As usual, a lot happened over the past week, but I’ll limit myself to commenting on three things.
First, as virtually everyone in America knows, a 32 year-old innocent woman named Kate Steinle was brutally murdered in the sanctuary city of San Francisco by an illegal alien from Mexico. When President Obama’s spokesman, Josh Earnest, was asked to comment on the murder, he refused to do so, saying “I can’t speak to this specific case. I’d refer you to DHS (Department of Homeland Security.)”
I had heard Earnest’s comment on the news, so several days later, when the head of the Department of Homeland Security, Jeh Johnson, was testifying before the Judiciary Committee, I decided to ask him directly. You may have seen or heard our exchange on Fox News, or on Breitbart, or Town Hall, or Lou Dobbs, or on Rush (he referred to me as a congressman from Oregon – oh well.) Here is a link to that video clip for your convenience.
The thing that really bugs me is that the Obama Administration seems to find the time to reach out to the families of Trayvon Martin (shot by George Zimmerman in Florida), and Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, and even had a beer in the White House Rose Garden with the college professor in Cambridge, Massachusetts arrested by the police on his front porch, but not the family of Kate Steinle. And that’s despite the fact that it’s the Administration’s own policies – weak border enforcement and tacit moral support for sanctuary cities – that is at least partly responsible for this young woman’s death.
Second issue, the Iran deal. I felt I should reserve my judgment until I’d had the opportunity to read the entire agreement. Well, I’ve read it now, and it’s even worse than I had expected. I’m sure you’ve seen, heard, or read a fair amount about it in the news, so I won’t go through the deal in great detail. The bottom line is, it’ s awful. It puts the U.S. and our allies in the region, especially Israel, in great danger.
The Obama Administration had promised that there would be anytime, anywhere inspections, to ensure that Iran wasn’t cheating. Nope. Obama caved, and Iran gets at least 24 days (to hide whatever they’re up to) before inspectors will be allowed in.
The sanctions, which were actually working, are lifted up front, before Iran has to do anything. They will get hundreds of billions of dollars, to do with whatever they want. Since they are still the world’s leading funder of terrorism and fomenter of unsavory mischief, it’s not hard to imagine what they’ll do with much of their newfound riches.
And since the Administration caved to Iran’s eleventh-hour demand to lift the conventional arms embargo, Iran can access Russian ICBM (intercontinental ballistic missile) technology. This will enable them to target not just their neighbors in the region with nuclear weapons, but American cities. That will give new meaning to the Iranians’ ever-present chant of “death to America.”
And third, another Muslim terrorist killed American military personnel in the United States; this time in Tennessee. The mainstream press has been describing the shooter, Mohammad Youssef Abdulazeez, as a lone wolf, and the act one of domestic terrorism. Look, this guy had blogged several days before the shooting “life is short and bitter” and Muslims must not miss an opportunity to “submit to Allah.” His is the same mindset that inspired the Fort Hood shooter, the underwear bomber, the shoe bomber, the Boston Marathon bombers, the September 11th terrorists, and on and on. It’s militant Islamic jihadism, and groups like ISIS are now able to reach across the globe through the internet and inspire young wannabe terrorists to become real terrorists.
They are dead serious in their war against us. The Obama Administration is just going through the motions. A restrained air war campaign. No boots on the ground. Train 5,400 indigenous troops to fight ISIS – which turns out to be just 60 so far. Continued reductions in the size of our military forces. Our men and women in uniform sitting ducks since they’re not allowed to carry weapons and defend themselves.
I hope we can survive until this Administration leaves office in 18 months. And I pray that Republicans won’t self-implode, resulting in yet another Administration with the same failed philosophy as the current one.