Month: September 2020

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Opinions

Debate Debacle

Many of the headlines and commentaries following the first round of Presidential debates have some consensus: “shit show”. This was CNN’s take at the conclusion of the debate, and surely this is the first story they have gotten right all year.

The blame for last night’s train wreck lies squarely with the train’s conductor, Chris Wallace. His tenure at Fox has been a disappointment to many, and for many years. His character and mannerisms have led many to question his motivations, often appearing “soft” on or supportive of established D. C. Politicians, giving the impression that he is left-leaning.

Much of what we witnessed last night was two men having an argument while a small child begged for attention in the background. As a moderator, Wallace’s performance was so piss-poor that any average parent could have kept better order. He needed a whistle, an air horn, to cut the mics of the politicians on stage, turn off the lights, or zap them with shock collars; he could have run out on stage with a stop sign, a yield sign, and a “GO” sign.

When a moderator such as Wallace, has no balls, and is twice as pompous and narcissistic as the politicians he is moderating we get what we got last night. With so many interruptions, men talking at the same time, no one staying on point, and Wallace giving a turkey’s call in the background: the average viewer is left to draw their own conclusions.

So what did you take away from this debate?

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Our Stories

No Justice for Peace

Judging by the headline, one might think I would talk about something related to the protests and riots that continue to happen across our country. I won’t be though. I’m going to detail how President Trump receives no recognition for the peace he has achieved.

We all know former president Obama was given the Nobel peace prize in 2009. He was awarded the prize without dissent. Here’s a bit of what the chairman had to say about the board’s decision. “We have not given the prize for what may happen in the future. We are awarding Obama for what he has done in the past year. And we are hoping this may contribute a little bit [to] what he is trying to do.”. Over the preceding year, Obama had mostly made speeches and political promises. In other words, nothing at all. Just ask NBC’s Matt Lauer, who at the time said, “Not to be rude, but Obama hasn’t done anything.”.

  The president was nominated for the Nobel less than two weeks into the first year of his Presidency, and by the time he was given the award it had only been 9 months. Some might argue that he made some policy decisions early on that were aimed at peace. However, given such a short amount of time, it could not be known whether the policies would work. Furthermore, according to William A. Galson at the time,” Obama was weighing whether or not to send an additional 40,00 troops to Afghanistan”.

Now it’s 2020, and our current president, Donald Trump, has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. I would hope this isn’t news to you, but considering the state of the leading media outlets, you probably haven’t heard much about it. If Obama can win the prize for doing almost nothing, President Trump should certainly be recognized with the Nobel for doing all the things he has been able to accomplish.

Rather than just making a few nice sounding speeches about peace, Donald Trump and his cabinet members, chiefly Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, have actually been able to achieve real, measurable peace. Their efforts while holding office have ultimately culminated in what is probably going to be known as one of the greatest foreign policy achievements in modern history; the peace agreement between Israel and the United Arab Emirates.

For Israel, this agreement points towards greater signs of acceptance in the region. Establishing better relations with Arab countries has been a goal for Israel. For the UAE, it allows them to build economic and diplomatic ties with Israel. It could also allow the UAE to have better access to U.S. weaponry. The agreement between the two countries was reached with the Trump administration serving as a go-between.

  The current administration has also been able to make new agreements with Kosovo and Serbia, and most recently, Bahrain. The agreement with Serbia and Kosovo also bolstered those countries’ relations with Israel along with better relations between themselves. The latest deal with Bahrain is an agreement for them and Israel to normalize their relations much like the UAE. All of this happened within a 30-day span; and there are suspicions more agreements with countries throughout the middle-east will be coming sooner rather than later. Add on top of that the fact that under the Trump administration, the power of ISIS has been greatly reduced from what it once was.

Pres. Trump has come closer to ending our involvement in Afghanistan than Obama ever did; having announced that all of the troops in the region will be withdrawn by 2021. He has also convinced many of our NATO allies to do their part in securing the world.

As I was finishing this article, I learned Donald Trump has not only been nominated once, but twice for the prize. It is clear that President Trump has done more to advance peace across the globe than Obama ever did, and if Donald Trump is not awarded the Nobel, it only shows that the committee making this decision has no concern for actual achievements that can be measured; there is no recognition for true peace, and that wouldn’t be serving justice.

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Remember 9/11

What should a nine-year-old remember? Certainly they should remember what their day was like when America experienced one of the most tragic days in her history. Of course I’m talking about the terrorist attacks on 9/11. 

Well, I don’t remember very much about that day; I remember being in school. I think it was a history class. At some point my stepmother came and got me and my step-siblings from our classes. We went home, but I’m not sure if we went directly home, because I remember being at my neighbor’s house. My stepmother and the neighbor lady were watching the news. I don’t think I watched it, because I remember being in the playroom with some of the kids. 

That’s pretty much it. I don’t recall being told about the attack, and I don’t remember at what point I became aware of the events. Even more so, when I understood the meaning of it, and the impact it had on our country.

Despite what I don’t remember about my day on 9/11, I’ve always remembered 9/11. Throughout my life I have heard the stories of the people who were lost that day, and the heroes that bravely went first into the chaos. I have also learned about the evil ideology behind it all. I’ve learned how our people come together in a time of true crisis that effects every American.

On the 19th anniversary 9/11, I am certain that today’s nine-year-olds remember even less about that day than I did. We must remind our children of the day, and make sure they remember everything I’ve learned. In the face of evil, America and her people never cower. When the heart of our nation is broken, we hold each other together. With God on our side, we will always overcome anything and anyone who looks to disrupt our country and its righteous ideals. Never Forget.

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Parent’s Perspective; 9/11 Remembered

            “Took the kids to school and went to work like any normal day.

            Shortly after arriving to work, we got news that America was under attack by terrorists. My heart sank… could this really be possible?

            I took my break and walked over to the local hospital where I knew they would have televisions on in their waiting area. I saw the devastation; I couldn’t believe what I was seeing, such tragedy… I began to cry.

            Fear set in and all I could think about was my children… what was going to happen next? How many more terrorists could there be? Where might they attack next? Would they put us all on lockdown? How were the schools handling the news? Were the kids worried?

            At that moment I decided I was leaving work to go pick up the kids. I wanted the peace of mind knowing at least that we were all together, rather than worrying about them all day.”

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Remembering 9/11/01

                19 years ago, on this day, I was still in Elementary School. It was a day like any other, we had already finished our breakfast and some of our morning instruction. Somehow the teachers must have been notified. Mrs. Teal turned on the television set in our classroom, and we were suddenly watching the images of planes flying into very tall buildings.

             Whatever the news anchor was saying does not stand out to me, and no explanation was given as to why we were so suddenly watching these images over and over on a loop. We sat mesmerized and completely phased by this unannounced interruption to our usual lessons.

             After some immeasurable amount of time had passed, we all jumped when the intercom in our classroom came to life. The voice over the speaker asked Mrs. Teal if she would please excuse me, as apparently my mother had come to take me home.

             Confused, but excited to be leaving school for the day, I ran outside to where my mother was waiting and happily exclaimed “Mom, why are you here because of those planes hitting those towers?”

             Sheer panic and dread instantly crossed her face and she admonished me, harshly, telling me to keep quiet and get in the car. I was a sensitive child and can still be both; I bawled my eyes out on the ride home wondering to myself why she had removed me from school – a miracle – just to cut me down.

             Once home, however, she sat my sister and I down, turned on the news, muted it, and finally gave me the explanation I had been seeking since Mrs. Teal had first turned on the TV. In that moment, my upset vanished. I, like many kids I’m sure, became one HUGE step closer to being an adult that day.

             Nine years later, as part of our graduation ceremonies, I was asked to speak before my Class. September 11th, 2001 had made such a lasting impact on me that it came up in my speech. As I expressed it at that time, “no one who lived through the Terrorist Attacks of 9/11 will ever forget what happened that day.”

             Another ten years has gone by; now an adult slipping ever-closer towards middle-age, I still am stopped in my tracks when this date rolls around. For me, as a child, it was a day of confusion, elation, deflation, and concern. The concern still lingers.

             Someday, somewhere, we may experience such violent, destructive, and impressionable acts again. Lamentations may be many, but the best we could ever do, is honor our dead and carry on – thanking our Almighty God, that such events are few.

             Wherever you are today, and however 9/11 affected you, Never Forget those we lost; Never Forget the motivations of the men who would perpetrate such acts, and Never Forget that our savior Jesus Christ offers us all eternal life.

             God Bless you, and God Bless these United States of America.

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Smearing Trump

An Atlantic article published Sept. 3rd, 2020, and which cites “anonymous” sources has been cycling through the news. In this article, President Trump is accused of referring to our War Dead, buried at  Aisne-Marne American Cemetery near Paris as “losers” and “suckers”.

Those who support this President will surely recoil at such a notion. This is a President who has spent, supported, and defended our military. In one case that luckily is preserved in video, Trump even went so far as to fetch and return a hat that had been carried away from a Marine by the wind.

How then are we to believe the Left-Leaning headlines that declare this characterization of our Commander in Chief “fits”? Yet again we have to chew over a liberal non-sequitur. The President that we know to love the military said what?!

To highlight the ridiculous aspect of this claim, is the rejection offered to it by former staffers in Trump’s white house. Chiefly Sarah Huckabee Sanders, and one John Bolton. While the Lefties have a general and consistent disdain for Mrs. Sanders, remember how they have flipped on their support of Trump’s former National Security Advisor. Don’t they seem to only like Bolton when he is critical of Trump? Why don’t they cite him now that he is back to defending Trump by means of setting the record straight? Why do they fail to even cite the crickets echoed from the Left when these two-year old claims are fact checked?

While the Atlantic, like many publication sources, has had spot-on, well-timed, and prolific articles before in its past, today it reads more as the “Third-Rate magazine that won’t be in business much longer” that the President described it as.

In our opinion here at Contemporary Conservative, this is one of those headlines that you can take with two grains of salt. Give it credence if you must, but don’t forget which sources are behind this reporting: “anonymous”  nobodies, that we would never dare print.