The Patriot Post Digest 8-28-2018

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The Patriot Post Digest 8-28-2018
From The Federalist Patriot
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The Patriot Post® · Mid-Day Digest

Aug. 28, 2018 · https://patriotpost.us/digests/57906-mid-day-digest

THE FOUNDATION

“States, like individuals, who observe their engagements, are respected and trusted: while the reverse is the fate of those who pursue an opposite conduct.” —Alexander Hamilton (1790)

https://patriotpost.us/fqd/57900-founders-quote-daily

IN TODAY’S EDITION

Is Trump’s bilateral trade deal with Mexico better than NAFTA?
Democrats are struggling with their own alternate reality.
The ACLU just came to the defense of the right side.
Another case of garbage in, garbage out at CNN.
An Obama judge thwarts Trump’s effort to clean up public unions.
Daily Features: Top Headlines, Memes, Cartoons, Columnists, and Short Cuts.

FEATURED ANALYSIS
A New NAFTA and the Art of the Deal1

Lewis Morris

President Donald Trump announced a tentative trade agreement with Mexico Monday, calling it “one of the largest trade deals ever made” and “much better” than the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). Speaking from the Oval Office, Trump was joined by Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto via conference call. Nieto also chimed in that it was an “incredible deal for both parties.” Is it?

As always with trade, the answer is “yes and no2.” There are good aspects and bad ones.

Points reached in the agreement include changes to automobile manufacturing. Each car produced would have to be 75% sourced in North America, up from 62.5%, to avoid tariffs when being transported across national borders. Also, 40-45% of each car produced must be manufactured by workers making $16 per hour or more to avoid tariffs. That helps American manufacturers, but it will raise prices for consumers. Additional updates to rules on intellectual property and labor are also part of the agreement.

The deal still must be approved by Congress and the Mexican government. Trump is eager to make this happen before the midterms, and Peña Nieto is likewise hoping to have his government approve the measure before he leaves office on Dec. 1. At this point, there don’t appear to be any insurmountable political hurdles to prevent the trade agreement from becoming a reality, but never underestimate the machinations of American Democrats or Mexican Socialists like incoming President-elect Andrés Manuel López Obrador3. And in any case, time constraints likely mean it isn’t going to happen this year.

It’s important to note that this is a strictly bilateral trade agreement between the U.S. and Mexico. What will become of Canada, the third member of NAFTA, is yet to be determined, though clearly Trump means to use this as leverage with our northern neighbors. Trump told reporters that negotiations with Canada would start back up immediately, and Peña Nieto voiced his hope that the U.S. and Canada would be able to come to an agreement. Chrystia Freeland, Canada’s minister of foreign affairs, said separately Monday that her country was encouraged by the optimism shown by the U.S.-Mexico agreement. “Progress between Mexico and the United States is a necessary requirement for any renewed NAFTA agreement.”

Trump, of course, says he’s prepared to scrap NAFTA4 altogether, insisting that the very name has bad connotations. He has repeatedly referred to NAFTA as a historically bad trade deal for the U.S. — a “disaster” — and thus he would rather this deal be referred to simply as the United States-Mexico Trade Agreement. Moreover, Trump has signaled his comfort with cementing two separate bilateral deals with Mexico and Canada, though those two nations still hold out hope that NAFTA can be renegotiated and salvaged.

Trump’s strategy is simple: The U.S.-Mexico deal puts pressure on Canada, which was sidelined while Trump pursued a divide-and-conquer approach to negotiating better deals with America’s biggest trading partners.

Markets reacted favorably5 to the news, with major U.S.-based auto manufacturers seeing bumps in their stock price and equity markets across North America also getting a boost.

A few months ago, Democrats, business leaders, and international trade groups cried6 that Trump was going to wreck the world economy and crash America’s economic rebound with his tariffs and his America-first approach to new trade deals. None of this has come to pass. In fact, little by little, the very nations that claimed they were prepared to engage in a trade war with the United States have started changing their tune.

Earlier this summer, the EU came to an agreement with the U.S.7 that will allow us to export more produce and liquid natural gas to Europe. The door was also left open to work toward a zero-tariff trade deal between the U.S. and EU.

The new deal with Mexico and the positive signs for an agreement between the U.S. and Canada suggest that Trump will continue scoring points on trade. The more victories he lines up, the stronger will be his bargaining position with tougher nations like China.

As we have said frequently, never underestimate the art of the deal.

https://patriotpost.us/articles/57903-a-new-nafta-and-the-art-of-the-deal

IN BRIEF
Democrats vs. Reality8

Nate Jackson

The Democrat Party is struggling to navigate the alternate reality its members have created. The progressive worldview says each person can have his/her/its own reality, untethered to truth and objective morality. That tension, along with collective Trump Derangement Syndrome9, being so spooked by the Russian-collusion bogeyman that the DNC mistook a cybersecurity test for a hack10, and bad fundraising, means it’s not easy being a donkey these days.

Over the weekend, the Democratic National Committee voted to modify its charter to account for “all” of the genders. There are, of course, only two, but hey, this is the modern Democrat Party. As National Review reports11, the charter will now “define gender as being determined by self-identification and [will] include a classification for gender non-binary members.” Furthermore, “The previous charter required that all committees be divided evenly between men and women but, under the newly adopted system, committees ‘shall be as equally divided as practicable between men and women (determined by gender self-identification) meaning that the variance between men and women in the group cannot exceed one (1).’”

Sounds like fuzzy math to us.

“At the root of our diverse party is a commitment to inclusion and opportunity,” DNC Chair Tom Perez crowed in a statement. “By adopting this amendment, the Democratic National Committee is ensuring every Democrat feels welcome and embraced for who they are. This action reaffirms our solidarity with the LGBTQ community.”

This “choose your own identity” fantasy has its limits, however. Ask Rachel Dolezal12, the white women who insists she’s black.

Meanwhile, the DNC reduced the power of superdelegates13 in its presidential primaries after the Hillary Clinton/Bernie Sanders debacle revealed that the “Democratic” Party wasn’t all that democratic.

Perhaps one answer to why these changes are happening now is to follow the money. DNC fundraising is down from previous cycles, and it’s raised about half the total for the Republican National Committee. Loyal donors are telling DNC politicos to buzz off “until they get their act together14.” Some rank-and-file Democrats are just walking away15. Amidst the trend of more Democrats becoming Trump-deranged, gender-fluid, full-on socialists16, it’s no wonder.

https://patriotpost.us/articles/57899-democrats-vs-reality

The ACLU Stirs Against Cuomo17

Good news has emerged in the ongoing legal battle of New York Democrat Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s abuse of financial regulations18 to target the National Rifle Association19. The American Civil Liberties Union has joined the fight — and it is siding with free speech20.

We have noted the ACLU’s silence21 on select issues of free speech in the past, and Cuomo was prominently cited. We’re glad to update the record, but this is something that should have been done when Cuomo made the threats. The good news is that the ACLU doesn’t want the case dismissed, which means a favorable ruling could come. The bad news: The ACLU has taken a limited step, only supporting discovery, not the actual objective itself.

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The Patriot Post Digest 8-28-2018
From The Federalist Patriot
Free Email Subscription
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The fact is, though, once it goes to discovery, we’re likely to see the evidence that what the NRA claims is being done is actually happening. It’s a fair bet that when the NRA filed its suit, the corporate partners who ended relationships in the face of Cuomo’s intimidation campaign left behind some evidence.

Cuomo’s unapologetic attitude — all but daring somebody to do something about his campaign — will also likely have trickled down, and some aides will have stuff in their emails. This will, in a court of law, make it hard for any jury to find in the governor’s favor.

The fact is, even an injunction and a favorable jury verdict will not completely undo the harm that has been done. Even if the consent decrees for Chubb and Lockton are voided, those companies may not come back — because even with the vindication, the process has become punishment for having the temerity to oppose the Left, just as the “John Doe” investigations22 were used by leftist prosecutors in Wisconsin against allies of Scott Walker, and just as the IRS was used to stifle the Tea Party23.

That said, the ACLU probably didn’t just act on principle. Recently, Louisiana told24 Citigroup and Bank of America not to bother trying to take part in financing a round of road construction due to the banks’ participation in a push for corporate gun control25. In the ACLU’s release, it specifically stated that Cuomo’s actions could be replicated for use against Planned Parenthood or the Communist Party. The ACLU’s decision came eight days after Louisiana’s announcement and was part of a Friday news dump.

So while we can be grateful the ACLU is standing to stop government retaliation against those who exercise their First (and Second) Amendment rights, we also must not kid ourselves. Our constitutional rights are at grave risk.

https://patriotpost.us/articles/57891-the-aclu-stirs-against-cuomo

Top Headlines26

Under NAFTA: $2.8B U.S.-Mexico trade surplus became $70.9B deficit (CNS News27)
China reportedly hacked Hillary Clinton’s private email server (The Daily Caller28)
Lanny Davis admits he was source for CNN’s Trump Tower story, lied about it on air (The Washington Times29)
Deep state: Bruce Ohr to face grilling on Capitol amid revelations of communications with ex-British spy Steele (Fox News30)
Why deep state sabotage is way worse than Trump’s atrocious infidelities (The Federalist31)
Court strikes down North Carolina congressional map as unconstitutional (The Hill32)
Under pressure, Trump tersely recognizes McCain, lowers flag (U.S. News & World Report33)
Farewell statement from John McCain (Fox News34)
Head of U.S. Bishops Conference issues shocking statement on Pope Francis35, will not defend him (The Daily Wire36)
Military finally drops charges against chaplain accused of anti-gay discrimination (Washington Examiner37)
Policy: Trump kills NAFTA — but is its replacement any better? (Investor’s Business Daily2)
Policy: How the other half learns: Reorienting an education system that fails most students (Manhattan Institute38)
For more of today’s news, visit Patriot Headline Report39.

https://patriotpost.us/articles/57905-tuesday-top-headlines

GOOD NEWS

VA Employee Climbs to Save Suicidal Man’s Life40
A man shut down part of the I-10 freeway in Downtown Phoenix during the morning rush hour, threatening to jump from an overpass into oncoming traffic. Four people pulled over to help, and one man even climbed to the top of the overpass, in an effort to try and save a stranger’s life.

For more, visit Fox10Phoenix41.

https://patriotpost.us/articles/57898-va-employee-climbs-to-save-suicidal-mans-life

MORE ANALYSIS FROM THE PATRIOT POST

CNN Stands by Its Peddling of More Fake News47 — Lanny Davis admits that he lied about not being is the source of the Trump Tower story.
Judge Puts Brakes on Trump’s Federal Union EO48 — An Obama appointee seeks to stymie Trump’s efforts to reform public unions.
Video: College Made Me a Conservative49 — Have you ever heard the old saying that a conservative is just a liberal who got mugged? Well, I got mugged.

OPINION IN BRIEF

Rich Lowry: “The obsessions of the New Left with race and gender, which came to define life on college campuses in the decades after the ferment of the late 1960s, have now been fully absorbed into Democratic thinking and argot. The Democratic superdelegates, who arose in the 1980s and were a last vestige of direct establishment control over the party’s nomination (Hubert Humphrey didn’t have to win any primaries at all to get the nod in 1968), have just been sidelined. The primary victory of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a 28-year-old democratic socialist, over Rep. Joe Crowley, a 19-year incumbent and Irish-American pol who is a recognizable figure from William Daley’s party, crystallized the change that is afoot. In 1968, the Democratic convention hall was fortified against the radicals by a steel fence topped with barbed wire, and guarded by thousands of cops and National Guardsmen. In 2020, presumably no such exertions will be necessary. The left will own the place lock, stock and barrel — because the protesters who got tear-gassed, beaten and bloodied on Michigan Avenue that notorious August night, in the fullness of time, prevailed.”

SHORT CUTS

Insight: “Democracy is the most difficult of all forms of government, since it requires the widest spread of intelligence. Ignorance … lends itself to manipulation by the forces that mold public opinion.” —Will and Ariel Durant

Non Compos Mentis: “Impeachment is something that the framers of the Constitution provided for a time such as this and a president such as Trump. The president does not have to commit a crime to be impeached. … If this comes before the House, it won’t come before the House as a president who has been found guilty, but rather as a president who is alleged to have committed certain offenses that are onerous to the Constitution and that harm society. And what this president is doing is harming society.” —Rep. Al Green (D-TX)

Braying Jenny: “I believe, of course, that this president can be impeached, will be impeached, and certainly has committed the high crimes and misdemeanors that is [sic] identified by the Constitution as such that would qualify him for impeachment.” —Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA)

Braying Jackass I: “I think we are in a crisis that is the third great crisis in American history.” —HBO’s Bill Maher

Braying Jackass II: “I [concur]. And I think it’s going to get worse before it gets better, because don’t forget: Donald Trump has the authority of the president of the United States in his hands, in terms of what he can do domestically here and as well as what he can do internationally, to try to distract attention."—former CIA Director John Brennan

And last… "Any horrific shooting that makes national news brings a predictable cacophony of calls from progressives for gun control. But what if the Left applied that logic to immigration? We’d be hearing a lot more demands for ‘immigrant control’ and ‘common-sense immigration restrictions.’ Instead, liberals tend to emphasize what they claim to be the relative rarity of crimes committed by illegal immigrants, even as they treat much more unusual events — like police killings of unarmed black people — as a national crisis. … If you are looking for consistency in politics, in other words, don’t hold your breath.” —Brendan Kirby

https://patriotpost.us/articles/57897-tuesday-short-cuts

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Semper Vigilans Fortis Paratus et Fidelis

Nate Jackson, Managing Editor
Mark Alexander, Publisher