The Patriot Post® · Nothing New

By Gary Bauer ·
https://patriotpost.us/opinion/104490-nothing-new-2024-02-16

We reported yesterday about the unusual and vague warning from Rep. Mike Turner, chairman of the House Intelligence Committee. Things got even more unusual.
 
It has now been widely reported that the threat involved a “Russian space-based anti-satellite nuclear weapon.”
 
Really? That’s it?
 
There have been reports about the communist Chinese developing anti-satellite weapons for years. Of course, the Russians are trying to do the same thing. But there was never this level of concern about communist China.
 
It was largely ignored because Biden and his leftist allies want to work with communist China on climate change and multinational corporations want “free trade” with the communists so their CEOs can have multiple million-dollar homes.
 
My antenna goes up every time official Washington freaks out over Russia while communist China is methodically preparing for war. 
 
I’m old enough to remember when Sputnik went up in 1957. The headlines then blared, “Russians To Attack U.S. From Space.” Of course, it was a legitimate fear at the time.
 
So, let’s go back 24 hours.
 
Chairman Turner urged Biden to declassify the Russian information so Congress and our allies can respond. Fine. But he issued his statement the day before congressional leaders were scheduled to be briefed.
 
When asked about Turner’s warning, Speaker Mike Johnson, who has the quiet confidence of a man of faith, said, “I want to assure the American people, there is no need for public alarm. We are going to work together to address this matter.”
 
Most reporting indicates that this threat is not about launching a nuclear weapon at the United States from space. The focus appears to be some kind of threat against our satellites, which are critical for military communications.
 
But, again, that’s not a new threat.  Even the Yemeni Houthis have the capability of launching missiles, provided by Iran, that leave the earth’s atmosphere before they come down to the target. Israel recently shot one down in space.
 
Don’t get me wrong. There are serious threats that need to be considered.
 
I have repeatedly asked what our government would do if communist China simultaneously launched an invasion of Taiwan, hacked major U.S. electrical and water systems, and took out a dozen satellites that we depend on for command and control. That’s essentially their strategy.
 
After being partially blinded and paralyzed, how would we respond? Would we counterattack with a nuclear strike on China? 
 
The bottom line is this: The Chinese, the Russians and other nations can likely take out our satellites now. 
 
 
 
Why Now?
 
So, the obvious question is: Why did this become a huge issue Wednesday? 
 
Well, it’s an election year…
 
Biden is intellectually challenged and weak… Our enemies know it.
 
Ukraine funding is being blocked by MAGA Republicans who are correctly demanding to know where the money is going…
 
And Section 702, which gives our intelligence agencies enormous power to deal with our enemies, is up for reauthorization.
 
Just this week, we learned yet again how the intelligence community has abused its power to target Donald Trump, the MAGA movement and, by extension, all of us.
 
Defense hawks in Congress, which includes many good people, want to reauthorize that law with minor, insignificant reforms. Populist conservatives want to protect our constitutional rights and are demanding real protections for the American people. (See below.)
 
That bill was supposed to be voted on yesterday or today. But Wednesday, Speaker Mike Johnson pulled it off the schedule because the voices for reform are stronger than anticipated. Good!
 
So, with Ukraine funding and Section 702 reauthorization stalled, it seems some people thought this was a good time to get everyone riled up about Russia.
 
 
 
Who Knew?
 
As the media were hyperventilating about Turner’s warning, it got me thinking.  Yes, we’re facing real dangers in space, and the next war will be fought in space. Who first started warning us about this? Two guys really stand out. 
 
Ronald Reagan, who I served with, reminded the country that we were facing dangers from space, which prompted him to create a missile defense system. The left mercilessly mocked him and belittled the program by labeling it “Star Wars.”
 
Who is the other guy? Oh, I remember — Donald Trump. He wisely announced the creation of a new military branch called the Space Force to address the multiple threats from space. Again, there was overwhelmingly derision from the left and the media.
 
I’m sure there are good people in the Space Force working to keep us safe. Sadly, however, like much of Biden’s military, it is also riddled with leftist nonsense. That’s not what Trump wanted. But it is what Biden wants.
 
I’ll take warnings from this administration about threats to the United States more seriously when they stop trying to turn our military into something resembling the LGBTQ club at Berkeley.
 
 
 
No Lectures, Please
 
For those who may not know, I have worked my entire adult life advocating for a strong military to protect us and prevent war through strength.
 
I joined the 1980 Reagan campaign because of his commitment to winning the Cold War. I represented the Reagan White House on a special commission that investigated how the Soviet Union deliberately starved the Ukrainian people.
 
I fought major elements of the Republican Party that wanted to trade with communist China because they thought it would change the communists. I vehemently argued that it would change us, and it has. Today, American corporate CEOs are some of communist China’s biggest cheerleaders and lobbyists.
 
Nobody needs to tell me I don’t understand the threats we’re facing.  I’ve been working on these issues for most of my life.
 
I am also painfully aware of how much money we have spent in recent decades that doesn’t seem to be yielding what it should. We need to reform the Pentagon bureaucracy as much as any other government bureaucracy. 
 
 
 
The Binder
 
Here’s a brief follow-up on yesterday’s item about the Deep State’s spying on Donald Trump. The latest revelations come from journalist Michael Schellenberger.
 
I must stress that Schellenberger is not a right-wing conservative. He’s not even a Republican. He did not vote for and does not support Trump. There are no ulterior motives in his reporting.
 
That’s why I trust Schellenberger, and believe he has uncovered efforts by the intelligence community and the CIA to “subcontract” their illegal spying of the Trump campaign to allied foreign intelligence agencies.
 
But there’s more. 
 
Schellenberger also says that “very credible sources” inside the intelligence community tell him that Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home may have been raided in order to recover a lost binder. 
 
What’s the big deal about this binder? Schellenberger’s sources say it contains evidence of the CIA plot against Trump and proves that the entire Russia collusion scandal was a “U.S. government-initiated hoax.” 
 
Shellenberger adds, “The implications are profound, and the raid to recover it suggests a dramatic and troubling effort to conceal the truth.”
 
Stay tuned!
 
 
 
Biden’s Anger
 
Hours after Special Counsel Robert Hur released his report on Joe Biden’s handling of classified materials, Biden went to the White House podium and launched into a tirade against the special counsel.
 
At one point, the president discussed his deceased son, Beau, saying:
 
“I know there’s some attention paid to some language in the report about my recollection of events. There’s even a reference that I don’t remember when my son died. How in the hell dare he raise that. Frankly, when I was asked the question, I thought to myself it wasn’t any of their damn business.”
 
He delivered those remarks with great anger, but it was an odd moment and an odd comment. 
 
The date of Beau Biden’s death is public information. It’s in Biden’s own book. Why get so angry about it? Was that contrived anger? It’s worse than that.
 
Two people in the special counsel’s office went to NBC News to set the record straight. They said Special Counsel Hur never asked about Beau’s death. It was Joe Biden who brought it up first while trying to remember other events around that time. But he struggled to remember the year Beau died.
 
Apparently, Biden can’t even remember the interview correctly. No wonder the White House is ordering the media to stop covering Hur’s report!
 
The White House staff had the transcript of the interview. Yet, they went ahead with this press conference and allowed the president to smear Special Counsel Hur. “Nice Guy” Joe Biden does this all the time.
 
 
 
Defending Faith, Family & Freedom
 
In this week’s episode of the “Defending Faith, Family, and Freedom” podcast for the James Dobson Family Institute, I speak with my good friend, Tom Rose, former editor of the Jerusalem Post. Tom provides a 100-day update on Israel’s war against Hamas, and shares astonishing revelations recently discovered by the Israel Defense Forces.