The Patriot Post Digest 6-20-2016

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The Patriot Post Digest 6-20-2016
From The Federalist Patriot
Free Email Subscription
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Mid-Day Digest

Jun. 20, 2016

THE FOUNDATION

“Let justice be done though the heavens should fall.” —John Adams, 1777

TOP RIGHT HOOKS

Guns or Terrorists?1

“We are and we will keep doing everything in our power to stop these kinds of attacks, and to ultimately destroy ISIL,” Barack Obama said in his weekly address. But the complete disconnect from Islamist terror still dominates his rhetoric and policy. “Being tough on terrorism, particularly the sorts of homegrown terrorism that we’ve seen now in Orlando2 and San Bernardino, means making it harder for people who want to kill Americans to get their hands on assault weapons that are capable of killing dozens of innocents as quickly as possible.” It wasn’t “homegrown,” it was Islamic State-inspired — a fact that would have been evident had he not neglected to mention six other Islamic terror attacks on his watch.

He also reiterated his new favorite term, “weapons of war,” and lamented as “unconscionable” their legality in schools and movie theaters. Uh, where? Those places ban weapons of all types — with signs, even!

The truly lamentable fact is that he not only has failed to do “everything in his power” to stop attacks by Islamist radicals he won’t name, but he has actively created a disaster in the Middle East through his reckless policies. And then he has the gall to blame constitutionally protected “weapons of war,” a fully loaded term meant to scare the public.

In very related news, Attorney General Loretta Lynch announced that the administration will release transcripts of Omar Mateen’s phone calls — edited to remove all references to the Islamic State and its proclaimed caliph. Lynch says this is “to avoid re-victimizing those people that went through this horror,” but let’s be serious — this administration is steadfast in its denial of the real problem, and even more so its own role in creating it. After all, this comes just days after news that Obama’s DHS removed3 the words jihad, sharia and takfir from the intelligence lexicon, as if using the words is the problem.

The result of this leftist, politically correct narrative is plain. As our own Arnold Ahlert writes4, “Despite the reality that Orlando terrorist Omar Mateen professed allegiance to the Islamic State and posted religious rantings on Facebook during the atrocity, 60% of self-identified Democrats characterized the attack as gun violence, compared to only 29% who viewed it as Islamic terrorism, according to a Gallup poll5.” Ignorance is bliss — until it gets people killed.

State Memo to Obama: Use Military Force Against Assad6

Further proof that Barack Obama’s foreign policy in Syria is a mess: 51 diplomats in the State Department signed a memo7 that called for the administration to take a tougher stance in Syria. The memo was submitted through the Department’s “dissent channel” and apparently leaked — either to intimidate the signees or to draw more attention to their dissent from Obama’s Syrian strategy. It called for Obama to use America’s air power to strike Syrian forces commanded by Bashar al-Assad over the dictator’s repeated human rights abuses. You know, actually enforce the infamous “red line.”

“This is remarkable,” marveled8 The Wall Street Journal. “These rebels aren’t the ‘neocons’ of liberal myth. They are career diplomats whose mission is to pursue the peace through diplomacy that Mr. Obama invokes as his highest foreign-policy principle. Yet they are indicting Mr. Obama’s Syrian diplomacy as a strategic and moral failure.”

But a more aggressive stance toward the dictator — who has gassed and barrel-bombed his own civilians and partly fueled the refugee crisis that has allowed the Islamic State to sneak into Europe — is fraught with diplomatic danger. Assad is propped up by Russia and any attack on him will anger Vladimir Putin. (In fact, Russia just bombed a U.S.-backed rebel group9.) Is America able to risk Cold War 2.0 after Obama has reduced the U.S. military’s fighting capability by turning it into a social-engineering experiment?

Finally, don’t forget: This news comes on the heels of CIA Director John Brennan’s warning about the growing threat of the Islamic State10. Blame for that falls squarely on Obama.

Al Gore Might Want to Oppose the Prosecution of Exxon11

The Left is heading into dangerous legal waters. In recent months, leftist attorneys general from blue states like New York and Massachusetts have been trying to build a case against Exxon Mobile Corp. Massachusetts AG Maura Healey demanded Exxon hand over 40 years of documents related to the company’s climate change research in an effort to build a case that the company committed fraud because it’s a “climate change denier.” Exxon, of course, is fighting the subpoena12, saying handing over mountains of banker boxes infringes on its First Amendment rights.

In effect, the leftist AGs are pushing for the criminalization of dissent13. But that cuts both ways. Climate change may or may not be occurring, and the cause — whether it’s human industry or the climate’s natural cycle — is up for debate. Responding to the prosecution of Exxon, 13 AGs from red states penned a letter that pointed out if the Left wants to prosecute anyone who doesn’t believe socialism is the response to warmer weather, global warming activists could be prosecuted for overstating the threat.

“We all understand the need for a healthy environment, but we represent a wide range of viewpoints regarding the extent to which man contributes to climate change and the costs and benefits of any proposed fix,” read the letter headed by Alabama AG Luther Strange and Texas AG Ken Paxton. “Nevertheless, we agree on at least one thing — this is not a question for the courts. Using law enforcement authority to resolve a public policy debate undermines the trust invested in our offices and threatens free speech.”

While the conservative AGs said in the letter they would not mount such a prosecution14, the same legal logic could lead to the prosecution of climate change activists who advocate for the redistribution of taxpayer money to green energy companies — like failed solar energy company Solyndra15. For example, Al Gore made statements that were demonstrably false16 in “An Inconvenient Truth” and he’s continued to double-down on the Chicken Little rhetoric. Is it just a coincidence that he’s a senior partner in a venture-capital firm that invests in clean energy technology?

BEST OF RIGHT OPINION

Rich Lowry: Heed Trump’s Warning17
Peggy Noonan: Hillary’s Gift and Britain’s Choice18
Todd Starnes: LGBT Activists Enraged Over Beach Patrol Bathroom Email19

For more, visit Right Opinion20.

TOP HEADLINES

Obama Admin Coy on Expanding Insurance to Illegals21
‘Climate Change’ Prediction Fail: What Did Hansen Actually Forecast?22
Justice Clarence Thomas May Be Next to Leave23

For more, visit Patriot Headline Report24

FEATURED RIGHT ANALYSIS
The Coronation of Hillary Clinton25

By Robin Smith

Bickering on the Right manifested itself clearly in the field of 17 GOP presidential contenders. Of course, 16 of these wanna-be-nominees fell to the sensationalism of Donald Trump, who as we highlighted from the beginning26 personified the anger and betrayal of the American working class. You know, “them.” The ones who’ve had their fill of excuses on illegal immigration, deficit spending and the on-again-off-again repeal of ObamaCare all showered with the lexicon of political correctness that permits a reckless Barack Obama to operate unchallenged.

But let’s point the hot spotlight on the sideshow on the Left that should be center stage.

Imagine the script written for this presidential election for Hillary Rodham Clinton27. A woman betrayed by her philandering husband in front of the entire world, yet she stood silent — well, except for slandering her husband’s many accusers. She was elected to the U.S. Senate of one of the most powerful states in our nation, New York, solely on her résumé of having married Bill, and all to prepare for her own presidential bid. In 2008, for a second time, this icon of the feminist Left was upstaged by a smooth-talking, charismatic male who ruined her plan to be the first female president in U.S. history. Accepting a gesture of symbolic unity, this ambitious woman served as secretary of state for four years with the obvious claim laid, once again, to make history in the presidential race.

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The Patriot Post Digest 6-20-2016
From The Federalist Patriot
Free Email Subscription
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That script, with a cast of characters that has been on cue with each key element, is being played out in the American Playhouse of Presidential Elections with one exception. An unexpected spoiler, Bernie Sanders, stole the punch lines, showed up with the action scenes and dominated the dialogue.

But the Hillary Clinton Coronation support cast is extensive. Let’s review a couple of key characters.

Debbie Wasserman Schultz, the Democratic National Committee chair, has been on her mark with each and every defense of Hillary and her obstruction of Bernie Sanders. A recently leaked DNC memo completely substantiates Sanders' claims of a coordinated coronation of Hillary with a full disregard for anything that remotely resembles a true primary challenge. Not that the fix wasn’t painfully evident to anyone paying attention…

There’s been a surprise twist, however, for the faithful Chairman Wasserman Schultz in her sudden role as a scapegoat. The off-script explosion of “The Bern” caught the well-rehearsed troupe off guard. Sanders is all but officially out of the race at this point. But with his voice supported by millions of Democrat primary voters, Wasserman Schultz is now facing blame for the mistreatment of the Sanders camp, despite the otherwise line-by-line performance of the Clinton Coronation script.

Remember those debates set for weekend nights when only agoraphobics were homebound to see? Recall how few times the Democrats took the stage as compared to the Republican battle among more candidates than an entire rugby scrum? All of those little details were written into the screenplay as the underlying purpose of Chairman Wasserman Schultz, simply to rig all to the favor of Hillary.

Being an essential ensemble in the storyline, the national media has been faithful. Providing just enough coverage of Bernie and his socialist band of entitled victims while absolutely skirting Hillary’s status as an accused felon derelict in her duty to her country. Awards await the brilliance of linguistic gymnastics flawlessly executed to create an amnesic fog around the coffin-draped caskets of the innocents who died in Benghazi after both Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton refused “that 3 am call” pleading for aid and rescue in the midst of September 11, 2012.

The Clinton Corruption Production Company guaranteed, through careful scripting, that she couldn’t lose the nomination.

The “super delegates” unique to the DNC were not in the cast, but were smartly planted in the American Playhouse audience to secure applause and thunderous support despite the unquestioned frailties of a candidate who could simply not win on her own.

But the backstory giving this production its heft and believability is the unparalleled corruption of big-dollar donations to the Clinton Foundation28 that yielded access and favoritism to our tax dollars through the State Department and other agencies carefully maneuvered by both Hillary and her charming lead man, Bill. There’s nothing like obtaining power through raw extortion.

Hillary Clinton may be smart. But as the principal performer in this epic presentation, it has taken a multi-million-dollar budget, extensive casting and exhaustive coordination to pull of her stand atop the heap that remains of the Democrat Party.

As the credits roll, let’s not forget a few of the critical stagehands that have made some of Hillary’s survival possible. Those dedicated pleasers of the media, the ever-present-always-adaptable “mavericks” — select members of the Republican incumbency. They fear the criticism of the Leftmedia more than the GOP base, and they have gone above and beyond their duties to ensure the infighting on the Right takes top billing and the ability of Obama to continue to operate unscathed to usher in his third-term successor is unhindered.

Sure, the Republican primary has had its entertainment value. But the award-winning choreography and staging on the Left should be extoled for its rigging of the coronation of Hillary Clinton — the first female nominee for president of the U.S. … and the first felon (whether she’s convicted or not) in our nation’s history.

Just as William Shakespeare declared, “All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women merely players…” Especially in Democrat politics.

MORE ANALYSIS FROM THE PATRIOT POST

Common Sense or More Corpses?4
Judge Rules Suspending ‘Pop-Tart Gun Kid’ Was Justified29
Pro-Choice30
Hypocrisy31

OPINION IN BRIEF

Rich Lowry: “Countless articles have been written on how much better we are at assimilating Muslim immigrants than Europe is, usually with back-patting over our openness and fluidity as a society in contrast to the self-defeating insularity of a country like France. This may be true, but the assumption that we have the magic formula is under stress now that we’ve repeatedly suffered mass killings by second-generation immigrants. The Islamic State model of inspiring ‘lone wolves’ already here is dependent on loosely assimilated American Muslims susceptible to its hateful appeals. Disturbingly, it is finding takers. In six months, terrorists have killed more than 60 people on our shores; two of the perpetrators were the sons of immigrants, and one an immigrant herself. One of the reasons we have avoided the problems of a France may be sheer numbers. France has 50 percent more Muslim immigrants than we do, even though it is a much smaller country. Only 1 percent of the U.S. population is Muslim; 7.5 percent of the French population is. The Somali community in Minneapolis, seeded with refugees and then replenished with chain migration, has proved a rich recruiting ground for Islamist extremists. This suggests that when we have our own enclaves of poor Muslim immigrants, the experience isn’t a happy one.”

SHORT CUTS

The Gipper: “There is no question that we have failed to live up to the dreams of the founding fathers many times and in many places. … But all in all, the one thing we must be on guard against is thinking that because of this, the system has failed. The system has not failed. Some human beings have failed the system.”

Stopped clock is right twice a day: “This is really a national security issue. It isn’t a gun control issue.” —Sen. Dianne Feinstein, who nevertheless advocates tighter gun control measures

Non Compos Mentis: “This was an act of terror and an act of hate targeted against a community. The LGBT community, the Latino community, and of course the LGBT community is so far too often the victims of these types of crimes.” —Attorney General Loretta Lynch (When was the last time the LGBT “community” was mass murdered in America? On the other hand, the top six American serial killers were all homosexual…)

Alpha Jackass: “The sad reality is that we are all complicit in what happened [in Orlando]. … I’m sorry I didn’t do more, and the same goes for Congress. You know, we look to you guys as our leaders. You make almost $200,000 a year to write rules, to make our society better — not tweet, not tell us about your ‘thoughts and prayers.’ To write rules to make our society better. And ultimately it comes down to money and influence. And … since 1998, the NRA has given $3.7 million to Congress. … Is this what you want your legacy to be? That you were a ‘could-have-done-something’ Congress, but you didn’t because of outside lobbying? That you were complicit in the deaths of thousands of Americans?” —"comedian" Hasan Minhaj

Wimp: “One day after 49 people were killed in the Orlando shooting, I traveled to Philadelphia to better understand the firepower of military-style weapons and, hopefully, explain their appeal to gun lovers. But mostly, I was just terrified. … The recoil bruised my shoulder, which can happen if you don’t know what you’re doing. The brass shell casings disoriented me as they flew past my face. The smell of sulfur and destruction made me sick. The explosions — loud like a bomb — gave me a temporary form of PTSD. For at least an hour after firing the gun just a few times, I was anxious and irritable.” —New York Daily News' Gersh Kuntzman

And last… “Urging vague and unconstrained government power is not how responsible citizens of a free society ought to act. It’s a bad habit and it’s dangerous and irresponsible to promote it.” —Ken White

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.