New Year Reflections, Part II

Claim: President Trump has alienated our allies and seeks to undermine NATO. Here's the Secretary General of NATO, Jens Stoltenberg: "President Trump has been very clear. He is committed to NATO...he has clearly stated that NATO allies need to invest more...and now we see the results..by the end of next year, NATO allies will add...100 billion extra US dollars toward defense. So we see some real money and some real results. And we see that the clear message from President Donald Trump is having an impact." Clearly a result that will not please Putin.

Trump has announced his intention to have the US withdraw from a Nuclear Arms Control Treaty dealing with intermediate range missiles. Russia has been in violation of the treaty for years. China has not been bound by the treaty. The result has been the US is needlessly falling behind the two major powers whose interests are opposed to ours. Said Nancy Pelosi: "Russia's brazen noncompliance with this treaty is deeply concerning, but discarding a key pillar of our nonproliferation security framework creates unacceptable risks." More evidence of Russian collusion by Trump? Hardly. But it is evidence of the dream world in which the left operates. Pelosi opines that the treaty is a key pillar of our security - notwithstanding Russia's "brazen noncompliance." Pelosi wants the US to comply with a treaty that de facto does not even exist anymore.

In South Carolina, a man called the police after someone broke into his home and assaulted him. The perpetrator did not get away with any of the man's possessions or valuables. The police did, however. You see, the police found, and confiscated, one ounce of marijuana in his home, along with $1800 in cash. They charged the man with intent to distribute. The charges were dropped, but the police kept the money anyway under civil forfeiture laws; with many police departments using forfeiture as a fund raising mechanism for their departments. The man could not pay his rent, and the reporting on it said he was forced out. These civil forfeiture laws have no place in the United States of America.

One of the top Democrats negotiating with the Republicans over immigration, has declared that there will be no border wall. Of course, Speaker Pelosi has frequently said that, even declaring a wall to be "immoral." But this Democrat has indicated that they may agree to "some sort of enhanced barrier." I do not know what that might be. The current chief of the US Border Patrol said: "We certainly do need a wall. Talk to any border agent and they will tell you that." But don't just take his word for it. Here's Obama's chief of the Border Patrol: walls "absolutely work."

I'm a little confused about Virginia Governor Northam's comments about a photo in his 1984 medical school yearbook. The photo shows one person in blackface standing next to someone wearing a KKK hood. The Governor first admitted he was in the photo, but the next day denied that he was in the photo. Here's my question - what was such a photo doing in any yearbook in the year 1984?

The lead editorial in the 2/3/19 Los Angeles Times is titled "Trump's border 'emergency.'" The Times is concerned about Trump acting to build a border wall without Congressional authorization. I get it - separation of powers, three branches of government. But you may recall this from Obama: "We're not just going to be waiting for legislation...I've got a pen and I've got a phone...and I can use that pen to sign executive orders and take executive actions and administrative actions." And this from Obama: "We can't wait for Congress to do its job, so where they won't act, I will."

One letter writer to the USA Today does not want to see another millionaire (I think he meant billionaire) in the White House. "It does not work, they do not understand or care about middle America." Really? After Trump cut taxes and regulations, we have seen record low unemployment numbers for many groups. We saw Trump renegotiating NAFTA in order to help keep jobs here. We see Trump pushing for better border security, which keeps people from coming here illegally and taking jobs from Americans. But the writer just repeats the left-wing mantra that Trump is an uncaring billionaire, who just cars about his wealthy friends.

The 2/3/19 New York Times had a lengthy article on page 6 titled "As Attacks by Jewish Settlers Surge, Israel Stays Silent." The article talks about increasing attacks by Jews against Palestinians in the West Bank. After noting recent Palestinian attacks on Jews, the Times does reference an "expert" saying "violence is endemic around settlements deep in the West Bank, and Jewish attacks often follow Palestinian ones." The gist of the article is that Israel is not being aggressive enough in prosecuting criminal attacks on Palestinians, hypothesizing that Netanyahu does not wish to upset the right wing with an election coming up soon. Let me be clear - attacks by either side on unarmed civilians are unacceptable, and should be punished accordingly. However, not surprisingly to this writer, the Times neglects to say what the Palestinians do about their criminals (terrorists) who kill innocent Jews. They reward them. They are idolized, with schools and parks named after Palestinians who kill Jews. The PA provides financial support to the families of those who are killed in the process of attacking Jews. It would have been nice if the Times had provided that balance to their story.

Finally, we now hear from the left that the MAGA hats are threatening. One guest on CNN said the hats are "just as maddening and frustrating and triggering for me to look at it as a KKK hood." Alyssa Milano also referred to the MAGA hats as the new white hood. To say that the left makes outrageous comparisons about what "offends" them is an understatement. The implication is that if you "support" Trump then you are a racist. If this sounds familiar, just think of Hillary's "basket of deplorables." The left's argument does not change.