The Patriot Post Digest 1-15-2020

[nChrist]

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The Patriot Post Digest 1-15-2020
From The Federalist Patriot
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The Patriot Post® · Mid-Day Digest

Jan. 15, 2020

https://patriotpost.us/digests/67921-mid-day-digest-2020-01-15

THE FOUNDATION

“Here comes the orator! With his flood of words, and his drop of reason.” —Benjamin Franklin (1735)

https://patriotpost.us/fqd/67920-founders-quote-daily-2020-01-15

IN TODAY’S DIGEST

    Demo Debate: Things Left Unsaid Were Loud and Clear1
    Despite Naysayers, Europe Sides With Trump on Iran2
    Americans More Conservative as Democrats Turn Hard Left3
    Left Claims ‘Russian Meddling’ to Protect Bidens4
    Civil Rights: Civics Class From the Rearview Mirror5
    Daily Features: News Executive Summary6, Videos7, Best of Right Opinion8, Short Cuts9, Memes10, and Cartoons11.

EDITOR’S NOTE

In response to reader requests, we have made some slight changes to our Mid-Day Digest. Each edition now includes all of our original content written that day. While that obviously makes the email a bit longer, it also spares readers from having to click through to the website.

If that’s not for you, an alternative is our Mid-Day Snapshot. The Snapshot provides only links to our latest articles, making it a quick-skimming format that takes you straight to the content most interesting to you. Or, you can also opt to receive the Weekend Snapshot, our weekly edition of top stories on Saturday morning. Update your subscription preferences here12.

FEATURED ANALYSIS

Demo Debate: Things Left Unsaid Were Loud and Clear13

Hours before Tuesday night’s seventh (but first all-white14) Democrat debate in Des Moines, an undercover video15 was released showing a paid Bernie Sanders campaign worker saying “the only thing that fascists” (by which he hilariously means supporters of Donald Trump) “understand is violence,” calling for “gulags” to reeducate Trump supporters “to not be a f—king Nazi,” and threatening that “cities [will] burn” if Trump is reelected — or even if Sanders doesn’t win the nomination.

You know who wasn’t asked about this appalling anti-Americanism16 during Tuesday night’s debate? Bernie Sanders. Or any Democrat candidate, actually. Just imagine if a Republican staffer had been the one saying such things. The Leftmedia spent weeks hyperventilating over Trump’s policies for temporarily detaining illegals — policies a federal court just upheld yesterday17. “Reeducating” American citizens in gulags because of political disagreements? Not a peep.

And it’s not as if Sanders supporters don’t already have a history of violence. Remember that “Bernie Bro” who attempted to murder elected Republicans18?

Another thing to remember: Bernie Sanders is a self-proclaimed socialist who spoke highly of breadlines and honeymooned in the Soviet Union (albeit not in a gulag). Whether he wins the nomination or not, his radical ideas have transformed the Democrat Party — even if he refuses to put a price tag19 on his redistribution schemes.

What else went almost completely unmentioned at the debate? Qasem Soleimani, the Iranian terrorist terminated at Trump’s order. He’s a man about whom leftists couldn’t say enough nice things; nor could they complain loudly enough20 that Trump had taken him out. Yet he received just one passing reference in a question about something broader, illustrating that Democrats are utterly unserious about national security.

The things that were covered provided some enlightening moments, as well.

As we noted yesterday21, Elizabeth Warren’s campaign slyly seeded another victim narrative to tweak Sanders ahead of the debate. It worked — even better than she might have hoped.

CNN moderator Abby Phillip asked Sanders, “I do want to be clear here — you’re saying that you never told senator Warren that a woman could not win the election?” Sanders replied, “That is correct.” Phillip immediately turned to Warren and asked, “Sen. Warren, what did you think when Senator Sanders told you a woman could not win the election?”

CNN moderators taking sides in a debate — where have we heard that before? Oh, right. Candy Crowley sided (wrongly) with Barack Obama over Mitt Romney in 2012.

While Warren tried to defuse the situation by calling Sanders “my friend,” after the debate, she pointedly refused to shake hands22 with him.

The rest of the debate could be summed up by Fox News’s Greg Gutfeld, who said, “Take home notes: I’m no Sanders fan, but CNN totally knifed him, again. The real thinkers were missing on that stage. The moderators were amateurs. The candidates were bored by their own words. Trump will eat any of these alive.” Better yet, The Babylon Bee headlined23, “Warning: Gang Of Known Criminals Holds Meeting To Discuss How Much Of Your Money To Steal.”

Final question: Who benefited most from Tuesday’s debate? Maybe Joe Biden, whose name we hadn’t yet mentioned because he mostly stayed out of the ridiculous fray.

Next up: The eighth debate on February 7 in New Hampshire, after the Iowa caucuses on February 3.

https://patriotpost.us/articles/67917-demo-debate-things-left-unsaid-were-loud-and-clear

Despite Naysayers, Europe Sides With Trump on Iran24

Following President Donald Trump’s 2018 decision to pull the U.S. out25 of Barack Obama’s feckless Iran nuclear deal and replace it with a “maximum pressure” sanctions campaign, European leaders were quick to voice their indignation and vowed to stick with the deal. However, as Tehran’s leaders, who had never been in full compliance with the deal, publicly announced their refusal to comply with the deal, Europe’s leaders were caught in the middle: Should they side with the despised Trump or with the world’s number-one promoter of terrorism across the globe, Iran?

At first, Europe’s leaders made a go of sticking with the deal, only to see Iran systematically break every agreement in it. Well, after two years of waffling and pandering to leftist sensitivities, all while Iran has only increased its terrorist efforts and pursuit of a nuclear weapon, the leaders of Britain, Germany, and France are finally and begrudgingly recognizing that Trump was right.

As the Washington Examiner’s Tom Rogan explains26, “Put simply, the European powers have now recognized two obvious truths. First, U.S. sanctions against Iran have been effectively deterring European businesses from making investments in Iran for fear of losing access to the U.S. economy. This means the EU powers cannot give Iran the financial support it is demanding in return for remaining committed to the deal. Second, Iran’s breaches of the agreement pose an intolerable threat to international security. Iran’s ongoing crackdown against its own people also gives the EU domestic cover to act more forcefully.”

On Tuesday, leaders from Britain, France, and Germany initiated a dispute mechanism within the original deal in which a joint commission will meet in an effort to get Iran back into compliance. They now have 15 days to make it happen before triggering sanctions against Iran.

However, rather than seeking to force Iran into compliance, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, fresh off his resounding election victory27 last month, is calling for a new deal to replace Obama’s “flawed” deal. “If we’re going to get rid of it, let’s replace it, and let’s replace it with the Trump deal,” Johnson said. “President Trump is a great deal-maker, by his own account. Let’s work together to replace the [deal] and get the Trump deal instead.”

This all proves that Trump’s response toward Iran has been far more effective in addressing and countering the threat posed by the mullahs than anything Obama ever did. And Europe is slowly recognizing this reality.

https://patriotpost.us/articles/67918-despite-naysayers-europe-sides-with-trump-on-iran

Americans More Conservative as Democrats Turn Hard Left28

The latest edition of Gallup’s annual survey of ideological and political leanings29 of the American people provides some interesting insights as we approach the 2020 elections.

According to the poll’s summary, “As Americans continued to lean more Democratic than Republican in their party preferences in 2019, the ideological balance of the country remained center-right, with 37% of Americans, on average, identifying as conservative during the year, 35% as moderate and 24% as liberal.”

This represents a 2% increase since 2018 of self-described conservatives and a 2% decrease in the number of self-described liberals. The number of moderates stayed the same.

That may seem a small fluctuation, but it’s a notable one. Nearly three-quarters of Americans identify as conservative or moderate, while less than one-quarter call themselves liberal at a time when half the Democrat Party identifies as liberal.

The Wall Street Journal notes30 that a major political trend of the past generation is the increasing number of Americans who identify as liberal (17% in 1992, rising to a peak of 26% in 2017, dropping to 24% in 2019). This led to predictions of an “emerging Democratic majority” made up of minority, young, and affluent white liberal voters. In fact, when Barack Obama won the presidency in 2008, Democrat strategist and Bill Clinton ally James Carville declared Democrats would rule for the next 40 years.

Two years later Republicans enjoyed a historic wave election, winning back the House, and taking control of the Senate four years later.

[nChrist]

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The Patriot Post Digest 1-15-2020
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One increasingly important factor in the political landscape is that while there has been a small decrease in the number of Americans who identify as liberal, the Democrat Party has, with remarkable speed, transitioned from a liberal party to a hard-left party.

No longer content to be a party of a Big Government “safety net,” the modern Democrat Party now embraces full-blown socialism31, in principle if not always in name. Its leading voices demand nationalized healthcare under Medicare for All, “free” college tuition and other giveaways, and then ever-more-burdensome taxes on the productive classes to pay for it. This includes repeal of the 2017 Republican tax cuts that ignited the economy and spurred on historic lows in unemployment.

No longer a party that subscribes to the principle that “I wholly disapprove of what you say and will defend to the death your right to say it,” the Democrat Party today seeks to silence opposing viewpoints through public shaming, doxxing32, mob demonstrations, and even violence33.

Where just eight years ago the Democrat Party claimed to want “tolerance” when it came to things like same-sex marriage, today it demands people of faith to abandon their religious beliefs and principles and bow before the altar of political correctness. All who refuse to submit to the demands of the Rainbow Mafia find themselves publicly attacked and the subject of lawsuits that destroy the businesses they have spent decades building.

Today’s Democrat Party seeks the complete destruction of traditional values. Leftists deny biological reality, embracing the lunacy of transgenderism (Gender Identity Disorder). They ridiculously claim that sexual behavior (i.e., hetero-, homo-, and bisexuality, etc.) is genetically determined but sexual identity (male, female) is based on personal feelings.

The Democrat Party also seems to reflexively side with the worst of humanity. That runs the gamut from creating “sanctuary cities” for illegal-alien criminals to siding with the leadership of the world’s largest state sponsor of terrorism, Iran, and condemning President Donald Trump for killing Qasem Soleimani20, the terrorist mastermind responsible for the deaths of hundreds of American military personnel overseas.

Despite three years of almost universally negative coverage by the media, endless accusations that Donald Trump is “literally Hitler” and a pawn of Russian President Vladimir Putin, and the successful completion of a circus sideshow impeachment effort (that will be exposed in the Senate for the fraud that it is), Democrats are utterly distraught34 that major election models predict a Trump reelection in November.

Unemployment is at historic lows, we have a new stock market record high seemingly every week, and median income is up $4,000 in three years. We also now have a president who kills our enemies rather than sending them planeloads of cash in the middle of the night. And yet the leading Democrat candidates for president range from solid progressive to radical left wing.

Democrats have no one but themselves to blame when they lose. They completely misjudged the American people. They thought we would embrace their anti-American, anti-business, anti-religion, anti-biology, pro-criminal, pro-terrorist agenda.

They were wrong.

https://patriotpost.us/articles/67915-americans-more-conservative-as-democrats-turn-hard-left

Left Claims ‘Russian Meddling’ to Protect Bidens35

As America enters another election year, the Leftmedia and Democrats hope to resurrect their 2016 narrative about Russian interference in their ongoing effort to paint President Donald Trump as illegitimate. On Monday, many Leftmedia news outlets “soberly” covered a report released by Area 1, a Silicon Valley-based cybersecurity firm, that alleged Russia had successfully hacked into Burisma, the Ukraine gas company that infamously employed Joe Biden’s son Hunter Biden on its board of directors.

The report’s authors sought to elevate the political relevance of their findings, writing, “Our report is not noteworthy because we identify the GRU [a Russian military intelligence unit] launching a phishing campaign, nor is the targeting of a Ukrainian company particularly novel. It is significant because Burisma Holdings is publically [sic] entangled in U.S. foreign and domestic politics.” The authors also add, “The timing of the GRU’s campaign in relation to the 2020 U.S. elections raises the spectre that this is an early warning of what we have anticipated since the successful cyberattacks undertaken during the 2016 U.S. elections.”

Just what the Russians where after or what information they may have collected is not known, but that hasn’t stopped the Leftmedia and Democrats from seeking to establish an absolutely unsubstantiated narrative. You see, this is all part of a grand conspiracy by Russia to aid Trump once again by working to discredit Joe Biden, who would be a shoo-in to win the election just like Hillary Clinton was if it hadn’t been for Russian meddling.

As Biden campaign spokesman Andrew Bates ridiculously asserted, “This proves that both Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin understand the true stakes of this election. Joe Biden is running to bring our country together and restore American leadership in the world — repairing the damage Donald Trump has done to our national security and alliances. Donald Trump tried to coerce to Ukraine into lying about Joe Biden and a major bipartisan, international anti-corruption victory because he recognized that he can’t beat the vice president.”

The question is, if Joe Biden had nothing to hide and had no concerns over his son Hunter’s dealings with Burisma, then why even give this story the time of day? If there’s nothing damning in Burisma’s records, then Russia has nothing on Biden. In reality, this story is designed as a setup to write off any damaging information that might emerge regarding the Bidens and Burisma as merely “Russian meddling” and then spin the blame onto Trump for allegedly encouraging this meddling. The bigger questions remain unanswered, and those have to do with the Bidens, Burisma, and Ukraine.

https://patriotpost.us/articles/67898-left-claims-russian-meddling-to-protect-bidens-2020-01-15

Civil Rights: Civics Class From the Rearview Mirror36

I recently picked my son up after school and asked him as I was driving, “So what happened at school today?” I stopped asking, “How was your day?” because we all know what he is going to say: “Good.” I digress. He said, “We talked about Civil Rights and Dr. King.” As Dr. Martin Luther King’s holiday approaches, public schools are “having the talk” in Related Arts. My son is in the second grade at a thriving public school, but I know the context of “public education” will never tell the whole story of American history. He went on to say from the backseat, “Daddy, my teacher said it was about white people not treating black people fairly.” I asked him, “Did they tell you what [white people] specifically or just white people?” He said, “White people.”

I have taught my seven-year-old to think critically so even when he replied he had a look on his face as to say, “But wait a minute.” I said, “Son, does it make sense to believe that all white people were against all black people?” He said, “No, daddy it doesn’t.” I explained to him that his teacher failed to mention the “white people” were all Democrats. I explained to him the context of politics and how Democrats blocked Civil Rights legislation in the 1950s. I asked my son, “Do you know what Civil Rights are?” He looked confused and said, “No, not really.” I explained to him that Civil Rights have nothing to do with skin color, but everything to do with being human. I said, “Civil Rights are being able to use the bathroom without one being labeled ‘Whites only.’ It is the right to vote or the right to go to the school you attend. It is basic American rights for all people.” I tried to keep the conversation on his level, but he wanted to hear more.

As we arrived home preparing for homework, dinner, and basketball practice, I told him that I would tell him more. He smiled big and said, “Good, because I want to hear more about Civil Rights! Daddy, you make it fun!”

The next conversation we talk about Dr. King and Civil Rights I will tell him about the time I sat next to a local Civil Rights Leader who was good friends with Rosa Parks. When I asked him, “Sir, what was Civil Rights really about?” He said, “It was about human inalienable rights; it had nothing to do with [color].” My son will be enthusiastic to know his dad spoke with a Civil Rights activist on the front lines during the 1960s.

[nChrist]

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The Patriot Post Digest 1-15-2020
From The Federalist Patriot
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I will also tell him that I spoke with a well-known and respected 60-something-year-old African-American man in Chattanooga. When we had a conversation about the generation of today’s menace to society of black youth. I told him, “[They say] it’s due to the ongoing legacy of white supremacy and slavery.” However, before I could say anything else he stopped me in my tracks and said, “Hold up! Slavery isn’t the reason for all this. Now that’s just a lie! If it were slavery then why didn’t it affect [us] like this then? We didn’t run around shooting each other!” He went on to say, “Man we were trying to compete with white folks. We were told the next man put his pants on just like you and we competed with each other and them to achieve. We were striving to be better and if slavery did all this then we should have been doing the same thing your generation is doing. I don’t know what happened!”

I will tell my son how shocked I was to hear him say these things and teach him that excuses are “tools of incompetence used to build monuments of nothing.”

As a father, it is my duty to take advantage of teachable moments by connecting the dots so my children will grow up understanding the context of life, liberty, love, freedom, and the pursuit of education. Moral to the story; ask your child “So, what happened at school today?”

https://patriotpost.us/articles/67897-civil-rights-civics-class-from-the-rearview-mirror-2020-01-15

NEWS EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

INTRAPARTY SQUABBLE: Elizabeth Warren made a forceful case for a female president and stood behind her accusation suggesting sexism by progressive rival Bernie Sanders in a Democratic debate that raised gender as a key issue in the sprint to Iowa’s presidential caucuses (Associated Press37)

WITH LAWMAKERS LIKE THESE, WHO NEEDS ENEMIES? Democrats block a vote to support Iran protesters (The Daily Caller38)

THE ART OF THE DEAL: Britain, France, Germany suddenly harden toward Iran after killing of Soleimani (The Daily Wire39)

SO ABOUT THOSE BERNIE GULAGS13… Federal judge upholds Trump family-separation policy (Hot Air17)

OBSTRUCTION: House Democrats launch investigation into Trump’s “Remain in Mexico” program (The Daily Caller40)

“THE GOVERNMENT’S … BAD FAITH”: Michael Flynn asks to withdraw guilty plea in case stemming from Mueller probe (NPR41)

IRONY: The 2020 Census has no citizenship question — but offers assistance in 58 foreign languages (Bongino.com42)

TRADE-DEAL LEVERAGE: The U.S. will keep billions of dollars of tariffs on Chinese goods in place until after the 2020 election as leverage to keep Beijing from violating a phase-one trade deal (National Review43)

NEW BUDGET BUSTER: Warren promises to cancel student-loan debt using executive powers (Politico44)

MEANWHILE… U.S. budget deficit topped $1 trillion in 2019 for the first time in seven years (CNBC45)

POLICY: Why the European Union just admitted the Iran deal is dead (Washington Examiner26)

POLICY: Three Mile Island and the exaggerated risk of nuclear power (Foundation for Economic Education46)

HUMOR: Sanders campaign doubles down with new ad warning Americans they’ll never be able to hear a female president over the sound of her vacuum (The Onion47)

For more of today’s editors’ choice headlines, visit In Our Sights48.

The Patriot Post is a certified ad-free news service, unlike third-party commercial news sites linked on this page, which may also require a paid subscription.

https://patriotpost.us/articles/67919-wednesday-news-executive-summary-2020-01-15

VIDEOS

    Video: Child Predator Claims He’s an Eight-Year-Old Girl49 — “On what basis do we reject [these] claims to being young girls if we accept the idea that a man can be a woman?”
    Video: Iranians Are Protesting, but They Aren’t Protesting Trump50 — And the media can’t stand it, Brittany Hughes reveals.
    Video: Second Chance Denied by Licensing Rules51 — Government rules often ban people with years-old misdemeanors from working.

SHORT CUTS

For the record: “I think what the administration did in the Soleimani case is absolutely correct. I think it’s the right thing to do.” —Obama National Security Advisor Jim Jones

Machinations: “Senators are required to be present for the duration of an impeachment trial. So by holding on to the impeachment articles for so long, Speaker Pelosi is rigging the Iowa caucuses for Biden. Once again, the Democrat Party establishment is trying to sideline Bernie Sanders.” —House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy

Authenticity doesn’t equal suitability: “Bernie is the only person on that [debate] stage who believes what he’s saying. The only problem is what he’s saying is horrifying.” —David Harsanyi

Observations: “Sorry to be radical, but maybe the real problem is women thinking being a mom is an inconvenience to their ambitions.” —Allie Beth Stuckey

Friendly fire: “[Elizabeth Warren] had breakout moments [last night], but did anyone on that stage really seem ready to take on Trump in a debate? If we want a Democrat to win the White House (which I certainly do) we need our candidates to start showing up a lot stronger.” —Van Jones

Braying jackass: “I think if there were no tensions [with Iran], if there was no escalation recently in the region, those Canadians would be right now home with their families. This is something that happens when you have conflict and war. Innocents bear the brunt of it and it is a reminder why all of us need to work so hard on de-escalation, moving forward to reduce tensions and find a pathway that doesn’t involve further conflict and killing.” —Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau

Non compos mentis: “I was in Tehran when they were chanting ‘Death to America’ once. I was at a rally, the people couldn’t have been more friendly to me personally as an American. It sort of felt like a thing and a trope as opposed to anything that was actually seriously meant and considered.” —CNN’s Erin Burnett

What could possibly go wrong? “The Department of Education already has broad legal authority to cancel student debt, and we can’t afford to wait for Congress to act. So I will start to use existing laws on day one of my presidency to implement my student loan debt cancellation plan that offers relief to 42 million Americans.” —Sen. Elizabeth Warren

And last… “Warren supporters are applying the ‘believe women’ slogan to this dispute between her and Sanders. They’re literally claiming that we should believe women in EVERY situation, not just with sexual assault. Women never lie about anything, they say. Insane. Just insane.” —Matt Walsh

https://patriotpost.us/articles/67916-wednesday-short-cuts-2020-01-15

TODAY’S MEME

https://patriotpost.us/memes/67912-i-dont-care-2020-01-15

For more of today’s memes, visit the Memesters Union53.

TODAY’S CARTOON

https://patriotpost.us/cartoons/28142

For more of today’s cartoons, visit the Cartoons archive54.

Join us in prayer for our Patriots in uniform and their families — Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, Marines, and Coast Guardsmen — standing in harm’s way, and for our nation’s First Responders. We also ask prayer for your Patriot team, that our mission would seed and encourage the Spirit of Liberty55 in the hearts and minds of our countrymen.

Semper Vigilans Fortis Paratus et Fidelis