics,” Krauthammer said4, “he has a list of people whom we’ve killed, as if anyone has any idea who they are. It’s reminiscent of the strategy of the Vietnam War where we would announce the body counts — the ratio of dead Vietcong to Americans. It was always lopsided, and we lost the damn war because that’s not how you gauge who’s winning or losing a war.” But hey, smart power demands committing to a failing strategy, holding out until someone more experienced can take over.
DHS Won’t Review Social Media Posts of Visa Entrants5
The Obama State Department once had a “brilliant” plan — fight the Islamic State in part by waging a propaganda war on social media6. In other words, bureaucrats would try to deter potential ISIL recruits with Twitter and Facebook posts. After a while, however, State finally admitted that hashtag diplomacy wasn’t really working all that well7. But you know what else isn’t working? U.S. policy of not considering the social media posts of foreigners trying to enter the U.S. through the visa program. ABC News reports8, “Fearing a civil liberties backlash and ‘bad public relations’ for the Obama administration, Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson refused in early 2014 to end a secret U.S. policy that prohibited immigration officials from reviewing the social media messages of all foreign citizens applying for U.S. visas, a former senior department official said.” Why does that matter? Well, if officials had reviewed the social media posts of Tashfeen Malik, she might not have been granted a visa in May 2014 — a full 18 months before she and her husband killed 14 in San Bernardino. Even Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) gets it: “Had they checked out Tashfeen Malik, maybe those people in San Bernardino would be alive.” Remember, no one has a right to come to the U.S., and the fact that Islam is as much a political system as a religion9 means these reviews are far more important than a little uncomfortable PR for the Obama administration.
And One of the Biggest Whoppers of the Year Goes To…10
One of the largest bastions of the Leftmedia, The Washington Post, has said the “Hands up, don’t shoot” narrative that gelled after the 2014 shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson was one of the biggest political lies of 2015. The false narrative was that Brown had his hands up when Officer Darren Wilson shot and killed him. A grand jury later ruled that Wilson acted in self-defense.
The Post’s Fact Checker blog released a list of claims it said were the “The biggest Pinocchios of 201511.” Among the claims flagged by the Post, Hillary Clinton lied when she said the Defense of Marriage Act was signed by her husband to prevent a DOMA amendment to the Constitution, Connecticut Senator Chris Murphy mislead Americans when he said, on average, there was a school shooting every week since the Sandy Hook massacre, and Barack Obama fibbed when he said the Keystone Pipeline would transport oil not for American consumption.
But in terms of the most stubborn lies, “Hands up, don’t shoot” was one of the worst. It was repeated before a NFL game12, as well as on the steps13 of the Capitol and on the House floor14. In communities nationwide, it was a false narrative that fomented discord15 and served as race bait16 between law enforcement and residents. Unfortunately, this BIG Lie has had a big cost in terms of a spike in crime in big cities.
Don’t Miss Patriot Humor
Check out California Self-Defense Kit17.
If you’d like to receive Patriot Humor by email, update your subscription here18.
The Bill of Rights19
Today, Dec. 15, is the anniversary of the 1791 ratification of our Bill of Rights20, the first 10 Amendments to our Constitution, and the Rule of Law21 it enshrines.
The Bill of Rights was inspired by three remarkable documents: John Locke’s 1689 thesis, “Two Treatises of Government,” regarding the protection of “property” (in the Latin context, proprius, or one’s own “life, liberty and estate”); in part from the Virginia Declaration of Rights22 authored by George Mason in 1776 as part of that state’s Constitution; and, of course, in part from our Declaration of Independence23 authored by Thomas Jefferson.
Read in context, the Bill of Rights is both an affirmation of innate “unalienable rights24” of man, and a clear proscription upon any central government infringement of those rights. As oft trampled and abused as the Bill of Rights is by those who’ve sworn an oath “to Support and Defend25” our Constitution, most notably “judicial supremacists26,” or the “despotic branch” as Jefferson called the judiciary, Patriots must remain ever vigilant in order to sustain our rights.
FEATURED RIGHT ANALYSIS
Paris Climate Conference Focused on Fear, Not Climate Reality27
By James Shott
The Paris climate conference is now over. Whether the nations there enthusiastically supported “doing something” about the world’s thermostat, or whether they were set to be recipients of a whole lot of wealth redistribution, one thing is clear: The agreement means almost nothing for the climate and everything for loss of economic productivity and Liberty.
After all the time involved and the carbon dioxide produced getting thousands of people from 196 nations all in the same place and then back home again, the agreement does not put the world on a path toward what alarmists regard as a safe level of rising temperature. But the agreement sets forth a clear path for countries to identify their own targets for CO2 reduction. Ultimately, participants want a global carbon-free environment by 2060, at the latest, meaning that every car, building, plane, ship, train and power plant would have to operate without burning any fossil fuels.
Days prior to the closing, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon told the ministerial session, “The clock is ticking toward climate disaster.” Repent now, for the end is near.
The populist potentate of ecotheology, Al Gore, compared combating climate change to the abolition of slavery, giving women the right to vote and the civil rights battle. Gore said, “The right choice is to safeguard the future for the next generation and for the generations to come.”
There were scary stories of rising sea levels, causing residents of low-lying areas like the Marshall Islands to lobby strenuously for the agreement, while droughts, flooding and other extreme weather events were predicted to increase elsewhere on the planet if CO2 emissions aren’t reined in. And to make sure to attract the attention of enough third-world countries, billions of dollars in support for affected economies is on the table, supposedly to be paid by the rich countries, like the United States.
The whole world is concerned because of the idea that too much CO2 in the atmosphere will cause a litany of catastrophes28 sometime in the distant future. But remember: Plants that produce oxygen for us to breathe live on CO2. |
