The Patriot Post Digest 10-13-2017

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The Patriot Post Digest 10-13-2017
From The Federalist Patriot
Free Email Subscription
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The Patriot Post® · Mid-Day Digest

Oct. 13, 2017 · https://patriotpost.us/digests/51852

IN TODAY’S EDITION

Nancy Pelosi wanted a gun control slippery slope. Beware: She might get it.
Donald Trump uses his pen to make some significant changes to ObamaCare.
The Boys Scouts are welcoming girls, and it’s part of a much larger cultural shift.
Democrats’ quandary on immigration reform — fight for “Dreamers” or oppose Trump?
Today is the Navy’s birthday and we celebrate a job well done.
The latest from Prager University on the Southern Poverty Law Center’s hate.
Plus our Daily Features: Top Headlines, Memes, Cartoons, Columnists and Short Cuts.

THE FOUNDATION

“Before a standing army can rule, the people must be disarmed; as they are in almost every kingdom of Europe. The supreme power in America cannot enforce unjust laws by the sword; because the whole body of the people are armed, and constitute a force superior to any band of regular troops that can be, on any pretence, raised in the United States.” —Noah Webster (1787)

IN BRIEF

The Bump Stock Slippery Slope1

By Thomas Gallatin

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) was asked last week if she viewed Democrats’ opportunistic gun control legislative push as a slippery slope toward total gun control. She replied, “I certainly hope so.” Well, she may get her wish.

The National Rifle Association has announced its opposition to bipartisan bill from Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) and Rep. Carlos Luis Curbelo (R-FL) that bans bump stocks and other gun parts. Jennifer Baker, the director of the NRA’s public affairs Institute for Legislative Action, said, “These bills are intentionally overreaching and would ban owned firearm accessories.”

First, since the Las Vegas massacre2, the NRA has been calling for the ATF to review the regulations on bump stock devices; they have not called for new laws. Thus the NRA’s opposition to these bills is consistent with their expressed stance; there is no flip-flopping here.

Second, it’s entirely appropriate to call on the ATF to review its regulations as it was Barack Obama’s gun-running ATF that gave approval to these devices in the first place. There should be no hiding behind Congress on this issue.

Third, the NRA is right to be opposed to these proposed bills that are so broadly worded as to create the slippery slope Pelosi hoped for. For example, the House’s Curbelo/Moulton bill states, “It shall be unlawful for any person — in or affecting interstate or foreign commerce, to manufacture, possess, or transfer any part or combination of parts that is designed and functions to increase the rate of fire of a semi-automatic rifle but does not convert the semi-automatic rifle into a machine gun.” This essentially could allow for the banning of semi-automatic rifles as there is no mention as to what firing rate qualifies as “machine gun.”

As The Federalist’s Sean Davis explains3:

The design of semi-automatic weapons uses the recoil of the weapon generated by the gas explosion in the chamber when a round is fired to automatically chamber a new round, and prepare the weapon to be fired again. Because of this, any parts used in that process would likely be subject to the federal ban proposed in the Curbelo/Moulton bill, since they serve to increase the rate of fire of a semi-automatic weapon. Gas tubes, gas blocks, buffer springs and main springs, magazines, charging handles, ejectors and extractors, and even triggers themselves could potentially be banned under the bipartisan bump stock ban language proposed by Curbelo and Moulton.

Once again, under the guise of acting to prevent crime, Democrats (and complicit Republicans) seek to further limit the freedoms and rights of law-abiding Americans. If the passing of laws actually stopped criminal behavior, then murder, theft and rape would be nonexistent. The problem is not the availability of the tool, rather it’s the intent of the user.

Trump’s EO Injects Competition Into ObamaCare4

By Political Editors

On Thursday, President Donald Trump bypassed a weak-kneed Republican Congress and began rolling back ObamaCare with an executive order that injects free market measures into the law. As he signed the order, Trump said, “So this is promoting health care, choice and competition all across the United States. This is going to be something that millions and millions of people will be signing up for and they’re going to be very happy. This will be great health care.” Trump declared that this was the first step in “providing millions of Americans with ObamaCare relief.”

So what does Trump’s executive order accomplish? Primarily, it directs the secretary of labor to consider expanding access to Association Health Plans. This would allow employers the freedom to form groups which offer coverage across state lines. “Insurance companies will be fighting to get every single person signed up,” Trump stated, adding, “And you will hopefully be negotiating, negotiating, negotiating. And you’ll get such low prices for such great care.”

Another impact of this order would be that those “association health plans” could be immune from some state and federal insurance requirements. At the same time employers would not be free to exclude employees from their plans based on preexisting conditions, nor charge more to those employees with long-term health issues.

Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), a leading critic of the “Affordable” Care Act, called Trump’s order “the biggest free market reform of health care in a generation.” Paul also stated, “This reform, if it works and goes as planned, will allow millions of people to get insurance across state lines at an inexpensive price.” Indeed, as news continues to come out of more and more insurance companies pulling out of various state-backed ObamaCare exchanges, this is welcome news.

A final note: Trump tweeted yesterday, “Since Congress can’t get its act together on HealthCare, I will be using the power of the pen to give great HealthCare to many people — FAST.” That “pen” part sounds eerily like Barack Obama, but Trump’s action is substantially different. While Democrats, who controlled Congress at the time ObamaCare passed, deliberately left a lot of the law’s details to be worked out by the administration, Trump is now wielding that same power to undo some of the damage. Live by the pen, die by the pen.

Top Headlines5

Unemployment claims fall to lowest level in 43 years, despite hurricanes (Washington Examiner6)

Sessions targets four sanctuary cities (NBC News7)

Two “Dreamers” caught smuggling illegal immigrants into U.S. (The Washington Times8.)

At least 31 dead in horrific California wildfires, hundreds missing (ABC News9)

Pelosi urges new law to limit president’s use of nuclear weapons (The Hill10)

Trump dumps UNESCO over anti-Israel bent (Washington Examiner11)

NYC, London police taking fresh look at Weinstein claims (Associated Press12)

Police-focused NFL protests overlooking rising, disproportionate black homicide rate (The Washington Times13)

New Orleans cop shot to death while on routine patrol (CBS News14)

Gay coffee shop owner kicks out pro-life customers (The Daily Signal15)

Humor: Boy Scouts to allow old men into Cub Scouts program (The Babylon Bee16)

Policy: America won’t win the War on Terror until it understands the enemy (American Enterprise Institute17)

For more of today’s news, visit Patriot Headline Report18.

U.S. Navy Birthday19

On Oct. 13, 1775, the U.S. Navy was born when the Continental Congress authorized the arming of two sailing vessels with 80 men and 10 carriage guns in order to intercept British supply and munitions transports. The Declaration of Independence came nine months later, followed by the creation of the Department of the Navy in 1798.

Today, our Navy is the most powerful in the world. We at The Patriot Post offer our thanks to all our sailors for a job well done and wish you a Happy 242nd Birthday! God bless you and your families.

Please visit The Patriot Post Shop20 for a great selection of items bearing the Navy’s insignia.

FEATURED ANALYSIS
Will Co-Ed Boy Scouts Still Have Honor?21

By Michael Swartz

After breaking down the “barriers” within the male gender over the last few years by accepting boys who claim to be homosexual22 or transgender23, this week the Boy Scouts crossed the Rubicon and announced that girls can begin to become full members in 2019. What’s in a name, anyway?

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The Patriot Post Digest 10-13-2017
From The Federalist Patriot
Free Email Subscription
________________________________________

Starting that year, girls will be placed in separate-gender individual Cub Scout dens consisting of about a half-dozen members, with the local pack having the option of combining dens of each gender or maintaining separate groups. Once girls cross the bridge to become Boy Scouts, they will have a separate but equal track that could lead them, too, to become Eagle Scouts, the pinnacle of the Scouting experience.

It appears the Boy Scouts are trying to walk a very fine line here24 by allowing girls to join but without placing them in many situations where they will interact with boys. “This unique approach allows the organization to maintain the integrity of the single gender model while also meeting the needs of today’s families,” said the Scouts in a release. They also claimed a survey showed that 90% of parents whose families were not involved in Scouting would like to get their daughters into a program like the Cub Scouts.

This may have been news to the Girl Scouts, whose Brownie and Junior programs cater to girls who are about the age of Cub Scouts. Understandably, they were less than thrilled25. “We’ve had competitors come and go and this is yet another competitor,” said Girl Scouts Chief Customer Officer Lisa Margosian. “This is a direct response to boost their declining membership. At this point we’re just about reminding people that we have an expertise in serving girls that the Boy Scouts just don’t have.” They have cookies, too.

Faced with a decline in numbers and under increasing pressure from organizations like NOW26 to modify their rules, the Boy Scouts caved once again. Perhaps this structure is in answer to worries some Boy Scout parents have27 and could appeal as a “one-stop shop” of sorts, but this also gives parents of young girls an option to avoid the “all-in for the progressive agenda28” Girl Scouts.

Another casualty will be male bonding. Boys behave differently when girls are present, and thus will lose something only found in a single-sex environment.

It’s not an overstatement to call this a radical move, but the vote among their Board of Directors was unanimous and the die is now cast. As BSA’s Chief Scout Executive Michael Surbaugh stated29, “The values of Scouting — trustworthy, loyal, helpful, kind, brave and reverent, for example — are important for both young men and women.”

That much is true, and as membership rolls decline for both Boy and Girl Scouts it was perhaps inevitable the two groups come together somehow — and the Boy Scouts blinked first. The question can and should be asked, though: How much of the decline in membership is from the national organizations succumbing to the leftist cultural agenda? In catering to pressure groups, the Scouts are now losing the parents who would once sought out the unique and wholesome experience of Scouting.

In fact, what’s happening to the Scouts is a microcosm of what’s happening to boys around the country — feminization. Rabid feminism says that in order for girls to be equal, they have to be just like boys. Which is odd given how much feminists hate men.

As Nicole Russell put it30, “This decision is not only indicative of the toxic hold third-wave feminism has on large organizations and the people who run them, but demonstrative of a consolidated effort to eradicate the influence of boys and men on society. Simply put, it’s not enough to emasculate men or categorize them as predators or toxic, now we must equate them with girls in order to remove gender differences, and eventually men, altogether.”

With this change by the Boy Scouts, just imagine their Scout camp. If “boys will be boys,” how long do you think it will be before a girl (or, more specifically, the parents of a girl) will be offended? It may have been harmless fun when the parents or grandparents were in the Boy Scouts many ago, but in this era of triggered snowflakes it may not be long before the Boy Scouts are neutered for good.

For more of today’s memes, visit the Memesters Union31.

MORE ANALYSIS FROM THE PATRIOT POST

Democrats Are Two-Faced on Immigration32 — They face a tough choice right now: Fighting for the “Dreamer” constituents or fighting against Trump.
The ‘Anti-Hate’ Group That Is a Hate Group33 — The next time you see the SPLC quoted in the news, just remember: they aren’t eliminating hate. They are fueling it.

For more of today’s top cartoons, visit the Cartoons archive34.

BEST OF RIGHT OPINION

L. Brent Bozell & Tim Graham: Hollywood Moralists Exposed As Hypocrites35
Jonah Goldberg: GOP Hog-Tied by a Divided Senate36
Erick Erickson: A Cultural Cold War Gets Warmer37
Mona Charen: Scalia’s Legacy38

For more of today’s columns, visit Right Opinion39.

OPINION IN BRIEF

L. Brent Bozell & Tim Graham: “Months after the 2016 Oscars, Hollywood feminists railed against President Donald Trump for a 2005 videotape in which he made crude remarks about what a powerful man can do to women. They shared their outrage on Twitter — Cher, Patricia Arquette, Debra Messing, Lena Dunham, and Ashley Judd. The day after Trump’s inauguration, the Hollywood feminists marched in Washington, D.C., in Park City, Utah (where they hold the Sundance Film Festival), and other cities. There in the Utah ‘feminist’ crowd was one Harvey Weinstein. Judd, who notoriously screamed grotesqueries at Trump at the March on Washington, was the first big name to allow her name to be used in The New York Times story on Weinstein. Dunham wrote in the Times that she regretted shaking Weinstein’s hand at a Weinstein-organized rally for Hillary Clinton in 2016. She had heard the rumors but ultimately ‘made a calculation’ since she desperately wanted Clinton to win. Can today’s young women in Hollywood count on an anti-Weinstein ‘choir’ to ‘resonate’ around the entertainment industry? The Catholic Church has taken dramatic steps to prevent the abuse of children. It is Hollywood’s turn to put its money where its mouth has been.”

SHORT CUTS

Insight: “In the hands of a skillful indoctrinator, the average student not only thinks what the indoctrinator wants him to think … but is altogether positive that he has arrived at his position by independent intellectual exertion. This man is outraged by the suggestion that he is the flesh-and-blood tribute to the success of his indoctrinators.” —William F. Buckley (1925-2008.)

Draining the swamp: “The Democrats ObamaCare is imploding. Massive subsidy payments to their pet insurance companies has stopped. Dems should call me to fix! ObamaCare is a broken mess. Piece by piece we will now begin the process of giving America the great HealthCare it deserves!” —Donald Trump announcing his executive order on ObamaCare4

Demo-gogues: “[Trump’s executive order] is a spiteful act of vast, pointless sabotage leveled at working families and the middle class in every corner of America. Make no mistake about it, Trump will try to blame the Affordable Care Act, but this will fall on his back and he will pay the price for it.” —Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi in a joint statement

For the record: “Trump’s order [on ObamaCare] is intended to create less regulated, less expensive alternatives to Obamacare. It is not an attempt to unwind the law so much as to work around it, providing options that do not exist under the current scheme, which has resulted in steady and significant increases in health insurance premiums and limited health insurance choices in many parts of the country. The order is less a direct attack on Obamacare and more of an attempt to escape its failings.” —Peter Suderman
Resist: “I love this trend. I hope that others follow suit. You know Eminem could be the ‘Colin Kaepernick’ of the rap world if he just keeps it up.” —Rep. Keith Ellison on rapper Eminem’s “brave” opposition

And last… “The NFL misunderstood its own nature. It’s not just that it is a game that should be a respite from political and social contention; as a quasi-national festival, it should be identified with a certain baseline of patriotism (the national anthem, the enormous American flags on the field before games, the military flyovers, etc.). Colin Kaepernick cracked this image, and Donald Trump drove a wedge through it.” —Rich Lowry

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.