Progressive Resistance
I have been struck by the incredible reaction from so-called "progressives" to yesterday's House vote to repeal Obamacare. Everyone knows Obamacare is not working.
Yesterday, I told you that major insurers were abandoning the healthcare exchanges in Iowa and Virginia. One of the largest insurers in the Washington, D.C., metro area now says that Obamacare is in a death spiral and it is asking for a 50% increase in premiums.
Yet not one House liberal yesterday voted for the changes to this failed law. When the tally reached 216 votes needed for passage, progressives in the House chamber started rejoicing. They were taunting supporters of the bill and celebrating their electoral prospects next year.
They could have offered amendments and suggested useful changes. But the only thing they are interested in is winning the next election and stopping Donald Trump.
During her CNN interview this week, Hillary Clinton said that she is starting a political action committee and joining the resistance. What is "the resistance?" This is not a term ever used before in American politics. The Resistance were the people in occupied Europe who fought against the Nazis during World War II.
Another example of the left's "resistance" is the Taylor Force Act, which has been introduced in the House and the Senate. This is the kind of bill that in any other time would have enjoyed broad bipartisan support. The legislation prevents U.S. taxpayer dollars from going to any Palestinian entity that pays the families of terrorists. But not one "progressive" in the House or the Senate has been willing to cosponsor this commonsense, pro-Israel legislation.
Let me remind you that among last year's leaked emails from John Podesta was an exchange in which Clinton operatives decided to cut statements of support for Israel from Hillary's stump speech because it would anger the left-wing activist base.
By the way, according to Politico, left-wing groups raised more than $1 million after yesterday's vote. We are doing everything we can to defend our values in the public policy arena, and we need your help!
Wrong Again
Speaking of Hillary, she was honored this week at Planned Parenthood's 100th anniversary gala in New York City with the "Champion of the Century Award." While there, Mrs. Clinton warned the pro-abortion audience that America was becoming like the horrible fictional state described in The Handmaid's Tale.
If you're not familiar with The Handmaid's Tale, it's a book written by Canadian author Margaret Atwood in 1985 in reaction to Ronald Reagan's election. Here's the gist of the story: In the theocratic Republic of Gilead, a future America where the "religious right" takes power, women essentially become slaves, unable to own property, work outside the home, have money, etc.
It was made into a movie and has just been redone for TV. The left has seized on The Handmaid's Tale as a metaphor for Donald Trump's election. Articles and memes are ubiquitous right now, which is why Hillary referenced it in her speech to Planned Parenthood.
But in its zeal to demonize Christians and conservatives, the left has it entirely wrong. What The Handmaid's Tale describes is certainly not Donald Trump's America or the condition of women in any predominantly Christian nation.
It does, however, perfectly describe the condition of many women today in the Islamic world who suffer under Sharia law.
Yet in almost every article I have read, every interview I have watched, no one is willing to make that obvious comparison. Meanwhile, the left continues to make common cause with the most regressive force in the world when it comes to women's rights -- radical Islam.
The Ferguson Effect
A recent FBI report examined dozens of cases in which police officers were killed in the line of duty last year. The findings are chilling.
In more than a quarter of the cases, the FBI determined the assailants were motived by a desire to "kill law enforcement" officers. Many were "inspired by social and/or political reasons" and felt they were "getting justice" by killing cops.
Sadly, they were often heavily influenced by "what they heard and read in the media about other incidents involving law enforcement shootings." In other words, they were inspired by fake news.
More often than not, initial media reports do not explain all the facts. Many relevant details may not become public until months later -- after thorough investigations or during trials.
The report warns that many police officers, for their own safety, are now "de-policing" as a result of the hostile, anti-law enforcement environment that emerged after the 2014 Ferguson riots. When the police retreat, the gangs and criminals take over. This is making everyone less safe.
Consider this excerpt from the FBI report:
"Nearly every police official interviewed agreed that for the first time, law enforcement not only felt that their national political leaders [publicly] stood against them, but also that the politicians' words and actions signified that disrespect to law enforcement was acceptable in the aftermath of the Brown shooting. . . Law enforcement officials believe that defiance and hostility displayed by assailants toward law enforcement appears to be the new norm."
I hope every elected official from Congress to the city council reads this report. Disrespect for the men and women on the thin blue line must never become "the new norm."