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

CONGRATULATIONS are in order for everyone connected with our return to the business of launching man into space, a successful government/private sector achievement.  Working together, NASA and SpaceX have produced a truly memorable moment Saturday; launching astronauts Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken and their Dragon capsule to the International Space Station.  And, too, the successful return and vertical landing of the Falcon 9 first stage aboard the drone ship. Fantastic.

IT WAS A RUSSIAN HOAX, but then we all surmised that from the start.  The Mueller Report confirmed it, but it wasn’t until Friday that the transcripts of phone conversations between Michael Flynn and Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak were declassified and released. We now know that it was part of Deep State misinformation messaging.  It should now be put to bed.  But, not so fast.  It’s time for Judge Emmet Sullivan to scrub his plan to delay Flynn’s freedom.

Perhaps the most significant conversation surrounded Obama’s sanctions, supposedly issued as punishment for Russia’s election interference.  Flynn said nothing about lifting the sanctions, as the media peddled for years.  Flynn tried to keep things from getting out of hand, urging the Russians to avoid tit for tat responses.

Don’t expect the media to apologize for their years of fake news stories.

TWO GOOD NEWS STORIES FOR THE U.S., and we have to deal with radical mobs in Minneapolis and other cities, who want to use the murder of one man at the hands of a handful of police officers, to senselessly destroy city and private property. And projecting America, via news coverage, as a country in turmoil.

At the risk of being called a conspiracy nut, I continue to believe there are forces within and outside of our government that want to see our country fail by slow walking our economic recovery and to falsely accuse the Trump administration for fomenting white supremacy and racism.  Fortunately, we have fought them off over the past three and a half years and must persevere by reelecting President Trump in November.

MINNEAPOLIS BURNS – Earlier this week – Memorial Day – the pandemic prevented nearby Fort Snelling from holding a ceremony. For more than 80 years, the Fort had held a public ceremony, rain or shine. It was a time when the people of the Twin Cities honored those who gave their lives to preserve our freedoms.

One of those freedoms included the right to protest.  Just days later, we saw  hundreds take to the streets of Minneapolis to protest the killing of George Floyd by four of the city’s policemen. Soon, that protest turned into a riot and more than 170 businesses were looted and torched.  They were neighborhood stores, which residents depended on during the shutdown – Walgreens, CVS, grocery outlets, and, yes, liquor stores.

It appears that Target wasn’t happy to see their shopping carts used as battering rams against police cars.  They plan to close all of their 24 Twin Cities stores until further notice.

I recall travelling on those streets along the Lake Street corridor on my frequent business trips there when Honeywell’s headquarters was located nearby.

As I watched the coverage on television, I mostly saw the dregs of the city’s society in action.  They wouldn’t have paid their respects at Fort Snelling if the ceremony had been held. I imagine that most of them don’t know why we celebrate that day.

However, there was footage of a well-dressed, middle-aged white man, carrying a case of wine he had just stolen from a liquor store.  He was warily looking over his shoulder as he approached his car, a late-model SUV, parked nearby. I don’t think he knew he was being taped and that his license number could be seen clearly.  I’d be surprised if he wasn’t feeling guilty; asking himself ‘why I am I doing this?’

During the days of rioting and pillaging, the police allowed it to continue, even while their vehicles were destroyed.  Without police protection, firefighters could not respond to do their job.  Not only did they fail to protect the property of business owners, they meekly abandoned their own precinct facility. I understand that was Mayor Frey’s decision. Police cars were seen driving away as the precinct was purged.

“Minneapolis police have taken a hands-off approach to this week’s rioting,” wrote Kyle Hooten of the Daily Caller in a Wall Street Journal column, “Twin Cities Cops Stand and Watch as Buildings Burn.”   It didn’t work in Baltimore in 2015 either, when then Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake told officers to give rioters their space.

Supposedly, law enforcement officials are leery about confronting rioters because there will always be the person out there with a cell phone camera to capture what they believe is police brutality.

The mayor, Democrat Jacob Frey, failed to take leadership.  Democrat Gov. Tim Walz called in the National Guard, but I heard the general say he didn’t have the authority to stop the disgusting activities.  An 8 p.m. Friday curfew was ignored.

By Friday, other local thugs and outsider agitators, some with Antifa, began rioting in other Democrat-controlled cities, including Washington DC, Atlanta, Chicago, Detroit, New York and others.

It’s hard to believe this isn’t an orchestrated effort.

AS EXPECTED, there’s a cry for a national conversation about race.  We are a nation of 343 million people, each with our own thoughts on race; most of whom, I believe, don’t give it a thought anymore.  We are one America, but you will again hear the cry for diversity training within our law enforcement organizations.

If anything, President Trump’s accomplishments that have improved the lives of minorities need to be more effectively communicated.  How many of them are aware of his historic criminal justice reform bill, his opportunity zone support, and the financial support he endorsed for black colleges and universities.

OF COURSE, TRUMP IS BLAMED – Not for the physical restraining and murder of the George Floyd, but because he’s an easy target.  President Trump first saw the video of the policeman with his knee on Floyd’s neck while flying on Air Force One, and was quick to comment his disgust, and ordered the DOJ and FBI to launch an immediate investigation.

Shamefully, Rep. Val Demings, one of the black women being vetted as a possible running mate with Joe Biden, made the outrageous statement: “This isn’t just about what’s happening in Minnesota.  This is about America as a nation.  The nation is on fire and the President of the United States is standing there with gasoline.”  Demings is known for her anti-Trump showboating during the impeachment trial.

THEN THERE’S Sen. Amy Klobuchar, who may no longer be under consideration as Biden’s running mate, even though she was thought to be high on his list.  Scrutiny into her background as a Hennepin County prosecutor revealed that she declined to prosecute a number of police officers cited for excessive force, and did not prosecute Derick Chauvin, the man who had his knee on the neck of George Floyd, who had at least 10 conduct complaints against him over his 19-year career.

HIT HIM, HIT HIM AGAIN – Arizona’s Gov. Doug Ducey continues to be the punching bag of the left-leaning Arizona Republic.  On Friday, liberal columnist E. J. Montini wonders “if Ducey has the guts to shut down Arizona again if things don’t work out,” like a rise in Covid-19 cases.

After all, “Ducey folded to public and political pressure when he reopened the state.  He’s a Republican governor with a bullying Republican president breathing down his neck,” Montini comments.

Then, on Saturday, the paper’s bleeding-heart liberal, Laurie Roberts, hits Ducey again under the headline, “Why is Gov. Ducey soft on bars in Scottsdale?”

Killjoy Roberts can’t stand to see people enjoying themselves in the bars and clubs in Scottsdale’s Old Town district, ignoring distancing and mask requirements.  She wants Ducey to come down hard on them and enforce the Class 1 misdemeanor charge with its $2,500 fine and six months in jail punishment.

Much to the dismay of both Montini and Roberts, who want to see a second wave shutdown, it ain’t gonna happen.

May God continue to bless the United States of America.