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             McSally was perhaps the biggest advocate in Congress for the A-10 Thunderbolt II close-air support plane. This plane has never really been a favorite of Air Force brass. But the A-10 earned its reputation as the best close-air support plane in history during Desert Storm and the War on Terror. Recently, it has been upgraded to carry Joint Direct Attack Munitions. Yet plans call for the A-10 to be replaced by the F-35. While the F-35 is a good multi-role fighter, it can’t do what the A-10 does as well as the A-10 does it. Nor can the OA-X Program.
               Furthermore, when it comes to deterring Russian intervention, the A-10 can help American and NATO troops hold the line, and the pilots have been training to do so. This plane was designed to take out hordes of Russian tanks coming through the Fulda Gap (and elsewhere in Europe), and the souring of relations with Russia over the last decade makes having this capability important. The failure of many NATO countries to maintain their military forces places even more reliance on the Warthog, especially when bad biofuels ground combat jets.
               Ultimately, the price will be paid by the grunts on the field. While the GAU-8, a 30mm Gatling gun, is what the A-10 is most famous for, it is also capable of carrying a lot of bombs. These could be the latest JDAMS, cluster bombs or napalm. In any event, the A-10 carries a lot, and can get up-close and personal. Remember the photos of the plane that then-Captain Kim Campbell brought back during the liberation of Iraq? Let’s see a pilot try that with the F-35.
               At present, according to Flight Global, the Air Force has all 287 A-10s in active service. So, it is needed and used. We know planes can’t fly forever, but given that American forces depend on this plane, and the proposed replacements are coming up short in key aspects, the fact of the matter is that the only replacement for the A-10 will be another A-10.
               Sadly, with McSally out of office, and incoming House Armed Services Committee chairman Adam Smith planning cuts in defense spending, “oversight,” and seeking to undo efforts by Secretary of Defense James Mattis to restore readiness for real war, the A-10 could be on the chopping block when perhaps production of this valuable plane should be restarted. It may fall to “We the People” to demand that Congress provide the funds to restart production instead of deciding to stick the troops with more belt-tightening, especially when unit readiness is already suffering.  ~The Patriot Post  

             Tijuana is a major rendezvous point for people seeking to enter the United States, and the city has suitable infrastructure to handle new arrivals. The scale of the caravan, however, caught the city by surprise and is taxing its public resources.
               Tijuana Mayor Juan Manuel Gastelum called the wave of illegal immigrants a “tsunami.” He explained, “It was different with the Haitians, they carried papers, they were in order. It wasn’t a horde, pardon the expression.”
               Moreover, Gastelum argued, “Human rights should be reserved for righteous humans.” In other words, showing up doesn’t mean you have the rights of citizens.
               The citizens of Tijuana agree with their mayor. Residents held a major protest over the weekend, calling on the caravan to disperse and go home. “This is an invasion,” said one resident. “We demand respect. We demand our laws be followed.”
               Gastelum has called upon the Mexican government to do something to divert or turn back migrants headed toward his city. Mexican immigration officials estimate up to 10,000 Central American migrants on the move in Mexico right now. Furthermore, wait times to get into the U.S. could stretch out for six months. Migrants complain that they don’t have the money or food to wait that long. Mexicans say they don’t have the facilities to house them for that long, either.
               President Donald Trump announced that the U.S. government would revoke asylum for any immigrants caught crossing into the U.S. illegally (though a Barack scumbag/liar-nObama-appointed judge just struck that down). This, along with the end of the disastrous catch-and-release policy of the scumbag/liar-nObama administration and increased troop presence on the border, sends the signal that the U.S. government intends to secure its border.
               For the moment, the migrants in Tijuana have decided to sit tight and let the asylum process play out. But that can’t last for long. Resources are already in short supply, and more migrants are expected in Tijuana and elsewhere. Gastelum has cited instances of violence and law-breaking already among migrants. American Homeland Security officials estimate more than 500 hardcore criminals are traveling among the migrants. They have noted that women and children march at the front of the caravans for the television cameras.
               Leftists will continue managing this story in the media as best they can, from creating a myth around the need for asylum to falsely assuming that foreigners have a right to be in the United States. It will become more difficult, though, when citizens of both the U.S. and Mexico resist being made pawns in this conspiracy to delegitimize border security and national sovereignty.  ~The Patriot Post  

             The methodical, deliberate redefinitions of terms such as life, gender, marriage, identity, etc. and the replacement of critical institutions, like the family and the faith community, with the government, have created the new normal. Many citizens now look to government programs to fulfill needs and solve problems, releasing them from a sense of personal responsibility or ownership and lessening dependence upon family.
               Today, one’s identity is warped into a social construct permitted by some conjured up “right” to reject biology. Marriage, similarly, has been redefined to make a political point instead of its purpose as a key in a healthy society to procreate and provide sustenance and support. These reckless maneuvers borne on the political Left aimed to establish a more “progressive” society are, in fact, resulting in its destruction and material harm to individuals.
               Analysis, opinion, and hard data are voluminous: Intact families have greater earning capacity as a unit and produce children — both male and female — who earn more in their future careers. Children from families with both parents present in the home perform better in school have higher expectations and have capacity to deal with greater responsibility. According to National Institute of Health research, looking at “the impact of family structure on the health of children,” there is a definitive benefit of intact families. In its opening statement, NIH says, “Nearly three decades of research evaluating the impact of family structure on the health and well-being of children demonstrates that children living with their married, biological parents consistently have better physical, emotional, and academic well-being.”
               That may sound Leave-it-to-Beaverish, but the reality remains. While demanding the same results that would come from an intact family, leftists scoff and replace parents with “a village” of government-funded surrogate programs. Then parents wonder why their kids are incapable of personal responsibility, devoid of healthy relationships with friends and family, and at a complete deficit in effective communication and social graces. Go figure.
               The Left demands “educational equity” in schools but won’t dare touch the facts that children do better when parents are their first teachers, and a home is comprised of a mom and a dad. The “liberated” women of the Left, now even more angry and militant than ever, seem to thrive in the newly defined male persona of either an effeminate and compliant being or excessive in masculinity that translates into violent, oppressive, and sexist behavior. As noted in the June 2014 edition of the Institute for Family Studies, these women, united in their grievances, completely disregard social science that demonstrates “daughters whose fathers have been actively engaged throughout childhood in promoting their academic or athletic achievements and encouraging their self-reliance and assertiveness are more likely to graduate from college and to enter the higher-paying, more demanding jobs traditionally held by males.”
               Today, we’re much more likely than in decades past to see couples cohabitate instead of marry. The destruction of the stigma opposing sex outside of marriage has led to the growth in this practice. Looking at how this trend has made its impact, Stanford researchers reviewed several qualitative and quantitative analyses to conclude that those who cohabitate prior to marriage have a better first year of marriage, but the divorce rate is similar following the inaugural year. Couples who only cohabitate have demonstrated dissolution relationship rates up to four times greater than married couples.
               In non-abusive relationships, economic and emotional security, as well has physical health and well-being, are dramatically improved for the couple, as well as their children. While marriage has its challenges, the reality of single-parent households is, in part, due to the increase in divorce, related to the ease of legislative barriers of decades past to obtain a divorce. Further, the decline in using the Bible as the standard for defining a family has eased the stigma of out-of-wedlock births — and thus nearly 40% of all Americans under 21 are now born outside of marriage.
               On the one hand, the Left demands that families stay together if they are crossing America’s borders illegally, but, on the other hand, wants every incentive possible to replace an intact family with government programs. These actions are based on the desire to use identity politics to lure illegal immigrants and single women with children into political support of well-designed leftist platform of government dependence, rather than promote whole families.
               Is our society authentically better today with a greater quality of life, a reduction of mental illness, and a population with a healthy identity rooted in self-worth that pursues potential? Or is our American culture more characteristic of fragile, emotion-driven demi-gods that live in a bubble of self-gratification?
               Wake up, folks. We’re watching a growing mass of our population raise their children to be weaker, frailer, and more dependent upon government for their income, their nourishment, and their day-to-day existence. The destruction of our families is leading to the destruction of our great nation. Just as the Left has been deliberate to destroy families, we must match that intentional effort to sustain them and their value.  ~The Patriot Post  

It's a time to reflect upon how blessed we really are — beyond what we deserve.

"Enter His gates with thanksgiving, and His courts with praise. Give thanks to Him and praise His name. For the LORD is good and His love endures forever; His faithfulness continues through all generations." —Psalm 100:4-5

Fellow Patriots, sometimes the din of contentious media chatter and political rancor can drown out all that is good and right about our great nation.

Please pause with us this Thanksgiving to reflect upon how blessed we really are — blessed far beyond any measure of what we deserve.

To put our national Day of Thanksgiving into proper context is to express gratitude. In the words of George Washington from his First Thanksgiving Proclamation, "I do recommend and assign [this Thanksgiving Day] to be devoted by the People of these States to the service of that great and glorious Being, who is the beneficent Author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be."

With this in mind, I invite you to read our brief "History and Legacy of Our National Thanksgiving."

In his first Thanksgiving proclamation, President Ronald Reagan wrote: "As we celebrate Thanksgiving ... we should ask what we can do as individuals to demonstrate our gratitude to God for all He has done. Such reflection can only add to the significance of this precious day of remembrance. Let us recommit ourselves to that devotion to God and family that has played such an important role in making this a great Nation, and which will be needed as a source of strength if we are to remain a great people."

Indeed.

Contemplate what is good and right: "Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy — meditate on these things." (Philippians 4:8)

For some added inspiration from the mountains of East Tennessee, enjoy listening to "My Beautiful America" by fellow Tennessean Charlie Daniels.

Patriots, I humbly thank you for the privilege of serving as editor and publisher of The Patriot Post. On behalf of your Patriot team and our National Advisory Committee, I wish you a peaceful Thanksgiving, and God's blessings upon you and your family.

Please 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.

Semper Vigilans Fortis Paratus et Fidelis

~The Patriot Post