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Patriot Headlines | Grassroots Commentary Daily Digest
March 30, 2015
THE FOUNDATION"[A] constitution of government once changed from freedom, can never be restored. Liberty, once lost, is lost forever." --John Adams, letter to Abigail Adams, 1775TOP 5 RIGHT HOOKSBergdahl's Defense May Say He's a WhistleblowerThe whispers coming out of the Pentagon are that Pfc. Bowe Bergdahl may defend himself against charges of desertion by arguing he left his unit at an observation post in 2009 to report on his fellow soldiers' lack of discipline and strife with his commanders. For some reason, Bergdahl thought the best way to do that was to leave for another U.S. base in the dead of night, days before his unit was to head back, leaving his uniform and firearm behind. CNN reports, "Bergdahl was planning to report what he believed to be problems with 'order and discipline' in his unit, a senior Defense official tells CNN. A second official says Bergdahl had 'concerns about leadership issues at his base.' … 'This was a kid who had leadership concerns on his mind,' the second official said. 'He wasn't fed up, he wasn't planning to desert.'" So six soldiers are dead and five Taliban jihadis will soon rejoin the battlefield because Bergdahl wanted to take a walk to another base and file a complaint? Yeah, right.Comment | Share Chuck Schumer Is No Better Than Harry ReidSen. Harry Reid hasn't even taken a step out the door and some people already miss his "leadership." After Reid announced his retirement, the Democrat senator next in line is Chuck Schumer. And looking at Schumer's track record, the New York Democrat is probably the worst of two evils. He has said he disagrees with the Supreme Court's definition of religious liberty, he wants to tax the snot out of "rich" people, and he's as gun-phobic as they come. Political analyst Charles Krauthammer argued that Reid "emasculated [the Senate] in the name of protecting the president and trying to re-elect Democrats." It always seemed like Republicans only had two years before the game would change again. Depending on how the 2016 elections go, it may get a lot harder. With Schumer holding the reins of Democrat leadership, he would be fully guided by the far-Left ideal. And if he controls the Senate, he may do the chamber more harm than even Reid managed. More...Comment | Share Weekly Address: Tax the Rich!Barack Obama never lets a week go by without waging class warfare. This time, he hit the Republican budget in his weekly address. "Protecting working Americans' paychecks shouldn't be a partisan issue," he said, making it a partisan issue. "But the budget Republicans unveiled last week would make it harder, not easier, to crack down on financial fraud and abuse. And this week, when Republicans rolled out their next economic idea, it had nothing to do with the middle class. It was a new, more-than-$250 billion tax cut for the top one-tenth of the top one percent of Americans. That would mean handing out an average tax cut of $4 million a year to just 4,000 Americans per year, and leaving the rest of the country to pay for it." Sometimes we tire of correcting him, but a tax cut is not a "hand out." The money first belongs to the earner, not the government. Obama and his ilk have it backwards. He continued yammering about "everyone [doing] their fair share" and "middle-class economics," but the message was the same old leftist redistributionist drivel.Comment | Share Hillary Clinton Hit Ctrl+Alt+Del on Her EmailThe House committee investigating the 2012 attack on Benghazi learned former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton pressed the reset button on her private email account that held all her communication from her time in office. Her emails are gone. In a statement, Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-SC) said, "We learned today, from her attorney, Secretary Clinton unilaterally decided to wipe her server clean and permanently delete all emails from her personal server. While it is not clear precisely when Secretary Clinton decided to permanently delete all emails from her server, it appears she made the decision after October 28, 2014, when the Department of State for the first time asked the Secretary to return her public record to the Department." It is thought Clinton's homebrew email account was built to be permanently deleted, not for critical concerns like security. And she put that design to use when people started investigating. Now, the question is, will Clinton get away scot-free from willfully destroying government records that rightfully belong to the American people? In the meantime, perhaps Gowdy and his committee can ask the NSA and the Russians if they could forward them copies of Clinton's communications. More...Comment | Share What Time Is It? Time to Start Arctic DrillingWhile the U.S. is enjoying a boom in oil production, it has been no thanks to Barack Obama's policies -- as federal lands remain closed, the growth is almost entirely on private lands. Yet no good thing lasts forever, and even the government says we should be prepared. The Associated Press reports, "The U.S. should immediately begin a push to exploit its enormous trove of oil in the Arctic waters off of Alaska, or risk a renewed reliance on imported oil in the future, an Energy Department advisory council says in a study submitted Friday." It takes years from exploration to first barrel on the market, so best to get started. Thanks to economic growth in China, India and elsewhere, fossil-fuel demand is expected to grow -- in spite of leftist climate alarmism. So why the Arctic? The AP says geologists estimate it "holds about a quarter of the world's undiscovered conventional oil and gas deposits." More oil drilling has never been a policy goal for the Obama administration, but even a stopped clock is right twice a day. That said, an Energy Department study is hardly going to persuade Obama to open up the spigots.Comment | Share For more, visit Right Hooks.
RIGHT ANALYSISThe Left Defends Individual License, Not Rights
All the ingredients are present to cook up a hyper-responsive framework to marginalize targets -- celebrities and corporate CEOs yammering about discrimination and "hate," raving partisans calling for resignations and activists organizing boycotts. The leaders of the Left, including Saul Alinsky disciple Barack Obama, must be very proud of the kerfuffle. Indeed, Obama's spokesman Josh Earnest said the law appears to "legitimize discrimination." Last week, Indiana's state house, senate and governor all supported legislation based upon current federal law to protect religious liberty. Republican Governor Mike Pence's signature placed the state in the same category of 19 others in modeling legislation on the Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993. That law was signed by Bill Clinton after Democrats led by the likes of Ted Kennedy and Chuck Schumer supported religious liberty. Oh, and by the way, Illinois is one of those 19 states, and its law passed with the vote of a then-state senator by the name of ... Barack Obama. Just prior to signing the 1993 federal law, Clinton described its scope: "What this law basically says is that the government should be held to a very high level of proof before it interferes with someone's free exercise of religion. This judgment is shared by the people of the United States as well as by the Congress. We believe strongly that ... we can never be too vigilant in this work." But Democrats' support for religious liberty completely evaporated when they literally booed God at the party's convention in 2012. The Indiana law, named the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (sound familiar?), does not institutionalize discrimination as those on the "tolerant" Left declare. Instead, it protects the likes of businesses in the well-publicized cases of bakery owners, florists and wedding photographers attacked by the Left for standing by the teachings of their faith. Simply, business owners whose faith says the same thing as God does about homosexuality -- that the act is a sin -- have their rights protected to observe their faith and not be forced to endorse, for example, a same-sex wedding ceremony. We know that's brutal, calling homosexuality a sin -- just as it is to call abortion the murder of an infant. Operating a business on principles of faith where the observant says the same thing about love, goodness, mercy, sin, judgment and righteousness as the God being worshipped... It's simply brutal to some. Appreciate that in the world of the unicorn-riding Left, the only rights that exist are awarded by the state based on secular whims of division by constituency. It's where sexual preference is celebrated, the acceptance of destructive behavior is applauded and antagonism of politically incorrect faith is the ideal. The Left does not fight for the rights of individuals. They fight for the license of individuals, or the freedom to act upon one's instincts, rather than rights and responsibilities. The federal Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993 and the laws of the other 19 states have not conjured up or encouraged discrimination. On the contrary, we're watching a "hands up, don't shoot" moment in the making where the false narrative of the activist Left is parroted and crafted into "fact" by the presstitutes in the media. It's awfully difficult to articulate a stance based on reason, precedent and true rights to a group inflamed by emotion and invested in the movement-of-the-moment. This effective tactic employed by the Left -- of marginalizing those with standards and a moral compass -- is destroying our society's foundations and, dangerously, the truth itself. Will you be forced to participate in an act that violates your faith? Asked another way: Will one's politics and cultural conveniences determine one's god, or will God determine one's politics and culture? Comment | Share Outing Israel's Nuke Program
The betrayal occurred early last month, when the release of the 1987 report, "Critical Technological Assessment in Israel and NATO Nations," breached a longstanding mutual silence aimed at preventing a Middle East arms race. Released just prior to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's March 3 address to Congress, the 386-page report reveals critical details regarding how Israel advanced its military technology and its development of a nuclear infrastructure during the 1970s and 1980s. The document reveals that the Jewish State's nuclear infrastructure is "an almost exact parallel of the capability currently existing at [U.S.] National Laboratories," and that Israeli research efforts "are equivalent to our Los Alamos, Lawrence Livermore and Oak Ridge National Laboratories." It further revealed that, in some cases, Israel's military prowess "is more advanced than in the U.S." Israeli news site Arutz Sheva, highlighting this story with an intensity that stands in stark contrast to an American mainstream media that ignored it, says Israel was singled out: "[W]hile the Pentagon saw fit to declassify sections on Israel's sensitive nuclear program, it kept sections on Italy, France, West Germany and other NATO countries classified, with those sections blocked out in the document." The document release was an ostensible effort by the Obama administration to comply with a three-year-old Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request by anti-Israel activist Grant F. Smith. His group, Institute for Research: Middle Eastern Policy, in conjunction with anti-Israel groups If Americans Knew and the Council for the National Interest (CNI), holds an annual Israel-bashing conference in Washington, DC. During last year's conference, San Francisco radio host Jeffrey Blankfort referred to our nation's capital as "Israeli-occupied territory" and spoke of "AIPAC's occupation of Congress." Rep. Cynthia McKinney (D-GA) opined that "the pro-Israel lobby usually has a whole lot of money and those of us who act of conscious generally don't. ... [T]hey can buy and intimidate people." And CNI Executive Director Philip Giraldi offered up an Israeli-based truther narrative with regard to 9/11: "The existence of a large scale Israeli spying effort at the time of 9/11 has been widely reported incorporating Israeli companies. ... Five Israelis from one of the companies were observed celebrating against the backdrop of the Twin Towers going down." It's useful to point out the same administration eager to get this information in the public domain is the one that has routinely stonewalled FOIA requests. The administration recently announced it would simply ditch regulations subjecting substantial portions of White House correspondence to FOIA requests, reversing a 30-year-old policy. And in a testament to the administration's Orwellian instincts, the reversal was announced during "Sunshine Week," the annual celebration of the Freedom of Information Act. Yet when it comes to undermining Israel, the Most Transparent Administration in History™ is apparently up to the task. A senior Israeli official who wished to remain anonymous offered the Times of Israel his take on Obama and company. "The White House is driven by three main motives," he contended. "The first is revenge [for Netanyahu's congressional speech]. The second is frustration: It's no secret that they were involved in an attempt to bring down the Netanyahu government -- something that we have clear knowledge of -- and failed. The third [motive] is the administration's attempt to divert attention from the negotiations with Iran to the Palestinian issue." The Times report also details Israel's foray into hydrogen bomb-making -- as in "developing the kind of codes ... which detail fission and fusion processes on a microscopic and macroscopic level." Jewish Daily Forward blogger Michael Karpin puts that revelation in perspective, explaining, "It should be emphasized that in the history of the relations between the two countries there is no other published official American document that mentions in any way the Israelis' development of hydrogen bombs." That's because no other administration in American history has harbored as much animosity for Israel as this one. The New York Post's Michael Goodwin exposes Obama's despicable level of petulance, saying he is "paving the way for an Iranian nuke" and "hinting he'll also let the other anti-Semites at Turtle Bay have their way." Goodwin also notes why this is occurring: "Whatever form the punishment takes, it will aim to teach Bibi Netanyahu never again to upstage [Obama]. And to teach Israeli voters never again to elect somebody Obama doesn't like." And if such petulance engenders a nuclear arms race in the Middle East, much as Saudi Arabia has already indicated? So be it. Furthermore, Americans should be clear that, despite protestations to the contrary, Obama's contempt for Israel resonates within his party. It was Democrat delegates attending their 2012 National Convention who heartily booed the idea that Jerusalem should be the capital of the Jewish State. And it was Obama's Chief of Staff Denis McDonough who told an adoring crowd of J Street leftists that Israel must end its occupation of the West Bank. No doubt many in the White House are thrilled with the "outing" of Israel's nuke program -- courtesy of the same administration that will bend over backwards to keep any details of Iran's efforts from being publicized, even after they reach a "historic" agreement. For those who believe such pie-in-the-sky diplomacy will be successful, it is worth remembering the equally "historic" Agreed Framework of 1994 that was trumpeted as a success in preventing North Korea from obtaining nukes. Unfortunately, with the current gaggle of clueless Obama administration officials in charge, history gets to repeat itself -- and Israel becomes target Numero Uno for an Islamofascist Iranian regime. For those aligned with Obama and his thoroughly twisted worldview, that's known as a "twofer." Comment | Share For more, visit Right Analysis.
TOP 5 RIGHT OPINION COLUMNS
 OPINION IN BRIEFThe Gipper: "I've learned in Washington that that's the only place where sound travels faster than light."Columnist Jeff Jacoby: "Perhaps Netanyahu should be flattered that Obama holds him to such a high standard of constancy. The president has certainly never demanded it of himself. On a whole slew of issues, Obama has adamantly taken one position, then cast it aside when it was politically advantageous to do so. He stoutly told AIPAC that Jerusalem must remain the undivided capital of Israel. Then he took it back. He endlessly promised voters that if they liked their existing health plan, they could keep it. Then he took it back. He repeatedly explained that he didn’t have the authority to unilaterally change or ignore immigration law. Then he took it back. He coldly warned Syrian dictator Bashar Assad that any use of chemical weapons would cross a “red line” calling for a military response. Then he took it back. He firmly asserted that he was not in favor of same-sex marriage. Then he took it back. ... Hypocrisy, thy name is Obama." Comment | Share Columnist George Will: "As Hillary Clinton begins her campaign to again reside with the White House furnishings, remember an episode perhaps pertinent to the family penchant for secrecy and to her personal email server. Sandy Berger, who had been President Clinton’s national security adviser, was Clinton’s designated representative to the commission that investigated the 9/11 attacks that occurred less than nine months after Clinton left office. While representing Clinton, Berger frequented the National Archives. Later, he was fined $50,000 for surreptitiously taking highly classified documents from the Archives and destroying some of them. Another Clinton presidency probably would include a reprise of the couple’s well-known patterns of behavior. Voters will make an informed choice." Comment | Share Comedian Argus Hamilton: "Obama played host to high school science students from across America at the annual White House National Science Fair. The president surveyed some projects that are silly and would never work. And after he left his foreign policy meeting, it was on to the kids' work." Semper Vigilans Fortis Paratus et Fidelis! Managing Editor Nate Jackson 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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