The Patriot Post Digest 8-24-2016

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The Patriot Post Digest 8-24-2016
From The Federalist Patriot
Free Email Subscription
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Mid-Day Digest

Aug. 24, 2016

THE FOUNDATION

“Gentlemen, you will permit me to put on my spectacles, for I have grown not only gray, but almost blind in the service of my country.” —George Washington (1783)

TOP RIGHT HOOKS

Hillary’s Ill Health More Than Rumor?1

The growing rumors regarding Hillary Clinton’s health — whether legitimate or not — seem to be gaining traction. A recent video showing Hillary’s strange jerking reactions after a question at a coffee shop, along with recent photos of her being helped up the steps of Joe Biden’s house, have only added fuel to the ill health speculation. In 2012, Hillary suffered a concussion after a fall, which, according to Bill, “required six months of very serious work to get over.” Couple that with a blood clot found on her brain several months later, and the current speculation surrounding Clinton’s health seem not that far-fetched.

Dick Morris, former adviser to the Clintons, recently questioned Hillary’s health, noting that Hillary has been keeping an abnormally limited schedule for a presidential candidate by campaigning only four days a week. The Trump campaign has also noted some of the growing questions surrounding Clinton’s health, with Trump specifically claiming that Hillary does not have the needed stamina to be president.

Naturally, Clinton’s campaign has pushed back against the rumors, saying they are “conspiracy theories” with no legitimacy. Clinton’s doctor recently released a statement saying, “Secretary Clinton is in excellent health and fit to serve as President.” Whether or not there is any truth to the ill health rumors, it is known that Hillary does suffer from hypothyroidism, which has a variety of symptoms including fatigue, weakness and weight gain. Maybe calls for Hillary to release her medical records aren’t a bad idea.

Oh, by the way, not only might Clinton be in poor health, but a U.S. Army training presentation (appropriately) listed her as an insider security threat2. The case for Clinton just keeps getting better, no?

Half of Sec. Clinton’s ‘Private Meetings’ Profited Foundation3

“More than half the people outside the government who met with Hillary Clinton while she was secretary of state gave money — either personally or through companies or groups — to the Clinton Foundation,” reports4 the Associated Press. “It’s an extraordinary proportion indicating her possible ethics challenges if elected president.” The details? “At least 85 of 154 people from private interests who met or had phone conversations scheduled with Mrs. Clinton while she led the State Department donated to her family charity or pledged commitments to its international programs.”

As we noted yesterday5, a campaign spokesman insisted, “Hillary Clinton never took action as secretary of state because of donations to the Clinton Foundation.”

It might be tough to prove action was taken on behalf of donors, especially when she deleted tens of thousands of emails, but it’s pretty clear that access was given for donors. And action may not be hard to see, either. Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta founded the Podesta Group, which his brother Tony still runs. The firm was paid $180,000 to lobby the Clinton State Department on behalf of Uranium One, a company Russia bought to control one-fifth of the uranium production in the U.S.6 Secretary Clinton approved the deal, while Uranium One donated $2.35 million to the Clinton Foundation, which she did not honor her agreement to publicly disclose. And Bill Clinton was paid $500,000 for a speech in Moscow. That looks suspiciously like Clinton took action as secretary of state because of donations to the Clinton Foundation.

Iran Erased Obama’s Syrian ‘Red Line’7

The Obama administration’s $400 million ransom payment8 to Iran represented a shrewd and illegal conciliatory act, but it also adds to what has become standard policy — undermining national security to pacify the mullahs. We now have a clue as to why Obama refused to intervene in Syria despite pleading in 2012, “We have been very clear to the Assad regime … that a red line for us is we start seeing a whole bunch of chemical weapons moving around or being utilized.”

The revelation comes courtesy of The Wall Street Journal’s Jay Solomon, who explained, “When the president announced his plans to attack and then pull back, it was exactly the period in time where American negotiators were meeting with Iranian negotiators secretly in Oman to get the nuclear agreement. U.S. and Iranian officials have both told me that they were basically communicating that if the U.S. starts hitting President Assad’s forces, Iran’s closest Arab ally … these talks cannot conclude.” Put another way: Iran was ready to nuke Obama’s proposed Iran deal if America meddled too heavily in Syria. Obama’s highest priority three years ago is both obvious and disconcerting — the nuclear deal trumped all else.

Meanwhile, Obama spokesman Josh Earnest insisted this week, “The notion of a ransom I think is often perceived as paying money in exchange of the release of unjustly detained individuals. That’s not what occurred here.” But as Rich Lowry has written9, “The Wall Street Journal noted that senior Justice Department officials objected to flying the cash to Tehran on grounds, in the words of one source, that ‘the Iranians probably did consider it a ransom payment.’” (To cover the tab for $1.3 billion in “interest” on the $400 million, Obama also made 13 payments of $99,999,999.99, all made on the same day — two days after the $400 million in cash.)

The same day Earnest said ransom is “not what occurred here,” State’s Bureau of Diplomatic Security released a dispatch10 that “warns U.S. citizens of the risks of travel to Iran.” It states, “Iranian authorities continue to unjustly detain and imprison U.S. citizens, particularly Iranian-Americans, including students, journalists, business travelers, and academics, on charges including espionage and posing a threat to national security.” And why not? The American taxpayers' pocketbook has been pulled wide open.

BEST OF RIGHT OPINION

Walter Williams: College Campus Lunacy11
Rich Lowry: The Colin Powell Defense12
Jonah Goldberg: Hypocrisy on Presidential Golf Is Out of Bounds13

For more, visit Right Opinion14.

TOP HEADLINES

Turkey Launches Offensive to ‘Cleanse’ ISIL From Its Borders15
30,000 Potential Terrorist Migrants Infiltrated Southern Border in 201516
Labor Panel Rules Graduate Students Can Unionize17

For more, visit Patriot Headline Report18.

FEATURED RIGHT ANALYSIS
The American Immigration System, a la Barack Obama19

By James Shott

A common refrain about immigration is that the U.S. “is a nation of immigrants.” People coming to the colonies built what would become the United States of America, and since then millions have immigrated here.

“Most immigrant groups that had formerly come to America by choice seemed distinct, but in fact had many similarities,” as ushistory.org20 explains. “Most had come from Northern and Western Europe. Most had some experience with representative democracy. With the exception of the Irish, most were Protestant. Many were literate, and some possessed a fair degree of wealth.”

Most, but not all immigrants intended to become American citizens. Some, however, returned to their native land after earning money to send home. Not all were good people; some were criminals, mentally ill, anarchists and alcoholics.

Furthermore, many Americans were not thrilled about immigration, and ushistory.org20 tells us, “In 1917, Congress required the passing of a literacy test to gain admission. Finally, in 1924, the door was shut to millions by placing an absolute cap on new immigrants based on ethnicity. That cap was based on the United States population of 1890 and was therefore designed to favor the previous immigrant groups.”

Throughout the decades and the problems and controversy that accompanied immigration, diversity came to the U.S., which had become a nation of primarily peaceful, self-reliant, hard-working people, qualities they generally passed on to the next generation.

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The Patriot Post Digest 8-24-2016
From The Federalist Patriot
Free Email Subscription
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However, the concept that America is a nation of immigrants is less and less valid. Today, the USA is a nation not so much of immigrants, but principally a nation of the descendants of people who were immigrants generations ago; a nation of Americans.

Our government has the duty to admit immigrants who want to become good American citizens, as demonstrated in the previously discussed examples of acts affecting immigration. No sensible person would allow people they cannot be virtually certain are good and honorable people into their homes; our government must be every bit as cautious.

Instead, we find that the current immigration system is wholly dysfunctional, and the responsibility goes squarely on the shoulders of Barack Obama and his administration. The idea held by many on the Left — that we are morally obligated to admit any and all who seek entry, legally or otherwise — is not just dumb, it is dangerous. And that concept has no basis in history or in the Constitution.

Nevertheless, that foolish idea has strong support, and it set the stage for what happened in a hearing of the House Oversight & Government Reform Committee this past April, when Chairman Jason Chaffetz (R-UT) addressed comments21 to those testifying, including Immigration and Customs Enforcement director Sarah Soldana.

Chaffetz listed some startling facts:

In a three-year period Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has released more than 86,000 criminal aliens into the American public. These are people here illegally, were caught committing a crime, were convicted of that crime, and instead of deportation, were released back out into the United States of America. All told they were convicted of more than 231,000 crimes.
In 2015, 196 of these people were convicted of homicide, and ICE released them back into the public, rather than deporting them.
One hundred and twenty-four of those who were released between 2010 and 2015 went on to commit homicide.
In 2013 ICE released 36,007 criminal aliens who were unlawfully in the United States. As of September 2014, 5,700 of those individuals went on to commit additional crimes.
In March of 2015, the director of ICE testified that during fiscal year 2014 ICE released another 30,558 individuals with a combined 79,059 criminal convictions, instead of deporting them. Of those 30,558 criminal aliens 1,895 were charged with another crime following their release, including sex offenses, assault, burglary, robbery and driving under the influence.

“And ICE told us that in 2015 the agency released 19,723 criminal aliens with a combined 64,197 convictions,” Chaffetz said, “including: 934 sex offenses, 804 robberies, 216 kidnappings, and 196 homicide-related convictions. And that’s on your watch.” They were here illegally, committed crimes, were caught, tried and convicted, and then turned loose to prey on the American people again.

Chaffetz then displayed an aerial photo of Notre Dame football stadium filled with game watchers, and said, “You released more people that were convicted of crimes and should have been deported than you can fit into that stadium. You’d still have people waiting outside in line. Those are the criminals that you released instead of deporting.”

Government’s job is to seal the borders from illegal entry, to thoroughly vet people before letting the acceptable ones in, and to prosecute and punish criminals. Put them in jail, or at the very least deport them and keep them out.

Do these colossal government failures rise to the level of criminal offenses? Should they? Or, is such dangerous and irresponsible behavior “merely” gross malfeasance? Is there no penalty for such wrongdoing, whether criminal or not?

Not in the administration of Barack Obama, where apparently the treacherous operation of this immigration system is a matter of celebration for his supporters.

MORE ANALYSIS FROM THE PATRIOT POST

What’s Trump Going to Do About Immigration?22 — Confusion arises from his recent statements.
Mass. Cronyism Favors Taxi Unions23 — Massachusetts puts the squeeze on the free market.
Are the Police Racist?24 — The Manhattan Institute’s Heather Mac Donald spells out why that’s not the case.
Mob Attacks Trump Supporters, Burns U.S. Flag25 — But you won’t hear about it from the mainstream media.

OPINION IN BRIEF

Walter Williams: “For professors to use their classes to proselytize students … is gross academic dishonesty. … Adding to campus lunacy are classes such as ‘Lady Gaga and the Sociology of the Fame’ at the University of South Carolina. Cornell University’s physical education department offers a class titled ‘Recreational Tree Climbing.’ At Georgia State University, the English department offers a course called "Kayne vs. Everybody.” At Tufts University’s Experimental College, one can take a class called ‘Demystifying the Hipster.’ Skidmore College’s sociology department offers ‘The Sociology of Miley Cyrus: Race, Class, Gender and Media.’ Frostburg State University’s physics department offers ‘The Science of Harry Potter,’ where it examines some of the tale’s magic. Georgetown University offers ‘Philosophy and Star Trek,’ arguing that ‘Star Trek is very philosophical’ and adding, ‘What better way, then, to learn philosophy, than to watch Star Trek, read philosophy, and hash it all out in class?’ … College administrators like to keep campus barbarism under wraps. One of the best means to throttle their hideous agenda is for students to use their electronic devices to expose it to public scrutiny.“

SHORT CUTS

Insight: "The oppression of any people for opinion’s sake has rarely had any other effect than to fix those opinions deeper, and render them more important.” —Hosea Ballou (1771-1852)

For the record: “No one forced Hillary to use her private email for State Department business in a manner so flagrantly against the rules that in any other circumstance (i.e., if she weren’t the Democratic nominee for president), she would be vulnerable to sanction and prosecution. And no one forced her and her husband to run their foundation as a vast pay-to-play scheme whose inner workings must be shielded from public view. That’s her responsibility and no one else’s — certainly not Colin Powell’s.” —Rich Lowry

Braying Jackass: “We have seen 30,000 [Clinton] emails so far and not one damn thing has been found in any of them. … I doubt we’re going to see anything of substance in the next 14,000. This is all the Republicans have.” —Howard Dean

Non Compos Mentis: “The five-shot rifle, that’s a standard military rifle; the problem is if you attach a clip to it so it can fire more shells and if you remove the pin so that it becomes an automatic weapon, and those are independent criminal offenses. That is when they become, essentially, a weapon of mass destruction. The problem with handguns probably is even worse than the problem of the AR15.” —Hillary Clinton William Weld, VP nominee for the Libertarian Party

Belly laugh of the week: “I think the president is used to people trying to score political points even in situations where they shouldn’t.” —Josh Earnest

The BIG lie: “I don’t worry too much about politics.” —Barack Obama, who also said while visiting Louisiana, “This is not a photo op issue”

And last… “Once again, Russia is suspected to be behind a hack connected to U.S. politics. This time the target wasn’t a Democratic party organization like the DNC but … well, on second thought, it was the NY Times.” —John Sexton

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.