Blue Lives Matter

2022 is not off to a good start for America.  There are growing threats abroad (see below), growing supply chain problems, soaring inflation and COVID still persists.  But most heartbreaking of all is that five police officers have already been killed in the line of duty this year protecting us. 

Their deaths leave behind grieving families and friends, shocked communities and the tears of countless people who mourn them.  This reaction is what you would expect in a good and decent country.

What we would not expect is the disgusting reaction of radical leftist groups.  One such group is BLM – the Black Lives Matter organization.  It is not to be confused with the idea that black lives matter.  Virtually every American believes that black lives and all lives matter because we're made in the image of God. 

But the BLM organization rejects that idea.  The BLM chapter here in the nation's capital is furious that people are mourning murdered police officers.

The group issued an outrageous statement insisting that we mourn instead for the people killed by the police, and they listed several names as examples.  But in every case, the listed individuals were armed and confronted police officers who rightly defended themselves. 

In other words, this radical group wants us to weep for criminals but not for police officers.  They should be condemned by every person of goodwill and by our government leaders. 

But so far today, I have not seen a word from the mayor of Washington D.C.  There's nothing from liberals in Congress and nothing from the White House.  Shame on them for failing to defend the brave men and women on the Thin Blue Line.

It shouldn't be hard for any politician to speak out against this insanity.  The obscene views expressed by the Washington BLM chapter are rejected by most black Americans. 

The country was horrified by the death George Floyd.  The officer responsible was convicted of murder.  Yet in the middle of all that emotion, polling found that 81% of black Americans wanted the same law enforcement presence or even more police – not fewer – in their neighborhoods. 

Black voters also opposed efforts to defund and disband the Minneapolis Police Department.  They understand that the danger they are facing each and every day is from criminals, not police.  They know better than most white liberals that the Thin Blue Line prevents civilization from devolving into anarchy.

Not Very Nice

Joe Biden has been in the political arena for decades.  Yet, he still struggles with a fundamental concept:  Treat every microphone as if it is on. 

At a press conference on the economy yesterday, Biden lost it when Fox News reporter Peter Doocy asked a question about rising inflation.  He was caught on an open mic mocking Doocy, saying, "What a stupid son of a b---h."

While it gets very little attention, "Nice Guy" Biden has an anger management problem, and that may be one of the reasons why his handlers don't allow him to take questions very often.

Remember when Biden fantasized about fighting Donald Trump "behind the gym"?  Remember when a young woman asked him a tough question and he called her a "lying dog-faced pony soldier"?  Remember when he yelled at a Michigan auto worker or called an Iowa voter "fat"? 

We've seen Biden's anger at Americans, including many frontline workers, nurses and first responders, who for a variety of reasons have chosen to not take the COVID vaccine.  In Atlanta, he pounded on the podium and demonized half the country as "George Wallace" and "Bull Connor" racists. 

Over the years, many people have said, "I don't agree with Biden, but at least he's a nice guy."  No, he's not a nice guy!

Nice guys don't stoke racial division for their own political gain.  Nice guys don't demonize decent Americans for simple policy disputes.  Nice guys don't insult people for asking reasonable questions.

Biden's Ukraine crisis

There are reports this morning that hundreds of Russian military trains, packed with troops, are moving into Belarus on the northern border of Ukraine.  Russia already has more than 100,000 troops and 1,200 tanks massed along Ukraine's eastern border. 

In response to the rising tensions, Joe Biden put 8,500 U.S. troops on heightened alert yesterday in a purely symbolic move.  If Putin invades Ukraine, these troops will be deployed to other eastern European nations, not Ukraine.

And what exactly are the various members of NATO doing? 

• The British are deploying defensive weapons systems, which according to the British defense minister are "no threat to Russia."  No doubt Vladimir Putin agrees with that assessment and doesn't feel threatened at all.
• Canada is sending "a small contingent of special forces."
• Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania are sending weapons to Ukraine that we provided to them for their own defense against Russia.
• Denmark is sending one ship and a few F-16 fighters to Lithuania. 
• Spain is sending four fighter jets to Bulgaria and three ships to bolster NATO forces in the Black Sea.
• Turkey is sending armed drones.
• The U.S. has deployed two aircraft carrier strike forces (here and here) to the Mediterranean. But these deployments were planned many months ago as part of routine exercises, not in response to the current crisis in Ukraine.

It's important to understand that Ukraine is in Russia's backyard.  It's like Mexico to us.  If European NATO nations are unwilling to do anything serious, it's highly unlikely that the United States would do so unilaterally. 

Moreover, the American people do not want us to engage Russia militarily.  One recent poll found that only 15% of Americans support the deployment of U.S. troops to Ukraine.  I suspect many Americans find it infuriating that Biden and Harris put defending Ukraine's borders ahead of protecting our southern border.

Meanwhile, the State Department is telling Americans to leave Ukraine immediately, warning them that they are on their own because Biden Administration doesn't have any evacuation plans in place. 

Here's the bottom line.

• We can impose tough sanctions on Russia, but as long as Germany and other European nations are dependent on Russia for energy, it is unlikely those sanctions will have the impact Biden claims.
• If Vladimir Putin has decided that can endure whatever sanctions Biden may impose, he will invade or overthrow Ukraine's government. 
• I do not believe there is any will in NATO to respond militarily, and, as I indicated above, the American people do not support sending our armed forces into Ukraine.  I don't support that either.

A final note:  We've seen this movie before.  When Putin invaded the Crimean Peninsula in 2014, the Obama/Biden Administration did nothing.  No doubt Putin is expecting a similar reaction from the Biden/Harris Administration this time, too.

Trump Was Right

For decades, European nations have spent their resources on socialist programs knowing Uncle Sam would make up for their inadequate defense spending.  When he came into office, Donald Trump immediately confronted our NATO "allies" for failing to meet their basic defense obligations. 

All the while, Trump was attacked here in the U.S. for alienating our friends and blowing up our alliances.  As usual, the Swamp's "conventional wisdom" was totally wrong.  Trump was trying to strengthen NATO by getting our allies to step up and pay their fair share! 

Trump's "tough love" worked in the short term, but four years is not enough time to reverse decades of neglect.

Many European leaders were thrilled when Joe Biden occupied the Oval Office, but now Biden is finding out just how hollow and useless NATO is becoming.  Even Sen. Ben Sasse, one of Trump's more vocal GOP critics, had to concede yesterday that Germany has effectively left NATO.