THE FOUNDATION
"It is natural to man to indulge in the illusions of hope. We are apt to shut our eyes against a painful truth -- and listen to the song of that syren, till she transforms us into beasts. Is this the part of wise men, engaged in a great and arduous struggle for liberty? Are we disposed to be of the number of those, who having eyes, see not, and having ears, hear not, the things which so nearly concern their temporal salvation? For my part, whatever anguish of spirit it might cost, I am willing to know the whole truth; to know the worst, and to provide for it." --Patrick Henry, speech in the Virginia Convention, 1775TOP 5 RIGHT HOOKS
A Failed DREAM
Recently, the Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson made Border Patrol "a level-four condition of readiness" because of the number of children crossing the border alone. According to The New York Times, the number of unaccompanied children coming into the United States from as far away as Honduras has risen from 4,000 youths in 2011 to 21,000 in 2013. The number of children that already crossed the border exceeded the projected 60,000 Border Patrol estimated for the whole year. "We have to discourage parents from sending or sending for their children to cross the Southwest border because of the risks involved," Johnson said. "A South Texas processing center is no place for a child." When the federal government's policies reward the illegal immigration of children, it gives a whole new meaning to the phrase "Nanny State." More...Comment | Share
The Benghazi 'Lynch Mob'?
Democrats have made no bones about the fact they don't want to uncover anything further regarding Benghazi. They're quite satisfied carrying water for the administration, so their latest gambit is to discredit the House Select Committee. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Senate Select Committee on Intelligence chairman, complained, "I think it's a hunting mission for a lynch mob, actually. I think that's what's going on." As for participating, House Minority Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) has stalled on choosing the committee's five Democrats. "We want to show the public how unfair this process is," she said. "We'll have to make a decision as to what the best way is to showcase their unfairness." Perhaps Republicans can succeed in spite of such childishness. As for Barack Obama, he told people at a $10,000-per person fundraiser that the investigation is "not serious." Because it was only a U.S. ambassador who was murdered. More...Comment | Share
Obama's 'Shared Sacrifice'
We recently learned that the "Republican sequester" resulted in one single solitary federal layoff at the Justice Department despite Democrats' clamoring of an impending apocalypse. The Left knew the effects were being exaggerated, so they intentionally made the sequester as painful as possible for ordinary Americans to back their faux claims. Last year, during the debacle, the White House said, "The president has decided that to share in the sacrifice being made by public servants across the federal government that are affected by the sequester, he will contribute a portion of his salary back to the Treasury." But did he actually do it? According to The Washington Free Beacon, "The White House would not respond to numerous requests ... to confirm that Obama did, in fact, write checks to the Treasury. When reached by phone, a White House spokesperson said, 'I don't have that information.'" We'd expect nothing less from the "most transparent administration in history." More...Comment | Share
One O'Care Enrollment Oct. 1
Thanks to Judicial Watch, we now have a better idea of just how bad Healthcare.gov's launch was. The watchdog group retrieved a 106-page report from the Department of Health and Human Services through a Freedom of Information Act request. Among the findings: "On October 1, there were 43,208 accounts created and 1 enrollment." Yes, one enrollment on the first day. Additionally, "On October 2, 2013, the Obamacare website had 70,000 page views but only 5,000 were unique visitors, and 48% of registrations failed." By the end of the month, "[T]here were 1,319,425 accounts created nationwide -- but only 30,512 actual enrollments in Obamacare." We'd say that qualifies as a disaster. More...Comment | Share
'Off-Color Jokes'
Federal law only goes so far in addressing racism, Michelle Obama reminded graduates over the weekend. So they're going to have to police relatives and friends themselves. You have to "drag my generation and your grandparents' generation along with you," she said. "Maybe that starts simply in your own family, when grandpa tells that off-colored joke at Thanksgiving, or you've got an aunt [that] talks about 'those people.' Well, you can politely inform them that they're talking about your friends." Did she really just say "off-colored" when talking about racism? Oh, that was probably an off-color joke on our part...Comment | Share
For more, visit Right Hooks.
Don't Miss Patriot Humor
Here's yesterday's edition, Dain Bramage.If you'd like to receive Patriot Humor by email, update your subscription here.
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RIGHT ANALYSIS
VA Delays Are an ObamaCare Death Panel Preview
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The Albuquerque VA hospital evidently is now the eighth facility to place veterans on secret long waiting lists. A whistleblower says the facility has already destroyed records to cover its tracks.
The nationwide death toll is hard to pinpoint. So far, the VA only admits to 23 deaths due to delayed care, but there are allegedly 40 in Phoenix alone and the overall number will grow as more information is discovered. In fact, Dayton Daily News points to VA settlements with the families of veterans who died waiting for treatment: "A database of paid claims by the VA since 2001 includes 167 in which the words 'delay in treatment' is used in the description. The VA paid out a total of $36.4 million to settle those claims, either voluntarily or as part of a court action." So if that's accurate, it's 167 deaths and counting.
As unbelievable as it may seem, the Obama administration recycled one of its tried and false defenses -- that Barack Obama only just found out about the mess from media reports. White House Propaganda Minister Jay Carney said Monday, "I believe we learned about them through the reports. I'll double-check if that's not the case, but that's when we learned about them." The White House said the same thing about the IRS scandal, Fast and Furious, eavesdropping on the Associated Press, the unprepared state of Healthcare.gov and so on, and so on.
If it were true that Obama only just found out, how is that a defense? Who is running his administration? Is Obama really just an innocent bystander? The alternative is no better -- the White House is lying.
In fact, the administration's transition team was alerted to the VA's problems in late 2008, and again in 2013. And in 2007, aspiring president Barack Obama blasted George W. Bush's Department of Veterans Affairs, saying, "After seven years of an administration that has stretched our military to the breaking point, ignored deplorable conditions at some VA hospitals, and neglected the planning and preparation necessary to care for our returning heroes, America's veterans deserve a president who will fight for them not just when it's easy or convenient, but every hour of every day for the next four years."
As president in 2009 Obama proclaimed to veterans, "We're going to cut those backlogs, slash those wait times, deliver your benefits soon. I know you've heard this for years but the leadership and resources we are providing this time means that we're going to be able to do it. That is our mission and we're going to make it happen."
Fast forward to 2012, when Obama said, "For the first time ever, we've made military families and veterans a top priority not just at DOD, not just at the VA, but across the government." The dozens of Patriots who were willing to give their lives defending their country, but died from negligence instead, beg to differ.
While VA Secretary Eric Shinseki is "mad as hell," Obama is reportedly "*madder* than hell." In fact, White House Chief of Staff Denis McDonough insists, "[N]obody is more outraged about this problem right now." But Obama has yet to really address the matter, other than to make a show of firing Dr. Robert Petzel, undersecretary for health in the VA, who was set to retire later this year anyway and whose replacement had already been named.
Obama just found out? Check. He's angry? Check. He symbolically fired somebody? Check.
Columnist Arnold Ahlert has the bottom line: "[W]hile the political machinations, the hearings, the media stories and the investigations play themselves out, men and women who served this nation -- and in many cases paid an extremely heavy price for that highly honorable commitment -- are getting the short end of the stick. The very least this nation owes our veterans is timely healthcare, not a litany of excuses and stonewalling from a dysfunctional and very likely corrupt bureaucracy. One like every other government bureaucracy, where self-preservation matters above all else. If there is little else Americans learn form this scandal, it should be noted that this is the true face of government-run healthcare, in all its 'individual be damned' glory. If the government can treat 8.57 million veterans this shabbily, imagine how they will treat Americans forced to enroll in ObamaCare."
The Left mocked the idea of ObamaCare "death panels," but the VA offers a sad preview of that very thing. It's what bureaucracies do, and it's one big reason why citizens' health care is no business of the federal government. In 2003, Obama declared, "I happen to be a proponent of a single-payer universal health care program." The VA is exactly what that will look like.
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ObamaCare's Busted Subsidies and Promised Redistribution
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Read the rest of the story here.
Profiles of Valor: Marine Cpl. Kyle Carpenter
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We told Carpenter's story in March before a date was set for the ceremony. Read the rest here.
For more, visit Right Analysis.
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TOP 5 RIGHT OPINION COLUMNS
- Arnold Ahlert: Veterans Affairs and Death by Bureaucracy
- Ed Feulner: Inspiring Patriotism That Is 'Informed'
- Mona Charen: Margaret Thatcher of India?
- David Limbaugh: Racial Rhetoric Inflames Rather Than Unites
- Thomas Sowell: Poverty and Snow Storms
OPINION IN BRIEF
Poet John Milton (1608-1674): "None can love freedom but good men; the rest love not freedom, but license, which never hath more scope than under tyrants."Columnist Ed Feulner: "The Constitution builds on the idea that 'we the people' are sovereign. Who were the 'people' in whom the Founders had such confidence? 'Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people,' John Adams said. 'It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.' Our form of republican government, he was saying, requires not merely the consent of the governed but their ability to govern themselves. The first duty of the people, then, is to ensure that they remain a moral people. The Founders knew that no piece of paper could ensure liberty. Only a people steeped in the principles that animated the declaration could do that."
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Columnist David Limbaugh: "Rather than obsess about race, Mrs. Obama, why can't we quit using it to embitter people and hold them back and begin talking about solutions that can work toward restoring the American dream for all people? Instead of rhetoric calculated to keep our attention focused on the pigment of our skin, why can't we begin promoting Christian principles that teach us that we are all equal in God's eyes because we were made in his image and strive to move toward a genuinely colorblind society?"
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Humorist Frank J. Fleming: "It makes me feel good inside that I'm apparently better informed about breaking events than the president. I was unaware we have a useless president until I saw about it in news reports."
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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