The Patriot Post® · Deranged Democrats

By Gary Bauer ·
https://patriotpost.us/opinion/49047-deranged-democrats-2017-05-12

It’s day four of the latest DC drama — the firing of FBI Director James Comey — and the Left has become totally deranged by its hatred of President Trump. I can only hope that most Americans aren’t falling for the hysterical theatrics going on in Washington.

Wednesday, Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) was spinning so fast that even MSNBC was having a hard time keeping up with her hypocrisy. Waters claimed that Hillary Clinton could fire Comey, but not Donald Trump.

Connecticut Sen. Richard Blumenthal, a man who lied about serving in Vietnam, is lecturing us about “a looming constitutional crisis.” Other Democrats are talking about impeaching President Trump.

For what? Even James Comey conceded in his farewell message to the FBI that “a president can fire an FBI director for any reason, or for no reason at all.”

There were plenty of reasons, including the fact that he was “slow walking” the investigation of intelligence leaks and Obama officials responsible for “unmasking” the names of American citizens caught up in NSA surveillance.

The Left and its media allies are in full conspiracy mode. Perhaps you saw this headline Thursday morning: “Comey Sought More Resources for Russia Investigation Before He Was Fired.”

It’s fake news. During his testimony yesterday before the Senate Intelligence Committee, Acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe denied the report, and said his agency has “adequate resources.”

Progressive Projection

I continue to be amazed by the Left’s projection — everything that progressives accuse conservatives of doing, they are doing themselves.

David Frum of The Atlantic suggested Comey’s firing was “a coup.” Coups are carried out by one branch of a government attempting to overthrow the elected leadership. But Donald Trump is the duly elected leader of this country.

The coup that is taking place is being conducted by elements of the deep state and the media that are attempting day after day to nullify the results of the election. There is nothing else on the Left’s agenda but “resistance” to everything President Trump says or does.

Chris Matthews said that there is “a whiff of fascism here.” The FBI director serves at the pleasure of the president. How does his removal resemble fascism in any way? Did Matthews accuse Bill Clinton of fascism when he fired the FBI director in 1993? Of course not.

But let’s think about this for a moment. Totalitarianism is the key theme of dystopian novels like “1984,” in which an overbearing government uses all its powers to silence political opponents. Like the Obama administration using the IRS to target conservatives and using the national security apparatus of this country to spy on political opponents.

We are now getting indications, as we previously suggested, that Obama was monitoring not just Donald Trump but other Republicans such as Rand Paul.

What are the other manifestations of fascism? Sending thugs into the streets to threaten your opposition. While the Left has been attempting to portray Donald Trump as a fascist for over a year, we know that the Obama White House was working with an individual who bragged about sending thugs into Trump events to stoke violence.

At university campuses all over the country and in major progressive cities we routinely see masked men denying First Amendment rights to conservatives and attacking Trump supporters.

So, Chris Matthews, if you’re looking for fascism, you don’t have to look very far, but you are looking in the wrong direction.

Kudos to Grassley

The Left wants Americans to believe that its president is corrupt and under investigation because it is desperate to destroy his presidency. Iowa Sen. Charles Grassley, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, is having none of it.

He opened a committee hearing Thursday morning by admonishing his liberal colleagues for their “rampant speculation” and for playing into Putin’s hands. Here are some excerpts of his remarks:

The American people deserve to know if senior government officials are under active criminal or intelligence investigation. Mr. Comey did brief Ranking Member Feinstein and me on who the targets of the various investigations are… On Tuesday, the president’s letter said that Director Comey told him he was not under investigation. Senator Feinstein and I heard nothing that contradicted the president’s statement…

Wild speculation that the FBI is targeting the president in a criminal or intelligence inquiry is not just irresponsible and unfounded. It provides aid and comfort to the Russians and their goal of undermining faith in our democracy. So, what I suggest is … that all the members get briefed by the FBI on what is actually going on. Hopefully, that will help temper some of the unsubstantiated statements that have been made.

Dissing DeVos

The radicalism and intolerance that has infected so many institutions of higher learning was on display Wednesday as Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos delivered the commencement address to the 2017 graduating class of Bethune-Cookman University, a historically black university in Daytona Beach, Florida. Graduates booed when DeVos began speaking and more than half of them stood up and turned their backs to her.

To his credit, Dr. Edison Jackson, the president of Bethune-Cookman, rejected demands that DeVos’ invitation be rescinded. Now the Florida NAACP and some teachers unions are demanding he resign.

One female graduate said that DeVos’ speech was like “a slap in the face” because DeVos could not possibly relate to her. Betsy DeVos is not known as a “hard core right-winger.” She endorsed Marco Rubio in last year’s primaries and was very critical of Trump.

DeVos and her family have been involved in tremendous philanthropic efforts, and she is a strong advocate for school choice, which helps children escape failing schools. And minority children in the inner cities would stand to benefit the most from school choice.

The Left has dominated the educational establishment for decades and we have little to show for it other than falling scores and rampant discipline problems. It is time to make American education great again. It is time for school choice and other alternatives that put our children first.