THE FOUNDATION
"To cherish and stimulate the activity of the human mind, by multiplying the objects of enterprise, is not among the least considerable of the expedients, by which the wealth of a nation may be promoted." --Alexander Hamilton, Report on Manufactures, 1791TOP 5 RIGHT HOOKS
Washington Whispers on Obama's Immigration Action
Washington woke up today and realized Labor Day means there are two months until the midterm elections that will determine which party controls the Senate. As a result, the White House may be backpedaling on its promises of moving on a mega-executive action over illegal immigration. But all this "news" is only whispered rumors in the halls of power. Will Barack Obama move soon? The liberal immigration advocates certainly hope so. But according to The Washington Post's Plum Line, an executive move on immigration will hurt Democrat senatorial campaigns because granting amnesty to five million illegal immigrants will affect jobs, and jobs will affect other maligned groups under the Democrats' wings, like women. Pitting one supposedly oppressed group against another is bad for the Left's platform. Unfortunately, predicting when Obama will swoop in on immigration means getting into his head. Unlike a constitutional republic, where debate is played out on the floor of the legislature, we don't know what Obama is deliberating. More...Comment | Share
ISIL Seeking Biological Weapons
ISIL may be seeking to create and deploy biological weapons. What might be called "BioBombers" are Islamist "martyrs" who, instead of strapping on a bomb and detonating themselves in a crowded urban area, become human hosts for virulent strains of deadly contagions. A laptop recovered from ISIL jihadis reveals the plan. According to Foreign Policy magazine, "The [ISIL] laptop contains a 19-page document in Arabic on how to develop biological weapons and how to weaponize the bubonic plague from infected animals. 'The advantage of biological weapons is that they do not cost a lot of money, while the human casualties can be huge,' the document states." Furthermore, the document instructs, "Use small grenades with the virus, and throw them in closed areas like metros, soccer stadiums, or entertainment centers. Best to do it next to the air-conditioning. It also can be used during suicide operations." Yet another reason to consider ISIL a serious threat and to have a strategy for defeating them. More...Comment | Share
FBI: Islamic Terrorism? What Islamic Terrorism?
In a world in which ISIL has taken over large portions of the Middle East and features as many as 100 Americans within its ranks of fighters, the FBI has assessed the threat of terrorism domestically and found no Islamic threats. The Washington Free Beacon reports, "The FBI’s most recent national threat assessment for domestic terrorism makes no reference to Islamist terror threats, despite last year’s Boston Marathon bombing and the 2009 Fort Hood shooting -- both carried out by radical Muslim Americans. Instead, the internal FBI intelligence report concluded in its 2013 assessment published this month that the threat to U.S. internal security from extremists is limited to attacks and activities by eight types of domestic extremist movements -- none motivated by radical Islam." The Obama administration has fretted over right-wing extremists since 2009, so it's little surprise their focus is on anything but radical Islam. There are none so blind as those who will not see. More...Comment | Share
More Arctic Ice Seven Years After Gore Said It Would Be 'Completely Gone'
In 2007, the populist potentate of eco-theology, Al Gore, declared, "The North Polar ice cap is falling off a cliff. It could be completely gone in summer in as little as seven years. Seven years from now." Now that it's seven years later, let's check in on Gore's prophecy, shall we? For the second year in a row, the Arctic ice cap has expanded, and covers 1.715 million square kilometers more than two years ago -- that's an area the size of Alaska. Meanwhile, changing our economy to account for this "settled science" could cost just as much as doing nothing at all. That's assuming the science really is settled, and climate change would cause costly changes to lifestyle. It should be obvious that ecofascists' efforts to "mitigate" climate change with onerous regulations and bigger government are merely a means to gain more power for themselves. More...Comment | Share
PBS Will 'Humanize' Late-Term Abortionists
PBS will air a documentary Monday night called "After Tiller," which the taxpayer-funded broadcaster bills as a "deeply humanizing and probing portrait" of late-term abortionists. These brave souls, PBS says, remain "absolutely dedicated to their work" even after the 2009 murder of the nation's most prominent late-term abortionist, Dr. George Tiller, who himself murdered countless partially born children. Film producers Martha Shane and Lana Wilson "decided to represent the anti-abortion movement as it is experienced by the doctors themselves.” That's a much easier task than representing late-term abortion -- which can involve the complete dismemberment of children in the womb after they can feel pain -- as experienced by the babies themselves. Make no mistake: To "humanize" the doctors who practice this evil and barbaric act -- on a channel that received $300 million from the federal government in 2013, no less -- is itself grotesque. More...Comment | Share
For more, visit Right Hooks.
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RIGHT ANALYSIS
Russia: A Western Lack of Will
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On Thursday, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko canceled a planned visit to Turkey, saying “an invasion of Russian forces has taken place.” While Russia denies its troops are in Ukraine, U.S. and NATO reports claim that “well over” 1,000 Russian troops are indeed participating in the invasion. The two sides also engaged in a prisoner swap over the weekend, with Ukraine releasing 10 Russian paratroopers in exchange for 63 of its soldiers captured by Russia.
As things were looking more grim for Ukrainian interests, they weren't getting a lot of help from the West. Investor's Business Daily put it succinctly in an editorial Thursday: “Putin's apparent plan of intimidating Europe into submission seems to be working.” Handwringing in the face of Russian advances has become the normal reaction, with little penalty to Putin for his annexation of Crimea during the spring, and little to suggest a strong response now.
Expansion of sanctions is an option, and Barack Obama noted Thursday they were having an effect. "I think that the sanctions that we’ve already applied have been effective,” said Obama. “Our intelligence shows that the Russians know they’ve been effective, even though it may not appear on Russian television. And I think there are ways for us to deepen or expand the scope of some of that work.” However, the FBI says Russia may have countered those sanctions with a cyber-attack on our financial system earlier this month.
But that expansion of scope frightens European countries that depend on Russia for natural gas, and while Barack Obama will meet with NATO allies this week, he's taken military action off the table -- as if it were in doubt. “We're not taking military action to solve the Ukraine problem,” Obama said.
Opposition has been fierce to the wobbly approach. Speaking on Fox News Channel's Special Report, analyst Charles Krauthammer blasted the president. “[Obama] basically said, ‘We’re going to do nothing. I’ll wait until I chat with the allies next week.’ I thought he had a phone,” joked Krauthammer. “How about picking up the phone and talking with the allies? You know the phone is a way to communicate rather rapidly.”
Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) was also skeptical, believing we can go beyond sanctions and provide Ukrainian forces with weapons and battlefield intelligence. “For God's sake, can't we help these people defend themselves?” he asked. But unless NATO and our other European allies draw a line in the sand -- with meaning, not just rhetoric -- Putin will take what he wants from Ukraine and perhaps expand his map even further.
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For more, visit Right Analysis.
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TOP 5 RIGHT OPINION COLUMNS
- George Will: Paul Ryan's Way Forward
- Star Parker: Paul Ryan Has Answer for Ferguson
- John C. Goodman: ObamaCare Is Affecting Everyone
- Jeff Jacoby: I'm Unenrolled. I'm Conservative. Which Democrat Should I Vote For?
- Burt Prelutsky: Trayvon Martin, Meet Michael Brown
OPINION IN BRIEF
The Gipper: "The best social program is a productive job for anyone who's willing to work."Columnist George Will: "Progressivism aims to place individuals in unmediated dependency on a government that can proclaim, as Barack Obama does: 'If you've got a business, you didn’t build that. Somebody else made that happen.' Meaning, people depend on government for what they are and have. Few of today’s progressives are acquainted with their doctrine’s intellectual pedigree or its consistent agenda. Progressivism’s founders, however, considered it essential that the nation make progress, as they understood this, beyond the Founders' natural rights philosophy, which limits government by saying (in the Declaration of Independence) that it is 'instituted' to 'secure' these rights. Hence Woodrow Wilson, a progressive who understood his doctrine’s premises, urged Americans to 'not repeat the [Declaration’s] preface.' Progressivism preaches that rights do not pre-exist government, that they are dispensed and respected by government as it sees fit and to fit its purposes. Those purposes grow unconstrained by the Constitution that progressives construe as a 'living' -- meaning infinitely elastic -- document."
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Columnist Burt Prelutsky: "When I heard that the divorce rate was going down in America, I took that as a good sign until I discovered it was because the marriage rate has plummeted even faster. Like just about every other societal calamity, I assume the source of this decline can be traced to our colleges and universities. One would assume that curriculum devoted to feminist studies, achieving self-induced multiple orgasms, experimenting with homosexuality and the acceptance of transgenderism as an alternate life style, would culminate with a generation that is so self-absorbed that marriage licenses will at some future point only exist at the Smithsonian, along with Jefferson’s writing desk, Franklin’s walking stick and dinosaur bones. Another contributing factor is the portrayal of marriage on TV and in the movies. It is usually depicted as armed warfare, with husbands depicted as stupid, boring, close-minded louts and wives pictured as potential high-flyers who would be soaring through the clouds were it not for having had their glorious wings clipped through the twin tragedies of marriage and children."
Comedian Argus Hamilton: "Russian troops invaded southeast Ukraine to seize the land corridor which connects Russia to Crimea below Ukraine. Hope is slipping fast now. Obama went on TV and promised the Ukrainian people if they like their corridor, they get to keep their corridor."
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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