Tuesday, August 18, 2020
Confronting Communist China
Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe issued a stark warning regarding communist China. In a recent statement, Ratcliffe declared:
"China poses a greater national security threat to the U.S. than any other nation – economically, militarily and technologically. That includes threats of election influence and interference."
In recent days we have seen the seriousness of China's threat. A former CIA agent and FBI linguist was arrested Friday on charges of spying for Beijing. Thankfully, the Trump Administration is cracking down big time.
- FBI Director Christopher Wray acknowledged that half of the Bureau's counterintelligence investigations involve China.
- Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is forcing the Confucius Institute U.S. Center to register as a foreign agent because it is "advancing Beijing's global propaganda and malign influence campaign on U.S. campuses and K-12 classrooms."
- Yesterday, the Commerce Department blacklisted dozens of companies affiliated with the Chinese tech giant Huawei, potentially "dealing a lethal blow to China's most important global technology company."
Covid Update
Every day the media bombards the American people with the latest Covid stats – from new cases, hospitalizations and deaths. Listening to the hysteria, you'd think Covid-19 was everywhere. But as the Heritage Foundation notes, the virus outbreaks are actually very concentrated.
For example, just 30 counties, representing 17% of the total U.S. population, account for 43% of all Covid-19 deaths. As you might expect, 23 of these 30 counties span the Amtrak corridor from Philadelphia to Boston.
By the way, we're being told ad nauseum that wearing masks is the most important thing we can do to defeat the virus. Well, in that case, why can't we vote in person with masks on?
Votes For Women!
Today marks the 100th anniversary of the ratification of the 19th Amendment, which guarantees women the right to vote.
President Trump signed a proclamation recognizing this historic achievement, and also announced that he was issuing a posthumous pardon to famed suffragette Susan B. Anthony, who was fined $100 in 1872 for voting illegally.
By the end of the day, the left will be condemning Trump once they learn that Susan B. Anthony was not only a proud feminist but staunchly pro-life.
The Sanders/Kasich Show
There was a stark contrast during the first night of the Democrat National Convention. Democrats were simultaneously trying to appeal to some disaffected Republicans while spotlighting Bernie Sanders, Vermont's socialist senator.
Sanders honeymooned in the Soviet Union and has heaped praise on communist Cuba. Sanders wrote much of Biden's platform. And he was triumphant about it last night, bragging that his ideas are now mainstream within the Democrat Party.
"The 110-page Biden-Sanders manifesto is the most radical policy document of either major party in our lifetimes. It leaps to the left of the Obama Administration on nearly every policy area, from education to taxes to climate change."
Then there was John Kasich, the former Republican congressman and governor from Ohio. Kasich attempted to assure Americans that Biden wouldn't be a radical left president.
Being a virtual convention, there was no chance for Kasich and Sanders to meet behind the scenes. That would have been an interesting conversation given their divergent views on a potential Biden presidency.
Progressives weren't happy about Kasich's appearance. In fact, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez hit back at the former Ohio governor, tweeting, "a Republican who fights against women's rights doesn't get to say who is or isn't representative of the Democrat party.
Most Chutzpah
If they made awards for chutzpah, Governor Andrew Cuomo would win hands down. Last night, Cuomo blamed the president for the coronavirus when he presided over more Covid deaths (33,000) than the states of California, Florida and Texas combined (31,000).
It's the "Chinese coronavirus," but Cuomo gives communist China a pass. He refers to it as the "European virus."
Meanwhile, former First Lady Michelle Obama delivered the keynote address last night. But Mrs. Obama got factchecked by the Associated Press over the widely distorted claim that the Trump Administration "put children in cages."
As the Associated Press noted, those "very same 'cages' were built and used in her husband's administration, for the same purpose of holding migrant kids temporarily."
Most Bizarre Performance
I hesitated to include this, but last night the convention closed with Billy Porter and Stephen Stills using an ode to the 60s street protests to promote the demonstrations in the streets today. You can see it here.
After you recover from the initial shock of this bizarre performance, be certain to browse the viewer comments. I promise they're worth it! Most people hated the Porter/Stills performance.