Questions

Let’s get something straight from the get-go—the history of U.S. relations with Iran did not begin when Donald Trump took office.  But judging from recent comments, the left doesn’t to want to acknowledge we’ve been in a de facto war with Iran since they overran our embassy in Tehran in 1979.  They also seem to have forgotten that Qasem Soleimani had been killing Americans for more than twenty years, yet to many on the left, taking out the man who was perhaps the world’s number one terrorist wasn’t a particuarly good thing.

In questioning the president’s motives in taking out Soleimani, the left, which now includes most of the mainstream media, i.e., the NY Times, the Washington Post, NBC, MSNBC & CNN, along with many in Congress, also seems to have forgotten about Anwar al-Awlaki, the first U.S. citizen to be targeted and killed by a U.S. drone strike without being afforded the rights of due process.  President Barack Obama ordered that strike (along with 570 other strikes) without consulting with Congress.  Additionally as they left criticizes the president it conveniently neglects to mention that al Awlaki’s son, Abdulrahman al-Awlaki, a 16-year-old U.S. citizen, was also killed in a U.S. drone strike two weeks after his father was killed.  Regardless of the morality or legality of the aforementioned situations, it’s the hypocrisy of the left on these matters that should be disturbing.

Trump derangement syndrome is off the rails.  If you listen to MSNBC or CNN the president came very close starting a war with Iran because IF het did such and such, then THAT would surely have happened; or IF the president took this action then some other disaster would surely follow ad nauseam.  Personally, I prefer facts to speculation and conjecture.  Like all presidents, Donald Trump walked into the Oval Office with the “leavings” of his predecessor; seldom does a new president begin his term problem free.

For better or worse, Trump inherited the Obama economy, and three years on, I think it’s fair to ask if most Americans believe they are better off economically today than they were three years ago. Trump was also handed an ISIS’ Caliphate that was murdering and enslaving thousands and controlled large swaths of Iraq and Syria.  Three years later and the caliphate has been decimated, culminating in the death of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the then-leader and self-proclaimed “caliph” of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) terror organization. Now, I happen to think that’s a good thing and should be celebrated by all of us.  But I also think it received about three days of media coverage.

Meanwhile, no U.S sailors have been taken prisoner and humiliated on the world stage – remember the abhorrent video of our sailors on their knees with hands raised during the Obama administration?   Nor has North Korea tested an ICBM or a nuclear device since Kim and the president met.  Perhaps tomorrow Kim will shoot off a new rocket, but no president since the Korean War has actually met with a North Korean leader until Trump.  Will Trump’s strategy work, who knows, but nothing we’ve done since 1954 has been effective so why not try something different?

As an aside, in another disturbing matter regarding North Korea, even the most ardent progressive should have found it unconscionable that before the Russia hoax was exposed, Nancy Pelosi would hold a hearing and put the president’s former attorney, Michael Cohen on the stand while the president was negotiating with Chairman Kim.   —how very shameful but more importantly, how un-American.

As I said to a friend recently, I’ve long believed the skills of the surgeon are more important than the surgeon’s bedside manner—and the same goes for presidents.  So I think the following are the real questions to ask…

• Are you better or worse off economically than three years ago?
• Do you believe the USMCA will be better for the USA than was NAFTA?
• Is it a good thing that we are now energy independent?
• Do you believe being energy independent has affected our ability to negotiate in the Middle East?
• Is it good that we’ve re-established deterrence with Iran, i.e.,and there’s a clear red line – don’t kill an American!
• Do you think it was a good thing NATO anted up another $400 billion since Trump held their feet to the fire?
• Were eliminating Qasem Soleimani and Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi a positive for America?
• Is our military in better condition than it was three years ago?

We can disagree and debate about climate change, healthcare, immigration, Supreme Court Justices and any number of other matters, but the issues noted above should be celebrated by all Americans; but somehow the left seems is bent on putting a negative spin on each.