The Patriot Post Digest 1-25-2017

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The Patriot Post Digest 1-25-2017
From The Federalist Patriot
Free Email Subscription
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Mid-Day Digest

Jan. 25, 2017

IN TODAY’S EDITION

Trump makes his first move on the border wall.
Fake news vilifies a Good Samaritan who stopped a crime with his gun.
Trade agreements and oil pipelines get Trump’s attention.
And more news, policy and opinion.

THE FOUNDATION

“The policy or advantage of [immigration] taking place in a body (I mean the settling of them in a body) may be much questioned; for, by so doing, they retain the language, habits, and principles (good or bad) which they bring with them. Whereas by an intermixture with our people, they, or their descendants, get assimilated to our customs, measures, and laws: in a word, soon become one people.” —George Washington (1794)

TOP RIGHT HOOKS

Here Comes Trump’s Great Wall1

“After years of neglect, this administration has taken a strong stand to stiffen the protection of our borders.” So said Bill Clinton in his 1995 State of the Union Address2. Now, after a 22-year wait, Donald Trump will see that plan through. Trump tweeted Tuesday, “Big day planned on NATIONAL SECURITY tomorrow. Among many other things, we will build the wall!” And so begins Trump’s great wall project, which was mocked and derided by so many both in the mainstream media and the Washington establishment as merely a campaign slogan that would never actually see the light of day.

Honestly, one can hardly fault people for holding this pessimistic view, as history shows that politicians talk a good game but rarely act on their words — as typified by Clinton’s SOTU speech. As Rush Limbaugh so often quipped, “symbolism over substance” is largely Washington’s modus operandi. Thus far, Trump is deviating from that script.

We cautioned yesterday to give Trump time3 on immigration. Less than 24 hours later, we were proved right.

An interesting side note: While Trump is signing this latest executive order today, Mexican foreign minister Luis Videgaray will be arriving in Washington to prepare for the visit of Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto. Much of the visit will focus on trade issues, but it would be naïve to think that Trump’s statements regarding Mexico paying for the wall don’t factor into the conversation. One thing’s for sure, Trump is proving that there is indeed a new sheriff in town.

Fake News: Vilifying Good Guy With Gun4

The editors at USA Today were caught disseminating a pejorative headline5 that readers, assuming they actually clicked through for the story, could determine almost immediately was fake news. The story was about a weekend shooting at a Texas mall, including the actions of a good guy with a gun. But that’s not the impression USA Today gave. Nor was it accidental.

The front-page headline incredulously declared, “Shopper who shot suspect did not have carry permit.” Once you clicked through for the details, the editors offered a slightly different, albeit still misleading, version: “Texas mall: Shopper who shot suspect not allowed to carry.” All but a few “constitutional carry” states require gun owners to obtain a license to pack heat outside the home. And the USA Today headline gives the impression that said shopper was not legally sanctioned by the state to carry a firearm in public. Except that’s not true at all.

The very first paragraph states, “The shopper at a Texas mall who had a concealed carry license and shot a robbery suspect should not have been carrying a gun inside the mall, according to the mall’s policy [emphasis added].” Suddenly, the narrative is flipped on its head. The story goes on to explain, “On Sunday, a man was shot and killed while trying to stop a jewelry store robber at Rolling Oaks Mall in San Antonio. Another man, with a concealed permit, shot one of the suspected robbers who police said stole from a Kay Jeweler’s store. Four others were injured. The San Antonio Police Department said the same robbery suspect fatally shot 42-year-old Jonathan Murphy. Police describe the man who shot the robbery suspect and Murphy as ‘Good Samaritans.’”

What’s really at issue here isn’t the lack of a concealed carry permit but the mall, which proudly markets itself as a gun-free zone. According to mall manager Dustin Christensen, “Although we respect the laws of the state and individual rights, we do, however, maintain a separate code of conduct that we visibly post at our entrances that includes the prohibition of any weapons on the property. Our top priority continues to be the safety of our shoppers as we strive to provide the best possible shopping experience for all.” First of all, the sign didn’t stop armed robbers from entering the complex. Secondly, the only thing providing safety to the shoppers was a good guy with a gun. No wonder the police call him a Good Samaritan.

With an intentionally distorted headline, the ignoramuses at USA Today gave thousands of people the impression that an armed citizen was just as felonious as the thugs he stopped. To say that he “did not have a carry permit,” as stated in the headline, which is the only thing many people see, is an outright lie. It’s true that he acted against the local mall’s policies, but that’s a constitutionally dubious thing to argue. Hopefully this will motivate Texas to stop allowing malls to pre-empt the carry law. Even San Antonio police spokesman Officer Doug Greene said, “We just ask people to use their best judgment when they get into situations like this.” Thanks to good judgment from a guy with a gun, lives may have been saved.

The Leftmedia has criticized the Trump administration for its ridiculous use of the term “alternative facts.” Yet earlier this week journalists were all over an erroneous report suggesting Trump, after returning Winston Churchill’s bust to the Oval Office, ousted MLK’s. That was fake news. So is USA Today’s misleading headline regarding a concealed carry permit holder. Those claiming to occupy the moral high ground in the press are clearly not interested in leading by example.

Top Headlines6

Dow tops record 20,000 — the Trump return for American pension plans! (Market Watch7)

Trump Supreme Court justice pick narrows to two names, TBA next week. (CBS News8.)

U.S. Senate confirms Haley as UN ambassador. (Reuters9)

Trump administration institutes media blackout for EPA, suspends social media activity. (Fox News10)

Comey asked to stay on as FBI director. (ABC News11)

Law Enforcement: Project Veritas infiltration may have stopped plans to shut down DC Metro. (Hot Air12)

Senior Secret Service agent suggests she wouldn’t take “a bullet” for Trump. (Washington Examiner13)

Texas Christian University to send students to mosque for “religious experience.” (The College Fix14)

Contrary to CEO claims, Planned Parenthood caught denying women prenatal care. (Life News15)

Athlete completes 3,000-mile run across America in honor of military veterans. (Fox News16)

Policy: How Trump’s regulatory reform could boost U.S. He wants to slash regulations by 75%. (The Daily Signal17)

Policy: Trump clears the way for energy development. (National Review18.)

FEATURED RIGHT ANALYSIS
Trade and Pipelines: Trump’s First Economic Actions19

By Lewis Morris

President Donald Trump signed two significant executive orders this week — one taking America out of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade agreement, and the other removing the ban on construction of the Dakota Access and Keystone XL oil pipelines. Both orders reverse decrees issued by Barack Obama and serve to show that Trump has set about fulfilling his campaign promise to boost the American economy.

________________________________________
The Patriot Post Digest 1-25-2017
From The Federalist Patriot
Free Email Subscription
________________________________________

The order20 to take America out of the TPP doesn’t come as a surprise, given that Trump had promised repeatedly to do so before the election. Indeed, his opposition likely helped him win the Rust Belt.

The TPP deal, which was negotiated behind closed doors by the Obama White House and 11 other Pacific rim countries, would have created a trade block larger than the European Union. Democrats and their union constituents, however, generally oppose free trade. And Republicans didn’t trust Obama to negotiate in a way that would protect America’s interests or workers.

Now, in a rare moment of solidarity, many American union leaders voiced their support for the Republican president’s actions. “With this decision, the president has taken the first step toward fixing 30 years of bad trade policies that have cost working Americans millions of good paying jobs,” declared Teamsters president James Hoffa.

Trump has promised to renegotiate bilateral trade deals and hold each country accountable. He has also suggested that he’s looking to renegotiate NAFTA, though he hasn’t quite pledged to scrap that deal altogether. In any event, NAFTA would be far more difficult for Trump to undo unilaterally as it’s a long-standing treaty backed up by Congress.

There is a lot of controversy surrounding Trump’s move to scrap TPP. It can’t be denied that the agreement had some shady underpinnings, like much of the work done during the Obama years. It was never put before Congress for formal review and passage, and Obama gave few details about what was in the deal, encouraging Americans to simply trust that he had our best interests at heart. We all know how that turned out.

But by withdrawing from the TPP, Trump must guard against sliding into protectionism. Protectionist trade policies21 can be notoriously bad for American consumers because they tend to raise the price of goods. Such policies might keep jobs from drifting overseas, but the total cost of keeping those jobs in the U.S. rises significantly when you factor in the rise in consumer prices.

This negative impact on the economy can be prevented if the U.S. pursues free trade policies with other countries — particularly if we enter bilateral trade deals that are beneficial to American jobs.

Speaking of American jobs, Trump’s executive order Tuesday to restart22 the Dakota Access and Keystone XL pipelines will certainly be beneficial and move us toward a sounder energy policy.

Obama waffled on Keystone for years, wanting to placate the unions who wanted it but finally giving in to his ecofascist base and shutting down the project. He did so citing the alleged detrimental impact that Keystone would have on the environment, even though State Department studies he asked for proved that the pipeline would be safe. He likewise ended the Dakota Access project after Native American groups engaged in a vocal and widely televised protest because the pipeline would have crossed their land.

Trump says he wants the pipelines to be built with U.S. steel, so he will be looking to renegotiate terms23 with TransCanada, the Canadian group that is working on the Keystone project.

Both pipelines will increase domestic oil production and move America toward a more independent and self-sustaining energy policy, something that was not of concern during the administration of Trump’s predecessor.

In both cases, though with mixed results likely to ensue, Trump is doing what he considers best to put America first.

MORE ANALYSIS FROM THE PATRIOT POST

Trump Should Cut Funding for NEA, NPR, PBS24 — Funding things like Sesame Street and offensive “art” isn’t in the Constitution.
Gold Star Families Attacked25 — But you won’t hear about it from the Leftmedia.
How Trump Can Send the Feds to Chicago26 — It’s simple: Enforce the law.
UN in the Crosshairs27 — Resolution to terminate U.S. membership in the UN is unlikely to pass.

BEST OF RIGHT OPINION

Caroline Camden Lewis: #NotMyMarch: Elitism, Abortion and the March for (Some) Women28
Ben Shapiro: The Left’s gotcha11-Based Politics Demeans Women29
Walter E. Williams: Universities Cave to Snowflakes30

For more, visit Right Opinion31.

OPINION IN BRIEF

Ben Shapiro: “This reduction of women to their constituent body parts is particularly ironic coming from the same side of the political aisle that declares that men sometimes have gotcha11s and that some women have gotcha10es. But more importantly, reducing female priorities to killing babies and increased funding for maxi pads merely objectifies women. Instead of recognizing that women have all sorts of political views, instead of recognizing that many women believe that they ought to be left alone by government in order to pursue their dreams, the women’s marches declared that government has to treat gotcha11l possession with a sort of victim status, deserving of special protection. The suggestion that the government must guarantee special privileges for women because their biology makes them somehow lesser, or that abortion rights are necessary to achieve equality, reduces the fight for female equality to the fight for female sameness. That’s insulting to women. And it’s off-putting to voters. If these women are so concerned about vulgarity, why do they embrace it? If they’re so upset that Trump supposedly reduces women to body parts, why promote that same silly thinking?”

SHORT CUTS

Insight: “Knowledge without integrity is dangerous and dreadful.” —Dr. Samuel Johnson (1709-1784)

Upright: “One wonders just how far spineless college administrators will go when it comes to caving in to the demands of campus snowflakes. … Generosity demands that we forgive these precious snowflakes and hope that they grow up. The real problem is with people assumed to be grown-ups — college professors and administrators who tolerate and give aid and comfort to our aberrant youth.” —Walter E. Williams

For the record: “Few journalists have appreciated the degree to which Mr. Trump’s entire political and governing strategy depends on trolling them. They’ve mostly assumed his penchant for exaggeration and invention was the result of psychosis, or just ego. By now, though, it ought to be apparent that he’s doing it intentionally, and strategically.” —Barton Swaim

Hyper hypocrisy: “None of us can go into this world of alternative facts.” —Dan Rather, who ruined his own career with a faked report in 2004 about George W. Bush’s National Guard service

Speaking of alternative facts… “At six weeks, the ‘heartbeat’ is not audible; it is visible, a flickering that takes place between 120 and 160 times per minute on a black-and-white playback screen. As cardiac cells develop, they begin to send electrical pulses that cause their neighbors to contract. Scientists can observe the same effect if they culture cells in a petri dish. Doctors do not even call this rapidly dividing cell mass a ‘fetus’ until nine weeks into pregnancy. Yet, the current debate shows how effectively politicians have used visual technology to redefine what counts as ‘life.’” —Moira Weigel in a seriously flawed32 op-ed for The Atlantic

Late-night humor: “Hillary Clinton said … that the images of the Women’s March were ‘awe-inspiring.’ Adding, ‘Nice to see you all come out in full force, finally.’” —Seth Meyers

Semper Vigilans Fortis Paratus et Fidelis
Managing Editor Nate Jackson

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