The Patriot Post Digest 1-12-2017

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The Patriot Post Digest 1-12-2017
From The Federalist Patriot
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Mid-Day Digest

Jan. 12, 2017

IN TODAY’S EDITION

What’s the deal with this Leftmedia smear on Trump? We sum it up.
Tillerson gets a grilling on Russia during confirmation hearings.
Obama’s plan to not actually go anywhere upon leaving the White House.
And more news, policy and opinion.

THE FOUNDATION

“It is the press which has corrupted our political morals — and it is to the press we must look for the means of our political regeneration.” —Alexander Hamilton (1804)

TOP RIGHT HOOKS

The Story Behind That Trump Dossier1

Donald Trump held a press conference Wednesday in which he blasted BuzzFeed and CNN — the former for its release of and the latter for its subsequent irresponsible reporting on a highly dubious and unsubstantiated 35-page dossier that suggested, among other things, a Trump-Russian collusion. The controversial dossier was generated by a private investigation firm hired by opponents of Trump’s presidential campaign and had been shared with the FBI and all major news media organizations months ago. But no news outlet could corroborate it and thus deemed it not fit for dissemination. Until BuzzFeed took a break from LOLcats to “report” it, anyway.

Last week, both Barack Obama and Trump were briefed by the intelligence community, and Trump was made aware of the existence of this apparently fallacious dossier. But that’s where things get fuzzy. At some point, news was leaked that the FBI had referenced this dossier in its intel report. That information seemed to trigger BuzzFeed, in what was most likely a craven effort at self-promotion, to run a story releasing some of the controversial dossier. CNN then piggy-backed off BuzzFeed’s release and ran its own story referencing the dossier in an attack piece designed to further the Leftmedia’s effort to delegitimize Trump.

Big picture: The idea that nations like China and Russia don’t have secret information on America’s government leaders is simply naïve. You can bet that U.S. intelligence has all kinds of classified information on Vladimir Putin and Xi Jingping, as well. Remember the rather embarrassing story of the U.S. having bugged German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s phone? It was only embarrassing because it became public that the U.S. was spying on an ally, but this is what intelligence agencies do.

With the Internet, the world of espionage has changed — primarily because there’s now an easy means of disseminating damaging information on a massive scale. With the existence of organizations like WikiLeaks, various government and non-government actors can release classified intel to the public and yet maintain anonymity. That’s why a healthy amount of skepticism and diligent fact checking must be applied by any news media organization, as there is often more going on than what meets the eye. This is precisely what CNN and BuzzFeed did not do. Out of pure Trump Derangement Syndrome, they wanted the dossier to be true, and, in the process of spreading it, forgot that a journalist’s aim is to inform, not to influence.

Rubio Grills Tillerson on Russia2

Senate hearings to confirm (or reject) Rex Tillerson as secretary of state began Wednesday, and, as predicted, there were fireworks over Tillerson’s relationship with Vladimir Putin. As we warned from the outset3, Tillerson’s biggest negative is his close ties to Putin4 — he received Russia’s Order of Friendship in 2013. These ties are especially problematic given the Kremlin’s interference in the U.S. election and the Leftmedia’s incessant work to paint Donald Trump as Putin’s stooge. Should Tillerson be confirmed, everything he does will be reported through that prism. That’s if he’s confirmed…

To dispel those concerns, Tillerson testified that Moscow is a “danger” to the U.S. “We must also be clear-eyed about our relationship with Russia,” Tillerson said. “Russia today poses a danger, but it is not unpredictable in advancing its own interests. … Our NATO allies are right to be alarmed at a resurgent Russia.” He also harshly criticized Russia for its annexation of Crimea in 2014, as well as the Obama’s administration’s “weak response.”

But that didn’t stop Sen. Marco Rubio from grilling Tillerson on whether he’d go so far as to call Putin a “war criminal” given public record reports of atrocities committed by the Russian military in Aleppo. “I would not use that term,” Tillerson answered. Asking such questions now is critical to establishing whether Tillerson is trustworthy when it comes to becoming the nation’s top diplomat or whether he’s unwilling to take a clear stand or, worse, defending his friend, Putin.

To be sure, Rubio’s question was somewhat of the “gotcha” variety, so Tillerson was arguably wise to avoid going further without having access to more detailed classified information. “I would want to be fully informed before advising the president,” he said. He can’t take office having accused Putin of war crimes during his hearing. At the same time, Tillerson came off not so much as cautious as unprepared, and he explicitly rejected Rubio’s premise. Such questions should have been expected, and “I need more information” isn’t a strong response.

This exchange and Tillerson’s other shortcomings notwithstanding, U.S. diplomacy could use a serious shot in the arm after eight years of John Kerry and Hillary Clinton, and we continue to believe Tillerson brings a lot to the table. Whether enough Senate Republicans agree remains to be seen.

Top Headlines5

Conservatives press Trump on Supreme Court pick. (The Hill6)

Trump says sons will take “complete and total control” of the business. (ABC News7)

Trump has grounds for a libel lawsuit against BuzzFeed. (Washington Examiner8.)

Democrats slander Jeff Sessions as “racist.” So does9 the NAACP chief. (The Daily Signal10)

What to expect as “Mad Dog” Mattis undergoes confirmation hearing. (Lifezette11)

ObamaCare is one step closer to repeal after Senate advances budget resolution. (The Washington Post12)

Obama boasts of better race relations, 75% of cops disagree. (Washington Examiner13)

Texas judge rejects “clock boy’s” defamation lawsuit against conservative pundits. (Washington Free Beacon14)

Amazon to create more than 100,000 new jobs in U.S. in 18 months. (Bloomberg15)

Amazing advances: Scientists can now grow a beating human heart from stem cells. Adult stem cells, not embryonic. (Independent16)

Policy: Recommitting the United States to European security and prosperity. (The Heritage Foundation17)

Policy: Fixing the VA for our veterans. (The Daily Signal18.)

Don’t Miss Alexander’s Column

Read Obama’s Legacy Makeover: A Reality Check19.

If you’d like to receive Alexander’s Column by email, update your subscription here20.

FEATURED RIGHT ANALYSIS
Four More Years of Obama? At Least That Many.21

By Allyne Caan

Barack Obama faced the nation Tuesday night to announce his upcoming campaign. Oh, wait, that was his farewell address22. Such a struggle to tell the difference. Far from bidding America the adieu we so desperately wanted — parting would have been far more sweet than sorrow in this case — Obama doubled down on his perpetual campaign and announced he’s not going anywhere. “I won’t stop,” he declared. “In fact, I will be right there with you, as a citizen, for all my remaining days.”

And we were so close.

Presidents typically retire to their home states upon leaving office. Not this one. “Obama has no plans to quietly recede from the nation’s capital,” Mark Alexander wrote yesterday19. “In fact, the Obamas will be taking up residence in a nine-bedroom mansion in the District’s most exclusive neighborhood, and you can be certain that he’ll be out on his front stoop stumping for his failed policies every time Trump endeavors to alter or abolish one of them.” Indeed, last March Obama threatened23 — er, promised — that America is “not rid of me yet, even after we’re done with the presidency.”

This doesn’t mean simply giving flowery speeches now and again. No, Obama is architecting a massive apparatus (think his Obama for America PAC on steroids) so he can pretty much campaign ad infinitum. In one sense, who can blame him? That’s about as long as it will take to try to salvage his disastrous legacy. Alright, let’s be real. Even eternity wouldn’t be long enough for that.

Still, Obama’s going to try. And here’s how he plans to do it.

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The Patriot Post Digest 1-12-2017
From The Federalist Patriot
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First, he’s rebuilding Organizing for Action (OFA, formerly Obama for America). As Politico reports24, “No longer about backing up Obama’s agenda in the White House, [OFA] will be a nexus for training activists and candidate recruitment. … Its Chicago headquarters has been filling up with new hires, including several old campaign aides, who are planning to focus on the mechanics of campaigns, from running Obama-style persuasion programs, integrating data and running paid canvassing operations. Though the first goal is designing the program for what they’ll aim to make hundreds of workshops nationwide, there’s already talk about moving toward endorsing candidates.”

But one organization is hardly enough when your failed legacy is at stake.

So, second, there’s also the National Democratic Redistricting Committee (NDRC), developed, again as Politico reports25, in “close consultation with the White House.” NDRC’s name sounds innocuous enough, but its intent is far less so. Basically, NDRC wants to engineer the redrawing of legislative districts after the next census to ensure Democrats get in office. Of course, NDRC spins it more innocently. Its chair — none other than former Attorney General Eric Holder — said, “American voters deserve fair maps that represent our diverse communities — and we need a coordinated strategy to make that happen. This unprecedented new effort will ensure Democrats have a seat at the table to create fairer maps after 2020.”

The genesis of this spin — and of NDRC itself — is that Democrats love to cry “gerrymandered!” whenever election results don’t favor them, which, lately, has been often26. Even when data shows voter sentiment, not district lines, is to blame for Democrat losses — well, as we know, facts don’t matter to the Left.

And for Obama, when the party you helm loses a 1,000 seats nationwide under your steerage, you’ve got to find a scapegoat. Those doggone district lines are just the thing. So, as White House political director David Simas declared, “Where [Obama] will be most politically engaged [post-presidency] will be at the state legislative level, with an eye on redistricting after 2020.”

If it’s not redistricting, it’s Fox News and Rush Limbaugh, whom Obama’s blames for screwing up his messaging. Thus, there are rumors that Obama might launch some kind of news or information network. As if he doesn’t already have the entire Leftmedia Super PAC at his disposal. And he’s not without experience in this? Remember the short-lived and widely mocked “AttackWatch” website Obama for America launched in 2012?

Truth be told, party losses aside, Obama’s legacy among liberals is likely secure enough. After all, as The Washington Post predicts27, despite any temporary liberal discontent with the outgoing Obama, “the mind gravitates away from remembering specific policies or events toward something more impressionistic.” Of course, for the Obama-adoring Post, such gravitationally induced policy amnesia has been pretty much immediate28.

Still, Obama isn’t taking any chances. And while during his farewell address29, he publicly calmed chants of “Four more years” with “I can’t do that,” internally, he was no doubt digging in his perpetual campaign heels, personalizing his campaign mantra, and forewarning, “Yes, I can.”

MORE ANALYSIS FROM THE PATRIOT POST

Make American Education Great Again30 — Time to take a wrecking ball to an utterly corrupt educational status quo.
Trump’s Surprise VA Choice31 — His choice to lead the VA doesn’t signal any major changes.
Trumps Gives CNN a Taste of Its Own Medicine32 — “You are fake news.”

BEST OF RIGHT OPINION

Victor Davis Hanson: Hate Crime Legislation Is a Good Idea That Went Bad33
Cal Thomas: Not So Golden Globes34
Mark West: Is $10 Trillion in New Debt Coming as Republicans Take Control?35

For more, visit Right Opinion36.

OPINION IN BRIEF

Victor Davis Hanson: “Progressives originally envisioned hate-crime legislation as focusing mostly on a white majority that presumably had a monopoly on prejudice. But FBI hate-crime statistics show that African-Americans commit a disproportionately large share of hate crimes. The media usually associate religious hate crimes with offenses against Muslims, and warn against endemic ‘Islamophobia.’ Yet statistically, Jews, not Muslims, are the far more frequent victims of religious hate crimes. Americans can now reasonably wonder whether a reported hate crime might have been staged. In November, for example, a black church in Mississippi was spray-painted with ‘Vote Trump’ graffiti and set afire. Nearly two months later, authorities charged a disgruntled African-American parishioner, not a supposed white supremacist, with the arson. Sometimes hate-crime status is added to a crime not on the basis of clearly evident prejudice but based on the race of the offender and victim, as the political spin that follows the crime seeks to make larger indictments against society. In our hypersensitive and litigious society, too many agendas have warped the once-noble idea of hate-crime legislation. It has become a fossilized relic of the 1980s that was well-intended, became incoherent and politicized — and now should be scrapped.”

SHORT CUTS

Insight: “If honor be your clothing, the suit will last a lifetime; but if clothing be your honor, it will soon be worn threadbare.” —William D. Arnot (1808–1875)

Upright: “Is this what the role of the news media is going to become now? Trump makes unfounded accusations, so we’re free to make unfounded accusations37 now, too? The decisions you make don’t tell the world about the standards of other people; the decisions you make tell the world about your standards.” —Jim Geraghty

“Even former Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., who confesses proudly to having traduced the reputation of a previous presidential candidate with a clear lie, declined to repeat these latest unverified allegations about Trump, after he, too, saw the document that contained them last year. Think about that. Reid, who famously stooped to slander Mitt Romney, handled the dossier more ethically than BuzzFeed’s editorial team.” —Washington Examiner

Alpha Jackass: “I love America. It’s Americans I hate.” —The Week’s Tim Kreider

Boastful rhetoric: “As I reflect back on what’s worked for me in this office, it’s been that I’ve gotten people who maybe didn’t believe in the process to get engaged. Ironically, I’ve even gotten the other side, that maybe didn’t believe in the process, to get engaged. I gather I’m the father of the Tea Party. I invigorated the grassroots in the Republican Party as well as the Democratic Party.” —Barack Obama

Despicable: “If confirmed, Sen. Sessions will be required to pursue justice for women, but his record indicates that he won’t. He will be expected to defend the equal rights of gay and lesbian and transgender Americans, but his record indicates that he won’t. He will be expected to defend voting rights, but his record indicates that he won’t. He will be expected to defend the rights of immigrants and confirm their human dignity, but his record indicates that he won’t.” —Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ)

Race bait: “Each and every senator who casts a vote to confirm Sen. Sessions will be permanently marked as a co-conspirator in an effort to move this country backward toward a darker period in our shared history.” —Rep. Cedric Richmond (D-LA)

Late-night humor: “Rumors are circulating that Hillary Clinton could run for mayor of New York City later this year. While Bill could run to be the next ‘Naked Cowboy’ in Times Square.” —Jimmy Fallon

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.