The Patriot Post Digest 12-11-2018

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The Patriot Post Digest 12-11-2018
From The Federalist Patriot
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The Patriot Post® · Mid-Day Digest

Dec. 11, 2018 · https://patriotpost.us/digests/59974-mid-day-digest

THE FOUNDATION

“The same prudence which in private life would forbid our paying our own money for unexplained projects, forbids it in the dispensation of the public moneys.” —Thomas Jefferson (1808)

https://patriotpost.us/fqd/59972-founders-quote-daily

IN TODAY’S EDITION

Another chance to hit Planned Parenthood funding fails.1
The Rainbow Mafia’s search and destroy mission for thought crimes.2
Daily Features: On the Web3, Columnists4, Headlines5, Memes6, Cartoons7, Opinion in Brief8, and Short Cuts9.
Featured Analysis: The long road to energy independence.10
IN BRIEF

SCOTUS Stumbles in Refusal to Review Abortion Funding11

Thomas Gallatin

The Supreme Court declined Monday to review a lower court’s ruling that prevented two states from ending public Medicaid funding for abortion providers, with the obvious target of those states being the nation’s leading baby killer: Planned Parenthood. The refusal to hear the case came as a surprise to many, as only three of the five conservative justices voted in favor of reviewing the case; Chief Justice John Roberts and newly confirmed Justice Brett Kavanaugh sided with the Court’s left wing.

The Court’s decision prompted an unusual chastisement from Justice Clarence Thomas, who wrote, “What explains the court’s refusal to do its job here? I suspect it has something to do with the fact that some respondents in these cases are named ‘Planned Parenthood.’”

Thomas further argued12, “It is true that these particular cases arose after several States alleged that Planned Parenthood affiliates had, among other things, engaged in ‘the illegal sale of fetal organs’ and ‘fraudulent billing practices,’ and thus removed Planned Parenthood as a state Medicaid provider. But these cases are not about abortion rights. They are about private rights of action under the Medicaid Act. Resolving the question presented here would not even affect Planned Parenthood’s ability to challenge the States’ decisions.”

The root question: Do Medicaid recipients have the right to challenge a state’s determination for who qualifies as a medical provider? Kansas and Louisiana determined that Medicaid recipients were not free to challenge the qualification for acceptable medical providers, specifically that Planned Parenthood failed to meet their qualifications. Thomas’s argument for accepting the case was sound, as he noted the appeals court split: “Five Circuits have held that Medicaid recipients have such a right and one Circuit has held that they do not.”

The Washington Post speculated13 that the reason SCOTUS refused review was that “a majority of the court may be steering clear of controversial issues — at least for now.” But does this dodge by Kavanaugh give a foreboding glimpse into the future with respect to any case impacting abortion? Time will tell, but it’s hard to see this as anything other than a big miss by SCOTUS.

A point of observation. Imagine the tone of the media coverage if the issue before the Court was half a billion in annual government funding of the National Rifle Association, an organization that, unlike Planned Parenthood, exists solely to defend an actual constitutional right.

On a final note, Republicans controlled both houses of Congress and the presidency for the past two years and could have tackled this issue by passing legislation to prevent government funding of Planned Parenthood. They failed to do so.

https://patriotpost.us/articles/59971-scotus-stumbles-in-refusal-to-review-abortion-funding

Thought Police Target ‘Homophobic’ Athletes14

Nate Jackson

Celebrities and athletes are enlightened philosophers who can pontificate from on high to impart their profound wisdom upon the unwashed masses. Unless they deviate from leftist groupthink, that is. A recent spate of rhetorical assaults upon rogue celebrities and athletes by the Rainbow Mafia reminds us again that some Americans seem to think freedom of speech and individual liberty are things to be mercilessly crushed under the jackboots of the thought police.

The man getting the most attention is University of Oklahoma quarterback Kyler Murray, who won the Heisman Trophy Saturday night only to be dragged through the mud by USA Today’s Scott Gleeson over “homophobic” tweets Murray made … when he was 15. Murray went from what should have been one of the greatest moments of his life to a perfunctory apology for his “poor choice of word that doesn’t reflect who I am or what I believe.” And it was all thanks to a vindictive Leftmedia eager to punish “wrongthink” about any favored group such as homosexuals.

Murray, who was drafted to play baseball for the Oakland A’s, is hardly alone, however. Gleeson wrote (as if he were merely an innocent observer), “Murray, 21 now, joins several other famous athletes to find themselves thrust in a negative spotlight as a result of their old tweets resurfacing in the midst of big accomplishments. The Milwaukee Brewers’ Josh Hader had racist, homophobic and misogynistic tweets resurface from when he was 17 years old this past summer. Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen saw racist tweets resurface from his teenage years ahead of the NFL draft. And Villanova Final Four Most Outstanding Player Donte DiVincenzo had a profane tweet with racist rap lyrics surface on the Internet right after he helped the Wildcats win a national title.”

Gleeson is part of the problem, waiting for a moment of accomplishment to destroy a target. Baltimore Ravens lineman Patrick Ricard, Portland Trail Blazers forward Al-Farouq Aminu, and Atlanta Braves pitcher Sean Newcomb are also recent victims of media-generated outrage over using the “wrong” words. And then there’s comedian Kevin Hart, who will no longer host the Oscars after “homophobic” comments just happened to surface after the Academy Awards organizers asked him to host. The list could — and unfortunately will — go on.

To be clear, we’re not defending some of the words in question, which are indeed crass and offensive and aren’t part of what should be a better response to gender dysphoria15. But humans have always had a knack for saying awful things about one another. In this case, it’s the rabid heterophobic gender deniers16 who ought to apologize for aiming to destroy accomplished people over offhand teenage snark.

https://patriotpost.us/articles/59970-thought-police-target-homophobic-athletes

ON THE WEB TODAY

Muddling Along in Afghanistan17 — After 17 years, a look at our strategy and how to achieve national-security objectives.
How Mia Love Is Both Right and Wrong About Trump18 — The defeated congresswoman is in some ways representative of the current GOP split.
Video: The Problem With ‘Medicare for All’19 — The Heritage Foundation breaks down many of the problems with the Dems’ vision.

BEST OF RIGHT OPINION

59949 59950 59952 59947 59951

For more of today’s columns, visit Right Opinion20.

TOP HEADLINES

Trump, Democrats start border wall negotiations (The Hill21)
Asylum claims at the border soar 67% (The Washington Times22)
Judge rules Trump administration justified in ending Obama-era immigration program (Associated Press23)
2020 Democrat primary: California and Texas look to become the new Iowa and New Hampshire (NBC News24)
Small-business optimism dips over fears of an economic slowdown (CNBC25)
Stocks are on track for the worst year in a decade (CNBC26)
Steel industry booming after Trump tariffs (Washington Examiner27)
Trump EPA prepares to roll back Obama-era clean water rules (USA Today28)
Budget deficit soars in first two months of fiscal year (The Hill29)
Humor: Heisman winner proves if you work hard and believe in yourself, you too can have journalists try to ruin your life by combing through your old tweets (The Babylon Bee30)
Policy: On gender, the science is deafening (The Daily Signal31)
Policy: When college degrees impede opportunity (Inside Higher Ed32)
For more of today’s news, visit Patriot Headline Report33.

https://patriotpost.us/articles/59967-tuesday-top-headlines

HUMOROUS NEWS
Man Tries to Rescue Guy Hanging From Roof … Who Turns Out to Be ‘Clark Griswold’ Dummy34

A good Samaritan attempted last week to save what he thought was a man hanging from a roof but turned out to be a recreation of a classic Christmas movie scene. The would-be helper jumped out of his car upon spotting a dummy hanging from the roof of an Austin, Texas, resident who had recreated a famous scene from 1989’s “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation” in which Clark Griswold, played by Chevy Chase, dangles from the gutters of his house after a misbegotten attempt at hanging Christmas lights for his family.

Read more at Pluralist35.

https://patriotpost.us/articles/59957-man-tries-to-rescue-guy-hanging-from-roof-dot-dot-dot-who-turns-out-to-be-clark-griswold-dummy

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The Patriot Post Digest 12-11-2018
From The Federalist Patriot
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FEATURED ANALYSIS
The Long Road to Energy Independence40

Lewis Morris

America’s energy outlook is changing significantly for the better, which is obviously welcome news … that you’re unlikely to hear from the mainstream media.

Last week, the United States officially became a net oil exporter41, a dramatic shift for the country’s energy sector. It’s been 75 years since we could say that we ship out more oil than we take in.

Increased oil production in Texas, New Mexico, North Dakota, and Pennsylvania are responsible in part for this new state of affairs. And a recently discovered oil and natural gas reserve42 in Texas and New Mexico should keep the pumps going for years to come. The massive reservoir contains 281 trillion cubic feet of natural gas and 46.3 billion barrels of oil. It’s the largest such resource ever assessed and is enough to fuel the United States alone for up to seven years.

President Donald Trump campaigned on American energy independence, and since taking office, Trump has initiated several steps to move toward that goal. Those include relaxed federal restrictions on oil and natural gas exploration and drilling, and lifting draconian Barack Obama-era restrictions designed to bring an end to coal production in the U.S.

True energy independence43 has been a stated goal of every president since Richard Nixon, but no one ever went about it correctly or whole-heartedly. Several Republican and Democrat presidents embraced a policy concoction of more regulation, a reliance on “alternative” energy sources, and austerity measures to manage America’s energy needs. Not surprisingly, all fell short of energy independence.

Meeting America’s energy needs means producing more energy (a.k.a. supply-side economics) — it’s as simple as that. Our last president, who laughably insists he is responsible for America’s current energy boom, was in favor of driving up energy costs for consumers to force less usage (a.k.a. demand-side economics.) The Obama administration was also in favor of betting the ranch on unproven clean-energy technologies that were prohibitively expensive and not all that efficient or clean.

The energy boom that we are currently experiencing makes us less reliant on foreign energy producers, which in turn improves our national security. It also means more jobs to produce energy here at home, and that means a strengthened economy. Good news all around. Well, except for the climate doomsayers.

At the recent climate conference44 in Poland, alarmists continued their tirade against CO2 emissions, claiming that the world has just 10 years to lower those emissions before we reach the point of no return on rising surface temperatures. They also literally mocked45 the Trump administration’s efforts to tout fossil fuels.

Many nations at the conference unquestioningly accepted the UN’s latest report, which calls for unspecified drastic changes to industrial emissions. The United States, joined by Russia, Saudi Arabia, and Kuwait, challenged the report’s findings, with each nation saying they would only note the report rather than accept it.

The U.S. also refused to reaffirm the Paris climate deal at November’s G20 summit, much to the consternation of ecofascists. Yet by following its own policies, the U.S. has lowered emissions during seven out of the last 10 years — something that none of the nations supporting the Paris accords can say. That proves as much as anything that Paris emissions-control standards are about control, not emissions.

Climate change is a ruse46 to hide a leftist takeover of the economy. America’s rising energy production, and the vigorous economy that comes with it, stands in the way of that goal. So expect leftists to continue targeting Trump’s energy policy and to continue screaming hyperbolic claims that he is destroying the Earth.

https://patriotpost.us/articles/59956-the-long-road-to-energy-independence

OPINION IN BRIEF

Rich Lowry: “When in the past countries in Europe have voted the ‘wrong’ way on fundamental EU questions, as Ireland, France and the Netherlands did over the years, they were ignored or made to vote again until they got the right answer. Britain may yet suffer the same pitiful fate. The European Court of Justice just helpfully ruled that Britain can withdraw its Article 50 notification — in other words, forget this whole unpleasant Brexit vote happened. That’s been the hope of many Remainers in Britain all along, but the case for the EU hasn’t gotten any stronger over the past two years. What does it say about the European project that exit is almost impossible? And if Britain is a political shambles, it’s not as though the most committed advocates of the EU are doing any better. Given the ‘yellow vest’ protests ignited by his idiotic (since delayed) fuel tax, French President Emmanuel Macron can’t even control the streets of Paris on weekends.”

SHORT CUTS

Upright: “Brexit is to Britain like the Wall is to America. The people want it but they keep electing people who don’t want it. Governments not representing the will of the people. Why? They know what’s best for you, you don’t.” —Chuck Woolery

Doh! “I have noticed that [Donald Trump] Junior here has a habit of posting nonsense about me whenever the Mueller investigation heats up. Please, keep it coming Jr — it’s definitely a ‘very, very large brain’ idea to troll a member of a body that will have subpoena power in a month. Have fun!” —Congresswoman-elect Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez breaching House ethics rules47

Can’t we all just get along? “So basically when you think about how we’re going to succeed and actually kick their a—, it’s going to be based on justice — environmental justice, economic justice, and coloration. … And so when we look at what’s going to happen in 2020, we are going to have to crush these people. … The time for politeness is over.” —billionaire socialist Tom Steyer, as if leftists who personally attack their opponents have ever been polite

The BIG Lie: “Most folks can find [ObamaCare] coverage for $50 to $100 per month. That’s probably less than your cell phone bill.” —Barack Obama

Political hack: “All of us should use every breath we have to make sure the lying stops on Jan. 20, 2021. I understand the Democrats have important debates now over who their candidate should be, but they have to win. They have to win.” —former FBI Director James Comey

And last… “I was just minding my own business, looking for people to crucify on my witch hunt (instead of dealing with my own pain) and I discovered something terrible: The classic Christmas song, ‘Baby, It’s Cold Outside,’ is about date rape! It’s either I’m wrong or the song’s always been about date rape, and it’s just taken 74 years for someone as intelligent as me to finally come along and discover it. And it’s not that I’m wrong.” —comedian JP Sears mocking the controversy

https://patriotpost.us/articles/59969-tuesday-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