President Trump called Russian President Vladimir Putin Tuesday, and the Left is in complete meltdown. Why? Because Trump congratulated Putin on winning re-election. The president’s critics insist that Putin stole the election, and they are not wrong. 

But are we to believe that the Left is really going to get tough on world dictators? 

This is the same crowd that spent decades trying to accommodate the Soviet Union. Ted Kennedy begged the Soviets to interfere in the 1984 election to undermine Ronald Reagan.

And exactly when did the Left’s new sensitivity on human rights begin?

In the recent “showdown” between Vice President Mike Pence and Kim Jong Un’s sister, who runs state propaganda for her brother’s brutal regime, liberal media commentators gleefully took the side of Kim’s sister. 

When Trump played hardball with “Little Rocket Man,” the Left screamed that Trump was risking nuclear war.

When Obama ended the embargo on Cuba with no concessions on human rights, the Left hailed it as a major breakthrough. Cuba, by the way, is Russia’s major ally in the Western Hemisphere.

The Left was silent as the mullahs of Iran pushed Obama around and as he rewarded that repressive regime with billions of dollars in sanctions relief.

The media said nothing when Obama promised to prove his “flexibility” for Putin. Nor was Obama criticized for congratulating Putin after winning his third term in 2012.

As President Trump has gotten tough with China (he announced new tariffs yesterday to stop its theft of intellectual property), the Left has sided with China and warned that Trump is starting a trade war.

There is only one way to explain all of these inconsistencies: The Left is so desperate to regain power and finish its transformation of America that it will always take the opposite position of whatever the Trump/Pence administration does in order to continue its critical drumbeat and undermine the confidence of the American people. 

One last point: The president does not work for the staff of the National Security Council. The national security adviser and the NSC staff work for the president.

Everyone in the White House who saw the president’s talking points regarding his call with Putin should be given a polygraph test immediately. Whoever leaked that information should be frog-marched out of the White House for exposing classified material. 

More Hypocrisy

Silicon Valley has been in bed with the Left for years. Some of the best minds in the tech world joined the Obama and Clinton campaigns to help them effectively use social media for advertising and data mining. 

Remember when all the political analysts were so impressed with the Left’s social media juggernaut? Maxine Waters said she wasn’t worried about the 2016 election because of the social media database Obama had built. 

In fact, a top Obama campaign official bragged that Facebook “was on our side” and allowed the Obama team “to do things they wouldn’t have allowed someone else to do.”

Well, after years of conservative frustration, the Trump campaign caught up. Suddenly data mining is evil and must be stopped. Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg is profusely apologizing for the “scandal” and offering to testify on Capitol Hill. 

Once again, the Left’s hypocrisy is absolutely amazing.

Deep-State Sabotage?

I saw two stories this week that have not gotten the attention they deserve. 

ABC News reported that former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe launched a criminal investigation of Attorney General Jeff Sessions last year. According to sources, McCabe initiated the investigation at the request of Senators Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and Al Franken (D-MN), who accused the attorney general of lying about his contacts with the Russian ambassador. 

The probe was reportedly shut down after Sessions was interviewed, and obviously cleared, by Special Counsel Robert Mueller. Sessions never knew about the probe until after McCabe was fired.

Keep in mind that Republicans in Congress have had to repeatedly threaten the FBI with contempt charges in order get information. Yet one letter from two Democrats results in a criminal probe of the attorney general? Did it ever occur to McCabe to investigate Eric Holder for lying? 

Just more evidence of the “Deep State’s” efforts to sabotage the Trump administration.

The second story involves McCabe’s firing, which the Left insists is evidence of Trump’s obstruction of justice and political interference at the Justice Department.

In an interview with NBC News, FBI Director Christopher Wray forcefully rejected that assertion. Wray stated that he is “utterly unyielding” when it comes to ensuring that all decisions are free of “political or partisan influence.” Wray added that McCabe’s firing was done “objectively and independently and by the book.”

About That Deal…

Congressional leaders have reached a deal to avoid a government shutdown this week. It is very frustrating to see another of these late-night, last-minute, budget-busting bills. 

My friends, the House did its job. It passed a budget and a dozen routine appropriations bills. The Senate did not due to the filibuster, which is why we are in this mess with Democrats exercising so much influence over the process.

As frustrating as that may be, the worst possible reaction conservatives could have is to give up and walk away. That is exactly what the Left and the media want you to do — to blame the conservatives you elected for the lack of progress. 

As I have argued before, Republicans do not effectively control the Senate. We need more conservatives in Congress, not more liberals. 

It’s also another reminder that the Senate majority must reform its rules in order to ensure that our agenda prevails. I am pleased to report that some conservatives are trying to do just that.

White House Legislative Director Marc Short last week accused Chuck Schumer of “weaponizing Senate rules” and subjecting Trump nominees to a record 79 filibusters, compared to just 17 filibusters against the nominees of the previous four administrations. 

Democrats are forcing 30 hours of debate and useless votes on almost every single appointment. “At this rate, the United States Senate would take 11 and a half years to confirm our nominees,” Short said.

The time Senate Democrats are wasting on these pointless filibusters is time that cannot be used on other important legislative issues, like the budget and spending bills.