Vintage Trump

 
Watching the president's rally in Indiana last night reminded me of just how counter cultural Donald Trump is.  The drift of the popular culture is rooted in the lie that America is nothing special. 
 
The far left actually thinks our country is evil.  On the libertarian right, they think all life boils down to economic transactions, and that borders impede the free flow of cheap labor.
 
Donald Trump loves America, and he charges up that hill every time he gets a chance!  Let me share this excerpt from his remarks last night:
 
"We believe that a strong nation must have strong borders. We have pride in our history and respect for our great American flag.  And we put our large, beautiful hands on our hearts for the Pledge of Allegiance.  And we proudly stand, all the time we stand because we love that sound, we stand for our national anthem at all times!"
 
My father was an undereducated, hard-drinking, blue-collar Middle American.  At the dinner table, he would say exactly the kind of things that this well-educated, never-had-a-drink, billionaire says at his rallies. 
 
Political experts on the left and the right are still struggling to figure out how this Manhattan billionaire connected with blue-collar America in ways that previous candidates since Ronald Reagan could not.
 
By the way, President Trump is making America feel great again.  According to the latest CNN poll, optimism about the direction of the country has surged to its highest level in more than a decade.
 
 
 
Trump Derangement Syndrome
 
Here are some of the latest examples of Trump Derangement Syndrome in the media:
 

• An MSNBC panel debated whether the release of the North Korean hostages was a staged event.  Right.  Like the president of the United States is going to stage events at three o'clock in the morning.  (See next item.)
• The View co-host Whoopi Goldberg suggested that Donald Trump should be water boarded. 
• Yesterday it was announced that we caught five of the most wanted ISIS leaders.  Big news, right?  Well, most of the networks ignored it.  

Filled With Joy
 
Vice President Mike Pence tweeted about an incredible experience he had when the three freed Korean-American hostages stepped off the plane and met him yesterday morning at Andrews Air Force Base. 
 
They handed him a handwritten note with Psalm 126:1-3 on the back.  Here are the verses:
 
"When the Lord restored the fortunes of Zion, we were like those who dreamed.  Our mouths were filled with laughter, our tongues with songs of joy.  Then it was said among the nations, 'The Lord has done great things for them.'  The Lord has done great things for us, and we are filled with joy."
 
 
  
From Surveillance To Spies
 
Earlier this week, we reported that Rep. Devin Nunes, chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, was threatening to hold Attorney General Jeff Sessions in contempt unless the Justice Department responded to a subpoena for information.
 
Initial reports were unclear about exactly what Nunes might be after.  But Wall Street Journal columnist Kimberley Strassel suggests that he may have uncovered evidence that the FBI had a covert operative inside the Trump campaign.  Strassel writes:
 
"This would amount to spying, and it is hugely disconcerting. It would also be a major escalation from the electronic surveillance we already knew about, which was bad enough. . .  Now we find it may have also been rolling out human intelligence . . . to infiltrate the Trump campaign."
 
Again, my friends, we are in Watergate territory here.  More and more it seems the real 2016 collusion story is how much the Obama FBI was colluding with the Clinton campaign to defeat Donald Trump.
 
 
 
Toppling Tehran
 
What do the American people think about Barack Obama's nuclear deal with Iran?  A recent poll by Investor's Business Daily found that only 15% of Americans wanted President Trump to stay in it or "do nothing."  
 
No, that's not a typo.  I did not get those numbers reversed.  Just 15% supported Obama's deal with the ayatollah "as is."
 
In contrast, 73% wanted Trump to either renegotiate a stronger deal, which he tried to do, or get out of it. 
 
And while Iranian politicians are burning American flags and chanting "Death to America!" in response to Trump's decision to abandon the deal, there has been an outburst of pro-Trump social media posts from Iranians opposed to the radical Islamic regime.
 
Thankfully, this administration understands that the tyrants in Tehran, with or without a nuclear deal, cannot be trusted.  They proved that yet again when they fired 20 rockets at Israeli positions along the Golan Heights this week. 
 
By the way, did you notice that virtually no world leaders condemned Israel for striking back?  Iran is becoming isolated.
 
Now there is news that the White House is considering plans to promote regime change in Iran by aggressively backing pro-democracy forces. 
 
To be clear, no one is talking about "boots on the ground."  But, unlike the Obama White House, there is a clear understanding among the Trump/Pence team that outreach and diplomacy will not moderate the ayatollah's regime. 
 
The best way to achieve peace in the Middle East is for the Iranian people to take back their country from the Islamic extremists who hijacked it in 1979.
 
  

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