Townhall Review | Commentaries

Over-confident Democrats take comfort in the history of mid-term elections in a new president’s first term: for nearly two centuries, the party in power almost always loses seats in Congress.

But Republicans should feel encouraged by the only exception to that rule since FDR: in 2002, George W. Bush defied history and Republicans gained strength in both the House and Senate. Low expectations for Bush in foreign policy meant that his strong response to 9/11 looked especially impressive.

If President Trump makes serious progress in upcoming Korea negotiations, he too could beat expectations and powerfully improve GOP prospects. Already, foreign leaders like South Korea’s Moon are promoting Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize and such talk could intensify as the election approaches.

Reduced tensions on the Korean Peninsula would be good for the world, good for America and great for embattled GOP candidates in House and Senate races.

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Recent polls suggest 70 percent of Democrats support impeachment of President Trump—a preference ignoring obvious lessons from the recent past.

Andrew Johnson was impeached in 1868 during his last months in office and he wasn’t running for re-election. Then with Richard Nixon a century later, momentum against him proved so powerful that he resigned before voters went to the polls for mid-terms.

Only Bill Clinton faced Congressional elections in the midst of an impeachment crisis—and he became the only president since the two-party system began to gain Congressional seats in the middle of his second term. Americans disliked Clinton’s amorous adventures but they hated the idea of impeachment—and still do. If Democrats campaign for Congress promising turmoil, scandal-mongering and gridlock, they will lose—and deserve to lose.

 

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When it comes to North Korea, the old adage of “Trust, but verify” isn’t nearly enough. We should—absolutely—be skeptical of the rogue regime’s claims. And we should, of course, hold them accountable for whatever promises they might make.

But we should still be encouraged by Kim Jong Un’s recent statements that he wants peace and is committed to stopping his nuclear weapons tests.

A lot of hard work stands between where we are and where we want to go, but the Trump Administration deserves credit for bringing us this far. The key question is whether President Trump can produce a deal that completely ends that country’s nuclear weapons program. 

In his efforts, Trump is assisted by an all-star team of aides: Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, National Security Adviser John Bolton, and Defense Secretary Jim Mattis.  If anyone can get this right, we should have confidence in this team.

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Here are the rules today: you must be pro-woman at all times—unless, that is, the woman you’re engaging is conservative or religious.

We saw an example of this cultural double-standard at this past weekend’s White House Correspondents’ Dinner. This dinner has a history of friendly banter. But comedian Michelle Wolf crossed the line. Even as she joked about abortion, she attacked White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders, making fun of her looks, and repeatedly called her a liar.

Whatever our political differences, let’s be clear: this kind of public abuse is reprehensible. It’s especially shocking because supposedly we’re in a tolerant age that prizes diversity.

In practice, it seems, some people deserve respect, fairness and kindness.

And some don’t.

This is the strangest of ages. When a woman is conservative or religious, you can say whatever you want.

I have a better idea: Let’s treat all women with respect.

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The New York Times recently published a story entitled “Wreck of the Juneau Is Found.” It’s about the discovery of the U.S. Navy cruiser Juneau that was blasted apart by a Japanese torpedo in 1942.

Even in the context of the millions and millions of casualties of World War II on all sides, the story Juneau resonates in a special way in the American memory, a memory of indebtedness to one family. One family that lost not one, not two, not three, not four but five sons on one day on one ship!

75 years later, the Juneau's wreckage has been discovered but the American people’s moral debt remains: a moral debt to all those who have given their lives and have given their family members to the cause of defending liberty.

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The California Assembly has yet again adopted legislation that makes an undeniable infringement on religious liberty.  Assembly Bill 2943 would make it fraudulent and illegal to offer in any way to have anything to do with a change in sexual orientation, or for that matter, an individual’s sexual identity.

The Alliance Defending Freedom says, “the breadth of this censorship is staggering.” David French at National Review described it as, “extraordinarily radical.”

Part of the radical nature of this legislation is the fact that it now elevates sexual identity to something that is beyond question.  In other words, those who are pushing for the moral revolution, especially on LGBT issues, are setting out to eradicate, even by force of coercive law, anyone who would represent any worldview that would stand in their way.

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The left cherishes a peculiar, pernicious concept of “diversity” as the New York Times demonstrated with its reporting on the new president of Cuba. The newspaper’s headline proclaimed “A Transition of Power in Cuba Sends a Signal on Diversity” and a caption to a photo declares “the members of the Council of State are notably diverse.”

Sorry, New York Times, but they aren’t diverse at all: every one of them is a dedicated Communist, with a slavish reverence for the thuggish, murderous Castro regime. The presence of several women and a few dark-skinned Afro-Cuban faces does nothing to alter the total ideological uniformity.

The diversity that matters to liberals is merely racial, while they ignore the more meaningful diversity of ideals and values, scorning conservatives and embracing communist Cuban thugs.

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Paul Ryan has announced that he won’t be running for reelection again this fall.

He was first elected to Congress in 1998 and during his 20 years there, has served the citizens of the First District of Wisconsin well. Even as he rose to become one of the most powerful elected leaders in the country Paul remained a humble man who is, above all, a devoted husband and father. 

History will remember Paul Ryan for being one of the conservative movement’s most articulate and thoughtful leaders.  He fought for important ideas like a balanced budget, reform of our tax code and entitlement reform.

But I will remember Paul Ryan as so much more.  I had the privilege and honor to work with him when he was the GOP’s nominee for Vice President in 2012.  There is almost no one in public life whom I respect and admire more. 

He will be missed.

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Former President James Buchanan called the United States Senate “the greatest deliberative body in the world.”  But Sen. John Kennedy of Louisiana, recently complained that he hasn’t even been able to get a vote on a single legislative amendment in his first 15 months on the job.

The fact is that the U.S. Senate has largely quit deliberating.  The Senate has voted on only 6 non-budgetary amendments so far this year and has taken only 25 roll call votes in the two-year Congress, compared with 154 at this point in the last Congress. 

Bills are held in secret until 51 votes are lined up and then sprung on the Senate.  Largely gone are the committee deliberations, debates and amendments. 

Votes are taken largely to make statements for the next election, not to make great public policy.  It’s high time Congress returned to “regular order.”

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Carping criticism of the Trump administration’s handling of the targeted, allied air strikes against the Syrian dictator follows a long, sad tradition in debates on US foreign policy. The Nazis were profoundly evil in World War II, while Britain was noble in opposing them, but many Americans wanted our country to take no side in the struggle.

A few years later, the Soviet Union was indeed an “Evil Empire”, while NATO nations represented the best of Civilization, but leftist skeptics claimed a “moral equivalence” between the two sides in the Cold War.

Today, the three allies who collaborated on the Syria strike – America, Britain and France – are among the most decent nations on earth, while Syria, Iran and Russia are among the most vile regimes. Americans should feel proud that our military has, once again, served honorably on the side of decency.

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