THE FOUNDATION
"All sober inquirers after truth ... have declared that the happiness of man, as well as his dignity, consists in virtue." --John Adams, Thoughts on Government, 1776TOP 5 RIGHT HOOKS
Two Years Too Late
Vietnam veteran Doug Chase was diagnosed with a brain tumor in 2011. He tried to transfer his care to the VA hospital in Bedford, Massachusetts, but before he could, he died in August 2012. His widow, Suzanne Chase, asked the VA for funeral benefits, but she was denied because her husband never received treatment at the VA. Now CBS Boston reports, "But two weeks ago, he got a letter, from the VA in Bedford, saying he could now call to make an appointment to see a primary care doctor. 'It was addressed to my husband and I opened it,' said Suzanne Chase. ... 'It was 22 months too late...' At the bottom of the letter, dated June 12, it reads: 'We are committed to providing primary care in a timely manner and would greatly appreciate a prompt response.'" Was it a secret waiting list, or simply another example of the VA imploding under the weight of its own bureaucracy? As CBS reports, the VA is really sorry. More...Comment | Share
McDonald Heads VA
Former CEO of Proctor & Gamble Bob McDonald took the helm of the Veteran Affairs health care system. Hopefully, coming from 33 years in the private sector, McDonald will run the VA like a business, with serving customers (veterans) as the goal of the organization. However, columnist Ed Morrissey echoed something we've long said: "McDonald will have an arguably more difficult task at the VA, though, because the root of the problem is the VA itself. Its single-payer system creates incentives that have everything to do with protecting bureaucracies and nothing to do with customer service. McDonald comes from a company that operates in highly-competitive markets, where customer service and quality are make-or-break points for organizational survival. Boehner's correct that McDonald can't come in with a mission to just clean up the current system, and more to the point, he's the wrong choice for that kind of mission anyway." To fix the problem completely, veterans need the choice to seek health care elsewhere, creating competition in the system. More...Comment | Share
Ashamed Liberals
If you are not proud to be an American, you are probably a liberal. Pew Research Center released a study that divided Americans into seven, not three, political groups. Solid Liberals and Steadfast Conservatives sit on either end of the spectrum. In the categories with lighter shades of blue, there are the Faith and Family Left, the Next Generation Left and Hard-Pressed Skeptics. Categories of citizens who sit more center than right include Young Outsiders and Business Conservatives. The study is significant because it paints American political culture with more nuance than just bright red and blue. According to Pew, 40% of Solid Liberals -- who only make up 15% of the general public -- are proud to be Americans. That leaves 60% ashamed of their country, which makes the royal blue the most rueful of any other demographic. More...Comment | Share
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Obama: 'So Sue Me'
In yet another presidential stump speech, Barack Obama taunted Republicans Tuesday to "sue me" if they don't like his unilateral executive actions. House Speaker John Boehner has threatened to do just that. "As long as [Republicans] insist on taking no action whatsoever that will help anybody," Obama said. "I'm going to keep on taking actions on my own that can help the middle class." As if to turn the knife, he added, "Middle-class families can't wait for Republicans in Congress to do stuff. So sue me. As long as they're doing nothing, I'm not going to apologize for trying to do something." Obama's actions are harming the middle class. The economy has been stagnant for his entire tenure because he's more concerned with class warfare than anything else. On top of that, his actions are also frequently unconstitutional.Comment | Share
No Complaints Over 'Redskins'
Before the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board stripped the Washington Redskins of trademark protection, the organization received exactly no correspondence (i.e., zero complaints) from the general public about the football team's brand. In an investigation by The Washington Times, "A Freedom of Information Act request ... asking for any communications from Congress or the public produced just 13 pages of records. Six of those pages were a handwritten, meandering letter from a man in Lubbock, Texas, whose position on the team name controversy isn't clear. Another writer congratulated the appeals board after its decision but questioned whether the judges would 'go after' the United Negro College Fund. Both letters were sent after the ruling." But the trademark appeals board did listen to someone -- namely, the shrill voices of 50 liberal senators with nothing better to do than foment politically correct bitterness. More...Comment | Share
For more, visit Right Hooks.
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RIGHT ANALYSIS
Civil Rights Act Turns 50
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By some measures, a very long way. We are no longer a forcibly segregated nation, and oppressive white racism is largely a thing of the past. But by other measures, we've not gone anywhere. Hillsdale College history professor Paul Moreno writes of today's anniversary, "The goal was -- and is -- a noble one. Yet the ink was hardly dry on the new law before it became an instrument for racial classifications and preferences that the bill's sponsors swore would be prohibited." As a result, there is a seemingly intractable entitlement mentality now among blacks, fed by the guilt of white leftists.
CBS News asked how far we've come, and their findings are telling. "Nearly eight in 10 Americans think there's been real progress since the 1960s in getting rid of racial discrimination; just 19 percent say there hasn't been much progress," CBS reports. "Views on progress differ by race, however. Whites (82 percent) are more likely than African-Americans (59 percent) to think real progress has been made. More than a third of African-Americans say there hasn't been real progress."
So why do a third of blacks think racial discrimination remains a serious problem?
The answer is surprisingly simple. The primary protagonist of the civil rights movement, Martin Luther King, proclaimed famously, "I have a dream that my children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character." But the Left has done nothing to advance that proclamation. They judge by the color of skin instead of a person's character. This affirms the statist status of most blacks, who, in effect, are enslaved on urban poverty plantations. That may seem harsh, but look at the facts.
Since the Civil Rights Act was passed, blacks have become disproportionate recipients of federal benefits, and, in particular, the welfare benefits for children born out of wedlock have resulted in the near total breakdown of the black family. That in turn has caused outsized incarceration rates for young black men. And the cycle continues. Yet 95% of blacks blindly vote for Democrats because that's who the sugar daddies are.
In 1766, Ben Franklin observed, "I am for doing good to the poor, but I differ in opinion of the means. I think the best way of doing good to the poor, is not making them easy in poverty, but leading or driving them out of it. In my youth I travelled much, and I observed in different countries, that the more public provisions were made for the poor, the less they provided for themselves, and of course became poorer. And, on the contrary, the less was done for them, the more they did for themselves, and became richer."
Yet today's practice is the vision of avowed socialist George Bernard Shaw, co-founder of the London School of Economics: "A government which robs Peter to pay Paul can always depend on the support of Paul."
We are, however, ever optimistic. In light of Friday's celebration of our nation's birth, we hope the immortal words of the Declaration of Independence prevails for our great nation: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." Let it be true for red and yellow, black and white.
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How the West Was Won (For the Feds)
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Read the rest here.
For more, visit Right Analysis.
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TOP 5 RIGHT OPINION COLUMNS
- Ben Shapiro: The Jew-Hating Obama Administration
- Jacob Sullum: A God-Given Right to Break the Law
- Terence Jeffrey: The Hobbled Hobby Lobby Decision
- Michelle Malkin: Inside the VA's Spin-'N-Stonewall Machine
- John Stossel: 'Crapitalism!'
OPINION IN BRIEF
American politician and writer John Taylor (1753-1824): "If the means to which the government of the union may resort for executing the power confided to it, are unlimited, it may easily select such as will impair or destroy the powers confided to the state governments."Columnist Ben Shapiro: "On Monday, three Jewish boys were found dead, murdered by the terrorist group Hamas: Eyal Yifrach, 19; Gilad Shaar, 16; and Naftali Frenkel, 16. Frenkel was an American citizen. The three were kidnapped while hitchhiking some three weeks ago. In the interim, President Barack Obama said nothing about them publicly. His wife issued no hashtags. His State Department maintained that $400 million in American taxpayer cash would continue to the Palestinian unity government, which includes Hamas. Presumably Frenkel did not look enough like Barack Obama's imaginary son for him to give a damn. Or perhaps Frenkel hadn't deserted his duty in the American military, and therefore his parents didn't deserve a White House press conference. Maybe Michelle Obama was too busy worrying about children's fat thighs to spend a moment tweeting out a selfie to raise awareness. ... Jew hatred is as old as the Jewish people. It's just found a new home in the White House."
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Columnist Jacob Sullum: "[T]here is something undeniably troubling about making criminal or civil liability hinge on a person's religious beliefs (or lack thereof). If Americans were not so blinded by partisan commitments, this situation [HHS contraception mandate] would spur a discussion of which actions are properly prohibited or compelled. When it seems reasonable to contemplate a religious exception to a generally applicable law, that is a pretty good reason to question the law itself."
Comedian Argus Hamilton: "Bill Clinton earned over one hundred million dollars in speaking fees since he left office. He bragged he gives five-hundred-fifty dollar Shinola watches to his friends. Giving Chinese watches to billionaires is Bill's way of dealing with income inequality."
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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