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« on: October 06, 2018, 04:58:40 PM » |
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The Patriot Post Digest 10-5-2018
From The Federalist Patriot
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The Patriot Post® · Mid-Day Digest
Oct. 5, 2018 · https://patriotpost.us/digests/58680-mid-day-digest
THE FOUNDATION
“Our country is in danger, but not to be despaired of. Our enemies are numerous and powerful; but we have many friends, determining to be free, and heaven and earth will aid the resolution.” —Joseph Warren (1775)
https://patriotpost.us/fqd/58679-founders-quote-daily
IN TODAY’S EDITION
With Kavanaugh on the brink of confirmation, the FBI found a Ford tidbit…
Is the electorate really informed? Civics ignorance is a big problem.
Iran’s ayatollah says Islam has the solution for #MeToo.
Will California dictate emissions for the whole country?
Daily Features: Top Headlines, Memes, Cartoons, Columnists, and Short Cuts.
FEATURED ANALYSIS
Democrats’ Ever-Evolving Reasoning for Resisting Kavanaugh1
Thomas Gallatin
The Senate this morning voted to end debate on Brett Kavanaugh’s nomination to the Supreme Court. A final vote is scheduled for Saturday, and it looks like it will be a party-line nail-biter.
From the moment Kavanaugh was nominated2 to fill Anthony Kennedy’s seat, Senate Democrats, led by Chuck Schumer (NY) and Dianne Feinstein (CA), worked a deliberate strategy to derail3 his confirmation at all costs. It began with a campaign to paint Kavanaugh as the justice who would overturn Roe v. Wade, and upon this ground Democrats declared him too partisan to be confirmed. When it became clear that this tactic would fail to stop his confirmation, Feinstein and Company elected to go with character assassination4, announcing 11th-hour allegations of sexual assault that Feinstein had sat on for weeks, presumably because even she knew at the time it lacked any corroborating evidence, as the latest FBI investigation confirms.
Democrats’ game plan was to turn up the heat on Kavanaugh enough to convince him and Republicans that it wasn’t worth it; they hoped Kavanugh would succumb to the mounting public pressure and withdraw. This required weaponizing the #MeToo movement to scare Republicans into conceding to the Democrats’ demands lest they suffer significant losses in the upcoming midterms thanks to women voters.
But Republicans wisely, though at times rather weakly, called Feinstein’s bluff. Kavanaugh’s accuser, Christine Blasey Ford, was given a Senate hearing, in which Democrats demanded a seventh FBI investigation into Kavanaugh. Dems got their week delay, but, as everyone knew would be the case, the resulting probe found no new evidence to corroborate Ford’s allegations (or those of a second accuser). In fact, if anything new was uncovered by the FBI, it’s that Ford’s lifelong friend, who Ford says was at the supposed party, claimed she was pressured by allies of Ford to “revisit” her initial statement denying her presence or even knowing Kavanaugh.
No matter. Democrats anticipated the FBI’s findings and quickly dismissed their relevance — even before receiving the report. Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA) declared that “the whole thing is a sham,” while Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ) insisted the investigation was “bulls—t.” Meanwhile, Democrats had already begun to pivot to their next attack, charging that Kavanaugh’s emotional testimony5 last Thursday displayed a “temperament” that made him unfit for serving on the Supreme Court. And they got help with a broadside from none other than former Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens, who said Thursday, “[Democrats] suggest that he has demonstrated a potential bias involving enough potential litigants before the court that he would not be able to perform his full responsibilities. And I think there is merit in that criticism and that the senators should really pay attention to it.”
Thursday evening, Kavanaugh pushed back against this latest attack on his character, writing in a Wall Street Journal op-ed6:
I testified before the Judiciary Committee last Thursday to defend my family, my good name and my lifetime of public service. My hearing testimony was forceful and passionate. That is because I forcefully and passionately denied the allegation against me. At times, my testimony — both in my opening statement and in response to questions — reflected my overwhelming frustration at being wrongly accused, without corroboration, of horrible conduct completely contrary to my record and character. My statement and answers also reflected my deep distress at the unfairness of how this allegation has been handled. …
Going forward, you can count on me to be the same kind of judge and person I have been for my entire 28-year legal career: hardworking, even-keeled, open-minded, independent and dedicated to the Constitution and the public good. As a judge, I have always treated colleagues and litigants with the utmost respect. I have been known for my courtesy on and off the bench. I have not changed. I will continue to be the same kind of judge I have been for the last 12 years. And I will continue to contribute to our country as a coach, volunteer, and teacher. Every day I will try to be the best husband, dad, and friend I can be. I will remain optimistic, on the sunrise side of the mountain. I will continue to see the day that is coming, not the day that is gone.
I revere the Constitution. I believe that an independent and impartial judiciary is essential to our constitutional republic. If confirmed by the Senate to serve on the Supreme Court, I will keep an open mind in every case and always strive to preserve the Constitution of the United States and the American rule of law.
That is exactly what Democrats fear most. This whole Democrat-created fiasco7 was never about any questionable rulings, or #MeToo, or judicial temperament; rather this was all about Democrats’ fear that a constitutionally committed justice wouldn’t concede to their anti-constitutional activism. In other words, Kavanaugh is a huge roadblock to their leftist agenda — a roadblock they fully intended to destroy.
https://patriotpost.us/articles/58678-democrats-ever-evolving-reasoning-for-resisting-kavanaugh
Is the Electorate Really Informed?8
Michael Swartz
While last week we were singing the praises9 of Millennials for staying together in matrimony, one area where they’re falling short is the understanding of our basic system of government. Then again, they’re not alone: According to a survey conducted for the Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation, just one in three Americans could pass10 a 10-question test derived from the U.S. Citizenship Test, which is required of all immigrants who wish to become American citizens. Tellingly, those under age 45 had just a 19% passage rate, meaning that fewer than one in five could answer six or more of the 10 questions correctly. (On the other hand, respondents over 65 had a 74% passage rate.)
“Unfortunately this study found the average American to be woefully uninformed regarding America’s history and incapable of passing the U.S. Citizenship Test,” said Foundation president Arthur Levine. “It would be an error to view these findings as merely an embarrassment,” Levine warned. “Knowledge of the history of our country is fundamental to maintaining a democratic society, which is imperiled today.”
Regular readers will recall that we’ve sounded this alarm bell before11, particularly when Constitution Day comes around. All kidding about “Civics for Dummies12” aside, though, ignorance of the basic tenets of our government leaves our citizenry vulnerable to abuse by those people who realize how simple it is to game the system to their advantage. “We don’t need a citizenry made up of constitutional experts,” wrote13 our own Brian Mark Weber, “but how can we expect voters to make informed decisions if they know next to nothing about our system of government or their rights under the Constitution?”
It’s almost too easy to blame the educational system, whether it’s the replacement of traditional American history by “New Civics14” classwork at the college level or a lack of emphasis in high school — a glaring deficiency that prompted the Obama administration to simply stop measuring the lack of progress15 in teaching these subjects. Noteworthy was a 2012 Tufts University study16, which found that while most states required a basic civics course for high-school graduation, only eight had a civics portion as part of mandated testing to graduate. Moreover, the remaining tests were becoming easier, having dropped their short-answer and essay requirements in favor of simpler multiple-choice questions. Those 2012 students are today donning the civics dunce cap.
Picking up on the admonition of the Woodrow Wilson Institute, the editors at The Wall Street Journal are correct17 in stating flatly: “It’s embarrassing.”
When just 13% of Americans can recall when the Constitution was ratified — most said 1776, meaning they can’t keep the Constitution and Declaration of Independence straight — and 60% don’t know which countries the United States fought in World War II, woe is us. And is it merely comical or downright shameful that “only 24% can identify something that Ben Franklin was famous for, and 37% credit him for having invented the light bulb.” In Millennial-speak: “OMG!” |
