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« on: March 02, 2016, 07:00:05 PM » |
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The Patriot Post Digest 2-29-2016
From The Federalist Patriot
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Daily Digest
Feb. 29, 2016
THE FOUNDATION
“He whose heart is firm, and whose conscience approves his conduct, will pursue his principles unto death.” —Thomas Paine 1776
TOP RIGHT HOOKS
Navy SEAL to Receive Medal of Honor Today1
Navy SEAL Edward Byers wears a St. Michael the Archangel patch on his back. Before going into battle, the Roman Catholic always prays to the angel that leads God’s army in the book of Revelation for protection, drawing strength to be away from his wife and daughter. It was a prayer he most likely prayed before he ran through a darkened Afghan doorway where he knew a host of Taliban lay waiting. It was the night of Dec. 8, 20122, and SEAL Team Six had hiked four hours to get to this one-room hut, a place the U.S. military believed the Taliban was keeping captured U.S. citizen Dr. Dilip Joseph. Moments before, a Taliban guard discovered the rescue party as it was 25 meters away. As Petty Officer 1st Class Nicholas Checque dived through the six layers of blankets that made up the hut’s door, he was cut down by AK-47 fire. Byers followed, shot a man aiming a rifle at him, and tackled another man who was scrambling for a weapon in the corner. After realizing that he did not have Joseph, Byers fought the man, then jumped on top of Joseph, using his body as a shield while pinning a Taliban fighter to the wall by one hand. The rescue was successful.
It is for this action that the White House3 is awarding Byers the Medal of Honor at a ceremony today. He is the first member of the Naval Special Warfare Development Group to receive the nation’s highest medal for valor, and the first member of the Navy still living to receive the commendation since the Vietnam War. And as a member of the Special Forces, it’s difficult for him. “I’ve lived my entire career a very private life,” Byers said. “We don’t talk about what we do, and this honor carries with it some obligations that I need to carry out. You know, you follow those through. But, I plan to continue doing my job as normal and to continue being a SEAL. It’s something I love and grew up wanting to be.” That is the true mark of a hero: a willingness to pay the ultimate sacrifice, but the humility to do it again and again.
Trump Wants to Silence Dissent4
Just like a dictator of a third-world country, Donald Trump can’t stand anyone criticizing him. That’s why on Friday, Trump told his cheering acolytes that he wants to rewrite the nation’s libel laws so he can sue newspapers and journalists he thinks are unfair. “One of the things I’m gonna do if I win,” Trump said5, “is I’m going to open up our libel laws so when they write purposely negative and horrible and false articles we can sue them and win lots of money. We’ll open up those libel laws so that when The New York Times writes a hit piece which is a total disgrace or when The Washington Post … writes a hit piece we can sue them and win money instead of having no chance of winning because they are totally protected.”
Trump knows a thing or two about suing journalists for libel. He lost a libel lawsuit in 2011 after a journalist wrote Trump was only worth $250 million6, not the billions the reality TV personality claimed. All of Trump’s money and all of Trump’s men couldn’t prevail against a lone book author because the statement couldn’t be proved false. In other words, truth is the defense against a libel lawsuit. This is a principle established at the dawn of our nation’s founding when a colonial governor attempted to shut down a newspaper published by John Peter Zenger in 1734. The jury ruled that a statement cannot be libelous if it’s true. But reality isn’t where Trump wants to be right now.
Furthermore, Trump’s “reasoning” that the media is unfair and that’s a reason for suing them for everything they’ve got does not take into account the state of newspapers during the start of our nation. As Hot Air’s Taylor Millard points out7, newspapers then were wildly partisan, championed agendas and were set up by the powerful to attack other papers. (So sort of like today.) “Balance” and “fairness” wasn’t in the vocabulary of those early journalists, yet that is the environment that gave birth to the First Amendment and its protections we have today — an environment Trump cannot tolerate.
In other Trump news, he was endorsed by Chris Christie Friday8 and Sen. Jeff Sessions Saturday9 — the first, a craven play for political influence by a man determined to get back at those who cost him the race; and the second, a sign that perception of Trump’s strength on immigration trumps the fact10 that he hired illegals for “jobs Americans won’t do.”
Meanwhile, Trump refused three times11 to reject the endorsement of former KKK Grand Wizard David Duke, saying, “I don’t know anything about” him. That’s a lie. He certainly knew about Duke in 2000, when he left the Reform Party because of him. Now that Trump’s trying to win the Republican nomination, however, he can’t be bothered to stand for principle until he’s hectored about it. After blaming a “bad earpiece” in the first interview, he finally did “disavow” Duke.
Maybe that’s all why Sen. Ben Sasse of Nebraska, a real conservative, announced over the weekend that he will not vote for Trump if he’s the nominee. He won’t be the last.
Don’t Miss Alexander’s Column
Mark Alexander is going to publish a special column later today regarding Donald Trump’s tax returns, so stay tuned.
We’ll send our normal Monday Humor edition tomorrow, instead.
If you’d like to receive Alexander’s Column or Patriot Humor by email, update your subscription here12.
FEATURED RIGHT ANALYSIS
Who Speaks for Us?13
By Arnold Ahlert
If there’s one thing the current election cycle has made clear, it’s the reality that millions of Americans feel utterly disenfranchised. Their anger and frustration are driven by the daunting realization that neither political party represents their interests. This despicable status quo begs the simplest question, one every candidate running for elective office in 2016 should be forced to answer: Who speaks for us?
We want to live in a nation where there is a clear understanding of right and wrong, not one dominated by the “anything goes” cultural sewage churned out on a regular basis by Hollywood and the mainstream media. Who speaks for us?
We want to live in a nation that puts Americans first — one with definable, enforceable borders and one where Rule of Law is paramount — not one that gratifies the desires of millions of illegals and their cadre of elitist supporters aiming to fundamentally transform our national character, using cheap votes and cheap labor to do so. Who speaks for us?
We want to live in a nation where we no longer cater to the lowest common denominator of human behavior to accommodate “root causes,” the “soft bigotry of low expectations,” or a multiculturalist mishmash that excuses misogyny, anti-Semitism, and racism under the rubric of “celebrating our differences.” Who speaks for us?
We want to live a nation with an educational system that teaches children how to think, not what to think. A system where ideological indoctrination social promotion, grade inflation, worthless diplomas, “creative” math, and the generalized dumbing-down of vulnerable children is tossed on the ash heap of history. Who speaks for us?
We want to live in a nation where merit and excellence matter, not one where millions of “snowflakes” have been cushioned by trigger warnings, micro-aggressions, speech codes and helicopter parents who believe everyone should get a trophy just for showing up. A nation where the content of one’s character is far more important than the color of one’s skin, one’s gender, one’s sexual orientation, or one’s membership in a particular grievance group. Who speaks for us?
We want to live in a nation where the Constitution is defended for what it actually says, not what some people would like it to mean because a “living” interpretation of the document accommodates their agenda, political correctness or the latest trend. Who speaks for us? |
