The Patriot Post Digest 1-19-2017

________________________________________
The Patriot Post Digest 1-19-2017
From The Federalist Patriot
Free Email Subscription
________________________________________

Mid-Day Digest

Jan. 19, 2017

IN TODAY’S EDITION

Obama’s last press conference — defending Manning and promising activism.
Another terrorist freed on Obama’s way out the door.
Some women are more equal than others. Pro-life marchers booted.
And more news, policy and opinion.

THE FOUNDATION

“Here comes the orator! With his flood of words, and his drop of reason.” —Benjamin Franklin (1735)

TOP RIGHT HOOKS

Finally, the Final Press Conference1

National Review’s Jim Geraghty posted perhaps the best headline we’ve read all year: “Tonight, the Sun Sets on the Obama Administration for the Last Time2.” Heck, that might be the best headline in eight years.

But Barack Obama isn’t gone just yet. Wednesday afternoon, America endured one last press conference with him. It was every bit as tedious as the previous 164, so we’ll simply counter two things: His defense of pardoning Bradley Manning and Obama’s future plans.

“Chelsea Manning has served a tough prison sentence,” Obama said, referring to Manning’s transgender “female” alter ego. “The notion that the average person who is thinking about disclosing vital classified information would think that it goes unpunished, I don’t think would get that impression from the sentence that Chelsea Manning has served,” Obama argued. “It made sense to commute — and not pardon her sentence. … I feel very comfortable that justice has been served, and a message has still been sent.”

A message has been sent, all right. As we explained yesterday3, PFC Manning is the gender-dysphoric former Army intelligence analyst who was convicted by courts martial in 2013 for acts of espionage. Manning funneled almost 750,000 classified documents to WikiLeaks, endangering American and other lives. On conviction, he received a light 35-year sentence (serving just six of them) with a dishonorable discharge to follow. Manning’s espionage, which at the time he intimated was to impress his “partner,” ranks near the top of the most treacherous acts of treason in U.S. history.

And his commutation is a middle finger in the face of an American constituency with whom Obama has the lowest rating — American Patriots in uniform.

As for Obama’s future plans, the sun may be setting on his administration, but he’s not riding off into that sunset to live peaceably. He’s laying the groundwork4 for post-presidential activism. At his final press conference, he pledged to speak out as private citizen at “certain moments where I think our core values may be at stake.” Explaining what that means, he said, “I put in that category if I saw systematic discrimination being ratified in some fashion. I put in that category explicit or functional obstacles to people being able to vote, to exercise their franchise. I put in that category institutional efforts to silence dissent or the press. And for me at least I would put in that category efforts to round up kids who have grown up here and for all practical purposes are American kids and send them somewhere else, when they love this country.”

In other words, if anyone deviates from or tries to undo his legacy, he’ll run to the nearest microphone. Is there any doubt the Leftmedia will happily provide him one?

Obama Frees Terrorist Bomb Maker5

Democrats have a long-running love affair with Marxist revolutionaries. Displaying the mentality of a starry-eyed high school girl whose infatuation with the bad boy blinds her to danger, Democrats seem to lose all semblance of objectivity when it comes to these leftist terrorists. Both Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton freed Marxist terrorists as they were leaving office and now Barack Obama has followed suit in his freeing of Oscar Lopez-Rivera.

Lopez-Rivera was convicted in 1981 for his actions in working to build bombs intended to destroy government property, seditious conspiracy, for the illegal transportation of firearms and armed robbery. He was sentence to 55 years in prison. Lopez-Rivera was a member of the Puerto Rican Marxist terrorist organization known as the Armed Forces of National Liberation (FALN), which was responsible for nearly 150 bombings and several armed robberies. The group was active from 1974 to 1983. One bombing in New York City in 1975 killed four and injured more than 50 people. FALN’s objective was to “free” Puerto Rico from U.S. control and bring about a Cuban-like communist dictatorship on the island.

New York City Councilman Joe Borelli stated, “Commuting his sentence proves that Obama and most liberals are out of touch with reality and [are] willing to sacrifice all norms in the name of progressivism.” Meanwhile, leftists like Lin-Manuel Miranda of “Hamilton” fame celebrated, tweeting that he was “sobbing with gratitude.” And one-time member of the Weather Underground terrorist group — infamous Obama buddy Bill Ayers — excitedly tweeted, “Oscar Lopez freed!”

This decision is actually not surprising given Obama’s actions in normalizing relations with communist Cuba. He ignored the atrocities committed by Fidel Castro’s regime as he has now overlooked the guilt of a similarly un-repentant terrorist, who refused Clinton’s offer of a pardon in 1999 on the condition that he disavow the use of terrorism. Talk about un-American.

Top Headlines6

Great news: One-third of feds won’t commit to staying during Trump administration. (Government Executive7)

Report: 300,000 small business jobs lost due to ObamaCare. (Washington Free Beacon8.)

HHS nominee Price sees “access” to coverage as health reform goal. (The Washington Post9) 

Betsy DeVos hearing highlights the need for less government control in education. (The Daily Signal10)

Trump EPA nominee Scott Pruitt grilled on climate change at Senate hearing. (Reason11)

Army plans Dakota Access oil pipeline environmental study. (Associated Press12)

Donald Trump taps Sonny Perdue as his agriculture chief. (Atlanta Journal Constitution13)

U.S. military moves to clear “ghost soldiers” from Afghan payroll. (The Wall Street Journal14) 

Congress looks to punish “sanctuary campus” colleges that protect illegal immigrants. (The Washington Times15)

CIA unveils new rules for collecting information on Americans. (Reuters16)

Policy: The injustice of commuting Manning’s sentence. (National Review17)

Policy: When it comes to health care, the answer is supply. (The Gazette18.)

Don’t Miss Alexander’s Column

Read Donald Trump and the Office of President19. He must channel the humility, humor and optimism of Ronald Reagan by enlisting all Americans to join together in order to “make America great again.”

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

FEATURED RIGHT ANALYSIS
Some Women Are More Equal Than Others21

By Allyne Caan

On Saturday, gaggles of anti-Trump feminists will descend on Washington to protest The Donald’s presidency. The Women’s March on Washington claims22 to “stand together in solidarity with our partners and children for the protection of our rights, our safety, our health, and our families — recognizing that our vibrant and diverse communities are the strength of our country.”

How curious, then, that march organizers disqualified from sponsoring the event a feminist organization whose founder is on record23 calling Donald Trump “a greedy, narcissistic, misogynistic, adulterer; a corporate mogul (who brags about not being able to be bought, but conveniently leaves out that he’s usually the one buying); a Godless, brainless reality TV star.”

Why the rejection?

Turns out the organization in question — New Wave Feminists (NWF) — is pro-life, and we all know that’s an unforgiveable sin on the Left. So when rabid pro-abortionists got wind that NWF was listed among event sponsors, they did what ultra-Leftist women do best: throw a fit. As one woman hysterically tweeted24, “Intersectional feminism does not include a pro-life agenda. That’s not how it works! [Insert pouty face and foot-stomping here.] The right to choose is a fundamental part of feminism.” Unless you choose to be pro-life, that is.

________________________________________
The Patriot Post Digest 1-19-2017
From The Federalist Patriot
Free Email Subscription
________________________________________

Apparently, solidarity applies only if you support dismembering live babies and selling their body parts for profit. And diversity can go no further than choosing between D&E or suction abortions.

Quickly backtracking from any semblance of open-mindedness, the Women’s March issued a statement25 apologizing for the “error” and confirming that unless you favor killing babies, your diverse feminism is simply not identical enough to Planned Parenthood’s to be welcome. No free thinkers allowed. After all, the march takes place the day before the anniversary of Roe v. Wade.

Responding to the rejection, NWF founder Destiny Herndon-De La Rosa stated26, “It appears that the [Women’s March on Washington] only wants to include a ‘diverse’ array of women who think exactly like them. That’s unfortunate, but we will not be deterred.” Despite being removed as a sponsor, the group will still march.

As will And Then There Were None (ATTWN), another pro-life group that received a similar rejection after first being approved as an event sponsor. You may recognize ATTWN founder Abby Johnson as the former Planned Parenthood director who left the abortion industry in 2009. Johnson shares27 on Facebook that after ATTWN applied to be an event partner, she received a phone call from a woman informing her that the application was rejected because all partners “must be supportive of women’s reproductive rights.” Johnson explains: “I told her that wasn’t a problem because we absolutely support reproductive rights, as long as they don’t infringe on the rights of individual human beings in the womb. I guess she didn’t like that, so she just repeated that we could not be a partner. … I finally asked, ‘So is this a pro-abortion March now?’ She hung up.”

Oddly, later that day ATTWN was approved and listed as an event sponsor — only to be disqualified once again28 later.

Of course, this hardly comes as a surprise. Groups like Planned Parenthood and NARAL have hijacked the word “feminism” — and are even trying to hijack the word “women” — to advance their infant-dismemberment business. As The Federalist’s Joy Pullman notes29, “[Feminist Susan B.] Anthony’s legacy has become largely a cover for people who profit from killing other humans and selling their dissected body parts for profit. So much for human rights. … The decline in women identifying themselves as feminists has directly coincided with leading feminists' defenestration of pro-life women to obsess almost exclusively over abortion. Making abortion the core of the women’s rights movement isn’t helping.”

Indeed, nearly 40% of women believe abortion should be illegal in all or most cases, according to the Pew Research Center30. With 40% of women unwelcome, Saturday’s event can hardly be called a “Women’s March.”

Turns out that to abortion-fixated females, equality looks good on paper. But when it comes to reality, they believe some women are more equal than others.

MORE ANALYSIS FROM THE PATRIOT POST

Silent in the Face of Christian Genocide31 — It’s not just bakeries at stake. Lives are on the line.
The Road to Serfdom Is Paved With Millennials32 — The comparison between Venezuela and American socialism is educational.
Robert E. Lee33 — Remembering the birth of a great military commander.
Eight Men Do Not Equal the Wealth of Half the World34 — Debunking the “Oxfam Eight” myth.
Make Military Renovation Affordable Again35 — The Air Force Academy doles out $387,000 … for a foyer?

BEST OF RIGHT OPINION

Gary Bauer: Obama’s Shame36
Victor Davis Hanson: It’s No Revelation That Intelligence Agencies Are Politicized37
Cal Thomas: Trying a Different Way38

For more, visit Right Opinion39.

OPINION IN BRIEF

Gary Bauer: “In recent weeks, Donald Trump has been pilloried by the Left and even some on the Right for supposedly not respecting the men and women in the intelligence community who risk their lives to protect us. Barack Obama just slapped the intelligence community in the face. Think about this for a moment. During last year’s presidential campaign, Obama and the Democrats directed a lot of vitriol at WikiLeaks for exposing John Podesta’s emails and messages from the Democratic National Committee. Those emails were a mixture of gossip and embarrassing political commentary. Almost every day since the election we have been told that the hacking of those political documents constituted a constitutional crisis. There has been an effort to undermine Trump’s legitimacy. Sanctions were imposed on Russia. Multiple investigations are underway. The documents Manning released were not gossip. They involved the national security secrets of the United States of America. … The DNC leak is insignificant compared to the gaping wound that Manning struck to the body of U.S. national security. With this one act, Barack Obama has shown the total hypocrisy of the hair-on-fire controversy we were subjected to regarding John Podesta’s emails.”

SHORT CUTS

Insight: “What, actually, is the difference between communism and fascism? Both are forms of statism, authoritarianism. The only difference between Stalin’s communism and Mussolini’s fascism is an insignificant detail in organizational structure.” —Leonard E. Read (1898-1983)

Tit for tat: “Many on the Left believe school choice should not be available to poor children, not because school choice is a bad idea, but because the Democratic Party doesn’t want to alienate teachers' unions that oppose it. Teachers' unions make generous contributions to Democratic politicians and Democratic politicians rely on teachers' unions for votes. Yet these same politicians have no skin in the game; many send their children to elite private schools.” —Cal Thomas

The BIG Lie: “We are not a compassionate society. In terms of our relationship to poor and working people, our record is worse than virtually any other country on Earth.” —Bernie Sanders

Delusions of grandeur: “I think the new administration, frankly, is coming to power with the wind at their back because of the strength of our economy and because of the role that we’ve played being engaged with countries in sound diplomacy over the course of the last eight years — and four for me.” —John Kerry

The understatement of American history: “No one is sorry to see this guy go.” —William J. Johnson, executive director of the National Association of Police Organizations

Non Compos Mentis: “Even though we’re still a few days from his inauguration, there’s already a mountain of evidence that proves without any doubt that we can’t trust Donald Trump. Our work to keep Donald Trump from running the most corrupt administration in our history has already started.” —DNC fundraising email (The DNC knows a thing or two about corruption…)

And last… “Tonight, the sun sets on the Obama administration for the last time.” —Jim Geraghty (Hallelujah!)

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.