JUST ASKING!

Questions in my mind…

IMMIGRATION: The president claims that the flow of immigrants crossing our southern border presents “a crisis that threatens to our national security”.  The president believes that the only solution to this “crisis” is to build a wall along the 1900 mile length of our southern border.  The promise to build the wall was one of the president’s key campaign promises.

There is no crisis along our southern border…but I digress..

Democrats in the House believe that building a wall is flawed solution and a useless waste of money.  They have therefore refused to authorize the funds the president needs to build his wall. In response to this refusal the president has refused to sign any bill to fund the entire government unless it contains the necessary funds to build his wall.  The result of this impasse is the costly shutdown of the federal government and the furlough of 800,000 government employees.

Frustrated over this impasse and shaken by the bad press over his refusal to open the government until he gets his wall; the president has threatened to declare a “national emergency” and use the powers granted him under that declaration to procure funds from other agencies and departments to build his controversial wall.

I have to ask…if the situation at our southern border is, as the president claims, so dangerous as to pose a threat to our national security; then why did the president wait until now to grind his political heels in on the matter?

For the past two years the president and his GOP colleagues controlled both chambers of congress and the White House.  They could have made this political stand at any time while they held the majority and in all likelihood procured the funding they needed.  In fact at one point in time Democrats agreed to give Trump and the Republicans $20 billion in funding for the wall in exchange for a comprehensive immigration reform bill that included relief for DACA.  Trump rejected the offer.  Now, after the country has turned control of the House to the Democrats; Trump decides to throw a temper tantrum and close down the government.  Why?

RUSSIA:  Russian President Vladimir Putin has made it clear that his goal is to return Russia to the powerful position on the world stage once held by the Soviet Union.  In order to achieve this goal he has undertaken extraordinary steps to weaken what he sees as the largest obstacle to Russian supremacy: the United States and its NATO alliance.

Putin has meddled in the national elections of NATO alliance countries, sown dissent amongst alliance citizenry, conducted military operations against alliance countries, moved to drive alliance coalitions out of the middle east and murdered dissidents on alliance soil.  All of which stands in direct opposition to US policy interests.

I have to ask…why is Donald Trump going out of his way to help Putin, achieve his goals?

Trump is often heard excusing  Putin’s aggressive actions and parroting Putin’s propaganda.  Trump has insulted our NATO allies, pulled out of the Paris Climate Accord, pulled out of the Iran Nuclear Agreement, and threatened to pull military defense forces out of Germany and other NATO countries.  Just recently, Trump announced that all US forces in Syria would be withdrawn within 30 days; a move that clears the way for Putin exert his influence in the Middle East to keep his ally Assad in power.  The New York Times is reporting that Trump is seriously considering pulling out of NATO altogether.  This past month Trump ordered the lifting of sanctions against powerful Russian oligarch and Putin ally. Oleg Deripaska.  Why?

Just asking!