THE FOUNDATION
"The liberty enjoyed by the people of these states of worshiping Almighty God agreeably to their conscience, is not only among the choicest of their blessings, but also of their rights." --George Washington, to the Annual meeting of Quakers, 1789TOP 5 RIGHT HOOKS
Obama's Political Strategy in Iraq
Barack Obama's goal in Iraq is to get out of the country politically unscathed. It would look bad if he did nothing as the Islamic State of Syria and the Levant perpetuates genocide unchecked. Water and food is cheap, so Obama sends daily humanitarian drops to the slopes of Mount Sinjar. Never mind that Obama still holds the Authorization for Use of Military Force in Iraq, because his administration asked Congress just last week to repeal the act. For the president that campaigned on a withdrawal from Iraq, the most he wants to do is drop a few bombs and funnel weapons to both the Kurds and the politically divided Iraqi government -- a move that could further weaken the region. A Democrat congressional aide criticized the administration, telling The Wall Street Journal, "They really need to start thinking more than a day ahead. Nothing we're doing is really pushing out ISIS. ... It complicates Iraqi political stability in the long-term. A lot of this is on the fly." A better goal -- a presidential goal -- is to free the U.S. from the threat of ISIL-perpetrated terror.Comment | Share
Bibles Removed From Navy Guest Rooms
The Navy is reportedly removing all Bibles from guest rooms located on its bases. Unsurprisingly, the directive is the result of a complaint filed by an atheist group -- the Freedom From Religious Foundation. The FFRF alleged the Bible's placement in Navy Lodges "amounts to a government endorsement of that religious text." Given the complaint, and the certain lack of support from the Obama administration, the Navy had little choice but to remove the Bibles. Yet the commander in chief has no problem advancing the homosexual agenda in the military ranks. Our nation's first commander in chief, George Washington, once said, "Let it simply be asked where is the security for property, for reputation, for life, if the sense of religious obligation desert the oaths?" More...Comment | Share
Robin Williams' Death Shocks Nation Ignorant of Other Tragic Killing
Oscar-winning actor and comedian Robin Williams was found dead Monday, reportedly having committed suicide. Williams struggled with depression and drug and alcohol addiction over the last few years, relapsing after two clean decades. It's tragically ironic that a man who spent his career making us laugh succumbed to depression. It's also a reflection of our entertainment culture that the endless Leftmedia news loop about his death will undoubtedly eclipse coverage and concern about the slaughter of Christians around the world. Or of the millions of unborn children whose lives are cut short by abortion. So too will Williams' death overshadow the estimated 22 veterans who commit suicide each day as they battle the demons of their time fighting war. None of this is meant to diminish Williams' death -- on the contrary, to emphasize it. Because ALL life is precious. More...Comment | Share
Dept. of Education Says Education 'Right' for Illegals
The Department of Education said the unaccompanied children crossing the border have a right to the U.S. educational system. While under the care of the Department of Health and Human Services, the children receive education. If they are placed in foster care, the children have a right to attend local schools. The department distributed a memo that said, "All children in the United States are entitled to equal access to a public elementary and secondary education, regardless of their or their parents' actual or perceived national origin, citizenship, or immigration status. This includes recently arrived unaccompanied children, who are in immigration proceedings while residing in local communities with a parent, family member, or other appropriate adult sponsor." A noble goal, yes, but it creates a problem in the country where school enrollment fraud is a serious issue, where school districts go after parents who send their children to another, better school system. Meanwhile, the cost of educating children from other countries runs about $12,000 per student per year. Who's going to pick up that tab? More...Comment | Share
Sharpton Headed to MO Race Riots
A Ferguson, Missouri, police officer shot and killed 18-year-old Michael Brown Saturday, killing the reportedly unarmed black teen. In response, rioting broke out Sunday night. Thirty-two people were arrested. Two police officers injured. A TV crew fled and a photojournalist donned body armor. And the FBI announced it will investigate the shooting. But never fear, for race hustler Al Sharpton will swoop in and calm everybody down. He released a statement Sunday, saying, "I just spoke with Leslie McSpadden, the grandfather of Michael Brown. He has asked me to come to St. Louis in light of the police killing of his grandson to assist the family in achieving a fair investigation and justice. ... I am dispatching Rev. De-Ves Toon ... to prepare for my visit, and to work with groups in the area as we pursue justice in the tradition of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr." Except MLK's tradition of justice revolved around repairing relationships through nonviolence. More...Comment | Share
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RIGHT ANALYSIS
Republican Prospects in Congress Looking Up
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The current makeup of the House, with 234 Republicans and 199 Democrats, means the minority party needs a pickup of 17 seats to gain control. Rep. Steve Israel (D-NY), head of the Democrats’ campaign efforts, refuses to concede the election just yet -- but that’s his job. Voters are disgruntled with Congress on an historic level, and the GOP isn't enjoying any surge in popularity. But Republicans have generally been better at drawing out midterm voters. To compound Democrat problems, their campaigner-in-chief, Barack Obama, is so unpopular that many of his party’s candidates are running away from him and hoping he doesn’t show his face in their districts.
Israel and his House cohorts may be holding out for a wave to improve their fortunes. This is unlikely. In the last 20 years, every wave election that took place -- 1994, 2006, 2010 -- was fueled by a backlash against the incumbent party that held the White House.
Republicans, confident they can hold the House, are turning their focus to taking over the Senate, where their chances are improving all the time. For better or worse, Lamar Alexander’s primary victory in Tennessee last week ensured that every GOP senator up for re-election will be the party’s nominee. Despite Democrats putting on a brave face, a field of Republican incumbents defending their seats will make it difficult for Democrats to increase or even maintain their hold on the Senate. The big worry right now for the majority party is holding on to the seats they already have.
Three open Senate seats currently held by Democrats will likely become Republican pickups. Sen. John Walsh of Montana, the man looking to claim a full term to the seat he was appointed to following Max Baucus’s retirement earlier this year, ended his campaign last week after succumbing to allegations of plagiarism during his time at the U.S. Army War College. Holding Baucus’s seat was already an uphill climb; now it’s nearly impossible. Open Democrat seats in West Virginia and South Dakota also look likely to swing Republican because they are fielding better candidates that are polling much stronger than what Democrats are offering.
Beyond these states, Republicans need three more pickups to take over the Senate, and they have room to maneuver. Democrat-held seats in Alaska, Arkansas, Colorado, Iowa and Louisiana are all vulnerable. In Arkansas, despite the best efforts of incumbent Mark Pryor, challenger Tim Cotton, a House representative, is polling very well. Louisiana Sen. Mary Landrieu, despite a wide polling advantage over Republican challenger Bill Cassidy, may face a runoff against other Democrat challengers that will narrow her chances of keeping her seat in the long run.
The question marks for Republicans come in Kentucky and Georgia, both Republican seats that may be in jeopardy. In Kentucky, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell is in what's turning out to be a tough fight against Kentucky Secretary of State Alison Lundergan Grimes. McConnell has a slight edge, but his position as the driver of Republican legislation in the Senate has made him a prime target for Democrats, who are dumping a lot of resources into claiming his scalp. Georgia’s seat, open with the retirement of Republican Saxby Chambliss, is being strongly challenged by Democrat Michelle Nunn.
Just the same, Republicans clearly have solid opportunities to make gains in the midterms. Political winds and historical precedent are lining up in their favor. House and Senate GOP leadership are exciting their base and also trying to temper expectations. Should they win the day, the eyes of millions of disgruntled American voters will be upon them. What they will do next won't necessarily bring an end to Barack Obama’s Reign of Error -- he’s got that pen, after all -- but it will put him in a box, and it can lead to a path toward better presidential choices in 2016.
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The Political Play Behind the Keystone Delay
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The latest wrench in the works is a new study published in Nature Climate Change claiming that building the pipeline would create at least four times the State Department's estimate of greenhouse gases. According to the Los Angeles Times, "In its environmental impact statement issued in February, the State Department estimated that the Keystone XL pipeline, which would ultimately carry 830,000 barrels of oil daily, could increase emissions of heat-trapping greenhouse gases by 1.3 million to 27.4 million metric tons annually." The new Nature Climate Change study, on the other hand, estimates annual emissions could exceed 100 million metric tons.
To reach their conclusion, study authors Peter Erickson and Michael Lazarus, both scientists at Seattle's Stockholm Environment Institute, calculate the pipeline would mean cheaper oil and gas, leading to higher consumption and, therefore, more greenhouse gases. They write, "We find that for every barrel of increased production, global oil consumption would increase 0.6 barrels owing to the incremental decrease in global oil prices." The State Department's own study, on the other hand, estimated that oil consumption would not increase because alternative means already exist for transporting the oil to refineries.
In June 2013, Barack Obama said Keystone would win his approval only if "it does not significantly exacerbate the problem of carbon pollution." In February, the State Department found just that, though in a Good Friday news dump in April, the administration said it was delaying its decision again. Perhaps Obama's comments in June last year were a signal to his environmental allies to come up with their own alarm bells, and the Easter delay was a bid to give them more time.
In related oil news, the administration recently teased the idea of oil and natural gas exploration in the Atlantic Ocean, perhaps even moving toward opening the Atlantic to drilling. The Hill reports, "In June, the administration gave its strongest signal to date that the Atlantic would likely be included in the Interior Department's five-year lease plan for 2017-2022, by opening it up to new oil and gas exploration for the first time in 30 years." That would be a huge policy shift.
Naturally, ecofascist groups jumped to action. The Hill notes, "Environmentalists, and lawmakers who oppose opening new areas to development are already pushing back, flooding the Interior Department will comments arguing against new drilling." On the other side, the governors of Virginia and both Carolinas support Atlantic drilling for the economic benefits to their states.
Obama likes to have it both ways with energy by obstructing fossil fuel exploration, drilling and production at every turn while boasting of the increased oil production during his tenure. As we have noted on numerous occasions, however, the current oil boom is thanks entirely to increased production on private and state lands. Federal lands (and waters) have remained almost entirely off limits. And even if Obama did approve drilling in the Atlantic, it wouldn't begin until after he leaves office.
In the case of the Atlantic, Obama's play may be the same as with Keystone -- signal that he's about to approve something so as to motivate his ecofascist constituents to plead their case, allowing him to hear their concerns and respond by stalling, all right before November's election. For this president, everything is politics, so whatever his angle, it's not with an eye on the nation's best interests regarding critical energy needs.
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TOP 5 RIGHT OPINION COLUMNS
- David Limbaugh: Fact-Challenged and Extreme? Do You Really Want to Go There, Obama?
- William Murchison: So Now We're in Iraq Again ... What?
- Tony Perkins: Bride Brawl Lifts the Veil on Left's Agenda
- Ed Feulner: A Tale of Two Tax Problems
- Michael Barone: Three Hundred Years Later, Americans Owe a Debt to King George I
OPINION IN BRIEF
American orator Robert G. Ingersoll (1833-1899): "The man who does not do his own thinking is a slave, and is a traitor to himself and his fellow men."Columnist David Limbaugh: "Obama simply will not accept responsibility for his own actions or the failure of his own policies. His latest jaw dropper is his denial that he had anything to do with completely withdrawing our troops from Iraq, though he campaigned on a promise to do so and refused to become engaged enough in the Iraq problem in 2011 to even try to achieve a status of forces agreement. As if auditioning for the 'Saturday Night Live' character who would play him, he said, 'What I just find interesting is the degree to which this issue keeps on coming up, as if this was my decision.' Wow. In Obama's defense, he has no choice but to blame others for his failures, because he is serving a lifetime sentence in the prison of his narcissistic psyche."
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Columnist William Murchison: "Whatever Bush's missteps and 'misunderestimations' as to foreign policy, the much-derided 'W' was realist enough to know that maintaining a distance from some problems only makes them worse. The Syrian rebellion -- out of which the Islamic State emerged -- is case in point. When people who say they hate you are getting stronger and stronger, killing more and more of your friends, don't you need at least to ask what might constructively be done about it? Or is it better just to wait and see what happens, the path our president and his foreign policy team chose on account of ... what? Disdain for Bush and Dick Cheney? Fear of a leftwing-isolationist insurgency among Democrats? Authentic if misguided conviction? All of the above? The consequences are, in any case, plain to see. ... Of course, we -- the United States -- refrained from doing 'stupid stuff.' Or did we?"
Comedian Conan O'Brien: "In a recent statement, President Obama said Russia is a country that 'doesn't make anything.' Vladimir Putin said, 'That's not true, we're making the Ukraine into Russia.'"
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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