The Patriot Post Digest 8-2-2016

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The Patriot Post Digest 8-2-2016
From The Federalist Patriot
Free Email Subscription
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Mid-Day Digest

Aug. 2, 2016

THE FOUNDATION

“Patriotism is as much a virtue as justice, and is as necessary for the support of societies as natural affection is for the support of families.” —Benjamin Rush (1773)

TOP RIGHT HOOKS

Khan’s Sacrifice and Obama’s Trash Talk1

Barack Obama isn’t one to shy away from controversy. On the contrary, he’s usually right at the center of the scrum. It was no different when he addressed the Disabled American Veterans Convention Monday and weighed in on the controversy over Gold Star families2. “As commander in chief,” Obama declared, “I’m pretty tired of some folks trash-talkin' America’s military ‘n troops.” He then praised each branch of the military with entirely appropriate evaluations of their abilities and might.

But for Obama to position himself and his party as the true patriots in this election is a BIG lie. Yes, our Armed Forces are still the best in the world. However, Obama has weakened them at every turn with sequestration and other budget cuts, and, worse, with his leftist social engineering policies that have driven military morale to dangerous lows. And that’s not to mention what he’s done with veterans here at home, who have died by the thousands waiting for care from Veterans Affairs. On a global scale, Obama and Hillary Clinton have made it more dangerous for our military with their disastrous policies.

As for Clinton, she began this whole kerfuffle by carefully selecting just the right Gold Star family — two Muslim immigrants; Khizr Khan is even an immigration attorney — to speak at the Democrat convention and bait Donald Trump. Unfortunately, he took the bait, but she is the one who cast the line.

It’s worth noting that Captain Humayun Khan was killed in 2004 while saving other soldiers from a suicide bomber in a car in Iraq — the war Obama and Clinton abandoned for political gain. He served honorably and was awarded a Purple Heart and the Bronze Star Medal for his valor. And his family represents the moderate Muslims both Democrats and Republicans say they hope to assimilate. Sadly, instead of honoring Capt. Khan’s sacrifice, our political “leaders” have turned him and his family into a political football.

Judicial Activists Dismantling Voter ID Laws3

Judicial activism is taking a heavy toll at the state level, where the conservative groundswell generated by Barack Obama’s leftist agenda is taking hit after hit. Unfortunately of late, four states with voter ID laws have suffered stinging defeats. It began on July 20 in Texas, where the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals ordered the state’s “discriminatory” ID requirement law to be amended4 by the lower courts.

Then, on Friday, North Carolina and Wisconsin were dealt similar blows. In the Tar Heel State, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals invalidated voter identification requirements5, arguing such laws are onerous because they “target African Americans with almost surgical precision.” Meanwhile, in the Midwest, U.S. District Judge James Peterson decreed6, “The Wisconsin experience demonstrates that a preoccupation with mostly phantom election fraud leads to real incidents of disenfranchisement,” thus the Badger State’s “strict version of voter ID law is a cure worse than the disease.”

Unfortunately, the setbacks didn’t end there — and probably won’t for some time — as yesterday North Dakota joined the ranks7. According to U.S. District Judge Daniel L. Hovland, “It is clear that a safety net is needed for those voters who simply cannot obtain a qualifying voter ID with reasonable effort.” He went on to argue, “Voter fraud in North Dakota has been virtually non-existent.” Furthermore, “The undisputed evidence before the court reveals that Native Americans face substantial and disproportionate burdens in obtaining each form of ID deemed acceptable under the new law.”

None of these laws were repealed through the ballot box, but rather by judges who ignored state legislatures, elected by their constituents with knowledge of what’s best for their state. As Thomas Jefferson warned, “The judiciary of the United States is the subtle corps of sappers and miners constantly working under ground to undermine the foundations of our confederated fabric.” That’s why, in the words of John Adams, “Judges, therefore, should be always men of learning and experience in the laws, of exemplary morals, great patience, calmness, coolness, and attention.”

The Election Thus Far8

Now that both conventions have ended and each party’s nominees have been confirmed, what can be learned and expected as the campaign season moves forward? First, let’s take a look at the numbers. Of the 221 million eligible American voters only 30 million voted during the primaries. Donald Trump received the most votes of any Republican nominee in history, but Hillary Clinton received even more votes, thanks to the fact that there are more registered Democrats than Republicans. Even with a record number voting this primary season, only 9% of Americans selected Trump and Clinton as the nominees.

As expected, both Trump and Clinton received respective jumps in the polls following their conventions. Though the polls show that Trump has slightly narrowed the gap nationally, this election will be won or lost based upon acquiring the electoral votes from the usual swing states of Florida, North Carolina and Ohio. For Trump to have a realistic chance of winning, he needs to sweep all three. With Hillary essentially starting at 242 electoral votes, all she would need to win is 28 more. Florida alone accounts for 29.

Of course, four months is a political eternity. Will this highly unprecedented and thus far unpredictable election year continue to surprise and confound? Or will recent electoral history and conventional wisdom hold sway confirming that this is Clinton’s election to lose? Trump may have already begun laying the groundwork for rationalizing a loss, telling a crowd he’s afraid the election is “going to be rigged.” But he also made the same argument that our own Mark Alexander made last week9: “If you really like Donald Trump, that’s great, but if you don’t, you have to vote for me anyway. You know why? Supreme Court judges, Supreme Court judges. Have no choice, sorry, sorry, sorry. You have no choice.”

Don’t Miss Patriot Humor

Check out Clinton Falls into Trump Trap10.

If you’d like to receive Patriot Humor by email, update your subscription here11.

BEST OF RIGHT OPINION

Thomas Sowell: The Political Picture12
Stephen Moore: Welfare Is the New Work13
Cal Thomas: Hillary’s Recycled Speech14

For more, visit Right Opinion15.

TOP HEADLINES

First Water, Now Trash Woes Hit Flint, Michigan16
FBI Tech Pleads Guilty to Acting as Agent of China17
DHS Grants 8,000 Syrians Temporary Amnesty18

For more, visit Patriot Headline Report19.

FEATURED RIGHT ANALYSIS
Democrats Campaign on Gun Control20

By James Shott

The New York Times sees a renewal21 of Democrats’ efforts to increase restrictions on guns. The newspaper says that after 20 years of holding back on the gun control initiative, “a string of mass shootings involving high-powered weapons, rising anxiety about domestic terrorism, and killings of and by police officers have emboldened Democrats. They say the shootings are intensifying support for gun control, elevating weapons policy to a top-tier issue, with particularly strong appeal to suburban female voters.”

Democrats, The Times says, will press for new restrictions in political races across the country that will include expanded background checks, new limits on gun purchases and increased scrutiny on gun makers and dealers — all of which is buoyed by polls they say show strong support for these measures.

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The Patriot Post Digest 8-2-2016
From The Federalist Patriot
Free Email Subscription
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National Rifle Association (NRA) spokeswoman Jennifer Baker said, however, that the American public would ultimately reject added gun control because Democrats, while cloaking their gun agenda in the language of “common sense,” really want to go much further. “The political elites and DC politicians don’t understand Middle America,” she said. “They don’t understand that voters support the Second Amendment and the individual right to self-protection.” The NRA rightly says Clinton would put an individual’s right to self-defense at risk.

Connecticut Democrat Senator Christopher Murphy agrees that Clinton and other gun control advocates are committed to making the issue a major theme of the campaign, and, should she win the November election, will continue it in her presidency. “This issue is a core value for Hillary Clinton and it is good politics,” Murphy said.

He should ask Barack Obama, the Gun Salesman of the Decade, about the results of these “good politics.”

One of the favored talking points in support of restricting the rights of law-abiding citizens to protect themselves and their families is that 30,000 people die in America each year from guns.

If you accept that 30,000 figure taken all by itself, without context, it’s shocking. That’s a lot of people.

However, when context is applied, it is substantially less damning. Considered as part of the roughly 320,000,000 total population of the United States, it represents just 0.0001%. That means each American has a one in 10,000 chance of dying from a gunshot each year. And, frankly, if you’re not a gang-banger on a Democrat-run urban poverty plantations22, your chances are far lower.

Even that doesn’t dig down into the details of gun deaths, showing how many are accidents, suicides, or justified shootings.

Furthermore, according to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), more than 20 times more people die from heart disease each year than from guns, and nearly that many die from cancer. More people — 42,700 — die from “intentional self-harm (suicide)” than from so-called “gun violence.”

In 2013, according to DrugWarFacts.org23, which cites data from the CDC, motor vehicle deaths totaled 35,369, all homicides were 16,121, and in 2014, drug overdoses claimed 47,055 lives.

Gun deaths do not appear on the list of the top 10 causes of death in America. In fact, FBI data show slightly more than 8,000 gun homicides in 2014, quite a difference from the overhyped 30,000 figure.

Conspicuously missing from the leftist tirade is that guns are inanimate objects, incapable of doing anything on their own. Like such things as hammers, kitchen knives and automobiles, guns are under the control of their user. Is this simple concept too complex for leftists to understand?

No, it just gets in their way: They know and understand that a disarmed populace is a compliant populace.

Last week, we noted24, “This year’s [DNC] platform doesn’t even bother to mention the words ‘Second Amendment.’ … Drafters opted instead for the meaningless tripe about how ‘gun ownership is a part of the fabric of many communities.’ Fabric can be changed. Rights endowed by our Creator cannot.”

The actions of average Americans tell a story different from Democrats. Matt Vespa reports25 that women obtaining concealed carry permits increased at twice the rate of men from 2012 to 2016. And the Crime Prevention Research Center notes that the murder rate fell by16% between 2007 and 2015, all while gun sales have gone through the roof.

Yet again Democrats are wrong about what Americans think.

MORE ANALYSIS FROM THE PATRIOT POST

Government Is Always the Biggest Fish26
Does Trump Really Want to Win the White House?27
The Big Government Libertarians28
A Texas Sized Defense Against School Shooters29
Venezuela’s Diet of Socialism30

OPINION IN BRIEF

Thomas Sowell: “Much has been made of Hillary’s ‘experience’ in politics. But it has been an experience of having proved to be wrong, time and time again. As a Senator she opposed the military ‘surge’ in Iraq that rescued that country and defeated the terrorists. As Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton carried out foreign policy decisions that led to major setbacks for American interests as far as the eye can see — whether in Egypt, Libya, Iraq, Iran, Ukraine, North Korea or China. This is the kind of ‘experience’ we don’t need to see repeated in the White House. Voting for an out of control egomaniac like Donald Trump would be like playing Russian roulette with the future of this country. Voting for someone with a track record like Hillary Clinton’s is like putting a shotgun to your head and pulling the trigger. And not voting at all is just giving up. Nobody said that being a good citizen would be easy.”

SHORT CUTS

Observations: “There is no pivot. There is no new and improved version. There is just Donald Trump — take him or leave him. Ask yourself this: What successful 70-year-old man — in the immediate aftermath of one of the greatest victories of his life — decides to do things totally differently? The answer is no 70-year-old man, particularly one with the level of supreme confidence displayed by Trump.” —Chris Cillizza

For the record: “I was treated like dirt. I don’t think the Khan family was treated that way. But I was treated like dirt. I was called a liar. [Hillary Clinton] went on TV many times and nodding her head, thinking that she’s so wonderful and she knows everything and I know nothing. … I don’t like her decisions. She kills people!” —Pat Smith, mother of Sean Smith who was killed in Benghazi

Non Compos Mentis: “They put [Jesus] in a grave, and threeee days later! The world knew he wouldn’t.stay.throwed! Now here’s a warning! To those who might be tempted to spend the next fouuuur years trying to knock Hillary Clinton down, you better get reeeaady for a woman who won’t. stay. throwed! They threw her down as the first lady. But she didn’t stay throwed!! They threw her down as U.S. senator, but she wouldn’t stay throwed! They threw her down as a secretary of state, but she wouldn’t stay throwed! They threw her down in this VERY campaign. THIS CAMPAIGN! But she WON’T stay throwed! NO! She won’t stay throwed! She won’t stay throwed! You betta listen to me, I said she WON’T stay throwed.” —Rep. Emanuel Cleaver (Hat tip to the Washington Post for the transcript31.)

Upright: “The Supreme Court concluded in 2008 that voter ID is constitutional and doesn’t impose an unreasonable burden on voters. But the recent decisions of three federal courts throwing out voter-ID laws in North Carolina, Texas and Wisconsin as discriminatory have put opponents of common-sense election reforms in raptures. These erroneous rulings twist the Voting Rights Act from a law intended to stop racial discrimination into one that transfers the power to determine routine election procedures — which the Constitution delegates to the states — to the judiciary.” —Hans von Spakovsky and John Fund

Inquiring minds want to know: “Honest question: Is there any other situation than voting where requiring a photo id is considered racist?” —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.