THE FOUNDATION
"In disquisitions of every kind there are certain primary truths, or first principles, upon which all subsequent reasoning must depend." —Alexander Hamilton, Federalist No. 31, 1788TOP RIGHT HOOKS
Congress Cuts the Line on NSA Data Collection
The Senate passed the USA Freedom Act Tuesday without amendment, and Barack Obama signed it, curbing the NSA's mass collection of every American's phone records. While it's a victory for privacy advocates, work remains in ensuring that the U.S. government respects the Fourth Amendment. Instead of scraping up records on every call in the U.S., the act dictates that private phone companies will keep the records and the government can request the information. The Senate's 67-32 vote split the Republican Party between its leadership and the more libertarian-leaning lawmakers. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell complained, "There are a number of us who feel very strongly that this is a significant weakening of the tools that were put in place in the wake of 9/11 to protect the country." But Rep. James Sensenbrenner, the author of the Patriot Act, said some of those "tools" (i.e., mass data collection) were never meant to be given. Notably, Sen. Rand Paul, perhaps the most prominent advocate for NSA reform, voted against the USA Freedom Act, saying it didn't go far enough. With Sen. Ron Wyden, Paul proposed nine amendments that would have required the government to offer greater justification before it spied on a citizen. For over a decade, the country has been in a constant state of war, allowing an erosion of Fourth Amendment rights because it feared a "lone-wolf terrorist" attack or another 9/11. But a state of fear is not a mark of a free people.Comment | Share
The TSA Is Groping for Relevancy
In a recent internal investigation into the TSA's airport screening process, "red teams" working for the Department of Homeland Security were able to sneak bombs and other weapons through the TSA's line 95% of the time. In other words, of the 70 times DHS tested the system, the TSA caught only three attempts. For an agency with "security" as its middle name, that's a dismal and dangerous track record. In a statement, DHS Secretary Jeh Johnson tried to downplay the findings. "The numbers in these reports never look good out of context," he said, "but they are a critical element in the continual evolution of our aviation security. … The Inspector General's preliminary test results are classified, and it is not appropriate or prudent to publicly describe these results." But the findings were serious enough for Johnson to order a special briefing on the report. Then the axe fell swiftly, as the acting head of the TSA was reassigned Monday. Acting Deputy Director Mark Hatfield Jr. will take over. As Reason's J.D. Tuccille notes, the vulnerabilities in TSA's security net have been "revealed, complained about, and baked in for years." The Heritage Foundation's David Inserra argues that perhaps it's time for the TSA to step aside and let private security firms do the job cheaper, friendlier and better. Clearly, bureaucrats groping grandma didn't make us more secure.Comment | Share
Warren Won't Run, Nobody Hardest Hit
Say it ain't so! Time magazine reports on the demise of the movement to draft Elizabeth Warren to run for president: "Six months after launching 'Run Warren Run,' a quixotic campaign to draft Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren into the 2016 presidential race, the two progressive organizations behind it will call it quits and focus more broadly on a populist agenda in the 2016 presidential race, according to a spokesman." Warren has long been the great "Native American" hope for leftists who can't stomach Hillary Clinton, but she's been pretty consistent in saying she won't run. Ironically, Warren is more powerful in the Senate and among Democrats in general because of her decision not to run. Had she challenged Hillary and failed, she would've quickly been relegated to backbencher status. But now she can benefit from the unquenched thirst of her acolytes. And she didn't even have to build that.Comment | Share
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FEATURED RIGHT ANALYSIS
Et Tu, Bruce?
By Nate Jackson
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But Bruce Jenner didn't start with objective truth. He started with Bruce Jenner.
Before the aptly named Vanity Fair's upcoming cover story on the former Olympic Decathlon champion's transition from Bruce to Caitlyn, Jenner described his view of how God created him: “God’s looking down, making little Bruce. ... He says, ‘Okay, what are we gonna do with this one? Make him a smart kid, very determined.' ... And then when he’s just finishing he says, ‘Let’s wait a second.’ God looks down and chuckles a little bit and says, ‘Hey, let’s give him the soul of a female.’”
Jenner insists he's only coming to terms with who God really made him to be: “If I was lying on my deathbed and I had kept this secret and never ever did anything about it, I would be lying there saying, ‘You just blew your entire life. You never dealt with yourself,’ and I don’t want that to happen.”
God's Word actually has a lot to say about the subject, and the voices in Bruce's head are completely at odds with all of it.
So how does 21st century American pop culture respond to his very public and self-congratulatory — yet still physically incomplete — sexual transition?
Mostly with fawning accolades. Media stories erupted everywhere, giving deference to Bruce's chosen gender instead of his God-given biological one. His Wikipedia entry has been altered to reflect that "she" won Olympic medals — 40 years before this transition. ESPN will award him the Arthur Ashe Courage Award at the July ESPYs. Even Barack Obama found time between rounds of golf to tweet, "It takes courage to share your story." Jenner quickly set a Twitter record for reaching one million followers — beating Obama's record.
And, hey, he's a Republican!
In short, our world includes an ever-increasing population of broken people who celebrate brokenness, while attacking the broken people (like us) who say there's a better way and a higher truth.
Which prompts the question: What's courageous about basking in the glory of the media spotlight?
Based on Jenner's revelations, he is clearly a troubled soul. Compassion, prayer and treatment are appropriate responses. But affirmation? Few things could be less compassionate or helpful.
The comparisons to other mental illnesses and destructive behaviors are numerous and illustrative, albeit imprecise.
RedState's Erick Erickson focused on behavior, arguing, "[I]f an alcoholic told you that his authentic self was to drink, you would not encourage that. If a person told you his authentic self was to be attracted to small boys, you would not encourage that. If a person told you that his authentic self was to mutilate his body, you would not encourage that."
Columnist Ben Shapiro recounted a personal story regarding the mental illness aspect, writing, "My grandfather was deeply mentally ill. He spent nearly a year in a psychiatric institution after being diagnosed with bipolar disorder; he heard the radio talking to him. He became suicidal. He spent years battling the condition, until he was prescribed lithium. For the next several decades, the medication brought his mental illness under control. Nothing would have been crueler to my grandfather than had society told him that his delusions were correct — that the radio was, in fact, talking to him; that the curtains were indeed threatening him; that he was normal, and that it was the stereotypes of the world inducing his paranoia. ... It's cruel to allow a mentally ill person to exploit himself in public, but the political left is happy to do so in order to perpetuate the pseudo-scientific nonsense that a man can magically turn into a woman."
Also, Canada's National Post had a story this week about people who become disabled by choice, cutting off limbs they don't want. These supposed "transabled" people are mentally ill.
These comparisons illustrate a painful truth: Leftists don't care about Bruce "Caitlyn" Jenner; they care about an agenda to remake our culture without good or bad, right or wrong, up or down — and most certainly without God. To them, Jenner is merely a tool who normalizes aberration. Leftists are tired of feeling guilty, so, instead of turning to their Creator, they glory in their brokenness. Dysfunction becomes virtue.
Meanwhile, the Left has duped more than half the American public into thinking homosexuals make up a far bigger part of the population than is true. Therefore, Americans are left to conclude as they checkout at the supermarket next to all those tabloids that Jenner is perfectly normal.
Ironically, while the culture celebrates Jenner's transition, conversion therapy (which can actually help homosexuals who want to go straight) is illegal in some states. Ponder that one.
Next comes more of the inevitable punishment for those who aren't sufficiently "tolerant." Consider Brendan Eich, the creator of JavaScript, the cofounder and CEO of Mozilla (which develops the Firefox web browser), who was forced to resign as CEO of the company he founded for contributing to a lawful ballot initiative that opposed same-sex marriage. Or think of the Christian bakers who were forced to bake the cake for same-sex weddings.
Indeed, The Washington Times reports, "The Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) issued guidelines Monday suggesting that employers allow transgender employees access to the restroom that corresponds to their gender identity." Just wait until this is no longer a suggestion.
Jenner's story is about far more than celebration and tolerance. It's about coerced compliance and mandated approval. Jenner is merely a pawn in the Left's ongoing "coexist" game.
In conclusion, let's consider another passage of Scripture: "God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator." We shouldn't worship Jenner. We should pray for him, for he needs his Creator's healing redemption.
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TODAY AT PATRIOTPOST.US
- ANALYSIS: Beware Revising American History Education
- Iran's Latest Violation Is Hardly Surprising
- CT Governor Eroding Home Rule Over Rail Line
- SCOTUS Rules in Favor of Hijab-Wearing Job Applicant
BEST OF RIGHT OPINION
- Ben Shapiro: Left Exploits Mental Illness to Push PC Agenda
- Michelle Malkin: The College Board's Sabotage of American History
- Tony Perkins: On the Magistrate and Narrow...
- John Stossel: Socialist 'Justice'
- Walter Williams: Intellectual Dishonesty
- Joe Bastardi: Disaster Du Jour, Part II
OPINION IN BRIEF
Tony Perkins: "When the courts struck down the Tar Heels' 2012 marriage amendment, North Carolina’s Administrative Office of the Court decided to chuck the First Amendment along with it, issuing a decree that officials would either perform same-sex 'marriages' or clean out their offices. ... [Gov.] Pat McCrory (R) vetoed a perfectly reasonable opt-out for the state’s officials. Under the measure passed by the House and Senate, magistrates could exempt themselves from same-sex 'weddings' if they agreed to recuse themselves from all weddings for at least six months. If a judge declined to officiate, another one would be brought in to perform the service — meaning that no harm would be done to the state or the couples by this law. ... Unfortunately for America, the Left isn’t satisfied with compromise, even genuinely sensible ones like North Carolina’s. Their goal is to tyrannize and terrorize until the country fully submits. As a result, 2.3% of the population gets 100% of the protection. Once again, liberals want 'tolerance' but refuse to give it. It’s like driving around with a 'coexist' bumper sticker while you run over people with different beliefs."Comment | Share
SHORT CUTS
Upright, Part I: "I wonder how one goes about determining whether a person is privileged. White privilege can’t be based on median income. Why? It turns out that Asian-American households had the highest median income ($68,636) in 2012. Median income for white households was $57,000. Maybe our academic elite should condemn Asian privilege instead of white privilege. But there’s another problem. My income puts me in America’s top 5 percent. If those who condemn white privilege could not see my dark brown skin color, they would also condemn me for white privilege. The bottom line to this campus nonsense is that 'privilege' has become the new word for 'personal achievement.'" —Walter WilliamsUpright, Part II: "A 'liberal paradise' would be a place where everybody has guaranteed employment, free comprehensive health care, free education, free food, free housing, free clothing, free utilities and only law enforcement personnel have guns. And, believe it or not, such a liberal utopia does indeed exist. It’s called prison.” —Maricopa County AZ Sheriff Joe Arpaio
The BIG Lie: "One of my core principles is that I will never engage in politics in which I'm trying to divide people." —Barack Obama
Advice from a narcissist: "[W]hen I look at other political careers that I admire, I think the most important thing is to have a sense of principle and why you're in public service. I think sometimes people want to be in public service just because they like seeing their name up in lights; they like being important. And that's a bad reason to go into politics." —Barack Obama
Demo-gogues: "Fossil fuel companies and their allies are funding a massive and sophisticated campaign to mislead the American people about the environmental harm caused by carbon pollution. ... The parallels between what the tobacco industry did and what the fossil fuel industry is doing now are striking." —Sheldon Whitehouse
And last... "What is it about trains that makes them objects of endless fascination to small children and Democrats?" —Frank Fleming
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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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