THE PATRIOT POST 09/08/2015

Right Analysis | Right Hooks | Right Opinion Patriot Headlines | Grassroots Commentary Daily Digest September 8, 2015    THE FOUNDATION "Men, to act with vigor and effect, must have time to mature measures, and judgment and experience, as to the best method of applying them. They must not be hurried on to their conclusions by the passions, or the fears of the multitude. They must deliberate, as well as resolve." —Joseph Story, Commentaries on the Constitution, 1833 TOP RIGHT HOOKS Another Shooting Prompts Gun Control Push Some of the most recent violence in New York City hit close to home for the Empire State's governor. On Monday, one of Andrew Cuomo's lawyers, Carey Gabay, was in a crowd when probable gang members fired into the crowd, hitting Gabay in the head. According to the New York Daily News, Gabay is hospitalized, but he doesn't have any brain activity. It was from the hospital where Cuomo gave his knee-jerk reaction by calling for more gun control. "We passed the toughest gun control law in the nation, called the SAFE Act, and I am proud of it," Cuomo said. "Anyone who doesn't believe we need to do something about gun control is delusional." Not simply satisfied with their own tough gun control laws, some New York politicians are calling for similarly strict measures nationally. The Daily News reported that New York City Police Commissioner Bill Bratton blamed gun laws in the South, which actually respect the Second Amendment, for NYC's crime problems. But if you take drug and gang violence out of national murder statistics, the numbers drop nearly as low as those in European nations where guns are incredibly rare. Clearly, it's not a gun problem. And then there's the law of unintended consequences — if an individual doesn't have a semiautomatic rifle with which to kill three or five people, the next step is to use a pipe bomb to kill 50. If government were to take away all guns, we would simply see other means of committing mass murder. Furthermore, gangs have festered in part because of Barack Obama's open borders policies — something the Big Apple, which has declared itself a sanctuary city, might do well to remember. Comment | Share No One Died Looking for Bergdahl? Bowe Bergdahl, the soldier who abandoned his post in Afghanistan only to be held captive by the Taliban until Barack Obama traded five jihadis for his release last year, was charged with both desertion and now also a rarer crime — misbehavior before the enemy. CBS News explains the significance: "Bergdahl could face a life sentence if convicted of the charge, which accuses him of endangering fellow soldiers when he 'left without authority; and wrongfully caused search and recovery operations.' Observers say the misbehavior charge allows authorities to allege that Bergdahl not only left his unit with one less soldier, but that his deliberate action put soldiers who searched for him in harm's way." That is indisputable as far as we're concerned. But the next sentence in the CBS report is astounding: "The Pentagon has said there is no evidence anyone died searching for Bergdahl." That's preposterous. Beyond the soldiers who died fighting and capturing the Taliban Five, at least six Americans lost their lives in operations to recover Bergdahl. Their names are PFC Matthew Michael Martinek, Staff Sgt. Kurt Robert Curtiss, SSG Clayton Bowen, PFC Morris Walker, SSG Michael Chance Murphrey and 2LT Darryn Andrews. Perhaps these men weren't killed directly by the jihadis holding Bergdahl, but they were on missions related to the search. Operations were put on hold and resources diverted to find Bergdahl. Lives were lost. And for someone at the Pentagon to be giving political cover to Obama in such a way is despicable. Comment | Share Green Gurus Caught in Dirty Ponzi Scheme We're not sure what's less surprising: That a renewable energy endeavor turned out to be a Ponzi scheme, or that it has ties to the Clintons. The Associated Press reports, "Three people were charged Thursday with running a $54 million Ponzi scheme built on promises of a green energy technology that would turn trash into fuel and 'carbon-negative' housing developments, neither of which were ever fully developed, federal prosecutors said. ... Prosecutors said the trio lied to investors that their 'biochar' technology and 'carbon-negative' housing in Tennessee made millions, but they had almost no earnings and used the money to repay earlier investors and for themselves." According to U.S. Attorney Zane Memeger, "The scheme alleged in this indictment offered investors the best of both worlds — investing in sustainable and clean energy products while also making a profit. Unfortunately for the investors, it was all a hoax and they lost precious savings. These defendants preyed on the emotions of their victims and sold them a scam." Sounds like the entire Obama climate change charade. The criminal charges come years after a separate civil lawsuit. "The scam allegedly ran from 2005 until 2009, even after the Securities and Exchange Commission filed a civil lawsuit against Wragg and Knorr's Mantria Corp. They were ordered in 2012 to pay $37 million each," the AP adds. The kicker? "Two months before the SEC civil lawsuit, the company was publicly recognized for its stated commitment to 'help mitigate global warming' by former President Bill Clinton's Clinton Global Initiative. The company was cited for its plans to develop the biochar technology that it said would sequester carbon dioxide and reduce emissions in developing countries. Wragg appeared on stage with Clinton at the event in September 2009." Envirofascists slam Big Oil for ostensibly putting profits before principle, yet that's exactly what happened in this case. And wouldn't you know it? The defendants are in good company with the Clintons. Comment | Share Don't Miss Patriot Humor Check out Above the Law. If you'd like to receive Patriot Humor by email, update your subscription here. FEATURED RIGHT ANALYSIS Obama's Fast and Furious Arms Trade Treaty By Lewis Morris The signatories of the 2014 Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) held their first annual meeting at a spa in Cancun, Mexico, at the close of last month. First item on the agenda: Put pressure on the United States to pony up and support the largest international gun grab in history. Meanwhile, the Obama administration is sweeping under the rug its role in running guns to Mexican drug cartels. The ATT, as you may recall, is the United Nations' effort for a global gun control treaty in which the world body would monitor and regulate the international trafficking of firearms. The UN, and fellow gun grabbers in the U.S. like Barack Obama and his secretary of state, John Kerry, sold the treaty as a way to stop criminal gangs and terrorists from obtaining weapons. Thankfully, Liberty-loving Americans who support the Second Amendment saw through this ruse. As we stated last week, restrictive gun control laws do not prevent criminals from obtaining guns; they only prevent law-abiding citizens from protecting themselves. This is true in the United States, and it is most certainly true overseas, where Rule of Law is rarely spoken of or practiced. Let’s not forget that the ATT was put together by an international body that includes rogue and terrorist states whose principal goal is the reduction of U.S. power and sovereignty. Research by the UN’s Coordinating Action on Small Arms stated that guns have been “misused by lawful owners” and held that “arms trade therefore be regulated in ways that would ... minimize the misuse of legally owned weapons.” Obama and Kerry lamented America’s rejection of the treaty, but they're more than willing to subvert U.S. sovereignty to see their gun grabbing agenda to fruition. They continue to maintain that the treaty won't impact domestic American laws, but there is no reason to believe them given their contempt for the Second Amendment. There are currently 72 nations signed on to the ATT, and their meeting in Mexico — closed to the prying eyes of the public — was the first attempt to hammer out an agenda for getting control over the international arms trade. Its interesting that they choose to put pressure on the U.S. in this regard when the trafficking of illegal weapons in Asia, Africa and the Middle East is where the real problem resides. Mexico has taken the position that since it shares a border with the U.S., all American guns need to be controlled for the sake of the ATT. Of course, the twisted irony of this view is that the federal government under Obama and former Attorney General Eric Holder played no small part in trafficking illegal guns into Mexico during the nefarious Fast and Furious operation. The U.S. government is now trying to pretend that ATF’s ridiculous plan to let illegal guns slip into the hand of drug cartels to track their movement never happened. Two drug dealers are on trial for the murder of Border Patrol agent Brian Terry in Arizona in 2010. Guns from Fast and Furious were found at the scene, but the Justice Department is attempting to block any mention of its operation in the trial. Federal prosecutor Laura Duffy states, “Informing the jurors in this case of the connection between the firearms and the 'Fast and Furious' investigation will serve no legitimate purposed because that connection is irrelevant to the charges against the defendants.” In investigating a murder, when is the murder weapon and the question of how it was obtained ever deemed irrelevant? The real reason for keeping that information from jurors is to bury the fact that Obama and his underlings were both incompetent and malfeasant. In addition, it doesn't fit their larger narrative that gun control is best left to the federal government. Fast and Furious was crafted specifically to further that narrative. The idea was to demonstrate that there were all these deaths from guns going across the border. That was followed by a push to lock down gun sales within 50 miles of the border. And the ultimate objective in this progression was setting a precedent for "appropriate" gun restriction measures to stop violence in various areas. Some 1,400 guns were lost during the Fast and Furious debacle, and a U.S. law enforcement officer wasn't the only person killed by these weapons — ICE agent Jaime Zapata, as well as hundreds of Mexicans, lost their lives too. Of course, Holder was never held accountable for his raw stupidity in the matter, or the fact that he lied on several occasions about what he knew of the operation. So, the hypocrisy continues, as does the fight to protect the Second Amendment. Comment | Share Share MORE ORIGINAL PERSPECTIVE ANALYSIS: Syrian Refugees and the Consequences of Failed Leadership Obama Staffer Resigns After Firing Gun at Capitol Hill Officer San Francisco School Makes All Bathrooms Gender Neutral When the State Thinks Health Care Is Too Expensive Salvation in Hillary? BEST OF RIGHT OPINION Thomas Sowell: The Past and Future of the Refugee Crisis Michael Barone: Black Lives Matter's Agenda Is Costing Black Lives Arnold Ahlert: Anyone Still Remember the Arab Spring? For more, visit Right Opinion. TOP HEADLINES Second Intelligence Review Finds Top Secret Material in Clinton Email Attacking Himself? 'Angry' Biden Slams 'Devastating' Economy Police Cars' 'In God We Trust' Decals Draw Complaints For more, visit Patriot Headline Report OPINION IN BRIEF Michael Barone: "I’ve seen this movie before. And for the last 25 years, I thought I’d never have to watch it again. But now it’s playing, not in theaters, but all over mainstream media, with something like rave reviews from the president and his administration. The theme of the movie is that there is an epidemic of racist white policemen, gunning down innocent black people. The movie’s message, implicit but unambiguous, is that the police must be restrained from vigorous enforcement of the law. That was the message of the Black Power movement half a century ago, and it is the message of the Black Lives Matter movement today. ... [T]he most important BLM demand is the first: 'end "broken windows" policing.' The evidence is that this is already happening — at the cost of black lives. Even The New York Times has noticed. So far this year, murders are up 76 percent in Milwaukee, 60 percent in St. Louis, 56 percent in Baltimore and 44 percent in Washington, D.C. While murders are up, arrests are down. ... The tragedy is that the 'broken windows' policing BLM decries has saved thousands of black lives. From 1990 to 2014, murders declined from 2,262 to 333 in New York, from 987 to 251 in Los Angeles, from 943 to 413 in Chicago. Now they’re up again. I’ve seen that movie before, when violent crime tripled between 1965 and 1975. I hope its ends differently this time." Comment | Share SHORT CUTS Insight: "Dignify and glorify common labor. It is at the bottom of life that we must begin, not at the top." —Booker T. Washington (1856-1915) Alpha Jackass: "In [Republicans'] world, the only way to help the country grow and to help people get ahead is to cut taxes for millionaires and billionaires, loosen up rules on big banks and polluters, and then you just wait and you look up at the sky and prosperity will come raining down on us from the top of the whatever high rise is in your city." —Barack Obama, in whose world "prosperity" rains down from government The BIG Lie: "What I did was allowed. It was allowed by the State Department. The State Department has confirmed that. I did not send or receive any information marked classified. I take the responsibilities of handling classified materials very seriously and did so." —Hillary Clinton Upright: "Europeans who dislike an America they think is overbearing should note what happens when the world’s policeman decides to take a vacation and let the neighbors fend for themselves. In the modern world of instant communications and easy transportation, the world’s problems will wash up on the wealthy West’s shores one way or another. If Europe isn’t prepared to handle nearby crises, militarily if necessary, be prepared to accept the refugees." —The Wall Street Journal Observations: "It may be no accident that President Obama is up in Alaska, talking about changing the name of Mount McKinley, while this massive human tragedy is unfolding in the Middle East and in Europe. ... Obama does not want to get involved in the refugee crisis that his own policies did so much to create. Talking about renaming Mount McKinley seems far safer politically." —Thomas Sowell And last... "This has always been the anecdote in Obama’s foreign policy: 1) show up 2) demand the world follow him 3) world leaders balk at his demands 4) he shrugs his shoulders and goes and plays with his selfie stick somewhere." —Stephen Miller 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.