The Patriot Post Digest 9-6-2016

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The Patriot Post Digest 9-6-2016
From The Federalist Patriot
Free Email Subscription
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Mid-Day Digest

Sep. 6, 2016

THE FOUNDATION

“To restore … harmony … to render us again one people acting as one nation should be the object of every man really a patriot.” —Thomas Jefferson (1801)

TOP RIGHT HOOKS

The Straw Man Quarterback1

The NFL’s — and specifically the San Francisco 49ers' — lack of a substantive response to Colin Kaepernick’s unpatriotic and insulting behavior2 toward our nation and its police led the union representing the Santa Clara Police Department to send a letter to 49ers CEO Jed York warning that the department may stop working security for 49ers home games. The letter stated that failure by the 49ers to discipline Kaepernick for his insulting behavior “could result in police officers choosing not to work at your facilities.” The letter made it clear that the union viewed Kaepernick’s statements and behavior — including wearing socks depicting pigs as cops — as “obviously insulting, inaccurate and completely unsupported.”

Not surprisingly Barack Obama, while overseas at the G20 summit, decided to weigh in on the now backup quarterback’s behavior. Obama defended Kaepernick saying, “My understanding is he’s exercising his constitutional right to make a statement. I don’t doubt his sincerity. I think he cares about some real, legitimate issues that have to be talked about.” He also argued, “Maybe some of his critics will start seeing that he has a point.” Similar to his supporting statements of Trayvon Martin, Michael Brown and others, Obama relishes jumping into the “America is racist” narrative whenever an opportunity arises. This is not a First Amendment issue, this is an issue of truth and respect for our nation and its Constitution. Where was Obama defending Curt Schilling’s First Amendment right to speak out against homosexuality, transgenderism and radical Islam? For Obama, appealing to the Constitution while subverting the Constitution is merely par for the course, especially when he can advance a racial narrative at the same time.

The NFL, the 49ers and Obama are using the First Amendment rights line as an excuse not to look like they are taking sides. Remember, the NFL recently nixed the Dallas Cowboys'3 helmet decal honoring the police, citing uniform standards that all teams are subject to. And they turned the other way when several Rams players took the field with their hands up4. Is it too much to ask the National Football League to show a little patriotism?

Iraq Isn’t Lost Yet5

In 2011, having let expire the Bush administration’s status of forces agreement (SOFA) that helped secure our hard-won gains in Iraq and the region, Barack Obama declared, “Everything Americans have done in Iraq, all the fighting, all the dying, the bleeding, the building and the training and the partnering, all of it has led to this moment of success. … We’re leaving behind a sovereign, stable and self-reliant Iraq.” We all know how well that turned out. Obama left a vacuum that allowed for the rise of the Islamic State6.

Fortunately, there’s a glimmer of hope. Obama doesn’t want us to know it, but there are American boots on the ground (and in the air) in Iraq again, and together with Iraqi forces they’re making gains. Specifically, as Islamic State territory shrinks, another crucial battle for Mosul looms.

“Obama’s decision to abandon Iraq in 2011 ranks as one of the worst strategic blunders of modern times,” writes7 Mosul veteran David French. However, he says, “It is to Obama’s credit … that he reversed course in time to save Baghdad and Kurdistan and reverse enemy momentum. The level of force hasn’t been sufficient to prevent ISIS from consolidating its gains, providing a home for jihadists worldwide, and beginning the process of educating a new generation of terrorists, but a prior generation of American politicians behaved much worse than Obama when they allowed South Vietnam to fall. There was no helicopter on the roof moment in Baghdad, and instead the enemy is now in retreat."  The recent gains against the Islamic State could mean Iraq still has a chance — if this and the next administration are willing to hold those gains this time.

China’s G20 Façade8

The history of totalitarian socialism is one filled with charades and symbols over and against reality and substance. A recent example of this took place this past weekend at the G20 summit in the city of Hangzhou, China. With the arrival of so many significant leaders from the world’s largest and most powerful economies, the Chinese communist government staged an impressive image of a clean and well-ordered society. Days before the Chinese government had issued a mandatory seven-day "holiday” where citizens were instructed to leave the city. Almost overnight, a busy, bustling city of six million residents was reduced to a virtual ghost town. How did the Chinese authorities ensure the mass exodus of citizenry? There were positive incentives such as discounts to “places of interest” and cheaper travel fairs, and there were negative incentives of police force for those residents who were not so “voluntarily” inclined to leave.

As the world leaders arrived for the summit, there was no stinky smog in the air since all the factories had been shut down days before. The roads were free of heavy traffic, as those folks who were still left in the city had been instructed to stay home. And most importantly, there were no picketers protesting human rights issues. No, China would look good to all outsiders as a testament to the benefits of a communist society, just as China’s leaders want it. (The same thing happened for the Beijing Olympics9.) The message to the residents of Hangzhou and the rest of China: Government knows best, so get inline. Which is the foundational belief of leftists everywhere.

Don’t Miss Patriot Humor

Check out Oh Deer10.

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

BEST OF RIGHT OPINION

Stephen Moore: Death Tax Is the Unfairest Tax of All12
Cal Thomas: The EU’s Taxing Problem13
Thomas Sowell: Misleading Statistics14

For more, visit Right Opinion15.

TOP HEADLINES

Conservative Icon Phyllis Schlafly Dies16
Merkel’s Party Suffers Electoral Blow17
ISIL Planned for More Carnage During Paris Attacks18

For more, visit Patriot Headline Report19.

FEATURED RIGHT ANALYSIS
The Donkey Who Cried Wolf20

By Robin Smith

“I’m not upset that you lied to me, I’m upset that from now on I can’t believe you.” —Friedrich Nietzsche

The 19th century German philosopher and poet perhaps had no idea how relevant this statement would be to 21st century politics. But the routine screeches of baseless alarm, manufactured crises and the hyperbole employed by Democrats, and in some cases, Republicans, are creating an authentic problem — a credibility desert. The moral to the story of Aesop’s fable, “The Boy Who Cried Wolf,” applies: Tell lies or exaggerate often enough, and the truth is not believed, even in times of need and danger.

How do these simple statements relate to the multi-billion-dollar campaigns employed today across all kinds of media platforms? Simply put, when the decision is made to conduct your entire campaign message in the key of panic and extremes, the consuming public becomes tone deaf to changes in pitch or appreciable variations.

With the loud protests of the Left have come these broad statements:

“You’re a racist,” in response to the desire for enforcement of immigration law.
“You’re a bigot,” to the beliefs of many who accept God’s view that homosexuality, like adultery, is sin.
“You’re greedy,” in labeling those who want to keep the money they work hard to earn instead of seeing nearly half of their earnings forcefully taken by governments.
“You’re anti-women’s health,” in believing the dismembering of an infant in utero is not contraception and should not be funded by tax dollars.

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The Patriot Post Digest 9-6-2016
From The Federalist Patriot
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These and many more extreme statements are frequently employed by any number of talkingheads on the Left, or are used in “news” items that masquerade as fact when, in reality, the level of opinion moves the analysis clearly to editorializing.

Let’s look at a recent example. For speaking against Donald Trump, Mitt Romney is now being lauded as “reasonable” and “thoughtful” by Democrats ranging from Barack Obama to Harry Reid. But Romney is the same guy who took mortal verbal blows in 2012 from those very same Democrats. Remember?

Mitt Romney’s mythological hatred of dogs filled the headlines and the late-night shows after he built a windshield-equipped carrier to transport their family dog on top of their vehicle.
Romney’s hatred of women was a statement of fact when it was discovered that, while he served as governor of Massachusetts, he catalogued women under consideration for employment by placing their profiles in binders.
Romney was specifically blamed for a woman’s cancer death by her widower husband in a pro-Obama TV ad after he lost his insurance when a factory closed. The plant closed while Romney was running the Winter Olympics. The woman died five years after the husband lost his job.
Romney was said to have dodged paying taxes for 10 years, according to Harry Reid, who cited an anonymous source safely from the Senate floor, to complete the Democrats' portrait of a blood-sucking capitalist criminal. Reid’s charge was a complete fabrication.

But, now? Oh, “Mitt’s a great guy,” say the Democrats who urge his voice be heard with a newfound respect and attentiveness.

In The New York Times, Howard Wolfson, the director of communications for Hillary’s 2008 presidential campaign and current adviser for billionaire and former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, recently bemoaned the current mud pit. Recalling his days with both John Kerry and Hillary Clinton in their runs for president, Wolfson acknowledges, “I’m quite confident I employed language that, in retrospect, was hyperbolic and inaccurate, language that cheapened my ability — our ability — to talk about this moment with accuracy and credibility.” Translation: Democrats cried wolf too many times, and now they’re having a hard time turning up the volume on Trump.

Wolfson concludes, “We should take stock of this moment and recognize that our language really needs to be more accountable and more appropriate to the circumstances.” Which is another way of saying he really means it this time.

Oh, there’s nothing like hearing a Democrat, especially one who’s affiliated with Hillary Clinton, make requests for accountability. Just precious. And, so, the story goes with the credibility desert where truth has dried up from the heat of political extremes.

There’s a cautionary tale in this for conservatives, too. Part of the reason for Trump’s rise in the first place was that unrealistic expectations were placed upon congressional Republicans and then even solid conservatives were condemned as traitorous “establishment21” when they failed to achieve constitutional government with Barack Obama still at the helm. It’s true Republicans could have done more, but they didn’t do nothing.

While it’s appropriate to contrast the reckless policies and illegal practices of Hillary Clinton, for those shrinking in number who are highly prized — the undecided voters — it’s critical to hear more than shouting and name-calling that signify either Clinton Derangement Syndrome or Trump Panic Attack.

That said, more often than not when conservatives point to a leftist and cry “wolf,” there actually is a wolf.

MORE ANALYSIS FROM THE PATRIOT POST

Welfare in Perspective22 — The goal should be to reduce both poverty and welfare spending.
Black Lives Matter Kills People23 — Shocking evidence that demolishes the central, Big Lie.
What Venezuela, Britain — and America? — Have in Common24 — Hint: Think ObamaCare…

OPINION IN BRIEF

Stephen Moore: “A 2009 report found that the life insurance industry collects almost as much as the government does per year from the perpetuation of the death tax. No wonder Warren Buffett, who owns seven life insurance companies through his behemoth Berkshire Hathaway, is seen cheering on Clinton’s calls for taxing even more businesses at an even higher rate. According to the same report, the Buffett life insurance cabal funded a perky public relations campaign to retain the death tax. He lobbies for a tax he finds every loophole to avoid. But Hillary Clinton may be the biggest hypocrite of all. She says the Trump plan is a tax break for millionaires and billionaires like him. Yet Hillary and Bill Clinton have gone to great lengths to shelter their own fortune from the death tax, by using sophisticated trusts and moving their New York home into residence trusts to shield it from taxation, according to a Bloomberg analysis, all while pushing for higher death taxes on small businesses. The Clintons want one set of tax laws for the rest of the country while they and their friends skate free under a separate set of rules.”

SHORT CUTS

Insight: “Doublethink means the power of holding two contradictory beliefs in one’s mind simultaneously, and accepting both of them.” —George Orwell (1903-1950)

Upright: “While no one should be compelled to stand, they should recognize that by sitting in protest to the flag they are disrespecting everyone who sacrificed to make this country what it is today — as imperfect as it might be. … It is a flag for everyone, of every color, of every race, of every creed, and of every orientation, but the privilege of living under this flag does not come without cost. Nor should it come without respect.” —Adm. William McRaven, Ret.

Dezinformatsia: “Hillary Clinton had it right when she made her famous declaration that a ‘vast right-wing conspiracy’ was out to get her and her husband. The opposition was and is passionate. It is well financed. It sees dark — sometimes preposterous — motives in nearly everything the Clintons do. By the time Barack Obama took office, what she had called a conspiracy had grown into a permanent institution.” —The Washington Post’s Karen Tumulty

Belly laugh of the week: “I feel very good about the work of the foundation. I feel very good about my service as secretary of state. No decision I ever made was influenced by anybody. What I made a decision based on was what was good for the United States, what was good for our values, our interests, and our security. And the State Department has confirmed there’s no evidence of any such influence at all.” —Hillary Clinton

The BIG lie: “The fact is that whatever it was that Hillary Clinton dealt with in that manner had no threat to our security, and I think that too much has been made of this. … This is really much ado about something, but too much ado.” —Nancy Pelosi, who further asserts the attention devoted to Clinton’s email scandal “is a distraction from what we really should be talking about”

And last… “The last thing that anyone who cares about the conservative movement should want is for the public to base its opinion of it on people who are trying to offend as many people as possible to get attention.” —John Hawkins

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.