Six Seconds Was Too Long
 
Congressional leaders from both parties went to the White House yesterday for a briefing on border security.  President Trump took them into the secure Situation Room because he believes, as I do, that illegal immigration is not only a humanitarian issue, but also a national security issue.
 
The president asked Secretary of Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen to give leaders a briefing on what is actually happening at the border.  But according to people in the room, "Just five or six seconds into the briefing" Senate Democrat Leader Chuck Schumer leaned over to Nancy Pelosi and reportedly urged her to interrupt Nielsen.  It was downhill from there.
 
So just six seconds was apparently too much for congressional liberals to handle.  But that short amount of time really tells us quite a lot.  It tells us that they have absolutely no interest in border security. 
 
They don't want to know that just in December 22,000 children illegally crossed our border.  This is happening because illegal immigrants believe kids are a "free pass" to get in.  And because of previous court decisions, they're not wrong.
 
Progressives don't want to know about the 2,500 people on the terrorist watch list who tried to enter the country in 2017. 
 
They don't want to know about the 71 deported illegal aliens who came from state sponsors of terrorism.
 
They don't want to hear about the deadly drugs and violent gang members that are coming across the border.
 
They don't want to hear how sick some of the people showing up at the border really are.  As many as 50 migrants a day are being taken to nearby hospitals and medical centers. 
 
In short, liberal politicians just don't want to hear about the crisis at the border because the left doesn't believe there is a crisis and it doesn't believe in borders either!
 
It wasn't that long ago that Donald Trump was mocked for wanting his security briefings in person rather than in writing.  But when it comes to border security, progressives just don't want any briefing at all.
 
By the way, Nancy Pelosi was elected Speaker of the House today, and she wasted no time making her priorities clear:  No money for better border security but she does want to spend more of your hard-earned tax dollars promoting abortions overseas.
 
 
 
Faith Under Fire
 
Decades ago, if a high-level nominee was associated with organizations that were overtly hostile to religion, many senators would feel obligated to oppose that individual's nomination.  Believe it or not, some Senate Democrats opposed Robert Bork's nomination to the Supreme Court because they didn't think he was religious enough!
 
Now it seems that nominees get into trouble if they are actually serious about their faith and active in their church.
 
You may recall that Senator Bernie Sanders attacked a Trump nominee for the Office of Management and Budget over his faith.  Senator Dianne Feinstein went after the "dogma," i.e. the Christianity, of Judge Amy Barrett. 
 
More recently, Senators Kamala Harris and Mazie Hirono tried to torpedo the nomination of Brian Buescher to be a federal judge because he is a member of the Knights of Columbus, a Catholic charitable organization. 
 
Hirono blasted the Knights as "extreme" because the group supports traditional Catholic teaching on the sanctity of life and marriage. But believing unborn babies have a right to life and believing marriage is the union of one man and one woman are hardly "extreme" views.
 
As the Wall Street Journal notes today, John F. Kennedy was a member of the Knights of Columbus.  But today's progressives appear to be suggesting that no Catholic can be fit for public service unless they "publicly repudiate the church's moral teaching."
 
A local Washington, D.C., council of the Knights of Columbus responded to the senators' charges of "extremism."  In a letter, the council wrote that it had recently:
 

• Given away over $4,000 worth of coats to children.
• Donated funds to help the developmentally disabled.
• Collected diapers for new mothers.
• Donated supplies to a local school.  
• Donated an ultrasound machine to a clinic.
• Picked up trash around a major sports stadium.

 
Wow!  What a bunch of extremists!
 
The Knights also invited the senators to join them at their upcoming fundraiser for the D.C. Special Olympics.  
 
 
 
Look Who's Applauding
 
Senator Mitt Romney is winning praise for his editorial attacking President Trump.  But I suspect he may be having second thoughts today. 
 
Conservatives are furious, while the liberal media establishment is praising him and using his words to browbeat other Republicans into bashing Trump.  Some are even suggesting a Biden/Romney ticket in 2020.
 
Will Romney say anything about Schumer's behavior at the White House yesterday?  Trump isn't the cause of Washington's gridlock.  He is a victim of the left's incivility.
 
Romney also got applause from that well-known "uniter" James Comey.  If Romney thinks his guest editorial in the Washington Post helped his political career by earning praise from Democrat activist and volunteer James Comey, he must be in the wrong party.