The U.S. Can Afford to Stay Calm with Iran

Victor Davis Hanson

The Trump administration can sit back and monitor Iran’s international ostracism and economic isolation while remaining unpredictable and enigmatic.

"President Trump recently ordered and then called off a retaliatory strike against Iran for destroying a U.S. surveillance drone. The U.S. asserts that the drone was operating in international airspace. Iran claims it was in Iranian airspace. 

"Anti-war critics of Trump’s Jacksonian rhetoric turned on a dime to blast him as a weak, vacillating leader afraid to call Iran to account. 

"Trump supporters countered that the president had shown Iran a final gesture of patience — and cleared the way for a stronger retaliation should Iran foolishly interpret his one-time forbearance as weakness to be exploited rather than as magnanimity to be reciprocated. 

"The charge of Trump’s being an appeaser was strange coming from leftist critics, especially given Trump’s past readiness to bomb Syrian president Bashar alAssad for allegedly using chemical weapons, his willingness to destroy ISIS through enhanced air strikes, and his liberation of American forces in Afghanistan from prior confining rules of engagement. 

"The truth is that Iran and the United States are now engaged in a great chess match. But the stakes are not those of intellectual gymnastics. The game is no game, but involves the lives, and possible deaths, of thousands." . . .

At first debate, Dems scramble to prove they’re the most pro-abortion

Life Site News

"June 27, 2019 (LifeSiteNews) – If last night’s Democratic debate made anything crystal clear, it is that abortion extremism in its wokest and most horrific form is going to be at center-stage for the duration of this presidential election. This crowd of feticide fans wants abortion on demand, without apology, throughout all nine months of pregnancy – and funded by the taxpayer. Abortion was made to sound as if it was not just a necessary evil, but a downright noble act that every woman should feel proud to commit.
"Despite that, not a single candidate would say if they would support any restrictions on abortion at all. That is because most of them have already indicated that they support abortion until birth, but are also aware of the fact that while this position might play well with far-left progressive primary voters, it is repugnant to the vast majority of the American people. 
"That said, the Democratic candidates badly wanted to trumpet their credentials. Former Congressman and failed senatorial candidate Beto O’Rourke lunged at the subject without even receiving a relevant question from the moderators, announcing that “health care also has to mean that every woman can make her own decisions about her own body, and has access to the care that makes that possible.”
" Washington Governor Jay Inslee decided that O’Rourke must be one-upped on his support for abortion, and reminded the audience, “I am the only candidate here who has passed a law protecting a woman’s right of reproductive rights in health insurance." . . .

Hat tip to The Bridgehead

Randy Newman on Short People

Youtube

Democrats gave Beto O'Rourke a look when he started speaking in Spanish at the first 2020 Democratic debate

Business Insider

"Former Rep. Beto O'Rourke of Texas spoke in Spanish when answering his first question during the first 2020 Democratic debate in Miami on Wednesday and spurred some glances from his opponents.
"This economy has to work for everyone. And right now we know that it isn't," O'Rourke said as he answered a question on changes to the US economy and the marginal tax rate. "And it's going to take all of us coming together to make sure that it does."
Sens. Cory Booker of New Jersey and Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts were seen glancing at O'Rourke as he continued answering in Spanish:" . . .

Hey, Democrats: Here’s the price I paid for your socialist dream

Enrique Padron  "American Democrats are pining ever more loudly for socialism these days, for “free” education, “free” health care and much else.
"Let me tell you about socialism as I lived it under the Fidel Castro regime.
"The house where I was born in Communist Cuba had a dirt floor, a bathroom hole-in-the-ground, which we shared with six other families, and a zinc roof that left us unbearably hot in the summer and shivering in the winter.
"We had no running water, no refrigerator and no door in the back of the house. We cooked with charcoal. My mother raised four boys by herself in that “house,” working 12 hours a day to earn 160 Cuban pesos, or approximately $6, a month.
"Why didn’t we fix it? In addition to the meager income, we had no access to hardware stores to buy nails or cement to fix our humble house. In fact, the local member of the ­National Assembly was the only person authorized to approve whether we could buy a bag of cement or a roll of roof paper — if they were available.
"We couldn’t buy these simple materials without that precious piece of paper. Can you imagine going to your congressional representative to ask for permission to buy a box of nails? Or roof tiles? Or roof paper? It seems unthinkable in the United States. But in Cuba, where we lacked the ­necessities of life, we had to. And when we complained, the authorities scolded us to be grateful for free education and free health care.
"In Cuba, it is illegal to speak against the government or complain about living conditions. We were prohibited from speaking with local media, but the journalists were state employees and wouldn’t publish our stories anyway. We couldn’t ­express our unmet needs and were reminded that we shouldn’t complain anyway, ­because we were promised — you guessed it — free education and free health care." . . .

Photo of Drowned Family Not What Dems Say It Is

Victory Girls

"As usual, however, there’s more to this story than the Democrats and the media want you to know. It turns out that Oscar Alberto Martinez Ramirez, the father, and his wife Tania were not asylum seekers. "They weren’t even unemployed. Oscar had a job in a Papa Johns pizza shop, and Tania actually quit her job in a Chinese restaurant to take care of their daughter Valeria.

"Now this young couple wasn’t rich, to be sure; in fact they were living on $10 per day and residing with Tania’s mother. But on the other hand, their government wasn’t persecuting them on account of their “race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion,” as the US Refugee Act defines asylum. In fact, Tania’s mother said they weren’t experiencing any violence.

"Moreover, Oscar’s mother didn’t want them to go:

“I begged them not to go, but he wanted to scrape together money to build a home.” 

"So there you have it. They left because they wanted to make more money. Not that there’s anything wrong with that — my grandparents did the same thing. However, they didn’t want to wait in the asylum line.

"The Ramirez family had left El Salvador on April 3, and upon arriving in Mexico they received a humanitarian visa, which meant they could work in Mexico for a year while waiting for news of their asylum request. However, after waiting two months in Mexico, they decided to make their way to the US border.

"They took a bus to Matamoros and immediately went to the International Bridge to plead their case. But, they arrived on a Sunday, and the office was closed.

"Plus, they also found out that they would have to wait weeks or months for their appointment.

"So they decided to cross the Rio Grande themselves. After all, someone told Oscar that it was easy." . . .

. . . "You can always count on Spartacus to go Extreme Pompous Ass. "But not to be outdone, Beto “Yo Hablo Espagñol, Bruh” O’Rourke also blamed Trump:

“Trump is responsible for these deaths. As his administration refuses to follow our laws – preventing refugees from presenting themselves for asylum at our ports of entry – they cause families to cross between ports, ensuring greater suffering & death. At the expense of our humanity, not to the benefit of our safety.”

"Rage at Trump ramped up at Wednesday’s debate amongst the second stringers on the Team Democrat roster. One of them, Julián Castro, not only joined in the Orange Man Bad chorus, he had help from “moderator” José Diaz-Balart, too." . . .

Winner of #DemDebate Night One: John Delaney, whoever he is

Legal Insurrection
"Biggest Loser: Elizabeth Warren, who came across as just another politician on stage."

"The first night of the Democratic Debate was unimpressive. Most of the candidates were trying to out-liberal the others. It was all so, shall we say, unimpressive.

"The moderators clearly favored Elizabeth Warren, repeatedly going back to her for questions, particularly at the beginning.

"You had Warren’s tough gal act, Beto’s wandering mind and Spanish language lesson plan, Bill de Blasio’s almost full-blown commie schtick, Spartacus, and Amy Klobuchar’s Minnesota nice routine.

Who won?

"Let’s focus on the purpose of an early debate — for all but the top few candidates, it’s name recognition and not coming across as a marginal freak. Tulsi Gabbard achieved a little of that, but far and away the voice of sanity was someone I never had heard of.

"He spoke about how Medicare for all, which depends on reimbursement rates so low it would bankrupt most hospitals, was not viable. That goes against the grain of the Democratic Party, where most of the leading candidates have jumped on some version of Bernie’s plan."

. . . 

"Warren’s unimpressive performance should not be a surprise to anyone familiar with her 2012 debate performances against Scott Brown. She didn’t do well at all, despite her much-ballyhooed high school debating history. She’s wooden on stage because she sticks too heavily to a script. Warren emerged as just another politician on stage.

"John Delaney emerged from the complete wilderness to someone about whom people are asking, ‘who is this guy?’ For someone with almost zero name recognition, mission accomplished."

Omar: concentration camps are where people are concentrated. Kinda like the Scout Jamboree or infantry bivouacs.

Washington Times

Bank of America Cuts Ties With Companies That Help Run Detention Centers

. . . "Earlier this week, Wayfair employees protested after learning products from the website went to detention centers. Not just any products, but beds and mattresses specifically for children.

"Wayfair’s co-founder and chief technology officer Steve Conine had a hard time defending the company’s choice to ship products detention centers. From Forbes:"' . . .

Andrew Wilkow

Winner of #DemDebate Night Two: Illegal Immigrants  . . . "Decades of experience doing this kind of thing served Biden well. Kamala Harris smartly picked a fight with Biden, dare I say intentionally, and successfully used him for her best moment of the night, even if it was completely contrived. But God bless Uncle Joe, he refused to back down from Miss Victimhood Supreme."  . . .

Future world leaders debate one another

americanthinker.com

Why all 10 Dems raised their hands last night in support of unpopular free medical care for illegals . . . "How could the Democrats have maneuvered themselves into embracing policies that would alienate so many voters?

"I think the answer lies on a fatal mistake that they made in the frenzied atmosphere of Trump Derangement Syndrome.  Once they embraced the bullying tactics of the hard-left progs when applied to Trump, the GOP, and conservatives, they opened Pandora's box.  The radical wing of the Democrats shouts the loudest and has been paid enough deference by the politicians of its party that the progs feel perfectly comfortable attacking any Democrats who do not hew to their extreme policy preferences.  Having used bullies to attack their enemies, the Dems' political class are now being bullied themselves into expressing support for policies that will drive away the centrist voters to whom they must appeal in order to win the presidency.

"Not a single Democrat last night had the courage to stand up to this insane plan.  Voters will notice."

The Democrat debate farce "What characterizes a farce?  A farce is a literary piece that "contains highly improbable situations, stereotyped characters, violent horseplay, extravagant exaggeration."  Collinsdictionary.com suggests that "[i]f you describe a situation or event as a farce, you mean that it is so disorganized or ridiculous that you cannot take it seriously."
 . . . "It is hilarious to hear 20 persons boasting "I am the best" when their tirades and self-aggrandizement lacks substance and evidence.  While laughing uproariously, we can reject them all.

I fear the silliness of so many people who vote. TD

Julian Castro Pounds the Table, Demanding Abortion for Men, Too  . . . "It was not immediately clear whether Castro simply misspoke and made an unwoke gaffe by supporting abortion for a “trans female” — that is, a biological man who identifies as a woman — or had reached some transcendent level of wokeness by supporting tax-funded abortions in biologically impossible circumstances." . . .

Tragedy is good for the demagogues

Townhall

Bad Move: Bill De Blasio Quotes Che Guevara In Miami

Weasel Zippers (Video at the link)

Democrat presidential candidate Bill de Blasio quotes communist terrorist Che Guevara while speaking in Miami

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1:48 PM - Jun 27, 2019

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"Of course he meant it, he just didn’t think that he’d get called on it.

"Via CBS:

Although he will not be at the debate Thursday night, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio’s gaffe at a Miami rally has stirred controversy in Florida.

De Blasio says he did not mean to quote Ernesto “Che” Guevara, the iconic Marxist revolutionary who helped install Fidel Castro as Cuba’s dictator, during an appearance in Miami on Thursday.

“Hasta la victoria, siempre!” de Blasio said at a rally for striking airline workers at Miami Airport. The quote, which translates to “Ever on to victory,” is associated so closely with Guevara that it appears alongside his portrait on t-shirts and buttons sold as symbols of revolution.

De Blasio later said that he did not mean to quote Guevara.

“I did not know the phrase I used in Miami today was associated with Che Guevara & I did not mean to offend anyone who heard it that way. I certainly apologize for not understanding that history,” de Blasio, who in his twenties was an outspoken supporter of Nicaragua’s socialist Sandinista movement, tweeted Thursday afternoon.

Pelosi's angry women

http://www.terrellaftermath.com/

Nancy Pelosi Publicly Embarrasses AOC And Ilhan Omar  "Nancy Pelosi is known for ruling with an iron grip. Never one to tolerate dissent, Pelosi uses her considerable funding advantage to bring all the Democrats to heel.
"She knows how to play the game and she has been quite successful at it over the years. But the game has changed and new freshmen lawmakers are coming in with fame from social media and their own fundraising prowess.
"So what is Speaker Pelosi to do with these insurgents…humiliate them on national TV for one. From The Hill:

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) told CBS’s “60 Minutes” that the left flank of the House Democratic caucus represented by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) is “like five people” in a Sunday interview.Asked by Lesley Stahl about potential insurrections or pushback from the progressive wing of the party, Pelosi responded, “That’s like five people.” She also disputed that there was a distinction between herself and progressive Democrats, saying she herself identified as a progressive.When Stahl asked for Pelosi’s thoughts on the left wing of the party pushing initiatives such as “Medicare for all,” which Stahl said were “allowing the president to say you’re all socialists,” Pelosi noted the GOP made similar claims when former President Lyndon B. Johnson led the creation of Medicare in the 1960s.“This is an ongoing theme of the Republicans,” Pelosi said. “However, I do reject socialism as an economic system. If people have that view, that’s their view. That is not the view of the Democratic Party.” . . .