The Patriot Post Digest 3-8-2018

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The Patriot Post Digest 3-8-2018
From The Federalist Patriot
Free Email Subscription
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Mid-Day Digest · March 8, 2018

IN TODAY'S EDITION

EPA Chief Scott Pruitt is rolling back regulations and saving you money.
Mueller's investigation isn't winding down, it's ramping up.
Democrats are quickly slouching towards anti-Semitism.
Europe's leaders finally admit mass migration is a huge problem.
Baltimore sends kids to march against guns — on the taxpayers' dime
Religious liberty and the future of freedom at the Supreme Court.
Plus our Daily Features: Top Headlines, Memes, Cartoons, Columnists and Short Cuts.

THE FOUNDATION

"A wise and frugal government ... shall restrain men from injuring one another, shall leave them otherwise free to regulate their own pursuits of industry and improvement, and shall not take from the mouth of labor the bread it has earned. This is the sum of good government." —Thomas Jefferson (1801)

IN BRIEF

Pruitt's $1 Billion Rollback at the EPA

On Feb. 17, 2017, Scott Pruitt — formerly a conservative lawmaker and attorney general in Oklahoma — succeeded in becoming the new face of the EPA. Democrats didn't take his ascension very well. In fact, Pruitt was forced to reinforce his security detail last autumn because of numerous death threats from ecofascists. The Left's adversarial attitude toward Pruitt is better understood when you consider just how pivotal of a role he has in the Trump administration.

The EPA just revealed that Pruitt's deregulatory endeavor has yielded $1 billion in cost savings after just one year. This was the direct outcome of nearly two dozen deregulations. More importantly, it's also only a taste of what's coming down the pipeline. The Clean Power Plan and Clean Water Rule are just two of the 44 additional deregulations that are currently on the agency's docket. It's estimated that the elimination of the Clean Power Plan could single-handedly save the economy upwards of $33 billion. With results like these, no wonder leftists loathe Pruitt with such tenacity.

Of course, this also speaks to the enormous influence of Pruitt's predecessor, Gina McCarthy. Much of the current administration's work is geared toward fixing what she broke and the billions of dollars with which she unnecessarily burdened the economy. Pruitt's progress could be even further along had he not had to first put out a massive inferno of McCarthy's making. Even still, he is making significant headway, and that will give the economy more and more breathing room. It's also a reminder that no government agency should ever have so much control over a free-market economy.

Mueller's Unending Investigation

Special Counsel Robert Mueller recently subpoenaed emails from 10 members of President Donald Trump's inner circle. This latest news seems to counter recent widespread speculation that Mueller was getting close to wrapping up his investigation, as it will likely take months to go through those emails. It also undermines the assertion that the investigation had turned from focusing on Trump; it clearly hasn't.

Judge Andrew Napolitano stated this week, "I believe he's gearing up and the president remains in his crosshairs." In fact, Napolitano noted, "There are actually three sets of legal crosshairs, so to speak. One seeks to determine whether the Trump campaign received 'anything of value' from any foreign national or foreign government, and whether Trump personally approved of it — a felony. Another inquiry seeks to determine whether the president himself attempted to obstruct the work of the Mueller grand juries by firing then-FBI Director James Comey for a corrupt reason, one that is self-serving and lacking a bona fide governmental purpose — also a felony. The third inquiry seeks to examine whether Trump misused or misrepresented corporate funds or bank loans in his pre-presidential life — another felony. On this last point, he has already been accused by Nunberg, and the grand jury no doubt will hear about it."

Finally, Napolitano says, Mueller's grand juries "could go to the end of Trump's term." So it's looking more likely that the country and Trump will have to endure many more months, even years, of a continued cloud over this presidency.

Gary Bauer observes, "Every day since the election, the Trump administration has been hobbled and hounded by a hostile media and a resistance movement fueled by the fantasy that Trump will be impeached because of collusion with Russia. Every day that Mueller continues his investigation — continues distracting the administration and dividing our country — is a victory for [Vladimir] Putin's strategy." Which is just what the Democrats ordered.

Top Headlines

DOJ to give House Oversight panel more "Fast and Furious" documents (The Hill)

$35,952,800,000: U.S.-China trade deficit set January record (CNS News)

Democrat obstruction leads to more court vacancies than when Trump took office (The Daily Signal)

Video: How an Obama-era precedent may doom California's "sanctuary" efforts (National Review)

Federal court extends workplace sex-discrimination protections to people who identify as transgender (National Review)

NYT corrects piece about couple's tax increase under new law to admit their taxes would go down (The Washington Free Beacon)

After Florida assault, predictably, more than 600 copycat threats have targeted schools (USA Today)

If Aetna can afford a six-figure contribution for gun control, why are health insurers asking for a multi-billion dollar federal bailout for the ObamaCare exchanges? (The Federalist)

America should ban civilian guns to protect human rights, Chinese communist dictatorship says through state-run media (The Washington Free Beacon)

Humor: IRS still waiting for liberals to voluntarily mail their refund checks back (The Babylon Bee)

Policy: Taking a chisel, not a hammer, to Dodd-Frank isn't enough — but it's a start (Investor's Business Daily)

Policy: Uncle Sam must rein in retirement benefits or we're headed for economic disaster (Manhattan Institute)

FEATURED ANALYSIS
Slouching Towards Anti-Semitism

By Arnold Ahlert

At the 2012 Democrat Party Convention, the effort to reinstate the recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital into the party's platform was met with a chorus of boos loud enough to completely fluster convention chairman and former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa. After calling for a vote three times, Villaraigosa simply decided the "ayes" were in the majority — an assertion met with another chorus of boos. An anomalous moment?

Clarifying is more like it. "The California Democratic Party adopted a resolution at their annual convention on Sunday to oppose federal bills intended to thwart the movement to boycott Israel," The Forward reported on Feb. 28.

In 1977, Congress passed legislation prohibiting Americans from complying with foreign government-imposed boycotts against nations friendly to the United States. It was supported by the Business Roundtable, American Jewish organizations and Jimmy Carter's administration. In 2017, Congress sought to update that law with the Israel Anti-Boycott Act, adding international organizations like the United Nations or the EU that might also be inclined to pressure businesses to boycott the Jewish State.

This effort was aimed at defusing the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement, which has been the radical Left's favorite pro-Palestinian, anti-Israel platform, with all the attendant assertions of Israeli "occupation" of Palestinian territories included.

"Radical" is a key word here. In 2016, California Gov. Jerry Brown signed into law Assembly Bill 2844. The anti-discrimination law made it clear that California's government would bar companies that engage in discrimination against any sovereign nation from doing business with the state. Sec. 2. (c) of the law specifically barred discrimination against "the nation and people of Israel." The State Senate approved the bill by a vote of 34 to 1, and the State Assembly approved it by a vote of 69 to 1.

Eighteen months later, these same Democrats opposed federal legislation similar to the bill they had passed almost unanimously. Thus, what used to be "radical" leftist politics is now mainstream Democrats Party politics in the Golden State — all the attendant anti-Semitic implications included.

Is it just Golden State Democrats? The ACLU branded versions of the act making its way through both chambers of Congress as anti-First Amendment, despite the reality that nothing prevents anyone from expressing any opinion about Israel. Yet that was all the necessary cover for Democrats fearful of their increasingly leftist, pro-BDS base. New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand withdrew her support for the bill, and Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren hedged, insisting, "The boycott is wrong, but I think outlawing protected free speech activity violates our basic Constitution." Democrat Senators Chris Murphy (CT) and Tammy Duckworth (IL) and Rep. Joe Kennedy (MA) were also vacillating with regard to the legislation.

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The Patriot Post Digest 3-8-2018
From The Federalist Patriot
Free Email Subscription
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And not just that legislation. Last August, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) announced he'd co-sponsor the Taylor Force Act, named after Army veteran Taylor Force, who was murdered by a Palestinian while touring Israel. The act would stop American taxpayers from subsidizing the Palestinian Authority (PA) until it ended its reprehensible habit of providing terrorists freed from prison with a government job and a salary — one that is higher if their crime is more heinous.

The consummate no-brainer? Four Democrat senators, Chris Murphy (CT), Tom Udall (NM), Jeff Merkley (OR) and Corey Booker (NJ), voted to kill it in committee. And while the bill passed overwhelmingly in the House, it has yet to be voted on in the Senate.

Why are many Democrats embracing such hostility toward Israel? According to a poll conducted by Nielsen Scarborough, 56% of their constituents back economic sanctions and other get-tough measures against Israel, and 72% believe America unfairly favors Israel over the Palestinians.

Moreover, a Pew poll released in January reveals that since 2001, the share of Democrats sympathizing more with Israel has declined 11 points, from 38% to 27%. The decline among Democrat Millennials is even more pronounced: Approximately 27% of Millennials now say they are more sympathetic to the Palestinians than Israel, compared to only 9% in 2006.

Democrat politicians are apparently becoming more attuned to their social justice warrior sensibilities. Sensibilities increasingly aligned with the contemptuous notion that Israel is an apartheid state engaged in Palestinian genocide.

Yet Israel is only part of the dynamic, or perhaps better described as a useful distraction for the increasing levels of progressive-supported anti-Semitism per se. Nothing speaks to this reality better than leftist support for Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan, who once called Judaism a "gutter religion."

In a major speech on Feb. 25, Farrakhan remained true to his worldview, asserting that Jews were "the mother and father of apartheid," and declaring that "when you want something in this world, the Jew holds the door."

CNN's Jake Tapper sidestepped a media-imposed blackout and covered the speech, noting that despite the "inherent" anti-Semitism and anti-homosexual comments expressed by Farrakhan, "several leaders of the Women's March are supporters of Farrakhan and have not condemned him." He also leveled the same accusation against members of the Congressional Black Caucus.

The proverbial shoe fits. One of Women's March organizers was Linda Sarsour, who has long supported Farrakhan. She once insisted "nothing is creepier than Zionism," and justified terrorism as a response to a "racist, supremacist, violent [Israeli] regime" that views Palestinians as "less than human."

The Congressional Black Caucus? At least seven Democrats — Reps. Maxine Waters (CA), Barbara Lee (CA), Danny Davis (IL), Andre Carson (IN), Keith Ellison (MN), Gregory Meeks (NY) and and Al Green (TX) — have attended meetings with Farrakhan.

The same Congressional Black Caucus that buried a 2005 photo of Farrakhan with Barack Obama.

While visiting Israel last August, House Democrat Whip Steny Hoyer insisted his party remains "overwhelmingly" pro-Israel. Chuck Schumer insists BDS and anti-Zionism are anti-Semitic. Yet the New York Post reveals a painful truth — and perhaps the most telling harbinger of things to come — noting that Schumer is 66 years old and Hoyer is 78, while Booker and Gillibrand are only 48 and 50 years old, respectively.

Thus, the paper asserts, the Democrat Party's "reliable support for Israel looks to be a thing of the past."

Columnist Dennis Prager is even more assertive, declaring, "The day America abandons Israel will be the beginning of the end of America as we know it."

Not America, Mr. Prager. The Democrat Party. One on the verge of a moral meltdown fueled by identity politics, in all their tribalist — and burgeoning anti-Semitic — glory.

MORE ANALYSIS FROM THE PATRIOT POST

Baltimore Sending Kids to Anti-Gun March on Taxpayer Dime — Democrats have erased any form of civility by exploiting our young people at your expense.
Europe's Leaders Finally Admit Mass Migration Is a Problem — German chancellor and Swedish prime minister change their tune on the immigrant crime problem.
The Blue Wave of Texas? — Primary day on Tuesday didn't pan out the way Democrats and the Leftmedia hoped it would.
Religious Liberty, Tolerance and the Future of Freedom — We must make laws that protect equal treatment of all people, not laws that grant rights to some to the exclusion of others.
Video: Dems, Media Just Don't Know How to Talk About Guns — Democrats and media figures have badly bungled gun vocabulary, gun laws and overall gun knowledge.

BEST OF RIGHT OPINION

Victor Davis Hanson: The Rapid 'Progress' of Progressivism
Ed Feulner: Preventing 'The Tyranny of the Majority'
Cal Thomas: Only Fools Believe North Korea
Veronique de Rugy: Uncle Sam Continues to Stick His Head in the Sand on Entitlements
Tony Perkins: Voters Stampede to Record Turnout in Texas

For more of today's columns, visit Right Opinion.

OPINION IN BRIEF

Victor Davis Hanson: "In the eternal search for perfect justice and equality, what starts out as liberal can quickly end up as progressively absurd. The logic of equality of result, rather than equality of opportunity, demands that there is always one more group, one more grievance, one more complaint against the shrinking and overwhelmed majority. The conservative ancient Athenian philosopher Plato once made his megaphone Socrates lament that in ancient Athens' nonstop search for perfect equality, soon even the horses would have to be accorded the same privileges as humans. Socrates' fantasy was an exaggeration intended as a reminder about the craziness of always-creeping mandated equality. Now it seems not far from the mainstream positions of animal-rights groups. If we insist that the human experience is not tragic and cyclical but instead must always bend on some predetermined arc to absolute equality and fairness, then unfortunate results must follow. One, what is welcomed as progressive on Monday is derided as intolerable on Tuesday. ... Second, when rules and regulations are always watered down as too exclusionary, the descent to no rules is quite short. The ultimate destination is nihilism and chaos. We see that now in Venezuela and Cuba — and increasingly in California as well."

SHORT CUTS

Authoritarian impulses: "[Xi Jinping is] now president for life. President for life. No, he's great. And look, he was able to do that. I think it's great. Maybe we'll have to give that a shot some day." —Donald Trump (Not in a constitutional republic we shouldn't.)

The BIG Lie: "We raised more money in January ... of 2018 than any January in our history." —Democratic National Committee chair Tom Perez ("The DNC raised $6 million in January 2018, the Washington Post reported, below the DNC's hauls in January 2014 ($6.6 million), January 2012 ($13.2 million), January 2011 ($7.1 million), and January 2010 ($9.1 million)." —The Washington Free Beacon)

From the "Keen Sense of the Obvious" Files: "We already have a far-left-wing opinion page." —New York Times executive editor Dean Baquet to a group of Stanford students

Alpha Jackass: "[The NRA] acts quite frankly in some cases as a terrorist organization. ... The NRA today is a far cry from the NRA that in 1999 said that teachers shouldn't carry weapons in schools. Or in the '90s said we should have universal background checks. They have in essence become a terrorist organization." —Connecticut Gov. Dannel Malloy

No, there haven't: "There have been, and I've gotta update this ... 18 shootings in schools this year." —Barack Obama

Braying Jackass: "This [lawsuit] is basically going to war against the state of California, the engine of the American economy. It's not wise, it's not right, and it will not stand. ... The attorney general is basically initiating a reign of terror." —California Democrat Gov. Jerry Brown

And last... "How dare you needlessly endanger our law enforcement officers to promote a radical, open-borders agenda. Those are 800 wanted criminals that are now at large in that community — 800 wanted criminals that ICE will now have to pursue with more difficulty in more dangerous situations, all because of one mayor's irresponsible action." —Attorney General Jeff Sessions announcing a lawsuit against the state of California and blasting state officials for obstructing immigration enforcement.

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