A recent court ruling is illustrative of why so many Americans are turning to a Trump style solution to their anger about out of control progressivism. The court ruled that illegal aliens can 'legally' possess guns; that the 2nd amendment refers to 'the people' and therefore does not exclude 'people' here illegally. Of course, the whole issue begs the question of how could a non-citizen legally obtain a gun in the first place, but our court system is so screwed up, I guess that point would be ruled inadmissible and irrelevant. But I digress... Just when did we decide that all constitutional rights extend to people actively committing a crime? Since it is illegal to enter our country without proper authorization and documentation, isn't it logical that as long as they are here without documentation, they are engaged in ongoing criminal activity? If we follow the court's logic, if a law enforcement officer shoots someone who is threatening another, wouldn't that be depriving that now dead assailant his constitutional 'right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness?' Are we going to put bank security guards in prison if they are successful in capturing and disarming a bank robber because they have violated several constitutionally protected 'rights?' In order to capture a bank robber, a private security guard would have to interfere with the criminal's right to speak, right to possess a gun, right to privacy, and would essentially have to 'kidnap' that person in order to apprehend them. Since the robber, at that point, would not have been 'convicted' of any crime, progressive courts suggest he should be free to move about freely. And God forbid, the guard cannot ask about their citizenship status, as that would be an invasion of their privacy and qualify as profiling! Americans are the most generous people in the world, but there is a line over which they are not willing to let criminals cross. They feel that the courts and their progressive supporters are now entering an area of permissibility that is essentially condoning egregious violations of fair play. At some point, when the recipients of generosity start throwing it back in your face, when the efforts of a society to show compassion are callously abused and used to avoid any form of individual responsibility and assimilation, the law abiding population is going to fight back. There has to be a benefit for conforming with legal constraints, for behaving in a civilized manner, and for respecting the rights of law abiding citizens. The press likes to characterize people who resent being taken advantage of as anti-immigrant and xenophobic, but the truth is Trump is enjoying wide support precisely because he is focusing a spotlight on this very reasonable sentiment. North Korea warns of war with the South; could go nuclear
Iran calls captured Iranian assassin a 'political prisoner'; demands release by US ISIS systematically destroying priceless ancient historic sites Off duty American military tourists stop Islamist from killing hundreds of French train riders Man jailed for tossing t-shirt on low flying drone peeping on bikini wearing beachgoers ISIS slaughters 78 year old Iraqi art museum director; posts video of headless body Currency war sparks massive stock plunge; World's rich lose nearly $200 billion Illegal immigration issue takes center stage...in U.K! Could Jerry Brown be the El Nino storm the Democrats need? Obama hopes he won't have to veto an override of his Iranian accord Has the security of the World changed enough, or should we hope for more? August headlines range from the threat of nuclear war, to political assassinations, to the destruction of some of the world's most cherished and rare ancient sites, to how it takes American military trained tourists to save a French tourist-loaded train from a reign of terror, to how we could end up putting the victim of a peeping drone in jail, to the sickening slaughter of an old man who was simply trying to preserve his country's heritage, to what could well be the beginning of an historic stock market correction and worldwide financial collapse. The Donald has stirred up attention with his comments on American failure to secure its borders, but the issue is not unique to the US. California's 77 year-old three time governor might be just what the Democrats need to pull their 2016 Presidential aspirations out of a tailspin. A new 'Moon' program would divert attention from Hillary's crash. And after claiming he could get reelected again were it legal, President Obama says he has done a 'pretty good job' of providing hope and change to America. We hope we can survive another day and that something will cause the worldwide surge of terrorist carnage to go away real soon. We have watched the US change from a sleepy but benevolent giant to a feeble and terrified child-like country whose allies can no longer look to us for leadership. That is real change alright. Voters can only hope the upcoming election will restore some semblance of continuity to our foreign policy, to our financial markets and to our community relations, because as of right now, they are all teetering on the brink of a Missouri-like street brawl. Red Flags are signs that too many times we ignore. They are not literal like a stop sign. They are subtle indicators, things we sense intuitively, like facial communication. A Red Flag can be very strong or very weak, but more often than not, we only recognize it after the fact. Good managers see Red Flags in the behavior of their employees; doctors see Red Flags in their patients symptoms, and the list goes on. But these are trained professionals. It is their job to assemble information to act on and learning how to notice subtle signals as a freeway to success. Even those people often miss the same kind of signals when they are sent from everyday interactions with acquaintances, business associates or while waiting in line at the bank. Just the other day a young man was arrested because he shot at another driver as they waited at a stop light. He said he had to respond because he could see the man in the other car was waving a gun around. To him, that was a Red Flag! Time to take preemptive action! Shoot first, don't wait around until you become the victim. Of course in time he will be asked if the thought occurred to him that the gun might have been a toy. Or maybe he mistook the thing in the other driver's hand as a gun; maybe it was a garage door opener? The incident became a national news story when the shooting victim was identified as George Zimmerman, the famous self appointed neighborhood wannabe security guard who killed a young, unarmed black man who was prowling around in the dark shadows near his home. But my point is, Red Flags are important, but generally something to be internalized, not acted upon extemporaneously with outright violence and mayhem. Red Flags can be used to stimulate further investigation and exploration, but they are not the same as Green Flags. Ask George Bush.... First, let me set the table: I don't know, or care at this point, who will ultimately be the Republican Presidential Candidate this Fall. I am writing this commentary because this is the time for all of us to start the process of elimination. So don't get me wrong, I am not recommending anyone yet.
Having said that, I do get upset when in the course of the discussions, candidates are excoriated because of what they say, not whether what they said was right or wrong, but because of how they said it. The future of our country is too important to be marginalized by such misdirected PC hostility. I hope, and I think I am correct, when I say the majority of voters do see through the smoke and mirrors many in the mainstream media produce to get attention for themselves, and to attempt to influence the debate. This weekend, the news was filled with attacks on Mike Huckabee and Donald Trump over their remarks on the Iran Nuclear deal and Immigration, respectively. In both cases, the verbal assaults never once focused on the accuracy or efficacy of the comments, only on their 'insensitivity' or 'inflammatory' nature. Let's start with Trump. He had the gall to suggest that were he elected, he would build the 'best border wall ever built,' and make the Mexican Government pay for it. Pundits accuse him of bombast, egoism, hatred, and of milking middle-class anger for his own aggrandizement. Pretty much the same thing they say in slightly different ways about all Republicans. He said that the Mexican Government was sending us 'their rapists and murders,' and that by allowing this they were undermining the sovereignty and efficacy of our country. This was reported as 'bigoted hatred of immigrants and all Latinos.' How wrong are these popular characterizations? Well, the case could easily be made that everything Trump said is true. On the other hand, what the press said was grossly overstated. Trump never belittled 'immigration' or 'immigrants.' What he railed against is the apparent institutional disregard for US illegal immigration policy by the Mexican Government, and the latent disinterest by the US administration in stopping it. The irrefutable fact is that an unusually high percentage of the illegal immigrants from Mexico (and those from South American countries that pass through Mexico) are committing heinous crimes in our country with impunity. Regarding the remarks by Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee: “This president’s foreign policy is the most feckless in American history. It is so naive that he would trust the Iranians. By doing so, he will take the Israelis and march them to the door of the oven. The last time the world did not take seriously threats against the Jewish people, just before World War II, this ended up in the murder of six million Jews… For decades, Iranian leaders have pledged to ‘destroy,’ ‘annihilate,’ and ‘wipe Israel off the map’ with a ‘big Holocaust'...What’s ‘unacceptable’ is a mushroom cloud over Israel,” he added. “If we don’t take seriously the threats of Iran, then God help us all.” Is there one word of this statement that isn't 100% accurate? But that is not the subject of the 'outrage' that characterized the reaction to his comments. Even the President, who has a knack for personalizing every criticism of his policies, reacted with anger. From Ethiopia, the President said: “we just don’t fling out ad hominem attacks like that.” Mr. President, your comments are an ad hominem attack on Mr. Huckabee. You are suggesting that his personal shortcomings affect his judgement and analysis. You do not deny their accuracy, only the honor of the person who delivered them. So the President diverts the discussion from one that describes the intent, actions and political ambitions of the Iranian regime to one about his personal policies. Yes, this is about his Iranian deal, but as a part of the decades long War on Islamic Extremism, Huckabee is noting that there is historic experience that all nations and politicians should learn from. Iran is, without any doubt the leading state sponsor of terror. They have repeatedly stated as policy their advocacy of genocide. They use their oil money to fund assassinations, they arrest and torture Americans and Christians and Jews with impunity. All of this by an administration that is a religious dictatorship that maintains its power through intimidation, murder, and religious indoctrination. They have never demonstrated any semblance of trustworthiness, so why should anyone expect that all of that is going to change just because Barack Obama wants it to? All of this is a lesson in the practice of argumentation: when you can't deny or counter your opponents charges, you change the discussion to one about the person making the charges. Challenge their intent, their character, their ambition and their sources, but do not challenge their specifics. These daily news flashes and rhetorical combat will continue for months, as will the discussion of many important challenges our World is facing. I can only hope that, in the end, Americans will sort through the flack sent up to distract them from the incredibly scary and important issues of National and World security. God knows, I can only hope that despite all the stupid emotional, PC and social diversions that clutter our educational systems, most young people still understand the difference between Right and Wrong. |
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