The Patriot Post Digest 6-9-2016

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The Patriot Post Digest 6-9-2016
From The Federalist Patriot
Free Email Subscription
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Mid-Day Digest

Jun. 9, 2016

THE FOUNDATION

“Illustrious examples are displayed to our view, that we may imitate as well as admire. Before we can be distinguished by the same honors, we must be distinguished by the same virtues.” —James Wilson (1790)

TOP RIGHT HOOKS

The Little Injun That Shouldn’t1

Elizabeth Warren is on the short list for the Democrat vice presidential nomination, whether the nominee be Hillary Clinton or Joe Biden2. Today, she’s going to roll out her audition as attack dog in a blistering speech about Donald Trump. She advance-released some of her planned comments, which appear to be loaded with some real doozies. Warren reportedly plans to call Trump a “nasty, loud, thin-skinned fraud” who is guilty of “racism” in his attack on a federal judge. (For the record, we explored Trump’s comments on the “Mexican judge” last Friday and what the episode illustrates regarding his view of executive power3.)

Warren also aims to tie Trump to two men who’ve gone out of their way to criticize him over his comments: Paul Ryan and Mitch McConnell. Particularly, Warren is interested in McConnell because he’s blocking hearings on Barack Obama’s Supreme Court nominee, Merrick Garland4. “Paul Ryan and Mitch McConnell want Donald Trump to appoint the next generation of judges,” the senator plans to say. “Trump chose racism as his weapon, but his aim is exactly the same as the rest of the Republicans. Pound the courts into submission to the rich and powerful.” Warren will insist Trump is “a Mitch McConnell kind of candidate … exactly the kind of candidate you’d expect from a Republican Party whose ‘script’ for several years has been to execute a full-scale assault on the integrity of our courts.”

Some observations: First, Warren herself is hardly the right messenger for calling someone a “thin-skinned fraud” for using “racism.” She is the one who fraudulently claimed Native American ancestry to further her career in leftist academia. Instead of being held accountable, “Fauxcahontas” won election to the Senate. But that’s deep blue Massachusetts for you — after all, the state kept re-electing Ted Kennedy.

Second, it is Democrats, not Republicans, who seek to pound the courts into submission, and who use the courts to accomplish statist objectives they fail to produce through legislative means. It may not always be the “rich and powerful” who benefit, but it is always the favored political constituency. That is a “full-scale assault on the integrity of our courts.”

And as for Trump’s comments, consider these statements from now-Justice Sonia Sotomayor: “I would hope that a wise Latina woman with the richness of her experiences would more often than not reach a better conclusion than a white male who hasn’t lived that life.” And, “Whether born from experience or inherent physiological or cultural differences … our gender and national origins may and will [emphasis added] make a difference in our judging.”

Democrats raised no objection whatsoever to those racist comments from a woman who now makes judgments from the highest bench in the land. They’re far more concerned with Trump’s intimidating bluster about a specific civil case. But which one should be more concerning?

Yes, Released Gitmo Prisoners Have Killed Americans5

About 12 jihadis who were formerly detained at Guantanamo Bay prison and eventually released have gone on to kill about six Americans in Afghanistan, The Washington Post reports6. The exact numbers are classified, according to government officials, but one death includes an American woman who was working as an aid worker in Afghanistan in 2008. This admission escalates the severity of questions regarding the wisdom of Barack Obama’s promise and stubborn efforts7 to close Guantanamo. The good news, however, is that nine of the 12 jihadis are either dead or captured by other governments.

While these 12 former detainees were released during the Bush administration, the problem can only get worse thanks to Obama’s “leadership.” Ibrahim al-Qosi was released by Obama in 2012 and he became8 one of the leaders of al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula — not exactly a rank-and-file jihadist. Furthermore, Obama has been transferring9 prisoners to Saudi Arabia, a country that has historically been America’s ally but which a classified section of the 9/11 report may implicate in the attack. Yet Obama keeps transferring Gitmo prisoners to the country in an effort to close the prison by opening the gates. With new confirmations of American deaths at the hands of former Gitmo detainees, the foolishness of that policy is obvious.

Scientists Call for Olympics to Be Moved Over Zika Concern10

The only thing worse than spending a ton of money on the Olympics is spending a ton of money on them only to have them canceled or moved. Now, with the 2016 Olympics about a month away, a group of 200 scientists signed a letter11 to the World Health Organization recommending that the games be moved from Rio de Janeiro over concerns that the gathering could trigger a worldwide spread of Zika.

“It is indisputable that holding the Games as scheduled has a greater risk of accelerating the spread of the Brazilian viral strain than the alternatives,” wrote the scientists that included medical school professors and researchers of infectious diseases. “Postponing and/or moving the Games also mitigates other risks brought on by historic turbulence in Brazil’s economy, governance, and society at large — which are not isolated problems, but context that makes the Zika problem all but impossible to solve with the Games fast approaching.”

The scientists are directing their criticism at the WHO because the group is saying Zika poses no threat to the games. But the WHO has a conflict of interest, as it has a secret memorandum of understanding with the International Olympic Committee.

And Zika isn’t the only health concern surrounding the 2016 Olympics. The water surrounding Rio is polluted with untreated sewage and at least one Olympic athlete needed emergency surgery after minor cuts on his leg became infected.

Games were canceled or moved in the past because of an international health concern. As recently as 2003, the Women’s World Cup was moved from China over concerns about SARS. The whole situation just goes to show that the price to host the Olympics has become outrageous12. Totalitarian nations see it as a way to strut before the world, façades and all. Last year, Boston had the right idea. After its mayor said he would not put taxpayers' money on the line to build the specialized infrastructure to support the Olympics, the IOC cut them from the running. Of course, the games could be moved to Venezuela, where the world could see first hand the wonders of socialism…

Don’t Miss Alexander’s Column

Read Honoring Second Lieutenants — A Travelogue13, a recap of Alexander’s travel to the Air Force Academy to celebrate the graduation of the Class of 2016.

If you’d like to receive Alexander’s Column by email, update your subscription here14.

BEST OF RIGHT OPINION

Larry Elder: What Sotomayor Said Was Worse15
Cal Thomas: Explaining Donald Trump16
Joe Bastardi: I’m Just a Prisoner of the Weather17
Victor Davis Hanson: America: History’s Exception18

For more, visit Right Opinion19.

FEATURED RIGHT ANALYSIS
The Leftmedia’s Broken Monopoly20

By Arnold Ahlert

Agence France Presse revealed21 this week that the U.S. newspaper industry lost more than 50% of the jobs it had as recently as the 1990s. Unsurprisingly, AFP attributed the decline to the “massive shift to digital media that has hammered traditional newspapers.” No doubt that is a factor, but the comments section following the article was much more revealing. Overwhelmingly, those who gave up reading newspapers cited two reasons for their decision: liberal bias and the virtual extinction of anything resembling journalistic integrity.

Unfortunately, liberal bias and a lack of journalistic integrity have moved seamlessly into the digital realm. Yet far more important is what was unable to completely survive the shift: the Left’s monopolistic control of news dissemination. Gone are the days when the Big Three TV networks, and a handful of “important” newspapers such as the New York Times and Washington Post, made it seem as if the entire nation were marching in lockstep behind the liberal agenda.

That is not to say they’ve given up trying. “For the two and a quarter centuries of our republic, Americans have expected the fourth estate to tell it raw and straight,” writes22 columnist John P. Warren. “In the lifetime of Baby Boomers, however, the Progressive Establishment, abetted by most news and information outlets — State Media — and Academia, have distorted our founding truths in much of what we hear and watch, not unlike the Soviet Union’s Pravda and China’s People’s Daily.”

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The Patriot Post Digest 6-9-2016
From The Federalist Patriot
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Exaggerated? Warren provides a compelling and disturbing list of the top five media conglomerates and their subsidiaries:

Comcast: NBCUniversal, the NBC network, Telemundo, CNBC, MSNBC, Bravo, Oxygen, CNBC World, 24 TV stations, Comcast Sports, and pieces of the Weather Channel, A&E, The History Channel, Lifetime, FEARnet, PBS Kids Sprout, as well as several online outlets, and Universal Studios in Hollywood.

Disney: ABC television network, ESPN, the Disney Channel, Pixar Animation, and pieces of A&E, Lifetime, Biography, and The History Channel.

Time-Warner: Warner Brothers Television, TBS, TNT, TCM, CNN International, CNN, HLN, HBO, Cinemax, and magazines, such as Time, People, Sports Illustrated, Life, InStyle, Real Simple, Fortune, Southern Living, and Entertainment Weekly. TW also owns Warner Brothers Pictures, New Line Cinema, Castle Rock, and others.

CBS: CBS Corporation, Showtime, Smithsonian Networks, CBS Sports, CBS Studios, 29 television stations, CBS Radio & 130 radio stations, CNET, Simon & Schuster, Pocket Books, Scribner, CBS Films, and others.

News Corp: Fox Broadcasting, 27 television stations, Fox News, Fox Business, Fox Sports, the Wall Street Journal, the New York Post, TV Guide, Barron’s, Harper Collins Publishing, 20th Century Fox, Searchlight Pictures, and National Geographic U.S.

News Corp might be considered an ideological outlier in some respects, yet it is worth remembering Executive Chairman Rupert Murdoch toes23 the same amnesty line as his progressive colleagues. Moreover, note that this is an incomplete list of information “managers,” omitting leftist social media titans such as Facebook, Yahoo, Google and Apple who are also dedicated to “shaping” the message Americans receive. Note further that these conglomerates have been more than willing to blur the distinction between news and popular entertainment — popular entertainment that spends considerable time mocking traditional American values, while promoting progressive agendas with regard to such topics as homosexuality, transgenderism, environmentalism and illegal immigration.

While this level of control is formidable, one could make a good case that total control remains elusive. In recent days, leftist hacks have been busted for being the leftist hacks they truly are. Former TV news anchor Katie Couric’s efforts to shape a story on gun control with a manufactured eight seconds of silence was outed24 by the Washington Free Beacon. A Telemundo cameraman’s attempt to stage anti-Trump protesters in San Diego was reported25 by NewsBusters. Hot Air’s Larry O'Connor blasted26 “reporters” covering Hillary Clinton’s first press conference in a month, listing the absurdly banal questions she was asked, every one of which studiously avoided any of the scandals currently dogging the presumptive Democrat presidential candidate.

While these are hopeful signs, liberal bias remains firmly entrenched. Perhaps nothing currently speaks to this reality better than the story about the IRS releasing the list of 426 (overwhelmingly conservative) organizations it targeted27 for “extra scrutiny.”

Make no mistake: This story is one of the biggest scandals in modern-day history. It dwarfs Watergate by an order of several magnitudes. Yet if one conducts a Google search28, not a single media organization that isn’t conservative is listed as having covered it on the first two pages of that search engine’s website.

That’s a major scandal in and of itself.

And the American people are becoming increasingly aware of this willful dereliction of duty. A recent poll reveals29 that only 6% of the public have a lot of confidence in the media, an abysmal percentage fueled by “perceptions” of inaccuracy and bias. It is a well-earned reputation built upon years of advocacy masquerading as journalism, errors of omission and commission, and the despicable transformation of what ought to be an adversarial relationship between a free, watchdog press and government, into an unholy alliance best described as a progressive-dominated, government-media complex.

One where the narrative, rather than the truth, remains supreme.

One last thing: The opportunity to read this column is due to the dogged determination of The Patriot Post’s Executive Editor and Publisher Mark Alexander. In 1996, he foresaw the opportunity to exploit the imminent decline of newspapers, and launched this beacon of Liberty. We remain one of the oldest conservative publications on the web, and while we celebrate our 20th anniversary, our goal remains what it has always been: to challenge the Leftmedia monopoly.

MORE ORIGINAL PERSPECTIVE

ANALYSIS: Assaulting Due Process30
No White Males Allowed31
Is the Islamic State Imploding From Within?32
By the Way, North Korea Is Working for Nukes33
The VA’s Priorities Dysphoria34
Did Trump Really Doom Congresswoman’s Campaign?35

TOP HEADLINES

Ninth Circuit Shoots Down 2A36
Oklahoma Police Can Seize Money Right From Your Wallet37
Russians Violating New START Arms Treaty38

For more, visit Patriot Headline Report39

OPINION IN BRIEF

Larry Elder: “Donald Trump should apologize. It’s one thing to accuse a judge of bias. It’s another to refer to a judge — as Donald Trump did to the man presiding over the Trump University cases — as a ‘Mexican.’ … That said, Trump should ask his critics why the silence over Judge and now-Justice Sonia Sotomayor’s comments on the role of race and ethnicity in how judges reach decisions. In speeches before she became a Supreme Court justice, Sotomayor said, ‘I would hope that a wise Latina woman with the richness of her experiences would more often than not reach a better conclusion than a white male who hasn’t lived that life.’ She also said, ‘Whether born from experience or inherent physiological or cultural differences … our gender and national origins may and will (emphasis added) make a difference in our judging.’ Trump is angry at a particular judge. But Sotomayor made a flat-out assertion that whites, blacks, Hispanics and women not only may, but will, make rulings according their sex, race and ethnicity — whatever that means. How is this any less bigoted than Trump calling out Curiel because he’s ‘Mexican’? … Man up, Mr. Trump. Apologize. Then bring up Sotomayor. Ask why the double standard and the selective outrage. But going after Curiel is not the hill to die on.”

SHORT CUTS

Observations: “For those who see America becoming a multicultural state of unassimilated tribes and competing racial groups, history will not be kind. The history of state multiculturalism is one of discord, violence, chaos and implosion. So far, America has beaten the odds and remained multiracial rather than multicultural, thereby becoming the most powerful nation in the world. We should remember that diversity is an ornament, but unity is our strength.” —Victor Davis Hanson

Upright: “Hillary Clinton has come in for a lot of mockery over the revelation that she delivered a speech on income inequality in New York in April while wearing ‘a Giorgio Armani jacket reportedly worth $12,495,’ as much as some of her poorer supporters make in a year. … This is hypocrisy, to denounce conspicuous wealth and argue for more government confiscation of it, while flaunting it yourself. The very definition of hypocrisy in public life is doing or having for yourself the things you propose taking from others. Hillary wants to have her cake and have Uncle Sam eat yours too.” —Dan McLaughlin

Non Compos Mentis: “No, [I’m] absolutely not [going to run an insult-for-insult campaign]. [Trump] can run a campaign of insults. … I’m going to talk about why he’s unqualified to be president based on his own words and his deeds. And I’m going to continue to make the case he is temperamentally unfit to be commander in chief.” —Hillary Clinton

Gun grabbers: “I really don’t personally think anyone should have a gun. I mean, that’s just my own philosophy. Nothing is ever solved when you have a gun in your hand except the worst possible scenario.” —DNC platform committee member Bonnie Schaefer, a Clinton supporter

Expert trolling: “The truth is I am actually worried about the Republican Party.” —Barack Obama

And last… “Of course Elizabeth Warren is correct that Donald Trump is a ‘loud, nasty, thin-skinned fraud.’ But is Senator Cherokee Cheekbones really the Democrats' best ambassador for personal authenticity?” —Kevin Williamson

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.