The Patriot Post® · Trump at the Border
During a visit to California Wednesday, President Trump went to the southern border to inspect the progress of border-wall construction near San Diego. The president spoke with Border Patrol agents and members of the media.
It was a tremendous event that every American who cares about border security should see. If you missed it, you can watch it here.
Gen. Todd Semonite of the Army Corps of Engineers explained that in many high-traffic areas there is a system of two walls, one 18 feet high and the other 30 feet high, with a road in between for the Border Patrol.
The steel bollards are reinforced with concrete and rebar so that they are “virtually impenetrable.” There is a significant amount of concrete under the wall to prevent tunneling, and there is also a lot of technology in this wall.
For example, the top panel of the wall is designed to absorb heat, making it extremely hot should anyone attempt to climb it. “You won’t be able to touch it,” the president said. “You can fry an egg on that wall.”
Trump added that at least 400 miles of wall will be built by the end of 2020, and he hopes it will be closer to 500 miles.
This is happening only because of Donald Trump. No previous Republican president or any of the other 2016 contenders would have gone to the lengths Trump has to get this done.
Every Democrat in the House and Senate, and even a handful of Republicans, opposed his national-emergency declaration. Judges have repeatedly stood in his way. Corporate America was against him. Hollywood was against him. The media opposed him.
Even some conservative media outlets, like Drudge, have aided the Resistance by suggesting that he is not building “new” wall. That’s just fake news designed to demoralize conservatives.
There is a very simple explanation: The Border Patrol began by replacing old, ineffective barriers, including Normandy-style vehicle barriers that don’t stop people crossing on foot. In my view, that still counts as “new wall.”
Thankfully, in spite of enormous opposition, President Trump is securing our borders. On this issue alone he deserves reelection.
Blame Iran, Not Trump
There is a steady drumbeat from the left and its media allies blaming President Trump for Iran’s aggression. They are suggesting that because Trump withdrew from Obama’s 2015 nuclear deal, it’s his fault that Iran is now hijacking oil tankers, attacking oil tankers, using proxies to undermine other governments in the region, and attacking Saudi Arabia’s oil facilities.
As usual, the left-wing media narrative is totally wrong.
First of all, Iran’s behavior did not improve after the deal was signed. In fact, top military leaders warned us then that Iran’s behavior was getting worse, even after the deal was signed. Remember — the deal went into effect in October 2015. Three months later, Iran seized 10 U.S. sailors.
The mullahs saw the deal as evidence of the West’s weakness and accelerated their belligerence.
Obama’s deal did not prevent any of the things Iran is doing now. That is why it was such a terrible deal.
It did not end Iran’s state-sponsorship of terrorism.
It did not end Iran’s development of ballistic or cruise missiles.
It did not end Iran’s export of Islamic revolution throughout the Middle East.
All these threats that the deal permitted only made Israel’s national-security challenges more difficult. And it also undermined our allies and threatened the security of our troops in the region.
When Obama officials were pressed about these issues, they shrugged and essentially said, “Well, that’s not what the deal was about.”
For this worthless piece of paper, Iran got more than one billion dollars in cash and billions more in sanctions relief. Much of it went straight to the Iranian military and its terrorist proxies.
Iran’s nefarious actions threaten not only America’s interests in the Middle East but also Israel’s security. That’s why Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu begged President Obama and other world leaders to reconsider their approach.
That’s why he delivered an extraordinary address before a joint session of Congress to explain to the American people why this was a terrible deal, not only for the United States but also for Israel, which lives in that dangerous neighborhood.
Unfortunately, the deal took effect and Iran reaped a financial windfall that it used not for new roads, bridges, schools, or hospitals but for more weapons, missiles, bombs, and terror in Syria, Gaza, Lebanon, Iraq, and Yemen.
Since Iran’s behavior was getting worse, not better, President Trump was right to abandon Obama’s deal and reimpose sanctions. He was right to confront Tehran’s aggression rather than continue to appease the ayatollah.
Dr. Carson’s Tough Love
Earlier this week, California Gov. Gavin Newsom wrote to President Trump seeking more federal money (your tax dollars) to help address California’s homelessness crisis. Housing and Urban Development Secretary Dr. Ben Carson replied on the president’s behalf.
Dr. Carson didn’t give Newsom the money he wanted. Instead, he prescribed a healthy dose of tough love.
Among other things, he told Newsom to overhaul California’s absurd regulations that make housing so outrageously expensive. He also told Newsom to drop his support for sanctuary cities and other left-wing policies that direct benefits to illegal immigrants and to provide those resources to American citizens first.
Carson concluded his letter by writing, “When California has shown that it is willing to make hard and thoughtful choices to address these issues, the Trump Administration stands ready to support its efforts.”
More Climate Craziness
MSNBC hosted a climate-change forum with progressive candidates yesterday, giving them yet another chance to peddle their big-government socialist solutions. I suppose they need the do-over since CNN’s seven-hour snoozefest was such a flop.
On Capitol Hill Wednesday, a Swedish teenager lectured us about the urgent need to confront “the biggest crisis humanity has ever faced.”
NBC News is asking people to confess their climate sins. And Union Theological Seminary held a chapel service in which students confessed to plants. (Seriously, folks. You can’t make this stuff up!)
The climate craziness is out of control. The left has been at this for decades, preaching gloom and doom about overpopulation and one disaster after another. They have been wrong time and again.
As our friends at the Competitive Enterprise Institute noted, humanity is thriving while the left insists the earth is dying. That just doesn’t make any sense. For example:
Global life expectancy increased by 48 percent from 1950 to 2015, including a 68 percent increase in Africa, the poorest continent.
Since 2000, a period encompassing nine of the warmest years since 1880, per capita GDP increased by 54 percent in Latin America, 62 percent in Africa, and more in Asia.
Global yields of corn, wheat, rice, and soybeans have increased every decade since 1960.
Thanks to increasing crop yields and rising income, the prevalence of undernourishment in developing countries decreased from 34.7 percent of population in 1970 to 12.9 percent in 2015.
Globally, 2.6 billion people have gained access to improved water sources since 1990 — more than one third of the world’s population.
The global child mortality rate fell from 18.2 percent in 1960 to 3.9 percent in 2018.
All this progress happened when many respected scientists were predicting ice ages, famines, and other ecological disasters.
But if progressives really care about the environment, perhaps they should start by cleaning up San Francisco!