DACA, North Korea, and Hurricanes

DACA, North Korea, and Hurricanes

(President Trump Deserves Some Credit)

In this article, I will address the three main topics in the news of late.

DACA

DACA stands for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals. It was an unconstitutional law drafted and signed by President Obama. It was unconstitutional as only Congress has the Constitutional authority to draft laws. Obama knew this. That is the reason for the “Deferred” part of the title. It was designed as a temporary measure to give Congress time to do its job and pass a comprehensive immigration bill.

Moreover, Obama himself said on numerous occasions prior to his unconstitutional executive power grab that he did not have the authority to draft an immigration law. But after four years of fighting with Congress to get them to draft legislation, he just did it himself in June 2012, with no regard for the Constitution. What I never understood at that time is why the Republicans in Congress did not challenge this law in the courts. It surely would have been struck down as an overreach of executive authority.

But now President Trump has done the right thing and has not reauthorized this unconstitutional law. He has instead obeyed the Constitution and kicked it back to Congress, with the expectation that Congress will finally do its job and pass an immigration bill. Press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders put it best when she said that if the members of Congress cannot do their job and pass an immigration bill, then they should resign and let others take their place who can.

What DACA is about is not deporting the children of illegal aliens, the so called “Dreamers.” It gave them a free pass to remain in this country without needing work or school visas. That might sound like a compassionate thing, and maybe it is. But it is not worth blowing up the Constitution over. If this executive power grab was allowed to stand, it could be the beginning of the end of our great Constitutional Republic.

And yes, that is what the USA is, a Constitutional Republic, not a Democracy. A democracy would not have lasted 228 years. It is only our Constitution that has enabled the USA to continue to exist, to be at peace, and to prosper. If the Constitution is lost, all would be loss.

President Trump recognized both the importance of the Constitution and the need to be compassionate to the “Dreamers” by not reauthorizing DACA but by allowing its provisions to stand for six months. That gives Congress time to do its job and pass an immigration bill

But it must be noted, not everyone is happy with the six-month allowance. Many wanted the law to expire on October 5 of this year (2017), as it was designed to do. The reason for that is some four million unemployed American citizens are in the same age category as the Dreamers, and those Dreamers are taking jobs away from these Americans. It must also be noted that almost half of those unemployed Americans are minorities, African Americans or Hispanics. As such, DACA is hurting those communities.

However, it is the Trump administration’s hope that as the economy continues to improve due to Trump’s job creating measures, then all of these people, both the unemployed Americans and the Dreamers, will have found jobs before an immigration bill is passed and the Dreamers become permanent residents of the USA.

The bottom line is, no matter how much you might support the provisions of DACA, if you care at all about the Constitution, the rule of law, and the stability of the USA, you must support Trump’s action. It was both compassionate and lawful.

North Korea

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un is an unstable person who reminds me of a little child engaging in dangerous antics to impress his friends. He seems to think the world and his people will be impressed by his displays of power. He also truly seems to think he can win a war with the United States.

That might have been the case with our previous weak President who did not have the stomach to do what needed to be done militarily. That was the reason for his very unwise premature removal of troops from Iraq, leaving the power vacuum that was filled by ISIS. That was the reason for the unconstitutional Iranian deal. It was unconstitutional, as it was a treaty that never received congressional approval. And it is the reason that Kim Jong-un felt embolden to proceed with his nuclear program.

But there is a new sheriff in town, and he will not put up with Kim Jong-un’s antics. If Kim starts a war, President Trump will end it, and that could very well mean the complete obliteration of North Korea. Kim Jong-un must realize this. If not, then he truly is a madman.

To be clear, I do to want war. No sane person does. If North Korea fires off a nuclear-armed missile, it could mean the deaths of 100,000s. And the USA’s retaliation could kill millions of North Koreans. And that is just the immediate blasts. The nuclear fallout could kill millions more.

But to be honest, I am not sure what to do. No one does really, as we are dealing with a man who is not thinking straight. Diplomacy has not worked. Sanctions have not worked. Trump’s tough talk did get Kim Jong-un to back down from firing missile around Guam, something Trump never received credit for, just criticism.

When I heard of North Korea test firing a hydrogen bomb, my heart sank. A nuclear bomb is bad enough, but a hydrogen bomb takes this crisis to a whole new level. And what Trump needs now is backing from Congress, both Democrats and Republicans, backing from the media, and backing from the American people. But all he is getting is still more criticism, as if the spineless members of Congress or the lying press personal could handle the situation any better.

This is a serious situation that deserves our concern and our prayers. It is not a time for political gamesmanship and criticism of a President who is doing his best to manage an unmanageable situation. But as always, President Trump never receives the support nor the credit he deserves, and that is the case with the next issue.

Hurricanes

My prayers go out to all of those affected by Hurricane Harvey and who will be affected by Hurricane Irma. These are two monster storms that have or will wreak much destruction and loss of life. I strongly encourage my readers to support organizations like the Salvation Army and Samaritan’s Purse.

I mention these two organizations as they are the two disaster relief groups I support as they are both Christian organizations. Along with physical relief, they will give spiritual relief to afflicted persons by spreading the Gospel. The Red Cross was founded as a Christian organization, but long ago abandoned its Christian roots. It’s still a good organization and worth supporting, but I prefer to support organizations that still believe in the Gospel and giving both physical and spiritual aid to people.

That said; President Trump has handled the tragedy of Hurricane Harvey as well as any President could. He declared Texas a disaster area before Harvey even hit. He immediately asked Congress to authorize long term disaster relief. He visited Texas and played the role of Counselor-in-Chief very well.

His compassion was truly on display as he comforted the people afflicted by Harvey, as he helped to fill trucks with relief supplies, and as he and our lovely First Lady helped to serve food to people at a relief shelter.

But as always, Trump has not received the credit he deserves for his swift and decisive actions. You can be sure that if Trump made just one misstep during the disaster, the media would have been all over him, criticizing him unendingly like they do with everything else he does. But since he did everything right, you barely hear a peep from the media.

Conclusion

However, I will give President Trump the credit he deserves for his handling of Hurricane Harvey, just as I give him credit for all else he has accomplished since taking office. The economy is growing at a 3% rate, far better than it ever did while Obama was in office. Unemployment is down. Illegal border crossings have plummeted. There has yet to be a terrorist attack in the United States, though numerous attacks have occurred in Europe. We are winning the war against ISIS. He has handled thorny issues like DACA in a constitutional yet compassion manner, and he is dealing with North Korea as best as is possible in an impossible situation. For all of this and more he deserves credit and support, not the unending, unjustified criticism he is getting in the media.

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The above article was posted on this website September 6, 2017.

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