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« on: May 06, 2016, 08:35:58 PM » |
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The Patriot Post Digest 5-6-2016
From The Federalist Patriot
Free Email Subscription
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Mid-Day Digest
May 6, 2016
THE FOUNDATION
“Guard against the impostures of pretended patriotism.” —George Washington (1796)
TOP RIGHT HOOKS
Who Wants Unity?1
“I am confident that I can unite much of [the Republican Party],” Donald Trump said after winning Indiana and clearing the presidential field. But then he proceeded to totally undermine his own statement: “Some of it, I don’t want. There were statements made about me that those people can go away and maybe come back in eight years after we serve two terms. … Honestly, there are some people I really don’t want. I don’t think it’s necessary. People would be voting for me, they’re not voting for the party.”
Well, he’s getting what he wanted. Not only will the Bushes sit this one out2, but so will previous nominee Mitt Romney3, who says he’s “dismayed” by the turn toward “demagoguery and populism.” Speaking of populism, Sarah Palin is the only member of any previous Republican presidential ticket who’s on board the Trump Train.
And now the highest elected Republican in the land, House Speaker Paul Ryan, says, “I’m just not ready to [endorse Trump] at this point. I’m not there right now.”
Ryan has been fiercely critical4 of Trump before — of Trump’s proposed Muslim ban, his refusal to disavow David Duke and the KKK, and his encouragement of violence at campaign rallies — so what’s Ryan waiting for now? “What Republicans want to see is that we have a standard bearer that bears our standards,” he said. “I think conservatives want to know, does [Trump] share our values and our principles on limited government, the proper role of the executive, adherence to the Constitution.”
The answer is that Trump clearly doesn’t share those values. Moreover, Trump and Ryan agree on virtually no policy positions. But Ryan is almost surely going to end up endorsing him anyway. After all, Ryan will be serving as the chairman of the Republican National Convention in July.
The important takeaway here isn’t that none of these Republicans are supporting the current presumptive nominee, it’s that such animosity is precisely why Trump won. Voters clearly are so tired of the GOP that they’ve chosen a guy who promises to blow it up. Establishment5 or not, is it any wonder prominent Republicans aren’t keen to jump on the bandwagon?
“I am not ready to support Speaker Ryan’s agenda,” responded Trump. “Perhaps in the future we can work together and come to an agreement about what is best for the American people. They have been treated so badly for so long that it is about time for politicians to put them first.” Ryan is right, but the political advantage in this tussle goes to Trump.
After April Jobs Report, Where Do We Go From Here?6
The Bureau of Labor Statistics' jobs report7 for April was more discouraging than usual, with the economy adding only 160,000 jobs last month. Every first Friday of the month for months on end, BLS reported the same thing: The economy added about 200,000 jobs; the unemployment rate hovered at 5%; wages are barely growing. Recently, Obama reflected8 on his economic legacy with fondness, boasting, “We probably managed this better than any large economy on Earth in modern history.” Meanwhile, the GDP for the first quarter of 2016 grew only a half of a percent. And regulations — Obama sure likes creating regulations — strangle9 the nation’s GDP growth by 0.8% every year. Usually, leaders boast when they manage an economy for growth, but Obama’s proud of suffocating it.
This raises the question: How does the American economy move on from this mire? The Wall Street Journal reports10 that the pitiful jobs numbers will scare the Federal Reserve away from raising interest rates in June. And the presidential candidates aren’t offering any good solutions. Hillary Clinton proposes11 extending Obama’s failed policies. And, in his braggadocio fashion, Donald Trump suggests starting a trade war with China — something that this economy isn’t strong enough to handle, points out12 American Enterprise Institute scholar James Pethokoukis. Indications are that little will improve in the years to come.
Obama Turned to Fiction Writer to Make Up Iran Narrative13
Barack Obama’s adviser Ben Rhodes is an aspiring novelist whose greatest work was the narrative leading up to the Iran nuclear deal (although arguably the Benghazi tall tale14 ranks as high). Literally, the aspiring fiction writer published one short story before his mother got him a job in foreign policy. So speaking of fiction, in a recent interview15, Rhodes boasted about duping the press, the American public and Congress on the Iran deal. The Obama administration didn’t begin negotiating the deal when the supposedly moderate Hassan Rouhani took power; the U.S. and Iran were talking about legitimizing the mullahs' nuclear program when Mahmoud Ahmadinejad still lead the country. Instead of creating plots and narratives with characters in his head, Rhodes was toying with reality, such as describing Rouhani as a character willing to talk with Obama. In part, the White House was able to do this because the American press is fragmented. The seasoned reporters have left. News organizations shuttered their foreign bureaus so they don’t have reporters on the ground in far-flung places. “The average reporter we talk to is 27 years old,” Rhodes said, “and their only reporting experience consists of being around political campaigns. They literally know nothing.”
Rhodes was able to peddle this fiction because he believed a fiction himself: That Obama and Obama alone knew more than “The blob,” the people who disagreed with Obama’s view of the world. Those people included editors, reporters, former national defense advisers — even Hillary Clinton. The Weekly Standard’s Lee Smith summarizes16, “For the last seven years the American public has been living through a postmodern narrative crafted by an extremely gifted and unspeakably cynical political operative whose job is to wage digital information campaigns designed to dismantle a several-decade old security architecture while lying about the nature of the Iranian regime. No wonder Americans feel less safe — they are.”
BEST OF RIGHT OPINION
David Harsanyi: Sometimes There Is No Lesser of Two Evils17
Erick Erickson: Republicans, Apologize to Bill Clinton18
Tony Perkins: Justice Is Swerved19
For more, visit Right Opinion20.
FEATURED RIGHT ANALYSIS
Uncle Sam Threatens North Carolina Over Bathroom Law21
By Michael Swartz
Since the state of North Carolina passed a law to counter the city of Charlotte’s attempt at breaking down the gender privacy barrier in public bathrooms — a law that in essence decreed one’s equipment and not one’s feeling of identifying as the opposite gender determined the appropriate restroom for use — the state has suffered the wrath of the Rainbow Mafia22. Bruce Springsteen canceled a recent concert, PayPal pulled the plug on a planned North Carolina facility, and the city of Charlotte has been threatened with the loss of the 2017 NBA All-Star Game. These politically correct critics scream that the law discriminates against the transgender “community” — i.e. 0.3% of the population. Predictably, Barack Obama’s administration has joined these thuggish extortion efforts with a “deal they can’t refuse.” |
