The Patriot Post Digest 3-28-2019

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The Patriot Post Digest 3-28-2019
From The Federalist Patriot
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The Patriot Post® · Mid-Day Digest
Mar. 28, 2019
https://patriotpost.us/digests/62056-mid-day-digest

THE FOUNDATION

“Public affairs go on pretty much as usual: perpetual chicanery and rather more personal abuse than there used to be.” —John Adams (1826)

https://patriotpost.us/fqd/62055-founders-quote-daily

IN TODAY’S EDITION

Democrats want to keep impeachment threats around for 18 months.1
Army Staff Sgt. Travis Atkins awarded posthumous Medal of Honor.2
Daily Features: More Analysis3, Columnists4, Headlines5, Opinion in Brief6, Short Cuts7, Memes8, and Cartoons9.

IN BRIEF

Keeping the Trump Impeachment Cloud Afloat10
There is no question that the result of Robert Mueller’s special investigation, in which he found no evidence of collusion11 between the Trump campaign and Russia, seriously took the wind out of the Democrats’ impeachment sails. However, several leftist freshmen firebrands, who claim they won election for promising to go hard after President Donald Trump, are nowhere near throwing in the towel. They may have just lost, but that was only round one. Cue round two of the Dems’ witch hunt12.

On Wednesday, Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) introduced a resolution13 in the House Judiciary Committee to investigate whether Trump has committed impeachable offenses regarding his foreign business dealings. Citing the rarely applied Emoluments Clause of the Constitution, which forbids a public official from accepting foreign money in an attempt to “defraud the United States,” Tlaib stated that she was seeking to ensure “we don’t have a lawless society that results in irreparable harm to the American people.” She then bloviated, “Doing nothing when we are seeing blatant disregard of the United States Constitution, to our ethical norms, is dangerous. No one, including the president of the United States, is above the law.”

If anyone knows “blatant disregard” for the Constitution, it’s Democrats.

Tlaib then insisted, “An investigation will take a look at all of these things, with the question [being], are these impeachable offenses?” However, few Democrats seemed eager to jump on board. Only Rep. Al Green (D-TX) voiced support, stating, “There will be another vote on impeachment in the House of Representatives.”

Perhaps, but Democrats are arguably more interested in the mere threat. As Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) commented14, “I think what’s tough is impeachment in principle is something I openly support. But it’s also just the reality of having the votes in the Senate to pursue that. And so that’s something that we have to take into consideration.”

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) knows full well that engaging in impeachment proceedings sans any clear and obvious crime could backfire15, as evidenced even by Bill Clinton’s impeachment for actual crimes. Republicans arguably overplayed their hand and it proved costly in the following elections. That said, Pelosi and her fellow Democrats would love nothing more than to keep the cloud of impeachment hanging over Trump for the next 18 months.

https://patriotpost.us/articles/62054-keeping-the-trump-impeachment-cloud-afloat

Profiles of Valor: U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Travis Atkins16

Monday was National Medal of Honor Day17, and to mark the occasion we quoted John 15:13: “Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends.”

That love was on fully display in the life — and death — of U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Travis Atkins. President Donald Trump presented a posthumous Medal of Honor to Atkins’s now-22-year-old son Trevor Oliver Wednesday for Travis’s actions to save his men in Iraq 12 years ago. Just hours before he was killed on June 1, 2007, Atkins called his parents, in part to apologize to his mom: “He did say that he was sorry he had forgotten to get something in the mail for me for Mother’s Day,” said his mother Elaine Atkins. Army officers soon came to their home to relay the tragic news. “After we spoke to the chaplain,” Elaine said, “I went to the mailbox and there was a little package from Travis with a Mother’s Day card for me and a Father’s Day card for Jack. The card said ‘Thanks for everything,’ and it just brought it home.”

Sand Aijo, the machine gunner in Atkins’s unit, watched as Atkins and a medic searched two suspected roadside bombers. Both of them resisted, and Atkins worked to restrain one of them. “That’s when Travis started to actually engage in a form of hand-to-hand combat with this man,” Aijo said. “Travis bear-hugged the man, lifted him off the ground and slammed him down.” That’s because the jihadi had pulled the pin on his bomb vest and Atkins was actually moving to shield three of his men from the blast. According to Aijo, “He had definitely sacrificed himself so that we could live.”

Aijo penned a touching account18 of Travis’s life and death.

Jack Atkins, Travis’s father, wasn’t surprised by his son’t sacrifice. The Vietnam vet said of his son, “We talked about the responsibility of what you owe to people who are serving under you, and what you need to do to protect them.” Mission accomplished, though at the ultimate cost.

“I want him to be remembered as the best father that anyone could ask for, and also at the same time being the best soldier that anyone could ask for,” Trevor Oliver said. “He was my icon.”

Fittingly, his Medal citation concludes:

In this critical and selfless act of valor, Staff Sergeant Atkins acted with complete disregard for his own safety, saving the lives of the three soldiers who were with him and gallantly giving his life for his country.

Staff Sergeant Atkins’s undaunted courage, warrior spirit, and steadfast devotion to duty are in keeping with the highest traditions of military service and reflect great credit upon himself, the 2nd Brigade Combat Team, and the United States Army.

https://patriotpost.us/articles/62052-profiles-of-valor-us-army-staff-sgt-travis-atkins

ON OUR WEBSITE TODAY

Featured Analysis: Congressional ‘AINOs’ Abet Open Borders19 — Americans In Name Only — the only way to describe those who obstruct border security.
How to Make Sure ISIS Does Not Come Back20 — It’s going to take a long-term presence in Iraq to ensure defeat stays permanent.
Pence and Pelosi Speak at AIPAC21 — Pence calls out anti-Semitism within Democrat ranks, while Pelosi seeks to placate Jewish voters.
Video: Mueller Report Changes Everything, Changes Nothing22 — Despite being cleared, Trump is still under attack from Democrats and journalists.
Don’t Miss Alexander’s Column
Read The Coup, Phase Two: Taking Trump Down12. “Time to investigate the Obama officials who concocted and spread the Russian conspiracy hoax.”

If you’d like to receive Alexander’s Column by email every Wednesday, update your subscription here23.

GOOD NEWS

Dolly Parton Donates $200,000 to Volunteer Fire Departments24
“Country artist and philanthropic leader Dolly Parton has donated $200,000 to volunteer fire departments in Sevier County who bravely fought against the severe wildfires that ravaged the land in 2016.”

“The fire, which broke out in late 2016 after months of severe drought, killed 14 people and caused damage or total destruction to more than 2,500 homes throughout Sevier County in Tennessee.”

“According to the Knoxville News Sentinel, around 885 families received assistance from Parton’s "My People Fund” in the amount of $1,000 a month for a six-month period after the fire.“

Read more at The Western Journal25.

https://patriotpost.us/articles/62033-dolly-parton-donates-200000-dollars-to-volunteer-fire-departments

TOP NEWS EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

President Donald Trump disclosed27 to Fox News’s Sean Hannity last night that he has "plans to declassify and release” a slew of Russia-related documents, including those used to initiate FISA warrants. Trump explained, “A lot of people wanted me to do it a long time ago. I’m glad I didn’t do it. We got a great result without having to do it, but we will.” He also clarified that “one of the reasons that my lawyers didn’t want me to do it” during the Robert Mueller probe was because Democrats would spin it as “a form of obstruction.” But as Fox News notes, the president now “wants to ‘get to the bottom’ of how the long-running Russia collusion narrative began.”

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The Patriot Post Digest 3-28-2019
From The Federalist Patriot
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Earlier this week, Jussie Smollett, whose “record has been wiped clean28,” stated, “I would like nothing more than to … move on with my life.” But his getting to move on with his life by walking free from justice may not be as effortless as he thought. According to ABC News29, “The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is reviewing the circumstances surrounding the dismissal of the criminal charges against Smollett.” The report elaborates, “The sources insisted it is not an investigation, but a ‘review.’” But for now at least, the book hasn’t been fully closed on Smollett’s hate-hoax.
“Democrats are putting the Green New Deal in the rearview mirror, but they’re not abandoning climate change legislation.” That’s according to The Hill30, which adds, “They are instead looking at multiple bills in hopes of advancing elements of the broader initiative.” This pivot follows the Senate’s 0-57 vote31 on the Green New Deal, which is estimated to cost somewhere in the vicinity of $93 trillion32. The Hill rants that “Republicans battered the idea of the Green New Deal, damaging a brand initially promoted by freshman Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.” The truth is that the GND collapsed under its own weight.
One such alternative climate bill is the Climate Action Now Act, which was unveiled in the House on Wednesday. According to National Review33. “The Climate Action Now Act would require the president to propose a plan for keeping the U.S. in accord with the Paris deal’s emission-reduction goals, which were agreed to by President Obama in 2015. It would also prohibit the administration from using federal funds to pull out of the deal, as Trump has promised to do in November 2020, the moment it becomes legally possible.” Good luck getting that to Trump’s desk.
“A federal appeals court ruled Monday the parents of Kate Steinle, who was shot and killed by an illegal immigrant in 2015, cannot sue San Francisco for the ‘sanctuary city’s’ failure to tell immigration officials about the shooter’s release,” the Washington Examiner unfortunately reports34. However, even the infamous Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals admitted, “The events underlying this case are tragic. And some of Plaintiffs’ claims remain to be litigated in the district court. We hold only that, under California law, the state officials are immune from suit.” In other words, bad laws run a mile deep in California.
Good news: “Sens. Kevin Cramer (R., N.D.) and John Kennedy (R., La.) introduced S821, the Freedom Financing Act, in an effort to keep banks with more than $10 billion in assets from denying services to members of the gun industry. The Republicans said the bill was designed to prevent major financial institutions from effectively crippling legal gun transactions they don’t like. They said the banking industry should not be able to decide whether Americans can lawfully purchase legal gun products.” (The Washington Free Beacon35)
More good news: “Lawmakers in the House of Representatives reintroduced sweeping bipartisan legislation to rein in and reform the nation’s abuse-prone civil forfeiture laws on Wednesday. If passed, the aptly-named FAIR, or Fifth Amendment Integrity Restoration, Act … would rebalance a system that has become skewed against innocent property owners in every meaningful way.” (The Daily Signal36)
What, exactly, is the U.S. still waiting for? “The European Parliament has voted to end daylight saving time in EU member states, a practice that became law back in 1996. … The biannual clock changes will come to an end in 2021 when individual member states will be able to decide whether they will remain on winter time or summer time permanently.” (The Verge37)
Humor: Stopped clock named CNN’s most accurate reporter (The Babylon Bee38)
Policy: On March 20, Sen. Bernie Sanders groused, “We must follow New Zealand’s lead, take on the NRA and ban the sale and distribution of assault weapons in the United States.” The Washington Examiner’s Siraj Hashmi explains why “New Zealand’s gun laws would be impossible to replicate in the US39.”
Policy: “President Trump didn’t spell it out, but there’s a sound rationale for America’s recognizing the Golan Heights as a permanent part of Israel,” says Hudson Institute senior fellow Douglas J. Feith. Get the details at National Review40.
For more of today’s editors’ choice headlines, visit In Our Sights41.

https://patriotpost.us/articles/62053-thursday-top-news-executive-summary

OPINION IN BRIEF

Victor Davis Hanson: “A cynic might suggest that had Hillary Clinton actually won the 2016 Electoral College vote but lost the popular vote to Trump, progressives would now be praising our long-established system of voting. Had current undocumented immigrants proved as conservative as past waves of legal immigrants from Hungary and Cuba, progressives would now likely wish to close the southern border and perhaps even build a wall. If same-day registration and voting meant that millions of new conservatives without voter IDs were suddenly showing their Trump support at the polls, progressives would insist on bringing back old laws that required voters to have previously registered and to show valid identification at voting precincts. If felons or 16-year-old kids polled conservative, then certainly there would be no progressive push to let members of these groups vote. Expanding and changing the present voter base and altering how we vote is mostly about power, not principles.”

SHORT CUTS

For the record: “Keep in mind that Mueller was not simply investigating Trump; he was also investigation the Russian government. He exonerated Trump but not Vladimir Putin. Mueller indicted 13 Russian nationals and three Russian companies on charges of conspiracy and identity theft. There was a conspiracy to influence the 2016 elections. Trump just wasn’t a part of it.” —Marc A. Thiessen42

Notice a pattern here? “Democrats in 2015: Everyone must accept results of the election. Democrats day after the election 2016: We do not accept the results of the election. Democrats 2017: Everyone must accept findings of the Mueller report. Democrats 2019: We do not accept findings of Mueller report.” —Charlie Kirk43

Observations: “There are many things Democrats do not do well. But the thing they do least well is lose.” —Star Parker44

Demo-gogues: “I opposed Clarence Thomas’ nomination. I voted against him. But I also realized there was a real and perceived problem the committee faced. There were a bunch of white guys. … So when Anita Hill … came to testify, she faced a committee that didn’t fully understand what the hell it was all about. To this day I regret I couldn’t come up with a way to get her the kind of hearing she deserved.” —Joe Biden45

Non sequitur: “We’ve got to do away with the Electoral College. We have a system now that was — it’s a defect in our democracy.” —Eric Holder46 (Actually, the Electoral College is meant to correct a defect prevalent in pure democracies.)

Non Compos Mentis: “We may never really know what happened on the street that night in Chicago.” —CNN’s Brian Stelter47 regarding Jussie Smollett (On the contrary, we know exactly what happened28.)

And last… “Imagine if a white male actor faked a hate crime against himself by pretending black men attacked him in the middle of the night — then was subsequently acquitted of all charges. #JussieSmollett is an utter perversion of justice who just DESTROYED the myth of white privilege.” —Candace Owens48

https://patriotpost.us/articles/62050-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