Year End Reflections, Part II

The constitutional scholars testify about impeachment. One of the Democrats' witnesses, Noah Feldman, was ready to impeach President Trump only months into his presidency. Feldman was offended by Trump's use of the expression "fake news." He felt that it might "curtail press freedoms (and) frighten the press," resulting in the press "ceasing to be effective critics." Not only did that not happen, but the reverse happened. You could not find a positive article about Trump or his policies in almost any of the mainstream media.

Pamela Karlan, another of the Dems' constitutional scholars, could barely hide her total disdain for Trump. As early as 2017, she also, dare I say, hated Trump. On a trip into D.C., she mentioned (again, this was 2017) that she was walking to her hotel, and "I was walking past what used to be the old post office building and is now Trump Hotel. I had to cross the street, of course." Of course, otherwise she might catch the plague. Asked if she was staying there, she replied: "G-d no! Never!"

The fake news opines. In an online piece in the New York Times on 12/6/19, we are hit with this headline: "With Impeachment Unfolding Amid a Booming Economy, What Will Voters Prioritize?" We are told that America is in an 11 year expansion. Get that? They throw in all eight years of Obama. The same Obama who told us to get used to a 2% growth rate. The same Obama who told us that manufacturing jobs would never return, and mocked Trump for saying that he would bring those jobs back, as if he had a magic wand. Anyway, the article tells us that "employers have hired 2.2 million people over the past 12 months," and that unemployment "is at 3.5% - it's lowest in half a century." But, proving that they are, indeed, the fake news, the Times tells us: "those gains have often come in spite of Mr. Trump's policies, not because of them." That's right, NEVER EVER give Trump credit for anything good. Ever!

The economy could not possibly have responded to the lowering of taxes, the cutting of regulations or the new trade deals, all thanks to Trump. Trudeau mocked Trump at the recent European summit. Too bad Canada lost 71,000 jobs in November, while the US gained 266,000 jobs. So mock away. We also gained 54,000 of those manufacturing jobs Obama said would never come back. (This blog has discussed the issue of media bias going all the way back to 2011. For those interested, see the posts on "Media Bias, Parts I-IV," posted 12/17/11, 1/7/12, 1/21/12, and 2/3/13. The issue has come up in numerous other posts as well.)

The House passes an anti-Israel resolution. The vote was 226 to 188, almost entirely along party lines. Only 5 Republicans voted in favor, with 4 Democrats (the "Squad" members) voting against. The resolution says, among other things, "Whereas the United States has long sought a just and stable future for Palestinians, and an end to the occupation, including settlement activity and moves toward unilateral annexation in Palestinian territory..." First, this resolution was intended to counter the recent declaration of the Trump Administration, made by Secretary of State Pompeo, that the settlements are not per se in violation of international law. Second, the resolution picks up where Obama left off, using the Palestinian term "occupation." Third, again picking up where Obama left off, the resolution refers to "Palestinian territory," as if the boundaries of that area are somehow a foregone conclusion. Obama allowed the passage of a UN Security Council resolution his last month in office, which set forth the boundaries of a Palestinian state, with the area encompassing Gaza, the West Bank and "East" Jerusalem.

You see, the Dems have given up on a negotiated resolution between the two sides. Rather, they want to pressure who? Israel, our greatest ally in the Middle East and possibly in the world. And the Democratic candidates for President? They appeared at the left-wing meeting of J-Street, which bills itself as pro-Israel, but is not. These candidates - Biden and Sanders and Warren and Buttigieg - did not appear at the more centrist AIPAC convention. Sanders: "What is going on in Gaza right now is absolutely inhumane, it is unacceptable, it is unsustainable." So, don't blame Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip. Don't blame Hamas, which spends millions to build and buy weaponry to use against Israel. No, blame Israel, and threaten to cut US funding to Israel. Let's not forget that soon after taking office in 2009, Obama said we needed to create "daylight" between the US and Israel. And the Democrats have sought to do just that ever since. (For a detailed discussion of the history and geography of Israel and the Middle East, see the 3/25/11 post, "Letter to a College Student.")

Schiff violates people's civil rights and the mainstream media yawns. The chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, Adam Schiff, obtained the phone records of Devin Nunes, ranking member of the Intelligence Committee, Trump attorneys Rudy Giuliani and Jay Sekulow, reporter John Solomon and others. Then Schiff put the information in his report to the Judiciary Committee. The content of the calls was not revealed; rather, it was the metadata - showing the phone numbers, the length of the calls and when the calls were made. It appears that this was a first, with one member of Congress (Democrat Schiff) spying on another member (Republican Nunes). As the 12/5/19 editorial in the Wall Street Journal said, "This is unprecedented and looks like an abuse of government surveillance authority for partisan gain." Partisan gain? That has a familiar ring to it. When do we get to see the call logs of Adam Schiff and his staff with the "whistle blower," so that we might see what coordination there was in setting up this whole Ukraine story.

Kimberly Strassel, in her 12/6/19 Op-Ed in the Wall Street Journal, said this: "The media is treating this as a victory, when it is a disgraceful breach of ethical and legal propriety." The New York Times was, in fact, elated over the disclosure. In their 12/4/19 edition, on page A17, is this headline: "Phone Records Support Idea That Giuliani Ran Shadow Foreign Policy." As if no other president ever had unofficial advisers. As if no other president ever had a "kitchen cabinet." Nowhere in the article did I see that the reporters asked any legal scholars if the release of the names and phone metadata of those surveilled was appropriate under the law. But why would they. Why would Schiff abusing the powers of his office to go after his political opponents bother the mainstream media. If they do not want to be referred to as the "fake news," then maybe they should start acting as if they are not.