Hurricane Harvey slammed into the Texas coast Friday night. Over the weekend, I watched the images of terrible flooding and suffering in the coastal areas of Texas and Houston, as I am sure you did.

“The breadth and intensity of this rainfall are beyond anything experienced before,” the National Weather Service said. “Catastrophic flooding is … expected to continue for days.” Mandatory evacuations were ordered this morning as rivers are fast approaching record levels.

At least five people have been killed. Three hundred thousand people are without power, and Gov. Greg Abbott has mobilized all 12,000 members of the Texas National Guard to assist with rescue efforts.

Our prayers continue to go out to all those afflicted by this natural disaster. It always makes me sad to see the images of people who, in many cases, have lost everything and whose lives will be affected for years to come.

But I couldn’t help but notice this weekend that there was also sadness on networks like CNN and MSNBC, as multiple commentators could barely hide their disappointment that the Trump administration was, to the greatest extent reasonably possible, efficiently handling the aftermath of this storm.

On a more upbeat note, I was also struck by images of heroism and helping hands, not only by first responders but by multitudes of Texans of all races who were coming to the aid of strangers. Little Dunkirk-type rescues broke out all over the region as people with various kinds of modest watercraft headed not away from the rising water but toward it, and began using their own initiative to rescue neighbors stranded on rooftops.

I noticed in several videos how many of them had firearms on their hips. It’s a pretty safe bet that the great majority of these folks were part of that basket of people Hillary labeled “deplorable and irredeemable.”

Arpaio Pardoned

After hinting at it earlier last week, President Trump pardoned former Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio Friday night. Arpaio led the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Department for more than two decades, earning a reputation as “America’s toughest sheriff.”

Arpaio is a controversial figure. He forced inmates to wear pink jumpsuits and sleep in tents. But as an American dedicated to the rule of law, he was increasingly frustrated as successive administrations refused to effectively enforce our immigration laws. Sheriff Joe did what he could to address this travesty.

He was hated for it, and some would argue that he was unfairly prosecuted for it. But Arpaio earned the president’s respect, and Friday evening President Trump intervened.

As I wrote last week, Bill Clinton and Barack Obama pardoned terrorists and traitors. But the GOP establishment’s reaction to Arpaio’s pardon seems to be much more aggressive than its reaction to Obama’s pardon of Puerto Rican terrorists and Bradley “Chelsea” Manning.

I suspect that if voters were asked their opinion, they would prefer pardons of tough sheriffs over traitors and terrorists.

Fascism in Berkeley

The radical Left has struck again. Literally. The far-left “progressives” of Antifa showed up at a weekend rally in Berkeley, California — a rally against hate — and started attacking the peaceful gathering.

In a rare moment of journalism, The Washington Post left no doubt that Antifa’s fascist tactics were at fault. Consider these excerpts:

Their faces hidden behind black bandannas and hoodies, about a 100 anarchists and Antifa … barreled into a protest Sunday afternoon in Berkeley’s Martin Luther King Jr. Civic Center Park. Jumping over plastic and concrete barriers, the group melted into a larger crowd of around 2,000 that had marched peacefully throughout the sunny afternoon for a ‘Rally Against Hate’ gathering. Shortly after, violence began to flare.

According to the Associated Press, 13 people were arrested on charges which included assault with a deadly weapon and obstructing a police officer. Berkeley Mayor Jesse Arreguin condemned the violence, saying, “Fighting hate with hate does not work and only makes each side more entrenched in their ideological camps.”

Incredibly, it appears that local police were once again ordered to stand down. According to the San Francisco Chronicle, 400 police officers “had control of the scene at the park, stopping anyone who entered at a single checkpoint, where they confiscated anything on a list of banned objects.”

But once the black-clad Antifa “horde” showed up, “the clearly overwhelmed police force allowed hundreds of people to pass barriers and enter the park unchecked.”

Again, I urge the Justice Department to investigate this violent left-wing group that is assaulting American citizens and threatening their constitutional rights. It should also investigate whether left-wing politicians are enabling the violence by instructing police departments to give these thugs a pass.

Kudos to Jim Brown

Here’s a brief followup on a story we reported to you last week. Football legend Jim Brown spoke out strongly regarding the growing protests within the NFL against our flag and the national anthem. He acknowledged that America has issues we need to work through, but said that there are better ways to do it.

According to a report in the Cleveland Plain-Dealer, Brown addressed the players of the Cleveland Browns (his former team) and delivered the same message before Saturday’s game in Tampa, Florida, saying, “Do not disrespect your country, do not disrespect the flag.”

In last Monday night’s game, 12 Browns players took a knee. None did Saturday.

Thank you, Jim Brown!