I am not trying to boast or sound like a stuffed shirt but I do have a very extensive list of names on both my memo and regular e mail list and I cannot send each and everyone a personal holiday greeting so please accept this generic one:
I extend to you and your entire families the best of Holiday Seasons, The Merriest of Christmases and hope you stay healthy and have the best of New Years.
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Trying to make sense of Syrian withdrawal. (See 1 below)
The most positive thing I can say about Trump's decision, which on the surface I disagree with, is that I do not know all the facts. Secondly, one could argue that Mattis served under Obama while a host of senior officers resigned so perhaps Mattis is more politically oriented than I would have thought/guessed
https://www.jpost.com/Opinion/Column-One-Trump-pushes-past-Obamas-legacies-574988
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Hillsdale Education survey:
Fellow American,
I'm sure you've seen it in the national news, but I'd like to reiterate: There is serious hostility towards the founding principles of liberty on college campuses.
Many college students are not taught the true meaning of terms like "Freedom" and "Equality." They are accepting false promises of free college and health care and voting for candidates who wish to embrace that fantasy. This is evidenced by the voting records of millennials in the last election, where many more voted for Bernie Sanders in the primaries than both Clinton and Trump combined.
Worst of all, students on college campuses refuse to engage with those with whom they disagree. Instead, many resort to intimidation, threats, and rioting in a manner that incites violence.
I'm curious to know what you think about the state of higher education in America. If you have a few minutes, I'd love to ask you a few questions about the state of America's education system, and whether the damage to it can be repaired.
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The Republican controlled House gave Trump what he wanted and the question remains to be answered whether his own party's control of the Senate will support him and garner enough support among Democrats to match the House's vote.
Senators are a breed unto themselves and Republican ones are known for shooting themselves in their feet. They, often, would rather march to their own drum beat than do what is sane.
A lot of lies and mis-information has been said about Trump's Wall. He does not want to build a wall that is 2000 miles long but one that is in the vicinity of 700 miles. He does not believe the wall will solve the illegal immigration issue but along with other physical measures and legislative action will reduce the problem and sends a message Americans believe securing our borders is both sensible and supports the fact we remain a nation that favors the rule of law.
Some Republicans are unwilling to accept reality when it comes to illegals who are already here and are engaged in productive lives. These Republicans are too rigid and stupid in my opinion.
Then there are a host of Democrats who have turned the "wall issue " into a political diatribe against Trump. In doing so they are embracing Soros' position that nations should not have borders. Apparently chaos is preferable to social order. If you believe this is a wise decision then I urge you move to California where 25% of its inhabitants are illegals, taxes and crime are high, along with an increasing number of homeless "street people" while refuse and filth are taking over entire neighborhoods and parks etc.
Pelosi and Schumer have been on both sides of the issue depending upon the temperature of the radicals within their own party.
There was a time when the number of extremists in both parties were less and thus, unable to dictate party directions but that is no longer the case. The radical tails now swing and/or control and the nation's interests are utterly secondary. We are no longer an united nation which adheres to the constitutional dictates of our founding fathers.
The Kavanaugh Hearings should have driven this point home unlike most others. The hatred on the side of the progressive liberals cannot be denied. It is evidently overwhelming and takes many dangerous forms.
While Mueller is chasing Trump's alleged "Collusion" the greatest threat comes from within. I often repeat - "The Enemy Is Us" and lamentably the Democrat Party is front and center when it comes to the tail wagging the dog. Their inability to accept their defeat in a gracious manner, their underhanded and illegal, if not treasonous, efforts to undermine Trump and the efforts on Obama's part to turn government agencies against citizens is one of the greatest tragedies in our nation's history.
This unworthy president, who taught Constitutional Law, did everything he could to undermine our very foundations. He was driven by the influence of his many radical associations, his disjointed family history, antipathy towards Colonialism and Muslim background. He lacked the most modest of qualifications and was able to win on style, oratory skills and because of white guilt.
When it comes to the wall and illegal immigration we have a broken system that begs for rational solutions which Democrats prefer to treat as a political wedge issue.
The wall actually pays for itself it if reduces illegal immigrants from coming to our country. Depending upon the numbers will determine the pay back period. Trump has begun to mention this but not in an effective manner.
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This is sort of a non-sequitur but recently I heard it said that when Democrats enact what legislation they want they lose and when Republicans fail to enact what legislation they want they lose.
Perhaps , in politics, you can never win.
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Will Trump get another SCOTUS pick? Though I believe RBG has lived beyond her effectiveness I wish her a speedy recovery.
One thing for sure it will either be Cohen nor Mueller.
Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, 85, underwent a lung procedure to remove a cancerous growth on Friday, the Supreme Court said in a release.
She is “resting comfortably” at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York City. There was no evidence of any remaining disease following the surgery, the court said. There was no evidence of disease elsewhere in Ginsburg’s body.
Ginsburg, the eldest member of the court’s liberal wing, underwent a pulmonary lobectomy on Friday where two nodules in the lower lobe of her left lung were discovered “incidentally” during tests to treat rib fractures she sustained in a fall last month.
The news comes as Ginsburg is recovering from three rib fractures she sustained after falling in her office on Nov. 7. Ginsburg has quickly recovered from a number of health issues in recent years. The former ACLU litigator has survived multiple bouts with cancer, and in 2014 underwent a procedure to have a stent placed in her right coronary artery.
Ginsburg's health has been a big issue, especially among Democrats because her leaving the Supreme Court would allow President Trump to nominate another justice to the Supreme Court.
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Dick
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1)
How to Make Sense of the U.S. Withdrawal From Syria
On a good day, Syria one of the most complex issues in the Middle East, let alone when the Trump administration announces a rapid U.S. withdrawal from Syria of our troops. The question is: How should we make sense of it?
With hard and fast questions and answers, Clarion Project provides you below with key analysis points to stay up to speed on this developing story:
How will the U.S. withdrawal from Syria impact Syria in the next five to 10 years?
Director of Clarion Intelligence Network Ryan Mauro draws a brief visual point for anyone wondering what might come next: “Think of Afghanistan after the Soviet withdrawal and before October, 2001. This will be worse.”
Iranian-backed Shiite militias are currently operating in the region against Sunni forces. The withdrawal of U.S. troops will inevitably trigger a Sunni uprising against these militias in Iraq, which will likely bring us back to where we started. The situation is ripe to get worse.
How might the U.S. withdrawal from Syria impact America?
In a nutshell, expect the Saudis to dramatically increase support to the Salafists in Syria to compete with their enemies: Turkey, the
Muslim Brotherhood and the Qatar coalition.
You can expect the following things to happen due to this support:
- Turkey will crush the Syrian Kurdish protectorate in Syria which they see as a direct threat to them and just another step in establishing an autonomous Kurdish state in the region, something Turkey will do anything to stop.America will cede influence in the region to Iran and Russia.
- Iran will build military posts north of the Golan Heights in Israel which they will use to increase the frequency and intensity of attacks against Israel’s northern border. This will deepen the Israeli-Iranian proxy war which has been going on in Syria.
- Russia will harden its Syrian air and naval bases in Tartous and Latakia and strengthen its ability to deploy military forces west of the Mediterranean. This is key as Russia’s bases in Syria are its onlynaval access to the Mediterranean.
How does U.S. withdrawal from Syria keep America safer?
The short answer is it doesn’t. Senator Lindsay Graham correctly stated that this is an Obama-level mistake. America’s policy towards ISIS should be similar to a physician’s treatment plan for an aggressive cancer. Stopping treatment in the middle of the disease will only allow it to grow. ISIS is a cancer.
It has been (somewhat) pushed into remission, but it
has not been defeated.
If we withdraw, it is certain to metastasize – and not only in Syria and Iraq. Left unchecked in the region by a U.S. withdrawal from Syria, ISIS’ current low-level presence in Iran and Turkey will grow.
How does a U.S. withdrawal from Syria impact American allies on the ground?
A U.S. withdrawal is a total betrayal of both the Kurds and the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), the latter of which includes Christians. America will also be abandoning its only reliable ally, the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG).
We can now expect Turkey to control the non-Kurdish rebel areas using rebels loyal to Turkey’s Islamist and fanatical president, Recep Erdogan. Moreover, it’s not a coincidence this withdrawal comes at the same time that an offensive by Erdogan against the Kurds in northern Syria is imminent.
In short, in addition to enabling Iranian and Russian power in the region, the U.S. withdrawal from Syria will bring Erdogan one step closer to realizing his dream of being crowned the caliph of his newly-revived neo-Ottoman empire.
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