The Patriot Post Digest 3-2-2018

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The Patriot Post Digest 3-2-2018
From The Federalist Patriot
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The Patriot Post® · Mid-Day Digest
Mar. 2, 2018 · https://patriotpost.us/digests/54514-mid-day-digest

IN TODAY’S EDITION

Trump’s steel tariffs are a shot across the bow of China, but an expensive one.
Chuck Schumer apparently misunderstands the term “minority leader.”
Jimmy Kimmel is a consummate hypocrite, and thus just the right fit for the Oscars.
Corporate America is becoming politically tribal and that’s not good.
“The Young Karl Marx” debuts in theaters — it’s a historical whitewash.
Settled science takes another hit.
Is the Southern Poverty Law Center policing YouTube?
Plus our Daily Features: Top Headlines, Memes, Cartoons, Columnists and Short Cuts.

THE FOUNDATION

“Measures which serve to abridge the free competition of foreign Articles, have a tendency to occasion an enhancement of prices.” —Alexander Hamilton (1791)

IN BRIEF

The Tariff Trump Card1

By Nate Jackson

President Donald Trump announced “yuge” tariffs on steel (25%) and aluminum (10%) Thursday, despite reportedly stiff opposition from his advisers and Republicans. “We’re going to be instituting tariffs next week,” Trump said. “People have no idea how badly our country has been treated by other countries.” Such assertions have been part of his rhetorical appeal since long before he announced his presidential bid, and in office he’s carried through with recent tariffs2 on solar panels and washing machines. His “America First” philosophy has indeed had some positive effects3, but there’s not a whole lot to like with these tariffs.

Yes, there’s a defensible geopolitical calculation — countering China. Red China’s nuclear puppet4, North Korea, has acted on a very long leash of late. The best way to pressure Pyongyang is to pressure Beijing — which had a top economic official in Washington to discuss trade issues at the time of Trump’s tariff announcement. China is 11th on the list5 of foreign sources of steel in the U.S. Fifth on that list is Russia. Trump is taking a shot across the bow of both of these geopolitical foes.

Unfortunately, it’s also a shot in the foot. Other nations from whom we import steel are hardly foes. Canada, Germany and Japan, among others, will all take a hit, and undercutting those alliances to spite China and Russia is a strange cost-benefit calculation. The European Union is threatening retaliation. That said, Trump often uses policies and rhetoric as negotiating ploys. Much as he’s verbally assaulted NAFTA, Trump may be merely setting a bargaining position, to be undone when he feels America’s position is stronger. But he also insists these harmful tariffs will remain in place for “a long time.”

Which brings us to the fact that tariffs are a high price to pay domestically. “The President is proposing a massive tax increase on American families,” said Sen. Ben Sasse (R-NE). “You’d expect a policy this bad from a leftist administration, not a supposedly Republican one.”

Investor’s Business Daily sums up6 the economic impact: “Protectionism … will lead to higher prices for all, the loss of thousands of jobs and a political-crony windfall for a handful of big companies.” Swamp, meet Trump. George W. Bush’s steel tariffs of 2002 and 2003 cost 200,000 jobs and $4 billion in wages. Trump’s tariffs aren’t going to be any better just because he talks a good populist line.

Aside from lost jobs and wages, many things (from beer to cars) will become more expensive for all Americans. And our Todd Johnson just noted Tuesday7 the detrimental effect this will have on American oil production — and thus gas prices. We suppose everyone can pay for these price increases with their new tax cuts. Not a great tradeoff.

Demo Minority Leader Opposes White Nominee8

By Thomas Gallatin

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.‘s dream9 of individuals being judged by the content of their character rather than the color of their skin is sadly far from being realized, especially within today’s Democrat Party, where racial politics are passed off as a fight for equality and diversity. This reality was on full display in the Senate on Thursday when Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) gave his rationale for voting against President Donald Trump’s judicial nominee Marvin Quattlebaum. Schumer stated, “The nomination of Marvin Quattlebaum speaks to the overall lack of diversity in President Trump’s selections for the federal judiciary. Quattlebaum replaces not one but two scuttled Obama nominees who were African-American.”

Schumer, who must think “minority leader” means something else, further explained, “As of Feb. 14th, 83 percent of the President Trump’s confirmed nominees were male, 92 percent were white. That represents the lowest share of non-white candidates in three decades. It’s long past time that the judiciary starts looking a lot more like the America it represents. Having a diversity of views and experiences on the federal bench is necessary for the equal administration of justice.” So, to put it bluntly, Schumer voted against Quattlebaum because he is white.

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) responded to Schumer, tweeting, “I’ve known Chuck Schumer for years. He is not a racist, but this was an absolutely shameful reason to vote against a very qualified nominee like Marvin Quattlebaum.” Graham added, “This is political correctness run amok. Voting against a highly qualified nominee because of the color of his skin does nothing to bring our country and nation together. Frankly it is a massive step backward.”

Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC), the GOP’s only black senator, also weighed in on Schumer’s comments, tweeting, “Perhaps Senate Democrats should be more worried about the lack of diversity on their own staffs than attacking an extremely well-qualified judicial nominee from the great state of South Carolina.”

The fact remains the Democrat Party has a long history of race-based politics. Schumer’s statements were merely political “diversity” virtue signaling, to the lowest common denominator. He raised no concerns over Quattlebaum’s past record, nor did he question any of his judicial views. Rather, Schumer simply played the race card as if that were reason enough to reject the man. Schumer is playing the worst kind of identity politics. Fortunately, his racially biased concerns fell flat as Quattlebaum was confirmed by the Senate with a vote of 69-29.

Top Headlines10

Trump, NRA tout “great” meeting after president’s “taking the guns” remarks (Fox News11)

Gun-control groups praise Trump’s embrace of new federal gun-control proposals (The Washington Free Beacon12)

D'oh! Gun control march bumped from National Mall by existing “talent show” permit (Hot Air13)

Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal will sign tax bill that kills Delta break after NRA flap (Atlanta Journal-Constitution14)

Manufacturing in U.S. expands at fastest pace since May 2004 (Bloomberg15)

Number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits fell last week to a 48-year low (Reuters16)

Democratic activist arrested for allegedly sending white powder to Trump Jr. (The Daily Wire17)

Report said to fault FBI’s former No. 2 for approving improper media disclosure, misleading inspector general (The Washington Post18.)

Putin unveils nuclear-powered cruise missiles, drone submarines for attacking U.S. (The Washington Free Beacon19)

Humor: CNN purchases industrial-sized washing machine to spin news before publication (The Babylon Bee20)

Policy: Three reasons why Trump’s tariffs would hurt American workers (The Daily Signal21)

Policy: The missing Republican agenda (The Washington Free Beacon22)

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

FEATURED ANALYSIS
Jimmy Kimmel — An Oscar for Serial Misogyny24

By Mark Alexander

The 2018 Academy Awards confab of Hollywood’s rich and famous is upcoming. You know, it’s that annual celebration of pomp and pretense for an industry that profits, in no small part, from the promotion and propagation of unmitigated violence25 that saturates young minds.

Notably, the host again this year is Jimmy Kimmel, who built his career on “The Man Show26,” which was devoted to the objectification and denigration of women.

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The Patriot Post Digest 3-2-2018
From The Federalist Patriot
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He deserves an Oscar for serial misogyny — based on a true story.

Kimmel’s hypocrisy is as epic as his objectification of women. So crass is Kimmel that he joked about the most noted of executive abusers in Hollywood, Harvey Weinstein27: “What’s the difference between Harvey Weinstein and the Pillsbury Doughboy? When the Pillsbury Doughboy offers you a roll, he doesn’t ask you to watch him take a shower for it.”

But some things have changed since Kimmel hosted the Oscars last year.

In late 2017, Democrats28 made exposing sexual objectification and harassment of women a centerpiece of their 2018 midterm election strategy29, which forced the resignation of some notable members of their own party, including Minnesota Sen. Al Franken30.

Franken, as you recall, staged a “funny” photo31 in which he pretended to grope a sleeping journalist, Leeann Tweeden, on the plane trip home from a 2006 USO comedy tour — years before he became a U.S. senator. Earlier, during rehearsal for their comedy skit, Franken had forcibly tongue-kissed Tweeden. Other unrelated stories of Franken’s foul treatment of women emerged in the days that followed, and Franken had to go.

So, what about Jimmy Kimmel, the protagonist of late-night comedy who’s now the face of the Academy Awards? He has a much more prominent profile than Franken ever had.

Given the USA Today report last week that 94% of Hollywood women have been harassed32, will Kimmel use his Oscars platform to take up the mantle of the #MeToo and #TimesUp movements?

Of course not.

When asked why not, Kimmel declared, “This show is not about reliving people’s sexual assaults. It’s an awards show. … And the last thing I want to do is ruin that for someone … by making it unpleasant. You know, that’s not what I want to do. I’m not going to stop any bad behavior with my jokes.”

Apparently there are limits to even Kimmel’s hypocrisy — or perhaps he knows that if he did take up the #MeToo mantle, somebody might actually call him out for his wholesale misogyny and his own career would come to an end. Indeed, it should come to an end regardless, but he’s a hypocrite’s hypocrite, and ABC isn’t about to derail its “Jimmy Kimmel Live” advertising gravy train.

Heck, it only stands to “reason” that if those who have built their Hollywood careers peddling cinematic violence can, at the same time, be the loudest voices for “gun control,” Kimmel could get away with supporting #MeToo!

Apparently Kimmel does think his “jokes” will “stop bad behavior,” as long as it’s political behavior that doesn’t comport with his leftist perspective. Asked if he’s pushed his defamation of Donald Trump33 and Republicans too far, Kimmel replied, “No, I don’t. Not at all. I don’t think you can go too far. I think it’s almost necessary now.”

For the record, here’s a snapshot of the real Jimmy Kimmel:

His Man Show was centered on “juggies,” his derogatory descriptor for women. The show featured segments called “Bosom Springs,” “Guess What’s In My Pants,” “Household Hints From Adult Film Stars,” “Port-a-Juggy,” “Uglyville — Fat Women in Bikinis,” and “Juggy Academy.” The regular show features included “Get to Know Your Juggies” and “Girls on Trampolines.”

Summing up his show, Kimmel said, “We are building a dam — a dam to stop the river of estrogen that is drowning us in political correctness.”

Kimmel is still exploiting women with derogatory remarks and show segments, but he leaves the juggy photo ops to his sidekick, Guillermo.

Jimmy Kimmel is still an unapologetic serial misogynist, but he gets a pass because he’s their serial misogynist. If not for Hollywood’s abject hypocrisy, Kimmel would’ve been out of a job long ago.

MORE ANALYSIS FROM THE PATRIOT POST

Corporate America Is Becoming Tribal36 — The more people boycott companies (and vice versa), the more divided our economy is going to become.
A 'Young Karl Marx’ for the Youth of the World37 — Marx is portrayed as a sympathetic figure for today’s youth, enamored as they are with socialism.
SPLC Policing YouTube?38 — The leftist hate group has been reportedly tagged by Google to help monitor video content.
Study Affirms: BPA, Just Like GMOs, Is Safe39 — Why does that matter? Because “settled” science is once again proven to be not so settled.

BEST OF RIGHT OPINION

David Harsanyi: Public-Sector Unions Deserve to Be Destroyed40
David Limbaugh: Obama’s Scandal-Free Delusion41
Michael Reagan: Gun Control Starts at Home42
Tony Perkins: Embattled Vought Wins Embattled Vote43
Rich Lowry: The Agony of Jeff Sessions44
For more of today’s columns, visit Right Opinion45.

OPINION IN BRIEF

David Harsanyi: “How does a public-sector union work? Easy. First, the state creates a monopoly. The monopoly forces taxpayers to fund those workers, whether they do a good job or not. The union then coerces workers to pay dues regardless of whether or not they want to. Then the union uses those dues to help fund political advocacy that perpetuates their monopoly and the union’s influence. So, in other words: racketeering. Among many significant problems with this arrangement, the most obvious is that it’s an assault on freedom of association. If there is another organization in American life that has a license to compel workers to participate in their nongovernmental organization simply to secure a job, I haven’t heard of it. … If Americans want to join organizations that undercut initiative and achievement to slide employees into safe, predetermined slots regardless of ability or work ethic, that’s their business. If they want to break the law and blackmail entire communities who have no choice but to walk away, they should be fired. If they want to force co-workers to pay for their political activities, they should be stopped. And if they claim that most teachers want to willingly participate in union efforts, the only way to find out is by giving those public employees a choice.”

SHORT CUTS

Insight: “Our country’s in great need of a spiritual awakening. There have been times that I’ve wept as I’ve gone from city to city, and I’ve seen how far people have wandered from God. … God loves you, and He’s willing to forgive you of all your sins. The cross is offensive because it confronts people. Even so, it is a confrontation that all of us must face.” —Billy Graham (1918-2018.)

Food for thought: “Planned Parenthood to spend $20 MILLION in 2018 to oppose Trump. We, the taxpayers, give Planned Parenthood $500 MILLION every year. You do the math. Our tax money is being spent to attack Trump.” —Liz Wheeler

The BIG Lie: “The NRA sells guns to Americans, then when those guns get used for the purpose for which they were designed, the NRA sells Americans ways to fortify against the effects of those guns. Quite a racket they have going. And their biggest pitchman is sitting in the White House.” —George Takei

Braying Jackass: “The nomination of Marvin Quattlebaum speaks to the overall lack of diversity in President Trump’s selections for the federal judiciary. Quattlebaum replaces not one, but two scuttled Obama nominees who were African-American. As of February 14th, 83 percent of the President Trump’s confirmed nominees were male, 92 percent were white. That represents the lowest share of non-white candidates in three decades. It’s long past time that the judiciary starts looking a lot more like the America it represents.” —Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY)

Holier than thou: “I’m not going to run for president. Because I think it’s a better investment to invest in creating thousands of me’s.” —Michelle Obama

Belly laugh of the week: “Nancy Pelosi is the most conservative candidate in her 2018 race.” —The Sacramento Bee’s Emily Cadei

And last… “Since the left is supposedly so worried about foreign influence in our elections, why aren’t they concerned about illegal aliens voting?” —Charlie Kirk

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