Here are my observations and opinions on my selected news of the day.
SARAH SANDERS gets last laugh. (dailymail.co.uk)
LAST LAUGHS – I thrive on them. Trump supporters have had many, dating back to his surprising victory over Hillary Clinton in 2016. I can still hear the left media pundits, and some on the right, saying “there’s no path to victory for Donald Trump.”
President Trump’s press secretary Sarah Sanders had one of her own during the president’s visit with Queen Elizabeth II. She was one of some 170 individuals invited to the dine at the state dinner hosted by the Queen; escorted to the event by Prince Michael of Kent, the queen’s first cousin.
You will recall, Sanders was asked to leave the small Lexington, Virginia restaurant, Red Hen, simply because of her affiliation with President Trump.
PEGGY NOONAN, a Wall Street Journal columnist and former speechwriter for Ronald Reagan, normally sticks to the King’s English while writing her view of an issue. However, within her column on big tech becoming too powerful and abusive, Noonan referred to Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg as “an imperious twerp.” From what I have read and heard about him, and seeing him testify before Congress in April last year, I have to agree.
TARIFFS – Don’t believe what you hear about President Trump liking them. By now you should recognize that in his effort to even the playing field for trade, he won’t hesitate to threaten by raising them. I believe China will soon see the light and return to the negotiation table.
Although it’s too soon to determine its success, his tariff threat to Mexico did result in promised action to assist us in halting the influx of migrants from Central America.
Again, a number of knee-jerk Republicans voiced concern over tariffs, without giving the president, and his negotiating team, an opportunity to level the playing field.
“The political establishment is a lot like the big-business community – risk averse and satisfied with a slow, safe pace,” writes Hector Barreto, chairman of the Latino Coalition, who as a member of George W. Bush’s export council participated in talks with China in 2004 that led nowhere. “I watched the frustration of my colleagues as we tried the usual diplomatic approach and Chinese officials brushed us off.”
While seeing Trump change the game and play hardball by imposing tariffs is unsettling to the cautious leaders, writes Barreto, while noting that farmers, who have something to lose, tend to cheer the president’s approach on principle, “because they know he is fighting for them, as Americans.”
In Don Surber’s blog, he jokingly referred to the National Review editors huffing and puffing over the presidents timing on tariffs, “unnecessarily complicating his own life.” They still don’t understand that the president is in this for his country, having stated that he’s tired of China and other countries viewing the U.S. as their piggy bank.
TRUMP REPRESENTING THE NEW NORMAL? Jon Gabriel, guest writing in the Arizona Republic Sunday, suggests “Why Trump may be our new normal: Treating our current president as an anomaly is misguided,” as he looks to the growth of populism around the world.
While a number of pundits, including kramerontheright, believe it is Trump that has changed politics in other countries, Gabriel believes “the trend of skepticism toward globalization, open immigration and out-of-touch political elites began before Trump’s election and shows no sign of slowing down. It is a worldwide movement with each populist candidate reflecting his or her own national character,” and “Trump is merely the American version.”
Washington’s professional political class wants a return to pre-Trump normalcy – status quo, get-along, get nothing done normalcy – according to Gabriel, but “considering the mood in nation after nation, there is little chance of going back to how things were.”
DANIEL HENNINGER took a similar look at the changing world political scene in his recent Wall Street Journal column. While viewing the Brexit mess in the UK and following the results of EU elections, he writes, “Maybe it’s time to figure out why citizens in some of history’s greatest nations, all at the same time, have become fed up with muddling as usual.”
As I alluded to earlier, I believe President Trump has had an effect on them. Looking back over Trump’s speeches in Poland and Brussels, I am reminded of his encouraging other countries to think of themselves first, just as he promotes America first.
In a recent speech by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, he linked the president’s elevation of America’s interests to the idea that countries “all over the world are discovering their national identities.” I believe, thanks to Trump.
IN RESPONSE to a letter writer to the Arizona Republic citing the need to impeach President Trump, Scott Derenne of Phoenix reminds her that “While Trump’s rhetoric can be inflammatory, nobody’s perfect, and dwelling on personality issues takes away from what’s been accomplished.
“Democrats hate that Mr. Trump was elected. Well too bad. Can you imagine what some of had to endure from 2008 to 2016?” he asked in conclusion.
May God bless the United States of America.
