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« on: December 22, 2015, 06:40:51 PM » |
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The Patriot Post Digest 12-22-2015
From The Federalist Patriot
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Daily Digest
Dec. 22, 2015
THE FOUNDATION
“The care of human life and happiness, and not their destruction, is the first and only legitimate object of good government.” —Thomas Jefferson, 1809
TOP RIGHT HOOKS
Sheriff’s Department Spreads Christmas Cheer1
The Monroe County, Georgia, sheriff’s department made some unusual traffic stops over the weekend. Thanks to a generous benefactor, deputies were given 54 $100 bills to distribute at random to motorists. “Today, we’d like to spread a little joy in the community, so we’d like to give you this,” said one deputy as he handed $100 to a man he had just pulled over. Most were quite thankful, though “I had one cuss me out,” Deputy John Thompson said. “I didn’t give her any money, but I had three cry.” In a year when law enforcement has taken the brunt of a lot of public criticism, it’s refreshing to see a little bit of good news for this sheriff’s department and the community they serve. “They don’t always have the opportunity to see us doing good, helping people that need help,” said Deputy Timothy Campfield. “It makes me feel good that I have the opportunity to see them smile and know that I possibly helped that family through an anonymous donor.” And Sheriff John Cary Buttock added, “This also is a good way for us at the sheriff’s office to tell the entire Middle Georgia community, ‘Merry Christmas.’”
I’m Dreaming of a Multicolored Christmas2
What happens when you’re offended by a Christmas holiday song and you want to air your grievance? Go to a college campus. You’ll find people who will happily be offended with you — whatever the issue. As a bit of satire, Dan Joseph of MRCTV went to George Mason University with petition in hand to stop radio stations from playing the Irving Berlin’s classic ditty “White Christmas.” What did “dreaming of a white Christmas / Just like the ones I used to know” ever do to Joseph? He argued to students that the song is racist, a microaggression against multiculturalism. “We think that the song ‘White Christmas’ is insulting to people of color,” Joseph told one student, “because it says snow is white and therefore it is good and, uh, but we know there are other kinds of snow. It’s dirty on the ground, sometimes it turns brown, sometimes it turns black.” With poetic interpretation being what it is today, Joseph was able to collect 18 signatures in an hour on campus. At one point, Joseph said the carol with the most laudable social justice message is “Rudolf the Red-Nosed Reindeer” because it celebrates a flying reindeer’s genetic mutation. But if we’re going to jump on this social justice crusade, we must point out that the song also celebrates exceptionalism — the fact that Rudolf was the only one who could do a certain job. Then again, if the song had been written today, Santa might have started a committee to study the dangers of flying in severe weather caused by climate change and suggest changes to flight procedures and sleigh registration, as well as petition for subsidies to develop technology to safely deliver age-appropriate gifts free of choking hazards and lead-based paint to children.
Lindsey Graham Suspends Candidacy for President3
Despite the rising worry about Islamic terrorism here and abroad, screamin' military interventionist hawk Sen. Lindsey Graham announced Dec. 21 he was suspending his campaign for president. It was the last day4 for candidates to withdraw their names from the South Carolina ballot — Graham’s home state. In doing so, Graham avoided a potentially embarrassing election result come next year. We noted5 in our original coverage of the senator’s announcement that he was entering the race, Graham is always down for a good military intervention, as he believes the way to ensure the nation’s security is through a strong military taking the fight to the enemy’s turf.
For the duration of his campaign, Graham never gained more than 2% support, if he even registered in the polls at all. Nevertheless, the former presidential candidate considered his campaign a success because, as Graham claimed in a video announcement suspending his campaign6, it changed the Republican Party. Before he started running, a non-interventionist streak was gaining traction in the GOP. Graham said, “Four months ago at the very first debate, I said, that any candidate who did not understand that we need American troops on the ground in Iraq and Syria to defeat ISIL was not ready to be commander in chief. At that time, no one stepped forward to join me. Today, most of my fellow candidates have come to recognize this is what’s needed to secure our homeland.” Maybe Graham changed the rhetoric of the election, maybe not. The current administration’s actions have been proof enough that inaction is imperiling the nation.
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FEATURED RIGHT ANALYSIS
Targeting Officers and Releasing Prisoners9
By Paul Albaugh
There is a study in contrasts afoot. Those charged with enforcing the law are frequently presumed guilty of breaking it, while prisoners — whether petty drug offenders or jihadis who pose a threat to national security — are released. That isn’t to overgeneralize in either direction, but the stories provide a window into “progressive” thought.
The first trial against one of the Baltimore police officers involved with the death of Freddie Gray resulted in a mistrial10 last week. That’s in large measure because, in spite of an apparently weak case, State Attorney Marilyn Mosby pursued charges against Officer William Porter and five other officers. Never mind that she asked police to target the area where Gray was arrested with “enhanced” enforcement.
The case against Officer Porter, who by the way is black, was supposed to be the “strongest” but the mistrial doesn’t bode well for prosecutors. They were hoping that after Porter’s case was concluded he would testify against his fellow officers, specifically against Officer Caesar Goodson Jr., the driver of the van in which Gray was being transported. Goodson is charged with second-degree murder.
Porter’s new trial is now scheduled for June 13, while Goodson’s trial remains set to begin Jan. 6.
The fact that the case against Porter was supposedly the strongest also raises serious suspicion about the justice process surrounding these officers. Indeed, the city already settled with Gray’s family for $6.4 million11, clearly indicating the city’s conclusion that the officers were guilty before a trial had ever taken place. Regardless of the outcome, these officers deserve the presumption of innocence and a fair trial. The city’s shenanigans have served precisely the opposite purpose.
Meanwhile, at the federal level, Barack Obama decided it was time yet again to spread a little hope and cheer to some prisoners as Christmas nears. On Friday, Obama used his clemency powers12 to commute the sentences of 95 federal inmates while pardoning two others.
To be clear, these prisoners were behind bars for illegal drug use and were not violent criminals. And the Constitution gives the president the power Obama exercised. |
