The Patriot Post Digest 2-14-2019

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The Patriot Post Digest 2-14-2019
From The Federalist Patriot
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The Patriot Post® · Mid-Day Digest

Feb. 14, 2019

https://patriotpost.us/digests/61165-mid-day-digest

THE FOUNDATION

“Labor to keep alive in your breast that little spark of celestial fire called conscience.” —George Washington (1748)

https://patriotpost.us/fqd/61164-founders-quote-daily

IN TODAY’S EDITION

Investigators confirm that MAGA-hat-wearing Catholic students were innocent.1
Trump’s tariff gambit is being put to the test this weekend.2
Daily Features: More Analysis3, Columnists4, Headlines5, Opinion in Brief6, Short Cuts7, Memes8, and Cartoons9.

IN BRIEF

Covington Boys Cleared, but MAGA Hats Still Trigger10

Nate Jackson

We’d file this one under “Better Late Than Never,” although a lot of damage was done before the record was corrected. Private investigators have concluded11, after 240 man hours of interviews with 43 students, 13 chaperones, and several eyewitnesses, as well as scouring YouTube and news articles, that the MAGA-hat-wearing Covington Catholic boys did nothing wrong while at the March for Life in January. Greater Cincinnati Investigation, Inc. was hired by the Diocese of Covington and Covington Catholic High School to get to the bottom of the story once and for all.

In late January, the Leftmedia pounced on the boys for alleged racist taunting and bullying of a Native American on the National Mall. But the resulting hate-narrative lynch mob12 had the facts all wrong. Not only were the boys not the aggressors, they were the recipients of racial epithets from the Black Hebrew Israelites, a group of racist haters advocating black supremacy. Then Nathan Phillips, a well-documented liar and fraud, showed up to beat his Native American drum in the face of the most famous of the boys, Nick Sandmann. The video evidence is clear13, and investigators concluded that the statements they received “are remarkably consistent” with each other and “with the videos we reviewed.”

Investigators could not reach Phillips, however, even when they parked outside his home for a day. It’s no surprise that he doesn’t want to talk to them. He’s much more comfortable spouting lies on CNN.

Nevertheless, the reason that even a few conservative outlets initially dumped on the Catholic students was that their own diocese was so quick to throw them under the bus. Within hours of the initial reports, Covington Catholic High School and its Kentucky diocese shamefully issued a joint apology to Phillips, noting, “This behavior is opposed to the Church’s teachings on the dignity and respect of the human person.”

That apology was taken down from the web, and Bishop Roger Foys of Covington soon issued an apology to the students. In fact, he now says “I commend them” for what “one might even say [was] laudatory” behavior. That’s as it should be, but, again, a lot of damage had been done already.

Unfortunately, there will also be those who are so deeply insulted at the mere sight of a MAGA hat that the truth is irrelevant. Guy Jones, a Hunkpapa Lakota and member of the Greater Cincinnati Native American Coalition, complained after the report, “The fact that you have these students wearing these MAGA hats and they were doing the tomahawk chop — that was a statement.” Dina Gilio-Whitaker, a member of Colville Confederated Tribes in California and professor of American Indian studies at California State University at San Marcos, likewise grumbled, “They were all wearing MAGA gear, which is, unfortunately, a visual cue.”

Sandmann’s attorney, Lin Wood, was having none of that nonsense. “The MAGA cap that Nick was wearing provides no legal excuse or justification for the politically motivated accusers, rather it only confirms their bias and malice. Anyone who falsely attacked, disparaged, or threatened a minor because of the cap he was wearing should hang his or her head in shame and be held fully accountable in a court of law.” Well said.

https://patriotpost.us/articles/61161-covington-boys-cleared-but-maga-hats-still-trigger

Tariff Deadline Looms Over U.S.-China Negotiations14

Thomas Gallatin

Another round of trade talks between the U.S. and China kicked off on Thursday in Beijing as the two countries seek to negotiate an end to the escalating trade war. March 2 is the deadline for President Donald Trump’s $200 billion increase in tariffs against Chinese goods to be initiated. However, Trump indicated that he’s willing to delay the deadline a further 60 days should the negotiations yield positive results.

Trump’s tariffs get all the attention, but the issue at the heart of the trade war is China’s long record of abusive trade practices, particularly related to the theft of foreign-based companies’ technology. As the Associated Press reports15, “Trump raised tariffs in July over complaints Beijing steals or pressures companies to hand over technology. The dispute includes cyber-spying traced to China, the country’s multibillion-dollar trade surplus with the United States and support for state industry.”

Clearly, Trump’s trade war with China is aimed at leveling the playing field and ending unfair trade practices, and insomuch as it delivers on that, it’s a good thing. That said, a fair market free of tariffs should be the ultimate goal, which will produce the most benefit to Americans and foreign nations alike. In the meantime, the tariffs are a somewhat painful but necessary “medicine.” What needs to be guarded against is the propensity for crony capitalism16, as businesses that benefit from these tariffs may lobby to permanently establish them. Other companies are, of course, paying through the nose17, and those costs are passed along to the consumer.

The president seems to be calculating that America can better absorb the economic impact of tariffs than China can. Indeed, with Chinese economic growth slowing to a three-decade low, and the U.S. economy jumping into high gear, Beijing may finally be willing to agree to real changes. That remains to be seen, but it appears that Trump is optimistic, as are a majority18 of American businesses.

https://patriotpost.us/articles/61162-tariff-deadline-looms-over-u-dot-s-china-negotiations

ON OUR WEBSITE TODAY

Featured Analysis: It’s Not Easy Being Green19 — “Being crazy isn’t enough,” Dr. Seuss once said. Little did he know how prophetic he was.
Lesbian Ousted From LGBTQ Commission for Believing in Biology20 — The “transgender” movement is proving to be dangerous to actual women.
Is Cuomo Digging His Own Political Grave?21 — The years since 2011 have been a journey to the far-left extreme end of the party.
Video: Students Love Green New Deal … Until Hearing What’s In It22 — Students at the University of Miami loved Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s proposal at first.
Don’t Miss Alexander’s Column
Read Red Old Deal Recycled as Green New Deal23. The Left’s ruinous “Rainbows and Unicorns Resolution of 2019.”

If you’d like to receive Alexander’s Column by email every Wednesday, update your subscription here24.

GOOD NEWS

Boys Recite Pledge of Allegiance Next to NC Fire Dept. Flag25
“Over the weekend, Roseboro Fire Department posted an image of the boys with their hands over their hearts as the flag was raised. The department said in a Facebook post on Friday that their chaplain spotted the two boys, now identified as Thomas, 7, and Derrick, 6, paying respect to the flag in Roseboro, a small town near Raleigh. ‘This afternoon as Chaplain Herring was raising the U.S. flag to full staff, he looked over to the intersection and saw these two young people standing there with hands on their heart saying the Pledge of Allegiance,’ the post read. ‘God bless our community.’”

Read more at CBS News26.

https://patriotpost.us/articles/61144-boys-recite-pledge-of-allegiance-next-to-nc-fire-dept-flag

TOP HEADLINE SUMMARY

The ball officially gets rolling today on the bipartisan budget agreement reached earlier this week. “Lawmakers filed a broad border security spending bill early Thursday that is expected to clear Congress by the end of the day,” the Washington Examiner reports28. Expectations are that President Donald Trump will sign off on the legislation while continuing to independently pursue additional funding for the border barrier.
According to Yahoo News29, “Former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe says that after President Trump fired his boss, FBI Director James Comey, there were discussions within the Department of Justice about invoking the 25th Amendment to remove Trump from office.” However, “In a statement released by the Justice Department, Rosenstein said McCabe’s account of a discussion of invoking the 25th amendment was ‘inaccurate and factually incorrect.’” This story needs to play out, but there’s certainly some evidence that the DOJ was gearing up to obstruct Trump.

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The Patriot Post Digest 2-14-2019
From The Federalist Patriot
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According to Politico30, “A federal judge ruled in favor of Robert Mueller on Wednesday that Paul Manafort intentionally violated the terms of his guilty plea by lying to federal prosecutors and a grand jury, clearing the way for the special counsel to push for a harsher sentence.” All told, Manafort, whose sentencing will occur on March 13, could face a decade behind bars.
A potentially significant move transpired courtesy of the Senate Rules Committee, which yesterday “approved a change to the rules to shorten the debate time for judicial nominees,” Townhall reveals31. “Currently, up to 30 hours of debate time is allowed before a nominee is approved for service. But if the new rule … is approved in the Senate floor, it will reduce the maximum time to just two hours.” This could provide major inroads towards splintering the Democrats’ obstruction tactics.
According to The Washington Post32, “The House Judiciary Committee passed a measure Wednesday that would require background checks for all gun sales and most gun transfers within the United States, the most significant gun-control legislation to advance this far in Congress in years. … The committee also voted 23 to 15 to advance a bill that would close a loophole in the current background-check law that allows a gun purchase if a check is not completed in three days.” For the record, new background checks still wouldn’t have prevented recent mass shootings.
About that “peak oil” narrative… The Houston Chronicle reveals33, “Crude oil production in Texas has beaten a previous record set in the 1970s, a new report from the Texas Independent Producers Royalty Owners Association stated. Texas oil wells produced more than 1.54 billion barrels of crude in 2018, beating the previous record of 1.28 billion barrels set in 1973… Natural gas production also grew, reaching 8.8 trillion cubic feet in 2018.” Texas Gov. Greg Abbott observes, “As the national leader in oil and natural gas production, Texas is paving the way for America’s energy independence.”
Amazon is among the world’s elite corporations. It has hovered around $1 trillion in market value for some time now, yet it won’t be sending any income tax to Uncle Sam. The Week reports34, “Amazon, which doubled its profits and made more than $11 billion in 2018, won’t pay any federal income taxes for the second year in a row, the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy reported on Wednesday. The company will not be required to pay the standard 21 percent income tax rate on its 2018 profits, and is claiming a tax rebate of $129 million, which ITEP describes as a ‘a tax rate of negative 1 percent.’” Some might say billionaire socialist Jeff Bezos isn’t paying his “fair share.”
Reports are surfacing that Amazon may renege on its headquarters arrangement in New York City. And according to Fox Business, commerce-friendly Tennessee — whose capital city of Nashville was a finalist — continues to be “very interested35” in landing the new headquarters. Fox reports, “‘The question is whether it’s worth it if the politicians in New York don’t want the project, especially with how people in Virginia and Nashville have been so welcoming,’ said one person familiar with the company’s plans.” It’s almost like Amazon should have picked somewhere else in the first place.
Humor: New Toyota Prius will remind you to check your privilege every 3,000 miles (The Babylon Bee36)
Policy: “Unfortunately, one year after the tragic loss of 17 lives at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, many lawmakers and advocacy groups still insist on offering ineffective measures to prevent school shootings based on a misguided diagnosis of the problem,” writes The Daily Signal’s Amy Swearer. Read how here37.
Policy: The Mercatus Center’s Donald J. Boudreaux offers “6 Key Takeaways Every Student Should Receive from Econ 10138.”
For more of today’s editors’ choice headlines, visit In Our Sights39.

https://patriotpost.us/articles/61163-thursday-top-headline-summary

OPINION IN BRIEF

Tony Perkins: “In a bitter response to his State of the Union address, [Hillary Clinton] tweeted Monday that the president was lying about the severity of third-trimester abortions. ‘Only about 1% of abortions happen later in pregnancy,’ she tweeted, "almost always because a woman’s health or life is at risk, or the pregnancy is no longer viable. Lying about this is dangerous, and a slap in the face to families who face heartbreaking situations.‘ First things first. The number of children it affects has nothing to do with the morality of late-term abortion. If there were only two kids on a burning bus, people wouldn’t shrug and say, 'Oh, the bus isn’t full. Don’t bother.’ … Like Hillary, Democrats are fond of throwing around this one-percent statistic on late-term abortion (1.3 percent if they’re feeling generous). It’s a convenient number to use, since most people are trained to dismiss it as nothing. But in this case, that ‘one percent’ represents 5,597 children a year. That’s double the number of casualties on 9/11. (Only this time, we’re attacking our own.) Imagine if someone said, just as casually, ‘America only lost 2,996 lives on September 11th. It’s just .001 of one percent.’ It would be unthinkable — almost as unthinkable as a country passing laws that make it easier to kill perfectly-healthy babies. But unfortunately, that’s the culture abortion has created. In the 46 years of Roe, we’re talking about 257,462 late-term lives. How does ‘only one percent’ sound now?”

SHORT CUTS

Upright: “If your first response to Democratic nut-jobbery is to get defensive about Republican blowback, you’re no longer a journalist. You’re merely a hack. You are, as President Trump would put it, ‘fake news’ — an activist masquerading as a journalist. I suppose this means I’m pouncing on the media, though.” —Ben Shapiro

Predictions: “Even if the special counsel regulations did not mandate confidentiality, ordinary Justice Department guidelines against public commentary about uncharged persons would do so. … There is thus a very good chance that … Mueller’s report will not result in any statement about the president other than that the investigation is closed.” —Andrew McCarthy on the likelihood of a “nothingburger” report

For the record: “I understand the Democrats that proposed [the Green New Deal] immediately tried to retract that white paper that went along with their resolution. And too many people in the media have been complicit in the Stalin-like or 1984 technique of disappearing it, sending it down the memory hole.” —Sen. Tom Cotton

Friendly fire: “I am for a jumpstart of the [Green New Deal] discussion and a framework. … I’m not for reducing air travel.” —Sen. Amy Klobuchar

Moon shot: “There’s a lot of people now going back on the Green New Deal. They’re like, ‘Oh, it’s impractical. Oh, it’s too expensive. Oh, it’s all of this.’ If we used to govern our dreams that way, we would have never gone to the moon.” —Sen. Cory Booker

Sounds like you’ve already boxed yourself in: “I’m not going to box myself in, but should I become [the Democrat nominee], you know I’ll be looking to women first.” —Cory Booker

And last… “As I’ve said many times, abolish the withholding system and make people actually write a check to the government. America will be transformed for the better overnight. People will finally realize how much the government is really taking. True accountability will follow.” —Matt Walsh

https://patriotpost.us/articles/61160-thursday-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