Foreign Digest: Gaza Strip, Venezuela, Nepal, Slovakia and Russia

Gaza Strip: There were protests in the Gaza Strip against Hamas, the Islamist terrorist organization backed by Iran that has ruled the autonomous territory after splitting with the Palestinian Authority, which rules the West Bank. Gazans suffer because Hamas has focused more on munitions and tunnels than their needs and has subjected them to a war with Israel after the Iranian-backed Hamas launched a terrorist attack on October on the Jewish State that killed over a thousand civilians and injured several thousand more. Hamas also took hundreds of hostages. Among the many international casualties and hostages were several Americans. Venezuela: After a campaign of intimidation, arrests and vandalism against the Venezuelan representative republican opposition ahead of the elections promised after an internationally mediated deal between the Socialist dictatorship and the opposition, Venezuela has ruled the opposition candidate ineligible and thus broken the agreement. The Socialists have tyrannically ruled the South American State since 2000 after seizing power through elections and then usurping representative government and violating human rights. Nepal: Nepal has banned Nepalese from volunteering to fight in the Russo-Ukrainian War, most of whom were fighting on the side of the Russian aggressors. The Himalayan State has also asked for its citizens fighting in the war to be sent home. Slovakia: The new leftist President of Slovakia who had threatened to cut off aid to Ukraine, has changed his mind in response to Russian war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide in its aggression against Ukraine. He signed an agreement to continue aid. Slovakia is an ally of the United States as a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Russia: Anti-war opposition candidate Boris Nadezhdin has gathered the requisite number of signatures to seek the presidency in this year’s Russian presidential elections. The municipal legislator, professor, television pundit and former aid to a Russian Prime Minister had to obtain at least 100,000 signatures, with a certain minimum from at least 40 regions across Russia. A previous candidate had been nominated by an alternate process of a gathering of a requisite number of people, but the Kremlin-controlled state election commission rejected her nomination. Russian tyrant Vladimir Putin, an ex-Soviet intelligence officer, does not tolerate anything more than opposition by certain extreme parties that make his party seem moderate, as long as they do not criticize him harshly. Human rights activists, political opponents and journalists are routinely jailed, assaulted, murdered, or driven into exile. The main opposition leader, Alexei Navalny, who is from the center-right, and who has been imprisoned on multiple charges by the judiciary that is loyal to Putin, after surviving assassination attempts, and is currently a political prisoner in Siberia above the Arctic Circle in solitary confinement again, backs Nadezhdin. Another major Putin who is in exile supports the opposition candidate. Nadezhdin opposes Russia’s aggression against the former Soviet Republic of Ukraine, in violation of Russian recognition of the former Soviet Republic’s independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity, which is becoming less popular because of conscription, heavy Russian losses and the effects of international economic sanctions. Putin, who wishes to restore the Soviet Empire, authorized an invasion of Ukraine in 2014 to seize Crimea and then a full-scale invasion in 2022. Nadezhdin favors a rapprochement with the West.

It Is Not Too Late to Deny Donald Trump the Republican Presidential Nomination

With former Governors Asa Hutchinson and Chris Christie suspending their presidential campaigns, there is no major anti-Trump candidate currently seeking the Republican nomination for President. As Hutchinson observed, character and principles no longer matter to a plurality of Republican primary voters, who believe the ends justify the means in defeating their political opponents. The few remaining candidates in the once-crowded GOP field present themselves only as more electable or effective alternatives to Donald Trump, whom they criticize mildly only for his style or electability or governing challenges because of his lack of focus on issues or understanding of constitutional processes, while overtly appealing to Trumpists by supporting Trumpism. As I have observed, Trumpism is not conservatism, but a populist mix of protectionism, nativism, isolationism and authoritarianism. The remaining Republican candidates would support Trump, whom they had supported in both his elections and praise for his presidency, if he were the GOP nominee again, even if he were convicted of felonies. Trump has been indicted by grand juries for various federal and state crimes, including election interference in both 2016 and 2020, and stealing federal documents, including many that were classified top secret. The Trump alternative candidates have not ruled out pardoning him or even the insurrectionists he inspired who assaulted the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021 to try to keep Trump in power by thwarting the constitutional process of the Congressional certification of the votes of the Electoral College for President and Vice President. Trump had lost the election, which was confirmed by Republican elections officials, federal and state Judges, and members of Congress, and officers from his own Administration with relevant responsibilities. But there is still hope for anti-Trump Republicans, as there are five strategies to deny Trump or a Trumpist the nomination or the presidency, short of backing a liberal Democratic ticket in the General Election to deter Republicans from continuing to back the losing strategy of offering Trumpism to the electorate. A qualified true conservative (non-Trumpist) candidate could still enter the Republican primaries, or at least one could be chosen by Delegates to the Republican National Convention, if they were free to vote their consciences for someone who actually believes in the party’s conservative platform, as they had been before 2016, especially if a rule were adopted against backing a nominee convicted of federal felonies, for example. The Republican National Committee is also empowered to withdraw a nomination after the Convention and choose a non-Trumpist conservative. An independent conservative Republican could seek the presidency in the General Election as part of an independent or third-party ticket. Finally, Republican Presidential Electors could choose a non-Trumpist as President. Republicans do not have to acquiesce to a leader with poor character, contempt for the Constitution, and a lack of shared conservative principles, if they prefer instead to win elections and effectuate conservative policies.

Foreign Digest: Yemen, Nicaragua and the Baltic States

Yemen: Yemen has asked for American and allied help versus the Houthis, the Iranian-backed Shi’ite rebels who control northern Yemen. The United States is leading an international coalition to protect international shipping through a crucial route in the Red Sea, as I have posted, against attacks by the Houthis. Nicaragua: A Nicaraguan Catholic Bishop and several Priests fled their Central American State and arrived in exile in America after suffering persecution by the Marxist Sandinista dictator, Daniel Ortega. Ortega has particularly targeted the Catholic Church, as part of his repression against religious and private civic organizations in Nicaragua. Baltic States: The Baltic States, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia, announced they are jointly building additional defenses on their borders with Russia and Belarus. The former Soviet Republics fear a Russian invasion, such as against other Soviet Republics, like Georgia in 2008 and Ukraine in 2014, while Russian troops are in a breakaway Russian-speaking part of Moldova against its wishes. Russia’s tyrant, ex-Soviet intelligence officer Vladimir Putin, who wants to restore the Soviet Union, uses the presence of Russian speakers, as there are a large minority in the Baltic States from the period of the Russian Empire, as an excuse to conquer. Russian troops conducted a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, in part through the former Soviet Republic of Belarus, which is ruled by a pro-Kremlin dictator.

The Philadelphia Election Commission’s Leadership Change Has Bolstered Election Integrity

There was a change of leadership earlier this month on the three-member Philadelphia Election Commission, which includes two Democrats and a Republican, the body that oversees elections in Pennsylvania’s largest city and county. With the move, power has been devolved to each Commissioner, including the Republican member, after a Democratic Commissioner and the sole GOP member worked together to oust the Democratic Chairman, who had centralized power and planned to increase the power of the chair further. Each member will now have the power to hire staff, and election administration and operations will be managed separately. The Republican Commissioner is a protégé of Al Schmidt. Schmidt is the elections watchdog I have posted about who is now serving as Pennsylvania Secretary of State, the department with responsibility for state elections. He uncovered election fraud committed to the benefit of Democrats in the overwhelming majority in Philadelphia, but also bravely rejected the false claims of election fraud Donald Trump and his supporters about the 2020 General Election for presidential and vice-presidential Electors in Pennsylvania, which Trump lost, and for which Schmidt suffered the ad hominem attacks and physical threats that opponents of Trump typically experience. Trump’s loss in the Keystone State, as in other States, was upheld by Republican federal Judges and members of Congress, in addition to being validated by officers within the Trump Administration with relevant responsibilities. With the change of leadership on the Philadelphia Election Commission, election integrity versus both the usual cheating by Democrats and the false claims of election fraud by Trump supporters has thus been bolstered, which will help safeguard the election process in the Commonwealth for the General Election in November, including for Electors.

Conflict of Interest: Donald Trump’s Receipt While in Office of Foreign Government Money

An investigation by an oversight committee of the United States House of Representatives found that Donald Trump had received millions of dollars from foreign governments while he was President, according to a media report earlier this month. The investigation found the businessman had received $8 million over two years from 12 governments, including Communist China. The money went to his businesses, which are in the forms of limited liability companies owned by him. Because such companies are legal pass-throughs of income to their owners personally, income to them is effectively income directly to their owners, and not a fictitiously independent entity, as Trumpists argue. Moreover, Trump had promised he would give up control of his businesses during his presidency to his children to avoid the appearance of conflicts of interest, but he continued to be aware of his businesses and their income and continued to promote them, sometimes by public means. The income from foreign governments flagrantly violated the Foreign Emoluments Clause of the Constitution. Trump was supposed to ask Congress for permission to receive income from foreign governments, but never did. The Emoluments Clause was intended by the Framers to prevent conflicts of interest between American and foreign interests. Trump, who lied about not continuing to engage in business with Russia while a candidate for the Republican nomination for the presidency in 2016, based his foreign policy while in office not on the interests of America, which he did not understand, but his personal interests, often advantageously to authoritarian regimes, including those hostile to American interests. Russia had helped Trump win the GOP nomination and presidential election in 2016 in a “sweeping and systematic” way, according to the Republican federal Special Counsel, and confirmed by U.S. intelligence agencies and the GOP-led Senate Intelligence Committee. Trump and his campaign welcomed Russian support, timed their messaging to the release they knew of ahead of time of information stolen by the Russians and publicized through their cutout, and amplified Russian propaganda and disinformation. The problem of the conflicts of interest of the President validates my effort as a Republican Committeeman to instruct Pennsylvania’s delegation of Republican National Convention Delegates in 2016 to insist on the giving up of such conflicts of interests by presidential and vice presidential nominees, in addition to vetting nominee’s eligibility and requiring nominees to release publicly their federal tax returns before nominating Trump. Like many others across America, I was among a group of Republican officials in my County who resigned, instead of backing a candidate of poor character with ties to Russia, with populist beliefs and authoritarian tendencies and little shared conservative ideology. No changes to the GOP nomination process or federal law have been made to address the problem, and the constitutional disupte about the Emoluments Claus was litigated by Trump to delay the matter until it became moot when he left office, but would have to be raised by the Congress were he to regain the presidency.

Foreign Digest: Russia, Ukraine, Yemen, Taiwan and Communist China

Russia and Ukraine: The lack of United States Congressional approval of military aid to Ukraine is emboldening the Russians in their aggression against their neighbor. As I have posted, aid has run out until Congress approves another authorization, but Republicans are insisting on curtailing the human rights of refugees seeking asylum from persecution in exchange for aid to Ukraine and Israel. The Russian Federation launched a full-scare invasion of the former Soviet Republic two years ago, after seizing some Ukrainian territory in a partial invasion in 2014, in violation of Ukraine’s independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity that Russia had recognized. Russia is led by a tyrannical ex-Soviet intelligence officer who intends to restore the Soviet Union. Meanwhile, there have been increased protests in Russia against the war, particularly by family members of draftees. A municipal legislator is gathering signatures for the presidential election on a platform of opposition to the draft and support for peace. Yemen: The United States and the United Kingdom, supported by several Western and regional allies, struck multiple targets in Yemen late last week to degrade the capacity of the Iranian-backed Houthi rebels who control much of the northern part of the state on the Arabian Peninsula that has been in civil war for a decade, after more attacks on international shipping in the Red Sea and on the American-led coalition to protect the freedom of navigation in that region that I had posted about at the end of the year. Taiwan and Communist China: In the Taiwanese Presidential Elections yesterday, the Vice President and candidate of the ruling party that favors independence for the Republic of China (Taiwan) won the presidential elections with a plurality of votes. The nationalist party that is more accommodationist toward Communist China came in close second. A party whose position was in between those of the two main parties enjoyed a strong third-place finish. In the simultaneous parliamentary elections, the pro-independence party won a plurality of the votes, but not a majority and will thus have to compromise. Communist China interfered in Taiwan’s elections to divide the Taiwanese, undermine confidence in elections and representative government, and to intimidate what it claims as a renegade province. The election interference is in combination with an ongoing campaign of military incursions into Taiwan’s security zones. After the Communists seized power in China in 1947 following a civil war, the Government of the Republic of China and its supporters fled to the island of Taiwan and some other islands off the coast of mainland China. The incoming President of Taiwan has stated that he would not declare independence formally, which is a line Peking has threatened would lead to war, as he states the Republic of China is already independent, for which he seeks more international recognition. He favors engagement and trade with Communist China, not confrontation. The United States has diplomatically recognized Communist China’s government and officially maintains a “One China” policy, but maintains informal diplomatic relations and trade relations with Taiwan and has pledged to defend it. An unofficial American delegation will visit Taiwan’s incoming leadership. The U.S. provides arms and materiel to Taiwan and has defended the freedom of navigation in the Taiwan Strait of the South China Sea, which Communist China claims as its territory, contrary to international law.

Update: Another Measles Outbreak in Pennsylvania

The latest measles outbreak in Pennsylvania I posted about in my last post has spread to Delaware. What started in a children’s hospital in Philadelphia among unvaccinated children has spread to other children and adults. As I have been posting, this outbreak is but the latest in America, as in Europe, since vaccine hesitancy since the 2010s has revived measles and other diseases that had nearly been eradicated into common contagions again. The measles outbreak is occurring amidst an early peak of the influenza season in the northern hemisphere and a sharp spike in the Coronavirus-2019, among other contagious respiratory illnesses. Like measles, mumps and diphtheria, all these diseases are exacerbated by hesitancy to receive vaccines that are effective and safe.

Another Measles Outbreak in Pennsylvania

There is yet another measles outbreak in Pennsylvania, as vaccine hesitancy since the 2010s has revived the disease that had nearly been eradicated in America, as I have been posting. Anti-vaccine conspiracy theories on the far left and far right, amplified by Russian disinformation, as well as libertarian objections to vaccine mandates, have decreased vaccination rates for several contagious diseases, leading to widespread outbreaks in Europe and America of diseases that had been waning on nearly eradicated, even though vaccines are effective and safe—much safer than the diseases they prevent or at least minimize the severity of. Vaccine hesitancy has also contributed greatly to the spread of the Coronavirus 2019, leading to millions more cases, hospitalizations, and deaths. Because not everyone can be vaccinated effectively for various health reasons, those who cannot rely upon the “herd immunity” of a large majority of their fellow human beings to protect them from contagion by getting vaccinated. It is morally responsible for those whose health permits to receive the recommended vaccines to stop the spread of contagious diseases.

Update: Poland’s New Conservative Prime Minister Has Been Sworn into Office

After Poland’s parliamentary elections in October that I posted about, the center-right party won the most votes and seats in the Polish Parliament, but was short of the necessary majority to form a government. After the President, who is from the ruling far-right party that was defeated because of its drift toward authoritarianism, gave a mandate to the conservative party leader to form a government, a coalition government was assembled with smaller parties. The former President of the European Union was sworn into office last month as the Polish Prime Minister, along with his cabinet ministers. Poland is an ally of the United States in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and is a bulwark against the Russian Federation. The new Polish Government is continuing its arms support for Ukraine against Russian aggression.