THE FOUNDATION
"The virtues of men are of more consequence to society than their abilities; and for this reason, the heart should be cultivated with more assiduity than the head." --Noah Webster, On the Education of Youth in America, 1788TOP 5 RIGHT HOOKS
Benghazi Games Approach
Now that House Speaker John Boehner has announced that Rep. Trey Gowdy will lead a select committee to investigate the Obama administration over Benghazi, Democrats are laying the groundwork for some serious obstruction. White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said they would be willing to work with "legitimate oversight," insinuating that Gowdy's committee doesn't qualify, while adding, "We leave it up to Leader [Nancy] Pelosi and Democrats on the Hill on how they want to approach this." One Democrat aide called it a "sham committee." The only "sham" here was the administration's response to the 2012 terrorist attack and the subsequent cover-up and lies.Comment | Share
Not 'Too Big to Jail'
The massive bailout of banks following the 2008 financial crisis didn't solve the "too big to fail" problem; it institutionalized it. But now, Attorney General Eric Holder is saber rattling about prosecuting bank officials, saying no bank is "too big to jail." In fact, he said, "[I]t is fully possible to criminally sanction companies that have broken the law, no matter their size. While I will not specify any particular targets, I will say this: I am personally monitoring the status of these ongoing investigations, I am resolved to seeing them through, and in doing so, I intend to reaffirm the principle that no individual or entity that does harm to our economy is ever above the law." Except, of course, anyone in the administration.Comment | Share
NoKo's Nuclear Capability
According to a new report by former Pentagon strategic analyst Mark Schneider, North Korea has ballistic missiles capable of carrying nuclear warheads and striking the Western U.S., including Hawaii, Alaska and the mainland. We know it's shocking that North Korea would continue to develop weapons in spite of sternly worded UN letters. But significant blame also lies with Barack Obama. "The de-emphasis on nuclear deterrence in the Obama administration is blatant," the report says. Worse, "The Obama administration's current position on the North Korean nuclear threat may very well be linked with its plans to radically reduce U.S. military capabilities in both the nuclear and the conventional arena in the near future, starting with sequestration." Unilateral disarmament doesn't persuade rogue regimes of anything but U.S. weakness.Comment | Share
Massachusetts Dumps Exchange
Following the ObamaCare marketplace debacles in Maryland and Oregon, Massachusetts, whose state-run insurance program was considered a model by federal overhaul advocates, is dumping its own exchange after the glitch-ridden website proved too expensive to fix. Instead, the state will "replace it with a system used by several other states to enroll residents in plans," reports The Boston Globe, but will also "temporarily join the federal HealthCare.gov insurance marketplace in case the replacement system is not ready by the fall." The two-step plan is anticipated to cost $100 million over the next year. This should come as little surprise considering who the state hired to develop the website. The Globe notes, "In March, the state notified CGI, the contractor that created the website, that the deal was being terminated." That would be the same Canadian-based contractor that butchered the federal exchange.Comment | Share
Terrorists Don't Offer Health Plans
Secretary of State John Kerry offered some withering criticism for terrorists. "I have seen this scourge of terror across the planet, and so have you," he intoned. "They don't offer anything except violence. They don't offer a health care plan, they don't offer schools. They don't tell you how to build a nation, they don't talk about how they will provide jobs. They just tell people, 'You have to behave the way we tell you to,' and they will punish you if you don't." Bombings, shootings, running planes into buildings -- that's nothing. Terrorists don't offer a health care plan. Funny he should mention health care, though, since Democrats used the very tactics he described to force people to sign up for ObamaCare. But, Kerry said next, "Our responsibility and the world's responsibility is to stand up against that kind if nihilism." Don't worry; we will.Comment | Share
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RIGHT ANALYSIS
Freedom of Religion Is Still in the First Amendment
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John Adams likewise wrote, "[R]eligion and virtue are the only foundations, not of republicanism and of all free government, but of social felicity under all government and in all the combinations of human society."
So why is it so appalling to today's crop of leftists that a city council might follow this great American tradition and begin its session with prayer? Or that students speaking at a graduation might wish to acknowledge the role of God in their lives? Whatever the reason, the public expression of faith is a key battle in our culture.
In fact, prayer before legislative sessions is at the core of numerous legal battles around the country. On Monday, just four days after the National Day of Prayer, the Supreme Court ruled that prayer before a city council meeting in Greece, New York, is constitutional. Five justices agreed that such prayers do not violate the First Amendment prohibition against the establishment of religion, and are an important part of American tradition dating all the way back to our Founders. The Court ruled similarly in another case 30 years ago.
Unfortunately, four justices agreed with the plaintiffs -- two women claiming offense because praying clergy are predominantly Christian in a predominantly Christian town. And the decision itself overturned a Second Circuit ruling in favor of the plaintiffs.
Writing for the Court's minority, Obama appointee Elena Kagan insisted that any public prayer must be completely nonsectarian and generic. Generally worthless, in other words. But worse, her proposed tectonic shift in constitutional interpretation would essentially require that politicos pre-approve prayers to ensure compliance with leftist political correctness.
That political correctness, says columnist Bill Murchison, is central to "progressive" philosophy. "The secularism of the Western cultural and political left -- its persistent indifference to religious faith -- may be its most conspicuous attribute. Having written off God for most worldly purposes, liberals can proceed to the construction of their own snug, secure, non-religious vision of human affairs and relationships. No unchangeable realities, no moral systems; just good old free-floating politics, founded on polls, warm thoughts and law review articles."
Justice Anthony Kennedy addressed Kagan's nonsense in his majority opinion, writing, "The First Amendment is not a majority rule, and government may not seek to define permissible categories of religious speech. Once it invites prayer into the public sphere, government must permit a prayer giver to address his or her own God or gods as conscience dictates, unfettered by what an administrator or judge considers to be nonsectarian."
Kennedy also wrote, "As practiced by Congress since the framing of the Constitution, legislative prayer lends gravity to public business, reminds lawmakers to transcend petty differences in pursuit of a higher purpose, and expresses a common aspiration to a just and peaceful society." Heaven knows we could use a bit more of that. Furthermore, Kennedy said, "That the First Congress provided for the appointment of chaplains only days after approving language for the First Amendment demonstrates that the Framers considered legislative prayer a benign acknowledgment of religion's role in society."
Indeed, public prayer didn't create a constitutional crisis for those who wrote and ratified it. That should tell us all we need to know.
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Unemployment Is Down, but Did They Mention How Many Gave Up?
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Read the rest of the story here.
For more, visit Right Analysis.
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TOP 5 RIGHT OPINION COLUMNS
- William Murchison: Pray, Why Not?
- Dennis Prager: The Oklahoma Heart vs. the Abolitionist Heart
- Burt Prelutsky: John Kerry, Meet Donald Sterling
- Cal Thomas: Gov't Waste: Where Has All the Money Gone?
- Anthony Watts: 'Houston, We Have a Dumb&#% Problem'
OPINION IN BRIEF
Historian Henry Steele Commager (1902-1998): "Men in authority will always think that criticism of their policies is dangerous. They will always equate their policies with patriotism, and find criticism subversive."Columnist Burt Prelutsky: "Secretary of State Kerry ... announced that if Israel didn't cave to the Muslims, who pray to Allah several times a day for the extinction of all Jews, they ran the risk of being denounced as an apartheid nation. The next day, after an initial firestorm, he decided, as they say, to walk his statement back. Not too surprisingly, Donald Sterling wasn't allowed the same opportunity, even though he is just another sports team owner, and Kerry is allegedly America's number one diplomat. ... In his defense, some liberals have argued that Kerry made his statement in private at a gathering of the Trilateral Commission, but you may have noticed that they had quite a different take when it came to Mitt Romney's reference to 47% of the population at a closed meeting or Donald Sterling's private phone conversation."
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Columnist Cal Thomas: "Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW) this week releases its 2014 'Pig Book' listing some of the outrageous spending by the federal government. ... Earmarks have been outlawed since fiscal 2011, but members of Congress always seem to find ways around the many laws they pass. This year's Pig Book has found earmarks attached to the 12 appropriations bills that fund the federal government. ... When committing a crime, some criminals try not to leave fingerprints at the scene. Congress engages in criminality on a higher plain by not leaving 'fingerprints' on their earmarks. Who will hold them accountable? Apparently not enough voters, too many of whom appear indifferent, or deliberately ignorant of it all."
Comedian Argus Hamilton: "John Boehner will create a House Select Committee to investigate the White House cover-up of the al-Qaeda attack on the U.S. embassy in Benghazi. At the time the president knew nothing about the cover-up. He was too busy not knowing about the IRS targeting conservatives."
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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