Recent Critical Federal Security Legislation Enacted

Several federal security bills were enacted last week by the United States, including some there were of critical importance, despite government divided between the two major parties that each control a chamber of the Congress and a Democratic President who has been stronger on defense and foreign policy than liberals have historically been, while a significant faction of the Republicans have drifted from their strong pro-security roots. The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act was renewed for two years, after it passed the Republican-controlled House of Representatives, despite opposition from Donald Trump and his supporters, and libertarians, and was signed into law by the President. The critical post-September 11 program allows warrantless surveillance against foreign terrorists and spies. Trump had complained that his 2016 campaign staff were surveilled because there were over 100 contacts between his campaign and Russians, including Russian security forces, none of which were reported to law enforcement, as the Russians, who backed Trump, sought to infiltrate the campaign. The GOP-majority House and Democratic-controlled Senate approved bills that were also signed into the law by the President for defensive aid to Ukraine against Russian aggression, Israel against Iranian-backed terrorists, and the Republic of China (Taiwan) against threat of invasion by Communist China. Trump and his supporters had heled up the bill for Ukraine for several months as Ukrainians were running out of ammunition and Russia made tactical advances. A majority of Republican Representatives voted against the bill, but it passed by nearly 3:1 margin, with unanimous support from Democrats. The Senate approved it with most Republicans voting in favor, in a strong rebuke of the isolationist and pro-Russian Trumpist wing of the GOP. A key provision of the bill allows assets of the Russian Central Bank to be seized to fund the aid to Ukraine. Another security bill approved by Congress and signed into law by the President would ban or force a sale of a Chinese-owned social media platform because of concerns that it could be exploited for espionage or other criminal purposes. These acts will enhance global and American security and give encouragement that there can still be bipartisan cooperation for U.S. defense and security.

The 2014 Pennsylvania Republican Primary Election

The 2014 Pennsylvania Republican Primary Election is on Tuesday, April 23, which is early because of the presidential nomination, although, as usual, the race is no longer competitive by the time Keystone State Republican voters cast their ballots. On the ballot are nominations for President of the United States, U.S. Senate and Representative, half of the seats on the Pennsylvania Senate, all state House seats, and State Attorney General, Treasurer and Auditor General. In some districts, there are ballot questions. As I always do, I urge conservative Republicans not to vote for Donald Trump or candidates endorsed by or supportive of him. There is one presidential nomination candidate, who has declined to endorse Trump, remaining on the ballot, or one may write in any other preference. The large portion of Republican primary voters who have declined to vote for the draft-dodger, serial adulterer, sexual assailant, and corrupt businessman who is sympathetic to foreign authoritarians, including hostile ones, and who has authoritarian proclivities himself, and who is not conservative has sent a message of rejection of Trump and Trumpism. As I have been posting, Trumpism is a populist mix of protectionism, nativism and isolationism, none of which are conservative principles, as Trump has few longstanding ideological beliefs, but is focused mostly on self-promotion and thus is unable to put America’s interests above his own. Trump and Trumpism are therefore a cancer on the conservative movement and a mortal threat to the Republican Party. If the GOP wants to have any chance to return to a winning strategy of promoting conservative principles, it must totally reject Trump and Trumpism, or else continue to suffer general election losses until it does. Polls are open from 7:00 AM to 8:00 PM.

Foreign Digest: European Union, Switzerland, Communist China and Venezuela

European Union: The 27-member European Union reached an agreement recently for a migration pact. The measure provides solidarity for countries of entry through financial support. Most migrants have been entering Europe from the south from North Africa or Asia. Italy, Spain, Greece and Malta have had to accommodate the most migrants, even though most migrants do not necessarily settle in those States. The deal also includes accelerated procedures for asylum for refugees and faster deportations. The pact is thus focused mostly on security and economics than on the freedom of migrants. It is intended not only to share responsibilities among members and to discourage human trafficking, but to take away some of the political exploitation of the migrant issue by populist nationalists on the xenophobic far right ahead of elections for the European Parliament. Even though the measure is tough on migrants, the authoritarian anti-migrant Hungarian Government opposes it because it is not restrictive enough. Other than Ukrainian refugees, the self-described “illiberal” Hungary is not attractive to migrants, but the ruling party demagogues migrants, like other far-right parties and politicians in Europe and America. Switzerland: Switzerland has joined the European air defense system. The Helvetian Confederation has long had a policy of neutrality, but the move is a counter to the Russian Federation because of Russian aggression against Ukraine. Switzerland is engaged in the partnership program of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, the defensive pact led by the United States, which the Swiss Government has said it would side with in case of an attack by Russia on NATO territory. Switzerland had placed economic sanctions on Russia. Finland and Sweden abandoned their longtime policies of neutrality to join NATO because of Russian aggression, as I have posted. Russian tyrant Vladimir Putin, ex-Soviet intelligence officer, is trying to restore the Soviet Union Communist China: The United States, Australia and Japan recently established a defense pact. It is the latest of many security agreements negotiated by the U.S. in the Pacific to counter Communist China that I have been posting about. Venezuela: Chile recently accused the Socialist regime of Venezuela of murdering a Venezuelan exiled opposition politician in February on its soil. The U.S. imposed additional economic sanctions on Venezuela for the unfairness of the presidential election, in which the opposition candidate was barred, and other opposition leaders have been attacked or prosecuted. The Venezuelan opposition has united behind a new candidate, a former ambassador, for the election scheduled for July. As I have posted, the Socialists were elected in 2002, but have become authoritarian to remain in power ever since by denying free and fair elections, only conducting them to make themselves appear legitimate by ensuring their own victories, in the same manner as Russia and Turkey.

Latest Russian Developments: Propaganda Influencing Congress, Espionage in Europe, Withdrawal from Nagorno-Karabakh

Propaganda Influencing Congress: The United States House of Representatives Foreign Affairs and Intelligence Committee Chairmen have both said recently that Russian propaganda is influencing fellow Republican Representatives, particularly against military aid for Ukraine to defend it against Russian aggression. Other GOP Representatives have said that some of their Republican caucus members are in favor of Russia and its leader, ex-Soviet intelligence officer Vladimir Putin, who seeks to restore the Soviet Union, including conquering the former Soviet Republic of Ukraine. The House GOP majority delayed passage until yesterday of the Ukrainian aid bill, which was opposed by presumptive nominee Donald Trump, until the end of this week and most voted against it. I shall post an update after that bill and other key security bills are enacted. Espionage in Europe: The Czech Republic and Belgium last week accused Russia of paying far-right Members of the European Parliament, the legislative body of the European Union, to spread pro-Russian propaganda. Russia sometimes funds parties on the extereme right or left that are sympathetic to it. Meanwhile, Austria is in the midst of a Russian espionage scandal, as the neutral central European State has long been vulnerable to spies. Also, Germany arrested Russian spies based in America who intended to disrupt the flow of materiel to Ukraine. Withdrawal from Nagorno-Karabakh: Russian troops have begun to withdraw from the ethnic Armenian enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh in Azerbaijan. They were supposed to serve as peacekeepers, but failed to prevent the Azeris from seizing the breakaway territory that had been controlled by Armenian separatists since in independence in 1991 and supported by neighboring Armenia through a series of wars and military conflicts. All but 10% of the 120,000 Armenians, who are Christians, residing in the enclave fled to Armenia instead of living under a predominantly Azeri dictatorship. Armenia, which feels threatened by the fellow former Soviet Republic of Azerbaijan, has shifted its allegiance from Russia toward the West after the betrayal by the Russians. The shift comes as other former Soviet Republics that are members of organizations led by Russia have been re-evaluating their relationship with Russia after its aggression against Ukraine.

Appeasement of Russia Would be Violate Conservative Principles and Threaten Security

The modern conservative movement in America was founded in the 1930s on opposition to appeasement, in addition to the opposition to the New Deal policies of the liberal Democrats. Appeasement refers to the policy of placating foreign States that commit aggression, the unjust conquest by force or threat of force of the territory of another internationally recognized state, by accepting some of their conquests in the vain hope of satisfying their tyrannical leaders’ thirst for territory and power. The policy of appeasement was infamously adopted by the leading Western European States in 1938, after the Axis Powers, which already possessed far more territory than currently, had been committing aggression against other States and absorbing them into their empires, starting in the mid-1930s. When Nazi Germany demanded the Sudetenland, the German-speaking western strip of neighboring Czechoslovakia, the Western Powers agreed to allow Germany to seize the territory, in exchange for a promise not to seize the rest of Czechoslovakia, hoping that German tyrant Adolph Hitler would be satisfied only with uniting the German-speaking areas to his country, thereby avoiding a major war in Europe between the Axis Powers and the other Great Powers. But instead, the weakness encouraged Hitler by whetting his appetite for more conquest. Nazi Germany soon invaded and conquered the rest of Czechoslovakia. After the German-Soviet invasion of Poland in 1939, Europe and eventually most of the rest of the world were plunged into the Second World War. Conservatives drew the lesson from the failure of appeasement of the necessity of a strong defense and a foreign policy that recognizes and confronts threats to global security, instead of accepting and encouraging aggression. The opposition to aggression has been a cornerstone of United States and international foreign policy ever since and various attempts at conquest have been opposed, usually successfully. The latest example has been the attempts by The Russian Federation, which is the successor to the Soviet Union, and the rump state to both it and the Russian Empire. Its current tyrant, Vladimir Putin, is an ex-Soviet intelligence officer who is trying to restore the Soviet Union and Russian Empire. Following a somewhat similar pattern to the Axis Powers, he has engaged in a series of aggressions. Russia invaded Georgia in 2008, seizing separatist territories to set up puppet states and then further encroached on Georgian territory and violated a promise to withdraw, has stationed troops in Moldova in support of a breakaway territory inhabited by Russian speakers since the time of the Russian Empire, seized Crimea from Ukraine in 2014, in violation of its agreement to recognize its neighbors’ independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity, fomented separatism in the Russian-speaking parts of eastern Ukraine, and launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 to conquer the rest of it, after annexing Crimea and eastern Ukraine. Georgia, Moldova, and Ukraine are former Soviet Republics. Russia paid little price for invading Georgia, and suffered some serious economic sanctions for conquering Crimea, but not comprehensive sanctions and no military consequences and was thus not deterred. It is shocking, therefore, that some “conservatives” in America or Europe today openly advocate for appeasement (in all but name) of Russia, for the sake of the “national interest” of America or European States, even though it is contrary to U.S. interest. There is a vocal wing in the Republican-led U.S. Congress, as well as in conservative media and among ordinary party members that is isolationist, contrary to conservative principles, or even openly pro-Russian, despite Russian human rights violations, aggression, support for terrorist-sponsoring and other rogue regimes, interference in American and foreign elections, and various other machinations. Recent statements by GOP Senator Mike Lee of Utah opposing defending Europe against Russian aggression and a reported plan by the leading Republican presidential candidate, Donald Trump, to reward Russian aggression by allowing it to steal Ukrainian territory in exchange for peace, are the latest examples. Trump, who was successfully backed during his nomination and election to the presidency in 2016 by “systematic and sweeping” Russian election interference, in the words of a Republican special prosecutor which were confirmed by the Republican-led Senate Intelligence Committee, has been opposing the current bill in the House of Representatives for defensive aid to Ukraine that was easily approved by the GOP-led Senate. The delay in its passage has allowed Russia to make battlefield gains, similarly to how Trump’s delay of sending military aid during his presidency aided the Russian-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine. This policy of appeasement dangerously undermines American security. Because it ignores American and British security guarantees given to Ukraine after its independence in 1991, in exchange for giving up the Soviet nuclear missiles on its soil because of Russia’s concern about its security, in which Russia agreed to accept Ukraine’s borders, it encourages nuclear proliferation, instead of discouraging it. It would also pose a direct geopolitical security threat from Russia. Russia would be able to retain its claimed “sphere of influence” over all the former Soviet Republics that are recognized as independent States by Russia, the U.S. and internationally and are members of the United Nations. Those States would continue to be victimized by intimidation, cyberattacks, election interference and other hybrid attacks, and would certainly be victimized by Russian aggression, in one form or another. These free States which want to continue to enjoy closer relations and trade with the U.S. and the West would thus lose not only their independence, but their liberty and representative government, while Americans would thus lose faithful allies to an increasingly menacing Russia. The abandonment of allies would damage American credibility and its and its allies’ effective deterrence of hostile States around the world, including Russian allies like Communist China and North Korea. Russia would then be able, as it has in the former Soviet Republic of Belarus, to advance both its conventional and nuclear forces closer to Western Europe and America, thereby increasing its threat to Western security. Furthermore, Russia would also be able to exercise greater influence over former Soviet Satellite States in Eastern Europe and elsewhere. The world would thus again be under increased threat to violent tyrants conquering whatever territories they desired, as in the 1930s, with political and economic uncertainty eroding the relative order of the post-war world that has brought peace, freedom and prosperity on an unprecedented scale in human history. I have posted repeatedly how Trumpism is a populist mix of ideas that are not conservative, such as protectionism, nativism and isolationism, but the appeasement of Russian aggression would not only violated a core conservative principle, but would be Trumpism’s most dangerous policy that would threaten American and global security, which Putin is eager to see implemented.

Foreign Digest: Hungary, Venezuela and Europe

Hungary: Tens of thousands of Hungarians protested yesterday against the self-described “illiberal” authoritarian far-right Government of Hungary, led by the opposition leader. As I have posted, the anti-migrant party has recently suffered a series of corruption scandals that are challenging its hold on power. Venezuela: There were more protests today by Venezuelans around the world, including in America, in favor of free elections. As I have noted, the Socialist regime has made it difficult for Venezuelans living abroad to register to vote. After the Venezuelan regime had reached an agreement through mediation with the opposition, it agreed to allow free and fair elections, but then violated the agreement by barring the leading candidate from holding office, forcing the opposition to substitute her at the last minute. Other accord violations include attacks on and imprisonment of opposition members. The Socialists have ruled the South American States since being elected in 2000, but have become authoritarian by restricting freedoms while using elections to maintain a false legitimacy, similar to Russia and Turkey. After the opposition won the 2015 national legislative elections by a more-than two-thirds majority, the Socialists prevented some from be seated and then supplanted the assembly with an appointed body. The assembly leader declared himself president under a constitutional provision and was recognized by the United States, many Latin American, Western and other European States. Europe: The conservative European Union leader, who is seeking re-election, backed by the center-right group of parties from member States, warned today that friends of Russian tyrant Vladimir Putin, the ex-Soviet intelligence officer trying to restore the Soviet Union and Russian Empire, are trying to divide and destroy Europe, namely far-right nationalist anti-migrant parties, some of which have been funded by Russia. Some of these far-right parties oppose defending the former Soviet Republic of Ukraine against Russian aggression. She identified some of the parties, which have similar beliefs as Trumpists do in America, as populist and demagogic.

Fifteen-Year Blog Visit Report

In the fifteen years since StatCounter has been tracking visits to and pageviews of my blog, there have been over 7,550 unique visits, not including my own and counting only pageviews at least one hour apart. The figure also does not count the increasing number of pageviews StatCounter tracks without being able to specify the page, which have become the overwhelming majority of visits. As has been the case the last few years, few search query details are ever tracked anymore, as visitors have increased their privacy controls, which also makes much fewer visits and pageviews trackable at all than what the blog host, Blogger tracks. The other trend of the last few years continues of most of the visits being to the blog homepage, although recent and older posts are also viewed. Visitors continue to come from around the world, especially America and Western Europe. Thank you for visiting my blog. Please continue to visit regularly as the defense of good language, equality, liberty and representative government are more vital than ever.