Here are my observations and opinions on my selected news of the day.

NOTE TO TRUMP DOUBTERS – Stop fretting over President Trump’s back and forth over the remarks of the Mob Squad. As he has stated, someone has to remind Americans what they have said about him and America.

Even the usually astute political observer Brit Hume said the president’s attacks on the squad “run the risk of uniting a fractured Democrat Party,” citing that they were otherwise enmeshed in a battle between moderates and progressive factions.

No chance, Brit. Those who would stake their political futures by supporting the Mob Squad may as well throw in the towel.

LOOK ON THE BRIGHT SIDE – If the overwhelming response the president received in Greenville, North Carolina Wednesday night didn’t give you reason to continue to support him, here are few positive notes to ponder.

The House measure to impeach the president was soundly defeated 332 to 95 with 137 Democrats joining 194 Republicans to do it in. Rep. Justin Amash, now an Independent, voted with the left.

Support for the president increased among Republicans went up from 67 percent to 72 percent after he lashed out on Twitter over the weekend on the Mob Squad, according to a Reuters/Ipsos Poll. He dropped two percent among Democrats.

Rasmussen’s Daily Presidential Tracking Poll reveals that President Trump’s approval rating slipped just one point, from 50 percent to 49 percent after his tweets.

The liberal pundit Mort Kondracke writes that “If the Democrat Party keeps surging to the left and nominates a 2020 candidate who can be credibly labeled ‘socialist,’ ‘radical,’ or just far out of the mainstream, it will not only reelect Donald Trump, but unleash a cascade of nightmares on itself and the nation. Unpopular as he is, President Trump likely would win narrowly, but whatever the margin, he will feel vindicated and unleashed.

Then there’s The New York Times liberal columnist Thomas L. Friedman, whose July 16, 2019 column, “Trump’s Going to Get Re-elected, Isn’t He?” He was referring to the feeling he got after talking with people after the two debates.

He wrote of being shocked that so many candidates were willing to get rid of private health insurance and institute Medicare-for-All, that so many were ready to decriminalize illegal entry into our country, that they raised their hands showing their willingness to provide comprehensive health care to illegals, and by Joe Biden’s feeble response to the attack from Kamala Harris.

Seemingly concerned with what he heard, Friedman then wrote, “Dear Democrats. This is not complicated,” as he offered his view of the candidate who could beat Trump – “a decent, sane person, one committed to reunifying the country and creating more jobs, a person who can gain the support of independents, moderate Republicans and suburban women. And that candidate can win.”

Unfortunately, Mr. Friedman, no candidate on the left can fill that bill.

FOUR WEAK-KNEED REPUBLICANS broke party lines to vote in favor of a House resolution that condemned President Trump for his tweets about four radical congresswomen, the Mob Squad.

I was disgusted with Rep. Fred Upton of Michigan, who referred to Trump’s “specific words that frankly are not acceptable,” and with Rep. Susan Brooks of Indiana, who said “our words matter.”

Where were they when Nancy Pelosi crafted the resolution in March 2019 condemning bigotry and hatred without mentioning Rep. Ilhan Omar by name, when it was her “words,” her anti-Semitic comments that initiated the resolution? “It’s not about her. It’s about these forms of hatred,” said Pelosi.

A double standard? Yes, but it was another opportunity for the left to attack our president.

I hope Upton, Brooks, Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA) and Rep. Will Hurd (R-TX) are feeling really virtuous.

HAVE YOU HEARD that the St. Louis Park, Minnesota city council, in the district of Rep. Ilhan Omar, voted unanimously to again recite the Pledge of Allegiance at its meetings?

Councilor Kirsten Brekke Albright said that the protest against the initial decision to end the practice of reciting the Pledge “saddened” her because it came from “mindless, but very effective agitators and organizers.” (Aka “deplorables”) After making that insult, she voted to repeal the decision because she wanted to get back to work.

If Albright wanted to focus on work, asked Ed Morrissey, why did the council go out of its way to take the action in the first place instead of surfacing this symbolic nonsense?

“The council obviously wanted to make a public spectacle with their virtue signaling by banning the pledge,” wrote Morrissey, “now they’re shocked, shocked to find that when elected officials grandstand, people not only notice but feel empowered to respond.”

For Albright and the rest of the St. Louis Park city council, Morrissey awarded the Captain Louis Renault award. Movie buffs will recall Captain Renault’s (Claude Rains) line from Casablanca in which he says he was shocked, shocked that there was gambling in Rick’ Place.

FROM MINNISOTA TO COLORADO, where Colorado State University’s online inclusive language guide, which earlier posted a list of gendered words – male, female, ladies and gentlemen – to avoid, now lists both “American” and “America” as non-inclusive words to avoid, according to Ethan Cai of Campus Reform.

“By referring to the U.S. as America, the guide claims that one “erases other cultures and depicts the United States as the dominant country.”

AND FINALLY, A SAD FAREWELL to Wesley Pruden, editor-in-chief of The Washington Times, who passed away at the age of 83 after six decades of work as a true journalist. Regular readers of this blog will recognize his name as I have often quoted him.

I last quoted him on July 17, 2019, the day he died, with his comment that the Mob Squad was “destroying the Democrat’s 2020 campaign to keep the House and regain the White House.”

                     May God continue to bless the United States of America.