THE FOUNDATION
"[T]he danger from legislative usurpations, which, by assembling all power in the same hands, must lead to the same tyranny as is threatened by executive usurpations." --James Madison, Federalist No. 48, 1788TOP 5 RIGHT HOOKS
The Price of Abandoning Iraq
As recently as 2009, then-CIA Director Michael Hayden said, "Al-Qaida is on the verge of a strategic defeat in Iraq." Yet in just a few short years, we have watched the entire Middle East melt down in the "Arab Spring" after Barack Obama sounded the retreat from Iraq and Afghanistan, falsely claiming that al-Qaida and Islamic terrorism were "on the run" after Osama bin Laden's termination. Indeed, jihadis with the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) have now seized the key Iraqi cities of Mosul and Tikrit -- after retaking Fallujah in January. Baghdad is next. According to an American counterterrorism official, "The group looks at Syria and Iraq as one interchangeable battlefield, and its ability to shift resources and personnel across the border has measurably strengthened its position in both theaters." If the U.S. still had a sizable troop presence in Iraq, it's possible -- if not likely -- that Iraq would be stable today. Perhaps even Syria would be. Instead, the region has paid a high price for BO's Hope 'n' Change, as al-Qaida didn't die just because Obama said it had.Comment | Share
Hillary: Taliban Five No Threat
After claiming she "help[ed] restore America's leadership in the world" as secretary of state, Hillary Clinton added another head scratcher by asserting the dangerous terrorists just released from Guantanamo Bay pose no credible threat. "These five guys are not a threat to the United States," she says. "They are a threat to the safety and security of Afghanistan and Pakistan. It's up to those two countries to make the decision once and for all that these are threats to them." Islamic jihadis represent the greatest threat to America's security, most of whom come from countries like Afghanistan and Pakistan. Has Clinton already erased the memory of 9/11? Obama's retreat from Iraq and Afghanistan has only deepened our security concerns. It is Obama who is "on the run" while al-Qaida is on the rise. More...Comment | Share
'Trust Has Been Broken'
Speaking before a congressional committee concerning the ill-advised Bergdahl-Taliban swap, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel admitted that the decision to circumvent the Rule of Law severed any trust between Congress and Defense (not to mention the American people). "I value the Defense Department's partnership ... with this Congress, and the trust we've developed over the years," he said. "I know that trust has been broken." But following his concession, Hagel went into full defense mode: "I have always been straightforward, completely transparent with this committee, since I've been secretary of defense." He added, "The circumstances surrounding my decisions were imperfect, and these decisions that have to lead to some kind of judgment always are. The president is in the same position. But you have to make a choice. You have to make a decision." Unfortunately, this was a downright stupid one that has significant security implications. And next time Hagel testifies, he should do some prep work. He answered "I don't know" roughly a dozen times.Comment | Share
Embassy Celebrates 'Gay Pride'
RedState's Steve Berman reminds us, "[I]n our military, Bibles are banned, in the Air Force Academy, Bible verses are erased from cadet white boards, while Christian bakers are sent for re-education for not bowing to gay marriage." But for the Left, "tolerance" is a one-way street. The U.S. embassy in Tel Aviv joined the PC circus by celebrating LGBT Pride Week. Ambassador Dan Shapiro posted on Facebook a photograph of the American flag hoisted above a rainbow "gay pride" banner, writing, "For the first time in history, the U.S. Embassy in Tel Aviv has raised the Pride flag together with our American flag. We are proud to join with the municipality of Tel Aviv-Yafo and its residents in celebrating LGBT Pride Week." While al-Qaida overruns Iraq and the Middle East in general falls into further chaos, the Obama administration is spending its time pushing a social agenda. More...Comment | Share
BSing on Education
Walking away from college holding a degree in gender studies may become more affordable thanks to Barack Obama. An executive action he announced this week will encourage students to take more risks with their education because of promises the college bill will be paid with a millionaire's dime. Meanwhile, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) introduced a bill that robs millionaires named Peter to pay college students named Paul. This pits the "poor" youth against the "rich." Republican senators killed the bill in a 56-38 vote, which gave the Left a handful of ammunition for November. (Look kids -- Republicans hate you!) But this may be their only goal because Secretary of Education Arne Duncan admitted to reporters the administration is BSing its way through education reform. "[W]e actually don't know the costs yet," said Duncan, "but we think this will be something that will be fantastic for the economy." We have to pass it before we can find out what's in it. More...Comment | Share
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Don't Miss Alexander's Column
Read The Obama Model of Foreign Policy Malfeasance, on how the commander in chief's failures are emboldening our enemies.If you'd like to receive Alexander's Column by email, update your subscription here.
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RIGHT ANALYSIS
Importing Australia's Model of Gun Control?
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| Australian guns in 1997 |
Speaking during a question and answer session this week, Obama said his greatest frustration thus far in his presidency "is the fact that this society has not been willing to take some basic steps to keep guns out of the hands of people who can do just unbelievable damage." This is the presidency that has seen the lowest workforce participation rate in decades, the skyrocketing of our national debt from $10.7 trillion in 2009 to more than $17.5 trillion today, and the demise of the United States as a respected world power. And Obama's "biggest frustration" is that the American people still cherish their Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms? He ran for president of the wrong country.
He went on to say, "We're the only developed country on earth where this happens," referring to recent incidences of school violence. He then scolded the American people for not following the example of Australia. In reaction to a 1996 killing spree that left nearly three dozen people dead, the Land Down Under banned ownership of virtually all semi-automatic weapons as well as all self-loading rifles and shotguns. In addition, the government launched a mandatory buy-back program in which it confiscated 640,000 guns. To make his point, Obama said Australia "imposed very severe, tough gun laws, and they haven't had a mass shooting since." Meanwhile, he said, the level of gun violence in America is "off the charts" with school shootings happening "now once a week." And he lamented his invented fact that today, Americans can "just walk up to a store and buy a semi-automatic weapon" without a background check.
This highlights Obama's ignorance because there's just one problem. Well, actually, there is a multitude of problems.
First, Obama's claim that events such as the Santa Barbara killings (three of which were not even committed with a gun) are weekly occurrences is simply a phony statistic. Sure, we've seen the map of the 74 "school shootings" since Newtown, but as journalist Charles Johnson has documented, fewer than seven of these were actually "mass shootings," and several were either suicides or gang-related shootings.
Second, Obama's suggestion that semi-automatic weapons are available background-check-free is also deceptive. Federal law requires that all stores run background checks on anyone buying any type of gun. It is individual sales and transfers that are, in some states, exempt.
Third, the president's claim that America's level of gun violence is "off the charts" fully ignores the fact that violence perpetrated with guns has dropped dramatically in recent years. According to Obama's own Department of Justice, gun-related homicides fell 39% between 1993 and 2011, while non-fatal gun crimes fell even more (69%) during the same time period. Those pesky facts strike again! Yet, the president makes it sound as if gun violence is skyrocketing and gun control is the only answer. And this despite the fact that in instances like this week's Oregon school shooting, everything the 15-year-old killer did to obtain guns -- and then what he did with them -- was already illegal.
At the end of the day, Obama's biggest frustration is with more than the American people he so obviously disdains. Indeed, in lauding Australia's gun restrictions, he grudgingly admitted, "We have a different tradition; we have a Second Amendment." And this is what Obama truly can't tolerate: the United States Constitution, birthed and preserved through the blood of Patriots who cherish Liberty. Rule of Law has been reining in would-be tyrants for more than 225 years, and that's Obama's biggest nemesis.
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Obama Is 'Thankfully Dictatorial'
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Read the rest here.
For more, visit Right Analysis.
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TOP 5 RIGHT OPINION COLUMNS
- Ann Coulter: Cantor Loses by 11 Million Voters
- George Will: For GOP, Re-Evaluation Time
- Victor Davis Hanson: Bergdahl and the U.S. Departure From Afghanistan
- Larry Elder: ObamaCare and the CBO -- No Longer 'Giddy'
- Rebecca Hagelin: Father's Day
OPINION IN BRIEF
William Wallace (c. 1300): "I tell you true, liberty is the best of all things; never live beneath the noose of a servile halter."Columnist Larry Elder: "Roll Call, the publication that covers Congress, writes: 'In its latest report on [ObamaCare], the Congressional Budget Office said it is no longer possible to assess the overall fiscal impact of the law.' ... What?! Again, how important was the 2010 CBO 'score,' delivered on the eve of the Obamacare vote? Vital. Critical. Indispensible. Roll Call reminds us, 'For Democratic lawmakers who were hesitant to sign onto the sweeping 2010 healthcare law, one of the most powerful selling points (emphasis added) was that the Affordable Care Act would actually reduce the federal budget deficit, despite the additional costs of extending health insurance coverage to the uninsured.' To the pile of broken Obamacare promises, we now add another."
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Columnist George Will: "Campaign reformers who believe money is the sovereign determinative in elections should consider the contrary evidence of [David] Brat's $231,000 war chest. Big ideas can have bigger consequences than cash does, and Brat resonated with tea-party types primarily because his campaign vocabulary was that of constitutionally limited government -- 10th Amendment conservatism."
Comedian Argus Hamilton: "Hard Choices by Hillary Clinton hit the book stores this week about her time as Secretary of State. She found out Tuesday it's also the title of a porn movie in the Eighties about a lusty professor and the co-eds in his class. This is the last time she asks her husband for a good book title."
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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