The Patriot Post Digest 4-19-2017

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The Patriot Post Digest 4-19-2017
From The Federalist Patriot
Free Email Subscription
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Mid-Day Digest

Apr. 19, 2017

IN TODAY’S EDITION

Democrats couldn’t steal a House seat in Georgia despite a massive effort.
Trump reviews H-1B visas with “Buy American, Hire American” order.
Leftists hate patriotism, even when it’s the pre-game national anthem in baseball.
Daily Features: Top Headlines, Cartoons, Columnists and Short Cuts.

THE FOUNDATION

“In reality there is perhaps no one of our natural Passions so hard to subdue as Pride. Disguise it, struggle with it, beat it down, stifle it, mortify it as much as one pleases, it is still alive, and will now and then peek out and show itself.” —Benjamin Franklin (1771)

TOP RIGHT HOOKS

The Democrat Went Down in Georgia1

Democrats failed to pull off a win in a special House election2 in Kansas' 4th District last week, so surely they’d do better in Georgia’s 6th District. They poured in more than $8 million on a single candidate to face a divided Republican field of 11 candidates. This was their chance to Send Trump a Message™.

Or not.

Instead, it was reminiscent of that great Charlie Daniels song — “The Devil went down to Georgia, He was looking for a soul to steal, He was in a bind, ‘cause he was way behind, He was willing to make a deal.” That didn’t end well for the devil, and it didn’t work out for Democrats either.

Democrat Jon Ossoff’s 48.1% bested Hillary Clinton’s 46.8%, but he failed to reach the requisite 50% of the vote to avoid a runoff. The Leftmedia was so convinced Ossoff had it in the bag they had live, breathless coverage of the results. Today, they’re spinning that “Republicans avoided an embarrassing defeat.”

Republican Karen Handel, former Georgia secretary of state and county commissioner of Fulton County, will face Ossoff in a runoff on June 20. Handel led the GOP field with just 20%, but should have no trouble in a one-on-one matchup for the seat formerly held by Newt Gingrich, Johnny Isakson and Tom Price.

The humorous irony of the race was that Ossoff, the Democrats’ great Millennial hope, doesn’t live in the district and couldn’t even vote for himself. The truly important factor was that Democrats chose to nationalize the election and turn it into a referendum on Donald Trump. An astounding 95% of Ossoff’s money came from outside the district. Even Samuel L. Jackson cut an ad for Ossoff, declaring, “We have to channel the great vengeance and furious anger we have for this administration into votes at the ballot box.”

But Trump weighed in too, and House Speaker Paul Ryan’s super PAC was instrumental3 in holding off Ossoff. Voters know that Ossoff would align with an increasingly leftist party driven by coastal elites. And whether they like Trump or not, that’s not what most suburban Atlanta voters want.

Trump Tackles Visas4

Donald Trump signed another executive order Tuesday — this one aimed at overhauling the H-1B visa program used by American tech companies to hire high-skilled foreign workers and bring them into the U.S. Trump has been critical of the program, claiming that it disadvantages American workers. His point is made more real when companies hire foreigners to replace American workers and make those Americans train their replacements5. Trump’s action may make it more difficult for domestic companies to hire foreign workers.

By Trump’s estimation, the visa program has become too permissive, allowing in low-skilled, lower-paid foreign workers who have displaced American workers. As one administration official said, the “abuse” of the visa program that “brings in a worker not because you need their skill or talent, but for the purpose of undercutting the American worker” needs to be addressed. Trump’s aim is to ensure that the original intent of the H-1B visa program is honored — namely that it is used only to bring in highly skilled foreign workers for highly specialized positions and needs.

His “Buy American, Hire American” order directs the Departments of State, Justice, Homeland Security and Labor to draft “new rules to prevent immigration fraud and abuse,” and to initiate a thorough review of the program in order to provide recommended legislative changes to Congress. It also instructs federal agencies to use American-made goods.

Trump’s policies are already changing things, even in some cases if only by perception. The Washington Free Beacon reports6, “U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services announced Monday that the number of H-1B visa applications dropped about 16 percent over the past year, marking the first such decline since 2012.”

In related news, the Washington Post attempted to call out Trump for targeting “non-criminal” illegal aliens with a story headlined7, “ICE immigration arrests of noncriminals double under Trump.” However, when the statistics are more closely examined and compared against Barack Obama’s record, the story becomes markedly different. It is true that under Trump immigration officials have cracked down on illegal immigration to a greater extent than during Obama’s tenure. But the percentage of illegal aliens with criminal records arrested by ICE since Trump took office is 75%; under Obama it was 60%. That means immigration officials under Obama were less discriminating in who they targeted for arrest. Once again, The Washington Post has published an article that is grossly misleading.

Top Headlines8

Despite record collections, 52,062,499 filers paid no income taxes in 2014. (CNS News9)

Islamist murders three in Fresno while yelling “Allahu Akbar,” says he “hates white people.” (Fox News10)

FBI investigating radical terrorists in all 50 states as threats hit peak. (The Washington Free Beacon11)

Obama political spying scandal: Trump associates were not the first targets. (National Review12)

A month after dismissing federal prosecutors, Justice Department does not have any U.S. attorneys in place. (The Washington Post13)

Trump administration orders review of Iran nuclear deal sanctions. (NBC News14)

California again leads list with 6 of the top 10 most polluted U.S. cities. (USA Today15)

UCLA conservative professor may be fired from job for refusing to cave in to political correctness. (Heat Street16)

College activists: Searching for truth makes you a racist. (The Federalist17)

Hump Day Humor: SJWs clip of the week, compliments of the Simpsons. (YouTube18.)

Policy: Time to say “au revoir” to Paris climate deal. (The Heritage Foundation19)

Policy: Address Medicaid spending before trying to reform health care. (The Hill20)

For more, visit Patriot Headline Report21.

Patriots' Day 201722

“Don’t fire unless fired upon. But if they want a war let it begin here.” —Captain John Parker, commander of the militiamen at Lexington, Massachusetts, on sighting British troops

On this day in 1775, American militiamen at Lexington and Concord confronted 700 British Red Coats — firing the opening volley for American Liberty. The British governor had ordered his troops to seize weapons in Concord. It is no small irony that the first shots of the Revolution were fired in response to a gun confiscation order.

Please join us in honoring their sacrifice, and that of generations of Patriots since, including those Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Marines who continue to shoulder the burden of Liberty. Read a full account of the battle in Mark Alexander’s Patriots' Day column23.

Please also consider supporting our Patriots' Day Campaign24. Your support fuels our vital mission to arm grassroots Patriots with the right perspective on the most important issues of the day. Our mission and operations are funded entirely by the voluntary financial support of Patriots like you!

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The Patriot Post Digest 4-19-2017
From The Federalist Patriot
Free Email Subscription
________________________________________

FEATURED RIGHT ANALYSIS
Leftists Detest Patriotism25

By Lewis Morris

NBC Sports writer Craig Calcaterra stirred a hornet’s nest this past weekend when he took to Twitter26 to complain about the injection of politics in sports. “Will you keep politics out of sports, please. We like sports to be politics-free.” By which he meant the American flag and national anthem, because he tweeted it with a picture of the Atlanta Braves' new stadium during the national anthem.

Calcaterra followed up his tweet with an essay27 on the NBC Sports website in which he claimed that the presence of American flags and patriotic imagery in sports is part of a post-9/11 “conspicuous patriotism” meant to evoke specific feelings in sports fans.

Maybe Calcaterra would like to file his complaint with the Marine who carried a flag all the way through the Boston Marathon — on a prosthetic leg28.

Of course, American Patriots realize that it’s Calcaterra who’s guilty of mixing politics and sports. The display at the Braves game, and many like it at ballparks across the country, are patriotic displays meant to show support for our country and our military. This sort of thing has been going on at sporting events for generations. Despite what Calcaterra thinks, there is no Orwellian propaganda machine at work.

Sports fans are generally a patriotic lot. Calcaterra discovered this in the responses29 his tweet generated in the hours and days after he posted it. Many challenged his thinking, wondering what was so political about displaying the American flag and being patriotic. One of Calcaterra’s snarky replies was that “People often wrap themselves in the flag in order to achieve political ends.”

People often burn the flag for the same reason, but when flags are displayed in sports, there is no political end to achieve. America-hating leftists can’t seem to grasp that. For them, everything is political. And their inherently thin skin leads them to believe that there is some hidden agenda behind anything they can’t understand. No wonder they’re so bitter.

Take a look at the farce30 that was Colin Kaepernick’s protest31 last football season. Kaepernick claimed that he refused to stand during the playing of the National Anthem to show his solidarity for the mistreatment of black people by police. One could argue that Kaepernick’s sentiment to protest such abuse was well-intentioned, but he showed extremely poor judgment by directing his anger at America as a whole and not simply at those responsible for real abuse.

Kaepernick’s error quickly and roundly drew the ire of football fans, and he now sits jobless on the sidelines32 waiting to see if he will even be picked up by a team for next season. Rumor has it that no NFL team will touch him after the whole debacle.

Leftists are finding themselves increasingly marginalized in America either because they cannot grasp the true meaning of patriotism or because they are terrible at hiding their outright loathing for America. Perhaps it’s a combination of the two. Either way, they seem to want the flexibility to embrace patriotism and the American ideal when it suits them, mainly so they have something to hide behind when they show their contempt for this country and many of its time-honored institutions.

The difference between what is patriotic and what is anti-American should be easy to see, so it’s puzzling that there is such a vigorous debate over the issue. But leftists will keep that argument going because it’s in their nature.

It would just be nice if they can keep that debate out of sports. We Americans like baseball, football, basketball, and all the other contests because we admire physical skill and athletic prowess. We’re not looking for more social justice warriors. Hollywood, Washington and the mass media have given us more than enough of them to go around. Sports is one of the few things in American life that is inherently politics-free. That’s why we like sports. Let’s keep it that way.

MORE ANALYSIS FROM THE PATRIOT POST

Reform Social Security, or Make It Welfare33 — What if the payroll tax was eliminated in favor of funding Social Security from the general fund?
Marathon Marine Proves He’s Boston Strong28 — He suffered the loss of his leg to an IED, but didn’t let that stop him from running and finishing the Boston Marathon.
Big Labor Robs Members to Support Democrats34 — Unions spent $1.7 billion on politics whether members liked it or not. So much for “having a voice.”
The Ugly Face of Sharia Law in America35 — Being ambivalent toward Western values sets a dangerous path. Stories from Detroit and Minneapolis show why.

BEST OF RIGHT OPINION

John Stossel: Earth Day Dopes36
Byron York: Trump’s Long March Problem37
Walter Williams: Worse Than Racists38

For more, visit Right Opinion39.

OPINION IN BRIEF

Walter Williams: “Many whites are ashamed and saddened by our history of slavery, Jim Crow and gross racial discrimination. As a result, they often hold blacks accountable to standards and conduct they would never accept from whites. A recent example is black students at colleges such as NYU, UC Berkeley, UCLA and Oberlin demanding racially segregated housing. Spineless college administrators have caved to their demands. These administrators would never even listen to a group of white students demanding white-only housing accommodations. These administrators and other guilt-ridden whites have one standard of conduct for whites and a lower standard for blacks. Black people can be thankful that racist forms of double standards and public and private policies rewarding inferiority and irresponsibility were not broadly accepted during the 1920s, ‘30s, '40s and '50s. There would not have been the kind of intellectual excellence and spiritual courage that created the world’s most successful civil rights movement.”

SHORT CUTS

Insight: “To be nobody but yourself — in a world which is doing its best, night and day, to make you like everybody else — means to fight the hardest battle which any human being can fight, and never stop fighting.” —E. E. Cummings (1894-1962)

Friendly fire: “One opinion I don’t have to stifle anymore is that I think the Keystone XL pipeline should have been built.” —Adam Sieminski, administrator under Obama’s Energy Information Administration

The BIG lie: “I have not called for [Trump’s] impeachment.” —Maxine Waters shortly after tweeting, “I’m going to fight everyday [sic] until he’s impeached”

Delusions of grandeur: “The biggest misconception is the assumption that because our founding fathers included gun ownership in the constitution, the 'right to bear arms’ is inalienable forever. Ideas have a ‘time’ and with changing times and changing understanding, even documents like the Constitution need to be amended to reflect the needs of the time. When the constitution was written, survival on the frontier depended on the ability to hunt and defend from harm and guns were important to that basic survival. We no longer live in this kind of environment and so the time has come to change the rules.” —Girl Rising founder Holly Gordon

Non Compos Mentis: “If you think of the two countries in the world that got a handle on obesity, what do you think they are? Which two countries? North Korea and Cuba.” —British Olympic gold medalist James Cracknell

And last… “If the president walked across the surface of the Potomac River this afternoon, the morning headlines would read, ‘Trump Can’t Swim.’” —Gary Bauer

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.