Some weeks, there are just so many things happening that it’s hard to pick one focus for a column. Today’s American crisis mosaic has so many facets that the whole is far worse than any of the parts. Here are six concerns that deserve our attention:
1. The proliferation of sanctuary states and cities that protect undocumented aliens must be addressed. By refusing to help ICE deport undocumented aliens who have committed crimes, they put American citizens and immigrants in danger. The US Supreme Court has already ruled that federal immigration laws supersede state laws in Arizona. Thankfully, California's Orange County supervisors and sheriff have found a legal way to skirt the state’s sanctuary law and help ICE enforce federal law by publicly reporting all prisoners released. May a workable plan be adopted that deports criminals and allows longtime responsible undocumented residents to remain.
2. The loss of young lives is always a tragedy. The slanted news coverage of youth marches and their demands may serve the media’s desire to continually criticize the NRA, the Second Amendment, and the current administration. It also provides the Democrats with an issue to campaign on in the midterm elections. But it doesn’t promote meaningful progress in considering actual common-sense changes. Getting beyond our emotional divisions, we ought to be considering raising the purchase age for guns from 18 to 21, improving the coordination of effective background checks, armed guards on campus, and actually ensuring timely police investigations on citizen warnings.
3. With the Trump suggestion to have armed security on campuses, there needs to be better coverage of places were guns neutralized school shooters. Recently, school resource officer Blaine Gaskill’s quick action brought a school shooting to a quick end. After two students were shot, one gravely wounded, at Great Mills High School in Maryland, Gaskill discharged his gun striking the attacker’s weapon. The gunman then killed himself. In another incident, the Pearl High Assistant Principal Joel Myrick stopped school shooter Luke Woodham who had wounded seven and killed two. After hearing shots, Myrick secured his Colt .45-caliber automatic pistol from his truck, forced Woodham to the ground, and kept his foot on the youth’s neck until the authorities arrived. In the right hands, guns on campus have and can make a positive difference.
4. It’s time to stand in support of the police and sheriffs who work every day to protect our communities. Certainly, when proof of bias or a crime is there, hold individual officers responsible. Look for ways to support and thank the vast majority of officers who put their lives on the line for us daily. The blanket attacks on the police just create distance and fear between officers and the communities they serve.
5. While we need to support good officers working to protect us, we must hold accountable the irresponsible. There is growing evidence that people at the top of the FBI and the Department of Justice politicized, even weaponized, the FISA process to legitimize spying on the Trump campaign. The DOJ’s slow response to share relevant documents needed to assess the seriousness of the charges is further damaging the reputation of our embattled legal system. While the media can’t get enough about Stormy Daniels and Russian collusion, they remain relatively silent about the clear evidence of FISA abuse. It’s time to subpoena those documents and consider appointing a special counsel.
6. Finally, not to leave him out, President Trump has shown he is no fiscal conservative. Rather than letting Democratic resistance take the blame for shutting down government’s non-essential services, he signed an omnibus spending bill that is the second largest in history after President Obama. It will further explode the debt, and it fails to deliver on his promise to adequately fund his border wall or pass a workable DACA plan. President Trump’s tax plan will boost our economy, return money to taxpayers, and increase federal revenue, but he’s certainly not draining the swamp. He’s expanding it.