Mark Armstrong’s Weekly News Review – 28 August 2020

Greetings from Tyler,

Who said they didn’t?

One of the things that everyone’s had to grapple with is the non-stop accusations hurled at the President and the United States in general, is that we’re all a bunch of racists. They tried this in the ’60s, but it never caught on nationally the way it has recently. But this ‘black lives matter’ slogan, and organizational moniker, has thrown a lot of people off balance. If you think about it, the very name indicates you’re guilty of believing the opposite. Did somebody somewhere say black lives don’t matter? So far as we know, nobody has said such a thing. If they had, the media would be all over it. As it is, the mainstream information sources treat the slogan as if it has deep meaning, and somehow justifies the looting and burning of some of the most exclusive districts of several American cities.

Finally, after weeks of justifying the plight of the mob, CNN’s prime time “gay” anchor said, “The looting has got to stop.” What a thing to come out of his mouth! Mind you, it was said after a bunch of civilians showed up with firearms to keep what was left of Kenosha, Wisconsin from being burnt to the ground. Oh, now it’s got to stop. After two violent soy boys got shot up and the “mostly peaceful protesters” (some of whom had traveled long distances to wreak mayhem) realized that there are at least some not willing to hide and watch while American cities are looted and burned.

Most probably have seen at least some highlights from this week’s convention which culminated with the President’s appearance last night. After seeing nothing but clashes, anarchy and fires burning out of control, it was inspiring to witness the spectacle put on at the White House South Lawn with a couple thousand in attendance. As the cameras scanned the audience, you’d have to look hard to find the few masks in the crowd. It drove the commentators crazy! It drove them crazy that the event was held on White House grounds. There may be no explicit law against what was done, but it broke protocol, and… and… Donald J. Trump is the President, so you can expect norms to take a back seat from time to time.

It’s not like the South Lawn was the first choice. It was the third! Two other locations had been chosen, only to have been made unworkable by local “officials” flexing their authority. They’re insulated by the constant refrain about everybody keeping everybody safe, and that clearly was not in practice at the spectacular event we witnessed last night. Expert commentators’ heads were popping throughout the presentation, especially as the words spoken resulted in one standing ovation after another.

“They’re trying to convince you he’s not a racist,” they hissed on CNN. People that have known President Trump over decades pointed to many actions he’s taken over his personal career that prove just the opposite. “But people already know what they’ve seen and heard with their own eyes and ears.” Very likely the networks were wishing they hadn’t aired last week’s embarrassing debacle, then they wouldn’t have had to carry the proceedings this week. If only they had it all to do over.

We’ve been assembling the mailing of this month’s letter yesterday and today, and it deals largely with the debasement of American society and the culture war that threatens our very way of life.

It does so, largely at the expense of other developments of importance on the world scene. If the United States devolves into anarchist Utopia, freedom and prosperity wherever it exists will soon follow. Some have already sought to use the China virus as an excuse to create a police state environment. But rules only apply to the law abiding, you understand. Some can attack police, attack civilians, loot and burn without incurring significant legal trouble. But if one should try to open their place of business in contravention of some governor’s “orders,” Katy bar the door.

But there are some other things worth noting. One is that North Korea’s Kim Jong Un is reportedly in a coma and his sister is taking the reigns. We can’t imagine the brutality of the North Korean regime on its destitute population, and early indications are that the sister will be as heartless as her predecessors.

China fired missiles, apparently as a signal of their unhappiness with an American spy plane that was in position to witness training maneuvers. President Trump’s respectful “friendship” with Prime Minister XI has not panned out. Trade disputes have arisen and resulted in Chinese goods being taxed at higher rates. Hong Kong is such a lost cause, no one holds out any hope of it retaining any of the allure of decades past. China regularly reminds the world that Taiwan is its possession. Meanwhile, Taiwan stocks up on American military equipment. We haven’t even talked about repercussions for China having released the ruinous virus upon us. It will undoubtedly come up.

We’ve been told that there could be no peace between Israel and the Arab world until the so-called Palestinians were satisfied. The decades have shown that they’ll not ever be satisfied until Israel is gone, so there’s been a perpetual state of war. The mainstream scoffed at the prospect of any further peace in the Middle East, due to the perpetual terrorist attacks, tunnels, rockets and snipers from Gaza. But then a most surprising thing happened. A peace agreement was forged between Israel and the United Arab Emirates, and suddenly announced. It came as a blow to Palestinian leadership and to the mainstream media.

And then Beirut blew up. We’ve read that the ammonium nitrate that destroyed the port and much of the city came from Iran and had been there for at least a couple of years. Beirut has little chance of recovery for the foreseeable future. Residents of Beirut are unhappier than Americans, and that’s saying something. There have been some exchanges of fire and air-strikes between Southern Lebanon and Israel, but, what’s new?

Let’s hope they don’t get too carried away with the Middle East peace proposals. The Bible tells us that when peace and safety are declared, stand by for massive destruction. With that in mind, maybe the Palestinians should hold their ground. Sorry for the state of affairs, Stateside and abroad. This is not how this year was supposed to play out.

Mark Armstrong