THE FOUNDATION
"A general dissolution of principles and manners will more surely overthrow the liberties of America than the whole force of the common enemy." --Samuel Adams, letter to James Warren, 1779TOP 5 RIGHT HOOKS
Clinton and Obama 'Hug It Out'
After disagreeing with Barack Obama's foreign policy through an interview with The Atlantic, Hillary Clinton met with the vacationing president Wednesday to "hug it out." Never mind that while this phony love scene played out, ISIL furthered its genocide against "infidels." At a book signing on Martha's Vineyard, she told reporters she and Barack Obama "agree, [and] we are committed to the values and the interests of the security of our country together. We have disagreements, as any partners and friends, as we are, might very well have, but I am proud that I served with him and for him." At first, she was for the president's policy, then against it. Now, she's buddy-buddy with Barry again. As political analyst Charles Krauthammer said, it's a "blatant display of Clinton inauthenticity. It's breathtaking." More...Comment | Share
Massachusetts Exploits Sandy Hook for Gun Control
Massachusetts Democrat Gov. Deval Patrick signed a new gun control law Wednesday that he and other gun grabbers claim will make the Bay State safer. "The new law stiffens penalties for some gun-based crimes, creates a Web-based portal within the state Executive Office of Public Safety to allow for real-time background checks in private gun sales and calls for the creation of a firearms trafficking unit within the state police," reports the Boston Globe. "It also gives local police chiefs the right to go to court to try to deny firearms identification cards needed to buy rifles or shotguns to people they feel are unsuitable to have access to the weapons." Of course, the law was a knee-jerk statist response to the 2012 mass murder at Sandy Hook Elementary School. It's tragically ironic that it's now law in the state where the first shots were fired in defense of American Liberty -- fired when an oppressive government attempted to seize weapons in Concord. More...Comment | Share
Obama Relaxes Rules on Lobbyists
In 2008, Barack Obama promised voters over and over that if they elected himComment | Share
'Cash for Clunkers' Cost Automakers Billions
"Cash for Clunkers" was part of the 2009 "stimulus" ostensibly to both jumpstart the economy and save the American auto industry. Just bring in your old gas-guzzler and receive a tax credit for a new fuel-efficient car. Researchers at Texas A&M University recently released a study showing that Clunkers not only didn't work, it was actually harmful to the auto industry. The study authors explain: "Cash for Clunkers was a 2009 economic stimulus program aimed at increasing new vehicle spending by subsidizing the replacement of older vehicles. Using a regression discontinuity design, we show the increase in sales during the two month program was completely offset during the following seven to nine months, consistent with previous research. However, we also find the program's fuel efficiency restrictions induced households to purchase more fuel efficient but less expensive vehicles, thereby reducing industry revenues by three billion dollars over the entire nine to eleven month period [emphasis added]. This highlights the conflict between the stimulus and environmental objectives of the policy." In other words, the American people were sold another lemon. More...Comment | Share
Judge Upholds Tennessee's Traditional View of Marriage
There was an important ruling last week in Tennessee, though you're not likely to hear much about it in the Leftmedia. Judge Russell E. Simmons Jr. did what so many other judges with animosity have failed to do, especially in the marriage debate -- consider what the Constitution has to say, or, in this case, what it doesn't say. Tennessee does not recognize same-sex marriage, a policy that Judge Simmons affirmed is constitutional thanks to the Tenth Amendment. The ruling was prompted after a same-sex couple from Iowa couldn't divorce in Tennessee because the state outlaws same-sex marriage to begin with. As Heritage Foundation's Ryan T. Anderson writes, this is exactly how it should be: "Marriage policy should be worked out by the people in the states; this is the beauty of federalism. We do not need a court-imposed 50-state solution. The courts should not force states to abandon caution in the face of a social experiment like the redefinition of marriage." More...Comment | Share
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Don't Miss Alexander's Column
Read Vacationing Obama Style -- Hypocrisy's Finest Hour, on the imperial president's fiddling while the world burns.If you'd like to receive Alexander's Column by email, update your subscription here.
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RIGHT ANALYSIS
An Immoral Culture Can Expect Heavy Handed Law Enforcement
The situation in Ferguson, Missouri, shows no signs of calming down, five days after riots broke out in the wake of a police shooting. As "peaceful" protesters reportedly threw Molotov cocktails and generally continued their mayhem, police in riot gear responded with tear gas and smoke bombs.As we noted Wednesday, the utter collapse of black society is largely to blame for the riots in reaction to the death of 18-year-old Michael Brown. The young man was black and the police officer is white. The Ferguson Police Department has refused to name the officer for fear of retribution -- not without reason, given the violence and racial hatred being stoked in this majority-black community.
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But Brown's friend Dorian Johnson, the other man in the encounter, insists Brown was the victim of unjustified police action. Brown "turned around with his hands up," Johnson said, "beginning to tell the officer that he was unarmed and to tell him to stop shooting. But at that time, the officer firing several more shots into my friend, and he hit the ground and died."
It remains to be determined which version is true -- perhaps some of both. Brown was reportedly a big guy, and not possessing a gun doesn't mean he wasn't incapable of inflicting serious harm on the officer.
Accounts of the ensuing unrest also differ. Ryan Reilly and Wesley Lowery, journalists for the Huffington Post and Washington Post, respectively, were arrested (though no charges were filed) and they claim to have been assaulted by police, though not seriously.
Others allege police brutality and an unnecessarily overwhelming response. Reason's Scott Shackford writes, "Once again an extremely militarized police force is facing down peaceful protesters in Ferguson and trying to get them to disperse. There are dozens of officers, some counting more than 70 and reports that there are snipers with weapons pointed at the crowd."
It's important to note, however, the protests began with violent looting, and the New Black Panther Party is reportedly inciting more violence. All of that would justify a significant police response, and yet St. Louis County Police Chief Jon Belmar says officers have displayed "an incredible amount of restraint," despite being attacked by rocks and bottles, and seeing two dozen patrol vehicles destroyed.
Local news channel KMOV photographer Scott Thomas corroborates Belmar's assessment, saying police "exercised all manner of restraint. They received verbal abuse all day long, and it wasn't until things were actually thrown at them that they took action with tear gas and advanced. ... This situation only occurred when bottles or rocks were thrown at police, and that is when they used tear gas." Police have also reportedly fired rubber bullets.
In short, passions on both sides are running high, making it difficult to separate fact from fiction. Creating a militarized lockdown area and stamping out media coverage doesn't help.
So what's the answer? Clearly, violent protests solve nothing, and if there is violence, theft and general mayhem, the police must enforce law and order. As we've said before, our culture has devolved in dangerous ways and law enforcement officers are on the front lines.
Yet seeing police deploy MRAPs and take other militarization measures is disturbing. In a free country, higher standards are put on law enforcement officers than in other nations, and having police forces being virtually indistinguishable from an Army unit doesn't give the sense of Liberty.
In some ways, Liberty and security are in constant tension. But, if done correctly, upholding Rule of Law is Liberty. This requires restraint and morality from civilians and law enforcement alike. As long as our culture devolves into an immoral and violent morass, law enforcement will reflect that change and it will become more militaristic. And the cycle will spiral into bondage.
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The Iraq War Never Really Ended
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Now, as Obama claims it was never really his decision to withdraw troops (the buck stops over there), he’s facing the reality of sending troops back to Iraq in a continuation of the war that never really ended. This week, following Obama's drive-by bombing, the Pentagon sent 130 Marines and Special Ops forces into Northern Iraq in an "advisory" capacity to come up with a plan to possibly rescue the thousands of Yazidi refugees stranded on Mount Sinjar after fleeing the jihadist terror of the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). Continuing the strategy of merely claiming victory, however, the administration quickly declared the Yazidi operation a success after 24 airstrikes and said a rescue mission is unnecessary.
In other words, the administration really wants jihadis to know we don't intend to actually fight them. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel insisted the troop deployment “is not a combat boots on the ground kind of operation.” Apparently, there is a difference between "ground" troops and "combat" boots. Either way, there are nearly 1,000 soldiers in Iraq now. As Obama’s Deputy National Security Advisor Ben Rhodes explained for the plebeian masses, “What [the president’s] ruled out is reintroducing U.S. forces into combat on the ground in Iraq.” And we imagine Obama sent a monogrammed stationary note to ISIL letting them know that the U.S. troops they may see are simply ground troops and not intended for combat, so please don’t shoot. Tea and crumpets to follow.
The problem -- well, one among many -- is that ISIL is a radical Islamic terrorist organization bent on imposing absolute rule in the region and then spreading terror throughout the world, with no exception clause for the United States. In fact, Sen. John McCain recently noted the U.S. is now tracking 100 ISIL jihadis within our own borders. And ISIL spokesman Abu Mosa recently threatened America by saying “the Islamic Caliphate has been established,” adding that “we will not stop” and “God willing, we will raise the flag of Allah in the White House.”
It seems Obama’s "JV team" of terrorists is acting rather varsity-ish. But not to worry; the State Department assured us Wednesday they've been "looking at" a long-term strategy to deal with ISIL for "a year or so now." What a relief to know they're so prepared.
Despite the very real and imminent threat, the president seems to think a political solution is feasible. This week, he announced his administration’s backing of Iraq’s new president, Fuad Masum, and endorsement of the new prime minister, Haider al-Abadi, effectively withdrawing support for current Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, who is stubbornly refusing to step down and make way for his successor. The administration blames Maliki for not building an "inclusive" government, thereby leading Sunni minorities to join ISIL. Obama has pledged to consider support for a “new inclusive government” -- in essence, a government that will negotiate with Sunnis and, in the process, lure them away from ISIL.
The Wall Street Journal writes, "The main U.S. strategic priority now should be rolling back and defeating [ISIL] so it can't establish a terrorist caliphate. Such a state will become a mecca for jihadists who will train and then disperse to kill around the world. They will attempt to strike Americans in ways that grab world attention, including the U.S. homeland. A strategy merely to contain [ISIL] does not reduce this threat." So far, it's a threat whose strength both the Pentagon and the White House badly underestimated. Or worse, they didn't misjudge.
While the administration talks Baghdad politics and clings ever so fiercely to the empty claim of ending U.S. involvement in Iraq, the war rages on. Only this time, it’s worse. Because, as National Review Editor Rich Lowry writes, “Now that the most powerful terrorist group of modern times controls large parts of Iraq and neighboring Syria, we are back at war, although without the requisite seriousness or comprehensive strategy.” Indeed, Lowry continues, the president “never ended the Iraq War. ... He only abandoned it.”
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TOP 5 RIGHT OPINION COLUMNS
- Victor Davis Hanson: Occupation of Cyprus Underscores Hypocrisy of Gaza Outrage
- Ben Shapiro: Let's Get Serious About Mental Illness
- George Will: Into a New Void?
- Jacob Sullum: Can a Gun Owner Get Justice in New Jersey?
- Ken Blackwell: Why Is Hillary Doing Stupid Things?
OPINION IN BRIEF
English author D. H. Lawrence (1885-1938): "Men fight for liberty and win it with hard knocks. Their children, brought up easy, let it slip away again, poor fools. And their grand-children are once more slaves."Historian Victor Davis Hanson: "Cyprus is a beautiful island. But it has never recovered from the Turkish invasion of 1974. Turkish troops still control nearly 40 percent of the island -- the most fertile and formerly the richest portion. Some 200,000 Greek refugees never returned home after being expelled from their homes and farms in Northern Cyprus. ... Thousands of settlers from Anatolia were shipped in by the Turkish government to occupy former Greek villages and to change Cypriot demography -- in the same manner the occupying Ottoman Empire once did in the 16th century. Not a single nation recognizes the legitimacy of the Turkish Cypriot state. In contrast, Greek Cyprus is a member of the European Union. Why, then, is the world not outraged at an occupied Cyprus the way it is at, say, Israel? ... [T]he Middle East is not just about a dispute over land. Israel is inordinately damned for what it supposedly does because its friends are few, its population is tiny, and its adversaries beyond Gaza numerous, dangerous and often powerful. And, of course, because it is Jewish."
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Columnist Ben Shapiro: "[I]f we are to recognize the importance of mental illness as a society, the left must stop papering over mental illness with platitudes about diversity, and the right must stop treating mental illness as a moral problem rather than a medical one. Those racked with mental anguish are crying out for our help. If we don’t hear them, it may be because too busy pushing political viewpoints rather than listening."
Humorist Frank J. Fleming: "Obama isn’t that bad of president as long as you’re not just comparing him American presidents."
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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