The Patriot Post Digest 7-18-2016

[nChrist]

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The Patriot Post Digest 7-18-2016
From The Federalist Patriot
Free Email Subscription
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Mid-Day Digest

Jul. 18, 2016

THE FOUNDATION

“The happiness of man, as well as his dignity, consists in virtue.” —John Adams (1776)

TOP RIGHT HOOKS

Division or Unity? Baton Rouge Reflections1

Americans are yet again seeking to come to grips with a racially motivated attack on police. Three officers were murdered in Baton Rouge Sunday by a former Nation of Islam member. “Everyone right now focus on words and actions that can unite this country rather than divide it further,” Barack Obama said. “We don’t need inflammatory rhetoric. We don’t need careless accusations thrown around to score political points or advance an agenda.” Well said. The trouble is America has listened to Obama over these last seven and a half years and has seen and heard little in the way of unifying action or non-agenda driven rhetoric. Just the opposite — few have been more divisive with inflammatory rhetoric meant only to score political points than Obama.

Case in point: When reflecting on the Louisiana murders Sunday, Obama chastised police: “If police organizations and departments acknowledge that there’s a [race] problem and there’s an issue, then that, too, is going to contribute to real solutions. And, as I said yesterday, that is what’s going to ultimately help make the job of being a cop a lot safer.” So if “racist cops” just admit they’re racist, this will all clear up.

His statements on law enforcement and race relations have fomented division2 rather than brought unity. In his speeches after several mass murders he has sought to push his anti-gun agenda by focusing on the availability of guns as being the primary problem, not on the criminals committing these horrible crimes. He has continually chastised those who disagree with his political views as being driven by selfishness and a lack of concern for the plight of others. He has refused to enforce immigration laws with which he disagrees and yet he has stood and proclaimed, “America is a nation of laws, which means I, as the president, am obligated to enforce the law.” He called the Baton Rouge murders an “attack on Rule of Law.” This from the personification of disregard for Rule of Law.

So, as America copes with the recent atrocities in Baton Rouge and Dallas and seeks solutions to the growing unrest and divisions, we’d love to believe that Obama will follow his own advice on unity. That he will not use this latest tragedy to push his political agenda, but that he will seek to stand for those unifying principles that our Founding Fathers so carefully laid as our nation’s foundation. But we’re also not naïve. Obama’s track record is utterly at odds with true racial healing.

28 Pages: Saudi Arabia and 9/113

The shaky U.S.-Saudi alliance took another hit Friday as Congress released 28 pages4 of previously classified information that implicates the Saudi government in the 9/11 attacks. Several government officials, including at least two in the Saudi intelligence apparatus, communicated with and/or assisted the hijackers. There were financial connections, as well, including some to the royal family itself.

However, the report failed to amalgamate two very opposing viewpoints. Some, like Rep. Adam Schiff, argue: “The Intelligence Community and the 9/11 Commission, which followed the Joint Inquiry that produced these so-called 28 pages, investigated the questions they raised and was never able to find sufficient evidence to support them.” But others, like Sen. Richard Blumenthal, say the allegations should not be taken lightly: “While the pages do not reach a conclusion regarding Saudi involvement in the 9/11 attacks, they provide more than enough evidence to raise serious concerns.”

Indeed. As Paul Sperry writes5, “The Saudi government’s ties to the hijackers and other al Qaeda suspects were so extensive that the FBI’s Washington field office created a special squad to investigate the Saudi angle. But this special focus on Saudi Arabia occurred belatedly, only after the 9/11 attacks, ‘due to Saudi Arabia’s status as an American "ally.”’ Astoundingly, investigative resources were not dedicated to Saudi involvement in financing and supporting terrorism prior to 9/11.“ Sperry summarily believes, "Yes, the Saudi government helped the 9/11 terrorists.” Saudi Arabia — erroneously, it would appear — claims it didn’t. About the only conclusion we can glean from Friday’s release is that this issue is nowhere near over.

BEST OF RIGHT OPINION

    Burt Prelutsky: What’s Black and White?6
    Peggy Noonan: Three Good Men Talk About Race7
    Jeff Jacoby: Real Debates Illuminate Issues. Presidential ‘Debates’ Debase Them.8

For more, visit Right Opinion9.

TOP HEADLINES

    GOP Convention Kicks Off Amid Tensions10
    Memphis Newspaper Apologizes for Accurate, Yet ‘Racist’ Headline11
    Baltimore Police Lieutenant Cleared in Freddie Gray Death12
    Islamic State Says Nice Islamist Was Its ‘Soldier’13

For more, visit Patriot Headline Report14.

FEATURED RIGHT ANALYSIS
The Bad Guy Wins in Turkey15

By Harold Hutchison

Friday’s failed coup in Turkey is a setback for human rights, democracy, the United States, and the Middle East in general. You’re probably asking why that would be the case when Turkish President Recip Tayyap Erdogan appears to have been democratically elected a number of times. A closer look at Erdogan’s conduct, however, shows he is not exactly a hero of freedom and democracy. Quite the contrary — he is a thug dictator.

Erdogan’s regime long has been cracking down on the opposition press in Turkey. One opposition party has claimed that nearly 1,900 journalists have lost jobs since Erdogan took power. Opposition media outlets have been fined for covering anti-government demonstrations. The government has the power to shut down websites without a court order, and famously blocked YouTube and Twitter after audio of an incriminating conversation surfaced. A former Miss Turkey was sentenced to a year in jail for allegedly insulting Erdogan, and a 13-year-old was arrested for a Facebook post.

Since the coup collapsed by early Saturday, Erdogan’s regime has detained more than 6,000 military officers, soldiers, judges, police officers and others. He declared, “This uprising is a gift from god to us because this will be a reason to cleanse our army.” While rumors that Erdogan set up the whole thing are likely overblown, he clearly didn’t let a crisis go to waste.

More ominously, our NATO ally Turks have ordered a halt to operations at Incirlink Air Base, which is used by the 39th Air Base Wing of the United States Air Force, and which also hosts British, Saudi and German aircraft that carry out strikes against the Islamic State. Not only is Incirlik less than 70 miles from the Syrian border, the United States has a number of “special weapons” stored there, mostly B61 gravity bombs. The base is a critical and strategic launching point for the U.S.

Erdogan has allegedly turned a blind eye to foreign fighters who travel through Turkey to join the Islamic State, and his sympathies have been increasingly Islamist. Under Erdogan’s regime, Turkey denied the 4th Infantry Division permission to pass through Turkey to attack Saddam Hussein’s regime from the north in 2003. Israel has also come under fire from Erdogan, particularly after the Gaza flotilla incident.

Since the failure of the coup, Erdogan has been moving to target his opponents. His regime is now demanding that the United States hand over Fethullah Gulen, a former ally of Erdogan’s. Gulen runs the Hizmet movement, which runs schools in Turkey. He also appears to be a real example of a moderate Muslim. He supports democracy, education, military action against the Islamic State, interfaith dialogue, and freedom of religion. Gulen cut ties with Erdogan after a 2013 corruption scandal, and since then, Erdogan has been moving to take out the moderate cleric.

[nChrist]

________________________________________
The Patriot Post Digest 7-18-2016
From The Federalist Patriot
Free Email Subscription
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Should the United States hand Gulen over to Erdogan, it would be for certain death. Not only would that strengthen the Erdogan regime, it would silence one of the most prominent moderate voices in Islam. That would be a huge loss for the people of the entire Middle East, not just a setback in the War on Terror. Bottom line on the coup: The fact that Erdogan’s regime survived means the bad guy has won this round. But as is usually the case in the Middle East, there aren’t all that many good guys.

More Chaos on Obama’s Watch16

By Charles Paige

Barack Obama and John Kerry’s response to the unsuccessful coup attempt in Turkey provided additional evidence about which is the real “JV” team. As if that point hadn’t already been proven beyond a reasonable doubt. By continually adopting policies that are based on the make-believe world they’d like to have rather the rough and tumble one they’re actually living in, Obama and Kerry contribute to the instability that dominates current headlines and puts our national interests at great risk. As The Wall Street Journal notes, the attempted coup “adds an alarming twist in world events that already appear to be spiraling out of U.S. control.”

A White House press release17 stated that Obama “reiterated the United States' unwavering support for the democratically-elected, civilian Government of Turkey” during a conference call with his national security team, as if election results are the sole determinant of legitimacy and common interest. Tellingly, Hamas — another “democratically elected civilian government” — released a similar statement. In throwing his “unwavering” support behind Erdogan early, Obama gave a boost to a regime that has steadily been moving into the Islamist camp. It will be ironic if — as many analysts predict — the slide toward authoritarianism accelerates and the last vestiges of real democracy are removed thanks, at least in part, to Obama’s endorsement.

Then again, after enduring the last seven and a half years of Obama, perhaps that’s not ironic at all.

Although he would almost certainly not present it in this fashion, Obama likely admires the extent to which Erdogan has “fundamentally transformed” Turkey, mirroring many of Obama’s own promises — and outcomes. Erdogan promised to rule on behalf of all Turks, but increasingly he does not. He promised to repair the economy, but a recession could be on the horizon. He promised peace, but his combative policies isolated Turkey in the Middle East and estranged it from the West. He promised security, but Turks fear recent bombings are just the tip of the iceberg.

All of that sounds eerily familiar to the “Hope ‘n’ Change™” mantra Obama and Co. incessantly promoted in 2008. Look where that’s got us. And look where Erdogan has Turkey.

MORE ANALYSIS FROM THE PATRIOT POST

    A Culturally Suicidal Progressive Ideology18
    Previously Suppressed Details of Paris Attack Emerge19
    Dems Don’t Want Kids Trained With Guns20
    Electric Grid Lacks Needed Security21

OPINION IN BRIEF

Burt Prelutsky: “Even I can’t place the entire blame on Obama, either for black crime or for the decline in black employment. After all, he can’t compel his fellow blacks to get an education, which is required in an increasingly technological world, or to get married. The fault lies with those who keep electing the dumbest, most corrupt politicians in America, and with the media for making Al Sharpton, who should be serving time for tax evasion and sedition, the spokesman for black America. … Even half a century after the Civil Rights Act, after 50 years of Affirmative Action, Operation Head Start, trillions of dollars in welfare and small business loans, 72% of those black babies not aborted are born to single, uneducated women. The reality is that it’s not much different when it comes to Caucasians. Most of the white prison inmates were raised in homes in which a father was only a rumor. It’s not impossible for single women to raise decent, law-abiding children, but it’s a lot harder to do it alone, especially when it comes to dispensing discipline and providing a role model for a teenage boy.”

SHORT CUTS

The Gipper: “I’ve learned in Washington, that that’s the only place where sound travels faster than light.”

Observations: “So I drove home from Kansa over the weekend, and I noticed something: Wherever I was, from Lawrence, to Kansas City, to St. Louis or Paducah or Nashville, it seemed as if white and black people were going out of their ways to be nice to each other. As I’ve noted before, a lot of people seem to want to gin up racial tensions, but ordinary Americans don’t seem so big on that.” —Glenn Reynolds

Blame: “It’s absolutely insane that we have a president of the United States and a governor of Minnesota making the statements they made less than one day after the police-involved shootings. And those police-involved shootings, make no mistake, are what absolutely have triggered this rash of senseless murders of law enforcement officers across this country. It’s reprehensible. And the president of the United States has blood on his hands that will not be able to come washed off.” —Stephen Loomis, president of the Cleveland Police Patrolmen’s Association

The BIG Lie, part I: “ISIL in Syria and Iraq is under great, great pressure and people are acting out in various places, but they are not growing in their ability to do things. They are shrinking. They are on the run, and I believe what we’re seeing are the desperate actions of an entity that sees the noose closing around it.” —John Kerry in a rehash of the false 2012 Obama campaign narrative — it’s still false

The BIG Lie, part II: “A lot of people have talked about American troops going in [to Syria], etc. Congress displayed absolutely zero willingness to vote to do that. And if people have a willingness to show that now that has changed, the administration will listen to any legitimate plan, any legitimate way to do more.” —John Kerry (Actually, Obama has pledged NOT to deploy troops — which was also a lie — at least 10 times22.)

Alpha Jackass: “Given how police haven’t been held accountable for murdering black people, it’s no surprise some are taking justice into their own hands.” —ThinkProgress editor Zack Ford

And last… “I would love to see the left attempt a coup in this country. No one could withstand their vicious hashtags.” —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.