Like Gold Tested in Fire

by Tony Perkins: When people wonder if events like the State Department's ministerial work, the evidence is sitting right in front of them. This time last year, Pastor Andrew Brunson was locked away under house arrest in Turkey -- his fate completely uncertain. In fact, one of the most enduring memories of last July's gathering was his daughter, Jacqueline, making an emotional plea for his release. Twelve months later, it was Andrew speaking in front of the crowd -- living proof that this administration's commitment to religious freedom matters.

'For me to be back with my wife and my children," Pastor Brunson said, still in awe, 'this is what I wanted." 'It's wonderful," he smiled, 'that I can be here in person and I'm free. And I'm very grateful for that." So are the millions of people just like him, who take Andrew's freedom as a sign that the United States will fight for them too. In his speech Thursday, Vice President Mike Pence credited God's great kindness in bringing Pastor Brunson home, but I can personally attest from my involvement in Andrew's release that the Vice President was right to say that it took a leader like Donald Trump to carry out the work.

'Pastor Brunson's story of perseverance in the face of incredible hardship was an inspiration to people across our country and believers around the world," the vice president insisted. 'And we express our admiration to him from the bottom of our hearts [for] being an example of faith that is 'like gold tested in fire.'" As the world knows from watching the last three days, Pastor Brunson isn't the only one with a powerful testimony. All week long, one survivor after another pulled at our hearts with agonizing stories that Secretary Mike Pompeo and Ambassador Sam Brownback are determined no one -- on their watch -- will repeat.

As the secretary told me on Washington Watch earlier in the week, 'We don't want this event to be a one-off where we all congratulate ourselves for having a good week here in Washington." This is about permanent, lasting change. Rep. Chris Smith (R-N.J.), who spent years as a lonely voice in the wilderness for these millions of hurting people, knows how important the moment is. 'This is a game-changer," he told me. No one can listen to these victims, who suffered unimaginable horrors, and go home unaffected. 'They [will] go back," he predicted, 'energized as never before to promote this First Freedom." And that matters, because, as so many leaders have reiterated throughout the week, 'If [they] do get this right, so many of the other aspects of [their] country in terms of due process of law, other human rights are usually not far behind. This is the one that... make[s] all the difference in the world."

And based on what the vice president shared, it already is. Since the 2018 ministerial, the Genocide Recovery and Persecution Response Program -- helping the people of Nadia Murad and so many others -- has donated more than $340 million in aid to religious minorities persecuted by ISIS in the Iraqi region. Pence also shared that the State Department also has more than $5 million dollars in pledges for the International Freedom Fund that's given 435 'rapid-response grants" to people undergoing intense persecution.

But there are also new developments -- significant ones for the 106 countries represented in Washington this week. To cap off the last day of the ministerial, Secretary Pompeo announced a new International Religious Freedom Alliance that will help give America's partners a way to circumvent the bad actors at the U.N. and confront major challenges and enemies of faith. As he explains it, the alliance will focus on 'new sanctions against foreign military officials supporting countries the U.S. considers to be instigators of religious persecution."

Which, interestingly enough, set the stage for America to dole out some stiff punishments of its own. To prove how serious U.S. officials are on the issue, Pompeo rolled out brand new sanctions on some of Myanmar's top military officials for their gross abuse of the Rohingya Muslims. Religious freedom activists have been begging for targeted sanctions against the individuals responsible for persecution like this, and it rarely happens. So for the Trump administration to make a point of holdings this general and his three senior officers accountable is proof of how seriously it takes this new effort.

Also, in Iraq, where women like Nadia Murad, bravely crusade for the thousands of girls sold into sex slavery, the U.S. has just handed down equally stiff punishments for two Iraqi militia leaders and two former Iraqi governors for human rights abuses. In its statement, the U.S. Treasury Department pointed to a video that's been circulated since 2018 of an Iraqi military officer cutting off the ear of a handcuffed detainee. That's on top of crimes like extortion, robbery, kidnapping, and rape, and harassment.

The United States, Vice President Pence warned, will not stand by while violent regimes spread terror. 'We will hold them accountable." And that, thanks to this week's ministerial, is accelerating.
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Tony Perkins (@tperkins) is President of the Family Research Council . This article was on Tony Perkin's Washington Update and written with the aid of FRC senior writers.

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Tags: Tony Perkins, Family Research Center, FRC, Family Research Council, Like Gold, Tested in Fire To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service and "Like" Facebook Page - Thanks!

Patriotism versus Racism in the 2020 Elections

by Newt Gingrich: Who are the real American patriots?

Who are the real racists?

These two questions will play a big role in the 2020 election.

The Left is desperate to turn any traditional patriotic appeal into an act of racism.

The Left is desperate to smear Republicans and moderate Democrats as racists.

This past week, between Sunday and Tuesday CNN and MSNBC used the word “racist” more than 1,100 times.

Part of this desperation is in the Left’s inability to debate the facts and their hope that strong smears can shame their opponents out of broaching the argument.

Part of this desperation is in the Left’s growing realization that President Trump and the Republicans are beginning to attract minority support in a serious way.

The 2018 election was a watershed in the shift of minority voters toward Republicans.

Consider the example of the very left-wing African American female candidate for governor in Georgia. She alienated enough African American males with her radicalized platforms that the Republican candidate got a significant percentage of African American male votes.

In Florida, a left-wing African American candidate for governor lost almost one out of five African American female votes because of his opposition to school choice.

In Michigan, a charismatic Republican African American veteran and businessman, John James, received more votes for the Senate in Michigan than any Republican since the year 2000. James is running again, and if he wins, the historic monopoly that the Left has on the African American vote will collapse.

All around the country, President Trump is attracting Latinos to his rallies in record numbers. There is strong support in the Latino community for job creation, income growth, small business prosperity, and enforcing the law.

The Left’s reaction to these threats has been hysteria. Screaming “racist” – which the left-wing propaganda machine did relentlessly this week – is their most common effort to shut up conservatives in general and President Trump in particular.

Defending the flag is racist in this left-wing world. Defending George Washington and Thomas Jefferson is racist according to the Left. Again and again they seek to shame today’s patriots into silence.

Yet the real racists are on the Left. Consider Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley saying, “We don’t need any more brown faces that don’t want to be a brown voice. We don’t need black faces that don’t want to be a black voice. We don’t need Muslims that don’t want to be a Muslim voice. We don’t need queers that don’t want to be a queer voice.”

Consider both the racism and the fascist arrogance in that statement.

First, Pressley asserts the right to define the authenticity of voices.

Second, she defines each voice by skin color, religion, or sexual orientation rather than the content of their character.

Third, she dismisses or dehumanizes everyone who fails to meet her standard.

Consider her arrogance just in regard to the African American community. By her standard, Secretary Colin Powell isn’t authentically black. Neither is Secretary Condoleezza Rice, Secretary Ben Carson, Justice Clarence Thomas, Senator Tim Scott, or senatorial candidate John James.

You can go through each of Pressley’s defined subgroups and find people who deeply disagree with her.

One of the keys to the 2020 campaign will be who the American people conclude are authentically patriotic and what views are actually racist.

President Trump and Republicans will be defined as genuinely patriotic. The Left will grow hysterical as it loses its ability to dominate the public narrative with name calling.

The election of 2020 will be one of the most defining elections in American history.

If the Left succeeds in making its “racist” charge stick, it could seal off minority voters from even considering voting for President Trump and other candidates on the Republican ticket.

On the other hand, if Republicans successfully answer the racist attack and then prove that the Democrats have become the party of radical proposals that would destroy America as we know it, then the Democrats could find themselves losing everywhere except on college campuses and in some radical neighborhoods.

Patriotism and racism will be key arguments over the next 15 months.
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Newt Gingrich (@newtgingrich) is a former Georgia Congressman and Speaker of the U.S. House. He co-authored and was the chief architect of the "Contract with America" and a major leader in the Republican victory in the 1994 congressional elections. He is noted speaker and writer. This commentary was shared via Gingrich Productions.

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Not Anti-Semitic? . . .

. . . Omar says she’s not anti-semitic but her actions and statement speak much louder.

Editorial Cartoon by AF "Tony" Branco

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Ilhan Omar Stonewalling Hometown Paper On Marriage Controversy, Editor Says

Democratic Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar

by Peter Hasson: Democratic Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar has allegedly been uncooperative with her hometown paper’s efforts to get to the bottom of accusations that she committed marriage fraud, the paper’s political editor said.

Omar’s brief congressional career has been dogged by accusations — which she has denied — that she married a male relative, possibly her brother. Omar and her current husband, Ahmed Hirsi, filed joint tax returns while Omar was married to another man, Ahmed Elmi, Minnesota campaign finance officials said.

Omar and her family have made it difficult for journalists to find out the truth about her marriage, Minnesota Star-Tribune editor Kevin Diaz told PolitiFact in an interview Thursday.

“Our public records searches determined that in at least one period after she married Elmi, all three (Omar, Elmi and Hirsi) used the same address in Minnesota. It raises questions about the nature of the relationship if she is living with both the person she’s married to and her eventual husband,” Diaz said.

“What’s really made it hard is that she’s been unwilling to address any of these questions. That has fueled the controversy. We quoted her at length to say that these were mere accusations, that they were unfair, and that she shouldn’t have to address them. Be that as may, there was an undisputed instance of her filing her taxes improperly. And if you’re in Congress, you should explain that to your constituents,” he continued.

“We’ve asked her these questions, and also asked her to make her father available. We’ve tried to reach Elmi. We’ve tried to reach her sisters. Her family could put this (the question of Elmi’s relationship to Omar) to rest easily. No one will talk to us. I wish we could send a reporter to Mogadishu (Somalia) but we don’t have the bandwidth,” the editor added.

Omar’s office didn’t immediately return the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment on Diaz’s remarks.

President Donald Trump gave fuel to the allegations surrounding Omar’s marriage in comments to reporters Wednesday.

“There’s a lot of talk about the fact that she was married to her brother. I know nothing about it,” Trump said. “I don’t know, but I’m sure that somebody would be looking at that.”
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Peter Hasson (@peterjhasson) is a reporter for The Daily Caller.

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Boozman, Cardin Call for Re-authorization of Water Research Grants

Boozman, Cardin Call for Reauthorization of Water Research Grants

ARRA News Service: U.S. Senators John Boozman (R-AR) and Ben Cardin (D-MD), members of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, introduced the Water Resources Research Amendments Act (WRRA), a bill to reauthorize federal grant funding for water resources research institutes in all 50 states plus the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Guam and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Each state and territory has a water institute located at a land grant or other university designated by its governor that conducts essential research on state and regional water challenges. Water Research Institutes also provide training for hydrologists and other water-related scientists and engineers, and fund public outreach and education on water issues.

“Access to safe and clean water is critical to the livelihood of every American. Research conducted by the Arkansas Water Resources Center and its sister institutions around the country helps manage this vital resource. This bill will provide the means needed to solve real-world problems so we can effectively meet the water demands of our communities,” Boozman said.

“Extreme weather has increased the frequency of floods and droughts, causing more severe water issues nationwide. The research being done by scientists in every state looks at these new difficulties as well as chronic issues affecting availability, stability and public health. Our goal is to ensure that everyone in this country has clean, safe water at home and at work,” Cardin said. “Clean water and resilient infrastructure are ever more critical for production of resources, economic stability, and the health and well-being of every person and business in this country.”

WRRA amends the Water Resources Research Act of 1984 to ease the burden on cash-strapped local jurisdictions by creating a 1:1 threshold for matching grants. It also provides greater accountability by aligning five-year grant funding with five-year evaluations and annual reporting.

“The National Institutes of Water Resources (NIWR) applauds Senators Cardin and Boozman for introducing the Water Resources Research Amendments Act to reauthorize this important program at USGS. Across the nation, the institutes collaborate with over 150 state agencies and more than 160 local and municipal offices to deliver needed research and planning in areas such as combating harmful algal blooms, mitigating drought effects, and protecting against soil erosion. We look forward to working with the senators’ offices to advance this program,” said Dr. Daniel Devlin, President, National Institutes of Water Resources.

“In Arkansas, we have used these funds to research emerging issues like harmful algal blooms, the use of irrigation strategies like alternative wet and drying in rice, and state agencies wanting to prioritize where to invest resources to improve water quality. In 2018, the Arkansas Water Resources Center funded five research projects and with the increase in funds our institute and others across the country will be able to accomplish even more – these funds will focus on the issues that emerge that our state needs to be able to address,” said Dr. Brian E. Haggard, Director of the Arkansas Water Resources Center.

"I thank the Senators for their strong support of water resources research. Funds from this federal/state partnership have addressed Maryland's diversity, from farms to forests to cities, from the Chesapeake Bay to the Appalachians. Researchers have developed methods to treat dairy manure while producing methane as a source of renewable energy, to control urban runoff with green roofs and constructed wetlands, and to better communicate flood risk to citizens of all walks of life. They are investigating erosion, extreme precipitation, wetland processes, legacy contaminants, and intersex fish. With the support of this program, fundamental understanding and innovative techniques will continue to protect human health, environmental integrity, and economic sustainability in Maryland and across the country,” said Dr. Kaye Brubaker, Director of the Maryland Water Resources Research Center.

Text of the Water Resources Amendments Act (WRRA).

The bill increases the amount authorized for section 104(b) grants from $7.5 million to $8.25 million. The heart of the WRRA program is the 104(b) grant. These grants to the institutes have stagnated in recent years, just as states and regional authorities are in need of more and more assistance from these entities. Additional funds will not only allow institutes to train more students to work in STEM fields, but also help meet the research needs of states facing increasing droughts, algal blooms and floods. The increased number more closely matches the level of the last authorization bill.

The legislation also expands the funding available for section 104(g) grants from $1.5 million to $1.75 million. The 104(g) grants address water issues of national significance. As a multitude of research needs have crossed state lines, these grants help augment the base program awards. The current funding amount only allows for two to three grants per year, despite increasing national water challenges. The increased amount will allow more grant applications to be funded.

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One Giant Leap, Rubio Responds, Death Threats & Double Standards, American Restoration

by Gary Bauer, Contributing Author: One Giant Leap
Fifty years ago tomorrow, American astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin landed on the moon. It was an incredible accomplishment, the culmination of years of painstaking work and preparation, and a source of tremendous national pride.

The United States was locked in a bitter Cold War with the Soviet Union, which had the advantage in the space race. President John F. Kennedy refused to accept the status quo. In May of 1961, he committed the nation to "landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to the Earth" in less than 10 years.

While Kennedy did not live to see his dream come true, America achieved it on July 20, 1969, when the lunar module Eagle landed on the moon's surface. Shortly afterward, Neil Armstrong uttered those now famous words, "That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind."

As the nation celebrated, there was tremendous relief in the White House. Famed Nixon speech writer William Safire had been tasked with drafting the president's response in the unfortunate event that mission ended in disaster.

Safire also recommended that the president's remarks be followed by a service similar to a burial at sea, "concluding with the Lord's Prayer." You can read that speech, which thankfully was never delivered, here.

Rubio Responds
Kudos to Senator Marco Rubio! He responded to the kerfuffle between the president and the Squad by making a point that might not be the first thing that comes to people's minds.

These members of the Squad -- Reps. Ocasio-Cortez, Omar, Pressley, and Tlaib -- are bullies. When they speak, they have the full power of the media and elite opinion behind them to cower and browbeat their opposition.

Omar can't win a debate about the greatness of either Israel or the United States, so she calls Israel an apartheid state that has stolen Palestinian land. And she accuses anyone who supports Israel of doing it for "the Benjamins," the money.

What is different about them is that they are not just bullying conservatives. They are also attacking their own. When Nancy Pelosi was mildly critical of the Squad, AOC accused her of going after four "women of color." And Rashida Tlaib doubled down on the charge this week.

As Rubio noted, these four are using the same tactic the left has been using for 30 years. Ronald Reagan was a racist. George W. Bush was a racist. John McCain was a racist. Mitt Romney was a racist. Now even Nancy Pelosi is a racist. It's the race card on steroids!

And the left, which demands tolerance for every crazy idea, has absolutely none for anyone else.

If you're a conservative college student, your liberal professor might bully you. The left tried to bully a bunch of Catholic high school kids during a pro-life march.

If you're a Christian in sports or business, the left is going to bully you. Try walking with a MAGA hat on in any major city and see how long it takes for you to be bullied or worse.

When your child gets bullied at school, the usual solution is to ask the teacher and principal to resolve the issue. But we are adults. When conservatives and pro-life activists are bullied, we cannot be intimidated into silence. We must fight back.

Death Threats & Double Standards
While attempting to bully anyone who stands up to them, the Squad is also claiming to be victims. Among other things, they are blaming Trump and Pelosi for the death threats they are receiving.

No one in public life deserves to receive death threats. But here's some unfortunate breaking news: Everyone in public life gets death threats.

When I was working in the Reagan White House, I got death threats. When I worked with James Dobson to defend the traditional family, the threats increased so much we had to hire 24-hour security to protect me and my family.

Talk to Steve Scalise about death threats. He's still recovering from the wounds he sustained when a progressive went to the Alexandria baseball field intent on killing as many Republicans as he could.

Do these four not realize that calling our Border Patrol agents "fascists" contributes to the threats they and their families receive?

Why has no one in the mainstream media held the Squad accountable for their "concentration camp" rhetoric and the Antifa attack on an ICE facility?

When they say the president is a Nazi or a Russian agent, as the left has done for the past two years, are they clueless about how much those lies increase the risk to his physical safety?

Yes, death threats are disgusting. But so too is the left's double standard.

You can't demand tolerance and then demonstrate nothing but intolerance.

You can't claim to defend free speech by shutting down debate.

You can't claim to fight fascism by beating up people you disagree with.

You can't claim to be a victim after bullying your opponents.

American Restoration
My good friend Tim Goeglein (along with Craig Osten) has written a new book, American Restoration: How Faith, Family, and Personal Sacrifice Can Heal Our Nation. It's a timely contribution to our national discourse.

Tim and Craig have succinctly diagnosed many of the ills that presently plague our nation. But instead of bemoaning the present state of our politics and culture, they provide positive solutions, all which start in our homes, neighborhoods, and communities.

Get your copy of American Restoration today! I highly recommend it to anyone who is concerned about America's future, and how we can restore our founding virtues of faith, family, and freedom.
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Gary Bauer (@GaryLBauer)  is a conservative family values advocate and serves as president of American Values and chairman of the Campaign for Working Families

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Both Parties Are Misbehaving in Line With Their Historic Character

Michael Barone

by Michael Barone: The air is thick with lamentations that our two political parties are tearing themselves -- and the nation -- to pieces. The Republican president has picked a Twitter fight with four Democratic freshman congresswomen, and the Democratic speaker has chosen to violate House rules to pick a fight with the president.

Donald Trump's conduct has been treated as unprecedented by Democrats and legacy media, as has Nancy Pelosi's by Republicans and Trump supporters. That's true in a trivial sense. Twitter didn't exist before 2006; only seven current House members, not including Pelosi, were serving the last time a House speaker (Tip O'Neill) was called out (by Newt Gingrich) for violating House rules, in May 1984.

Actually, there's precedent aplenty. Both parties are behaving in line with their historic character, apparent since they were founded amidst swirling political controversies -- the Democrats in 1828, the Republicans in 1854.

The Republican Party was formed to oppose the Kansas-Nebraska Act that allowed slavery in the territories. It immediately attracted a core constituency tilted toward New England Yankees and their descendants across the Midwest. Ever since, it has been centered on one core constituency of people who are regarded by themselves and others as typical Americans but by themselves are not a majority of the nation.

The air is thick with lamentations that our two political parties are tearing themselves -- and the nation -- to pieces. The Republican president has picked a Twitter fight with four Democratic freshman congresswomen, and the Democratic speaker has chosen to violate House rules to pick a fight with the president.

Donald Trump's conduct has been treated as unprecedented by Democrats and legacy media, as has Nancy Pelosi's by Republicans and Trump supporters. That's true in a trivial sense. Twitter didn't exist before 2006; only seven current House members, not including Pelosi, were serving the last time a House speaker (Tip O'Neill) was called out (by Newt Gingrich) for violating House rules, in May 1984.

Actually, there's precedent aplenty. Both parties are behaving in line with their historic character, apparent since they were founded amidst swirling political controversies -- the Democrats in 1828, the Republicans in 1854.

The Republican Party was formed to oppose the Kansas-Nebraska Act that allowed slavery in the territories. It immediately attracted a core constituency tilted toward New England Yankees and their descendants across the Midwest. Ever since, it has been centered on one core constituency of people who are regarded by themselves and others as typical Americans but by themselves are not a majority of the nation.


The Democratic Party was formed to oppose the Second Bank of the United States and support Andrew Jackson, who won his second term with big majorities from southwestern frontiersmen and workers in burgeoning cities in New York and Pennsylvania. Ever since, it has been a coalition of divergent constituencies, capable of winning robust national majorities in favorable times but being fractiously fissiparous in others.

Today the parties are behaving according to form. Voters identifying as Republicans express almost unanimous support of a president who won less than half the votes cast in 2016 primaries. That's better than Ronald Reagan or the George Bushes typically did. This despite the fact Trump decries the war in Iraq and has broken sharply from those Republican presidents' trade and immigration policies.

On the surface, Democrats may seem united, too. House Democrats voted unanimously to violate House rules and pass a resolution denouncing Trump for a "racist" tweet. But however genuine their rage, this was obviously a diversionary tactic to cover up loud dissension in the ranks. In response to Pelosi's dismissal of "the Squad" -- the four first-term Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ilhan Omar, Ayanna Pressley and Rashida Tlaib -- as just four votes, their defenders have taken to calling Pelosi a "racist."

These incessant allegations of racism should strike Americans as absurd. There is less racism than at any time in the history of this nation that twice cast majorities of its votes for an African American president. Trump's tweet was, as Fox News' Brit Hume commented, "nativist, xenophobic, counterfactual and politically stupid." But it doesn't "meet the standard definition of racist, a word so recklessly flung around these days that its actual meaning is being lost."

It's long been lost for many reporters, who delight in headlining the latest Squad antics. Pelosi obviously fears that this isn't helpful if Democrats want to retain the House seats that gave them their majority -- upscale districts whose white college-graduate voters are repelled by Trump but aren't eager for AOC's "Green New Deal," with its proposal to make airline travel obsolete, or the 70 percent tax rate Bernie Sanders has praised.

Nevertheless, Democratic presidential candidates seem to disagree with Pelosi's analysis. They have embraced, to the dismay of The New York Times' Thomas Friedman, the abolition of private health insurance, free health care for illegal immigrants and decriminalization of illegal border crossing.

In addition, they're promising free college, forgiveness of college debt, ninth-month abortions and, as Julian Castro reminded anyone who was wondering, abortions for "someone in the trans community, a trans female."

These candidates fear attacks from one of the many constituency groups in the Democratic coalition -- or, to put it more precisely, from their self-appointed Twitter spokespersons. Attacks from even one constituency -- blacks, Latinos, gays, lesbians, transgender folk, feminists, greens; the list goes on and on -- might torpedo their attempts to climb into the first or second tier (or, for former Vice President Joe Biden, his attempt to keep others out of them).

For many in the media, the Squad's and the groups' issue positions sound nifty, and even their recent refusals to denounce antifa violence seem understandable. But will they prove attractive to the suburbanites Pelosi worries about or the blue-collar ancestral Democrats uncertain about voting again for Trump? Quite likely not.
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Michael Barone is a Senior Political Analyst for the Washington Examiner and a Resident Fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, a Fox News Channel  and co-author of The Almanac of American Politics Shared by Rasmussen Reports.

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Tags: Michael Barone, editorial, Rasmussen Reports, Both Parties, Are Misbehaving, in Line With, Their Historic Character To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service and "Like" Facebook Page - Thanks!

Is a New US Mideast War Inevitable?

by Patrick Buchanan: In this new century, leaders of both parties have plunged our country into at least five wars in the Middle and Near East… None of these wars has produced a victory or success for us. But taken together, they did produce a multitrillion-dollar strategic and human rights disaster.

In October 1950, as U.S. forces were reeling from hordes of Chinese troops who had intervened massively in the Korean War, a 5,000-man Turkish brigade arrived to halt an onslaught by six Chinese divisions.

Said supreme commander Gen. Douglas MacArthur: “The Turks are the hero of heroes. There is no impossibility for the Turkish Brigade.”

President Harry Truman awarded the brigade a Presidential Unit Citation.

In 1951, Turkey ended a neutrality dating to the end of World War I and joined NATO. In the seven decades since, there has been no graver crisis in U.S.-Turkish relations than the one that erupted this week.

Turkey has just received the first components of a Russian S-400 air and missile defense system, despite U.S. warnings this would require the cancellation of Turkey’s purchase of 100 F-35 Joint Strike Fighters.

“The F-35 cannot coexist with a Russian intelligence collection platform that will be used to learn about its advanced capabilities,” said the White House.

The sale has been canceled. The Turkish pilots and instructors training in the U.S. are being sent home. Contracts with Turkish companies producing parts for the F-35 are being terminated. Under U.S. law, the administration is also required to impose sanctions on Turkey for buying Russian weaponry.

Wednesday, the Pentagon warned Turkey against military action in an area of Syria where U.S. troops are deployed. The Turks appear to be massing for an incursion against U.S.-backed Syrian Kurdish forces Ankara regards as terrorist allies of the Kurdish PKK inside Turkey.

How America and Turkey avoid a collision that could wreck NATO, where the Turks field the second-largest army in the alliance, is not easy to see.

U.S. hawks are already calling for the expulsion of Turkey from NATO. And expulsion of U.S. forces and nuclear weapons from the Incirlik air base in Turkey in retaliation is not out of the question.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan sounds defiant: “We have begun to receive our S-400s. … God willing, they will have been installed in their sites by April 2020. … The S-400s are the strongest defense system against those who want to attack our country. Now the aim is joint production with Russia. We will do that.”

While potentially the most crucial of recent developments in the Middle East, the U.S.-Turkish situation is not the only one.

The UAE is pulling its forces out of Yemen as Congress seeks to restrict U.S. support for Saudi forces fighting Houthi rebels there and to sanction Riyadh for the murder of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi.

If the UAE pulls out, and the U.S. cuts its military aid, the Saudis cannot prevail in a war they have been unable to win with our help after four years of fighting. And if the Houthis win, the Saudis and Sunni Arabs lose, and Iran wins.

This week, to strengthen the U.S. presence for any confrontation with Iran, President Donald Trump is sending 500 additional U.S. troops to Saudi Arabia.

While the U.S. and Iran have thus far avoided a military or naval clash that could ignite a major war, the “maximum pressure” sanctions Trump has imposed are choking Iran’s economy to death. How this ends in a negotiated resolution and not a shooting war remains difficult to see.

In Doha, Qatar, the U.S. is negotiating with the Taliban over the conditions for a withdrawal of the 14,000 U.S. troops still in Afghanistan. And with the Taliban controlling more of the countryside than they have since being ousted from power in 2001, and conducting regular suicide bombings in Afghan cities and towns, it is hard to see how this Kabul regime and its army prevail in a civil war when we are gone, when they could not while we were there.

In this new century, leaders of both parties have plunged our country into at least five wars in the Middle and Near East.

In 2001, after ousting the Taliban and driving al-Qaida out, we decided to use our power and ideas to build a new democratic Afghanistan. In 2003, we invaded and occupied Iraq to create a pro-Western bastion in the heart of the Middle East.

In 2011, Barack Obama ordered U.S. planes to attack Colonel Gadhafi’s forces in Libya. We brought him down. Obama then backed Syrian rebels to overthrow the dictator Bashar Assad. In 2015, U.S. forces supported a Saudi war to roll back the Houthi rebels’ victory in Yemen’s civil war.

None of these wars has produced a victory or success for us.

But taken together, they did produce a multitrillion-dollar strategic and human rights disaster. Meanwhile, China gained much from having its great rival, the world’s last superpower, thrashing about ineffectually in the forever wars of the Middle East.

“Great nations do not fight endless wars,” said Trump.

Yes, they do. As the British, French, Germans, Japanese and Russians showed in the last century, that is how they cease to be great nations.
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Patrick Buchanan (@PatrickBuchanan) is currently a blogger, conservative columnist, political analyst, chairman of The American Cause foundation and an editor of The American Conservative. He has been a senior adviser to three Presidents, a two-time candidate for the Republican presidential nomination, and was the presidential nominee of the Reform Party in 2000.

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After Trump Adviser Criticism, Palestinian Authority Doubles Down On Child Murder

by Daniel Greenfield: Rep. Omar and Rep. Tlaib and the Democrats could not be reached for comment.On Sunday, Palestinian Media Watch reported that Fatah's Shabiba High School movement ran a summer camp named after terrorist mass murderer Dalal Mughrabi who with her terror cell murdered these 12 children, in 1978:

After PMW documented the Palestinian summer camp named after terrorist Mughrabi, Jason Greenblatt, Special Advisor to the US President and Ofir Gendelman, Israel's Prime Minister's spokesperson for the Arab media, tweeted PMW's story and condemned the naming of the camp after the mass murderer. In response, Fatah's Shabiba is now defending the camp's name, calling murder of Israelis including children "legitimate human struggle":"Martyr Dalal Mughrabi is a symbol of legitimate human struggl eagainst injustice, oppression, and the occupation," the Official Fatah Facebook page posted. "Dalal Mughrabi's [actions] are a natural human expression that all human laws guarantee for the oppressed peoples that are struggling to be redeemed from injustice and occupation."

This is what's considered natural by the Palestinian Authority and the Muslim world.
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Daniel Greenfield (@Sultanknish) is Shillman Journalism Fellow at the David Horowitz Freedom Center and an investigative journalist and writer focusing on radical Left and Islamic terrorism.

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Lost Leader . . .

. . . An Antifa member who tried to firebomb an ICE facility in Washington State was inspired by Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s Rhetoric, and far-left progressives have praised his efforts.

Editorial Cartoon by AF "Tony" Branco

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Tags: editorial cartoon, AF Branco, Lost Leader, Antifa member, who tried to firebomb. ICE facility, Washington State, inspired by, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s Rhetoric, far-left progressives, praised his efforts. To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service and "Like" Facebook Page - Thanks!

Making America Venezuela: The Left is Coming for Your Toilet Paper

by Monica Showalter: In its quest to make America Venezuela, the Left is coming for your toilet paper.

Kimberley Strassel spotted this beaut on Twitter:

And now they are coming for your toilet paper..... To be clear, folks, there is NOTHING the left would not seek to control in people's daily lives under the guise of fixing "climate change." They will even tell you with what to wipe. https://t.co/GGcXoMa0PM

— Kimberley Strassel (@KimStrassel) July 18, 2019

Apparently, toilet paper is the new plastic straw of the green lobby, and they're out to put a stop to it. Kid you not, here is what the National Resources Defense Council is shilling as its new narrative:
You may not realize it, but the toilet paper in your bathroom likely comes from some of the most important — and threatened — forests in the world. In fact, Procter & Gamble is driving the devastation of one of the last great forests on earth to produce Charmin, the world's biggest toilet paper brand — made out of 100 percent virgin forest fiber.

Now we're running out of time: Between 1996 and 2015, more than 28 million acres of Canada's boreal forest were logged. This logging threatens the ways of life of hundreds of Indigenous communities, releases hundreds of millions of tons of climate-altering carbon stored in the forest into the atmosphere every year, and devastates iconic wildlife.

Procter & Gamble must own up to its environmental impact and stop making its toilet paper from virgin pulp rather than sustainable recycled materials. The cost to communities, species, and our climate is simply too high to keep flushing our forests away.This is horse hockey. And greenies can't even get their stories straight. If saving toilet paper is the aim, why are they targeting Charmin, which, in this lefty review, is the best toilet paper to use because users use less of it, based on its superior absorption capacities, quite unlike that flimsy scratchy recycled stuff? Here's the Business Insider take, which actually recommends Charmin for saving the Earth:All toilet paper is paper. In order to make paper, you need trees. Although there are plenty of eco-friendly alternatives on the market, for the sake of forests and our environment, the less toilet paper you use, the better.

One way to use less toilet paper is to install a bidet. We have a helpful guide on the best bidets, but basically, you can get a decent bidet on Amazon for less than $100 and install it yourself in about half an hour. You'll still need TP to spot check the bidet's work and to dry off, but you will use much less.Bidets? Really? What about the water waste, which is an issue here in SoCal? Meanwhile, here's an excerpt from B.I.'s review of its number-one ranked Charmin Extra Strong:You might recognize Charmin Ultra Strong Toilet Paper from the series of commercials featuring bears with comfortable butts. As the name suggests, Ultra Strong is positioned as Charmin's strongest two-ply toilet paper. Charmin advertises it as having washcloth-like cleaning abilities with four times the strength of "the leading bargain brand" when wet.

A durable and absorbent toilet paper is useful when your digestive system is having an off day and trips to the bathroom are frequent. If you are concerned about a hardy TP wreaking havoc on your plumbing, you may take comfort in knowing that Roto-Rooter has approved Ultra Strong as septic- and clog-safe....and, for the money quote at the end:Another reviewer remarked that this is the only toilet paper they use because a roll lasts a long time since they only need a fraction of what they would use with other options. They also have not had any clogging issues with Ultra Strong.Now these jackasses are coming for your Charmin. And the horse hockey continues as they rant about virgin forests.

Here's the reality: farmed forests are always renewable, and Canada has a helluva lot of them. Not only that, but the cold climate and poor soil of Canada rather limits what can be farmed. Are Canadian farmers now supposed to farm nothing and let the forest grow rampant? Sixty Minutes already did a greenie piece about how such overforested areas in the far north contribute to global warming in a segment on Siberia a few weeks ago. Again, a matter of getting their stories straight.

Or are the Canadian tree-farmers to turn to growing more picturesque renewable mangos up where the Boreal forest once stood? Socialists have been known to try to command the weather: Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's argument that people in the chilly Bronx grow tropical vegetables instead of racist cauliflower, described here, falls into this category.

Racism, greenie-ism, anything to justify a more perfect socialism, all done by experts...which is why toilet paper, that most prized of scarce commodities in socialist Venezuela, is, what a coincidence, also in the western socialist bulleseye. No toilet paper for you!

Will we see prominent celebrities following the no-Charmin rule to save the environment? Will Beyonce, whose famous liking for this red toilet paper here, switch to a scratchier, less colorful brand? Hey look! The boutique brand she uses comes from 100% virgin pulp - the very stuff the NDRC is yelling about.

Color me skeptical.

What we are seeing here is a confluence of bad ideas - made-up facts, bad science, and a greenie desire for micromanaging power, right down to what kind of toilet paper you use. The charts and graphs on this NRDC page over it are amazing, and not in a good way.

They aren't going to leave us alone about this. And like Venezuela, they mean to create shortages from excessive government regulation, same reason Venezuela has them. Worst of all, their 'narrative' is going to get louder as Bernie and Sandy and the rest of them embrace it. Make America Venezuela again...
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Monica Showalter (@mmshowalter1) articles on American Thinker.

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Todd Starnes' Comprehensive List of All Things Racist

by Todd Starnes: The following is a comprehensive list of people and things the Left considers to be racist:Cotton
Fried Chicken
President Trump
Taco Tuesday
Deplorables
White Guys
Straight White Guys
Christian Straight White Guys
Southern Christian Straight White Guys
Mitt Romney
Republican Party
Tea Party
Baptists
The Holy Bible
NRA members
Southerners
Todd Starnes
Ronald Reagan
Air Conditioning
George Washington
Thomas Jefferson
Founding Fathers
Kate Smith
The colors red, white and blue
Patriotism
National Anthem
Pledge of Allegiance
All of American History before 2000
Statues
War Memorials
Crosses
Blue Lives Matter
Shampoo
Don’t Tread on Me Flag
Chris Pratt
Peanut Butter and Jelly
Dr. Seuss Books
White Christmas – the song and movie
Joe Biden
Nancy Pelosi
NASA
Cauliflower
White Milk
Sense of Humor
MAGA hats
Chick-fil-A------------------
Todd Starnes (@toddstarnes) is A Christian Conservative, the host of Fox News & Commentary and heard daily on 250+ radio stations and on his iTune podcasts.

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Unimaginable

by Kerby Anderson, Contributing Author: Sadly, it has become trendy in some circles to say that the world would be a better place without religion in general and Christianity in particular.

I really do wonder if professors, commentators, and people on social media really believe this or are just saying it without any serious reflection. As I like to sometimes say to my atheist acquaintances, I see lots of Catholic hospitals, Presbyterian hospitals, and Baptist hospitals. I have never seen a humanist hospital.

Previous books by D. James Kennedy ask questions like: What if Jesus Had Never Been Born? and What if the Bible Had Never Been Written? Rodney Stark documents the positive impact of Christianity in many books, including The Triumph of Christianity.

In his book, Unimaginable: What Our World Would be Like Without Christianity, Jeremiah Johnston explains what the world was like before Christianity and what the world would be like without Christianity. He then concludes by talking about the benefits in a world with Christianity. He was in my radio studio talking about the impact of atheism in our world, and then we concluded by talking about the positive influence from Christianity in our world today.

For example, there are an estimated 350,000 religious congregations in the United States, and the vast majority of them “serve in some capacity as a community safety net for those in need.” We also see churches and faith-based organizations helping out in disasters.

So, what is the economic impact of faith in America? According to one study cited in the book, religion’s $1.2 trillion impact is more than the global annual earnings of Apple and Microsoft combined. Or you can look at it another way. How much do we save in social services because these are performed by faith organizations? Rodney Stark of Baylor University concludes that the total current savings to U.S. society is $2.67 trillion/year.

The book’s facts and figures are a vivid reminder that the positive impact of Christianity in society is indeed unimaginable.
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Kerby Anderson (@kerbyanderson) is a radio talk show host heard on numerous stations via the Point of View Network (@PointofViewRTS) and is endorsed by Dr. Bill Smith, Editor, ARRA News Service.

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Democratic Dreams

by Paul Jacob, Contributing Author: On Wednesday, I said we should, to borrow the vernacular, “have a conversation” about a national referendum.

Billionaire investor, environmentalist, and Democratic presidential candidate Tom Steyer proposed the idea, which I’ve loved conceptually since my friend, former Alaska Sen. Mike Gravel (also a Democratic presidential candidate), first advocated it decades ago.

But that ol’ devil — he’s in the details. (Decidedly not the latest lingo.) What might a national initiative and/or referendum process look like?

Given that it would require a constitutional amendment — meaning ratification by 38 of the 50 states — the process must win broad support to be enacted.

Here’s what I propose: Allow any statutory initiative measure to be petitioned onto a federal General Election ballot with signatures equaling 6 or 8 percent of the country’s population* and as verified by election officials in each state. Require a concurrent majority, whereby for a measure to pass it must garner not only a majority of the vote nationally, but also a majority vote in at least 20 states — or even in a majority of the states.

An initiative proposing a national constitutional amendment should do more. Require, say, a petition signature threshold of 10 or 15 percent and not merely a majority of the vote nationally to pass, but mirroring the current amendment process, mandate a majority in each of at least 38 states.

If U.S. Term Limits is successful in getting 34 states to call a convention to propose an amendment for congressional term limits, a national referendum process could follow in those footsteps.

Talk about two ideas that will pop blood vessels in the heads of professional politicians and their special interest cronies!

Dare to dream.

This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.

* This should simply follow the figures of the most recent census, of course.
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Paul Jacob (@Common_Sense_PJ) is author of Common Sense which provides daily commentary about the issues impacting America and about the citizens who are doing something about them. He is also President of the Liberty Initiative Fund (LIFe) as well as Citizens in Charge Foundation. Jacob is a contributing author on the ARRA News Service.

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Trump and America Vs. the Commie Quad Squad

"The Commie Squad"
AF Branco Editorial Cartoon (added)

by David Limbaugh: In one sense, the Commie Quad Squad (CQS) has done us all a favor by flushing out the extremism of the Democratic Party for conspicuous public display.

House Leader Nancy Pelosi is quaking in her boots, realizing that it is getting increasingly difficult to hide her party’s radicalism from American voters, many of whom still cling to the fantasy that the Democratic Party is predominantly pro-American.

Pelosi at least has the sense to know this extremism won’t play well in national elections — even today — and she is struggling to cover it up. Her feud with the CQS, to be sure, is about control of the party, but it’s also her effort to allay Americans’ fears that her party has lost its mind — and moral compass.

But the women of the CQS don’t care. They are so adamantly against the America that you and I grew up to love that they will not contain their animus. And they’re arrogant enough to believe that a majority of Americans shares their antipathy.

Pelosi is in a precarious position, desperately seeking to contain the crazy in her party while convincing her rabid base that deep down she shares its craziness — wink, wink. Pelosi knows that Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is like a 4-year-old at a restaurant — you just won’t get her to shut up. But unlike many parents, Pelosi can’t just leave the restaurant, and she’d prefer not to make any further public spectacles disciplining her kid in front of the other patrons.

If you doubt that Pelosi is trying to play both sides, then explain, in a paragraph or less, why Pelosi sprinted quickly to the dark side the other day in calling President Trump a racist — and saying that he wants to “make America white again.” Playing the race card is a great way to ingratiate yourself with the race-baiting CQS and its minions.

With the election of Donald Trump, we could safely say that America’s silent majority had awoken from its slumber mad as Hell and not willing to take it anymore. They didn’t pick this fight but now understand that those attacking everything they believe in are relentless and implacable. Thanks to the CQS, the silent majority has further strengthened its resolve.

Many have assumed that despite President Trump’s remarkable record on policy, he has lost some of his good will with the voters because of his manners and tweets and the rest. That may have been true at the margins, but he has regained whatever ground he lost and more from this dust-up with the CQS. Its members are poster children for the malcontent left — and have placed in stark relief the contrast between the Democrats’ and Republicans’ respective visions for America. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

For those of you who believe the two parties still share common goals, I have a treasure chest of pyrite I would like to show you. Just consider the Democrats’ extreme position on abortion, open borders, sanctuary cities, guns, judicial activism, the administrative state, Israel, the America-hating United Nations, socialism, universal health care, entitlements for illegal immigrants, radical environmentalism, forced income equality versus equality of opportunity, identity politics, radical gender ideology, intersectionality, toxic masculinity, multiculturalism, white privilege, reparations, cultural appropriation and patriarchy. I could go on, but then you might not want to read my upcoming book. The point is Pelosi can try to distance herself from the CQS until she’s blue in the face, but she can’t credibly distance her party from its radical positions — there is not a scintilla of moderation remaining in it anymore.

Leftists don’t fight fair, and the Unfair Foursome — er, I mean the CQS — is demonstrating that in spades, as are so many Democratic Party leaders. They cannot debate any issues on the merits anymore; all they can do is smear their opponents — us — with false charges of bigotry. These radicals apparently believe their destructive ideas are so self-evidently superior that they can safely imply that if you oppose them, you are racist. That’s what they have reduced themselves to. It’s sickening, outrageous and sure to keep the American people mad as Hell and unwilling to take it anymore.

There is no downside in bringing this fight to a head now because if a majority of Americans really believe that America-loving Trump supporters, conservatives and Republicans are irredeemable racists, bigots, sexists and homophobes, we are in grave trouble anyway. I’m betting that’s not the case, and as long as the CQS keeps flapping its race-baiting jaws, we are going to have a referendum on this question in 2020.

So, let the CQS continue name calling and exposing itself to the American people.
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David Limbaugh is a writer, author and attorney. His latest book is "Jesus is Risen: Paul and the Early Church." Follow him on Twitter& @davidlimbaugh and his website at davidlimbaugh.com.

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To End Border Crisis, Trump Administration Restricts Asylum Claims From Central America

by Robert Romano: Under current immigration and asylum regulations, it was impossible to enforce the law on the southern border. The hundreds of thousands of Central Americans flooding the border the past several months gamed the system, betting that a compassionate America would let them in.

Afterward, the families were released into the U.S. pending hearings, but those that showed up did so only to the extent they might be granted asylum, and upon rejection were never heard from again. It’s mandatory catch-and-release. Because of the way the regulations were written.

As a result, the number of family units showing up on the border has been skyrocketing. In all of FY 2018, 161,113 family units were apprehended, and 58,660 unaccompanied children. Now family units are up to 427,881 in FY 2019, an increase of 165 percent and unaccompanied children is up 14 percent to 67,116, with three more months remaining in the fiscal year.

Now, to get a handle on the problem and to deter future migrant waves, the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Justice are using their powers under the law to provide for additional restrictions and have issued a new rule telling asylum seekers they must first apply for asylum in the country they first transit through and be denied before they may qualify.

The new regulation states, “an alien who enters or attempts to enter the United States across the southern border after failing to apply for protection in a third country outside the alien’s country of citizenship, nationality, or last lawful habitual residence through which the alien transited en route to the United States is ineligible for asylum.”

The move comes after the U.S.-Mexico Joint Declaration that was finalized after President Donald Trump threatened up to a 25 percent tariff on Mexican goods. Under the agreement the U.S. is expanding the Migrant Protection Protocols: “those crossing the U.S. Southern Border to seek asylum will be rapidly returned to Mexico where they may await the adjudication of their asylum claims… [And,] Mexico will authorize the entrance of all of those individuals for humanitarian reasons, in compliance with its international obligations, while they await the adjudication of their asylum claims.”

The new approach will hopefully begin to get the situation under control.

After briefly attempting to enforce the laws as written starting in April 2018, 2,648 children were separated from the families, according to a Congressional report, but by June 2018, President Donald Trump halted the effort, opting to keep families together pending hearings for illegal entry or asylum via Executive Order 13841.

The problem? Under a 2008 federal law against human trafficking and federal court rulings, unaccompanied children from Central America are given to the care of the Department of Health and Human Services, and eventually released, ideally to a relative residing in the U.S., within 20 days under federal court precedent.

As for the adults, there is no provision of law allowing them to stay, even if they arrived with children. If the adults apply for asylum or if the federal government elected to prosecute them, that complicates matters. Asylum cases typically take longer than 20 days to process. This is where in the process the family separations were attempted before that was abandoned. Now, under the executive order, the families are placed into housing pending the hearings.

In the past, this meant, according to a 2018 White House fact sheet, the government would “release the entire family unit into the U.S. interior. Once released into the U.S. interior, these family units frequently disappear into the country, failing to appear for their court hearings or comply with removal orders.”

That still appears to be happening today. Matthew Albence, then executive associate director for ICE (now acting director), told the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee in Sept. 2018 that 3 out of 10 illegal immigrant family units would cut off their ankle tracking bracelets shortly after being released from custody. But if the asylum is denied, per Albence, the families disappear. “They will comply up until the benefit of complying is not there,” said Albence.

In other words, it was a free for all. One can argue that the child separations policy was ill-conceived, but surely then so is the current system. Without detention until either asylum is granted or deportation commences, illegal immigrant family units are a significant flight risk. The moment they think the process won’t favor them, they disappear.

That is why, to prevent hundreds of thousands more from flooding the border, making a very dangerous journey, the new rules by DHS and DOJ are absolutely necessary. The prior rules presented a perverse incentive. President Trump was right. Unless and until the asylum laws are permanently fixed, this problem was not going to be fixed. In hindsight, granting automatic entry to children from Central America in 2008 was a very poor policy decision. It is absolutely being abused now.

But so far Congress has refused to do a thing about it, and so the Trump administration is doing everything within its powers under the law to act and bring a close to this crisis via regulation. Something’s got to give. If it seems like President Trump and his administration are the only ones trying to actually solve this problem, while members of Congress exploit the crisis for political gain, you’d be right.
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Robert Romano is the Vice President of Public Policy at Americans for Limited Government.

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Tags: IRobert Romano, Americans for Limited Government, To End Border Crisis, Trump Administration, Restricts Asylum Claims, From Central America To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service and "Like" Facebook Page - Thanks!

If Trump Jr. Is ‘Racist’ for Questioning Kamala Harris’ Ethnicity, So Is Don Lemon

by Larry Elder: Poor Donald Trump Jr. He retweeted a post by a black man named Ali Alexander questioning whether Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., whose father is from Jamaica and mother is from India, is an “American black.”

Alexander’s tweet reads: “Kamala Harris is *not* an American Black. She is half Indian and half Jamaican. I’m so sick of people robbing American Blacks (like myself) of our history. It’s disgusting. … These are my people not her people.”

Predictably, the reaction was furious. It caused Trump Jr. to quickly delete the retweet — but not, of course, before he was slammed as “racist.” A Harris campaign spokeswoman said: “This is the same type of racist attacks his father used to attack Barack Obama. It didn’t work then and it won’t work now.” Meghan McCain, the Republican panelist on ABC’s “The View,” tweeted: “What’s happening to Kamala Harris is disgusting and unquestionably racist. And while the tweet was deleted, it appears that the Trump family tradition of spreading racial demagoguery and conspiracy theories lives on.” A HuffPost headline read: “Chilling New Birtherism Slam Suddenly Surges Against Kamala Harris on Social Media.” The article identifies Ali as “far-right political operative and conspiracy theorist Ali Akbar, or Ali Abdul Razaq Akbar, whom Politico profiled last year as an ‘increasingly prominent pro-Trump supporter.'”

Sound the alarm! “Unquestionably racist”? “Chilling new birtherism”? But wait.

In January, Trump-hating hyper-left MSNBC host Chris Matthews had the following exchange with black Democratic pundit Jamal Simmons:

Matthews: “Is she (Harris) seen as African American?”

Simmons: “Yes, I think she’s seen as African American. The fact that she was at Howard University (Harris’ alma mater) today … She’s really planting her feet in the African American community.”

If Simmons bases Harris’ status as an “African American” on having attended Howard University, a historically black college, and “planting her feet in the African American community,” what about Rachel Dolezal? Dolezal, a white woman who claimed to be black and even served as a NAACP chapter president, also attended Howard University. Dolezal essentially argued that “blackness” is a state of mind, that if one identifies as black, then he or she is black. Based on Simmons’ logic, Dolezal is owed an apology. After all, writer Toni Morrison said President Bill Clinton, “white skin notwithstanding,” was America’s “first black president.” Clinton, born poor in Arkansas, was a “saxophone-playing, McDonald’s-and-junk-food-loving boy.”

Consider this February exchange between black CNN host Don Lemon and black female reporter April Ryan. Lemon said, “There’s a difference between being African American and being black.” Ryan replied that, yes, Harris is a “black woman.”

Lemon: “I agree with that, but is she African American? There is a difference, and there’s nothing wrong with that. No one’s trying to take anything away from her. I think you’re falling into the trap of that. All she had to do was say, ‘I am black, but I’m not African American.’ … Jamaica’s not America. Jamaica did not come out of Jim Crow.”

But if, according to Lemon, Harris’s status as “black” rests on her Jamaican father, what about tennis 2018 U.S. Open winner Naomi Osaka? Born in Japan but raised in America since age 3, Osaka’s mother is Japanese and her father Haitian. Media outlets generally refer to her as “the first Japanese player” to win a Grand Slam tournament. ESPN called her “the first tennis player from Japan to reach No. 1 in the rankings.” Based on Lemon’s anthropological analysis of Harris, Osaka, then, is “black,” too. But while news outlets have sometimes described her as “biracial” or even “mixed-race,” she is not called “black.” Thoughts, Mr. Lemon?

Confused? Now consider this exchange from an interview during Harris’ 2008 Senate race:

Interviewer: “And certainly you could become the first Indian senator in U.S. history.”

Harris: “Knock wood.”

President Obama, in a 2016 commencement address at Howard University, said: “One of the great changes that’s occurred in our country since I was your age is the realization that there’s no one way to be black. Take it from somebody who’s seen both sides of debate about whether I’m black enough. … There’s no straitjacket. There’s no constraints. There’s no litmus test for authenticity.”

So, Trump Jr., if you remain perplexed, join the club.
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Larry Elder (@larryelder) is a best-selling author and radio talk-show host, an American lawyer, writer and radio and television personality who is also known as the "Sage From South Central." To find out more about Larry Elder. Visit his website at LarryElder.com for list of other articles.

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Tags: Larry Elder, commentary, If Trump Jr., Is ‘Racist,’ Questioning Kamala Harris’ Ethnicity, So Is Don Lemon To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service and "Like" Facebook Page - Thanks!