THE FOUNDATION
“During the course of administration, and in order to disturb it, the artillery of the press has been levelled against us, charged with whatsoever its licentiousness could devise or dare. These abuses of an institution so important to freedom and science are deeply to be regretted, inasmuch as they tend to lessen its usefulness and to sap its safety.” —Thomas Jefferson (1805)
PUBLISHER’S NOTE
At the end of each year, I ask my editors and staff to take leave between Christmas and New Year’s Day in order to be with their families. Moreover, I want each of our team members to step back from the rigors of relentless daily deadlines so that they can begin January with a fresh perspective.
As always, I’ll remain on the wall with our Managing Editor, Nate, keeping watch for any mischief from the adversaries of Liberty. And our News Editor, Jordan, will be updating our Top Headlines section and Columnist/Opinion pages every day, and our regular editions will return on January 4th.
Pro Deo et Constitutione — Libertas aut Mors
Semper Vigilans Fortis Paratus et Fidelis
Mark Alexander, Publisher
The Patriot Post
IN TODAY’S DIGEST
FEATURED ANALYSIS
A Year’s Worth of Media Malfeasance
Douglas Andrews
Putting one’s finger on the five biggest media failures in any one year is a daunting task. It’s like trying to list the five worst plays during a Detroit Lions football season or Hollywood’s five worst movies of the year — there’s just too much terrible material to sift through.
The Daily Wire’s Hank Berrien, though, has given it a thoughtful effort, while The Federalist’s Tristan Justice took the “easy” way out and built a list of 20 journalistic failures.
As an aside, if there’s a first prize for Photojournalistic Failure of the Year, it has to go to CNN, whose “mostly peaceful” footage of the Kenosha riots was mostly accurate in the same way that Baghdad Bob was mostly credible:
It’s hard to quibble with Berrien’s top five, though one might move them around a bit in order of importance and impact. There can be no argument, though, with his choice as worst of the worst: the media’s utter refusal to cover the Hunter Biden story in the weeks just prior to the election. In doing so, the media didn’t just put its finger on the scale; it put its shoulder on the scale.
“If the media were truly unbiased agents of truth and fact-finding,” Berrien writes, “they would’ve been all over the Hunter Biden story. Allegations of unethical business dealings and unsavory relationships with corrupt officials abroad are usually enough to leave any reporter chomping at the bit. Throw in the sex and drugs (of which there was plenty) and you’ve got a story destined for the front page. Call it willful ignorance, call it bias, or call it a good old-fashioned cover-up.”
We’ll take Door Number Three: It was a good old-fashioned cover-up. And it decided a presidential election. As a Newsbusters poll pointed out, “Full awareness of the Hunter Biden scandal would have led 9.4% of Biden voters to abandon the Democratic candidate, flipping all six of the swing states he won to Trump, giving the President 311 electoral votes.”
The media’s Hunter Biden cover-up — which included Big Tech’s censorship of its users’ ability to share the story — thus changed history. It was, in short, the stealing of the presidency. And if anyone’s looking for a smoking gun, CNN provided it in the form of comments made by the network’s political director, David Chalian, during an October 14 conference call: “Obviously, we’re not going with the New York Post story right now on Hunter Biden.”
Obviously.
The rest of Berrien’s Top Five includes the media’s willful gullibility in falling for the anonymous agent within the Trump administration back in 2018 (“anonymous” came forward in October); its refusal to give Joe Biden the Brett Kavanaugh treatment when Tara Reade came forward with credible allegations of sexual assault; its laughable categorization (see above) of full-out urban riots as “mostly peaceful” protests; and its wishful prediction of a “blue wave” election — an election that delivered losses to the Democrats up and down the ballot, all across the land, including a remarkable 27-for-27 running of the table in congressional races that the once-vaunted Cook Political Report called “toss-ups.”
The Top 20 collected by Justice dives a bit more deeply, recalling how the media portrayed Iranian terrorist Qasem Soleimani as a “war hero,” how it celebrated the phony impeachment of President Trump, how it downplayed the seriousness of COVID-19 before assailing the president for doing the same thing, how it called violent protests “peaceful” and peaceful protests “violent,” how it fell for the Bubba Wallace “noose” hoax, how it got played repeatedly by CNN’s Chris Cuomo and his bloody-handed brother Andrew, and the like.
We would be remiss to not mention the festering “fact-checker” genre that exploded in 2020 to yield rampant censorship by social media.
Lastly, if you’re as mad for media bias as we are, you might check out the work of Newsbusters’ Geoffrey Dickens, who’s pulled together a three-part collection of media gushing, pandemic politicking, and trashing of Trump supporters.
Enjoy the lumps of coal, fellow Patriots — and have a peaceful and blessed holiday.
The President’s Populist Plea on COVID Relief
Nate Jackson
Just yesterday, we knocked Congress for its bipartisan spendthrift ways with COVID relief and the omnibus spending bill for 2021. After the combined behemoth passed both houses with veto-proof majorities, President Donald Trump likewise hammered the bill for its inclusion of wasteful and totally non-COVID spending. While demanding “wasteful and unnecessary items” be removed, he also demanded even more spending for American families. He wants it known that he is the real “man of the people” and that someone in Washington is fighting for Americans.
“Throughout the summer, Democrats cruelly blocked COVID relief legislation in an effort to advance their extreme left-wing agenda and influence the election,” Trump recalled, even borrowing House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s favorite word: cruel. “Then, a few months ago, Congress started negotiations on a new package to get urgently needed help to the American people. It’s taken forever. However, the bill they are planning to send back to my desk is much different than anticipated. It really is a disgrace.”
There are “more than 5,000 pages in this bill, which nobody in Congress has read because of its length and complexity,” he said. “It’s called the COVID relief bill, but it has almost nothing to do with COVID.”
He then highlighted a litany of provisions — albeit from the $1.4 trillion omnibus, not the $900 billion COVID relief — that would make any red-blooded American angry. Money for the Egyptian military to buy Russian equipment, for “democracy and gender programs in Pakistan,” for reef fish and Asian carp, for FBI construction projects, and on and on.
Worse, Trump noted, “The bill also allows stimulus checks for the family members of illegal aliens, allowing them to get up to $1,800 each. This is far more than the Americans are given.”
He should have mentioned all the states, many of them blue, that are getting bailouts despite rolling in revenue, all while once again tightening lockdowns.
“Congress found plenty of money for foreign countries, lobbyists, and special interests, while sending the bare minimum to the American people who need it,” the president said. “It wasn’t their fault; it was China’s fault, not their fault.”
“I’m asking Congress to amend this bill and increase the ridiculously low $600 to $2,000 or $4,000 for a couple,” Trump concluded. “I’m also asking Congress to immediately get rid of the wasteful and unnecessary items from this legislation and to send me a suitable bill or else the next administration will have to deliver a COVID relief package.”
“And maybe that administration will be me,” he added, “and we’ll get it done.”
Pelosi and her pal Chuck Schumer immediately jumped on the bandwagon. She declared, “At last, the President has agreed to $2,000 — Democrats are ready to bring this to the Floor this week by unanimous consent. Let’s do it!”
Schumer added, “We spent months trying to secure $2000 checks but Republicans blocked it. … Maybe Trump can finally make himself useful and get Republicans not to block it again.”
Perhaps Trump’s last-minute demands didn’t happen without the knowledge of key members of Congress. He is, however, known for erratic negotiations, and he’s apparently throwing Republicans under the bus — particularly Georgia Senators Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue, who supported the package and face critical runoffs in two weeks. Ultimately, it’s highly unlikely that Congress will remove a single item; if anything, it will only add spending. So, what’s Trump’s strategy?
Maybe it’s as simple as reminding members of Congress that they’re supposed to represent the American people, and to let the people know that gargantuan and unread bills passed in the dead of night don’t put their interests first.
Racism Injected Into COVID Vaccination Plan
Thomas Gallatin
After nearly a year of dealing with the coronavirus pandemic, it has been well established that the people most at risk of dying from the novel virus are the elderly. Thus, it came as quite a surprise when the initial (and now scuttled) plan for administering the newly developed COVID-19 vaccine did not have elderly Americans at the front of the line. Instead, it was healthcare workers. While they arguably have a higher chance of contracting the virus due to the nature of their jobs, they also largely make up a lower-risk population.
When the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices was questioned on the rationale behind the vaccination prioritization, it was exposed that racism — actual racism arising from the Left’s Critical Race Theory logic — played a significant role in the decision.
As reported by The Washington Free Beacon, “The committee openly acknowledged that its initial plan would result in more deaths than ‘vaccinating older adults first.’ But, the panel said, the plan would reduce racial disparities — something they deemed more important than saving lives — because essential workers, unlike adults over 65, are disproportionately black and Hispanic, the two groups that have borne the brunt of the pandemic.”
So it’s okay if grandma dies from COVID before getting the vaccine because, statistically, she’s most likely white and therefore her death serves to “level the playing field.” That’s what Dr. Harald Schmidt, an ethics and health professor at the University of Pennsylvania, essentially implied in a recent New York Times article. “Older populations are whiter. Society is structured in a way that enables them to live longer. Instead of giving additional health benefits to those who already had more of them, we can start to level the playing field a bit.”
Underscoring this racist mindset was one member of the 11-person committee that helped craft the ethical framework for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That would be “health equity” consultant Dayna Bowen Matthew, who also serves as dean of George Washington University Law School. Matthew perfectly parrots the CRT narrative of “systemic racism,” as she argued that racial inequity “requires us to prioritize by race.” Requires?
The Federalist’s David Marcus insightfully observes, “Nothing, it seems, is more important than protecting the lives of the oldest among us, except for fighting racism. The great irony of course is that the lockdowns themselves have disproportionately destroyed minority-owned businesses. Yet, for the Marxists on the radical left, this doesn’t matter. They don’t fight racism by giving people tools to lift themselves up, they purport to do it by making people dependent on the state.”
And that is really what this is all about — working to garner greater controlling power for the government. Declare a problem where none really exists, i.e. systemic racism, find it in everything from education to vaccines, and then push “solutions” that invariably require more government infringement on Americans’ individual rights and freedoms.
Can’t we just fight a global pandemic with a vaccine that’s quickly distributed to everyone? Not without a political fight.
Thankful for your impact
As our team prepares to celebrate Christmas this week, we are grateful to you — our readers and supporters — who stand with us to preserve the freedoms our Founders fought so hard to win at great price.
To our readers who have financially supported us, and to those who have written kind notes explaining their inability to do so — thank you. Your commitment to Liberty is not measured by a financial contribution.
If you are still planning to make a gift to benefit The Patriot Fund’s Year-End campaign, you may make a secure online donation here. This morning we have about $168,300 left to raise.
Thank you for standing with us in support of Liberty. Our work is not possible without you.
From the entire Patriot Post staff, we wish you and your family a blessed Christmas season!
Swalwell Just the Tip of Dems’ China Iceberg
Thomas Gallatin
Congressman Eric Swalwell (D-CA) should be classified as persona non grata, asserted House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy following the bombshell revelation that Swalwell for years was targeted and potentially compromised via an almost certainly sexual relationship by Chinese spy Christine Fang, or Fang Fang. Furthermore, Swalwell has remained mum over the scandal, refusing to answer reporters the multiples times they’ve raised questions.
“No one that was in that room could walk out and say Eric Swalwell should be on the intel committee,” McCarthy argued. “The one answer that I got out of that briefing was there is no way Eric Swalwell should continue to serve on the intel committee.”
McCarthy also pointed out the abject hypocrisy displayed by Democrat leadership as it attacks President Donald Trump over the Russia hoax while Swalwell was given the green light to oversee the CIA. “And that exact same year when the FBI came to brief the Intel Committee because they were concerned of what they saw, he gets put as the ranking Democrat over the CIA,” McCarthy said. “I do not understand how this has continued this long. … And I would never, never allow him on that committee.”
So, despite likely knowing Swalwell’s compromised status, why did Nancy Pelosi still put him on Intel? As Gary Bauer asks, “Does Eric Swalwell have something on Nancy Pelosi?” Or maybe the better question is, what does China have on Pelosi? She certainly seems to be quite favorable toward Beijing — to the point of gutting provisions within the Senate’s National Defense Authorization Act that withheld funding from the Beijing-backed Confucius Institutes on U.S. college campuses. As Senator John Kennedy (R-LA) stated, “Communist China is still buying influence on U.S. campuses. Yet Democrats gutted an NDAA amendment that would protect academic freedom and give U.S. colleges control over what Confucius Institutes teach on our soil.”
Representative Jim Banks (R-IN) contends, “Who could be surprised by Speaker Pelosi’s refusal to crack down on China’s infiltration of universities? She won’t even crack down on Chinese Communist infiltration of the Democratic Party. Speaker Pelosi only cares about national security if it furthers her narrow political interests, and again and again, those interests align with Chairman Xi’s.”
Swalwell, Pelosi, Joe Biden… Just how much of the Democrat Party has been bought by China?
A First-Class First Lady
Douglas Andrews
Throughout his tenure in office, Donald Trump’s treatment by the mainstream media has been a deep and well-documented disgrace. But even more disgraceful has been its treatment of First Lady Melania Trump, a woman of surpassing class, beauty, intelligence, and grace.
Only in America could the daughter of a Slovenian factory worker or a Chicago city pump operator become first lady of the United States. But, sadly, only in America could the unhinged hatred and bigotry of our mainstream press cause two women to be treated so differently.
A 2018 New York Post article noted the double standard between the media’s treatment of Melania Trump and her predecessor as first lady. During Barack Obama’s eight years in office, Michelle Obama appeared on at least 30 U.S. magazine covers. The actual number is probably much higher. And supermodel Melania Trump, elegant speaker of five languages? As of this article’s publication: 0.
As her White House profile page notes, “[Melania] is the second First Lady born outside of the United States [John Quincy Adams’s wife was the first], and she is the only First Lady to become a naturalized U.S. citizen. … In 1996, Mrs. Trump moved to New York and 10 years later, she proudly became a United States citizen. Mrs. Trump has always been an active member of her community. In 2005, she was Honorary Chairwoman for the Martha Graham Dance Company. That same year, she was awarded Goodwill Ambassador by the American Red Cross — a role she served in for four years. Mrs. Trump served five years as Honorary Chairwoman for the Boys’ Club of New York and was named Woman of the Year in 2006 by the Police Athletic League.”
Her biography goes on and on in this vein, which tells us that she valued service to others long before she became first lady. A brief scroll through her Twitter feed confirms just how fortunate we’ve been to have her in this role.
And yet.
“Vegas may be betting on a post-presidential divorce, but Melania Trump seems all in for her husband,” read the headline of a recent Washington Post piece.
The article itself wasn’t any better. “Is Melania Trump really looking forward to being rid of President Trump as much as tens of millions of Americans are?” authors Mary Jordan and Jada Yuan maliciously ask. “Or is it just another fantasy that Trump critics are projecting on a first lady who has succeeded in shrouding her true self in mystery?”
“Mrs. Trump deserves to be recognized as an exceptional first lady,” writes former Republican Congressman and Fox News contributor Jason Chaffetz. “With little fanfare and tremendous pushback from some of the most vocal segments of society, she managed to launch a successful anti-bullying campaign, conduct important outreach abroad, protect her teenage son from relentless bullying, and serve as an inspiration to those trying to integrate into American culture. … I find it sad that an unscrupulous liberal media treated Mrs. Trump so unfairly compared to their obsequious coverage of former first lady Michelle Obama and now Jill Biden. Even traditionally nonpolitical outlets ignored Mrs. Trump and dismissed her.”
“If the Trumps were Democrats,” actor James Woods once tweeted, “Melania would be on every cover of every chic women’s magazine in the world every month.”
It’s hard to argue with Woods’s assessment. Somehow, though, we don’t think any of this matters much to Mrs. Trump. She seems quietly confident and comfortable in her skin. Melania has been a singular addition to our pantheon of first ladies, and we’ll miss her greatly when she goes.
The Miracle of Christmas
Roger Helle
My mind was reeling. How long had it been? Everything was happening in slow motion. The explosion, bullets hitting me, the smell of charred skin, everything around me spinning. Now I’m on a hospital gurney in a triage room in a field hospital in Da Nang Vietnam. There was confusion as casualties from various firefights were brought into the room. Sights and smells that would haunt me for years assaulted my senses.
Then I saw the kind eyes of an Army doctor telling me they were taking me to surgery. The next few days were mostly a drug-induced blur mixed with moments of intense pain.
One day, I was aware of a doctor talking to my brother, who was also serving in Vietnam. I heard him telling my brother I was going to die; there was nothing else they could do. As my brother wept by my bed, not knowing I was conscious, I felt a fear I had never known during my times in combat. I was afraid! I didn’t want to die. I cried out silently to a God I neither knew nor believed in: “God, if you let me live, I’ll do anything You want!” He did, I didn’t!
Several months later, when I was able to communicate, they explained the extent of my injuries and how long it would take to recover. Among the different realities, they told me I would be unable to have children. Not married at that time, the news did not really impact me.
Later, after I did get married and spent years having nightmares, drinking, and being unfaithful to my wife, the God I cried out to in Vietnam became real and personal to me. Shirley and I asked Jesus to come into our lives and save us. Over a period of time, our marriage was healed and our lives were being restored with new purpose. Two years later, my wife informed me I was going to be a father. I was filled with joy! When our baby arrived, the doctor announced we had a son. Three days later we took Joshua home from the hospital on Christmas Eve.
That evening, after Shirley nursed Josh, I put him to bed in his crib. I remember standing there looking down at my son who was helpless and vulnerable. Suddenly, I flashed back and was hearing the doctor telling me, “You won’t be able to have children.”
It was only a moment and then I was back looking down at my son in the crib. Then I heard the still small voice of God my Father saying, “That’s how much I love you!” Christmas took on a whole new meaning for me. While I would die to protect my son, God sent His Son to die a horrible death to pay for my sins, to remove the guilt and shame of my past.
This Christmas, so many around us are confused, fearing the future, feeling hopeless and without peace or joy. Let’s remember Christmas is about giving. It’s also receiving the gift of God’s only Son. Jesus said, “I come that you might have joy and that your joy would be full.” His joy will give you hope in the midst of life’s storms. Rest in His love and receive His hope!
Merry Christmas!
NEWS EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Jordan Candler
Election Debrief
- Gavin Newsom taps California election chief Alex Padilla for U.S. Senate (AP)
- Biden names Bruce Reed, fiercely opposed by the “Squad,” as deputy chief of staff (Fox News)
- Team Biden gently walking back election-year immigration promises (Washington Examiner)
- Newsmax, OAN, and Trump campaign sued by voting systems worker who says false claims led to death threats (AP)
Georgia Runoff
- Raphael Warnock’s wife told officer that her husband is “a great actor” after domestic dispute (Fox News)
Government & Politics
- Sen. Rand Paul’s “Festivus Report” reveals $54 billion in tax dollars was “totally wasted” (Fox News)
- Tulsi Gabbard justifiably rips young Congress members for taking vaccine before elderly (NY Post)
- D’oh! Biden calls reporter asking about Hunter Biden a “one-horse pony” (Washington Examiner)
- Trump announces slew of pardons (National Review)
Leftmedia
- Washington Post depicts Republicans as rats in editorial cartoon eerily similar to anti-Semitic Nazi propaganda (Not the Bee)
Health
- U.S. deaths in 2020 top three million, by far most ever counted (AP)
Education
- Cambridge Public School System identifies “white, middle-class norms” as a problem that needs addressing (Not the Bee)
- Cornell student government members expel fellow senators who voted against disarming police (College Fix)
National Security
- Acting defense secretary accepts Inclusion Board’s 15 woke recommendations (Defense.gov)
Business & Economy
- Walmart sued by the Justice Department for allegedly fueling opioid crisis (CBS News)
- November existing home sales fall 2.5%, following record summer (AP)
- In final reading, GDP increased at record 33.4% annual rate in third quarter (Washington Examiner)
Around the Nation
- After SCOTUS rulings, Los Angeles County lifts ban on indoor worship services (Disrn)
- Homicides hit all-time high in Memphis (Fox News)
“Memphis was just one many cities in which violent crime spiked this year. Data released earlier this month showed that 21 cities — including Los Angeles, Chicago, and Philadelphia — had an increase of 610 homicides, or 34% more, in the fall. That was slightly lower than the 42% jump seen in the summer.”
Annals of the “Social Justice” Caliphate
- Detroit suing Black Lives Matter activists for “civil conspiracy” (Fox News)
“Theater of the Absurd” Headline Award
- Face masks significantly reduce brain’s ability to recognize people (StudyFinds)
We’re gonna need a fact-check on this one…
American Spirit
- These neighbors planned a heartwarming surprise for their kind UPS driver (Not the Bee)
Belly Laugh of the Week
- Someone inserted Tom Cruise’s viral meltdown into “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” and the hilarious result is Santa cursing out his elves and reindeer (Not the Bee)
- Merry Christmas! Here’s the worst-ever rendition of “O Holy Night” (Not the Bee)
Closing Arguments
- Policy: How the Centers for Disease Control went woke (Free Beacon)
- Policy: Maximizing equality of opportunity is the only way to avoid lowering standards (City Journal)
- Humor: Everyone in Congress getting $100,000 bonus for coming up with such a great relief bill (Babylon Bee)
For more of today’s editors’ choice headlines, visit Headline Report.
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VIDEOS
Merry Christmas! — A collection of Christmas songs to celebrate Christ’s birth.
Humor: Best News Bloopers of the Year — “This is peak 2020, is it not?”
BEST OF RIGHT OPINION
For more of today’s columns, visit Right Opinion.
SHORT CUTS
For the record: “Robert E Lee was a far better and more impressive man than all of the people pulling his statues down.” —Matt Walsh
Double standards: “So $1,200 in Trump tax cuts is crumbs, but $600 in covid stimulus is significant, according to Pelosi?” —Liz Wheeler
Observations: “The covid relief bill is indeed a crap sandwich. All bills now are. The size and scope of government is the problem; there’s a case to be made that the earmark ban actually effectuates MORE pork barrel spending.” —Ben Shapiro
Interesting insight: “[Democrats are] trying to essentially use the COVID lockdown model for the climate emergency model. And they are going to go from COVID lockdowns to climate lockdowns.” —Marc Morano
The Grinch: “Here is the simple truth: Our darkest days against COVID are ahead of us, not behind us.” —Joe Biden
Braying jackass: “I’m counting down the hours ‘til [Trump’s] gone. I plan to pull him out of there by his hair, his little hands, and his feet.” —Nancy Pelosi
And last… “[Democrats] want to make rich people poorer, and poor people more comfortable.” —Mike Pence
TODAY’S MEME
For more of today’s memes, visit the Memesters Union.
TODAY’S CARTOON
For more of today’s cartoons, visit the Cartoons archive.
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