WEST WING MHI Daily

The Border Asylum Crisis “A genuine crisis is building at the southern border as the perverse incentives of U.S. asylum law invite a surge of migrants that is overwhelming border security,” The Wall Street Journal editorial board writes. “Immigration has picked up over the last year as word has spread that parents with children who claim asylum can stay for years and perhaps forever . . . At the current rate, border apprehensions will exceed one million this year—the most since 2006—as human smugglers become more ambitious and reduce prices to entice more migrants.” Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Kevin McAleenan said last week that the border has hit “a breaking point” amid a rush of families from Central America. More than a strong U.S. economy is driving this influx. Between 2000 and 2017, apprehensions dropped.

Media amplified Schiff’s voice, shouted down the truth “The job of newspapers was once to ‘comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable.’ Today, that job seems to be to give voice to liars and shout down the truth,” Charles Hurt writes in The Washington Times. “No one has been given more airtime and ink to spread his lies than Rep. Adam Schiff, California Democrat, chairman of the House Intelligence Committee and chief prevaricator. That anyone this dishonest is allowed to hold a position of such importance and power in Congress tells you all you need to know about Washington these days.” It also explains how a vulgar outsider and political novice like Donald Trump won the election in 2016. Sure, Mr. Schiff should step down from the committee chairmanship. He also should be stripped of all security clearances by Democratic leadership. Don’t hold your breath. In reality, he should be kicked out of office. By the good people of California’s 28th Congressional District. Conservatives should dump him for all the obvious reasons. Democrats should dump him for lying to them so relentlessly for the past two years. But the lying politicians are not the only ones deserving our contempt and scorn. Merchants of lies in the media deserve even more contempt and scorn. The New York Times and The Washington Post led the way. Dunces at CNN and MSNBC trotted right behind. Used to be that reporters took enormous pride in the depth of their skepticism. They would talk about how finely tuned their “BS-detectors” are. They had a nose for when somebody was peddling lies. All that evaporated in the Age of Trump, when anything goes — so long as it slimes the president.

Vice President Mike Pence: Returning to the moon in five years is a goal worthy of America In Fox News, Vice President Mike Pence writes that President Trump’s mission for NASA to return to the moon in five years is a worthy goal for America. At the president’s direction, federal regulators are modernizing out-of-date rules to unleash America’s innovative space companies. We are partnering with them to create new technologies to explore space farther, faster, and at a lower cost to the taxpayer. And to protect these vital investments in space, the president has taken executive action – and called on Congress – to establish the sixth branch of our Armed Forces: The United States Space Force. “The president believes that, to be worthy of our great nation, our space program must pursue great things, including, above all, being the first nation to send astronauts to the moon in the 21st Century. And our administration will do whatever it takes to succeed.” If the Washington Post’s Editorial Board believes that sending the first woman or the next man to the moon is not worth the cost – or that there’s nothing to be gained – that would likely put it at odds with the vast majority of Americans who welcome the president’s commitment to renewed American leadership in human space exploration.

Michael Knowles: Trump’s best week ever – Dems’ politics of fantasy collapse “Conservatives have not had so triumphant a week since the fall of the Berlin Wall,” Michael Knowles writes for Fox News. “The past two years have offered many successes, from President Trump’s victory in 2016 to the successful confirmation of Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court. But none so thoroughly demolished so dominant a leftist narrative as the collapse of the Russia collusion hoax.”The week’s subsequent triumphs only further vindicated the central conservative consolation, more comforting than any discreet political victory: reality, eventually, reasserts itself. During a 1963 speech before the Irish Parliament, President John F. Kennedy quoted the playwright George Bernard Shaw. “Other people,” said Kennedy, “see things and say, ‘Why?’ But I dream things that never were, and I say, ‘Why not?’” Kennedy’s brother Robert liked the line so much he made it the theme of his 1968 campaign for president. Countless Democrats have since regurgitated the quotation, all apparently unaware that the line comes from Shaw’s play Back To Methuselah, and the serpent utters it to tempt Eve in the Garden of Eden. The left relies upon the politics of fantasy to tempt voters. Some see President Trump’s victory in 2016 and ask, “Why?” Others dream Russian collusion that never was and ask, “Why not?” According to the politics of fantasy, mankind is on the verge of perfectibility, if only we give the government just a little bit more money and power. The world will end in a dozen years if we fail to pass a freshman congresswoman’s first bill. “Some men have uteruses,” insists Planned Parenthood, the same left-wing behemoth that denies the humanity of human babies. The major television networks, ABC, CBS, and NBC, promoted the Russia collusion narrative for a combined 2,285 minutes, according to the Media Research Center. That comes out to an average of three minutes per night for 791 consecutive nights. Left-wing cable networks peddled the lie nearly 24 hours per day. Current and former high-ranking government officials accused the president of treason. None of it had any basis in reality. The politics of fantasy offers the left a significant short-term advantage, appealing variously to voters’ fears, desires, perversions, and pride. It contrives any narrative, abides any lie, and courts any convenience – truth be damned. In the long run, however, those who trade reality for fantasy make a deal with the Devil, and the Devil will have his due.

Poll: 50% of Hispanic voters approve of Trump, GOP regains ballot lead “As President Trump doubles down on his pledge to build a southern border wall, Hispanics are showing broad support for him, according to a new survey,” Paul Bedard reports for the Washington Examiner. “Some 50 percent of Hispanics approve of the president’s job, according to the latest McLaughlin & Associates poll of likely general election voters.”What’s more, the Republican Party has regained its edge over Democrats in the generic congressional ballot. Pollsters John and Jim McLaughlin suggested that with the end of the Russia collusion probe aiding the president and Republicans, they are poised to come back in the poll and win re-election in 2020. “The results of this new national poll show that President Trump and the Republicans are poised to take advantage of the great opportunity afforded by the president’s vindication by the final release of the Mueller report,” they wrote in an analysis for Newsmax. Among their findings: Fifty percent of Hispanics approve of Trump’s job, and 47 percent have a “favorable” opinion of him. Trump has the support of 80 percent of the GOP going into his re-election bid. Former Ohio Gov. John Kasich is at 5 percent, and William Weld is at 1 percent. Fifty-one percent say the economy is improving. Some 23 percent of voters who disapprove of the job Trump is doing say the economy is getting better. Republicans lead the generic ballot for Congress, 47 percent to 43 percent. The polling duo said that Trump should broaden his re-election campaign to target independents and some Democrats. They wrote in Newsmax, “The president’s upcoming campaign should look to broaden his base from the solid Republican majority to a decisive extra-partisan majority as Ronald Reagan created in the 1980s. The president can win among independents and position to attract disaffected Democrats.”

WEST WING MHI