Iran's Message To The World
Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, tweeted out an image over the weekend depicting President Obama holding a gun to his own head. While many people may feel that is an apt description of the president's nuclear deal with Iran, the ayatollah had a far different message in mind.
The message contained a warning to America. The ayatollah's tweet began by mocking Obama, "U.S. president has said he could knock out Iran's military." It concluded with this statement: "If any war happens, the one who will emerge [the] loser is the aggressive and criminal U.S."
Clearly, the ayatollah does not fear America under Obama. And why should he? In making the case for his deal, Obama has repeatedly taken the military option off the table.
By the way, remember when Obama said he was prepared to walk away, that no deal was better than a bad deal? Well, what was Obama's alternative then? Presumably, the commander-in-chief had one.
The obvious alternative was to tighten the existing sanctions which were crippling Iran's economy and which forced the Islamic Republic to the negotiating table.
But the ayatollah likely had a second audience in mind when he sent his tweet mocking the United States. He was sending a message to the Arab world: "Look how much we can insult the United States! See how powerful Iran is? Iran is the rising power. America is in retreat."
Another "Cave In" To Iran
A front page article in the Wall Street Journal this morning is sending shockwaves through Congress. A new report sent by the Obama Administration to Capitol Hill last week suggests that Iran will not be required as a condition of Obama's nuclear deal to "come clean" on its previous nuclear weapons research.
But if we don't know how far the regime's nuclear program has gone, how can we determine if it is cheating on a deal now?
Wait. It gets even more disturbing.
Ali Akbar Velayati, a top advisor to the supreme leader, said Saturday, "The access of inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency or from any other body to Iran's military centers is forbidden."
While Obama officials have been promising "anywhere, anytime" inspections, Iranian leaders have been telling us for months that inspectors would not be allowed at military sites. How can they be so confident? Because it appears they may be right.
Parchin is a large military base in Iran that many intelligence experts believe has been used for nuclear weapons research. One way to determine if that is true is to collect soil samples at Parchin to look for tell-tale evidence of nuclear contamination or other "markers" of suspicious activity in violation of previous agreements.
Last week, Congress was told that under the deal, Iran will be allowed on its own to collect the soil samples -- not international inspectors. No chance of cheating there, right? This is like allowing a drunk driver to administer his own breathalyzer!
A Comedian Exposes Obama's Deal
While Washington think tanks and politicians are struggling to explain the deal, leave it to comedian Jackie Mason to perfectly sum up the problems:
"Do you know that in the restaurants of New York, they have an inspection system. You can surprise any restaurant without notice -- you can walk in and inspect them. . . So we are protected in this city from a bad tuna fish. We're not protected from a bomb, but we're protected from a bad quality tuna fish."
Getting Trumped On Immigration
One thing Donald Trump has successfully done so far in his presidential campaign is elevate the issue of immigration. There are good conservatives on both sides of the issue.
You can make the compassion argument both ways. Some argue we should show compassion for the poor illegal immigrant trying to make a better life for his family. I have often asked where is the compassion for the struggling middle class taxpayer who is supporting newly arrived illegal immigrants.
But let's put all that aside and look at this from an ideological analysis.
Those who are urging conservatives to abandon their tough stand against illegal immigration argue that they are hurting themselves politically with Hispanic Americans.
I want to raise a point that no one making this argument has been able to effectively address. Significant research and polling data show that second only to black Americans, Hispanics support big government. The most recent example is the debate over Obamacare.
The general public opposed it. Black Americans supported it by huge margins as did Hispanics. That support continues even to this day.
So under what scenario does folding on immigration issues, which inevitably mean more immigrants legal and illegal, help the conservative cause? Obviously, it is nave to think that the only thing in the conservative agenda Hispanics object to is a tough stand against illegal immigration.
Class warfare and socialism are common throughout Mexico and Latin America. Cuba, Mexico and Venezuela aren't exactly models of economic success. Yet an April poll found that by a 20-point margin, Hispanics in America believe that the government should provide health care to all citizens.
If you want to talk about compassion, how is it compassionate to let a problem grow and fester that is going to result in more left-wing voters who will impose on America the same failed economic policies that have held back Latin America over the years?
No doubt our cultural and political elites wish Donald Trump would stop talking about immigration. But current immigration policies are literally importing left-wing ideology and fundamentally transforming America. If the conservative movement doesn't get serious about controlling our borders and thinking this issue through, it will get trumped by immigration. Demography is destiny.