Tag Archives: President Trump

The Change From Politics To Law Enforcement

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On Tuesday, Townhall posted an article about the difference in priorities between the Biden Department of Justice and the Trump Department of Justice.

The article notes:

Don’t tell Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), but on April 17, the Department of Justice released detailed evidence demonstrating how Kilmar Armando Abrego García—whom Sen. Van Hollen and his fellow Democrats falsely portrayed as an innocent “Maryland father”—is not only an illegal immigrant but also a violent member of the brutal MS-13 gang. The Department of Homeland Security also provided court documents showing that García’s wife had previously sought a domestic violence restraining order against him, accusing him of assault and other forms of abuse. It’s the clearest sign yet that the adults are back in charge of protecting America’s homeland, and that’s great for America’s safety.

This degree of coordination between the DOJ and DHS under Trump’s leadership stands in sharp contrast to the Biden administration, when both agencies worked together to advance the Biden administration’s radical political agenda instead of protecting public safety.

…Secretary Mayorkas stopped construction on Trump’s border wall and kept ICE and Border Patrol from doing their jobs. When the surge in border crossings Biden specifically asked for became a political liability for Democrats, he and Attorney General Merrick Garland coordinated to massively expand Temporary Protected Status (TPS) and create the CHNV program, paroling hundreds of thousands of unvetted migrants into the U.S. interior ­— complete with an app to streamline the process.

Things weren’t any better at Biden’s DOJ. Garland presided over a DOJ that targeted Catholic parishes, inflated domestic extremism statistics, and labeled concerned parents as potential terrorists. Peaceful pro-life activists were arrested at gunpoint, while left-wing extremists who threatened Supreme Court justices or firebombed crisis pregnancy centers were ignored.

The article concludes:

Now, that’s changing. Trump’s team is showing the country what it looks like when the DOJ and DHS return to their core mission of protecting American citizens.

They’re working together to go after real threats—not parents, not pro-lifers, not credit card companies. But violent gang members, abusers, and foreign nationals who break our laws and endanger our communities.

Restoring credibility and functionality to these agencies after four years of abuse is a significant step in rebuilding trust with the American people.

Real justice means enforcing the law fairly, consistently, and with the goal of public safety. And for the first time in four years, that’s finally happening.

It will be interesting to see how a Justice Department focused on dealing with actual crimes will impact the crime statistics for 2025.

A Promise Fulfilled

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This is great news. On Monday, Red State reported that Vice-President J.D. Vance has fulfilled the promise he made at the Republican Convention and celebrated his mother’s 10th sobriety anniversary at the White House.

The article reports:

It is a truly inspiring and heartwarming story.

Vance’s mother, Beverly “Bev” Aikins, plays a significant role in his memoir “Hillbilly Elegy,” where she is portrayed as a complex and troubled figure whose struggles profoundly shaped Vance’s life. 

In the book, she is described as a woman caught in a cycle of instability, addiction, and personal turmoil, which mirrors some of the broader challenges he attributes to the “hillbilly” community.

In the 2020 Netflix film adaptation of “Hillbilly Elegy,” directed by Ron Howard, Bev is played by Amy Adams.

“I’m proud to say that tonight, my mom is here, 10 years clean and sober. I love you, Mom,” Vance said as the cheers cascaded down from the crowd in attendance.

Chants of “JD’s mom” could be heard echoing in the arena. That’s when Vance had an idea.

“You know, Mom, I was thinking. It will be 10 years officially in January 2025. If President Trump is okay with that, let’s have the celebration in the White House,” he said.

Journalist Salena Zito reports that Vance, happily, has now been able to fulfill that promise.

“Well, here we are. And you made it, and we made it. And most importantly, you’re celebrating a very, very big milestone,” the Vice President said, according to Zito. “And I’m just very proud of you.”

The article notes:

“A full-circle moment. Not just for her, but for the millions of moms who fought like hell to give their kids a better life,” writes podcast producer James Laverty.

“Who dreamed of something more, even when the world gave them every reason to quit. Not perfection, but a fight,” he added. “And she lives to see the other side, the dreams realized.”

Beverly “Bev” Aikins represents all Americans. We are not perfect. Some of our struggles are more challenging than others, but when we persevere, we win. Mrs. Aikins, you are an inspiration because of who you are and what you have overcome, and your son is an inspiration because of the love and respect he has for you despite the hard times in the past.

A Very Honest Picture Of The War In Ukraine

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On Thursday, Victor Davis Hanson posted an article at American Greatness detailing the current status of the war in Ukraine. The article summarizes where we have been, where we are, and where we are probably going.

The article reports:

Aside from the rhetoric, there is a growing consensus among Western diplomats, military analysts, military officers, heads of state, and even much of the media about how to end the endless Ukrainian war.

A proposed peace will see a DMZ established somewhere along an adjusted 1,200-mile Ukraine-Russia border. Tough negotiations will adjudicate how far east toward its original borders Russian forces will be leveraged to backstep.

Publicly in the U.S. and covertly in Europe, all accept that a depleted Ukraine will not have the military strength to retake Crimea and the Donbas.

In 2014, both were absorbed by Russia during the Obama administration. Neither that administration nor any since has advocated a military effort to reclaim them.

Loudly, the U.S.—and again quietly Europe—concedes that Ukraine will not be in NATO—a confirmation that Russia will use to justify to its people its disastrous invasion, and even many Ukrainians will accept.

How will the West deter Putin from his inevitable agenda of reclaiming lost Soviet territory and Russian-speaking peoples? For now, his army is exhausted, its arsenals depleted, and its reputation shattered.

In the future, a commercial corridor, anchored by concessions to American and international mining concerns, will supposedly serve as a tripwire to deter Putin from attacking in-the-way noncombatant Americans.

The media spin on a ceasefire is predictable:

If Trump can coax even a ceasefire, the oddly bellicose left will still rail about “Munich” and Trump as “Putin’s puppet.”

But after perhaps 1.5 million total Ukrainian and Russian dead, wounded, sick, and missing, transatlantic leftists will quietly admit they never had any realistic plan to win by fighting Russia to the last Ukrainian.

And they certainly were not willing—despite what they claimed in their spasms of braggadocio—to send U.S., U.K., European, or NATO ground troops into Eastern Ukraine.

The article concludes:

So, Putin knows that India, China, and others who buy his oil will not if he reneges on his willingness for a ceasefire.

If and when peace comes, we can already foresee the misinformation that will follow: Trump deserves no credit. Zelenskyy remains the true hero. A now hollowed-out Russia was the real winner.

The only mystery?

Since when did the anti-war left prefer an endless and horrific war to a difficult, messy peace?

Please follow the link to read the entire article. It is one of the best summaries of the situation I have read.

Leveling The Playing Field

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On Wednesday, Townhall posted an article about one result of President Trump’s tariffs.

The article reports:

Ontario Premier Doug Ford on Wednesday suggested that Canada would drop its tariffs on U.S. goods if President Donald Trump eased up on his tariffs on Canadian goods.

During an appearance with CNBC’s Ross Sorkin, he stated that the impending tariff war is “just going to hurt American jobs” and that Trump “said he was going to create jobs, create wealth, reduce inflation.”

Sorkin asked whether Ford believed it was fair that Canada has “tariffs on a whole number of products.”

Ford replied, “And we’d be willing to take those off tomorrow if he took all the tariffs off” and suggested that “China is the problem.”

The host asked why Canada wouldn’t have these negotiations before Trump imposed his tariffs.

The premier responded:

Well, we’ve had this conversation for over the last month. We don’t want tariffs. We have another $65 billion dollars with a tariff to launch today. That’s the last thing we want to do because it’s just, again, it’s going to hurt both countries. It’s going to hurt American workers. That’s the last thing I want.

That statement is a very diplomatic way of saying nothing.

America has been paying tariffs on its exports to other countries for years. It is not unreasonable to expect that at some point the playing field would be made more level. It is not up to us to bankroll the rest of the world by letting other countries impose tariffs on us without imposing tariffs on them. I suspect that President Trump’s tariffs are not yet set in stone and are still in the negotiating stage. We do need to put tariffs on other countries, but the final details may be different from what we are currently hearing.

Restoring The Power to The Executive Branch

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We seem to be having a problem right now with a lot of the court cases opposing President Trump’s (and the American people’s) agenda. Oddly enough, a lot of these cases seem to end up in the court of one particular judge, U.S. District Judge James Boasberg. Well, there may be a way (other than impeachment) to get back to government by “we the people” who elected President Trump.

On Monday, Just the News reported the following:

An Arizona congressman introduced legislation Monday to remove the federal judge who has blocked President Donald Trump’s efforts to deport Venezuelan gang members, offering a novel path that avoids the impeachment process and the need for two-thirds support in the U.S. Senate.

Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Ariz., filed a resolution that would remove U.S. District Judge James Boasberg for “failing to maintain the standard of good behavior required of judges” under Article III, Section 1 of the Constitution.

You can read the resolution below:

“Most Americans believe that there is lifetime tenure for a federal judge. That unless impeached, a federal judge can serve until death,” Biggs told Just the News. “But lifetime tenure is not guaranteed, nor mentioned, in the Constitution. Article III, Section 1 permits a federal judge to serve only ‘during good behavior.’”

Biggs argued the clause gives Congress the authority to remove judges that it believes have failed to uphold that standard short of using impeachment.

The article also notes:

Biggs said he believes many of these judges have overstepped their authority and reached outside their narrow judicial districts, and that Congress should take the reigns, invoking the Constitutional provision, to fire ones that make politically biased decisions that fall short of grounds for impeachment.

“[W]hat about a judge who has a conflict of interest and refuses to recuse himself from the case with which he has a conflict? Or, what if he has repeatedly supported publicly a political figure and vigorously denounced, not just on policy grounds, but on more virulent grounds, his political opponent?” Biggs asked.

It has been reported that Boasberg’s daughter Katharine defends MS-13 and TDA gangsters, receiving pay from an NGO, Partners in Justice, which raked in $3.3 million in 2023 year from the federal government.  That should disqualify him from the deportation case, but the question is bigger than that.

Does the President run the country or do the judges run the country? The President is elected by the people. Shouldn’t he be in charge?

Energy Independence Is Good For Everyone

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On Thursday, Red State posted an article about the Trump administration’s resumption of drilling in Alaska.

The article reports:

Donald Trump’s 2024 election victory over Kamala Harris is one of the better things that has happened in our nation for some time, and all of the various benefits of that win are still making themselves known. One of the areas in which Americans will benefit from this is in energy, and in Alaska, that benefit will be felt not only in reduced energy prices, but in jobs.

Alaska’s economy depends in large part on mining and energy development, and on the North Slope, where many of Alaska’s Native communities are found, as much as 95 percent of the local economies are dependent on oil and gas development. Those communities are about to get a big economic boost, and they are on record applauding the Trump administration’s resumption of drilling.

The article notes the reaction of someone representing the Alaskan Native Americans:

“It’s cautious optimism,”Nagruk Harcharek, president of Voice of the Arctic Iñupiat, (VOICE) a nonprofit organization that represents 21 different Native American corporations and communities in Alaska, told the DCNF (Daily Caller News Foundation). “We feel like we’re going to be able to get some things done with a more favorable administration, but we’re also being careful about it because we don’t want to threaten that cultural base and lifestyle that we rely on every day.”

…Harcharek noted that 95% of the North Slope budget comes from oil and gas infrastructure taxes. “The economy in the North Slope is oil and gas activity,” he said. Schools, healthcare, roads and running water all came from the “economic base our early leaders ensured that we had access to,” Harcharek said, expressing concerns that without access to oil and gas resource development, their community is forced “to rely on the state and the federal government.”

The article notes a very important aspect of the debate over drilling in Alaska:

So, jobs, or dependency. Nothing could more starkly illustrate the difference in the two major political parties; one is in favor of development, of abundant, inexpensive energy and the economic benefits that come with it, and jobs, good-paying jobs, for communities in one of the most isolated places on the planet. The other is the party of dependency, who would yank the North Slope jobs and place the Native communities on government handouts and the loss of pride that goes with it.

Let’s let the Native Americans in Alaska thrive!

Should Trump Ignore the Lower Courts?

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Author:  R. Alan Harrop, Ph.D. 

The Left is at it again. They lost the last election to President Trump by a large margin, but since they do not respect the voice of the people, they are now using the courts to block his administration’s efforts to do what he promised the people. Remember, this is not just an attempt to block President Trump, but to negate the will of you the voters. Let’s look at some facts.

The reality is that our country is increasingly being run by unelected, lifetime-appointed judges. Just as we saw the left pursue lawsuits against President Trump to prevent Americans from being able to vote for him and elect him, the left is now judge-shopping for Democrat appointed judges to delay and block his actions. Whether they ultimately win or not, their tactics are to slow down and keep him from restoring this country to what the Founding Fathers intended. Never forget–with the Biden administration we were on a course towards socialism/communism that would have been difficult if not impossible to reverse had Kamala Harris won the election. We cannot let this opportunity to restore America be blocked.

The U.S. Constitution created three branches of government:  the legislative, executive, and judicial. Importantly, the U.S. Supreme Court is the only federal judicial entity mentioned in the Constitution. Currently, there are 677 authorized federal district judge positions all of which are appointed for life. A significant majority of these judges were appointed by Obama (329) and Biden (235). Consequently, the Left has no trouble finding a judge to support their socialist agenda. Another critical aspect of the federal judicial system is that a decision made by a single federal judge in an isolated district is now allowed to overrule the President who in Trump’s case was elected by a large margin of the voters. So here we have the top authority in the executive branch being overruled by a single minor judge in the judicial branch. Do you believe the Founding Father’s intended this? I don’t. Makes no sense whatsoever. But that is what we are living with at this moment in time. One man, an unelected judge, overrides the will of the people!

There is a historical event that dealt with this on at least one occasion. President Andrew Jackson, when told that a judge on the Supreme Court had overridden his action against establishing a federal bank, said to the effect: “…he made his decision, now let’s see him enforce it”.    A major case in point now is a decision by a federal district judge named Boasberg (appointed by Obama) that threatens to derail Trump’ s efforts to deport illegal aliens connected to Venezuelan gangs or otherwise here illegally. Deporting these criminals is an action supported by a large majority of Americans.  By the way, we should note that President Eisenhower was able to deport over 3 million illegals on his own authority in the 1950’s without court interference. President Trump believes that the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 gives him the authority to deport members of foreign terrorist groups.  Of course, the hair-splitting Leftists are saying that the law only refers to enemy “countries” not terrorist groups. The fact that there were no organized terrorist groups at that time does not bother the Leftists who are using this parsing of the language to stop Trump. That is typical lawyer strategy that once again defies common sense.

So, what should Trump do?   If he allows these judicial rulings to stop him, it is likely his term of office will be over before they are resolved.   On the other hand, if he defies this minor federal district judge, he will be protecting the security of the people in this country and fulfilling his election promises. Ask yourself, what would you do if you were in his place and knew that you were doing the will of the people not some leftist judge? Now, some have argued that if Trump defies the judge he could possibly be impeached. This is highly unlikely since the Republican’s control the House of Representatives who would have to initiate the impeachment. Politically, this would be the death knell of the Democrat Party to defy the will of the people, as demonstrated in the last election. Not a hill they would choose to die on. Even if President Trump were successfully removed from office, I am certain that Vice President Vance would stay with the same policy, so it would avail the Democrats nothing.

When in a crisis situation, oftentimes bold action is needed. The future of the country is at stake. This is worth considering by President Trump.

Slowly Moving Toward Justice

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On Tuesday, The Daily Caller reported that President Trump had pardoned Devon Archer. Devon Archer is a former business partner of Hunter Biden.

The article reports:

President Donald Trump pardoned Hunter Biden’s former business partner Devon Archer on Tuesday.

Trump signed the pardon on Tuesday, saying that Archer was a victim of a “crime” and treated “very unfairly.” Archer had been facing a year and a day in prison for his role in defrauding a Native American tribe and other clients by fraudulently issuing and selling over $60 million worth of bonds.

“Devon Archer was a former business partner of the Biden family. He was prosecuted relating to a fraud investigation, but notably, the tone and tenor of that prosecution changed dramatically after he began to cooperate with congressional investigators and serve as a witness against Hunter Biden and the Biden family. We believe that was an injustice, and therefore we’re asking you to pardon him,” White House Staff Secretary Will Scharf told the president, showing him the executive order.

The article concludes:

Both Hunter Biden and Archer are former Burisma board members, and both made over $80,000 per month at one point while working for the company during Joe Biden’s vice presidency, bank records show.

Archer testified that the former president had spoken with Hunter Biden’s former business associates around 20 times and specifically described a spring 2014 dinner with Russian oligarch Elena Baturina and a spring 2015 dinner that the former president attended with Burisma executive, Vadim Pozharskyi.

Trump promised Archer a pardon on Saturday, according to the New York Post, when the pair met at the NCAA Wrestling Championship. President Biden issued a full pardon to his son and other family members before leaving office.

The Biden family will probably never be brought to justice for their influence peddling, but at least the people the Biden family used the justice system to attack can be pardoned.

The “Guardians Of Justice” Are Suddenly Awake

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On Wednesday, Red State posted an article about some of the judges who are issuing Temporary Restraining Orders to stop President Trump’s policies. Oddly enough, they were never concerned when the Biden administration ignored the law or refused to enforce the laws already on the books.

The article reports:

Where were these Guardians of Justice when Joe Biden illegally invited and lured in millions and millions of “new Americans and undocumented immigrants?” Where? Why nowhere, of course. These robes seemingly had very little to say about U.S. Code § 1325 (based on Article IV, Section IV of the Constitution) and its undeniable violation. A violation that has, and will continue to for decades, fundamentally changed the history of America. Letting in millions and millions of aliens, and then making the citizenry pay for their everything from schooling, health care, drunk driving deaths, rapes, murders, and any other crimes they committed while here has changed life for us all on many different levels. 

Now, progs like to use descriptors from “hard-working, good people seeking a better life” to “who will pick our crops and make up our hotel beds?” (Note to any progressives in the unlikely event of reading this: The latter sounds an awful lot like “who will pick our cotton and sweep up around the Big House?”) Basically, I don’t care if they are good people; I only care if they are bad people because they should not be here in the first place. We have plenty of our own good people and really don’t need any new bad ones.

Still, where were these judges when Biden (or whoever was pushing the knobs behind the curtain) was busy border-busting? This newfound sanctimony and sudden respect for the rule of law was absent over the last four years, and the impact it will have on this country is going to be generational.

The article concludes:

Trump, in his last term and nearly 80 years old, could also simply ignore these rulings and enforce his own orders anyway. Joe Biden defied a SCOTUS ruling and forgave $48 billion in student loan debt, and nothing happened to him/his administration. No federal judge — neither on the circuit nor the highest court there is — seemed to have anything to say about that. Well, why shouldn’t Trump do the same thing and just ignore them?

Because as tempting as that might be, Trump has more integrity than that, and he knows it would help to wreck the system even more so than it already is. So he goes through the appellate process and tries to right the wrongs, relying on the same judiciary system that screwed him in the first place. I just hope there are still some good judges left in that pool.

Who Is Supposed To Govern America?

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On Tuesday, The Federalist posted an article about the federal judges who seem to think it is their job to run the country.

The article reports:

On March 7, I argued in The Federalist that President Donald Trump should ignore a Supreme Court that would allow lower courts to refuse to uphold the Constitution and instead encroach on executive authority. Recent new encroachments prove my point. U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan has blocked the EPA from terminating $14 billion in climate grants awarded by the Biden administration, funds now sitting in a Citibank account. Judge Ana Reyes has ordered the military not to enforce Trump’s ban on trans-identifying service members.

These rulings are not mere disagreements, as Chief Justice John Roberts claimed last week when he rejected Trump’s call to impeach a judge who ruled against his deportation policy. They are direct assaults on the president’s constitutional power. I urged Trump to defy such orders then, and I stand by that now — Trump must confront the courts!

Since Jan. 20, a pattern of politically motivated judicial overreach has emerged. Chutkan’s decision overrides Trump’s executive authority to redirect the EPA, preserving Biden-era spending. Reyes’ ruling interferes with his control over military policy, a domain the Constitution assigns to the president and the president alone. In February, a Rhode Island judge forced the release of frozen federal funds, and multiple courts blocked Trump’s efforts to end funding for so-called “gender-affirming care” for minors.

These single district judges, often appointed by past Democrat administrations, issue nationwide injunctions that halt the president’s agenda. This is not judicial review — it is judicial governance. Roberts’ call for “normal appellate review” ignores the reality: Unelected judges are hijacking executive policies in the name of judicial review, and while appeals wind through the courts, executive action stalls, sometimes for years.

This is simply a continuation of the lawfare that has been directed at President Trump since he declared that he was running for President. It is amazing that the judge who is complaining about flying criminals who are here illegally out of the country never said a word when President Biden was flying illegal immigrants into cities around the country. The courts need to go back to being courts–not try to be governing bodies.

Tyranny Has A Pattern

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There is a pattern involved in establishing and keeping a tyrannical government. It was evident in Nazi Germany and it is evident today in countries where Sharia Law is the law of the land. Syria is a current example.

Tyranny in Germany began with Paul Von Hindenberg’s appointment of Adolf Hitler as Chancellor on January 30, 1933.  In March 1933, the first concentration camp, Dachau, opened as a place to house political prisoners. The demonization of German Jews began shortly after Hitler took power. In April 1933, citing overcrowding in the schools, the government limited the number of Jewish students that could attend school. The year 1938 brought Kristallnacht, a night when German Nazis attacked Jewish persons and property. There were no consequences for the violence against Jews and Jewish businesses. The few Christian pastors who refused to allow the government to dictate what was preached from their pulpits were arrested and placed in the concentration camps. One of the major factors in establishing a tyranny is not holding those who break the law but have the correct political view accountable. Those who have the wrong political views may be arrested or held prisoner for almost anything.

President Trump is something of a litmus test. The people who hate him are willing to overlook almost any lawlessness as long as it opposes him. Until January 20, 2025, those who oppose President Trump were operating within a justice system that was not going to hold them accountable. The attempted Watergate wiretapping resulted in the end of the Nixon presidency and in people going to jail. The wiretapping of the 2016 Trump campaign and transition team resulted in very little consequences for those involved. Kevin Clinesmith, who altered an email to allow the wiretapping, was sentenced to12 months’ probation, 400 hours of community service, and no fine. The people involved in the Russia Hoax were never held accountable for their lies. The Washington Post got to keep its Pulitzer Prize, and people still buy the newspaper. Adam Schiff said he had seen proof of Russian collusion by President Trump. We now know that was a lie, and he is still in Congress. Lawfare became on acceptable way of doing business. Lawfare against President Trump and the raid on Mar-a-Lago were acceptable actions to many Americans. The majority of the people who assaulted police and burned cities during the summer of 2020 were never held accountable. Kamala Harris encouraged Americans to contribute to a bail fund for them. In contrast, people who peacefully walked through the Capitol after police opened the doors for them were hunted down and arrested for trespassing. Most of them even stayed between the ropes set up to guide visitors! When there is a two-tiered justice system, the seeds of tyranny are being planted.

Currently we are seeing Elon Musk and President Trump demonized. How could the President be so cruel to send murderers who were here illegally to prison in El Salvador? Elon Musk is going to take away America’s safety net (no, he’s not.) The difference now is that people who are breaking the law are being held accountable. Protesting is legal. Free speech is legal. However, destroying other people’s property is not legal. Threatening or assaulting Jewish college students is a crime. Someone who is not a citizen and commits a crime needs to be sent back to where they came from.

The slouch toward tyranny can be stopped by implementing equal enforcement of the law—upholding the rule of law. Again, protesting is legal, but assault or destruction of property needs to result in jail time.

The War On Common Sense Has A Lot To Do With Money And Power

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Not too long ago, no one would have questioned flying a criminal who was in America illegally out of America. No one would have cared that he was being deported or where he was going. Yet now some people in power want to keep criminal illegal aliens in America. These are people who entered the country illegally, breaking our laws, and then went on to commit horrendous crimes. Why should we want to keep them here? What is going on?

A partial answer to that question can be found in a statement made by Senator Chuck Schumer in an interview on the Public Broadcasting Network last week. The Senator said “…we did put 235 judges—progressive judges, judges not under the control of Trump last year on the bench, and they are ruling against Trump time after time after time.” What about judges who uphold the rule of law? Did you put any of them on the bench>

One of the benchmarks of a healthy republic (we are not a democracy) is the peaceful transfer of power. It seems to me that the Democrat party is using these judges to prevent that transfer.

There is a financial aspect to this resistance. Many of these judges have family members that are working in NGO’s that receive money from USAID or other government programs. The salaries and other benefits paid to people in some of these organizations are astounding. There is also some question as to how a lot of the money given to NGO’s is spent.

From 2020-2024, the United Nations and NGO’s spent $6 Billion financing the mass migration of people entering America illegally. How much of this money went to drug cartels? The plan was for the United Nations and the NGO’s to spend $1.4 Billion on the migration trail in 2025 and $1.2 Billion more in 2026. Has there ever been an audit of this money?

The caravans who arrived in America under President Biden had new-looking sneakers, clothes that did not look worn out, many had cell phones, and everyone looked well-fed. Someone was financing this, and the cartels were receiving more income than they had seen for a long time. It is also likely that a large percentage of the money given to the NGO’s went to overhead—benefits and salaries to the people running the NGO’s. I am grateful that someone is trying to stop the funding for this.

Getting Rid Of The Department Of Education

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On Friday, Just the News reported that Ohio Republican Representative Michael Rulli will introduce legislation to allow President Trump to shutter the Department of Education through Congress. I can’t imagine that legislation going anywhere, but it’s a great idea.

The article reports:

Trump on Thursday signed an executive order that directed Education Secretary Linda McMahon to begin taking steps to close the department. However, dismantling a federal agency requires an act of Congress.

Rulli told Fox News Digital Thursday that he would be introducing the legislation soon but didn’t specify when. 

He said his legislation would allow funding for resources for children with special needs, Title I programs and Pell Grants to come from other federal departments.

A website called Intellectual Takeout reported the following in 2019:

Federal “Highly Qualified Teacher” mandates. Adequate Yearly Progress requirements. Smaller learning communities. Improving Teacher Quality State Grants. Reading First. Early Reading First. The dozens of other federal programs authorized via No Child Left Behind. School Improvement Grants. Race to the Top. Common Core.

All of that has been just since 2000. Over those past two decades, while federal policymakers were busy enacting new federal laws, creating mandates for local school leaders, and increasing the Department of Education’s budget from $38 billion in 2000 (unadjusted for inflation) to roughly $70 billion today, the math and reading performance of American high school students remained completely flat. That is to say, stagnant.

The U.S. is now above the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development average in reading, but alas, not because U.S. reading performance has improved. Rather, other countries have seen declines in reading achievement, despite increases in education spending.

In mathematics, however, U.S. performance has steadily declined over the past two decades.

Those are the findings from the Programme for International Student Assessment, or PISA exams, released last week.

It seems that the formation of the Department of Education has not resulted in the success of American students.

The article at Intellectual Takeout concludes:

Federal government efforts to improve education have been dismal. Even if there were a constitutional basis for its involvement – which there isn’t – the federal government is simply ill-positioned to determine what education policies will best serve the diverse local communities across our vast nation.

The sooner we can acknowledge that improvements will not come from Washington, the sooner we’re likely to see students flourishing in learning environments that reflect their unique needs and desires.

It really is time to get rid of the Department of Education. They have not fulfilled their purpose, and they are simply a financial drain on the American taxpayer.

The Past Actions Of Judge James Boasberg

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History predicts the future. When you look at some of the cases that Judge Boasberg has been involved with in the past and his decisions, the fact that he is doing everything he can to prevent President Trump from carrying out his campaign promises should not be a surprise.

In an article posted at director blue’s substack account on Thursday, Doug Ross reminds us of the judge’s history:

1. Blocking Trump’s Use of the Alien Enemies Act (2025)

2. Ordering Deportation Planes to Return (March 2025)

3. Conflict with Trump Administration Over Deportation Flights

4. FISA Court Role in Carter Page Surveillance (2014-2021)

5. Light Sentence for Kevin Clinesmith (2021)

6. Hiding Archey Declarations (2018) (high-profile government misconduct case)

7. Ruling on Clinton Emails (2016)

8. Dakota Access Pipeline Shutdown (2020)

9. Jan. 6 Grand Jury Oversight (2023)

10. Mike Pence Testimony Order (2023) (narrowed scope of executive privilege)

11. Ray Epps Probation Sentence (2024) (unusually lenient sentence)

12. FISA Court Presiding Judge During FBI Criticism (2020-2021)

13. Osama bin Laden Photos Ruling (2012)

14. Asylum Seeker Detention Limits (2018)

15. Medicaid Work Requirements Block (2019)

16. Alleged Bias in Jan. 6 Cases

17. Trump Impeachment Threats (2025)

18. Conflict of Interest Allegations (family connections to immigration NGOs)

19. Observation of Trump’s Court Appearance

20. Historical Precedent Rejection (2025)

For further details, follow the link above to read the entire article.

If I had gone judge shopping for someone to oppose President Trump’s policies, this would have been a judge I seriously considered. His track record is not one of rulings that represent equal justice under the law.

The article concludes:

It is time that:

(a) President Trump strips Boasberg of his security clearances for his FISA abuse failures;

(b) Congress compels his testimony regarding his conflicts of interest, his longstanding political activism, and years of failing to adhere to the Code of Conduct for United States Judges.

Congress should impeach him, but with a divided Congress, that is unlikely.

When Common Sense Takes A Vacation

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On Friday, The Gateway Pundit posted an article about the fake news posted by The New York Times about Elon Musk receiving a security briefing on top secret war plans. He did not  receive such a briefing. First of all, Elon Musk is seriously involved in America’s space program (some might argue that he is America’s space program). What kind of clearances might he have because of that involvement? I realize that classified information should be given out on a ‘need to know’ basis, and there might not be a case for Elon Musk to know about China policy, but I do believe this is much ado about nothing.

The article reports:

The deep state was has been in full meltdown since Thursday night’s leaked report by the New York Times that DOGE chief Elon Musk would be visiting the Pentagon on Friday for an alleged briefing on top secret U.S. war plans for communist China.

Notice it was a leaked report. Who leaked it? We can guess why–anything to make the Trump administration look bad. The person who leaked it needs to face consequences. That is how you stop the leaks.

The article notes:

Trump addressed the controversy with reporters in the Oval Office midday Friday with Hegseth by his side, saying he would not authorize such a briefing for Musk given his business ties with China. The purpose of the Oval Office meeting with Hegseth was to announce the selection of Boeing to build the military’s new Next Generation Air Dominance fighter jet, the F-47.

The article includes the following quote by President Trump:

““Elon Musk will be briefed by the Pentagon about the USA’s top secret plans against China should there be a War,” according to the Failing New York Times, one of the worst and most purposely inaccurate newspapers anywhere in the World. Their FAKE concept for this story is that because Elon does some business in China, that he is very conflicted and would immediately go to top Chinese officials and “spill the beans.” RATINGS CHALLENGED FAKE NEWS CNN immediately picked up on this absolutely ridiculous and false story, which is probably libelous, and went heavy with it. Fortunately, nobody was watching! Maggot Hagerman, the really dumb “scammer” who constantly writes about me for the Times, using anonymous, made up (nonexistent!) sources, and who I haven’t spoken to in ages, is a big part of the Scam. She lead the Russia, Russia, Russia Hoax, only to realize that she was duped and got it wrong. She owes me a totally discredited Pulitzer Prize for her bad reporting. The Fake News is the ENEMY OF THE PEOPLE…And Elon is NOT BEING BRIEFED ON ANYTHING CHINA BY THE DEPARTMENT OF WAR!!!”

How many Americans still believe the fake story? That is the scary part.

An American Prisoner Returns Home

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On Thursday, The New York Post reported that George Glezmann, who had been kidnapped by the Taliban in December 2022 has been released and is on his way back home.

The article reports:

A Georgia man held by Afghanistan’s Taliban rulers since December 2022 was on his way back to the US Thursday after Trump administration negotiators secured his freedom, a diplomatic source told The Post.

The Taliban kidnapped George Glezmann, 65, while he was visiting Afghanistan — but he has just been released following negotiations brokered by Trump special hostage envoy Adam Boehler, Taliban officials and Qatari officials.

Boehler and former US envoy to Afghanistan Zalmay Khalilzad met with Qatar’s foreign ministry spokesman and senior adviser to the prime minister Majed Al Ansari as well as Afghanistan foreign minister Amir Khan Muttaqi to finalize Glezmann’s release earlier Thursday.

Glezmann later left Kabul en route to Doha following weeks of three-party talks.

It is wonderful that he is being returned, but why was he visiting Afghanistan? There are better places to go on vacation.

The article notes:

Former Secretary of State Antony Blinken testified before Congress in 2023 that at least 175 Americans remain stranded in Afghanistan, though he didn’t divulge how many were being wrongfully detained by the Taliban.

Qatar is taking the lead in providing support for Glezmann’s immediate repatriation and any necessary medical assistance as he flies back to be reunited with his family.

President Trump “has made the freedom and homecoming of Americans held abroad a high priority,” Khalilzad said on X. “It is an honor to assist in this important effort.”

“We extend our deepest appreciation to the State of Qatar, who’s steadfast commitment and diplomatic efforts were instrumental in securing George’s release,” added the State Department in a statement.

“Qatar has consistently proven to be a reliable partner and trusted mediator, facilitating complex negotiations,” the department added.

“George’s release is a positive and constructive step. It is also a reminder that other Americans are still detained in Afghanistan. President Trump will continue his tireless work to free ALL Americans unjustly detained worldwide.”

The work to return all overseas hostages to America needs to be a priority. American citizens need to have the full force of the government behind them when they travel overseas.

The Cost of War

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War is expensive. It costs lives, loss of infrastructure, problems with the food supply, and a basic disruption of everything when it occurs. Unfortunately, it is also profitable for some people. It should also be noted that those who declare war are rarely the people called to fight the war they declare.

Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022. Since that time, America has given roughly $175 Billion dollars to Ukraine to fight that war. President Trump is now in the process of attempting to end that war.

Who is profiting from that war? Obviously, the defense industry’s weapons making business is doing well—they have to replace the weapons being used. But there seem to be other people profiting from the war as well. President Zelensky claims that Ukraine has only actually received $75 Billion. I have heard reports that the difference is simply a bookkeeping technicality, but I am not necessarily convinced of that.

Let’s look at some of the things that made it possible for Russia to invade Ukraine. Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022. The price of a barrel of oil in February 2022 was $107.69. To provide some perspective, in January 2021, when President Biden took office, oil was selling for $63.68 a barrel. Because of the Biden administration’s energy policies which ended American energy independence, by February 2022 the price of a barrel of oil was $107.69. The Russian economy is dependent on oil exports. Oil prices are determined internationally. The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) has some control over oil prices, but that control lessens when America is exporting oil. Because the Russian economy is dependent on oil exports (and thus dependent on the cost of a barrel of oil), when the price of oil falls, Russia experiences fiscal deficits, a weaker economy, and a weaker currency. When President Trump was in office, the price of oil was low, and Russia could not afford to invade Ukraine. The invasion of Ukraine had to do with a weak President (President Biden), but it also had to do with the escalating price of oil. That is no longer the case. Oil prices today are roughly $70 a barrel.

It is quite possible that we will see the war in Ukraine end in the coming weeks. To some degree that is due to the negotiating skills of President Trump, but it is also due to the economic and energy policies of President Trump. We are learning that putting a man in the White House with business skills will help all Americans economically as well as pave the way for peace by using economic leverage.

The Actions Of A Nasty Little Man

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On Saturday, Townhall posted an article illustrating one way the Biden administration was involved in the lawfare against President Trump. There were many aspects of the actions of the Biden administration that were clearly illegal.

The article quotes Fox News:

The Biden White House turned over government cellphones belonging to President Donald Trump and former Vice President Mike Pence to the FBI in May 2022 as part of a bureau probe into the aftermath of the 2020 election, tying Trump to that investigation without sufficient predication, Fox News Digital has learned.

The FBI did not need a warrant to physically obtain the government phones from the Biden White House.

But after acquiring the devices, agents began drafting a search warrant to extract the phones’ data, sources familiar with the investigation told Fox News Digital.

“The Biden White House played right along with the FBI’s ‘gotcha’ scheme against Trump,” a source familiar with the investigation told Fox News Digital. “Biden’s Office of White House Counsel, under the leadership of Dana Remus and Jonathan Su, gave its blessing and accommodation for the FBI to physically obtain Trump and Pence’s phones in early May 2022. Weeks later, the FBI began drafting a search warrant to extract the phones’ data.”

The phones were obtained and entered as evidence as part of the FBI’s original anti-Trump 2020 election investigation, which eventually was taken over by special counsel Jack Smith. That case was known inside the bureau as “Arctic Frost” and was opened April 13, 2022, by anti-Trump former FBI agent Timothy Thibault.

Thibault, according to whistleblowers, broke protocol and played a critical role in opening and advancing the bureau’s original investigation related to the 2020 election, tying Trump to the probe without sufficient predication. Thibault broke protocol by taking action to open the investigation and involve Trump despite being unauthorized to open criminal investigations in his role. Only special agents have the authority to open criminal investigations.

There were a lot of rules and policies ignored in the treatment of President Trump during the Biden administration. It would be nice to see the people who ignored those rules and policies held accountable. Unfortunately, if the case of Former FBI attorney Kevin Clinesmith is any indication, there will not be serious consequences for their actions. Clinesmith lied on the FISA (Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act) application. His lie resulted in the illegal surveillance of President Trump and his campaign and to the Russia Hoax. Clinesmith in August pleaded guilty to “one count of making a false statement within both the jurisdiction of the executive branch and judicial branch of the U.S. government, an offense that carries a maximum term of imprisonment of five years and a fine of up to $250,000.” He was given 12 months probation, 400 hours of community service, and no fine.

The Stories We Have Been Told

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On Thursday, Victor Davis Hanson posted an article at Front Page Magazine about the myths we have been told about Ukraine.

He reminds us of much of the history of Europe:

Fable one: Trump is appeasing Russia?

Who wiped out the Wagner group in Syria? Who sold offensive weapons to Ukraine first? Who warned Germany not to become dependent on the Russian Nord Stream II deal?

Who withdrew from an unfair missile deal with the Russians? Who cajoled and berated NATO members to meet their military investment promises made following the 2014 invasion of Ukraine?

Fable two: A trade war?

President Donald Trump is not wildly slapping tariffs on Europeans.

He is simply saying that 1945 is now 80 years past and that the asymmetrical tariffs that Europe imposes on U.S. imports should be corrected. The massive trade surpluses Europe accumulates each year should give way to fairer, more balanced trade.

Fable three: America is bullying Europe?

The U.S. does not actively interfere in European elections and politics.

In 2024, Europeans, especially the British Laborites, bragged about sending over campaign “volunteers” to work against Trump and, earlier, his conservative predecessors.

British subject Christopher Steele sought to sabotage an entire American 2016 election with a falsified “dossier.”

The Ukrainian ambassador in 2016 wrote an op-ed all but endorsing Hillary Clinton and trashing her opponent.

Fable four: Negotiating with Putin is selling out?

In the long history of Western diplomacy with mass-murdering tyrants, Putin doesn’t even rank among the worst. Just ask his former reset partners Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton.

FDR fueled mass-murdering “Uncle Joe” Stalin’s Red Army as a way to defeat Nazi Germany.

Richard Nixon flattered and cajoled the greatest mass murderer in history, Mao Zedong, to triangulate China against the Soviet Union.

Fable five: Europe is going to save Ukraine?

Europe rushed to congratulate and celebrate with Zelenskyy after his pre-planned White House blow-up. They are loudly announcing that a supposedly isolationist and appeasing U.S. — which has sent more aid to Ukraine than all nearby European nations combined — will now be supplanted by a “new” muscular and rearmed Europe.

We sincerely hope so.

The article concludes:

Aside from all the present posturing and mock-heroics, the only way to save Ukraine is for the U.S. president, Donald Trump, to reflect joint Ukrainian, American, and European interests in stopping the war, forcing Putin as far back eastward as possible where he started in 2022, and creating a credible deterrent along with a DMZ/industrial corridor tripwire to stop another 2008, 2014, and 2022 invasion.

Anything else is empty carnival barking.

Hopefully, the current negotiations will finally end the war.

This Has Not Been Widely Reported

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On March 7th, NewsMax posted an article about the February Jobs Report. The media is ignoring the shift from foreign-born workers to American workers. That is good news.

The article reports:

President Trump praised the February jobs report for indicating that American-born workers gained 284,000 more jobs, while jobs held by foreign-born workers contracted by 87,000, Brietbart reports.

“Big gains for native-born Americans,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office Friday. “For the first time in 15 months, the job gains for native-born Americans, people born in America, exceeded job gains for migrant and foreign-born workers.”

The article reminds us:

During the Biden administration, when inflation rose a cumulative 21.3%, Americans lost earning power in the labor in the labor and housing markets, as well as workplace productivity and training.

White-collar jobs and factory jobs were outsourced, while local communities became unstable due to progressive policies such as Defund the Police and Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, says Steve Camarota, a researcher at the Center for Immigration Studies.

Further, as expanding blocs of migrants-turned-ethnic-voters demanded benefits, native-born Americans lost political power, Camaraota says.

There is room for more improvement for native-born Americans in the labor market, as current data shows that the share of Americans with jobs remains at historic lows.

For instance, Camarota notes, the labor force participation of U.S.-born men without a bachelor’s degree between the ages of 18 and 64 is 75.6%, down from 80.6% in 2006 and nearly 90% in the 1960s, according to data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Unfortunately, the Workforce Participation Rate has continued to drop slightly since September of last year, but hopefully that can be turned around quickly.

How The Freed Hostages View The Trump Presidency

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On Thursday, The Times of Israel posted an article about the meeting between President Trump and eight former Hamas hostages.

The article reports:

“[Trump and Witkoff] made a deal possible, they got us all home,” Keith Siegel is quoted saying in the statement released by the Hostages and Missing Families Forum. “We urged them to continue their enormous efforts. They have done so much. We trust them and we know they will get the job done to get all the rest of the 59 remaining hostages held in Gaza back to their families, back to Israel.”

Fellow freed captive Eli Sharabi says the group met with Trump “to ensure that the 59 hostages still being held will be released through an agreement for their return as soon as possible,” and thanks the US president and Witkoff for being “committed to this goal.”

A March 6 article at The Geller Report quotes some of the former hostages:

Naama Levy: “You were our hope when we were there and now you are their hope.”

Trump: “Until I came along you didn’t think you would get home?”

Former Hostages: “No.”

Listen to several of the freed Israeli hostages describe the brutality of Hamas captivity to President Trump. No member of Hamas should walk the earth.

“My family and I believe you were sent by God to rescue the hostages,” said one surviving hostage to President Trump. Thank you to President Trump for taking the time to listen to these former hostages in the Oval Office.

President Trump has issued an ultimatum to Hamas telling them to free the remaining hostages. We have no idea how many hostages are still alive, but it is time to go in and destroy Hamas. We cannot allow the remaining hostages to continue to be mistreated. Where is the international outcry?

View From the Lair

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Topsy Turvy

It is fascinating to watch the reactions being created by President Trump from all the people who think they know what to expect. As if this time around it will in any way resemble his first administration. It isn’t and it won’t. People who hate him will be absolutely blindsided by his works; people who like him will be delighted.  President Trump doesn’t think outside of the box; he thinks outside of the planet.

Yet so many people expect him to do things the way that they have always been done, just a little bit differently. WRONG! And people are beginning to have their eyes opened. Zelensky actually thought that he could push POTUS around like he did Obozo and Brandon. That didn’t work out well for him. It did give Lindsey Graham an opportunity to get on the right bus. Graham couldn’t just flip flop without a good reason. Okay, he could have, it’s not like some people who do it all the time and expect no one to notice. But it gave him plausible deniability to change his position on Ukraine.

POTUS didn’t push Graham, he pulled.

He has threatened tariffs on countries that are contributing to the harm to our people. He has threatened tariffs on countries that impose tariffs on our goods entering their country. Traditional conservative economists (unlike Paul Krugman, an example of just how moronic the Nobel Committee is) bemoan tariffs as destructive to the economy, inflationary, protecting laborers and companies from their own inefficiencies.

And, yes in a traditional, classical economic environment they may have a point. This is anything but a classical economic environment.

What too many people are not comprehending is that POTUS is using tariffs as a negotiating tool. What is more important – increasing the price of goods imported from Mexico or Canada or reducing the amounts of illegal drugs coming in from either country? Or perhaps using the threat, even imposing them for a while, in order to get the leaders of both of the other countries to understand that POTUS means what he says. This is POTUS’ greatest weapon – He says what he means and DOES WHAT HE SAYS! This is such a totally unusual behavior that people –both friends and foe– just can’t wrap their heads around it.

The result by many on the Marxist side is to bluster and babble and run to their attorney. Good. Once the SCOTUS gets a hold of it, leftist minds will really start to explode. I can’t wait!

By following through on his promises and getting the results expected, he will pull even some anti-Trumpers over to the right side, if only to not look like perfect fools. Of course there will be some – AOC, etc. who delight us in being fools. They can’t help it; it’s what they are. But eventually some of even the die-hard dummycrats will wake up from their wokeness and realize that their bus has left them behind. And under it.

ciao

The Snark

A Short History Lesson On Ukraine

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In August 1991, Ukraine separated from Russia. This was roughly two years after the fall of the Berlin Wall. In December 1994, a treaty called the Budapest Memorandum was signed which stated that Ukraine would give away its nuclear missiles (it had the world’s third-largest nuclear stockpile) in exchange for guarantees that the U.S., the U.K. and Russia would respect the independence and sovereignty of its existing borders. Obviously that treaty was not worth the paper it was written on.

In March 2014, Russia annexes Crimea. There was a referendum with the vote in Crimea favoring secession, but the results of that vote have been disputed. The Obama administration and U.S. allies in Europe imposed sanctions on Russia. Also in 2017, Petro Poroshenko is elected President of Ukraine. He stays in office until 2019 when Volodymyr Zelenskyy is elected on a promise to end the corruption in the country. President Obama asigns Vice-President Biden as the administration’s front man in Ukraine. On January 23, 2018, Vice-President Biden gives a speech at the Council on Foreign Relations telling the story of getting the Ukrainian prosecutor investigating Hunter Biden fired after the Vice-President threatened to withhold $1 Billion in foreign aid to Ukraine. I guess the corruption was still there even after Zelenskyy was elected. Some of the people involved with Ukraine under the Obama administration were Victoria Nuland and Alexander Vindman. You may recognize the name Alexander Vindman from the first impeachment trial of President Trump.

On Friday, February 28, 2025, there was a meeting in the Oval Office between President Trump and President Zelenskyy. Various other people were in attendance, among them JD Vance and Ukrainian Ambassador Oksana Markarova.

This is the reaction of the Ukrainian Ambassador as the events of that meeting unfolded:

The purpose of the meeting was to sign an already-agreed-to treaty about mineral rights in Ukraine. President Zelenskyy had already agreed to the treaty but had repeatedly declined opportunities to sign the deal in Kyiv or Munich. He requested the meeting at the White House. Before the meeting, he met with a number of Congressmen from both political parties. Also included in that meeting were U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations and National Security Advisor Susan Rice, Deputy Secretary of State under President Obama and National Security Advisor to then-Vice President Joe Biden and former Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Victoria Nuland, Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs from 2013 to 2017 and U.S. Ambassador to NATO from 2005 to 2008, and Alexander Vindman, a retired United States Army lieutenant colonel who was the Director of European Affairs for the United States National Security Council until he was reassigned on February 7, 2020. You may remember Alexander Vindman from the first impeachment trial of President Trump. This group advised Zelenskyy to ask for a White House meeting with the intention of causing President Trump to lose his temper in order generate sympathy for the Ukrainian cause and President Zelenskyy. The idea was to force President Trump to put American troops in Ukraine and continue the war.  This group is a representation of what is referred to as ‘the deep state.’ They all have connections and investments that profit from the corruption and the continuing war in Ukraine.

Why would anyone want to continue the war? Well, as usual, follow the money. According to CBS News in September 2023, some of the things we are funding in Ukraine include seeds and fertilizer for Ukrainian farmers, salaries of Ukraine’s first responders (57,000 of them), divers clearing unexploded ammunition from the rivers–to make them safe again for swimming and fishing. We are subsidizing small businesses-paying salaries and taxes. We are essentially supporting the country.

Corruption is rampant in Ukraine, and we have no accountability as to how the money we are sending is being spent. If the war continues and our spending continues, the people who are getting kickbacks from the spending will continue to thrive as the citizens of Ukraine suffer. I have read over the weekend that Zelenskyy has stated that he is now willing to sign the treaty. If that is true, this will be the fourth time he has said that. Let’s hope this time he means it.

What Is Zelensky Fighting For?

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Ukranian President Volodymyr Zelensky visited the White House on Friday. It did not go well for him. First of all, in my opinion, showing up at the White House to meet the President in gym clothes is disrespectful. There are restaurants who wouldn’t let Zelensky in dressed like that! Second of all, evidently the agreement had been worked out beforehand, as is the custom with these events. Instead of simply signing the previously worked out agreement, President Zelensky decided he wanted some things changed. He made his request publicly instead of in private, as is the custom. The first rule of holes is to stop digging; President Zelensky chose to ignore that rule. The look on his Ambassador’s face tells the whole story. She at least understood what was happening.

On Friday, Breitbart posted an article about the meeting.

The article reports:

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) praised President Donald Trump for giving “a masterclass on how to stand up for America” after kicking Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky out of the White House after he made several “disrespectful” comments.

As Breitbart News’s Katherine Hamilton previously reported, Zelensky’s comments were made “in front of the media ahead of planned private talks and the expected signing of the much-discussed minerals deal.”

After Zelensky was kicked out of the White House, the “White House confirmed” that Zelensky had not signed the minerals deal and Trump issued a statement in a post on Truth Social stating that he had “determined that President Zelensky is not ready for Peace if America is involved.”

I have a feeling that the gravy trail with kickbacks that has been going to Ukraine for the past few years is about to end.

The Result Of Losing Accountability

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On Friday, The Federalist posted an article about President Trump’s recent firing of a number of  high-ranking military officers.

An article posted at Military.com in August 2020 reported:

…In April 1945, when we had four five-stars and 13 four-stars…

Wikipedia states:

There are currently 38 active-duty four-star officers in the uniformed services of the United States:

We won a major war with 17 generals. We haven’t won one since.

The article at The Federalist points out:

An “Appeal to Congress” from five former secretaries of defense warns that Donald Trump is firing flag officers, which is unprecedented and an assault on American political norms. This letter is an appalling package of dangerous claims and dumber than a box of rocks. But let’s take a helpful detour before we get into the details.

An essay Thursday from a professor at the U.S. Naval War College makes a similar argument and perfectly represents the moment:

…The president does have the authority to remove these officers; three- and four-star officers hold that rank only while they possess the position of importance and responsibility to which they have been specifically nominated by the president, and they serve at the pleasure of the president. But just because something is legal does not make it wise.

The article summarizes problems with the case made by the generals protesting their firing:

  1. These measures constitute a crisis;
  2. The president does have the authority to remove these officers… and they serve at the pleasure of the president.

It’s a crisis that the president of the United States is exercising authority that he has.

The article at The Federalist concludes:

Ricks (Thomas Ricks, who wrote A History of American Generals) asked three important questions as he noted the sharp trend away from the view that generals can be fired: “How and why did we lose the longstanding practice of relieving generals for failure? Why has accountability declined? And is it connected to the decline in the operational competence of American generals?”

The current president’s decision to fire flag officers isn’t a break with American law and tradition. The “Appeal to Congress” from former secretaries of defense certainly is. The warning about a crisis is the crisis. This dangerous argument needs to be hammered into its grave, quickly and forcefully.

It is time to clean house ALL through the government.