Daily Digest for Tuesday
January 21, 2014
THE FOUNDATION"[C]onsidering the natural lust for power so inherent in man, I fear the thirst of power will prevail to oppress the people." --George Mason, speech at the Virginia Ratifying Convention, 1788TOP 5 RIGHT HOOKSHealthcare.gov Now 'Much Worse'Former Marine Corps cyberwarfare expert David Kennedy has been testing Healthcare.gov for some time, warning all along about its security vulnerabilities. Now that the administration has "fixed it," however, he says the site is "much worse off" than ever. As for no successful hacks to date, Kennedy warns, "They haven't detected any attacks on the website, because they don't have the capability to detect them." That's bad, but it gets worse. He says you don't even really have to "hack" the website because it's more akin to leaving your car doors wide open: "You can literally just open up your browser, go to this [query] and extract all this information." If you like your security, you can keep it.Exchange Gives Wrong Phone Number
The Maryland ObamaCare
exchange is bedeviled by many of the same problems with which some of
the 13 other states that chose to set up their own exchanges are
reckoning, but one issue stood out as being especially amusing.
Maryland's website lists an 800-number for its help line, but the number
directs callers to Seattle Pottery Supply instead. State Senate
Minority Leader David Brinkly said, "You can't make this stuff up."
Fortunately, the Seattle pottery shop could give callers the correct
phone number, but something tells us the owner didn't sign up to be an
ObamaCare navigator for customers on the other side of the continent.
More Al-Qaida Than Ever
Richard Barrett, the former
head of the United Nations al-Qaida and Taliban monitoring team, warns
that al-Qaida isn't, as Barack Obama infamously and repeatedly claimed,
"decimated." In fact, Barrett says, "There are probably more people
fighting now under the al-Qaida banner than ever before." Obama is now
passing off the news, saying, "[I]f a jayvee team puts on Lakers
uniforms that doesn't make them Kobe Bryant." In other words, they don't
have the "capacity and reach" that al-Qaida formerly had. Then again,
Obama still isn't ready for the varsity team himself.
Cut World GDP by 4%According to UN estimates, by 2050, global emissions need to be cut by 40% to 70% from 2010 levels in order to keep temperatures from rising more than 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit -- the UN-agreed cap. The economic cost of doing so could reach 4% of world GDP by 2030. Given that temperatures haven't risen at all for the past 15 years, the UN is calling on us to spend trillions of dollars to fight a phantom problem. The UN recommends investing $1 trillion per year on wind, solar and other renewable energy. But such investments have fallen for the last two years because they're still not the most economically viable thing to do with money. That won't stop the UN from blowing its own hot air.Wendy Davis' Real StoryTexas state senator and aspiring governor Wendy Davis made herself known with an infamous 11-hour filibuster that blocked a proposed state ban on late-term abortions -- an effort that eventually proved futile. Still, Davis' PR stunt reinvigorated the Left's "war on women" rhetoric. Pathetically, as it turns out, the abortion advocate had to conjure up some BIG lies to make her own biography sell. She was first divorced at age 21, not 19 as she previously claimed while testifying in a federal lawsuit (but don't anticipate any punishment for perjury), meaning she wasn't the single teen mom she claimed to be. Also left in the shadows are key facts pertaining to her second husband, attorney Jeff Davis, whom she divorced in 2005. Mr. Davis financed the rest of his wife's schooling through Harvard before being dumped the day after her student-loans were paid off. She also made no effort to win custody of her two children. All this proves one thing: She's still a hero for Democrats. (Source.)Don't Miss Patriot HumorHere's yesterday's edition, Please Hold.If you'd like to receive Patriot Humor by email, update your subscription here. For more, visit Right Hooks.
RIGHT ANALYSISComing Soon: Immigration Reform?
The new House plan appears to embrace a path to legalization that includes fines and payment of back taxes after a border security plan is in place. But there are no mentions of any benchmarks for the new enforcement provisions, only the need to have them in place. In other words, enforcement could be a complete failure, but that won't stop legalization from moving forward, which is what Democrats have wanted all along. They see millions of potential voters and they will do anything to get them legalized and legitimized. Businesses likewise see a whole new crop of cheap labor, so they are also pushing heavily for legalization regardless of any other consequence.
Amnesty, of course, will
mean that virtually overnight millions more people will have access to
federal and state welfare programs, Medicare, and ObamaCare, totaling
nearly $160 billion in additional deficit spending. Right now, the House
GOP seems to be the only institution that has the capability of
preventing an amnesty disaster. Yet, they are more wrapped up in the
politics of the moment than the principles of the ages. What they need
to do is fall back on the basic principles of reform, and stick to them.
Enhance security and enforcement efforts, reform the bureaucracy of the
legal immigration system, reject amnesty, and enforce existing laws.
Part of the problem with the immigration system now is that, thanks to
Barack Obama, the federal government picks and chooses its immigration
policy based on the potential political gain for Democrats. The GOP will
not improve its fortunes -- not to mention do what's best for the
nation -- by aiding those ends.
The Root of Cuomo's Intolerance
As for conservatives being "pro-assault weapon," Cuomo should remember that he took an oath to "support and defend" the Constitution, which guarantees the right to keep and bear arms. Evidently, he needs a refresher on what's in it. Cuomo soon sent an open letter to the New York Post claiming that his words were "distorted." The governor swears he meant candidates with "extreme" views, not citizens who hold those same "extreme" views. "[I]t is clear," the letter said, "that the Governor was making the observation that an extreme right candidate cannot win statewide because this is a politically moderate state (either moderate Republican or moderate Democratic)." We'll grant that conservatives have a tough time winning in New York. However, the deeper issue here is again one of hypocrisy and intolerance. Cuomo and his fellow Democrat cadres do an awful lot of talking about tolerance, fairness and equality, but their acceptance only goes skin deep. Examples abound of Democrats calling conservatives racist, bigoted, anti-woman, anti-gay, anti-science or just plain evil -- all for maintaining traditional American values. To Democrats, conservative ideas are not to be debated, but rather they are to be marginalized and silenced.
James Madison warned that
majorities could become tyrannical: "In all cases where a majority are
united by a common interest or passion, the rights of the minority are
in danger." New Yorkers would do well to heed Madison's warning.
For more, visit Right Analysis.
TOP 5 RIGHT OPINION COLUMNS
 OPINION IN BRIEF
Columnist William
Murchison: "The government's very odd way of prioritizing values -- free
contraceptive devices measured as a higher good than any moral
understanding possibly planted by God -- is characteristic of our times.
Secular political ideals regularly trump religious scruples. 'Made in
Washington, D.C.,' is a stronger product endorsement these days than
'Thus saith the Lord.' ... [T]he federal government took over, as
numerous Americans saw it, primary responsibility for maximizing
American health and prosperity. The religious freedom provisions of the
First Amendment became less a protection for the most important
convictions of life than a barrier to achievement of secular goals --
'reproductive choice' very much near the top of that list. ... 'The
right to choose means the right to choose rightly.' In accordance with
who's got the political power. No doubt, these days, of whom that is!"
Economist Thomas Sowell:
"Someone summarized Barack Obama in three words -- 'educated,' 'smart'
and 'ignorant.' Unfortunately, those same three words would describe all
too many of the people who come out of our most prestigious colleges
and universities today. President Obama seems completely unaware of how
many of the policies he is trying to impose have been tried before, in
many times and places around the world, and have failed time and again.
... But who reads history these days? Moreover, those parts of history
that would undermine the vision of the left ... are not likely to get
much attention. The net results are bright people, with impressive
degrees, who have been told for years how brilliant they are, but who
are often ignorant of facts that might cause them to question what they
have been indoctrinated with in schools and colleges. ... Facts are not
liberals' strong suit. Rhetoric is."
Edmund Burke (1729-1797): "There is but one law for all, namely, that
law which governs all law, the law of our Creator, the law of humanity,
justice, equity -- the law of nature, and of nations."Fred Thompson: "A new economic survey shows that half of US counties still haven't recovered from Obama's recession. The other half are still struggling to recover from Obama's recovery."
Humorist Frank J. Fleming: "I wouldn't worry too much about the NSA; I'm sure Google is keeping tabs on them."
Semper Vigilo, Fortis, Paratus et Fidelis!
Nate Jackson for The Patriot Post Editorial Team
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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Tuesday, January 21, 2014
THE PATRIOT POST 01/21/2014
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