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« Reply #1 on: December 16, 2016, 02:21:23 PM » |
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The Patriot Post Digest 12-14-2016
From The Federalist Patriot
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“It [was] a thin reed upon which to base an analytical judgment,” an ODNI official told Reuters.
The CIA often deals in the shadows, and it’s not in the habit (nor should it be) of putting specific people on public record in pulling together its reports. But other agencies that deal in intelligence, such as the FBI, operate in courts of law. They need hard evidence and corroborative testimony to make their case. Russia is not our friend, and Moscow isn’t above this sort of dirty work, but the CIA will have to do better if it’s going to lay blame for this mess at the feet of the president-elect.
Our current president hasn’t done us any favors in this regard. Barack Obama, speaking on The Daily Show — “fake news29,” anyone? — said, “None of this should be a big surprise. This was reported on before the election.”
Very true, yet at that time, Obama chose to do nothing about the matter other than stump for Hillary with the information. Perhaps he, like every Democrat, believed that Clinton was going to win the election anyway. So why stir the pot? After all, the Russians weren’t really a problem, right? At least according to the Obama worldview.
Obama infamously belittled Mitt Romney in 2012 for trying to remind us that Russia was and still is a menace — our primary geopolitical foe. Obama and Clinton repeatedly misread or completely misunderstood Russian intentions in Crimea, Ukraine, Eastern Europe and Syria. Heck, the Clintons cashed in for $500,000 to sell uranium to the Russians.
It should also be pointed out that during Obama’s tenure, cyberattacks against the government and the private sector have increased dramatically. Yet he has repeatedly shrugged them off30 as the price of doing business in the 21st century — all while his secretary of state was operating an unsecured private email server with his knowledge and participation31.
If there is to be an investigation into the Russian hacking of the 2016 election, there should also be a sincere look at just what the Obama administration could have done about it. Because it appears that the president and his cronies only seem interested now that our lack of security allegedly foiled their plans to maintain power in the White House.
There will surely be congressional investigations and a public demand to learn just what the CIA and the White House knew and when they knew it. Although it seems unlikely that Clinton will get her wish to declassify the CIA report32 for the nation’s 538 presidential electors.
That isn’t to say we should let this one slide. We need to get to the bottom of this inexcusable meddling in our electoral process, flawed though that process may be. We won’t be doing ourselves any favors, though, if we allow Democrats to use this episode to delegitimize Donald Trump’s presidency before it even gets off the ground. We may not know with certainty what goal the Russians had in mind, but we certainly do know delegitimizing Trump is what the Democrats want.
MORE ANALYSIS FROM THE PATRIOT POST
Report Exposes U.S. Abortion Clinics as Filthy and Unsafe33 — Anything goes as long as the Left’s sacrament is protected.
Obama’s Balkanizing of America34 — He seeks to establish a new minority ethnic classification.
BEST OF RIGHT OPINION
Jonah Goldberg: Trump and the Russian Hacking Claims: A Toxic Situation35
Walter Williams: Please, No More Miracles36
Jeff Jacoby: Why Miss World Silences Anastasia Lin37
For more, visit Right Opinion38.
OPINION IN BRIEF
Jonah Goldberg: “The real debate is over whether the Russian meddling — which echoes similar meddling across Europe — was intended to get Trump elected or simply to erode confidence in the democratic process. I fail to see how this is an either/or choice. The hacking could have started with mere mischief in mind and evolved into a pro-Trump effort by the end. Most experts, including those on Trump’s team, didn’t expect to win (contrary to a lot of post-election spin), and it’s doubtful that Russia’s psephologists are that much better than ours. So the most likely goal for the Russians was to set up a defeated Trump to denounce the validity of the election and the integrity of the political process. But then Trump won on the merits. The great irony is that the Democrats and the media — which not long ago were denouncing any suggestion that the system is rigged — are now echoing the very talking points Putin wants. It’s a poisonous situation all around. … The only hope is that after Trump has been sworn in, both sides can revisit the issue of Putin’s clearly insidious agenda, without the specter of a ‘do-over’ coloring everything people say — and everything Trump hears.”
SHORT CUTS
Insight: “A tyrant … is always stirring up some war or other, in order that the people may require a leader.” —Plato (429-347 BC)
Upright: “There are a lot of reasons to criticize [Jill] Stein right now. Perhaps the most significant one is that calling for recounts in noncompetitive races delegitimizes recounts in the eyes of the public. They stop being a tool to ensure the correct winner and start becoming a tool for sore losers to live in denial for an extra couple of weeks. They start becoming a cynical fundraising tool instead of an emergency tool in rare cases of extremely close results. Which is more frightening, that no one around Stein thought of this, or they did and she just doesn’t care?” —Jim Geraghty
Smackdown: “[For Romney] to go and do homage to this guy he said awful things about, I don’t think that shows much character. Mitt Romney is somebody I had respect for. I have none anymore.” —Harry Reid (“I was indeed very critical of Mr. Trump during his campaign. But now he has been elected president and accordingly, if I could have helped shape foreign policy to protect the country I love, I would have been more than willing to do so. As for Mr. Reid, I lost respect for him when he repeatedly lied about my taxes and later admitted to it cheerily. Good riddance, Mr. Reid. The Senate will be better served without you in it.” —Mitt Romney)
Race bait: “We have by no means overcome the legacies of slavery and Jim Crow and colonialism and racism.” —Barack Obama
But … but … racism! “[Donald Trump is] going to be our man for the next four years at least, probably eight, and he’s amenable to listening to people who did not vote for him. I fell in love with him because he really talks about helping African-American, black people and that’s why I’m here.” —former NFL star Jim Brown
ObamaCare predictions: “There’s division among the Republicans within their own ranks as to timing and substance. I don’t think they’re going to repeal the Affordable Care Act.” —Nancy Pelosi
And last… “Before Obamacare, you could go bankrupt if you got sick. After Obamacare, you go bankrupt from premiums before you get sick.” —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. |
