Saturday, June 6, 2015

Officers shot at in North County neighborhood early Friday morning

NORTH ST. LOUIS COUNTY (KMOV.com) -
police-siren
Police swarmed a North County neighborhood early Friday morning after there were reports of officers being shot at.
Around 1:30 a.m. officers were in the 10000 block of Count Drive for a disturbance call when they heard gunshots and believed they were under fire, police said. The on scene officers then issued a call for aid.
The officers spent several hours searching the neighborhood but it appears they have not come up with any leads.
According to police, nobody was injured during the gunfire.
No other information has been released.

[CARTOON] The Clinton Zapper

Fan hit by broken bat at Fenway Park has life-threatening injuries, police say


Police say a woman who was hit in the head with a broken bat and was bleeding from the head as she was being carried out of Fenway Park Friday has life threatening injuries.
Boston police spokesman David Estrada said all or part of the bat hit her during the game between the Boston Red Sox and Oakland Athletics.
The spectator was carried out of the stadium after the top of the second inning. She was hit by Oakland’s Brett Lawrie’s bat that broke on a groundout to second base for the second out of the inning. The game was halted in the middle of the second inning as emergency crews tended to the woman and wheeled her off the field on a stretcher.
The woman's name was not immediately released and more details on her condition were not available.
Alex Merlis, of Brookline, Massachusetts, told The Associated Press said he was sitting behind the woman when the broken bat flew into the seats just a few rows from the field between home plate and the third base dugout.
"It was violent," he said of the impact to her forehead and top of her head. "She bled a lot. A lot. I don't think I've ever seen anything like that."
Merlis said the woman was sitting with a small child and a man. After she was injured, the man was tending to her and other people were trying to console the child.
The woman was taken to Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and a hospital worker said early Saturday she has no information for her condition.
"You try to keep her in your thoughts and, hopefully, everything's all right and try to get back to the task at hand," Lawrie said when asked how he was able to refocus after what happened. "Hopefully everything's OK and she's doing all right.
"I've seen bats fly out of guys' hands in(to) the stands and everyone's OK, but when one breaks like that, has jagged edges on it, anything can happen."
Major League Baseball expressed its concerns with flying broken bats and the danger they posed in 2008. A study issued by the league prompted it to implement a series of changes to bat regulations for the following season.

Sean Hannity plays conservative kingmaker

Presidential candidates launch their bids in different cities -- from Louisville to Lynchburg, Miami to Addison -- but, for many Republicans, the first stop on the campaign trail is the same: "Hannity."
In the last two months, four GOP hopefuls have given Sean Hannity dibs on their first interviews as candidates and been rewarded with hour-long "special events" on his primetime Fox News program. Others have tried to land an interview with the conservative host, campaign sources said, only to be turned down -- either because they had given their first interview to another media outlet, or because they weren't popular enough.
On Thursday, former Texas Gov. Rick Perry will become the fourth Republican to get an hour-long special on Hannity's program. Senators Rand Paul, Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio were all given the same hour-long special the night after they formally announced their bids.
For Republicans, Hannity provides instant access to the highly coveted conservative base. His show averaged more than 1.5 million viewers a night in May, according to the network's most recent ratings report. While that's lower than the viewership for "The O'Reilly Factor" or "The Kelly File," the bulk of Hannity's viewers are, like the host, reliably conservative. He also hosts a daily talk radio program that is second only to Rush Limbaugh in terms of listenership.
"Sean Hannity has a loyal following among the viewership of Fox News," Sergio Gor, a spokesperson for Paul, told the On Media blog. "He is one of the most influential voices among republican primary voters, and it doesn't hurt that with every year he's becoming an even greater lover of liberty."
Rick Tyler, a spokesperson for Cruz, said Hannity "has a big target audience and his questions are from a center-right perspective. In other words, he brings up the issues Republican primary voters are interested in."

June 6, 1944: D Day Operation Overlord Begins…

d-day-omaha-beach
General Eisenhower D Day Order:


[VIDEO] House Moves to Stop Operation Choke Point

Making clear its official stance against Operation Choke Point, the House passed a measure that prohibits the Justice Department from using any funds to carry out the controversial program. Critics say it unfairly targets legal businesses like pawn shops, gun dealers and payday lenders.
On Wednesday, lawmakers approved the Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, which allocates funding to a range of agencies and also includes a provision to defund Operation Choke Point.
“While I had hoped that the unprecedented Operation Choke Point would have been far behind us by now, it was once again necessary to offer an amendment to the annual Commerce, Justice, and Science Appropriations legislation to prohibit funding for it,” said Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer, R-Mo., who sponsored the amendment.
My colleagues and I will continue to ensure [the Justice Department] and FDIC enforcement actions are focused on actual threats and risks and not politics and ideology as we continue to move forward with the fight to end this illegal program once and for all.
After failed past attempts by Congress to end Operation Choke Point, members this time are “hopeful” this strategy will work.
“The House has done its job and now we hope the second legislative branch and the executive branch will join us on behalf of standing up for the American people,” Rep. Scott Tipton, R-Colo., a member of the House Financial Services Committee, which has been critical of Operation Choke Point, told The Daily Signal.
Operation Choke Point was launched by the Justice Department in 2013 as a way to combat consumer fraud by working with multiple government agencies—among them, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation—to discourage banks from doing business with “high risk” industries.
Since its inception, critics say the program is being used to drive industries that are politically unpopular out of business.
Via: The Daily Signal
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McConnell: No more Obama judicial confirmations?

That’s not quite what Mitch McConnell proposes here in his interview last night with Hugh Hewitt, but functionally it will likely amount to the same thing. Hugh wants an end to judicial confirmations as a payback for Harry Reid’s “nuclear option” last session in removing filibusters from the process, and asks whether McConnell will follow through on it. McConnell tells Hugh that the Senate has only confirmed those judges Barack Obama has appointed that pass muster with the Republican caucus, and that’s how he sees the rest of the session going:
HH: And my last question goes to judicial nominations. I am one of those people who wouldn’t confirm another judge given the antics they pulled last year. But what is the situation vis-à-vis federal judicial nominations and the process in the Senate right now?
MM: Well, so far, the only judges we’ve confirmed have been federal district judges that have been signed off on by Republican Senators.
HH: And so you expect that that will continue to be the case for the balance of this session?
MM: I think that’s highly likely, yeah.
In other words, McConnell leaves the door open for Obama to nominate judges that the Republican majority find acceptable. It’s a formula that arguably enforces the “advice” part of “advice and consent” in the Constitution (Article II, Section 2), but with the operational wrinkle that flexes McConnell’s muscle. Normally, a President would have some leeway to gain majority approval from the Senate as a whole, but the attempt to derail minority input in the last session means McConnell wants to play hardball in this session, especially after Obama and Reid used it to pack the DC Circuit Court of Appeals.

[VIDEO] CBS NEW: CHINESE HACK IS REALLY BAD, CAN’T PUT LIPSTICK ON THIS PIG

CBS News reported on the hack by the Chinese government, saying it’s an embarrassment for an administration that has made cyber security a top priority. One official told CBS News that the hack is really bad and there is no way to put lipstick on this pig.
Watch:

Via: The Right Scoop

Are We In for Another High-Crime Era After the Response to Ferguson and Baltimore?

Are we seeing a reversal of the 20-year decline in violent crime in America? A new nationwide crime wave?
Heather Mac Donald fears we are, and as a premier advocate and analyst of the policing strategy pioneered by Rudy Giuliani in New York City and copied and adapted throughout the country, she is to be taken seriously. And the statistics she presented in an article in last weekend's Wall Street Journal are truly alarming.
Gun violence is up 60 percent in Baltimore so far this year compared to 2014. Homicides are up 180 percent in Milwaukee, 25 percent in St. Louis, 32 percent in Atlanta and 13 percent in New York in the same period.
Why is this happening? Mac Donald writes, "The most plausible explanation of the current surge in lawlessness is the intense agitation against American police departments over the past nine months."
That's a reference to the reactions to the deaths of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo., and Eric Garner in Staten Island, N.Y., last summer, and to the death this spring of Freddie Gray in Baltimore.
The narrative propagated by mainstream media, the Eric Holder Justice Department and the Barack Obama White House was that unarmed innocent blacks were being slaughtered by racist police. "Black lives matter," read the hashtag, as if most cops believed the opposite.
The facts of these cases, as revealed through competent investigations, did not support the meme. In one case in which video evidence did, in South Carolina, the policeman was quickly charged with murder by local authorities.
But the propagation of the racist-cops narrative was followed by days of rioting in Ferguson last year and Baltimore last month. The (perhaps misspoken) response of Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake: "We also gave those who wished to destroy space to do that as well."
Another response: Across the country, Mac Donald notes, "offices scale back on proactive policing under the onslaught of anti-cop rhetoric." Proactive "broken windows" policing is being replaced by non-benign neglect. The victims of the increased numbers of homicides are almost all black.

Benghazi Panel to Hear from Clinton Friend Blumenthal in Private Testimony

Long-time Hillary Clinton advisor Sidney Blumenthal is set to be interviewed on June 16 by the House committee investigating the 2012 attacks in Benghazi, Libya. 

The committee, in announcing Blumenthal's appearance Friday, said his deposition will be conducted in a closed session. The media will be barred from coverage.

Blumenthal has become a focus of the House Select Committee on Benghazi since revelations he has been sending Clinton what she called "unsolicited" memos about Libya, where he was trying to arrange business deal, while she was secretary of state.
Latest News Update
Those briefings included early suggestions that terrorists were responsible for the 2012 Benghazi attacks in which U.S. Ambassador Christopher Stevens was killed.

Blumenthal had also been employed by the Clinton Foundation full-time from 2009 to 2013, at which point he became a consultant for the organization, which was founded by Clinton's husband, former President Bill Clinton.

Democrats have accused the House committee, chaired by Republican Trey Gowdy of South Carolina, of stringing out its investigation of the Benghazi attacks to undercut Hillary Clinton's campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination.


Via: NewsMax


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[VIDEO] Industry on edge as EPA prepares to regulate airline emissions

The Environmental Protection Agency will soon announce it plans to regulate airline emissions, asserting they contribute to global warming and endanger public health, according to industry and environmental groups. 
Those findings will prompt a regulatory process for the EPA to determine and enforce aircraft emissions limits, following a similar effort to limit emissions by cars, trucks and power plants. 
But conservatives say higher airplane efficiency standards will only force airlines to raise ticket prices or install more seats on already cramped flights. 
"Airlines already have a tremendous incentive to reduce fuel burn, and reduce CO2 emissions right now," said Sam Batkins, the director of regulatory policy at the American Action Forum. "Airplanes themselves are already efficient and are already getting more efficient each year." 
Airlines are among the most efficiency-minded transportation industries. Normally tight-margin companies, the less fuel airlines burn, the more money they make.   
"There's not a market failure in airline efficiency," said Batkins. 
However, environmental groups contend airlines are failing to realize their full fuel-efficiency potential. 
"They can be doing things a lot more efficiently than they are now. And they've reached the peak of their incentive -- now they need a little push from the federal government to extract increased reductions," said S. William Becker, executive director of the National Association of Clean Air Agencies. "If the president is serious about hitting his climate target, which is reducing greenhouse gases by 28 percent in 2025, below 2005 levels, he can't ignore imposing additional greenhouse gas reductions on this uncontrolled industry." 
Becker said the industry could use lower-carbon fuels, idle engines less and further upgrade its systems. 
Via: Fox News
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Friday, June 5, 2015

Trouble in Dem-land as unions freeze cash contributions

For decades, labor unions have floated the Democratic Party with massive contributions (based on money taken out of the paychecks of members who are forced to join as a condition of employment) and donations of manpower, expecially useful in get-out-the-vote efforts.  And for decades, private-sector unions have shrunk in the face of competition from overseas, as the Democrats court fat-cat donors from Wall Street.

Is that era coming to an end?  Emily Cahn and Emma Dumain of Roll Call report:
The AFL-CIO, along with some public sector unions, announced a campaign finance freeze in March. Unions hoped the threat of withholding contributions would scare Democratic lawmakers out of supporting President Barack Obama’s Trade Promotion Authority, or “fast track,” to negotiate the Trans-Pacific Partnership — a trade agreement labor groups say would hurt manufacturing jobs in the U.S.
The freeze is across the board, intended to punish the party as a whole, not individual members.  This must reflect frustration over being taken for granted and withering on the vine.  Naturally, there are howls of protest:

“I could understand withholding money from people who are on the fence — sure, great,” said one House Democratic chief of staff who asked not to be identified. “But for the people who are with them who also really need the help, I just don’t know that’s a smart strategy. I think that there’s plenty of people who they trust to be with them who could really use their help in deterring an opponent by showing some strength at this point in the cycle, and they’re not helping with that.”
Other Democrats are beginning to lose trust in unions coming through with campaign contributions at all, as House Democrats look to make inroads into a historic House majority.
Opposition to the TPP cuts across party lines.

Via: American Thinker


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CA Senate Passes Bill to Raise Legal Smoking Age to 21

Adding another bill to its reputation as a trend-setting Legislature, Sacramento has taken a big step toward raising the statewide smoking age to 21. By an overwhelming tally of 26 to 8, the state Senate voted to prohibit sales of tobacco products to those aged 18-20.

By the numbers

According to the bill’s supporters, the ban would be instrumental in dramatically reducing not only teen smoking but smoking in general. “Sen. Ed Hernandez, D-West Covina, said he introduced the bill, SB151, out of concern that an estimated 90 percent of tobacco users start before age 21,” the Los Angeles Times reported.
That statistic emerged from a recent Institute of Medicine study making the rounds in policy circles. Researchers suggested that “teen smoking could be curbed by 12 percent if the age limit was raised to 21,” as LA ist noted, “making it harder for minors to find somebody to buy cigarettes for them.” In real numbers, the study concluded, the age-21 limit would ensure “more than 200,000 fewer premature deaths nationally for those born between 2000 and 2019.”
Although critics have pointed out that people older than 18 are adults eligible to be drafted and bound to signed contracts, the Times observed, momentum has gathered to raise the legal smoking age for reasons unrelated to consistency in the treatment of individual rights and responsibilities.

Lincoln Chafee May Be Hillary's Biggest Problem

In a field of Democratic presidential long shots, former Rhode Island senator and governor Lincoln Chafee, who announced his candidacy on Wednesday, may be the longest shot of all. As an authentic, uncompromising progressive, Bernie Sanders is poised to grab the bulk of those Elizabeth Warren enthusiasts who can’t reconcile themselves to Hillary Clinton. As the handsome, articulate, two-term governor of a mid-size state, Martin O’Malley at least looks like a plausible contender one day. Chafee, by contrast, in the words of Quinnipiac University’s Monica Bauer, “has the charisma of Walter Mondale wrapped in the political instincts of a small town city councilman, which he once was, and perhaps would have remained, if he hadn’t been the son of a famous political dynasty. He is George W. Bush with more intelligence but far less political talent.” And like Bush, Chafee was, until very recently, a Republican.

But Chafee could prove Hillary’s most intriguing challenger. It’s not because he’ll garner enough support to give her a scare. If anyone does that, it will likely beSanders, who according to the New York Times is already “gain[ing] momentum in Iowa.” What makes Chafee’s candidacy intriguing is that he’s attacking Hillary on the issue on which she may be most vulnerable: her vote to authorize war with Iraq.

“I don’t think anybody should be president of the United States that made that mistake,” Chafee told The Washington Post in April. “It’s a huge mistake, and we live with broad, broad ramifications today—of instability not only in the Middle East but far beyond and the loss of American credibility.”

A version of this attack helped Barack Obama topple Hillary in 2008. That’s not likely to happen again, since Democrats care far less about Iraq this time.
But Republicans do. While foreign policy has been largely absent from the Democratic presidential campaign thus far, it’s been central to the Republican debate. And this reflects a divide in the country as a whole. A May Wall Street Journal/NBC poll found that “national security/terrorism,” which was the top concern of only eight percent of likely GOP primary voters three years ago, now ranks first, at 27 percent. Among likely Democratic primary voters, by contrast, it’s less than half that.

Fox’s Greta Slams NY Times for Article on Rubio’s Traffic Citations

Greta Van SusterenFox New’s Greta Van Susteren has taken issue with a Friday article from the New York Times, describing the piece as “snarky” and a bit of “bad journalism.”
The Times piece, titled “Marco Rubio and his Wife Cited 17 times for Traffic Infractions,” describes Rubio’s history of citations for “speeding, driving through red lights and careless driving.” The article also describes multiple instances where the Rubios sought a lawyer’s help in order to challenge citations and avoid having their licenses suspended.
Van Susteren conceded that it was fair to examine a presidential candidate’s driving record, but took issue with the article’s presentation. She noted that the article, written by three people, was covered in a way that “jacked [its] number up” order to increase it’s own newsworthiness. She pointed to the headline, saying that it pinned all 17 citations on Mr. Rubio, when he only had 4 to his wife’s 13.
“Why are Mrs. Rubio’s driving infractions pinned on him? He wasn’t driving those 13 times, she was! The headline is written to pin her driving record on him. Headlines matter — that is what most people read and then stop. Collapsing the two driving records in that one headline smears the candidate. She is the one with the driving problem”
In one paragraph, the article described a 1997 citation Rubio received for careless driving, which was followed 12 years later by a ticket for speeding. Van Susteren questioned the use of Times resources here, saying that there was a difference between 12 years and 12 weeks, as well as how these infractions were far less serious than charges like drunk driving.
“Is the NYT going to scramble to every DMV and get stories on all the candidates’ stale driving records and the driving records of their spouses,” asked Van Susteren.
Van Susteren concluded her piece by saying that it was written neither for nor against the senator’s campaign. She also admitted to regrets in her own career in reporting, but urged the media to take use good judgment. “The media has limited resources (every news organization has cut back) and we should attempt to use them wisely – and fairly.

[VIDEO] Nearly Half of U.S. Can’t Afford Unexpected $400 Bill – Forgo Medical Treatment

(CNSNews.com)- Nearly half of American households would not be able to afford a $400 emergency, according to a recent report from the Federal Reserve.
The Federal Reserve Report on the Economic Well-Being of U.S. Households in 2014 says that 47 percent indicate that they would have great difficulty handling an unexpected $400 expense.(CNSNews.com)- Nearly half of American households would not be able to afford a $400 emergency, according to a recent report from the Federal Reserve.
The Federal Reserve Report on the Economic Well-Being of U.S. Households in 2014 says that 47 percent indicate that they would have great difficulty handling an unexpected $400 expense.
“Specifically, respondents indicate that they simply could not cover the expense (14 percent); would sell something (10 percent); or would rely on one or more means of borrowing to pay for at least part of the expense, including paying with a credit card that they pay off over time (18 percent), borrowing from friends or family (13 percent), or using a payday loan (2 percent),” the report says.
Even though it has been over 5 years since President Barack Obama signed the Affordable Care Act into law, 47 percent of Americans responding to the Federal Reserve study claimed that they “avoided medical treatment because of the cost.”
While medical care was avoided, work hours were sought after. With over 8 million Americans currently unemployed, even many of those with work, would like more hours at the job, according to the report.
“It does seem there is some pent up demand for additional work if it was available,” David Buchholz Assistant Director of Consumer and Community Affairs for the Federal Reserve says in a federal video produced for the report.
“We asked people if they would prefer to work the work about the same amount of hours they are working now, more, or fewer – if that work were available at the same rate of pay. About a third of full time workers and half of part-time workers tell us they would prefer to work more hours if they could."

‘Go Sue Your Own People': Kasich Rips Hillary’s Ohio Voting Laws Lawsuit, Cites Hypocrisy

Ohio Gov. John Kasich accused former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton of engaging in “demagoguery” one day after she delivered a speech on voting rights, citing her hypocrisy on the issue and her opposition to Ohio’s voting laws.
In a Friday interview with Fox News’ Bill Hemmer, Kasich blasted Clinton, saying that rather than worrying about Ohio’s laws, which has 27 days of early voting, she should worry about her own state of New York, where early voting just isn’t a thing.
In her Thursday speech in Houston, Clinton accused Republicans of “systematically and deliberately trying to stop millions of American citizens from voting.”
“First of all, I think it’s demagoguery. And secondly, if she wants to sue somebody, let her sue New York,” Kasich said. “In Ohio, we have like 27 days of early voting. OK, 27 days, a couple hundred hours. In New York, the only early voting — there is none. The only voting that occurs is on Election Day? What is she talking about?”
“I like Hillary, but I gotta tell you — the idea that we are going to divide Americans and we’re going to use demagoguery, I don’t like it,” Kasich said. “Now, I haven’t said a word about Hillary, but to come into the state of Ohio and say we are repressing the vote when New York has only Election Day and we have 27 days, what’s she — come on! That’s just silliness. I’m disappointed in her, frankly.”
Clinton’s campaign lawyer is part of an ongoing lawsuit going after voting laws in both Ohio and Wisconsin, though the campaign is not technically part of the suit.
“Don’t be coming in and saying we are trying to keep people from voting when her own state has less opportunity for voting than my state — and she is going to sue my state? I mean, come on, that’s just silly, that’s not an attack, that’s just silly,” Kasich said.

BLACK UNEMPLOYMENT NEARLY DOUBLE NATIONAL RATE, TWICE AS HIGH AS WHITE UNEMPLOYMENT

The unemployment rate for African Americans was nearly twice the national average and more than double the unemployment rate for whites last month, according to new jobs data released Friday by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

According to the BLS, African Americans experienced an unemployment rate of 10.2 percent in May, up from 9.6 percent in April.
Meanwhile, the national average was 5.5 percent in May with whites experiencing an unemployment rate of 4.7 percent. Unemployment for Latinos was around the middle at 6.7 percent and Asians boasted the lowest unemployment rate with 4.1 percent.
While unemployment for African Americans remained high, the civilian labor force among African Americans expanded by 31,000 to 19,428,000 in May. The BLS reports that 17,441,000 African Americans were employed while 1,988 were unemployed. Another 11,898 were not in the labor force.
Whites also saw the level of participation in the labor force increase, with the civilian labor force growing by 365,000 to 123,875,000. Of that 118,048 were employed and 5,827 were unemployed with 72,798 out of the workforce.
Nationally the civilian labor force increased by 397,000, reaching 157,469,000 in May. Of those participating 148,795,000 had a job and 8,674,000 were unemployed. Some 92,986,000 were outside the labor force.

Think Piece: Tax Democrats

RUSH: Folks, what is more dangerous, smoking or living in Baltimore?  No, no, no.  It's a serious question.  Tobacco is taxed.  Why is it taxed?  Tobacco is taxed for a plethora of reasons.  It's taxed to discourage people from using it, because it is said it can lead to an early death.  It can lead to other problems.  It kills.  We also tax tobacco in order to pay for (and in a couple of cases entirely fund) children's health care programs. 
You're aware of that?  The taxes derived from the sale of tobacco, that revenue is used to pay for children's health care programs.  I've always said that smokers deserve a special thanks, despite all the obstacles they face.  I mean, we don't ban the product. We make it available. You can sell it, you can buy it, but you can't use it very many places in America anymore without running the gauntlet. Yet these people continue to buy the product, they continue to use it, and they pay higher and higher prices, just astronomically high prices.
They continue to buy the product, they pay the price, and the taxes go to children's health care programs.  So if tobacco is taxed to discourage from using it because it can lead to an early death and other problems -- and that's the primary reason it's taxed -- let's face it, the prices are designed to dissuade people from using the product.  That would be the primary purpose that nannies in life and the social do-gooders would give you. 
Using that logic, should we not be taxing Democrats?  Their policies, look at Democrat policies.  They ruin families.  Democrat policies spread ignorance in the schools.  Democrat policies make health care unaffordable.  This results in great stress from unemployment and underemployment, and Democrats have created and maintained dangerous cities with horrible crime and death rates. 
It's arguably more dangerous living in Baltimore than it is to smoke cigarettes.  Look at the death rate.  I'm not joking.  It's a way to make a point, and I think it would be a perfect opportunity to say we need to tax registered Democrats the way we tax tobacco, because Democrats are causing illness. Democrats cause strife. Democrat policies are ruining cities. Democrat policies have ruined families.  Just a little think piece.  

The Trifecta Of Bad News From The Obama Era



Three fresh headlines in recent days represent the status of the big issues that will shape the 2016 elections:
  1. U.S. economy shrinks in first quarter, raising questions about underlying strength” from The Washington Post.
  1. Exclusive Interview: Ian Bremmer says America is no longer ‘indispensable’” from the Telegraph.
  1. The New Nationwide Crime Wave” from the Wall Street Journal.
  2.  A weak, slow or no-growth economy; diminished capacity and lack of resolve on a dangerous and threatening world stage; civil order breaking down as a result of political leadership mismanaging our police forces — these realities are a product of President Obama’s tone and policies, and they reflect his worldview.
In an article in The Post, “Obama’s new patriotism,” Greg Jaffe analyzed “how Obama has used his presidency to redefine ‘American exceptionalism’” in a “new and radical form.” He says that Obama’s six-plus years in office have led him to “a patriotism that embraces the darker moments in American history.” Well, I guess when you don’t take pride in America’s traditional accomplishments and you don’t believe that America’s forceful presence in the world is essential, then you have to shape a narrative that declares the “dark moments” are actually what define us.
Many in the media try to twist the president’s failures into a tortured definition of how America should be or declare that Obama’s non-patriotism is just a new way to show fealty to our country. Liberals seem to be more than willing to declare the president’s failures as victories and herald any outcome as a result of the president’s sophisticated thinking. But the headlines don’t lie, and the growing anxiety about our country’s future is real.

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