Here are some of my observations on the news of the day.
NO MATTER WHAT THE PRESIDENT DOES OR SAYS, the media is never satisfied. It’s always wrong, reckless, unpresidential, not detailed enough, or it’s too late.
WHAT WERE THEY THINKING when the city of Charlottesville approved a permit for the white supremacists to gather in their city? They invited trouble. And, as if that wasn’t enough, the police were ill-prepared, not wearing riot gear.
President Trump has been highly criticized for his initial statement on events in Charlottesville: “We condemn in the strongest terms this egregious display of hatred, bigotry and violence, on many sides. On many sides. It’s been going on for a long time in our country. This has been going on for a long, long time.”
Isn’t it interesting that the media freely criticizes him for not understanding the hate exhibited in Charlottesville, while they regularly spew such hate for the president.
NORTH KOREA – The president was also taken to task for his warning to North Korea: “North Korea best not make any more threats to the United States. They will be met with fire and fury like the world has never seen.”
Thst statement, too, was heavily criticized by the media and others, including RINO Sen. John McCain. Yet the following equally stern statement by Defense Secretary James Mattis, gained little coverage: “The DPRK should cease any consideration of actions that would lead to the end of its regime and the destruction of its people.”
Mattis and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson have both pronounced the end of our strategic patience with the tired “kick the can down the road” strategy of previous administrations.
The president’s warning may have been bellicose, but he did – at least for the time being – succeed in causing Kim Jung Un to rethink his plan to send missiles toward Guam.
What about this statue of the late Sen. Robert Byrd, former KKK grand klegal? (atlantablackstar.com)
REGARDING THE REMOVAL Of MONUMENTS tied to racists. Where will those misguided individuals begin with the more than 50 statues, government buildings, schools, bridges,and highways named for the late Sen. Robert Byrd (D-WVA), former grand klegal of the Ku Klux Klan.
IT ISN’T THE FIRST TIME THAT HAS COME UP – During the 2015 uprising over the Confederate flag in Charleston, South Carolina, CNN host Ashley Banfield asked co-host Don Lemon whether that means we should take down a memorial to former President Thomas Jefferson. “There may come a day when we want to rethink Jefferson. I don’t know if we should do that, but when we get to that point, I’ll be happy to partake in that particular discussion.”
I’m sure he would.
And, what about Mount Rushmore?
JUST WHAT HAVE “WE” WROUGHT by agreeing that Civil War statues have to go? I wrote about New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu’s foolish attempt to erase history by ordering the removal of statues in his city in an earlier post. There must be tens of thousands of such historical monuments in the United States. I am reminded of one honoring Michigan men who served in the Union Army, located in a cemetery in my hometown. As a Boy Scout, I participated in Memorial Day activities there. I wonder, will the city fathers cave to those who want it removed?
DEMOCRATS AND THEIR LOVE OF TAXES – Some time ago I wrote about Philadelphia’s plan to tax soft drinks to fund universal pre-K education. The Tax Foundation reports that just 49 percent of the revenue in practice in the first five years while the rest is going to fund government worker benefits and other city programs, The Wall Street Journal published. To make matters worse, soda tax collections in the first six months were already $6.9 million below the city’s estimate of $46.2 million.
Here are two consequences: The tax on soda is $1.92 a gallon, while Pennsylvania’s excise tax on beer is eight cents a gallon, giving beer a slight price advantage over soda for the Keystone State’s thirsty.
And, with estimates of soft-drink sales down by as much as 45 percent, the Teamsters’ local reports that the income of delivery truck drivers has been halved and 165 members have lost their jobs. Pepsi announced earlier this year that it was laying off about 20 percent of its local workforce.
Of course, Philadelphia’s mayor is a Democrat.
