THE PATRIOT POST 09/16/2013

Monday Digest

September 16, 2013   

THE FOUNDATION

"We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America." --preamble of the Constitution of the United States of America

Constitution Day 2013

The U.S. Constitution

Tomorrow, Sept. 17, 2013, marks the 226th anniversary of the signing of our Constitution at the Philadelphia (Constitution) Convention in 1787. The best way to honor the day might be to read it. It's up to "We the People" to hold our elected representatives accountable for failing to honor their oaths.
Mark Alexander has an extensive archive of columns on the Constitution as it relates to various subjects over the years. Don't miss it!
Tomorrow is also The Patriot Post's 17th anniversary. Thanks to you, our readers -- and our financial supporters -- for making what we do possible!

GOVERNMENT AND POLITICS

The Vote Heard 'Round the Country

Tuesday, in heated historic Colorado recall elections, two Democrats from heavily Democrat voter districts were fired by their constituents. State Senate President John Morse, representing Colorado Springs, and State Sen. Angela Giron, representing Pueblo, were ousted for supporting an unconstitutional ban on magazines holding more than 15 rounds, and expanding background checks to include private sales.

A staple in the Democrats' political playbook is plucking emotional strings, particularly with female voters. Seizing the moment after a sociopath killed children in Newtown, Connecticut, and another sociopath murdered patrons in an Aurora, Colorado theater, Morse and Giron led Colorado's legislative assault on the Second Amendment, building their political platform on the coffins of children.

In the emotional tide of the moment, those legislative acts passed. But in retrospect, when reason was restored, a few residents started a grassroots movement to recall Morse and Giron. Democrats estimated that movement wouldn't amount to much.

They were wrong.

The recall election was seen by some as a proxy vote, and given that New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg and his anti-Second Amendment allies poured money into Colorado to save these Democrats, that's not an unreasonable view. Bloomberg spent $350,000 personally, and $3 million total was raised to retain Senators Morse and Giron, while only $500,000 was raised to oust them.
The Democrat Party even sent in Bill Clinton at the last minute to bolster support for the Demos.

On the unseating of Morse and Giron, naturally DNC Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz concluded, "The recall elections in Colorado were defined by the vast array of obstacles that special interests threw in the way of voters for the purpose of reversing the will of the legislature and the people. This was voter suppression, pure and simple."

But the fact that Demos outspent Republicans 6-1 doesn't amount to a "vast array of obstacles that special interests threw in the way."

Two days after the election, Angela Giron, apparently having gotten Wasserman's memo, claimed on CNN, "We know what really happened here ... what this story is really about, it's about voter suppression."

That prompted even the liberal CNN anchor, Brooke Baldwin, to respond, "OK, forgive me, but I'm going to cut you off right there. I've read reports on lack of popularity on your behalf. Let's just not go there." Baldwin then reminded Giron that she and Morse were backed by "mega, mega cash."

For his part, Colorado's Demo Gov. John Hickenlooper, sensing a renewed grassroots movement that will unseat him in the next election, said, "You know, I was never as fired up on the magazine checks." He then changed the subject, saying voters should "refocus again on what unites Coloradans -- creating jobs, educating our children, creating a healthier state -- and on finding ways to keep Colorado moving forward."

No doubt he, and many other Democrat legislators across the nation, want to change the subject.
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News From the Swamp: IRS Investigation Continues

With Syria sucking up all the media attention in Washington, other stories about the operation of the Obama administration have been reduced to background noise. One such story is the IRS scandal about the targeting of conservative groups for special attention when it came to tax exempt status.

Read more here.

NATIONAL SECURITY

Agreement Reached on Syria's Weapons

The U.S. agreed Saturday to Russia's terms on Syrian chemical weapons, further cementing the disaster that is Barack Obama's Middle East policy. Under the agreement, Syria has one week to account for its chemical arsenal, while international inspection will take place by November, and the weapons will (supposedly) be destroyed beginning next year. A UN Security Council resolution will provide stern warnings about "consequences" if Syria doesn't comply. So there.

U.S. policy in Syria -- for better or worse -- has been regime change for the last couple years. However, once Obama's "red line" was crossed, the "consequence" was that Bashar al-Assad is now in charge of -- and an indispensable part of -- Russia's plan to disarm his own regime. Then again, bombing Assad's regime on behalf of al-Qaida rebels wasn't exactly desirable either, so perhaps credit is due to Obama and John Kerry for backing off that threat. By the way, 98% of Syrians dead in this civil war were killed without chemical weapons.

Meanwhile, Assad's henchmen spent the year since the "red line" comments moving those chemical weapons around to numerous undisclosed locations not only in his own country, but also reportedly back to Iraq, where at least some of them no doubt came from in the first place. In other words, look for Assad to "cooperate" just enough to postpone any U.S. attack but with enough flexibility to avoid real cooperation. And if the U.S. does strike in response, how will we ensure those weapons don't end up in the hands of our al-Qaida foes?

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ECONOMY

The Financial Collapse Five Years Later

CFPB Director Richard Cordray

Five years ago today, financial giant Lehman Brothers collapsed, precipitating the crisis of confidence in the financial sector and a deepening recession. We're also four and a half years into the Obama "recovery" that has been anything but. So with all we've learned, could history repeat itself?

Morgan Stanley Chief Executive James Gorman says no: "The probability of it happening again in our lifetime is as close to zero as I could imagine." But Stanford economics professor Anat Admati says, "Fundamentally not that much has changed. There's still a lot of risk in the opaque markets that we don't see, still a lot of leverage that we only discover when it's too late."

The chief mechanism for fixing the problem was the Dodd-Frank financial reform law. Yet with it's massive not-yet-completed pile of regulations, it's bound to fail -- or worse. For example, Dodd-Frank established the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, an Orwellian-named bureaucracy that monitors markets in the name of protecting the little guy. However, the CFPB has become the NSA of the financial world, seeking to mine data on four out of every five consumer credit card transactions.

Even congressional Democrats are worried that the practice violates not only two specific provisions of Dodd-Frank, but Fourth Amendment rights as well. At last week's hearing on the subject, Rep. Jeb Hensarling warned that the CFPB "is designed to operate outside the usual system of checks and balances that applies to every other government agency."

Will this massive apparatus keep 2008 from happening again? Hardly. In fact, big government helped create the panic in the first place.

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CULTURE

Climate Change This Week: Record Sea Ice

Last week we documented the 60% year-over-year expansion in Arctic sea ice and how the overly bad predictions for an ice-free North Pole made back in 2007 failed to come to fruition. The fear mongering was utilized by environmental gurus like Al Gore and then-Senator John Kerry. Yet even as the facts prove otherwise, they remain unfazed.

This week we await whatever explanation they decide to cough up next. The Arctic's significant ice growth combined with what's happening in its southern counterpart have resulted in record-high global sea ice. "Earth has gained 19,000 Manhattans of sea ice since this date last year, the largest increase on record," observes climate blogger Steven Goddard. "There is more sea ice now than there was on this date in 2002."
Meteorologist Joe Bastardi observes, "Lost in all this is the Southern Hemisphere ice cap which grew to record levels in July. It's closer to the top of the heap now than the Arctic ice cap is to the bottom." Is it any surprise really that we have yet to see this being reported anywhere among the mainstream media? Indeed, media lapdogs are doing their best to keep the focus off Antarctica -- and for good reason.
After all, it is an agenda that's at stake. Expect the Left to adopt the economic playbook here: Don't read too much into one report. But as Bastardi accurately concludes, "If the agenda was based on man-caused global cooling, then you can be sure the Antarctic ice cap would be in the news every day."
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BRIEF OPINION

Re: The Left

Columnist Jeff Jacoby: "We are nearly five years into a presidency whose foreign policy is driven by the conviction that America's profile in the world, above all the Muslim world, must be lowered. ... America's standing in the world has reached a new low. ... George W. Bush made plenty of mistakes, but he understood the difference between leading and 'leading from behind.' ... When he explained the need for military action, he didn't need to reassure Americans that their commander-in-chief 'doesn't do pinpricks.' ... Obama was certain that the world couldn't help but adore an America wise enough to elevate him to the White House. ... But what the world has learned from listening to Obama is that he confuses moral preening with effective leadership. That he is deeply uncomfortable with America's military preeminence. That it's not hard to call the bluff of this president who says he doesn't bluff."

Faith and Family

Columnist Ben Johnson: "In a story that tugged at heartstrings around the globe, the media reported that a baby elephant named Zhuangzhuang, born in a Chinese zoo on August 30, cried for five hours after being rejected by his mother. When zoo trainers saw her trying to stomp the newborn to death in her cage, they thought it was an accident. But after the mother tried to kill her child a second time, personnel had to remove the calf for his own safety. By nature's design, a child loves his parent, even a murderous one, and the tears began to flow until his eyes turned red. ... But none made the obvious connection: How does a human baby whose mother tries to kill him react? ... Let the other side deny as it may. Salutary reminders from nature will drive home how deep-seated familial instincts are even among dumb beasts."

The Gipper

Ronald Reagan: "Isn't it once again time to renew our compact of freedom; to pledge to each other all that is best in our lives; all that gives meaning to them -- for the sake of this, our beloved and blessed land? Together, let us make this a new beginning. ... The time is now, my fellow Americans, to recapture our destiny, to take it into our own hands."

For more, visit The Right Opinion.

CHRONICLE QUOTES

Editorial Exegesis

The Wall Street Journal: "[Vladimir Putin's] offer to supply Iran with missiles and reactors is particularly rich, given that Russian cooperation on Iran was supposed to be the main selling point of Mr. Obama's first-term Russia reset -- worth its price, we were told, in abandoned missile-defense projects, betrayed Central European allies and a reduced U.S. nuclear arsenal. In 2010, the U.S. and Israel succeeded in getting Moscow not to sell Tehran the missile system, known as the S-300VM, on grounds that the sale violated a U.N. arms embargo on the Islamic Republic. The embargo remains in force, but apparently not Mr. Putin's scruples about abiding by it. So much, by the way, for Mr. Putin's fidelity to international law."

Upright

Columnist Cal Thomas: "Iran, with or without its proxy war in Syria and its arming of Hezbollah, remains the major threat in the region. President Obama, who once said he would consider negotiating with Iran because America had become too 'arrogant,' shows that, too, was a meaningless policy proposal. You can't negotiate with evil. Evil must be defeated."

Demo-gogues

Barack Obama: "I don't think that Mr. Putin has the same values that we do."

This Week's 'Braying Jackass' Award

Barack Obama on Syria: "I'm less concerned about style points -- I'm much more concerned about getting the policy right."

The BIG Lie

Howard Dean on Obama's Syria speech: "I actually thought -- first of all, it was what the American people wanted to hear, which is really important. ... You can argue about putting the speech together and all that stuff, but the American people are going to see that this president is in tune with them and that is important."

Village Idiots

John Kerry: "The Russian delegation has put some ideas forward, and we're grateful for that. We respect it."

From the 'Non Compos Mentis' File

Joe Biden: "I think John Kerry has been one of the best secretaries of state so far in the history of the United States of America."

Short Cuts

Comedian Jay Leno: "Hey, can you tell I've lost some weight? I'm on that new Obama diet. Every day I let Vladimir Putin eat my lunch. That's how it works."

Semper Vigilo, Fortis, Paratus et Fidelis!
Nate Jackson for The Patriot Post Editorial Team