A Clean Bill Of Health, Regarding Reagan, Trump Ousts Acosta, Immigration Confrontation

Wednesday, January 17, 2018

A Clean Bill Of Health

 
As you may have heard, Rear Admiral Ronny Jackson, the White House physician, delivered yesterday what must have been the fullest report on the health of any president in modern history.  Unfortunately, I have to tell you that there was evidence of mental instability and cognitive failure. 
 
Not by the president, but by the members of the White House press corps.  Most of them are suffering from a new disease for which there appears to be no vaccine -- Trump Derangement Syndrome.
 
On a more serious note, it was very disturbing to see how these reporters reacted to the news that the president is in excellent health, including his mental health.  What followed Dr. Jackson's report sounded like a "Saturday Night Live" skit.
 
One sign of insanity is when a person thinks they are someone else.  Well, virtually all of the reporters yesterday sounded as if they thought they were the surgeon general. 
 
For nearly an hour, they peppered Dr. Jackson with smug questions as if they possessed more medical knowledge than the official White House physician who treated Presidents Bush and Obama.  Here are some of the questions these so-called "journalists" asked Dr. Jackson:
 
REPORTER: "There have been some questions . . . about the president's mental fitness.  Can you assess the president's mental fitness for office?
 
JACKSON:  "Absolutely. . . I had no intention of including the cognitive assessment in this exam because, to be honest with you . . .  I had absolutely no concerns about his cognitive ability or his neurological functions. . .
 
"The reason that we did the cognitive assessment is, plain and simple, because the president asked me to do it. . .  We picked one of the [tests] that was a little bit more involved. . .  It was the more difficult one of all of them. . . but the president did exceedingly well on it." 
 
REPORTER:  "You said he doesn't drink and he doesn't smoke. . . did you address drug addiction?"
 
JACKSON: "Drug addiction? He has no drug addiction."
 
REPORTER:  "Can you explain to me how a guy who eats McDonald's and fried chicken and all the Diet Cokes . . . is in as good of shape as you say he's in?"
 
JACKSON: "It's called genetics."

REPORTER: "There was an incident recently where the president appeared to slur his words while giving an address. Did you look into what the cause of that might have been at all?"

JACKSON: "I did. . . Everything was normal.  I had given the president some medication, specifically some Sudafed over the days previous, and I think that I had inadvertently dried up his secretions more than I intended."
 
REPORTER: "Is he limited to one scoop of ice cream now?"
 
JACKSON:  "I don't limit his diet at all.  I just make recommendations."
 
REPORTER:  "There isn't anything that's part of the president's health records . . . that you're not permitted to tell us? Is there anything you're keeping from us for privacy reasons?"
 
JACKSON: "I can promise there is nothing that I am withholding from you."
 
 
 
Regarding Reagan. . .
 
Not only could these liberal reporters barely hide their disappointment that President Trump was unlikely to die soon, they besmirched the reputation of Ronald Reagan. 
 
One reporter doubled down on questions about the president's mental stability by asking if Dr. Jackson's cognitive evaluation would detect early stages of Alzheimer's because "of what was overlooked at the time with President Reagan." 
 
Dr. Jackson answered, "If [Trump] had some type of mental cognitive issue, this test is sensitive enough it would pick up on it.  He would not have gotten 30 out of 30 on the test."
 
Just to be clear:  Nothing was "overlooked" when Ronald Reagan was in office.  There is zero evidence that Reagan was suffering from Alzheimer's while he was president. 
 
I am no doctor, but I interacted regularly with President Reagan during the last two years of his administration.  I assure you he was sharp as a tack.
 
Not only are the media lying about President Trump, but they are still lying about one of America's most popular presidents.
 
 
 
Trump Ousts Acosta
 
No one better represents the media's adversarial and hostile approach to covering President Trump than CNN's Jim Acosta.  He has accosted Stephen Miller and Sarah Huckabee Sanders.  And it was Acosta who asked Dr. Jackson if he was hiding something from the media about the president's health.
 
Yesterday, Acosta used the opportunity of an Oval Office briefing with the president of Kazakhstan to accuse President Trump of being a racist.  The president politely answered Acosta's first question, but he persisted in shouting out demeaning questions. 
 
Finally, President Trump had enough.  He pointed to Acosta and said, "Out!" 
 
Good for him!
 
Serious journalists who ask serious questions deserve respect.  A White House press badge does not give reporters a pass to be disrespectful and obnoxious.
 
 
 
Immigration Confrontation
 
Washington is bracing for a government shutdown this weekend, and immigration reform is at the center of the dispute.  Progressive politicians are insisting that a DACA amnesty be part of any funding deal to keep the government open. 
 
In other words, protecting illegal immigrants is their Number One priority.
 
Meanwhile, DACA is headed to the Supreme Court.  The Justice Department announced yesterday that it is appealing a decision by a federal judge in San Francisco forcing the Trump Administration to continue Barack Obama's dubious amnesty program.
 
President Trump is willing to negotiate on DACA, but he is demanding serious reforms because our current immigration system is failing the American people. 
 
For example, President Trump wants to end the visa lottery and has repeatedly advocated for "extreme vetting" of immigrants.  And he is right to do so. 
 
A new report from the Department of Homeland Security finds that 73% of the individuals convicted on terrorism charges over the past 15 years were foreign-born.  We also learned recently that the Obama Administration failed to arrest many "high-risk" immigrants who had connections to terrorism.
 
Secretary of Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen said, "This report is a clear reminder of why we cannot continue to rely on immigration policy based on pre-9/11 thinking."
 
Secretary Nielsen also told senators during her testimony yesterday that she has asked the Department of Justice if it is possible to prosecute elected officials who enforce sanctuary policies and shield illegal immigrants in defiance of federal law. 
 
It's about time we stop the lawlessness -- at the border and in left-wing city councils.
 
In other news, President Trump today honored the late Congresswoman Barbara Jordan (D-TX), a civil rights icon, for her staunch America First immigration policies.