Jeff Crouere, Author at The Hayride

In November of 2008, the American conservative movement was rocked by the overwhelming victory of Barack Obama as the nation’s 44^th President.

In that election, Obama was not bashful about his plans. He was the epitome of a liberal, calling for government action on healthcare, the environment, and the economy. Conservatives were reeling as the unsuccessful George W. Bush administration mercifully came to an end. However, they were also upset that the 2008 GOP presidential nominee Senator John McCain ran such an ineffective campaign. Only the spirited efforts of the dynamic vice presidential nominee, Governor Sarah Palin, gave conservatives any hope about the future.

At that time, the Congress was controlled by Democrats and the Republican President, George W. Bush, was leaving office during an ongoing war in Iraq and Afghanistan and record deficits. In addition, there was a serious financial crisis that almost destroyed the country’s economy. To fix the problem, the GOP administration advocated massive government bailouts to selected industries, such as automobile manufacturers, that was the antithesis of free market economics.

Not surprisingly, Obama won the election handily. Despite the doom and gloom, conservatives did not riot or destroy property and they certainly did not threaten the new President of the United States. Obama was given respect as our new President, even though conservatives totally disagreed with his very liberal agenda.

When the new President started pushing his very progressive policies such as Obamacare and the massive stimulus spending plan, conservatives decided to turn disappointment into political action.

Almost immediately after Obama’s inauguration as President, millions of conservatives around the country formed the grassroots organization known as the Tea Party. This political activity spread to groups organizing rallies across the country and an impressive political network was formed. It was the major reason that Americans gave control of Congress back to the GOP in 2010.

While the Tea Party suffered a setback in 2012 with the GOP nomination of moderate Mitt Romney, who lost the presidential race to Obama, there was enough of an organization remaining by 2014 to help the Republican Party take back control of the U.S. Senate. After years of inaction from Congress on the common sense political agenda outlined by the Tea Party, grassroots conservatives eventually found another outlet, the presidential campaign of Donald Trump, the ultimate outsider.

In effect, the Tea Party of 2009 was the initial phase of the political movement that elected Donald Trump as President of the United States in 2016.

After Trump’s surprise victory on Tuesday, some liberals have been understandably shell shocked. Thus, there is now a vigorous debate within the Democratic Party on how to move forward. Unfortunately, other liberal activists are taking another route, engaging in riots and committing violence.

In at least a dozen cities, such as New York, Chicago and Los Angeles, there have been protests about the new President-elect. While most protesters have been peaceful, others have smashed store windows, lit dumpster fires and firecrackers.

Even worse, there have been numerous reports of Trump supporters being attacked on the streets and even in schools. At some of these organized protests, demonstrators have yelled obscenities at the new President, sprayed graffiti on buildings and even engaged in property destruction.

For example, in New Orleans, crazed protesters defaced monuments and buildings, destroyed windows and placed a burning tire on the front steps of the Confederate Museum. Sadly, the police did nothing as these protesters sprayed “F*** Trump” and “Die Whites Die,” among other obscenities on the Robert E. Lee monument. The protesters even burned an effigy of Donald Trump and got into a fight with a Trump supporter.

These violent activities are an unacceptable response to the outcome of the presidential race. In 2008, when conservatives faced a similar beating at the polls, they did not resort to violence, they organized and formed a powerful political movement that eventually delivered the White House back to them.

After this election, too many liberals have acted like spoiled children, throwing a temper tantrum. For example, some misguided and brainless celebrities are vowing to leave the country, while others are claiming that Trump will not be “their President.”

To the Hollywood stars and other liberal fanatics so upset at Trump’s election victory, please leave the country. Enjoy the high taxes and socialized healthcare of Canada or the empty shelves at supermarkets in Venezuela.

However, unless you become a citizen of another country, Trump will still be your President, like it or not. He was elected by the people of this country and won an electoral vote landslide.

Liberals must come to their senses, deal with the political reality and stop this nonsense before more damage is done to our country’s political process.

Jeff Crouere is a native of New Orleans, LA and he is the host of a Louisiana based program, “Ringside Politics,” which airs at 7:30 p.m. Fri. and 10:00 p.m. Sun. on WLAE-TV 32, a PBS station, and 7 till 11 a.m. weekdays on WGSO 990 AM in New Orleans and the Northshore. For more information, visit his web site at www.ringsidepolitics.com. E-mail him at jeff@ringsidepolitics.com.

Since my Ringside Politics radio and TV programs started in 1999, I have enjoyed an annual Thanksgiving tradition of bestowing a “Turkey of the Year” award to the most deserving celebrity or politician. Of course, these are “winners” who distinguished themselves in a particularly foolish way. Previous winners have included filmmaker Michael Moore, former House Speakers John Boehner and Nancy Pelosi, President Barack Obama and former New Orleans Mayor, current federal inmate, Ray Nagin.

This year, the list of nominations was almost endless. It has been a political year like no other, but it has been dominated by one person, President-elect Donald Trump. He burst onto the political scene as a businessman and outsider who was tired of the insufferable weight of political correctness. He declared his goal was to “Make America Great Again,” by “draining the swamp” around Washington D.C. and putting “America First.”

It all started on June 16, 2015 before a huge crowd at the Trump Tower in New York City. In his initial speech, Trump claimed that the country needed a wall on the southern border and that Mexico would pay for it. He also lambasted Mexico for “sending people that have lots of problems, and they’re bringing those problems with us. They’re bringing drugs. They’re bringing crime. They’re rapists. And some, I assume, are good people.”

Immediately, Trump was labeled a racist and the media started to ridicule his presidential plans. There were also efforts to financially harm Trump’s business empire. His Miss Universe show was dropped by television networks, the first indication that his presidential aspirations would be met with fierce opposition.

In the GOP race, Trump faced 16 seasoned challengers, many of them are members of the Republican Party establishment. These candidates were quick to condemn Trump whenever he made a controversial comment. Many issues arose that gave his opponents fodder. Trump’s statements about Megyn Kelly of Fox News, Senator John McCain, and an Indiana judge presiding over the Trump University legal case caused continual controversy.

After he secured the Republican presidential nomination, there were other controversies such as his statements about a Muslim father who lost a son in the Iraq War, a former Miss Universe and his infamous remarks about women captured on a 2005 tape recording which was conveniently released to deflect from the WikiLeaks disclosures about Hillary Clinton. The icing on the political cake occurred when 12 women came forward to allege Trump sexually assaulted them.

In every one of these incidents, Trump was viciously attacked by the usual collection of news reporters, Hollywood celebrities and liberal politicians. Unfortunately, they were joined by many Republican politicians who were eager to be critical of Trump and unwilling to support his candidacy, even after he secured the nomination.

Former Republican Presidents George H. W. Bush and George W. Bush refused to endorse Trump, as did 2012 Republican Party presidential nominee Mitt Romney. U.S. Senator and 2008 Republican Party presidential nominee John McCain was among several prominent Republicans who withdrew their support after the 2005 tape was released.

Joining these political leaders was a collection of conservative misfits in the media and political worlds who refused to endorse Trump. This group became known as the “Never Trumpers” and included radio talk show host Glenn Beck, commentators Erick Erickson, George Will and Bill Kristol and Senators Ben Sasse of Nebraska and Jeff Flake of Arizona. Many of these individuals bitterly opposed Trump, even though he won the nomination fairly and faced Hillary Clinton, a corrupt liberal, in the general election.

From this “Never Trump” universe, I selected my three Ringside Politics Turkeys of 2016. These were the worst of this motley crew because they were presidential candidates who betrayed their party and reneged on a promise to support the nominee. All 17 GOP presidential candidates signed a pledge to officially endorse the eventual party nominee. Unfortunately, former Florida Governor Jeb Bush, South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham and Ohio Governor John Kasich placed their own political interests in front of their party and their country.

Not only did they make a horrific mistake, but they looked quite foolish in the process. Graham said that “If we nominate Trump, we will get destroyed…….and we will deserve it.” Not quite Lindsey, as Trump won 31 states and collected 306 electoral votes, the most won by a Republican presidential candidate since 1988. Jeb Bush who was embarrassed by Trump and famously labeled “low energy” acted like a petulant child and refused to endorse anyone, and indicated he would vote for a third-party candidate.

While Graham and Bush acted poorly, the most egregious political violation of the year was committed by Ohio Governor John Kasich. He not only refused to endorse Trump but later confessed to writing in the name of John McCain as his presidential choice.

Kasich declined to participate in the Republican National Convention which was held in his home state of Ohio. He did not welcome the delegates nor attend any of the events which culminated in Trump’s nomination. He was under the delusion that he was the “most electable” Republican presidential candidate even though he only won one primary in his home state of Ohio. In contrast, Trump won 37 states and four times the number of delegates as his nearest competitor.

In a year of the Trump political revolution, where one candidate defeated the combined forces of the political, business, media and globalist establishment, these three Republican Turkeys did not join the historic party.

Sadly, Graham, Bush and Kasich put their selfish interests first and lost badly. Their only consolation is that they are the clear winners of the 2016 Ringside Politics Turkey of the Year Award.

In the aftermath of another devastating electoral loss, Democrats have not learned their lessons very well. In the U.S. Senate, Democrats elected 66-year old Chuck Schumer of New York as their Minority Leader, replacing the outgoing Harry Reid of Nevada. Schumer will offer more East Coast liberal leadership to a party that desperately needs to move ideologically to the center and geographically to the country’s heartland.

In an even worse move, House Democrats re-elected super liberal Nancy Pelosi of San Francisco as their Minority Leader. Pelosi has been leading House Democrats since 2003 and has been at the helm as her party has lost control of the House. Despite her horrible track record, Pelosi defeated Representative Tim Ryan of Ohio by a comfortable 134-63 margin in a closed-door session. In response to Pelosi’s re-election, Donald Trump’s Campaign Manager Kellyanne Conway tweeted, “What a relief. I was worried they had learned from the elections & might be competitive and cohesive again.”

Of course, Conway is right, Democrats remain stuck on stupid. Instead of expanding their base, they chose to remain wedded to political correctness and hard core liberal leadership. Soon, they will name a new Democratic National Committee Chairman and the leading candidate is radical Congressman Keith Ellison (D-MN), a former spokesman for the Nation of Islam, who once praised anti-Semitic Minister Louis Farrakhan as a “role model for youth.”

If Ellison is elected, the Democrats will have the type of leadership team that will have little chance to win back Rust Belt voters who defected to Trump in the presidential election. Hillary Clinton was unable to inspire blue collar Democrats and they voted for Trump in surprising numbers, even turning Michigan into a red state.

Despite her devastating loss to Trump, there is some speculation that Clinton is contemplating a third presidential run in 2020. This could be why her lawyers are participating in the Wisconsin recount effort. Republicans should be delighted at the news that a two-time loser who has failed at every job she has ever held would be itching to run for President again in four years.

Instead of Hillary making another presidential run, Democrats need to figure out why they keep losing elections. Since 2010, Democrats have lost three national elections, with their only victory coming in 2012 when voters returned President Obama to the White House.

Democrats are now in the minority in both the House and Senate in the U.S. Congress. On Saturday December 10, it will get even worse for Democrats as Louisiana voters will almost certainly elect Republican State Treasurer John Kennedy to the U.S. Senate seat. This will give Democrats only 48 seats in the upper body, a major disappointment. This was the year that Democrats were supposed to make huge inroads in the U.S. Senate since Republicans were defending 24 of 34 seats. Instead they will gain a mere two seats. On the House side, the Republicans will control approximately 241 seats, a strong majority once again.

Democrats have also suffered greatly at the state level with only 18 Governors and the control of only 13 state legislatures. In fact, the Democrat Party of 2016 is a minority party with power bases on both coasts and in major cities. In between, the country is a sea of red as exemplified by the Trump presidential victory. He won 306 electoral votes in 31 states, whereas Hillary Clinton only won 232 electoral votes in 19 states.

Democrats will maintain that Hillary Clinton won the popular vote with a margin of 2.1 million votes, but that number will not win the presidency. In 2000, Al Gore also won the popular vote and lost the presidential election. In fact, this election is the fifth time in U.S. history that a President has been elected while losing the popular vote.

Democrats can continue to focus on the “popular vote victory” and a recount effort, but a better use of time would be to investigate what has happened to a party that a mere 8 years ago, wielded tremendous influence throughout the country.

Maybe sensible Democrats will realize that the Obama presidency has harmed their party tremendously, leading to losses throughout the country. The President’s agenda has been rejected by the American people who do not like his policies such as Obamacare, higher taxes, more regulation, open borders and amnesty for illegal aliens.

As President, Trump is promising to pursue popular policies that will turn back many of these Obama initiatives. This will only increase the troubles for the Democrat Party moving forward.

Democrats are no longer the party of the working class, but the party of radical progressives, illegal aliens and special interests. In this election, Trump captured working class support from voters in Rust Belt states that had not voted for the GOP in a generation or more. Clearly, Trump will need to deliver for the working-class voters who entrusted him with the White House; however, assuming he is successful, the Democrats may be in the political wilderness for many years to come.

Higher education in America is in crisis, not just because of spiraling tuition costs, but because of the toxic atmosphere on campuses. The disease of political correctness has taken root in our colleges and the causes being championed relate very little to the supposed education being offered on campuses.

The liberal group-think on issues such as climate change or “white privilege” is so pervasive that debate it not allowed. The presentation of a conservative viewpoint is either discouraged or completely forbidden. Conservative speakers such as author Ann Coulter and columnist Ben Shapiro have faced harassment and threats on college campuses.

In the aftermath of the Trump victory, this liberal indoctrination has only increased. There has been an array of incidents on college campuses in recent weeks that are more than troubling.

At Loyola University in New Orleans, students and faculty members held a rally to show support for illegal aliens and demand that the campus serve as a “sanctuary” for the lawbreakers. At Duke University, the Student Senate unanimously passed a resolution in favor of creating an illegal alien “sanctuary” on campus. In effect, this would turn Duke University into a “safe space” for criminals who violated federal immigration law.

At Ohio State University, in the tragic aftermath of the recent terrorist attack, the Coalition of Black Liberation held a rally to protest the police shootings of young black men. Obviously, this group believes that there are too many innocent black men being killed by out of control and racist police officers. Incredibly, among their list of innocent victims was Abdul Razak Ali Artan, the Muslim terrorist who tried to run over innocent people with his vehicle on the Ohio State University campus last week. When that attempt failed, he exited his car and began stabbing people with a knife. Fortunately, before he could kill any innocent people, Artan was gunned down by a hero, Ohio State policeman Alan Horujko.

The officer should have been praised by all campus organizations, but, sadly, some groups are obsessed with race. Congratulations to Donald Trump for visiting the Ohio State University campus to console the victims and honor Mr. Horujko and his fellow officers. Obviously, the shooting was a life saving measure by a brave police officer doing his job, even liberals on a college campus should be able to understand that reality.

Instead of the dangers of Muslim terrorism, too many college students seem more concerned about the evils of white Republicans. After Trump’s victory, Tulane University students participated in a post-election rally that resulted in damage to downtown New Orleans buildings and the Robert E. Lee monument, which was defaced with profanity about the new President and threats such as “Die, Whites Die.”

The Trump victory has also spurred the Tulane Student Government association to pass new legislation demanding that all students and faculty use the appropriate gender pronouns when addressing transgender students. Henceforth, these students will not be referred to as “he” or “she,” but “ze.” One of the sponsors said the legislation was needed because the “recent elections have directly threatened the safety and inclusivity of many people.” How President-Elect Donald Trump is threatening the safety of Tulane students was not explained.

Clearly, the concept of a Trump presidency is unsettling to college students and professors throughout the country. At Orange Coast College, a student recorded Psychology Professor Olga Perez Stable Cox going on a Trump bashing rant during class. She called his election “an act of terrorism” and implied that he was a “white supremacist.” She had even harsher condemnation of Vice President-elect Mike Pence, calling him “one of the most anti-gay humans in this country.”

Professor Cox laughably charged Trump supporters with launching an “assault” against the country; however, the real verbal assault took place when Hillary Clinton labeled millions of Trump supporters “a basket of deplorables.” In contrast, Trump supporters love their country and supported a candidate who had a simple slogan, “Make America Great Again.”

Instead of firing this professor, her union criticized the student who posted the video and exposed this hateful rhetoric. The union said that it was “an illegal recording without the permission of the instructor. The student will be identified and may be facing legal action.”

This incident is not unique. On our college campuses, today, politically correct professors and liberal proselytization is protected, while whistle-blowers and open debate are condemned. It is time for parents to start questioning the wisdom of paying such high tuition costs for indoctrination, not education.

Poor Michelle Obama, the highly praised and highly partisan First Lady, complained to Oprah Winfrey in a recent interview that she has lost hope.

Mrs. Obama said that her husband did deliver on his promises of offering hope to the American people, but that now “we are feeling what not having hope feels like.” Of course, Mrs. Obama is hopeless these days because Donald Trump will become our nation’s 45^th President and demolish the odious Obama legacy.

The First Lady and her husband joined the entire leadership of the Democrat Party to vigorously campaign for Hillary Clinton to become our next President. Despite their best efforts, Clinton lost the Electoral College to Trump by a landslide, 306-232.

Trump will soon take office and will actually deliver tangible results to the American people instead of mere “hope and change” rhetoric like Barack Obama. The so-called “hope” delivered by the current administration consisted of the lowest home ownership rate in 51 years, millions of additional people on food stamps and in poverty, 15 million more Americans no longer in our nation’s workforce, stagnant wages, and skyrocketing health insurance premiums.

As President, Barack Obama made many promises such as a stimulus plan that would create “shovel ready jobs,” and a health care plan that would lower costs, create jobs, not add to the deficit and give Americans the ability to keep their original plan and doctor if they wanted. Of course, all of these promises were eventually exposed as lies. Michelle Obama should talk to the millions of Americans who were negatively impacted by her husband’s policies and lost hope after his lies were revealed.

The actual hope that Trump can deliver includes high paying jobs that can support a family. Under Obama, we have seen an increase in part time positions and low wage service sector jobs, while the country has lost over 300,000 manufacturing jobs, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

If Michelle Obama is hopeless today it may be due to the fact that her incredibly generous taxpayer funded gravy train will be ending. In the last eight years, she utilized a larger White House staff than any First Lady in history. She also was able to travel the globe on the taxpayer’s dime.

In fact, she will be leaving her office only after spending another expensive year-end vacation with her family in Hawaii. According to Judicial Watch, the total cost to the American people for all of the lavish Obama family vacations is more than $70 million and growing.

In Hawaii, the Obama family will spend over two weeks enjoying luxurious accommodations provided by the American taxpayers. All of this is occurring while the average American supposedly injected with such Obama hope is lucky to afford even a measly family vacation in this economy.

Fortunately, relief in the name of Donald Trump is on its way. Even before he officially takes office Trump is generating jobs throughout the economy, the stock market is soaring and the value of our currency, the dollar, is increasing.

Not surprisingly, many elite liberals in Hollywood and along the East Coast share Mrs. Obama’s pessimistic view about the future; however, they only have themselves to blame. If their policies truly delivered genuine hope, good jobs and a strong economy, voters would have easily elected Hillary Clinton to continue the Obama agenda.

Instead the American people voted for authentic “hope and change.” Trump only won because so many Americans have felt hopeless. Now, hope among average Americans is on the comeback trail due to Trump’s victory.

While Michelle Obama may not like it, the American people do. In recent days, Trump’s approval rating has increased to the highest level ever. Americans like what they see in his transition, a man who is picking a strong cabinet and is a tireless worker, not playing golf or loafing on vacation. Donald Trump is working long hours to deliver results for the American people.

The era of failed politically correct policies and phony rhetoric is over for America, it’s time to get back to work.

In the wake of the controversial United Nations Security Council resolution calling for an end to Israeli settlements in the West Bank, the incoming Trump administration should seriously consider ending our annual bailout of this corrupt institution.

The resolution succeeded because the United States abstained from voting. This marked the first Security Council resolution to pass since 1979 that condemned Israel for their settlement policies. The United States abstention was met with a furious response from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu who said that President Obama “colluded” with other nations to pass the “shameful” resolution.

The resolution calls for Israel to adopt pre-1967 borders and said that the country should “immediately and completely cease all settlement activities in the occupied Palestinian territory, including East Jerusalem.” While the resolution has “no legal validity” it represented both a major defeat for Israel and a victory for an Obama administration that had been working behind the scenes to pass it.

The U.N. resolution was followed by an insulting speech by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry who called for a two-state solution with the Palestinians and for Israel to end any settlement activity. He also called the Netanyahu administration “the most right-wing in Israeli history, with an agenda driven by extreme elements.” Not only did Trump criticize the speech, but a spokesman for British Prime Minister Theresa May said it was not “appropriate” for Kerry “to attack the composition of the democratically elected government of an ally.” Of course, one of the many problems with this two-state solution is that Palestinian leaders have called for Israel to be “wiped off the face of the earth.”

In the aftermath of the Security Council vote, some GOP members of Congress are recommending that the United States stop funding the United Nations. In addition, the Israeli Ambassador to the United States, Ron Dermer, said that the United States should “make sure that every penny of your money is going to something that protects and defends and advances U.S. interests.” He called the United Nations a “cesspool” of activity which is blatantly anti-Israeli and anti-American.

Currently, the United States taxpayers fund about 22% of the regular budget operations for the United Nations and 29% of their expensive peacekeeping expenses. This totals to about $3 billion per year in “assessed” contributions. Furthermore, the United States spends $5 billion or more in annual “voluntary” contributions to a variety of useless U.N. agencies.

Our contributions far exceed any other country. The next largest regular budget contribution comes from Japan, but that country only provides 9.68% of the overall funding. In support of peacekeeping activities, Japan provides the third highest contribution, behind the United States and China at 10% in a distant second place.

Overall, the U.N. would be bankrupt without the generous financial support provided by the American taxpayers. Unfortunately, for the past five years, there has been no requirement that the administration provide Congress with a specific breakdown of total U.N. contributions. So, taxpayers currently have no idea exactly how much money we are providing to this organization. Hopefully, this will change in the incoming Trump administration.

In fact, it is time for the United States to stop shouldering the burden for this rather ineffective organization. We have housed their headquarters for long enough, let’s invite the United Nations to leave their extravagant headquarters in New York City unless they change their radical positions.

Even though the United States is a permanent member of the Security Council, we have only one vote in the 193-member General Assembly. Thus, it is ridiculous that we have the same power as a country that contributes almost nothing to the regular budget.

President-Elect Donald Trump tweeted that the “United Nations is a club for people to get together, talk and have a good time. So sad!”

The United Nations is much worse than being a good-natured club of representatives having fun. It features a massive bureaucracy that has long been criticized as being not only being wasteful, but also corrupt.

Most troubling, the organization is not only consistently biased against Israel, but also the United States of America. Over a 30-year period ending in 2012, State Department records show that, in contested U.N. General Assembly votes, the United States was on the losing side 67.3% of the time. In other words, we fund U.N. operations, give billions of dollars in foreign aid to member nations, but get no respect.

The new Trump administration should use our massive financial influence to enact positive changes in the United Nations. If that is impossible, we should end the bailouts and invite the United Nations to find another country to call home.

After eight long years, thankfully, the second term of President Barack Obama is finally coming to an end.

On his way, out of office, the President has issued more executive orders, set aside 1.65 million additional acres for national monuments, released more prisoners and tried to find as many ways as possible to politically handcuff his successor.

Along with his continual executive overreach, the President should be remembered for expanding the federal debt by almost $10 trillion, giving us a stimulus plan with no “shovel ready jobs” and forcing upon the American people the unworkable and disastrous Obamacare legislation that will hopefully be repealed in short order. Obama also decimated our military, allowed ISIS to gain a foothold in over 30 countries, unlawfully granted amnesty to millions of illegal aliens, and presided over an administration littered with corruption from the IRS to the Department of Justice.

While the unemployment rate is listed at 4.7% in the last report, the real health of the nation’s economy can be measured by the 95 million Americans who are no longer in the workforce. This number has increased by 15 million during the Obama years, surpassing any job growth that was created during his two terms.

Many of the jobs created during the Obama years were in the service sector, filled with positions that are characterized by low wages and poor working conditions. Today, millions of Americans are forced to work two jobs just to pay the bills, while others are so dejected with the lack of decent jobs in the economy that they have stopped looking for work and resorted to government assistance or private charity just to survive.

One result of poor economic conditions is an increase in crime. In 2016 there has also been an upsurge of violence in many urban areas and more law enforcement officers were killed. According to Steven Weiss of the Officer Down Memorial Page, in the last year, there was a “61 percent increase in law enforcement officers shot and killed” compared to the previous year.

A contributing factor to this ongoing violence against police officers is racial tension. It is clearly increasing across the country. Our President was advertised as a racial healer, someone who could bring the races together. The theory made sense as Barack Obama is bi-racial with a white mother and a black father. Unfortunately, these dreams were never achieved, instead, the country has suffered from more racially oriented violence.

From his attack on the Cambridge, MA police in the Professor Gates incident to his comments about Trayvon Martin and the riots in Ferguson, Missouri, President Obama has earned a well-deserved reputation as a critic of police and a sympathizer to those who spew racial grievances. His former Attorney General, Eric Holder, famously claimed that the nation was too cowardly to have a real conversation about race. Thereafter, prominent members of the Obama administration fixated on racial issues throughout their two terms. Unfortunately, the rhetoric was not directed at racial healing, but fostering claims of racial injustice. Thus, racial agitators like Reverend Al Sharpton were given almost unfettered access to the White House. This did not bring the races together, only exacerbated existing racial problems.

The latest incident occurred on Tuesday in the President’s hometown of Chicago. A mentally challenged 18-year old white man was tortured by four black adults, ranging in age from 18 to 24. The young man was kicked, threatened with a knife, forced to kiss the ground and drink toilet water, while he was also gagged, tied up and bloodied from his scalp being cut open. These tormentors also contacted the young man’s family with demands for money and harassing updates on his torture, which lasted up to five hours, according to police. The attackers yelled “F-white people and F-Trump” while they brutalized him. Even more horrific is that the attack was captured on video and broadcast on Facebook Live. After being arrested, the four suspects were each charged with aggravated kidnapping, hate crime, aggravated battery with a weapon among other serious offenses. Incredibly, none of the accused criminals expressed any remorse for their actions.

In America, today, this kind of crime is occurring far too often. Instead of admitting his responsibility for fostering this type of environment, President Obama recently claimed that race relations have “gotten better” during his two terms in office.

The President is truly delusional if he believes his own talking points. Fortunately, the American people realize there is a serious problem. In a July 2016 Washington Post poll, 63% of respondents viewed race relations as “generally bad, and a majority say they are getting worse.” By November, a Gallup poll showed that the number of Americans who viewed the country as united was down to only 21%, while the percentage viewing the country as divided had increased to 77%.

This recent incident and the poll results show the true legacy of Barack Obama. January 20, 2017 cannot get here soon enough.

For eight years, the elite members of our national news media treated Barack Obama as a conquering hero, a political superstar who overcame racism and intolerance to become our first African American President. The clear majority of our media heavyweights idolize the President and agree with his liberal policies. Instead of tough questions, they offered him a regular dose of pathetic softballs at his news conferences. In fact, real journalists should be embarrassed at the deferential treatment Obama received during his two terms in office.

Despite the multiple scandals in his administration, there was a lack of investigative journalism from the major news outlets. Our vaunted media watchdogs turned into Obama lapdogs during his presidency.

Now that there will be a new President, these journalists are suddenly becoming reacquainted with their investigative instincts. Of course, their newly discovered journalistic “talent” is on display because Donald Trump is a politically incorrect Republican outsider who is not connected to the establishment of either party. He also possesses views which are conservative, populist and nationalist. Clearly, he is not a liberal or a globalist, like the members of the elite media.

It is obvious that the mainstream news media hates Donald Trump. They don’t like his positions, his personality or his ability to communicate directly with the American people on Twitter.

This disgust was apparent on election night as the network news anchors could barely disguise their revulsion at Trump’s victory. There were plenty of stunned looks from the smug anchors and their so-called expert analysts who had predicted a Hillary Clinton landslide.

In the weeks following the election, there has been no honeymoon for the incoming President. While the media usually gives an incoming President positive coverage in the aftermath of a victory, Donald Trump has faced an unrelenting stream of negative stories and abusive treatment.

It reached the apex on Wednesday when the President-Elect held his first news conference since his shocking victory. Ironically, some reporters were complaining that Trump had not held a news conference since last July, but these same reporters had little problem with Hillary Clinton forgoing news conferences for the last 10 months of her campaign.

On the day before the news conference, Trump was the victim of a vicious smear campaign in the form of a 35-page dossier that was published on the vile website BuzzFeed and promoted heavily on the “fake news” network CNN. While BuzzFeed published the entire contents of the phony report, CNN breathlessly hyped that the dossier was presented to the President and the President-Elect by intelligence officials in a briefing.

This unverified and fictitious report was produced by Christopher Steele, a former British intelligence officer, who was hired by an opposition research firm, Fusion GPS. First Republican donors and then Hillary Clinton supporters paid the firm to produce the anti-Trump report. The unsubstantiated “research” was provided by Russian sources, who were paid by Steele for the information. The report included factual errors and wild claims about Trump’s personal life and supposed business dealings in Russia.

Since it was so suspicious no news outlets should have even referenced the report. Unfortunately, many of our news organizations are on a vendetta to derail the presidency of Donald Trump.

The explosive Trump fairy tale became the major story of Trump’s news conference. It set the stage for a media showdown unlike any other since the combative Richard Nixon era.

Fortunately, at the news conference, Trump was in complete control and did not allow a rude and irritating Jim Acosta of CNN to ask a question. Acosta acted like a child by refusing to stop talking, continually interrupting Trump and trying to hijack the news conference.

Trump ignored Acosta’s loud complaining and labeled CNN “fake news.” Someone should have told Acosta that it was Trump’s news conference, not CNN’s news conference. Any politician, especially a President-Elect, has the right to direct his own news conference and select the reporters he wants to ask questions.

Acosta’s offensive conduct fits in perfectly on a network that regularly lambastes Donald Trump. CNN has a bevy of liberal hosts and guests and whenever the network gives a Trump supporter air time, he/she is outnumbered by liberal counterparts. To illustrate this left-wing bias, regular CNN contributor and avowed Communist Van Jones was given his own program this week.

Fortunately, viewers have options other than CNN, a network that has only a fraction of the audience of ratings leader Fox News. While it should be totally embarrassed, CNN is standing by their reporting of the Trump dossier and the antics of Jim Acosta. In response, Trump should ban CNN from his news conferences and make the liberal network even more irrelevant.

In his inaugural address, our nation’s 45^th President delivered a powerful populist message that reiterated many of the favorite themes from his successful campaign.

Obviously, our new President was sincere during his campaign and did not just recite popular themes to elicit votes. He does intend to give power back to the American people. In his 17-minute speech, President Trump accurately noted that “The establishment protected itself, but not the citizens of our country.” He promised that “The forgotten men and women of our country will be forgotten no longer.”

The election of Donald Trump was a complete rejection of the typical political games that have ruined Washington D.C. and caused misery throughout the country. The President noted the new approach by making a promise to the American people, vowing that “The time for empty talk is over. Now arrives the hour of action.”

After eight years of a smooth talker as President, thank goodness, the American people have Donald Trump, a man of action, in the White House.

Will President Trump deliver on his bold promises? Americans can take heart from the example of his presidential transition, the best in American history.

From the day of his election to the inauguration, Trump worked non-stop to deliver on his pledges to the struggling people of this country. His vow to “Make America Great Again,” was not just a slogan, but a true commitment to deliver hope and opportunity to a citizenry in need.

Despite constant media criticism and harassment, Trump assembled an outstanding cabinet filled with individuals of extraordinary talent. At first, he was criticized for taking too long with his appointments, but the rapidity of the selections easily outpaced recent administrations.

His critics also complained that he picked too many wealthy business magnates; however, these are exactly the type of people that the country requires right now. Our government desperately needs uniquely qualified people to lead departments that have been mismanaged for decades.

Trump understands the challenges we face. Instead of choosing a political hack like Hillary Clinton or John Kerry for the vital position of Secretary of State, he nominated former Exxon CEO Rex Tillerson, a businessman with sterling international credentials, who has dealt with leaders in over 50 countries and successfully guided one of the largest corporations in the world. If confirmed, Tillerson has the skill set to transform the bureaucratic morass at the State Department.

Most importantly, during this transition, Trump delivered on the promise of “jobs, jobs, jobs” for the American people, more than any other President-Elect in our nation’s history. Per author and financial executive Joe Hoft, Trump created or saved 1.2 million jobs in the transition period. If he was this successful as President-Elect, undoubtedly, Trump will be able to deliver great results for the American people as President.

Immediately after his election, Trump began earnestly negotiating for the American people. The stunning job announcements continued this week. General Motors disclosed a new investment of $1 billion in U.S. plants and plans to create a total of 7,000 new jobs over the next three years. This will include more than 450 new jobs that will be created when truck axle production moves from Mexico to Michigan.

On Tuesday, Walmart announced that the company will hire 34,000 new workers this year and open 59 new stores and 160 new specialized training academies for 225,000 of their employees. The overall investment will reach $6.8 billion in new capital projects for the upcoming fiscal year. According to Walmart Executive Vice President Dan Bartlett, these investments will “have a meaningful impact on the country.”

In another positive development, the Korean automaker Hyundai Motor Group announced this week a planned investment of $3.1 billion over the next five years and is reportedly considering building an automobile plant in the United States.

These business decisions have certainly been influenced by Trump’s rhetoric, negotiation skills and threats of a “big border tax” against automakers that manufacture vehicles in foreign countries, but sell them domestically. These same skills have been on display in the “massive cost reductions” that Trump negotiated “on military purchases and more.” Whether it is saving taxpayer money or creating American jobs, Trump is committed to deliver “big stuff” for the long-suffering people of this country.

This triumphant transition has been orchestrated by a newly elected President, unique in American history. Not only is Donald Trump the first billionaire to be elected President, but he is also the first non-politician to be elected since Dwight Eisenhower in 1952.

Trump has a distinctive style that is controversial and has created enemies within the political establishment of both parties, Hollywood and special interest groups and, of course, the media. These political adversaries did not support him during his campaign or his transition and they certainly will not support him during his presidency.

Moving forward, Donald Trump needs to continue to focus on his goals and deliver on his promises, regardless of the political obstacles. As President, he will undoubtedly have to go around his many opponents and frankly communicate with the American people on Twitter. Trump’s enemies hate his frequent use of social media, but this method of communication allows him to evade the media filters and political roadblocks and deal directly with the only group that should matter to our new President, the American people.

After an amazing transition and an inspiring inaugural address, the American people should feel very optimistic as our new President begins his quest to “Make America Great Again.”

During his unconventional race for the White House, President Donald Trump made many campaign promises to the voters. In his dozens of rallies and interviews, Trump often pledged that he would “Drain the Swamp” in Washington D.C. and implement “Extreme Vetting” of refugees trying to immigrate into the United States and, of course, pursue his overall campaign theme to “Make America Great Again” as President.

While these pledges were popular with his supporters, one stood above the rest, “Build the Wall” along the southern border of the United States with Mexico. This slogan really energized Trump crowds throughout the country and for good reason. For years, Americans have heard presidential candidates pledge to “secure the border,” but it was never backed up with concrete action.

Finally, in Donald Trump, the United States has a President who is following through on his campaign promises. On Wednesday, Trump signed an executive order authorizing the construction of the border wall. He also reiterated his vow to make Mexico pay for the wall. This stance led the Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto to cancel his planned visit to the White House next week.

Trump’s order is the most robust border security measure since the “Secure Fence Act” of 2006 was passed by Congress and signed by the President George W. Bush. Unfortunately, the funding was never allocated to finish the 700 miles of double fencing mandated in the law. In fact, only 36.3 miles of double fencing was constructed with the remaining areas secured by inadequate measures such as single fencing and vehicle barriers.

For decades, our southern border has remained basically wide open, enticing millions of illegal aliens to enter the United States and join the workforce while receiving tangible benefits provided by American taxpayers. Ironically, many of these taxpayers have been displaced from their jobs by illegal aliens who work for a lower salary, but receive tax free government assistance.

While most illegal aliens come to the United States to take advantage of better work opportunities, a significant portion are lured to this county to commit crimes. Per a Fox News survey, 13.6 percent of criminals who receive a sentence are illegal aliens, although they constitute only 3.5 percent of the U.S. population. President Trump frequently highlights the families of victims who have been killed by illegal aliens. This tragedy is made much worse by law enforcement officials in sanctuary cities that refuse to turn over criminals who are illegal aliens to federal immigration agents. Sadly, too many innocent people have been killed because of a reluctance of our local government officials to follow the law.

On Wednesday, Trump not only ordered “the immediate construction of a physical wall on the southern border,” but he also vowed to withhold funding for sanctuary cities. On Friday, Trump signed additional executive orders to tighten restrictions on refugees trying to enter the United States. In addition, the issuance of visas will be suspended for citizens of seven majority Muslim nations, including Libya and Syria, that are tied to terrorism.

Trump also announced plans to hire 5,000 more border patrol agents, triple the number of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents and end the “catch and release” policies for illegal immigrants.

In total, these actions are important to the millions of Americans who have been demanding action for many years. For the skeptics, it will only become reality when the wall construction begins. Regarding the wall, the United States will pay for the construction initially and use our leverage to force Mexico to reimburse us for the cost, estimated at between $12 and $15 billion.

One idea that was proposed this week is for the United States to institute a 20% border tax on Mexican imports; however, there are plenty of other potential funding mechanisms.

Along with the many economic and crime fighting benefits that will result from a secure border, there will also be enhanced homeland security against the threat of terrorism. A wide-open border is an invitation for enemies of the United States to launch terror attacks within our borders.

For these reasons and more, a border wall is vital for the security and economic prosperity of the United States. Congratulations to President Trump for taking a key first step to fulfill his campaign promise while keeping the pressure on Mexico to take responsibility for the crisis at the border. As the President tweeted on Friday, “Mexico has taken advantage of the US for long enough.”

Thank goodness, real change is finally here and not a moment too soon.

During the presidential campaign, several dozen brainless Hollywood stars were so upset at Donald Trump that they promised to leave the country if he won. Well, we are still waiting for them to do everyone a favor and exit stage left. Of course, they lied and continue to pollute the airwaves here in America.

Now that it is awards season for the movie industry, it has been non-stop criticism of our new President. At the Golden Globes Awards, Meryl Streep blasted President Trump for his supposedly hateful gesturing about a disabled reporter during the campaign. Never mind that the Trump gestures were like other ones he has made about a variety of non-disabled individuals. In addition, he denied it was directed at the reporter in question or meant as a sign of disrespect, but facts never get in the way of the Hollywood star making an idiotic statement.

At the crazy Women’s March on January 21, hundreds of thousands of people converged on Washington D.C. to hear from washed-up stars like Madonna. During her speech, she incredibly boasted that she had “thought an awful lot about blowing up the White House.” Later, she claimed that her comments were “taken out of context,” but if a star had made such an incendiary remark about the White House during President Obama’s administration, not only would there have been universal media and Hollywood condemnation, but it is also likely the individual would have been hauled in for questioning by the Secret Service.

The Women’s March also featured fading actress Ashley Judd, who repeatedly boasted of being a “nasty woman.” She used this opportunity for attention to launch into an unhinged seven-minute diatribe about Donald Trump, associating him with the KKK, the Confederacy and Nazis. When Hollywood stars or any leftists want to insult a conservative, especially Donald Trump, they will make a Nazi or Hitler reference. These hateful insults are completely inaccurate, downright offensive and make the Hollywood stars spewing such detestable slurs look totally ridiculous.

The Hollywood hate will not be stopping anytime soon. At the Screen Actors Guild awards, numerous stars, including host Ashton Kutcher, lambasted the President for his executive order suspending our refugee program for four months and completely restricting immigration during that time from citizens living in seven terror prone countries. Kutcher said that to those stuck at airports, “we love you and we welcome you.”

Obviously, Ashton does not care about homeland security or the safety of Americans. He is surely not concerned that the seven nations mentioned in the order are overrun with terrorist activity. In contrast to his nonchalance, millions of Americans are concerned about their safety and support the President’s directive. The results of a Reuters poll taken January 31 show that 49% of Americans support the President’s executive order on immigration, while only 41% disapprove. This is especially significant because it was taken after days of non-stop media bashing of the President’s actions.

Every day, there is another celebrity taking on President Trump. This week, elderly actor Robert DeNiro boasted on the liberal love fest “The View” that he wanted to “punch” President Trump “in the face.” If any Hollywood star had made such a threat to President Obama, their career would have been over immediately.

After liberal thugs rioted on Wednesday night at the University of California, Berkeley to protest a scheduled speech by of conservative writer and Breitbart editor Milo Yiannopoulos, several Hollywood stars tweeted their support. Filmmaker Judd Apatow said that it “just the beginning,” Comedian Sarah Silverman tweeted that with the support of the “military,” “Fascists get overthrown. Mad King and his handlers go bye.” Even though there was destruction of property and the free speech rights of a conservative commentator were denied, actress Debra Messing tweeted, “Resistance Works!”

Sadly, these Hollywood stars do not support free speech or our electoral system. They will not accept the results of the 2016 presidential election or the fact that Donald Trump won an electoral vote landslide, capturing 30 states.

As President Trump stated in his inaugural address, “now arrives the hour of action.” It is time for the 62.9 million Americans who voted for Donald Trump to use their considerable economic power. If every one of those voters decided to boycott Hollywood, the industry would totally collapse. It’s not like today’s movies are very good anyway as most have an obvious agenda that is both politically correct and obnoxiously liberal.

Since Trump voters are despised by Hollywood stars, why should they spend their hard-earned money to financially enrich such dimwitted liberals, who do nothing but condemn President Trump and his change oriented agenda.

By demeaning Trump and call him a “racist,” “Nazi,” and “white supremacist,” these Hollywood fools are also mocking his millions of supporters.

It is time for the backlash of Trump supporters to begin and for millions of Americans to say to Hollywood, “enough is enough.”

Friday, on the 38th anniversary of the 1979 Islamic revolution, thousands of Iranians demonstrated in Tehran. As usual, the crowd rallied against the “Great Satan,” yelling “Death to America.” They were burning the American flag and effigies of Donald Trump and stomping on the President’s picture.

Police and military personnel joined the protest this year which was focused on condemning Donald Trump and his agenda. The intensity of the anti-Americanism was particularly intense since President Trump issued sanctions against the country in response to their inter-continental ballistic missile test. The Trump administration declared that the test violated the 2015 nuclear agreement between the Iran and six world powers and United Nations Security Council Resolution 2231 that banned the country from “any activity related to ballistic missiles.” In response, the United States officially put Iran “on notice.” The Iranian regime ignored the President’s warning and promptly launched another ballistic missile test.

Unfortunately, the anti-Trump rally in Tehran bore some striking similarities with protests that have been organized in this country. After the election of Donald Trump on November 8, liberal organizations have been working non-stop to create unrest. One activist claimed that the goal was to make the country “ungovernable.” Thus, American flags have been burned, Trump supporters have been attacked, and the President has been threatened by numerous celebrities, activists and street thugs.

For example, two weeks ago in Berkeley, California demonstrators lit fires, threw firecrackers, broke windows, defaced property, yelled obscenities and prevented conservative commentator Milo Yiannopoulos from speaking to a Republican group. These activists obviously do not believe in the 1^st Amendment, our U.S. Constitution or free speech, so possibly they would be more comfortable in an Islamic dictatorship like Iran.

In both Berkeley and Tehran, demonstrators were spewing anti-American hate speech while being totally uninterested in recognizing opposing views. In Tehran, Iranian protesters waved posters of Donald Trump being punched. Similarly, in Berkeley and other cities, leftist demonstrators have demonized, ridiculed and threatened Donald Trump and his supporters. The protest at Berkeley was not an isolated incident. At the Women’s March in Washington D.C., Madonna claimed that she had thought about “blowing up the White House.”

In Tehran, demonstrators are controlled by radical Islamic clerics who encourage the anti-American protests every year. Iranians do not have the right to oppose these religious leaders for there are no free speech rights in their country. Based on a recent report by Reporters Without Borders, Iran ranked as the fifth worst country in the world in regards to free speech and freedom of the press. Instead of blaming Donald Trump for all their problems, these protesters should be demonstrating against their country’s tyrannical regime.

In the United States, the political left has exploded into violent protests since the election of Donald Trump as President. These leftist mobs are funded by George Soros, communist groups and other extremist organizations like Black Lives Matter.

The purpose of demonstrators in both Tehran and Berkeley is to bring about the destruction of our nation’s constitutional republic. Many of the Soros backed demonstrators want to overturn the election, impeach Donald Trump and disregard the vote of the people. These dangerous activities go against the history of our nation. One of our hallmarks has been the peaceful transfer of power from one administration to the next. In this case, crazed demonstrators are not accepting the results and acting in a very counterproductive manner that may have long range negative implications on this country.

In Iran, the mullahs want to spread terrorism and radical Islamic rule. The country is the largest supporter of terrorism in the world. There is irrefutable evidence that the Iranians fund terror groups such as Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Houthis in Yemen. Sadly, the recent nuclear agreement with the country included billions of dollars in payoffs that will be used to support more terrorism. In addition, the Iranian release of American prisoners was also accompanied by a $1.3 billion ransom. In effect, the outlaw regime was rewarded for unlawfully jailing innocent Americans.

One common thread in these demonstrations has been a hatred of President Donald Trump and his policies. After examining the dangerous goals of both groups, it is obvious that the President is on the right path.

In early 2009, conservative activists starting meeting across the country to organize the first Tea Party rallies and express their opposition to the left-wing agenda of President Barack Obama. Activists were most concerned about the biggest component of the President’s agenda: the socialized healthcare plan formally known as the Affordable Care Act, but referred to as Obamacare.

At that time, almost every Republican congressman or candidate for U.S. Congress that appeared at a Tea Party event promised to fight back against Obamacare if it was enacted. Unfortunately, one year later, on March 23, 2010, Obamacare was signed into law by the President. It passed without the support of one Republican member of Congress. The President promised bi-partisan cooperation and transparency and delivered neither.

Ever since that fateful day, Republican Party leaders have been vowing to repeal and replace Obamacare. When Americans became disgusted with Obama’s big government plans, they helped elect a GOP controlled House of Representatives in 2010. Republicans said they could not implement the changes they needed with control of only one half of Congress. Thus, voters delivered the U.S. Senate to the GOP in 2014.

Once they had control of the entire legislative branch of government, Republicans were still unable to deliver on long cherished conservative goals such as ending Obamacare, limiting amnesty for illegal aliens, stopping out of control federal spending, securing the border, limiting the negative impact of oppressive regulations or reversing the dismantling of our military.

Congressional Republicans lamented that nothing could be done to roll back the Obama programs and regulations without a Republican President. Amazingly, their wish was granted on November 8, 2016 and the American people elected a Republican President and bona fide change agent, Donald Trump.

The GOP faithful helped deliver remarkable victories for candidates who have been making promises for years. However, at this point, the time for promises is over and, as President Trump noted in the inaugural speech, “now arrives the hour of action.”

After six weeks of the new administration, Americans are still waiting for real congressional action. There should be no more excuses for congressional Republicans, but, incredibly, after eight long years, Republicans have still not agreed on a replacement plan for Obamacare. In fact, GOP congressional leaders are meeting in secret to decide on the details. This week, U.S. Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) was prevented from seeing this plan and was shut out of a House leadership meeting.

This drama is ridiculous and shows the failure of House GOP leadership to reach consensus on a repeal and replacement of Obamacare. Many conservatives worry that the final replacement plan will amount to little more than “Obamacare lite.” In fact, one plan being proposed by Senators Susan Collins (R-ME) and Bill Cassidy (R-LA) would allow states to keep Obamacare if they wanted.

The problem with this plan is that Republicans were not elected on a platform to keep Obamacare or even tinker with it; they were elected to completely dismantle it. From the outset, GOP voters have consistently been vocal in their distaste of Obamacare, which was sold to the American people as a lie. In fact, the overwhelming majority of polls have shown that most Americans dislike Obamacare, a plan that has led to higher healthcare premiums, higher deductibles, fewer health insurance choices and an individual mandate that force millions of Americans to buy a product, health insurance, that they do not want.

Clearly, Republicans in Congress were elected in November to work with President Trump and enact changes such as repealing Obamacare. While the President has delivered on his promises with strong executive orders and excellent cabinet appointments, the GOP Congress has been a major disappointment.

As Americans wait for the Republican led Congress to finalize the Obamacare replacement plan, legislative action on much needed individual and corporate tax cuts has been delayed. There is also the nagging issue of Trump cabinet appointments. While 18 cabinet members have finally been confirmed, four of his picks remain in limbo with hearings yet to be scheduled. The President also has almost 600 other positions that need to be confirmed by the Senate.

All of this should not be a surprise since the Republican Party’s track record is very poor. The last time the GOP had control of both the White House and Congress was between 2003 and 2007. During that time, President George W. Bush and Congress used their power not to limit government, but to expand the reach and scope of the federal bureaucracy.

In that four-year period, the federal debt exploded, government entitlement programs were expanded and no significant spending limits were enacted. During the Bush years, the country embarked on a “war on terrorism” in multiple countries that was launched in response to the horrific 9/11 attacks that killed almost 3,000 innocent people. In the military campaign that continues, 6,982 Americans have been killed on the battlefield, and almost 800,000 American heroes have been either physically injured, suffered traumatic brain injury or afflicted with combat related depression or post-traumatic stress disorder.

After 15+ years of military engagement, the cost to the taxpayers has been over $6 trillion. Today, Afghanistan and Iraq are still war zones with a strong presence of terrorist activity and the jihadist organization, ISIS, has operations in over 30 countries.

The GOP failures during the George W. Bush years contributed to the victory of the most liberal President of all-time, Barack Obama. This time, Republicans need to deliver on their mandate or they will rightfully be sent packing by the American people once again.

It has been many years since late night television comedy was enjoyable. Its heyday was during the Johnny Carson era when Americans were entertained by a host with tremendous skill. Carson was a true talent who combined great humor with impeccable timing. The Tonight Show featured the best guests and a host who knew how to hold an audience. Carson did not have to stoop to crude humor and he did not alienate Republicans or Democrats, for he made fun of politicians from both parties in equal doses. Johnny Carson was not known as a liberal or a conservative, only the best late night comedy host of all-time.

When Carson was replaced by Jay Leno there was a tremendous uproar from fans of David Letterman; however, the choice was the right one. Leno provided audiences with good-natured humor and he delivered excellent ratings, winning the battle against Letterman for most of his 22 years on the air. While Letterman turned off many viewers with his liberal slant, Leno was quite similar to Carson, fairly making fun of both Republicans and Democrats.

Today, there are no more late night comics in the mold of Leno or Carson. The entire line-up of current late night comedians is solidly liberal.

In the last month, the new ratings king of late night comedy is Stephen Colbert, who is on a hot streak after non-stop Donald Trump bashing for the past few months. This is bringing in younger viewers, while sacrificing older and more conservative viewers.

The only difference between Colbert and the other liberal hosts such as Jimmy Fallon and Jimmy Kimmel is the intensity of his attacks against Trump. In fact, in a recent segment, Colbert compared Trump to the cannibalistic character from “Silence of the Lambs,” Hannibal Lecter.

This type of outrageous mockery was never done by comedians during the Obama years. In fact, most comedians fawned over Barack Obama and gave him an eight-year pass, even though there was plenty of material they could have used. Now that a Republican is in the Oval Office again, it is a comic open season on the presidency.

Unfortunately, comedians are not limiting their vile attacks to Trump. For example, so-called comedian Samantha Bee, host of the TBS show Full Frontal, targeted young attendees of the Conservative Political Action Conference on a recent show. In one segment, her correspondent mocked the “Nazi” haircuts of several of the young men participating in the conference.

The problem for Bee was that one of the victims of her mean-spirited insult was Kyle Coddington, a young man battling stage 4 brain cancer. When Coddington’s sister defended her brother online, Bee apologized and made an online donation of $1,000 to an account raising funds for his cancer treatment.

Clearly a small donation and belated apology was the least that Bee could do after such a vicious attack on an unsuspecting and courageous young man. He should have been praised for attending the conference while battling cancer, not ridiculed. While Bee apologized to Coddington, she did not express any regrets for insulting the other young men who were lampooned.

In effect, her show’s reporter called a bunch of young people attending a conservative conference “Nazis.” Their crime was to sport a closely cropped haircut, a style that has also been worn by plenty of liberal celebrities such as actor Brad Pitt and singer Macklemore.

Bee’s “Nazi” comedy is typical of what is constantly offered by untalented leftist comedians. They often use terms such as “Nazi,” or “Fascist” when referring to conservatives and they love comparing Donald Trump to Adolph Hitler or other monsters such as Hannibal Lecter. These insults only drive away millions of Americans who might otherwise watch their programs. Why would any conservative watch a program that is going to incessantly trash their President and their political movement?

It is no surprise that audiences for these late-night comedy shows today is much smaller than it was just five years ago, and less than half the audience size that watched Johnny Carson a generation ago. In Carson’s last year, an average of 6.5 million viewers watched his program nightly, while an average of just 3 million people watch Colbert’s lame show today.

If the late-night hosts continue with this type of “comedy,” they will be preaching to an ever-smaller choir of liberals. Too bad all the other television networks are also operated by liberals. If one of these networks had any common sense, it would offer counter programming.

How about a conservative on late night television? Unquestionably, such a comedian, or even a fair one like Carson or Leno, would draw great ratings. Sadly, these network executives are more committed to their liberalism than drawing viewers or making money.

On the morning of March 16, a 14-year old girl was allegedly raped by two illegal aliens in a high school bathroom in Rockville, Maryland. One of the alleged rapists, Henry Sanchez-Milian, is an adult, 18 years old, while the other suspect, Jose O. Montano, is 17-years old. They have been charged with first-degree rape and two counts of first-degree sexual offense for allegedly dragging the young girl into the boys’ bathroom, sexually assaulting her and forcing her to perform sexual acts.

This incident has shocked the nation and exposed the dangers of open borders and lax immigration enforcement. By allowing millions of illegal aliens into this country, the safety of law abiding Americans has been put at risk. Daily, tragic stories are reported of Americans being victimized by illegal aliens. This case is even more disturbing for the victim is an innocent 14-year old girl.

Conditions are so dire that Maryland Governor Larry Hogan, a Republican, said to all parents in his state that their children are potentially at risk. He said, “I am not sure I can give assurances that their children will be safe.” The Governor expressed his outrage that “an 18-year old man” was in the same class as 13 and 14-year old girls.” He said the “status” of Sanchez-Milian was not known to the Rockville High School parents.

Hogan also condemned he attitude of public school officials in Montgomery County, Maryland who administer Rockville High School. The Governor said that there was a “lack of cooperation” and a “lack of information” from the Montgomery County school system.

Another pressing issue involves the county’s sanctuary policies which protect illegal aliens. According to Fox News, in 2016, the county disallowed 63 accused illegal alien criminals from being turned over to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials. Montgomery County is among many sanctuary areas in the country which refuse to work with federal immigration authorities to deport illegal immigrants. Hogan said that the sanctuary policies were “a big part of the problem.”

Regrettably, the message has not been received by Dr. Jack Smith, the Superintendent of the Montgomery County school district. Instead of focusing solely on the plight of the victim and the safety of children in his district, Smith blasted the response from parents and warned against “racist, xenophobic calls and emails.” He was upset at the anger directed at his office from parents rightly concerned about the well-being of their children. Sadly, the Superintendent placed his focus on maintaining politically correct sanctuary policies instead of taking corrective action in his district.

In the aftermath of the incident, parents staged protests outside Smith’s office and expressed their concerns at a public meeting. Not surprisingly, the major broadcast networks ignored the story, with only Fox News giving it significant coverage.

This tragic incident also highlights the problems of coddling immigrants who illegally cross the border. Sanchez-Milian is from Guatemala and was captured by border patrol agents in August of 2016 at Rio Valley Grande, Texas. Instead of being immediately deported, he was detained for 12 days and eventually released. ICE allowed him to fly to Baltimore, Maryland to live with his father. In the fall, he was enrolled at Rockville High School and only a few months later he is accused of brutalizing and raping a 14-year-old girl who will be traumatized for the rest of her life.

At the time of his ICE release, Sanchez-Milian was ordered to appear before an immigration judge; however, after seven months, the hearing has still not occurred. If he had been deported, this travesty would never have occurred.

His attorney, Andrew Jezic, said that Sanchez-Milian was released because the inflow of illegal immigrants is too great for federal authorities to handle. According to Jezic, “There’s been so many people that have come through the border that are underage in the last year, so what happened is that immigration just doesn’t have the resources to deal with all of these people coming in.”

Jezic believes that the massive influx of illegal immigrants has also caused significant delays in scheduling the court hearings. Thus, in the case of Sanchez-Milian, what should have been handled in short order, has taken more than seven months.

This has resulted in not only a delay in justice, but also a horrific act of violence. It is a sad reminder that forceful action in dealing with illegal immigration is essential for the safety of all Americans, especially those who are most vulnerable, our children.

After eight years of promises and countless rallies and fundraising letters, Republicans failed in their foremost mission of repealing and replacing Obamacare. Instead of collaborating with Republican congressional colleagues to achieve a healthcare bill with consensus support, House GOP leadership worked behind closed doors to craft an unpopular piece of legislation that was supported by only 17% of the American people.

When the bill was unable to achieve the needed 216 votes, House Speaker Paul Ryan pulled the bill after consulting with President Trump. Immediately thereafter, the President blamed Democrats for their united opposition to the bill. Democrats know how disastrous Obamacare has been to millions of Americans, but were unwilling to work with the GOP leadership and President Trump on a replacement plan.

Instead they were united in voting against the American Health Care Act (AHCA), otherwise known as “Ryancare.” The only alternative offered by Democrats was to patch together a “fix” of Obamacare. This is directly counter to what President Trump and almost every Republican congressional candidate promised in 2016 campaign.

Obviously, the President will not get anywhere trying to deal with a party that is working overtime to thwart his reform agenda. Liberal firebrand Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA) has already called for the President’s impeachment. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) recently said the President has “done nothing” since taking office and has labeled Trump the “deflector in chief” for not answering enough questions about his supposed connection to Russia.

With Democrats incensed that Donald Trump won the election and trying to undermine him at every turn, it was indeed curious to notice overtures to the Democrats in recent days from both the President and Sean Spicer, his Press Secretary. On Monday, Spicer said that the President was “absolutely” serious about working with Democrats on a new healthcare bill. Nevertheless, such collaboration is impossible for the Democrats want to mend Obamacare and the President wants to end it.

This well publicized outreach to the Democrats is just a presidential ploy. Donald Trump is the master negotiator and his offer is pure posturing. The author of The Art of the Deal is really trying to bring over Republicans to support a healthcare bill by threatening to work with Democrats.

Donald Trump knows that if he compromises his principles and betrays his campaign promises to complete a deal with the Democrats he will suffer the same fate as former President George H. W. Bush. In his 1988 presidential campaign, Bush promised “Read my lips, no new taxes.” Unfortunately, after winning the presidency, Bush broke his pledge and worked with Democrats on a tax increase. In the next election, the voters abandoned Bush and he lost his re-election bid to a previously unknown huckster, Arkansas Governor Bill Clinton.

In the 2016 campaign, Trump was adamant that Obamacare must be repealed and replaced. He clearly realizes that Democrats do not share his goals or outlook on not only Obamacare, but also on almost every major problem facing the nation.

This week, the President also criticized the Freedom Caucus for their opposition to the AHCA; however, this was also a negotiating tactic. He knows the Freedom Caucus is his true ally and among his strongest supporters, but he is using his bully pulpit to whip the GOP together to save this issue for his party.

The good news is that the Republican Party is not that far apart on the issue. Freedom Caucus Chairman Congressman Mark Meadows (R-NC) said that if the GOP leadership will consent to eliminate just two more of the 12 Obamacare mandates, the “vast majority” of his membership will agree to the AHCA.

With the two groups, so close to an agreement, the President and the Speaker should convene a Republican congressional meeting to forge a final consensus bill. It is crucial that this issue be addressed for without an Obamacare replacement, Republicans cannot move on to tax reform or the other major agenda items. If they fail on this issue, they will lose seats in the mid-term election and it will torpedo the President’s re-election chances in 2020.

Obamacare is imploding with premiums continuing to rise and insurance companies continuing to withdraw from offering coverage in states across the nation.

It is essential that the GOP come back together and revisit the healthcare issue as soon as possible. The stakes are very high, not only for the American people, but also for the future of the Republican Party.

With the successful missile strike against a Syrian air base last night, President Donald Trump has accomplished many important goals. He has sent a pointed message to the world’s dictators that the use of chemical weapons will not be tolerated. In vigorously responding to atrocities committed by Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad, the President has distinguished himself from the weakness of Barack Obama, who drew a “red line,” but flinched and refused to respond to Assad militarily.

The President acted less than 72 hours after Assad used chemical weapons to attack a rebel held area, Idlib Province. It was a decisive response that reassured American allies and sent a clear signal to our enemies, such as North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un, that this President will not hesitate to use military action if necessary.

Another definite result of the President’s military order is that the fantasy about Russian collusion in the 2016 election has been shattered to smithereens. A President dangerously influenced by Russia would never have taken such strong military action against Syria, a close Kremlin ally. Furthermore, after nine months of a fruitless investigation, no evidence has been produced that Trump campaign operatives colluded with Russian officials to steal the election from Hillary Clinton.

While there was no viable way that Russians tampered with voting machines throughout the country, there is also no guarantee that Russians hacked into the email accounts of the Democratic National Committee or Clinton Campaign Chairman John Podesta. In fact, Wikileaks founder Julian Assange repeatedly stated that Russian hackers were not his sources for the emails. Whether there was Russian involvement or not, it is questionable what impact, if any, these disclosures had on the voting public.

If the Russians had supported any candidate in the last election, it would surely have been Hillary Clinton. As Secretary of State, she advocated a “reset” of Russian relations and spoke very positively of helping the government. In a March 24, 2010 interview, Hillary told Russian journalist Vladimir Posner that “our goal is to strengthen Russia.”

Even more damming is the fact that during Clinton’s tenure the U.S. State Department gave approval for the Russian State Atomic Energy Corporation to purchase a controlling interest in a Canadian company, Uranium One, that had billions of dollars in assets, including control of 20% of our country’s uranium capacity.

Uranium is used in nuclear weapons and reactors and it is vital resource for any country, such as Russia, looking to rebuild their economy and military. While Hillary was green lighting Russia’s return to greatness, Bill Clinton was cashing in with fervor, receiving $500,000 to speak at a Moscow summit. The family foundation also did quite well, according to Clinton Cash author Peter Schweizer. He said that “shareholders” involved in the Uranium One transaction “transferred approximately $145 million to the Clinton Foundation or its initiatives.”

During President Obama’s first term, while Hillary Clinton was Secretary of State, and during his second term, the Russians were never seriously challenged by the United States. Obviously, the country’s leaders were pleased at the lenient treatment by the Obama administration. They used the opportunity to grow in influence in the Middle East, establish a stronghold in Syria, destabilize Ukraine and invade Crimea, annexing the region. In the process, Clinton and Obama did nothing to stop them.

In contrast, Trump campaigned on a unambiguous platform of rebuilding our military. Under the leadership of Barack Obama, the U.S. military suffered tremendously with dangerous cuts to all branches of the military, resulting in our country’s smallest armed forces since before World War II.

To counteract this decline, President, Trump has called for a $54 billion increase in defense spending. Clearly, Russian President Vladimir Putin would be much more comfortable dealing with a President Hillary Clinton than a President Trump, who acted decisively yesterday and signaled to the world that he is no one’s puppet. Last night, President Trump acted in the national security interest of the United States, not at the behest of Russia or another country.

A puppet of Putin would not have launched the devastating attack on a Syrian air base, a strong move that obviously upset and rattled the Russians. With President Obama in the White House, Assad’s chemical weapons attack was met by only rhetoric, while President Trump responded to Assad’s use of chemical weapons with impressive military might.

Hopefully, this missile strike will convince the Democrats to end their Russian collusion witch hunt, which is only making their party and the liberal media look ridiculous. It is also distracting Congress from accomplishing more important goals such as repealing and replacing Obamacare, cutting taxes, securing our nation’s borders and rebuilding our military.

With the release of an American charity worker Aya Hijazi, who was unjustly imprisoned in an Egyptian prison for three years, President Trump’s innovative approach to the Middle East has been vindicated. For weeks, Trump administration officials had been working behind the scenes to secure the release of Ms. Hijazi, her husband and four other humanitarian aid workers. The administration was working to fulfill President Trump’s directive to bring the group back home to the United States.

The negotiations paid off this week when all criminal charges were dropped and the Americans were given permission to leave Egypt and return home to the United States. The President sent his military aide Air Force Major Wes Spurlock to personally oversee the transfer of the former prisoners to American custody. On Friday, the President welcomed Ms. Hijazi to the White House and praised her “great strength” during her time in prison.

In contrast to this successful negotiation, the Obama administration completely failed in their efforts to obtain Hijazi’s freedom. Of course, their failure makes perfect sense for the Obama administration was quite hostile toward Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, who overthrew the Muslim Brotherhood backed regime of Mohamed Morsi.

Despite the documented ties between the Muslim Brotherhood and terrorism, Morsi was strongly supported by Obama with military hardware and generous financial assistance. The President’s stance toward Egypt changed dramatically in 2013 when the people of Egypt protested in the streets and drove Morsi from power. Currently, Morsi is in an Egyptian prison facing charges of conspiring with a variety of foreign groups to commit terrorist acts.

In his four years in office, President Sisi has aggressively fought terrorist elements in his country. Instead of being rewarded, President Obama shut off all funding and military support to Egypt. Historically, Egypt received military assistance totaling more than $1 billion per year, ranking as the second largest recipient behind Israel.

After four years of icy relations, thankfully, the relationship is improving between the United States and Egypt. Under President Obama, Sisi was banned from the White House, but, earlier this month, he was given a very warm reception by the new administration. President Trump said that the United States was “very much behind” the Sisi government and he praised his Egyptian counterpart for “doing a fantastic job in a very difficult situation.” Once again, the United States is providing military and financial assistance to Egypt. Clearly, this fresh approach toward President Sisi paid handsome dividends with the release of Aya Hijazi, her husband and the other aid workers.

Ironically, during the campaign, Clinton supporters ridiculed Donald Trump for his lack of foreign policy experience. Democrats and their supporters in the media claimed that Trump would lead the United States in a very dangerous direction. Instead, the President has demonstrated impressive skill in navigating the turbulent waters of foreign policy and national security.

The American people are responding positively and his poll numbers have certainly improved since he acted decisively in striking the Syrian government for using chemical weapons. His attack in Syria sent a strong signal to the Syrian government and the Russians that the use of chemical weapons would not be tolerated.

He authorized our commanders in Afghanistan to take appropriate action in the fight against Islamic terrorism. Thus, the largest non-nuclear bomb in our arsenal, the dreaded “Mother of All Bombs (MOAB),” was dropped on a network of tunnels used by ISIS terrorists to escape to Pakistan. This successful bombing killed approximately 100 terrorists, but not one innocent civilian.

As South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) noted, “there’s a new sheriff in town.” Unlike Barack Obama, President Trump is demonstrating staunch support for the military and has requested a spending increase of over $54 billion.

While President Obama waffled over his “red line” in Syria and failed to act, Trump is acting assertively in dealing with the threats in the Middle East. He is also signaling a new approach toward North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un by sending the USS Carl Vinson, a Nimitz-class aircraft carrier, and a flotilla of ships towards the communist nation. President Trump also dispatched Vice President Mike Pence to South Korea to send a strong signal to the North Korean dictator.

In sum, these new foreign policy and military actions by the President are paying serious dividends for the American people. It is refreshing to have a President who no longer will apologize for our country and is not afraid to utilize American military power if necessary. As we discovered during the Reagan administration, the best way to keep the peace is to project American strength. This is a lesson our new President, unlike his predecessor, seems to understand very well

It is quite ironic that the liberal Democrat Mayor of New Orleans, Mitch Landrieu, is trying to erase uncomfortable parts of the city’s rich history while simultaneously preparing to celebrate the tri-centennial next year. A world-renowned city known for priceless architecture and monuments is becoming less interesting, all because of Landrieu’s insatiable political aspirations.

The march toward political correctness began early Monday morning at 1:30 a.m. as masked men in unmarked vehicles with no license plates removed the Liberty Place Monument. It will be the first of four Confederate monuments removed in New Orleans. All of them were declared “nuisances” by the New Orleans City Council in a 6-1 vote after unrelenting pressure from Landrieu. The Liberty Place monument is now being stored in an unknown location. The Mayor has not announced any final plans on what will happen to the monuments or the sites where they were displayed.

There was no transparency in this action as the public has not been informed who paid for the removal or what company was involved. In fact, the Mayor used public employees for this project, a questionable use of public resources for a cash strapped city.

Several members of the New Orleans Fire Department were involved, including Superintendent Tim McConnell. This has infuriated the rank and file of the Fire Department, who will be protesting in front of the Fire Department headquarters Saturday morning. According to New Orleans Fire Fighters Association President Nick Felton, McConnell’s actions have “eroded the morale” of the department.

Interestingly, it is a violation of Louisiana law to wear a mask in public when it is not Mardi Gras or Halloween, but, of course, Mayor Landrieu has no concern with the law. He is hell bent on becoming the Mayor who removed the Confederate monuments. Never mind that his four African American predecessors did not bother with such an agenda. Presumably, they were more worried about the real problems facing New Orleans, such as the poor economy, the horrible infrastructure and the need to improve public safety.

The monuments will be removed because of the agenda of one man, Mayor Landrieu. He forced this divisive issue on the people of New Orleans not because of a groundswell of support or the vote of the people. In fact, polls show that removing the monuments has only lukewarm support in New Orleans and is very unpopular statewide. Not surprisingly, in a city with a 50%+ unemployment rate among African American men and a high violent crime rate, people are more concerned about other issues.

Mayor Landrieu embraced this controversy to divert attention from the serious problems that he has not come close to solving. He announced his campaign in the summer of 2015 in the aftermath of a shooting tragedy in South Carolina. He used an unrelated mass shooting of African American churchgoers as the rationale to remove the four Confederate monuments in New Orleans.

Surely, he embarked on this politically correct crusade to score points in the Democrat Party and possibly to further his political career in this city or state. He may have hoped for huge support for the monument removal issue and to change the city charter, which would have allowed him to serve for a third term. Fortunately, there was no voter enthusiasm for more of Mitch Landrieu as Mayor.

Statewide, his obsession with removing monuments has harmed his political standing and he has no possibility for higher office. With Hillary Clinton thankfully losing, he was not tapped for a cabinet position or another high-ranking government position. Thus, after his mayoral term ends next year, he will be left with options such as becoming a lobbyist or taking a position with a liberal think tank.

When the history books are written on the Landrieu administration, the verdict will certainly be negative. As Mayor, Landrieu presided over a city ranked as the Murder Capital of the nation. He decimated the police department and the officer ranks declined by 500 or more during his tenure.

The rate of violence has significantly increased near the end of his term with a dysfunctional criminal justice system and a District Attorney’s office that the Mayor refuses to fully fund. While he can find resources to take down Confederate monuments, he will not fund an office dedicated to keeping criminals off the streets of New Orleans. It is quite a pathetic insight into his mayoral priorities.

New census data shows that the population of New Orleans is now declining for the first time since the year after Hurricane Katrina. Who can blame people for not wanting to live in an unsafe city with horrible streets conditions led by a Mayor who is primarily concerned about his political ambitions?

This week, Mayor Landrieu was interviewed by MSNBC’s liberal host, Rachel Maddow. While it was a meeting of the minds on the Confederate monument issue, the interview mostly exposed the unquenchable desire of Mayor Landrieu for national attention.

The next monument may be removed at any time, probably at 1:30 a.m. one morning very soon. While supporters of the monuments continue to hold vigils at the sites, a secret crew of contractors and firemen are training to fulfill the Mayor’s next demand.

If the Mayor is so confident that this is the correct path to pursue, he should remove the monuments in broad daylight and let everyone know who is involved. The secrecy and timing of these activities is very revealing. In fact, it is reminiscent of the old saying, “Nothing good happens after midnight.” Certainly, this is true today in New Orleans under the leadership of egomaniacal Mayor Mitch Landrieu.

Jeff Crouere is a native New Orleanian and his award winning program, “Ringside Politics,” airs locally at 7:30 p.m. on Fridays and at 10:00 p.m. Sundays on PBS television station WLAE-TV, Channel 32, and from 7:00 a.m. until 11:00 a.m. weekdays on radio station WGSO 990 AM & www.Wgso.com. He is the author of “America’s Last Chance,” and provides regular commentaries on the Jeff Crouere YouTube channel and on www.JeffCrouere.com. For more information, email him at jeff@jeffcrouere.com

The post CROUERE: NOLA’s Left-Wing Mayor Declares War On History appeared first on The Hayride.

It has been six months since the political world was rocked to its core with the upset election of Donald Trump as President. One person who has not gotten over Trump’s victory is his opponent, Hillary Clinton.

Of course, in the days before the election, almost every pollster and commentator predicted a Clinton victory. She was overconfident and believed the media spin. Incredibly, she was outperformed by a political novice, who won 306 electoral votes in 31 states, an unexpected landslide.

This week, in an interview with Christiane Amanpour of CNN, Clinton blamed the loss on “the combination of Jim Comey’s letter on October 28 and “Russian WikiLeaks.”

Obviously, Hillary Clinton prefers fantasy to the harsh political reality of her disastrous campaign. She said, “I was on the way to winning” until these supposedly disastrous circumstances united to derail her candidacy. It is quite convenient for Hillary to blame everyone else but herself.

Hillary claimed that Comey’s letter and WikiLeaks disclosures were critical factors that “raised doubts in the minds of people who were inclined to vote for me but got scared off,” For good measure, she also blamed misogyny, using the sexism card once again.

Of course, this is pure nonsense, a web of fantasy woven by a sore loser. The day after the interview, President Trump tweeted “FBI Director Comey was the best thing that ever happened to Hillary Clinton in that he gave her a free pass for many bad deeds!” Comey could have recommended an indictment of Clinton, but he refused to pursue charges, even though he castigated her for “extremely careless” handling of top secret email communications.

The WikiLeaks disclosures exposed the Clinton campaign using improper influence with the Democratic National Committee and the media to steal the party’s nomination away from U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders (D-VT). Without such unfair advantages, Clinton may have lost the nomination to a 74-year old socialist, an amazing situation for a candidate with so many advantages, including having a former President as a husband.

In her imaginary world of victimhood, Clinton now wants to galvanize opposition to Donald Trump. Reports have surfaced that next week, she will officially launch a new organization called “Onward Together.” She wants to capitalize on the motivated leftwing activism protesting the President. Her supposed new mission can be summarized in her recent statement to supporters, “let resistance plus persistence equal progress for our party and our country.”

Ironically, many of the left-wing activists challenging the President are supporters of Bernie Sanders and not Hillary Clinton. They realize how horrible a candidate Hillary Clinton was in both of her losing presidential campaigns, 2008 and 2016. Thus, even though Hillary is becoming “part of the resistance,” it is not clear how warmly the hardcore liberal activists will welcome her.

Notwithstanding her rhetoric and blame shifting, Clinton did not lose because of outside influences, she lost because she was a horrible candidate with an unpleasant personality. She does not exude warmth or empathy like her husband, in fact, she has a reputation for being the “Queen of Mean.” For example, numerous security officers who served in her protection detail in both Arkansas and the White House claim she is a nasty person with a horrible temper. This anger and selfishness was also apparent on the 2016 campaign trail.

It is not surprising that during her race against Donald Trump, she did not connect with the millions of average Americans who struggled during the Obama years. These voters in the Rust Belt and other areas of the country were looking for a champion and they found that in the candidacy of Donald Trump, not Hillary Clinton.

Clinton spent over $1.2 billion in the general election, outspending Trump 2-1. Even though she possessed this incredible paid media advantage and the so-called objective news media were totally behind her, Clinton still lost to her underdog opponent.

Today, Democrats continue to obsess over a supposed Russian-Trump connection. This exercise in futility is a diversion from the soul searching the party should be doing to understand their historic loss.

It is obvious that Hillary and her party will do almost anything rather than examine their own failings. Instead of looking in the mirror, they prefer focusing on a make-believe world of conspirators and political opponents plotting to deny their candidate her long overdue victory.

While some Americans might like to believe this fairy tale, most prefer reality. In the real world, the only person to blame for the Democrat Party’s embarrassing loss is Hillary Clinton.

Jeff Crouere is a native New Orleanian and his award winning program, “Ringside Politics,” airs locally at 7:30 p.m. on Fridays and at 10:00 p.m. Sundays on PBS television station WLAE-TV, Channel 32, and from 7:00 a.m. until 11:00 a.m. weekdays on radio station WGSO 990 AM & www.Wgso.com. He is the author of America’s Last Chance and provides regular commentaries on the Jeff Crouere YouTube channel and on www.JeffCrouere.com. For more information, email him at jeff@jeffcrouere.com

The post CROUERE: Hillary Clinton Has To Be The Sorest Loser In History appeared first on The Hayride.

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