Monthly Archives: November 2017

Illogical negativism

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The core principle of logical positivism which underpins verification as the basis for scientific investigation of the truth content of any statement made:

“A statement that cannot be conclusively verified cannot be verified at all. It is simply devoid of any meaning.”

This then is the principle of illogical negativism, now applied near universally across the media and throughout the left. It is the principle that denies any need whatever to verify any statement that suits the political outcome sought by the person making the statement or hearing it.

A statement that cannot be conclusively denied cannot be denied at all. It is simply true because someone has said it and conforms to what those who hear the statement prefer to believe.”

Let us look a little more deeply at this principle which is seen everywhere among the empty heads of the Republican Party as much as among Democrats. No evidence or factual underpinnings are required, only that someone says it and it suits others that it has been said. Begin here with Anita Hill’s testimony about Clarence Thomas during his Supreme Court confirmation hearings in 1993:

Hill alleged lurid details about her time with Thomas at the Department of Education: “He spoke about acts that he had seen in pornographic films involving such matters as women having sex with animals and films showing group sex or rape scenes… On several occasions, Thomas told me graphically of his own sexual prowess.” Hill also said that the following incident occurred later after they had both moved to new jobs at the EEOC: “Thomas was drinking a Coke in his office, he got up from the table at which we were working, went over to his desk to get the Coke, looked at the can and asked, ‘Who has put pubic hair on my Coke?'”

Ridiculously mild by today’s standards and not a word of it ever verified or confirmed by anything outside of the statements made by Anita Hill herself and then repeated ad nauseum as part of this “high tech lynching” by everyone opposed to his confirmation. But now we have this: Woman says Roy Moore initiated sexual encounter when she was 14, he was 32 – 38 years ago but not mentioned until now – and moreover from The Washington Post, as untrustworthy a source as could be imagined. Here’s the only part I will quote with the bit in bold quite to the point:

In a written statement, Moore denied the allegations.

“These allegations are completely false and are a desperate political attack by the National Democrat Party and the Washington Post on this campaign,” Moore, now 70, said.

The campaign said in a subsequent statement that if the allegations were true they would have surfaced during his previous campaigns, adding “this garbage is the very definition of fake news.”

No wonder the left laughs at the right, so politically stupid it is almost beyond idiocy. A similar story about a Democrat would not even make it into the press.

Let us go further with a few links picked up at Ace of Spades.

And from the last of the stories:

The White House says President Donald Trump believes Republican Senate candidate Roy Moore “will do the right thing and step aside” if sexual misconduct allegations against him are true.

Press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders told reporters traveling with Trump in Asia that the president believes a “mere allegation” — especially one from many years ago — shouldn’t be allowed to destroy a person’s life.

But Sanders says: “The president also believes that if these allegations are true, Judge Moore will do the right thing and step aside.”

And from J.E Sefton at Ace of Spades who thinks as I do:

The weekend is here and with it the cold slap in the face of yesterday’s accusations against Roy Moore. I probably reflect the sentiments of most if not all of you in the Horde in that my initial reaction was to call this an abject, unmitigated smear to derail Moore’s candidacy and throw a gimme seat to the Democrats. I still feel this way, and in fact, considering the absolutely disgraceful reaction from the GOP, I would not be at all surprised if it is they who were behind this. I’m looking at the be-goitered, flabby face of Mitch McConnell. The GOP pumped millions into that race to install Establishment lackey Luther Strange and he was rejected. . . .

Unlike the GOP, the MFM, Dems and others, who it’s safe to say couldn’t give two shits about the alleged victims but are more interested in derailing Moore for political gain, guilty or innocent, I will stand by Roy Moore until it is absolutely proven beyond any doubt that he is guilty of a crime or of behavior that would have obviated my support at the outset of his candidacy. Sadly, as the shabby Dick Gephardt would say, it’s not about guilt or innocence, it’s all about the seriousness of the charge. So guilty or innocent, odds are Moore may be sunk. That stinks to high heaven and I hope he can overcome what is now a cheap, desperate smear.

For myself, any evidence of any kind would be a help: a note he wrote, a photo someone took, an earlier application to the courts. Anything at all because without at least that, no one outside those utterly on the inside can enter public life without the certainty that some allegation of this kind will be made. Instead we have this:

Moore accuser worked for Hillary!!!

Witness comes forward, says WaPo tried to bribe women to accused Roy Moore

The Alabama GOP’s Awful Responses to the Roy Moore Sexual Assault Allegations Are Dead-End Partisanship At Its Worst

If the conservative side of politics keeps folding under this kind of pressure we will never win. Hit ’em back twice as hard, the slimy rotten lying scum that they are.

“No-one else could pull this off, except Trump”

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Necessary too.

This is the brief story that comes with the corroborating video above: A Powerful Message – President Trump Delivers Remarks in Beijing’s Great Hall…. PDT commences at the ten minute mark and he does not mince words.

President Trump and President Xi delivered remarks to the international audience in The Great Hall in Beijing China, and suddenly the word “remarks” seems inappropriate.

President Xi Jinping delivered the customary speech, albeit with nuance specific to the guest and audience, with a carefully worded assembly familiar to almost anyone who has read speeches and messaging approved by Beijing. As customary within the cunning assembly of those words; the state media apparatus then tells the consuming audience what they mean. Or at least that’s the familiar pattern.

However, then came Trump…

President Trump followed President Xi’s remarks with a speech as deliberate and unambiguous as the internal audience would ever fathom hearing. President Trump respectfully pulled no punches in his direct and emphatic style; stating that China needed to engage in, well, to use China’s familiar wording, “correct thinking” on a variety of issues – including trade and their necessary responsibility toward North Korea.

No-one else could pull this off, except Trump. Not that way. The best part is always the emphatic part at the end. President Trump gives the look saying: well, that’s that then; that’s all I’ve got to say about that… smiles bigly, and the diplomatic opponent tries not to look smaller than they were ten minutes earlier.

Not that we should neglect any of this either:

TRUMP DELIVERS: 37 major deals US firms signed with Chinese entities during visit…

Declares New World-Trade Order…

And then this, the President’s granddaughter singing in Mandarin 特朗普外孙女唱中文歌

Neither the first bit nor the second would have been brought to you aside from here at the far corner of the web. They see no version of sense other than their own and when their designated enemies help make the world a better and safer place, they have no response other than to shut their ears and bay at the moon.

‘It’s what they get taught at school’

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I’ll give you an excerpt from an article in the latest Campus Review, which is sent out to all of us teaching in higher education. This is the least worst part of the story but read it all, and then you can tell me how true this is or isn’t: When did human rights become racist? A reflection on relativism in Australian education.

I had always assumed that most humanities teachers in this country, regardless of political leanings, were on the same boat.

The first signs that this was not the case, and that something was seriously amiss, came some years ago, when I began lecturing in Australian history. My 17 and 18-year-old students, most of whom were studying to become teachers, were arguing in their essays that Hitler should not be judged, and that we should always uphold a balanced view about history. Judging Hitler (yes, Hitler) was unbalanced. Paper after paper argued that there was no truth, just perspectives, all of which were equally valid or equally questionable. The sheer amount of teenagers upholding this hollow and extreme cultural and moral relativist credo alarmed me. I made it a point to clarify the distinction between historical ‘balance’ and ‘genocidal leaders’, but the same argument kept coming up, essay after essay. I mentioned this to a senior colleague, who shrugged her shoulders and exclaimed ‘it’s what they get taught at school’.

From there on it gets only worse. But that, of course, is only my view. That these people are moral monsters is also my view as well.

The return of Anita Hill

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From Anita Hill’s testimony about Clarence Thomas:

Hill alleged lurid details about her time with Thomas at the Department of Education: “He spoke about acts that he had seen in pornographic films involving such matters as women having sex with animals and films showing group sex or rape scenes… On several occasions, Thomas told me graphically of his own sexual prowess.” Hill also said that the following incident occurred later after they had both moved to new jobs at the EEOC: “Thomas was drinking a Coke in his office, he got up from the table at which we were working, went over to his desk to get the Coke, looked at the can and asked, ‘Who has put pubic hair on my Coke?'”

So now we have this: Woman says Roy Moore initiated sexual encounter when she was 14, he was 32 – 34 years ago but not mentioned until now – and from The Washington Post, as untrustworthy as source as could be imagined. Here’s the only part I will quote with the bit in bold quite to the point:

In a written statement, Moore denied the allegations.

“These allegations are completely false and are a desperate political attack by the National Democrat Party and the Washington Post on this campaign,” Moore, now 70, said.

The campaign said in a subsequent statement that if the allegations were true they would have surfaced during his previous campaigns, adding “this garbage is the very definition of fake news.”

No wonder the left laughs at the right, so politically stupid it is almost beyond idiocy. A similar story about a Democrat would not even make it into the press.

SOME FURTHER COMMENT AND LINKS: Picked up at Ace of Spades.

From the last of the stories:

The White House says President Donald Trump believes Republican Senate candidate Roy Moore “will do the right thing and step aside” if sexual misconduct allegations against him are true.

Press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders told reporters traveling with Trump in Asia that the president believes a “mere allegation” — especially one from many years ago — shouldn’t be allowed to destroy a person’s life.

But Sanders says: “The president also believes that if these allegations are true, Judge Moore will do the right thing and step aside.”

And from J.E Sefton at Ace of Spades who thinks as I do:

The weekend is here and with it the cold slap in the face of yesterday’s accusations against Roy Moore. I probably reflect the sentiments of most if not all of you in the Horde in that my initial reaction was to call this an abject, unmitigated smear to derail Moore’s candidacy and throw a gimme seat to the Democrats. I still feel this way, and in fact, considering the absolutely disgraceful reaction from the GOP, I would not be at all surprised if it is they who were behind this. I’m looking at the be-goitered, flabby face of Mitch McConnell. The GOP pumped millions into that race to install Establishment lackey Luther Strange and he was rejected. . . .

Unlike the GOP, the MFM, Dems and others, who it’s safe to say couldn’t give two shits about the alleged victims but are more interested in derailing Moore for political gain, guilty or innocent, I will stand by Roy Moore until it is absolutely proven beyond any doubt that he is guilty of a crime or of behavior that would have obviated my support at the outset of his candidacy. Sadly, as the shabby Dick Gephardt would say, it’s not about guilt or innocence, it’s all about the seriousness of the charge. So guilty or innocent, odds are Moore may be sunk. That stinks to high heaven and I hope he can overcome what is now a cheap, desperate smear.

For myself, any evidence of any kind would be a help: a note he wrote, a photo someone took, an earlier application to the courts. Anything at all because without at least that, no one outside those utterly on the inside can enter public life without the certainty that some allegation of this kind will be made.

A commentary on the political consequences of lives that have been emptied of God

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An article filled with insight in an area of the deepest confusion. This is only part of the actual title, but gets to what is the issue at hand: Many Americans Are Suffering From a Mental Disorder. A long article but addresses the question why so many Americans, and it applies pretty well in every Western community, why so many vote in ways that harm themselves as a means of harming others. I will take excerpts that provide the central thread of the argument but it is worth reading through in full. There is more to it than this.

Socialism is a political philosophy that stands opposed to the principles of freedom America once valued. These have changed over time due to the influence of Marxism and materialistic, nihilistic German philosophies, which have subverted our education system for decades. It’s also due to the rejection of Judeo-Christian ethics and the Enlightenment philosophies of John Locke, Adam Smith, and Montesquieu that work together to ensure liberty. . . .

Mises says we make a grave mistake if we try to reason with people who embrace anti-liberty views. This is because opposition to one’s own freedom doesn’t stem from reason. It’s actually a “pathological mental attitude,” born of resentment, “envious malevolence,” and “a neurasthenic condition” Mises called this the “Fourier complex”. . . .

The Fourier complex is rooted in psychological disruption. No amount of reason or life lessons will bring light to the darkened mind. “What is involved in this case is a serious disease of the nervous system, a neurosis, which is more properly the concern of the psychologist than of the legislator,” Mises writes. . . .

But we still have to ask — how is it that this deranged mental condition, this “Fourierism,” this love of socialism, is now so prevalent? Why are people prone to fantasy instead of reality? Do not doubt the fact that socialism and Marxism (despite its highfaluting rhetoric) are based in fantasy.

Neither of these ideologies can construct the utopia they promise. Even to formulate the hope, they have to suspend reason by making two assumptions: First, they assume that all the material of production in the world is there for our disposal and in such abundance that it doesn’t need to be economized. . . .

Second, they assume that suddenly and magically, work will change from “a burden into a pleasure,” and people will be overjoyed with working at meaningless tasks for others and not their own private use. They’ll be perfectly content, just like Winston Smith and his comrades in 1984. In this world of ever-flowing goods and a love for work and equal shares despite unequal abilities and contributions, they will find utopia.

This is the “saving lie” of socialism; the one neurotics believe to be true. And because of this, those who are frustrated by their own disappointments in life and who want to tear down everyone else in the name of egalitarian fantasies can console themselves of their despair in this world. . . .

“Socialist authors promise not only wealth for all, but also happiness in love for everybody, the full physical and spiritual development of each individual, the unfolding of great artistic and scientific talents in all men,” Mises writes. “The socialist paradise will be the kingdom of perfection, populated by completely happy supermen. All socialist literature is full of such nonsense. But it is just this nonsense that wins it the most supporters.” . . .

The real necessities of life that create inequalities are rejected for a fantasy of happiness, social justice, and uniformity of wealth and existence. The material realities of life are ignored. Laws, consequences, value of property, reasonable outcomes, one’s own needs, even science — these are rejected for a dream: the socialist dream that is never realized.

This is the hell into which many of our fellow Americans are plunging. The only way to save them is with the “saving truth.” They need to live as God created them to live, in balance as taught by true religion, not by the false religion of Marx. Only when they understand that they live in the here and now but can also hope for eternity; that they are to work responsibly according to the necessities of life and dream of a better life one day; and that they derive value, not only from material goods, but also from spiritual realities — that there’s more to life than the accumulation of things, and yet accumulation of things is still part of life — will they be happy. And most of all they will be free.

And if that is the problem and also the only solution, then there is a problem indeed but no practical answer. The void and despair in the millions of devastated lives will never be filled, with political consequences of the darkest kind always an immediate possibility.

The impossible will take a little longer

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https://youtu.be/qgwUsvtp4H8

I gave a presentation yesterday on “Donald Trump – One Year On.” These were my speaking notes. And while I mainly think of politics in relation to policy, the left thinks of policy as a fashion statement. They hate capitalism and they hate Christianity which basically explains most of what they do and say. Even in a friendly audience, after a year of finding how moderate and full of good sense PDT is, I was asked, what about Russia? Well what about Russia, I replied. The 2020 election is no certainty, nor are the Congressional elections next year. There are enough on the Republican side in the same [slime]mould as our Malcolm who would prefer to see the Democrats take Congress than see Trump succeed. Anyway, this is what I said on the first anniversary of the election. And of course, the book I refer to is my Art of the Impossible which remains as alive and relevant as the day it was published. Highly recommended, if I do say so myself.

The most extraordinary part about going through the book a year after the election is to find how relevant every page of it still is.

The areas of relevance:

• domestic
• economic
• international
• cultural/social

Who are the enemies he is dealing with and what are the central issues?

fanatical and ignorant opposition

• SJW are far left anti-capitalist, anti-free institutions
• the left in the US and across the world is no longer about provisioning the welfare state but is out and out communist and totalitarian
• Antifa is representative of the mindset

far-far left media

• malevolent, ignorant and totalitarian at heart
• utterly oppositional in everything they say or write
• stand for nothing other than a series of empty clichés
• tweet-storms is Trump’s modern means to outflank the media
• Catallaxy, Quadrant, The Spectator, bits of Sky News and tiny bits of The Australian are literally the only pro-Trump sources in Australia

focus on the national economy – wishes to restore the American economy to good health – others are welcome to join in to restore their own in exactly the same way

• reduce public spending
• roll back regulations
• cut taxation – business and personal
• interest rate increases although limited
• more room for entrepreneurial decision making
• crony-capitalism [Keynesian theory] no longer at the centre of policy

judicial appointments

• rebalancing a left judicial system
• one SCOTUS appointment and others likely to follow

international trade – no evidence of protectionist sentiments – only pro-American sentiments

• no national governmwnt leaves trade relations to the market
• comparative advantage occurs automatically in an economy in which governments do nothing to promote local industry relative to foreign competition – no such government exists – TPP Agreement is 5000 pages long! – that is not free trade
• national governments in every country attempt to steer international trade towards the goods and services they already produce – subsidies, tax breaks, protectionist measures even without tariffs directly applied – plenty of cheating going on at every level
• has merely said the US will not absorb the economic losses watching others bend the rules to their advantage at America’s expense

open-borders

• believes migrants should benefit the host nation
• migration should not be a system of self-selection
• migrants should fit into our system of values based on a Judeo-Christian ethos – if you don’t like the value system here in the West you are not forced to migrate
• he thinks that the value system of the West has worked very well for us in the past – personal wealth and personal freedom to an extent found in no other societies not now nor across the entire sweep of history – and his aim is to preserve these as much as he is able

Islamic jihad

• the most dangerous ideological enemy of the West
• aims to resist to the fullest extent possible

North Korea

• developing nuclear weapons along with an ICBM delivery system
• NK leader is unstable and impossible to reason with
• massive danger
• will never permit NK to have nuclear weapons
• no one else has any plausible approach to dealing with NK – other than the usual left approach which is to do nothing and hope for the best

Global Non-Warming

• absolutely rejects global warming as a basis for policy
• pulled out of the Paris Accords already
• promoting carbon-based fuels
• pulling subsidies from alternative fuels – if you can make it on your own by being competitive OK – otherwise nothing

personal qualities

• tough minded and clear headed
• understands business and the operation of a market economy
• a strong believer in education and learning
• has a high regard for the study of history

The full quote for the title, by the way: comes from, “The difficult we do immediately. The impossible takes a little longer.”

AND FURTHERMORE: A quite striking find by mh in the comments: It’s Trump’s Party Now, wherein we find:

How could the Beltway GOP not see that its defining policies — open borders, amnesty, free trade globalism, compulsive military intervention in foreign lands for ideological ends — were alienating its coalition?

What had a quarter century of Bushite free trade produced?

About $12 trillion in trade deficits, $4 trillion with China alone, a loss of 55,000 plants and 6 million manufacturing jobs.

We imported goods “Made in China,” while exporting our future.

U.S. elites made China great again, to where Beijing is now challenging our strategic position and presence in Asia.

Could Republicans not see the factories shutting down, or not understand why workers’ wages had failed to rise for decades?

And there’s more there than just that.

The Russian Revolution 100 years ago today

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Here it is November 7 and it’s the 100th anniversary of the October Revolution – that is, the Russian Revolution – and there is going to be a celebration in Melbourne, and no doubt everywhere else across the West (but certainly not in Russia). Of course, for most of us, the only part worth celebrating is that we do not live in a communist state. Not for all these fools trying to get us there. Already discussed last month since the October Revolution was how the Russians remembered it, as did all communists. The question that really comes out of this is the absence of sense in supporting these regimes. Since we know that some people do not learn from history, we are forever in danger of falling into some leftist trap.

Socialism is a form of sadism. This story from Venezuela defies any sense of humanity: VENEZUELAN PRESIDENT EATS EMPANADA ON LIVE TV WHILE ADDRESSING STARVING NATION. Not an ounce of sympathy or sense of shame in the massive pain inflicted on his nation. All socialist leaders are the same, however they may portray themselves before they find their way to power. And it’s not just some ratbags off on their own, but try to find in any part of the mainstream media a full-scale discussion of the horrors of communism. We know it, and they know it too, but next time it will be better. Or maybe the time after that. Bernie Sanders and Jeremy Corbyn should be constant reminders that these people are everywhere. And let us not forget the most recent addition to the lists of clueless far left political leaders, Jacinda Ardern.

IDIOTIC IDEAS: Picked up by Baldrick in the comments and much appreciated: from the ABC’s Big Ideas series – Legacy of the Russian Revolution. Here’s the text:

The Russian Revolution is one of the determined attempts ever to build a better and more equal world. Extreme inequality was what fuelled that revolution. Analysing the reasons for its failures is important if we are to face the same question today, a century later. Once again, issues of inequality loom large. Big Ideas looks at the Russian Revolution – in the context of thousands of years of human history.

The Legacy of the Russian Revolution – Annual lecture of the Independent Scholars Association of Australia.

Okay stupidoes, compare the capitalist West in 1917 with the capitalist West today. You known, in places like the US, Australia, Canada, Europe etc etc. How are we going building a better and more equal world? I don’t despair in seeing things like this but am in fact infuriated by such base stupidity and ignorance. The ABC is filled with fools of the most debased kind, absolutely without a clue about what gives them their freedoms and their prosperity. Where are their programs on the 60-100 million deaths at the hands of communists never mind a bit of something on Venezuela or Cuba or North Korea right now? Worse than just stupid but actually complicit in evil. If they can support such communist horrors, the blood is on their own hands and nothing they might say about hoping for a better world will wash it away.

More of a miracle than ever

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https://youtu.be/ciCyEmGQ0k0

A year after his surprise election, 65 percent say Trump’s achieved little (POLL). The video just takes you down memory lane from a year ago and is compulsory viewing even as long as it is. I guarantee that you will all (except for LIQ) enjoy it from end to end. But the poll, alas, is an accurate reflection among even the people I know.

  • Fifty-five percent say he’s not delivering on his major campaign promises, up sharply from 41 percent in April, at his 100-day mark.
  • Views of Trump as a “strong leader” have plummeted by 13 percentage points, from 53 percent at 100 days to 40 percent today — lower than the worst rating on this question for either of his two predecessors throughout their two terms in office.
  • As the president travels in Asia, a remarkable 67 percent of Americans don’t trust him to act responsibly in handling the situation involving North Korea — up 5 points from September. Also relevant to his travels, a majority, 53 percent, now says America’s leadership in the world has gotten weaker under Trump.
  • Two-thirds (65 percent) also now say he’s accomplished anywhere from “not much” to “little or nothing” as president — up from 56 percent who said so after his first 100 days, and sharply contradicting the president’s own claims to be highly productive.
  • Again two-thirds (66 percent) say Trump lacks the personality and temperament it takes to serve effectively as president, and essentially as many (65 percent) say he’s not honest and trustworthy.
  • Scores also are negative (if somewhat less broadly so) on some of his campaign hallmarks: Sixty-two percent of Americans say he doesn’t understand their problems, 58 percent reject the idea that he’s “good at making political deals” and 55 percent say he has not brought needed change to Washington.

The magic of stupidity and ingratitude never lets you down. Nevertheless, an election is not about approval in any absolute sense but a contest against another human who have their own policies and peculiarities, and in this case against a Democrat who will need to appeal to the Bernie Sanders wing of the party. Barring catastrophe, from 2020 it will be four more years of the best governance we have seen in a long long time.

And if you would like to indulge a bit more in a shameful wallowing in schadenfreude you can watch more or less the same as the first video but with Batman thrown in for his expert commentary:

https://youtu.be/OVogLdbfOfQ

And if that’s not enough, here’s CBS:

And a quick round-up of all of the most anguished reactions:

https://youtu.be/XnTnpN2H34A

A once-in-a-lifetime moment for us all, and for them the first of a series of Groundhog’s Day elections! You have to wonder whether these people will ever grow up. For me, it was equivalent to what the Israelites must have experienced when they saw the Red Sea part right before their very eyes.

Managed trade is not free trade

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I don’t think I am reading this chart wrong. It’s from The Australian in its front page story today: Free-trade rollback to hit jobs, pay. And there are all the benefits, such as the rise in real wages, which was an aggregate rise of 7.4 percent over a period of 34 years, that is, from 1986 through to the projected level in 2020. That is, around 0.2% per annum, which is a rounding error.

Let me just contrast this with Donald Trump today in Tokyo: Trump Slams Unfair Trade With Japan, Defends TPP Pullout.

President Donald Trump told a gathering of business leaders in Tokyo that Japan has an unfair advantage on trade and that he intends to fix that imbalance by making it easier to do business in the U.S.

“For the last many decades, Japan has been winning. You do know that,” he said Monday. “Right now our trade with Japan is not fair and it isn’t open.”

Trump laid out his complaints about how Japan treats the U.S. unfairly in his eyes, noting that few American cars are sold in Japan and making a plea for Japanese automakers to build more in the U.S.

“Try building your cars in the United States instead of shipping them over. That’s not too much to ask,” Trump said. “Is that rude to ask?”

As for the TPP, PDT added this.

“TPP was not the right idea,” Trump said on Monday. “I’m sure some of you in this room disagree, but ultimately I’ll be proven right.”

Trump said he envisions easing trade restrictions in another way, outside the TPP framework, but offered few details beyond saying that he personally had the power to speed business deals that had been hung up in the past.

He cited the Keystone and Dakota pipelines that he been held up under the Obama administration. “In my first week, I approved both,” Trump said.

Trump also took credit for recent record stock market highs and an addition 2 million workers in the workforce, saying: “I’ve reduced regulations terrifically if I do say so myself.”

Free trade is easy if you really want it. Just cut all trade barriers in your own home market and watch all the benefits roll in. What benefits are they? I will leave that to others.

“No one – no dictator, no regime and no nation – should underestimate, ever, American resolve”

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Recognise this:

Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe to assure the survival and the success of liberty.

Compare that with this:

The U.S. ‘will never yield’

‘No one – no dictator, no regime and no nation – should underestimate, ever, American resolve.’

The first is from JFK’s inaugural. The second is from PDT’s speech yesterday as he landed in Tokyo. You need to be of a certain age to notice, but not only is Donald Trump the true successor of Ronald Reagan, he is the true successor of JFK as well.