THE PATRIOT POST 08/25/2015

Right Analysis | Right Hooks | Right Opinion Patriot Headlines | Grassroots Commentary Daily Digest August 25, 2015    THE FOUNDATION "No government, any more than an individual, will long be respected without being truly respectable; nor be truly respectable, without possessing a certain portion of order and stability." —James Madison, Federalist No. 62, 1788 TOP RIGHT HOOKS Obama: 'Tea Party Agrees With Me on Solar Energy' Obama at the Copper Mountain Solar Facility, Nevada, in 2012 In a Monday speech before the National Clean Energy Summit, Barack Obama told the crowd that clean energy "is not and should not be a Republican versus Democrat issue." He's right about that, but he instead tried to drive a wedge between the Tea Party and the organizations backed by the Koch brothers. First, Obama gave an example of the Florida Tea Party's push to deregulate the state's solar industry, advocating for a freer market, trying to change the laws so that private citizens can sell energy generated by their solar panels to energy companies. To that end, they are joined by progressives such as the Green Party. But Obama mistakes the Tea Party trying to affect local change as an endorsement for his energy policies. With that assumption in mind, he fired upon national lobbying groups suspicious of renewable fuels. "When you start seeing massive lobbying efforts backed by fossil fuel interests or conservative think tanks, or the Koch brothers pushing for new laws to roll back renewable energy standards or prevent new clean energy businesses from succeeding, that's a problem," Obama said. "That's rent-seeking, and trying to protect old ways of doing business and standing in the way of the future. ... They're trying to undermine competition in the marketplace." But Obama's new way of doing business involves heavy subsidies that keep industries like ethanol and solar kicking around for another year. It's a way of business that requires the cost of electricity to "necessarily skyrocket" in order to make green energy viable. It's an industry that's only green because it's under a government spigot — not exactly a Tea Party-endorsed practice, and nothing to do with the competitive free market. Comment | Share Boston Gun Buyback Program Not Exactly Hauling Them In "We need people to know that the [city's] gun buyback program is still in process," Boston Mayor Martin J. Walsh said recently. "We've never ended it. So we're going to continue to push that out there, and having more information out there letting them know that the program is still in existence, it's a good thing." The reason he's pushing the program in the media, however, is that the Boston Police Department has received a grand total of one (1) firearm so far this year. We suppose those $100 and $200 gift cards weren't enticing enough. In 2014, the Boston PD netted more than 400 firearms in the buyback, but they were mostly old and nonfunctioning guns. Not exactly the ones gangbangers are using in drive-by shootings. That said, the Boston Herald reports, "Police have seized more than 400 firearms this year through arrests and other surrenders, putting them on target to meet, or top, the 651 they grabbed outside the buyback program last year." Of course, it's not a gun problem; it's a culture problem. But there isn't a buyback program for that. Undeterred, however, Walsh boasted, "The one gun that we took off the street this year through the gun buyback program — you never know what that gun would have been used for. Getting one gun off the street is effective." That depends on your definition of "effective." Meanwhile, NBC News reports, "British artist Carl McCrow is asking the world's most successful filmmakers to make an unambiguous pledge: For every gun that appears in their movies, he wants them to destroy a real one." Put that with Boston's program, and they might get two guns off the streets. Comment | Share Meet the StemExpress CEO, Abortion 'Champion' This is what was hidden when a California judge issued a restraining order prohibiting the Center for Medical Progress from releasing some of its footage from its investigation into StemExpress' fetal trafficking practices. On Friday, the Los Angeles Superior Court lifted the order because the First Amendment gives CMP the right to disclose what StemExpress and Planned Parenthood are doing behind clinic doors. So CMP released a ninth video — one that features StemExpress CEO Cate Dyer talking about the business of fetal trafficking, describing how Planned Parenthood is a "volume institution," and how PP often gives StemExpress intact babies. There's a lot to unpack from the video. One thing that should cause every abortion advocate to pause: Dyer says a lot of the fetuses she collects are infected. Hello women's health? One thing's for sure: While StemExpress and PP publically severed ties, the two are ideologically close. "If you're not in the cause, they don't need you around," Dyer said. "They need champions, and if you're not a champion, then you should go. That's just, I don't know — the clinics are very guarded, as they should be. Who do they let in their house; they want champions in their house." Comment | Share Don't Miss Patriot Humor Check out Hillary's Jumpsuit. If you'd like to receive Patriot Humor by email, update your subscription here. FEATURED RIGHT ANALYSIS Biden Wins Key Endorsement, Hillary Hardest Hit By Nate Jackson What was "the smartest decision that [Barack Obama] has ever made in politics"? Choosing Joe Biden as his running mate, of course. At least that was Obama spokesman Josh Earnest's assertion this week. And it wasn't just Earnest. Obama has said it before. “The vice president is somebody who has already run for president twice,” Earnest added. "So I think you could probably make the case that there is no one in American politics today who has a better understanding of exactly what is required to mount a successful national presidential campaign." While Earnest also expressed Obama’s “appreciation, respect and admiration” for Hillary Clinton, it's hard to overestimate the importance of his statements on Biden in light of Hillary's mounting trouble. What does Obama know that would prompt such a strong endorsement of Biden? Does Obama believe Hillary is in so much trouble that she may be indicted? Perhaps he believes choosing her to head the State Department was the worst decision he ever made. It is increasingly likely that Clinton, having deleted more than 30,000 emails from the illegal private communications server she maintained while secretary of state, may face criminal charges. Those charges range from felony possession of classified documents on an unclassified and unauthorized server, to felony obstruction of justice — she erased all those emails after the server had been subpoenaed by the House Committee on Benghazi. For the record, the statute pertaining to evidence tampering, 18 U.S.C. § 1519, includes penalties of up to 20 years in prison. That statute is part of the 2002 Sarbanes-Oxley Act, for which then-Senator Hillary Clinton voted "yes." It specifies felony charges for anyone who "knowingly alters, destroys, mutilates, conceals, covers up, falsifies, or makes a false entry" in any official account or record "with the intent to impede, obstruct, or influence the investigation or proper administration of any matter." Notably, it further specifies, "or in relation to or contemplation of any such matter or case," which is precisely why Clinton maintained that private server. She has already admitted to the willful destruction of those communications. And the latest news is that the State Department did not fulfill its legal obligation to inform the Department of Homeland Security of Hillary's server arrangement. In other words, it just keeps getting worse. All of which, as we have previously noted, opens the door for Joe Biden to save the day. On top of the White House endorsement, Biden has been more strongly signaling his intent to enter the race. Over the weekend, he had a powwow with Elizabeth "Honest Injun" Warren. Smoking the peace pipe with the Fake Cherokee of Harvard means Biden may be looking to team up with her for a run. Warren is a darling of progressives, but declined to answer the call to run for president herself. Together, the duo could perhaps overcome the Clinton machine. That said, Biden has a lot of catching up to do in very short order. He has no campaign apparatus, and is months behind in fundraising. Biden doesn't have Obama's appeal on the campaign stump, as evidenced by his own two failed presidential runs — admittedly before he had the cache of being vice president. Democrats are focused on minorities, and Biden is a 72-year-old white dude who wrote the 1994 Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act that Bill Clinton recently apologized for because of its adverse effects on blacks. To top it off, Biden's family is still grieving the loss of his son Beau, who died of cancer earlier this year, and they may not be up to a grueling campaign. Which brings us back to the shot in the arm Obama's effective endorsement really is. If Obama decides to rally behind Biden — and make no mistake, that would be about preserving Obama's legacy as much as any affinity for his right-hand man — it could prove decisive. Obama beat Hillary once already, and this time her fate isn't in her own hands but rather those of the FBI. Political memories are incredibly short. So if somehow Hillary ends up dropping out of the race after an indictment, two months from now, if Biden stepped in with Warren at his side, all of it would be a distant memory for anyone looking to vote Democrat. Charles Krauthammer concludes, "That was a pretty broad hint from Josh Earnest that the president is tilting towards Biden." Furthermore, he said, "The perfect play for Biden is not Elizabeth Warren's endorsement but that he announces he will have her on the ticket and he will be a one-term president." In July, Obama asserted, "I actually think I'm a pretty good president. I think if I ran [for a third term] I could win. But I can't." However, a Biden/Warren ticket is a third Obama term. Comment | Share Share MORE ORIGINAL PERSPECTIVE ANALYSIS: Advanced Placement Framework Is Pure Anti-American Propaganda Viral Education Falls Flat Watch Out for FEC Chairwoman Ann Ravel Football Crowd Circumvents Judge's Order Despite Loss of Power, Reid Backs Iran Deal Humor: Falkor BEST OF RIGHT OPINION Michael Barone: Hillary Clinton and 'Black Lives Matter': An Unproductive Confrontation Stephen Moore: Mortgage Madness Returns Thomas Sowell: Sorting the Candidates For more, visit Right Opinion. TOP HEADLINES 'Cadillac Tax' to Hit 26% of Employers IRS Finds Another Lois Lerner Email Account Ferguson Judge Withdraws All Arrest Warrants Before 2015 OPINION IN BRIEF Stephen Moore: "Last month I bought a house in Potomac, Md., a trade-up on my current home, and was shocked to learn in the ensuing weeks that I couldn’t get a mortgage loan. ... My situation was doubly frustrating because I’m making a 25 percent down payment on the house. ... The main reason I was denied a loan was because of a below-average credit score. This was infuriating on several levels. First, I have had two previous mortgages, and in 25 years I’ve never missed a payment. How can I be a high-risk borrower? The answer is that, twice in 30 years, I was 30 days late paying my credit card bill — and paid the hefty late fee — and, even more ridiculous, I, Steve Moore, have $300 of unpaid parking tickets. The horror. ... But here is why I really want to pull my hair out. While I’m making a 25 percent down payment, the government insurance underwriters — the Federal Housing Administration, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac — are backing with taxpayer dollars hundreds of thousands of loans made with as little as 3 percent down. These are the loans that will likely default. And taxpayers are on the hook for hundreds of billions of dollars. Uncle Sam is repeating every mistake made just eight years ago. ... So, while my tax dollars are backing thousands and thousands of loans likely to fail, my loan with close-to-zero probability of default can’t get financed — because I’m upper middle class. This is considered fairness. Only in America." Comment | Share SHORT CUTS Insight: "There is no subtler, no surer means of overturning the existing basis of society than to debauch the currency. The process engages all the hidden forces of economic law on the side of destruction, and does it in a manner which not one man in a million is able to diagnose." —British economist John Maynard Keynes (1883-1946) Upright, part I: "The pro-life movement is not about repressing sexuality. It’s about acknowledging that you are taking another human life and extinguishing it before it has the chance to flourish. You can be as sexually free as you want, but just because you can’t be responsible enough to keep from creating a brand new human being doesn’t mean you can end its life and pretend there are no consequences." —Red State's Joe Cunningham Upright, part II: "The idea that disrupting and protesting Bernie Sanders speeches will change what is wrong in America is lunacy. The 'BlackLivesMatter' movement is focused on the wrong targets, to the detriment of blacks who would like to see real change and to the benefit of its powerful white liberal funders using the attacks on Sanders for political purposes that mean nothing for the problems that face our community." —Ben Carson Braying Jenny: "[Gov. Scott Walker is] tightening the noose, literally, around African-Americans.” —Rep. Gwen Moore (Literally!) Double standards: "Unfortunately, Congress left town for five full weeks — and they left behind a stack of unfinished business.” —Barack Obama on Saturday, one day before returning from Martha's Vineyard, where he spent two weeks vacationing And last... "When asked if she 'wiped' her server clean, Hillary Clinton responded: 'What? With a cloth or something?' Yes. Like maybe that white flag you raised in Benghazi." —Fred Thompson 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.