Why Aren't Democratic Presidential Candidates Criticizing Trump's Foreign Policy?

Left-wing Vox wants to correct that

And while there are certainly major caveats to all of those “successes” — and some serious foreign policy challenges, like the trade war with China, conspicuously left off the list — on paper at least, it’s a pretty strong record for Trump’s first term in office. Which means that Democratic candidates looking to unseat Trump in 2020 will face a stiff challenge crafting a compelling counternarrative.

Then there is Bernie's way:

Reason

Perhaps the biggest compliment to Trump's foreign policy is his political opponents largely want to make the 2020 election about domestic issues.

"Where's the Democratic critique of President Trump's foreign policy?

"You'd think that with more than 20 Democrats running for President, at least one of them would try to differentiate herself, or himself, from the rest of the field by focusing on the president's role in diplomacy and national security.

"It's still early in the campaign. But none of the major Democratic candidates has made foreign policy a focus. Instead the politicians are out there talking mostly about climate change, health care, income inequality, student loan forgiveness, national service, drug rehabilitation, racism—anything, it seems, except for geopolitics or grand strategy.

"Part of the reason is that the foreign policy threats seem distant. The Soviet Union is gone and the Cold War is over. The 18 year-olds who will be voting for the first time in the 2020 presidential election were not even alive during the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.

"When it comes to handling China, the Democratic leader in the Senate, Chuck Schumer (D–N.Y.), has been cheering the president on. "Hang tough on China, President @realDonaldTrump. Don't back down. Strength is the only way to win with China," Schumer tweeted Sunday.

"Trump hasn't started any wars, so the Democrats can't really fault him for that. It's not a Vietnam or Iraq War type situation where headlines of U.S. combat deaths dominate politics.

"Democrats might be critical of Trump's handling of North Korea, but previous Democratic administrations have also tried to negotiate nuclear issues with Pyongyang." . . .

A real improvement over the media's hero, the darling of talk shows, the cover photo of Cosmo and his world leadership:

Dem Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand Blames “Gender Bias” For Her Faltering Presidential Campaign….

How well has that excuse worked for Hillary?

Weasel Zippers

"Yeah, no.

"Via Fox News:

Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., said Saturday she feels like she’s being underestimated in the race for the Democratic nomination for president, who will likely go up against President Trump in 2020.

Gillibrand is one of nearly two dozen major candidates who have declared their intention to run for president. She spoke about her campaign during her trip to New Hampshire.

“I think it’s just gender bias. I think people are generally biased against women. I think also biased against young women,” she said in an interview, according to CNN. “There’s just bias and it’s real and it exists, but you have to overcome it.”

Eighth Place: A High School Girl’s Life After Transgender Students Joined Her Sport

Daily Signal  "A growing number of school administrators want to silence women and girls who dare speak out about the ways transgender policies are harming them—but these brave young women refuse to be bullied or made to believe their concerns are hateful."

Journalism is Dead—Long Live the Media!

CNN’s Jake Tapper finally had to remind his television audience that, contra to the Joe Biden rollout campaign video and the progressive gospel, Donald Trump did not excuse white nationalists and Klansmen during the 2017 Charlottesville violence.

Victor Davis Hanson

"There still exists a physical media in the sense of airing current events. But it is not journalism as we once understood the disinterested reporting of the news. Journalism is now dead. The media lives on.

"Reporters today believe that their coverage serves higher agendas of social justice, identity politics, “equality” and diversity. To the degree a news account is expanded or ignored, praised or blasted, depends on its supposed utility to the effort to fundamentally transform the country into something unlike its founding.

"At the recent third president-less White House Correspondents’ Dinner, passive-aggressive journalists whined that they were victims, standing on the barricades against the all-powerful, all-evil—and all absent—Donald Trump. If the attempt was to return professionalism to the evening and eschew the pathological celebrity obsessions of the past, the result was only more confirmation of the self-referential and narcissistic culture of the Washington press corps.

"Why should we believe reporters suddenly worried about ethics, and free inquiry and speech?

"No journalist who pontificates now about the supposedly First Amendment-violating Trump ever mentions that Barack Obama had Fox News’s James Rosen (and his relatives) monitored, surveilled the communications records of Associated Press reporters, spoke with the press far less often than did Trump, and often fixated on Fox News.

"Journalists themselves had no problem with colleagues colluding with the Clinton campaign as evidenced in the Wikileaks Podesta trove. There was never much introspection about why the elite press and media corps—loudly progressive and feminist—was decimated by Me Too Movement allegations of long-standing sexual harassment and assault." . . .

Rand Paul: Americans Will Be ‘Shocked’ to Know What Biden’s Son Was Up To

Breitbart  "Sunday on ABC’s “Meet the Press,” Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) discussed a report from The New York Times on questions of former vice president Joe Biden’s potential conflict of interest.

"Partial transcript as follows:

STEPHANOPOULOS: Good morning, lets start where Chairman Schiff just left off right there that perhaps Congress should consider making it illegal to engage foreign governments, foreign assistance in campaigns. You agree?

PAUL: Well I think the American people will be shocked and dismayed to know that Joe Biden’s son was making $50,000 a month just a couple of months after he was dishonorably discharged from the military for drugs. $50,000 a month, I think most Americans will be dismayed that the president’s son was doing this while Joe Biden was actually lobbying to have this company, you know, go free of prosecution. My understanding, this was reported in the New York Times, Joe Biden was asking the prosecutor to lay off of the company that Hunter Biden was working for for $50,000 a month –

STEPHANOPOULOS: That’s – that’s not – that’s –

PAUL: — kicked out of the military, that’s extraordinary.

STEPHANOPOULOS: That’s not what – that’s not what was reported, in fact he was on an anti-corruption drive.

PAUL: Well actually that’s exactly what was reported, yes, that he got $50,000 a month right after he was kicked out of the military. That’s exactly true and nobody disputes that.

STEPHANOPOULOS: That’s very separate from what you just said about what the vice president was saying right there.

Should he say these things about Biden out of respect for his national leadership?

Frank Miniter: Student walkout at Colorado shooting vigil is a good sign. Media seems to lose interest.

Via Lucianne, which commented, "Not all millennials are brain dead. Hooray.".

Lucianne"The very public scene of hundreds of Colorado students and their parents walking out of a vigil that was turned into political theater by the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence was so embarrassing that the gun control group actually issued an apology.
"Before leaving the Wednesday night event, students shouted, in front of journalists who the Brady Campaign invited: “this is not for us,” “political stunt” and “we are people, not a statement.”
"The Brady Campaign had portrayed the event as a vigil in memory of Kendrick Castillo, a student hero who died from gunshot wounds after he and two other students charged one of the attackers Tuesday at the Highlands Ranch STEM School in Colorado.
"Eight other students were injured in the shooting. Two students were arrested and accused of the attack.
"Instead of putting together an event to bring people together to mourn, the gun control group brought in activists and Colorado politicians – Democratic presidential contender U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet and Democratic U.S. Rep. Jason Crow – to push a one-sided political agenda.
"The speakers said they weren’t there to just offer thoughts and prayers, but that they instead were there to push for more restrictions on the right to bear arms.
"We saw this with events after the shooting at Parkland High School in Florida. The events, including a CNN town hall, weren’t open forums or vigils. [It was] "orchestrated propaganda designed to push a political cause." . . .

Why the Media Suddenly Lost Interest in the Latest School Shooting  . . . "After the shooting, other than some virtue signaling by the media, the story has left the front pages, as the narrative may be inconvenient for the leftist agenda. CNN and MSNBC have lived up to their reputation as “drive-by media” by quickly moving on. No interviews with David Hogg or other gun control fanatics. So, what are some of the inconvenient aspects to this story that the media would prefer to drive by without any discussion or analysis?

"Let’s start with the weapons. The two shooters, “opened fire with handguns that were concealed in a guitar case”, as reported by the Daily Mail in an unexpected good faith effort at honest journalism. Handguns? What happened to those evil AR-15’s or “assault weapons” that Democrats and the media constantly warn about? These are what the Huffington Post calls “weapons of war.”

"The reality is that most gun crimes are committed with handguns not rifles. But this doesn’t fit the media narrative and it’s better to drive-by the story rather than explain this inconvenient truth."

It would have been so much more convenient for Morning Joe or Jake Tapper if the Colorado school shooters were cis-gendered, white, Christian males, members of the NRA, wearing MAGA hats while brandishing AR-15s. But since that wasn’t the case, don’t expect the media to linger on this shooting. Instead they will focus on Trump’s real estate tax losses from 30 years ago.

‘Transgender woman’ stripped of victory in powerlifting competition

Tony Branco

Thomas Lifson  "The future for female athletes in competitions is grim if biological males are allowed to compete with them under the theory that one can choose to be female, take some hormones and/or other treatment, and become a woman. Men are born with many advantages that make it impossible for women to compete successfully in many, probably most, sports.

"One sports federation is fighting back, and just stripped championship awards from a “transgender woman” who dominated a competition held in April. Pink News (a “Daily LGBT+ Newsletter”) is not pleased: . . .

. . . 

. . . "Since the “transgender” competitor was taking testosterone-blockers, this may be the tripwire -- or legal defense -- for rescinding the championship.

"My guess is that because transgenderism reigns so powerfully in the media, educational and government establishments, they will try to ignore or dismiss this move, on the ground that the federation involved is “one of dozens” or maybe a fringe group.

"But there are girls and women out there who train hard every day seeking athletic excellence. Their dreams competitive triumph are being dashed by men who desperately want to be women despite sporting an X-chromosome in every cell of their bodies. We shall see whether propaganda and intimidation can overcome nature and common sense when it comes to women’s athletics. " 

More on this at the Daily Wire:    . . . “Men naturally have a larger bone structure, higher bone density, stronger connective tissue and higher muscle density than women," the board wrote. "These traits, even with reduced levels of testosterone do not go away. While MTF may be weaker and less muscle than they once were, the biological benefits given them at birth still remain over than of a female.”
"Transgender athletes competing against the gender of their choice has become a prominent issue in the world of sports, particularly in the world of high school sports. Several transgender athletes have taken women's titles in lifting and track and field, leaving hardworking, biologically female athletes out in the cold, even decades after feminists finally won recognition for women-only athletic competition." . . .

When it comes to media dishonesty, people are starting to notice

Bookworm Room

"I was heartened when my assiduously apolitical sister spontaneously offered that today’s media is so corrupt and dishonest it can’t be taken seriously."

. . . "So it was that my sister told me yesterday that she really hates the way Trump exaggerates. I asked her what had ticked her off, and she told me it was the way that Trump lied when he said the new abortion bills popping up in Democrat-run states — with abortion legal up until the minute birth — would allow doctors to execute living babies.

"But that’s true, I said, at least according to the Virginia governor.

"What?

"Yup, he was on a radio show and was asked about a bill coming up in Virginia to allow third trimester abortion.

QUESTION: There was a very contentious committee hearing yesterday when Fairfax County delegate Cathy Tran made her case for lifting restrictions on third trimester abortions as well as other restrictions now in place and she was pressed by a Republican delegate about whether her bill would permit an abortion even as a woman is essentially dilating ready to give birth and she answered that it would permit an abortion at that stage of labor. Do you support her measure and explain her answer.NORTHAM: You know, I wasn’t there, Julie, and I certainly can’t speak for Delegate Tran, but I would tell you — one, the first thing I would say is this is why decisions such as this should be made by [healthcare] providers, physicians, and the mothers and fathers that are involved. There are — you know when we talk about third-trimester abortions, these are done with the consent of, obviously, the mother, with the consent of the physicians, more than one physician by the way. And it’s done in cases where there may be severe deformities, there may be a fetus that’s non-viable. So in this particular example, if a mother is in labor, I can tell you exactly what would happen. The infant would be delivered, the infant would be kept comfortable, the infant would be resuscitated if that’s what the mother and the family desired, and then a discussion would ensue between the physicians and the mother. So I think this was really blown out of proportion.

"In other words, Northam speaks approvingly of a scenario in which a baby is born alive, and kept alive, only to have the mother and doctor engage in a subsequent conversation about whether the baby so defective it should subsequently be executed. This viewpoint is right out of Sparta." . . .

American Thinker.

Alyssa Milano Calls for Sex Strike, Ignites Social Media

Snopes

The actress ignited social media with a tweet calling for women to join her in a sex strike to protest strict abortion bans passed by Republican-controlled legislatures.

Milano pictured in her publicity shot at the Kavanaugh hearings

. . . "Milano received support from fans and fellow actress Bette Midler joined her in also calling for a sex strike with her own tweet. But both liberals and conservatives also lampooned her idea, with conservatives praising her for promoting abstinence and liberals saying she was pushing a false narrative that women only have sex as a favor to men.

"Milano said the criticism didn’t bother her and that her tweet was having her desired effect, “which is getting people to talk about the war on women.' ” . . .

Alyssa Milano Doubles Down On Idiotic ‘Sex Strike’ With Incredible Lie

. . . 

Cool. Be extremely careful. If you get pregnant and miscarry, and they can’t prove you didn’t miscarry on purpose, you can get thrown in jail for a long time in Georgia. #SexStrike  — Alyssa Milano (@Alyssa_Milano) May 11, 2019

"If it sounds like she’s suggesting that authorities will throw women in the slammer for having a miscarriage, it’s because she’s suggesting that authorities will throw women in the slammer for having a miscarriage.

"Miscarriage isn’t a choice. Going out of your way to have an abortionist suck your baby out with the medical equivalent of a vacuum cleaner is."

Anyone who has suffered thru a miscarriage knows how disingenuous you are being here.— Sede Vacantist (@dibassetto) May 12, 2019

That is a lie. Stop it.— Barbara Ansley (@BarbaraAnsley) May 12, 2019

. . .  

The endgame for reparations

With this in mind, we needn't worry about reparations ever actually coming about.  Its only real use is as a piñata on which to take out our frustrations when we lose patience with leftist phoniness, insincerity, and destructiveness. Richard Jack Rail

American Thinker  . . . "Apart from the complexities of determining who might get reparations and who should pay, we never hear about the endgame.  Are reparations supposed to resolve black America's complaints?  Or will black America simply turn up the demands, saying that $500B isn't enough?  How much would be enough? One hundred trillion dollars in doubloons? a googolplex of gold rands? all of America west of the Mississippi?

"If that part ever gets sorted out, perhaps we could then talk about black behavior.  There are the endless shootings and murders in the ghetto.  There are the victims of "the knockout game" and muggings in the streets.  There are the large groups of blacks who go into restaurants, eat a huge meal, and then strut out without paying, usually disrupting other diners and wreaking destruction on the way out.

"It's highly doubtful that reparations will ever be paid or that black behavior will ever be discussed at policy levels.  It's all about Democrats having a club to beat America over the head with, to keep decent America on the defensive, to keep Republicans in the corner where they don't know how to respond.  Republicans were innocent of imposing slavery or Jim Crow, both of which were as Democrat as the KKK." . . .

Rev Lloyd Marcus

Uh-oh! The 'reparations study commission' dodge of Dem presidential contenders is in peril  "A Democrat running for president is calling for actual money — a lot of it — to be spent on "reparations for slavery," breaking the informal understanding to relegate the idea to a study commission.  Because ultra-high black turnout and support are essential to any Democrat presidential candidate, nobody can afford to dismiss the idea of "reparations" as a ridiculous, problem-ridden proposal.  Lots of blacks, and some whites and other races, support the idea, but overall:" . . .

The riots and the "knock-out games" have sadly overwhelmed any discussion of deserving African-Americans like the father Of Lloyd Marcus.

The Tuskegee Airmen

Double standard? What's Maxine Waters doing on any congressional committee seat with that slate-mailer op run by her daughter?

Rep. Waters's committee disbursed two payments to her daughter, Karen, in the amounts of $42,000 and $8,000 during the first quarter, which runs from Jan. 1 to March 31. The $50,000 in payments were made to Karen for running a slate mailer, or endorsement mailer,operation from the campaign and were the most paid out by the committee for any activity throughout the first three months of the year.

Typical slate mailer to check carefully for any voter deception.

 Monica Showalter
. . . 

Many Republicans contacted me to ask why the Republican Party was endorsing a bunch of Democratic candidates in the upcoming city elections. They had received very convincing mailers that featured pictures of elephants or Ronald Reagan, or both, typically accompanied by the words, “Republican Voter Guide” and “Take this card to the voting booth with you.”

But the Republican Party isn’t endorsing Democrats and it isn’t sending out slate mailers.

There are still enough Republicans in Southern California to swing a race between two Democrats, so campaigns pay consultants to send mail that tricks GOP-registered voters into thinking Democrats are Republicans.

"I can't tell if Waters's operation is to trick South Central's conservatives (and I think there are some) into voting for the candidates that give her the most money or not, but it kind of doesn't matter. It's a gamy practice premised on selling endorsements under the color of grassroots groups that don't exist, and it doesn't contribute to clean politics or honest voting decisions. Like ballot-harvesting, it relies on voter ignorance or indifference." . . .

Slate Mailer Sleaze in L.A.

. . . "Take a lesson from 2012, when a colorful flier sent by "Citizens for Good Government" depicted an American flag and photos of Republicans Abraham Lincoln, Dwight Eisenhower and Ronald Reagan on its front and on the back an elephant and endorsements for Mitt Romney and Elizabeth Emken.
"The inside pages, however, touted some surprising names: Democratic State Assemblyman Mike Gatto and Democratic candidate for district attorney Jackie Lacey. It encouraged a Yes vote on Proposition 30 (raising taxes to plug up the state deficit) and No on Proposition 32 (which aimed to limit unions' ability to raise money for politics) — the exact opposite of the Republican Party line.
"But on that and many other slate mailers, the "endorsements" have asterisks. Those asterisks indicate that the candidates have, in fact, paid to be on the flier; no party is endorsing them at all." .  .  .

Hollywood turns on Georgia

Ben Stiller

Ben Stiller, Mia Farrow, Debra Messing, and Minnie Driver Will Boycott Georgia If It Bans Abortion

'Heartbeat' abortion bans advance in South, Midwest: 'For pro-life folks, these are huge victories' . . . "The Louisiana legislature is halfway toward passing a law - like the ones enacted in Mississippi and Georgia - that will ban abortions after a fetal heartbeat is detected, about six weeks into a pregnancy and before many women know they’re pregnant. Alabama is on the cusp of approving an even more restrictive bill." . . .

Film companies announce boycott of Georgia to protest new heartbeat abortion law

"Georgia this week became the latest state to ban abortion upon detection of a fetal heartbeat. In response, a handful of film production companies have announced they’re following through on threats to boycott the state.

"House Bill 481 forbids abortions once a fetal heartbeat can be detected except in cases of rape, incest, physical medical emergencies, and pregnancies deemed “medically futile.” If allowed to take effect, it will ban abortions in all other cases as early as six weeks into a pregnancy starting in January 2020. Republican Gov. Brian Kemp signed it into law on Tuesday, declaring Georgia a “state that values life” and “stand[s] up for those who are unable to speak for themselves."

"While the bill made its way through the legislature, dozens of celebrities and several Hollywood institutions such as the Writers Guild of America threatened to boycott the state if the ban was signed. The film industry has generated considerable jobs and revenue for Georgia’s economy.

"Now, several production companies have announced they will refuse to film in Georgia, The Hollywood Reporter reports. Blown Deadline Productions (producer of HBO's The Deuce), Killer Films (First Reformed, Carol, and Vox Lux), Colorforce (Crazy Rich Asians, American Crime Story), CounterNarrative Films (Netflix’s Triple Frontier), and Duplass Brothers Productions (Safety Not Guaranteed, Room 104) are all pledging to boycott the state." . . 

But while Georgia may lose the business of various smaller film and television projects, the bulk of Georgia’s film-related economic activity is unlikely to be affected. The Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA), which represents Hollywood’s largest studios, is opting not to boycott, at least for the time being.