After five hours of intense meetings, Vice President Mike Pence announced that Turkish President Recep Erdogan has agreed to a five-day ceasefire “in order to allow [Kurdish forces] to withdraw from the safe zone.”

“We think the agreement today first ends the violence, which is what President Trump sent us here to do,” Pence said.  "We achieved that.“

The vice president announced that Turkey will halt all military operations during the ceasefire and that Turkey will end all military operations pending complete Kurdish compliance with the terms of the ceasefire. Pence also announced that Turkey and the United States "mutually committed to the defeat of ISIS in northeast Syria.”

“Turkey and the United States agree on the priority of respecting vulnerable human life, human rights, and particularly the protection of religious and ethnic communities in the region,” Pence said during his press conference.

The vice president thanked Americans who were praying for a peaceful outcome to this conflict.

Pelosi’s Meltdown

Late Wednesday afternoon, the Democrat leaders stormed out of a White House meeting and ran to the microphones accusing the president of insulting them.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi said we should pray for the president’s mental health because he had “a very serious meltdown.” Senate Democrat Leader Chuck Schumer said Trump was “insulting,” adding that their conversation was “not a dialogue but a nasty diatribe.”

This is at least the second time that Pelosi and Schumer have asked for a meeting with the intention of creating a scene so they could accuse the president of being unstable.

There were plenty of people in the room. The president tweeted a photo of Pelosi standing up in the Cabinet Room and pointing her finger across the table at him. Trump has a surprised look on his face.

According to the Associated Press, the president distributed a letter that he sent to Turkey’s President Erdogan. House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy, who was also at the meeting, said Pelosi refused to read the letter, putting it face down on the table.

As some point in the meeting, she said to the president, “All roads with you lead to Putin,” a charge she made earlier this week regarding the impeachment process.

Just consider the context here:

• Pelosi is running an impeachment inquiry in which the president has virtually no rights.

• She orchestrates a vote denouncing the president’s decision to pull back U.S. forces in Syria.

• Then she comes to the White House and accuses the president of doing Putin’s bidding.

No previous president would have tolerated these insults. But Trump did call Pelosi “a third-rate politician.” As she was leaving, he reportedly said to her, “Goodbye! We’ll see you at the polls.”

Leader Kevin McCarthy blasted Pelosi’s behavior as “unbecoming.” He told Fox News host Laura Ingraham:

[Pelosi and Schumer] left the meeting, other Democrats stayed and we had the most normal meeting you could ever have that was productive with the [chairman] of the joint chiefs, the secretary of defense and the president talking about how do we keep the homeland safe.

If only we could negotiate a ceasefire in Washington!

A Public Disservice

CNN and The New York Times had plenty of time to ask some goofy questions during Tuesday night’s Democrat debate. But they did not ask any questions about immigration, border security, or China.

These issues, especially immigration, are top concerns among voters. But it’s no mystery why the Democrats’ media allies are ignoring them. The Democrat candidates are totally out of the mainstream.

On China, I think it would be really useful for voters to know whether the Democrat presidential candidates are going to stand up for free speech, free markets, and religious freedom or if they are going to take foreign policy advice from Lebron James.

And when it comes to border security and immigration:

• Most of the Democrat candidates want open borders. But only 24% of the public supports open borders.

• They want to decriminalize illegal entry into the country. Only 27% of the public thinks that is a good idea.

• They want to give free healthcare to illegal immigrants. Only 31% of voters support that.

• They support sanctuary cities. Only 20% of the public supports that.

• They want to abolish ICE. Only 24% of the public supports that.

These positions are unpopular even with many Democrats. It’s this kind of utter insanity that led to this Babylon Bee headline: “RNC Raising Money To Help Democrats Televise Five Debates A Week.”

Of course, The Babylon Bee is satire. But, sadly, the Democrats’ extreme positions are not!   Kudos to Rubio

Florida Sen. Marco Rubio has an important opinion piece at The Daily Caller that deserves attention for its focus on the role of family in today’s society. As Sen. Rubio notes, “stable, two-parent families have been the bedrock of all successful civilizations throughout all of history.”

Of course, he’s absolutely right. That’s not bigotry. It’s just common sense.

Sen. Rubio also correctly points out that “the declining strength of families has occurred during the same period since abortion was legalized by Roe v. Wade.”

He calls for a “deeper cultural revival” that emphasizes the need for strong marriages, strong families, and a strong economy that can create the jobs and wages needed to support strong families.

Kudos to Sen. Rubio for making the case for pro-family public policies!

RIP Rep. Cummings

Maryland Congressman Elijah Cummings unexpectedly passed away Thursday morning. He was 68 years old.

A fixture of Washington politics, Cummings had represented Baltimore for more than 20 years. As you may know, Rep. Cummings was chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, and one of the leaders of the House impeachment effort.

President Trump, who frequently sparred with Chairman Cummings, tweeted:

My warmest condolences to the family and many friends of Congressman Elijah Cummings. I got to see first-hand the strength, passion and wisdom of this highly respected political leader. His work and voice on so many fronts will be very hard, if not impossible, to replace!