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Daily Digest for Wednesday May 7, 2014  THE FOUNDATION "If it were to be asked, What is the most sacred duty and the greatest source of our security in a Republic? The answer would be, An inviolable respect for the Constitution and Laws -- the first growing out of the last. ... A sacred respect for the constitutional law is the vital principle, the sustaining energy of a free government." --Alexander Hamilton, Essay in the American Daily Advertiser, 1794 TOP 5 RIGHT HOOKS Pelosi Wants Fairness Nancy Pelosi set out some guidelines for the Benghazi select committee Tuesday, saying, "If this review is to be fair, it must be truly bipartisan. The panel should be equally divided between Democrats and Republicans." Boehner announced a 7-5 split -- so much for Pelosi's idea. But then she went off the rails, saying, "The attacks in Benghazi were a tragedy and we join the families of those who died in continuing to mourn their loss. As we go forward, we should always act in a manner respectful of their loss and to prevent future loss of life." The murder of the U.S. ambassador and three other Americans was not a "tragedy" -- a car accident is a tragedy -- it was a terrorist attack on U.S. officials. And the slew of White House lies about the attack and about the ensuing cover-up was most certainly not respectful of the dead. That's why there will be a select committee. GDP Report Too Optimistic? The economy is crawling, with first quarter GDP reportedly growing a meager 0.1%. But even that may be too optimistic, says MarketWatch: "The U.S. economy probably contracted in the first quarter for the first time in three years and only the second time since the Great Recession ended in mid-2009, new data suggest." In fact, GDP possibly contracted 0.2% to 0.4%, largely thanks to the U.S. trade deficit. Then again, economists polled by MarketWatch predict growth of 3.5% in the second quarter. Time will tell. Business Deaths Exceed Creation Last month's jobs report continued a string of perpetually bad economic figures under the Obama recovery, with another 800,000 workers leaving the labor force. But a new Brookings Institute analysis charts the economic effect on entrepreneurs. Their startling new study finds that "business deaths now exceed business births for the first time in the thirty-plus-year history of our data." The precipitous decline began long ago, but Obamanomics -- high corporate tax rates, ObamaCare and excessive regulations -- have only exasperated the situation. Clinton: 'Reign In' Gun Rights Hillary Clinton is likely to run for the White House in 2016. If her role in the Benghazi debacle wasn't a deal killer, her views on the Constitution certainly should be. She once again openly admitted her hostility to the Second Amendment Tuesday, telling the National Council for Behavioral Health, "We have to rein in what has become almost an article of faith, that anybody can own a gun anywhere, anytime. And I don't believe that." She warned that because there are "so many people with guns everywhere" there will be shootings over "chewing gum loudly or talking on their cell phone" during a movie. The latter, unfortunately, actually has happened, but that's not a reflection on guns or gun owners in general. For Clinton to use it as an excuse to disarm the American people is nothing but demagoguery. Monica Tells Her Story Is it 1998 again? Monica Lewinsky is once again garnering headlines for her affair with Bill Clinton while he was president. This time, she's telling her story of depression and humiliation in Vanity Fair, which somehow seems fitting. "Sure, my boss took advantage of me," she said, "but I will always remain firm on this point: it was a consensual relationship. Any 'abuse' came in the aftermath, when I was made a scapegoat in order to protect his powerful position." Given Hillary Clinton's almost certain presidential bid, it seems beneficial for both women to air out their dirty laundry now so it's "old news" again by the time the campaign heats up. But it's still a sideshow. Bill's affair was a distraction from far more serious abuses of power for which he was impeached. Hillary doesn't need to answer for all of his abuses, but she will have to explain why a third Clinton term would benefit the nation. (Spoiler: It won't.) For more, visit Right Hooks. RIGHT ANALYSIS White House 'Climate Disruption' Horror Stories Climate change remains low on the priority list for the vast majority of Americans, but that only tells Democrats they're not yelling loud enough. Needing to explain why economically destructive regulations are required to address the problem, the Left is forced to claim that global warming is already doing economic harm. That's the purpose of the latest White House report -- the third National Climate Assessment, an 800-page behemoth that is the most comprehensive U.S. report on the subject. The report has been in the works for four years and incorporates the work of hundreds of the "top experts" in the field. White House adviser John Podesta said it gives us "a huge amount of practical, usable knowledge that state and local decision-makers can take advantage of as they plan ... for the impacts of climate change and work to make their communities more resilient." The devastating impacts primarily include increased "extreme weather events" -- floods, droughts, storms, heat waves, polar vortexes, and pretty much any other news-making weather event. Weather is never climate unless alarmists need it to be. After all, this report comes on the heels of the White House claim that the reason the economy didn't grow in the first quarter was the "unusually severe winter weather." According to the report, "[W]e know with increasing certainty that climate change is happening now. While scientists continue to refine projections of the future, observations unequivocally show that climate is changing and that the warming of the past 50 years is primarily due to human-induced emissions of heat-trapping gases. These emissions come mainly from burning coal, oil and gas, with additional contributions from forest clearing and some agricultural practices." The study's authors say that temperatures have risen 1.3 to 1.9 degrees since 1895, but mostly since 1970, and the last decade has been the hottest on record in the U.S. It's awfully convenient to start with 1895, since that roughly marks the end of the centuries-long Little Ice Age. And temperatures have been measured by satellite only since 1978, which means by definition the data isn't apples and apples. Nevertheless, over the next 100 years, they say we can expect temperatures to rise another 3 to 5 degrees, even in what they call a "lower emissions scenario." They have trouble with the weekend outlook, but we're supposed to trust their 100-year forecast? And for a phenomenon known as global warming, it seems strange to suddenly focus on only the U.S. Globally, there has been no warming for 17 years. Which is probably why alarmists have largely abandoned the term "global warming," and it's why White House science adviser John Holdren now says we should use the more one-size-fits-all moniker "global climate disruption." In one unintentionally humorous section of the report, the authors say, "Recent projections show that for even the lowest emissions scenarios, thermal expansion of ocean waters and the melting of small mountain glaciers will result in 11 inches of sea level rise by 2100.... This suggests that about 1 foot of global sea level rise by 2100 is probably a realistic low end. On the high end, recent work suggests that 4 feet is plausible. In the context of risk-based analysis, some decision makers may wish to use a wider range of scenarios, from 8 inches to 6.6 feet by 2100." Eight inches, six-and-a-half feet -- choose your own adventure. These scientists acknowledge what everyone on the planet already knows: "Climate has changed naturally throughout Earth's history." But they also seem to think that nature has now largely checked out of the process: "However, natural factors cannot explain the recent observed warming." The trouble is simple, argues commentator George Will: "Scientists are not saints in white laboratory smocks. They've got interests like everybody else. If you want a tenured position in academia, don't question the reigning orthodoxy on climate change. If you want money from the biggest source of direct research in this country, the federal government, don't question its orthodoxy. If you want to get along with you peers, conform to peer pressure. This is what's happening." Indeed, if you're inclined to bitterly cling to your Science™ denying ways, at least don't bother opposing the White House agenda of massive regulation. Podesta says Republican efforts to stop EPA rules "have zero percent chance of working." On a final note, during Al Gore's recent climate presentation to the UN, he used the sound effect of a nuclear blast to illustrate his point. Child psychologists warn that the changing climate is causing rising anxiety among children. But is that caused by the climate or the Gore-esque alarmism? VA Scandal Cover-Up While the probe into malfeasance at two VA hospitals grinds on, investigators fear that essential records may be destroyed before they can be seized. A whistleblower in Phoenix has already reported the destruction of records that prove the existence of the "secret waiting list." 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 Professional investor Benjamin Graham (1894-1976): "You are neither right nor wrong because the crowd disagrees with you. You are right because your data and reasoning are right." Columnist Jacob Sullum: "There are some obvious fixes that would make headline-grabbing fiascos like [Clayton] Lockett's prolonged death less likely. Better training of the technicians who carry out lethal injections would help, and so would simplification of Oklahoma's needlessly complicated protocol, which calls for three drugs when one large dose of a barbiturate such as sodium thiopental would do. But if preventing unnecessary pain is the goal, it is hard to improve on the firing squad or the guillotine. Such old-fashioned methods were abandoned not because they were too painful, but because they were too bloody. As Lockett's execution vividly demonstrated, those two concerns are distinct. One has to do with how a condemned prisoner feels as we kill him; the other has to do with how we feel about killing him. Medicalizing executions helps us avoid the latter question." Columnist Terence Jeffrey: "Ultimately, it will not matter if people in government cynically promote the theory that human activity is destroying the global climate as a means of taking control of your life, or if they take control of your life because they sincerely believe human activity is destroying the global climate. Either way, government will control of your life. ... In a nation where government can de-develop the economy, stop population growth and redistribute wealth both inside and outside its borders, there will still be droughts, floods and hot summer nights. But there will be no freedom." Comedian Conan O'Brien: "The Supreme Court has ruled that city council meetings may open with a prayer. Especially if the city in question is Detroit." 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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