NEWS AND OPINION:
UNLEASHED: RON PAUL HAS WORDS FOR TRUMP
“President Trump is about to embark on his first foreign trip, where he will stop in Saudi Arabia, Israel and the Vatican, before attending a NATO meeting in Brussels and the G-7 summit in Sicily. The media and pundits have loudly wondered why hasn’t he gone on a foreign trip sooner. I wonder, why go at all? What does the president hope to achieve with these meetings? This is a president who came into office with promises that we would finally start to mind our own business overseas,” declares Ron Paul.
Yes, that Ron Paul — former presidential hopeful, longtime congressman, constitutionalist, physician, family guy, author, columnist, frugal thinker and independent icon who continues to demand “peace and prosperity” and personal freedom for Americans. Mr. Paul, in fact, will soon be in the nation’s capital for a rare and exclusive dinner with a select group of fans, complete with photo-ops and a $500 ticket price.
At 81, he is not done with vigorous, hybrid politics. Mr. Paul continues to insist that the U.S. stop “meddling” in complicated regions. He also longs for Mr. Trump to honor a campaign promise to end a policy of “intervention and chaos” overseas.
Yes, well. In a word, it’s complicated. The previous administration was skittish about “red lines” and content to lead from behind. Mr. Trump has been left to deal with the aftermath, where security threats and terrorism appear to have flourished in an unprotected vacuum. While the president is fond of robust solutions, he’s also a quick study poised to foster a series of workable protocols.
And Ron Paul will be Ron Paul, eager to promote the idea that “minding our own business and rejecting militarism” makes the nation safer.
“Maybe it’s time for the countries in the Middle East to solve their own problems,” he says in a new column, published through the Ron Paul Institute
“Many pundits complain that President Trump spends too much time golfing. I would rather he spend a lot more time golfing and less time trying to solve the rest of the world’s problems. We cannot afford to be the policeman or nursemaid to the rest of the world, particularly when we have such a lousy record of success,” says Mr. Paul.
THE DEVICES TAKE OVER
CTIA, an trade group that tracks and represents the U.S. wireless communications industry, reports that Americans used 13.72 trillion megabytes of data in 2016. This is the equivalent of 1.58 million years of streaming videos, and 35 times the amount the nation used only five years ago.
There are now more smartphones, laptops and wireless-enabled tablets than people in the U.S. The devices now number 359.9 million, or 1.2 for every U.S. resident.
OBAMALARMISM
“Former President Barack Obama looked stylish and relaxed as he arrived in Milan, Italy, on Tuesday — just a day after entreating Senate Republicans to save Obamacare. Mr. Obama is in Italy for a two-day trip in which he will meet with former Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi and speak about climate change at a conference,” reports The Daily Mail.
“A 14-car convoy ferried Mr. Obama into the city to the hotel where he is staying. He wore shades and went tieless as he stepped out later in the day, waving and smiling to his Italian fans.”
Mr. Obama gave a keynote speech on global warming, issuing this dire warning: “When it comes to climate change, the hour is almost upon us.”
Timing is everything, of course.
“Mr. Obama’s speech comes as President Trump is considering whether to pull the U.S. out of the Paris climate change agreement, which was championed by his predecessor,” The Mail noted.
JUST SAY ’NON’ to PARIS CLIMATE TREATY
Get us out of Paris, Mr. President. The Paris Climate Treaty, that is. A feisty group of 42 conservative and free market interest groups signed an open letter entreating President Trump to formally withdraw the U.S. from the agreement, signed by then-President Barack Obama and regarded by him as a treaty, though it was never submitted to the Senate for ratification.
The coalition includes The Heritage Foundation, Americans for Prosperity, Citizens Against Government Waste, the Competitive Enterprise Institute, and the National Center for Public Policy Research, to name just a few.
“President Trump has clearly signaled to American voters that his predecessor’s war on fossil fuels is over; now he needs to tell the rest of the world. Withdrawing from the Paris Climate Treaty would spell this out in neon letters,” says Joseph Bast, president of The Heartland Institute, also a coalition member.
“Withdrawing completely from Paris is a key part of your plan to protect U.S. energy producers and manufacturers from regulatory warfare not just for the next four years but also for decades to come,” the groups write in their lengthy letter to Mr. Trump. “We will strongly support your decision to keep your campaign commitment to withdraw.”
FOXIFIED
Ignore chatter from Fox News Channel critics who suggest the network’s ratings could be faltering. They’re not, according to Nielsen Media Research. For the 18th consecutive week, Fox News is the leading network across the entire cable realm, besting news and non-news offerings alike. Twelve of the top 30 programs aired on Fox News. In the all-important prime-time hours, Fox drew 2.1 million viewers, MSNBC garnered 1.4 million, and CNN 778,000.
POLL DU JOUR
• 53 percent of Canadians have an unfavorable opinions of Americans, 44 percent have a positive one.
• 51 percent of Canadians say “anti-government populism” is not likely to emerge in Canada, 43 percent say it is likely to emerge, 1 percent say it is “already happening.”
• 45 percent say Canadians have not changed in the last decade, 27 percent say they have become more like Americans, 26 percent say they are less like Americans.
• 26 percent of Canadians are changing previous plans to visit the U.S. because of the “political climate.”
Source: An Environs Institute survey of 2,002 Canadian adults conducted April 3-15 and released Tuesday.
• Churlish remarks and accolades to jharper@washingtontimes.com
• Jennifer Harper can be reached at jharper@washingtontimes.com.
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