The Patriot Post Digest 7-16-2018

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The Patriot Post Digest 7-16-2018
From The Federalist Patriot
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The Patriot Post® · Mid-Day Digest

Jul. 16, 2018 · https://patriotpost.us/digests/57136-mid-day-digest

THE FOUNDATION

“The rights of neutrality will only be respected when they are defended by an adequate power. A nation, despicable by its weakness, forfeits even the privilege of being neutral.” —Alexander Hamilton (1787)

IN TODAY’S EDITION

As Trump meets with Putin, it’s worth remembering how we got here.
California Democrats are going so far left they’re dumping Dianne Feinstein.
DNC Chairman Perez thinks Democrats are idiots!
Don’t blame the U.S. for rising global emissions.
What’s up with Rosenstein’s request to vet Kavanaugh?
Daily Features: Top Headlines, Memes, Cartoons, Columnists and Short Cuts.

IN BRIEF
A New ‘Reset’ With Russia?1

Nate Jackson

The Left is all aflutter as President Donald Trump meets with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, today. There are endless stories worrying that Trump will be either duped by a superior statesman or continue colluding with our sworn enemy. Hillary Clinton is running around telling stiff post-World Cup jokes wondering “what team” Trump plays for. So let’s consider some important strategic background.

Trump said before the summit, “Our relationship with Russia has NEVER been worse thanks to many years of U.S. foolishness and stupidity and now, the Rigged Witch Hunt!” The latter was a reference to Robert Mueller’s investigation into the phony idea that Trump colluded with Russia, based on a farcical “dossier” paid for2 by Clinton and the DNC — campaign opposition research repackaged as “intelligence.” But Trump’s more significant point dealt with “foolishness and stupidity,” which was a shot at the previous regime of Barack Obama.

Clinton was of course Obama’s secretary of state, famous for the debacle in Benghazi and the failed “reset” button signifying a different stance toward Russia. She cashed in3 with a uranium deal and speaking engagements. And don’t forget that it was Obama himself who told Putin stooge Dmitri Medvedev in 2012 that he’d “have more flexibility4” to offer favors for Moscow after winning reelection. He then mocked Mitt Romney for warning that Russia was (and remains) our primary geopolitical foe.

In short, Trump’s task is to clean up after his predecessor.

Last year, Mark Alexander noted two key elements5 in Trump’s strategy: “First, Russia’s anemic economy is totally dependent on oil and gas prices, so what has Trump done? Opened the gate6 on oil exploration to keep the price down. And in general, to ensure dominance over totalitarian and dictator states, Trump is taking action to rekindle America’s economic might. Second, Trump is following Ronald Reagan’s playbook to rebuild our military7 to contain threats like Russian expansion into Ukraine, which got a yawn from Obama.”

Trump hopes now for an “extraordinary relationship” with Putin, who is far from innocent. Similar to Trump’s hyperbole8 about North Korea’s Kim Jong-un, he’s playing a bit of flattery for strategic gain. But that does not mean he’s going to sell out America the way Obama did for eight years. “Nothing bad is going to come out of [meeting with Putin],” Trump said, “and maybe some good will come out.” After the president’s shakeup of NATO9 last week, it’s certainly clear he aims to mop up Obama’s messes.

https://patriotpost.us/articles/57130-a-new-reset-with-russia

Cali Demo Cartel Rejects Feinstein in March to Hard Left10
Thomas Gallatin

The majority of Americans in general loathe extremes and this is especially so with politics. Like Goldilocks, Americans prefer the comfortable mid-zone of the “just right.” This reality quickly bares out with a cursory look at the history of one-party control of both the executive and legislative branches of government. Since World War II, the same party has controlled the presidency and both houses of Congress just 16 times, including currently. Hence the optimism expressed by Democrats and much of the mainstream media that the party of the donkey will win a majority in Congress this November. And conventional wisdom based upon past history would tend to agree with that assessment, though today’s Democrat Party is anything but conventional.

Following Millennial socialist Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s shocking victory11 over the number four House Democrat, Rep. Joe Crowley (NY) — a man widely regarded as the frontrunner to succeed Nancy Pelosi in leadership — the California Democrat Party spurned long-time party stalwart Sen. Dianne Feinstein. For November’s election, the Party instead endorsed hard-leftist Kevin de León by a whopping 65% to Feinstein’s 7%. De León’s political platform epitomizes that of the radical Left — abolishing12 the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency, national health care, and impeaching President Donald Trump.

Still, the 85-year-old Feinstein is in little danger — she came in first in California’s jungle primary over distant second-place finisher de León, leaving Republicans and moderates little choice between the two. Yet one thing is becoming increasingly clear: The Democrat Party is rejecting the middle ground and is running left13 faster than many had envisioned. Moderate is fast becoming an epithet in Democrat circles, as evidenced by radical leftists like billionaire activist Tom Steyer, who has refused to back off his call for Trump’s impeachment. He recently warned Democrats, “If you don’t have what it takes to lead now, when we are totally under the gun, then don’t come asking for support later. Lead, follow, or get out of the way.”

Meanwhile, average Democrat voters are indeed walking away14.

National Review’s John Fund observes15, “Such views detract from Democrats’ ability to use Trump as a bogeyman with moderates who will decide which party controls Congress and the White House. If warmed-over Marxists think they can scare voters into supporting Democrats by flying Donald Trump blimps and brandishing his image on posters, they may be in for a rude surprise in general elections.”

Indeed, Democrats seem so lost in their Trump Derangement Syndrome they can’t see that it’s their leftist extremism that is serving to further distance them from mainstream America. If Democrats don’t regain control of Congress come November (and it appears increasingly likely they won’t) they will have only themselves to blame.

https://patriotpost.us/articles/57131-cali-demo-cartel-rejects-feinstein-in-march-to-hard-left

Top Headlines16

“I think the European Union is a foe,” Trump says ahead of Putin meeting in Helsinki (CBS News17)
12 Russians indicted for meddling in 2016 U.S. election (Associated Press18)
Trump: Obama blew off Russia threat because “Hillary was going to win” (Washington Examiner19)
Former FBI lawyer Lisa Page gets closed-door grilling from House Republicans (The Hill20)
Internal FBI employee survey shows plummeting faith in bureau leadership (Washington Examiner21)
China files WTO challenge to Trump’s $200 billion tariff plan (Los Angeles Times22)
McConnell: Senate to confirm Kavanaugh by Oct. 1 (The Hill23)
Feds collect record individual income taxes through June; still run $607B deficit (CNS News24)
State Department gives up case against 3D printed gun pioneer (The Washington Free Beacon25)
Baltimore cops “stopped noticing crime” after Freddie Gray incident (The Daily Wire26)
Policy: Trump must be strong, clear and consistent with Putin (The Heritage Foundation27)
Policy: U.S. CO2 levels drop again — so why aren’t green groups rejoicing? (Investor’s Business Daily28)
For more of today’s news, visit Patriot Headline Report29.

https://patriotpost.us/articles/57133-monday-top-headlines

FEATURED ANALYSIS
DNC Chairman Perez Thinks Democrats Are Idiots!33

By Mark Alexander

Based on my daily communications from the Democrat National Committee, it is clear that Party Chairman Tom Perez thinks his rank-and-file constituents are idiots. He is probably right to the extent that Democrats depend on an uninformed constituency.

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The Patriot Post Digest 7-16-2018
From The Federalist Patriot
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Case in point would be how Perez frames the latest indictments of Russian operatives who, in 2016, did what communists have been doing since the Russian Revolution — undermining democracy wherever it exists. In this case, they’ve undermined American voter confidence in our election process.

In February, a federal grand jury returned indictments against 13 Russians and three Russian entities for attempting to sway public opinion through social media, coordination with unwitting U.S. activists, and having a hand in the organization of some political rallies.

The latest indictments34, a product of Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation, names 12 more Russians, including those responsible for hacking the DNC servers (which the DNC refused to turn over to the FBI after the fact). At the time of the hacking, it was fair to assume the Russians and Chinese were behind it and that one or both countries were also in possession of all the “missing” emails from Clinton’s insecure off-grid email server35.

All of the indictments were for actions that occurred under Barack Obama’s36 watch — actions he chose to largely ignore. As Intelligence Committee Demo Sen. Mark Warner (VA) declared in the latest hearings on the matter, “Our collective response was inadequate to meet Russia’s escalation.” That is an understatement.

The announcement of the latest indictments was timed to coincide with Donald Trump’s37 meeting today1 with Russian dictator Vladimir Putin. Though some suggest the announcement undermines Trump’s meeting, I believe the opposite is true — that it betters Trump’s negotiating position with Putin, as he stated Friday.

I applaud this aspect of Mueller’s investigation — but predictably, Perez has attempted to recast the indictments in support of Democrats’ withering and now thoroughly discredited claim that Trump conspired with Putin38 to defeat Hillary Clinton39.

In fact, it was Clinton’s campaign that orchestrated the Russian collusion charade40. With a little help from a handful of her corrupt, politically motivated FBI managers41 — most notably Peter Strzok42 in concert with FBI Director James Comey43 — Clinton managed to get a special counsel appointed after Trump’s election in order to keep the collusion charade alive.

Significantly, in Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein’s announcement of the indictments, he made clear, “There is no allegation in this indictment that any American citizen committed a crime. There is no allegation that the conspiracy altered the vote count or changed any election result.”

So how did Perez spin these indictments out for his constituents and his media propaganda machine44?

According to Perez: “This is not a witch hunt and it’s certainly not a joke, as Donald Trump has desperately and incorrectly argued in the past. Trump and his Republican enablers’ efforts to discredit these established facts only embolden Putin’s Russia and invite further attacks on our country.”

In fact, Donald Trump has never called the investigation into Russia a “witch hunt.” He has repeatedly called the investigation into collusion between his campaign and the Russians a “witch hunt,” which it is. The collusion that should be investigated is the Clinton- and DNC-funded fake Trump dossier produced by Fusion GPS and its Russian agents.

Perez insists, “The American people deserve to know the truth, and the special counsel’s investigation is ongoing.”

On this point, we can agree, and Perez and his Beltway MSM echo chamber should start by telling the truth.

https://patriotpost.us/alexander/57132-dnc-chairman-perez-thinks-democrats-are-idiots

MORE ANALYSIS FROM THE PATRIOT POST

Standing Against the Rainbow Mafia’s Speech-Squelching Agenda45 — Republican Gov. Paul LePage of Maine “just said no” to a plank of the homosexual agenda.
Don’t Blame U.S. for Rising Carbon Emissions46 — The climate alarmists’ carbon-emissions ire is just as misdirected as their global warming dogma.
Rosenstein Issues Unusual Kavanaugh Vetting Request47 — The deputy attorney general’s unprecedented vetting request has everyone scratching their heads.
OPINION IN BRIEF
Gary Bauer: “Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein announced that 12 Russian intelligence agents have been indicted by Special Counsel Robert Mueller for hacking into the Democrat National Committee, Hillary Clinton’s campaign, the Democrat Congressional Campaign Committee, and several state elections offices. … Rosenstein once again stressed that the actions did not change votes or impact the outcome of the election. He also said that there is no allegation in the indictments that any Americans knew they were corresponding with Russians or that any American committed a crime, meaning there is still no evidence of collusion between Russia and the Trump campaign. I can’t help but wonder whether much of the bitterness of the past 18 months, and perhaps the entire Mueller investigation itself, could have been avoided if the DNC had not refused FBI requests to inspect its server when the hack was discovered. Nor do I understand why the FBI would launch a counterintelligence investigation into the Trump campaign without first issuing subpoenas to seize and secure the DNC’s server. It certainly looks like the DNC had something to hide and that bias drove the FBI to assume the worst of Donald Trump.”

SHORT CUTS

The Gipper: “Let us beware that while [Soviet rulers] preach the supremacy of the state, declare its omnipotence over individual man, and predict its eventual domination over all the peoples of the earth, they are the focus of evil in the modern world.”

For the record: “It … remains clear that there was no collusion by the Trump campaign and that the Russians were ultimately unsuccessful in altering the results of the election. The American people have watched the President’s political opponents desperately search for evidence of collusion for years now. While it’s important that we do all we can to safeguard our future elections, it’s long past time for investigations into non-existent collusion to end.” —RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel

Braying Jenny I: “Great World Cup. Question for President Trump as he meets Putin: Do you know which team you play for?” —Hillary Clinton

Braying Jenny II: “I used to worry that [Republicans] wanted to turn the clock back to the 1950s. Now I worry they want to turn it back to the 1850s.” —Hillary Clinton on SCOTUS nominee Brett Kavanaugh

Pity me: “It affected me a lot. I’ve been thinking a lot about it. … I do think that being a part of the outrage machine is an inevitability now. That’s a reality everyone has to grapple with — not just me. The level of ferocity is something I hadn’t quite experienced up to that point, but I assume I’ll go through it again. Maybe I’ll be better prepared next time. I think we handled it well, but it was a pretty steep learning curve.” —Samantha Bee on what resulted of her “feckless c—t” remark to Ivanka Trump

And last… “There are 144 million more people in Russia who will never see the inside of an American courtroom. If Mueller indicts all of them, his stats will be really impressive … and there’ll still be no Trump espionage conspiracy against the election.” —Andrew McCarthy

https://patriotpost.us/articles/57128-monday-short-cuts

Join our editors and staff 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