THE FOUNDATION
"Knowledge will forever govern ignorance: And a people who mean to be their own Governors, must arm themselves with the power which knowledge gives." --James Madison, letter to W.T. Barry, 1822TOP 5 RIGHT HOOKS
2A Group Calls Conn. Bluff
After the Connecticut legislature reacted to Sandy Hook by criminalizing scary firearms, thousands -- perhaps tens of thousands -- of gun owners have refused to register their firearms with the state, while the state isn't yet doing much about it. Connecticut Carry, a pro-gun group, called the legislature's bluff, issuing a press release demanding that the state "enforce the tyranny they passed or repeal it entirely." The group calls the laws "foolishly conceived," "insufferable" and "an affront to every law-abiding citizen." Furthermore, "Every official who supports such legal foolishness mocks our State and the Constitution they swore to uphold." Just so, and this may mean that things are about to get interesting in Connecticut.Comment | Share
A Lesson in Tolerance
When New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez had her aides call to schedule a hair appointment, hair stylist Antonio Darden refused. He explained to a local TV station, "Because of her stances and her views on [same-sex marriage], I told her aides no. They called the next day, asking if I'd changed my mind about taking the governor in and I said no." Darden himself is homosexual. So evidently when a photographer doesn't want to take pictures of a same-sex commitment ceremony in New Mexico, that's punishable discrimination. When a homosexual does the same thing, however, it's just fine. If it weren't for double standards, leftists wouldn't have any.Comment | Share
Did Someone Say 'Delay'?
Another election-year delay of an ObamaCare requirement is in the offing. The Hill reports, "As early as this week, according to two sources, the White House will announce a new directive allowing insurers to continue offering health plans that do not meet ObamaCare's minimum coverage requirements." In other words, you can "keep your plan" -- until after the election. The move will create chaos for insurers who now have to decide whether to keep offering a doomed plan for just a little while longer. But as one health insurance consultant observed, that's not the point -- political gain is. "I don't see how they could have a bunch of these [cancellations] going out in September. Not when they're trying to defend the Senate and keep their losses at a minimum in the House."Comment | Share
Homeschoolers to Be Deported
In 2008, the Romeike family came to the U.S. seeking asylum because German law prohibits homeschooling, which the Romeikes do for religious reasons. However, Fox News reports, "On Monday, the Supreme Court declined to hear the Romeikes' appeal -- paving the way for the Christian family of eight to be deported." Why would they be deported? The Obama Justice Department argues it's because "The goal in Germany is for an open, pluralistic society. Teaching tolerance to children of all backgrounds helps to develop the ability to interact as a fully functioning citizen in Germany." The truth is simply that it seems the Obama administration finally found immigrants they're willing to deport.Comment | Share
DC Not So Green
Environmentalists boast the number of supposedly energy efficient constructs within Washington, DC, but as it turns out, the Environmental Policy Alliance says the District isn't so "green" after all. According to The Daily Caller, "The free-market group analyzed the first round of energy usage data released by city officials Friday and found that large, privately-owned buildings that received the green energy certification Leadership in Energy Design (LEED) actually use more energy than buildings that didn't receive this green stamp of approval." But weren't we told that alternative, more environmentally friendly energy methods -- which evidently aren't so efficient or friendly -- are necessary to prevent the cataclysmic effects of global warming? Worse, amid a relentlessly cold and snowy winter, climate alarmists continue to promote standards based on fantasy goals -- goals that are proving not just overly colorful, but detrimental to a cooling world.Comment | Share
For more, visit Right Hooks.
Don't Miss Patriot Humor
Here's yesterday's edition, Piers Morgan Shot Down.If you'd like to receive Patriot Humor by email, update your subscription here.
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RIGHT ANALYSIS
'Freedom' Is More Than a Word
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"Freedom," he said, "is the peace of mind of knowing that if you got sick, you won't lose everything. Freedom is the ability to change jobs and start a new business, chase a new idea without fear of losing your health insurance." So in order to ensure this "freedom," Obama and his fellow Democrats passed an unconstitutional law (Supreme Court acrobatics notwithstanding) to force everyone to participate in the system or pay a fine. We're surprised they didn't call that the "Freedom Fee." That law is having major consequences throughout our economy, as employers account for its cost by reducing employee hours, laying off employees or simply not hiring new ones. Then again, the administration has turned this on its head by calling it "freedom" from the constraints of work.
Moving to immigration, the president said, "Freedom is the knowledge that your future in this country is secure; you're not going to be treated like a second-class person once we fix our broken immigration system. That's freedom." No, freedom is the Rule of Law -- the security of knowing that the law will be enforced faithfully and fairly, not tossed aside to benefit a favored political constituency. Besides, in this case, when Democrats say "freedom" they're really promising illegals "free stuff."
Speaking of favored constituent groups, Obama added, "Freedom is the ability to go into a store or a restaurant without the fear that you'd be refused service because of who you are or who you love." Clearly, he was furthering the shameful misrepresentation of the Arizona bill on religious liberty, which would have generated none of the discrimination he warned it would. So again, we must object. Freedom of religion is a right guaranteed in our Constitution, and it's not subject to the politically correct whims of the professionally aggrieved.
"So we're not ceding that word," Obama concluded. Democrats, he said, will continue to advocate "freedom for ordinary Americans to honestly pursue their dreams." To do so, they will forcibly confiscate money from some in order to give "free" stuff to others, and foist ever more burdensome regulations on the nation. Up is down; left is right.
Obama's wordplay is a good example of why we prefer the word "Liberty" to "freedom." We suspect that's why he chose the latter, too. Freedom is a somewhat smaller word, often meaning freedom from some need or want or constraint on choice. By contrast, Liberty encompasses not just freedom but empowerment and responsibility. Leftists abuse power and take no responsibility. Liberty was bequeathed to us by our Founders, and we have a responsibility to preserve it for the next generation.
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Karzai's Misplaced Anger
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| Hamid Karzai |
This tale of American involvement in the country, though, needs some historical notes. The U.S. went to Afghanistan to eradicate al-Qaida, especially Osama bin Laden, after 3,000 Americans were killed on 9/11. So if there is "suffering" in Afghanistan it's because the nation harbored terrorists who were enemies of the U.S.
Karzai was installed as a transitional leader as Operation Enduring Freedom began in 2001, but won Afghanistan's 2004 election and was re-elected in 2009 amid some controversy. But as his term ends, it's possible American involvement will be wound down as well. Last month, Barack Obama instructed the Pentagon to consider how all American troops would be withdrawn by year's end, but since then a compromise position has been struck which may allow further American involvement should the winner in this spring's Afghan election be so inclined to renew the bilateral security agreement between the nations. Even with that, those boots on the ground may be pulled out as Obama leaves office in 2017.
Yet while Karzai maintains an angry attitude toward the American government, he's been relatively ineffective himself in wiping out the Taliban insurgency that brought us there in the first place. He concedes that things are better in the country since Americans got involved, but decided to push the decision on extending the bilateral security agreement onto his successor rather than signing it himself as a lame-duck leader. He knows, too, that Obama has been looking for any excuse to bug out since 2008. And given U.S. impotence in the face of Vladimir Putin's recent aggression, why would Karzai trust American power?
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For more, visit Right Analysis.
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TOP 5 RIGHT OPINION COLUMNS
- Dennis Prager: A Note to 'Fiscal Conservatives' From a Social Conservative
- Thomas Sowell: Freedom Is Not Free
- George Will: Misreading Putin, and History
- Mona Charen: Obama Makes Wars More Likely
- Arnold Ahlert: The Judicial Assault on American Flag T-Shirts
OPINION IN BRIEF
Columnist Dennis Prager: "The left and its political party will always create social issues that make Republicans and conservatives look 'reactionary' on social issues. Today it is same-sex marriage, the next day it is the Republican 'war on women,' and tomorrow it will be ending the objective male-female designation of Americans (Children should have the right to determine their gender and not have their parents and their genitalia determine it, even at birth). Or it will be animal rights, race-based affirmative action or an environmentalist issue. ... The Founders ... understood that people are not basically good. ... [Y]ou will either have the big God of Judaism and Christianity or the big state of the left. Social conservatives know that they need fiscal conservatives. They know that the bigger the state, the smaller the God. They know that proponents of the ever-larger state want their own gods -- like Mother Earth -- to replace the Bible's God."Comment | Share
Economist Thomas Sowell: "It doesn't matter what rights you have under the Constitution of the United States, if the government can punish you for exercising those rights. And it doesn't matter what limits the Constitution puts on government officials' power, if they can exceed those limits without any adverse consequences. In other words, the Constitution cannot protect you, if you don't protect the Constitution with your votes against anyone who violates it. Those government officials who want more power are not going to stop unless they get stopped. As long as millions of Americans vote on the basis of who gives them free stuff, look for their freedom -- and all our freedom -- to be eroded away, bit by bit. Our children and grandchildren may yet come to see the Constitution as just some quaint words from the past that people once took seriously."
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French Algerian author Albert Camus (1913-1960): "The welfare of humanity is always the alibi of tyrants."
Columnist Mona Charen: "Obama has shown greater bellicosity toward Republicans (described as 'terrorists with bombs strapped to their chests') than toward our actual adversaries. When Mitt Romney cited Russia a long-term adversary of the U.S. in 2012, Obama's contempt was glacial: 'The '80s called and they want their foreign policy back.' ... It can't do any harm to talk, right? That was Obama's claim in 2008, when he suggested that he would meet with any rogue leader. He thinks words are like chicken soup -- they may not help but they cannot hurt. We're now seeing how dangerous that view is."
Fred Thompson: "Ronan Farrow received the Cronkite Award for Excellence in Journalism after only 3 days on the air. That seems so unfair. For doing nothing, you're supposed to get a Nobel Peace Prize."
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.
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