Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) isn’t right often, but she was about this: moving forward with impeachment does put her party “in a new direction.” To where, no one knows. But this we do know: Democrats have chosen their path — and inevitably, someone will pay for it. The odds that that “someone” will be Donald Trump, however, look more improbable by the day.
Forty-eight hours into this short-sighted mission, Democrats have to be sweating bullets. Not only did the president release the transcript (which even liberals like Tulsi Gabbard, D-Hawaii, called uncompelling), but even her own caucus is starting to think Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) made a fatal mistake. “When you impeach somebody, it has to be for a really strong reason,” Rep. Jeff Van Drew (D-N.J.) insisted. This, he went on, doesn’t do anything but “disenfranchis[e]” voters, who, he argues, are the ones who should be doing the impeaching in the first place — at the ballot box.
And Democrats weren’t the only exasperated ones. Republicans wasted no time pointing out that Pelosi was the first member in the history of the country to launch an impeachment investigation without first holding a vote in the House. To Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), that’s one of the most revealing aspects of this whole story — the unilateral way liberals are pursuing impeachment. “Now, she is the speaker of the House,” McCarthy told me on “Washington Watch,” “but she’s not the voice of America — the voice of the constituents across this country. They lend their power [and their voice] to their representative for every two years. She just took that all away. There should be a vote on the floor.” But putting her members on the record would mean voters could hold them accountable. And that’s the last thing Pelosi wants.
“There are so many problems out there that we could be solving,” McCarthy lamented. “But the Democrats are focused on one thing — their hatred of the president.” If the Left is wondering how their obsession is playing in mainstream America, the National Republican Congressional Committee has a clue. Tuesday, the group tweeted their thanks to Speaker Pelosi “and de facto Speaker AOC” after a 608 percent spike in online fundraising. If Democrats weren’t worried about their political vulnerability before, they have reason to be.
The Ukrainian call may not be an open and closed case, but as far as Leader McCarthy is concerned, “…[N]othing in that transcript is impeachable.” But, he warns, the Democrats “don’t care about the facts.” And either way, those facts are being lost in the noise of a relentless media, desperate to drive their anti-Trump agenda. They’re throwing everything at the wall, hoping something — anything — will stick. Why? Because they’ll do anything to distract the country from all the good this president has done. “We’ve made some fantastic deals…” Trump said. “We have the greatest economy we’ve ever had… and that doesn’t get covered because you [the media] waste your time on nonsense. It’s very sad what Democrats are doing to this country — they’re dividing, they’re demeaning.”
The hope is simple: that conservatives, and evangelicals in particular, will eventually be worn down by this onslaught and disengage. I don’t know about you, but I’m tired of the constant political noise and distraction from what really matters. But there’s a reason the Left is obsessed with destroying Donald Trump — and it’s the same reason we cannot grow weary in our calling: the president’s policies. This is the first president to follow through on driving a conservative agenda into the heart of the Left. For years, the best we could hope for from the GOP was a party that pushed pause on the Democrats’ radicalism. Not this president. He’s hitting rewind, rolling back some of the worst forms of extremism this country has ever seen. Look at what he did this week alone — rallying other nations to fight against religious persecution and for the unborn.
Those gains are possible because committed Christians understand that this administration is not about a man, it’s about a mandate. It’s about saving lives and ending abortion. It’s about protecting the family unit and stopping the propaganda that’s hurting our children. It’s about the ability to live out our faith at work — and judges who uphold the Constitution. The spiritual battle raging against this president is not about him — it’s about what he’s doing. The Left’s strategy is to wear us out — but we can’t let them. There’s too much at stake. Years from now, generations of young people will live to tell us: it was worth the battle to stay in the fight.
Tony Perkins’s Washington Update is written with the aid of FRC senior writers.
http://drrich.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/logo_264x69.png00Family Research Councilhttp://drrich.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/logo_264x69.pngFamily Research Council2019-09-27 04:34:042019-09-27 04:47:10PODCAST Impeach Overreach: Pelosi Bets It All on Call
Washington, D.C. — U.S. Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) issued the following statement after Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced the State Department designated former Cuban dictator and current First Secretary of the Cuban Revolutionary Armed Forces Raúl Castro for “his involvement in corruption and gross violation of human rights” against Cuban nationals. Today’s measure also includes public designations against Castro’s immediate family members, including his children, Alejandro Castro Espín, Deborah Castro Espín, Mariela Castro Espín, and Nilsa Castro Espín. Pursuant to Section 7031(c) of the FY 2019 Department of State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs Appropriations Act, these sanctions for significant corruption or gross violations of human rights make designated foreign government officials and their immediate family members ineligible for entry into the United States.
Fidel and Raúl Castro were directly responsible for the murder of three American citizens and a U.S. legal resident who were leading a humanitarian mission to save Cuban lives through the organization Brothers to the Rescue.
“Entrance to the United States is a privilege that should be denied to any murderous dictator. Raúl Castro’s involvement in grotesque human rights violations and his complicity with terrorist organizations including the ELN, the FARC, and his link to the Maduro regime evidence the threat he poses to the United States. I welcome the Administration’s decision to revoke the admission of Castro and his immediate family members.”
Rubio is the Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on Western Hemisphere, Transnational Crime, Civilian Security, Democracy, Human Rights, and Global Women’s Issues. He is also a member of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs.
RUBIO APLAUDE SANCIONES A RAÚL CASTRO Y SU FAMILIA INMEDIATA
Washington, D.C. — El senador estadounidense Marco Rubio (R-FL) publicó el siguiente comunicado después que el Secretario de Estado Mike Pompeo anunciara que el Departamento de Estado designó al ex dictador cubano y actual Primer Secretario de las Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias Cubanas Raúl Castro “por su participación en actos de corrupción y por violación de los derechos humanos de ciudadanos cubanos”. La medida de hoy también incluye designaciones públicas contra los familiares inmediatos de Castro, incluyendo a sus hijos, Alejandro Castro Espín, Deborah Castro Espín, Mariela Castro Espín y Nilsa Castro Espín. En conformidad con la Sección 7031 (c) de la Ley de Asignaciones de Programas de Operaciones Extranjeras y Programas Afines del Año Fiscal 2019.
Fidel y Raúl Castro fueron directamente responsables del asesinato de tres ciudadanos estadounidenses y un residente legal de los Estados Unidos que lideraban una misión humanitaria para salvar vidas cubanas a través de la organización Hermanos al Rescate.
“La entrada a los Estados Unidos es un privilegio que debe ser negado a cualquier dictador asesino. La participación de Raúl Castro en violaciones grotescas de los derechos humanos y su complicidad con organizaciones terroristas como el ELN, las FARC y su vínculo con el régimen de Maduro evidencian la amenaza que representa para los Estados Unidos. Aplaudo la decisión de la administración por revocarle la admisión de Castro y sus familiares inmediatos”.
Rubio es el Presidente del Subcomité de Relaciones Exteriores para el Hemisferio Occidental, Delincuencia Transnacional, Seguridad Civil, Democracia, Derechos Humanos y Asuntos Globales de la Mujer. El senador también es miembro del Subcomité de Asignaciones del Senado sobre programas estatales, operaciones en el extranjero y otros programas relacionados.
http://drrich.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/logo_264x69.png00Dr. Rich Swierhttp://drrich.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/logo_264x69.pngDr. Rich Swier2019-09-26 17:30:022019-09-26 17:30:36Florida Senator Rubio welcomes sanctions designation of Raul Castro and his immediate family
Not long ago, I received a lengthy e-mail – “Why We Must Renew Our Commitment to the Civil Rights Movement” – from a woman named Melanie Roth Gorelick, who identified herself as Senior Vice President of the Jewish Council for Public Affairs (JCPA).
Honestly, I thought it was one of the preposterous spoofs of that satirical publication, The Onion.
But no… it was the real thing.
In short, Ms. Gorelick recommended that Jews concentrate their attention not on the pandemic of anti-Semitism and violent acts against Jews throughout the world and in the United States of America, but instead on those poor oppressed blacks who have never had it better in the good ole U.S.A., thanks to President Trump!
While Ms. Gorelick briefly mentioned that there is an “increase in anti-Semitism and hate crimes” in America, her entire discourse was devoted to a plea for the Jewish community (2.8 percent of the U.S. population) to turn their impassioned efforts and energies to supporting the cause of blacks in the U.S. (14 percent of the U.S. population), who she claimed still experience grave discrimination.
This in spite of the fact that since President Trump was elected, blacks have never experienced a higher degree of employment, independence, wealth, home ownership, and freedom from discrimination in the history of our country!
Not to omit the president’s First Step Act that gives black prisoners serving lengthy sentences the first chance at freedom for relatively minor offenses that they’ve ever been offered in their lives – an opportunity never proposed by all those empathic and caring Democrats who would have kept them in prison for the rest of their lives!
Jews have been driven to hide in their basements in the United Kingdom as anti-Semitism is at an all-time high.
Jews have been vilified in Ireland, which passed a law to support the Boycott-Divest-Sanction (BDS) movement to strangle Israel economically.
In far-away New Zealand, the official government website published a fact sheet with a map of the Middle East that showed a fictional place called “Palestine” – but not the authentic, 71-year-old State of Israel.
Anti-Semitic attacks in Germany – yes, Hitler’s and now Angela Merkel’s Germany – have risen by a whopping 20 percent! The country is now what writer Dogan Akman calls an anti-Semitic terrorist state.
Jews in the United States have been mass-murdered in a synagogue, terrorized on college campuses, and spat on by the entire Democrat Party whose members supported the virulent anti-Semitic racism spewed forth from the Jew-and-Israel-hating Democrat Representatives Ihlan Omar (MN), Rashida Tlaib (MI), Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (NY), and Ayanna Pressley (MA). In fact, recently the execrable Ms. Omar mourned the death of the Muslim Brotherhood tyrant who called Jews “apes and pigs.”
Here, in repulsive detail, is just a small sample of the rancid hatred of these Sludge Sisters that Joel B. Pollak of Breitbart.com spells out.
And not long ago, Bernie Sanders, the Brooklyn-born Jewish senator from Vermont who is running for president again in 2020, told his Socialist/Communist followers: “Our policy cannot be pro-Israel.”
Then there is presidential candidate Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), who recently said she would push to end the Israeli government’s “occupation” of the West Bank and Gaza (which it obtained in the course of defending itself during the 1967 x-day war). Not to omit that the senator’s “Director of Progressive Partnerships” is Max Berger, co-founder of the extreme Israel-hating group “If Not Now,” the goal of which is to “end support for the occupation” – meaning to get rid of the Jews and Israel itself.
And let’s not forget the Trenton, NJ, Democrat councilwoman Robin Vaughn, who defended a colleague’s use of the expression “Jew her down,” insisting that it’s a verb that refers to negotiating.
Or the non-stop assaults on Jews in Brooklyn. Or the relentless calls for Jewish genocide by U.S. imams.
Or, as writer Jonathan Tobin points out, that the Jewish community’s Reform movement – to its everlasting shame – launched a political war on President Trump right in time for the High Holidays of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur.
LOOK IN THE MIRROR!
Apparently, Ms. Gorelick and others at the Jewish Council for Public Affairs think the organization should ignore these dire facts and stick to its 1960’s retro agenda of helping the blacks who Regressives believe cannot help themselves.
This is clearly an admission that the people who are traditionally known to be the “best friends” of blacks – i.e., Democrat politicians who depend on Jewish votes and prostitute themselves for the money Jewish voters send them – have all utterly failed to improve the poverty, illiteracy, high crime rate, single-mother rate, and rat-infested cities they have controlled for the past 60 years.
WHY THE WORLD’S GROWING JEW HATRED?
The widespread Jew hatred exists because in the back of the minds of all people who consider themselves oppressed is the question – Why are those damned Jews so tiny in number but so much better off than I am?
To me, the answer is simple: Too many have bought the sweetened – but toxic – Kool Aid that Democrats have sold them that has proved to be their undoing.
Think about it: Why, as documented scrupulously by Robert B. Charles, a former Assistant Secretary of State under Colin Powell and teacher at Harvard University, are the 25 worst cities in the U.S. led by Democrats? And why do the top-ten “most dangerous cities” in America, according to Forbes, all have Democrat mayors?
WHAT HELP CAN MS. GORLICK EXPECT?
For all her social-justice posturing, I wonder which black “leaders” Ms. Gorelick hopes to recruit to her mission. Let’s speculate on potential candidates.
“Reverend” Al Sharpton, famous for creating the gigantic race-based Tawana Brawley hoax, for which he was never indicted; fomenting antisemitic race riots in Brooklyn, NY; instigating the deadly boycott of the Jewish-owned Freddy’s Fashion Mart in 1995, and his effusive praise of notorious anti-Semites like the former Nation of Islam leader Elijah Muhammed, as well as Malcolm X, Louis Farrakhan, and Khalid Abdul Muhammad. On and on, to this day! In fact, here is a mountain of evidence about other hateful acts of his to convince you never to enlist him in your ridiculous goal!
“Reverend” Jesse Jackson, who snidely called NY City “Hymietown,” then denied it, then admitted it, but still couldn’t bring himself to condemn the Nation of Islam’s radical leader Louis Farrakhan, an aggressive anti-Semite and old Jackson ally.
Barack Obama, a heavyweight anti-Semite – see here and here and here and here, and that’s the short list as well.
How about the newly-elected congresswomen I referred to earlier:
Ihlan Omar (D-MN): says Israel has “hypnotized the world” and “I pray that Allah awaken the people and help them see [its] evil doings….”
Rashida Tlaib (D-MI): ardent supporter of the BDS movement who accuses American Jews of “dual loyalty” to both the U.S. and Israel, and supports a global economic, academic and cultural boycott against Israel.
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY): supports BDS and falsely and maliciously condemns Israel for committing a “massacre” against Gaza “protesters” when in fact the Arabs (who call themselves “Palestinians”) were violent rioters trying to infiltrate Israel to murder Jews.
Or maybe Ms. Gorelick would like to recruit the famous actor Danny Glover to her virtue-signaling mission – he who recently called for a cultural boycott of Israel.
Or how about the people I listed in a 2008 Canada Free Press article who either staffed Barack Obama’s administration or acted as his advisors or fundraisers, Jew and Israel haters all: General Merrill “Tony” McPeak, Samantha Power, Robert Malley, John Kerry, Rashid Khalidi, Anthony “Tony” Lake, Zbigniew Brzezinski, Lee Hamilton, James (“F… the Jews”) Baker, on and on.
WHAT A COINCIDENCE!
What do all of the above candidates to help Ms. Gorelick have in common? They are all Democrats!
Aha…is that what her plan is really all about and why she launched it in this presidential campaign season––to convince the American public that Democrats are really not the racists they have been for their entire 190-year history?
Does she hope that Americans will forget that Democrats opposed the abolition of slavery, created the Ku Klux Klan and the Jim Crow laws, and steadfastly voted against the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Voting Rights Act of 1965, the Civil Rights Acts of 1968, and the Equal Opportunity Act of 1972?
Does she believe that Americans will erase from their minds the ugly history of Democrat suppression of blacks, as documented so scrupulously by Bill Federer of American Minute?
Or is it because Ms. Gorelick wishes that Americans will strike from their memories the facts American Spectator’s Dan Flynn documents about Democrats’ oh-so-cozy and obsequious relationship to the Klan? This includes:
In the 1980s, Democrat Senator Joe Biden voted to elect Robert Byrd (D-WVA), a former Exalted Cyclops of the Klan, as the leader of their party in the Senate;
In the 1970s, a Democrat Congress named the Old Senate Office Building in honor of Richard Russell, a staunch segregationist from Georgia;
In the late 1930s, Democrat President Franklin Roosevelt nominated Hugo Black, also a former Klansman, to the U.S. Supreme Court, where he served for decades.
In 1924, Democrats rejected a measure to formally condemn the Ku Klux Klan at their national convention.
THE SOCIAL JUSTICE FIASCO
Liberal Jews – by and large raised in America and spared the 5,000-year history of searing hatred, slavery, oppression, and mass murder – have been drawn to leftist politics because it deludes them into thinking that if they are good enough and generous enough and even agree with their enemies enough, all their virtuous acts will somehow, magically, exempt them from the oppression and hatred their ancestors experienced.
And that by subscribing to and acting on the concept of Tikkum Olam – repair of the world––they will fit in and be appreciated, admired, liked, and accepted.
But as writer Jonathan Neumann explains in “Liberal Jews Are Destroying Their Own Religion,” the phrase tikkun olam was lifted “out of context” from a Jewish prayer before WWII to mean social justice and popularized in the 1970s and 1980s by radicals like Michael Lerner, who founded the extreme left-wing magazine, Tikkun.
“Since then,” Neumann continues, Jews “have been led to believe that the purpose of the Jews in the world is to campaign for higher taxes, sexual permissiveness, reduced military spending, illegal immigration, opposition to fracking, the banishment of religion from the public square and every other liberal cause under the sun – all in the name of God. But the truth is that tikkun olam and its leftist politics have no basis in Judaism.
“Tikkun olam is not Judaism at all but a distinct religion [which] teaches that the Jewish People is an outdated and chauvinistic relic, with no need for a nation-state of its own in its ancient homeland. Consequently, Jewish social justice activists help to defame Israel and weaken America’s bond with the Jewish State.”
The alternative, says Neumann, author of “To Heal the World? How the Jewish Left Corrupts Judaism and Endangers Israel, is “a new generation of traditionalist Jews, proud of their heritage and jealous to preserve it. These Jews know that their ancestors did not live to worship a political party nor die for faddish causes. It’s time American Jewry repaired itself instead of the world.”
To which I say, Here, Here!
But will the leftist Jews of the world wake up and smell the coffee? Realize that the people they’re fighting for loathe them? Reclaim their own glorious heritage and start to fight on behalf of their DNA brethren?
Americans “want a Congress that delivers results for the people, opening up opportunity and lifting up their lives. When our new members take the oath, our Congress will be refreshed, and our democracy will be strengthened by the optimism, idealism and patriotism of this transformative freshman class.”
That was newly elected House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on January 3, during the opening session of the 116th Congress. Whether she meant those words at the time is now irrelevant, as the actions of her party this year have betrayed any such vision of a real legislative agenda for working Americans.
Yesterday, Congressional Democrats gave yet another snapshot of how they spend their days now. After months of pressure, Speaker Pelosi caved to the far-left base (sorry, “transformative freshman class”) that she has been unable to appease, announcing that she is launching official impeachment inquiries into President Trump. Although Democrats have been hinting at impeachment as a political weapon for two years, the latest excuse they give comes as a response to hyped-up reports of a supposed “quid pro quo” offered to President Zelensky of Ukraine.
Slight problem: It turns out the story was completely false. The transcript released by the White House today proves that Democrats simply made up their claims of a “quid pro quo” between President Trump and President Zelensky.
Here we go again.
Democrats in Congress devote all their time and energy to rumors and innuendo rather than governing. It doesn’t matter if none of it turns out to be true—by then, their media surrogates have spread the lie far and wide. In the process, Speaker Pelosi’s ranks have squandered nearly a year’s worth of time on a single failed agenda item: endless investigations and obstruction. Yesterday’s antics explain why Americans are fed up with Washington and why Congress’ approval numbers sit at an abysmal 18 percent.
Imagine all that could have been accomplished had Democrats devoted this year to issues that actually matter to middle-class Americans, White House Press Secretary Stephanie Grisham said in a statement:
Americans deserve elected officials who focus on key issues to improve the lives of families, strengthen our communities, grow our economy, and keep our country safe. In President Donald J. Trump they have someone who has not only focused on those goals, but delivered results.
In a far departure from all of the work and results of this President, House Democrats have destroyed any chances of legislative progress for the people of this country by continuing to focus all their energy on partisan political attacks. Their attacks on the President and his agenda are not only partisan and pathetic, they are in dereliction of their Constitutional duty.
The Trump Administration will continue to be vigorous in laying out the facts and standing up for the many forgotten men and women who elected him.
The window for Democrats to do anything of substance this year is closing fast. When Nancy Pelosi spoke about a “new dawn” while accepting the gavel as Speaker earlier this year, she gave the impression that Congress would finally function differently under her watch.
It doesn’t. And no one’s holding their breath that her party will start putting the American people before their political ambitions.
NEW: President Trump secures trade agreement with Japan
While Democrats work overtime on obstruction, President Trump is delivering results for workers across the country. In New York today, the President signed a document with Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe that outlines major steps toward a new trade deal between our countries.
“Under the market access agreement that we’re announcing today, Japan will open new markets to approximately $7 billion in American agricultural products. Japanese tariffs will now be significantly lower, or eliminated entirely, for U.S. beef, pork, wheat, cheese, corn, wine, and so much more,” President Trump explained. “This is a huge victory for America’s farmers, ranchers, and growers. And that’s very important to me.”
The second part of the deal secures robust commitments on $40 billion worth of digital trade for both our economies, expanding commerce for cutting-edge products and services.
This is what working hard for the American people looks like.
http://drrich.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/logo_264x69.png001600 Daily - The White Househttp://drrich.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/logo_264x69.png1600 Daily - The White House2019-09-26 08:27:342019-09-26 08:41:35How to waste a year of America’s time
As the 2020 political campaign intensifies, we are witnessing some rather strange phenomena; for example:
The Democrat controlled House Judiciary Committee struck out with the Mueller investigation, but they are still bent on pursuing presidential impeachment, even though there is no evidence to support it. This is being done to placate the far-left Democrats, not moderates who are weary of such shenanigans and want to see the Congress tackle legitimate problems. In a nutshell, the committee investigation is for show only as the Democrats know they cannot possibly impeach the president as it will not pass the Republican controlled Senate, but they want to keep their base in line for the coming election by demonstrating their hatred for Mr. Trump.
Left-wing Democrats in Congress are also at odds with moderates of their own party. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is having trouble keeping the radical newcomers in line. Some of these people are openly undermining members of their own party for political purposes. For example, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) recently threw her support to a progressive congressional candidate in Illinois instead of incumbent Rep. Dan Lipinski, a moderate Democrat. The message is clear, the far-left wants the moderates out.
In the presidential race, far-left Democrats are desperately trying to push moderate candidate VP Joe Biden out of the race, not just because he is currently the front runner but because he is not an uber-liberal. There is a very good chance this will happen, and I believe a far-left candidate will get the nod instead, such as Sen. Elizabeth Warren.
As I keep saying to my old Democrat friends, this is no longer your father’s party. It is not the party of Kennedy, LBJ, Carter and the Clintons. As liberal as these people seemed at the time, they are considered conservative by today’s standards. Instead, it has morphed into the far-left who have seized control of the party, with encouragement from the media.
What we are watching is actually quite fascinating as it ultimately represents the death-roll of the Democrats. The party is hopelessly fractured and, as a result, we will likely see a new party emerge following the election, either a far-left version or a moderate. As the far-left wrestles away control from the moderates, they will likely lose the support of traditional Democrats who will stay home election day. They may not be able to bring themselves to vote for Mr. Trump, but they also cannot stomach the zaniness of the far-left.
This division means one thing, Mr. Trump will run away with the election. Whoever the Democrat candidate becomes, Mr. Trump will trounce the person on the debate stage, particularly when it comes to economics, which the Democrats are trying to offset by claiming a fake recession is in the offing. Bottom-line, Mr. Trump will do just fine, but what about congressional Republicans? If they abandon the president, they will be the ones taking the risk, not the president.
One thing is clear, the Democrats offer no platform other than Socialism and Trump-bashing, believing this will carry them to victory next year. The only thing they have successfully created is a hysteria to comfort their supporters and terrorize the general public, all of which denotes their desperation. It is no longer about issues, it is about panic.
The American public however is tired of the hateful histrionics and desperately wants to see the country tackle real problems, thus presenting the Republicans with a golden opportunity, namely: a new Contract with America.
The first Contract with America was written back in 1994 by Republican Representatives Newt Gingrich and Dick Armey. It was positive and upbeat, and the public took notice thereby allowing the GOP to finally retake the House, under a Democrat President no less (Bill Clinton). To their credit, they followed the contract and made sweeping reforms.
This is just the type of thing necessary for the Republicans to take back the House and secure their position in the Senate. If they were to introduce a new contract, it would go a long way to re-instilling confidence in the party.
We do not lack for areas to address in a new contract; immigration, health care, infrastructure, lobbying reform, term limits, reducing the debt, election reform, energy and environment, all come to mind immediately. This would show true initiative, something the Democrats are incapable of producing at this time. They only want oddball things to secure their control over the government, such as eliminating the Electoral College, changing the number and tenure of Supreme Court justices, lowering the voting age to 16, giving illegal immigrants the right to vote and massive entitlements, and The New Green Deal (aka, the “Socialist Manifesto”).
To make a new Contract though requires leadership, a la Newt Gingrich, but I am afraid I do not yet see this person in the Republican House ranks, except possibly coming from the House Freedom Caucus. A new contract is nice, but new Republican leadership is needed to make it happen. Milquetoast candidates need not apply.
Again, a new Contract for America is a golden opportunity to re-take the Congress and actually do some good for the country. Let the Democrats desperately squawk about President Trump all they want. While they turn the country off doing this, the Republicans could create a contract with substantial legislation. The far-left will not be interested, but most of America certainly will, at least those who want to see our Congress return to work.
Should the Republicans fail to produce such a compact, they will be admitting they are nothing more than a part of the Washington “establishment,” and don’t deserve our votes.
On September 25, 2019 I was interviewed by Dr. Alan Keyes ON IAMtv about the Iranian attack on the Saudi oil facilities, how to understand the Iranians and how to deal with their aggressive behavior.
The interview is 51 minutes long, but I believe it is worth your while.
http://drrich.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/logo_264x69.png00Dr. Mordechai Kedarhttp://drrich.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/logo_264x69.pngDr. Mordechai Kedar2019-09-26 07:26:022019-09-26 07:26:49VIDEO: Iran Attacks Saudi Arabia, Why and What Comes Next?
President Trump, with his foreign policy and national security team, held a presser after his three days at the 74th Session of the United Nations General Assembly. The President also took questions at the end.
Listen to the good news. News that won’t be reported by the media.
During the Q&A President Trump addresses both Biden and his conversation with the President of Ukraine stating that both countries are concerned about corruption at the highest levels of government.
Remarks by President Trump in Press Conference
InterContinental New York Barclay
New York, New York
4:28 P.M. EDT
PRESIDENT TRUMP: Thank you very much. Thank you.
Well, thank you all for being here. We’ve had a tremendous three days in New York, at the United Nations. I want to thank the Secretary-General. It’s been really incredible what’s been taking place. And he’s been a fantastic host to a lot of countries.
The meetings I had on a bilat, or close, were pretty staggering. I think we set a new record, but you’ll have to check that out. The — we met very, very — for pretty extended periods of time, either two and two, one on one, or just about at that level with Pakistan, Poland, New Zealand, Singapore, Egypt, South Korea, United Kingdom, India, Iraq, Argentina, Germany, Brazil, France, Japan, Ukraine, Honduras, El Salvador, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman, UAE, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru. Other than that, we weren’t too busy over the last three days.
And, unfortunately, the press doesn’t even cover it. You know, we have — we’ve made some fantastic deals, like with Japan. For farmers, we have a tremendous trade deal with Japan. And that doesn’t get covered because you waste your time on nonsense.
The PMI manufacturers’ index has gone substantially up, which was an incredible — Larry Kudlow, wherever you may be — Larry, please stand up. He just gave me these numbers. And existing new home sales are through the roof. Just came out. Oil prices have gone down ever since the Saudi Arabia incident, and they’ve gone down very substantially. So, we have plenty of oil. But those numbers were surprising to you, Larry. And the extent of the increase. Is that a correct statement? So thank you, Larry Kudlow.
We think we’ll make this little announcement to you because — important. You know the so-called whistleblower? The one that didn’t have any first-class, or first-rate, or second-tier information, from what I understand. You’ll have to figure that out for yourself. But I’ve spoken with Leader Kevin McCarthy and the Republicans — many of them — and we were going to do this anyway, but I’ve informed them — all of the House members — that I fully support transparency on the so-called whistleblower information, even though it was supposedly second-hand information, which is sort of interesting.
And other things have come out about the whistleblower that are also maybe even more interesting. But also insist on transparency from Joe Biden and his son Hunter on the millions of dollars that have been quickly and easily taken out of Ukraine and China. Millions of dollars. Millions and millions of dollars taken out very rapidly while he was Vice President. And I think they should have transparency for that. I’ve informed the Leader about that.
And additionally, I demand transparency from Democrats who went to Ukraine and attempted to force the new President, who I met and is an outstanding person. I just met a little while ago; some of you were there. I think he’s going to be outstanding. He got elected on the basis of corruption. He wants to end corruption in Ukraine, and I think that’s great.
But they went there and they wanted to force the new President to do things that they wanted under the form of political threat. They threatened him if he didn’t do things. Now, that’s what they’re accusing me of, but I didn’t do it. I didn’t threaten anybody. In fact, the press was asking questions of the President of Ukraine. And he said, “No pressure.” I used the word “pressure.” I think he used the word “push,” but he meant pressure, but it’s the same thing. No push, no pressure, no nothing. It’s all a hoax, folks. It’s all a big hoax.
And the sad thing about this hoax is that we work so hard with all of these countries — and I mean really hard. This has been — I’ve been up from early in the morning to late in the evening, and meeting with different countries all for the good of our country, and the press doesn’t even cover all of this. And it’s disappearing — it’s really disappointing also to those countries that are with us and spend so much time with us.
So, we want transparency. We’ve informed Kevin McCarthy about transparency. And we said, “Vote for it.” So I think you’ll have close to 100 percent of the Republican votes, I hope.
And it got almost no attention, but in May, CNN reported that Senators Robert Menendez, Richard Durbin, and Patrick Leahy wrote a letter to Ukraine’s Prosecutor General expressing concern at the closing of four investigations they said were “critical.” In the letter, they implied that their support for U.S. assistance to Ukraine was at stake and that if they didn’t do the right thing, they wouldn’t get any assistance. Gee, doesn’t that sound familiar? Doesn’t that sound familiar?
And Chris Murphy — who I’ve been dealing with on guns — you know, so nice. He’s always, “Oh, no, we want to work it out. We want to work it out.” But they’re too busy wasting their time on the witch hunt. So, Senator Chris Murphy literally threatened the President of Ukraine that, if he doesn’t do things right, they won’t have Democrat support in Congress. So you’re going to look all of this up.
One other thing — I’m just going off of certain notes and elements of what we’ve been doing over the last three days, but this just came up a few minutes ago: The “Amazon-Washington Post” just put out a fake article that Acting Director of National Intelligence, Joseph Maguire — who I’ve gotten to know, and he’s a tough cookie — and I was surprised; I was shocked to hear this — was going to quit, blaming the White House for something that they wouldn’t let him talk openly, freely. And I was shocked because I know Joe, and he’s tough. A tough guy.
And I was really surprised to hear he was going to quit. Before I could even either talk to him or talk to anybody else, he put out a statement — I didn’t speak to Joe yet — but he said, “At no time have I considered resigning my position.” In other words, the story in the Washington Post was a fake.
“At no time have I considered resigning my position since assuming this role on August 16, 2019. I have never quit anything in my life, and I am not going to start now. I’m committed to leading the intelligence community to address the diverse and complex threats facing our nation.” That’s from the Acting Director of National Intelligence, a very good man, Joseph Maguire.
So we’re having a great period of time. Our country is the strongest it’s ever been economically. Our numbers are phenomenal. Wilbur, thank you. And Larry. Everybody. The numbers are phenomenal. Our economy is the strongest in the world. We’re the largest economy in the world.
Had my opponent won, we would be second right now because China was catching us so rapidly, we would’ve been second by this time. And unless somebody does a very poor job as President, we’re going to be first for a long way, because we’ve picked up trillions and trillions of dollars in value and worth of our country, and China has lost trillions and trillions of dollars, and millions of jobs, and their supply chain. And they want to make a deal.
This year, America came to the United Nations stronger than we have ever been before: Since my election, the United States has not only brought our economy to a level that we have never seen, the most jobs that we’ve ever had — you know you’ve heard me say it many times — African American, Asian American, Hispanic American, the best unemployment numbers we’ve ever had. And the most and best employment numbers: 160 million — very close to that number — in jobs. We’ve never been anywhere close.
Wages are up, and inequality is down. Something that people don’t like writing about. But wages are up. I used to speak during the campaign, and I’d talk about wages where people were making less money three years ago than they were making 21 years, 22 years ago, and they’d have two jobs and three jobs. When I say “three years ago,” I’m talking into the area sometime prior to the election. And they were doing very badly. And now, for the first time in many years, wages are up and employment is up, and unemployment is down. And it’s a beautiful thing to watch.
In a week of active and ambitious diplomacy here at the United Nations, America renewed our friendships. We advanced our values greatly and made clear to everyone that the United States will always defend our citizens to promote prosperity.
I met with Prime Minister Boris Johnson, at length, of the United Kingdom, continuing our discussions on a magnificent, new bilateral trade deal. So we’ll see what happens with respect to Brexit, but I suspect we’ll have a fantastic deal with the UK. It should be much bigger than it has been over the last number of years. Over the last 20 years, frankly. It should be a much bigger deal.
That’s true with many countries. We’re going to have much bigger trade deals with a lot of countries that have an opportunity to come. And they all want to do business with the United States, especially now.
Earlier today, I stood alongside Prime Minister Abe of Japan — a friend of mine, a great gentleman. Had a great reelection. And we signed a terrific new trade deal, which tremendously helps our farmers and ranchers, and technology. The technology companies are really big beneficiaries.
We also held very productive conversations with leaders of Pakistan, India. And many other nations are achieving stronger ties of fair and reciprocal trade. And with respect to Pakistan and India, we talked about Kashmir. And whatever help I can be, I said — I offered, whether it’s arbitration or mediation, or whatever it has to be, I’ll do whatever I can. Because they’re at very serious odds right now, and hopefully that’ll get better.
You look at the two gentlemen heading those two countries — two good friends of mine — I said, “Fellas, work it out. Just work it out.” Those are two nuclear countries. They’ve got to work it out.
This week, we also made incredible strides on national security with President Duda of Poland. We signed a joint declaration advancing defense cooperation. And, crucially, Poland has agreed to put up 100 percent of the money — something I don’t think you’ve ever heard said before. But they’re going to put up 100 percent of the money, of hosting additional U.S. military personnel that we’ll be taking from various other countries. We won’t have more over; we’ll have — we’ll be moving them around.
Poland is building us phenomenal new facilities. They’re spending everything, and they’re going to really do a job. But we’ll be moving a few thousand soldiers, and Poland will be paying that for it.
Together with Prime Minister Lee of Singapore, I signed an important agreement extending our defense cooperation. This hasn’t been changed in many years. Then, yesterday, I met with prospective members of the Middle East Strategic Alliance, which is a group that I know very well; I know all of them. And through this effort, the nations of the Middle East are taking more responsibility for securing their own future and their own neighborhood. And they’re also reimbursing us and paying us for a lot of the military work that we incredibly do.
But because we’re now independent, energy-wise — we’re energy independent — we have very few boats going over the Middle East. We used to have them going through the Straits all the time. And you probably noticed that, every once in a while, they go after somebody else’s. They haven’t gone after ours yet. If they do, they’ve get big problems. But we have very few boats going over there. They were saying the other day, they’ve never attacked an American boat, and I’m not asking for trouble. But if they do, they know they have far bigger trouble. But then they said, “But, you know, we don’t see very many American boats over here anymore.”
This week also brought extraordinary progress to nations of our own hemisphere. In recent days, we’ve achieved historic asylum cooperation agreements with El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras. We were with El Salvador today. A great young gentleman became the President. He’s strong and tough, and he’s taking care of crime. He was really something today. I was very impressed with him. And likewise with Honduras, who we met. We signed a cooperation agreement with both, and also with Guatemala.
We’re working with our partners in Central America to ensure that asylum-seekers can pursue relief as close to their home countries as possible. That’ll make a tremendous difference at our southern border.
And Mexico — I have to say, President Lopez Obrador has been outstanding — an outstanding partner. And he’s doing a great job in Mexico. The cartels are way down, and the numbers — our Secretary is here now — the numbers are way down. Way, way down. And we’re doing that without the help of Congress, meaning the Democrats in Congress who won’t give us a single vote to take care of loopholes.
We have loopholes that are so horrible, and it would be so easy to fix. And they know they should be fixed but they don’t want to do because they don’t want to give Trump any credit because it’s all about the election. That’s all they care about. They don’t care about our country; they care about the election.
And the sad part is, with all of the tremendous work that we’ve done this weekend — whether it’s Secretary Mnuchin or Secretary Pompeo, who had some outstanding, outstanding meetings — with all of this tremendous work that we’ve done, the press doesn’t even cover it. And the Democrats did this hoax during the United Nations week. It was perfect. Because this way, it takes away from these tremendous achievements that we’re taking care of doing, that we’re involved in in New York City, at the United Nations.
So that was all planned, like everything else. It was all planned. And the witch hunt continues, but they’re getting hit hard in this witch hunt, because when they look at the information, it’s a joke. Impeachment? For that? When you have a wonderful meeting, or you have a wonderful phone conversation?
I think you should ask. We actually — you know, that was the second conversation. I think you should ask for the first conversation also. I can’t believe they haven’t, although I heard there’s a — there’s a rumor out they want the first conversation. It was beautiful. It was just a perfect conversation.
But I think you should do that. I think you should do, and I think you should ask for VP Pence’s conversation because he had a couple conversations also. I can save you a lot of time. They’re all perfect. Nothing was mentioned of any import other than congratulations. But the word is that they’re going to ask for the first phone conversation. You can have it anytime you need it. And also Mike Pence’s conversations, which were, I think, one or two of them. They were perfect. They were all perfect.
It’s very sad what the Democrats are doing to this country. They’re dividing. They’re belittling. They’re demeaning our country. So many leaders came up to me today and they said, “Sir, what you go through, no President has ever gone through. And it’s so bad for your country.” People laugh at the stupidity of what they’ve asked for. And here we could do asylum. We could do all of these different things so easily. We could do asylum quickly. We could do loopholes; get rid of them.
Instead, we actually made deals with Mexico and with Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras. And we’re doing it with them instead of with our Congress, but we’re doing it. We get it done.
The wall is being built, by the way. It got little coverage. I went to the border. It’s going up in New Mexico. It’s going up in Arizona. It’s going up in California, believe it or not. They really wanted that wall in California, in San Diego. As soon as it was completed, they said, “We don’t want a wall.” They were begging me for a wall. I should take it out and move it to another location.
We were with the Governor — spoke to him a lot — but the Governor of Texas, Lieutenant Governor of Texas, Attorney General of Texas, the senators of Texas — Cornyn, Ted Cruz. And we’re building an incredible wall. That’s going to — number one, it’s going to look great. It’s going to be virtually impossible to cross unless you’re one hell of a mountain climber. It’s very tough. It’s going to be very tough to get people and drugs over those walls, because they’re the real deal.
I went to the Secretary of Homeland security, and he got all his people together. I said, “Give me four walls — your optimum. Every single thing included.” And they give me 20 percent less, 20 percent less, and 20 percent less — meaning, less cost. They came back, they said, “This is the wall, sir. This would be the best.” We have the panels on top, which are anti-climb panels. I don’t know if you noticed the steel on top. We have a different design for a different area, but this anti-climb is very tough. They’ve — we had people going out and real climbers telling us which is the toughest to climb. But these are anti-climb panels. Very tough to get across.
And the wall is going up, many miles a week. And we hope to have over 400, but maybe as much as 500 miles, which we’ll pretty much do it because you have a lot of natural barriers; you have mountains, you have really rough rivers. You have some really rough land that you can’t cross very easily. So they serve as their natural walls. But we — we’ll have, we think, over 400, but we could even have 500 miles.
To combat the malice, corruption of both the Venezuelan and Iranian dictatorships, today I issued proclamations suspending the entry into the United States of senior regime officials and their families.
And further, to promote American values, on Monday I was proud to be the first President in history to host a meeting at the United Nations —
I’m so surprised; first President for this. I can’t believe that I’m first. I spoke to Franklin Graham about that. I can’t believe it.
— at the United Nations, on protecting religious freedom and liberty for people around the world.
While some partisans and unelected bureaucrats in Washington may choose to fight every day against the interests and beliefs of the American people, my administration is standing up for the American people like no administration has in many, many years. You forgot the American people. You totally forgot the American people.
This week, every — every week, I really can say — of my presidency, we’re standing up for American prosperity, American security, and the American way of life. And together, with our friends and partners, we’re building a more peaceful, prosperous, and promising future.
We have a tremendous relationship now with a lot of nations that are very happy with what’s going on, and that includes in South America, where they’ve been so helpful, where nobody thought this would be possible. The relationship with Mexico is an example, or El Salvador, or Honduras, or Guatemala. Nobody even knew about it. Yet, we sent them hundreds of millions of dollars, and all we got back was caravans of people pouring in.
We had tremendous — we had tremendous — it was terrible. And we’ve got that stopped, and the countries are now helping us. And we stopped those payments, by the way. We don’t pay those countries that money anymore. But I will tell you, if they’re as good as they seem to be — they’re really doing a job on crime and stopping the wrong people from leaving and coming to the United States — we’ll be helping them a lot with economic development projects and other things.
So, with that, we had a tremendous three days. It was beautiful to see. Made a lot of new friends. I read you a list of all the countries I saw pretty much one on one. And it’s been very busy, but it’s been very, very fruitful.
So we could take a couple of questions. I’d love some questions on some of the things that we accomplished at UNGA, instead of the witch hunt — the phony witch hunt questions, which I know that’s what you want to ask because it’s probably better for you, but it’s not better for the country.
So maybe we’ll take a few — a few questions. Please.
Q Thank you, Mr. President. You suggested that you didn’t do anything wrong in the course of your conversations with the Ukrainian President. But can you explain to the American people why it is appropriate for an American President to ask a foreign leader for information about a political rival, and what you would have said if you discovered that Barack Obama perhaps had asked a foreign leader for information about you before your campaign for the presidency?
PRESIDENT TRUMP: Yeah. Well, that’s what he did, isn’t it, really? When you think about it.
Look, that whole witch hunt was started, and hopefully that’ll all come out. But there’s been some fantastic books written that just came out — whether you will look at Gregg Jarrett, or McCarthy’s book that just — just came out recently, and so many other books. And a lot of books are coming out. When you start reading those books, you see what they did to us. What they’ve done to this country is a disgrace. They’ve hurt this country very badly. And no other President should have to go through what I’ve gone through.
The President — the new President of Ukraine is looking to stop corruption. There’s a lot of corruption going on, and there was corruption. I just told you about senators that threatened him with votes and no money coming into Ukraine if they do things. That’s really what people are trying to say that I did, but the only difference is I didn’t do it. You take a look at that call; it was perfect. I didn’t do it. There was no quid pro quo, but there was with Biden and there was with these senators. And they threatened. They said, “You do this, you do that. We’re not going to give you votes.” That’s — that’s the real deal.
So we have an honest group of people that have been maligned. And, you know, it’s — a lot of people say I’ll do even better. I’m very happy. Yesterday, I guess we had a 53 poll, and a lot of people say add 10 points to anything. Anybody voting for Trump, you can add — anytime you get a poll, you can add 10 points or 7 points or 6 points. Take it any way you want. But I don’t know if I consider that to be a compliment, but in one way it is a compliment.
And I guess that’s what happened in the last election: Far more people came to vote than anybody thought possible.
Q So why should the American people then be comfortable with an American President asking a foreign leader for information about an American citizen?
PRESIDENT TRUMP: Well, I think you can look at your senators and you can look at Biden, and you can look at all these other people. But what we’re looking for is corruption. An investigation started, called the “Russian witch hunt,” affectionately. And it was a total phony scam. It was set up by people within the government to try and stop somebody from getting elected.
And after that person — namely, me — won, and convincingly won at 306 to 223 in the Electoral College — which, by the way, when you run a race, if you’re running electoral — you know, if you go by the College, Electoral College, that’s a much different race than running popular vote. And it’s like the hundred-yard dash or the mile. You train differently.
And I can’t help it that my opponent didn’t go to Wisconsin and should have gone much more to Michigan and Pennsylvania and other places. But that’s the way it is. We won election, convincingly. Convincingly. And then you had the text message on, “Well, if she doesn’t win, we’ve got an insurance policy.” How bad was that? You know the insurance policy? That’s sort of what has been taking place over the last number of years — the insurance policy.
No, there are a lot of very dishonest people. We’re the ones that played it straight. And you know what? The millions of people out there that are looking at what’s going on — those people understand it. They see it. And they think it’s disgusting. And our people are being hurt, and our country is being hurt.
When Nancy Pelosi allows her position to be taken over by radical far-left socialists, or worse, that’s pretty bad. That’s pretty bad — especially when the senators and all of these other people have actually done what they’re accusing me of doing, which I didn’t do.
I’m going to have Mike Pompeo say a couple of words. I’m going to have Steve Mnuchin say a couple of words. And then we’ll do a couple of more questions.
SECRETARY POMPEO: Mr. President, I thought I’d start by talking about Iran. We had a productive week. We saw the Europeans take a position with respect to the attacks that took place in Saudi Arabia, making clear this was Iran, just as President Trump and I had been saying, and have now joined us in saying that the existing JCPOA framework is not going to work, it’s not going to solve the world’s problems, it’s not going to create Middle East stability.
Then we had a good set of meetings with our Middle East allies as well. The President joined for a meeting of the GCC where we talked again about how we can help deter. We want peace. We want a peaceful resolution with the Islamic Republic of Iran. We’re hoping we can get that way. In the end, it’ll be up to the Iranians to make that decision, whether they’ll choose violence and hate — and the President said in his speech yesterday to the General Assembly — if their bloodthirst will continue.
We hope that’s the (inaudible). We hope we can get the opportunity to negotiate with them and get an outcome that’s good for both of them, for the United States, to make sure that they never have a nuclear weapon and that they can’t foment their terror with ballistic missiles and in the way they have all around the world. And I think we made real progress uniting the world on that here over these past few days. Thank you.
PRESIDENT TRUMP: Thank you.
SECRETARY MNUCHIN: As Secretary Pompeo said on Iran, we had very good discussions with all of our allies about the sanctions program, which is the maximum pressure, and unity on the sanctions program. The Europeans made it very clear they would not do anything without our consent.
And then, on the economic front, we had the entire economic team here for all the meetings: Secretary Ross, Larry Kudlow; Ambassador Lighthizer just left to go back to D.C. He’s working hard on trying to get USMCA passed. But we had a lot of productive discussions. The Japanese trade deal and a lot of discussions on investing in the U.S., more jobs in the U.S., and more trade. Thank you.
PRESIDENT TRUMP: Okay. Go ahead, please.
Q Thank you. Kristina Partsinevelos, Fox Business. I want to focus on markets, because I’ll leave it to everybody else to talk about impeachment. Markets reacted positively after you spoke about China, and that it would happen sooner than — rather than unexpectedly.
Yet, you have the Foreign Minister of China saying that they have no intention of, you know, unseating the United States. And yet, they’re investing heavily in infrastructure and military.
PRESIDENT TRUMP: Not anymore, maybe.
Q But what — what is different this time, though?
PRESIDENT TRUMP: And maybe they just say that, Kristina.
Q What is different this time, though? The fact that you’re saying it’s progressing.
PRESIDENT TRUMP: Oh, I just think it’s progressing. I think they want to make a deal. They’re losing their supply chain. You know, it’s getting killed.
Q Do you have something specific?
THE PRESIDENT: Well, I don’t want to say that. But I can tell you that these two men — and, in this case, more specifically, Steve, we’re having some very good conversations.
And I guess it’s next week that a group is coming in and the week after. So we have a lot of — we have a lot of talks going on, and also by telephone.
They want to make a deal. And you know why they want to make a deal? Because they’re losing their jobs, and because their supply chain is going to hell. And companies are moving out of China, and they’re moving to lots of other places, including the United States. And that’s not good; that’s far worse than they thought.
And, by the way, in the meantime, we’re taking in billions and billions of dollars in tariffs. We’re taking in tremendous numbers in tariffs. And we’re helping our farmers who got targeted. Now, by the way, China is starting to buy our agricultural product again. They’re starting to go with the beef and all of the different things — pork. Very big on pork.
But if you look and if you see — and they actually put out, I think, a statement. But they’re starting, very heavy, to buy our ag again. No, they want to make a deal. And they should want to make a deal. The question is: Do we want to make a deal?
Q If USMCA doesn’t pass through Congress, is that it for NAFTA?
PRESIDENT TRUMP: Well, that would be a shame. Well, I don’t want to answer that question, but you know how I feel about NAFTA. I think NAFTA is the worst trade deal ever made, although I also happen to think World Trade Organization was not one of the greats. Not one of the greats. That was the creation of China, which went like a rocket ship from the day they signed. It was — it was terrible.
But, no, we’re going to find out. That’s going to be a very interesting question, with Nancy and Chuck and all of these people focusing on the witch hunt because they can’t beat us at the ballot. They can’t beat us at the ballot. And they’re not going to win the presidential. We’re having great polls. We have internal polls that are — Ohio, Iowa. Pennsylvania is looking good. North Carolina.
We just won two races that a lot of people — we thought we were going to lose both of those races. One was down 17 points three weeks before the race, and he ended up winning by a substantial margin — by a substantial margin. And — Dan Bishop.
And then we had a second race, as you know, and he was up one or two points and ended up winning by — what was it? Twenty-five points or some incredible — I’ll ask you folks because I don’t want to be inaccurate. Otherwise, I’ll have a front-page story: “We have breaking news. Trump exaggerated.”
But he won by many, many points. And he was leading by maybe two, maybe three, but he won by — in the twenties. So it’s — it’s been — so we’re looking great in North Carolina, looking great in Florida.
And you had one or two congressmen Democrats say, “Listen, we can’t beat them at the election, so let’s impeach him.” Right? Didn’t you hear — Al Green. That’s a beauty. He’s a real beauty, that guy. But he said, very distinctively, it’s all — it was all over the place. I don’t know — they’re trying to lose that tape, I guess.
But he said, “We can’t…” Essentially, he said, “We can’t beat him. Let’s impeach him.” That’s pretty — that’s pretty dangerous stuff.
Steve, go ahead.
Q Thank you, sir. You had expressed some concerns about the precedent of releasing the transcript.
PRESIDENT TRUMP: Yeah. I don’t like it.
Q Why did you go ahead and do it?
PRESIDENT TRUMP: Because I was getting such fake news, and I just thought it would be better. And now they’re asking for the first phone conversation, and I’ll release that too, if it’s important to you. But they’re asking for — because I had a conversation previous — on a previous election plateau that he had hit. The — the current president hit a couple of different plateaus. And I spoke to him, previous to the call that we released, which was a very innocent call — very, very innocent; very nice call.
And as he said, we were — “I wasn’t pushed. I wasn’t pushed,” meaning pressured. He wasn’t pressured at all.
But I don’t like the concept of releasing calls because when a president or prime minister, or a king or a queen, calls the United States, you don’t like to say, “Gee, we’re going to release your call to the fake-news media, and they’re going to make you look like a fool.” What happens is, it’s hard to do business that way. You want to have people feel comfortable.
So I hated it, but you folks were saying such lies, such horrible things about a call that was so innocent and so nice. In fact, Lindsey Graham said to me, when he read it — it was very interesting. He’s a good man. He’s a smart man. He said, “I can’t believe it. I never knew you could be this, really, nice to a person.” He said, “I cannot believe it. You were so nice. I didn’t think you had that in you to be so nice.”
I was nice. I’m nice to a lot of people. People don’t understand that. But I was. But he was shocked that it was such a nice call. There — he said, “There is nothing here.” And all fair people say the same thing.
But I don’t like the precedent, Steve. I don’t like it where you’re dealing with heads of state and to think that their call is going to be released. But I felt that — and, you know, we spoke to Ukraine about it. Mike actually called up his counterpart, and we spoke to Ukraine about it because we want to — because they could have been — if that they didn’t want us to do it, we would not have done it.
But he actually said, “That was a very innocent call. You can release it all you want.”
Q And are you now braced for long impeachment saga?
PRESIDENT TRUMP: Well, I thought we won. I thought it was dead. It was dead. The Mueller report — no obstruction, no collusion. You look at all of the things that happened.
Corey Lewandowski was fantastic the other day, as a person that they have been tormenting. You look at all the people that they’ve tormented, all the legal fees. People came here with bright eyes; they wanted to make life so great for other people. And they left where they spent hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal fees that they didn’t have. And it’s a sad thing. What these Democrats have done to ruin lives is so sad.
I’ve seen people with only good intention. They came to Washington because they wanted to make the United States and the world a better place. And they went home — they were dark. They got hit by Mueller’s subpoenas. I think there were 2,500 subpoenas, or some ridiculous number. Five hundred people were interviewed, and yet, they don’t interview Joe Biden and his son.
If you’re Democrat, you have automatic protection. That’s years and years of people putting in certain people into positions. But when you look at all of the — all of the trauma that these fakers, of course — and the press — look, the press is — much of the press is not only fake, it’s corrupt. These stories they write are corrupt; they’re so wrong. And they know that.
You know, it used to be — I used to get great press until I ran for politics. I mean, I used to be the king of getting good press. I was very good at it. And I got good. I mean, they covered me well for what — otherwise, I probably wouldn’t be here.
And once I ran, I said, “Boy, this is incredible.” But if you see the way they treat my family — used to be treated great. My family worked so hard. The people that work with me — these people — all of these people, they work so hard. They’ve done such a good —
Look, we have the greatest economy we’ve ever had. We have a military — two and a half trillion dollars. We’ve rebuilt our military. You don’t hear the vets complaining. We got Choice approved. It couldn’t be approved.
But when you see what happened with the viciousness, and when you see little Adam Schiff go out and lie and lie and stand at the mic — smart guy, by the way — stand at the mic and act like he’s so serious. And then he goes into a room with Nadler, and they must laugh their asses off. They must laugh their asses off.
But it’s so bad for our country. People have said — Rush Limbaugh — great man; Sean Hannity said it. A lot of people have said it. Mark Levin. They said they don’t know if one man anywhere in the world, with all the men they know — or woman — that could handle what I’ve had to handle.
And I think that’s true, but I handle it. To me, it’s like putting on a suit.
All right, how about one more question? A question on the economy. A question on the economy.
Go ahead. Go ahead.
Q Hi, Mr. President. VPItv from Venezuela — Caracas, Venezuela.
PRESIDENT TRUMP: Good. Good. Wow.
Q Yeah.
PRESIDENT TRUMP: How are you doing?
Q We made it.
PRESIDENT TRUMP: How are you doing over there?
Q Pretty bad. Our situation is pretty bad.
PRESIDENT TRUMP: Yeah. I would say “pretty bad.” Yeah. Sad.
Q Yeah. But we are fighting.
PRESIDENT TRUMP: And it was one of the great countries and one of the richest countries not so long ago — 15 years ago. It’s incredible.
Q But we are going to make it.
PRESIDENT TRUMP: Right. I agree with that. And we’re helping you.
Q Yeah.
PRESIDENT TRUMP: We’re helping you.
Q Yeah, I know. And thank you.
PRESIDENT TRUMP: Go ahead.
Q I have two questions —
PRESIDENT TRUMP: Go ahead.
Q — to take advantage of this. Maduro traveled to Russia and Diosdado Cabello to North Korea — two of the most antagonist nations in the U.S. interests. What can be done to contain this? What are they looking for in that country? And because the special envoy, Mr. Abrams, said that the Russians are willing to negotiate it. This is one question.
And the other: Mr. President, you say that the socialists is one of the biggest challenges, you said yesterday in the United Nations. But the region is far from safe. Maduro is still a dictator, full in power. (Inaudible) in Argentina and Brazil are on their (inaudible) about the socialist and populist. Are you worried about it?
PRESIDENT TRUMP: Well, I just say that socialism will never happen in the United States. It can’t happen in the United States. And Venezuela — unfortunately, I have to use your country as the example of what socialism can do, how it can tear the fabric of a country apart. Because I know a lot about Venezuela.
I’ve had many, many friends of mine come from Venezuela. They live — many in Miami — a certain section of Miami, I won’t mention the name because they’ll say I’m thinking about my business, and I’m not. But they are fantastic people and they like your President. They voted overwhelmingly for me. They like what I’m doing for Venezuela.
We have Venezuela very much in our hearts and very much in our sights. And we’re watching it very carefully. And you know what I would say? We’re giving millions and millions of dollars in aid — not that we want to, from the Maduro standpoint, but we have to because, on a humanitarian — people are dying. They have no food. They have no water. They have no nothing. They’re dying. No medicine. Their hospitals are closed or — or don’t even have electricity. It’s so sad to see.
Let me just say that we have it under control. We are watching it very carefully. And we’re going to be very, very —
Q Russia (inaudible) —
PRESIDENT TRUMP: We’re — we’re watching it very carefully, including other countries that may or may not be playing games. We’re watching it very closely.
Q But, you know, if Russia is talking with the USA or Guaidó, what can you tell — about us?
PRESIDENT TRUMP: Just put this in the back of your mind: It’s all going to be fine. We know everything that you said, and it’s all going to be fine. We’re very much involved. We very much know what’s going on, and we’re very much involved. Okay?
Thank you all very much. Thank you. Thank you very much.
http://drrich.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/logo_264x69.png00Dr. Rich Swierhttp://drrich.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/logo_264x69.pngDr. Rich Swier2019-09-26 06:35:472019-09-26 06:35:47VIDEO: President Trump Highlights America’s Great Accomplishments at the United Nations’ 74th Session
Great America PAC’s hard-hitting new ad details Hunter Biden’s business deals in Ukraine and China that occurred after official visits and appointments by the Vice President, and the troubling admission of a Ukrainian quid pro quo by Biden in early 2018. Democrats should investigate one of their own – Joe Biden.
During the Q&A President Trump addresses Biden and Ukraine stating that both countries are concerned about corruption at the highest levels of government.
http://drrich.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/logo_264x69.png00Dr. Rich Swierhttp://drrich.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/logo_264x69.pngDr. Rich Swier2019-09-26 05:53:012019-09-26 05:59:09VIDEO: Great America Pac releases new ad titled ‘Biden Privilege’
Here is President Trump responding to the “witch hunt” call for impeachment.
Here is the key exchange between President Trump and President Zelenskyy showing there was no quid pro quo:
The President: I would like you to do us a favor though because our country has been through a lot and Ukraine knows a lot about it. I would like you to find out what happened with this whole situation with Ukraine, they say Crowdstrike … I guess you have one of your wealthy people. The server, they say Ukraine has it There are a lot. of things that went on, the whole situation. I think you’re surrounding yourself with some of the same people. I would like to have the Attorney General call you or your people and I would like you to get to the bottom of it. As you saw yesterday, that whole nonsense ended with a very poor performance by a man named Robert Mueller, an incompetent performance, but they say a lot of it started with Ukraine. Whatever you can do, it’s very important that you do it if that’s possible.
President Zelenskyy: Yes it is. very important for me and everything that you just mentioned earlier. For me as a President, it is very important and we are open for any future cooperation. We are ready to open a new page on cooperation in relations between the United States and Ukraine. For that purpose, I just recalled our ambassador from United States and he will be replaced by a very competent and very experienced ambassador who will work hard on making sure that our two nations are getting closer. I would also like and hope to see him having your trust and your confidence and have personal relations with you so we can cooperate even more so I will personally tell you that one of my assistants spoke with Mr. Giuliani just recently and we are hoping very much that Mr. Giuliani will be able to travel to Ukraine and we will meet once he comes to Ukraine. I just wanted to assure you once again that you have nobody but friends around us. I will make sure that I surround myself with the best and most experienced people. I also wanted to tell you that we are friends. We are great friends and you Mr. President have friends in our country so we can continue our strategic partnership. I also plan to surround myself with great people and in addition to that investigation, I guarantee as the President of Ukraine that all the investigations will be done openly and candidly. That I can assure you.
The President: Good because I heard you had a prosecutor who was very good and he was shut down and that’s really unfair. A lot of people are talking about that, the way they shut your very good prosecutor down and you had some very bad people involved. Mr. Giuliani is a highly respected man. He was the mayor bf New York City, a great mayor, and I would like him to call you. I will ask him to call you along with the Attorney General. Rudy very much knows what’s happening and he is a very capable guy. If you could speak to him that would be great. The former ambassador from the United States, the woman, was bad news and the people she was dealing with in the Ukraine were bad news so I just want to let you know that the other thing, there’s a lot of talk about Biden’s son. that Biden stopped the prosecution and a lot of people want to find out about that so whatever you can do with the Attorney General would be great. Biden went around bragging that he stopped the prosecution so if you can look into it. It sounds horrible to me.
President Zelenskyy: I wanted to tell you about the prosecutor First of all I understand and I’m knowledgeable about the situation. Since we have won the absolute majority in our Parliament; the next prosecutor general will be 100% my person, my candidate, who will be approved, by the parliament and will start as a new prosecutor in September. He or she will look. into the situation, specifically to the company that you mentioned in this issue. The issue of the investigation of the case is actually the issue of making sure to resolve the honesty so we will take care of.that and will work on the investigation of the case. On top of that, I would kindly ask you if you have any additional information that you can provide to μs, it would be very helpful for the investigation to make sure that we administer justice in our country with regard to the Ambassador to the United States from Ukraine as far as I recall her name was Ivanovich. It was great that you were the first one. who told me that she was a bad ambassador because I agree with you 100%. Her attitude towards me was far from the best as she admired the previous President and she was on his side. She would not accept me as a new President well enough.
The President: Well, she’s going to go through some things. I will have Mr. Giuliani give you a call and I am also going to have Attorney General Barr call and we will get to the bottom of it. I’m sure you will figure it out. I heard the prosecutor was treated very badly and he was a very fair prosecutor so good luck with everything. Your economy is going to get better and better I predict. You have a lot of assets. It’s a great country. I have many Ukrainian friends, their incredible people.
http://drrich.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/logo_264x69.png00Dr. Rich Swierhttp://drrich.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/logo_264x69.pngDr. Rich Swier2019-09-25 11:42:122019-09-26 17:14:22The New Witch-Hunt: President Trump’s July Call with Ukrainian Leader Zelenskyy
This week the feds busted 38 individuals they say are responsible for addiction and death in New Hampshire.
The operation dubbed “Devil’s Highway” once again brought attention to Trump’s words about how Lawrence, Mass. is a hub for the distribution of dangerous opioids and other drugs throughout New England.
And, it sure looks like ‘new Americans’ are responsible….
President Trump’s Lawrence comments back in spotlight after massive drug bust
“For anyone who said Lawrence is not a hub for distribution, how you looking now?” said N.H. state Rep. Fred Doucette, who was a state co-chair for Trump’s 2016 campaign.
“This definitely solidifies some statements that people took offense to,” Doucette added.
“Incidents like this are proof positive of the fact that Lawrence is a hub.”
The 10-week enforcement operation in the Merrimack Valley targeted drug distribution in Lawrence, and trafficking between Lawrence and destinations in New Hampshire.
These U.S. attorney prosecutions should resonate with New Hampshire voters, said Republican activist Fran Wendelboe.
For details on the bust see Monday’s US Justice Departmentpress release:
Merrimack Valley Operation Results in Arrest of 38 Individuals
See the names of those arrested (no mention of their immigration status).
During the operation, the following defendants were arrested on federal charges:
Jason Medlen, 32, of Methuen, charged with conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute 40 grams or more of fentanyl and possession with intent to distribute 40 grams or more of fentanyl;
Louis Delvecchio, 51, of Methuen, charged with conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute 40 grams or more of fentanyl and possession with intent to distribute 40 grams or more of fentanyl;
Santos Obispo Guerrera Lara, 35, of Lawrence, charged with possession with intent to distribute fentanyl;
Douglas “Sunny” Grasso, 34, of Lawrence, charged with conspiracy to distribute fentanyl and possession with intent to distribute 40 grams or more of fentanyl;
Brian Brae, 35, of Lawrence, charged with conspiracy to distribute fentanyl and possession with intent to distribute 40 grams or more of fentanyl;
Enel Alfredo Mendez-Aquino, 29, of Lawrence, charged with distribution of fentanyl and cocaine;
Jorge Alexander Andujar Romero, 29, of Lawrence, charged with distribution of and possession with intent to distribute fentanyl;
Edward Jesis Mar Carmona Ortiz, 42, of Lawrence, charged with possession with intent to distribute fentanyl;
Steven de Jesus de Leon Trinidad, 22, of Lawrence, charged with distribution and possession with intent to distribute a heroine/fentanyl mix;
Luis Felix Franco Herrera, 21, of Lawrence, charged with distribution of and possession with intent to distribute fentanyl;
Jose Rodriquez-Walker, 32, of Lawrence, charged with possession with intent to distribute fentanyl;
Johanny Mejia-Nunez, 43, of Lawrence, charged with possession with intent to distribute 400 grams or more of fentanyl;
Ronyel Pena, 18, of Lawrence, charged with conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute fentanyl;
Joe Martinez, 24, of Lawrence, charged with conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute fentanyl;
Ysrael Nunez, 37, of Lawrence, charged with conspiracy to distribute and possession with intent to distribute 400 grams or more of fentanyl; distribution of and possession with intent to distribute fentanyl; distribution of and possession with intent to distribute 400 grams or more of fentanyl; and aiding and abetting;
William Cabrera, 30, of Lawrence, charged with distribution of and possession with intent to distribute heroin; and possession with intent to distribute heroin and oxycodone;
Oscar Guadalupe Martinez, 37, of North Andover, charged with conspiracy with intent to distribute and distribution of 400 grams or more of fentanyl and 1 kilogram or more of heroin;
Stiven Torres Martinez, 21, of North Andover, charged with conspiracy with intent to distribute and distribution of 400 grams or more of fentanyl and 1 kilogram or more of heroin;
Jason Jimenez, 24, of Bronx, New York, charged with possession with intent to distribute over 40 grams of fentanyl;
Milton Elias Lara, 42, of Lawrence, charged with distribution of and possession with intent to distribute 40 grams or more of fentanyl;
Alexsander Padro, 28, of Methuen, charged with distribution of 40 grams or more of fentanyl;
John Mena, 24, of Lawrence, charged with possession with intent to distribute and distribution of 10 grams or more of acryl fentanyl, a controlled substance analogue;
Yunior Darismir Prandys Torres, 22, of Lawrence, charged with conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute and to distribute a controlled substance, to wit, fentanyl;
Juan Perez Diaz, 22, of Lawrence, charged with conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute and to distribute a controlled substance, to wit, fentanyl;
Jose Ventura, 37, of Lawrence, charged with distribution of and possession with intent to distribute 10 grams or more of fentanyl;
Leisy Baez-Zapata, 21, of Lawrence, charged with conspiracy to distribute and possession with intent to distribute 400 grams or more of fentanyl; distribution of and possession with intent to distribute 400 grams or more of fentanyl; and aiding and abetting;
Erick Alberto Paulino Amador, 28, of Lawrence, charged with possession with intent to distribute and distribution of fentanyl;
Bernardito Carvajal, 28, of Haverhill, charged with possession with intent to distribute fentanyl;
Alfredo Rivera, 31, of Haverhill, charged with possession with intent to distribute fentanyl;
Julio Esthil-Cifre, 30, of Lawrence, charged with possession with intent to distribute fentanyl;
Edgar Castro, 45, of Revere, charged with conspiracy to distribute and to possess with intent to distribute 5 kilograms or more of cocaine;
Julio Ortiz-Chaparro, 47, of Boston, charged with conspiracy to distribute and to possess with intent to distribute 5 kilograms or more of cocaine;
Crishanty Aybar Arias, 22, of Lawrence, charged with possession with intent to distribute fentanyl;
Cesar Lara Castillo, 36, of Lawrence, charged with possession with intent to distribute a Schedule I controlled substance; false representation of social security number, and aggravated identity theft;
Santiago Rubel Guerrero Tejeda, 22, of Bani, Dominican Republic, charged with possession with intent to distribute and distribution of fentanyl;
Jesus Maria Aybar Franco, 34, of Lawrence, charged with distribution and possession with intent to distribute fentanyl;
Marino Amador Baez, 34, of Lawrence, charged with possession with intent to distribute fentanyl; and
Willin Arias-Castillo, 35, of Lawrence, charged with possession with intent to distribute and distribution of fentanyl.
http://drrich.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/logo_264x69.png00Ann Corcoranhttp://drrich.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/logo_264x69.pngAnn Corcoran2019-09-25 10:06:422019-09-25 10:07:18President Was Right: ‘Devil’s Highway’ from Massachusetts to NH Brought Drugs to Granite State
Like everyone else, I wonder what is going on with Iran. Whatever it is, it just does not bode well for the US, my adopted country. My country of birth, Iran, used to be my proud homeland of noble people, is now a cabal of turbaned religious bigots who took it over some four decades ago and overnight transformed a country that was once the envy of the entire Middle East into a pariah of the world.
President Trump honored his campaign pledge to withdraw from the misguided and dangerous deal the Obama administration made with the Iranian Mullahs on the nuclear issue. Some say that was a bad thing. Others say, it was a good thing to chuck it and aim for a much better and safer agreement.
Now that debate is academic, the United States of America is no longer party to that flawed agreement. The United States did not just leave by closing the door, but proposed a new deal to the Mullahs that had exactly zero chance to succeed
President Trump seems to believe that he is dealing with a group of rational pragmatic people like others he has dealt with in the world of business. A sort of give and take type of people who can find middle ground on any deal. The Mullahs are hardly the type. They are religious fanatics to their very core who are driven — now that they are in power and sit on a sea of black gold — by their deadly messianic dream to rule the world by whatever means, piecemeal or whole, intact or in shambles. Preferably in shambles so that their long-awaited and prayed-for Saheb-u-zaman (their messiah)— from his hiding place and returns and set the world straight in accordance with the idealized Shia Islamic vision.
To Islam, Death is not death. It is martyrdom — the prized achievement earning the martyr eternal peace in fabled paradise. To these cultists, Muhammad’s son-in-law, Imam Hossain is their idol and his tragic death is what they follow. They believe in the same way that Imam Hossain with a small band of his followers stood up to the usurper Yazid, they are doing the same thing at all costs battling the Great Satan (the USA).
This cult of death is on the march and in its forty years of Islamic rules has murdered tens of thousands of Iran’s best children who dared to oppose its criminal agenda.
At this point this game of chicken has played out to the Mullahs’ highest advantage. The Saudis, with their huge arsenal of fancy weapons and the world’s third highest military expenditure are just licking their wounds not even daring to name the Mullahs as the villains who bombed their lifeline. And the Saudi’s patron, the United States, shrugs and says it is the Saudi’s place to respond and it would support that. The Saudis blinked, ergo the United States blinks.
As things stand now, the Mullahs have gained incalculable prestige in the region. They have time and again poked the big tiger in the eye and the big tiger blinked and didn’t bite. What’s the lesson to everyone? The tiger is really a paper tiger. Poke it and see for yourself.
And how this brinkmanship is likely to play out? It could trigger a full war. Not just simply the parties giving each other a bloody nose and go back to a line of less cataclysmic confrontation. This is very unlikely. The Mullahs lifeline is hugely constricted and that will not do. They will do whatever they can to open that oil-finance lifeline. A more likely possibility is so called diplomacy.
The United States took a huge risk trying to undo the massively-flawed nuclear deal. The Mullahs refused. Therefore, the United States not being remotely inclined to use force, will take the diplomatic route. Meaning overtly and covertly, the United States backtracks, eases the sanctions, and the Mullahs gleefully celebrate their partial victory waiting and hoping another Democrat president takes the helm. After all, the Mullahs believe Democrats are the nice folks who see it their way. It was that very nice Jimmy Carter who catapulted the villain Khomeini to power. Recall that Carter even called Khomeini, a “saint.”
And yes. Another very nice and understanding Democrat President — the winner of the Nobel Peace Prize granted the Mullahs the right to make their own nuclear bomb if they could only wait a few years. He, Obama even sweetened the deal giving the Mullahs a starter fund of hundred and fifty billion dollars.
What is going on with Iran? Some speculations on my part:
Trump, rightly or wrongly left the nuclear deal with Iran demanding new terms that were tantamount to surrender to the Mullahs. So, they said, Hell no. Trump started to turn the economic screws on the Mullahs that began to shut down their oil sales — their life-blood.
The Mullahs had a choice: either die slowly by the U.S. sanctions that not only prevented selling oil, but also shut down their ability to deal in international banking, or playing hardball with Trump. In a way, they decided to take a chance and go down fighting, if it is necessary.
The Mullahs figured, Trump is more bluster than fight, as evident from his inaction when they shot down an American drone in international airspace. Teddy Roosevelt advised: speak softly but carry a big stick. The Mullahs see President Trump speaking loudly while carrying no stick at all.
They also figured that re-election coming up would make Trump most hesitant to unleash his military on them. Furthermore, Trump might get bounced and the Democrats will again come around and be nice to them.
Now, they have called their opponents’ bluff with great success. They have made their point: they have said time and again, if we can’t sell our oil, then we will not let anybody else sell their oil through the Gulf. Saudis making money hand over fist selling oil while the Mullahs starving? No, that’s not very nice. They decided they would do something about that. Knowing full well that those Saudi boys have no stomach at all for entangling with Iran militarily.
Now what? Simple. This time Trump lost. Next, Trump will relax the sanctions, will even look the other way for the Mullahs to sell some oil, access to the international financial system will also quietly work out and a covert “diplomacy” dance will continue.
The result: a huge victory for the Mullahs and a new long term lease on life. I certainly hope I’m wrong as I see it.
They may only be four percent of our country — but the LGBT community is getting 100 percent of the Left’s attention. Over the weekend, 10 of the Democrats vying for President Trump’s job tried to persuade Americans that the most pressing issue facing our country is the pursuit of taxpayer-funded gender surgery. If pandering were an Olympic sport, Joe Biden could have medaled. Instead, he settled — like they all did — for new records in extremism.
GLAAD CEO Sarah Ellis would have you believe that “LGBTQ issues have been… left out of the 2020 presidential primary conversation.” That’s interesting, since most Americans probably feel like it’s all the Democrats ever talk about. From Biden calling the Equality Act his “number one priority” to Julian Castro saying even transgender “women” need abortion, sexual politics have dominated this political cycle in a way most people can’t believe. Surely there are more pressing issues facing our nation than putting a Drag Queen Story Hour in every library — but you wouldn’t know it by the talking points of the Democratic field.
Most of Saturday’s event was spent fighting for the most radical social space in U.S. history — led by “moderate” Joe Biden, whose best argument for president is that he’ll turn our prisons into a gender-neutral free-for-all. “In prison,” he argued, “the determination should be that your sexual identity is defined by what you say it is [and] not what the prison says it is.” That, ironically, was tame compared to his other kooky suggestions. The former vice president’s platform for America also includes outlawing talk therapy, forcing religious hospitals to perform gender mutilations, and putting taxpayers on the hook for transgender plastic surgery.
The soundbites were almost impossible to believe. “We should outlaw, nationally, conversion therapy,” Biden argued. “There should be a law against it, period.” Followed by: “Obamacare… does cover [gender reassignment] surgery…Trump by executive order struck all of that out of the Affordable Care Act. I would reinstate it all. Every LGBT person… should be able to have full health care without limits.” Then, as if that weren’t enough, the former second-in-command went on to say that the government should punish hospitals who don’t want to perform transgender surgery. “It is simply against the law when I’m president.”
Of course, this grab bag of LGBT radicalism is all designed for one thing: winning the nomination. There’s just one problem — the same that one Hillary Clinton ran into three years ago: You can’t win the White House with the same extremism that charms the core of today’s Democratic party. For now, these promises may open up the Left’s wallet, but they never pay off come Election Day.
And it’s no wonder. Even sympathetic voters would agree that there are far bigger issues facing America than gender-neutral pronouns. With all of the tension on the world stage, with immigration reaching its boiling point, and people looking to Washington to keep the economic boom going, the front-runner of the Democratic party says putting men in girls’ bathrooms is the most important thing of all? And yet, the DNC is so tone deaf that its candidates aren’t participating in one — but two — LGBT forums this fall.
Interestingly, if you ask Americans what their biggest concerns are heading into next year’s election, the LGBT agenda doesn’t even make the list! In April, when Fox News ran the numbers, immigration (21 percent) and the economy (10 percent) were the only two that even had double-digit mentions. Gallup’s team got the same response in the lead-up to the midterms. When they asked voters, Biden’s number-one priority wasn’t even on the map. Even climate change, which is usually dead last on Americans’ minds, had more fans.
Brad Polumbo, one of the people who suffered through this three-hour spectacle, probably felt like a lot of viewers when he wrote, “I expected the debate would be full of left-wing virtue signaling and pandering. But I never quite expected this many Democratic candidates to say openly crazy things — and be proud of it.”
Welcome to 2020.
Tony Perkins’s Washington Update is written with the aid of FRC Action senior writers.
http://drrich.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/logo_264x69.png00Family Research Councilhttp://drrich.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/logo_264x69.pngFamily Research Council2019-09-25 08:03:342019-09-25 08:08:51Biden Spells Extremism L-G-B-T
In a groundbreaking rally attended by tens of thousands of cheering Indian-Americans, President Trump and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi “declared themselves united in a relentless fight against ‘terrorism’ and vowed ‘a close, personal alliance.’”
The rally comes at a significant time. Not only is Pakistan a known state funder of jihad terror, which prompted the Trump administration to cancel $300,000,000 in aid to Pakistan last year, but India is now in a renewed and escalating conflict with Pakistan over the disputed territory of Kashmir.
“Without actually naming Pakistan,”, but alluding to it, Modi referred to Pakistan’s leaders as those who “shield terrorism and nurture it.” Modi continued: “The whole world knows them very well. Their identity is in the sponsorship of terror and the world knows it.” He is right. Against the backdrop of the momentous rally are serious threats of nuclear war coming from Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan. In Mid-august, Khan threatened to “teach Delhi a lesson” and vowed a “fight until the end against any Indian violations in disputed Kashmir.” Then later in the month, Khan escalated his threats of a nuclear war with India over Kashmir.
“Trump, Modi vow relentless fight on extremists in mass rally,” New Straits Times, September 23, 2019:
HOUSTON: US President Donald Trump and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday declared themselves united in a relentless fight against “terrorism,” vowing a close, personal alliance in front of tens of thousands of Indian-Americans.
The two leaders, like-minded nationalists fond of fiery rallies and skeptical of traditional media, heaped praise on each other in an unusual joint appearance inside a football stadium in Houston.
To the bhangra beats of four drummers in saffron turbans, Trump in his dark suit and Modi in a yellow kurta and vest made a grand entrance with arms clenched together to ecstatic cheers from a crowd estimated by organizers at 50,000.
Trump won his biggest applause when he told the crowd, many wearing the saffron of India’s right-wing Bharatiya Janata Party, “We are committed to protecting innocent civilians from the threat of radical Islamic terrorism.”
Taking the flavor of one of Trump’s own boisterous rallies, Modi later asked the crowd to give a standing ovation to Trump for his stance.
Trump has stood by the Indian leader during controversial decisions this year, including his revocation of autonomy for Muslim-majority Kashmir and his order for jets to enter Pakistani territory in response to a suicide bombing.
With Trump watching in the front row and listening to the translation, Modi made clear reference to rival Pakistan, which controls part of Kashmir and has sought to rally international attention over the Himalayan territory.
Modi said he was seeking equal status and development for Kashmir, adding that his actions were “causing discomfort to some people unable to manage their own country” and who “nurture terrorism.”
“These people have put their hatred of India at the center of their political agenda,” Modi said.
India has also faced strong criticism from human rights experts for shutting down virtually all internet and cellular communications across much of Kashmir….
RELATED VIDEO: Howdy Modi: Donald Trump says India never had better friend in White House. – Hindustan Times
http://drrich.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/logo_264x69.png00Jihad Watchhttp://drrich.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/logo_264x69.pngJihad Watch2019-09-25 07:32:532019-09-25 07:38:32Trump, Indian Prime Minister Modi vow relentless fight against Islamic terrorism [+Video]
Mr. Secretary-General, distinguished delegates, ambassadors and world leaders, seven decades of history have passed through this hall in all of their richness and drama. Where I stand, the world has heard from presidents and premiers at the height of the Cold War. We have seen the foundation of nations. We have seen the ringleaders of revolution.
We have beheld saints who inspired us with hope, rebels who stirred us with passion and heroes who emboldened us with courage all here to share plans, proposals, visions and ideas on the world’s biggest stage. Like those who met us before, our time is one of great contests, high stakes and clear choices.
The essential divide that runs all around the world and throughout history is once again, thrown into stark relief. It is the divide between those whose thirst for control deludes them into thinking they are destined to rule over others and those people and nations who want only to rule themselves. I have the immense privilege of addressing you today as the elected leader of a nation that prizes liberty, independence and self-government above all.
The United States, after having spent over $2.5 trillion since my election, to completely rebuild our great military, is also, by far, the world’s most powerful nation. Hopefully it will never have to use this power. Americans know that in a world where others seek conquest and domination, our nation must be strong in wealth, in might and in spirit.
That is why the United States vigorously defends the traditions and customs that have made us who we are. Like my beloved country, each nation represented in this hall has a cherished history, culture and heritage that is worth defending and celebrating, and which gives us our singular potential and strength.
The free world must embrace its national foundations. It must not attempt to erase them or replace them. Looking around and all over, this large, magnificent planet, the truth is plain to see. If you want freedom, take pride in your country. If you want democracy, hold on to your sovereignty. And if you want peace, love your nation.
Wise leaders always put the good of their own people and their own country first. The future does not belong to globalists. The future belongs to patriots. The future belongs to sovereign and independent nations who protect their citizens, respect their neighbors and honor the differences that make each country special and unique.
It is why we in the United States have embarked on an exciting program of national renewal. And everything we do, we are focused on empowering the dreams and aspirations of our citizens. Thanks to our pro-growth economic policies, our domestic unemployment rate reached its lowest level in over half a century.
Fueled by massive tax cuts and regulations cuts, jobs are being produced at a historic rate. 6 million Americans have been added to the employment rolls in under three years. Last month, African-American, Hispanic-American and Asian-American unemployment reached their lowest rates ever recorded. We are marshaling our nation’s vast energy abundance and the United States is now the number one producer of oil and natural gas anywhere in the world.
Wages are rising. Incomes are soaring. And 2.5 million Americans have been lifted out of poverty in less than three years. As we rebuild the unrivaled might by the American military, we are also revitalizing our alliances by making it very clear that all of our partners are expected to pay their fair share of the tremendous defense burden, which the United States has borne in the past.
At the center of our vision for national renewal is an ambitious campaign to reform international trade. For decades, the international trading system has been easily exploited by nations acting in very bad faith, as jobs were outsourced, a small handful grew wealthy at the expense of the middle class. In America, the result was 4.2 million lost manufacturing jobs and $15 trillion in trade deficits over the last quarter-century.
The United States is now taking that decisive action to end this grave economic injustice. Our goal is simple. We want balanced trade that is both fair and reciprocal. We have worked closely with our partners in Mexico and Canada to replace NAFTA with the brand new and hopefully bipartisan U.S./Mexico/Canada Agreement.
Tomorrow, I will join Prime Minister Abe of Japan to continue our progress and finalizing a terrific new trade deal. As the United Kingdom makes preparations to exit the European Union, I have made clear that we stand ready to complete an exceptional, new trade agreement with the U.K. that will bring tremendous benefits to both of our countries.
We are working closely with Prime Minister Boris Johnson on a magnificent new trade deal. The most important difference in America’s new approach on trade concerns our relationship with China. In 2001, China was admitted to the World Trade Organization. Our leaders then argued that this decision would compel China to liberalize its economy and strengthen protections to provide things that were unacceptable to us and for private property and for the rule of law.
Two decades later, this theory has been tested and proven completely wrong. Not only has China declined to adopt promised reforms, it has embraced an economic model dependent on massive market barriers, heavy state subsidies, currency manipulation, product dumping, forced technology transfers and the theft of intellectual property, and also trade secrets on a grand scale.
This is just one example. I recently met the CEO of a terrific American company, Micron Technology, at the White House. Micron produces memory chips used in countless electronics. To advance the Chinese government’s five-year economic plan, a company owned by the Chinese state allegedly stole Micron’s designs, valued it up to $8.7 billion.
Soon, the Chinese company obtains patents or nearly an identical product and Micron was banned from selling its own goods in China. But we are seeking justice. The United States lost 60,000 factories after China entered the WTO. This is happening to other countries all over the globe. The World Trade Organization needs drastic change.
The second-largest economy in the world should not be permitted to declare itself a developing country in order to game the system at others’ expense. For years, these abuses were tolerated, ignored or even encouraged. Globalism exerted a religious pull over past leaders, causing them to ignore their own national interests.
But as far as America is concerned, those days are over. To confront these unfair practices, I placed massive tariffs on more than $500 billion worth of Chinese-made goods. Already, as a result of these tariffs, supply chains are relocating back to America and to other nations and billions of dollars are being paid to our treasury.
The American people are absolutely committed to restoring balance to our relationship with China. Hopefully we can reach an agreement that will be beneficial for both countries. But as I have made very clear, I will not accept a bad deal for the American people. As we endeavor to stabilize our relationship, we are also carefully monitoring the situation in Hong Kong.
The world fully expects that the Chinese government will honor its binding treaty made with the British and registered with the United Nation in which commits China to protect Hong Kong’s freedom, legal system and democratic ways of life. How China chooses to handle the situation will say a great deal about its role in the world and the future.
We are all counting on President Xi as a great leader. The United States does not seek conflict with any other nation. We desire peace, cooperation and mutual gain with all. But I will never fail to defend America’s interests. One of the greatest security threats facing peace-loving nations today is the repressive regime in Iran.
The regime’s record of death and destruction is well-known to us all. Not only is Iran the world’s number one state sponsor of terrorism but Iran’s leaders are fueling the tragic wars in Syria and Yemen. At the same time, the regime is squandering the nation’s wealth and future in a fanatical quest for nuclear weapons and the means to deliver them.
We must never allow this to happen. To stop Iran’s path to nuclear weapons and missiles, I withdrew the United States from the terrible Iran nuclear deal, which has very little time remaining, did not allow inspection of important sites and did not cover ballistic missiles. Following our withdrawal, we have implemented severe economic sanctions on the country.
Hoping to free itself from sanctions, the regime has escalated its violent and unprovoked aggression. In response to Iran’s recent attack on Saudi Arabia oil facilities, we just imposed the highest level of sanctions on Iran’s Central Bank and Sovereign Wealth Fund. All nations have a duty to act. No responsible government should subsidize Iran’s bloodlust.
As long as Iran’s menacing behavior continues, sanctions will not be lifted. They will be tightened. Iran’s leader will have turned a proud nation into just another cautionary tale of what happens when a ruling class abandons its people and embarks on a crusade for personal power and riches. For 40 years, the world has listened to Iran’s rulers, as they lash out at everyone else for the problems they alone have created.
They conduct ritual chants of death to America and traffic in monstrous anti-Semitism. Last year, the country’s supreme leader stated Israel is a malignant, cancerous tumor that has to be removed and eradicated. It is possible and it will happen. America will never tolerate such anti-Semitic hate. Fanatics have long used hatred of Israel to distract from their own failures.
Thankfully, there is a growing recognition in the wider Middle East that the countries of the region share common interests in battling extremism and unleashing economic opportunity. That is why it’s important to have full normalized relations between Israel and its neighbors. Only a relationship built on common interest, mutual respect and religious tolerance can forge a better future.
Iran’s citizens deserve a government that cares about reducing poverty, ending corruption and increasing jobs, not stealing their money, to fund a massacre abroad and at home. After four decades of failure, it is time for Iran’s leaders to step forward and to stop threatening other countries and focus on building up their own country.
It is time for Iran’s leaders to finally put the Iranian people first. America is ready to embrace friendship with all who genuinely seek peace and respect. Many of America’s closest friends today were once our greatest foes. The United States has never believed in permanent enemies. We want partners, not adversaries.
America knows that while anyone can make war only the most courageous can choose peace. For this same reason, we have pursued bold diplomacy on the Korean Peninsula. I have told Kim Jong-un what I truly believe. That like Iran, his country is full of tremendous untapped potential. But that to realize that promise North Korea must denuclearize.
Around the world, our message is clear. America’s goal is lasting. America’s goal is harmony. And America’s goal is not to go with these endless wars. Wars that never end. With that goal in mind, my administration is also pursuing the hope of a brighter future in Afghanistan. Unfortunately the Taliban has chosen to continue their savage attacks.
We will continue to work with our coalition of Afghan partners to stamp out terrorism and we will never stop working to make peace a reality. Here in the Western hemisphere, we are joining with our partners to ensure stability and opportunity all across the region. In that mission, one of our most critical challenges is illegal immigration which undermines prosperity, rips apart societies and empowers ruthless criminal cartels.
Mass illegal migration is unfair, unsafe and unsustainable for everyone involved. The sending countries and the depleted countries and they become depleted very fast. But their youth is not taken care of and human capital goes to waste. The receiving countries are overburdened with more migrants than they can responsibly accept.
And the migrants themselves are exploited, assaulted and abused by vicious coyotes. Nearly one third of women who make the journey north to our border are sexually assaulted along the way. Yet here in the United States and around the world, there is a growing cottage industry of radical activists and nongovernmental organizations that promote human smuggling.
These groups encourage illegal migration and demand the erasure of national borders. Today I have a message for those open border activists who cloak themselves in the rhetoric of social justice. Your policies are not just. Your policies are cruel and evil. You are empowering criminal organizations that prey on innocent men, women and children.
You put your own false sense of virtue before the lives, wellbeing and countless innocent people. When you undermine border security, you are undermining human rights and human dignity. Many of the countries here today are coping with the challenges of uncontrolled migration. Each of you has the absolute right to protect your borders.
And so, of course, does our country. Today we must resolve to work together to end human smuggling and human trafficking and put these criminal networks out of business for good. To our country, I can tell you sincerely we are working closely with our friends in the region including Mexico, Canada, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador and Panama to uphold the integrity of borders and ensure safety and prosperity for our people.
I would like to thank President Lopez Obrador of Mexico for the great cooperation we are receiving. And for right now putting 27,000 troops on our southern border. Mexico is showing us great respect and I respect them in return. The U.S., we have taken very unprecedented action to stop the flow of illegal immigration.
To anyone conducting crossings of our border illegally, please hear these words. Do not pay the smugglers. Do not pay the coyotes. Do not put yourself in danger. Do not put your children in danger. Because if you make it here, you will not be allowed in. You will be promptly returned home. You will not be released into our country.
As long as I am President of the United States, we will enforce our laws and protect our borders. For all of the countries of the Western hemisphere, our goal is to help people invest in the bright futures of their own nation. Our region is full of such incredible promise, dreams waiting to be built and national destinies for all.
And they are waiting, also, to be pursued. Throughout the hemisphere there are millions of hard working patriotic young people eager to build, innovate and achieve but these nations cannot reach their potential if a generation of youth abandon their homes in search of a life elsewhere. We want every nation in our region to flourish and its people to thrive in freedom and peace.
And that vision we are also committed to supporting those people in the Western hemisphere who live under brutal oppression such as those in Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela. According to a recent report from the U.N. Human Rights Council, women in Venezuela stand in line for ten hours a day waiting for food.
Over 15,000 people have been detained as political prisoners. Modern-day death squads are carrying out thousands of extra judicial killings. The dictator Maduro is a Cuban puppet protected by Cuban bodyguards hiding from his own people while Cuba plunders Venezuela’s oil wealth to sustain its own corrupt communist rule.
Since I last spoke in this hall, the United States and our partners have built a historic coalition of 55 countries that recognize the legitimate government of Venezuela. To the Venezuelans, trapped in this nightmare, please know that all of America is united behind you. The United States has vast quantities of humanitarian aid ready and waiting to be delivered.
We’re watching the Venezuelan situation very closely. We await the day when democracy will be restored, when Venezuela will be free and when liberty will prevail throughout this hemisphere. One of the most serious challenges our countries face is the specter of socialism. It’s the wrecker of nations and destroyer of societies.
Events in Venezuela remind us all that socialism and communism are not about justice, they are not about equality. They are not about lifting up the poor. And they are certainly not about good of the nation. Socialism and communism are about one thing only. Power for the ruling class. Today I repeat a message for the world that I have delivered at home.
America will never be a socialist country. In the last century, socialism and communism killed 100 million people. Sadly, as we see in Venezuela, the death toll continues in this country. These totalitarian ideologies combined with modern technology have the power to excise new and disturbing forms of suppression and domination.
For this reason, the United States is taking steps to better screen foreign technology and investments and to protect our data and our security. We urge every nation present to do the same. Freedom and democracy must be constantly guarded and protected both abroad and from within. We must always be skeptical of those who want conformity and control.
Even in free nations, we see alarming signs and new challenges to liberty. A small number of social media platforms are acquiring immense power over what we can see and over what we are allowed to say. A permanent political class is openly disdainful, dismissive and defiant of the will of the people. A faceless bureaucracy operates in secret and weakens democratic rule.
Media and academic institutions push flat-out assaults on our histories, traditions and values. In the United States, my administration has made clear to social media companies that we will uphold the right of free speech. A free society cannot allow social media giants to silence the voices of the people.
And a free people must never, ever be enlisted in the cause of silencing, coercing, canceling or blacklisting their own neighbors. As we defend American values, we affirm the right of all people to live in dignity. For this reason, my administration is working with other nations to stop criminalizing of homosexuality and we stand in solidarity with LGBTQ people who live in countries that punish, jail or execute individuals based upon sexual orientation.
We are also championing the role of women in our societies. Nations that empower women are much wealthier, safer and much more politically stable. It is, therefore, vital not only to a nation’s prosperity but also is vital to its national security to pursue women’s economic development. Guided by these principles, my administration launched the Women’s Global Development and Prosperity Initiatives.
The WGDP is the first-ever government wide approach to women’s economic empowerment working to ensure that women all over the planet have the legal right to own and inherit property, work in the same industries as men, travel freely and access credit and institutions. Yesterday I was also pleased to host leaders for a discussion about an ironclad American commitment protecting religious leaders and also, protecting religious freedom.
This fundamental right is under growing threat around the world. Hard to believe, but 80 percent of the world’s population lives in countries where religious liberty is in significant danger or even completely outlawed. Americans will never fire or tire in our effort to defend and promote freedom of worship and religion.
We want and support religious liberty for all. Americans will also never tire of defending innocent life. We are aware that many United Nations projects have attempted to assert a global right to taxpayer funded abortion on demand right up until the moment of delivery. Global bureaucrats have absolutely no business attacking the sovereignty of nations that wish to protect innocent life.
Like many nations here today, we in America believe that every child born and unborn is a sacred gift from God. There is no circumstance under which the United States will allow international entities to trample on the rights of our citizens, including the right to self-defense. That is why this year I announced that we will never ratify the U.N. Arms Trade Treaty which would threaten the liberties of law-abiding American citizens.
The United States will always uphold our constitutional right to keep and bear arms. We will always uphold our Second Amendment. The core rights and values America defends today were inscribed in America’s founding documents. Our nation’s founders understood that there will always be those who believe they are entitled to wield power and control over others.
Tyranny advances under many names and many theories but it always comes down to the desire for domination. It protects not the interests of many but the privilege of few. Our founders gave us a system designed to restrain this dangerous impulse. They chose to entrust American power to those most invested in the fate of our nation, a proud and fiercely independent people.
The true good of the nation can only be pursued by those who love it. By citizen who is are rooted in its history, who are nourished by its culture, committed to its values, attached to its people and who know that its future is theirs to build or theirs to lose. Patriots see a nation and its destiny in ways no one else can.
Liberty is only preserved. Sovereignty is only secured. Democracy is only sustained. Greatness is only realized by the will and devotion of patriots. In this spirit is found the strength to resist oppression. The inspiration to forge legacy. The goodwill to seek friendship and the bravery to reach for peace.
Love of our nations makes the world better for all nations. So to all the leaders here today, join us in the most fulfilling mission a person could have. The most profound contribution anyone can make. Lift up your nations. Cherish your culture. Honor your histories. Treasure your citizens. Make your countries strong and prosperous and righteous.
Honor the dignity of your people and nothing will be outside of our reach. When our nations are greater, the future will be brighter. Our people will be happier. And our partnerships will be stronger. With God’s help together we will cast off the enemies of liberty and overcome the oppressors of dignity.
We will set new standards of living and reach new heights of human achievement. We will rediscover old truths, unravel old mysteries and make thrilling new breakthroughs. And we will find more beautiful friendship and more harmony among nations than ever before. My fellow leaders, the path to peace and progress and freedom and justice and a better world for all humanity begins at home.
Thank you. God bless you. God bless the nations of the world. And God bless America. Thank you very much.
http://drrich.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/logo_264x69.png00Dr. Rich Swierhttp://drrich.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/logo_264x69.pngDr. Rich Swier2019-09-24 19:14:172019-09-25 07:19:28VIDEO: President Trump Addresses the 74th Session of the United Nations General Assembly
Pope Francis will serve as synod president, while Cdl. Lorenzo Baldisseri will serve as secretary general.
Baldisseri has willfully cooperated with the Vatican’s homosexual network. He used his position as lead organizer of the 2014 and 2015 Synods on the Family to push Holy Communion for the divorced and remarried, as well as liberalization of Church teaching on homosexuality.
During the 2015 gathering, Baldisseri personally intervened to block Cdl. Raymond Burke and other faithful cardinals from distributing Remaining in the Truth of Christ, a book reiterating Church teaching on marriage on the grounds that they would “interfere with the synod.”
Baldisseri was also responsible for inserting the term “LGBT” into the working document for the 2018 Youth Synod — an unprecedented concession to the pro-gay movement.
He also approved publication of the document, which suggested that Church teaching on contraception, abortion and homosexuality are up for debate and sought to legitimize young Catholics who choose to live homosexual lifestyles while still wanting “to be close to the Church.”
Cardinal Cláudio Hummes, archbishop emeritus of Sao Paulo and president of the Pan-Amazonian Ecclesial Network (REPAM), will serve as relator general. As early as 2014, Hummes was pushing the idea of married priests as a solution to the shortage of clerics in the Amazon region.
Cardinal Pedro Ricardo Barreto Jimeno, archbishop of Huancayo in Peru and REPAM vice president, will serve as one of three president delegates. Jimeno is an avowed environmentalist.
During a 2005 synod, he asserted that the bread and wine offered during Mass are compromised if the land that produces them is poorly cared for.
“I said that if we offer bread from land that’s contaminated, we are offering God a contaminated fruit. And the same for the wine,” he recalled in a Crux interview earlier this year.
Attendee Cdl. Pietro Parolin, secretary of state for the Holy See, is a principal architect of the September 2018 Vatican accord with China in which the Holy See recognized seven “bishops” of the Communist-backed “patriotic” Catholic Church. The agreement has been slammed by Cdl. Joseph Zen as a betrayal of faithful Chinese Catholics and warned it could be “the death of the true Faith in China.”
Earlier this year, Vatican whistleblower Abp. Carlo Maria Viganò alleged Parolin “knows the names of a number of priests in the Curia who are sexually unchaste, violating the laws of God that they solemnly committed themselves to teach and practice, and he continues to look the other way.”
Parolin has tried — unsuccessfully — to silence faithful Catholic opposition. Under his direction, in 2017, the Vatican hired a pro-gay law firm to try to shut down conservative Spanish website InfoVaticana after it voiced alarm over the growing homosexual current in the Church.
Synod member Cdl. Kevin Farrell, prefect of the Dicastery for the Laity, Family and Life, also has connections to McCarrick.
Though sharing a house with McCarrick for years, Farrell denied any knowledge of the disgraced ex-cardinal’s crimes: “I was shocked, overwhelmed; I never heard any of this before, the six years I was there with him. And never, no indication, none whatsoever, nobody ever talked to me about that,” he insisted after the abuse revelations came to light. “So, I really don’t have any knowledge or anything to add to about more than that.”
Farrell is also accused of minimizing clerical sex abuse during his time as bishop of Dallas from 2007–2016. In one case, after failing to report abuse, Farrell allegedly told a victim that his abuse at the hands of an older priest was “consensual.”
Synod member Cdl. Reinhard Marx, head of the German Bishops’ Conference, is well-known for promoting heterodoxy — instituting Holy Communion for the divorced and remarried in Germany, pushing for admission of Protestants to the Eucharist and advocating for married priests.
In recent weeks, Marx has led the Church in Germany to the edge of schism, insisting on pressing forward with a controversial “Synodal Assembly” to re-examine Church teaching on clerical celibacy, women’s ordination and sexual morality.
“[T]hey share their joys and sufferings, they help one another,” Schönborn said in his defense of “stable unions” for gay couples. “It must be recognized that this person took an important step for his own good and the good of others.”
The cardinal also reinstated an active homosexual to an Austrian parish council after he was removed by a faithful priest for causing scandal.
Synod member Abp. Vincenzo Paglia, head of the Pontifical Academy for Life, made headlines in 2017 for admitting a pro-abortion Protestant philosopher to the pro-life institute. In what has been described as a “coup” in July, Paglia dismissed a raft of leading pro-life theologians from leadership at the academy.
Representing the United States at the Oct. 6–27 synod is Cdl. Sean O’Malley of Boston and Bp. Robert McElroy of San Diego.
Cardinal O’Malley has been accused of turning a blind eye to the Church’s gay subculture.
In July 2018, The New York Times revealed that O’Malley had been contacted as early as 2015 about Theodore McCarrick’s abuse of seminarians but did nothing to expose the serial homosexual predator.
In the wake of that allegation, an ex-seminarian accused O’Malley of whitewashing an investigation into rampant homosexual activity at St. John’s Seminary in Brighton, Massachusetts.
Bishop McElroy, a leading climate change apologist, has distinguished himself as one of the most pro-LGBT prelates in the United States.
The bishop has described faithful Catholics as a “cancer” in the Church, and in October 2018, McElroy made headlines by ejecting young orthodox Catholics out of a series of “listening sessions” after they questioned him about homosexuality in his clerical ranks.
Like O’Malley, McElroy was also made aware of McCarrick’s sexual predation of young men but did nothing to stop it. In 2016, clerical sex abuse expert Richard Sipe notified McElroy that he had personally interviewed 12 seminarians and young priests who reported being abused by McCarrick. McElroy did not respond to Sipe’s outreach.
Other prominent leftists featured on the synod’s roster include Cardinal-elect Michael Czerny, undersecretary of the Migrant and Refugees Section of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, and Cardinal-elect Jean-Claude Hollerich, archbishop of Luxembourg and president of the Commission of Bishops’ Conferences of the European Union, both of whom favor open-door migration policies, as well as Cdl. Óscar Rodríguez Maradiaga, archbishop of Tegucigalpa, Honduras, and Cdl. Oswald Gracias, archbishop of Bombay, both of whom openly back the LGBT agenda.
