If no action is predictable in the Trump administration, almost every reaction outside of 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. can be seen coming from miles away. No psychic powers were needed to predict the hype and hand-wringing that has occurred since President Trump announced nomination of current CIA Director Mike Pompeo to replace Rex Tillerson at the State Department
In today’s heated, partisan climate, the political attacks are predictable and many expect Democrats and their outside allies will do their best to undermine and radicalize Pompeo’s views despite the fact just over a year ago he won Senate confirmation as CIA Director by a 66-32 margin.
It certainly is the case the Kansas Republican’s views on issues such as refugee and foreign policy are more in line with the president’s than Tillerson, but well within the mainstream.
For example, when he was a legislator in the House, he was joined by a majority of the Republican caucus in writing a letter to President Obama in the wake of the 2015 terrorist attacks in Paris to demand a halt in admissions of Syrians and Iraqis until a proper and thorough vetting system was implemented.
In 2016, Pompeo also criticized “dangerous changes” to the nation’s visa waiver program, made by the Obama administration, “that prioritize the business interests of Iran — the world’s largest state sponsor of terrorism — over the safety of the American people.”
He also co-sponsored several bills to strengthen the refugee and immigrant admittance process, including the H.R.3314, Resettlement Accountability National Security Act of 2015, which aimed to prohibit the admission of refugees into the U.S. until Congress passed a joint resolution giving the Department of Homeland Security authority to resume admitting refugees.
And one could hardly consider it a radical position to support the Expatriate Terrorist Ac, which proposed amending the Immigration and Nationality Act to make taking an oath of allegiance to a foreign terrorist organization grounds for the loss of U.S. nationality by a native-born or naturalized citizen.
Those stances have drawn the ire of open-borders advocates who may attempt to brand Pompeo as “anti-Muslim” and “anti-immigrant,” rather than engaging in meaningful debate on important national security issues.
Pompeo survived the political punches in his first Senate confirmation hearings and no doubt the hits will keep coming. The question to be answered soon is whether they are enough to send Pompeo to the mat.
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Illegal advocates insist that we cannot afford the one time cost of a wall. Estimates vary, but even one year of not having to pay the massive welfare costs of illegals and their large families of anchor babies would cover that cost. Not to mention the local costs of educating their 5 and 6 children at $10,000 apiece per year.
Then there is always the garbage about how fences and walls are outdated technology. Why then does the White House have a fence around it? Because without one, we would have to have a guard posted every five feet or so. A fence does exactly what the Border Patrol says it does. It delays those attempting to climb over long enough that guards can get there to intercept them. In fact, a few years back, when some people were making it over the WH fence, the answer was not to tear it down but make it more difficult to climb over.
And what is there in front of Congress and many buildings all over this country. It’s concrete barriers, the simplest but most effective method of stopping attacks by cars and trucks. It’s not rocket science but it doesn’t have to be. It’s common sense. People who do not want a wall are almost invariably the same people who don’t want to enforce our immigration laws.
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What should we do about dual citizen American/Israeli terrorists working here in our halls of power? They took an oath against us. The very fact that they are dual shows their allegiance. You are either one or the other. A house divided against itself cannot stand.
I am glad he understands the concept that an Islamic terrorist cannot carry out a terrorist attack in the US if they aren’t in the US in the first place.
It amazes me that even after the almost unimaginably catastrophic 9/11 attacks so many people in this country are unable to grasp this concept.
I findit sickening that Senator Rand Paul is protesting the appointment of Mike Pompeo and Gina Haspel! He is just flapping his wings and trying to play up to the democrats, the clueless puppets of Obama and Hiliary’s reign of terror for 8 years – he should be so ashamed of himself and I hope every Republican that voted for him votes him out. He is against Gina Haspel for CIA because she OK’d water boarding – give me a break – he thinks it is OK for our enemies to pull out fingernails, cut off fingers and other body parts and even behead American prisoners after torturing them in horrible ways and yet he is against the mild water boarding. This is a wake up all for America that we need to stop kissing up to our enemies – they know if they are caught nothing will happen to them in America with people like Rand Paul around. We need to support our President in his choice of people to run this country – We don’t need Republicans coming out against the president just to kiss up to the democrats who protest everything our President does or says!