Order In The Court

President Trump's executive order imposing a moratorium on immigration from seven terrorist-infested countries is back in court today. This afternoon, three judges from the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals will hear arguments via conference call.

Regrettably, I am not optimistic about the outcome. Two of the three judges -- one Carter appointee and one Obama appointee -- are left-wing judicial activists.

As I noted yesterday, the Ninth Circuit is very left-wing, and the most frequently overturned court by the Supreme Court. Conservatives often refer to it as "the Ninth Circus," and for good reason. This court once declared that the phrase "under God" in our Pledge of Allegiance was unconstitutional.

Unfortunately, the case against President Trump's national security directive never should have gotten this far. The federal judge in Seattle who issued the injunction against it was completely out of order.

During the hearing, Judge James Robart quizzed the government's attorney about the order. The judge asked, "How many arrests have there been of foreign nationals for those seven countries since 9/11?" The attorney for Justice Department did not know the answer, but Judge Robart claimed he did.

"Let me tell you. The answer to that is none," the judge said. "You're here arguing on behalf of someone that says we have to protect the United States from these individuals coming from these countries and there's no support for that."

The only issue before the court should have been whether the president of the United States has the authority to issue a temporary pause in immigration from certain countries. We noted yesterday that President Obama exercised that power 19 times during his administration. So the constitutionality of President Trump's order never should have been in doubt.

As Vice President Mike Pence put it, "We don't appoint judges . . . to conduct foreign policy or to make decisions about the national security. Under statutory law and under the Constitution, that authority belongs to the president of the United States."

Judge Robart was substituting his opinions for the law. However, the judge didn't even have his facts right.

As it turns out, "the federal government has arrested and convicted at least 73 people from the seven countries of Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Syria, Sudan, and Yemen."

That might explain why Congress and President Obama agreed to label these nations as "countries of particular concern."

By the way, at least 10 jihadis who carried out attacks in Paris and Brussels entered Europe as "refugees."

If Donald Trump had claimed that no one from these nations had been arrested, the media would be screaming, "The president lied! Trump is spreading fake news!"

Well, this "so-called judge" lied. He got his facts wrong and potentially put the national security of the country at risk when he suspended the president's order.

The President & Our Heroes

Yesterday President Trump spoke to our military heroes at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, Florida. It was a stirring speech that addressed the great challenge now confronting Western Civilization. President Trump did not hesitate to identify our enemy: radical Islamic terrorism. Below are a few excerpts of his remarks:
 

"For proof that our nation has been blessed by God, look no further than the men and women of the United States military. They are the greatest fighters and the greatest force of justice on the face of the Earth. . . The challenges facing our nation nevertheless are very large -- very, very large.

"We're up against an enemy that celebrates death and totally worships destruction. . . ISIS is on a campaign of genocide, committing atrocities across the world. Radical Islamic terrorists are determined to strike our homeland as they did on 9/11; as they did from Boston to Orlando, to San Bernardino. And all across Europe. . .

"So today, we deliver a message in one very unified voice: To these forces of death and destruction, America and its allies will defeat you. We will defeat them. We will defeat radical Islamic terrorism, and we will not allow it to take root in our country. We're not going to allow it.

"You've been seeing what's been going on over the last few days. We need strong programs so that people that love us and want to love our country and will end up loving our country are allowed in -- not people that want to destroy us and destroy our country."

Left-Wing Lunacy

In view of the president's speech, the ongoing court battle over his national security order and the protests it has sparked, I think it is worth considering for a moment the state of the political left today.

Demonstrations across the country erupted over a 120-day pause on immigration from some really bad countries. That is what the left worked itself into a frenzy over.

But when was the last time that people took to the streets to protest when a jihadist murdered Americans?

What does it say about the health of our society that a sizeable portion of the population only gets "emotional" when actions are taken to improve our safety?

Why doesn't the left take to the streets in mass demonstrations to demand better security, common sense immigration reform and better law enforcement to protect our citizens?

After 9/11 the natural impulse of most Americans was to go after those who attacked us. Those like Rev. Jeremiah Wright were seen at the time for the America-haters they are.

But 16 years later, I'm not sure how we would react if we suffered another 9/11.

Don't get me wrong -- I have no doubt how this administration would react. But what about the media? What about the left? Sadly, many on the political left act as if Donald Trump is a greater threat than radical Islam.

Why The Difference?

A new Rasmussen poll finds that 62% of likely voters feel that most Christians in Islamic nations are mistreated because of their faith. If anything, that is a surprisingly low figure given the news about ISIS and its genocide against Christians, not to mention the prejudice inherent in Sharia law.

In contrast, 39% believe that most Muslims in this country are treated unfairly.

Incredibly, the American left sees this very differently. More Democrats (56%) believe that most Muslims in America are mistreated. But just 47% of Democrats believe that most Christians in Islamic nations are mistreated. In other words, the political left seems to have more sympathy for Muslims in America than for Christians in the Middle East.