Wednesday, July 16, 2014

THE PATRIOT POST 07/16/2014

THE FOUNDATION

"[W]here there is no law, there is no liberty; and nothing deserves the name of law but that which is certain and universal in its operation upon all the members of the community." --Benjamin Rush, Letter to David Ramsay, 1788

TOP 5 RIGHT HOOKS

'The Border Is Secure'

American citizens can breathe a sigh of relief because the border is secure. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) said so; therefore it must be true. Never mind the illegal minors from Central America streaming across the border by the tens of thousands. "The border is secure," Reid said. "[Sen.] Martin Heinrich [D-NM] talked to the [Democrat] caucus today. He's a border state senator. He said he can say without any equivocation the border is secure." Ah, so Reid has it on good authority from a freshman senator of his own party. Given this revelation, The Hill reports, "Reid said lawmakers need to worry less about border security and focus instead on President Obama's $3.7 billion request to help process the tens of thousands of children from Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador who have been apprehended on the border." You might be tempted to ask why this is necessary if the border is secure, but who are you going to believe -- Reid or your lying eyes? More...
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Asylum Approvals Explode

The flow of illegal aliens streaming across the border is largely Barack Obama's doing. The latest evidence is in from The Daily Caller: "The number of foreigners who successfully filed asylum claims in the United States almost tripled from 2012 to 2013, up to 30,393. That's 10 times the number from 2008, when President Barack Obama was elected." And when word of that "success" gets to family and friends in an illegal's country of origin, it encourages others to try their luck. Therefore, we have a fresh and massive influx of border-crossers. More...
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Obama Brings 'Tranquility'

How has the administration made the world a better place? Let us count the ways. White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest fielded questions regarding the increasing instability around the world -- Iraq, Syria, Ukraine and Israel to name a few -- and gave not just a glass-half-full answer but a cup overfloweth response. "I think that there have been a number of situations in which you've seen this administration intervene in a meaningful way," Earnest insisted, "that has, uh, substantially furthered American interests and substantially improved uh, the, uh, the you know, uh, the tranquility of the global community." We can think of "a number" of such situations if that number is zero.
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FEC 'Loses' Hard Drive

First it was the IRS claiming its hard drives containing vital emails "crashed." Then the EPA asserted the same. Now the Obama administration apparently believes the third time's a charm. The FEC says a hard drive belonging to vociferously pro-Obama official April Sands who resigned earlier this year for violating the Hatch Act was -- surprise! -- recycled. Sands, who formerly worked with Lois Lerner, conceded wrongdoing in promoting Obama's re-election before her departure from the agency. But without the evidence, "FEC OIG could not pursue criminal prosecution for the misconduct," says House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Darrell Issa (R-CA). The FEC has until July 28 to hand server documentation and backup procedures over to the committee. For an administration that prides itself in transparency, it sure is inept -- and astoundingly criminal. More...
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FBI, DOJ Ignoring IRS Scandal

Neither the FBI nor DOJ have interviewed one of the prominent conservative groups at the center of the IRS scandal. True the Vote president Catherine Engelbrecht says, "At no time have they approached us. Only when they are investigating us, only when they are being adversarial towards us, do we ever hear anything from the Department of Justice. There has been no outreach to try and get to the bottom of the scandal at any time." IJReview's Larry O'Connor notes, "This stunning revelation comes just days after Attorney General Eric Holder rebuffed the suggestion that an independent investigation is needed into the growing scandal. Holder told ABC News this weekend that a special investigation was unnecessary because 'career people' and FBI agents were 'doing a good, professional job' investigating the matter." Of course the administration's definition of a "good, professional job" is ignoring this scandal altogether, in which case they are doing exemplary work. More...
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RIGHT ANALYSIS

Schools Dispense With History in Favor of Political Correctness

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Who are these guys?
Former Soviet leader Vladimir Lenin once said, "Give me four years to teach the children and the seed I have sown will never be uprooted." Lenin understood how important education is to a young person's worldview, and how intractable ideas can become. Lenin used education to the fullest, as do his heirs in the West.
The cultural revolution of the 1960s remains very much with us. In the last 50 years it has chipped away at the foundations of our nation, little by little, relentlessly, with an agenda of fundamentally changing this society. The nation of Barack Obama is no longer that of John F. Kennedy.
One institution that has undergone immense change is the public education system. Formerly, public schools were dedicated to educating youths and imparting in them an understanding of the history of America, its uniqueness in history and a knowledge and appreciation of the natural rights guaranteed by our Founding documents. Until socialism arrived, these had always been considered the acme of political philosophy and government organization. The goal was to prepare graduates as good citizens and informed voters.
But the Left has so completely changed both public schools and colleges that they have almost no relation to their earlier selves. The term "political correctness" originated in the old Soviet Union. It was used to control people's speech and, ultimately, their thought. Today's schools are a study in political correctness.
High schools frequently offer some variety of Advanced Placement (AP) tests in various courses. If students score well enough on a given test, they can earn credit for an equivalent basic course in college, thus shortening their time (and expenses) in school. The test most students take is the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT). Theoretically, the better a student scores, the wider his or her choices of colleges after high school graduation.
Both the AP and the SAT tests are properties of a company called the College Board. As with schools, the College Board used to be dedicated to high standards both in curriculum and testing. But as the hippie generation with its perverse agenda has taken charge of these institutions, the College Board years ago fell in line, as a good comrade should.
Because of its unique position as producer of the tests that determine students' chances in college, the College Board has a great deal of power to shape high school curricula, including those of private schools, and to influence state standards. It's therefore noteworthy that David Coleman, president of the College Board, is also the architect of Common Core. We've reported on Obama's Common Core curriculum several times and its corrosive effect on not only the education of young people but also society at large.
Unfortunately, too few are aware of this clandestine attempt to nationalize and further corrupt America's schools, from kindergarten through grad school.
The College Board recently released a very few sample questions for the new AP U.S. History Exam. Understandably, the College Board has always been very concerned about security to protect its latest test (historically, tests have been repeatedly edited to replace badly written questions and to add new, more topical ones). Illegal distribution of coming exams would require scrubbing an entire test cycle. This latest framework is being treated as a state secret. Samples of the test, however, have been released to certified AP U.S. history teachers who have been warned under penalty of law as well as loss of their AP teaching privileges to keep them secret. Since teaching AP classes is one of the most rewarding experiences high school teachers can have, don't expect any leaks of the test's contents.
This entire business is clearly an attempt to force these standards on states while the president keeps Americans distracted by his never-ending scandals. The entire American education system is being converted into a multicultural, one-culture-is-as-good-as-another propaganda machine. Some of the Founders, such as Declaration of Independence author Thomas Jefferson and Constitution writer James Madison, are mentioned; that's it -- mentioned. They're exposed as examples of Western class, gender and racial evil. And while teachers may chose to teach the Constitution as it is written, by doing so, they disadvantage their students because they know the real Constitution isn't on the test.
Living up to its "Lone Star" nickname, Texas is the only state so far that's really fighting this abomination. Ken Mercer, a member of the Texas school board, wants to introduce a resolution rejecting the new AP exam, but he's been told that he must wait until September when doing so will be too late.
In 1788, Founder Noah Webster wrote in On the Education of Youth in America, "Every child in America should be acquainted with his own country. He should read books that furnish him with ideas that will be useful to him in life and practice. As soon as he opens his lips, he should rehearse the history of his own country." The sad fact is that unless more school boards and members of the public wake up and smell the stench, this advice will increasingly be ignored. And what follows isn't pretty. Indeed, it's a nasty seed that's already proving very difficult to uproot.
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Trillions in New Debt Headed Our Way

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The Congressional Budget Office released its 2014 Long-Term Budget Outlook this week, and, predictably, the picture isn't pretty. We haven't heard much about the debt since the February deal to suspend the debt ceiling, as crisis after crisis dominate the news. But recall Democrats foisted record deficits on the country between 2009 and 2012, effectively setting a new minimum for federal spending. Then they hiked taxes to pay for their spendthrift ways. It's a recipe for economic stagnation.
Read the rest here.
For more, visit Right Analysis.

TOP 5 RIGHT OPINION COLUMNS

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OPINION IN BRIEF

Plato (429-347 BC): "Wise men talk because they have something to say; fools, because they have to say something."
Columnist Jonah Goldberg: "[I]f the Israelis wanted to wipe out as many Palestinians as possible, never mind commit genocide, they probably wouldn't issue warnings to Gazans (by phone and leaflet) to get out of harm's way. Nor would Israel continue to allow hundreds of trucks of food and medical aid to enter Gaza even as hundreds of rockets leave Gaza. ... One perverse complaint, often subtly echoed in the mainstream media, is that it is somehow unfair that Israelis are not dying, so far, from Gaza rocket strikes. ... As Commentary's Jonathan Tobin notes, no one is asking why the Palestinians don't have bomb shelters. The assumption seems to be that the Gazans don't have the wherewithal to build them. This is untrue because they do have bomb shelters -- they just reserve them for Hamas' leaders and fighters. Indeed, Hamas has dug thousands of tunnels under Gaza, largely so it can smuggle in, and store, more rockets to fire on Israel. Better that those tunnels were used as shelters for civilians, but that would mean not letting them die for the greater 'good.'"
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FRC's Tony Perkins: "When pollsters asked people to guess how many Americans were homosexual, most said 25%. Turns out, they were about 22% off. According to the Centers for Disease Control's first comprehensive report on the subject, the number of people who identify as gay, lesbian, or bisexual is actually less than three percent. ... While judges strike down marriage laws approved by millions of voters and businesses consider sweeping policies to accommodate this tiny fringe, the reality is that the only thing big about this demographic is its political influence. ... As we know too well, the LGBT community may make up three percent -- but it continues to get nearly 100% of the President's attention. If only Christians realized what liberals already do: that when it comes to transforming the culture, it's not the quantity of those engaged, but rather the quality of the commitment that counts."
Comedian Conan O'Brien: "Germany is considering going back to using typewriters to avoid being spied on. It's never good news when Germany says, 'We're going to go back to our old ways.'"
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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