Especially If You’re President
As I watched the President’s speech from Poland on Saturday I was impressed and moved. He was delivering a memorable message, with passion, emphasis and conviction. I thought this was his moment. Possibly, his Berlin Wall moment, if one phrase could stand out. It was that good.
Then, nearing the end he ad libbed. I sat up and my reaction was “wow,” he is in Poland near Ukraine and calling for Putin to be removed. Wow. I can’t believe he did that. Wow.
Well it tuned out neither could his handlers, cabinet, aides or speech writers.
Thus, the President took his possible shining moment and turned it all around back on him and his competence. He also brought back to the forefront the two other times on consecutive days his staff had to do the same. (Chemical Weapons and troops on the ground in Ukraine.)
In the end what will we remember from the trip? Is it that NATO is united, that Russia overstepped and should be condemned? Is it the actions of NATO don’t seem to match the words and Ukraine needs help? Or, will it be the nine words and two other times the President went off script and had to be pulled back in?
Unfortunately I fear the stirring words on the ground in Poland will be lost to the nine words he ad libbed.
Let me ask this question that lingers in my mind after the past week.
We had the VP go to Poland and that turned into an embarrassing moment. Then the President followed with the gaps noted above. Does anyone else wonder what happened in the closed door meetings when the President was unscripted? Do you wonder what the other world leaders think of our leadership? The misspoken words can’t be just in scripted speeches, and there is a reason his handlers keep a tight control.
Some Other Weekend Happenings
The Virginia Thomas (wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas) story has two elements to it for me.
First, as the wife of a justice shouldn’t she be sensitive and careful of what she texts and says? Why would she be so blatant on her feelings about the election knowing the political climate we are in? I am shocked at the lack of judgement. Yes, she has a right to her own opinions, but take into account what your words will mean.
Second, the networks and left media are covering this as if the wife of a justice has no right to an opinion. In fact, they have covered her more already than they did, or have, the Hunter Biden laptop messages with direct ties to his family.
Simply another example and case of liberal bias.
Did you see what Chris Wallace had to say as to why he left FoxNews?
“I just no longer felt comfortable with the programming at Fox.” “I’m fine with opinion: conservative opinion, liberal opinion … But when people start to question the truth — Who won the 2020 election? Was Jan. 6 an insurrection? — I found that unsustainable.” “I spent a lot of 2021 looking to see if there was a different place for me to do my job.”
And Chris, you decided CNN was true news? Have you paid attention to what has happened there since you arrived? Didn’t the CEO just have to resign because of biased reporting? Chris? Chris?
Put this in the category of “you can’t be serious.”
Sen. CORY BOOKER (D-N.J.) on Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson’s confirmation hearings:
“What we saw though this week was to me outrageous and beyond the pale, and very different than what I’ve witnessed in my short time in the Senate seeing three different confirmation hearings. And I think that what some of my colleagues did was just sad, frankly.”
What?
You were front and center with the Kavanaugh hearing and the fiasco that occurred. You were there for the Amy Barrett hearing. This hearing was nothing compared to those. Is it a case of when you do something on a personally outrageous manner, it’s okay; but tough policy questions of any candidate you want is not?
He said this with a straight face. Do you think the liberal moderator called him on it?
The President apparently is going to propose a new 20 percent minimum tax on America’s wealthiest households as part of his fiscal 2023 budget today. It includes a tax on non realized gains. (Gains you have not yet taken.) The chances of passing is zero. Why do it? Politics.
Remember, you can fool some of the people all the time.
He is for you is the message. Okay then, get the real tax of inflation down. Make us energy independent and watch prices drop on all good and supplies. How about that?
The Republicans
Friday we wrote about how the party was dividing itself and the former President needed to stop doing it.
Well, here’s some words from his appearance Saturday in Georgia, a state he is determined to turn blue.
Before you read the excerpt remember this.
Republican Gov. Kemp is ahead in the primary and General Election in the state. If the top of your ticket is strong it helps downline with the senate race and local contests. Trump’s problem, of course, is Kemp didn’t find election fraud; in fact he asked the former President for evidence.
The person who beat Donald Trump in Georgia was Stacey Abrams, who organized the Democrats.
Now read the story from the Atlanta Journal.
Former President DONALD TRUMP descended on Georgia on Saturday night to boost his slate of preferred candidates and continue his campaign against Gov. BRIAN KEMP’s reelection. “Before a crowd of a few thousand supporters, Trump’s rambling speech invoked familiar, false claims that he and former U.S. Sen. DAVID PERDUE got ‘screwed’ in 2020 and warned that his backers won’t vote in a general election against Democratic gubernatorial candidate STACEY ABRAMS if Kemp is the nominee.”
Looks to me like he is endorsing Abrams over Kemp — all for personal reasons.
You may have missed this over the weekend. One less Republican is in Congress:
Rep. Jeff Fortenberry (R-Neb.) said Saturday he will resign from office after he was found guilty Thursday of three felonies for lying to the FBI about an illegal contribution made to his 2016 campaign.
A Little On New York
The Mayor of New York yesterday said that the city has become “a laughing stock,” as it fights crime. He called himself “a wartime general.” Here’s some more of what he said. As you read it, see if it’s anything you didn’t predict or know would happen under the liberal polices of Mayor DeBlasio:
“Anything goes in the city of New York, the most important city on the globe has become the laughing stock of the globe. And the dysfunctionality of our city has cascaded throughout the entire country. And the audacity that someone comes along and says, ‘I want to be your mayor,’ and simply says ‘Follow the rules, follow the rules.’ It’s called swiping a Metrocard. If you don’t have enough to pay the fare, there’s a process that you can get the help that you deserve,” he continued. “Or if you go into a drugstore, do what my neighbor does — pay for what you want.”
Imagine that? The speech got even better as he told the police:
“Don’t let anyone break your spirit, tell you that New Yorkers don’t love the men and women of the NYPD. Everywhere I go they say, ‘Protect our police.’ Ignore the noise. Ignore Instagram, social media. Facebook. Ignore all of that because the people of the city are watching. The people of their city want their city back.”
He’s 100% correct of course. Now ask yourself this, why don’t the people of NYC vote for what they want? Why doesn’t the media cover it the way the people see it?
Just yesterday I saw a video of a 70 year old man attacked and beaten on the street for his money. The perpetrator simply walked to the subway and jumped the turnstile to take the subway away.
Final story today involves North Korea. Kim Jong-un said yesterday that N. Korea will continue to develop “formidable striking capabilities.” His reasoning was simple:
“Only when one is equipped with the formidable striking capabilities, overwhelming military power, that cannot be stopped by anyone, can one prevent a war.”
As we told you, the lesson of Ukraine is clear to Kim again. Strength is protection. Give up your weapons and your days are numbered. He sees promises to Ukraine, like ones to Libya, are a death sentence for him.