The Patriot Post Digest 5-24-2016

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The Patriot Post Digest 5-24-2016
From The Federalist Patriot
Free Email Subscription
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Mid-Day Digest

May 24, 2016

THE FOUNDATION

“It is necessary for every American, with becoming energy to endeavor to stop the dissemination of principles evidently destructive of the cause for which they have bled.” —Mercy Warren (1805)

TOP RIGHT HOOKS

FBI and DOJ Investigating Virginia Governor1

We are shocked — shocked! — to report that Hillary Clinton’s bagman, Gov. Terry McAuliffe, is under investigation2 for illegal campaign donations. Both the FBI and the Department of Justice have been investigating the Virginia governor’s personal finances, questioning whether or not he broke campaign contribution law and trying to discover if the Democrat had foreign sources of income. Particularly, the investigators are focusing on a $120,000 donation made by Chinese businessman Wang Wenliang.

The connection McAuliffe has with the Clinton machine cannot be overstated. Before he was governor, the man worked as the director for the Clinton Foundation for free. Indeed, donors to Clinton’s slush fund often donated3 to McAuliffe.

Wang Wenliang was no exception. According to The Wall Street Journal4, Wang donated $2 million to the Clinton Foundation. Currently, he ships soybeans through Virginian ports. Wang’s company also runs a port in China that’s a major route to ship goods into North Korea. As for Wang himself, he sat in the People’s National Congress. He’s a man with deep connections to the Chinese Communist Party and who has profited from providing material goods to a nuclear-armed country wishing America harm. He used his money to influence McAuliffe and Clinton. Wang’s exactly the kind of person politicians should avoid being influenced by. Yet the Clinton machine took the money.

NPR’s Iran Quid Pro Quo5

Barack Obama wasn’t just turning to a fiction writer6 to make up the narrative on the Iran nuclear deal. As is turns out, one of the groups Obama con man Ben Rhodes commissioned to help sell the fraudulent deal was also funding the very media reporting on it.

Earlier this month we reported on Rhodes, who recently admitted, “We had test drives to know who was going to be able to carry our [Iran deal] message effectively, and how to use outside groups like Ploughshares, the Iran Project and whomever else.” Now we learn, courtesy of the Associated Press, that the Ploughshares Fund “gave National Public Radio $100,000 last year to help it report on the pact and related issues, according to the group’s annual report. It also funded reporters and partnerships with other news outlets.”

Hot Air’s John Sexton explains7, “There are no conditions on the money and yet, guess who NPR turned to when reporting on the Iran deal? If you guessed Ploughshares' president, Joseph Cirincione, you are correct. He appeared on the network twice as the deal was being reached last March.” Moreover, “Cirincione appeared on NPR twice without so much as a dissenting voice in sight.”

As further evidence of collusion, it appears NPR also censored Republican whistleblowers. According to The Washington Free Beacon8, “The publicly funded National Public Radio declined interviews with Rep. Mike Pompeo (R., Kan.), a leading critic of the Iran nuclear deal. … When asked by reporters last week about refusing the interviews, NPR suggested that Pompeo’s office had never reached out to the station. However, multiple emails viewed by the Free Beacon demonstrate that Pompeo’s office had been in two separate talks with NPR producers about scheduling an interview.”

The Iran nuclear deal was only possible through myriad bribery and deceit. It truly is the sum of all lies9.

Cop in Freddie Gray Trials Found Not Guilty10

It’s official: The first of the six officers the City of Baltimore is prosecuting over the death of Freddie Gray has been cleared. On Monday, a Maryland judge found Officer Edward Nero not guilty of all four of the charges relating to the April 2015 arrest that left Gray with a spinal injury, from which the Baltimore resident eventually died. Nero’s involvement with the arrest was minimal. During the trial, Nero said11 the only time he touched Gray was when he helped him up after the man was handcuffed. And for that, the city accused Nero of assault, misconduct in office and reckless endangerment.

Nero wasn’t the first officer to be tried in connection to Gray’s death. Officer William Porter’s trail, held back in December, stalled with a hung jury, and so the man will be tried again12.

The verdict in Nero’s trial shows the extent to which the city is trying to pin blame on its police force. After the judge announced his decision, the city issued a statement reminding people Nero must still undergo administrative review. In September, the city was settling with Gray’s family13 at a tune of $6.4 million. It was assuming the six officers were guilty and was furthering the “racist cop” narrative14. These days it is grasping at the meager straws that remain.

As for the remaining officers, the question as to whether Freddie Gray had a potentially illegal knife on him never arose during Nero’s trial15. Reason’s Jacob Sullum noted last year16 that Baltimore’s vague knife law helps the officers argue that their arrest of Gray was lawful. It’s another argument the embattled officers can use to their defense against this seemingly frivolous prosecution.

Don’t Miss Patriot Humor

Check out The Lunar Surface vs. Lunacy17.

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BEST OF RIGHT OPINION

David Limbaugh: If Everything’s Negotiable, Let’s Negotiate19
Ryan Anderson and Roger Severino: Three Ways Conservative Lawmakers Should Fight Obama’s Bathroom Directive20
Thomas Sowell: Commencement Season21

For more, visit Right Opinion22.

FEATURED RIGHT ANALYSIS
Losing Sanders May Yet Define the Future of Democrat Party23

By Paul Albaugh

For those who thought that the Republican primary was a debacle for the decades, it appears that the Democrat primary isn’t without its problems. Democrat voters watch as their party struggles to unify behind one candidate, pulled between Bernie Sanders' “political revolution” and Clinton’s battered pragmatism. And for the Democrat Party elites, the struggle to keep their power is far from over.

Just over a week ago, the Sanders campaign was all over the news due to the violence that erupted at Nevada’s Democratic Convention. The disunity24 among disheartened Democrats was something to behold. Feeling slighted by party rules, Democrats supporting Sanders threw chairs and had to be cleared out by security at the convention May 14. Until Nevada’s convention, Sanders' campaign had tried to stay clear from negativity, choosing instead to stay focused on the issues of big banks and economic inequality. Sanders was gaining momentum and more people were turning their support to his message of socialism.

For what it’s worth, Sanders rejected the violence25 in Nevada. He stated that his campaign did not promote violence and that any accusation by Democrats that his campaign did so was “nonsense.” His supporters are clearly concerned that their candidate has been treated unfairly by the Democrat Party rules. Recently, the socialist has been demanding26 Democrat Party leadership “open the doors, let the people in!”

The party rules have benefited Clinton during this primary season. Just look at the 537 superdelegates — party members who can support any candidate they like — who have pledged their votes to Clinton.

By all indications, Sanders does not plan on exiting the race any time soon, even if Clinton clinches the nomination in the upcoming primaries by collecting the magic number of delegates. Why would he prolong his campaign?

Bloomberg notes27 Sanders has an incentive to stay in the race. “He and his strategists have said they want to maximize his leverage in the primaries to pursue a wish list of reforms at the July convention, which may include eliminating unpledged superdelegates and allowing more ‘open’ primaries in which independents can vote, along with changes to the party platform that call for reforms like single-payer health insurance and breaking up the largest banks.”

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The Patriot Post Digest 5-24-2016
From The Federalist Patriot
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Sanders and his socialist followers feel ostracized by the Democrat Party. They intend to do everything possible to change things and they aren’t going to give up on their candidate. Michael Briggs, a spokesman for Sanders, suggests28 the Democrat Party would be better served if it welcomed and engaged Sanders supporters who have been excited and energized by the Sanders candidacy.

Indeed, Sanders might realize the goal he set himself as a strong protest candidate. On Monday, Democrat Party leadership allowed Sanders to name five people to the 15-member committee that will craft the party’s platform, the Washington Post29 reports. Sanders used his newfound power to name a DNC member who wants the party to be more sympathetic toward Palestine. Pivoting away from Israel, America’s best ally in the region — that’s Sanders' foreign policy for you.

The party elites certainly do not want there to be such discord at the national convention as there was in Nevada, but the Sanders campaign may just forge ahead anyway — bitter rhetoric and all.

In an interview with the Associated Press30, Sanders predicted the convention in July is “going to be messy.” That doesn’t necessarily mean violence — like the Chicago riots surrounding the 1968 Democratic National Convention. “Democracy is not always nice and quiet and gentle but that is where the Democratic Party should go,” Sanders said.

During an interview31 this past weekend, Sanders indicated that he would not vote for Debbie Wasserman Schultz to remain as the chairwoman of the DNC. Instead he would vote for her opponent because his views are closer to Sanders' own. Only three of the 45 people that he nominated to serve on DNC committees had been selected, he further complained, and none of his supporters had been chosen to serve on the Rules Committee. He added, “If the process is set up to produce an unfair, one-sided result, we are prepared to mobilize our delegates to force as many votes as necessary to amend the platform and rules on the floor of the convention.”

As it stands now, the Democrat primary is far from over. Sanders intends to push hard in the coming primaries and is campaigning very well in the all-important state of California. As noted32 by the Associated Press, “A come-from-behind win for Sanders in California — a Clinton stronghold and home to 1 in 8 people in the United States — would end the former first lady’s campaign with a thud, allowing Sanders to refresh his argument that he’s the party’s best chance to defeat Republican Donald Trump in November. It would still, though, almost certainly leave him short of the delegates needed to catch up to her. The New Jersey results alone may put her over the top June 7.”

Clinton will likely reach the number of delegates needed to clinch the nomination. It doesn’t mean that she still won’t “feel the Bern.” Sanders and his supporters, millions of them, want the Democrat Party to embrace socialism. They want it now and they won’t let up even if she wins. Keep in mind that many of Sanders' socialist followers will not vote for Hillary Clinton. They despise her ideas, her arrogance, her corruption and the power that she has, just like many Trump supporters despise the Republican establishment sell-outs who have grabbed as much power as they could.

Clinton does not have the support of many voters under the age of 40, but Sanders does. Does the party fully embrace socialism to gain the young vote, or does it maintain business as usual? If Sanders loses, does he pledge his support to Clinton and convince his followers to do the same? If the answer to either of those two questions is yes, then the next question is: What can or what will Trump do to counter it? That remains to be seen or heard. Hopefully, Democrats will stay in a state of disunity all the way to the general election. Stay tuned because it’s about to get interesting.

MORE ORIGINAL PERSPECTIVE

ANALYSIS: Deteriorating U.S. Military Endangers the Common Defense33
FDA Peddling in Junk Food Science34
VA Secretary Throws Vets Under the Bus35
The Gun Control President Frees Up Arms Sales to Vietnam36
Climate Change Inquisition' Backtracks, but Fight Isn’t Over37

TOP HEADLINES

For more, visit Patriot Headline Report38

Clinton Declines Invitation to Debate Sanders on Fox39
TSA Security Chief Who Received $90K Bonus Removed From Post40
Feds Building Separate Detention Unit for Transgender Illegals41

OPINION IN BRIEF

David Limbaugh: “Trump’s lifelong instincts have been more liberal than conservative, and there’s no evidence he ever had an epiphany leading to a political conversion. Couple this with his boast that everything is a negotiation, which is almost like saying, ‘You really shouldn’t believe a thing I say today, because I may say the opposite tomorrow.’ So where does that leave us? Well, I can’t speak for others, but it’s early and I want to see how this plays out. At the very least, I believe that conservatives should withhold their support for Trump until they can extract meaningful concessions from him on major policy issues. Precisely because Trump has no ideological rudder, we must try to get commitments from him on not just judicial appointments but also specifics of tax policy, spending, health care, entitlement reform and the rest. … Those of us who believe that the nation is in peril and that another four years of this same statist agenda could put us over the tipping point must try to hold Trump’s feet to the fire to increase, even if only slightly, our chances that he’d govern more as a conservative. … November’s a long way off. We’ve gotta play the hand we are dealt. If Donald Trump says everything’s negotiable, then he and his supporters should understand that we have a right to negotiate, as well.”

SHORT CUTS

Insight: “The most dangerous man, to any government, is the man who is able to think things out for himself, without regard to the prevailing superstitions and taboos. Almost invariably he comes to the conclusion that the government he lives under is dishonest, insane and intolerable, and so, if he is romantic, he tries to change it. And if he is not romantic personally, he is apt to spread discontent among those who are.” —H. L. Mencken (1880-1956)

Alpha Jackass: “When you go to Disney, do they measure the number of hours you wait in line? Or what’s important? What’s important is, what’s your satisfaction with the experience? And what I would like to move to, eventually, is that kind of measure.” —Veterans Affairs Secretary Robert McDonald (“This is not make-believe, Mr. Secretary. Veterans have died waiting in those lines.” —Paul Ryan)

Demo-gogues: “No nation is perfect. Two centuries on, the United States is still striving to live up to our founding ideals. We still deal with our shortcomings — too much money in politics, and rising economic inequality. Racial bias in our criminal justice system. Women still not being paid as much as men doing the same job. We still have problems and we’re not immune from criticism — I promise you, I hear it every day.” —Barack Obama in Vietnam

Friendly fire: “In all due respect to the current chairperson [Debbie Wasserman Schultz]: If elected president, she would not be reappointed to be chair of the DNC.” —Bernie Sanders

And yet his carbon footprint is still monstrous: “It’s not unusual to see attacks on a messenger by people who don’t like the message. I don’t own a private plane. My house runs on 100% renewable energy. I do walk the walk.” —Al Gore

And last… “Bernie Sanders is one of the most honest and authentic people to run for president in a long time. He’s also one of the dumbest.” —Frank Fleming

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.