The Patriot Post Digest 5-23-2016

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The Patriot Post Digest 5-23-2016
From The Federalist Patriot
Free Email Subscription
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Mid-Day Digest

May 23, 2016

THE FOUNDATION

“To judge from the history of mankind, we shall be compelled to conclude that the fiery and destructive passions of war reign in the human breast with much more powerful sway than the mild and beneficent sentiments of peace; and that to model our political systems upon speculations of lasting tranquillity would be to calculate on the weaker springs of human character.” —Alexander Hamilton (1788.)

TOP RIGHT HOOKS

Taliban Henchman Meets Allah1

The Taliban is now leaderless again after a U.S.-sanctioned drone strike killed Mullah Akhtar Mansour, the terrorist leader who succeeded former Taliban chief Mullah Mohammad Omar last year. The drone strike occurred Sunday in Baluchistan, a Pakistani province. Interestingly, according to Reuters, “A Pakistani passport in the name of Wali Muhammad, which Pakistani authorities said contained a visa for Iran, was recovered near the scene of the attack and is believed to have belonged to Mansour. But it is unclear what he may have been doing in Iran.”

We can think of a few reasons. In June 2015, The Wall Street Journal reported2 on a burgeoning partnership between the two parties: “Afghan and Western officials say Tehran has quietly increased its supply of weapons, ammunition and funding to the Taliban, and is now recruiting and training their fighters, posing a new threat to Afghanistan’s fragile security.” Good thing we handed hundreds of billions of dollars to Iran as part of the nuclear “deal,” right?

Meanwhile, Barack Obama is hoping Mansour’s death propels peace talks. “The Taliban should seize the opportunity to pursue the only real path for ending this long conflict — joining the Afghan government in a reconciliation process that leads to lasting peace and stability,” he remarked. Moreover, a weekend Journal article says3, “The Afghan government is giving financial and military support to a breakaway Taliban faction, according to some Afghan and U.S. coalition officials, in an effort to sow rifts within the insurgency and nudge some of its leaders toward peace talks.” Both sides are evidently attempting to facilitate a truce. But will it work? Try asking Iran.

NRA: United Front for Donald Trump4

The National Rifle Association’s endorsement for president came early this election cycle. On Friday, just as the NRA’s annual convention was kicking off in Louisville, the chair of the NRA’s Political Victory Fund, Chris Cox, said5 Donald Trump is the “clear” choice for lovers of the Second Amendment.

“The stakes in this year’s presidential election could not be higher for gun owners,” Cox said. “If Hillary Clinton gets the opportunity to replace Antonin Scalia with an anti-gun Supreme Court justice, we will lose the individual right to keep a gun in the home for self-defense. Mrs. Clinton has said that the Supreme Court got it wrong on the Second Amendment.”

In 2012, the NRA waited until October to cast its support6 behind Mitt Romney. Appearing on NPR, National Review’s Jonah Goldberg said7 Monday the early endorsement was probably an attempt to help unite the Republican Party after a particularly divisive primary lead to the presumptive nomination of a controversial candidate.

Make no mistake: There are questions about Trump’s record on guns. Days after the Sandy Hook shooting, when Barack Obama was using the blood of 26 innocents8 to advance his gun control agenda, Trump tweeted9 out his support of Obama’s speech. “President Obama spoke for me and every American in his remarks in #Newtown Connecticut,” Trump wrote. Furthermore, the reality TV star wrote in 2000 that he supported Clinton’s assault weapons ban. Caveat emptor. During his remarks at the NRA convention, Trump spoke clearly about his support for the Second Amendment. And we’re going to hold him to that if he gets elected.

Schools Eliminate Valedictorians — Not Inclusive10

How long can the bureaucrats in education extend the idea that competition and conflict should be banished in the educational system? Somehow, the school board in Wake County North Carolina thinks reducing competition will lead to a better education for students. While the board has to vote twice on the policy change, it unanimously approved a proposal this week that would do away with the distinction of a high school graduate with the highest GPA being named valedictorian. Competition was getting unhealthy, the chair of the school board explained11, and students were setting a goal of getting the highest GPA instead of taking classes that might help them in the future. Thus, the board reasoned, it was better to bolster the Latin honor system and do away with the first and second place honors.

“Competition is a reality of life, whether these hippies like it or not,” writes12 Katherine Timpf at National Review. “The kid with the top GPA is still going to have the top GPA, no matter what you call (or don’t call) him or her for having it. Class ranking is a competition, and the kid at the top is the winner. Can we cut the crap? Sure, maybe that kid was motivated to win by the force of competition and not by holding hands with fellow classmates and singing ‘Kumbaya.’ But you know what? That’s the way the real world works, and it’s time for more people to start living there.” After all, the safe spaces go away after college and an education that hasn’t prepared students for competition and conflict has not educated them at all.

BEST OF RIGHT OPINION

Burt Prelutsky: Misspeaking in the Modern Age13 Imprimis: The Danger of the ‘Black Lives Matter’ Movement14 Joe Bastardi: Short Summation of My Climate Position15

For more, visit Right Opinion16.

FEATURED RIGHT ANALYSIS
Deborah Samson Fought for Liberty, Not a Required Draft17

By Robin Smith

In 1782, a 21-year-old lady wrapped her chest with linen bandages, styled her hair into a more masculine fashion and donned a uniform of the Continental Army on her 5-foot, 7-inch frame — a smidge taller than the average 5-foot female of the day. Deborah Samson was one of several women during the Revolutionary War who disguised themselves as men to fight in battle, either out of patriotism for our fledgling nation or desire to keep their family together by fighting alongside a spouse.

Ms. Samson received an honorable discharge at West Point for fighting 17 months on the field of battle.

Today, there are talented women serving our nation within the military by pursuing careers and exercising their tremendous skills. Our nation is grateful for and is served honorably by our all-volunteer fighting force.

Yet back in 2013, then-Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta ordered reviews that would lift all gender-based restrictions within the military for the purpose of complete integration of women into all combat positions by 2016.

The announcement by the Obama administration’s current Secretary of State Ash Carter in December 2015 that “there will be no exceptions” to roles of military combat based on gender was regaled by the Left as a victory for women. We all know the military exists for the purpose of social integration and experimentation, right?

This new status of gender neutrality has now created the natural conflict within the current practice of the Selective Service, the government agency that enforces the federal mandate that “all male persons” register within 30 days of their 18th birthday for military conscription, or draft, in the case of a national security need. This registration data must be kept current until the male is 26 years of age. Failure to comply may result in a felony charge punishable by up to five years in prison and/or a $250,000 fine.

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The Patriot Post Digest 5-23-2016
From The Federalist Patriot
Free Email Subscription
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As part of the enforcement, young men seeking financial aid using the U.S. Department of Education’s Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) must indicate their status as a current registrant in the Selective Service in the qualification process.

Yet the Selective Service website now declares, “Females as well as female-to-male transgender individuals who identify as male or have had sexual reassignment surgery are not required to register.”

Just last week, the U.S. House Rules Committee stripped a provision in the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) that would equally mandate the military conscription to women. Despite the U.S. House Armed Forces Committee narrowly approving female inclusion in the draft, Rules Chairman Rep. Pete Sessions of Texas described the notion as “reckless policy” in “coercing America’s daughters to sign up for the Selective Service.”

The U.S. Senate’s version of the NDAA includes the mandatory draft registration for both men and women, which will take effect in 2018. The conflicting versions of the defense bill guarantees a House-Senate Conference Committee and a guarantee of more debate.

Despite the military not using conscription since 1973, the dread of the draft remains as another avenue through which the federal government exerts its control. The debate surrounding this topic seems to be currently driven by one’s view of the role of women in our society, with some fearfully standing with the politically correct crowd calling for equality.

The debate should, instead, be driven by the discussion about the purpose of the U.S. Military. Does the military function under the priority of equality and “rights,” or to defend our nation from all enemies foreign and domestic?

Granted, many roles within the U.S. Armed Forces are led with excellence by those of the female chromosomal mix who are truly our “she-roes” of Liberty. But what if data existed that demonstrated a difference in outcomes between all-male teams versus mixed-gender within certain roles?

Published in the Marine Corps Times in September 2015, a nine-month study demonstrated18 “Marine teams with female members performed at lower overall levels, completed tasks more slowly and fired weapons with less accuracy than their all-male counterparts.” According to the article, the Marines spent about $36 million to review and study the impact of combat integration through the lens of outcomes, not social equality. The analysis further showed “female Marines sustained significantly higher injury rates and demonstrated lower levels of physical performance capacity overall.”

This information was made available prior to the Obama administration’s elimination of gender criteria for combat. A schism obviously exists. There are those who acknowledge through deduction, common sense and real data that women may not be equal to men in successfully completing some tasks simply based on strength, size and endurance. And there are those who claim there is no difference without any regard to outcomes or the actual purpose of a mission.

So while the Left continues in its “transformation” of our nation and every institution thereof, society continues to be asked to vacate common sense and wisdom in making critical decisions, such as our national security and combat readiness.

Deborah Samson and the lady patriots of the Revolutionary War stood in the gap to defend the freedom of an infant nation extracting itself from the clutches of tyranny. Today tyranny is disguised as the political activism of those who disregard the integrity and performance of critical institutions such as our military.

So, ladies, pursue the honor of defending our freedoms. At the same time, prepare to be endangered by those who operate from the foundation of fear and to be criticized by the politically correct police and the Left media, both of which oppose sound judgment and reason.

One could easily argue that our activist culture is so busy making women equal that the female gender is in danger of losing its value.

MORE ORIGINAL PERSPECTIVE

ANALYSIS: Bill and Hillary’s War on Women19
Why We Fight20 Obama’s Steel Tariffs Will Hurt U.S. Economy21

TOP HEADLINES

Iran Deal Surrogate Also Funded Media22 Biannual EPA Meetings Allocate Billions in Slush Fund Money23 EPA Move to Raise Ethanol Fuels Alarm Over Engine Damage24

For more, visit Patriot Headline Report25

OPINION IN BRIEF

Burt Prelutsky: “When West Virginians got upset with Hillary Clinton for stating ‘I will put coal miners and coal companies out of business,’ she hastened to explain that she had misspoken. Apparently the voters didn’t believe her any more than the rest of us did, providing Bernie Sanders with a 15-point victory in the primary. When I was younger, I don’t recall people — not even political hacks — claiming to have misspoken. But in this era of Obama, Biden, Clinton and Trump, either they or their aides are constantly bringing out the brooms and mops in an attempt to clean things up and convince us that what we heard either isn’t what was said or what was meant. Formerly, if someone actually did misspeak, it meant that he had simply used the wrong word or had mispronounced the right word. Today, when you hear a politician use it as a defense, it means they were either caught lying or caught sharing an embarrassing truth. … If Mrs. Clinton were to ask West Virginians why they voted overwhelmingly for her in 2008 and have now thrown their support to Sanders, it would be poetic justice if they replied, ‘Oh, did we do that? I guess we must have mis-voted.’”

SHORT CUTS

The Gipper: “Public servants say, always with the best of intentions, ‘What greater service we could render if only we had a little more money and a little more power.’ But the truth is that outside of its legitimate function, government does nothing as well or as economically as the private sector.”

The BIG lie: “I wish the film [‘An Inconvenient Truth’] had over-estimated the seriousness of the [climate] crisis, but unfortunately it actually underestimated how serious it is.” —Al Gore

Blame the teetering economy: “There’s an increase in volume in passengers. A reflection perhaps of an economy that’s getting a little stronger, and [the TSA hasn’t] kept up with it in terms of screeners.” —Sen. Dick Durbin

Look, squirrel! “It’s been a very wet and cold start to the year and it’s reflected in our sales. We haven’t seen anything from a structural standpoint that gives us pause.” —Target CEO Brian Cornell (Right. The fact that more than a million people are boycotting Target has absolutely nothing to do with falling sales.)

Dezinformatsia: “The thought of male genitalia in girls' locker rooms — and vice versa — might be distressing to some. But the battle for equality has always been in part about overcoming discomfort — with blacks sharing facilities, with gays sharing marriage — then realizing that it was not nearly so awful as some people imagined.” —Charlotte Observer editorial

Late-night humor: “For the third year in a row, Washington, DC, was named the fittest city in American, mainly because Michelle Obama goes around slapping pizza out of everyone’s hands.” —Jimmy Fallon

Semper Vigilans Fortis Paratus et Fidelis!
Managing Editor Nate Jackson

Join us in daily prayer for our Patriots in uniform — Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, Marines and Coast Guardsmen — standing in harm’s way in defense of Liberty, and for their families.