Victor Davis Hanson on Trump and his generals; Entrusting national security to military pros is a win for the country

Victor Davis Hanson   ANALYSIS/OPINION:
"Donald Trump earned respect from the Washington establishment for appointing three of the nation’s most accomplished generals to direct his national security policy: James Mattis (secretary of defense), H.R. McMaster (national security adviser) and John Kelly (secretary of homeland security).

"In the first five months of the Trump administration, the three generals — along with Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, the former ExxonMobil CEO — have already recalibrated America’s defenses.

"At home, illegal immigration is down by some 70 percent. Abroad, a new policy of principled realism seeks to re-establish deterrence through credible threats of retaliation. The generals are repairing old friendships with allies and neutrals while warning traditional enemies not to press their luck.

" President Trump has turned over most of the details of military operations to his generals. According to his critics, Mr. Trump is improperly outsourcing to his generals both strategic decision-making and its tactical implementation.

"But is Mr. Trump really doing that?

"In his campaign, Mr. Trump vowed to avoid new ground wars while not losing those he inherited. He pledged to wipe out ISIS and radical Islamic terrorism without invading Middle Eastern countries to turn them into democracies.

"Those are wide but nonetheless unmistakable parameters.

"Within them, the U.S. military can drop a huge bomb on the Taliban, strike the chemical weapons depots of Syria’s Bashar Assad, or choose the sort of ships it will use to deter North Korean aggression — without Mr. Trump poring over a map, or hectoring Gen. Mattis or Gen. McMaster about what particular move is politically appropriate or might poll well." . . .

As A Young Captain, McMaster Commanded One Of The Most Epic Tank Battles In History

[President Trump's National Security Advisor] Army Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster earned his reputation for being an incredible military officer not in the Pentagon or inside the D.C. beltway, but in one of the fiercest tank battles in military history. In 1991, McMaster was a 28-year-old Army captain, and commander of a small section called Eagle Troop, Second Squadron, Second Armored Cavalry Regiment.

Contrast Trump with Obama: Obama’s micromanagement of airstrikes hinders fight against ISIS, generals say

About half the combat missions actually unleash ordnance. The other aircraft return to base with just as many bombs and missiles as when they left.
“It is not an air campaign,” said retired Air Force Lt. Gen. Thomas McInerney, a Vietnam War fighter pilot and one of 88 admirals and generals who signed a letter supporting Donald Trump. “In addition, a general in Baghdad must approve every bomb dropped — handcuffs on air power to let ISIS survive.”

Supreme Court Reinstates Key Parts Of Trump Travel Ban

Weasel Zippers

"Very good news. The injunction against the travel ban was clearly overreaching by Obama-appointed judges legislating from the bench.

"Via Fox News:

The Supreme Court on Monday said it would allow the Trump administration’s controversial travel ban to largely go into effect, while setting a hearing on the entire executive order for October.

The court’s decision means the justices will now wade into the biggest legal controversy of the Trump administration — Trump’s order temporarily restricting travel from six Muslim-majority countries.

“An American individual or entity that has a bona fide relationship with a particular person seeking to enter the country as a refugee can legitimately claim concrete hardship if that person is excluded,” the Court wrote. “As to these individuals and entities, we do not disturb the injunction. But when it comes to refugees who lack any such connection to the United States, for the reasons we have set out, the balance tips in favor of the Government’s compelling need to provide for the Nation’s security.”

Keep reading…

Rick Moran  "A black college professor from New Jersey who went on Fox News' Tucker Carlson's show to defend a Black Lives Matter event in New York City that was open to blacks only, was fired from the school.

"Lisa Durden, an adjunct professor of communications and pop culture at Essex College, lost her job because of "racially insensitive remarks," according to the school's president.

Fox News:

On his June 6 show, Carlson and Durden, who is black, got into a heated exchange over the appropriateness of allowing only blacks to attend a Black Lives Matter event in New York City on Memorial Day.

“Listen. What I say to that is boo-hoo-hoo,” she said. “You white people are angry because you couldn’t use your ‘white privilege’ card to get invited to the Black Lives Matter’s all-black Memorial Day celebration! Wow!” . . .

. . .
"Of course, if a white person had made similarlly racially insensitive remarks, there wouldn't be much debate. And isn't that what many of us are fighting for regarding free speech? "Insensitive" speech is protected by the First Amendment, as is hate speech, bigoted speech, and any other controversial speech made in the public square. You can't have free speech if you only approve of certain kinds of expression - it's all or nothing and in this case, no matter the professor's racist attitudes and speech, she is entitled to express herself freely.

"It was refreshing to see a college president actually acknowledge the fact of black racism. And some kind of discipline should have been meted out to her for crossing the line. An institution does have the right to guard its reputation, after all. But if Professor Durden was going to learn anything about this incident (and I doubt she would have), suspending her would have been an effective statement of disapproval without causing her to lose her job."

CIA Director Mike Pompeo said intel leaks are on the rise, fueled by 'worship' culture

Circa

"CIA Director Mike Pompeo opened up in a rare interview with MSNBC on Saturday claiming that he believes U.S. intelligence leaks are on the rise, fueled partially by the "worship" of leakers, such as Edward Snowden, according to The Associated Press. 

" 'In some ways, I do think it's accelerated," Pompeo said. "I think there is a phenomenon, the worship of Edward Snowden, and those who steal American secrets for the purpose of self-aggrandizement or money or for whatever their motivation may be, does seem to be on the increase.' " . . .

From the comments:

Val EdingI am a little confused by the message. Does the worship cult include Obama, Rice, & Comey... who also were leakers? While we do expect our enemies and competitors around the world to poke around and obtain information for their advantage I think it is an entirely different level of concern when it is "us"... and specifically our own leadership during the past eight years that has been involved in this and other illegal activity.

They could just name it "I, Me, Mine Boulevard"

http://terrellaftermath.com/

Drivers in Southwest Los Angeles may soon get to cruise down Obama Boulevard  . . . "Lawmakers in Illinois are also weighing whether to rename a portion of the heavily-traveled Interstate 55. Back in March, Illinois Regulation, Roads and Bridges Committee approved a measure dedicating over 300 miles of the interstate running between East St. Louis to the tristate tollway in Chicago after Obama. The bill is still waiting approval by the state’s Calendar of Resolutions." . . .

Maxine Waters Bars Trump Supporters From Town Hall Meeting

Weasel Zippers

"Maxine is a real peach.

"Via American Mirror:

Supporters of President Trump were hoping to be a part of Maxine Waters’ town hall meeting in Gardena on Saturday, but they were barred from entering the building.

The Trump supporters received tickets for the event, but were treated as “second class citizens” because they supposedly did not live in her district.

Supporters of President Trump were hoping to be a part of Maxine Waters’ town hall meeting in Gardena on Saturday, but they were barred from entering the building.

The Trump supporters received tickets for the event, but were treated as “second class citizens” because they supposedly did not live in her district.[…]

Chanell Temple said she lost her job a few years ago and hasn’t been able to find a new one because she doesn’t speak Spanish. She said Waters has destroyed the black community by supporting immigrants.

Keep reading…

HT: 90 miles from tyranny

Gay Activists Are Gunning for Your Church Now

PJ Media   "They said they just wanted "equality" and that they would never come for our houses of worship. The gay lobby insisted that all they wanted was "rights" and "marriage" and then they would be happy. It was presented as, "If you like your religion you can keep your religion if you give us what we want." Did you believe that? I didn't. I had a feeling they wouldn't be satisfied until they were standing on the smoldering ruins of religious traditions and people. 

"The Mormons are next on the hit list, it seems. The LGBT lobby, which is unarguably one of the most repulsive social justice warrior organizations, is running a scam where they use children as props to embarrass and bring down the Mormon church. In an embarrassing and transparent stunt, a 12-year-old girl who claims to be gay stood up in front of her church congregation and lectured them about accepting her and loving all people like Jesus did. Understandably, the plug was pulled and she was asked to sit down." . . .

. . . "What Yahoo thought was going to be a story that would whip people up into an outrage over "diversity, acceptance, and love" seems to have backfired. The comments section is hysterical. It's like reading my own thoughts except wittier." . . .

The news pictured

spectator.org

Fair and balanced news

Hat tip to Tom Wiegand

Famous Feminist: The Democratic Party Has Destroyed Journalism

Daily Wire

 Camille Paglia 

"Iconic and iconoclastic feminist Camille Paglia regularly infuriates her liberal colleagues by exposing the self-contradictions and double standards of the progressive left. On Sean Hannity's radio show on Tuesday, Paglia did it again, this time passionately asserting what conservatives have been saying for a while now: Democrats have made a mockery of journalism.

"Hannity led into the discussion by citing Paglia's recent discussion of the Democrats' self-defeating "nationwide orgy of rage and spite." Paglia, who voted for Bernie Sanders, launched into a unflinchingly brutal critique of her own party, particularly as it has influenced journalism. The ceaseless hysterics from the Democrats she said, is "obscene" and "outrageous," and their "fantasy and hallucination" have not only hurt their own party, but journalism in America.

Judd: "I'm a nasty woman" (added)

"It shows that the Democrats are nothing now but words and fantasy and hallucination and Hollywood," she said. "There’s no journalism left. What’s happened to The New York Times? What’s happened to the major networks? It’s an outrage."

She continued: "I’m a professor of media studies, in addition to a professor of humanities, OK? And I think it’s absolutely grotesque the way my party has destroyed journalism. Right now, it is going to take decades to recover from this atrocity that’s going on where the news media have turned themselves over to the most childish fraternity, kind of buffoonish behavior.". . .

Also this interview with The Weekly Standard: Camille Paglia: On Trump, Democrats, Transgenderism, and Islamist Terror

"In a wide-ranging interview Paglia talks about Donald Trump's successes, how Chuck Schumer emboldened the "resistance," why the left can't condemn Islamist terrorism, and "the cold biological truth that sex changes are impossible.' "

Israel, American Jewry and Trump’s GOP

"To understand what can and ought to be done, it is first important to understand the nature of the BDS movement. Under the catchphrase BDS, two separate campaigns against Israel and against Jews are being carried out."

Caroline Glick  "Earlier this month Norway, Denmark and Switzerland did something surprising.

"Norway announced that it was demanding the return of its money from the Palestinian Human Rights and Humanitarian Law Secretariat, for the latter’s funding of a Palestinian women’s group that built a youth center near Nablus named for PLO mass murderer Dalal Mughrabi.

"Denmark followed, announcing it was cutting off all funding to the group.

"And last week, the Swiss parliament passed a resolution directing the government to amend Swiss law to block funding of NGOs “involved in racist, antisemitic or hate incitement actions.”

"For years, the Israeli government has been urging these and other European governments to stop funding such groups, to no avail. What explains their abrupt change of heart?

"In two words: Donald Trump.

"For years, the Obama administration quietly encouraged the Europeans to fund these groups and to ratchet up their anti-Israel positions. Doing so, the former administration believed, would coerce Israel to make concessions to the PLO.

"But now, Trump and his advisers are delivering the opposite message. And, as the actions by Denmark, Norway and Switzerland show, the new message is beginning to be received.

"If the US administration keeps moving forward on this trajectory, it can do far more than suspend funding for one terrorism-supporting Palestinian NGO. It can shut down the entire BDS industry before Trump finishes his current term in office.

The California travel ban against US states for claimed anti-LGBTQ laws follows its attack on the travel stay for Islamic countries that routinely kill gays.

Bookworm Room

"In January and then again in March 2017, President Trump issued a temporary travel ban aimed at six countries that the Obama administration identified as terror sponsors. These countries are Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen.

"In each of these six countries members of the LGBTQ etc. (hereafter “LGBTQer”) community are officially and/or unofficially physically abused, imprisoned, and murdered. Specifically:

• In Iran, as in all other predominantly Muslim countries, LGBTQer conduct is punishable by death, with myriad lesser punishments (e.g., lashing and imprisonment) available.
• In Libya, as in all other predominantly Muslim countries, LGBTQer conduct is illegal and is subject to stringent punishments such as limb amputation and flogging.
• In Somalia, as in all other predominantly Muslim countries, LBGTQer conduct is punishable by imprisonment or death.
• In Sudan, as in all other predominantly Muslim countries, LGBTQer conduct is illegal and, even if the government does not act, vigilante groups are known to attack or kill people accused of homosexuality.
• In Syria, as in all other predominantly Muslim countries, LGBTQer activity is illegal and, depending upon the territory in which the LGBTQ etc. individual finds himself or herself, can be subject to violence or death, whether administered by state agencies or vigilante groups.
• In Yemen, as in all other predominantly Muslim countries, LGBTQer activity is officially illegal, with punishments ranging from lashing, to imprisonment, to death.

"The reason behind the universally violent, murderous hostility to LGBTQ identification or conduct in the above countries is sharia law, which is hardwired into Islam. After all, the Pulse nightclub terrorist attack did not happen in an ideological vacuum.

"Also in January and, again, in March 2017, California officially and vociferously protested against the Trump administration’s temporary travel ban, a ban that affected terror-exporting Muslim countries that make LGBTQer conduct a capital crime, on the ground that the temporary ban was unconscionable, discriminatory, and ineffective:

"In a debate that both sides agreed was largely symbolic, the California Assembly on Monday ratified a resolution criticizing President Trump’s contentious executive order imposing new limits on refugees and other immigrants." . . .     Read more.