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Patriot Headlines | Grassroots Commentary Daily Digest
November 9, 2015
THE FOUNDATION"Are we disposed to be of the number of those, who having eyes, see not, and having ears, hear not, the things which so nearly concern their temporal salvation? For my part, whatever anguish of spirit it might cost, I am willing to know the whole truth; to know the worst, and to provide for it." —Patrick Henry, 1775ALEXANDER'S ANALYSISPolitico's Leftmedia Hatchet Job on Ben CarsonBy Mark Alexander
On Friday, Politico posted a hit piece on the surging GOP presidential candidate entitled, "Ben Carson Admits Fabricating West Point Scholarship." The essence of the piece was that Politico conflated Carson's story in his book, "Gifted Hands," about being offered a scholarship to West Point by Gen. William Westmoreland with Carson claiming he applied or received an appointment to the academy. In fact, Carson has always been clear that he neither applied nor received an appointment. "As overjoyed as I felt to be offered such a scholarship, I wasn’t really tempted," he wrote in his book. "The scholarship would have obligated me to spend four years in military service after I finished college, precluding my chances to go on to medical school. I knew my direction — I wanted to be a doctor, and nothing would divert me or stand in the way." After taking heat from all quarters about the inaccuracy of this piece of yellow journalism, Politico's Kyle Cheney quietly corrected the title to read, "Carson claimed West Point 'scholarship' but never applied." In effect, Cheney admitted that the Politico story was the real fabrication. As The Washington Post's Dave Weigel notes, "[T]aking 'fabrication' out of that headline is like taking uranium out of an A-bomb." Criticism of Cheney's charade ranged from the Columbia Journalism Review's "Ben Carson exposed? Not really" to The Weekly Standard's "Politico's Shoddy Hit on Ben Carson." By way of disclaimer, I like Ben Carson, but I think he is unprepared for the office of president of the United States. That said, Carson's intellect, ethics and values stand head and shoulders above those of Barack Obama. More to the point, as the parent of a young man who received appointments to multiple service academies and will graduate from one this year, I have not been concerned about how Carson has framed his remarks about being "offered a full scholarship" to West Point. I have heard Carson's repeated narrative about this, which I interpreted to mean he was qualified and encouraged to go to West Point. All West Point cadets have a "full scholarship" in the sense that they don't pay for tuition or room and board. Or, rather, they pay with military service rather than money. I have never heard Carson say he was offered an appointment to the USMA, which would be quite different, and I never interpreted Carson's words to mean he had an appointment. For what it's worth, unlike the Politico author, I have met both Carson and Westmoreland. I know how they both communicate. The "full scholarship" story is typical of Carson's casual style of writing and speaking. I am confident he did not deliberately intend to deceive anyone or suggest that Gen. Westmoreland's telling him he could get a scholarship was tantamount to his having a service academy appointment. If Politico really wanted to break a scandalous story, perhaps they should've started back in 2008 with this headline: "Barack Obama's First Political Fundraiser Held at Home of Rich Leftist Radicals William Ayers and Bernadine Dohrn." Ayers was co-founder of the Marxist Weather Underground terrorist group. Or they might have headlined about Jeremiah "G-D America" Wright, "Obama's 20-Year Relationship With Black Supremacist Guru Raises Questions." Indeed, they simply might have questioned what Obama meant by "our shared values." Of course, Carson is a much softer target. Oh, and a black conservative. Comment | Share TOP RIGHT HOOKSClinton Signed NDA, Didn't Send 'Top Secret' InfoIt was almost certain that Hillary Clinton signed a Sensitive Compartmented Information Nondisclosure Agreement (NDA) when she took her post as secretary of state, but now, thanks to a Freedom of Information Act request, we know she signed one — a day after assuming office. The agreement states, "I have been advised that the unauthorized disclosure, unauthorized retention, or negligent handling of SCI by me could cause irreparable injury to the United States or be used to advantage by a foreign nation." Hundreds of classified emails have been found on her private and unsecured email server. Ignorance was never an excuse, but the discovery of the NDA seals the fact that she lied.Meanwhile, however, one particular dispute between departments has been resolved in Clinton's favor. Director of National Intelligence James Clapper's office concluded that two of Clinton's emails did not contain "top secret" information. Previously, Intelligence Community Inspector General I. Charles McCullough III had determined that some of Clinton's email included "information classified up to TOP SECRET//SI/TK/NOFORN." So is Clapper's overruling a case of the Obama administration circling the wagons for the Democrat nominee? Either way, it matters little. Not only is the review ongoing, but Hillary Clinton's record of malfeasance is well established. Whatever the level of classified the information she sent was, her dereliction of duty is beyond dispute. Comment | Share SCOTUS to Hear Religious Liberty Challenges to O'CareIn his weekly address Saturday, Barack Obama lobbied the American people to take advantage of this year's ObamaCare open enrollment period. "That's the whole point of health insurance," Obama said. "Peace of mind." Yes, nothing says peace of mind like spiking premium rates, shuttering co-ops and standing up to Caesar just so you can follow your religious beliefs. To the latter point, the Supreme Court agreed Thursday to hear seven cases regarding ObamaCare's contraception mandate. Among the organizations suing the government is Little Sisters of the Poor, a group of nuns who argue that the government's order to make its employees get contraception coverage from a third-party source — the government's suggested workaround — still compels the organization to involve itself in the business of abortion-inducing drugs. History is behind Little Sisters, as the Court ruled last year that Hobby Lobby, a privately owned business, did not have to provide health care coverage that violated the owners' religious beliefs. SCOTUS will probably hear the newest challenge to ObamaCare in early spring. By that time, it may be Obama who won't have "peace of mind" about the structural strength of his signature legislation.Comment | Share The Patriot Post Needs Your HelpThe part you play in the ongoing battle for Liberty is significant. Without you — our faithful readers — what the editors and staff of The Patriot Post do would be impossible, as would keeping the flame of Liberty burning bright. Please consider supporting our mission today. Our operations and mission are funded by — and depend entirely upon — the voluntary financial support of American Patriots like you. Thank you for standing with us. —Nate Jack, Managing Editor
FEATURED RIGHT ANALYSISObama Buries the Keystone Pipeline for GoodBy Robin Smith
Currently running on television is an advertisement for a gasoline company, Marathon Oil. The little-noticed song sung as a vehicle passes a highway sign reading “Independence” cheerfully begins by singing, “With a tank full of freedom...” No wonder Obama's opposed. The new Democrats, led by radical-in-chief Obama, refuse to view reasonably priced energy as a necessary ingredient to individual prosperity and equal opportunity. Instead, the hardliner Left has declared war on anything except energy produced by solar, wind and possibly hydroelectric sources — even though current technology on those fronts is totally insufficient for our energy needs. The opportunity to construct a 1,179-mile pipeline carrying Canadian shale oil to Gulf Coast refineries has been halted by a man and his militant ideologues. It will cost jobs and prevent wealth, all while the arguments Obama and his NeoCom cadres make are completely specious. Remember: The long-term legacy of Obama has been to enforce the religion of man-made climate change and to disrupt America’s energy market in service to that dogma. During his 2008 campaign, he promised that his policies would make the cost of energy “necessarily skyrocket.” Through the Democrats’ war on coal and the ridiculous EPA Clean Power Plan, the Left's economically destructive effort moves forward. Yet Americans are so resilient that oil companies have forged ahead with drilling on private lands and, as a result, oil and gasoline prices are quite low. The Keystone pipeline would have created 42,000 jobs during construction. The Left’s shrill cry was that these jobs were temporary. But, all construction jobs are temporary, and that sure didn't stop Obama's incessant refrain of "shovel ready" construction jobs brought about by his phony "stimulus." And only to a leftist are these construction jobs a bad thing during a time of historically low labor force participation rates. Furthermore, the capacity of the pipeline would carry up to 830,000 barrels per day of the “dirty” oil transported from our stable trading partner to the north, Canada, to existing U.S. refineries along the Gulf Coast. Obama has idiotically hampered a partnership with a friendly trading ally — with no ties to terrorism — on our own continent. Even his own former secretary of energy, Stephen Chu, got it right: “The decision on whether the construction should happen was a political one and not a scientific one.” On top of that, Obama's Department of State Bureau of Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs published in its January 2014 executive summary that the transport of the fuel via pipeline (as opposed to the other most common method of rail) poses a minimal environmental risk to wildlife, water and wetlands, soil and vegetation. And the State Department, studying incidents between 2002 and 2012 on the already existing 500,000 miles of crude oil and petroleum gas pipeline, said, “Most spills are small.” How small? Some 79% of incidents involved “a spill of up to 2,100 gallons” or about 40% of one — yes, that's 1 — single tanker or semi-trailer behind a truck on the interstate. Only 4% of incidents with existing pipelines involved more than 42,000 gallons, or just over the capacity of five tanks pulled behind semi-trucks. Contrast that with the EPA-caused disaster in Colorado — the one where it dumped three million gallons of toxic sludge into a U.S. river. The Keystone XL pipeline is the safest method to transport crude oil, and the alarmist cries ring hollow. But never mind those facts when the priority of this unmitigated disaster of a president is to show the world his commitment to combatting the ever-changing climate. A question: When is your business next as a target of a fascist government that declares your business doesn’t serve the global purposes of its political agenda? In New York, Exxon Mobil is being criminally investigated by the state attorney general for allegedly “misleading” the public and investors about climate change. The aim appears to be to bleed the world's biggest oil company dry in payouts reminiscent of the hundreds of millions paid by tobacco companies to state governments. Translation: Comply and consent to the leftist agenda or pay. By the way, you union leaders who live like fat ticks off the backs of your hard-working laborers, how do you feel being rejected by the guy who claims to be for the worker? Yeah, the exact words of your union-friendly president were, “America’s now a global leader when it comes to taking serious action to fight climate change.” Jobs? Pfft. Comment | Share
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 OPINION IN BRIEFHans von Spakovsky: "Everyone reading this should do the attorney general of New York, Eric T. Schneiderman, a big favor: buy a copy of the U.S. Constitution, highlight the First Amendment in the Bill of Rights with a bright yellow or orange Sharpie, and mail him a copy. ... The New York Times is reporting that Schneiderman has subpoenaed extensive financial records, emails and other documents of Exxon Mobil to investigate whether the company 'lied to the public about the risks of climate change or to investors about how such risk might hurt the oil business.' ... This is politicized law enforcement of the worst kind. The fact that this is going on in the United States is not just embarrassing, it is shocking. The New York Times article cites Wall Street analysts who say 'this is not good news for Exxon Mobil or Exxon Mobil shareholders' and that they are 'uncertain' whether the case will inflict long-term damage on the company. What is certain is that such politicized law enforcement and government suppression of dissent is not good news for Americans in general and the liberty, freedom, and economic opportunity protected by the First Amendment and the Constitution. This type of grotesque prosecutorial abuse will inflict long-term damage on our industrial capacity and energy production. And it may severely damage our ability to conduct the type of research and development in science and engineering that has made us a world leader and driven the economic engine of our high quality of life."Comment | Share SHORT CUTSThe Gipper: "We are the showcase of the future. And it is within our power to mold that future — this year and for decades to come. It can be as grand and as great as we make it. No crisis is beyond the capacity of our people to solve; no challenge too great."Good question: "[W]ho decreed that broadcast media — or any news media, for that matter — must be in charge of organizing, hosting, and moderating debates? Perhaps the idea of a wholly unmoderated debate, à la Lincoln and Douglas, is implausible in 2015. But why must those asking the questions and keeping time always be TV news anchors?" —Jeff Jacoby Friendly fire: “The Special Forces [in Syria] are limited — I think 50. That won’t do it. If we’re really going to use special operations, quick in, quick out, you have to do it in a much more comprehensive way to get at ISIL.” —Sen. Dianne Feinstein criticizing Obama's new "strategy" of putting a few boots on the ground The BIG Lie: "[A]nybody who thinks that they can influence what I will do doesn't know me very well. And they can actually look and see what I have said and done throughout my career. ... I went to the NASDAQ in December of 2007 and basically said, 'You guys have got to stop it. What you are doing is not only a disaster for homeowners because of the mortgage foreclosures and the way that they had manipulated the mortgage market, but it's going to have dire consequences for our country.'" —Hillary Clinton (Way to throw your husband under the bus.) Alpha Jackass: "Part of the solution to this problem or this set of problems associated with climate change is getting the deniers out of our discourse. You know, we can’t have these people — they’re absolutely toxic." —Bill Nye the Science Lie And last... "The MSM is obsessed with events in Ben Carson's life. If only he'd dodged sniper fire on a Bosnian runway. There's no MSM interest in that." —Twitter satirist @weknowwhatsbest 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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