The Patriot Post Digest 12-9-2016

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The Patriot Post Digest 12-9-2016
From The Federalist Patriot
Free Email Subscription
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Mid-Day Digest

Dec. 9, 2016

IN TODAY’S EDITION

    Trump’s Labor pick has pros and cons, will face challenge of righting the economic ship.
    The Leftmedia just can’t get a handle on Trump’s methods.
    DHS will be under solid leadership from Gen. Kelly.
    And more news, policy and opinion.

THE FOUNDATION

“A wise and frugal government … shall restrain men from injuring one another, shall leave them otherwise free to regulate their own pursuits of industry and improvement, and shall not take from the mouth of labor the bread it has earned. This is the sum of good government.” —Thomas Jefferson (1801)

TOP RIGHT HOOKS

Trump Aims for Job Growth With Labor Choice1

On Thursday, Donald Trump nominated Andrew Puzder, a fast food executive, for labor secretary. This latest pick has been met with a mixture of praise and grumbling from conservatives and and leftists alike, but for opposite reasons. In 2016, it’s natural for everyone to be unhappy.

First, the hang-up for conservatives is over Puzder’s views on illegal immigration. He’s been a strong advocate for “comprehensive immigration reform” — a nonstarter for most Trump supporters. His statements on immigration have more in common with Barack Obama than Trump, as he views it almost as a moral obligation for America to accept those seeking entry. In a 2013 Politico op-ed2, he argued, “We should implement immigration reform not because of politics but because it’s the right thing to do. The current system is unfair and unworkable. It’s hurting legal immigrants who are unable to navigate it, undocumented workers who are lured to the country by the prospect of employment, then must live in the shadows — and honest business people who just want to operate their businesses consistent with the law.” Puzder will have little influence over immigration policy, but this pick nonetheless raises the obvious questions of whether Trump is softening his stance on illegal immigration.

From an economic stand point, however, Puzder is a solid pick, as he boasts an impressive pro-business resumé. He has been a strong critic of federally mandated minimum wage hikes, writing in a 2014 Wall Street Journal op-ed3: “The feds can mandate a higher wage, but some jobs don’t produce enough economic value to bear the increase. If government could transform unskilled entry-level positions into middle-income jobs, the Soviet Union would be today’s dominant world economy. Spain and Greece would be thriving.” Puzder is also a strong supporter of deregulation, assailing ObamaCare’s “nanny state regulations.” He may be best described as broadly libertarian in his economic views. That libertarianism explains his penchant for racy burger ads featuring bikini-clad models — commercials most social conservatives find to be completely inappropriate.

Still, we’d say Puzder appears to be a decent pick, and his expertise will be welcome after eight years of Obamanomics yielding little but stagnation.

Trump Tweets and Boeing Blinks4

On Tuesday, Donald Trump tweeted “Boeing is building a brand new 747 Air Force One for future presidents, but costs are out of control, more than $4 billion. Cancel order!” And in what has become a rather predictable pattern, the mainstream media ran for the fainting couch. The Washington Post headline on Wednesday read, “Corporate America Unnerved By Trump.” This is humorous, since the Post has usually celebrated the unnerving of corporate America, especially during the past eight years. What’s becoming clear, though, is that the mainstream media is actually unnerved by Trump.

Trump doesn’t follow all the “rules” of conventional Beltway wisdom. He truly is the outsider, and many in the media are now figuring out that they’re no longer setting the rules.

By the way, Boeing has reached out to Trump to offer talking over the Air Force One order. This sounds more like a savvy businessman who knows how to get a good deal for the American taxpayer, rather than a rube who doesn’t know the rules of the game. Conservatives don’t always like those rules5 — and we should work to change them — but it should be clear by now that Trump is an effective operator.

Top Headlines6

    A final liftoff for John Glenn, a heroic American7 and aviation icon. (The Columbus Dispatch8.)

    Obama claims rise of the Islamic State9 caught him by surprise. Why? He and Clinton seeded its success10. (Hot Air11)

    House lawmakers approve a bill fast-tracking confirmation for Gen. James “Mad Dog” Mattis12. (Washington Free Beacon13)

    From the Obama legacy files — American Dream slips out of reach for Millennials. (LA Times14)

    From the Obama legacy files — U.S. life expectancy drops for the first time since 1933. (Associated Press15)

    Reid calls for limits to his trademark divisive politics as his tenure finally draws to a close. (The Washington Times16)

    SHOCK! According to CNN documentary: Republicans opposition to Obama was racist. No “fake news” here… (The Washington Times17)

    More media censorship — YouTube restricts yet another PragerU video, this one of a British Muslim speaking about anti-semitism. (The Daily Signal18.)

    Christian-owned bed and breakfast must host gay weddings, state panel finds. (The Christian Post19)

    South Korea’s parliament will impeach president over corruption scandal. (The Washington Post20)

    Policy: Have Republicans abandoned the free market? (Investor’s Business Daily21)

    Policy: The U.S. remains the most attractive region for petroleum investment. (Fraser Institute22)

FEATURED RIGHT ANALYSIS
Kelly Presents a Different Approach to Homeland Security23

By Michael Swartz

One of the latest cabinet picks by President-elect Donald Trump is his choice to head up the much-maligned Department of Homeland Security, retired Marine Gen. John Kelly. Until this past February, Gen. Kelly headed U.S. Southern Command, which deals with Central and South America. It was a position that gives him solid background, leaving no question that Gen. Kelly is well-qualified for the job.

The detention facility at Guantanamo Bay fell under his purview, for example, as did several of the nations that provide the bulk of our illegal border-crossers from Central America. These same nations also supply our habit for illegal drugs.

And Kelly also carries the reputation as a straight-shooting honest broker. He would likely be very blunt with critics who complain that Trump is leaning on former military men to fill out the defense and security areas of his cabinet.

Far from wishing to close Guantanamo Bay as his soon-to-be predecessor promised to do, Trump wants to expand operations there24. Kelly argues the facility is necessary because “there are no innocent men down there,” adding that “every one [of them] has real, no-kidding intelligence on them that brought them here.” In other words, they’re legitimate threats to homeland security and there’s no appetite for a solution such as Barack Obama proposed that could bring them stateside for holding during a civilian trial. Instead, Kelly understands the Islamic terror threat, noting in a 2013 speech: “Given the opportunity to do another 9/11, our vicious enemy would do it today, tomorrow, and every day thereafter.”

Kelly, though, sees the issues with illegal immigration and the drug trade as two sides of the same coin, and he has the advantages of what’s been described25 as a “wealth of contacts in [that] part of the world, and his depth of understanding about the socioeconomic and geopolitical dynamics there.” One inside source also opined that Kelly “has better relationships in South America than the State Department does.” So while he will be in charge of building the border wall and believes26 criminal networks “could unwittingly, or even wittingly, facilitate the movement of terrorist operatives … toward our borders,” Kelly will likely have a much more nuanced view of the situation south of the border than many of Trump’s supporters would.

[nChrist]

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The Patriot Post Digest 12-9-2016
From The Federalist Patriot
Free Email Subscription
________________________________________

In fact, the retired general has worked on a part of the solution that the more hard-line members of the Trump coalition may blanch at — additional foreign aid27 for these troubled nations. As part of the “Alliance for Prosperity in the Northern Triangle”28 — composed of the Central American nations of El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras — Kelly was part of the process of pledging $1 billion in additional aid29 to these nations as they attempted to improve the conditions at home to prevent their citizens from coming here or getting involved in the illegal drug trade.

With Trump’s opposition30 to foreign aid and what he calls poorly designed trade pacts, though, Kelly may have a tougher sell for this economic modernization aspect of security.

But the type of man Gen. Kelly is may be the most important angle here. It’s personified by a speech he gave in 201031, just four days after he became the highest-ranking officer to lose a family member in the Middle East — his son, 1st Lt. Robert Michael Kelly, was killed in Afghanistan when he stepped on a land mine. When Kelly spoke of the bravery of the Marines, he spoke not of his son, but instead of two men he never met: Corporal Jonathan Yale and Lance Corporal Jordan Haerter.

The two Marines were assigned to an Iraqi guard post when a suicide bomber, driving a truck filled with explosives, tried to crash through their checkpoint in front of a compound where more than 150 Marines and Iraqi police were staying. Yale and Haerter stopped the truck at the cost of their lives, perishing when it detonated and leveled the nearby block of houses.

When Kelly went to report on the incident and posthumously commend the men for their selfless actions, an Iraqi policeman who survived the blast told him, “in the name of God no sane man would have stood there and done what [Yale and Haerter] did.” Kelly went on to reveal that a security camera captured the last six seconds before the truck exploded, killing the pair: “The truck explodes. The camera goes blank. Two young men go to their God. Six seconds. Not enough time to think about their families, their country, their flag, or about their lives or their deaths, but more than enough time for two very brave young men to do their duty … into eternity. That is the kind of people who are on watch all over the world tonight-for you.”

If at a time of unspeakable personal tragedy a man can care enough about his country to confide the unvarnished truth about the men that defend her, you can believe he’ll pay heed to our homeland security.

MORE ANALYSIS FROM THE PATRIOT POST

    Trump Sets the Tone32 — His picks promise a new national security direction.
    Dems Seek Blanket Clemency for ‘Dreamers’33 — But Trump’s position shows it’s all a charade.
    Mosquitos on the Rise Thanks to DDT Ban34 — Sorry, climate scaremongers.

BEST OF RIGHT OPINION

    Rich Lowry: The Party of Workers35
    Mona Charen: Obesity, Fatty Foods, Death and Science36
    Erick Erickson: Lies, Liars and the Press37

For more, visit Right Opinion38.

OPINION IN BRIEF

Rich Lowry: “In the course of a couple of tweets, Donald Trump may have ended the image of the GOP as the party of corporate America. After striking a Carrier deal to preserve about 800 jobs, the president-elect slapped the Indiana company Rexnord on Twitter for ‘rather viciously firing’ its workers and then went after Boeing for ripping off the public on a $3 billion Air Force One deal. Just like that, and in less than 280 characters, Trump had established more distance from big business than the GOP had in a generation. In his frenetic way, he is forcing a reorientation of the Republican Party’s economics, a change that is welcome in its broad contours, even if his methods are dubious and the potential pitfalls considerable. … One hopes Trump will be more restrained — and constrained, particularly by Congress. But the party should accept the new terms Trump has set out for its economic worldview, and focus on workers and their wages more than it has any time in memory.”

SHORT CUTS

Upright: “Overall, history is not bending toward happy acceptance of ever larger government at home, nor is it moving toward submersion of national powers and identities into large and inherently undemocratic international organizations. The nation-state remains the focus of most people’s loyalties, and in a time of economic and cultural diffusion … big-government policies designed for an age of centralization have become increasingly dysfunctional.” —Michael Barone

Braying Jenny: “It is now clear that so-called fake news can have real world consequences. This isn’t about politics or partisanship. Lives are at risk. … It’s a danger that must be addressed and addressed quickly.” —Hillary Clinton, who of course has regulations in mind

Speaking of fake news: “Another former general in the Trump circle is receiving new attention. His National Security Adviser-designate, Mike Flynn. Flynn’s son was fired by the Trump transition … for passing on fake news story via Twitter. But his dad, the retired Army three-star general has passed on some gems himself.” —Brian Williams, a veteran “journalist” fraudster

Surprise! “The ability of ISIL to not just mass inside of Syria, but then to initiate major land offensives that took Mosul, for example, that was not on my intelligence radar screen.” —Barack Obama

Blame Bush: “We refused to repeat some of the mistakes of the 2003 invasion that have helped to give rise to the organization that became ISIL in the first place.” —Barack Obama

Because common sense prevailed: “If you ask me where has been the one area where I feel that I’ve been most frustrated and most stymied, it is the fact that the United States of America is the one advanced nation on Earth in which we do not have sufficient common sense gun safety laws.” —Barack Obama

And last… “The one group in America refusing to do any post-election self reflection is the media. Convinced of their righteousness, they will continue to hold Trump voters in bitter contempt; they will continue to suggest Republicans are conspiracy theorists while peddling their own fake news and conspiracies as true; and they will refuse to admit they got anything wrong in 2016. Reporters used to report what happened. Now they tell us what to think and resent like hell that any of us might think differently.” —Erick Erickson

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.