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Patriot Headlines | Grassroots Commentary Daily Digest
July 17, 2015
THE FOUNDATION"Nothing is more certain than that a general profligacy and corruption of manners make a people ripe for destruction. A good form of government may hold the rotten materials together for some time, but beyond a certain pitch, even the best constitution will be ineffectual, and slavery must ensue." —John Witherspoon, The Dominion of Providence Over the Passions of Men, 1776FEATURED RIGHT ANALYSISHappy Ramadan?By Mark Alexander
"Michelle and I would like to extend our warmest wishes to Muslims in the United States and around the world celebrating Eid-ul-Fitr. As Muslims mark the end of [Ramadan], they are reminded that [it] is a time to reflect spiritually, build communally, and aid those in need. While Eid marks the end of Ramadan, it marks a new beginning for each individual — a reason to celebrate and express gratitude on this holiday. ... The morning of Eid is marked with the call to prayer echoing through cities and towns across the globe. Millions of people head to local mosques for special Eid prayers followed by festive gatherings, gift exchanges, and feasts among friends, neighbors and families. As Muslim Americans celebrate Eid across America, the holiday is a reminder to every American of the importance of respecting those of all faiths and beliefs. ... Michelle and I hope today brings joy to all of your homes. Eid Mubarak! [Happy Blessed Ramadan]" A few hours after receiving that email, a colleague was joining me for a board meeting in Chattanooga. At a stoplight near our meeting location, he heard what he assumed were fireworks leftover from Fourth of July celebrations. Moments later, a vehicle sped by him in the median. That vehicle was driven by an Islamic terrorist assailant, Muhammad Youssef Abdulazeez. He had just fired on one military recruiting center and was on his way to a second military post where he would kill four Marines, including two who were decorated combat veterans. He also wounded three others: A female Navy enlistee who remains in critical condition, a police officer and a fifth Marine — the latter two in stable condition. I passed by the site of the first assault a minute after my friend — before police were responding to the scene. I regret that I was not there a minute earlier to witness Abdulazeez drive by, because I know the sound of gunfire and had a helluva lot more firepower on board my truck than Muhammad had in his convertible sports car. As it was, police would not catch up with the assailant until after his second assault, where they shot Abdulazeez dead. The deceased and injured Marines and Navy seaman at both facilities were unarmed — federal military installations are "gun-free zones," including thousands of locations that have no security force protection, such as recruiting centers. A DoD directive signed by Bill Clinton in 1993 prohibits military personnel from possessing arms on military bases, installations or offices. In other words, if my active-duty son carried a weapon on his person or in his vehicle onto his military installation, he would be charged with a felony. Notably, the directive stipulates an exception: "When there is a reasonable expectation that life or DOD assets will be jeopardized of firearms are not carried." After Islamist Abdul Hakim Mujahid Muhammad shot two Arkansas Army recruiters in 2009, and then Nidal Malik Hasan murdered 14 soldiers, security personnel and an unborn child at Fort Hood, Texas — and wounded 29 others — The Patriot Post made the case that military installations should NOT be "gun-free zones." We insisted that Congress should immediately authorize weapons at all military installations that do not have their own security forces on station. However, Obama and his then-Democrat controlled House and Senate would not act. Recall if you will that Obama refused to acknowledge that the Ft. Hood murders constituted an Islamist attack, and he denied combat death benefits or the awarding of Purple Hearts to families of victims there. Obama claimed it was "workplace violence," and before the blood of our Patriots had dried he attempted to use that tragedy, as he always does, to further his gun confiscation agenda. Once Republicans controlled Congress, they forced the issue, and the unarmed victims at Ft. Hood were duly recognized as combat fatalities and injuries. However, Obama's DoD has yet to authorize military personnel at unprotected installations to possess the means to defend themselves against such assaults. So, who was Muhammad Youssef Abdulazeez? Abdulazeez was a naturalized U.S. citizen born in Kuwait, but who had lived with his family in a quiet Chattanooga neighborhood since he was in elementary school. By most accounts, he was well-liked among his peers, both Muslim and non-Muslim. His only run-in with police was a DUI in April of this year. He graduated from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga in 2012 and was seeking employment as an engineer. In 2010, Abdulazeez's sister Yasmeen, then a freshman at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, was interviewed in the local paper about the tensions between Muslims and some of their peers. "I'm not afraid to go straight toward them and ask them, 'Do you really know what Islam is?'" Abdulazeez said. "There's this misconception that Islam is a violent religion. Muslims are actually peaceful." Bassam Issa, who heads the mosque, Islamic Center of Greater Chattanooga, was quick to call the assault an act of "cowardice and hate," adding, "We don't see our community center as a 'Muslim community.' We are Chattanoogans first, and we see ourselves as part of the larger community of Tennesseans grieving today's act." So why did Abdulazeez get into his car and head out on a mission to murder American military personnel Thursday morning? We may never know because he was on nobody's watch list. The Obama administration has placed so many "religious profiling" restraints on law enforcement that it is easy for an Islamist to slip through the net. Yes, in recent months Islamist attack plans have been thwarted by law enforcement, but, as just acknowledged by FBI Director James Comey in his congressional testimony about the domestic terror threat last week, "We are stopping these things so far, through tremendous hard work — the use of sources, the use of online under covers — but it is incredibly difficult. I cannot see [the FBI] stopping these indefinitely." Comey added, "So it's no longer that someone who's troubled needs to go find this propaganda and this motivation. It buzzes in their pocket. So there is a device, almost a devil on their shoulder all day long saying, 'kill, kill, kill, kill.'" Indeed, in an column last year, "Islamic Jihad — Target USA," I rhetorically asked, "How concerned should you be?" In answer to that question, I wrote, "The most likely near-term form of attack against civilians on our turf will be modeled after the conventional Islamist assaults in the Middle East, bombings and shootings, as we have now seen in Paris, London, Berlin, Sydney, Toronto, Boston, New York and Washington. This type of attack is low tech but effective in terms of instilling public fear with the long-term goal of civil acquiescence." It is this type of attack that Director Comey knows will get by the FBI gauntlet. In his hollow response to the assault, Obama said, "A lone gunman carried out these attacks." He concluded, "We take all shootings very seriously." Obama, blinded by his own Islamophilia, would like for you to believe Abdulazeez was a "lone gunman," a "lone wolf shooter," in an effort to disconnect the dots between this assailant and radical Islam and assert that there is no connection between Jihadi attacks in the West and the rise of Islamic extremism in the Middle East. That assertion is patently false. Describing Islamists as “lone wolf” actors constitutes a lethal misunderstanding of the Jihadi threat. Describing their attacks as “criminal activity” or “workplace violence,” and then claiming it’s a "gun problem" as Obama has done after all such incidents, denies the fact that ALL such attacks are tied together by Islamist association. In every case, those ties include mentors in local mosques and among Islamist peers, and yes, "propaganda buzzing in their pocket saying 'kill kill kill kill.'" The fact is, the blood of our Marines here in Chattanooga is on Obama's hands. Why? These dots are easy to connect. In 2008, Obama campaigned on "ending the war in Iraq." In 2011, having rejected the Bush strategy of establishing a status of forces agreement (SOFA) to secure our hard-won gains in Iraq and the region, Obama declared, "Everything Americans have done in Iraq, all the fighting, all the dying, the bleeding, the building and the training and the partnering, all of it has led to this moment of success. ... We're leaving behind a sovereign, stable and self-reliant Iraq." In 2012, amid the cascading failure of his domestic economic and social policies, Obama centered his re-election campaign on his faux foreign policy successes crafted around the mantras, "Four years ago, I promised to end the war in Iraq. I did," and, "al-Qa'ida is on the run." Obama's Iraqi victory narrative was just one more of his BIG lies, and this one with catastrophic consequences. What Obama did was ignite an entirely new and far more dangerous war, one that is spreading across the Middle East and North Africa, and into the suburbs of Western nations, including Chattanooga, Tennessee. This was a devastating assault, not only for the families of our murdered Marines but on our entire proud Chattanooga community of military Patriots. Please join us in prayer for their families and for the young female Navy recruiter who remains in critical condition. (Footnote: Thinking back on the violence in Charleston and the diversionary rush to remove the historic Confederate battle flag from all commercial and public venues, including National Military Parks, will Amazon and other online retailers purge their inventories of any and all Islamic symbols? Apparently, some people commit horrendous acts of violence and terror under the Islamic banner. Of course not, because most Muslims in our mist are productive citizens and people of peace, and those citizens should not be cast in with the lot of Muhammad Youssef Abdulazeez, anymore than those of us who honor the symbols of our Southern heritage should be cast in with a racist sociopath who murdered innocents in Charleston.) Comment | Share TOP RIGHT HOOKSCongress Objects to Obama's Snub With Iran DealAs a supreme thumb in the eye to Congress, Barack Obama is set to pursue a UN Security Council resolution approving his lousy Iran deal before Congress has a chance to weigh in. The move is significant, and is clearly intended to pressure Congress to bow to Obama's wishes and, as he put it, "99% of the world community." The Heritage Foundation's Brett Schaefer explains, "Once the Security Council takes action on this matter, it will rescind seven painstakingly negotiated Security Council resolutions adopted over the past decade. It will also start the clock on a cascade of sanctions relief commitments by the U.S. and the European Union." In May, Obama signed into law a deal not to waive sanctions before Congress had at least 60 days to review the Iran deal. But UN action would make reinstating even some of those sanctions almost a laughable idea.In a letter to Obama, Reps. Ed Royce (R-CA) and Michael McCaul (R-TX) wrote, “It is distressing that your administration would afford Russia and China the opportunity to vote on the final agreement before the American people’s representatives do. The full 60-day review period and parliamentary procedures prescribed by the Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act should be allowed to play out before action at the Security Council.” Unfortunately, also a laughable idea is Obama treating Congress as a co-equal branch. He'll veto a rejection and ignore them if his veto is overridden. Then again, Congress itself bares a share of the blame for surrendering some authority over the deal. Now the clock is ticking. Comment | Share Disciplinary Threat Scares DHSFacing the possibility of disciplinary action, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson decided now's a good time to comply with Rule of Law. Writing at National Review, Hans von Spakovsky reports that Johnson "has finally taken action to reverse the three-year work authorizations his department issued unlawfully to 2,500 illegal aliens." Federal Judge Andrew Hanen issued an injunction temporarily banning the procedure in February and reaffirmed that ruling in April. But Obama'sComment | Share Sorry ESPN, Bruce Jenner Isn't CourageousLast month, we noted former Olympic Decathlon champion Bruce Jenner's bizarre transition to "womanhood." Wednesday night, ESPN awarded him for his "courage," and the rest of the Leftmedia dutifully celebrated. "Radiant in a white dress at the ESPY Awards on Wednesday, Caitlyn Jenner seemed a woman on top of the world," gushed Justin Wm. Moyer of The Washington Post. "She was receiving the Arthur Ashe Award for Courage — one of the most prestigious awards in sports — not just for her athletic achievements, but for her very public struggle to come out as transgender." First, all of Bruce's athletic achievements occurred while he was still acknowledged as a man. Second, it takes precious little "courage" for a shameless publicity hound to bask in the media's adulation. Sure he'll take his share of criticism, even from a liberal journalist like Bob Costas. But fawning reporters and celebrities are lining up to congratulate Bruce on his mental disorder. In a telling line, he declared his mission is "to promote a very simple idea — accepting people for who they are." That's ironic given that the only reason he's in the news is for rejecting who he really is.In related news, don't ask your iPhone's "Siri" about Bruce Jenner, because the phone's Big Brotherly personal assistant will correct you that it's "Caitlyn." Comment | Share
TODAY AT PATRIOTPOST.US
BEST OF RIGHT OPINION
OPINION IN BRIEFMichelle Malkin: "President Obama bemoaned the 'heartbreaking circumstance' in which the murdered [Chattanooga] Marines found themselves. ... 'Heartbreaking circumstance'? Lightning strikes are random events of unfortunate circumstance. The concerted attacks and plots against our troops in their recruitment centers and on their bases here at home are outrageous acts of war. ... ISIS hackers have explicitly targeted 100 U.S. service members whose personal details have been disseminated online. In May, the Pentagon raised the security threat level of military bases in the U.S. to 'Force Protection Bravo' — the third-highest threat level on a five-tier scale used by the Department of Defense. You wouldn’t know it from Obama’s languid response. Can someone ask the commander in chief: Do U.S. military lives matter enough yet to do more than issue a canned, obligatory condolence to the families of those who serve? How many more lives must be lost before he is as roused about our troops under jihad siege as he is about Bill Cosby, the Confederate flag, 'Game of Thrones' or Caitlyn Jenner? This is not a 'circumstance.' This is war."Comment | Share SHORT CUTSInsight from the other side: "Every Communist must grasp the truth, 'Political power grows out of the barrel of a gun.' Our principle is that the [Communist] Party commands the gun and the gun will never be allowed to command the Party." —Mao Tse-tung (1893-1976)Dezinformatsia: "Anti-abortion activists on Tuesday released an undercover video showing a senior Planned Parenthood official discussing the disposition of parts from aborted fetuses." —Associated Press (Translation: Baby body parts are nothing more than recyclable elements.) The BIG Lie: "The media weighed in and found no evidence to the accusations [of fetal body harvesting]." —Planned Parenthood Flashback: “Despite recent advances, women in the United States and abroad continue to suffer the consequences of a right-wing U.S. administration that has put politics before health and ideology before science. … The policies of the Bush administration do not represent America at its best, nor do they represent the values that the majority of Americans hold dear.” —Planned Parenthood's Deborah Nucatola back in 2007 (Are the "values" Americans hold dear the sale of unborn baby parts?) Upright: "What kind of person nonchalantly describes 'crushing' the life from another living being ... over a glass of wine and some giggles? ... How many Americans are OK with this practice? We should find out. Liberals never have a problem making expansive arguments on emotional grounds. The single woman without health care tells us all we need to know about Obamacare; the lone shooter tells us all we need to know about guns laws, etc. There is simply no reason that [Deborah] Nucatola should not be on television ads everywhere, sipping her wine and intimately describing how abortionists squash the life out of unborn babies for money. How many Americans would accept this policy as normal?" —David Harsanyi Well that's comforting: "No Americans will be part of the IAEA inspection teams [in Iran].” —Susan Rice Late-night humor: "President Obama said yesterday that education is the key to reducing the prison population. Though apparently power tools also work." —Seth Meyers Comment | Share 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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