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Patriot Headlines | Grassroots Commentary Daily Digest
May 20, 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, 1833TOP RIGHT HOOKSJudge Halts DC's Rule Requiring Justification for 2A RightsThe courts may have forced the District of Columbia to recognize its citizens' right to keep and bear arms, but the city did all it could to restrict the number of firearms. When journalist Emily Miller tried to get a gun in February, she was told she was only the 16th person the city deemed had a "good reason" to carry a handgun — probably because she was a journalist writing about the topic. On Monday, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia ordered the city to stop enforcing the rule making citizens justify their rights, saying it violated the Second Amendment. "The District of Columbia's arbitrary 'good reason'/'proper reason' requirement ... goes far beyond establishing such reasonable restrictions," the court wrote in the ruling. "Rather, for all intents and purposes, this requirement makes it impossible for the overwhelming majority of law-abiding citizens to obtain licenses to carry handguns in public for self-defense, thereby depriving them of their Second Amendment right to bear arms." The fight's not over, though. The city is expected to appeal, and the issue of DC's gun laws could end up at the Supreme Court once again. More...Comment | Share Gov. Jindal Takes Action on Religious FreedomLast month, Louisiana began debating a Religious Freedom Restoration Act, similar to the ones that caused so much uproar in Indiana and Arkansas. Lawmakers were tiptoeing around the law, however, because of its optics. Everyone from the state's big businesses to the tourism industry opposed the bill at its public hearing because they alleged it would sanction discrimination against homosexuals. Four weeks later and the bill is good as dead after a Louisiana House committee rejected it 10-2. In response, Gov. Bobby Jindal — who is considering a presidential bid that would appeal to conservative Christians — announced he would go it alone and issue a truncated version of the bill as an executive order. The order would ensure that individuals who believe marriage is between one man and one woman would not lose tax exempt statuses, professional licenses or employment over their beliefs. It's "not about discrimination. It's about the First Amendment," Jindal said. While it's commendable for Jindal to stand while Louisiana's lawmakers cower, it's worrisome that he's essentially using Barack Obama's tactics in pressing change. More...Comment | Share BSA Water Gun Ban — Because 'Pointing a Firearm' Isn't KindThe Boy Scouts of America have been dealing with political correctness for years, though in the past it has been with weighty subjects such as homosexual leaders and scouts. This time, it's not nearly so serious, but it's absurd all the same. Boy Scout blogger Bryan Wendell writes, "As summer — and pool weather! — lingers on the horizon, it's a good time to remind you that BSA policies prohibit pointing simulated firearms at people. Yes, that includes water guns." And he's actually serious. According to the 2015 Boy Scouts of America National Shooting Sports Manual, "Water guns and rubber band guns must only be used to shoot at targets, and eye protection must be worn." Fine, safety first and all. Wouldn't want a Scout hit in the eye with a rubber band. But Wendell goes on to explain, "Why the rule? A Scouter once told me this explanation I liked quite a bit: A Scout is kind. What part of pointing a firearm [simulated or otherwise] at someone is kind?" So now we're going to raise a generation of Scouts to be scared of water guns. What red-blooded American boy hasn't enjoyed the heck out of a water gun fight? Well, now the Boy Scout variety, that's who.
FEATURED RIGHT ANALYSISThe Company Clinton KeepsBy Dan Gilmore
Longtime Clinton lackey Sidney Blumenthal made The New York Times this week when the paper reported on leaked information that the House Select Committee on Benghazi may issue a subpoena for his role in the events surrounding the attack on the Benghazi consulate Sept. 11, 2012. Indeed, the House followed up that leak by issuing the subpoena that day. Blumenthal will appear before the committee June 3. We don't know who leaked the information and supporting emails to the Times. The ranking Democrat on the committee, Elijah Cummings, was quick to pin blame on Republicans for an illegal witch-hunt. "[T]he latest abuses by the Committee are just one more example of a partisan, taxpayer-funded attack against Secretary Clinton and her bid for president,” he said in a grammatically challenged statement. But it's hard to see how Republicans would gain by leaking news of their own subpoena. Still, Cummings is defending a diehard Clinton loyalist, nay, hatchet man. Denied a position in the Obama State Department in 2009, Blumenthal scored a job at the Clinton Foundation. It was from there that he advised then-Secretary of State Clinton on the deteriorating situation in Libya, all the while working with a group of business partners who wanted to build schools, hospitals and shelters in the war-torn North African nation. Say, what's that definition for "conflict of interest" again? The story of Hillary Clinton and Blumenthal begins in the '90s. Bill and Hillary were in the White House and Blumenthal was a journalist at The New Republic. Blumenthal dropped all appearance of objectivity and pledged his heart to the Clinton Machine. In a 1998 profile, The Baltimore Sun described Blumenthal as someone who played both journalist and political player, and who craved the power networking and slinging ink brought. During his time as a Clinton staffer, Blumenthal earned the nickname "GK" — or "Grassy Knoll" — for his penchant for floating conspiracy theories. He was the person who pinned the Clinton's ills on a "vast right-wing conspiracy." He was the one who dismissed Monica Lewinsky as a stalker. When Hillary Clinton needed to dig up dirt on Barack Obama in the 2008 Democrat primary, Blumenthal took the shovel. Naturally, when Obama appointed Clinton as secretary of state, Clinton wanted to hire Blumenthal. But Obama's chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel, shot the idea down. The New York Times reported in 2009 that Blumenthal's attacks against candidate Obama cut too deep and there was bad blood. That and Blumenthal's security clearance might have been affected after he was charged with a DWI when he was stopped for driving 70 mph in a 30 mph zone while campaigning for Clinton in 2008. So, instead, Blumenthal went to work at the Clinton When it came to gathering information on Libya, Clinton found she had limited intelligence. Investigative nonprofit news outlet ProPublica reported, "According to State Department personnel directories, in 2011 and 2012 — the height of the Libya crisis — State didn’t have a Libyan desk officer, and the entire Near Eastern Magreb Bureau, which covers Algeria, Tunisia, Morocco and Libya, had just two staffers." And who should Clinton turn to but her old friend "GK" Blumenthal. From 2011 to 2013, he passed on reports from his "very sensitive sources" to Clinton's private email account. But Blumenthal, a wonk based inside the DC Beltway, couldn't have done this research by himself. In its story on Blumenthal's involvement with Clinton in Libya, the Times reports, "Much of the Libya intelligence that Mr. Blumenthal passed on to Mrs. Clinton appears to have come from a group of business associates he was advising as they sought to win contracts from the Libyan transitional government. The venture, which was ultimately unsuccessful, involved other Clinton friends, a private military contractor and one former C.I.A. spy seeking to get in on the ground floor of the new Libyan economy." On top of Blumenthal's self-interested dealings, he fired off half-baked conspiracies. In a March 8, 2012, email marked CONFIDENTIAL, Blumenthal alleged that France's and Britain's intelligence agencies were working to destabilize Libya by encouraging groups in eastern Libya to create a semi-autonomous zone. Clinton forwarded this report to her then-deputy chief of staff Jacob Sullivan and wrote, "This one strains credulity." Sullivan offered to forward Blumenthal's report — just like he forwarded the other reports to Clinton's staff, including Ambassador Chris Stevens — but he agreed: Grassy Knoll's report "seems like a thin conspiracy theory." Clinton could have asked for more information and staff from the State Department. She was the secretary, after all, and she needed it. Instead, like her email system, she created a homebrewed intelligence network. Then on Sept. 11, 2012, terrorists attacked the Benghazi consulate. Chris Stevens was killed, along with three other Americans. The day after, State released a secret memo pinning the blame on a premeditated terrorist attack. But that's not what Blumenthal wrote. ProPublica reported: "On September 12, 2012, the day after the Benghazi attack, Blumenthal sent a memo that cited a 'sensitive source' saying that the interim Libyan president, Mohammed Yussef el Magariaf, was told by a senior security officer that the assault was inspired by an anti-Muslim video made in the U.S., as well as by allegations from Magariaf’s political opponents that he had CIA ties." Grassy Knoll's fiction became the official story for a couple of weeks, and that is why the Benghazi committee wants to speak to him. Blumenthal's story isn't over. He has been with Clinton since the beginning. If she wins the presidency, "Grassy Knoll" will be somewhere in the upper reaches of her administration, whispering in her ear. Comment | Share TODAY AT PATRIOTPOST.US
BEST OF RIGHT OPINION
 OPINION IN BRIEFWalter Williams: "Much of today's pathology seen among many blacks is an outgrowth of the welfare state that has made self-destructive behavior less costly for the individual. Having children without the benefit of marriage is less burdensome if the mother receives housing subsidies, welfare payments and food stamps. Plus, the social stigma associated with unwed motherhood has vanished. Female-headed households, whether black or white, are a ticket for dependency and all of its associated problems. Ignored in all discussions is the fact that the poverty rate among black married couples has been in single digits since 1994. ... The bulk of today's problems for many blacks are a result of politicians and civil rights organizations using government in the name of helping blacks when in fact they are serving the purposes of powerful interest groups."Comment | Share SHORT CUTSInsight: "The Constitution is not neutral. It was designed to take the government off the backs of people." —Justice William O. Douglas (1898-1980)Obstruction: “I have said repeatedly: I want those emails out. Nobody has a bigger interest in getting them released than I do." —Hillary Clinton (She used a private server and email addresses, turned over tens of thousands of printed pages of emails to the State Department after deleting tens of thousands of others, and then has the audacity to complain they're not moving fast enough.) Class warfare: "If everyone is paying their fair share of taxes than we certainly should and can live within our means. But our problem now is that taxes are being paid by the middle class. The rich, the wealthy and the corporations are not paying their fair share and so therefore we don't have enough to do what the government and do what the country needs the government to do and that's the problem." —Rep. Hank Johnson (D-GA) Village Idiots: "Women hold 28 percent of seats in Afghanistan's Parliament — a higher proportion, I would note, than in the United States Congress." —Samantha Power, Ambassador to the UN, suggesting America's legislative body is more sexist than Afghanistan's Non Compos Mentis: "Are we gonna light our hair on fire every time that there is a setback in the campaign against ISIL?" —Obama spokesman Josh Earnest, referring to the jihadist movement's takeover of Ramadi Demo-gogues: "[C]limate change constitutes a serious threat to global security, an immediate risk to our national security, and, make no mistake, it will impact how our military defends our country." —Barack Obama Late-night humor: "Jeb Bush said recently that he believes apps on the Apple Watch could help Americans better manage their healthcare than Obamacare. So there you go. If you can't afford healthcare, just buy yourself an Apple Watch." —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. |
Wednesday, May 20, 2015
THE PATRIOT POST 05/20/2015
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