The Patriot Post Digest 2-6-2018

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The Patriot Post Digest 2-6-2018
From The Federalist Patriot
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The Patriot Post® · Mid-Day Digest
Feb. 6, 2018 · https://patriotpost.us/digests/53962-mid-day-digest

IN TODAY’S EDITION

Two more Demo memos muddy the waters over the FBI.
Trump was kidding, but he shouldn’t have said “treasonous.”
The new Nuclear Posture Review is a welcome change from the Obama years.
Objection: Marines shouldn’t have been used as “door-pullers” for NFL celebrity athletes.
California’s “free” health care and universal basic income in one city are too expensive.
Is #MeToo becoming a lame anti-men campaign?
Plus our Daily Features: Top Headlines, Memes, Cartoons, Columnists and Short Cuts.

THE FOUNDATION

“It is of great importance to set a resolution, not to be shaken, never to tell an untruth. There is no vice so mean, so pitiful, so contemptible; and he who permits himself to tell a lie once, finds it much easier to do it a second and a third time, till at length it becomes habitual; he tells lies without attending to it, and truths without the world’s believing him. This falsehood of the tongue leads to that of the heart, and in time depraves all its good disposition.” —Thomas Jefferson (1785)

IN BRIEF

Demo Memo(s)1

By Thomas Gallatin

The House Intelligence Committee voted unanimously Monday to release the Democrat rebuttal to the Republicans’ FISA memo2. President Donald Trump will now have five days to decide if he will release it to the public, which he has previously stated he would do. Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA), the author of this rebuttal memo, accused Republicans of seeking to distort the facts with the FISA memo produced by House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes (R-CA). Democrats claim that Nunes coordinated with the White House in creating the FISA memo, a charge Nunes has strongly denied.

Meanwhile, Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) “leaked” a six-page response to the FISA memo, in which he argues that the FBI’s acquiring of a FISA warrant based on the dubious and unverified Christopher Steele dossier was perfectly fine because of Steele’s solid reputation with the FBI and because the allegations made within the dossier have not been disproven.

Andrew McCarthy of National Review astutely notes3 that the court is interested in the credibility of eyewitnesses, not the reputation of the agent who collected the information. If the FBI, as the FISA memo alleges, relied heavily on the unverified information from the Steele dossier, then the FBI did not meet the standard necessary to justify receiving a surveillance warrant. McCarthy writes, “So far, the FBI and Justice Department have provided only cause for grave concern that they gave a federal court unverified, highly unreliable information that was essential to the court’s probable-cause finding, and that they did so without being candid with the court about the biases of the information’s purveyor. That being so, the burden is on the FBI and the Justice Department to prove that they did not act improperly in seeking the FISA warrant — especially since they, rather than the rest of us, are in possession of the information that they insist would vindicate them.”

McCarthy also points out that the burden is on the DOJ and the FBI to prove they had credible witnesses for seeking a FISA warrant. He writes, “Before you ever get to the point of having an expert explain factual transactions that are beyond the ken of the layman, the occurrence of these factual transactions has to be established by competent, reliable witnesses. Steele and the FBI point us to none.” He continues, “Warrants are issued based on the quality of the information proffered to the court, not the duration of the information-gathering process.”

Democrats are clearly scrambling to regain control of the narrative surrounding Russiagate, with spurious accusations of a Republican Congress going out of its way in seeking to protect Trump. However, the stench of deep-state corruption is all wafting from the Democrat side of the aisle, and no amount of political spin perfume will cover the stink of this growing scandal.

Trump, Treason and Democrats4

By Nate Jackson

President Donald Trump has a habit of giving powerful speeches5 only to follow them up by saying something stupid (usually on Twitter) that gives fodder to the Leftmedia and derails his momentum. That was partially the case yet again yesterday in a speech that was supposed to be about the economy but ended up devolving into partisan sniping. He told an Ohio crowd, “[Democrats] would rather see Trump do badly, ok, than our country do well — it’s very selfish — even on positive news, really positive news … they were like death and un-American. Un-American. Somebody [in the crowd] said ‘treasonous.’ I mean, yeah, I guess, why not? Can we call that treason? Why not? I mean, [Democrats] certainly didn’t seem to love our country very much. But you look at that and it’s really very, very sad.”

The crowd laughed at multiple points, and Trump was clearly playing for it, but that didn’t stop leftists from caterwauling about it as proof of his Hitlerian bent.

First, it should go without saying such language is not the way American presidents should speak. Every Trump fan would lose their mind if Barack Obama had said the same thing, even in jest. Obama did make lesser but similar charges against opponents, and every conservative objected. But Trump does often speak like an authoritarian and thus it makes such labels far easier to apply to him. It’s also one reason why he had such vociferous opposition in the GOP primaries. Treason has a specific definition (Article III, Section 3 of the U.S. Constitution6), and it’s not a word that should be thrown about flippantly. Chief of Staff John Kelly, call your office.

On the other hand, Trump has never made the first move to carry through with anything remotely like the language he uses on the stump — language that he intends as New Yorker bluster, not policy or law enforcement prescription. Obama, on the other hand, actually weaponized federal agencies to punish political opponents.

Leftist hypocrisy goes even deeper. They wail every day about Trump, his family and his campaign committing treason. What else is the whole “collusion with Russia” nonsense about? And for eight years, those of us who steadfastly opposed Obama’s statist policies meant to “fundamentally transform” America were labeled7 not just racist but treasonous. All the time8. The difference is Democrats weren’t kidding. So please, Demo and media talkingheads, spare us your phony outrage now.

Finally, aside from agreeing to a word suggested to him by a member of the audience, Trump was right — Democrats certainly do seem to hate him more than they love America9.

Top Headlines10

Congress returns with just days to avoid shutdown (The Hill11)

McCain’s DACA fix is likely dead on arrival (The Daily Signal12)

Suspect in Colts’ Edwin Jackson, Uber driver deaths was twice-deported illegal alien who was previously convicted for drunk driving in California (Indianapolis Star13)

U.S. economy fundamentally strong despite stock market plunge (Associated Press14)

Clinton donor and Hollywood mogul Haim Saban gives $1,000 bonuses to staff thanks to tax reform (The Daily Wire15)

Supreme Court won’t block Pennsylvania ruling that state redraw congressional boundaries immediately, in decision that could help Democrats (The Washington Post16)

Here are the Philadelphia Eagles who plan to skip the White House Super Bowl visit (Fox News17)

Super Bowl airs call for “equal pay” after NFL rejects #PleaseStand ad as too political (The Washington Times18.)

Canadian PM Trudeau mansplains to woman questioner: “Peoplekind” is “more inclusive” than “mankind” (The Washington Free Beacon19)

Berkeley spent almost $4 million to keep campus safe from people angry about opinions (Washington Examiner20)

Policy: 2018 solutions for federal spending and debt (The Heritage Foundation21)

Policy: CFPB case threatens the power of a president to shape his administration’s policies (National Review22)

For more of today’s news, visit Patriot Headline Report23.

FEATURED ANALYSIS
The Nuclear Posture Review Brings Military Readiness24

By Todd Johnson

The release of a new nuclear posture25 is the latest initiative by President Donald Trump and Defense Secretary James Mattis to revive a Department of Defense capability that, in the words of one senior official, needs to be updated to meet a “challenging and dynamic security environment26.”

The 74-page nuclear posture document27, the first since 2010, reflects the administration’s attempt to deal with “a more diverse and advanced nuclear-threat environment than ever before, with considerable dynamism in potential adversaries’ development and deployment programs for nuclear weapons and delivery systems.”

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The Patriot Post Digest 2-6-2018
From The Federalist Patriot
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More importantly, it’s a rebuke of Barack Obama’s dangerous approach28. Obama’s flawed policy choice, which was essentially predicated on the United States dismantling nuclear capability and hoping that adversaries would follow suit, has resulted in the U.S. military having fewer nuclear weapons than during any other post-Cold War presidency29. To some people, having fewer weapons would be a positive development, but the results tell a different story.

According to Deputy Energy Secretary Dan Brouillette30, “Over the past decade, while the United States has led the world in these reductions, every one of our potential nuclear adversaries has been pursuing the exact opposite strategy.”

Both Russian and Chinese leadership, as well as China’s puppet31 Kim Jung-un in North Korea, have viewed the United States nuclear policy over the last 10 years as being impotent and they have used this period of time to bolster the numbers and types of weapons in their respective arsenals. And while it’s extremely unlikely that Vladimir Putin or Xi Jinping would ever order a “first strike” against the U.S., the rogue state of North Korea is a different story.

Even the casual observer of world events can’t help but wonder if Kim and his minions are in the closing stages of developing a weapon that can touch American sovereign territory. Just a few days ago CIA Director Mike Pompeo predicted that North Korea will be capable of striking the U.S.32 with a nuclear weapon within handful of months.

President Trump’s message to North Korea and the world during his State of the Union address5 about nuclear weapons couldn’t have been any clearer: “Past experience has taught us that complacency and concessions only invite aggression and provocation. I will not repeat the mistakes of past administrations that got us into this very dangerous position.”

That’s just one reason why the new nuclear posture release couldn’t be timelier.

The posture document clearly states, “This review calls for the diverse set of nuclear capabilities that provides an American President flexibility to tailor the approach to deterring one or more potential adversaries in different circumstances.” Predictably, some arms-control advocates33 immediately castigated the report, but they are missing the point of why Trump is supporting these audacious policies. He believes that American military firepower can be a powerful tool in getting antagonistic nations to comply with global norms.

The administration’s policy papers over the last few weeks, from the National Defense Strategy34 to the Nuclear Posture Review, show extreme clarity of thought and a theme of resoluteness. Only time will tell if North Korea will continue to engage in more provocative behavior in the Pacific region, but Trump and his defense team are ready to engage if needed. That’s not only good for the United States but the global community as a whole.

MORE ANALYSIS FROM THE PATRIOT POST

Those Uniformed Super Bowl Doormen39 — Active duty personnel and veterans objected that enlisted Marines were used as “door-pullers” for NFL celebrity athletes.
California: The Land of Dreams Has Become a Nightmare40 — From “free” health care to universal basic income, the Golden State is quickly running out of gold.
‘Right to Try’ Is a Healthy and Long Overdue Prescription41 — However, the House is unnecessarily letting the bill sit in limbo. Republicans have an easy decision to make.
Is #MeToo Anti-Men?42 — Ignoring fundamental differences between men and women while demanding that men behave differently is no solution.
Staying With New START Is a Sucker’s Bet43 — Russian cheating on the deal warrants rethinking it. The good news is that’s already begun.
Ronald Reagan’s Birthday44 — We joyfully mark the 107th anniversary of the Gipper’s birth.

BEST OF RIGHT OPINION

Marc A. Thiessen: The FBI’s Scandalous Attempt to Block the Nunes Memo45
Cal Thomas: The Memo and the Truth46
Stephen Moore: Are Liberals Rooting Against America?47
Dennis Prager: In Defense of Evangelicals Who Support Trump48
Peggy Noonan: Who’s Afraid of Jordan Peterson?49
For more of today’s columns, visit Right Opinion50.

OPINION IN BRIEF

Marc A. Thiessen: “Recall that in 2014, then-Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Dianne Feinstein released a document prepared by committee Democrats about the CIA’s terrorist interrogation program that was rife with ‘material omissions of fact.’ Indeed, Feinstein and her staff did not interview a single CIA official involved in the interrogation program, because they did not want to hear inconvenient facts that might undermine their predetermined narrative. Former Democratic Sen. Bob Kerrey of Nebraska, who had sat on the Intelligence Committee, decried ‘the partisan nature of this report.’ Yet no one in the media decried its release, nor did the Obama administration suppress it. Instead, the Republican minority was allowed to publish a separate report and the CIA released a document of its own rebutting Feinstein’s many falsehoods — and then left it to the public to judge. If the FBI thinks the Republican memo is incomplete or misleading, then, by all means, the bureau should prepare and release a rebuttal. But under no circumstances did it have the right to try to suppress it. Not only was it wrong on legal grounds to oppose the memo’s release, it was politically stupid for doing so. All it accomplished was to draw more attention to the document and its recitation of the bureau’s failings.”

SHORT CUTS

The Gipper: “The Founding Fathers knew a government can’t control the economy without controlling people. And they knew when a government sets out to do that, it must use force and coercion to achieve its purpose.”

Dezinformatsiya: “Add this to the list of decisions affected by climate change: Should I have children?” —New York Times

Non Compos Mentis: “[Climate change will force women to] bear the brunt of looking for the food, looking for the firewood, looking for the place to migrate to.” —Hillary Clinton

The BIG Lie: “I still believe in truth, evidence, facts. There is no such thing as alternative reality, and we have to make sure that we don’t try to live in it or let anybody else push us to live in it either.” —Hillary Clinton

Tone-deaf: “It’s easy to be overwhelmed by all that’s [happening] … on the world stage and here at home. I know that. I get overwhelmed at least a dozen times a day.” —Hillary Clinton, who shares much of the blame for news that makes us overwhelmed

Braying Jackass: “We are dealing with probably the most dangerous and worst man in the presidency we have ever had in the history of this nation, but we are going to win the fight.” —Chuck Schumer

Braying Jenny: “The reason Congress is facing a 5th stop-gap budget bill is because the Republican majority is incompetent.” —Nancy Pelosi (No, the reason is that Democrats are obstructionists.)

Alpha Jackass: “The next Waco, the next time that federal law enforcement officials are killed in the line of duty, that’s on Trump.” —NBC News’ Nicolle Wallace

Race bait: “I think [national anthem kneeling] is going to be probably a constant theme for the president, because it’s a very easy dog whistle, it’s low-hanging fruit, it’s what I like to call racial pornography because it’s a way to stoke his base.” —ESPN’s Jemele Hill

And last… “We have now reached the point where feminists are claiming to be oppressed by a potato chip51.” —Matt Walsh

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. We also humbly ask prayer for your Patriot team, that our mission would seed and encourage the spirit of Liberty in the hearts and minds of our countrymen.

Semper Vigilans Fortis Paratus et Fidelis

Nate Jackson, Managing Editor
Mark Alexander, Publisher