Daily Digest for Wednesday
November 12, 2014
THE FOUNDATION"The error seems not sufficiently eradicated, that the operations of the mind, as well as the acts of the body, are subject to the coercion of the laws. But our rulers can have authority over such natural rights only as we have submitted to them. The rights of conscience we never submitted, we could not submit. We are answerable for them to our God. The legitimate powers of government extend to such acts only as are injurious to others." --Thomas Jefferson, Notes on the State of Virginia, Query XVII, 1781TOP 5 RIGHT HOOKSObama Announces Emissions Deal With ChinaThe U.S.-China agreement to cut carbon emissions is a critical one for the ecofascists looking for a worldwide treaty to fight supposedly man-made global warming. Ahead of the 2015 Paris summit on climate change, Barack Obama pledged that the U.S. would cut carbon admissions further -- to about 27% lower than 2005 emission levels by 2025. Meanwhile, China promised to begin cutting its CO2 levels by 2030 -- just after the United States meets its targets, of course. During the September UN meeting on climate change, China gave a non-answer on what it was doing to cut its emissions, showing just how reliable that nation is with international agreements. Fortunately, only Obama has made agreements with China, so this deal where America gets the short end of the stick may not last. He still needs the Senate for anything to be binding. Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) said, "This unrealistic plan that the president would dump on his successor would ensure higher utility rates and far fewer jobs." More...Comment | Share Get Ready for Obama's Climate OffensiveAfter last week's GOP election wave, Barack Obama is desperate to prove he's still relevant. And when a narcissist gets desperate, well, look out. The president is set to issue a series of sweeping executive orders over the next few weeks, all meant to address allegedly man-made global warming -- as some parts of the U.S. see record cold and snow fall. Politico reports, "The coming rollout includes a Dec. 1 proposal by EPA to tighten limits on smog-causing ozone, which business groups say could be the costliest federal regulation of all time; a final rule Dec. 19 for clamping down on disposal of power plants’ toxic coal ash; the Jan. 1 start date for a long-debated rule prohibiting states from polluting the air of their downwind neighbors; and a Jan. 8 deadline for issuing a final rule restricting greenhouse gas emissions from future power plants. That last rule is a centerpiece of Obama’s most ambitious environmental effort, the big plan for combating climate change that he announced at Georgetown University in June 2013." Congressional Republicans may have little recourse beyond a fight over funding to stop the president, who is determined to crush the economy and shred the Constitution on the way to enacting his climate agenda.Comment | Share F-Bombs Dropped at Veterans Day Rally“Happy motherf---ing Veterans Day!” That was the profoundly disrespectful "greeting" screamed by rapper Eminem, who was the centerpiece closing act for the Veterans Day "Concert for Valor" on the Washington Mall last night. Nothing says honor like carpet F-bombing an otherwise fitting Veterans Day observance. Be sure and thank the sponsors -- HBO, Chase Corp. and Starbucks. On Monday, Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz was promoting his new book, "For Love of Country: What Our Veterans Can Teach Us About Citizenship, Heroism, and Sacrifice." He also used those promotions to announce Eminem's appearance on the Mall. We applaud Schultz for advocating that businesses hire Veterans, as supported by a key piece of legislation Republicans are advancing through Congress. But our question for Schultz: Exactly what does he think Eminem "can teach us about citizenship, heroism and sacrifice"?Comment | Share ObamaCare Author Meant His 'Stupid Americans' CommentJonathan Gruber is eating his words. The MIT professor and author of ObamaCare was caught on video calling American voters stupid and saying he wrote the health care bill in a confusing way because "lack of transparency is a huge political advantage." Now, he's running damage control. First came the non-apology explaining the comments away. Gruber told MSNBC, "I was speaking off the cuff. And I basically spoke inappropriately, and I regret having made those comments." He regrets getting caught. Then came the diversionary attack. Gruber told a Boston TV station that it's the Republicans who are trying to confuse the electorate. "I think that this comes to the master strategy of the Republican Party," he said, "which is to confuse people enough about the law so that they don't understand that the subsidies they're getting is because of the law." But then Fox News aired a second video clip in which Gruber was recorded once again saying, "The American voters are too stupid the understand the difference." So much for an "off the cuff" comment, Gruber lied for the Left to get its way.Comment | Share Michael Brown's Parents Talk to the UNIt's unlikely that Ferguson, Missouri, police officer Darren Wilson will be indicted for killing Michael Brown in an altercation over the summer. While Brown's death was tragic, the evidence seems to indicate he was a criminal who posed a threat to Wilson. Nevertheless, Brown's parents aren't giving up. CNN reports, "Lesley McSpadden and Michael Brown Sr. spoke to the United Nations Committee Against Torture -- which also works against cruel or degrading treatment or punishment by government authorities." According to McSpadden, "We need the world to know what's going on in Ferguson and we need justice. We need answers and we need action. And we have to bring it to the UN so they can expose it to the rest of the world, what's going on in small-town Ferguson." Expose what -- that their son, likely impaired with marijuana, assaulted a police officer and got himself killed? And what do they expect from the UN, which is itself a collection of thug dictatorships that murder their own citizens? We hate to pile on grief-stricken parents, but this is beyond the pale. More...Comment | Share For more, visit Right Hooks.  Don't Miss Alexander's ColumnRead Veterans Day -- The High Cost of Freedom, on the life of a Patriot -- Navy sniper Chris Kyle.If you'd like to receive Alexander's Column by email, update your subscription here.
RIGHT ANALYSISCSI: Lying About 'Assault Weapons'
We like to say they're protected by Second Amendment Security. A horrific event like a Sandy Hook or Columbine always presents a grotesque opportunity for the Left to promote an anti-Second Amendment agenda, as they seize upon such evil acts to blame the tool instead of the perpetrator. Yet, for example, banning “assault weapons” between 1994 and 2004 had little positive effect on the murder rate because, simply put, those guns are rarely used to commit murders. So by the Left's "logic," we would be better off banning knives and sharp objects, as the FBI says they kill five times more people than do rifles of any type. Such a knife ban would be highly unrealistic, though, because you can't cut your steak with a spork. The phrase popularized by writer and researcher John Lott was simple: “More guns, less crime.” Each year new FBI statistics come out and generally prove the adage correct. It's why the Left, every time a rifle is used in a shooting, tries to conflate the standard AR-15 semiautomatic rifle with the military grade M4A1 carbine that is a fully automatic weapon and has been very difficult for the general public to obtain for decades. (To understand the differences between the two, check out this great resource.) Fortunately, the American people don't seem to be buying what the snake oil salesmen of the Left are selling. In fact, polling data shows Americans are more likely to believe having a gun makes a home safer. Seeking another "assault weapons" ban is approaching the political “third rail” status of Social Security -- touch it and you're dead. It would be more fatal than 99.99% of the AR-15 rifles out there. A recent episode of "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" provides a perfect illustration of the Left's lies about guns. After a mass shooting at a hotel, the coroner pulls a bullet from the body of a dead young mom, observing that it's the "size of a .223, consistent with an AR-15" -- the weapon they already know was used in the fictitious killing spree. Most coroners (real ones -- not the kind on TV) would also probably tell you that intact .223s usually don’t get pulled out of bodies. The round has a well-documented tendency to fragment. After this prompt from the coroner, Ted Danson's character, the lead CSI, adds, "America's favorite assault rifle, capable of firing 700 rounds a minute." No, actually, it's not. Again, an AR-15 is a semiautomatic rifle, capable only of firing as frequently as the operator can pull the trigger. And a standard magazine is 30 rounds, so unless a person could pull the trigger nearly 12 times per second not counting switching out mags more than 23 times in a minute, 700 rounds per minute is not, in fact, possible. If viewers don't already know the truth, they may assume this TV show -- ostensibly about science -- is giving it to them. Finally, the CSI coroner laments, "That kind of firepower belongs in a war zone, not on our streets." How many of the show's hundreds of victims were killed by handguns, knives, swords, axes, clubs, bats, cars, poison, rope, viruses, meat grinders, animals, statues, swimming pools, and on and on and on? Yet after 15 seasons -- more than 300 episodes with at least one murder victim per show -- depicting every conceivable way to kill a human being, no matter how horrific or depraved, CBS producers have finally found a method that turns their stomachs. CBS delayed the episode for two weeks, allegedly because NFL games ran long, but we suspect the real reason it didn't run until after the election was that the network didn't want any trouble from the FCC for its in-kind campaign contribution to the DNC. While CBS believes "assault weapons" are a plague upon America, the FBI stats tell a different story. Comment | Share Free Internet Through Regulation?
Since its "invention" by Al Gore, the Internet has inarguably catalyzed the greatest flow of information the world has ever seen. Absent government micromanagement, ingenuity and entrepreneurship have flourished, innovation has thrived, and investment in online infrastructure has grown. Basking in the benefits of a relatively free market, service providers have competed to bring customers the fastest connectivity at competitive prices. Consumers have benefited, and the U.S. has become the global leader in digital advancement. Naturally, such success needs just one more thing: government regulation. And that’s exactly what Obama is hoping to bring to the Wild, Wild Web. This week, he asked the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to reclassify Internet Service Providers (ISPs) from “information services,” their current classification under Title I of the Communications Act of 1934, to “telecommunications providers” under Title II -- in essence, making the Internet a public utility. At first glance, this may sound harmless. But when was the last time anyone raved about the opportunities and innovations of their heavily regulated public utility? As The Wall Street Journal explains, “Like the telephone companies of old, broadband providers would be required to ‘file a tariff’ at the [Federal Communications] commission, meaning they would submit mountains of paperwork and ask the government to approve the prices they intend to charge for services. The bureaucrats would then consider whether the prices are fair. FCC bureaucrats would also hold sway over plans to expand or build digital networks.” With this kind of "freedom," who needs tyranny? Yet, this past week, Obama said the Internet needs to be something that “works for everyone” (because apparently now it works only for some), and he claimed the only way to keep the Internet “free” is to regulate it. But of course. Regulation has long been the bastion of freedom. Just think of ObamaCare. In a video statement, Obama said, “Ever since the Internet was created, it’s been organized around the basic principles of openness, fairness and freedom. ... This set of principles, the idea of net neutrality, has unleashed the power of the Internet and given innovators the chance to thrive. Abandoning these principles would threaten to end the Internet as we know it.” Not surprisingly, when it comes to “abandoning” the principles of openness, no one credible is actually talking about doing this -- no one, that is, except Obama and his lackeys who want to use fear as the catalyst for government intrusion. Also, it’s important to note that, while predicated on openness, the Internet has never been completely "equal" anyway, and this is what has helped it thrive. As Reason's Peter Suderman explains, “[B]ig content providers with big data transmission needs have always wrangled service deals with big Internet carriers; billions of dollars are already tied up in these sorts of bargains. Not only have these deals not ruined the Internet experience for the average person, they've enhanced it, allowing traffic-intensive services like streaming video sites to purchase enhanced capabilities.” In an ironic closing to his video message, Obama emphasized that “the FCC is an independent agency and ultimately this decision is theirs alone.” Ah, yes, nothing like appointing FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler to his job, telling hundreds of millions of Americans what he should do, and then saying, “Oh, but it’s really up to him.” Wheeler says he's his own man, but he also raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for Obama's presidential campaigns. The FCC was originally expected to issue new rules for "net neutrality" by the end of this year, but now the more likely date is sometime in 2015. Should the FCC side with Obama and move to stifle the greatest explosion of information freedom in history, Congress has the authority (and, after last week’s election, the mandate) to halt the president’s overreach through the power of the purse. Whatever happens, though, don't worry -- one thing is absolutely guaranteed. If you like your Internet, you can keep your Internet. Comment | Share For more, visit Right Analysis.
TOP 5 RIGHT OPINION COLUMNS
OPINION IN BRIEFFrench philosopher Charles-Louis De Secondat (1689-1755): "The deterioration of every government begins with the decay of the principles on which it was founded."Columnist Mona Charen: "The State Department’s response to two episodes of violence reveals how perverted the Obama administration’s moral compass is. Tom Wilson of Commentary notes that in the past few weeks, two 'victims' of violence in Israel held dual citizenship. The first was Rabbi Yehuda Glick, an advocate for the rights of all religions to worship on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. Glick was shot at point-blank range after a series of incendiary statements from PA leader Mahmoud Abbas suggesting that the Jews 'desecrate' the Mount by even setting foot there. Glick has been in a medically induced coma ever since. Yet, though Glick holds joint U.S. and Israeli citizenship, the U.S. government was utterly silent about his attempted murder and has been equally mum about Abbas' ugly racial incitement. Now consider the death of Palestinian-American teen Orwa Abd al-Wahhab Hammad. The 17-year-old was shot by Israeli security forces as he was poised to hurl a Molotov cocktail off a bridge onto civilian traffic below. The U.S. State Department, making much of Hammad’s U.S. citizenship, demanded 'a speedy and transparent investigation.' ... The moral inversion could not be more complete." Comment | Share Columnist Ben Shapiro: "An educational crisis has struck Minneapolis' public schools: Black students have a tenfold higher chance of suspension or expulsion than white students. And superintendent Bernadeia Johnson wants to 'disrupt that in any way that I can.' Her solution: refusing to suspend black and Hispanic students. ... The left in America believes that overlooking actual solutions in favor of happy talk about institutional racism helps minority students. It achieves precisely the opposite, making light of misbehavior and destroying the chances for better education for those who seek to gain it. They get suspended more often because they misbehave more often. The achievement gap will never be closed, so long as school districts across the country punish good students, reward bad ones and let political correctness trump educational necessity." Comment | Share
 Semper Vigilo, Fortis, Paratus et Fidelis! 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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