Tuesday, January 21, 2014

THE PATRIOT POST 01/21/2014



Daily Digest for Tuesday

January 21, 2014   Print

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, 1788

TOP 5 RIGHT HOOKS

Healthcare.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 Story

Texas 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 Humor

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For more, visit Right Hooks.
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RIGHT ANALYSIS

Coming Soon: Immigration Reform?

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House Republicans leaders are currently drafting a list of principles to guide any upcoming immigration legislation, but the final product seems unlikely to provide any true reform. The Senate bill passed last year created a special path to citizenship for the millions of illegal immigrants in the U.S. with only token attention given to renewed border enforcement provisions, while the House at the time insisted on real border security improvements before moving forward with legalization. Now that the time seems to have come for the House to take up the issue, suddenly their enforcement rhetoric doesn't seem so solid.
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

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As we noted Monday, Democrat New York Governor Andrew Cuomo had some strong words of unwelcome for conservatives in his state: "[T]hese extreme conservatives who are right-to-life, pro-assault-weapon, anti-gay … they have no place in the state of New York, because that's not who New Yorkers are." Of course, Cuomo self-identifies as "Catholic" but promotes abortion and same-sex "marriage" -- both of which are contrary to biblical and church teaching. Not only that, but as we heard it, he thinks Catholic teaching about the sanctity of life and human dignity is "extreme."
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

For more, visit Right Opinion.

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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