Monday, November 11, 2013

THE PATRIOT POST 11/11/2013

Monday Digest

November 11, 2013

THE FOUNDATION

"Our obligations to our country never cease but with our lives." --John Adams

NATIONAL SECURITY

Veterans Day

On the 11th Hour of the 11th Day of the 11th Month...

This Day is set aside now, in honor of American Patriot Veterans, who have carried the banner of Liberty forward since the first shots at Lexington and Concord! And it is now time for us to deliver this banner to the next generation.
Millions of Patriots -- American Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, Marines and Coastguardsmen -- have for generations honored their oath to "support and defend" Liberty, as "endowed by our Creator" and enshrined in our Constitution.

Today, and every day, we formally honor them. We remain the proud and the free because they have stood bravely in harm's way, and millions remain on post today. For this, we, the American People, offer our heartfelt thanks.
"Mighty men of valor, men trained for war, who could handle shield and spear, and whose faces were like the faces of lions." (1 Chronicles 12:8)
"Duty, honor, country: Those three hallowed words reverently dictate what you ought to be, what you can be, what you will be. They are your rallying point to build courage when courage seems to fail, to regain faith when there seems to be little cause for faith, to create hope when hope becomes forlorn." --Gen. Douglas MacArthur

"War is an ugly thing but not the ugliest of things; the decayed and degraded state of moral and patriotic feelings which thinks that nothing is worth war is much worse. A man who has nothing for which he is willing to fight, nothing which is more important than his own personal safety, is a miserable creature and has no chance of being free unless made and kept so by the exertions of better men than himself." -- John Stuart Mill

"Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one's life for one's friends." (John 15:12-14)

American Patriot: Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

(See Mark Alexander's essay, The Most Noble of American Patriots.)

GOVERNMENT & POLITICS

IRS Scandal Investigation Continues

Six months after the May 10 discovery that the IRS illegally targeted conservative organizations for additional "scrutiny," House Oversight Chairman Darrell Issa (R-CA) remains committed to finding answers about the scope of the IRS prying. It was the admission of former IRS official Lois Lerner that blew the lid off a scandal of epic proportions. Lerner then pleaded the Fifth before going on paid leave and finally retiring. The scandal was ignored by the Leftmedia and pushed out of any other headlines by the troubles in Syria, the government shutdown and the ObamaCare disaster. But congressional investigators are quietly continuing to work.
Issa issued a subpoena Thursday for Treasury Department documents that could detail interactions with the IRS about those Tea Party and Patriot groups. Both the House Committee and the Senate Finance Committee aim to release reports in December.
At first, we learned that the IRS was scrutinizing Tea Party and Patriot applications for tax-exempt status. But the House Ways and Means Committee is now looking into whether the IRS also targeted conservative groups for audit after tax-exempt status was granted. Again, despite what the Obama administration first told us, this is far more than just a couple of rogue agents in Cincinnati. Audits also spread the trouble to the Dallas office.

When it comes to this (and any other scandal), Obama has long used the Sergeant Schultz defense: "I know nothing, I see nothing, I was not here, I did not even get up this morning." And Democrats continue to circle the wagons around the White House, too. Rep. Sandy Levin (D-MI) says, "There is zero evidence that the White House was involved in this." But it would be better if the White House had made a phone call or sent an email directing this targeting. If there was, in fact, no White House involvement then this is systematic corruption and abuse of power by a government agency. Either way, it was not merely "incompetence" as Democrats would have us believe.

Issa's subpoena reflects something else important: It asks for details of the apparatus set up to deal with ObamaCare. That's right -- the IRS is the agency that will enforce that law.

Legacy of the American Revolution

"Liberty must at all hazards be supported. ... Liberty, once lost, is lost forever. Our obligations to our country never cease but with our lives." --John Adams
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ECONOMY, REGS & TAXES

Regulatory Commissars: Clean Water Act Holes

Ronald Reagan once noted, "The nine most terrifying words in the English language are: 'I'm from the government and I'm here to help.'" Under the Obama administration, the EPA is relentlessly proving Reagan's observation by attempting to regulate small water bodies as "wetlands" under the Clean Water Act. Naturally, leftist green pressure groups who mindlessly believe an ever more intrusive big government bureaucracy is the most effective environmental steward are cheering the agency's mission creep.
EPA's gambit to regulate these water bodies is based on its novel new interpretation of the Clean Water Act's applicability to its undefined phrase, "waters of the United States." Judges and EPA regulators have struggled to interpret this phrase in the absence of legislative clarity. Now the agency is proposing a regulatory solution and conducting a politically tainted review to accumulate evidence to back up its interpretation of its shiny new rule. Lost in the politicizing fog is the common-sense notion that bodies of water can't all be wetlands -- they're either water or land.
As with so many of the Obama agencies, EPA has run wild and must be reined in. Perhaps the 2014 election will bring conservatives to office who will do just that.

CULTURE, SCIENCE & FAITH

Euthanasia Gains Steam

A proposed amendment to Belgium's 2002 euthanasia law would give children the right to decide whether they wish to be euthanized. The bill also applies to disabled infants and seniors with dementia. Existing law limits euthanasia to those over 18 and requires consent of the person or guardian. "It is strange that minors are considered legally incompetent in key areas ... but might [be able] to decide to die," Catholic Archbishop Andre-Joseph Leonard testified. Michel De Keukelaere, founder of the March for Life in Brussels says, "Children never choose to die." She suggests that the law is symbolic, a "sort of the revenge of these socialist and liberal parties who want to show that Christianity in Belgium is finished."
In the last decade, the number of reported deaths by euthanasia rose over 400%. But the Belgian Medical Journal asserts that the true number is considerably higher, and some 32% of deaths happen without "explicit request." No cases violating the current law have ever been prosecuted. Ironically, the rationale for the amendment is that "it's already happening anyway," and "doctors need a legal framework."
Meanwhile, Quebec's legislature stands on the verge of enacting a law similar to Belgium's existing one. It passed last week with an 84-26 vote in the national assembly. Opposition parties will have the opportunity to offer amendments before a final vote, but the only significant opposition comes from the Liberal Party. Leader Philippe Couillard says the bill as it stands doesn't set sufficiently strict standards. One difference between Canada and Belgium is Canada's Charter of Rights and Freedoms that recognizes all Canadians as equal under the law. If euthanasia is legalized, it will eventually be extended to all Canadians, including children. As one opponent said, "You can't have a little bit of euthanasia."
We wonder: How long until ObamaCare and its death panels bring the same tidings to the U.S.? People are getting policy cancellation letters now; wait until they're getting life canceling letters because the cost to keep them alive would be too great for the system.

BRIEF OPINION

Essential Liberty

Heritage founder Ed Feulner: "It's one thing to say, 'Thank a veteran.' It's another to actually do something to show that gratitude. Take the World War II veterans that made headlines last month during the government shutdown. Largely overlooked in the furor that erupted when they were barricaded from their own memorial is how they got to Washington, D.C., in the first place: through a nonprofit group known as the Honor Flight Network (HFN). The seed that would create the HFN was planted shortly after the World War II Memorial opened in 2004. Earl Morse, a retired Air Force captain working in a Department of Veterans Affairs clinic in Springfield, Ohio, knew from talking to patients who were veterans that most wanted to see it. But then, he said, 'I would see my World War II veterans some three, six months later, and I'd ask them if they'd gone to see it. Three hundred of them, and not one of them had been to it. Reality set in. They were never going.' Not without the help of the good-hearted individuals who would come to constitute the network of volunteers that make the honor flights possible. ... With an estimated 640 World War II veterans dying each day, 'our time to express our thanks to these brave men and women is running out,' the HFN website notes. Let's hope that this Veterans Day will prompt more Americans to emulate that spirit, which has so nobly carried us through good times and bad."

The Gipper

"Peace fails when we forget what we stand for. It fails when we forget that our Republic is based on firm principles, principles that have real meaning, that with them, we are the last, best hope of man on Earth; without them, we're little more than the crust of a continent. Peace also fails when we forget to bring to the bargaining table God's first intellectual gift to man: common sense. ... We endanger the peace and confuse all issues when we obscure the truth; when we refuse to name an act for what it is; when we refuse to see the obvious and seek safety in Almighty. Peace is only maintained and won by those who have clear eyes and brave minds. ... [P]eace fails when we forget to pray to the source of all peace and life and happiness. ... Today, as never before, we must pledge to remember the things that will continue the peace. Today, as never before, we must pray for God's help in broadening and deepening the peace we enjoy. Let us pray for freedom and justice and a more stable world."

For the Record

Columnist Ann Coulter: "Even without the 2010 Health and Human Services (HHS) report admitting that 93 million Americans would lose their health insurance, anyone with half a brain (which is a pre-existing condition) knew that millions of Americans would be thrown off their insurance plans under Obamacare. Under the law, HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius is to determine what every health insurance plan must cover -- and any plans that don't are illegal. As a result, gay guys are now going to be forced to buy plans that cover maternity care. Mormons will have to buy plans that cover gambling addiction therapy. Elderly couples can buy only insurance that includes pediatric dental care. Catholic hospitals will be required to provide birth control and abortions. Our federal overseers, led by the arrogant and smug gender-feminist Sebelius, know what's best for us. (Which is so nice of her since, as she recently pointed out, she doesn't work for us.) ... Policies are being canceled because your old plan -- the one you shopped for and liked -- is now illegal. It doesn't cover Sandra Fluke's dental dams. Obama is blaming the insurance companies for discontinuing policies that he made illegal."
For more, visit The Right Opinion.

CHRONICLE QUOTES

Insight

German writer Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1834): "Nothing is more terrible than ignorance in action."

Demo-gogues

Barack Obama: "I just want to remind everybody that they can still apply for [ObamaCare] coverage by phone, by mail, in person. There was a time when the internet didn't exist. It wasn't that long ago. A lot of programs like Medicaid don't operate electronically. And so there are ways for us to still work to make sure that people are getting the opportunity to buy affordable, quality health care."

Braying Jackass

Barack Obama: "I wanted to go in and fix [Healthcare.gov] myself, but I don't write code. ... I know health care is controversial, so, you know, there's only gonna be so much support we get on that on a bipartisan basis -- until it working really well, and then they're gonna stop calling it 'ObamaCare.'"

The BIG Lie

Council of Economic Advisors chairman Jason Furman: "If you look at the biggest thing that [is] cutting our deficit over the medium and long run, it's actually the Affordable Care Act. Which is, you know, by bringing down the cost of health care, that doesn't just help our economy, it helps bring our deficit down."

Dezinformatsia

ABC's Tai Hernandez: "A recent survey by the Bureau of Justice Statistics shows violent crime has increased for the second year in a row. Criminologists say the lack of federal funding may play a key part."

From the 'Non Compos Mentis' File

Barack Obama: "I genuinely believe that [Joe Biden] has been one of the best vice presidents in our history."

Alpha Jackass

Former Montana Lt. Gov. John Bohlinger: "We need to challenge the Tea Party representatives who, like the Taliban, shut our country down."

Village Idiots

State Secretary John Kerry: "[Obama] has prosecuted al Qaeda with an intensity and terrorists generally with an intensity unprecedented and way beyond the last administration."

Short Cuts

Comedian Argus Hamilton: "The Washington D.C. City Council ordered the police to set up prostitution-free zones in ten city blocks during major U.S. government events and protest rallies. You can't make it up. Washington is so corrupt we just rope off areas where people actually follow the law."

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

Join us 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.