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

REACHING FOR THE REMOTE – Those imbecilic talking heads at CNN and MSNBC, spewing misinformation designed to make President Trump and his administration look bad, were at it again following the president’s address to the nation Wednesday. Their criticism that the president was in over his head, that he was unable to provide the leadership in this time of crisis, and that he doesn’t care for us, was ludicrous.

They were even critical of his breathing while speaking. CNN’s Jim Acosta called him a xenophobe for referring to the Coronavirus as a Chinese virus.  Most experts agree that it originated in the Yuhan Province of China.

Yes, President Trump failed to mention that the banning of travel from Europe didn’t include American citizens returning home and the shipment of goods.  Missteps happen when a speech is assembled just hours before its presentation.  It isn’t like the days of preparation of a State of the Union address.

The omissions in the travel ban announcement were clarified within minutes of the speech, but anti-Trumpers didn’t hesitate to leap on the initial misstep.

Of course, Democrat presidential candidates Biden and Sanders were also critical of the president’s response, making pathetic Thursday morning media statements in an attempt to paint the president as incompetent.  So much for unifying the country at this time of concern.

IMAGINE THIS – Biden even issued a fundraising plea on the back of the virus.

PONDER THIS – Does anyone recall the wide-spread cancellations of sporting events, Disneyland and Broadway shows, and conferences of over 250 during the 2009-2010 swine flu crisis that killed some 12,000 Americans?  Can you say, knee jerk?

AND HAVE YOU HEARD that Nancy Pelosi, after telling the media that she had discussed reasonable issues to include in a legislative package to ease the pain on citizens with Treasury Secretary Mnuchin, we learned that the Democrats attempted to stuff the Coronavirus legislation, with unrelated matters like abortion coverage.

MADE IN CHINA – Months ago, while our trade negotiations with China were taking place, I suggested, more than ever, we needed to buy American.

We were reminded of our reliance on medical supplies from China in the midst of the Coronavirus outbreak, including face masks, gloves and ventilators.  Noting China’s unfair trade practices in this segment, we learned that 90 percent of all U.S.  antibiotics are manufactured in China.

The president is endeavoring to bring home jobs to allow us to better protect public health, our economy and national security, with heavy concentration on more than 400 “essential medicines.”

Our current situation caused me to go to my “stack of stuff,” information I might use some day.  In doing so, I found two articles pertaining to pharmaceuticals we get from China.

The headline on a July 20, 2018 piece by Cathalijne Adams in the blog of the Alliance for American Manufacturing, “China is Quietly Becoming the World’s Pharmacy – and There Are Big Risks” obviously stunned me; why I saved it.

If that wasn’t enough, her lead paragraph reads, “It’s impossible to ensure pharmaceutical and over-the-counter meds from China are safe, experts say.”

Like Ms. Adams, I have always believed that medications and vitamins would be one of the most closely scrutinized and regulated elements under the purview of the Food and Drug Administration.  Yet, over the years, Chinese pharmaceutical operations have been at the center of recalls.

In another article, “The hidden perils of drugs imported from China,” by Betsy McCaughey in the New York Post of September 3, 2019, she warns that “When you pick up your prescription at the pharmacy, it isn’t labelled ‘made in China,’ but odds are that’s where your medications come from.”

She wrote of President Trump’s call for U.S. industries to manufacture at home, instead of outsourcing to China.  “Eighty percent of active ingredients in America’s pharmaceutical and OTC drugs – the stuff that actually makes your medicine work – come from China and India,” wrote Adams.

“U.S. factories no longer make generic antibiotics,” wrote McCaughey, asking what would happen if China cut off antibiotic exports, throwing our hospitals in a turmoil?

The FDA claims pharmaceutical ingredients are safe, but McCaughey says, “Don’t believe it.”

The fact is, that with production so far away, the FDA is understandably challenged in conducting frequent and through inspections of drug manufacturing facilities overseas.

The top 20 pharmaceutical companies have set up joint ventures or wholly-owned facilities in China

McCaughey urges our trade negotiators to “play hardball with China regarding the medical supply chain, and encourage domestic production of the drugs we depend on every day.”

President Trump has held meetings with U.S. pharmaceutical companies to discuss lower the cost of drugs and, most recently, the need for support in the effort of developing vaccines, and in virus testing materials.

When the Coronavirus is in the rearview mirror, he needs to press for our pharmaceutical production to return home.

                  May God continue to bless the United States of America.