My observations on a few items in the news.
MEDIA BIAS AGAIN REVEALED IN USA TODAY – If you were an editor, who would go to in an effort to seek out an opinion on how President Trump was received on his European trip? Why, you would go to former President Obama’s permanent representative to NATO, of course. It’s how “fake news” is developed.
The paper, featured a pull-out quote from its article and published it in a blue typeface in the center of the page – “I think what grates on European leaders is the sense that he does not meet them as equals, let alone as allies.” – and incorrectly stated Ivo Daadler’s title as “a former ambassador to NATO in the Obama administration.
“It’s clear that in Europe at least, that anti-Trump position plays well domestically,” Daadler said, and adds, “the larger issue is that the trip didn’t go well in Europe.”
Forgetting … or maybe he just wasn’t listening during the Trump campaign … that the president consistently talked of negotiating “better deals,” Daadler said of Trump, “He approaches them in this confrontational way in an attempt to constantly get a better deal out of them.” Well, duh!
In America’s interest, the president asked NATO members to pay their fair share as members of the alliance. He should do the same in the United Nations.
You should also note that USA Today went out of its way to seek out Daadler’s comments. He’s currently the president of the Chicago (Obama’s hometown) Council on Global Affairs.
I guess Susan Rice wasn’t available for comment.
All that said, back home in the U.S., even most of the leftist mainstream media had to admit that President Trump acted “presidential.”
MERKEL’S REMARK – During a campaign speech in a Bavarian beer tent, German Chancellor Angela Merkel talked as if President Trump had written her country off, saying, “All I can say is that we Europeans must really take our destiny into our own hands.”
She’s upset that the president hasn’t agreed to follow her lead on climate, as he has held off his decision on whether to leave the Paris accord. Fear of a disaster, Merkel phased out nuclear power and has poured hundreds of billions of dollars into solar and wind, which “has done enormous harm to the German economy,” according to The Wall Street Journal. The German publication, Der Spiegel, refers to electricity as a “luxury good” in Germany.
But I’m sure she hasn’t forgotten the president’s campaign criticism of her taking in tens of thousands of Syrian refugees. Even Der Spiegel asked, “what price will the country pay for it?”
Not to worry. As the Journal points out, “The Atlantic might even benefit from more such candid talk on both sides.”
A CLOSER LOOK AT DISABILITY FUNDING OVER DUE – The president’s budget proposes long-needed reforms that would fix a dysfunctional disability system that traps Americans in dependency. Of course, liberals are accusing the GOP of “gutting the safety net.”
What most people don’t realize is that the disability program is among the most susceptible to fraud in the federal government. Two years ago, more than 100 New York City police officers were charged with defrauding the program by faking anxiety attacks and other maladies to receive up to 75 percent of their salary.
The number of disability insurance recipients has tripled since the 1980s, when Congress in all of its wisdom, relaxed requirements.
Who knows what the Senate will do with this budget proposal?
