The Patriot Post® · Trump Cancels Summit

Frustrated by the antics of North Korea’s rogue regime, President Donald Trump yesterday canceled the planned June summit with dictator Kim Jong Un. The Hermit Kingdom has been sending mixed messages for days about what it is really prepared to do.

But after the latest outbursts directed against Vice President Mike Pence, President Trump called Kim’s bluff. In a letter, the president essentially told Kim to get back to him when he is serious about meaningful talks.

Comey’s Grandchildren

James Comey’s book sales must be lagging. His tweets Wednesday morning were good examples of over-the-top attention seeking. Here’s what he wrote:

“Facts matter. The FBI’s use of Confidential Human Sources (the actual term) is tightly regulated and essential to protecting the country. Attacks on the FBI and lying about its work will do lasting damage to our country. How will Republicans explain this to their grandchildren?

"Dangerous time when our country is led by those who will lie about anything, backed by those who will believe anything, based on information from media sources that will say anything. Americans must break out of that bubble and seek truth.”

Wow! Someone really has an overinflated sense of self-importance. And it seemed to me like he was referring to the Obama/Clinton years in that last tweet. But let’s ponder Mr. Comey’s pontifications for a moment. 

This former FBI director allowed a presidential candidate and former secretary of state to get away with the “extremely careless” handling of classified material. He allowed all of her aides who knew about it to avoid justice too. 

He failed to empower a grand jury, and he never seized key evidence even when it became apparent that Hillary’s co-conspirators were destroying evidence.

He leaked FBI memos for the stated purpose of exacting revenge. He wanted his professor friend to leak the information to the media in order to secure the appointment of a special prosecutor to harass the man who fired him.

That’s exactly what happened, and it has hobbled our newly elected president for 18 months. He misled Congress about whether he ever leaked.

His key deputies — Andrew McCabe, James Baker, Peter Strzok — were driven by raw partisanship and all have been fired or demoted. Either Comey winked at their behavior and looked the other way or he was such a poor manager he had no idea what they were doing.

Comey allowed the FBI to be so politicized by the Obama administration that no matter how many murderous jihadists yelled “Allahu Akbar” before they killed us, FBI spokesmen still struggled to find a motive. They turned “See something, say something” into a joke. 

By the way, several FBI agents are reportedly begging Congress to subpoena them so they can tell their stories about the abuses they witnessed under Comey.

With an abysmal record like that, I think Mr. Comey is the one who should be worried about explaining things to his grandchildren.

Media Malpractice

In the media’s rush to be first, much of what is reported often turns out to be wrong. For example, when Jared Kushner had his security clearance suspended, the media eagerly wrote stories speculating about how much trouble he was in, how it might be proof of collusion and how he might be headed to prison.

Well, Wednesday, Kushner got his permanent security clearance. So it turns out that everything the media wanted us to believe was completely wrong. The intelligence community would not clear a top White House aide if it had any concerns about collusion with a foreign power.

About That Poll…

Earlier this week, I referenced an outlier poll on the generic ballot for control of Congress. It stood out because Democrats have been leading all year long, in some cases by double digits. While individual polls are just snapshots in time, several recent polls confirm that Democrats are losing their lead.

I don’t know if this latest poll showing Republicans up six points is accurate or not. I do know that history is not on the GOP’s side.

But I was thinking about factors that might explain a sudden pop in support for the GOP.

For starters, the economy is improving and wages are up for the first time in a long time. That is one possible explanation. But I also wonder if it has anything to do with the issues that have been driving headlines in recent days. Consider this:

In the past week, the president’s political opponents have defended Iran when he walked away from the nuclear deal.

They defended Hamas when it attacked Israel.

And now they are defending MS-13 gang members after Trump called them animals.

Avowed socialists and far-left progressives have won several Democrat primaries.

I realize this is no longer the same country that elected Ronald Reagan in two landslide victories. But I don’t think we are Venezuela yet either.