Two elected officials—from different parts of America—emerged this weekend as the kind of patriots which are in too short supply these days…but both offered a ray of hope for our future.
First, Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia just earned the thanks of every right-thinking man, woman, and child in America. Because on Sunday, Manchin essentially killed the ridiculous, bloated and unnecessary $2-trillion grab-bag of ultraLeftist spending scams called Joe Biden’s “Build Back Better” plan.
(By the way, like so much of Biden’s past career…he plagiarized the “Build Back Better” terminology from British prime minister Boris Johnson…who early in 2020 unveiled a so-called “Build Back Greener” plan which went nowhere, so he switched the name to “Build Back Better.” Joe Biden then simply stole the name, but I digress.)
In a U.S. Senate deadlocked 50/50 among Republicans and Democrats..Biden urgently needed EVERY Democrat to vote “yes” on BBB so that Vice President Harris—fresh off her latest bungled interview on (I am not making this up) cable TV’s Comedy Central Channel with Charlamagne Tha God—could then break that tie and “pass” Build Back Better. With Joe Manchin announcing on Sunday morning that he’s a “NO” vote, that 50-50 tie will no longer occur….unless some weasel like Mitt Romney on the GOP side stabs everyone in the back to SUPPORT “Build Back Better.” That seems unlikely, but in Washington, ANYTHING can happen. And that includes the possibility that if BBB is going to fail ANYWAY…some shaky Dems in the U.S. Senate may also suddenly come out against it in an effort to try and save their scalps next November…
Of course, the liberal MEDIA outlets are squealing like stuck pigs over Manchin’s “no” vote. MSNBC anchors were—at last report—being fitted for Iron Lungs. Washington Post columnist Jennifer Rubin hysterically tweeted: “If Manchin is no…Biden is done, and Democracy is hanging by a thread.” Too many sugared cereals for ol’ Jennifer, apparently.
And over at the White House, press secretary Jen Psaki raced out a seething statement essentially calling Senator Manchin a liar….which would be quite an indictment coming from HER, the woman who still claims her boss didn’t leave any Americans behind when he tucked his tail and scurried out of Afghanistan.
"If his (Manchin’s) comments on FOX and his written statement indicate an end to his Build Back Better negotiations,” Psaki whined, “they represent a sudden and inexplicable reversal in his position, and a breach of his commitments to the President and the Senator’s colleagues in the House and Senate."
Naturally, it is ONLY in Washington where a lowly press secretary—elected by absolutely NO ONE—can feel she has a right to cuff the ears of an elected member of the United States Senate…billed in most history books at the “greatest deliberative body on earth.”
For now…let’s celebrate that out of the 100 members of the Senate, we now have conclusive evidence that ONE of them actually has a SPINE: West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin.
Meantime down in Texas, Governor Greg Abbott—fed up with seeing his state overrun by illegals virtually escorted from Mexico across the Texas border as the comically pathetic “director” of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkis looks the other way, pretending not to see the thousands of unskilled illegals pouring into America under his “watch”—swung into action this weekend.
Governor Abbott appeared in Rio Grande City to announce that since the Federal government has abandoned its responsibility to protect the lives and health of Texas residents, construction of Texas’ own border wall is now under way. “This not only represents the first phase of the $3-billion Texas border wall,” Abbott declared, but is serves as a major milestone to combat illegal immigration...stop the smuggling of drugs and people…and keep our communities safe.” Amen, brother!
But Abbott didn’t stop there: the governor pointed to literally billions-of-taxpayer-dollars worth of steel and other materials purchased during President Donald J. Trump’s administration that are simply rusting in open fields after Joe Biden’s dopey abandonment of the in-progress border wall construction. The steel fencing has already been bought and paid for by U.S. taxpayers, but Biden—Mr. “Build Back Better” himself—decided to STOP building Trump’s border wall, in a petty and short-sighted move not unlike his other signature “accomplishmemt” of cancelling the Keystone XL oil pipeline on his first day in office January 20th. (12 months later, we’re all paying $50-$60 to fill up our cars and trucks because supplies have dwindled as prices at-the-pump have doubled.)
Maybe when she’s done writing NastyGrams about Senator Joe Manchin, Jen Psaki can focus on the actual menace facing the USA: the doddering clown just the other side of the wall from her Briefing Room. That guy who keeps trying to milk laughs at events by introducing himself as “Jill Biden’s husband”…then awkwardly waiting for the laughs which never come.
But even as the Biden/Harris “administration” winds down it’s first disgraceful year of Making America Weak Again…we can all take heart that in Phoenix this weekend, thousands of young people (including my own daughter) gathered to gear-up for the 2022 midterms at Charlie Kirk’s AmericaFest event…featuring speakers like Tucker Carlson, Dr. Sebastian Gorka, Congressman Jim Jordan and dozens of others. The huge turnout at AmericaFest gives me hope for the future.
Meantime, we all can be thankful for the early Christmas gifts bestowed on America by two brave patriots who—unlike so many “leaders” in our country—have really stepped up and are making important, long-lasting differences: Senator Joe Manchin and Texas Governor Greg Abbott.
Tom Tradup is V.P./News & Talk Programming for Dallas-based SALEM Radio Network. He can be reached at ttradup@srnradio.com