If you just read the headlines and glanced at the cable news chyrons and never read any further, you would probably believe . . .
President Trump is a Russian agent of some kind, and there’s plenty of evidence pointing to it. While Robert Mueller’s investigation continues — this is day 561 of the Mueller investigation — so far nothing’s leaked that would confirm the wildest theory about the actions of the Trump campaign and the Russian government. And if Mueller had encountered any evidence that the Russian intelligence had somehow installed their own man atop the American government, it’s hard to believe he would dilly-dally with bringing that information to the public.
Saudi Arabia is one of the preeminent national-security threats to the United States. Killing Jamal Khashoggi was an abominable crime, but this is the same House of Saud who the U.S. has had a complicated alliance with for decades. There’s ample reason to enforce consequences for the Khashoggi killing, but coverage of the Saudis makes them sound like a regional menace. By comparison, a casual news viewer could easily think . . .
Iran is not one of the preeminent national-security threats to the United States. They, too, are the same regime that they were for the past decades — chanting “Death to America,” hiding a nuclear program, and sponsoring terrorism on a larger scale than any other country. The periodic “moderate reformers” do little to challenge the status quo anti-Americanism that drives Iranian policy.
Gun violence in America’s schools are common and getting worse. School crime rates are declining and shooting incidents involving students have been declining since the 1990s.
Illegal immigration is getting worse! A new study says it’s the lowest in a decade, from an estimated 12.2 million in 2007 to 10.7 million in 2016, the most recent figure available. The Pew Research Center’s methodology, using the Census Bureau’s American Community Survey and annual supplements to the Current Population Survey, can be found here.
The world is tackling climate change, but the Trump administration is a stubborn holdout. The United Nations just issued a report concluding that Argentina, Australia, Canada, the 28 countries in the European Union, South Korea, Saudi Arabia, and South Africa are not meeting their promises on reducing carbon emissions, as well as the United States.
A long time ago, Ronald Reagan declared, “The trouble with our liberal friends is not that they’re ignorant. It’s just that they know so much that isn’t so.” That statement could apply to a lot of people today.