Tag Archives: free state patriot

Mark Caserta: Liberal hypocrisy over Russia is telling

9 Jun

me

Mark Caserta: Free State Patriot editor

russian-flag

Jun 9, 2017

 

Liberal activism has been taken to an entirely new level in 2017 in terms of what progressives are willing to compromise to protect their movement. And it’s quite disturbing to observe where our nation and its citizens fall on their list of priorities.

Liberal hypocrisy, for example, leaves nothing to the imagination when it comes to U.S. relations with Russia. But for perspective, let’s look at a couple of examples.

In March 2012, when Barack Obama was running for re-election, a live microphone picked up his private conversation with then Russian President Dmitry Medvedev during a gathering in Seoul, South Korea.

President Obama: “On all these issues, but particularly missile defense, this, this can be solved but it’s important for him to give me space.”

President Medvedev: “Yeah, I understand. I understand your message about space. Space for you ”

President Obama: “This is my last election. After my election, I have more flexibility.”

President Medvedev: “I understand. I will transmit this information to Vladimir, and I stand with you.”

Can you imagine how liberals and the major news outlets would have lambasted President Trump if he had been covertly recorded making such a remark? We would likely have millions of liberals marching in Washington calling for the president’s immediate impeachment for obvious and shameless Russian collusion.

In March 2009, during a trip to Geneva, then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton presented Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov a small red button meant to represent a “Russian reset” of sorts between the U.S. and the Kremlin. While visiting Moscow in March 2010, Hillary explained the “reset’s” purpose: “Our goal is to help strengthen Russia,” as reported in an April 7 column by Deroy Murdock in National Review.

While the reset was a total failure for the U.S., many believe the ultimate Clinton/Russia relationship became profitable for the Clintons. In a deal known as “Uranium One,” Bill and Hillary may have sown some of their “entrepreneurial” oats for personal gain.

In April 2015, a story by Jo Becker and Mike McIntire in The New York Times detailed tens of millions of dollars in donations made to the Clinton Foundation following the approval by then-Secretary of State Clinton of the Russian acquisition of a company holding 20 percent of America’s uranium.

And Bill Clinton reportedly received a $500,000 speaking fee from a Russian government-connected bank during this time, as written by Jerome Hudson of Breitbart in March 2017.

Can anyone say liberal Russian collusion? Imagine, for a moment, the field day progressives would have if someone had even suggested Donald Trump or any one of his surrogates were involved in such deals!

Yet, progressive “snowflakes,” as they’ve been called, run around crying “election foul” when they don’t have a single shred of evidence, all the while ignoring fact-laden events of potential collusion that don’t support their ideology.

Frankly, this liberal hypocrisy and selective focus is very telling. One could surmise that progressives are only concerned with winning for their cause, regardless of the impact on our country.

Is there anything less patriotic?

Mark Caserta is a conservative blogger, a Cabell County resident and a regular contributor to The Herald-Dispatch editorial page.

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Doug Smith: The Crazy Years: And the “antidote” for progressivism.

9 Jun

doug-for-fsp

Doug Smith:  Free State Patriot history and society editor

6.9.2017

The Crazy Years

“No question now what has happened to the faces of the pigs. The creatures outside looked from pig to man, and from man to pig, and from pig to man again: but already it was impossible to say which was which.”

George Orwell, Animal Farm

“The Crazy Years: “Considerable technical advance during this period, accompanied by a gradual deterioration of mores, orientation, and social institutions, terminating in mass psychoses in the sixth decade, and the interregnum.”

Robert Heinlein, The Past Through Tomorrow

Madness. Widespread, endemic, institutional madness is upon us. Privileged black students at college in Washington State, with an irony that is lost on them, but not, perhaps, on Martin Luther King, Rosa Parks, or George Wallace, are in hysterics because a white liberal professor objected to a day of forced segregation from campus. Perhaps, they could even relabel the toilets and drinking fountains “Black Only” and “White Only”, just for the day.

Madness.

People, (I will refrain from the snowflake or nutso progressive label, that is too easy. Instead, I will note actions and thoughts that are divorced from reality and critical, rational thinking.) are reduced to sobbing hysterics that the climate is not precisely the same as it was…. when? Perhaps we want the climate of 1816, the year without a summer, during the little Ice Age of the 1800s.  Or perhaps not. Still, it is a source of great concern, to people who react to the latest act of Muslim Jihadist terror and murder with nonchalance, except to worry that people less tolerant will react badly to the act.

Madness.

Many things that were once not tolerated by social mores are now supposed to be tolerated, nay embraced!  Rational people exercise discretion, and can judge that one should tolerate the Sikh sitting next to you on the train, whereas one ought not to tolerate, for example, the idiot who insists on smoking a cigarette at the gas pump while you are filling up your car. Rational people do not tolerate everything, or they will die. Neither do they refuse to tolerate someone who simply disagrees with them or have a different skin color. (Note to the students at Evergreen College, an institution that in any rational society will close its doors as parents refuse to send their children there, read the speech of MLK for insight on content of character vs color of skin). We can tolerate much that is good and fine. We must not tolerate evil or danger.

Madness

Cultural norms that worked effectively to build an evolving, nurturing, and ever better civilization for over millennia are being cast aside in a whim of malignant tolerance. Western civilizations have eliminated slavery as a cultural norm. Eastern and middle eastern have not. The West: progress in science, economic advancement, and individual freedom and standards of living. The Near and Far East: not so much. Yet the family is under assault, middle aged blokes in dresses should not be kept out of the lady’s room, so called feminists embrace a Muslim culture which relegates women back to the “property “of some man, and enforces cruel punishments and maiming on them, while physically assaulting American women who simply wish to speak with an opposing point of view.

Madness. Pure Madness.

In one of the Batman movies, a chemical attack causes mass psychosis in Gotham City. Batman saves the day by destroying the evil men trying to tear Gotham apart, and distributes the antidote to save everyone and go back to the imperfect, but striving for improvement, Gotham.

The antidote to this madness is rational, common sense, critical thinking. The antidote is accepting fact, separated from emotion. The antidote is a deep breath and a large dose of reality: life as it is, not as progressive fantasies wish it to be.

The question, then, is who will be Batman?

We invent superheroes to take the place of ordinary men, doing great things in difficult circumstances, and give us hope.

Who will be Batman? On this D Day, the 6th of June, we are all Batman. Just ordinary guys, but plowing ahead through the fear and danger to face the enemy and defeat a crazed and wrong-headed ideology.

I am Batman.

 

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Mark Caserta: Trump’s overseas journey a huge success

2 Jun

me

Mark Caserta:  Free State Patriot editor

  • Jun 2, 2017

 

melania

Our 45th president, Donald J. Trump, just completed his first overseas trip as commander-in-chief.

What an overwhelming success for the administration and the American people!

Unlike the “appease and apologize” tours Americans were accustomed to seeing under the Obama administration, President Trump delivered what the world has been waiting to see from the U.S. for eight agonizing years – unwavering leadership and a reliability in partnering with our global allies.

The president and his wife Melania’s first stop was in Saudi Arabia, where they received a warm welcome by Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud. During his two-day visit, President Trump signed a major weapons deal with the Saudis, essentially freeing American soldiers from the field of battle in the region by supplying high-tech weaponry to the Saudis. U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson was reported by Al-Jazeera as saying the arms agreement will help Saudi Arabia deal with “malign Iranian influence.”

The president also attended a summit of more than 50 Arab and Muslim leaders to discuss the fight against “extremism,” as reported by multiple news agencies. Trump’s bold speech on Islam called for increased unity in the fight against “radicalism” while characterizing the effort as a “battle between good and evil,” wrote The Associated Press.

On the second leg of his journey, President Trump visited our strongest ally in the region, Israel, where he helped strengthen the U.S. relationship with Israel and reaffirmed his commitment to Middle East peace. He became the first sitting U.S. president to ever visit and pray at the Western Wall, considered by the Jewish people to be one of their holiest sites. Trump was accompanied by the Rabbi of the Western Wall, Shmuel Rabinowitz, who was complimentary of the president’s commitment to the Israeli people.

“(Trump) said that he understands the significance of the Western Wall for the Jewish people and that’s why he decided to visit here during his first trip to Israel,” Rabinowitz said. “He is certain he will come here again, perhaps many times. He was very moved,” Reuters reported.

“America’s security partnership with Israel is stronger than ever,” Trump said during his visit. “Under my administration, you see the difference,” the president was quoted as saying by The Washington Post.

The third leg of the president’s overseas trip included a visit to Rome, Brussels and Vatican City for a meeting with Pope Francis, where they cordially discussed terrorism and the radicalization of young people, per a multiple-authored column last week in The New York Times.

Sadly, yet increasingly predictable, the mainstream media included in nearly all “news” reports of the president’s monumental trip an intentionally distracting reference to the firing of James Comey and the progressive propagation of the conspiracy between Russia and the Trump campaign which liberals propose “must” be the reason Hillary Clinton lost the 2016 presidential election.

Frankly, liberals are rapidly conniving their way to irrelevancy.

Regardless, President Trump continues leading the United States back to greatness.

And our “broad stripes and bright stars” are gleaming brighter for many Americans.

Mark Caserta is a conservative blogger, a Cabell County resident and a regular contributor to The Herald-Dispatch editorial page.

 

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Mark Caserta: Trump’s success will quiet the resistance

26 May

me

Mark Caserta: Free State Patriot editor

5.26.17

 

 

 

Liberals are scared to death of Donald J. Trump and his commitment to “fundamentally” returning America to greatness.

It’s not surprising the mainstream media are reduced to taking advantage of marginally informed Americans by propagating illegitimate news such as “potential” Russian collusion with the Trump campaign in defeating Hillary Clinton, despite not having a shred of evidence. Frankly, it’s all they’ve got.

Political bias from our nation’s major news outlets has never been more pronounced. Anyone suggesting differently is trying to sell you something.

Allow this humble conservative writer to remind readers exactly why Donald Trump is the president of the United States and why Democrats have lost 900 plus state legislature seats, 12 governorships, 69 House Seats and 13 Senate seats in the last eight years, per the Washington Post.

The Obama presidency represented a leftist Xanadu for progressives unlike anything they’d ever enjoyed. Electing arguably the most liberal president in history made “fundamentally changing America” much easier. Life was good for liberals.

But life wasn’t good for Americans. Millions had fallen out of the U.S. labor workforce which was at its lowest since the 1970s. Over 94 million workers were either not working or unable to find work, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

As a result, the number of food stamp recipients went up by 10.7 million people, a 32 percent jump, during the liberal reign, according to the Department of Agriculture.

One doesn’t have to be an economist to understand the fewer people working, the weaker the economy. How can a nation possibly prosper with so many people unemployed?

The American dream had become a nightmare. Hope for a prosperous future was fading.

An intangible that liberals never discuss, but possibly the most relevant to our times, is that economic stagnation helps foster an environment of hopelessness, so debilitating for some they partake in behaviors consistent with individuals lacking a sense of self-worth and purpose.

I believe this has been a huge contributing factor in the increased level of drugs and criminal activity across the country.

But where should voters turn? Hillary’s leftist solution involved more government programs and handouts. And these benefits were seemingly being generously offered (at the taxpayer’s expense) not only to residents, but anyone willing to make the trip to the United States.

Democrats were proposing a scenario suggesting we could sustain more people with government assistance, using fewer tax dollars, from a dwindling workforce. It was senseless.

This could only be possible by raising taxes on working Americans and U.S. business charged with creating jobs. Anyone with any business acumen understands this would stifle the growth of industry and reduce the growth of jobs.

But given all this, liberals are choosing to focus on delegitamizing the Trump presidency rather than partner in returning our country to prosperity and jobs to our communities.

In other words, compromise your quality of life for their political gain.

My advice to Donald Trump: Keep your eye on the prize, Mr. President.

Continued success in reviving the economy and jobs will quiet the resistance.

 

 

Mark Caserta is a conservative blogger, a Cabell County resident and a regular contributor to The Herald-Dispatch editorial page.

 

 

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Doug Smith: Legal Injustice, the sword, but not the scales.

19 May

 

doug-for-fsp

Doug Smith:  Free State Patriot history and society editor

May 19, 2017

justice

There is an interesting concept used by many, if not most on the Left: Legal.  Now the famous statue of Justice portrays a lady, blindfolded, bearing both a sword, and a set of scales. In the Leftist world, the law is all about the sword, and little to do with the scales. In short, if it is legal, we can do it, whether we should or not. (Al Gore’s “no controlling legal authority”) Of course, if you are a leading Leftist, even if it is illegal, you are likely to get away with it, e.g. Hillary and crew.

I wish I could take credit for this example, but alas! I read it somewhere. Democracy is 2 wolves and a sheep voting to have mutton for lunch. Liberty is an armed sheep protesting the vote.  In the Leftist world, it is not what the law says, but rather what some lawyer, instilled for life on a bench with a black robe, says the law says. By such twisted, opportunistic thinking we get Justices hearing from the spirit of James Madison that although he forgot to write it down, of Course he meant to put in a right to privacy. And building on that, we get such flawed and consequential rulings as Roe v Wade. For if the law says not what it says, but what a judge’s political leaning says it says, why then we have no law and no protection at all.

Case in point: The Kelo decision.

As an illustration of government out of control and vastly incompetent, the case of Kelo vs New London, Ct takes the cake (a subtle aside to other progressive legal swordsmanship: searching out bakers who don’t want to make a cake for a gay wedding.) The city, it seems, wanted to exercise eminent domain under the Takings Clause to take a group of homes.  The Takings Clause, in case you don’t know, is part of the 5th Amendment to the Constitution which says, in brief, that government may take private property for public use, and must pay just compensation, defined as fair market value, for the property thus taken.  For example, if you own a home in Huntington, WV, with a fair market value of $ 15, 000, government may exercise eminent domain and show up with a court order and a check, and tell the 17th St Exit is going to go right through your kitchen.  Time to move. But for public use, such as interstates, court houses, schools, etc., and you must be justly compensated. Got it?

So, in 2004, the city fathers of New London, Ct, came up with a brilliant idea. They would scoop up 90 acres of property in the Fort Trumbull neighborhood, using eminent domain, demolish the well-kept, occupied homes, and give the land to a real estate developer for $ 1 a year, in return for which he would bring businesses, industries, and housing developments to the area which would pay the city more than did the residents. In short, New London decided to by-pass the market, in which case the developer would have to “pay” for the properties whatever the market would bear to persuade the owners to move, and give the owners a say in the transaction. Instead, the city, i.e. the other residents who paid the taxes, would pay the owners the current “fair market value” (not the increased amount that includes overcoming the desire to stay where they were, or the desire to make money from the development) and give it to a developer because they approved of what he proposed to do with the land.

Now, the residents, quite reasonably, argued that taking their homes for a developer was hardly the same as taking them for a court house or school, but instead New London picking one citizen over another. They sued. The Ct Supreme Court, and ultimately, the Roberts Supreme Court agreed with the city in the Kelo decision.  45 states have since passed legislation making it more difficult for municipalities to take private property under Kelo. And, oh here the irony gets rich.

The original developer was not able to put together the financing he said he could (maybe it would have been worthwhile to be sure of that before buying the property), Pfizer backed out and moved their facility, taking 1000 jobs with them, New London moved the Kelo house to a new location in town, and 12 years later the 90 acres are an overgrown, weed infested, empty lot.

Was the Kelo taking legal? Evidently, because a flawed SCOTUS decision remains law until Congress or states take action to change it, or a subsequent decision overturns it.

Was it just? Hardly. The empty lot in New London now sits on the corner of irony and nemesis.

 

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Mark Caserta: Liberals attack the core principles of America

19 May

me

Mark Caserta:  Free State Patriot editor

  • May 19, 2017

Unlike progressives who hate Donald Trump, I do not hate liberals. I do, however, loathe liberalism. I truly believe it’s been attacking the core fundamentals of our society for years.

I’m on a mission to expose the progressive movement and educate readers about the liberal desire to “unchain” America from the anchors of morality. You see, progressives don’t advocate the freedom to be Americans, they pursue freedom from our historically steadfast principles.

As a contributor for The Blaze, Dr. Benjamin Wiker wrote a column in 2013, effectively explaining the liberal movement and the progressive mindset.

 “I offer a seemingly liberal explanation – they can’t help it,” Wiker wrote. “Liberals think being educated means becoming liberal, moving from darkness to light, and so whenever they undertake education reform, it means redefining education by the lights of liberalism.”

“Conservative darkness” to “liberal light.” What a masterful interpretation of progressive ideology! It’s designed to be the antithesis of the evangelical movement, and its roots have been premeditatively nurtured in our classrooms for decades.

Abe Lincoln said, “The philosophy of the schoolroom in one generation is the philosophy of government in the next.” Truer words were never spoken. The seed of progressivism was planted years in advance of the current harvest of turbulent tolerance.

One example is The Pro-Choice Public Education Project (PEP). As defined on their website, PEP is a project “dedicated to engaging young women on their terms around the critical issue of reproductive justice, and is under the direction of a Young Women’s Leadership Council along with a team of dedicated staff.”

PEP’s mission statement proclaims they “work to engage and inform organizations, young women, transgender and gender non-conforming young people, ages 16-25.”

What is “reproductive justice” anyway? In this writer’s opinion, it’s an ambiguous term for “abortion on demand.”

Targeting our youth has been integral in the liberal strategic attempt to redefine every preconceived societal attribute of America.

Consider this hypothetical. Suppose a society of beings was placed on a planet and developed void of steadfast, guiding principles or boundaries. What would their societal evolution resemble? Any intellectually honest person would surmise they would exist in total chaos.

Our Christian conservative roots and the Biblical principles established by God’s Word, have anchored our country and allowed us to prosper within the parameters of man’s and God’s Law. We’re a nation, blessed of God, and called upon to be a light unto the world.

But in recent years, we’ve done well to help ourselves. And the further we get from the shores of substratum, the deeper the waters of iniquity become.

I’m reminded of the refrain in the praise hymn “The Anchor Holds,” sung by Ray Boltz:

 

“And it holds, my anchor holds:

Blow your wildest, then, O gale,

On my bark so small and frail;

By His grace I shall not fail,

My anchor holds”.

America’s anchor has been God, not man. Liberals disagree.

But if we forsake that anchor, we will perish, as a nation and a people.

Cling to the anchor.

 

Mark Caserta is a conservative blogger, a Cabell County resident and a regular contributor to The Herald-Dispatch editorial page.

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Mark Caserta: Democrats continue to stand on Obamacare lies

12 May

me

Mark Caserta: Free State Patriot editor

May, 12, 2017

 

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In March 2010, President Barack Hussein Obama signed the Affordable Care Act into law. Following its passage, Obama boldly declared to all Americans, “We did not fear our future, we shaped it.”

In retrospect, that may have been the only true statement Obama would ever make about his failing signature health care bill. He certainly didn’t fear what it would do to our country, and he and his liberal accomplices certainly controlled its shape.

It’s obvious Democrats didn’t have a clue what was in the bill or what impact it would have on nearly 20 percent of our nation’s economy. It was, after all, then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi who said, “We have to pass the bill so that you can find out what is in it,” when she spoke to the National Association of Counties in March 2010.

But controlling a nation’s health care system would be the ultimate mechanism of oversight over its people. And Obama and the Democrats were willing to say anything to make it happen.

To date, I’ve never fielded a serious rebuttal from any liberal regarding the bald-faced lies the Obama administration leveraged in throwing this political curve ball right past the American people. Yet, as old health care wounds are being reopened, it’s time to revisit the true “genesis” of this disastrous initiative.

“If you like your health care plan, you can keep it,” became the battle cry for the Obama administration as they traversed the nation selling their snake oil and liniment. It was such an egregious lie that PolitiFact dubbed it the “Lie of the Year” in 2013.

When one ponders the exorbitant number of lies politicians bestow upon Americans in a single year, this recognition illuminates the magnitude of the falsehood.

“If you like your doctor, you can keep your doctor,” was another liberal lie designed to mislead trusting Americans into believing the Democrats were planning on providing Americans viable health care options.

Imagine misleading a senior citizen into believing they couldn’t possibly lose a doctor with whom they had established a longtime relationship. But that’s exactly what Obama and his minions did to pass Obamacare – without a single Republican vote.

And the empty promise that premiums, on average, would decline by $2,500 per year under Obamacare was laughable. The exact opposite has happened.

And the most incredible part of this tragedy is that liberal Democrats act as if none of this chicanery ever transpired! Do they really believe Americans are that stupid?

Thank goodness, the House of Representatives voted last week to dismantle the pillars of Obamacare and begin the process of replacing this broken health care system. The bill is on its way to the Senate, where its conservative components will be debated and strengthened.

Rest assured, Republicans will compromise on a finished product and the edicts of Obamacare will be reduced to a Democrat eulogy depicting the death of Obamacare.

So, when liberal Democrats attempt to “frighten” you about GOP health care, remember how they lied to you before.

And how they continue to stand by those lies.

Mark Caserta is a conservative blogger, a Cabell County resident and a regular contributor to The Herald-Dispatch editorial page.

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Mark Caserta: Politicians should refrain from using profanity in public

5 May

me

Mark Caserta:  Free State Patriot editor

rekindle

Does the First Amendment to the Constitution restrict free speech when it comes to profanity?

According to most constitutional experts, including the First Amendment Center at Vanderbilt University and the Newseum, the Constitution does indeed protect a “great deal of offensive, obnoxious and repugnant speech.”

“As Justice John Marshall Harlan wrote 40 years ago in Cohen v. California, ‘one man’s vulgarity is another’s lyric.'” The column on the First Amendment Center’s website references the court’s ruling that an individual had a right to wear a jacket invoking the “F-Bomb” in sentiment expressed over the draft.

But in this writer’s humble opinion, just because a person has the “right” to say something, doesn’t exempt them from looking like a complete fool when they use profanity in a public venue.

Sadly, using profanity in public seems to be the rage today, especially in politics.

Now, I’m certainly not nave enough to believe profanity could ever be controlled or eliminated. But using profanity in public represents an utter disrespect for another individual’s rights to listen or attend an event without being concerned about being subjected to vulgar language or actions.

I doubt a single reader would disagree that our elected politicians are employed by “We the People.” So, as “employees,” their constituents should hold them to a standard of behavior commensurate with their position.

I will be the first to say I loathe President Trump spouting four-letter words in some of his public speeches. It’s unnecessary. Just speak the truth, and people will get the message. I don’t want to worry about exposing my child to offensive vernacular when I’m attempting to educate them on government.

But lately, Democrat politicians have taken the use of public profanity to a level that should be embarrassing to their party.

For example, a T-shirt available for purchase on the Democratic National Committee’s (DNC) website reads, “Democrats give a “sh_t” about people.”

In a New York Magazine profile featured in Politico this month, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-New York, included several expletives, including three f-bomb’s in the magazine interview.

Also from Politico, DNC Chairman Tom Perez has been recklessly including profanity in his stump speeches, telling a New Jersey Working Families Alliance event in March that Republicans “don’t give a sh_t about people.”

 Why do Democrats feel the need to use this language? Do they feel they’re pandering to an “uneducated” blue collar segment they feel supports Donald Trump? Are they really that shallow?

Besides the obvious reasons, let me tell you why we must insist this stop, now.

Once again, the progressive modus operandi is to constantly challenge the status quo, moving the “range of acceptability” further to the left. What sort of language will we be accustomed to hearing in another 10-15 years?

Let me be clear. Anyone using profanity in public is openly displaying his or her ignorance and a total disregard for others’ rights.

So, here’s a message to elected officials from your employer, the voters.

If you can’t restrain from ignorance, serve your notice and begin clearing out your desk.

We’ve had enough.

 

Mark Caserta is a conservative blogger, a Cabell County resident and a regular contributor to The Herald-Dispatch editorial page.

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Mark Caserta: Trump busy negotiating on behalf of Americans

28 Apr

me

Mark Caserta:  Free State Patriot editor

April 28, 2017

 

trump-contract

As President Trump rights the ship of U.S. foreign policy steered dangerously into troubled waters by the Obama administration, both friends and enemies alike are rapidly re-assessing their relationship with the United States.

Trump’s execution of his “America first” policy is something the world hasn’t seen in over eight years. And while it’s the antithesis of his predecessor’s “apology and appeasement” ideology, it may also be the most resolute approach we’ve seen from any U.S. president since Ronald Reagan.

Throughout his entire campaign, Donald Trump was harshly critical of China, accusing its leaders of manipulating their currency, making it difficult for America to compete economically. As president, he’s maintained his tough stance on trade relations, but is working to build a relationship with Chinese leadership that will be conducive to fair trade negotiations.

You see, what liberals portray as failure, Donald Trump sees as simply the first step in negotiation. Successful negotiations often begin with incredulous offers and distant terms. That’s simply a natural part of the process. Afterward, if there is enough at stake, accomplished negotiators will work toward “win-win” solutions for both parties.

Trump’s recent meeting with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping was reportedly a huge success and helped foster an unexpected relationship between the two men. A recent Fox News column by Andrew O’Reilly shared an expert’s perspective.

“This meeting will set the tone in looking at the strategic framework between the U.S. and China for the next few years,” Robert Daly, the director of the Kissinger Institute on China and the United States, told Fox News. “China wants to know what President Trump’s framework toward Beijing will be and if he is a man they can work with.”

Following Secretary of State Rex Tillerson’s recent Moscow meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, the Russian government surely came away with a clear understanding that despite liberal and mainstream media attempts to brand President Trump as a Russian “apologist,” they’re no longer dealing with an ill-prepared community organizer, but rather with a man determined to successfully negotiate on behalf of the American people.

A recent U.S. News column reported, “President Donald Trump says the U.S. is ‘not getting along with Russia at all’ and relations between the two global powers are at an ‘all time low,'” following U.S. response to the Syrian chemical weapons attack. The piece went on to say Trump is “hopeful he can improve relations with Russian President Vladimir Putin but ‘we’re going to see what happens.'”

And following eight long years of declining U.S. – Israeli relations, a column in The Times of Israel by Gavin Rabinowitz reports officials are enthused about the prospect of making the alliance between the two nations “greater than ever.”

As a skilled negotiator, Donald Trump understands negotiating from a position of strength. He’s currently establishing a principled foundation from which to advance his agenda.

Right now, world leaders are simply taking it all in, trying to figure out how best to deal with this new U.S. president. But rest assured, he’s negotiating on behalf of Americans.

Mark Caserta is a conservative blogger and Cabell County resident.

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Mark Caserta: Trump fulfilling promise to protect borders

22 Apr

me

Mark Caserta:  Free State Patriot editor

  • Apr 21, 2017

failure 1

Like him or not, Donald J. Trump says what he means and means what he says regarding illegal immigration and making America great again on the world stage.

Trump’s recent job approval ratings are soaring! A Rasmussen poll shows 50 percent of likely voters approve of his performance since taking office.

A Washington Post column, by Maria Sacchetti, reported illegal immigration arrests rose 32.5 percent in the first weeks of Trump’s presidency. According to the report, this included illegals with criminal records, as well as those who are simply undocumented.

According to statistics requested and reported by The Post, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrested 21,362 illegals, mostly convicted criminals, from January through mid-March, compared to 16,104 during the same period last year.

Liberal Democrats like to use the word “compassionate” when weighing the dilemma of removing illegal immigrants from our country. As with nearly every other progressive position that places the weight of “pivotal political posturing” on the shoulders of law-abiding citizens, liberals constantly kowtow to any demographic that can envision pulling a voting lever.

Simply put, when weighing compassion against national security, one must make the tough call, for a compassionate decision for one group of individuals can result in devastation for another innocent sector. It’s called unintended consequences.

Here are some dreadful examples of serious crimes from the Federation for American Immigration Reform website, committed by illegals, not far from our readers.

In December 2015, a 40-year-old illegal, Michael Garcia, was sentenced to four life terms for the rape and sodomy of two children in Alabama. In August 2016, a Salvadoran illegal gang member was convicted of murder in Virginia for the brutal stabbing of an individual suspected of being an informer for law enforcement. Jose Torres was sentenced to life imprisonment plus 20 years.

In February 2017, 29-year old Ricardo Garcia was sentenced to 20-29 years in prison after being convicted of raping a 13-year-old girl in North Carolina in 2015. Garcia lured the girl into his car on the pretense of giving her a ride.

Four decades of mass, illegal immigration have devastated our nation, largely due to the passage of Ted Kennedy’s Immigration Reform Act of 1965, changing immigration laws and widening the gate of entry into the United States.

Additionally, in 2012, Barack Obama signed an executive order providing deportation amnesty to illegal immigrants already in our country. His order expanded the concept of “prosecutorial discretion” allowing millions of illegals safe harbor.

Liberals have been working for years to increase illegal immigration in the U.S.

According to the Pew Research Center, there were over 11 million unauthorized immigrants in the United States in 2014. Who knows how many there are now?

Thank goodness, President Trump expeditiously wiped out nearly all of Obama’s immigration policies in January with executive orders unleashing ICE agents to enforce immigration laws and punishing sanctuary cities by withholding government funding.

A nation must protect its borders. And we must know who is here illegally.

President Trump is working to fulfill that promise, and Americans are pleased.

Mark Caserta is a conservative blogger, a Cabell County resident and a regular contributor to The Herald-Dispatch editorial page.

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