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

WE SHOULD ALL FEEL SADNESS with what has happened to our great country. We have allowed an enemy from within, dissatisfied with the outcome of a presidential election, to foster a three-year period of hate for our duly elected president, Donald Trump, that has led to his impeachment over phony charges.

BUT WE SHOULD BE FILLED WITH PRIDE for a strong president, who has accomplished so much while enduring the wrath of a vicious Democrat Party and leftist media. The evidence is clear that he has truly made America great again, putting America first in both his domestic and foreign policies.

DO NOT DISPAIR. This effort to weaken the president’s chances for reelection will fail.  President Trump, with a long list of accomplishments and a huge body of support across the nation, will emerge from this trial even stronger to face a weak Democrat candidate in November.

A LAUGHABLE OATH – As we hear what will take place in the days ahead with the impeachment trial of President Trump, we learned that each of the senators will be required to take an oath and sign their name to it before the trial begins.

Another oath?  I thought they all took an oath to uphold the Constitution when they took office.  But wait. This is an oath specifically written into the Senate impeachment rules (XXV) that states: “I solemnly swear (or affirm) that in all things appertaining to the trial of Donald J. Trump, now pending, I will do impartial justice according to the Constitution and laws, so help me God.”

Of course, “impartial justice” are the key words.

Are we to believe that Democrats currently seeking to defeat the president in 2020 – Senators Sanders, Warren, Klobuchar and Bennet – can be trusted to provide “impartial justice?”  Do you need to be reminded of their over-the-top attacks of President Trump during their campaigns?  Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) suggests that they should recuse themselves.  And, too, what about Senators Booker, Harris, and Gillibrand, who wanted to see Trump defeated?

Rep. Val B. Demings, one of the Democrat House managers, has called for Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to recuse himself.  Republican Senators Ted Cruz and Lindsey Graham have said publicly that they will vote to acquit the president.

It’s laughable.  Even with the concerns over the positions of Republicans Collins, Murkowski, Romney and Alexander, the vote to acquit will be a partisan one.

NICE TRY – Democrat Sen. Chris Van Hollen tried to pull a fast one Thursday, revealing a “bombshell” that the General Accounting Office found President Trump guilty of withholding Ukrainian aid.  He asked the GAO to look into the matter last month, and “conveniently” it was produced on the day the senate began the formal impeachment proceedings.  Van Hollen and Nancy Pelosi made noises of adding this to the charges against the president.  Another typical Democrat dirty trick. It’s not going to happen.

In 2011, the GAO found President Obama guilty of violating two laws in dealings with the People’s Republic of China.  In 2014, the GAO found that Obama had violated the law by not notifying Congress of the trade of five Taliban prisoners from GITMO for deserter Bowe Bergdahl.  And in 2016 as was about to leave office, the GAO found that Obama had failed to follow its own health reform law in a dispute. No impeachment threats were launched.

A RETIRED GENERAL CREDITS TRUMP for his decision to take out Qasem Soleimani was the right one and that a continued forceful approach would bear positive results for the U.S., according to a CNBC report.

Gen. James Jones, 73, who served in the Marine Corps for nearly 40 years before retiring in 2007, says, “I would not let up.  And I would not listen to the appeasers of the world who kind of want to calm the waves and let’s get back to normal business.”

Speaking of the days of tit for tat provocations … “those days, I think, are over, and I hope Iran understands that.”

Taking out Soleimani “was a powerful step, we’ll see where it goes, but I think history will say that this was the right thing to do.”

To put his comments in perspective, you need to know that in 2009, President Obama selected him to be his national security advisor, a position he held until October of 2010.

As with anyone who steps down from an administration ahead of his two-year mark, there were reports that he just didn’t fit in the administration.  In Edward Klein’s book, “The Amateur,” Jones called his tenure with Obama “19 months of torture,” and was considered an “outsider.”

Jones was quoted as complaining about Obama’s political team “as major obstacles to developing and deciding on a coherent policy,” in Bob Woodward’s book, “Obama Wars.”

WARREN ATTACKS SANDERS – As expected during the last debate, Democrat presidential candidates Warren and Sanders were asked to comment on Sanders’ remark that a woman cannot win the presidency allegedly made during a 2018 conversation.  Warren told the CNN moderator that she disagreed with Sanders, who claimed he didn’t make the remark.

Obviously dissatisfied with the outcome following the debate, Warren went face-to-face with Sanders saying, “I think you called me a liar on national TV.” After brief exchange, Sanders suggested talking about it later.

The damage was inflicted, but who is hurt by it more?  It could hurt Sanders with female voters.  Female voters may like the way Warren took on Sanders, but other voters see Warren as someone with a finger-pointing, school marm persona.

INSIDERS SAY that Warren chose to confront Sanders because she saw her popularity slipping.  Is it any wonder when she suggests, for instance, that she would mandate that by 2028 no new buildings, no new houses, can be built without a zero-carbon footprint? In addition, light duty trucks and cars will be carbon neutral by 2030.

So concerned with emissions, yet Warren would end license renewals and stop the building of new nuclear plants, the safest, cleanest form of energy production.

And earlier this week, Warren said she would wipe out billions of dollars in student loans on her first day of office.

May God continue to bless the United States of America.