The Patriot Post Digest 6-16-2016

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The Patriot Post Digest 6-16-2016
From The Federalist Patriot
Free Email Subscription
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Mid-Day Digest

Jun. 16, 2016

THE FOUNDATION

“Of those men who have overturned the liberties of republics, the greatest number have begun their career by paying an obsequious court to the people, commencing demagogues and ending tyrants.” —Alexander Hamilton, Federalist No. 1

TOP RIGHT HOOKS

Firing Blanks on Gun Control1

After a tense 15-hour standoff, Democrat hostage takers relinquished control of the Senate late last night. Their demand: Gun control, and lots of it. Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT), at the forefront of pushing for gun control ever since Sandy Hook in 2012, led the filibuster. He succeeded in extracting a small concession from Republicans: They will allow votes on two measures — so-called “universal background checks” and banning anyone on the terror watch list from owning a firearm. Neither, of course, would have stopped Omar Mateen, but that’s not the point. And neither bill is likely to pass the Republican Senate.

Meanwhile, Donald Trump announced he was going to meet with the NRA about the terror watch list idea. We hope that means he’ll clarify his stance on both the Second Amendment and due process rights to line up with the NRA, which has both issues correct.

A couple of points about the two proposals. First, there are already essentially universal background checks2, but the question boils down to the information included in a check. Who defines what prevents someone from legally buying a firearm? And how accurate is the input to the system? Second, there isn’t just one terror watch list, and the lists that exist are based on secret evidence not up for judicial review. So people like the Weekly Standard’s Steve Hayes wrongly end up on a list with little recourse for getting off. Denying basic constitutional rights without due process is not a solution — unless you’re a statist hell bent on undermining the Second Amendment.

Finally, it’s not a gun problem. As Mark Alexander wrote yesterday3, “If ‘gun control’ were the solution, then there would be no terrorism in Western Europe — and (thus far), the European attacks have had far more casualties. Furthermore, the Orlando attack took place in a ‘gun free’ zone — apparently, the bloodthirsty assailant didn’t pay attention to the sign.”

Obama’s Economy Has Trapped the Fed4

Seeing no end to the economic reality Barack Obama created, the Federal Reserve announced that it would not raise interest rates in June. “The stance of monetary policy remains accommodative, thereby supporting further improvement in labor market conditions and a return to 2 percent inflation,” the Federal Open Market Committee said in a statement5. The decision comes as growth in the labor force stalled if not declined6 during the month of May. Furthermore, with the housing sector and household spending picking up, an increase of the interest rate would likely tank those modest gains. After all the jiggering and conniving the Federal Reserve did to (allegedly) get the American economy out of the Great Recession, it has found itself painted into a corner.

“The Keynesian economists who have run U.S. economic policy since 2008 are clearly stumped,” opined The Wall Street Journal7. “First they said $800 billion in fiscal stimulus would stir a return to prosperity, then they said that monetary stimulus would do the trick. Now they blame their failure on ‘secular stagnation’ and Republicans in Congress whose pro-growth proposals have been blocked at every turn by Senate Democrats and President Obama.”

And while watchers of the economy are frustrated at the Fed’s inability to act, there’s little it can do. “Recognizing that virtually all postwar U.S. recessions were preceded by excessive Fed rate hikes, Fed Chair Janet Yellen at least seems to have learned from history. Kudos,” wrote8 Investor’s Business daily. Indeed, there are indications that the nation is about to head into another recession. Deutsche Bank predicts there a 55% chance of a recession next year, and businesses have slowed down their hiring and production, among other indicators, signaling that they are not making any firm, long-term plans. With the stagnation, Obama’s tepid economy will be a problem the next president will most likely inherit.

Russian Hackers Exploit Weaknesses in DNC Computers9

What is it with socialists perpetrating funny business on the Democrat National Committee computers? The DNC recently admitted that hackers in the Russian government had penetrated their computer system10 and got their hands on the opposition file Democrats have been creating on Donald Trump. Hackers had infiltrated the system so far that they were able to read emails and chat messages. In December, staffers working for the Bernie Sanders campaign accessed11 confidential voter information the Clinton campaign was keeping in the DNC system through a bug in a firewall. Sanders apologized to Clinton during one of their debates, but that breach was for only a few hours. Russian hackers were collecting information for about a year. Surely the DNC was keeping its information in a more protected place than an unsecure server stored in someone’s basement.

The question now is why hackers thought opposition research on Trump — information that will be made public as the election goes on, and much of it already in the public domain — was valuable to them. One theory is that Russians want as much information as they can get so that they can manipulate Trump if he becomes president. Another12 is that the Russians will use the opposition file as leverage. Leak the file to Trump; expect a favor down the road. One thing’s clear: This is more serious than that drama with Sanders a few months back. It’s also not as serious as operating a private email account that violated federal law and made it all but certain Russian hackers accessed state secrets. But which one got more pushback from the DNC?

On that note, some of the hacking results have been leaked, and Trump’s campaign had this to say: “We believe it was the DNC that did the ‘hacking’ as a way to distract from the many issues facing their deeply flawed candidate and failed party leader. Too bad the DNC doesn’t hack Hillary Clinton’s 33,000 missing emails.”

Don’t Miss Alexander’s Column

Read Allahu Akbar Orlando — Analysis of the Absurd3, Alexander’s categorical observations on the latest Islamist assault.

If you’d like to receive Alexander’s Column by email, update your subscription here13.

Did You Know?

The Patriot Post’s Digest represents a collaborative effort of contributors, editors and technical staff who bring their passion and expertise from all walks of life. We work hard to ensure an accurate and penetrating analysis of the week’s news, policy and opinion. Indeed, this is what you, our readers, have come to expect over the last 20 years. Many Patriots volunteer their time and effort to our mission, while others receive only a modest salary. Nonetheless, our costs are substantial.

If you find today’s Digest interesting, inspiring or informative, we humbly ask that you consider making a secure online donation14 toward our 2016 Independence Day Campaign. Or, if you prefer to support us by mail, please send your donation with our printable donor form15. Thank you for your support! —Nate Jackson, Managing Editor

BEST OF RIGHT OPINION

Edwin J. Feulner: Why ‘Brexit’ Makes Sense16
Jim DeMint: Our Enemy Is Political Islam, Not Each Other17
Veronique de Rugy: Job-Killing Red Tape for Thee, Not for Me18

For more, visit Right Opinion19.

TOP HEADLINES

House Committee Censures IRS Head20
Anonymous Hacks Pro-ISIS Twitter Accounts, Fills Them With Gay Pride21
The Dumbest ‘I Shot an Assault Rifle!’ Article in the History of the World Ever22

For more, visit Patriot Headline Report23

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The Patriot Post Digest 6-16-2016
From The Federalist Patriot
Free Email Subscription
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FEATURED RIGHT ANALYSIS
College Coeds and Sexual Assault24

By Ben Adams

When a preposterously lenient penalty was handed down to the “all-American” swimmer at Stanford University who had raped an incapacitated woman behind a garbage dumpster, most people rightly experienced revulsion and anger at this injustice. That revulsion is amplified among Stanford alumni.

While there may have been extenuating circumstances known only to the judge, it is difficult to conceive what how any such circumstances would result in such leniency.

Those who have never been the victim of a sexual assault can’t comprehend the humiliation and personal violation. We can weep for the victim, love the victim, and pray for the victim, but we can never take away the lifetime of pain and anguish that they bear.

Some assaults, as in the Stanford case, clearly fit the definition of “rape.” Unfortunately, for every case where rape is clear, there are thousands of sexual encounters between college coeds which might be classified as assault but could never produce a conviction because both parties were impaired by drugs — the most common drug being alcohol. For this reason, few assaults are reported, and of those that are, most result in plea bargains or refusals to prosecute.

Further, some of the most “celebrated” cases of sexual assault, those which have become media sensations, such as gang rape charges against the Duke lacrosse team and the Phi Kappa Psi fraternity25 at the University of Virginia, prove to be unfounded. The MSM may have increase their market share advertising by promoting sensational cases, but when those cases have been proven unfounded, they tend to undermine legitimate charges.

The best defense against most instances of sexual assault begins with personal responsibility. First, if you are a parent, and your coed is not committed to abstain from sex and alcohol use, make sure your sons and daughters understand what constitutes “consensual sex.” Second, no matter what their attitudes about sex might be, they must avoid making poor choices that increase their exposure to predatory sexual encounters — which on college campuses most often begin with alcohol/drug impairment.

It is likely that everyone reading these words is, or knows someone who made poor choices about alcohol/drug consumption in the wrong company and, as a consequence, had a sexual encounter they regretted. Few of those encounters rise to the level of the assault in the Stanford case, but many do involve predatory sex, even if both parties are impaired.

Some have suggested — or worked to pass laws requiring — “sexual consent contracts26,” which may seem laughable but…

If a loved one ever entrusts you with news of a sexual assault, understand that they’re taking a huge risk in telling you. Give them your attention, compassion and belief. And if the victim is a minor, report the assault to qualified investigators — don’t let an offender re-offend.

It is unfortunate that within 24 hours of sentencing, the Stanford assault case became fodder for race-bait memes, which appeared across social media platforms. Those memes compared sentencing between white and black offenders, which, again, is an unfortunate diversion from the subject at hand.

And on the subject of alcohol/drug impairment and sentencing, consider that if a drunk driver kills another motorist, few states have minimum sentencing standards that exceed one year. Our home state of Tennessee has the most stringent sentencing requirements in the nation: eight to 60 years. But in Maryland this week, a drunk driver who killed two passengers in his car was sentenced to just four years in prison, which according to The Washington Post “was more than two years longer than [his] attorney had sought but eight years shorter than what prosecutors wanted.” He is eligible for parole in one year.

Sound familiar? A mitigating factor was that the other three occupants in the car were also impaired. Now don’t get us wrong — the sentencing in both cases seems grossly lenient, but the Maryland judge said he would not punish the driver for “the sins of a society that has made teenagers think it is okay to drink and do drugs.”

Finally, on a related note about sentencing for sexual assault, for those who have so quickly politicized the Stanford case, we draw your attention to another case when a lawyer got a child rapist off in a plea bargain for “time served in the county jail” — two months. One Hillary Rodham agreed to defend the rapist27 “as a personal favor” before becoming that state’s first lady.

In her defense of Thomas Alfred Taylor, Hillary impugned the character of his 12-year-old victim, alleging she “sought out older men” and was “emotionally unstable.”

In a recent interview, the victim in that case had a few words for Clinton: “[She] took me through Hell. … I realize the truth now, the heart of what you’ve done to me. And you are supposed to be for women?”

MORE ORIGINAL PERSPECTIVE

ANALYSIS: Progressive Insanity Endangers America28
Senate Ignores Defense Bill Veto Threat29

OPINION IN BRIEF

Edwin J. Feulner: “So what does an avowed Anglophile, who’s had the good fortune to live and study over there, say about the June 23 national referendum on Britain’s continued membership in the European Union? I’ve heard the arguments on both sides, and I say it’s time to ‘Vote Leave.’ The European Union is not the simple ‘open trading area’ envisioned in the 1950s. It has become a bureaucratic monstrosity, unaccountable to national parliaments, imposing a heavy thumb on the regulatory scale of its 28 members. … So why leave? Because Britain, with the world’s oldest Parliament, can reassert its authority over and responsibility to its own people, their laws, customs and traditions — and so I can go into a pub and buy a pint of beer and not have to ask for ‘473 milliliters of beer.’”

SHORT CUTS

Gun grabbers:

“There is a newfound imperative for this body to find a way to come together and take action, to try to do our part to stem this epidemic of gun violence and in particular this epidemic of mass shootings.” —Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) pushing legislation that would do nothing of the sort

“Few places on earth make it easier than the United States for a terrorist to buy assault weapons to mow down scores of people in a matter of minutes. The horrific massacre in Orlando last weekend is only the latest example. And all this is made vastly easier by a gun lobby that has blocked sensible safety measures at every turn, and by members of Congress who seem to pledge greater allegiance to the firearms industry than to their own constituencies. There is a word for their role in this form of terrorism: complicity.” —New York Times editorial board

“There is too much gun crime in the USA, and high-powered weaponry is too easy to get. That’s the fact. So let’s deal with it.” —Bill O'Reilly

“Sometimes we just have to acknowledge that the Founders and the Constitution are wrong. This is one of those times. We need to say loud and clear: The Second Amendment must be repealed.” —David Cohen in Rolling Stone

And last: “I think I spotted a flaw in this ‘stop terrorists with gun control’ plan. What if the terrorist is willing to break gun laws?” —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.