The Patriot Post Digest 10-1-2018

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The Patriot Post Digest 10-1-2018
From The Federalist Patriot
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The Patriot Post® · Mid-Day Digest

Oct. 1, 2018 · https://patriotpost.us/digests/58575-mid-day-digest

THE FOUNDATION

“Arbitrary power is most easily established on the ruins of liberty abused to licentiousness.” —George Washington (1753)

https://patriotpost.us/fqd/58574-founders-quote-daily

IN TODAY’S EDITION

Who leaked Ford’s letter to the press? Tom Cotton will find out.
Two police officers were murdered in Mississippi, but it doesn’t fit the narrative.
Trump is effectively countering the EU, UN, and Iran.
Tech-groomed totalitarians — the problem of data mining in public schools.
Americans pay more in taxes than on food and clothing.
Daily Features: Top Headlines, Memes, Cartoons, Columnists, and Short Cuts.

IN BRIEF
Cotton: Investigate Dems for Leaking Ford Letter1

Thomas Gallatin

After Thursday’s emotional roller coaster2 of testimonies from both Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh and his accuser Christine Blasey Ford, it appeared that the Republican-controlled Senate Judiciary Committee was finally on the brink of sending Kavanaugh to the full Senate floor for a final vote. In fact, early Friday morning, Sen. Jeff Flake (R-AZ), the lone Republican holdout on the committee, stated that he planned to give Kavanaugh the green light. And yet right before the committee voted, Flake threw a curve ball by siding with Democrats in conditioning his “yes” vote on completing yet another FBI investigation into Kavanaugh before the full Senate vote. The aptly named Flake later explained that his waffling came after being accosted by a raging feminist protester. He said he believed that the hearings were “tearing the country apart” and that an FBI investigation would somehow help matters.

Right. And as Ben Shapiro sarcastically notes, “Nothing brings the country together like FBI investigations.”

Ironically, Flake acknowledged Sunday on CBS’s “60 Minutes” that if he were running for reelection there’s “not a chance” that he would have called for the FBI investigation. So he willingly gave into Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s (D-CA) and the Democrats’ politically orchestrated smear-job on Kavanaugh because he’s tired of the partisan nature of politics? With Republicans like this who needs Democrats?

Meanwhile, Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) announced that Feinstein’s office would be investigated for leaking Ford’s confidential letter to the press. Cotton explained, “[Democrats] have betrayed [Ford]. She has been victimized by Democrats … on a search-and-destroy mission for Brett Kavanaugh.” Seemingly confirming Republicans’ suspicion that Democrats were responsible for leaking Ford’s letter, Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-HI) dodged a direct question on the matter from ABC’s George “Clintonista” Stephanopoulos, asserting, “All of these things do not focus on what we should be focusing on, which is the credibility of Judge Kavanaugh.” But the suddenly stalwart Sen. Lindsay Graham3 (R-SC) would have none of the Democrats’ obfuscation, stating flatly, “I’m going to get to the bottom of it.”

Finally, President Donald Trump called out the Democrats for their grotesque politicization of the Kavanaugh hearings, declaring, “Wow! Just starting to hear the Democrats, who are only thinking Obstruct and Delay, are starting to put out the word that the ‘time’ and ‘scope’ of FBI looking into Judge Kavanaugh and witnesses is not enough. Hello! For them, it will never be enough!”

https://patriotpost.us/articles/58571-cotton-investigate-dems-for-leaking-ford-letter

Officers Down!4

Mark Alexander

Saturday morning, two police officers were murdered by a gang member in the small town of Brookhaven, Mississippi.

It is notable that in the Washington Post coverage5 the next morning, and in that of other Leftmedia sources6, there was no mention of the race of the officers or the assailant, and no photo of the assailant indicating race.

But if the black assailant had been shot to death rather than the white police officers, this event would have been national news with the race of the assailant and the officers front and center in that coverage. Clearly, however, the murder of two white cops by a black assailant doesn’t fit the WaPo’s disgraceful race-bait political narrative, and the lack of any mention of race in the paper’s coverage of this tragedy exposes that narrative.

As I noted last year in “The Second Amendment and Violence — A Bullet Point Reality Check7,” in regard to interracial murders, the overwhelming number are black on white. If there is an epidemic of hate crime in America, it is not white-on-black but black-on-white and, of statistically greater significance, black-on-black8. Astoundingly, black assailants commit more than 90% of murders of black victims.

According to the latest FBI data on homicides8, black males make up 6% of the U.S. population but account for 39% of homicides.

Democrat politicos know that “Black Lives Matter9” is just a diversionary political sound bite. If they actually cared about the “cause-and-effect” association between the epidemic of violence on the urban poverty plantations10 created by their catastrophically failed government welfare-state programs11, they would adopt different policies.

Instead, whenever a black person is killed by non-black police officers, leftists are quick to blame it on “racist cops12.”

In Brookhaven, Cpl. Zach Moak and Patrolman James White were shot to death by a violent black gang member — a product of Democrat social policies. Recently, Cpl. Moak posted a photo to social media with a note he recently wrote to comfort a young relative: “Cohen, while you’re sleeping, I will always be watching over you.”

Cpl. Moak and Patrolman White, RIP.

https://patriotpost.us/articles/58568-officers-down

Top Headlines13

Supreme Court starts new term shorthanded (The Hill14)
Key witnesses knew nothing about any misconduct, stick to stories as FBI digs into Kavanaugh case (The Washington Times15)
Trump clinches new NAFTA deal (Bloomberg16)
House GOP to call Deputy AG Rod Rosenstein back to Capitol Hill (The Washington Post17)
House votes to make individual tax breaks permanent (Washington Examiner18)
Pyongyang tells U.S. to end sanctions: “There is no way we will unilaterally disarm ourselves first” (CNS News19)
China slashes steel, textile tariffs as Trump ratchets up pressure (Washington Examiner20)
Nearly 50 million Facebook accounts impacted by “security issue” (The Washington Times21)
California governor signs tough net neutrality bill, and Justice Department sues (CBS News22)
Humor: Senate to be replaced with room full of monkeys throwing feces (The Babylon Bee23)
Policy: Kill, don’t expand, tax subsidies for electric vehicles (Washington Examiner24)
Policy: The incredible economic opportunities of offshore energy exploration (National Review25)
For more of today’s news, visit Patriot Headline Report26.

https://patriotpost.us/articles/58573-monday-top-headlines

FEATURED ANALYSIS
Countering the EU, UN, and Iran30

President Donald Trump turned in a mixed performance at last week’s UN General Assembly meeting in New York. Occasionally lapsing into language more appropriate for a campaign rally, his speech to the General Assembly was a missed opportunity to make the United States’s case against the globalists who dream of the UN becoming a true world government. In his opening speech at the Security Council meeting on Wednesday, he declared, “Kim Jong-un, a man I have gotten to know and like, wants peace and prosperity for North Korea.” That’s a dismaying gaffe when referring to North Korea’s brutal dictator — a bloody despot ruling a rogue nation. It’s true he has a purpose31 with such flattery, but all things considered, it was a less-than-stellar performance from the leader of the free world.

But when it came to the president’s remarks on Iran and the challenge that nation’s nuclear program poses to the world, Trump delivered a message worthy of Ronald Reagan. Pulling no punches and sparing no feelings among friend and foe alike, the president made clear his determination to keep the pressure on Iran and his willingness to punish anyone trying to side with Tehran:

In the years since the [nuclear] deal was signed, Iran’s aggression only increased. The regime used new funds from the deal to support terrorism, build nuclear-capable missiles, and foment chaos. Following America’s withdrawal, the United States began re-imposing nuclear-related sanctions on Iran. All U.S. nuclear-related sanctions will be in full force by early November. They will be in full force. After that, the United States will pursue additional sanctions, tougher than ever before, to counter the entire range of Iran’s malign conduct. Any individual or entity who fails to comply with these sanctions will face severe consequences.

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The Patriot Post Digest 10-1-2018
From The Federalist Patriot
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The president’s blunt threat to anyone attempting to circumvent U.S. sanctions and do business with Iran should give pause to the European nations that have been making noise about doing just that. The European Union’s Federica Mogherini announced last week that the EU would attempt to form a special non-cash trade mechanism between Iran and EU nations specifically in order to avoid banking-related sanctions. Nothing could make clearer the craven mindset of the EU than a willingness to side with Iran in this way. The Europeans are more reliant than ever on foreign oil and natural gas as they pursue a utopian vision of domestic green-energy production. They have become more and more pacifist since the Soviet Union went bust, while cynically relying on the United States to be the world’s policeman. And they continue to delude themselves about the Iranian regime, thinking they can convert Iran into a responsible nation using only carrots and no stick.

But the Europeans must know that running afoul of U.S. sanctions will be financially ruinous at a time when many EU nations already face difficult economic conditions. The United Kingdom is bumbling its way toward a hard Brexit32. Italy faces a full-fledged debt crisis. Germany, supposedly the economic powerhouse of Europe, recently saw its economic outlook lowered to a meager 1.7% annual growth. The recent tsunami of Middle East and North African migration continues to stress EU nations’ social systems. And the EU as a whole is expected to remain below 2% growth for the foreseeable future. Not exactly a good time for the EU to take on the additional burden of U.S. sanctions.

As for Iran, it is more vulnerable to sanctions than at any time since the 1990s. Its economy, which consists of little more than oil and pistachios, has been cratering, leading to protests throughout the nation in which ordinary Iranians have made clear they have no affinity for spending Iranian money on propping up Syria’s Bashar al-Assad. The Saudis, who view Iran as a mortal enemy, have signaled their willingness to increase oil production to offset lost Iranian oil exports when sanctions kick in. The United States itself has leaped nearly to the top of the list of major oil exporters, exceeding three million barrels a day, second only to Saudi Arabia and Iraq. And as we have mentioned before33, the Islamic Revolution in Iran has grown old and tired over the last 25 years — to the point that the mullahs must coerce rather than convince the Iranian people of their “right” to rule.

President Trump has had his ups and downs since taking office, but his clear-minded focus34 on Iran and the threat posed by its nuclear program has been remarkable. The presence of John Bolton on the president’s national-security team should help maintain that clear-mindedness going forward, and we wholeheartedly support the president’s challenge to our notional European allies that they cannot support a pariah nation without consequences.

https://patriotpost.us/articles/58570-countering-the-eu-un-and-iran

MORE ANALYSIS FROM THE PATRIOT POST

Tech-Groomed Totalitarians35 — As always, Google is data-mining personal information — in schools across America.
Americans Pay More in Taxes Than on Food and Clothing36 — Government spending is outpacing record tax revenue, while debt continues to climb.
Video: Lawless America: The Kavanaugh-Ford Hearing37 — A turning point in the Republic — Bill Whittle reacts to the death of the Rule of Law.
Video: Kavanaugh Shreds Feinstein on Allegations38 — Ben Shapiro breaks down Feinstein’s reprehensible behavior during the Kavanaugh hearings.
Video: Leaving the Left39 — Dave Rubin tells John Stossel how he walked away from the Left.

OPINION IN BRIEF

Kathryn Jean Lopez: “The other day I checked my high school yearbook to see what might keep me from confirmation to the Supreme Court. In it, there is a quote from former education secretary William J. Bennett: ‘Saints are not born through other people’s sins.’ That quote seems relevant in so many ways right now. … Our lives and the life of our nation involve spiritual battles — it’s why ‘thoughts and prayers’ can never be mere sentiments but a real pleading with God that we may truly know Him and His mercy. In all the confusion of our times, when we don’t recognize the gratitude we should feel as created people for whom everything is a gift, everything is poisoned. We see this so clearly, don’t we, in our politics today? And so, the collective confusions between men and women and the escapes and excesses we seek in our misguided ways become Supreme Court nomination fodder. And our polarization makes it all the worse. … Saints can be born in daily life and even in politics. But we won’t find salvation in destroying other people — for sins that may or may not be theirs, but are certainly the plague of the times.”

SHORT CUTS

For the record: “From the start of the confirmation proceedings on Judge Brett Kavanaugh’s nomination to the Supreme Court … Senate Democrats have … pushed for delay. At every turn. … It doesn’t matter what sheep’s clothing the wolf comes in; the wolf is always delay. When they say, ‘We’re protecting survivors,’ they mean, ‘We want delay.’ When they posture that ‘women must be believed,’ their aim is more delay. When they say, ‘The FBI must investigate to remove any cloud over the nominee,’ the translation is: ‘Give us a delay so we can come up with new reasons for delay.’” —Andrew McCarthy

Exactly: “[This] week’s debate: [Republicans]: ‘The FBI investigated this and found nothing.’ Dems: ‘Everybody knows the FBI doesn’t reach conclusions!’” — Philip Klein

Upright: “A good first test of whether to take the Democratic/media talking point of ‘temperament’ against Kavanaugh seriously is to find out if they think the entire political media class should step down for their daily temperament issues.” —Mollie Hemingway

Pot calling the kettle black: “Small lies matter, even about yearbooks. From the standard jury instruction: ‘If a witness is shown knowingly to have testified falsely about any material matter, you have a right to distrust such witness’ other testimony and you may reject all the testimony of that witness…‘” —fired FBI director and Clinton probe mishandler James Comey

Seventh probe’s the charm? “The reason I think the Republicans do not want the truth to come forth from the FBI is because the truth will reveal that Judge Kavanaugh has not been truthful.” —House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA)

Braying Jenny I: “I’m hoping that Judge Kavanaugh will not be a justice on the Supreme Court. … I’m ever hopeful of an intervention, prayerful of a divine intervention.” —Nancy Pelosi, who like Kavanaugh is Catholic

Braying Jenny II: “He came out at that hearing, which was shocking to me — that he would accuse Democrats of a vast conspiracy to do him in and even dragged in Hillary Clinton. I found that bizarre. But we hardly need somebody on the Supreme Court who has these conspiracy theory notions.” —Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-HI), who surely agreed with Hillary Clinton when she cited a “vast wing-right conspiracy” to shield Bill’s improprieties in the '90s

And last… “As the past three years have demonstrated, nothing brings the country together like FBI investigations.” —Ben Shapiro

https://patriotpost.us/articles/58572-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