The incoming archbishop of the notorious archdiocese of Boston is slamming a “Catholic” college for hosting a Harris-Walz fundraiser, while his Chicagoan counterpart is taking the opposite approach to America’s Abortion Party. However, both Judas and Peter recognized that they had done wrong. I wonder if Cupich has. Ahead of the Democratic National Convention (DNC) this month, Salve Regina University in Rhode Island hosted a fundraiser for Vice President Kamala Harris’s presidential campaign, featuring the Democratic nominee’s running mate, Minnesota governor Tim Walz (D). The fundraiser brought in an estimated $600,000 and was attended by over 300 Rhode Island Democrats. Walz himself spoke at the event, reportedly touting abortion. “Who’s asking to take away women’s reproductive rights?” Walz asked, in a speech reportedly centered on attacking former President Donald Trump and his Republican running mate, Catholic convert and Ohio senator J.D. Vance. Walz is said to have quipped, “Things really work best in communities when you mind your own damn business.” Bishop Richard Henning of the Diocese of Providence, soon to be the archbishop of Boston, had his office issue a statement saying that he and the diocese “were surprised and disappointed by the decision of Salve Regina University to rent space to a partisan political event and fundraiser, and we’ve received a number of messages from Catholics across Rhode Island expressing the same surprise and disappointment.” “The Church’s role in political matters is firstly to form the consciences of the lay faithful,” Henning’s statement insisted, continuing to note that the diocese “does not permit Catholic institutions in Rhode Island to endorse candidates for office nor even give the appearance of such endorsements.” I’ve written extensively for The American Spectator on just how antithetical to Catholic moral and social teaching the policies of both Harris and Walz are. Topping the list of decidedly-un-Catholic positions the Democratic duo share is the issue of abortion. It seems that for the past twenty years, conservatives have suggested that whoever is the Democratic nominee is the most pro-abortion candidate in American history. This is generally true, as the Democratic Party has rapidly become the party of abortion adoration. At this point, women are praised as heroes just for slaughtering their unborn offspring, regardless of circumstance (although Democrats love to find the most sordid stories possible to try to play the heartstrings of those uninitiated into the abortion cult), and any who dare suggest that butchering babies in the womb mightn’t be the glorious kindness Democrats think it is are smeared as extremists and reviled as everything from oppressors and misogynists to Hitlerian dictators. Harris and Walz are now leading the pro-abortion charge. The Democrats’ abortion cultism was on full display during last week’s DNC, with speakers ranging from state-level legislators and high school girls to the head of the abortion giant Planned Parenthood and a veritable pantheon of the most radically pro-abortion presidents to still walk this earth. One thing not on display was the pectoral cross — or, indeed, the Catholic faith — of Chicago’s archbishop, Cardinal Blase Cupich, who offered the opening “prayer” at the DNC. Without ever mentioning the name of Christ Jesus, it seems that Cupich elected to walk in the footsteps of two of Christ’s disciples: Judas Iscariot and St. Peter. The Chicago cardinal made no mention of the atrocity of abortion, which the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops has repeatedly reiterated is the paramount issue of our time and which even progressive-leaning Pope Francis has consistently condemned and likened to hiring a hitman. More importantly, the Catholic Church has definitively and irrevocably condemned abortion as among the gravest of moral evils, imposing upon those who participate in the sin the most stringent of penalties in the Church’s arsenal: excommunication. That penalty serves a more-than-punitive purpose; excommunication is meant also as a warning against particularly grave sins and as a remedy for the harm caused by such sins, urging the sinner to repent of his crime and return to communion with the Church, the Mystical Body of Christ. With a crowd of certainly the most pro-abortion people in the whole country, and arguably in the whole world, Cupich had a rare and blessed opportunity to call those present — many of whom, such as President Joe Biden and governors Gavin Newsom (D-Calif.) and Phil Murphy (D-N.J.), identify as Catholic — to repent, a chance to speak out against this sin which has claimed the lives of tens of millions of innocent American children. Not a word did Cupich say against this horrific evil, this veritable genocide, even though an abortion bus was parked right outside, operated by Planned Parenthood. At least Judas was paid thirty pieces of silver for his betrayal of innocent life. I don’t know which would be more damning: if Cupich did it for free or if he billed the DNC. While the Judas comparison may strike some as harsh (I assure you, it isn’t nearly harsh enough), Cupich did also imitate the chief of the Apostles — unfortunately, he chose the lowest point of St. Peter’s story to pay homage to. Just as the first Pope denied even knowing Christ, so Cupich hid the cross around his neck, neatly tucking it into his inside jacket pocket, and refused to utter the name of Jesus. However, both Judas and Peter recognized that they had done wrong. I wonder if Cupich has. The Iscariot, famously, despaired of the forgiveness of God, even as Christ was suffering torture and death for the sake of His betrayer’s sins, and hanged himself in shame over his sin. Peter also recognized that he had sinned, denying that he even knew the God-made-man whom, just hours before, he had pledged to follow even unto death. But where Judas despaired of God’s mercy, Peter did not. “Tears wash away the sin which the voice is ashamed to confess. Tears do not ask for pardon, they merit it,” wrote St. Ambrose. “I know why Peter kept silence. It was because an earlier request for pardon would have added to his offence. We must weep first, and then pray.” Let us hope and pray that Chicago’s cardinal — and, indeed, all those who call themselves Catholic but insist on supporting the demoniac policies and child-slaughter of the Democratic Party — will follow more nearly in St. Peter’s footsteps, instead of in Judas’s. Yet to do either necessitates a sense of sin. With the naked barbarism on display in Chicago last week, it seems that many (if not all) of those clamoring for more and more unborn children to die are oblivious to the evil they are hailing. Again, an opportunity Cupich squandered, likely costing thousands of souls, and possibly hundreds of thousands of lives. READ MORE from S.A. McCarthy: A Painful Division in the Heart of the Church The Atrocity Known as ‘Catholics for Kamala’ The post Disgracefully, a Catholic Cardinal Fronts for Abortion appeared first on The American Spectator | USA News and Politics.

Chicago — Kamala Harris on Thursday shared with America what she often heard from her late mother as the now-vice president was growing up: “Never do anything half-assed.” This bugs me. The left has this way of expanding the definition of words until they no longer mean anything. Sadly, that advice did not manifest itself at the Democratic National Convention. Voters who are undecided didn’t get a rousing speech that would explain how Harris would make America better and stronger. She rattled off a list of ideas, but she didn’t sell those policies. I saw a squandered opportunity. When candidates run for office, they are supposed to sell their policies. That way, if they are elected, they can claim a voter mandate for change. But the real argument Harris offered America was expressed by Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer when she warned Americans about “that man from Mar-a-Lago.” How would the world see a Harris victory? Former Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta offered, “When she takes her oath of office, as she will this January, our allies will cheer, our enemies will fear, and we will have a Commander in Chief that we can trust.” Harris mocked Donald Trump’s weird obsessions with Kim Jong Un and Vladimir Putin, which are admittedly cringe-worthy. But she ignores the real foreign policy nightmare with real-world consequences. President Joe Biden’s botched withdrawal from Afghanistan, which Harris did not mention, was a show of American weakness that was followed by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and then Hamas’ brutal Oct. 7 attack on Israel that left 1,200 dead and did not spare children. It was nice to hear Harris pledge to “always stand up for Israel’s right to defend itself” because Israelis “must never again face the horror that a terrorist organization called Hamas caused on Oct. 7” — but her push for a ceasefire undermined that claim. Wednesday night’s theme was “A Fight for Our Freedoms,” but speakers offered muddled definitions of what freedom is. Barack Obama proclaimed, “We believe that true freedom gives each of us the right to make decisions about our own life, how we worship, what our family looks like, how many kids we have, who we marry.” OK. But then he added, “And we believe that freedom requires us to recognize that other people have the freedom to make choices that are different than ours.” Huh? “Freedom is not drowning in medical debt. Freedom is earning the same salary as a man does for doing the same job…. Freedom is about making our own decisions about our own bodies,” AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler said at a DNC meeting, according to ABC News. This bugs me. The left has this way of expanding the definition of words until they no longer mean anything. Harris said that Trump and his allies would “enact a nationwide abortion ban.” By what authority? Trump told Fox News that his biggest reaction was, “Why didn’t she do the things she’s complaining about? All of the things that she talked about — we’re going to do this, we’re going to do that, we’re going to do everything — but she didn’t do any of it.” In short, the moment that Kamala Harris had to convince voters was a bust. She didn’t tell the American people how she would make America better. Her argument was that she is a better person than Trump. Kamala also offered another piece of advice her mother gave her. “Never let anyone tell you who you are. You show them who you are.” And she did. Contact Review-Journal Washington columnist Debra J. Saunders at dsaunders@reviewjournal.com. Follow @debrajsaunders on X. COPYRIGHT 2024 CREATORS.COM READ MORE from Debra J. Saunders: Kamala Harris Is No Joe Biden. Or Is She? In Chicago, Democrats Veer Left The post Kamala Harris Misses Her Chance appeared first on The American Spectator | USA News and Politics.

Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. was clear yesterday at his first press conference after withdrawing from the presidential race. Three major issues compelled him to leave the Democratic Party and endorse Donald Trump for president: “Free speech, the war in Ukraine, and the war on our children.” Trump, he explained, has “adopted these issues as his own to the point where he has asked to enlist me in his administration.” Eight years is a long time to endure damage to America and Americans at the hands of hyper-progressive nonsense. The party two of his grandfathers helped build has become “the party of war, censorship, corruption, big pharma, big tech, big money,” Kennedy said. History will judge the Ukraine war as an Obama and Biden liability. It was initiated by a US-engineered coup in 2014, perpetuated by deliberately forestalling peace talks two years ago and costing the lives of 600,000 soldiers, needlessly. “Ukraine” is a victim of this war, and it’s a victim of the West,” he said. Now that the much-anticipated event has occurred, one question that needs to be asked is: Will RFK Jr.’s exit and endorsement actually benefit the former president and how much? Surveys are clear that most of Trump’s third-party defectors have been picking Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on test ballots where there are more choices. Polls show that a Kennedy withdrawal would benefit Trump. And even if it turns out that the numbers are not substantial (and no one knows for certain) small margins have ended up deciding recent presidential elections. One truth that is clear from the national NBC News poll is that Republicans have a stronger preference for Kennedy than Democrats. In July, Kennedy held net-positive ratings from Republicans (+11), while he was negative among independents (-18) and Democrats (-38). Republican voters clearly view RFK Jr. more positively. Moreover, Kennedy attracts almost all of Trump’s third-party defectors. July’s national NBC News poll also shows how the ballot changes from one with just the two major nominees to an expanded ballot that includes Kennedy. When third-party candidates are included in polls, Trump’s lead is 3 points, 40 percent to 37 percent, with Kennedy getting 10 percent, Jill Stein (Green Party) 3 percent, Chase Olive (Libertarian) 2 percent, and Cornel West 1 percent. In that six-way ballot, Trump kept 87 percent of the voters who backed him in a head-to-head contest, while 10 percent of his voters went to Kennedy, 1 percent went to Stein and 1 percent went to West. Over the past 72 hours, things have changed in the landscape of national politics. Kamala Harris’s odds of winning the 2024 presidential election have seen a reversal among leading bookmakers. Perhaps the most important disclosure came August 10th when Polymarket, often described as the “world’s biggest prediction market,” forecast that Harris would receive 52 percent of the presidential election vote against the former president’s 45 percent. As of 5 a.m. ET on August 21, Trump had regained the lead, with 52 percent of support versus Harris’s 47 percent. A crucial ingredient in the electoral mix mentioned above is the Independent vote. The latter play a major role in these numbers. Their numbers have continued to rise, tying a high of 43 percent last year, according to a Gallup telephone survey. (Democrats and Republicans by contrast each reflect only a 27 percent constituency.) With such numbers involved, the undecided figure can amount to enough votes to make a difference in a close race as in 2020 and what appears to be shaping up in 2024. From the results above, it still looks like two factors are in play. Harris’s star has started to diminish the more Americans learn who she actually is and what that would mean for them personally and America generally, and with RFK Jr. on board, Trump’s chances are enhanced measurably. But the real issue is twofold: Can Trump use RFK Jr. effectively, and will Trump tone down the hyperbole and rhetoric so as to appeal to not only RFK Jr.’s supporters (whose interests are not necessarily those of Trump’s), but that significant contingent of as yet undecided independent voters? If Trump’s numbers continue to edge upwards or stabilize with RFK Jr.’s support the election in November is, perhaps at this point, Trump’s to lose — as it seemed for a time after the assassination attempt and before Biden withdrew from the race. I say it this way because a nationally televised debate and subsequent election is approaching. And Trump and his team (including RFK Jr.) need a demeanor in speech and public persona that is inviting to RFK Jr. ‘s supporters and those undecided independents. (The ones Oprah Winfrey is in overdrive attempting to “hard sell” into Harris’s camp.) We all (and this includes Donald Trump) need to understand that, despite what Trump has said, Harris is not dumb. She has already demonstrated an impressive ability to use (or allow) the media to create a national image for her. The U.S. media has shown that it cannot be neutral in this election, or in any matter concerning Donald Trump (and his supporters). It continues to fawn over Kamala Harris while the latter steadfastly refuses to sit for interviews or stand for press conferences. Time magazine is a case in point. Its latest issue features a dramatic portrait of Kamala Harris on the cover bearing the engaging caption “Her Moment.” The magazine offered minimal substance on Harris’s performance as vice president. But it gushed a fountain of ink alluding to the virtual “carnival” atmosphere which accompanies Harris’s political events. And in an almost laughable fashion the interviewer attempted to place Harris’s public performance on the same level with last year’s “blockbuster summer for women of Barbie, Beyoncé, and Swift.” The left’s hypocrisy knows no limits. Time also invited political support from Senator Cory Booker, who invoked Star Wars characters to argue for Harris. “She has gone,” he said, “from being a Padawan to a Jedi master.” Apparently “the force” was not with her when it came to helping working class Americans (especially women she is supposed to care so much about) survive some of the worst inflation the U.S. has experienced in decades. It should be noted that Time also interviewed Trump for a cover story in April, but it didn’t look like Kamala’s. The former president’s was an 83-minute read, while the ridiculous post interview fact checking took at least 20 minutes to get through. Trump was virtually interrogated about his prosecutions, the January 6 ‘insurrection,’ his “dictator for a day” joke. The inquisition was ended with questions about the possibility of right-wing violence if Trump loses the election. Clearly, the intent of the interview was to provoke the former president. Americans are going to only hear and see what they are shown through the lens of the media. Trump needs to present a countervailing force and image of stability and confidence (not arrogance). In other words, he must remain calm and responsive, not agitated and reactive. With those optics, Trump will prevail. Many people want to vote for Trump because of the practical, American common sense he espouses (whether they admit it publicly in polls or not). The American public (which includes Republican and Independent voters) demonstrated that in 2016 and 2020. Let us hope Trump and his advisors (including RFK Jr. and his team) are savvy enough to understand this. Eight years is a long time to endure damage to America and Americans at the hands of hyper-progressive nonsense from two people who should never be allowed anywhere near 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. READ MORE from F. Andrew Wolf Jr.: Is Donald J. Trump Channeling Pat Buchanan? Is ‘Man the Measure’? From Where Does Our Freedom Come? The post Kennedy Endorses Trump, Media Endorses Kamala appeared first on The American Spectator | USA News and Politics.

Is abortion the only issue that affects women’s lives? In my view, the Democrat Party is brazenly erasing womankind across the board. They support gender not sex-based rights, which seems to mean the end of sports for girls and women and the weird requests to identify one’s gender “assigned at birth” and how one identifies now on medical forms and school applications. Iran, China, and Russia are waging a war against the West. This is real, not a paranoid fantasy. It also means the balkanization of identities into black, Hispanic, tribal, Native Indian, ethnic, LGBTQ+, etc. The Democrats sponsored caucuses divided up in precisely this way. Harris and Walz support trans “rights for children” above and beyond parental authority, and a trans rights movement that is essentially powered by Big Pharma, Big Surgery, Big Mental Health, and by a very angry Men’s Rights movement. (READ MORE from Phyllis Chesler: Silence of the Feminist Lambs: Not a Word on Hamas Horrors) The Democrats also support legalized surrogacy, despite the potentially negative consequences to the birthmother and to the child created for the purpose of being adopted away from their birthmother. These are all economic growth industries for everyone involved. To me, and to my generation of pioneering radical feminists, this erasure of biological women is regressive, not progressive. Islamism and Women However, and just as important, the Democrat Party and their presidential and vice-presidential candidates also lend their support to fascism and Islamist terrorism, which they consider to be a form of “resistance,” or “freedom fighting.” The Democrat National Convention featured a panel on Palestinian rights subtitled: “We Need to Restore the Soul of the Democratic Party.” Speakers were prominent Islamists and anti-Zionist Jew haters including James Zogby, the founder of the Arab American Institute, Keith Ellison, Minnesota Attorney General, and Hala Hijazi, a “Democratic organizer and fundraiser who’s had over 100 family members killed in Gaza.” Palestine and Human Rights? But not a panel devoted to Sudan, where real genocide and mass starvation is underway. There was no special panel about human rights in Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Russia, North Korea, China, or in any of the Arab Muslim states. This tells me that the Democrats are perfectly willing to continue sacrificing the women and dissidents of Iran and Afghanistan — as well as all those civilians in the West whom Iran has targeted for destruction — beginning with it’s plan to wipe Israel off the planet, half of whose population are women, and “people of color.” This party also supports Iran’s and its proxies’ killing American soldiers and Hamas’s kidnapping of Americans as hostages; Obama-Biden’s funding of Iran’s nuclear program, and Iran’s funding of Hamas’s terrorist underground tunnels which run the entire length of the Gaza strip. Lots of women and children, Hamas’s human shields, live or once lived there. This is also the party that has restrained Israel in terms of fighting back in what is an existential battle for its’ survival. Harris backs the embargoing of arms to Israel and has “emphasized Palestinian suffering due to Israel’s punishing military operations.” Iran, China, and Russia are waging a war against the West. This is real, not a paranoid fantasy. And the Democrats seem willing to continue appeasing these countries. Women and Crime Women live in every city, every state, including women of color. The Democrat Party’s position, across the country, is no bail, de-fund the police, catch and release criminals and migrants of color no matter how grievous a crime they have committed. Borders? They do not believe in any. However, women are also the victims of such policies, with Mexican cartels now utilizing rape as a form of currency for female migrants trying to cross the border. (READ MORE: Immigration of Cultures Hostile to the West Must End) Even those who suffer from Trump Derangement Syndrome or who feel deeply about women’s reproductive freedom and about anti-sexism in general, should begin to factor in these concerns as well. The post The Stakes for Women in This Election Are Enormous appeared first on The American Spectator | USA News and Politics.

Walter Russell Mead, writing in Foreign Affairs, advocates a return to “Hamiltonian statecraft,” based on the geopolitical approach of Alexander Hamilton, our first Treasury Secretary and President George Washington’s most important adviser. Hamiltonian statecraft, according to Mead, “offers a grand strategy that actively promotes U.S. commerce, American patriotism, and enlightened realism in foreign affairs.” This goes for American businesses, too. Corporations that consider themselves “citizens of the world” …  are not patriots. Hamilton was first and foremost an unrepentant nationalist. His sole focus was on promoting America’s national interest. This manifested itself in President Washington’s neutrality proclamation in the midst of war between France, which helped us become a nation, and Great Britain, which tried to prevent us from becoming a nation. Sentiment and emotion counseled siding with France against our recent enemy. Realism and a commitment to our national interests counseled neutrality. Washington, taking Hamilton’s advice and rejecting the advice of Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson, chose neutrality. (READ MORE from Francis P. Sempa: Biden Says Anti-Israeli Protesters ‘Have a Point’ at DNC) Later, in Washington’s Farewell Address, which Hamilton greatly contributed to, the president urged his countrymen to avoid permanent alliances, promote trade with all nations, eschew sentimental attachments to foreign powers, and build a strong national defense that would enable us to choose peace or war as dictated by our interests. Mead notes that Hamilton also understood that “economic policy is strategy, and vice versa.” There is, Mead writes, a “relationship between business and national security,” and U.S. foreign policy must incorporate economic diplomacy and national security. Hamiltonian statecraft, Mead explains, combines “pragmatism, financial prudence, strategic focus, and, when necessary, ruthlessness.” Mead places Henry Clay, Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, Dean Acheson, and George Shultz in the Hamiltonian tradition. He could have added John Quincy Adams, whose approach to foreign policy mirrored Hamilton’s. And he could have added Donald Trump. Although Mead does not expressly place Trump in the tradition of Hamiltonian statecraft, he does favorably mention “America first.” Mead calls for a “more nation-centric foreign policy,” instead of the globalism that minimizes patriotism and criticizes nationalism. Hamilton, Mead writes, was above all a patriot. “Nationalism,” Mead argues, “is a moral necessity, not a moral failing” as the globalists contend. Americans, he writes, “have obligations to their fellow citizens that do not extend to all humankind.” There are echoes here of John Quincy Adams’ famous remark that America is the well-wisher of freedom to all, but the champion and vindicator only of her own. This goes for American businesses, too. Corporations that consider themselves “citizens of the world” as well as “leaders who feel no special obligation toward the American people” are not patriots. Mead decries what he describes as the “shift from national Hamiltonianism to globalism across much of the post-Cold War American elite.” Hamilton and Realism The third, and arguably most important, aspect of Hamilton’s legacy is his adherence to realism. Mead characterizes it as “enlightened realism,” but it is realism all the same. Hamilton had a dim view of human nature. “[H]e did not believe,” Mead notes, “that humanity was naturally good or naturally disposed to settle down in democratic and egalitarian societies, all harmoniously at peace with one another.” Just societies, honest governments, fair international orders were for Hamilton a chimera — the stuff of dreams. Hamilton distrusted appeals to international crusades. He didn’t see any merit in America attempting to promote democracy around the world. Realists understand that U.S. national interests may at times require us to make temporary alliances with murderous regimes — we did that when we allied with Stalin in World War II, and we did it again when we allied with Mao against the Soviets in the 1970s and 1980s. In this sense, Presidents Franklin Roosevelt, Richard Nixon, and Ronald Reagan were realists, though Roosevelt’s realism was quite temporary and Reagan’s realism was sometimes masked by ideological rhetoric. Realism at its essence means that as a leader you approach the world understanding that the enemy of my enemy is my friend. Is Donald Trump a Hamiltonian realist? British historian Niall Ferguson thinks so. In a recent column, Ferguson dismissed the notion that Trump is an isolationist, instead seeing him as returning the Republican Party back to the realism of Nixon and Reagan, and turning away from the neoconservatism that has plagued the GOP since George W. Bush’s presidency. (READ MORE: Another Little Known Great John Wayne Film) Trump, Ferguson writes, supports ending the conflicts in Eastern Europe and the Middle East, so the United States can focus on deterring China in the western Pacific. It was President Lincoln, after all, who in the midst of the Civil War when political leaders and even members of his own Cabinet were urging escalation with Great Britain over the so-called Trent Affair, who replied: “One war at a time.” The post Hamiltonian Statecraft is ‘America First’ appeared first on The American Spectator | USA News and Politics.

When you don’t have much of a record, you have to run on values, and yes — joy. Listening to the Democratic National Convention last week, a waggish chap could be forgiven if he thought the Berlin Wall had just fallen to the strains of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, “Ode to Joy,” now also known as the Anthem of Europe, symbolizing humanistic values such as freedom and solidarity. Harris has presided as vice president with our borders in chaos from unlawful entrants. The emphasis of the Kamala Harris campaign on values is a dire necessity, because Harris has been an undefined vice president and political sinecure, in an administration that has lurched from crisis to crisis, generally playing defense and not offense. Thus far we have seen mostly clichés, pablum, and talk about vision. For almost four years, the Biden Administration has been flatfooted on an array of domestic and international issues — without accountability. And now we are supposed to think that Harris has experienced a transformation from a faithful senior acolyte and clumsy speaker unable to express herself succinctly to a tough-minded commander-in-chief, prepared to face off against the Kremlin, the Chinese Politburo, the Iranian mullahs, and the trigger-happy men in Pyongyang — with the software of Armageddon at her elbow at all times. Our adversaries tremble not, and they must be slyly licking their chops, wondering what Western interests they can grab or damage next. Hers is a preposterous metamorphosis: Not only have the media recreated and rebranded her, but they have also flown aircover by not questioning whether she is ready for the job of president. They have not vetted her earlier life; nor have they done much investigation into the Marxist ideals of her father, and to what extent she has embraced them.  To the contrary, the media have gushed with excitement, swiftly endorsing her candidacy without critical thinking. Harris has performed with blandness as vice president, studiously ignoring the immigration crisis on our southern border and trying to distract us with the need for long term solutions. Her reported responsibility, assigned by President Biden, was  “to lead our efforts with Mexico and the Northern Triangle … in stemming the movement of … migration to our southern border.” Harris’ Economic Illiteracy Further, her understanding of economics seems worthy of a course in Marxist/Leninist studies at the University of Havana.  Flagellating corporate America and threatening price controls on food products is a populist way of causing shortages and lines outside supermarkets, and damaging the American farm sector. It is well known that price controls actually lead to shortages because companies will supply less. Moreover, government efforts to reduce drug prices sounds noble but has a major downside: Research and development budgets of leading pharmaceutical companies will be cut. With the notable and outsized exception of Eli Lilly, stock prices of major companies such as Merck, Johnson and Johnson, Abbott, and Gilead have appreciated in total in the range of 22 percent to 35 percent over the past five years, plus dividends in the 3 percent to 6 percent range; Bristol-Myers Squibb has been flat and Pfizer negative 13 percent. These are not robber baron or venture capital returns and simply approximate performance of mature enterprises, with higher dividends in some cases to offset weak stock performance. (READ MORE: Five Quick Things: The DNC-Free 5QT)   Government intervention by the Biden administration is causing travails in the U.S. auto industry. The mandate that 67 percent of certain vehicles be electric by 2023 (up nearly 8 percent last year) was recognized as unrealistic and is now being moderated. Very recently Ford announced it was cutting or delaying capital expenditures on EVs by $12 billion in view of consumer reluctance.  Under Harris we can certainly expect more such whiplash due to the imposition of government. Harris is also identified with the worst inflation since the Carter administration. At Biden’s inauguration in January of 2021, the year-over-year rate was 1.4 percent, peaking at 9.1 percent on Biden’s watch. Foreign Policy and Immigration Harris is said to have learned much on foreign policy while serving under President Biden, whom Foreign Policy calls the “most experienced U.S. leader on foreign policy since President George H.W. Bush.” One need not be the equivalent of a Nobel laureate in political science to see the fallacy of this statement. Harris has presided as vice president with our borders in chaos from unlawful entrants; the withdrawal from Afghanistan was a disgrace; Russia was not deterred from invading Ukraine, and supportive armaments for that country were delayed for months; Iran, appeased by the U.S. and undeterred in its nuclear aspirations, has rained fire on U.S. and Western assets either through proxies or directly; China has upped the ante in its bullying tactics against U.S. allies, especially the Philippines; and North Korea has continued with its missile testing provocations. Except for strengthening NATO in which 23 of its 32 member nations will now pay at least 2 percent of GDP on defense in 2024 (with pressure initiated by President Trump), the Biden administration’s record on foreign policy has been dismal — with an underlying theme of perceived weakness. At the DNC convention, Harris eloquently touted her foreign policy credentials. An appropriate reaction would be “interesting, if true.” (READ MORE: This Is No Longer The Presidential Race You Think It Is) Thus far we have seen the specter of socialism haunting the Harris campaign. And we have yet to see any specific plans to restore confidence in American foreign policy. The Harris campaign is able to project only values and emotion — but in a charged populist body politic, that pablum may sell. Frank Schell is a business strategy consultant and former senior vice president of the First National Bank of Chicago. He was a Lecturer at the Harris School of Public Policy, University of Chicago and is a contributor of opinion pieces to various journals. The post From Harris, America Needs Action, Not Pablum appeared first on The American Spectator | USA News and Politics.

Strong client states help keep America first, and that includes Ukraine. Rome was at her strongest and her military  most efficient when she maintained a vibrant system of clients along the marches of the empire from the days of the republic to the early empire. Every British tribal warrior, Armenian spearman, or soldier of Judea guarding the frontiers was one less Roman legionnaire needed to man the frontier forts along the periphery of the empire. Trump is perhaps the greatest transactional politician of his generation. As Edward Luttwak points out in his seminal work, The Grand Strategy of the Roman Empire, Rome was able to control most of the known world with an army about the size of today’s Marine Corps. If a threat presented  itself that was beyond the power of the client king or queen, Rome had adequate reserves to deal with the crisis, but such situations were the exception rather than a rule. (READ MORE: Foreign Adversaries React to Assassination Attempt on Trump) This was a way of keeping Rome first. That is the model America firsters should be thinking about with our string of client nations and alliances such as NATO, Japan, Israel, Egypt, and even Ukraine where the war with Russia won’t last forever. Rome’s relationship to her clients was only benign to a point where the client ruler ceased being competent or became a liability. At that point, the iron fist came out of the velvet glove. (READ MORE from Gary Anderson: Tim Walz, Unreformed Summer Soldier) Trump and the Client States Here is the irony regarding Donald Trump. He is perhaps the best American client manager since the days of Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush. Under Trump, NATO members, Japan, and South Korea began to ante up their fair share of the defense burden. Joe Biden likes being loved by our allies, but respect and fear have been absent.. Trump elicits that fear and respect. Donald Trump is the one American politician best positioned to broker a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine. He has leverage over Ukraine in the way of aid, and he is the only major American politician still on speaking terms with Vladimir Putin. Trump has alluded to his willingness to help broker such a deal, and he should make this a major element of his campaign pitch. Richard Nixon garnered many votes with his promise to end the war in Vietnam. It took him some time to do it, but he eventually did. Rome’s use of client states was strictly transactional. One of the most successful clients was Herod the Great of Judea. He was a thoroughly detestable individual and is still reviled by Christians and Jews alike, but he was a competent client who kept the borders stable. It was not until less competent successors lost control of the Jewish population that the Romans had to step in and turn the area into a province. That was done at great expense to the Roman treasury and in Roman lives. Trump is perhaps the greatest transactional politician of his generation and  dealing with friends and adversaries in the next four years will require transactional skills. It is one of Mr. Trump’s greatest strengths. He should play to it. That includes convincing the America First portion of his constituency that strong clients save America both money and manpower. Gary Anderson contrasted Roman and American client management strategies in Toward a Pax Universalis, one of the Naval War College Newport Paper   The post Trump Is an Extraordinary Manager of Client Nations appeared first on The American Spectator | USA News and Politics.

from Sarah Westall: TRUTH LIVES on at https://sgtreport.tv/

by Eric Zuesse, The Duran: NBC News on August 21st headlined “Ukraine launches massive drone attack on Moscow” and interviewed an anonymous U.S. veteran and now volunteer fighter against Russia who had participated in Ukraine’s attack against Kursk in Russia, and he said, “We didn’t start this. We are simply helping freedom-loving people against a totalitarian regime.” He went on to […]