The Politics Week in Review – by Josh Margulies

It’s been a busy news week. Here are the top stories and highlights from the past week:

1. Parkland and gun control

The tragic school shooting in Florida continues to dominate the headlines. Student survivors have been extremely vocal, meeting with politicians, attending town halls, and appearing on news shows, calling for politicians to tighten gun laws.

President Trump met with students and parents at the White House to hear their arguments and offer sympathy. He has instructed Jeff Sessions to outlaw bump stock devices which turn semi-automatic weapons into fully automatic. He has also expressed support for tougher background checks.

The President and others have pointed out that the FBI and law enforcement were extremely negligent, ignoring alarming tips about the gunman, who announced online that he was planning to be a school shooter. Reportedly, local police were called to the gunman’s house dozens of times over the past few years.

2. Iran challenges Israel unprovoked, Israel responds

Tensions have been escalating between Israel and Iran on the Syrian border. It began when Iran flew a drone over Israeli airspace, which was shot down by the Israelis. In response, the Israelis conducted heavy raids and took out a large chunk of the Syrian air force.

This week a senior Iranian official said “Tel Aviv would be razed to the ground if the Israeli regime took any military action against the Islamic Republic.”

In a rare rebuke of its ally in the Syrian civil war, Russia admonished Iran on Monday. Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said,“We have stated many times that we won’t accept the statements that Israel, as a Zionist state, should be destroyed and wiped off the map. I believe this is an absolutely wrong way to advance one’s own interests.”

The Iranians have suffered at the hands of Prime Minister Netanyahu’s repeated attacks on convoys of Iranian weapons and supplies being sent to Hezbollah via Syria. In addition, they’ve been weakened by President Trump’s repeated criticism of their support of terror groups, and ballistic missile program, as well as the incredible support he has given Israel and Saudi Arabia.

The president has threatened to restore sanctions against Iran, and tear up Obama’s (bogus) nuclear deal. This may explain why the Iranians are trying to inflict as much damage as possible, while they have the capability.

3. Surge of anti-semitism in Poland

As fallout from a new law that was passed, Polish anti-semitism has become rampant. The law threatens up to 3 years in jail for anyone suggesting the Polish government was complicit in the Holocaust, and its passage has led to an onslaught of anti-semitic and hateful sentiments.

A prominent Polish pundit used an offensive slur against Jews, after which he was welcome on a state television talk show where he joked about Jews and gas chambers, and made other anti-semitic comments.

An adviser to the Polish president said he thought Israel’s negative reaction to the law stemmed from a “feeling of shame at the passivity of the Jews during the Holocaust.”

A Star of David was found hanging from gallows spray-painted outside of a jewish-owned apartment. A woman found the word “Zyd” — Polish for “Jew” — in snow outside her home. In an interesting twist, the Jewish Agency for Israel has seen a spike in Polish Jews asking about relocating to Israel.

It’s been well-documented that while the Polish government was ousted by the Nazis, many Poles were complicit and willing participants in the atrocities of the Holocaust. Israeli and U.S. officials have been extremely vocal in calling for Poland’s blatantly anti-semitic, Holocaust denying law to be rescinded.

4. Mueller indictments

Last Friday, Bob Mueller handed down a blockbuster indictment of 13 Russians, alleging they attempted to interfere with the 2016 presidential election. They allegedly used phony Facebook accounts and arranged non-existent rallies, as well as other tactics, to support controversial candidates (including Bernie Sanders), in an effort to create discord and chaos in the U.S.

No Trump officials were accused, and many argue these indictments exonerate the president and his advisors.

Deputy AG Rod Rosenstein made it very clear that:

1. No Americans willingly assisted the Russians
2. The Russians did not affect the outcome of the election

In other words, to everyone other than the mainstream media, this is strong evidence that the president won the election fair and square, and did not collude with Russia.

Many on the right have expressed their shock and dismay that the FBI and Mueller have ignored the real collusion with Russia. The DOJ under Obama spied on President Trump’s campaign officials, by obtaining a warrant based on the unsubstantiated (aka phony) Trump-Russia dossier written by Christopher Steele, who was paid by Hillary Clinton’s campaign and the DNC to write the report for opposition research purposes.

Shackingly (or not so shockingly), the dossier was one of the main pieces of evidence presented to the FISA court when James Comey applied for a warrant to spy on Trump adviser Carter Page. Another key piece of evidence was an article in Yahoo, which was based on the same dossier. (Yes that is not a typo–2 of the main pieces of evidence used to spy on Carter Page were: 1. A fake dossier, and 2. An article that quoted the author of the fake dossier.)

Furthermore, it was not disclosed to the FISA court that the dossier was funded by Hillary and the DNC. This information, coupled thousands of text messages showing a systemic hatred amongst top FBI agents against President Trump, have led many people to call for a special counsel to investigate the FBI and DOJ for conspiring against President Trump.

5. Nikki Haley insults the Palestinians (again)

UN Ambassador Nikki Haley and PA President Mahmoud Abbas both addressed the UN this week. In a sharp reversal from the anti-Israel Obama years, Haley has been a powerful voice and staunchly pro-Israel force at the UN.

This time was no different. Haley sharply criticized Abbas and the Palestinians for their hatred toward Israel and their anti-US rhetoric.

She began by saying, “I will decline the advice I was recently given by your top negotiator Saeb Erekat. I will not shut up. Rather, I will respectfully speak some hard truths.”

She offered Abbas two paths: One path being hateful rhetoric and incitement to violence, and the other being “negotiation and compromise”.

Haley said: “You can choose to denounce the United States, reject its role in peace talks, and pursue punitive measures against Israel in international forums like the UN. I assure that path will get the Palestinian people exactly nowhere toward the achievement of their aspirations. Or you can choose to put aside your anger about the location of our embassy and move forward with us toward a negotiated compromise that holds great potential for improving the lives of the Palestinian people.”

Abbas accused Israel of “acting as a state above the law” and called for “an international peace conference by the middle of 2018 that will accept the “State of Palestine” as a full UN member” and make Jerusalem its capital. “We are the descendants of the Canaanites that lived in the land 5,000 years ago and continued to live there to this day,” Abbas claimed, among other egregious and fraudulent statements.

6. President’s approval numbers beating Obama’s

According to a Rasmussen poll, the President’s approval numbers are at 48%. This is likely because of the strong economy, historically low unemployment rate, and the recent tax cuts which have boosted wages for millions of Americans. (Either that, or voters just like presidents who collude with Russia.)

At this point in Barack Obama’s presidency, his approval was 45%. Amazingly, President Trump’s numbers are pretty high despite the constant barrage of attacks by the mainstream media, and being a victim of weekly biased reporting and fake news stories, whereas the media did everything possible to help Obama and cover up the damage he did to our country.

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Josh Margulies hosts The Zone, a conservative political podcast. You can subscribe here.

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3 COMMENTS

  1. Clear. Concise. Excellent.

    Since I’ve stopped following day to day news, I’ve always been looking for a short clear update on the weeks events. This is wonderfull.

    Please keep this column coming.

Comments are closed.