US Energy Takes a Major Step Forward

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For years, the Obama administration used its executive authority to obstruct two crucial energy infrastructure projects: the Dakota Access pipeline and the Keystone XL pipeline.

Today, the obstruction finally came to an end when President Donald Trump signed two executive orders. This action affirms our new president’s respect for the rule of law and his support for responsible infrastructure development, energy production, and job creation.

One of the executive orders directs all federal agencies, including the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, to expedite approval of the easement to complete construction of the Dakota Access pipeline project.

Another order invites the TransCanada Corp. to resubmit its application for the Keystone XL pipeline and directs the State Department to expedite its review.

Construction on the 1,172-mile Dakota Access pipeline was halted by the Obama Administration in September after its developers had met every legal requirement to complete the project.

Now more than 90 percent complete, the $3.7 billion private project will deliver as many as 570,000 barrels of oil a day from northwestern North Dakota through South Dakota and Iowa to connect to existing pipelines in Illinois.

President Barack Obama had stopped the approval of an easement to cross U.S. Army Corps of Engineers property across the Missouri River at Lake Oahe in Morton County.

The meddling by the Obama administration in trying to block this legally permitted project has encouraged civil disobedience, threatened the safety of local residents, and placed an onerous financial burden on local law enforcement—with no offer of federal reimbursement for these increasing costs.

Since last summer, protesters have illegally occupied federal land in Morton County near the pipeline construction site, damaging equipment, roads, bridges, livestock, and private property.

I have asked the Trump administration to pay for law enforcement costs near the protest site and provide federal police to protect construction workers. Legally permitted infrastructure projects must be allowed to proceed without threat of improper governmental interference.

This conflict deserves peaceful resolution, and I hope the extreme environmentalists leading the protest will not further endanger themselves, Morton County residents, construction workers, and law enforcement.

These pipelines hold the promise of new jobs and North American energy security. The Keystone XL pipeline also offers the opportunity to do business with Canada, our longtime ally and oldest trading partner.

With today’s action from the White House, U.S. energy has taken a great step forward. (For more from the author of “US Energy Takes a Major Step Forward” please click HERE)

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Instead of Coddling, Universities Should Let Students Grow Up

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One wonders just how far spineless college administrators will go when it comes to caving in to the demands of campus snowflakes.

For those unfamiliar with the term “snowflakes,” it is increasingly being used to characterize college students easily traumatized by criticism and politically incorrect phrases. They demand safe spaces and trigger warnings so as not to be upset by views that challenge their own.

Snowflakes feel as though they must be protected against words, events, and deeds that do not fully conform to their extremely limited, narrow-minded beliefs built on sheer delusion. This might explain their behavior in the wake of Donald Trump’s trouncing of Hillary Clinton.

Generosity demands that we forgive these precious snowflakes and hope that they grow up. The real problem is with people assumed to be grown-ups—college professors and administrators who tolerate and give aid and comfort to our aberrant youth.

Let’s look at tiny samples of it.

To help avoid microaggressions, the University of North Carolina administration posted a notice urging staff and faculty members to avoid phrases such as “husband/boyfriend,” which they claim is heteronormative, and “Christmas vacation,” which “minimizes non-Christian spiritual rituals.”

This winter, the Oregon State University administration will treat its students to a new class that promises to teach them about how blacks have historically resisted white supremacists.

Professor Dwaine Plaza, one of three instructors for the course, said the idea was inspired by Trump’s election, which he fears will take the country back to the 1960s.

The University of Maryland is hosting a series of postelection lectures on how a “commitment to white supremacy” gave Trump momentum and blaming “white America’s spiritual depravity” for his rise to power.

One of the topics will be “Make America White Again? The Racial Reasoning of American Nationalism.”

At Pomona College, posters giving instructions on “how to be a (better) white ally” and stating that all white people are racist were put in the dorm rooms of new students.

Ned Staebler, Wayne State University’s vice president for economic development, i.e., fundraising, declared that Trump is a Nazi and his supporters are comfortable with bigotry.

He said, “I’ll say flatly that many of the 63 million Americans who voted for Trump did so because of his bigotry.”

In response to a claim by Ben Carson—Trump’s pick to be secretary of housing and urban development—that people have the right to display Confederate flags on private property, University of Pennsylvania professor Anthea Butler tweeted, “If only there was a ‘coon of the year’ award.”

Previously, Butler informed us that God is a “white racist” and Michael Brown’s death in Ferguson, Missouri, was a “blood sacrifice.”

Wake Forest University faculty and administration seek to make the university a sanctuary campus. Campus security will refuse to follow federal laws and will stop Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents from pursuing criminals if they come onto Wake Forest property.

This is nothing less than nullification of federal law. While liberals support nullification of federal immigration law, I wonder how they would respond to cities nullifying laws enforced by the Environmental Protection Agency.

Snowflake indulgence has been fostered by the education establishment and, more recently, by federal law.

One of the most popular features of Obamacare is its provision that children can remain on their parents’ health care plan until they are 26 years old. That promotes prolonged adolescence, sparing the necessity for youngsters to get out on their own.

Some have criticized my lack of sympathy for snowflakes in the wake of their emotional trauma resulting from Trump’s defeat of Clinton.

Here’s my question to you: How much sympathy would you have for those 18- to 24-year-olds who are in the military if they conducted themselves—on aircraft carriers, in nuclear submarines, and in special forces—just as college snowflakes did in the wake of the Trump victory? (For more from the author of “Instead of Coddling, Universities Should Let Students Grow Up” please click HERE)

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White House: Centrist GOP Senators’ Obamacare Plan at Odds with Trump’s Vision

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The White House seemed less than enthusiastic about one Senate Republican plan that would allow states to keep Obamacare, stressing President Donald Trump’s opposition to mandates that drive down competition.

On Monday, four Republican senators released the text of the Patient Freedom Act of 2017 to replace the Affordable Care Act, better known as Obamacare. The bill calls for repealing the mandates but would allow states to choose to maintain the mandates, according to the bill’s summary.

The Daily Signal asked Tuesday if this legislation could fall short of Trump’s pledge during the campaign to repeal the law in its entirety.

“First and foremost, let’s get back to what his goal is: We are working with Congress, some of those conversations started last night, staff has been working on a plan to repeal and replace [Obamacare],” White House press secretary Sean Spicer told The Daily Signal during the press briefing. “His goal, first and foremost, is to make sure we give the American people a health care system that is affordable, more accessible, more doctors and more plans.”

With regards to states, Spicer focused on Trump’s opposition to mandates—which could still be in place under this particular GOP Senate proposal.

“How a state chooses to implement that — what I think right now is the idea that we’ve had these mandates requiring people to get things that has driven out competition and driven up costs, is not a health care system he is pleased with and wants to support the repeal of,” Spicer added.

Four senators who are considered centrist or liberal Republicans are the sponsors of the bill: Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, Susan Collins of Maine, Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia, and Johnny Isakson of Georgia.

The bill summary says: “Option 1 allows the State to reinstate Title I of the ACA [Affordable Care Act], including its mandates and other requirements.”

In a Senate floor speech, Collins suggested states would opt against it:

Option one would allow a state to choose to continue operating insurance markets pursuant to all the rules of the Affordable Care Act … More appealing to many states, however, would be what we call the ‘better choice’ option in the Patient Freedom Act that would allow a state to waive many of the requirements of the Affordable Care Act except for vital consumer protections and still receive federal funding to help its residents purchase affordable health insurance.

(For more from the author of “White House: Centrist GOP Senators’ Obamacare Plan at Odds with Trump’s Vision” please click HERE)

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Trump’s OMB Pick Shares Vision on Social Security, Regulation

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Rep. Mick Mulvaney, R-S.C., appeared before the United States Senate Committee on the Budget Tuesday to share how he will reform entitlement programs and regulations, should he be confirmed by the Senate as the next director of the Office of Management and Budget.

In his opening statement, Mulvaney said that the Office of Management and Budget has likely been falling short on its duties to oversee entitlements and regulations.

“I think the law currently requires OMB to do a retrospective analysis of regulations, and it’s probably been falling short on that,” Mulvaney said.

During the hearing, Mulvaney stressed the importance of reforming entitlement programs in order to save them for future generations.

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., asked Mulvaney about his intentions to “save” the Social Security program.

“Would you agree with me that for younger workers, they may have to work longer when they enter the program to save the program?” Graham asked.

Mulvaney said that he has told his children to “prepare for exactly that.”

Graham also questioned Mulvaney about his vision for other entitlement programs such as Medicare and Medicaid.

Mulvaney said that failing to take action on these programs is not an option.

“If we do nothing, then by the time I retire, there will be an across-the-board 22 percent cut to Social Security benefits,” Mulvaney said.

Mulvaney said that he would not be advocating cuts to Social Security benefits for the elderly.

“I don’t think that any proposal that … that I would take to the president, should I be confirmed, would suggest that we touch folks anywhere who are already—I’m not making my parents go back to work, they’re 74 years old,” Mulvaney said.

If the Social Security program is not reformed, Mulvaney said that individuals will not receive the full benefits of the program.

“Without changing the current Social Security program, a 40-year-old today will receive roughly 77 percent of what they have been promised for their adult life,” Mulvaney said.

Sen. Pat Toomey, R-Pa., questioned Mulvaney about the future of Social Security and its implications on being available to young people.

“To continue to suggest that we do not have to do anything here is just being dishonest to the young people … Is that fair?” Toomey asked.

Mulvaney said that Toomey’s estimation was “correct” and stressed that in order to fix the program, people will have to work more hours in order to close the budget gap in Social Security.

“It would require, I think, one of the proposals would require a need to work an extra couple of months before I retire … ” Mulvaney said.

Mulvaney also stressed the importance of reforming government regulations.

He said that Trump is committed to significantly reign in regulatory programs.

“My very distinct impression, from working with the transition team, is that regulatory reform is going to be an absolute priority for this president,” Mulvaney said. “In fact, I think you saw him mention yesterday that he wants to cut 75 percent of the regulations. He is absolutely dead serious about this.”

Mulvaney expressed confidence in the dedication to reforming regulation, stating that he believes Trump to be “the first person to campaign for president on regulatory reform since Ronald Reagan.”

“I have some plans or ideas of how we could help to [reform regulation], but I absolutely believe that you will see this be a priority for President Trump,” Mulvaney said.

In mid-December, Trump, then-President-elect, announced Mulvaney as his choice to lead the Office of Management and Budget.

Republican leaders have expressed confidence in Mulvaney to lead the Office of Management and Budget.
Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla., said that Mulvaney would do a “great” job in the leadership role.

Sen. Mike Enzi, R-Wyo., chairman of the United States Senate Committee on the Budget, said in a statement released Tuesday that he is “pleased that President Trump has nominated a fiscal conservative for this key post” and expressed faith in Mulvaney’s ability to “reform the broken budget process.” (For more from the author of “Trump’s OMB Pick Shares Vision on Social Security, Regulation” please click HERE)

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Trump Signs ‘Mexico City Policy’ Banning Foreign Aid-Supported Abortions

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President Donald Trump on “Day One” of his presidency signed an executive order restoring the so-called “Mexico City Policy,” which requires all foreign non-governmental organizations that receive federal funding to refrain from performing or promoting abortion services.

Ronald Reagan first established the broader policy 33 years ago, which built on a 50-year-old law banning USAID from providing funds to any nongovernmental organization providing a number of services — including abortion.

Called the “global gag rule” by critics, the policy has been lifted or reinstated by presidents since Reagan, depending on whether the president was a Republican or a Democrat. Bill Clinton lifted the policy in 1993, George W. Bush reinstated in 2001 and Barack Obama pulled it during his first term as president.

Under the policy, International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF) will lose federal funding. Alison Marshall, the director of advocacy for IPPF, estimates that the abortion organization will lose approximately $100 million over a period of two to three years.

Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), the only woman remaining on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said she has a legislative plan in place now that President Trump moved forward with restoring the policy. Shaheen is also worried that President Trump will gut gender equality programs, among other “liberal social policies.” Calling the move to reinstate the Mexico City policy “short-sighted,” Shaheen said that “Abolishing those programs is antithetical here in our democracy.”

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said that it was “time to take a hard look at women’s aid programs,” reported Foreign Policy. “The State Department is trying to basically get countries who receive foreign assistance to sign up for a liberal agenda,” said Graham. He added that under the Obama administration, “It’s been out of control.”

In addition to his action on the Mexico City Policy, President Trump signed executive orders withdrawing the U.S. from the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) and freezing federal workforce hiring. President Trump exempted the military from the hiring freeze. (For more from the author of “Trump Signs ‘Mexico City Policy’ Banning Foreign Aid-Supported Abortions” please click HERE)

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Trump Just Kept 3 Major Campaign Promises. Here’s What You Need to Know.

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On day one of his first week in office, President Trump kept several campaign promises in a series of executive orders issued Monday.

The first executive order was the fulfillment of a long-standing campaign promise to withdraw the United States from the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade agreement.

“Great thing for the American worker, what we just did,” Trump said as he signed the order at the Resolute desk in the Oval Office.

Secondly, President Trump instituted a federal hiring freeze on all federal workers, excluding the military. This policy was the second point in the president’s “Contract with the American Voter.”

Thirdly, the president reinstated the Mexico City abortion rule – a rule that requires foreign non-governmental organizations to not provide or promote abortion services if they receive funds from the U.S. government. The rule was put in place by President Ronald Reagan, and President Obama overturned it in his first week in office in 2009. Now that President Trump has undone what the Obama administration did, hundreds of millions of dollars used for international family planning funds will no longer go to organizations that promote abortions.

Hopefully, President Trump’s actions on federal hiring and on funding for abortion signal that his administration will be serious in his campaign’s commitment to reducing the size of government and to the pro-life cause.

Conservatives should be encouraged by today’s executive actions and look forward to ensuring the president fulfills the rest of his campaign promises. (For more from the author of “Trump Just Kept 3 Major Campaign Promises. Here’s What You Need to Know.” please click HERE)

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I Was Trapped on a Train with Smug ‘Women’s March’ Feminists. This Is What I Overheard.

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After spending a busy inauguration week in D.C., I couldn’t have been more ready to board the train home to New York City. As I waited at Union Station, I felt the adrenaline leaving my system, and began to notice how completely drained I was.

The task that took the greatest toll on me, I realized, was covering the Women’s March on Washington Saturday. Beyond the normal fatigue that comes after writing, tweeting, and Facebook Live-ing for hours on end, the Women’s March left me feeling less satisfied and more desperate … and even angry.

After boarding I observed, to my dismay, that the train from D.C. to Penn Station was packed with Women’s March attendees — a horde of smug feminists, some still carrying signs and sporting their pink “pussy” hats. There was one exception: a college-age girl wearing a “Make America Gay Again” hat.

I tried to continue listening to music and scrolling through the news on my phone, but my attention kept straying to the conversations around me.

One teenage girl was reading an article aloud to her mother, sharing how “cute” and “awesome” it was that former Secretary of State John Kerry spent his “first day off” walking his dog through the Women’s March in D.C.

I overheard a man talking on the phone (rather loudly), giddily discussing all the speakers he saw at the march. He gushed over Gloria Steinem, who co-chaired the event. I tried not to giggle, recalling how the feminist icon bemoaned a male-dominated society in the speech she delivered Saturday:

“God may be in the details, but the goddess is in connections. We are at one with each other, we are looking at each other, not up. No more asking daddy.”

A middle-aged woman sitting across the aisle from me with her tween son sipped red wine while explaining to an older woman nearby how she had a “great time,” but regretted not being able to meet up with her “friends from Planned Parenthood.”

I witnessed others catching up on Instagram and Facebook posts, adding the occasional triumphant remark about “making history,” “speaking out,” “sending a message to Trump,” or “impeachment.”

“Oh my gosh,” I thought to myself. “These people really feel like they’ve turned the country on its head.”

After what felt like the longest three-and-a-half hours of my life, we had arrived. I exited the train and hopped on an elevator with four other women. An older woman, with short, spiked hair, turned around to ask everyone if we were coming from the march.

“YES!” two pink-hatted women responded immediately, beaming with satisfaction. I remained silent, but the woman who inquired gave us all a big thumbs-up.

My ride on the Mutual Affirmation Train was like attending the March on Washington all over again: Crowds of like-minded, mostly white urban women celebrating how “strong,” “educated,” and “virtuous” they all are. I felt like the undercover conservative, harboring secrets I was sure none of these individuals were interested in hearing.

In her speech Saturday, Gloria Steinem cited “violence against females in the world” as to why there are “fewer females than males” alive today. As the crowd roared, I thought to myself, “She had to have meant abortion, right? Does she hear what she’s saying? Do these protesters?” I’m certain that I was alone in my thinking.

I am just as offended by Trump’s derogatory “pussy” comment as anyone else. But an average bystander watching the Women’s March participants — reading their signs and t-shirts, seeing their costumes, and hearing their chants — would reasonably conclude that feminists aren’t offended by the profane; they’re utterly obsessed with it.

This weekend, I stepped into the alternative universe that is the Left’s reality. There, everyone agrees with everyone, and even when they lose, they win. Lack of self-reflection and critical thought is pervasive. It’s how I imagine an insane asylum feels.

Needless to say, I’m happy the march is over. I’ve never felt so keenly aware of how broken our culture is — with hundreds of thousands of militant women around the world boldly asserting their right to kill unborn children, threatening any man or women who dares to stand in their way. How confidently did they assume that no reasonable person would object to their noble cause. How wrong they were. (For more from the author of “I Was Trapped on a Train with Smug ‘Women’s March’ Feminists. This Is What I Overheard.” please click HERE)

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GOP Squishes Dig Their Heels in against President Trump’s Budget Cuts

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President Trump’s team is seeking “dramatic” cuts to government spending. If you voted for the president and for Republicans in Congress with the belief that they would support an agenda to reduce the size of government, you are likely thrilled with this news.

The plan being considered by the newly inaugurated president would reduce federal spending by an estimated $10.5 trillion over the next 10 years.

But it could run into a wall of opposition in the GOP-controlled Congress.

Several Republican senators are voicing opposition to provisions in Trump’s plan that would cut their favorite pet-spending projects.

For example, Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah (F, 33%) told The Hill that eliminating the Legal Services Corporation – a move that would save $400 million – would not get through the Senate.

“I think that would be hard thing to do. Even if you wanted to do that, you couldn’t get it through the Senate,” he said.

President Trump’s plan closely resembles proposals from the Heritage Foundation and from the Republican Study Committee. According to The Hill, Senator Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska (F, 20%) will “pull out all the stops” to oppose any cut to the essential air service program, a subsidy for rural airports in areas with low populations that the Heritage Foundation and RSC propose to end.

Senator Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn. (F, 15%) unapologetically dismissed cuts to discretionary spending as a means of tackling the debt. “Any effort to balance the budget by cutting discretionary spending is not a straightforward approach,” he said. “The part of the budget that is creating the debt is the entitlement part of the budget.”

While it is true that entitlement programs are the largest drivers of the near-$20 trillion debt, President Trump has previously indicated that he has no interest in touching entitlement spending.

“I’m not going to cut Social Security like every other Republican and I’m not going to cut Medicare or Medicaid,” Trump told The Daily Signal in 2015. “Every other Republican is going to cut, and even if they wouldn’t, they don’t know what to do because they don’t know where the money is. I do.”

Meanwhile, Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss. (F, 28%) has pledged to fight the elimination of a catfish inspection program the Heritage Foundation argues is redundant and ripe with government waste. The Mississippi Republican, whose home state is the nation’s leading producer of catfish, said ending the program “would be a problem and wouldn’t save any money.”

The long story short is that given the president of the United States opposes reigning in entitlement programs, any cuts to come from this administration must come from discretionary spending. And while Republicans can talk a great game on government spending on the campaign trail, once they’re in office, no one wants to end their personal favorite pork projects.

If President Trump is serious about cutting government spending, he’s going to have to fight for every penny. (For more from the author of “GOP Squishes Dig Their Heels in against President Trump’s Budget Cuts” please click HERE)

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The Start of a New U.S.-Israel Relationship? President Trump Invites Netanyahu to DC

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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will travel to Washington, D.C., in February to meet with President Donald Trump.

President Trump extended the invitation to the prime minister during a telephone conversation that took place on Sunday, a conversation that Netanyahu described as “very warm” in a Facebook post.

“The Prime Minister expressed his desire to work closely with President Trump to forge a common vision to advance peace and security in the region, with no daylight between the United States and Israel,” the post reads.

Among the issues discussed between the two leaders were the nuclear deal with Iran, peace in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and “other issues.”

Late Sunday the White House confirmed reports that the Trump administration is in the “beginning stages” of discussing a plan to move the U.S. embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. Israeli news earlier cited an unnamed source that said the president’s team would make an announcement regarding their plans for the embassy move on Monday.

A White House statement made no indication that the two leaders discussed the embassy over the phone.

“The President emphasized that peace between Israel and the Palestinians can only be negotiated directly between the two parties, and that the United States will work closely with Israel to make progress towards that goal.” (For more from the author of “The Start of a New U.S.-Israel Relationship? President Trump Invites Netanyahu to DC” please click HERE)

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President Trump Could Build Bridges to Some of His Reasonable Critics

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“We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies.”

So spoke Abraham Lincoln, in his first inaugural address, to the seceding South. Even in that late moment of national division, a man who would go on to be perhaps the greatest of all presidents sought to bring healing to a broken country.

It is time for President Trump to do the same.

Seeking Healing After Division

The recent “women’s march” in Washington represents the profound fissures running through our republic. Of course, the “march” was a rally, and represented only some women. Those believing unborn children possess sufficient dignity to merit the right to life — in other words, about half of the women of the country — were excluded publicly and deliberately.

I am not suggesting that the President extend to Gloria Steinem an invitation to the Oval Office. She is so ideologically rigid that finding common ground with her would be a waste of time. Rather, there are many women in the nation who need to hear President Trump talk thoughtfully about his commitment to providing economic opportunity for disadvantaged women and ensuring that their children get a healthy, hope-filled start in life.

If President Trump shows by his demeanor and his tone that he cares about serving not only his supporters but even his most vociferous critics, he might win some good will from his more reasonable critics.

Additionally, if he meets with leaders willing to work with him on issues of mutual concern — sentencing reform, support for Israel, fighting human trafficking, and rebuilding our inner cities are a few that come to mind — he could help dissipate the genuine fear of many who did not support him.

When All You Can Do is Pray

At the same time, there are those who use the pretext of political opposition for mere thuggery. These were the people who destroyed storefronts and set fire to the American flag in the streets of American cities the day of the inauguration.

Seeing a flag that represents liberty, justice, hope, and human dignity burned by people so cowardly that they hide behind facemasks is enraging. It reminds me of Margaret Thatcher’s remark that the veneer of civilization is very thin. They are tearing that veneer, and they deserve whatever legal justice affords them.

It was hard not to take their activities personally, as two of the stores they vandalized — the Atrium Café and the 7th Street NW Starbucks — are places I patronized regularly when I worked for over seven years at the Family Research Council, which is only about a block away from each restaurant in downtown D.C. I had many good lunches and coffees with interns, colleagues, and friends at these places and got to know some of their employees on a first-name basis.

The Atrium Café is owned by Korean immigrants and staffed largely by Latinos. These are hard-working people who deserve respect and appreciation, not shattered glass and threat-filled screams. The black-clad phonies who decried President Trump’s “fascism” are the moral descendants of Mussolini’s “blackshirts,” the collation of disaffected brutes that helped him retain power in Italy.

With such persons, outreach by the new President would be pointless. So it is with such ludicrous, self-parodying “celebrities” as Madonna and the sad proponents of radical sexual autonomy (“Abortion on Demand and Without Apology” is their doxology). Such persons need prayer and personal compassion, not political dialog.

Trump’s Opportunity

Yet there are many well-intended Americans troubled by President Trump’s personal history and often inflammatory pronouncements. They might be won over, or at least disabused of their wariness.

To this end, the President has a tremendous opportunity. He can assure them that he and they must not be enemies, but friends. He can speak to their hopes and dreams, hopes and dreams common to all Americans, as he did eloquently in his inaugural address when he said, “Whether a child is born in the urban sprawl of Detroit or the windswept plains of Nebraska, they look up at the same night sky, they fill their hearts with the same dreams and they are infused with the breath of life by the same almighty creator.”

All decent Americans — and that number vastly exceeds the small number of pathetic criminals who immolated the flag and destroyed property — can identify with these things. President Trump must seize the opening days of his term in office to identify himself with these ideals and the people who share them.

As Mr. Lincoln said so long ago, “Though passion may have strained it must not break our bonds of affection. The mystic chords of memory, stretching from every battlefield and patriot grave to every living heart and hearthstone all over this broad land, will yet swell the chorus of the Union, when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature.” (For more from the author of “President Trump Could Build Bridges to Some of His Reasonable Critics” please click HERE)

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