Another Measles Case in Pennsylvania Because of Vaccine Hesitancy

A measles case was reported last week in southeastern Pennsylvania in an unvaccinated child. As I have posted the last several years, there have been outbreaks of measles, which is highly contagious, in Western Europe and America, as well as other diseases that had nearly been eradicated in the West, with the increase in vaccine hesitancy because of false beliefs about the safety of vaccines and exaggerated confidence in natural immunity. False conspiracy theories, advanced by the far left, the far right and libertarians, and amplified by Russian Federation disinformation to weaken the West, have increased vaccine hesitancy and spread deadly diseases, as has been especially noticeable during the Coronavirus 2019 Pandemic. Vaccines are safe and effective weapons against disease. Although there are some side-effects to vaccines, as there are from any medical intervention, the risks are far less than the diseases they protect against. It is necessary that a sufficient number of people be vaccinated to achieve “herd immunity” to protect those who cannot be for certain valid health reasons. Therefore, it is a matter of civic responsibility for people to get their recommended vaccines, just as it is that they minimize the spread of contagion through better hygiene (hand-washing, covering coughs and sneezes), staying home when sick, and avoiding people who are ill with a contagious disease. Because protecting others is also a moral matter, it is consistent with conservative beliefs to promote public health measures against contagion, including vaccination.

Foreign Digest: Spain, Cambodia and Niger

Spain: The results of the parliamentary elections in Spain a week ago were not decisive, as the conservatives won the most votes and seats in the Spanish Parliament, but fell short of a majority necessary to form a government in place of the ruling Socialists. The center-right conservative Spanish party suffered a blow to its hopes of gaining the majority through a coalition government because of its alliance with a far-right party that lost seats. As I have been posting the last several years, these far-right parties, which generally tend to be nationalistic to a bigoted degree, anti-migrant, anti-European integration, and are often pro-Russian tyrant Vladimir Putin, have sometimes cost the center-right election victories, although sometimes conservatives have been able to win without an alliance with the far-right. At other times, the center-right has formed a coalition government with the far-right, only to result in a collapse of the government, such as in Austria, when the Russian support of the far-right party was revealed. The new government coalition in Finland has already suffered from controversy from the resignation of one cabinet minister with another under fire because of fascists statements. Both the Socialists and the conservatives will try to form a government, but another round of elections may be necessary. Cambodia: The elections last week in Cambodia, in which the son of the longtime dictator from the Communist era was elected President, were internationally recognized as a farce, as the opposition was persecuted and precluded from contesting the election. Niger: There was a military coup d-etat in Niger last week against the elected government of the African State. The motivation was ostensibly the same as I posted about a few years ago in Mali, which was dissatisfaction with the effectiveness of the Nigerien Government’s anti-terrorism policy. Niger, like other States in the Sahel, has come under attack by militant Islamists. The United States and others have been aiding Niger and other African States against the violent jihadists. The U.S., the Economic Community of West African States, of which Niger is a member, and France, Niger’s former colonial ruler, are among those in the international community calling for a restoration to power of the elected government.

Debunking the “Tatarian Empire” Conspiracy Theory

One of the many recent baseless conspiracy theories spread through the Internet lately that has become particularly popular is the easily debunked theory about a supposed Tatarian Empire. This fantastic theory posits that this mythical Eurasian empire, whose people were a technologically advanced race of giants, extended well into North America and was responsible for the buildings of the architectural styles in America before the late Nineteenth Century, but was destroyed by a “mud flood” of a few feet, leaving only these buildings behind, and that the existence of the Tartarians has been covered up ever since as Americans claimed credit for the Tartarians’ accomplishments. As with any false conspiracy theory, its adherents make false connections between events and assert speculation as fact. They then dismiss all evidence to the contrary as proof of the coverup that is always an essential element of the theory, thereby rendering themselves unable to engage in a rational analysis of their theory. The foundation of beliefs in false conspiracy theories is not rational skepticism of what is generally accepted as reality, but cynicism based on the psychological need to believe in an alternate explanation that they are always certain must exist, which leads vulnerable people to believe in false conspiracies to try to make sense of a lack of control over geopolitical developments and as an arrogant coping mechanism of believing that only they know the truth while they dismiss non-believers as sheep-like followers. The Tartarian Empire theory, which has been disproven in every aspect, is based on a conflation of the Tatars with a European pun used to describe them as “Tartars,” and a lack of understanding that the vast lands west of the European part of what is now the Russian Federation attributed centuries ago by Europeans to the Tatars were not ruled by Tatars, but simply unknown to Westerners and grouped by them under the European name for their lands until they were later conquered by the Russians from their various Siberian inhabitants. Indeed, there was no Tatarian Empire, the existence of which is disproven by the documented evidence of Eurasia. Although Eurasian peoples did migrate to North America millennia ago, they were not the Tatars of a much later time. The Tartarian Empire theory is based also on a misunderstanding of the well documented history of architecture and of building techniques that are traceable from the Classical era to the Neo-Classical styles of the Renaissance and the quintessential American style known as the “Federal style.” The conspiracy theory’s proponents cannot understand how more quickly and inexpensively buildings could be built of such styles in the past because of the availability of cheap skilled labor and less building regulations than today, or that government would spend money to build elaborate ornate structures even for small cities, even though we have the legislative records to substantiate it, which it did to promote public art. They also do not seem to realize that each of the skills for building such ornate buildings that are documented to have developed in the West have been conserved and are still used. It is also well documented why there was a trend toward the modern architectural style, which was because of the availability of cheaper building materials, increased labor costs and regulations, and changes in taste, and which not everyone agreed with, not a supposed catastrophic destruction of the Tartarian Empire. The Tartarian Empire theory also fails to explain why architectural styles developed in the West so differently from those in Russia. Moreover, it is absurd that a race of giants, which they theorize existed because the public first floors of public buildings had high ceilings, inexplicably in contrast to the scale of the rest of the buildings, who left no remains of their bodies, either as giants or of regular stature, were supposedly destroyed by a flood of mud of only a few feet, despite being taller and more technologically advanced. Furthermore, the mud flood theory, which left no geological evidence and which geologists doubt is even plausible over such an extensive area, is based on the misunderstanding by the proponents of the conspiracy theory of basements with windows that are below today’s often higher street levels, which have been raised for known documented reasons. The part of the Tartarian Empire theory that claims the Tatarians’ existence has been covered up by lies also strains credulity by failing to provide a convincing motive, let alone requiring a vast participation in the conspiracy. The coverup allegation is the part of the conspiracy theory that most reveals the anti-Western and anti-American dishonest heart of this theory that Western European Civilization’s accomplishments are really those of inhabitants of Russia that Westerners have claimed credit for. The Tartarian Empire theory is thus an example of Russian nationalism that claims credit for Western European accomplishments and is intended to undermine Americans and Western Europeans’ faith in Western European culture and thus to weaken America and Western Europe while the Russian Federation is trying to restore the Russian Empire through restoration of the Soviet Union, and possibly even to lay claim to North American territory. As I have posted repeatedly, Russia has successfully been spreading propaganda and disinformation in such ways, which is why it is necessary to debunk this baseless conspiracy theory.

Some Christian Leaders Again Abandon Moral Character to Support Donald Trump

A public gathering a few weeks ago of Christian leaders affirmed their support once again for Donald Trump’s candidacy for President of the United States, despite the presence of acceptable candidates for the Republican nomination in the field and the opportunity to encourage others to seek the GOP nomination. Instead of pretending that Trump is a person of good character, as some Trump supporters have done since his first candidacy, these Christian pastors and other church leaders justified their support of the draft-dodger, serial adulterer, misogynist and admitted sexual harasser, crooked businessman and well-documented liar who was twice impeached, twice-indicted and under multiple criminal investigations put their political preferences above morals by repeating the excuse that nominations or elections for public office are not the equivalent of elections of pastors. In other words, they are promoting the heretical beliefs that character only matters for church officials, not public officials, and that it is morally acceptable for voters to elect to public office those of manifestly poor character as not to be trustworthy with such a charge. Both these ideas are contrary to the principled conservative argument in defense of character made in 1999 after the revelations about Bill Clinton committing perjury as a defendant in a sexual harassment civil suit against about sexual acts committed with a subordinate while in office. Most liberals expressly excused Clinton’s misbehavior because they agreed with his policies. Trump’s supporters similarly deny, minimize or excuse Trump’s misbehavior or focus only on the policies or character of his opponents. They thus had to overlook how his poor character continued into office, with his promotion of falsehoods and baseless conspiracy theories, his abuse of office to promote his businesses, his acceptance of foreign influence through patronage of his businesses, and his cruelty and increasing authoritarianism that undermined American leadership on human rights and thus made the world less secure by enabling tyrants. In the name of being in favor of the protection of innocent life, they overlooked Trump’s hostility to it, such as his barring of refugees seeking asylum from persecution, his pardoning of war criminals who murdered innocent people, and his support for the Filipino President’s policy of encouraging murder. Furthermore, they overlook his callous disregard for innocent human life, such as his Muslim travel ban that killed an American whose organ donor was barred entry, his deportation of migrants that led to fatal results because it put their health or security at risk, and his placement of the economy above protecting public health in the face of a deadly pandemic he repeatedly minimized after he had eliminated both federal pandemic response agencies. The support of “Christian” leaders for Trump, therefore, shows clearly that their priorities are partisan or ideological, not moral. It is Christian to vote for those of good moral character over those of bad moral character because it is reasonable to expect that the latter are unlikely to be faithful to their charge, which provides them an opportunity to betray the trust to engage in corruption, which harms the public and undermines public confidence. Instead, Christians should elect people of good reputation and hold public officials accountable, instead of vilifying those public officials who are faithful and who do try to hold corrupt officials accountable, as many Trump supporters do. There are plenty of qualified people to support over Trump.

Conservative Think Tank Calls for American Support of the Anti-Taliban Afghan Resistance

The Hudson Institute, a conservative think tank, has issued a paper calling for the United States to support the National Resistance Front of Afghanistan against the Islamist terrorist Taliban militia that took over Afghanistan in 2021: US Has an Opportunity to Support the National Resistance Front of Afghanistan | Hudson (https://www.hudson.org/node/45119). The paper calls for outreach to the only organized resistance to the Taliban that favors an ethnically inclusive representative form of government for Afghanistan and possible military support. There is other ethnic and religious resistance in Afghanistan, as well as attacks by the terrorist Islamist Islamic State, a rival offshoot of the al-Qaeda terrorists allied with the Taliban, but the National Resistance Front (NRF) is led by the son of the greatest mujhadeen commander against the Soviets during their 1979-1988 invasion and the vice president of the internationally recognized Afghan government. Although mostly Tajik, who are one of the largest ethnic groups in Afghanistan, the NRF attracted Afghan security forces from around the Central Asian State and has recruited from surrounding areas as it continues to harass Taliban forces from its base in the Panjshir Valley. Late last fall, the U.S. did conduct some official meetings with the NRF, which at least confers some legitimacy, even though the Biden Administration opposes violent resistance to the Taliban, which it has refused to recognize as the legitimate Afghan government. The Taliban had ruled Afghanistan before the U.S. led an international force to overthrow them after al-Qaeda’s September 11, 2001 Attacks on America that killed nearly 3,000 people, but the disastrous Trump-Biden withdrawal from Afghanistan allowed the terrorists sponsors and allies to return to power, as I have posted about. The Taliban have returned to their oppressive ways. The U.S. should consider steps beyond meetings to support the principles of liberty and representative government that the NRF shares with Americans and Westerners, to provide the NRF and their supporters with the solidarity they deserve, instead of abandoning them to our shared enemies, and to keep pressure on the Taliban not to allow Afghanistan to become again a safe harbor for al-Qaeda and other affiliated terrorists.

The Conservative Dutch Government Fell Because it Abandoned Conservative Principles

Center-right Dutch coalition Government collapsed recently because the more moderate coalition parties of the long-time conservative Prime Minister objected to his policies against refugees seeking asylum who are fleeing oppression and war. The Premier of the Netherlands, like all-too-many on the right in Europe and America today, was trying to act harshly against migrants to compete with populist anti-migrant far-right nationalist parties, instead of defending human rights as a conservative principle and welcoming people seeking liberty, as well as to make up for the problems of the population shortfall afflicting developed countries. Not only will his executive fall, but he will withdraw from politics. The Dutch will now have to go to the polls early for parliamentary elections on November 22, instead of at the end of the current term in 2025. The Netherlands is an ally of the United States as a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.

Foreign Digest: NATO and the United States versus Russian Aggression against Ukraine

NATO Accepts Swedish Membership and Ukrainian Application: The annual summit of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, the most successful defense pact in history, was highly fruitful, especially because of the continued American leadership of the alliance. Sweden’s membership was finally accepted by Turkey and Hungary’s leaders, pending their parliament’s approvals. As I have posted, Sweden, like Finland, abandoned its longstanding neutrality because of the Russian aggression against Ukraine. Turkey had blocked Swedish membership over the Kurds, who are a significant ethnic minority in Turkey who aspire for more autonomy, who have settled there. As part of the deal, the United States would sell fighter jets and parts to Turkey and support Turkish membership in the European Union, but Turkey’s membership in the EU is not a condition of Sweden’s NATO adhesion. For Ukraine, NATO decided not to require the usual Membership Action Plan, but instead formed a joint NATO-Ukrainian council. The U.S. and NATO assure Ukrainian membership in the transatlantic alliance after the Russian invasion. Ukraine, which has been taking the required steps to strengthen its representative government and liberty and against corruption, is engaged in a counteroffensive to wrest control of its sovereign territory back from the Russian Federation that had recognized it as Ukrainian territory. NATO has been aiding Ukraine because Russian aggression is a direct threat against its members. United States Aid to Ukraine: Most Republicans in the United States House of Representatives voted against isolationist pro-Russian Trumpist amendments to the defense authorization bill from GOP members that would have reduced or eliminated security aid to Ukraine against aggression by the Russian Federation. Russian tyrant Vladimir Putin, an ex-Soviet intelligence officer who is trying to restore the Soviet Union, invaded the former Soviet Republic in 2014 to seize part of Ukrainian territory and launched a full-scale invasion last year. The amendment to eliminate all aid received 70 votes out of the 219-vote Republican majority and the one to reduce it 89. All Democrats voted against both amendments. There were other amendments from the pro-Putin wing to undermine the defense against aggression that were also defeated. The House Republican Caucus thus salvaged the Grand Old Party’s pro-security reputation, as they framed the military aid to Ukraine as a battle of the free world versus the authoritarian aggressor States, but the relatively high vote totals against defending independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity by the self-described “nationalists” and was nevertheless disturbing and reflects the continued influence, not only of Russian propaganda over “conservatives,” but of the pro-Putin Donald Trump over his party.

Italian News Digest

Human Rights Violations against Migrants: The Council of Europe’s Commission on Human Rights last month criticized Italy’s policy toward migrants that forces non-governmental organizations (NGOs) operating rescue ships to dock at ports far from their rescue operations, leaving them unavailable for more rescues on the deadly seas. The policy by Italy’s current rightwing Government is meant to discourage arrivals by migrants, including refugees seeking asylum, by putting their lives at risk by the absence of rescue ships. The Government has been trying to reduce migration of North African States and human trafficking while opening up legal pathways for migration. Italian forces have rescued thousands of migrants in distress in the Mediterranean and provided care for them ashore, but the docking policy for NGOs undermines Italy’s humanitarian record. Coalition Rift over Europe: A rift has opened within the right-wing governing coalition as the Trumpist anti-migrant League Party proposes that it and its center-right allies, the Forza Italia party, join together in a group within the European Parliament with far-right anti-migrant nationalist French and German parties that are known for being more pro-Russian than pro-European or pro-Transatlantic Alliance, in order to create a united front against the ruling left. The pro-European and pro-American conservative Forza Italia has declined its coalition partners’ invitation to join with the nationalists, as nationalism is contrary to center-right principles. Pro-Family Policies: Meanwhile, the Italian Government banned the practice of naming two mothers on birth certificates while proposing a law against accepting surrogate births, which are already illegal in Italy, even from abroad, a practice usually of same-sex couples. The policies are intended to encourage children to be raised with both mothers and fathers and to avoid using women’s bodies as commodities. The Government has been promoting births to married couples to counter Italy’s population decline that would be even more pronounced and thus problematic in various ways without net migration and relatively higher fertility amongst immigrants and their descendants.

Foreign Digest: Mali, India, Belarus and Syria

Mali: Malians overwhelmingly approved a new constitution recently by referendum recently that transitions back toward civilian rule, albeit with increased presidential powers, and a representative assembly and elections. A military junta had seized power last year amidst and Islamist terrorist insurgency. France had led an international force to support its former colony against the al-Qaeda affiliates, with some success, but the Junta then turned instead toward Kremlin-associated Russian mercenaries. Al-Qaeda was responsible for the deadliest terrorist attacks ever, the September 11, 2001 Attacks on America that killed nearly 3,000 people. The terrorists have been conducting attacks also on multiple neighboring States in the Sahel. India: The opposition in India, across the political, religious and ethnic spectrum, has agreed to work together to oppose the ruling Hindu Nationalist Prime Minister in the next parliamentary elections in 2024. The Premier is popular among the majority Hindus but who is feared for increased authoritarianism and for a history of religious persecution. Similar efforts against authoritarian leaders who had usurped representative government based on separation of powers and the rule of law in Hungary and Turkey succeeded in forcing run-off elections, but the control of state media and other factors was decisive for those strongmen, a factor that would not be present in India. Belarus: The Belarusian dictator recently claimed he told Russian tyrant Vladimir Putin that he could kill a rebellious mercenary leader given exile from Russia in Belarus, thereby admitting he holds such tyrannical power, despite his claims to the contrary and the pretense of having won elections that were rigged. He also claimed to have persuaded Putin, the ex-Soviet intelligence officer trying to restore the Soviet Union, not to kill the exiled mercenary leader who had been close to Putin, but led a rebellion against the failing Russian war effort in its aggression against Ukraine. The claim by Putin’s ally validates the obvious attribution to the Russian strongman of the many killings of Russian political opponents, journalists, and other critics, including those in exile in the West, for which Putin denies responsibility. Syria: The United States killed an “Islamic State” Islamist terrorist leader in Syria last week in a drone strike, after Russian aircraft had harassed the unmanned aircraft, as they have repeatedly been doing lately. A small American force has been fighting the al-Qaeda offshoot in Syria, while the Russians are backing the terrorist-sponsoring Baathist regime of Syrian tyrant Bashar Assad, who is also supported by Iran and its terrorist proxies against various rebels in a civil war that has killed over half a million people in eleven years and caused millions to flee. The Russians have stopped abiding by deconfliction protocols that had been agreed to between the U.S. and the Russian Federation.

Clearing up the Meaning of Independence Day

As we Americans celebrate our independence today, it is appropriate to clear up the current confusion on the meaning of the Independence Day holiday. As I have posted before, the Continental Congress, which was an assembly of Delegates sent by each of the Thirteen American Colonies which had united against the tyranny of their British mother country, approved a resolution on July 2, 1776 declaring the Colonies to be independent States. Some of the colonies had already declared their own independence from the United Kingdom. The Congress then approved a statement explaining the reasons for the adoption of the resolution, called the Declaration of Independence, which was approved on July 4 and began to be signed by the Delegates. The approval of the document thus did not effectuate independence, only make an explanatory statement for the prior declaration of independence. Although some of the Founding Fathers expected to celebrate July 2 as the true anniversary of American independence, the prominent date of July 4 on the heading of the printed official edition of the Declaration and the brilliance of the document led to celebrations on that date instead. But the distinction is important that the approval of the Declaration of Independence did not make the Colonies independent, it only explained why they had declared their independence. It is also necessary to clear up another distinction, between the “birthday” of American independence and of the United States of America, with which some erroneously conflate the significance of the holiday. Through their declaration of independence, the Colonies became 13 independent States (sovereign political entities), united only loosely through Continental Congress, not through any confederation or federal union. The Union of States, known as the “United States of America,” was only later created by the Constitution, which went into effect in 1789. Independence Day is also not the celebration of the independence or birthday of any “nation,” but of the States. Moreover, even the United States of America is not a nation (a people related by birth) or a nation-state, but a federal Union of States. And neither are any of its member States. Americans should gratefully honor those who sacrificed to win their independence and to appreciate their independence from any foreign power and remain vigilant against threats to it, both directly to our own, and indirectly to the principles of independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity wherever they are threatened around the world in order to defend our own independence and self-determination.

The Pennsylvania Senate Advances the Nomination of a Republican Elections Watchdog as Secretary of the Commonwealth

Acting Secretary of the Commonwealth Al Schmidt’s nomination to be Pennsylvania’s Secretary of the Commonwealth, an office which oversees elections, among other roles, has been approved by the Republican-led Senate State Government Committee. Schmidt, a Republican who oversaw elections as the City Commissioner of Philadelphia for a decade, was nominated by the new liberal Democratic Governor. The elections watchdog, who had issued a report against voter registration fraud in overwhelmingly Democratic Philadelphia, resisted the false claims of Donald Trump about the 2020 General Election, in which the Democratic presidential ticket earned more votes for their slate of Electors in the Keystone State than did Trump’s, despite criticism from Trumpist Republicans and death threats to him and his family. Schmidt later chaired Philadelphia’s Committee of Seventy, an organization that promotes free and fair elections in the City of Brotherly Love. The only vote against Schmidt came from Trumpist Republican Doug Mastriano, a conspiracy theorist who believed Trump’s lies about the 2020 General Election in Pennsylvania, which the Trump-Pence slate of Presidential Electors lost, and who baselessly questioned his own electoral trouncing in his campaign for Governor last year. Schmidt, like Republican election officials in Georgia, Arizona, Michigan and other States, as well as Republican-appointed federal judges and members of Congress, all rejected Trump’s false claims to have won the 2020 elections. In his hearing before the GOP-led Committee, Schmidt expressed support for the Electronic Information Registration Center, a multi-state compact the Commonwealth belongs to cross-checks the voter rolls of member States to eliminate from the voter rolls those voters who have moved to other States and registered to vote there. Some Trumpists have criticized this essential tool for election integrity and a few States have withdrawn from the compact, despite its success against the type of voter fraud that Trumpists claim to oppose. The nomination for Secretary of the Commonwealth could advance further through the Senate for confirmation, but if the Senate does not act within 30 days, the nominee becomes constitutionally confirmed.

Conservatives Won the Greek Parliamentary Elections

The ruling conservative party has won the Greek parliamentary elections today, gaining an absolute majority to be able to govern without having to form a coalition with any other party. As I had posted, the center-right won the parliamentary elections in May, falling around 10% of the vote shy of an absolute majority, but the Prime Minister opted not to seek a mandate from the President to form a government so that the Head of State would have to call for a new round of elections under Greece’s election laws, taking the chance that the Premier’s ruling conservatives would obtain the majority in today’s second vote. Unlike in the recent elections in Finland won by the Finnish conservatives with only a plurality that forced them to have to enter into a coalition government with a far right party, the Greek conservatives’ triumph over the left was great enough also to keep a new far-right party which gained seats in the Parliament out of the executive government of the Hellenic Republic. Greece is an ally of the United States as a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and in the War on Terrorism.

Follow-Up on the Republican-led U.S. House Censure of a Member for Telling the Truth about Trump-Russia Cooperation

A plurality of the Republican-led United States House of Representatives this evening shamefully censured a Democratic colleague for leading the House investigation into the 2016 Donald Trump presidential campaign’s cooperation with Russian interference and correctly characterizing their “collusion,” in the common parlance sense of the word. I had posted about a failed effort to censure him in my last post, in which 20 Republicans joined all Democrats opposing the measure, which would have included a $16 million fine. This time, only 6 GOP Representatives had the integrity to maintain their party’s tradition of standing for American security, instead of minimizing the interference in American politics by a hostile foreign tyrant who is an ex-Soviet intelligence officer trying to restore the Soviet Union. The Republican effort was based on Trump supporters’ misleading claim that the Trump campaign did not “collude” with Russia. The Republican special prosecutor tasked with prosecuting crimes explained that the word is not a criminal term, but as I have noted, he certainly found cooperation between Russia and the Trump campaign. He noted that Russia began to hack his opponents’ e-mails moments after Trump called for Russia to do so, after they had already hacked the Democratic National Committee and stole information, which they published through Wikileaks, a Russian cut-out. The special prosecutor’s report noted the Trump campaign coordinated its messaging with advanced knowledge of Wikileaks’ publication of the stolen information and there were over a hundred unreported contacts between Russians and the Trump campaign. The campaign manager even gave internal poling data to a Russian intelligence officer. The special prosecutor charged numerous Russians with interference on behalf of Trump’s candidacy, as all U.S. intelligence agencies had concluded Russia was doing in what he described as a “sweeping and systematic” interference operation, and also charged Trump campaign officials with various other crimes. The Republican-led Senate Intelligence Committee investigation validated his findings and found even more evidence. A review by the Inspector General also validated these findings. A Trump-appointed special prosecutor who was supposed to discredit the investigation of the Trump campaign, despite some minor criticisms, recently validated its premise. Trump-supporting “conservatives” and Republicans have focused only on the “collusion” aspect to ignore the massive and successful Russian effort, partly overt and partly covert, since 2014 to influence Americans’ views about Russia, divide Americans against each other, undermine confidence in the truth and in elections and to support Trump for the Republican presidential nomination and his general election. It is important to note that Trump lied during his campaign that he was no longer doing business with Russia while still a candidate, as he later was forced to admit. It is shocking and outrageous to many of us Cold War era conservative Republicans who were inspired by Reagan-Thatcher anti-Communist principles that the GOP has ceded its security credentials to the liberal Democrats, except for a few noteworthy exceptions, who at least denied the ignoble censure resolution, which was only symbolic anyway, the credibility of a majority vote. The Trumpist Republican caucus has failed to discredit investigations into Trump and to intimidate colleagues from investigating him, which are their true motivations.

Pro-Security Republicans Rejected the Trumpist House GOP Attempt to Censure the Russian Interference Investigator

A Trumpist Republican effort in the United States House of Representatives to censure a leading Democratic member for the investigation of the acceptance by the 2016 presidential campaign of Donald Trump of Russian Federation support and their cooperation has failed. Twenty Republicans joined with the majority Democrats to reject the censure resolution soundly. Like U.S. intelligence agencies, both a Republican special prosecutor and the Republican-led Senate Intelligence Committee have found that not only did Russia interfere both overtly and covertly on behalf of Trump in the GOP Presidential Primary and General Election, which was an unprecedented degree of foreign interference, but also that Trump publicly requested and welcomed Russian interference and his campaign coordinated its messaging with the release of information stolen by the Russians and published through Wikileaks, a Russian cutout, of which it had advanced knowledge. The interference, led by Russian tyrant and ex-Soviet intelligence officer, Vladimir Putin, was sufficient to win Trump the presidency, apart from all the other election fraud (deception, intimidation, illegal campaign finance activity and other foreign interference) from which it benefited, but the cooperation between Trump’s campaign and the Russian efforts were even more troubling. There were over 100 contacts between the Russians and the Trump campaign, none of which were reported to federal law enforcement. Trump’s campaign manager even shared internal polling data with a Russian intelligence officer. It remains unclear how Russia managed to micro-target both liberal Democratic voters to suppress their votes for their party’s presidential ticket and conservative Republicans to support the pro-Putin Trump. The GOP special prosecutor found that Trump campaign staff hid their communications and that Trump obstructed his investigation, for which he urged impeachment. Trump later was forced to admit that he had lied to Republican primary voters that he was not continuing to do business with Russia during the campaign. In office, Trump refrained from criticizing Putin, despite the Russian dictator’s human rights abuses and hostile actions around the world, let alone to acknowledge Russian political interference in America, and often attempted to keep his administration from standing for U.S. security versus Russia. One example earned him in 2019 his first of two impeachments by the House when he withheld military aid to Ukraine, then under Russian invasion, to extort the former Soviet Republic to investigate his leading Democratic challenger. The delay gave Russian-backed separatists a strategic advantage that Russia took advantage of in its 2022 aggression against Ukraine. Putin’s “active measures” Russian interference in American politics since 2014 has influenced the public in a number of ways, by deliberately dividing Americans, undermining confidence in the truth and in elections, in addition to promoting pro-Russian views. But Soviet and Russian efforts to cultivate Trump date back to the 1980s and helped prop up his failing businesses, thus helping the tycoon to present himself to Republican primary voters as a successful businessman. Most “conservative” Republicans have dismissed or minimized Russian interference, especially cooperation between Trump’s campaign and the Russians, which they focus only upon to ignore the broader and successful Russian interference. A significant number of "conservative” and Republican leaders, including a faction in Congress, have even become apologists for Putin. The inability of the GOP to come to terms with its support of a candidate backed by a hostile foreign power led by a tyrant who is trying to restore the Soviet Union has damaged the party’s standing and undermined Republican voters’ support for U.S. security. The 20 Republicans who voted against the censure resolution are helping to preserve what little is left of the GOP anti-Communist legacy and reputation for American security.

Foreign Digest: Sweden, France and UNESCO

Sweden: Sweden is now allowing military forces from the North Atlantic Treaty Organization on its soil while its NATO membership application is pending. The Nordic State remains under NATO protection in the meantime. Like neighboring Finland, which was admitted earlier this year, Sweden abandoned its longtime neutrality to apply to join the defensive pact because of the Russian Federation aggression against Ukraine. France: France condemned the Russian Federation last week for disinformation attacks, that it identified were committed through a hybrid campaign by Russians, including state actors. Such hybrid campaigns against European and Western States are typical of Russia under tyrant Vladimir Putin, the ex-Soviet intelligence officer attempting to restore the Soviet Union. France backs the former Soviet Republic of Ukraine against Russian aggression. The United States Rejoins the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization: The United States is rejoining the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), which it had left in 2017, and will pay its back dues, which it had been withholding since 2011. By rejoining UNESCO, the U.S. is seeking to counter Communist Chinese influence and promote freedom. The U.S., which had supplied 22% of UNESCO’s budget, had objected to the UN’s bias against Israel, which also left the organization, and its financial mismanagement. UNESCO reformed its policies toward Israel and its financial management. Among the many projects that will receive a boost in funding are cultural heritage preservation in Ukraine, education of girls in Afghanistan and Holocaust education. The UN General Assembly is expected to approve the deal, which has bipartisan American support.

Rest in Peace, Silvio Berlusconi

Former media magnate and professional sports team owner, conservative party founder and leader, and multi-time Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi died today in Brianza at age 86. Berlusconi founded the center-right Forza Italia (Go, Italy) Party after the 1991 collapse of the Christian Democratic Party that had dominated Italian politics since the foundation of the Republic in 1947. “The Knight” served as Premier in 1994 to 1995, 2001-2006 and 2008-2011, leading four governments over that span, dominating Italian politics until recently as the conservative political leader. Berlusconi reduced spending, made fiscal reforms, cut taxes and bureaucracy and cracked down on organized crime, while maintaining Italy’s pro-Western and pro-American foreign policy. He was, however, often involved in scandals, both financial and sexual, and his friendship with authoritarians, such as Russian tyrant Vladimir Putin, which detracted from his principles of morality, free market capitalism, liberty, representative government, and support for the transatlantic alliance and sometimes made his party, which he continued to lead until his death, seem as primarily a vehicle for his self-preservation. Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said the party, which is currently a key member of the coalition right wing national government, will continue without its founder and leader. Tajani would be the obvious successor to the presidency of Forza Italia. There is a need for a center-right anchor that keeps the nationalist and populist right wing from abandoning conservative principles and its super-national ties to Western Europe and its alliance with the United States. Italy, a member of the Group of Seven industrial powers and one of the world’s leaders in international peacekeeping, is a major ally of the U.S. as a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, and in the War on Terrorism.

Foreign Digest: Kosovo, China and Poland

Kosovo: There were violent protests by ethnic Serbs in northern Kosovo last week, in which dozens of international peacekeeping troops were injured against the taking of office of Albanian-speaking mayors in the area. Ethnic Serbs had boycotted the elections. Majority ethnic Albanian Kosovo became independent, with Western military support, of then Communist-led Serbia in 1999 after a war of independence, but Serbia and ethnic Serbs share ethno-religious ties and are backed by the Russian Federation. The former Yugoslavia broke up into its constituent parts following the end of the Cold War in 1991, leading to a series of bloody wars inspired by Communist tyrant and war criminal Slobodan Milosevic. There remain tensions in the Western Balkans, aggravated by Serbs and Russia. Communist China: There has been a wave of arrests of dissidents in Hong Kong attempting to acknowledge the anniversary of Communist China’s 1989 Tiananmen Square Massacre, in which thousands of democratic protestors were killed. Peking has broken its promise to preserve the former British territory’s autonomy and liberty that it made when the city-state reverted to Chinese control in 1997. Meanwhile, Canada joined the United States in enforcing the freedom of navigation in the international waters of the Taiwan Strait, which Red China claims. Poland: A demonstration was held yesterday against the nationalist/populist Polish Government attended by a post-Communist record half million people, led by the conservative opposition leader, former President Donald Tusk, and attended by former President Lech Walesa, the Nobel Peace Prize-winning leader of the Solidarity labor movement during the Communist era. They protested the increasingly authoritarian leadership and in favor of Poland’s association with Europe and its Western European values of liberty and representative government.

Memorial Day 2023 Thoughts

The purpose of Memorial Day is to honor the sacrifice of those who were killed in action in service to the United States for the sake of liberty and representative government, as I have posted every year. It is not for honoring those currently serving or veterans, living or deceased, and it certainly is not a celebratory holiday, despite the customary practice of regarding it as an unofficial start of summer. Although focused on armed service members, it is appropriate to recall those civilians who also were killed by hostile forces while serving America. This year is the second year in a row in which there had been no additional servicemembers killed in action since the previous Memorial Day. This fact reflects not only superior U.S. military power, but mostly the reduced activity in the War on Terrorism, especially since the disastrous Trump-Biden withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021, as well as an increased reliance on drone strikes over manned combat missions. There have been only occasional strikes from aircraft or ground raids against Islamist terrorists in Syria and Somalia, particularly. The U.S. relies also on supporting various allies in the War on Terrorism. Although violent jihadists have suffered major blows since the war began after the September 11, 2001 Attacks against America that killed a record of nearly 3,000 people, they remain a deadly threat to world security. It is good, of course, that no Americans have been killed in combat, but a reluctance to risk lives ought never to take precedence over protecting the security of the United States and lives of the American people, especially against the threat from terrorism, which is the deliberate targeting of innocent civilians to terrorize them to give into the demands of the terrorists. Vanquishing the Islamist terrorists would save more lives of Americans and others around the globe and safeguard freedom. It is hoped that no more Americans will have to make the ultimate sacrifice, but also that the continued various efforts by brave volunteers and others against terrorism will also prevent the deaths of any more innocent civilians.

Foreign Digest: Moldova, Italy, Greece, Papua New Guinea and Turkey

Moldova: Moldova announced last week that it is leaving the Commonwealth of Independent States, the organization set up by the Russian Federation of former Soviet Republics because of Russian aggression against the former Soviet Republic of Ukraine. On Sunday, there was a large pro-European demonstration. The people of former Communist States, including Soviet Satellites and former Soviet Republics, desire to be close to Europe and the West than to Russia, especially now that Russian tyrant Vladimir Putin, an ex-Soviet intelligence officer, seeks to restore the Soviet Union. Italy: There was a pro-life demonstration in Rome last week, led by Catholic clergy and Religious. Thousands attended. Italy has liberal abortion laws, but the practice is relatively rare there, as most medical personal object to killing unborn human beings. There has been a movement for assisted suicide and even euthanasia for which the Italian pro-life movement must also offer the choice of life as an alternative. Greece: The ruling conservative party easily won the most votes and seats in the Greek Parliamentary elections last Sunday. Because the center-right party was close to winning a majority, however, it opted not to seek a coalition with other parties, but a second election in a few weeks to try to win a majority so it can govern on its own. Greece is an ally of the United States as a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Papua New Guinea: Papua New Guinea and the United States signed a defense pact that grants American access to air bases and ports, in yet another measure to counter an increasingly assertive Communist China. Turkey: The authoritarian Islamist Turkish President will win the presidential runoff today because he has persecuted opponents, controls state media and gave out government largesse before the vote. Having served as either Prime Minister or President for two decades, he will guarantee himself another decade in power as he takes Turkey further and further away from its original principles of a secular state with liberty and representative government, guaranteed by the army. The Sultan had been forced into the runoff with a center-left candidate backed by Kurds by failing to win a majority two weeks ago. Turkey is a NATO ally of the U.S., but an unreliable one as it has warmed to Russia and opposes Sweden’s bid to join the defensive alliance in the face of Russian aggression against Ukraine.

First Anniversary of the Victims of Communism Museum in Washington, D.C.

The Victims of Communism Museum (https://victimsofcommunism.org/) in Washington, District of Columbia, recently celebrated its first anniversary. I have posted about the Victims of Communism Memorial established in the 1990s by the United States to document victims of Marxism and Communism in all its bloody forms. The Museum is near the original location of the memorial. The Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation that maintains the facility engages in advocacy for human rights and opposition to Communist regimes, such as Communist China, as well as to Russian Federation tyrant Vladimir Putin, a former Soviet intelligence officer who is nostalgic about the Communist era and is trying to restore the Soviet Union. The Victims of Communism Museum awarded its Dissident Human Rights Award this year to the people of Ukraine, who are heroically resisting the Russian aggression against the former Soviet Republic. The popular Museum also conducts programs, hosts speakers, and develops curriculum, for which there is encouraging demand, lest people forget or younger people never learn of the horrors of a totalitarian tyranny that has killed tens of millions of people and left more than a billion unfree even to this day. The principles of equality, liberty and representative government must be maintained vigilantly against the ideology of Communism and other totalitarian threats.

Turkey’s Islamist Dictator Fails to Win the Turkish Presidential Elections

Turkey’s longtime Islamist increasingly authoritarian President failed to win a majority of the votes to avoid a run-off election Sunday against a close second-place opposition leader, despite controlling state media, limiting freedom of expression and persecuting opponents. His main challenger, who leads a secular center-left coalition that also includes Kurdish parties, pledges a restoration of representative government and the kind of secular government that was established when Turkey was founded after the breakup of the Ottoman Empire after the First World War. The second round of the presidential election are scheduled for two weeks the first round. Strategically located Turkey is a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and thus officially an ally of the United States, but in practice is unreliable. The Turkish “Sultan,” who has ruled as prime minister or president for 20 years, has disputes with fellow- NATO ally Greece over borders and Cyprus, is hostile toward the Kurdish allies of the U.S., and has been increasingly warming to Russian tyrant Vladimir Putin, the ex-Soviet intelligence officer who is trying to restore the Soviet Union. Turkey has become one of the most significant recent examples, like Russia and Venezuela, of a dictatorship established by a freely elected leader who gradually undermines liberty and representative government.

Russian Attempted Funding of the Italian Trumpist League Party

An Italian court last week shelved a criminal case against members of the far-right anti-migrant League Party for an attempt in 2018 to obtain illegal foreign funding for their party from Russians in the form of millions of dollars’ worth of fuel, which was revealed in a videotape of a clandestine meting of League officials and Russians. The League leader, who is a supporter of Donald Trump, was similarly sympathetic to Russian Federation tyrant Vladimir Putin, an ex-Soviet intelligence officer, and whose party is part of the current ruling coalition, falsely claims vindication of his denials and demands an apology, but the judge noted that prosecutors had definitely proven the League officials had sought illegal foreign campaign contributions, but were unable to bring forward a prosecution only because they could not identify the Russians involved in the attempt. The League leader, who is currently Transportation Minister and at the time of the attempt was also in government, blocked even an inquiry into the matter, using the excuse that the attempt was not successful. Last year, the League leader and other officials accepted flights paid for by the Russian dictatorship to discuss Russian “peace” initiatives after the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Although the League does not support Russia’s aggression against Ukraine, it has been skeptical of continued Italian military support for Ukraine, in contrast to the other right-wing parties in the governing coalition and the Prime Minister. Russia interferes in foreign elections in many ways, both openly and covertly, including through financing far-left or far-right parties and organizations sympathetic to it, as has happened in France, the United States and Austria, for example.

Bill Clinton Regrets Leaving Ukraine Vulnerable to Russian Aggression

Bill Clinton recently expressed regret for an agreement he and the British negotiated with Russia and Ukraine in 1994 when he held the office of President of the United States that left the former Soviet Republic vulnerable to Russian aggression, despite the terms of the deal, as happened in 2014 in Crimea and eastern Ukraine and more fully last year. After the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, Soviet nuclear weapons (long-range missiles with nuclear warheads) were left not only in the Russian Federation, but in three other Soviet Republics, including Ukraine. With non-proliferation of nuclear weapons as a goal, the Western allies struck a deal with Russia to recognize the independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine, including Crimea and eastern Ukraine, in exchange for the removal of the weapons, which Russia feared, from Ukrainian territory. The U.S. and the United Kingdom guaranteed Ukraine’s security, but this guarantee fell far short of the kind of protection offered by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization to its members against the much more powerful Russian Federation. Clinton theorized that if Ukraine had retained its nuclear weapons, Russia might have been deterred. Regardless of the merits of his thought, his expression underscores that the Anglo-American security guarantees given to Ukraine were obviously inadequate. NATO, which Ukraine has wanted to join, is a defensive alliance, whereby an attack on one member is considered an attack on all. Under Russian tyrant Vladimir Putin, an ex-Soviet intelligence officer who is trying to restore the Soviet Union, Russia opposes NATO because it is an obstacle to Russian aggression. Although not directly involved in the fighting, the U.S., the U.K. and other NATO members are providing support to Ukraine against Russian aggression, which violates not only the 1994 agreement, but international law.

Pushback Against Legalization of Marijuana Abuse

There has lately been some encouraging pushback against the trend legalization of marijuana abuse, which lately was becoming a one-sided debate. Oklahoma voters last month rejected a referendum to legalize the recreational use of marijuana. I had posted in November that voters had rejected legalization referendums in the 2022 General Election in Arkansas, North and South Dakota, despite the recent trend. An organization called Smart Approach to Marijuana which opposes federal legalization of the drug, led by a former federal official who worked for presidential administrations of both parties, hosted a summit in Washington, D.C. last week. They and health officials have been pushing back against the trend, led by the marijuana industry, of the “legitimization, commercialization and normalization” of marijuana and especially against the recent rushing toward full legalization, which has tempted to politicians to use it to increase tax revenue at the cost of public health. The organization, which is the only one representing opposition to legalization, has been successfully opposing state legalization referendums and federal and state legislative legalization proposals. President Joe Biden, a liberal Democrat, had pardoned people for the federal offense of possession of marijuana, none of whom had been imprisoned for simple possession, contrary to pro-marijuana arguments that there were. Those who are incarcerated for possession by States or territories are usually only through plea deals in exchange for dropping charges for dealing. Biden also ordered a scientific review of the drug’s classification, but he is not in favor or legalization. The anti-legalization organization, which supports the review because it is confident it will illuminate the harms of marijuana abuse, similarly opposes criminalization, meaning that they support civil offenses for recreational use of the drug. Their position is based on the conservative view of government responsibility for public health, in contrast to some “conservatives” who focus only on economic or fiscal matters, or who are more libertarian and thus oppose reasonable public health regulations. Leaving aside any supposedly scientifically proven medical benefits, most doctors, scientists and medical associations oppose legalization, citing a growing body of evidence of the harms of the addictive, mind-altering poison that is often a gateway to the abuse of even worse drugs. There has also been public pushback in some States against overly loose medical marijuana laws. There have also been many unintended consequences of legalization laws that have harmed public health. The anti-legalization organization also notes the use of the scientific name “cannabis” for marijuana by the pro-marijuana industry to make it seem more scientific and thus acceptable. The species name includes hemp, the commercially useful variety of the plant that does not contain the mind-altering compound. Thus, “cannabis” is a shibboleth like “gaming” is for the gambling industry, both of which are misleading and distracting from the harms. The success of the opposition to marijuana abuse is encouraging to true conservatives concerned about public health and safety, and should be supported by them.

Italian Migrant Policy Changes

The right-wing Italian Government recently declared a national migrant emergency because of a recent increase in migrants coming to Italy, usually intent on going on to other European Union States. Migrants are coming from Africa and Asia. The opposition criticized the declaration’s implication that migrants, including refugees seeking asylum, are an “emergency.” Several Regions exercised their prerorgatives to reject national the appropriation of funds for the national commissioner for the territories. The influential Catholic Bishops’ Conference observed that the increase in migrants was not an “emergency,” to which the Government agreed, citing only the technical matter of Lampedusa, the island off Sicily where the migrant acceptance facility is not large enough to handle an increase in the flow. The Government, which enacted through Parliament its proposals for some minor measures against migrants and refugees seeking asylum, also enacted an increase in legal immigration, which is necessary because of population decline and a labor shortage, which would thereby discourage illegal entry. The United Nations meanwhile warned Italy against its policy of making it more difficult for non-governmental organizations’ ships rescuing migrants to land with restrictive regulations that risk lives. The European Union, of which Italy is a member, also opposes the restrictions. Italy has been pleading for EU support for the costly rescues and migrant processing, while working with Tunisia and other States where migrants embark and targeting human smugglers. One of the main parties in the ruling coalition, the League, is a Trumpist anti-migrant party.