Good News!
I know many of you have been closely following the plight of Meriam Ibrahim and praying for her and her family, as Carol and I have been. I am pleased to report that her husband, Dani, says Meriam and their family are currently at the U.S. Embassy in Khartoum.
Her case attracted worldwide attention after Sudan's Islamic courts sentenced her to death for being a Christian. Meriam and her toddler son were thrown in jail, where Meriam gave birth to a baby girl.
Her conviction was overturned only after intense international outrage. In recent days, she was released from jail only to be re-arrested hours later. Meriam is just one example of radical Islam's very real war on women and Christians, which our left-wing elites conveniently ignore.
Obama The Oblivious?
During a town hall meeting in Minnesota yesterday, President Obama tried to tap into the frustration most American feel toward the inaction in Washington. So, he told the audience:
"Sometimes the news that's coming on, these are just Washington fights. They are fabricated issues, they are phony scandals that are generated. It's all geared towards the next election, or ginning up a base. It's not on the level. And that must feel frustrating, and it makes people cynical and it makes people turned off from the idea that anything can get done."
Phony scandals? There are only two scandals in the news right now -- the VA scandal and the IRS scandal. Which one of these scandals does Obama think is phony: Dead vets or IRS harassment of conservatives?
The American people do not think these are "phony scandals."
More than two-thirds of Americans are "closely following" the VA scandal and 63% disapprove of the way Obama is handling it. As we reported Wednesday, 76% of voters (including nearly two-thirds of Democrats) believe that Lois Lerner's emails were deliberately destroyed to cover-up potential wrongdoing, and 74% of voters believe that Congress should continue investigating the IRS "until someone is held accountable."
Even former Clinton White House Counsel Lanny Davis thinks it is time for a special prosecutor.
There is a growing crisis of confidence in this administration. But by dismissing as "phony" the very real concerns of the American people, Obama is only fueling their frustration.
By the way, Johnnie Walters passed away this week. Most folks probably have no idea who he was. But the Washington Post ran his obituary today and reminded readers that Mr. Walters served as IRS commissioner from 1971 to 1973. During that time, he steadfastly refused to target Richard Nixon's enemies, in spite of intense pressure from the Nixon White House.
Last year, Johnnie Walters said, "I'm distressed at what's happening and particularly with the IRS. IRS must be run nonpolitical. Our tax system otherwise will fail…"
Border Crisis Threatens Health And Safety
The so-called "humanitarian crisis" on our southern border is threatening the health and safety of Americans and our dedicated Border Patrol agents. The situation is rapidly morphing into another administration scandal.
Former Zapata County Sheriff Sigifredo Gonzalez warns, "The local governments are being overwhelmed because of the possibilities for diseases. There are people that are being apprehended that are coming in with warrants for murders or prior convictions for child abuse…"
Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-TX) told a Dallas CBS affiliate, "I've talked to Border Patrol down in McAllen. They've seen TB; they've seen chicken pox; they've seen scabies. And according to Border Patrol, four or five of their agents have tested positive for those diseases."
Meanwhile, President Obama continues to insist that rather than enforce our current immigrations laws, he's going to act on his own. White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said yesterday:
"[W]e're not just going to sit around and wait interminably for Congress. …The president has tasked his Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson with reviewing what options are available to the president, what is at his disposal using his executive authority to try to address some of the problems that have been created by our broken immigration system."
Whatever the White House does, border security and enforcement are not its priority; amnesty is. Illegal immigration is already, well, illegal. But everything Obama has done unilaterally so far has not been to secure the border, but rather to make it easier for illegal immigrants to stay in the country in violation of the law. Thus, the administration has only encouraged the current massive wave of illegal immigration.
It's no wonder that 65% of Americans disapprove of the way Obama is handling immigration.
Meanwhile, our political elites keep insisting that "comprehensive immigration reform," which would actually increase immigration into the country, is the only solution. But that is not what the American people want either.
According to a new Gallup poll, more Americans want to see immigration DECREASED. They are looking at the border chaos and the tough economic times and seem to be coming to the conclusion that we need to get the situation under control first and assimilate those already here. That does not make them racist or xenophobic. It's just good old fashioned common sense!
Gallup finds that only 22% of Americans want immigration levels increased. Thirty-three percent say immigration levels should stay the same, while 41% (including 32% of Democrats) say they should be decreased.
Just 22% of Americans want to do what our political elites keep demanding -- increase immigration -- which is precisely what misnamed "comprehensive" immigration reform is designed to do.
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