Kansas Republican Wins Seat Vacated by Trump Cabinet Appointment

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Republican Ron Estes won a seat in Kansas’ 4th Congressional District that was vacated by President Donald Trump’s appointment of Rep. Mike Pompeo to serve as director of the Central Intelligence Agency.

Estes will replace the seat Pompeo held in the House of Representatives since 2011 before joining the CIA in January as its director.

Estes, Kansas’ state treasurer, ran against Democrat James Thompson, a U.S. Army veteran and civil rights attorney, and Chris Rockhold, a Libertarian and flight instructor for FlightSafety.

Estes faced a narrow victory over Thompson, winning 53.3 percent of the vote while Thompson came away with 45 percent of the vote with 99 percent of the precincts reporting, The New York Times reports.

Estes won in a state that voted for Trump overwhelmingly in November.

Trump won with 56.2 percent of the vote while Democrat nominee Hillary Clinton took only 35.7 percent of the vote, according to The New York Times.

Trump came away with 60 percent of the vote in Wichita, ABC News reports.

Estes’ Democrat counterpart, Thompson, ran on a platform that included calls for education reform, “fair immigration policies,” and LGBT rights.

“I am running for Congress because I want to make sure that I am protecting the things that are important in the country,” Thompson said in a campaign ad. “Protecting our families, protecting our ability to work, protecting our education, and protecting our freedoms.”

Thompson also said he will “fight against all forms of discrimination, and vigorously oppose those who would attack and bully members of the LGBT community.”

Estes has served as Kansas’ 39th state treasurer since 2011 and manages “an office that currently handles over $24 billion and an annual operating budget of $3.5 million.”

The Kansas state treasurer ran on a platform that included support for economic growth, a balanced budget, and strict adherence to the Constitution.

Estes also says he supports repealing and replacing Obamacare.

“Obamacare must be repealed,” Estes said on his website. “Families and individuals in the 4th District should be the primary voice in making their health care decisions, not unelected Washington bureaucrats. I support replacing Obamacare with a state-based free market solution that gives each of us greater authority over our health care decisions.”

Trump and Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, both supported efforts for Estes.

Trump tweeted his support for Estes Tuesday morning and recorded a robocall for Estes, telling voters that “Ron is a conservative leader who’s going to work with me to make America great again.”

Cruz campaigned for Estes Monday in Wichita, Kansas, telling crowds that “Today the eyes of the whole country are on Kansas,” The Wichita Eagle reported.

Cruz told voters their support of Estes was critical to advancing an Obamacare repeal and replacement package, getting rid of government regulations, and tax reform, The Wichita Eagle reported.

Rachel Bovard, director of policy services at The Heritage Foundation and a former Senate aide, said the narrowness of the race between Estes and Thompson is a warning to the Republican party.

“I think the closeness of this race is a warning to the GOP,” Bovard told The Daily Signal in an email. “Trump won this district by almost 30 points, and Pompeo never won less than 60 percent of the vote.”

The tightness of the race, Bovard said, should serve as a message to Congress as midterm elections in 2018 approach.

To have a House race this close in a safe GOP district within the first 100 days is troubling. It means those voters who were so motivated to get out and vote for Trump are waning in enthusiasm, either for Trump or for Congress, or both. The GOP should be watching closely and understand that this is a dynamic that could easily play out in the 2018 midterms if they don’t start keeping the promises they ran on.

Eric Teetsel, president and executive director of the Family Policy Alliance of Kansas, told The Daily Signal in an email that Estes enters Congress with a mandate from the American people.

“Ron Estes will enter Congress with a mandate to get things done,” Teetsel said. “He won because he promised to repeal and replace Obamacare, defund Planned Parenthood, and reduce the size and scope of government while maximizing liberty and opportunity.”

Voters in the 4th Congressional District, Teetsel said, “expect the Republican Party majorities in Congress and Republican president to follow through.” (For more from the author of “Kansas Republican Wins Seat Vacated by Trump Cabinet Appointment” please click HERE)

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The Cancer Eating Away at College Campuses

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The average American has little knowledge of the extent to which our institutions of higher learning have been infected with a spreading cancer.

One aspect of that cancer is akin to the loyalty oaths of the 1940s and ’50s. Professors were often required to sign statements that affirmed their loyalty to the United States government, plus swear they were not members of any organizations, including the Communist Party USA, which sought the overthrow of the United States government.

Fortunately, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down loyalty oaths as a condition of employment in 1964.

Today we’re seeing the re-emergence of the mentality that gave us loyalty oaths, in the form of mandating that faculty members write “diversity statements,” especially as part of hiring and promotion procedures. They are forced to pledge allegiance to the college’s diversity agenda.

For example, the University of California, San Diego requires that one’s “Contributions to Diversity Statement” describe one’s “past experience, activities and future plans to advance diversity, equity and inclusion, in alignment with UC San Diego’s mission to reflect the diversity of California and to meet the educational needs and interests of its diverse population.”

George Leef, director of research at the James G. Martin Center for Academic Renewal, has written an article titled “Loyalty Oaths Return with Faculty ‘Diversity Statements.’”

His article documents the growing trend of mandated faculty diversity statements—such as that at Virginia Tech, in which “candidates should include a list of activities that promote or contribute to inclusive teaching, research, outreach, and service.”

College diversity agendas are little more than a call for ideological conformity. Diversity only means racial, sex, and sexual orientation quotas.

In pursuit of this agenda, colleges spend billions of dollars on offices of diversity and inclusion, diversity classes, and diversity indoctrination. The last thing that diversity hustlers want is diversity in ideas.

By the way, the next time you hear a college president boasting about how diverse his college is, ask him how many Republican faculty members there are in his journalism, psychology, English, and sociology departments.

In many cases, there is none, and in others, the ratio of Democrats to Republicans might be 20-to-1.

Nearly 100 percent of political campaign contributions from liberal arts faculty go to Democrats. At Cornell University, for example, 97 percent of contributions from faculty went to Democrats. At Georgetown University, it was 96 percent.

A study by my George Mason University colleague Daniel B. Klein, along with Charlotta Stern, titled “Professors and Their Politics: The Policy Views of Social Scientists,” concluded:

The academic social sciences are pretty much a one-party system. Were the Democratic tent broad, the one-party system might have intellectual diversity. But the data show almost no diversity of opinion among the Democratic professors when it comes to the regulatory, redistributive state: They like it. Especially when it comes to the minimum wage, workplace-safety regulation, pharmaceutical regulation, environmental regulation, discrimination regulation, gun control, income redistribution, and public schooling.

The fascist college trend that we are witnessing today is by no means new. As early as 1991, Yale University President Benno Schmidt warned:

The most serious problems of freedom of expression in our society today exist on our campuses. The assumption seems to be that the purpose of education is to induce correct opinion rather than to search for wisdom and to liberate the mind.

What diversity oaths seek is to maintain political conformity among the faculty indoctrinating our impressionable, intellectually immature young people. Vladimir Lenin said, “Give me four years to teach the children and the seed I have sown will never be uprooted.”

That’s the goal of the leftist teaching agenda.

You might ask, “Williams, what can be done?” Parents, donors, and legislatures need to stop being lazy. Check to see whether a college has diversity mandates for faculty. Check to see whether campus speakers have been disinvited.

College administrators have closed minds about their diversity agenda, but there’s nothing more effective ‘in opening up closed minds than the sound of pocketbooks snapping shut. (For more from the author of “The Cancer Eating Away at College Campuses” please click HERE)

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5 Takeaways From Jeff Sessions’ Border Enforcement Trip

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“We hear you and we have your back.”

That is the message Attorney General Jeff Sessions shared with Customs and Border Protection personnel in Nogales, Arizona, on the U.S. southern border Tuesday.

In a speech Tuesday, Sessions announced five changes to immigration prosecution and enforcement:

1. A crackdown on individuals who transport and harbor illegal immigrants. Sessions said, according to his prepared remarks, “We are going to shut down and jail those who have been profiting off this lawlessness—people smuggling gang members across the border, helping convicted criminals re-enter this country, and preying on those who don’t know how dangerous the journey can be.”

2. Aggressive punishments for individuals crossing the border. Sessions said, “Where an alien has unlawfully entered the country, which is a misdemeanor, that alien will now be charged with a felony if they unlawfully enter or attempt [to] enter a second time and certain aggravating circumstances are present.”

3. Serial border crossers will face harsher charges. Sessions said, “Aliens that illegally re-enter the country after prior removal will be referred for felony prosecution,” with a priority given to those who show “indicators of gang affiliation, a risk to public safety, or criminal history.”

4. An inclusion of fraud and identity theft charges. Sessions said, “Where possible, prosecutors are directed to charge criminal aliens with document fraud and aggravated identity theft—the latter carrying a two-year mandatory minimum sentence.”

5. Law enforcement officers will be protected. Sessions said, “I have directed that all 94 U.S. attorneys’ offices make the prosecution of assault on a federal law enforcement officer—that’s all of you—a top priority.”

In addition to these prosecution adjustments, Sessions announced several other changes to the Department of Justice and its nationwide offices.

Sessions said that “each U.S. attorney’s office, whether on the border or interior, will designate an assistant United States attorney as the border security coordinator for their district.”

In an effort to reduce the backlog of illegal immigration cases, Sessions said, “We will put 50 more immigration judges on the bench this year and 75 next year.”

Praising President Donald Trump’s efforts to make immigration enforcement a priority, Sessions cited that in March of this year “we saw a 72 percent drop [in illegal crossings] compared to the month before the president was inaugurated.” He added, “That’s the lowest monthly figure for at least 17 years.”

Sessions made it very clear that these policies will be strictly enforced, saying, “For those that continue to seek improper and illegal entry into this country, be forewarned: This is a new era. This is the Trump era.” (For more from the author of “5 Takeaways From Jeff Sessions’ Border Enforcement Trip” please click HERE)

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Not Just Syria: 5 Huge News Stories to Keep an Eye on Amid the Madness

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The world’s eyes and ears have once again turned toward Syria following last week’s chemical weapons attack and U.S. President Donald Trump’s subsequent airstrikes on the Assad government. Mainstream media, independent media, and social media platforms are fixing fierce attention on the ongoing developments.

These events undoubtedly deserve widespread, ongoing scrutiny. From the United States government’s lack of evidence that the Syrian government was behind the chemical attack to the media’s complicity in driving a pro-war narrative and president Trump’s hypocrisy in bombing Syria — after criticizing former president Barack Obama for doing the same thing — further critical analysis of the recent airstrikes is vital.

But even as skepticism toward these events should remain heightened, so should awareness of countless other major developments. Here are five to follow:

1. Trump Appoints Pharmaceutical Consultant to Head the FDA — This week, the president appointed Scott Gottlieb, a pharmaceutical industry insider who has served the boards of multiple pharmaceutical companies, to chair the Food and Drug Administration. Gottlieb currently still works as a consultant for GlaxoSmithKline. He has received $414,000 from GSK, Pfizer, AstraZeneca, Bristol-Myers Squibb, and Valeant Pharmaceuticals. He has also received tens of thousands of dollars in speaking fees from pharmaceutical companies like Merck and Mikart, as well as other corporations — including Goldman Sachs. He has taken several trips through Washington’s revolving door, with brief stints at the FDA mixed in with multiple positions consulting pharmaceutical companies. Trump’s pick follows in the footsteps of Barack Obama, who also appointed a pharmaceutical industry insider to chair the FDA.

2. U.S. Military announces it will deploy 1,500 more troops to Afghanistan this year — The U.S. Army announced last Friday it would send 1,500 Alaska-based troops to Afghanistan as part of Operation Freedom’s Sentinel, an extension of Operation Enduring Freedom, the 13-year war in Afghanistan. The 4th Brigade Combat Team (Airborne), 25th Infantry Division was set to be downsized in 2015, but the Army’s most recent decision nullifies that plan. The Army said the coming deployment is part of a regular rotation but also said it is a response to “emerging mission requirements.”

The Army also activated 1,500 troops last December for Freedom’s Sentinel, suggesting the latest deployment amounts to the continuation of a seemingly endless war in the violence-ravaged country — regardless of who is president

3. WikiLeaks reveals CIA tactics to implant malware in Windows-based computers — On Friday, WikiLeaks continued the release of its Vault7 Series, documents it claims to have hacked from the CIA that detail the extent of the agency’s overreach. Ars Technica reported:

Friday’s installment includes 27 documents related to ‘Grasshopper,’ the codename for a set of software tools used to build customized malware for Windows-based computers. The Grasshopper framework provides building blocks that can be combined in unique ways to suit the requirements of a given surveillance or intelligence operation.

The leaks also included the CIA’s tactics for bypassing anti-virus protection and its use of bank-fraud malware called Carberp. “Once the Carberp source code was leaked in 2013, security experts warned it was akin to ‘handing a bazooka to a child,’” Ars Technica noted.

The leaks follow previous revelations that documented the extent of the CIA’s surveillance abilities, including its capacity to hack into iOs and Android operating systems. Those leaks also revealed the U.S. government was actively working to undermine the security of U.S. tech companies.

The same agency taking it upon itself to hack into private networks has also spent $1 billion annually arming radical rebels in Syria, some of whom have been implicated in the 2013 chemical attack former President Barack Obama used to justify his attempt to bomb the war-torn nation.

4. Tensions between the United States and North Korea continue to escalate — As Trump bombs Syria, the situation on the east Asian peninsula looks like it could devolve into violence, as well. The U.S. is accusing North Korea of aggression over its development of missiles and nuclear weapons — two technologies the U.S. also has at its disposal. However, unlike the United States, North Korea has never used missiles or nuclear weapons against another country. NBC News has reported that the U.S. may move its own nuclear weapons into South Korea as a deterrent to the North. All the hype about North Korean “aggression” should be taken with a grain of salt considering the country hasn’t officially attacked another country outside of Korea ever.

5. Tensions escalate in the South China Sea after Trump meets with Chinese president — Trump was physically meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping while the Tomahawk missiles began dropping on Syria. We cannot discount the possibility that Trump may have been trying to send China a message of military strength and unpredictability.

The U.S. and China have been on a collision course as China has sought to assert itself defensively in the South China Sea. China has constructed and militarized artificial islands, while the U.S. has positioned its navy for a confrontation in the region. U.S. allies like Japan and the Philippines are locked in a perpetual chess match with China as the powers seek to stake their territorial claims to resources in the China Sea.

China is also North Korea’s closest ally and is viewed as the only entity capable of externally controlling the North. At the time of this article’s publication, China is in the process of moving 150,000 troops to its border with North Korea in preparation for a possible U.S. intervention and the subsequent fallout from it.

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While the United States starts possibly another war against a sovereign country under Trump’s leadership, it’s important to pay attention to other, equally concerning events unfolding in the U.S. and around the world. While the media and politicians heap praise on Trump for bombing a new country and anti-war marchers take to the streets, we must inform ourselves now and take action before further U.S.-sanctioned carnage engulfs the world and before domestic corruption usurps our rights and freedoms at home. (For more from the author of “Not Just Syria: 5 Huge News Stories to Keep an Eye on Amid the Madness” please click HERE)

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Trump Wants to Unleash America’s Energy Potential. So Why Is He Keeping Aspects of Obama’s Destructive Agenda?

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President Trump is taking steps to keep his campaign promise to create jobs and economic growth by reducing energy regulations, but his effort falls short of fully reversing former President Obama’s climate change agenda.

Trump recognizes that by removing the regulatory shackles on domestic energy development, processing and transport, the U.S. can unleash its vast natural energy resources and become an energy superpower yielding numerous economic benefits including job creation, boosted tax revenue, increased exports, and improved national security.

To reach that goal requires a stubborn determination to rip Obama’s climate change agenda out by its roots and build a pro-fossil fuel energy policy on a strong foundation.

Trimming the climate change edges will not give the business community the regulatory certainty it needs to bring about a U.S. energy renaissance.

Despite progress, lingering questions remain about Trump’s commitment to completely overturning Obama’s anti-fossil fuel policies.

For example, Trump has not canceled U.S. participation in the United Nations Paris Climate Change Agreement, a carbon tax trial balloon was floated at the White House, and the EPA is not reopening its 2009 greenhouse gas endangerment finding which drives climate change regulations.

Admittedly, unwinding former President Obama’s climate change regulatory agenda is no small task, and Trump has made meaningful strides through executive branch actions and the Congressional Review Act.

Giving the green light to the Dakota Access Pipeline and the Keystone XL Pipeline was important. The pipeline approvals allow a safer method of moving crude oil while providing construction and refinery jobs as well setting the stage for boosting energy exports.

Trump’s new Executive Order on Promoting Energy Independence and Economic Growth includes many beneficial policies that peel back key elements of the Obama climate change regime including changing EPA’s Clean Power Plan.

Despite these advances, Trump needs to take stronger steps for a pro-fossil economy including his promise to coal miners.

Trump’s recent executive order to rewrite the Clean Power Plan is not compelling enough for utilities — the companies that will determine the future of the coal industry.

As a Reuters story shows, the president’s Clean Power Plan effort does not give utilities the business certainty they need to invest in coal generated electricity.

According to its survey, Reuters found about sixty percent of utilities said coal power is not part of their long-term investment.

A spokesperson for North Dakota’s Basin Electric Power Cooperative said, “… the executive order takes a lot of pressure off the decisions we had to make in the near term, such as whether to retrofit and retire older coal plants.” He then added, “But Trump can be a one-termer, so the reprieve out there is short.”

Smart business leaders are not going to gamble on changing political winds or the legal outcome of expected lawsuits. With abundant natural gas supplies, utilities have the luxury of picking less politically risky power sources.

Adding to the business uncertainty is Trump’s hesitation to pull out of the Paris Climate Change Agreement. During the campaign, Trump promised he would “cancel” U.S. participation in the UN effort.

Trump’s indecision on the Paris Agreement is confusing and troubling. Without the Clean Power Plan, the U.S. can’t meet its emissions targets, making our continued participation deceiving and meaningless.

Taxing energy via a carbon tax sends the wrong signal to energy companies, and it preferentially harms coal since it emits twice the amount of carbon dioxide than natural gas.

Conservative critics are also questioning Trump’s commitment to reverse Obama’s climate change agenda because the EPA is not looking to change the agency’s 2009 endangerment finding.

The EPA’s endangerment finding is the rule that established greenhouse gasses including carbon dioxide pose a danger to human health and it serves as the foundation for climate change regulations.

Tackling the endangerment finding will unleash the climate change mob including companies that bet big bucks on energy regulations, but it would allow a full vetting of the new climate change science.

Reversing the EPA endangerment finding would provide the long-term certainty businesses need.

As a builder, Trump knows the importance of a solid foundation. In the political context, that means his energy policy must withstand the winds of progressive attacks now and in the future.

For Trump to achieve his energy vision for the U.S., he must show the business community and the world he is serious about reversing Obama’s entire climate change agenda. (For more from the author of “Trump Wants to Unleash America’s Energy Potential. So Why Is He Keeping Aspects of Obama’s Destructive Agenda?” please click HERE)

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Globalist Google Now Unilaterally Labeling Stories It Dislikes as ‘Fake News’

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Google is to start displaying fact-checking labels in its search results to highlight news and information that has been vetted and show whether it is considered to be true or false, as part of its efforts to help combat the spread of misinformation and fake news.

The fact-checking feature, which was first introduced to Google News in the UK and US in October, will now be displayed as an information box in general search results as well as news search results globally.

The small snippets display information about the claim made by a particular page or site and who made the claim, as well as the results of fact checking on the highlighted claim. The fact checks are not performed by Google, but by named trusted publishers and fact-checkers using an open system to mark claims as having been checked.

Cong Yu from Google and Justin Kosslyn from fact-check partner Jigsaw said: “With thousands of new articles published online every minute of every day, the amount of content confronting people online can be overwhelming. And unfortunately, not all of it is factual or true, making it hard for people to distinguish fact from fiction . . .

Fact check boxes will not be displayed for every search result, and only publishers that are “algorithmically determined to be an authoritative source of information” will be included in the program Google said. (Read more from “Globalist Google Now Unilaterally Labeling Stories It Dislikes as ‘Fake News'” HERE)

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The Palm Sunday Attacks in Egypt Are Horrid, but They Too Will Fail

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Once again, the holiest week of the Christian calendar has begun with an attack on the Body of Christ in the form of two bomb blasts at Palm Sunday events in Egypt. One of the more striking images shows the blood of the martyrs splattered across the floor of a Coptic Church.

Currently, the death toll stands at 49, according to Egyptian state media reports. 18 people were killed in a blast in Alexandria, while at least 27 were killed and 78 injured in an explosion in a church in the northern city of Tanta.

ISIS has claimed responsibility for the attack, issuing a statement in Arabic in its wake, saying: “The Crusaders and their apostate followers must be aware that the bill between us and them is very large, and they will be paying it like a river of blood from their sons, if God is willing.”

These actions ought to fill all people of good will with sorrow and righteous anger for the souls taken from this world. The blood of the innocents has once again been spilled, and this injustice cries out to God.

This, like other attempts to attack Christians as they worship, is as quixotic as it is detestable; If there ever were a thought that could be described as being on the “wrong side of history,” it is the idea that somehow martyrdom will somehow weaken the Christian faith.

Of course, this isn’t happening in a vacuum. Christian persecution is on the rise on the global stage and now three quarters of the world’s population lives without the fundamental human freedom to believe, according to European Union Special Envoy Jan Figel in October on the International Day of Freedom of Religion or Belief.

“Therefore, those who believe that humanity should prevail can, and should do, much more for freedom of religion,” Figel told Premier Christian Radio last year. “We are witnesses of a systematic and mass murder, martyrdom and persecution on several territories.”

Even a casual observer of global headlines cannot deny that these new Egyptian martyrs are not alone.

However, regardless of what engine of persecution brings torment or what form it takes, we all suffer together when the dictates of the human conscience are trod underfoot.

What’s puzzling is what these oppressors plan to achieve with attacks like these. Their motivation has to be either rooted in arrogance or ignorance. Do the attackers believe that these attempts will prove more successful than the two thousand years of even worse persecution? Are these two IEDs more potent that the persecutions of Nero and Diocletian? Do they believe themselves more ferocious than the communists, fascists, and countless others that came before them in the 20th century alone?

Last year, when a similar blast in Pakistan carried out by similarly barbaric actors punctuated the news of Easter weekend, I referenced the masterful portrayal of Monsignor O’Flaherty in the 1983 film, “The Scarlet and the Black.” These words seem just as poignant now as they were then – perhaps even more.

When confronting SS officer Herbert Kappler in the dead of night in the ruins of the Roman Coliseum, O’Flaherty give the Nazi operative a quick history lesson:

Kappler: There will be a new order in Europe. We are evacuating Rome now, but that means nothing. We’ll be back. The Third Reich is the future.

O’Flaherty: How many murderous dictators have taught that kind of rubbish? Just look around you, Kappler. You’re standing where your ancient friends used to entertain themselves, watching lions tear the Christians to pieces. But the Church is still here. A lot of broken stones like these, in a few years that’s all that’ll be left of your ‘Third Reich.’

Time proved the good Monsignor right. Kappler’s murderous ideology and all those like him now sit smoldering on the ash heap of history; in time, the same will be true for the thugs who detonated those bombs in Egypt over the weekend.

The Church, however, will be just fine – just as She always has been. (For more from the author of “The Palm Sunday Attacks in Egypt Are Horrid, but They Too Will Fail” please click HERE)

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3 Reasons Democrats Just Made a Dumb Mistake

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Now that the judicial filibuster in the U.S. Senate has been nuked, it’s time to look at the political fallout going forward. And for Democrats, the news is all bad. Here are three reasons why Democrats just made a dumb mistake by filibustering Neil Gorsuch.

1. The GOP is now free to put real Scalia-Thomas types throughout the judiciary

The argument for years as to why Republicans needed stealth Supreme Court candidates like David Souter, Anthony Kennedy, and John Roberts (who have all gone on to be disappointments to varying degrees) was the filibuster.

However, now that it’s no longer necessary to get 60 votes for confirmation, there’s no need to appoint another Gorsuch-type whose record on Roe v. Wade is a gaping void. Nor is there anymore need to “play the game” during confirmation hearings, either, by having the “conservative” appointee approvingly repeat progressive talking points back to Democrats in an effort to gain their support.

Since it only requires a simple majority now, the GOP can freely confirm real heirs to Antonin Scalia. Where this could be a real benefit is throughout the federal circuit and district courts, which need an overhaul after decades of stockpiling progressives.

2. Let’s face it: Republicans were never gonna have the stones to partisan filibuster Democrat judicial nominees anyway

There’s literally no tradeoff here for Democrats, because we all know Republicans weren’t gonna have the stones to partisan filibuster in the future anyway. The GOP is the party that actually nominates for president the people who support — and vote for — the Democrats’ most progressive judicial nominees after all (see John McCain).

So this isn’t a case of “what goes around comes around” that benefits Democrats in the future; this is being too smart by half, and negotiating against yourself. In other words, this is a case of Democrats tactically acting like Republicans for once. They needlessly cornered the GOP into a position that forced them to actually draw a line in the sand, which isn’t exactly the GOP’s thing. (They ain’t called the “surrender caucus” for nothing.)

By doing so, Democrats helped set a precedent that will only benefit Republicans from here. For they gave Republicans leverage they never would’ve asserted on their own, while at the same time Democrats gave away leverage they’ve had all along.

3. This literally did nothing to elevate any Democrats politically

Even if you think the “Stand with Rand” and “Make DC Listen” filibusters by Sens. Rand Paul, R-Ky., and Ted Cruz, R-Texas, respectively, were publicity stunts doomed to fail, at the very least both of those events inspired the GOP grassroots and elevated the national profiles of two of the party’s emerging stars.

Unfortunately for Democrats, the Gorsuch filibuster didn’t even do that. For example, the lackluster attempt by Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., at filibustering this week didn’t generate nearly the attention Paul and Cruz’s did, even from a more-than-sympathetic media.

At the very least, if you’re going to contrive political theater, have someone who excites your base and could be your future standard-bearer as the face of it. Instead, Democrats came out of a fake fight without any real stars to rally behind. A missed opportunity, especially with the country already seeming to start to tire of President Trump.

In short, the Democrats’ Gorsuch filibuster accomplished more for Republicans than it did for Democrats, because it accomplished nothing for the latter. If this is what the “resistance” looks like, it’s going to have to try a lot harder. (For more from the author of “3 Reasons Democrats Just Made a Dumb Mistake” please click HERE)

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Trump Speaks With Egyptian President on Church Bombings

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The White House says President Donald Trump has spoken with the Egyptian president following the recent church bombings to express his confidence that Egypt will do what it can “to protect Christians and all Egyptians.”

The White House said that Trump spoke with President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi on Sunday “to convey his deepest condolences to Egypt and to the families who lost loved ones in the heinous terrorist attacks against Christian churches on Palm Sunday.”

The statement adds: “The president also expressed his confidence in President el-Sisi’s commitment to protect Christians and all Egyptians.” (Read more from “Trump Speaks With Egyptian President on Church Bombings” HERE)

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President Trump: Find Peace in Syria by Looking to Switzerland

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We’re all Syria buffs now. We’re barraged with conflicting reports, atrocity stories, and carefully nurtured narratives. They all seem to goad us to back a major U.S. involvement in that country. (Can you spell “q-u-a-g-m-i-r-e”?) So let’s step back and think for a minute.

How much hope is there for a country where citizens speak three quite different languages? Where they hold starkly opposed religions — each of which damns the members of the other as heretics or infidels? Where religious or ethnic atrocities on each side feed into a history of bitterness?

We are speaking now not of Syria, but of Switzerland.

How Switzerland Solved the Syrian Problem

That’s right, one of the richest, most peaceful countries on earth. The Swiss have low taxes, minimal government, and the most democratic constitution in human history. Citizens’ religious freedom, property rights, gun rights, and freedom of speech are protected even better than in America. Most of a Swiss person’s taxes go to his town, not the federal government. Any citizen can collect signatures to force a national referendum to change the laws.

But Switzerland was once a lot like Syria. Its ethnic factions engaged in vicious attacks and bloody vengeance. Its churches used to whip their members into mutual holy war. Catholics would march with the Eucharist in elaborate processions through Protestant towns. This risked armed attacks by Calvinists. So young Catholics formed shooting clubs. They would march alongside their priests, brandishing rifles. As recently as 1847, the Catholics and Protestants fought a brief civil war that ended with the Jesuits expelled and banned from the country.

Localism über Alles

So what was it that rescued Switzerland from turning out like Syria? What could President Trump learn from the Swiss success story? The answer is simple. Localism and decentralization saved Switzerland. They could save Syria. In fact, a peace plan based on these principles is currently on the table, at the Russian-sponsored Astana talks — which the U.S. so far is boycotting.

True American “federalism” is fine example of localism in action. Let Maine and Mississippi, California and Colorado, make most of their own laws. Suit laws to the values and habits of their citizens. In the teachings of the popes, this idea is called “subsidiarity.” It is designed to keep political power as close as possible to the citizens whom it impacts. You can debate most of your tax burden at your local town meeting.

For more on subsidiarity, see the chapter we wrote about it in The Race to Save Our Century.

Protection for Each Region and Minority Group

Rebuilding after the 1847 civil war, the Swiss did not look to the rigidly centralized government of France. Instead, they modeled themselves on the still quite loosely knit United States. They embedded in their new constitution protections for the rights of every region, and left most of the political power in each region’s hands.

There were some, of course, who wanted a powerful central government that could impose one faction’s wishes on everyone. The Swiss who thought like this had welcomed Napoleon’s invasion. But the country’s deep divisions made such a scheme impossible. At least without a tyrannical government willing to batter the Catholics and Calvinists, French and German speakers, city-folk and farmers, into sullen, begrudged submission.

Reject 20th Century Statism and Centralism

Of course, that is what Bashir Assad’s harsh secular government has done in Syria. He repressed the Sunni majority, while protecting his own embattled (Alawite) minority, along with Christians and other smaller groups. Brutal coercion is likewise the program of Islamist rebels backed by Turkey and Saudi Arabia. Forcibly homogenizing peoples and regions is the model of twentieth century statehood: A powerful central government, dedicated to “national greatness,” crams one ideology down the throat of every hamlet and village.

That’s the model Western powers imposed on the Middle East, along with crackpot borders that took no account of ethnic or religious differences, in the Sykes-Picot agreement in 1916.

A Unified Democracy is Not an Option

Up till now, the only alternative to thuggish, centralized nationalism of the sort practiced by Assad (and before him, Saddam Hussein) has been Islamist theocracy. Islamists like the al Qaeda factions now covet power in Syria. They also wish to impose a single creed and way of life on vibrant, diverse regions. The difference is that Islamists look to sharia as the source of all law and order. That’s bad news for religious minorities. That’s why millions of Alawites and Christians now look for protection either to Assad, or to Kurdish militias.

If Assad were to reconquer Syria, he would brutally crush Islamists and make life hell for religious Sunnis.

If the U.S. topples Assad and lets “nature” take its course, murderous theocrats linked to al Qaeda would do the same to Alawites, Shiites, and Christians.

If Turkey has a strong hand in the settlement, the government it sponsors will crush the Kurdish militias, who seek autonomy for their distinct and long-suffering nation.

There is no prospect of a strong, centralized government that would honor human rights and democracy. That’s not an option in a nation this religiously and culturally fractured. Whoever holds the whip hand of a powerful national government will crush and subdue the others. That is why each side fights so brutally. It’s why most of the factions, including Assad but not the Christians and Kurds, have resorted to chemical weapons.

Restart the Russian-Backed Peace Talks

There is a better way. The peace talks at Astana, stalled for now, envisioned a Swiss-style solution for Syria. Each of the regions now controlled by one faction or other would form a kind of “canton,” with most of the powers that normally go to a central state. These cantons would be linked by a loose confederation, designed to keep peace among them. (Some other Alawite, not Assad, should be its figurehead.) People unhappy in the canton where they ended up would likely vote with their feet, and move to a friendlier region.

The Swiss model is already present in Syria. The Federation of Northern Syria, led by Kurds allied with Christians and tolerant Arabs, is composed of self-governed cantons in voluntary association. It’s the one part of Syria where women take part in politics, all religious groups are free, and power stays close to the people. The Stream‘s Johannes de Jong has written in depth on how federalism works now in this part of Syria.

Such a plan isn’t perfect. It will frustrate the ambitions of every group. And that’s the point. Because in Syria today such ambitions often include erasing minority rights, forcing people to change religions, or simply wiping them out.

Or We Could Just do Iraq All Over Again

In Iraq we tried another plan: Seize power from brutal, secular nationalists. Then spend trillions to set up a fragile central democracy, and leave. That’s what gave us ISIS, and left most of Iraq either in ruins and cleansed of Christians, or ruled by intolerant Shiites who obey the Islamic Republic of Iran. There is no constituency for tolerant, democratic central government in the Arab world. That is why such a government does not exist. Anywhere.

We could deny that fact, for ten or twenty years, and have another Afghanistan on our hands. Or we could admit it, and leave behind a howling wasteland like Iraq.

How about this: Instead of trying this brutal, foolish plan yet again with yet another country, why don’t we look to a model that actually works? Maybe Switzerland, instead of the U.S. or Russia, should lead the Syrian peace talks. (For more from the author of “President Trump: Find Peace in Syria by Looking to Switzerland” please click HERE)

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