Monday, March 17, 2014

THE PATRIOT POST 03/17/2014

March 17, 2014   Print

THE FOUNDATION

"The constitution of the United States is to receive a reasonable interpretation of its language, and its powers, keeping in view the objects and purposes, for which those powers were conferred. By a reasonable interpretation, we mean, that in case the words are susceptible of two different senses, the one strict, the other more enlarged, that should be adopted, which is most consonant with the apparent objects and intent of the Constitution." --Joseph Story, Commentaries on the Constitution, 1833

TOP 5 RIGHT HOOKS

Amnesty by Executive Order

Amnesty may be coming without Congress. According to a White House release, Barack Obama is looking at how to manage the deportation system "more humanely within the confines of the law." The White House announced the shift after the president met with three leading members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus. The statement said, "The president emphasized his deep concern about the pain too many families feel from the separation that comes from our broken immigration system." Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-IL) in particular couldn't understand why Obama could issue waivers and delays on ObamaCare and yet not change the immigration system on his own. A fair point -- when the "confines of the law" don't actually confine a president, where is the line?
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Bury Keystone for Climate

Secretary of State John Kerry received a letter Friday signed by 27 House Democrats who oppose the Keystone XL pipeline. Naturally, their reason is that we can't both fight climate change and have fossil fuel development. "The math doesn't add up," the letter says. "In order to meet our commitment to fight climate change, we need to keep at least 80 percent of carbon reserves below ground. If the United States is truly committed to avoiding a 2 degree temperature increase, we have to start by resisting this pipeline. We urge you to reject the pipeline and keep tar sands oil in the ground where it belongs." Never mind our economic needs. We must leave perfectly good oil in the ground so that we can fight the phantom menace of climate change. One thing about their letter is right -- that math doesn't add up.
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Relinquish Your Firearm

Tens of thousands of Connecticut residents have not complied with the "Constitution State's" unconstitutional and draconian gun laws passed in the emotional aftermath of Sandy Hook. Now, things are possibly coming to a head. "Connecticut officials are urging owners of now-illegal assault weapons and large capacity ammunition magazines to relinquish them to the police or make them permanently inoperable," reports the Associated Press. Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection Commissioner Dora Schriro denied rumors that guns will be confiscated, but let's be realistic: If the state government says these guns are illegal unless they're registered or no longer in the state, what's their next step?
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Listen to Your Mother

The administration is desperate to get young people to sign up for overpriced health insurance plans. Without them, the system simply won't work. How desperate are they? They've recruited the moms of several Hollywood celebrities to get you darn kids to do what you're told. "Young people feel invincible," says one mom. "And until something actually happens, they will continue to feel invincible. And unfortunately things do happen." To close things out, Michelle Obama says, "We nag you because we love you. Go to Healthcare.gov and enroll today." The Wall Street Journal's James Taranto, writing about other campaigns targeted at youth, makes the astute observation that "buying insurance is a quintessential expression of adult responsibility, and they might do better if they treated young adults as adults." Liberalism is overbearing nanny statism and arrested development all wrapped up into one.
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Resident Fighting EPA's Wrath

A Wyoming resident is feeling the wrath of Barack Obama's EPA for inadvertently defying the agency's strict approval methods. His horrendous act? Building a stock pond back in 2012 ... on his own property. Andy Johnson and his wife constructed the pond with the state's authorization; however, the EPA says that the Johnsons violated federal law for failing to obtain approval from the Army Corps of Engineers. As a result, the EPA is threatening to fine Mr. Johnson $75,000 a day unless he complies with their order of rectifying the situation -- a fine Johnson vows not to pay. "I have not paid them a dime nor will I," he says. "I will go bankrupt if I have to fighting it. ... This goes a lot further than a pond. It's about a person's rights." Indeed it is. The EPA's power grab is blatantly unconstitutional, though such unlawful behavior is to be expected from an administration that has no regard for the Rule of Law.
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For more, visit Right Hooks.
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RIGHT ANALYSIS

Russian Referendum in Crimea Passes by a Threaded Gun Barrel

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Residents of Crimea, a peninsula in south Ukraine, voted Sunday to secede and join Russia. The regional parliament immediately adopted the ruble and moved clocks forward two hours to match Moscow time. Some 97% supported the referendum, but The Wall Street Journal explains why it was a farce: "Vladimir Putin consolidated his hold on Crimea Sunday by forcing a referendum with only two choices. Residents of the Ukrainian region could vote either to join Russia immediately or to do so eventually. The result was a foregone conclusion, midwifed by Russian troops and anti-Ukraine propaganda."
The White House responded with a statement: "President Obama emphasized that the Crimean 'referendum,' which violates the Ukrainian constitution and occurred under duress of Russian military intervention, would never be recognized by the United States and the international community." Additionally, Barack Obama said, "Russia's actions were in violation of Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity, and, in coordination with our European partners, we are prepared to impose additional costs on Russia for its actions." He's been saying this for weeks to no avail.
Russia said it will move quickly to annex Crimea, thumbing its nose at the West's objections. In fact, Russian troops have occupied a natural gas plant on Ukrainian mainland, and there are tens of thousands of troops along the border between the two nations. It would seem Putin's real goal is to reassemble the old Soviet empire, the collapse of which he said in 2005 was "the greatest geopolitical catastrophe" of the 20th century. Until "costs" and "consequences" tangibly take a toll on Putin, he's not going to care what Obama reads from a teleprompter, or change that thinking.
Quite the contrary, in fact. Ever since Obama's presidential candidacy, he has telegraphed only weakness, cloaked as conciliatory "smart power." (Has there ever been a more arrogant self-summation of an administration's foreign policy?) He began his tenure with the miserably failed "reset" of relations with Russia, and quickly abandoned George W. Bush's missile defense systems in Eastern Europe in order to placate Putin. The commander in chief has also been obsessed with gutting the U.S. military. All of this only served to embolden the former KGB agent against the former community organizer.
There are a few things the U.S. can do: Withdraw from the horribly Moscow-slanted arms treaty known as New START, re-establish plans for missile defense in Eastern Europe, supply the Ukrainian military and NATO allies, export natural gas to Europe to relieve its dependence on Russia, and enact sanctions against Russia and its oligarchs. Putin may have Crimea, but it should be a painful acquisition.
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GM Ignition Switch Probe Turns Criminal

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Chevy Cobalt
For nearly 10 years, GM employees knew that the ignition switch design used on thousands of their compact vehicles, such as the Chevy Cobalt, Pontiac G5, and Saturn Ion, has been defective. Could a recall have been delayed to save the government's favorite automaker?
Read the rest of the story here.
For more, visit Right Analysis.

TOP 5 RIGHT OPINION COLUMNS

For more, visit Right Opinion.

OPINION IN BRIEF

Columnist Burt Prelutsky: "It just strikes me that if you can't even produce a viable website, you're on very shaky ground when it comes to trying to screw around with the world's weather. In 2008, when Obama boasted that his energy policy would send energy costs skyrocketing -- and still got elected -- I assumed most people thought he was joshing. And when, as president, he unleashed the dogs of the EPA on the coal industry, I assumed most people sloughed it off as strictly between him and the folks in those coal mining states. But when he was re-elected last year, even carrying some of those very states, it merely convinced me that a lot of people can't chew gum and vote at the same time. Coal is responsible for 40% of our energy. If a foreign power had somehow deprived us of our coal supply, we would have gone to war with them. Well, not Obama, of course, but all our other commanders-in-chief would have. Hell, Obama wouldn't have gone to war over Pearl Harbor."
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The Gipper: "Are you willing to spend time studying the issues, making yourself aware, and then conveying that information to family and friends? Will you resist the temptation to get a government handout for your community? Realize that the doctor's fight against socialized medicine is your fight. We can't socialize the doctors without socializing the patients. Recognize that government invasion of public power is eventually an assault upon your own business."
Columnist Peggy Noonan: "The most obvious Ukraine point has to do with American foreign policy in the sixth year of the Obama era. Not being George W. Bush is not a foreign policy. Not invading countries is not a foreign policy. Wishing to demonstrate your sophistication by announcing you are unencumbered by the false historical narratives of the past is not a foreign policy. Assuming the world will be nice if we're not militarist is not a foreign policy. What is our foreign policy? Disliking global warming?"
Comedian Argus Hamilton: "Russian troops seized a hospital and a missile base in Crimea, ratcheting up the tensions with Ukraine over control of the peninsula. The U.S. is not powerless to help. If we can get Chris Christie to take off his shirt and ride a horse perhaps we can scare Vladimir Putin out of Crimea."
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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