Filed under: China, Communism, Coronavirus, Democrat Corruption, Domestic Policy, Economics, Election 2020, Health Care, History, Intelligence, Media Bias, Politics, Progressivism, The United States | Tags: Chinese Propaganda, Left-Wing Talking Points, President Donald Trump, Pure Partisan Politics
Our “stay at home” order here in Washington State has been extended to May 4. We have increased the number of tests (2,656) since yesterday by +175. There have been 11 more deaths since yesterday.
The Boston Globe Editorial Board Claims that Trump Has “Blood on His Hands.” They relied on a combination of Left-wing talking points and Chinese propaganda in the Boston Globe, as Matt Margolis reported at PJ Media. The Globe claimed that the number of confirmed cases surpassed that of any other nation, without mentioning that the United States is a larger country with a larger population.
The number of known deaths from the virus, so far the only reliable data, says that a fatality rate of 7 – 8 is one of the lowest in the world among larger nations.
It’s pretty clear that China is not accurately reporting the number of cases, nor the number of deaths, according to the U.S. intelligence community. The number of urns being delivered to Chinese funeral homes is far, far larger than the number of deaths reported. Communist governments are disinclined to report statistics that do not reflect favorably on the government, so we just don’t know how many deaths they have had, nor the extent of their testing, nor much of anything else.
Democrats are disinclined to report anything favorable to the Trump administration, but really! On CNN on Sunday, Pelosi charged that President Trump’s management of the coronavirus pandemic is costing American lives, and talking up an eventual congressional probe.
You surely will not be surprised to learn that Adam Shiff is eager to turn his Intelligence Committee to investigating President Trump’s response to the coronavirus. Of course he will.
And Nancy Pelosi compared Trump to Nero, the corrupt first century emperor who allowed Rome to burn – if he didn’t actually instigate the fire – then blamed Christians: “As the president fiddles, people are dying,” she charged.
So, shortly after orchestrating a failed, entirely partisan attempt to remove this president from office, Washington’s highest-ranking Democrat is once again speaking the language of impeachment. Except for dyed-in-the-wool grassroots party loyalists and, to their left, full-on Trump haters, this is sure to be received as the crassest brand of political opportunism.
Nice going, Nancy. While you are playing partisan politics, a lot of Americans are dying, or huddled down at home, fearful of running out of food. People are noticing. The New York Post plaintively asked in a headline “Does Nancy Pelosi know about the coronavirus outbreak?” and added “someone ought to tell House Speaker Nancy Pelosi…because her laser focus on pushing her political agenda suggests she’s unaware of it. The latest evidence: She wants to “retroactively” roll back Congress’ 2017 cap on tax deductions for state and local taxes (SALT), the New York Times reports. ”
She claims lifting the cap would address the economic fallout of COVID-19. She wants her “fix” to be part of Congress’ next rescue plan.
But her idea has nothing to do with boosting the economy and everything to do with helping Dems in blue states, like California, New York, New Jersey and Illinois. More than half the benefits of a repeal would go to folks making more than $1 million. Don’t Dems oppose tax breaks for the rich?
No, here’s Pelosi’s real problem: Heavily liberal states, with Democratic leaders, generally impose the highest local levies. The SALT deduction let high-income taxpayers recoup part of those high costs by paying less federal tax.
President Trump is doing a remarkable job in the face of all the unknowns and unknowables. A cruise ship stuck off the coast of Florida for 12 days with a number of critically ill Coronavirus patients with no ports willing to let it dock, has pulled into Fort Lauderdale to the cheers of port workers. Four people had died onboard as the ship had been turned away from 11 countries. President Trump indicated in his press conference that the Canadian and British people on board would be evacuated to their home countries immediately, and that we really had to help the people on board. A little intervention got things moving.
Doctors at University of Pittsburgh Medical Center say they have developed a vaccine against developing COVID-19 and they want federal permission for human trials. They based the vaccine on work previously done at UPMC that sought to create vaccines against SARS and MERS, which they said are similar to the new coronavirus. They also say the vaccine is easily deliverable in large quantities.
Some bright rays of sunshine in a long dreary spell of rain.
Filed under: Bureaucracy, Capitalism, Crime, Domestic Policy, Economics, Economy, Law, Politics, Progressives, Regulation, The Constitution, The United States | Tags: Congressman Jerrold Nadler, Impeachment Manager Adam Schiff, President Donald Trump
The Impeachment Circus goes on — and on. What is one to make of it? Democrats were outraged when Donald Trump became the nominee of the Republican Party. They were on a roll. They had just elected the first black man as President of the United States for a second term, and now they were going to elect the first woman president. These things, the “firsts” are very important to Democrats. They are good people, breaking down barriers, and the “firsts” prove what good people they are.— doing the right thing for the country.
Hillary was well qualified. She had been First Lady, and First Lady of Arkansas too. Then she was Secretary of State, so she was pretty much a shoo-in. But Donald Trump! They were sure that he could not possibly win. Conservatives remembered the Arkansas cattle-futures thing. And the silly lie over the plane spiraling in to avoid being shot down, when there were little girls with flowers waiting on the tarmac. And Benghazi. We knew Hillary was a compulsive liar, and that she drinks too much. Maybe not a shoo-in. But none of these things mattered to the Democrats, or at least they did not overrule the awfulness of Donald Trump. Weird hair, weird Queens accent, unthinkable. They were so sure of themselves that they were completely astounded when Trump won the election, and have been denigrating the Electoral College ever since. Elizabeth Warren just announced that she would get rid of it, first thing! Few on the Left have read the Constitution with enough understanding to know why it is there, in any case.
I think they decided on impeachment the day he was elected. They didn’t care what the grounds were to be, he just had to be gotten rid of. So that’s where we are. There is a video floating around of Adam Schiff saying Russia, Russia, Russia over and over, but I haven’t been able to find it again. It puts the whole thing in proper perspective. They have no sense of President Trump’s accomplishments. They’re not interested anyway. They don’t care about the economy. They care about power, and control. So they can make things go the right way, with the right people in charge, ensuring their continuing control, and ability to make the laws to control the other people out there — us. The Wall Street Journal today titles an article about impeachment “And Congress Shall Be King: The House claims it, and only it, can define executive privilege” Democratic Rep. Jerrold Nadler on Thursday summed up the case for ousting President Trump this way:
“Simply stated, impeachment is the Constitution’s final answer to a President who mistakes himself for a king.” Which brings us to the case Democrats made Friday for their second article of impeachment charging “obstruction of Congress.” This would make Congress a king.
The remarkable House claim is that Mr. Trump violated the Constitution because he dared to resist Congressional subpoenas. He cited executive privilege to direct nine “vital” Administration officials not to cooperate with the House impeachment inquiry.
“President Trump thus interposed the powers of the Presidency against the lawful subpoenas of the House of Representatives, and assumed to himself functions and judgments necessary to the exercise of the ‘sole Power of Impeachment’ vested by the Constitution in the House of Representatives,” the House declares in its impeachment resolution.
The Editorial Board’s response to that:
Shorter version: The House has the unilateral power to define executive privilege, and a President has no constitutional authority to resist. If he does resist, the House can throw him out of office.
That all sums up pretty much what is going on, without the need to listen to the painful long drawn out arguments. The Journal added that this is contrary to the design and intention of the Constitution’s separation of powers which establishes 3 co-equal branches. Also contrary to any notion of Congress’ subpoena power and a president’s ability to protect his power and deliberate with his advisers. Also contrary to Supreme Court precedents. But I imagine we haven’t heard the last of this.
The senators had a couple of hundred pounds of Hershey’s and a bunch of Fitbits to play with to pass the time. WSJ pointed out usefully that impeachments set precedents even when they result in an acquittal as this one probably will do. The real object was to screw up the 2020 election to the extent possible. They just don’t seem all that excited by their own candidates. It should get more exciting when we get to their convention. At least the two billionaires will liven it up, though they don’t seem to have much else besides a lot of money. I don’t really get what the Russians are supposed to have done, except possibly stolen Hillary’s computer contents, whatever good that would do them.
Filed under: Bureaucracy, Capitalism, Domestic Policy, Economics, Election 2016, Election 2020, Foreign Policy, Free Markets, Free Speech, Freedom, Humor, Politics, Progressivism, The United States | Tags: President Donald Trump, The Media, Tucker Carlson
Filed under: Bureaucracy, Domestic Policy, Immigration, Latin America, Mexico, National Security, Regulation, The United States | Tags: Keeping Promises, Migrant Caravans, President Donald Trump
Early on, President Trump promised voters that he was going to build a wall at the Southern Border, and Mexico was going to pay for it. Well, of course that promptly hit the fan! You know how much outrage that bit provoked. But the really hot weather of high summer is over, as we move into fall, and it’s time for the caravans again.
And guess what? President Donald Trump is building a wall at the Southern Border, and Mexico is helping to pay for it. Caravans of Central American migrants are forming up in Honduras and Guatemala to start their annual mass migration north in hopes of reaching the border of the United States. The very first group of the season, more than 2,000 strong, didn’t make it very far. They were stopped by Mexican federal troops, with more than half of them being detained.
Some 2,000 migrants from various nations — including Central American and African countries, Haiti and Cuba — set off on foot in the predawn hours from the southern Mexican city of Tapachula…
On Saturday, the northbound caravan met a phalanx of Mexican authorities, including National Guard and federal police units along the highway at a point about 25 miles north of Tapachula. The enforcement presence prompted almost half the caravan members — including many women and children — to surrender to Mexican immigration authorities.
This is the result of the deal that the White House cut with Mexico. We are happy to have productive trade deals with them, and provide them with aid, but we need their cooperation in matters of immigration enforcement. This can become the new norm.
Those in the half of the caravan that wasn’t detained, some scattered to look for a new way north, but many returned to their countries of origin. If the word gets out in Guatemala and Honduras that caravans can no longer travel freely all the way to the American border, fewer will sign up. Hopefully some are being informed about how to go about fixing their own countries.
And perhaps we can clear some of the backlog in our immigration courts. Thank you, AMLO.
Filed under: Foreign Policy, National Security, Politics, The United States | Tags: Middle East, President Donald Trump, The Kurds
The Outcry about President Donald Trump abandoning the Kurds in Syria has been loud and accusatory. How dare he? He’s removing U.S. special forces from the Syrian border with Turkey, thereby enabling a Turkish invasion by the Syrian dictator Erdogan. He’s double crossing the Syrian Kurds who have fought with Americans for five years against ISIS. It seems to be almost unanimous.
Fortunately there is Caroline Glick, American born Israeli journalist, writing from Israel:
There are several problems with this narrative. The first is that it assumes that until this week, the US had power and influence in Syria when in fact, by design, the US went to great lengths to limit its ability to influence events in Syria.
The war in Syria broke out in 2011 as a popular insurrection by Syrian Sunnis against the Iranian-sponsored regime of President Bashar al Assad. The Obama administration responded by declaring US support for Assad’s overthrow. But the declaration was empty. The administration sat on its thumbs as the regime’s atrocities mounted. They supported a feckless Turkish effort to raise a resistance army dominated by jihadist elements aligned with the Muslim Brotherhood.
Obama infamously issued his “redline” regarding the use of chemical weapons against civilians by Assad, which he repudiated the moment it was crossed.
As ISIS forces gathered in Iraq and Syria, Obama shrugged them off as a “jayvee squad.” When the jayvees in ISIS took over a third of Iraqi and Syrian territory, Obama did nothing.
As Lee Smith recalled in January in the New York Post, Obama only decided to do something about ISIS in late 2014 after the group beheaded a number of American journalists and posted their decapitations on social media.
Do read the whole thing. I have always found Caroline Glick to be an outstanding journalist, and given the local temper, an account of action in Syria fairly unavailable elsewhere. Too much partisanship out there, too little careful investigation. Whether you agree with her or not, you will understand the situation a lot better.
ADDENDUM: Here’s another view of the Kurds and Syria from National Review’s Andy McCarthy: “Turkey and the Kurds: It’s More Complicated Than You Think”
Filed under: Capitalism, Democrat Corruption, Domestic Policy, Economics, Economy, Free Markets, Free Speech, Freedom, History, Immigration, Law, Media Bias, Politics, Regulation, Taxes, The United States | Tags: A Familiar Story, Loathing for Lincoln, President Donald Trump
Wilfrid M. McClay, a professor of history at the University of Oklahoma is the author of a new history of the United States: Land of Hope: an Invitation to the Great American Story, which is receiving excellent reviews.
He just wrote a short piece for Hillsdale College’s Imprimis, an always interesting publication, with an essay from an important scholar, free on request from the college. The copy I just received contained this interesting portion of a longer essay.
A related lesson of history is that acts of statesmanship often require courage and imagination, even daring, especially when the outcome seems doubtful. Take the case of Lincoln. So accustomed are we to thinking of Lincoln in heroic terms that we forget the depth and breadth of his unpopularity during his entire time in office. Few great leaders have been more comprehensively disdained, loathed, and underestimated. A low Southern view of him, of course, was to be expected, but it was widely shared in the North as well. As Lincoln biographer David Donald put it, “Lincoln’s own associates thought him “a Simple Susan, a baboon, an aimless punster, a smutty joker” Abolitionist Wendell Phillips called him “a huckster in politics, a first-rate, second rate man.” George McClellan, his opponent in the 1864 election, openly disdained him as a “well-meaning baboon.” For much of that election year, Lincoln was convinced, with good reason, that he was doomed to lose the election, with incalculable consequences for the war effort and the future of the nation.
We need to remember that this is generally how history happens. It is not like a Hollywood movie i which the background music swells and the crowd in the room applauds and leaps to it feet as the orator dispenses timeless words, and the camera pans the room full of smiling faces. In real history, the background music does not swell, the trumpets do not sound, and the carping critics often seem louder than the applause. The leader or the soldier has to wonder whether he is acting in vain, whether the criticisms of others are in fact true, whether time will judge him harshly, whether his sacrifice will count for anything. Few great leaders have felt this burden more completely than Lincoln.
Filed under: Bureaucracy, Capitalism, Conservatism, Domestic Policy, Economics, Economy, History, Humor, Politics, Progressives, Taxes, The United States, Unemployment | Tags: Elizabeth Warren's Errors, President Donald Trump, Proportional Tax Cuts
A few years back, Mary Kissel who was at the Wall Street Journal at the time, remarked that Elizabeth Warren had only “a child-like understanding of economics”. That stuck with me because it was so accurate. Black unemployment is the lowest it has ever been. The economy is doing great. Food Stamp use is way down. New filings for unemployment benefits are at an all time low.
Democrats believe, as a matter of faith, that Republican tax cuts go only to the rich and to corporate chieftains. Democrats have no understanding of proportionality whatsoever. Since the rich pay way more in taxes, the same percentage of a tax cut will mean more money for somebody who makes far more. Worked for Ronald Reagan too, if you remember
That’s why tax cuts for business owners mean they have more leeway to invest, build, hire, grow their businesses and they do so. Ordinary people have more money to buy something they need or want. They have more freedom. It’s a big shot in the arm for the economy. Were Ms. Warren to be elected, the first thing she would do is end the hated tax-cuts, and set the country on a recession which she would not understand at all, and inevitably believe that it was something Trump did to her because she attacked him for calling her Pocahontas. Bet she doesn’t even know that President Trump is donating his salary to the country.
Filed under: Bureaucracy, Capitalism, Domestic Policy, Economics, Economy, Politics, Taxes, The United States, Unemployment | Tags: Former President Obama, Pelosi & Schumer, President Donald Trump
New York Times correspondent Peter Baker’s new book Obama: The Call of History was recently updated to include the information that “former President Obama took President Trump’s win and Hillary Clinton’s loss in 2016 as a personal insult.”
Obama has talked a lot about his “legacy.” Most presidents, I imagine, are concerned about how history will view the challenges they faced and the job they did. But once they’re done, that’s up to the historians. Obama has had rather glorified ideas about his presidential library, and quite a battle with the city of Chicago and his selection of a prime piece of parkland, much to the distress of the neighbors. Democrats expected Hillary to win, and it was undoubtedly a shock to Obama.
There’s a favorite saying of political consultants: “It’s the economy, stupid.” The Wall Street Journal remarked yesterday that “The best news is that the beneficiaries of this tight labor market are the folks who struggled during the slow growth Obama years.” Government actions are not abstract things that are only important to the hovering newspersons. They have a major impact on the American people’s pocketbooks and well-being. Many people are now working who were living on food stamps.
Obama never, in eight years, achieved even 2% growth, but doubled the national debt. It was the slowest and most sluggish recovery under Obama, in history. They talked about it, and Obama’s economists said that times had just changed and there was no hope of ever getting back over 2% growth.
President Trump is going to meet with Pelosi and Schumer to talk about “infrastructure” which they supposedly think is important. Trump wants $1 trillion, but Schumer says Trump is going to have to get rid of some of those tax cuts. I keep saying that Democrats do not understand free market economics, and they keep insisting that I’m absolutely correct. Can’t have this booming economy, it makes the Democrats look bad. The Wall Street Journal:
Many of the robust job gains came in businesses that hire those with less education. Construction added 33,000 jobs last month, for example, and has added 256,000 over the last year. Most of the new construction jobs last month were in nonresidential and heavy civil engineering work, which suggests that business investment may be picking up after a weak first quarter.
In a separate report earlier this week, the Labor Department reported that worker productivity increased 3.6% in the fourth quarter and 2.4% from a year ago, the fastest rate since 2010. This continues the productivity-growth trend from 2018, which has followed faster capital investment after tax reform and deregulation. This bodes well for faster wage gains over time. increased 3.6% in the fourth quarter and 2.4% from a year ago, the fastest rate since 2010. This continues the productivity-growth trend from 2018, which has followed faster capital investment after tax reform and deregulation. This bodes well for faster wage gains over time.
Everybody talks about “infrastructure” but not about just what infrastructure they are so anxious to build. Before you start casually spending another trillion dollars, please explain just what you have in mind. How about a nice wall at the southern border?
Filed under: Bureaucracy, Capitalism, Domestic Policy, Economy, Free Speech, Health Care, History, Immigration, Israel, Law, Taxes, The United States, Unemployment | Tags: Democrat Power, Leftist Delusions, President Donald Trump
This seems to be Tucker Carlson Day at American Elephants, (I have two others on Free Speech waiting in the shadows). Of course illegal immigration is about power. But how did they come to the conclusion that everything is about their power? They were thrilled with Obama as president, yet he did a miserable job. Real good talker though.
What shifted? Was it that when Donald Trump made his campaign promises they sneered, and thought thank goodness we’re electing Hillary? And then when he was elected, it was a horrible shock Then, he began to fulfill his campaign promises, cutting taxes. That is unacceptable for Democrats. They need lots of taxes, big taxes, so they have the funds to dole out benefits to convince the deplorables to vote for them.
Is all the venom and hate because Donald Trump has cut taxes and the economy is booming as a result? Donald Trump has nominated outstanding Judges to the Supreme Court and successfully gotten them installed after all the work Democrats did to fight the nomination? Is it because he got out of the useless Paris Climate Accords, and celebrates it? Is it because right in the middle of the Craziness of the Left every day, President Trump (You’ll notice that they never call him President Trump — it’s just Trump.) is inclined to brag a little about his accomplishments? I think I may be onto something here.
Filed under: Bureaucracy, Crime, Domestic Policy, Law, Media Bias, News the Media Doesn't Want You to Hear, Politics, Progressives, The Constitution, The United States | Tags: President Donald Trump, Robert Mueller, The Department of Justice
As I understand it, the customary and legal reason for a special investigation and a special prosecutor is the discovery of a crime that requires investigation, finding the evidence and charging those who committed the crime.
In this occasion, somehow we got it all backward. A special prosecutor was appointed to find a crime, and then charge somebody with it. In this case there was no known crime. The Left did not like or approve of President Trump, so Mr. Mueller was charged with finding a crime so someone (preferably President Trump) could be charged. Mr. Mueller has assembled a team of his former associates to investigate, all of whom were not only Hillary supporters, but apparently Hillary donors as well.
Mr. Mueller seems to have settled on Paul Manafort because of something totally unrelated to the election. His team broke into the Manafort house in the middle of the night, ransacked it, frightened the Manaforts and carted off computers and stuff to investigate. The formal permission to conduct such a raid was apparently issued several days after the raid had already taken place. Which seems a little odd.
If after all this time and all these insinuations and threats, they can’t seem to find a crime, it’s possible that there wasn’t one, as they were told in the first place. But I’m not a lawyer, just a civilian, so perhaps I don’t understand these things.
Filed under: Capitalism, Domestic Policy, Economy, Energy, Environment, Free Markets, Freedom, Immigration, Intelligence, Law, National Security, Politics, Taxes, The United States, Unemployment | Tags: Clearly Improving, President Donald Trump, State of the Union
Terrific speech. Uniting, caring, forward looking. Of course the Democrats are not interested in uniting. I cannot remember a year when the opposing party behaved so badly. They went to great lengths to make clear their hatred for our country and this president.
Progressives’ plain rudeness was on national display. Leftist comments on the speech were startlingly notable for the total absence of any sense whatsoever and their plain fuming hate. Calling it “Trump Derangement Syndrome” doesn’t even begin to describe their problem. It’s not interested in our country,our future, our people — just blind fury at being out of power.
The accomplishments of this administration are clear and remarkable. No bragging there, just statement of fact. Senator Schumer remarked yesterday that President Trump should thank President Obama for repairing the economy so that it should show such improvement. Obama had no understanding of how an economy works, but that’s why the record of socialists is so dismal.
The most powerful rebuke in the speech was the line “Americans are Dreamers too.” Good reminder. The illegal immigrant “Dreamers” have shown no particular effort to adapt to or participate in this country. The few who have served in the military should be on a path to citizenship, but the ones who are out demonstrating, screaming, carrying pre-printed signs—demanding citizenship seem to have the illusion that they have fulfilled all the requirements for citizenship by simply being here at taxpayer expense. Many have dropped out of high school, contemptuous of the generosity of the country. We are not a “nation of immigrants.” We are a nation of Citizens.
Victor Davis Hanson had a column a week ago clarifying the issue, entitled “The Mythologies of Illegal Immigration.” It is well worth your time for a straightforward view of reality. An earlier column this month was “What the ‘Dreamer’ fight is really about.” Professor Hanson’s home is in California’s Central Valley, and he grew up with Mexican immigrants and Mexican illegal immigrants, Some are members of his family. He simply explains the problems in a straightforward manner. He also wrote, with Heather MacDonald and Steve Malanga “The Immigration Solution: A Better Plan Than Today’s” for those who are actually interested in a solution.
One thing Dr. Hanson has often called to our attention is President Trump’s use of the word “our.” He always refers to our workers, our miners, our police officers, our military, and our people. No other president has done that.
Efforts at Unity for the good of the country, will, of course, amount to nothing. Democrats will stand ready to punish any of their fellows who do not understand that our Constitutional Republic is not meant to have anyone but Democrats in charge. It’s entirely about the power of the Ruling class, and what they can do with that power.
Filed under: Bureaucracy, Capitalism, Democrat Corruption, Europe, Foreign Policy, Free Markets, Freedom, History, Media Bias, Politics, Progressives, The United States | Tags: Poland, President Donald Trump, The Western Tradition
There’s an odd kind of disconnect going on. President Trump spoke to the people of Poland yesterday, reaffirming the long-standing bond between our two countries, and the bond with our European allies. He reaffirmed his commitment to Article 5, the NATO mutual defense pact, and noted that the United States had demonstrated not just with words, but with our actions, our commitment to our allies. When our commitment to our allies is unsaid, the media climbs all over it, when it is included, it gets no mention at all. One might be inclined to think there is something to President Trump’s complaints about his treatment by the media.
If you recall, President Trump criticized the members of NATO who were not paying their agreed-upon share of the costs of NATO. NATO countries have agreed to spending 2% of their GDP to support NATO, but only 5 nations are contributing that much. It’s a longstanding complaint. Defense Secretary James Mattis warned NATO members back in January that if they do not boost their commitment, the United States might “moderate” its commitment to the alliance.
“I owe it to you all to give you clarity on the political reality in the United States and to state the fair demand from my country’s people in concrete terms,” Mattis said during a meeting in Brussels with defense ministers from other NATO countries. “America will meet its responsibilities, but if your nations do not want to see America moderate its commitment to the alliance, each of your capitals needs to show its support for our common defense. No longer can the American taxpayer carry a disproportionate share of the defense of Western values.”
The U.S contributes 3.61 % of GDP. Greece 2.39%. UK 2.21, Estonia 2.16, and Poland 2.00. Canada contributes only .99%. The amount contributed is a goal — not a legal pact. America spent an estimated $650 billion on defense in 2013 which is more than double the amount contributed by the other 27 nations put together.
The problem is not just the defense spending, but underlying attitudes. Europe has been unwilling to face up to Russian aggression, and the problems of Islamic migration. The European Union has ordered EU nations to accept large numbers of migrants, and only a few are firmly resisting. Much of Europe is dependent on Russian natural gas and oil. The initial push to accept heavy migration was based on the idea of “refugees,”empathy and compassion.
In his speech to the Polish nation, and to the world, President Trump offered a “determined and affirmative defense of the Western tradition. He assured Poland that it would not be held hostage to a single supplier of energy. He exhorted Russia to stop destabilizing Ukraine and elsewhere, to stop supporting Syria and Iran and ‘instead join the community of responsible nations.”
He identified the most immediate security threat as an “oppressive ideology.” He was talking about radical Islam, but it is worth noting that he never mentioned radical Islam or Islamic State. Instead, he described the recent commitment by Saudi Arabia and other Muslim nations to combat an ideological menace that threatens the world with terrorism. He compared this idea of mutual defense to the alliance of free nations that defeated Nazism and communism.
But the speech’s most provocative argument was about our way of life. It came when he described how a million Poles stood with Pope John Paul II in Victory Square in 1979 to resist Soviet rule by chanting, “We want God!”
“With that powerful declaration of who you are,” Mr. Trump said, “you came to understand what to do and how to live.”
Donald Trump was taking a firm stand against the fuzzy multiculturalism and globalization of Barack Obama and Western intellectuals who are all too ready to surrender to the critics of the traditions of the West. He spoke of a nationalism rooted in the rule of law, freedom of expression, religious faith and freedom from oppressive government. It was an important speech.
Peter Beinart, who I was astonished to discover is an associate professor of journalism and political science, wrote for the Atlantic about “The Racial and Religious Paranoia of Trump’s Warsaw Speech.” It’s the clearest example of what sometimes passes for thought on the left that I’ve seen in some time, and even more silly than usual. It reminds me of what one might expect from a college freshman in love with his own newly discovered intellectual promise, and trying to impress a lefty professor, might produce. See, see how I can tear this speech apart—embarrassing.
Beinart found George W. Bush’s 2003 speech in Poland useful for contrast, because Bush referred to democracy 13 times, and Trump mentioned it only once. By taking each word very, very literally, and insisting that since “the West” is not correctly a geographic term nor ideological or economic, then obviously it’s a white nationalist screed. The editors at National Review summed it up nicely:
It’s a strange day when praising the Warsaw uprising, the Solidarity movement, and Pope John Paul II makes you a neo-Nazi, but that day is, apparently, today, following President Trump’s speech to an assemblage of dignitaries, alongside a cheering crowd, in Poland, on his way to the G20 summit.
American Elephants 