The Patriot Post® · 'A Tougher Direction'

Once again, President Trump is acting like the tough CEO that he is. Clearly frustrated by the crisis at the border, President Trump is shaking up the leadership at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

First the White House announced on Friday that it was dropping the nomination of Ron Vitiello to lead the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency (ICE). The president told reporters, “Ron’s a good man. But we’re going in a tougher direction.”

And it seems that part of that “tougher direction” included replacing the person at the top of DHS. News broke Sunday that Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen had submitted her resignation after meeting with the president.

President Trump later announced that Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Kevin McAleenan will become acting DHS secretary later this week.

In addition, it was announced yesterday that the director of the Secret Service and three other top officials were on the way out as “part of a system-wide purge of senior management” at Homeland Security.

Former ICE Director Thomas Homan praised McAleenan’s appointment, saying, “Kevin is probably one of the smartest guys I ever worked with… He knows border issues, and he can hit the ground running… He will think outside the box… Kevin will put his foot on the gas.”

I hope Kevin McAleenan can make a difference in the border crisis, but Homan admitted that “a lot of hands are tied” by bad laws that liberals in Congress refuse to address, specifically the abuse of our asylum laws and how migrant families are processed. 

Speaking on “Fox & Friends” Monday morning, Rep. Michael Burgess (R-TX) made the point that Democrats in Congress are not interested in solving this crisis because they are all in on open borders. Burgess said:

Right now the rhetoric … I’m hearing in my committees and what is being discussed is people want no borders.  The Democrats want no borders… They really do favor just having a region rather than a border and let the free flow of goods and people come just traverse that area…  But the rhetoric that I’m hearing on the Hill is … not in favor of strengthening border security.

As we have repeatedly pointed out, Burgess is correct. The left wants open borders. Any talk about “border security” by Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer is just that — all talk. The policies the left promotes are the exact opposite of border security.

Progressive politicians want to decriminalize illegal border crossings. 

They want to tear down the few border barriers we currently have. 

They support sanctuary cities that shield illegal aliens from law enforcement. 

They want to abolish ICE. 

They want illegal aliens to vote. 

How do you begin to compromise with or find common ground with this radical agenda? 

Speaking Of Radical…

Vermont socialist Bernie Sanders thinks we should let convicted felons vote. No, he doesn’t mean after they’ve served their time and paid their debt to society. He wants to set up voting booths in prison. 

Not surprisingly, only 25% of voters think this is a good idea. But like so much of the left’s “progressive” agenda, that radical fringe is now in control of today’s Democrat Party. 

Trump vs. Omar

President Trump addressed a gathering of conservative Jewish activists Saturday. Not surprisingly, the president brought up Rep. Ilhan Omar, who sparked controversy recently for her anti-Semitic attacks against American Jews and pro-Israel politicians.

And, not surprisingly, the Washington Post attacked President Trump for attacking Rep. Omar. It turns out that Trump’s remarks came a day after someone was arrested for threatening to assassinate Rep. Omar. 

Let me be absolutely clear: No one should ever threaten to kill an elected official.

But many high-profile conservatives in Congress receive death threats every week, and no one is suggesting they are off limits from political criticism. Rep. Steve Scalise still gets death threats even after a crazed socialist almost killed him. 

The Washington Post’s attack on Trump is just one more example of the left’s attempt to silence speech. CAIR, the Council on American-Islamic Relations, has been extremely aggressive in its attempts to silence critics of Islamism with cries of “Islamophobia!”

Again, my friends, we can’t ignore the left’s growing intolerance. Over time, the fringe ideas that dominate our college campuses have spread and gained footholds in the “mainstream media,” in corporate America, in our major law firms, in many state legislatures and even in the halls of Congress.

Pence vs. The Left

Speaking at Rice University Friday afternoon, Vice President Mike Pence took on the radical left and the atmosphere on our college campuses that is fueling the surge toward socialism. 

Pence denounced the dictatorial government of Venezuela’s Nicolas Maduro, and warned against implementing failed socialist policies in the United States. Here are some excerpts of his remarks:

[W]e’re living in a time in this country of growing support for socialism and a growing intolerance for diverse viewpoints, including on many college campuses across America. Speech codes, safe zones, and intolerance against people whose faith and economic philosophy are no longer considered fashionable are on the rise.

And so, as we reflect on the cause of freedom in this hemisphere, let me close with a word to the rising generation — those of you who feel drawn to the siren song of socialism: Be careful what you wish for.

Socialism is not the road to freedom. Socialism is the road to government control. And it grows in the soil of censorship… But once you say that some people should not be heard, once you say some should not be able to think or speak or believe in a certain way in the public square, you have left the road to freedom and you’re on the road to serfdom…

The essence of freedom, enshrined in our founding documents and enshrined in the heart of the American people, is the freedom to disagree, the freedom to air one’s opinions without fear or intimidation. . .

And so I say to this rising generation: The moment America becomes a socialist country is the moment America ceases to be America.