At the DNC riots in November some protesters brought signs claiming‚ “Health Care is a Human Right.” Senator Sanders and Congresswoman Jayapal proposed the “Medicare for All” (single-payer health care) bill in May of this year with the same slogan. Its support increases with every re-introduction; this time managing 112 co-sponsors. Classic Liberalism enumerates inalienable rights and tradition has limited these to life‚ liberty‚ and the pursuit of happiness. Taken to its logical conclusion‚ a right to receive health care would mean that the state should force doctors to work. This is already happening in Scandinavia — “Medicare for All’s” North Star. This has led to an absurd state of affairs: Discussions around health care only ever consider patient outcomes and costs. The ability to keep doctors alive and willing‚ however‚ is taken for granted.(READ MORE from Hannah Spier: Unveiling Liberal Indoctrination in Therapy Rooms: The Four Toxic Ideas Crippling Mental Health)   A case in point: This June‚ a young Norwegian Doctor called Maiken Schultz committed suicide. She was a mother of two who was planning her wedding. This sparked a national social media campaign with the hashtag “doctors must live.” It brought countless stories of doctor’s work conditions and poor mental health out of the woodwork and got national media attention. Another consequence of staffing shortages was seen when Norway … paid out over one billion NOK (over 100 million dollars) in damages to malpractice claims. What is noteworthy about this suicide was the young age and lack of preexisting mental health disorder. She had even solved the problem of her working conditions by taking a job in one of the few private clinics. Her husband wrote a chilling post on Facebook describing how Maiken felt she was abandoning her colleagues in the public hospital to deal with inhumane workloads. So strong is the pressure Norwegian doctors are under that the guilt of leaving others to drown in work appears to have driven her to suicide‚ despite having everything to live for. This case is far from an exception; the suicide rate of female Norwegian doctors is double that of Norwegian women in general. An international study surveying the work life balance and job satisfaction of primary care doctors underscores all of this. The scores of the Swiss and Dutch doctors (both countries with competing payer systems‚ significant emphasis on private healthcare‚ and very limited or no public healthcare) soar above those who have in common that they work in universal single-payer health care systems.  Looking closer at the countries with single-payer health care‚ young physicians are buckling under the demands of their failing hospitals. In Germany 70 percent of young physicians exhibit symptoms of “Burn-Out.” In Finland that number is 60 percent. The alarm is also sounding in Sweden‚ Britain‚ New Zealand‚ and Australia‚ countries in the West with universal private healthcare‚ all begging for change.  Although young American resident physicians also struggle with their demanding schedules‚ they have a lower suicide rate than their general population peers. Compare that to the aforementioned countries where young physicians are dropping like flies.  Medical students everywhere expect long shifts‚ weekend work‚ and overtime outside of the legal framework. The hope is‚ however‚ to eventually have a pathway for a family friendly work model. Hope is a strong protective factor against depression and Burn-Out‚ as is being reimbursed instead of coerced. In Switzerland‚ residents report working 56 hours a week on average with 140 hours overtime per year‚ and yet no one is talking about a suicide culture among Swiss doctors. (READ MORE: The Paradoxical Decline of Female Happiness in Egalitarian Norway) Sanders and Jayapal drag the American health care system through the dirt‚ flagging high infant and maternal mortality rates (both of which become significantly less acute when adjusting for the high obesity and drug-use in the U.S). Cancer survival rates are a better indicator for treatment quality: the U.S. ranks first. Another is “Intensive Care Beds per Capita‚” which is linked to lower mortality rates. The U.S can brag of 31 beds per 100.000‚ again top in the world‚ whereas Sweden offers a mere 4.8‚ only just edging out China and India for the bottom spot.  The recruitment problem and consequent work overload in hospitals occur in all the Single-Payer countries and waiting time is the main reason given for unmet care needs. Who cares about your health care systems’ high ranking if you die waiting?  Norway’s supposed to have universal health care‚ yet 3.9 percent of patients are left without a GP‚ a number that’s steadily growing. There’s no way of accessing hospital treatments without a GP referral‚ and even with one‚ the average waiting time in Norway is 75 days. Perhaps Sweden is faring better? They are bussing their patients to Norway for treatment. In Britain (NHS) the average waiting time is 13.6 weeks. More than 18‚000 Scots died while waiting for treatment from the NHS. Healthcare is recognized in Britain as a basic right.  Switzerland has the lowest waiting time in the world‚ rivaled only by the Netherlands and the U.S.  Another consequence of staffing shortages was seen when Norway‚ for the fifth year in a row‚ paid out over one billion NOK (over 100 million dollars) in damages to malpractice claims. That is 20 times higher per capita than the amount paid out in Switzerland. No wonder private health in Norway is booming; it has seen drastic growth over the last 15 years and is now a billion dollar industry. The newest survey showed that 67 percent of the population is willing to pay for private health care clinics‚ if they can afford it — creating precisely the class society that terrify social democrats.    In Norwegian media‚ budgeting failures or spending cuts are always to blame‚ giving the impression that throwing good money after bad would improve affairs. The problem is‚ Norway is already among the world’s top five healthcare spenders. This problem didn’t arise with the latest coalition. The recruitment problem has been worsening for 80 years‚ regardless of right- or left-wing politicians pulling the levers. The right-wing parties‚ essentially social democrats as well‚ also support universal single payer health‚ but allow for private enterprise.   Physicians are the only profession requiring a minimum of 10 years of higher education‚ have limited labor law protection‚ and are thus forced into sky-high overtime with tremendous responsibility and severe consequences upon failure to perform. Incentive is obviously key. Switzerland and the U.S. can boast high salaries and family friendly jobs in private practice once board-certified. The countries with single-payer health care on the other hand‚ tempt physicians with idealism. In egalitarian Norway and Sweden‚ even the social status is of days bygone. Doctors are addressed by first name at the first appointment. If you’re not fulfilled and motivated by the knowledge of doing meaningful work alone‚ then shame on you. (READ MORE: The Dark Side of Norway’s Social Democracy: The Alarming Rise of Disability Claims and Entitlement Culture) One young radiologist has spoken out about being made to share with one other doctor the shift schedule meant to be shared by five. She talks about the shame she feels should she admit not managing the load. The threshold for admitting the work is making her sick is so high because the work defines her identity. This is the definition of being an ideologue. Basing recruitment and maintenance of doctors on the continued existence of such ideologues is ensuring the slow death of these universal health care systems and those trapped within them.  The post ‘Health Care Is a Right’ Might Get You Killed appeared first on The American Spectator | USA News and Politics.

I don’t know how much more time we Jews have left in America. Maybe a hundred years. Maybe a thousand years. Maybe more. Maybe less (the proper adjective if too much to count). Maybe fewer (if few enough to count). But today‚ as I write in December 2023 on this third day of the miraculous season of Chanukah‚ 27 Kislev 5784‚ I can celebrate a glimmering moment as enough non-Jews in America stood alongside Jews and demanded that Liz Magill resign as president of the University of Pennsylvania. And now the bastard is out.It is war. We are on the warpath. Collecting scalps. (Is my indigenous American spirit showing?)   This woman‚ a law professor and once-president of an Ivy League school with a reasonably large Jewish enrollment (1‚750 students comprising almost 20 percent of the undergraduate population)‚ told the United States Congress that the call to “genocide” of the Jews can be acceptable language at her campus on her watch because it all is “context dependent.” (READ MORE from Dov Fischer: Why I Am Not Moved by Gazan Deaths) Given the context‚ she insisted‚ it can be OK to advocate explicitly to mass-murder and exterminate Jews. As I said‚ I don’t know G-d’s timeline for Jews in America. I do know that there never has been a country in Jewish history where we did not‚ at some point‚ have to leave. We have been here only 369 years‚ since the St. Catrina‚ the first boatload of Jews‚ arrived in New Amsterdam in 1654. Those 23 Jews were fleeing yet another country and society they had to leave‚ Recife and the Brazil region where Portuguese explorers and conquerors had imported to the New World the Inquisition that had begun in 1492 Spain and 1497 Portugal. [W]e may be on the brink of becoming Nazi Germany‚ but someone better tell that woman at the DMV and her church who love and pray for The Jews and for Israel. Even the British colonies were not a safe bet then for Jews. England had expelled her Jews in 1290 and would not begin allowing them back‚ and only unofficially‚ until the mid-1650’s. The Dutch were the only safe venue in the New World — as they were at the time in the Old World. They alone allowed Jews entry and freedom to worship safely. So there is always that uncertain status we Jews feel. Don’t believe for one minute that Steven Spielberg believes in his innermost soul that he‚ too‚ cannot be expelled from here. All American Jews feel that way.  That is why so many support Israel‚ even the leftists‚ even the G-dless. I support Israel because I am a proud MAGA American who also lives by the Torah and recognizes that G-d Almighty gave the Land of Israel not only to Abraham but thereafter to his specific line of Isaac (Gen. 25:5 at al.) and then to the line of Jacob. That leads to me. So‚ for me‚ Israel is about my religious heritage. There are certain Torah laws that can be fulfilled only there‚ such as the agricultural law governing the Seventh Year when the Land must rest. It is about family I have there. It also is a thing like what Italian-Americans feel about Italy‚ Irish-Americans feel about Ireland‚ and what Ilhan Omar feels about Somalia. They are my Peeps. (READ MORE: So Much Thanks to Give as an American) But for the Speilbergs‚ the Schumers‚ and the others with that bare smidgeon of Jewish identity‚ it is also something unspoken: a life insurance policy. Whole life‚ not term life. You pay quarterly premiums. And if the Nazis ever really take over this place‚ Israel will be there to take them in. There is plenty of open land in Judea and Samaria (what Arabs call the “West Bank”). Here at The American Spectator‚ I have been blessed these past eight years with a world of Christian readers who see in me an American just as they are‚ a MAGA American at that. They like that I learned English and grammar before woke schooling‚ so they can follow my words‚ even if my thinking is screwy. The shrewdest like the puns. They like the ideas‚ thoughts‚ and arguments they can throw at their neighbors‚ their coworkers — and especially at their Kool-Aided college kids. Yes‚ my readers see me as a Jew‚ but only as I see black people as black because — if we may be honest for a moment — black people are‚ uh‚ black. So how can you miss it? Black people are black. So you notice it. But that doesn’t tell you about the content of their character. I notice blonde people‚ men also‚ because that is different from the American norm. I notice blue-eyed people. I notice red-headed people. So of course my readers notice that I am Jewish. I am‚ after all‚ not only a law professor‚ attorney‚ and columnist but also an Orthodox rabbi. And I put it out there. I have experienced enormous acceptance in America‚ albeit amid blips of Jew hatred. At each of the two major law firms where I practiced‚ I encountered one anti-Semitic law partner‚ in a setting of approximately one hundred attorneys. I did not confront either; I just avoided them as much as possible. My job and career were too important to me at that moment. The money I earned then would make it possible for me to be a full-time rabbi and columnist now. It was a price I paid‚ keeping my mouth shut then. And they got theirs. I have met my share of Jew haters‚ but I have been amazed‚ all the more so‚ by the outpouring of support‚ encouragement‚ and just plain equal treatment Jews like me get in America. I am standing on/in line (regional preposition) at the Department of Motor Vehicles in Newport Beach‚ minding my own business‚ expecting soon to have my license renewed as soon as the lady finishes taking an awful mugshot of me for my license‚ the way the DMV trains people to make portraits look as bad as possible. And suddenly a lady behind me‚ seeing my kipah (yarmulka)‚ says “Excuse me‚ are you Jewish?” (READ MORE: From the River to the Sea‚ Palestine Indeed Will Be Free) It is a phatic question. She knows the answer‚ of course. And then she continues: “G-d bless you‚ sir. G-d bless your people. G-d bless Israel. I pray for your people and bless you all the time.” Comments like that used to leave me breathless‚ even before I needed a lung transplant. It happens often. I am at the supermarket and someone stops me: “G-d bless you!” Did I sneeze? “G-d bless you and your people. My church supports Israel. My husband and I have been to Israel fourteen times.” Yikes‚ that’s more than I. The media tell us we now are amid America’s worst wave of anti-Semitism since Biden made the two idiotic decisions to name the useless Deborah Lipstadt his “Anti-Semitism Ambassador” and to declare the Jew-hating CAIR (Council on Arab-Islamic Relations) a resource for fighting anti-Semitism. And‚ yes‚ I have encountered my share of anti-Semites throughout my American life. But I have found they have been few and far between — fewer than 30 or 40 in a lifetime. Everyone else either has been kind or just plain fair. And that is all any person should expect without earning more: just plain fair. I have experienced far better than that. Can you blame me for being an American patriot and loving this place? When I am watching a sports event‚ and the “Star Spangled Banner” is played‚ I stand up‚ even in the privacy of my family room‚ with no one else in the room‚ not even my wife‚ only G-d and me. I stand up. Look‚ the Washington Post and Joe Scarboro and MSNBC may be right‚ and we may be on the brink of becoming Nazi Germany‚ but someone better tell that woman at the DMV and her church who love and pray for The Jews and for Israel. And they better tell TAS reader Beverly Gunn (Hi‚ East Texas Rancher!) and so many scores of you. If the Nazis are only eleven months away‚ someone better warn Melissa Mackenzie and Prof. Paul Kengor and Wlady Pleszczynski and R. Emmett Tyrrell‚ Jr.‚ and all the other Catholics (and Protestants) running this operation. Someone better tell all the non-Jewish people who wrote me in breathless excitement on Sunday‚ December 3‚ to tell me that Mark Levin began his weekly Sunday show on Fox News by devoting the first six minutes exclusively to reading from an article I published here about President Trump. (And‚ yes‚ if the Nuremberg Laws are only a year off‚ they better tell Mark‚ too‚ because deep in the bowels of a hidden bunker‚ somewhere under the brick and steel of a nondescript building‚ is a boychik.) So I don’t know what the future holds for Jews in America. But I feel secure enough‚ at least today‚ to demand and expect that universities understand that‚ despite all the Jews on the campuses who spend all their time passively whining and moaning about anti-Semitism‚ there are still some Jews out there now on the warpath‚ in war paint. There are some billionaires on the boards of some of these universities who keep their politics to themselves‚ because they prefer not to have their corporations be associated with going woke and then going broke‚ but they now are coming out of the apolitical closet. Some are even Closet Jews‚ with names changed so no one ever would suspect. They have had enough. And there are non-Jewish politicians — almost universally Republican‚ except for Democrat Ritchie Torres of New York — who also are gunning now for the anti-Semites. It is war. We are on the warpath. Collecting scalps. (Is my indigenous American spirit showing?) And the first bastard to go down is this Liz Magill‚ recently president of the University of Pennsylvania‚ who told Congress that it is a matter of “context” whether it is OK to call publicly for another Holocaust of the Jewish People. Rav Fischer’s recent high-energy no-holds-barred encore interview with the Jewish Republican Alliance appears here. In it‚ he discusses Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza‚ the uselessness of Biden and Kamala‚ the sicknesses on America’s college campuses‚ and he opines on Charlie Kirk‚ Tucker‚ Candace‚ and the ADL‚ and the 2024 election.  Rav Fischer’s memorable two televised debates with a national leader of CAIR‚ the leading anti-Semitic Arab Muslim body in the United States‚ can be found here and here.  His latest deeply moving series of four informational and inspirational programs on the Hamas Gaza War may be found here‚ here‚ here‚ and here on YouTube. Because of some sensitive subject matter and viewing content relating to Hamas terror‚ YouTube is restricting the programs to viewers 18 and up. The post Goodbye Liz Magill‚ and Good Riddance‚ You Bastard appeared first on The American Spectator | USA News and Politics.

What is the real purpose of the Biden administration’s excessive rapprochement and even flattery of China‚ including the most recent controversial Xi–Biden meetings in San Francisco? The answer‚ found in the U.S. government’s statements‚ is to keep channels open between the two sides and ensure China’s cooperation on climate and fentanyl issues. With this agenda ‚ U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin is not ashamed to complain that China refused to acknowledge him; Secretary of Treasury Janet Yellen awkwardly bowed to her Chinese counterpart; and upon hearing the news that Xi Jinping will not attend the G20‚ President Joe Biden ruefully laments: “I’m disappointed‚ I am going to see him.” (READ MORE from Kok Bayraq: Calling Xi Jinping a Dictator Is a Compliment) For a move to have political or strategic meaning‚ it must first be logical. Let’s analyze the climate problem assuming it exists and is even dangerous: Is it possible for a family whose house is a mess and whose kitchen is covered in dirt to have a clean garden? Is it possible for someone whose garden is full of wild plants to have manicured flowers in front of their doors? These things are possible‚ but highly improbable.An agenda that does not adhere to the standards of logic‚ no matter how bright its name or how big its goal‚ is a waste of time and resources. Let’s be realistic: The concern of climate change’s effects are primarily an issue for a people that have overcome the problem of hunger. It is not the problem of a poor society in which people’s stomachs are not yet full and in which ordered liberty has not yet been established. Therefore‚ it is unreasonable to expect the Chinese people‚ some of whom have fled the country and sought political asylum in the U.S. and Europe‚ to worry about the climate. What about power? The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) preserved its throne by suppressing opposition forces — its own grandchildren — using tanks when its own regime was shaken in 1989. As 22 countries governments have announced‚ China is currently committing genocide against Uyghurs.  Is it possible for a group that has no compassion for people to have compassion for animals and flora? Can a group that uses all its means to destroy a nation‚ a culture‚ and a religion have any concern about the disappearance of flowers and trees? Can a regime that does not take responsibility for a disaster like Covid-19 and does not allow the origins of the virus to be found care about the depletion of rivers and the drying of lakes? Is it possible for such a regime to be disturbed by air and sea pollution? It is possible‚ but highly improbable. The CCP has neither the mind nor the nature to think about climate.  The Biden administration keeps emphasizing the need to avoid miscalculation between the two sides. Unfortunately‚ this is a fruitless initiative and an insulting position. The concern of an unelected power is to legitimize its own authority‚ which naturally happens through miscalculations.  When the CCP came to power‚ it left poor Chinese people even hungrier. The miscalculation was that communism would take the Chinese people forward. In the 1950s‚ 45 million people died in a famine caused by the regime. The party miscalculated again by blaming capitalism instead of pointing to the attempts to violate the laws of nature‚ such as the “Great Leap Forward‚” as the reason for the famine. Therefore‚ in the 1960s and 1970s‚ during the Cultural Revolution‚ it killed many more scientists and businessmen and destroyed the valuable time of the Chinese people. The CCP is clearly making miscalculations not out of ignorance but on purpose as a means of perpetuating its existence. (READ MORE: Niall Ferguson: Are the US and China Truly ‘Polar Opposites’?) In short‚ the CCP was born‚ has grown and exists‚ survives‚ and has even expanded to threaten the world via miscalculations. But for our part‚ expecting openness from the CCP is the worst kind of miscalculation! Let’s talk about fentanyl. In Chinese society‚ there is a concept‚ called “100 years of humiliation.”  In this concept‚ it is believed that before the founding of the People’s Republic of China in 1949‚ the Western countries insulted the Chinese people‚ occupied Chinese lands‚ and started the opium war. The reason for the opium war was the West’s complicity in getting the Chinese people hooked on opium. Seen in this light‚ the current fentanyl exports are revenge for the opium trade and the opium war. Those who do this are not mafias or gangs‚ because Chinese society consists of only three segments: CCP members‚ CCP supporters‚ and captives. Just as there is no independent news and opinions in China‚ there are no independent movements — political or economic‚ legal or illegal. There is no way that the CCP would not know that fentanyl is going to Mexico. Biden’s efforts to gain support from the CCP for the fentanyl issue is the same as assigning the thief to catch the thief and the murderer to investigate the murder. (READ MORE: On China‚ 1938 Munich Agreement Redux?) An agenda that does not adhere to the standards of logic‚ no matter how bright its name or how big its goal‚ is a waste of time and resources. Therefore‚ Biden’s claiming to have or expecting to gain the cooperation of the CCP is stupid and crazy‚ and the costs will be with us for decades.      The post Biden’s Approach to China Is Illogical appeared first on The American Spectator | USA News and Politics.

You don’t have to be a genius or an economist to foresee the consequences of actions taken by Joe Biden. You just have to read what passes for news these days and interpret it correctly. Enormous government spending causes inflation because too much cash is chasing too few goods and services. Opening our nation’s borders‚ as many of us have been pointing out since Biden’s inauguration‚ creates a major-league national security risk because the people who come in aren’t all seeking a better life. They’re seeking to destroy ours. (READ MORE from Jed Babbin: Biden Wants Hamas To Win) Which is what FBI Director Christopher Wray told a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing last week. Asked how he viewed the terror threat now‚ Wray said‚ “What I would say that is unique about the environment that we’re in right now in my career is that while there may have been times over the years where individual threats could have been higher here or there than where they may be right now‚ I’ve never seen a time where all the threats or so many of the threats are all elevated‚ all at exactly the same time.” Wray added‚ “I see blinking red lights everywhere.” Translating Wray’s bureaucratese into plain English‚ he said that all or most of the major terrorist threats are elevated right now. That should be a surprise to absolutely no one‚ not even Biden or whomever is pulling his strings. According to the Department of Homeland Security‚ there have been 1.5 million “gotaways” who have entered the country illegally since Biden was inaugurated in 2021. “Gotaways” are people who have slipped into the country and successfully evaded the Border Patrol and DHS agents. They haven’t been identified‚ photographed or fingerprinted. Nobody — least of all the Biden White House — knows who they are and no one can say where they are or what their intentions may be. It is entirely logical to say that many of those people had good reason to avoid the Border Patrol and DHS because they intend to commit crimes or acts of terrorism. And yet‚ to this moment‚ there is no thought emanating from the Biden crew to chase down the illegals or even slow the flow across our uncontrolled borders. That flow is at another all-time high. Republican efforts to legislate some improvement in border control has met with insurmountable opposition from Biden and his congressional hordes. Whatever the result — another 9-11-like attack or any other major terrorist attack here — will be on Biden’s limp shoulders. Not that he’s concerned about it one little bit. And what is our intelligence community‚ including the FBI‚ doing to prevent such events? They may be attempting to interdict the “gotaways‚” but they’re too busy with the reauthorization of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) to do much. You must remember FISA. It was the law badly abused by the FBI to spy on Trump’s 2015-2016 campaign. They did so with the knowledge that‚ as Special Counsel John Durham’s investigation revealed‚ according to a trusted foreign source‚ the FBI knew that the whole Russia hoax was a production of the Hillary Clinton campaign. FISA expires if not reauthorized by December 31. Last May‚ I was told by a senior member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence that a “clean bill” — one that contained no changes to FISA — would not pass. And yet House Speaker Mike Johnson has been persuaded‚  probably by the FBI and other intelligence agencies‚ to reauthorize FISA without any changes. Johnson has reportedly agreed to do so as part of the National Defense Authorization Act. As I have written elsewhere‚ FISA should be mended or ended. It needs to be reformed to prevent more political abuse. It probably can be done in several ways in addition to the one I proposed. But that’s apparently not going to happen. If FISA reforms don’t force it out of politics‚ you can count on more political abuses probably aimed at Trump’s campaign. And there will be others. Meanwhile‚ and probably against their judgment and interests‚ the Israelis are bending to Biden’s wishes. As I wrote last week‚ Israel has been under intense pressure from Biden to establish “safe zones” for people in the Gaza Strip. The problem with such zones is that the Hamas terrorists are certain to hide in those zones.NATO would be far better‚ and stronger‚ if Sweden were a member and Turkey weren’t. Because of that pressure‚ Israel has established “deconfliction zones” to supposedly protect UN aid workers‚ hospitals and such in Gaza. As one Israeli official told the Times of Israel‚ “We learned lessons from our northern Gaza operations and we are implementing them. Civilians will be able to receive humanitarian and medical treatment in no-strike zones and shelters.” There is absolutely no way for the Israelis to prevent Hamas fighters from sheltering in those zones. The upshot of this action — again‚ you don’t need to be a genius to foresee it — will be that Hamas‚ and probably some of its leaders — will survive the war to begin planning their next genocidal attack on Israel. (READ MORE: Israel Fights‚ Too Many Democrats Rage) Secretary of State Tony Blinken has reportedly told Israel’s government that it has to wrap up its Gaza operation by three months from October 7‚ the day of the Hamas attack. That leaves Israel only a bit more than three weeks to succeed in killing the Hamas terrorists. Timetables in war‚ like war plans‚ are only valid until the first contact with the enemy. Biden and Blinken apparently don’t care. Biden is counting on us to not pay attention to all of this because of the presidential campaign that never ends. As it happens every couple of years‚ the United States is being totally absorbed by the presidential campaign. Our solipsism — denying the value of any other news — is going to do us harm. Consider what our least reliable ally‚ Turkey‚ is doing these days without a whimper of criticism from the Biden crew. Turkish President Recep Erdogan said on October 25 that Hamas wasn’t a terrorist organization but only a liberation organization fighting to protect Palestinian land. As I predicted months ago when Erdogan said he would approve Sweden’s NATO membership‚ he was bound to find further objections to stall it. He has. Now Erdogan is playing at blackmail. He’s insisted that the U.S. sell Turkey billions of dollars worth of additional F-16s (and modernization kits for those it already has) as the price for Turkey’s ratification of Sweden’s membership in NATO. He wants the sale of the F-16s to happen simultaneously with that ratification. We don’t know yet whether Biden will give in to Erdogan’s blackmail. If he does‚ Erdogan will come up with something else to stall Sweden’s NATO membership. NATO would be far better‚ and stronger‚ if Sweden were a member and Turkey weren’t. The whole Turkey-Sweden mess is a foreseeable result of Biden’s inept diplomacy. As Donald Rumsfeld was fond of saying‚ weakness is provocative. READ MORE from Jed Babbin: Israel Lost the Initiative Biden Is Bankrolling the Ayatollahs   The post Foreseeable Consequences appeared first on The American Spectator | USA News and Politics.

Look Out: Russians Adding Technology to Their Arsenal of Terror

Why Congress Should Stay Out of the Credit Card Industry

Deranged Democrats Claim Trump Will Be a Dictator

The Frozen Chosen Got Stuck In Munich‚ Of All Places

The Problematic Ousting of Rep. George Santos from Congress

Democrats Are Right to Be Scared of Trump’s Vengeance