Let me begin today’s report by expressing a sentiment you did not hear from any Democrat this weekend: “Thank you, Mr. President!”

Late Saturday night, the president tweeted, “Something very big has just happened.” Many were on the edge of our seats here in Washington. Then reports began breaking that 100 courageous U.S. special forces took down Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the leader of ISIS. The operation was named after murdered American aide worker Kayla Mueller. (More on that below.)

For several months now, while progressives and socialists in Congress have been plotting to take down the duly elected president, the president of the United States was planning his operation to take down the vicious serial rapist and murderer who led the Islamic State in recent years. What a contrast in competing priorities!

But, of course, no Trump victory can be applauded or allowed to stand without attempts to sabotage it. Several times over the past 24 hours, the left showed how deep its sickness goes. Here are some examples.

Trump Didn’t Notify Us

There were complaints by some on the left that Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Senate Democrat Leader Chuck Schumer, and House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff were not notified in advance of the operation. There has never been any obligation for the president to tell congressional leaders about sensitive military operations before they take place. This is a completely made-up assertion. 

Newt Gingrich blasted Pelosi’s whining, saying:

I was speaker of the House just like Nancy Pelosi… The idea that politicians need to be briefed on a military operation while young men and women are risking their lives is just stupid. Nancy Pelosi ought to know better… No politician has a right to know information that could get young men and women killed during the operational phase.

Trump’s Rhetoric Was Wrong

Several critics complained that Trump’s description of the raid was inappropriate. Obama’s deputy CIA director, Michael Morrell, said, “You don’t want a locker room kind of feel to this. That was the one thing we worked really hard on after the bin Laden raid — don’t make those kinds of statements, because it does inspire other people.”

Morrell is wrong. Numerous experts have noted that among his jihadi followers, a legend was emerging that Baghdadi was “immortal.” No matter how many times we thought we had him, he always managed to escape and survive. His image was larger than life. 

The president was right to expose Baghdadi as a coward, who died running from dogs and crying in a tunnel. He was right to tell the world that this man was so evil that he murdered three of his own children in the process.

Trump Didn’t Respect Islam

As misguided as Morrell’s remarks were, I was infuriated by retired Admiral James Winnefeld, who said:

This fight is all about religious freedom. It’s about respect for other religions, and if you look back to the bin Laden raid … we treated his body with respect that is due under Islam and this was a little bit tough.

This is the mindset that prevailed for eight years under Barack Obama. We were constantly told that people like Osama bin laden and Baghdadi do not represent Islam. “They are not representatives of the religion of peace,” progressives insist. “The terrorists are trying to hijack the religion of peace.”

Well, you can’t have it both ways. If they are not really Muslims, then we are under no obligation to give them Islamic burials. 

But this is the bizarre mindset of the left, where too many elites are more interested in appeasing CAIR and the editorial pages of The New York Times and The Washington Post than they are in ensuring America’s victory in the existential crisis presented by these barbarians.

Payback for Mueller

To the progressives worried about how Baghdadi’s body was treated, where were they when Kayla Mueller, a 26 year-old Christian aide worker, was kidnapped in Aleppo, Syria, and repeatedly raped and abused by Baghdadi and his men? Her body apparently didn’t matter. By the way, through it all, Kayla refused to convert to Islam as her captors demanded. 

Kayla’s parents thanked President Trump for his resolve. Her mother, Marsha, suggested that if Obama “had been as decisive as Trump” Kayla might be alive today.

“A Scholar Dies”

If you needed another example of the left’s bizarre mindset, you got it with this Washington Post headline: “Austere Religious Scholar At Helm Of Islamic State Dies At 48.”

Really? Well, if Baghdadi was a religious scholar, then I suppose he did represent Islam when he was cutting off the heads of infidels, raping infidel women, and setting infidels on fire. 

Needless to say, the social-media backlash against the Post’s nonsense was brutal. Some suggested it would be like referring to Adolf Hitler as “a local painter” or “renowned orator.” It would be laughable if it wasn’t so disturbing. 

Baghdadi didn’t die at 48. He was taken out by the U.S. military for his war crimes. I suppose we should be thankful that the Post headline didn’t read: “Renowned Religious Scholar And Dedicated Father Dies During Home Invasion.”

Whoever wrote the Washington Post headline is either an Islamist sympathizer or someone who so hates America that they should have no place anywhere near the operation of the newspaper of the nation’s capital.

In other low points for the press, NBC on Sunday attacked Trump for taking a “victory lap.” Of course, NBC is only interested in political leaders doing apology tours for America. CNN also cut short its coverage of the president’s press conference. This from the network that complains Trump doesn’t do enough press conferences!

Clapper’s Claptrap

Obama’s Director of National Intelligence James Clapper warned that the murder of Baghdadi could “galvanize ISIS.” I can see why Clapper’s concerned. 

If ISIS is galvanized, it might start committing genocide against Middle East Christians. It might start raping infidel women. It might start blowing up mosques, churches, synagogues, and historical monuments. 

Oh, wait. That’s what they already do. 

What on Earth is Clapper talking about?!

Bad Timing Award

The progressives at “Saturday Night Live” were getting cheers from their progressive audience for mocking Donald Trump by suggesting that he is soft on ISIS. Unbeknownst to them, the pathetic skit ran about the same time that U.S. special forces were getting orders from Trump to take out Baghdadi. Whoops!