Standing Firm, How Far Gone, The Winning Strategy, Other Headlines

by Gary Bauer, Contributing Author:  Standing Firm - Multiple big media outlets were in a tizzy again this morning. According to them, President Trump was "ratcheting up" tensions with North Korea when he wrote this tweet: "Military solutions are now fully in place, locked and loaded, should North Korea act unwisely. Hopefully Kim Jong-un will find another path!"

The president's tweet is actually an effort to PREVENT a war. Trump is telling Kim that if he hits Guam or kills U.S. soldiers or attacks our navy, North Korea will pay a horrendous price. Any U.S. president who failed to respond to an attack on our people or territory would be inviting worse attacks and/or blackmail.

Think about the message that is being sent by our left-wing media and political elites. They appear to be suggesting that it is America that must back down when confronted by a rogue nation with nuclear weapons.

Incredibly, they are very close to telling our enemies that the United States should never go to war, even if we are attacked.

How Far Gone Is The Left? - If you needed any more evidence of just how far gone the left is when it comes to critical issues involving our national security, consider these examples:

• Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) said this: "I do believe North Korea is [issuing] threats but I think there are some things they want from us. And we have to find out whether or not we can work with them on the things that they are asking for." In other words, Waters is inviting nuclear blackmail and extortion.
• More than 60 House Democrats sent a letter to Secretary of State Rex Tillerson condemning President Trump's "irresponsible and dangerous" rhetoric. They urged Tillerson to ensure that the president and other officials speak and act "with the utmost caution and restraint."
These so-called "progressives" are the same type of people who called Winston Churchill a warmonger in the 1930s. We are not the problem. It is America's enemies who should be acting with "the utmost caution and restraint."

Former Obama National Security Adviser Susan Rice published an editorial in the New York Times yesterday. Here was Rice's "expert" opinion: "History shows that we can . . . tolerate nuclear weapons in North Korea -- the same way we tolerated the far greater threat of thousands of Soviet nuclear weapons during the Cold War."

That is the same misguided reasoning Obama used to justify his nuclear deal with Iran. (More on that below.) It is nonsense. The Soviets were, if nothing else, rational. They had a history with us in World War II. They knew what we were capable of. Iran and North Korea are controlled by zealots with zero respect for the United States.

North Korea's ability to miniaturize a nuclear weapon (the essential step to putting a nuclear warhead on a missile) was news to most Americans. But Barack Obama knew about it in 2013. Given the extensive coordination between North Korea and Iran, this revelation makes Obama's 2015 nuclear deal with Iran much worse.

Even if you assume that it prevents Iran from developing nuclear weapons, one of the biggest flaws with that deal is that it did not stop Iran's development of missiles and ICBMs. Well, Iran doesn't need to develop its own nuclear weapons. Thanks to Obama, the ayatollah can simply get one from his ally North Korea, while he builds his own long-range missiles.

The Winning Strategy - For decades, Republican consultants have suggested that the GOP would be a stronger party if only it jettisoned its positions on controversial "values issues" and focused almost exclusively on the free market, capital gains tax cuts and entitlement reform.

I'm all for free markets. I understand the case for lower tax rates on capital gains. And I know spending reforms are necessary. But these are not issues that win the hearts and minds of most voters.

Perhaps you recall the "autopsy" the party conducted after Mitt Romney's loss in 2012. It reinforced the Beltway's group think and the conventional wisdom. It urged the party to move left on social issues and immigration. It is this mindset that explains much of the establishment's hostility to Donald Trump.

Trump eschewed establishment Republican orthodoxy with his bold comments on the sanctity of life and immigration. Trump also vowed to protect Social Security.

And, as we all know, he wasn't supposed to win. So how did he do it?

The fact is virtually everything the high-priced Beltway consultants have been saying is wrong. Several recent studies analyzing 2016 have concluded that Hillary Clinton lost because of cultural and values issues.

More evidence came in yesterday's Wall Street Journal. Referring to the idea of a "Republican Workers Party," Professor F. H. Buckley wrote:

"The sweet spot in American politics is . . . economic liberals and social conservatives. It's the place where presidential elections are usually won, and the winner is usually going to be the candidate who won't touch Social Security and who promises to nominate judges in the mold of Antonin Scalia. In other words -- Donald Trump."Rather than singing the praises of Wall Street, Republicans should promote Main Street. Be the party of small business, not big business. Tax reform is good, but push tax cuts for working families, not billionaires.

Talk about creating jobs in America, not free trade and globalism. Voters want border security, not open borders. They want criminals handcuffed, not our cops.

And be bold and unapologetic in defending traditional American values -- love of God, country and family.

Other Headlines

• Voters strongly support the RAISE Act, immigration reform legislation endorsed by President Trump.
• President Trump stands by his policy prohibiting transgender individuals from serving in the military.
• The Trump Justice Department supports Ohio's effort to clean up its voter rolls, reversing Obama-era opposition.
• Must see TV -- Dr. Sebastian Gorka schools politically correct commentators on radical Islamic terrorism.
• Obama-appointed federal judge orders new search for Clinton Benghazi emails.
• Troops are being deployed to secure the southern border -- Canada's southern border as illegal immigrants self-deport from the United States.
• The far-left magazine The Nation has published an article in which former intelligence experts assert that nobody, including the Russians, hacked the Democratic National Committee. They claim that the disclosure of the emails occurred as a result of an internal leak. If they are correct, this is a huge scandal.

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Gary Bauer is a conservative family values advocate and serves as president of American Values and chairman of the Campaign for Working Families

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