Celebrating Middle East Peace is Premature

Celebrating Middle East Peace is Premature
Commentary by Sanford D. Horn
October 13, 2025

Mazal Tov! The 20 remaining living Israeli hostages held in Gaza by the terrorist organization Hamas have finally been returned to Israeli soil after 738 days in captivity. And they have been released on the eve of Simchas Torah, celebrating the completion of the reading of the Torah - scripture, and the beginning of the reading from Genesis all over again, along with singing and dancing - including dancing with the Torah scrolls. 

Seeing these 20, now former, hostages reunite with families, friends, and other loved ones expressing sheer exhilaration, raw emotions of tears of joy and grief, genuine love, and relief, as well as physical and mental exhaustion should implore anyone with a pulse to thank G-d for their return.

After 738 horrendous, painful days, Matan Angrest, Gali Berman, Ziv Berman, Elkana Bohbot, Rom Braslavski, Nimrod Cohen, Ariel Cunio, David Cunio, Evyatar David, Guy Gilboa-Dalal, Maxim Herkin, Eitan Horn, Segev Kalfon, Bar Kupershtein, Omri Miran, Eitan Mor, Yosef-Haim Ohana, Alon Ohel, Avinatan Or, and Matan Zangauker are back home in Israel where they belong. Say their names and pray for their mental and physical recovery.

“Those prayers of millions have finally been answered. Together we have achieved the impossible. At long last, we have peace in the Middle East,” said President Donald J. Trump.

This potential Gaza Peace Accords deal could only have been accomplished under Trump’s leadership through what President Ronald Reagan often referred to as “peace through strength.” So much strength that Trump took control of these negotiations in spite of countries like Australia, Canada, France, and the United Kingdom recognizing a Palestinian state. Terrorists must never be rewarded with statehood or legitimacy. https://sanfordspeaksout.blogspot.com/2025/10/un-rewards-terrorists-near-107.html 

Under the feckless, weak-kneed Joe Biden administration, the United States commanded virtually no respect around the world. Biden displayed personal and political animus toward Israel and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu - a continuation of the less than friendly relationship between Biden’s former boss Barack Obama and Netanyahu. Additionally, Biden simply did not have the energy or mental capacity to conduct all the negotiations and deal making required to bring the necessary parties together to even consider such a lasting commitment. Perhaps Trump’s next bestseller ought to be entitled The Art of the Peace Deal.

Yes, potential, so don’t start celebrating Middle East peace just yet. There are still numerous pieces that have yet to navigate their way through this geo-political labyrinth.

The agreement has already been broken by Hamas in their failure to return all 28 bodies of deceased hostages - just four have thus far been sent back to Israel. Does anyone actually think Hamas can or should be trusted? Of course not. Can Hamas simply be marginalized? Will they disarm, as required? Will they actually leave Gaza willingly? Anyone holding their breath? And if so, where will they go? No other country wants them - this is how this kerfuffle began in the first place - so-called refugees for more than 75 years, claiming Israel to be their land. More than 40 Arab/Muslim nations refuse admission to the so-called Palestinians, because those nations know who those so-called refugees are. Yet, it is Israel that continues to be lambasted for not wanting, and with good reason, to absorb these people.

These so-called refugees chose to leave Israel upon its independence in 1948. They chose not to live side by side with the Jewish people in peace. What makes anyone think a so-called two-state solution could ever possibly succeed? Especially when the charters of Hamas and Hezbollah call for the evisceration of the Jewish people and the destruction of Israel. These self-defined refugees were not exiled, unlike the Jewish people living in the Arab/Muslim nations. Longtime thriving Jewish communities in the diaspora of the Middle East and North Africa suffered expulsion, a loss of property, and murder as their populations unwillfully shrank to nearly zero, and in some cases, absolute zero. In Israel, Arab/Muslim populations continue to blossom - completely belying the notion of Israel as an apartheid state. That Israel consistently traded, unadvisedly, land for peace, also evinces the lie of Israel as a colonizer. And, being historically accurate, make no mistake, Gaza is still Israel, as is the so-called West Bank, which, in reality is Judea and Samaria. Judea - as in Jewish - as in the Biblical, historical, indigenous, ancestral home of the Jewish people, and should never be under the auspices of any other peoples or nations. Ever.

Aside from the issue of where members of Hamas should relocate after leaving Gaza, what of the myriad other terrorist organizations such as Hezbollah, the Houthis, al-Qaeda, Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, and Islamic Jihad? What about the Islamic Republic of Iran, the largest state sponsor of terror? Even if Hamas abides by these agreements, none of these other terrorist organizations agreed to anything. They all have the destruction of Israel and the death of the Jewish people as their top priorities. Will the Islamic Republic of Iran offer safe haven to Hamas? Why is Hamas even being given a reprieve for their crimes against humanity in the first place? Quite frankly, the IDF (Israel Defense Forces) should stay in Gaza until the last Hamas terrorist is eliminated. Allowing any to live gives them an opportunity to regenerate. There can be no peace with surviving Hamas members or any of the other terror organizations’ members.

If this is intended to be a peace deal, why would there be a demand for the release of upwards of 2,000 Palestinian prisoners from Israeli jails and prisons? These are criminals convicted of commiting heinous crimes including, but not limited to rape, kidnapping, murder, bombings, and terrorist activities. There is no equivalence, moral or otherwise, between 250 Israelis forcibly taken hostage by Hamas versus criminal Palestinians imprisoned for committing the aforementioned crimes. If there is to be peace in the Middle East all geo-political entities must not only recognize Israel and its right to exist, but to do so in peace. Remember, on October 6, 2023 a ceasefire existed until shattered by Hamas the next morning - on Shabbos and celebration of Simchas Torah.

And just what will peace in Gaza look like? If Hamas is no longer to be the governing authority, who will fill that void? There are 2.1 million so-called Palestinians in Gaza. Gaza is still and should remain part of Israel. Should Gaza become a de facto Palestine? Quite frankly, Gaza is barely inhabitable. If Israel is to rebuild Gaza, it should be reinhabited by Israelis, not unlike those who were forced to evacuate in 2005. Israelis not only fled Gaza, their dead were taken with the living and reburied outside of Gaza. What became of Gaza after the Israelis departed is absolutely disgraceful - the so-called Palestinians destroyed the infrastructure, greenhouses, and even the agriculture, replacing much of it with substandard housing, schools teaching children to kill Jews and hate Israel, mosques preaching the same, and hundreds of miles of underground terror tunnels. Those so-called Palestinians who are truly displaced persons from their destroyed homes should be absorbed by the other Arab/Muslim nations on a per capita basis so as not to create an undue burden on those nations’ economies.

If Israel rebuilds Gaza, it should be Israelis who benefit with and from the businesses, technology centers, hotels and other hospitality at the beach, sports and music venues, as well as new, state of the art hospitals, schools and houses of worship that neither teach nor preach the killing of Jews and the hatred of Israel.

To paraphrase an old adage, a rising peace lifts all economies. The successful Abraham Accords during Trump’s first term between Israel, Bahrain, Morocco, Sudan, and the United Arab Emirates moved to normalize relations between those nations. With this future phase of Abraham Accords off in the not so distant horizon, a new era of recognition, cooperation, and hopefully economic partnerships will be ushered in where investments will be made in life saving medical techniques, technology, and agricultural advancements instead of bombs, munitions, and terror tunnels. 

Prabowo Subianto, president of Indonesia, a country with no diplomatic ties with Israel for decades, spoke before the United Nations on Tuesday September 23. “We must also recognize, we must also respect, and we must also guarantee the safety and security of Israel. Only then we can have real peace,” said Subianto, head of state of the largest Muslim-majority nation, with a population of 283 million people. Subianto concluded his speech with “Shalom.”

Sanford D. Horn is a writer and educator living in Westfield, IN. He and his wife last visited Israel in 2019 and they look forward to a return trip.

Trump's Actions Necessary, not Unconstitutional

Trump’s Actions Necessary, not Unconstitutional
Commentary by Sanford D. Horn
June 22, 2025

In basketball parlance, President Donald Trump offered Israel an “assist,” over the weekend, in helping to avoid a greater conflagration versus the Islamic Republic of Iran, or spreading beyond the Middle East. The assist appears to be successful in that Iran’s nuclear enrichment sites have been, according to Trump, “completely and totally obliterated,” and the operation a “spectacular military success,” he said.

In retaining the element of surprise, the precision targeted strikes by the United States on Fordow, Isfahan, and Natanz - all just northwest of central Iran, met with no resistance. These are key sites where Iran had been in the advanced stages of uranium enrichment and had the ballistic missiles with which to strike. Even the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) reported Iran’s “engaging in clandestine nuclear activity.” 

“Iran must not have a nuclear weapon,” Trump has repeated for more than 20 years. “Now is the time for peace,” he said following the success of Operation Midnight Hammer, which included the participation of 125 US aircraft in what should be a one and done. These American fighter pilots are to be applauded the world over. On this night, Israel and the United States together saved humanity, and that is not hyperbole. Anyone not seeing the importance and urgency in the actions of Israel and the United States over the last two weeks has absolutely no moral compass. 

However, the issue here is the constitutionality of Operation Midnight Hammer. Article II, Section 2 of the US Constitution says that “The President shall be Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States, and of the Militia of the several States….” Due to the foresight of the Founding Fathers, who installed a series of checks and balances amongst the three branches of the federal government, Article I, Section 8, Clause 11 grants to Congress the power “To declare War.…” 

Just to complicate matters, on November 7, 1973, overriding the veto of President Richard M. Nixon, Congress passed the War Powers Resolution, a.k.a. The War Powers Act. The purpose of the WPR is to limit the authority of the president to send US military overseas or into foreign wars without Congressional approval. The War Powers Resolution is actually not Constitutional - the Legislative Branch is curtailing the Executive Branch from exercising its Constitutional duties as Commander in Chief. There is but one Commander in Chief, not 435, and as such, that individual has the responsibility to make decisions about troop movements, et al, at a moment’s notice. He doesn’t have time to consult with 435 people who may or may not even have the appropriate clearance. And let’s not forget the possibility of a House member opposing the Commander in Chief’s decisions and leaks them to the media in an effort to thwart such plans, which could be considered treason.

The quagmire in Vietnam, still having just under two more years of active combat, was not a declared war. Of course tell that to the more than 58,220 Americans who lost their lives fighting in that non-war. During the Korean Conflict, also an undeclared war, 36,574 Americans lost their lives. The fact of the matter is, that the United States has not declared war since June 4, 1942 when it did so against Bulgaria, Hungary, and Romania, who sided with the Axis Powers during World War II.

Every president since 1942, beginning with Harry Truman, when he sent the first “advisors” to Vietnam in 1950, has made unilateral decisions to send troops into harm’s way. Every president from Dwight D. Eisenhower through Gerald Ford continued digging the United States deeper and deeper in Vietnam, where if not for the French and NATO, the US might not have ever set foot.

President Jimmy Carter had the dubious distinction of overseeing the arming and training of Islamist insurgents in Afghanistan fighting against the Soviet Union. This led to the rise of the Taliban and Al-Qaeda, who would ultimately be the villains in the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. Islamonaziterrorists brought down the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in New York City, crashed a plane into the Pentagon in Arlington, VA, and crashed another plane into a field in Shanksville, PA. Were it not for the brave passengers on that flight, that charged the cockpit, that plane had a target of hitting either the White House or the Capitol building. All told, on that horrific day 2,977 innocent men, women, and children lost their lives on American soil, the gravest assault on American territory since the December 7, 1941 bombing of Pearl Harbor.

Under President Ronald Reagan the invasion of Grenada in 1983 was justified for protecting American citizens overseas. President George Herbert Walker Bush’s reasoning for the 1989 Panama invasion concerned drug trafficking. During President Bill Clinton’s terms he cited international obligations to justify sending American troops to Bosnia and Somalia.

President George W. Bush received special dispensation regarding the sending of troops overseas because of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. The nation came together, as did the Congress, which worked in a bipartisan manner to give Bush a wide berth with Operation Enduring Freedom. Congress passed the Authorization for Use of Military Force (AUMF) giving Bush that latitude. Perhaps too wide, as American involvement in Afghanistan ran from 2001-21 when Joe Biden bungled the evacuation of Americans from that country that saw 13 American servicemen murdered on his watch.

Airstrikes on Libya in 2011 under Barack Obama were necessary to protect civilians - Libyan civilians. During Trump’s first term, heavy counterterrorism operations against ISIS, al-Qaeda, in Syria, Iraq, and Afghanistan took place, again largely under the auspices of AUMF. While Biden occupied the White House, and also mostly under AUMF, military operations occurred in Afghanistan, Iraq, Somalia, Syria, and Yemen.

Hardly any effort has been made to reel in the presidents via the War Powers Resolution. Now, with the US assisting Israel in their efforts to rid Iran of any possibility of achieving nuclear weaponry, all of the sudden Trump violated the Constitution and the War Powers Resolution. Why? Because it’s Trump and because it’s Israel.

Trump has not violated the Constitution as he is working to protect Americans at home and abroad - there’s no telling how many sleeper cells are in the United States thanks to the open borders policy under Biden. And there are tens of thousands of American nationals in the Middle East at any given time - both military and civilians. Trump has not called for regime change in Iran (although they sure could use it - its own citizens seem to want that). Iran is responsible for the deaths of well over 1,000 Americans in recent years - that gives Trump cause to be vigilant and cautious against Iran. 

Most importantly, Trump has not declared war against Iran - not that he could, legally. Iran has made war against the United States, certainly since the 1979 Iranian Revolution that witnessed the capture of 66 Americans on November 4, 1979, 52 of whom remained hostages in Iran for 444 days, released, not uncoincidentally, on January 20, 1981 - the very day President Reagan took the oath of office.

Opposition coming from the right like Tucker Carlson and Steve Bannon who don’t seem to comprehend America First does not mean America Only. Trump’s decision to assist Israel, from the air, not with boots on the ground, is beneficial to Israel, the United States, and all civilized peoples.

“Today it’s Tel Aviv. Tomorrow it’s New York. Look, I understand ‘America First.’ I don’t understand ‘America Dead.’ That’s what these people want,” said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, about Trump’s MAGA critics.

US Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY), who never met a decision he supports favoring Israel, simply said, “this isn’t Constitutional.” He’s wrong and he’s an antisemite.

In her traditional ignorance and grandstanding, US Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) said, “the President’s disastrous decision to bomb Iran without authorization is a grave violation of the Constitution and Congressional War Powers.” As a member of Congress she ought to know that under the parameters of the WPR, Trump is required to notify Congress within 48 hours of initial military action, and deployment can only be up to 90 days, sans a Congressional declaration of war. AOC, vapid, Marxist, antisemite that she is, would rather see Iran with nukes that could destroy Israel, than recognize that Trump, along with Netanyahu and their respective militaries and intelligence have saved the world.

“They were notified after the planes were safely out. But we complied with the notification requirements of the War Powers Act,” said Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth.

US Senator Tim Kaine (D-VA) naively said “the Israeli Foreign Minister admitted yesterday that Israeli bombing had set the Iranian nuclear program back ‘at least two or three years.’ So what made Trump recklessly decide to rush and bomb today? Horrible judgment.” What proof does Kaine have? Even if true, is it acceptable that Iran can continue their goals of building nuclear bombs? Does Kaine not understand what “death to America” and “death to Israel” actually mean? Very shortsighted.

No Senator, it is not acceptable if Iran has nuclear capabilities in two years, three years, or 200 years. President Trump took bold, decisive, measured actions. None of his predecessors had the intestinal fortitude to do so. How do we know Trump’s actions were measured? Because Trump posted on his Truth Social “We know exactly where the so-called ‘Supreme Leader’ is hiding. He is an easy target, but is safe there. We are not going to take him out (kill!), at least not for now. But we don’t want missiles shot at civilians or American soldiers.”

Operation Midnight Hammer seems to be a tremendous success. Success for the people of Israel, the people of the Middle East, the people of the United States, and the people of the civilized world - including the citizenry of Iran who hope and pray for their genuine freedom from the Tyrant of Tehran.

Sanford D. Horn is a writer and educator living in Westfield, IN.

Closing Arguments

Closing Arguments
Commentary by Sanford D. Horn
November 3, 2024

“And now, the end is near
And so I face the final curtain
My friend, I’ll say it clear
I’ll state my case, of which I’m certain…” (“My Way,” lyrics by Paul Anka)

In 24-48 hours, the polls in the thousands of voting precincts across the fruited plain will be open and ready for business. From Harrisburg to Honolulu and from Albany to Anaheim; from Detroit to Denver and from Birmingham to Boise, American voters will most certainly state their case. And who remembers entering a voting booth and actually drawing a curtain closed? I absolutely remember voting in one of those booths.

Of course by that time millions of Americans will have already cast their ballots via a number of early voting options. I prefer voting on Election Day, which should be a national holiday - but that’s an argument for another column. My wife and I vote together, and then, depending on the time of day, go out for breakfast or dinner.

Hopefully any legally registered voter will be able to arrive, vote, and depart their voting precinct unmolested by those who would commit the crime of voter interference. American elections must be easy to access by legally registered voters with photo identification, who should then cast their ballot, receive a print out receipt of their votes, and have the confidence that their vote will be appropriately counted. This is the United States of America, after all, and should be a beacon setting the standard for elections around the world, not a third world laughing stock where voters don’t know the official results for days, or even weeks into the future. The process from start to finish must be chicanery free.

Sadly, the process of selecting candidates did not lack chicanery. Noting there are myriad minor party candidates sprinkled throughout the ballots in all 50 states, the focal point is on the Republican and Democrat candidates, former President Donald Trump and sitting Vice President Kamala Harris, respectively. While Trump opted not to face his 10 GOP opponents in any of the numerous debates held, he did face the voters on primary ballots in all 50 states, even after several challenges to his candidacy failed in places like Colorado and Maine. 

One by one the Trump challengers dropped off the radar and out of the race. Former South Carolina Governor and UN Ambassador Nikki Haley remained the last woman standing until March 6 when she finally bowed out. Although tensions between Trump and Haley continued down a path of contentiousness through the spring and into the summer, Haley gave an excellent speech at the Republican National Convention in July in Milwaukee helping to coalesce the party. The RNC was a patriotic love fest with America and Trump - especially just days after the first assassination attempt on Trump. He appeared on the first night triumphant with a bandage on his gunshot wounded ear like a red badge of courage.

On the flip side, the Democrats lacked courage and confidence. They lacked the courage to keep their renominated candidate on the general election ballot who actually faced the voters, sitting President Joe Biden, who received more than 14 million primary votes. The Democrats lacked the confidence to stand by their legally renominated candidate because they knew the addleminded Biden had slipped too far from being capable of running and serving for another four years. A palace coup, or in this case, a White House coup, orchestrated by former Speaker Nancy Pelosi, former President Barack Obama, and a cast of other undemocratic Democrats didn’t even bother to stab Biden in the back; they plunged the knife into his chest as they anointed Harris the party nominee.

This from the party calling the Republicans and Trump a threat to democracy. That has been part of the Harris mantra as to why she should get the votes of the people - she’s not Trump (or Biden), and Trump is a threat to democracy. Harris stood for exactly zero primaries and earned exactly zero primary votes. And while not being Trump is satisfactory enough for some of the lemmings, what case has Harris made for herself?

Harris has announced more flip-flops on issues than could fit into a shoe store - and in her own words filmed and used in Trump commercials. First Harris is against fracking, then she is for fracking. First Harris wants to defund ICE, then she is calling for increased border patrol and supports building the very wall she castigated as being stupid and a “vanity project” of Trump’s. First Harris wants to confiscate the guns of American citizens, then she brags about being a gun owner.

Harris supports abortion through birth and is seeking to codify it federally - at taxpayer’s expense, as well as transition surgeries for prisoners and illegals - as she bragged about changing the law in California to support these insane ideas. Harris accuses Trump of seeking an all out total ban on abortion, which he has said repeatedly is untrue. Trump does take pride in orchestrating the overturning of Roe v. Wade during his first term in the White House, appropriately returning abortion policy to the several states, where it should have remained in the first place. Trump has repeatedly said he supports the traditional exceptions regarding abortion - rape, incest, and the life of the mother, much to the chagrin of more than a few Evangelicals. So much so, there’s a fair contingent of Evangelicals who plan to stay home on Election Day. What they seem to have forgotten is Ronald Reagan’s 80-20 Rule. Just because a group of voters disagree with a candidate 20 percent of the time, does not mean they should discard that candidate when they still support that candidate the other 80 percent of the time.

Of course abortion is not the only issue at hand in the 2024 presidential election. The struggling economy and the border invasion are huge - the two biggest issues confronting the voters. Harris talks about all the changes she will make once she is inaugurated, yet has had just short of four years in the White House as VP to effect change. Why should she be believed now? And yet, when asked repeatedly what she would do differently than Biden, Harris responded, “nothing specific comes to mind,” on numerous occasions. 

Trump oversaw a solid economy, save for the Covid period, where prices of food, automobiles, gas/oil, housing, interest rates, inflation, and energy independence all experienced positive trends. Trump posed the same question Ronald Reagan asked the American people during the 1980 campaign: Are you better off today than you were four years ago? The answer then, as it is today, is a resounding NO.

The “better off” question is not just about the economy. The United States has been under invasion since Biden-Harris took office in 2021, ending Trump’s building of the border wall, shutting down the Keystone Pipeline while supporting Russia’s pipeline, and just about any other Trump policy that had been helping the American people. The invasion of upward of 12-20 million illegal aliens, depending upon which government source one wishes to believe, has created an increase in crime - gang related and non-gang related. The number of innocent young women and children raped and murdered at the hands of illegal aliens continues rising exponentially. People simply do not feel safe in the United States.

People, specifically, Jewish students do not feel safe on their college and university campuses. The marches and protests supporting Hamas and other terrorist organizations, the call to boycott Israel, the extreme rise in antisemitism on and off campuses are making Jewish students and non-students alike feel as though they are living in 1938 Germany. Biden and Harris have done practically nothing other than provide disingenuous lip service attempting to placate Jewish voters - failing miserably - while attempting to handcuff Israel at every turn. Harris has gone so far as to say she understands the emotions and feelings of the campus denizens supporting Hamas. 

Harris has repeatedly called for ceasefire after ceasefire when it is not in Israel’s best interest. She wants the war to end regardless of who wins or loses simply to tell voters she is responsible for the ending of the war. More than likely, the invasion by Hamas on October 7, 2023 slaughtering more than 1,200 innocent Israeli men, women, and children would not have occurred had Trump been in office. This was the greatest loss of Jewish life in any single day since the Holocaust. 

Nor would Putin have invaded Ukraine during a Trump administration. From the embarrassing Afghanistan exit which witnessed the murder of 13 American servicemen and women, to the wars that have begun during the Biden-Harris administration, the financial support of the Islamic Republic of Iran, America looks and is weaker at home and abroad. Military recruitment is down, there is support for social and cultural engineering within the military which Harris seeks to continue. While Harris calls for more spending on Ukraine, she has made threats of withholding aid to Israel. There is a lack of respect for America not seen probably since the Vietnam era.

Under Trump no new foreign wars exploded. His relationship with Israel and Prime Minister Netanyahu was and is strong. The Abraham Accords brought new peaceful alliances to the Middle East after the successful move of the American embassy from Tel Aviv to where it belongs in Jerusalem. Trump will continue down that path.

Then there’s the culture of castigation. The Democrats like to deflect when they accuse Trump and the GOP of doing what they themselves are doing. There has been a constant barrage of insulting voters en masse by the Democrats. From Hillary Clinton putting Trump supporters in her “basket of deplorables,” in 2016, to Biden just last week calling Trump supporters “garbage,” to Harris surrogate Mark Cuban denigrating and insulting women - surprising the Democrats could even define what a woman is - saying Trump has never surrounded himself with smart, strong, accomplished women. Apparently Cuban has never heard of Sarah Huckabee Sanders, Kayleigh McEnany, Kellyanne Conway, Linda McMahon, Alina Habba, Tulsi Gabbard, Elise Stefanik, Kristi Noem, among many others. 

Harris even took to insulting a Christian attending one of Harris’s rallies. At a recent rally, an audience member shouted out “Jesus is L-rd.” Harris responded, “you must be at the wrong rally,” to a huge burst of applause. And after all the Democrat insults, including calling Trump Hitler and his supporters Nazis, there’s Harris calling for national unity. Pure hypocrisy.

Clinton, Kamala, Cuban, and others have repeatedly deprecated and defamed all Trump supporters while Trump saves his barbs for specific Democrat candidates or officeholders, not an entire group of supporters. Disparaging Harris, Biden, Pelosi, Doug Emhoff, and Senator Elizabeth Warren, is standard fare in politics. Would it be better if no one insulted anyone? Yes, in politics and in life in general. But we live in the real world - political insults are as old as politics themselves. Perhaps a bit more sophisticated, but maybe not. Political opponents maligned Grover Cleveland for allegedly fathering an illegitimate child, with “Ma, Ma, where’s my Pa?” during the 1884 campaign.

The Kamala Harris campaign runs on not being Biden, not being Trump, and so much word salad, extra ranch dressing has been ordered. She picked a buffoon of a governor in “Tampon” Tim Walz of Minnesota who watched Minneapolis burn after the death of George Floyd. Makes sense, Harris supported the rioters offering bail money. He earned the nickname for signing into law the placement of feminine hygiene products in boy’s and men’s bathrooms. This ticket is so incompetent, even the liberal media, safely ensconced in the Democrat’s pockets, have taken to shedding some light on this frightening pair.

Trump is about as transparent as they get. He has outlined his plans for the new administration, starting with putting America first. Closing the border - again, returning to the days of energy independence, renewing good relations with allies - but still demanding they pay their fair share for what the United States provides them, supporting allies like Israel, working to bring down inflation and interest rates to where they were during his first term in office, restoring a strong military, ensuring biological males do not invade women’s sports, locker rooms, bathrooms, and spaces, including not allowing them to take scholarship and economic opportunities away from women.

Trump is a microcosm of America. His opponents have attempted to remove him from office - twice, indict him, imprison him, and even assassinate him - twice, and yet, like the Phoenix, Trump rises from the ashes, as will the United States when Trump is reelected on November 5, and sworn in on January 20. As he ends all his rallies, Trump will make America safe again. He will make America strong again. He will make America healthy again. He will make America wealthy again. He will make America proud again. He will make America free again. And, Donald Trump will Make America Great Again! (Cue “YMCA,” by The Village People.)

Sanford D. Horn is a writer and educator living in Westfield, IN.

Abbey Gate 13 Honored with Trump Patriotism; Harris Pettiness

Abbey Gate 13 Honored with Trump Patriotism; Harris Pettiness
Commentary by Sanford D. Horn
August 28, 2024 (addendum included September 12, 2024)

In what started out as a mostly quiet, unobtrusive event to memorialize 13 fallen heroes of the American military, ended up as front page fodder due to the pettiness of one person - Vice President Kamala Harris. The 13 Gold Star families planned a simple, yet meaningful, wreath laying ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery on Monday August 26 to remember and celebrate their children’s lives lost at Abbey Gate during a suicide bombing.

The Gold Star families of the Afghanistan 13 invited former President Donald Trump to join them in honoring the memories of their sons and daughters who unceremoniously lost their lives on August 26, 2021 during the failed and chaotic withdrawal from Kabul. In an unprecedented evacuation, the Biden-Harris administration pulled the military troops from Afghanistan first, not last, as should be protocol. In fact, Harris doubled-down indicating only she and Biden remained in the room where the disastrous decision emerged, and still to this day continues to call it a “success.” The families of the 13 fallen troops most certainly know better.

This is the same Biden-Harris administration that saw Biden check his watch on occasion during the dignified transfer of the remains of the Afghanistan 13, and Harris failed to attend at all. Biden and Harris have done nothing but insult the memories of the fallen as well as their families, and yes, Harris made it political by condemning Trump for attending an event to which he was invited.

Say the names of the fallen:

Marines:

Sgt. Johanny Rosario Pichard, 25, Lawrence, MA

Sgt. Nicole L. Gee, 23, Sacramento, CA

Staff Sgt. Darin T. Hoover, 31, Salt Lake City, UT

Cpl. Hunter Lopez, 22, Indio, CA

Cpl. Daegan W. Page, 23, Omaha, NE

Cpl. Humberto A. Sanchez, 22, Logansport, IN

Lance Cpl. David L. Espinoza, 20, Rio Bravo, TX

Lance Cpl. Jared M. Schmitz, 20, St. Charles, MO

Lance Cpl. Rylee J. McCollum, 20, Jackson, WY

Lance Cpl. Dylan R. Merola, 20, Rancho Cucamonga, CA

Lance Cpl. Kareem M. Nikoui, 20, Norco, CA

Navy:

Navy Corpsman Maxton W. Soviak, 22, Berlin Heights, OH

Army:

Staff Sgt. Ryan C. Knauss, 23, Corryton, TN

“Let me be clear,” began Harris. “The former president disrespected sacred ground, all for the sake of a political stunt. If there is one thing on which we as Americans can all agree, it’s that our veterans, military families, and service members should be honored, never disparaged, and treated with nothing less than our highest respect and gratitude,” wrote Harris on X. Harris’s words ring hollow, as her deeds speak volumes. Harris has yet to meet with the Gold Star families. And quite frankly any attempt to do so would be disingenuous at best, insulting to be sure.

Naturally, Trump accepted the invitation offered by the Gold Star families, and spoke little, while spending as much time as the families wanted just listening to their memories of their children. Both Lt. Gen. Keith Kellogg (Ret.) a former National Security adviser to former Vice President Mike Pence, and former Democrat Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii, now a supporter of Trump, said the former president comported himself with dignity, respect, and reverence to the memories of the fallen as well as their families.

Another criticism levied by Harris indicated Trump turned the event into a photo session as people snapped photos and even filmed a video. Much ado about nothing as the photos and filming came at the behest of the families, and Trump appropriately acquiesced. Photos requested by grieving families trumps the rules or laws - no pun intended.

Asked about the video, Kelly Barnett, mother of Darin T. Hoover, responded, “we’re just so tired - we’ve been disrespected so much in the last three years - it’s been three years - no response from them [Biden-Harris, who were invited to the wreath laying]. No ‘I’m sorry,’ no ‘we stand with you,’ no ‘we know it was a mistake, we know it went down wrong, because we know mistakes happen in war.’ It was just important that we let Donald Trump know - because he’s been there for us. He’s been our rock. He’s been there for us to give us a little bit of peace, and carry that grief with us for a little while, and that’s what he did that day,” said Barnett.

“Absolutely hypocritical,” is how Jim McCollum, father of Lance Cpl. Rylee McCollum, described Harris’s comments toward Trump. “We invited President Trump to be there, the families that were in Arlington asked him to bring his filming crew to capture the moment. My understanding is that they didn’t want people on their phones. They wanted them to be in the moment, to be present. Trump was gracious enough to be there, for one, which I thought was an absolutely beautiful thing - it made me proud that he was there representing all 13 kids…. Much like the RNC, where our kid’s names were finally recognized, this was some recognition that we’d been longing for. It was absolutely beautiful for me to see, and in a blink of an eye, she [Harris] turned it political and into something it absolutely was not,” said McCollum.

On CNN Dana Bash called Afghanistan a “sore spot” for Biden and Harris. “A sore spot? They murdered my son,” said Alicia Lopez, mother of Cpl. Hunter Lopez. “They murdered the other 12. I don’t think that would be a sore spot. I think they have a lot of explaining to do and they’re choosing not to and they’re choosing to politicize something that was meant to be an experience between a former president and the families and honoring our children. Instead, she’s turning it into something to get the attention away from him,” said Lopez.

Asked what she would say to Harris, given the opportunity, Lopez said with a grin, “I probably can’t say those words on national TV. I don’t think she qualifies to be the Commander in Chief, so I would kindly ask her to step down and let President Trump be our Commander in Chief so that he can take care of our military,” said Lopez.

In a video presented on The Chris Salcedo Show on Newsmax on Monday, September 2, another parent weighed in about Harris’s comments. “This is Mark Schmitz, Gold Star father of Marine Lance Cpl. Jared Schmitz. The irony behind your post, that you give a rat’s ass about our military or our veterans - Jared’s brothers and sisters in arms - the rest of the 12… is an outright lie. We’re living proof of that. You’re despicable. You have zero business running this country. And I pray to G-d Americans wake the hell up and get your ass out of office. You have spit in our face for the last f-ing time,” said a still grieving Schmitz, and rightfully so.

On Tuesday, September 10, after three years and two weeks, official recognition of the Abbey Gate 13 came in the form of a ceremony posthumously issuing all 13 servicemen and women the Congressional Gold Medal, as voted unanimously by Congress. Along with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the Congressional Gold Medal is the highest civilian award. This recognition, obviously long overdue, helped the surviving family members take one step toward closure, something unlikely to ever be achieved by the families of the fallen. 

The Abbey Gate families, and the families of all the fallen during the Afghanistan War deserve that, and so much more. They, and the nation, deserve a Commander in Chief that will lead via peace through strength so as to not require sending American troops into harm’s way in foreign wars. After 20 years, Afghanistan is once again under the tyrannical thumb of the Taliban, due in part to the fecklessness of Biden and Harris. The rights of women and girls have once again been stripped away. Actress Meryl Streep said a “squirrel has more rights than Afghan girls.” Can’t argue with that, but what is arguable is why Streep supports Harris. This would not have happened under a Trump administration. After all, Kamala Harris supports the right of transgender women, actually biological males, to participate in female sports, while Donald Trump vehemently opposes this. Trump will end this insanity about bio-boys invading women’s spaces, restore order with the military, and give the homeless veterans the help they need and deserve, all on the way to Making America Great Again.

Sanford D. Horn is a writer and educator living in Westfield, IN.

Biden's Debate Performance - Inevitable

Biden’s Debate Performance - Inevitable 

Commentary by Sanford D. Horn

June 28, 2024

If the first, and possibly only, debate of the 2024 presidential election cycle presented itself in the form of a boxing match, the referee would have stopped the fight about 12 seconds into the first round. 

Former President Donald Trump, ready when the bell rang, came out of his corner pugilistically, yet calm in demeanor, and tempered in his responses to the questions he fielded from Dana Bash and Jake Tapper of CNN. President Joe Biden, conversely, exited his corner sluggish at best, and seemed punch-drunk upon speaking - often looking dazed and confused.

The opening salvo may very well have been a swan song for Biden, who, roughly 12 minutes into the 90 minute CNN production, stopped dead in his tracks mid “thought,” looking like a deer in the headlights. Trump sounded sharp and on point, while Biden looked grim and sounded even worse. Only after the debate had mercifully ended did Democrat spokespeople announce Biden had been fighting a cold, and thus his weak performance. This is Biden after being sequestered at Camp David for a week? Biden’s surrogates can spin this like a dreidel at Chanukah, but it doesn’t change reality.

Were the American people bamboozled? Or did they simply deny the incontrovertible reality of what their eyes saw and ears heard? Clearly those closest to Biden have outright lied to both the nation and the world about his true condition with their façade and unbelievable stories about Biden as Superman behind closed doors.

My first debate-night comment is typically, I watch so you don’t have to. In this case an exception must be made. “Trust, but verify,” as President Ronald Reagan often and aptly stated. Those who did not, DO watch. The future of the free world is at stake, and this is not hyperbole. It is vital for as many Americans as possible to see and hear for themselves the stark differences between Trump and Biden, and not just on policies, accomplishments, and goals. It was Trump who took the high road, and said, “Let’s not act like children,” when the debate degenerated into who has the lower golf handicap, and Biden challenged Trump to a match, provided Trump carried his own bag.

This is not even about the issues. Anyone reading this probably knows what the key issues are and where they stand on those issues. Although, Biden blaming Trump for all the world’s ills can very easily be factually refuted. What happened to the myriad fact checkers lined up by CNN to catch Trump mispronouncing a single word or verbally misplace a decimal point? Or were they only standing by at the behest of the Biden team as part of his debate rules? They should have been working at fever pitch debunking every other sentence mangled by Biden. This includes Biden’s blatant lie that the Border Patrol union endorsed him. That union refuted Biden’s lie. “To be clear, we never have, and never will endorse Biden,” they posted on X. “The National Border Patrol Council has proudly endorsed Donald J. Trump for President of the United States,” said Hector Garza, Council vice president, to NBC News.

This is about the demonstratively frightening cognitive failings of a man, a mortal being, as we all are, who has lost more than a step, and clearly has little left in the tank. With Independence Day in less than a week, this country - the free world - cannot withstand four more months, let alone four more years of Biden’s rapid decline and failed policies. Why people are shocked by Biden’s debate performance proves they haven’t believed their own eyes and ears. It was truly painful to watch Biden, clearly disoriented and confused at times, and belies his administration’s stooges telling the world that all they have seen had been “cheap fakes.” Did CNN manufacture cheap fake Biden throughout the entire debate? No. In fact, CNN worked with the Biden team to give him all he could possibly demand in order to orchestrate the debate in the first place. As an American, this is not a moment to cheer or revel in some sense of joy. But, Biden cannot be trusted with the nuclear codes, nor can he lead as Commander in Chief.

The ship of state is either sans captain heading toward an iceberg, or the team pulling the strings behind the scenes is simply incompetent or willfully obtuse. The American people have no confidence in Biden - lifelong Democrats are wandering the abyss looking into the eyes of an empty vessel. Our allies, with no confidence in America as the leader of the free world, are shaking their collective heads in pity of the shell of a man Biden has become as nature simply takes its course. On the other hand, our foes continue seeking and taking opportunity after opportunity to rape, pillage, and plunder their way to a world as chaotic as an out of control forest fire. 

Can Biden be counted upon to match wits across the table from China’s Xi Jinping, North Korea’s Kim Jong Un, Russia’s Vladimir Putin, and Ali Khamenei of the Islamic Republic of Iran? He hasn’t come close yet at age 81, he sure as hell won’t between ages 82-86 if he lives that long. And will Kamala Harris be any better? Of course not. Biden is a danger to the freedom of the United States due to his severe, continuing mental and physical decline and is reminiscent of how FDR lost Eastern Europe to the Soviets.

As I have often said since 2015 to those who do not like Donald Trump, this is not about electing Miss Congeniality. The ship of state requires a captain at its helm and Trump proved his abilities on the debate stage on June 27, as well as in his first term in the White House. No new wars started under Trump, inflation dropped as low as 1.4 percent (shooting up to nine percent under Biden), mortgage rates below four percent (now over seven percent), the southern border did not resemble a sieve, and America prided itself on being energy independent, all of which were reversed under Biden. 

At present, we the people live in an unsafe nation with increasing street crime and violence beyond reasonable control, illegal aliens invading this nation also beyond reasonable control, along with out of control prices, a return to energy dependence, and American military veterans in need, displaced by those very illegals, in housing and priority for services - services our veterans have earned and deserve, not illegals who only deserve a one way ticket back to their country of origin.

Joe Biden also deserves a one way ticket - back to Delaware and a retirement he should be able to enjoy. It is his wife, Jill Biden, who seems to be propping up her husband, physically and verbally. After CNN cut its feed to the other networks following the debate, Jill could be seen escorting Joe off the debate stage, as reported by witnesses in the Atlanta venue. In the after-party, Jill spoke vociferously about the debate, and did so again Friday afternoon in North Carolina at a Biden rally, applauding her husband's performance. She is and has been the driving force behind the Biden campaigns and presidency. Sadly, she either does not see what the majority of Americans see, or she simply wants to press forward in some form of obscene elder abuse. It should certainly make the Democratic National Convention in August rather entertaining. Will there be a coup from the convention floor to remove Biden? Perhaps they can replace him with that “youngster” Hillary Clinton. May G-d save the Union.

Sanford D. Horn is a writer and educator living in Westfield, IN.

Corrupt Colorado Court Cancels Trump

Corrupt Colorado Court Cancels Trump
Commentary by Sanford D. Horn
December 24, 2023

In these United States it is the people who determine elections - who is nominated, and ultimately, who is elected. It is third world, despotic, totalitarian, banana republics where the will of the people is shunned.

And yet, in the Centennial State, the Supreme Court of Colorado, by the slimmest of a four to three majority, decided for all the people when they barred former President Donald Trump from appearing on the primary election ballots of Tuesday, March 5, 2024.

It’s shocking that four seemingly intelligent people with law degrees could make such a myopic ruling on Tuesday, December 19. But apparently not all law degrees are considered equal. Appearing on the Fox News noon program Outnumbered, Michele Tafoya aptly noted, “When you talk about the four judges who voted in favor of this - they’re from Penn Law School, Harvard Law School, Yale Law School, and Virginia. And the three who didn’t vote for this, were all, I think, from Denver - University of Denver.”

Tafoya thought and remembered correctly. The four justices voting to bar Trump from the Colorado primary election ballot were Richard L. Gabriel (University of Pennsylvania Law), Melissa Hart (Harvard Law), William W. Hood III (University of Virginia Law), and Monica M. Marquez (Yale Law). The three dissenting justices, Chief Justice Brian D. Boatright, Carlos Samour, Jr., and Maria E. Berkenkotter, are, in fact, University of Denver Law graduates - and kudos to them for putting politics aside when casting their all important votes. All seven Colorado Supreme Court justices are Democrats.

This is yet, “another reflection on the Ivy League mentality of judicial activism,” said Tafoya, a former NFL sideline reporter.

Chief Justice Boatman “wrote that he believes Colorado election law ‘was not enacted to decide whether a candidate engaged in insurrection,’ and said he would have dismissed the challenge to Trump’s eligibility.”

Opposition to this decision came from both sides of the aisle, swiftly and strongly, as well as from several key legal scholars and constitutional experts. 

US Rep. Dean Phillips (D-MN) posted the following on X, on Wednesday, December 20. “Do I believe Trump’s guilty of inspiring an insurrection and doing nothing to stop it? I was there. Absolutely. Do I believe it’s wrong to ban him from the ballot in Colorado without a conviction? Absolutely. Do I believe SCOTUS must opine immediately? Absolutely.” 

Phillips is mired in his own ballot battle. He has announced his candidacy for president as a Democrat challenging Joe Biden, but the Democrat Party has all but ruled out any primary elections. Talk about a serious disenfranchisement of the voters.

That is one of the reasons Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. opted to throw his hat into the presidential ring as an independent - lack of the democratic process amongst the Democrats and their so-called leadership. Kennedy also weighed in on the disastrous Colorado court decision.

“Every American should be troubled by the Colorado Supreme Court’s decision to remove President Trump from the ballot,” posted Kennedy on X, December 19. “The court has deprived him of a consequential right without having been convicted of a crime. This was done without an evidentiary hearing in which he is given the basic right of confronting his accusers. When any candidate is deprived of his right to run, the American people are deprived of their right to choose,” continued Kennedy, a graduate of the law school at the University of Virginia.

The Colorado Supreme Court issued a completely flawed decision… and we will swiftly file an appeal to the United States Supreme Court and a concurrent request for a stay of this deeply undemocratic decision,” said Steven Cheung, spokesman for the Trump campaign.

Vivek Ramaswamy, a candidate for the Republican nomination, posted the following on X on December 19. “I pledge to withdraw from the Colorado GOP primary ballot until Trump is also allowed to be on the ballot, and I demand that Ron DeSantis, Chris Christie, and Nikki Haley do the same - immediately - or else they are tacitly endorsing this illegal maneuver which will have disastrous consequences for our country.”

Christie did likewise, adding, “Trump should be prevented from being President of the United States by the voters of this country,” in a December 19 X posting.

While DeSantis did not join Ramaswamy and Christie, he did post that the left is using “judicial power to remove a candidate from the ballot based on spurious legal  ground. SCOTUS should reverse.”

“It’s truly unthinkable,” said GOP presidential hopeful Nikki Haley, for unelected judges to make such a decision. “The people of Colorado should be furious,” by their own state court’s ruling, said the former Ambassador to the United Nations. “We should have this race fair and square and have him on the ballot,” continued the former governor of South Carolina. Haley went on to say she will beat Trump fairly and squarely.

The Colorado Republican Party said, “we will withdraw from the Primary as a Party and convert to a pure caucus system if this is allowed to stand,” in a December 19 post on X.

As is typical, liberals, progressives, and Democrats, as evidenced by the Democrat Party’s reluctance or refusal to hold primary elections, believe less is more. That they have to emperil democracy in order to save democracy. This is a bizarre notion - burning down the house in order to preserve the house. Does this sound remotely logical to anyone? Limiting choices for the voters, not expanding the choices. Aren’t the Democrats all about choice? 

No, they are not. The only choice they want for the American people is that of ending the lives of their unborn children. Liberals and progressives oppose choice when it comes to educating the children they allow to be born. They oppose choice when it comes to Americans and their health care options. They oppose choice when it comes to the right to either get a vaccine or not get a vaccine. Liberals and progressives are trying to end the people’s right to choose gas-operating vehicles, the right to choose gas-run stoves and ovens.

And the same is true of liberals and progressives trying to limit for whom the American people can vote. Noah Bookbinder, president of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, said of the ruling, it is “not only historic and justified, but is  necessary to protect the future of democracy in our country.” His organization and two law firms filed the lawsuit against Trump on behalf of six Coloradans: Norma Anderson, Christopher Castilian, Claudine Cmarada, Krista Kafer, Michelle Priola, and Kathi Wright.

In the Colorado Supreme Court ruling, the majority wrote, “we conclude that because President Trump is disqualified from holding the office of President under Section 3 [of the 14th Amendment] it would be a wrongful act under the Election Code for the Secretary to list President Trump as a candidate on the presidential primary ballot. Therefore the Secretary may not list President Trump’s name on the 2024 presidential primary ballot, nor may she count any write-in votes cast for him.”

How obtuse. Such a decision will only harm democracy and the evidence has come fast and furiously. Texas Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick, a Republican, suggested that perhaps Texas should deny Joe Biden ballot placement for not securing the Southwestern border and allowing around 10 million illegal aliens to invade the United States. After all, according to the 14th Amendment, Section 3, which those supporting the banning of Trump from the ballot are clinging to, Biden has given aid and comfort to the enemies of the United States - in two ways. One, the allowance of millions of unvetted foreign nationals to take up residence in the United States, and two, giving the Islamic Republic of Iran at least $16 billion, to be used for nefarious purposes against American troops and the troops of American allies.

And back and forth it will go. There are an additional 14 states with lawsuits to bar Trump from those state ballots. Suits from Arizona and Michigan are pending appeal. The following states are filing lawsuits: Alaska, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, South Carolina, Texas, Vermont, Virginia, West Virginia, and Wisconsin.

There are numerous faulty ideas within the majority statement. First of all, the Colorado Supreme Court has concluded that Trump is disqualified from holding office when no other legal entity has deemed such. Trump has neither been charged with, nor found guilty of engaging in insurrection, as per Section 3 of the 14th Amendment. When does the Election Code of a state supersede federal election law? And then there’s the point about not counting write-in votes cast for Trump. While the states typically each have their own rules and/or policies pertaining to write-in votes, to not count votes cast is to completely disregard the will of the voters, disenfranchising each one casting such a ballot.

Civil rights attorney Leo Terrell said, “the system is being challenged,” during an appearance on the Fox News program The Faulkner Focus on December 20. “What makes us unique is our rule of law and it’s being questioned. Trump haters are now supporting Trump on the issue that he deserves to be on the ballot. He deserves to face the voters, not four judges, and this is our problem right now - our legal system being tested. This is why the Supreme Court has to rule nine to zero - those judges know what is right and nine to zero is the only ruling that they could come up with,” said Terrell.

In commenting on the Colorado decision and opinion, legal expert Alan Dershowitz said, “It’s clearly unconstitutional. Any talk or accusation of insurrection would prove enough to bar someone, but Trump was never charged or found guilty. There is nothing to this argument - it’s just a political ploy. It is the most undemocratic decision imaginable, [the] most unconstitutional decision I’ve seen in a long time. Taking away the right to vote? It’s your right to vote,” said Dershowitz, professor emeritus at Harvard Law School. “I’m not a Trump supporter, but I want the right to vote against Trump, just like you have the right to vote for Trump, and that right can’t be denied us. The Supreme Court should reverse this and put an end to this nonsense, ” he said.

“It is strikingly anti-democratic, in my view,” said George Washington University law professor Jonathan Turley, on The Ingraham Angle, on December 19. “In my view the court is dead wrong. This is the first  major win for the challengers. I think the opinion is really chilling and I think the Supreme Court will make fast work of this - I hope that it does. I think this court did great damage to its own integrity with this opinion. When you read this opinion, the one thing that keeps on recurring is, where’s the limiting principle here? Each of these barriers, the court could have adopted a fairly moderate, or more narrow approach, but it didn’t. On every one of these issues it really took out all the fail safes and went to the broadest possible meaning. That means that states can engage in a tit-for-tat type of series of decisions - you could have red states blocking Biden on some ballots, and blue states blocking Trump.”

In light of the Colorado decision, California’s Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis (D) wants to follow suit. In a letter to California Secretary of State Shirley N. Weber, Kounalakis wrote, “I urge you to explore every legal option to remove former President Donald Trump from California’s 2024 presidential primary ballot… this is a dire matter that puts at stake the sanctity of our Constitution and our democracy.”

Kounalakis couldn’t be more wrong. But then, this is the same person who said two of the qualifications to serve as president of the United States included reaching the age of 40 and not having committed insurrection. According to Article II, Section 1 of the US Constitution, “No person except a natural born Citizen,… shall be eligible to the Office of President; neither shall any Person to that Office who shall not have attained to the Age of thirty-five Years, and been fourteen Years a Resident within the United States.”

Even members of the so-called mainstream media understand the jeopardy the republic would be placed in should the Colorado decision be allowed to stand. Ruth Marcus, in her editorial for The Washington Post wrote, on December 20, “The Supreme Court should toss the Colorado case…. The best outcome, for the court and the country, would be for a unanimous court… to clear the way for Trump to run.”

In the far-left Slate, Lawrence Lessig wrote on December 20, “The Supreme Court must unanimously strike down Trump’s ballot removal.” These folks, and certainly Dershowitz, will not be lining up next November to cast their ballots for Donald Trump. But they are intelligent enough to know the damage to the system of elections many other countries turn to would create not just in the United States, but for the stability of elections the world over.

Removing a candidate from a ballot is what puts at stake the sanctity of our Constitution and democracy, to borrow Kounalakis’ words. Again, Trump has neither been charged nor convicted of encouraging, coercing, or engaging in an insurrection. The attempts to remove Trump or any candidate, from ballots in any state is what is truly deleterious to the future of the republic. When the party in power attempts to remove opposition candidates from any ballot, that partisanship is the work of despots and totalitarians, and is not limited to just supplanting Trump.

Trump has said the following on more than one occasion, but last week may never have been more poignant. “They want to silence me, because I will never let them silence you. And in the end, they’re not after me, they’re after you, I just happen to be standing in their way,” he said during a campaign speech in Waterloo, IA.

“This country is the most successful and stable constitutional system in history. Now, after two centuries of that, what these four justices have done was to introduce a destabilizing element in that system,” said Turley. “This may be the ultimate challenge for Chief Justice Roberts. I don’t have much question they will overturn this decision, but they should do it unanimously. They should do it in one voice - all nine - not divide on this - it’s too important not to speak as one,” concluded Turley.

When constitutional experts like Dershowitz and Turley speak in language with such gravity regarding the future of the electoral system of the United States, it is best to heed the messengers. The partisan machinations by liberals and progressives will most certainly tear down the current system. Today they are going after Trump, tomorrow maybe DeSantis, Haley, or any yet to be thought of candidate from either side of the aisle. The Democrats have already pushed RFK, Jr. out of the party and determined there would be no primaries. When no candidates are safe from removal from the ballot by the shortsightedness and hubris of a handful of unelected judges, the system will have crumbled under its own weight and the republic will cease to exist. It is up to we the people to prevent the death of the republic by speaking out and ensuring as many candidates as possible appear on the ballots in all 50 states and thus secure the preservation and salvation of our republic. OUR republic.

Sanford D. Horn is a writer and educator living in Westfield, IN.

Is DeSantis the Anti-Trump or Trump Lite?

Is DeSantis the Anti-Trump or Trump Lite?
Commentary by Sanford D. Horn
May 25, 2023

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis officially launched his campaign for president of the United States last night, Wednesday May 24. He rolled the dice on an unusual format and method, and came up snake eyes - DeSantis was snakebit by the failure of technology to provide him a smooth transition from will he or won’t he to I’m in.

While I have nothing against DeSantis, and should he be the Republican nominee in 2024 I will certainly vote for him. I have to ask, is this his time? Just reelected governor of Florida in 2022, he would complete his second and current term in office in early 2027, giving him an entire year before the Iowa caucuses and first in the nation primary, New Hampshire. With two successful terms as governor, DeSantis, currently only 44, will have concluded his electoral obligations to the people of Florida and have nothing but time to launch his campaign for 2028. While most of the 2024 candidates will have been vanquished in that election cycle, and less likely to run again, save for Vivek Ramaswamy, who at 37 years old today, could sit out even two DeSantis terms and still be one of the younger candidates in 2036, at 51.

If this is DeSantis’s time, with a growing field of GOP nomination seekers, his opportunity to catch and surpass former President Donald Trump becomes increasingly slim. Trump already has, depending upon which poll one reads, anywhere from a 25 to 35 percentage point margin over the Florida governor. On the other hand, with DeSantis officially in the race, voters may be more willing to support him and be able to close the gap with Trump. But it begs the question, if DeSantis is considered the best possible GOP alternative to Trump, wouldn’t it make sense for the rest of the field to bow out? That’s not to say the field won’t shrink organically, and as history dictates, the early frontrunner is guaranteed nothing. After all, was former Florida Governor Jeb Bush elected president in 2016? Or former House Speaker Newt Gingrich in 2012? Or former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee in 2008? Or former New York Senator Hillary Clinton in 2008?

But the 2024 election campaign will be an unusual one - of course that goes without saying as it involves Trump, hoping to do his best impersonation of former President Grover Cleveland. And as anyone with a pulse knows, Trump is more than a bit polarizing. Make no mistake, if Trump is the GOP standard bearer in 2024, he will garner my vote. I voted for him in the general elections of 2016 and 2020. I just don’t see him winning a national race next year, in spite of Joe Biden’s glaringly, painfully, excruciatingly, miserable time in the White House - failures aplenty - gas prices, prices in general, weakening military, embarrassing Afghanistan surrender, mortgage equity debacle, a return to energy dependence, and of course, the invasion at the southern border.

All that said, Trump can’t get out of his own way - he’s still harping on the 2020 election, a “perfect phone call,” and will forever be blamed for January 6, 2021. While I agree there was chicanery and a less than honest outcome in the 2020 election, sans hardcore proof, there’s virtually nothing that can be done, and certainly not now, two and a half years into the next administration.

And the juxtaposition of Trump continues. He’s bombastic and more direct than might typically be expected of the diplomacy of a politician. On the other hand, as I told so many people who didn’t like Trump’s antics, but knew what a good job he had done as president, we’re not electing Miss Congeniality. And if history is fair, Trump will go down as one of the best one term presidents in American history, with, in my opinion, the likes of John Adms and James K. Polk.

So the question remains, can DeSantis close the gap and overtake Trump? Can DeSantis, a decorated Navy veteran with both legislative and executive experience as a member of Congress and governor, govern as successfully as Trump, but without the circus atmosphere that sometimes befell his administration? DeSantis has experienced tremendous success as governor of Florida, keeping the state open and vital during Covid, and welcoming more than 580,000 new legal Floridians in 2022. 

Even lifelong New Yorker Trump became a Florida resident in 2019, so all his grandstanding about Florida failing under DeSantis is Trump posturing as a candidate would. Yet, by doing so, by going after DeSantis with a sledgehammer, Trump is repeatedly violating Ronald Reagan’s 11th Commandment: “Thou shalt not speak ill of thy fellow Republican.” Sadly, Trump is not the only candidate to violate that commandment over the last many election cycles. Yet while Trump assails DeSantis, DeSantis in his kickoff speech, directed his criticisms appropriately after Biden; after all, it’s Biden that the GOP, whoever the nominee is, wants to defeat in 2024.

If not Trump, if not DeSantis, the GOP scorecard is fast filling up as South Carolina Senator Tim Scott declared his candidacy on Monday May 22 to join fellow Palmetto Stater Nikki Haley, the former governor and United Nations ambassador. Also declared are radio talk show host and attorney Larry Elder, who unsuccessfully challenged Gavin Newsom in the California recall for governor, former Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson, and the aforementioned Ramaswamy - any of this septet would be a far cry better than the current occupant of the White House.

I happen to be wavering in my support between the two South Carolinians, Haley and Scott, but Elder and Ramaswamy have solid ideas as well. But do any of that quartet have enough gas in the tank to get them across the finish line? And there’s still the possibility of former Vice President Mike Pence throwing his hat in the ring. I like Pence personally, but see the previous question. If it’s a choice between DeSantis and Trump for the GOP nomination, DeSantis can beat Biden. Isn’t that the goal in 2024?

Sanford D. Horn is a writer and educator living in Indiana.

Maintain Mega MAGA Momentum - Minus Trump

Maintain Mega MAGA Momentum - Minus Trump
Commentary by Sanford D. Horn
November 10, 2022

I voted for, and supported Donald Trump for President, twice. I think he did an excellent job and if he is the Republican nominee in 2024 I will do so again. However, I would prefer Donald Trump remain on the sidelines in 2024. Graciously play kingmaker, or stay silent. Abide by Ronald Reagan’s Eleventh Commandment: “Thou shalt not speak ill of any fellow Republican.”

I believe there was chicanery and shenanigans at play in 2020 in Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin costing Trump reelection. But, the time has come to put that behind us, work to create a better electoral system and process preventing that from happening again. The United States must come up with a better way to reinvent the wheel, so to speak. If the United States continues electronic balloting, there must be a paper printout receipt of how each citizen cast his or her ballot. Returning to the days of paper ballots is not a bad idea either. In both cases, ramped up security protecting the integrity of all our votes is vital. 

The process should be streamlined. Early voting should be restricted to two weeks prior to Election Day and after the first debate. I wonder how many people in Pennsylvania who voted for John Fetterman for the US Senate before the debate, might not have, following his disastrous debate performance. Only American citizens with appropriate identification should be permitted to vote. Signatures must match and deadlines enforced for absentee ballots to be validated. Ballots must be received no later than Election Day, unless postmarked from an overseas military base. Waiting days or even weeks for election results in the United States is amateurish and smacks of a banana republic.

The American electorate must be able to go to sleep at night with the confidence that their votes will count. With that confidence, hopefully there will be fewer accusations of election tampering, fewer lawsuits, and less election denial.

Look to the future, whoever that may be. Stop harping on a “stolen election” the way Hillary Clinton (D-NY) has continued doing since 2016, and the way Stacey Abrams (D-GA) has done since 2018. Abrams lost by a larger margin, again, to Governor Brian Kemp (R-GA) on Tuesday than in 2018. At least this year Abrams had the decency and common sense to admit defeat and concede appropriately upon seeing the results of November 8. And, yes, as Trump himself has been doing since November 2020.

As good a job as Trump did, he can be unnecessarily petty, salty, and bombastic. There are those who call him narcissistic, but isn’t that true of anyone who thinks they could or should be president of the United States? (I think I would be a good president, but have never woken up on any given day thinking there’s a snowball’s chance in Guam that I should be president.)

Reinstate Trump policies - especially regarding energy independence and the wall on the southwestern border - but under someone’s leadership less toxic, less arrogant, and less dramatic. For all his millions of supporters - still two years after his questionable defeat - Trump can still fill arenas with thousands of cheering throngs. Biden can’t get enough people at his events to fill out a baseball lineup card.

At their relatively similar ages, Trump’s mental acuity at three and a half years younger than Biden, is far superior, and this is painfully obvious. This is not to mock Biden - it’s tragic for him and his family, but more importantly for the nation, and based upon the role the United States plays on the global stage, for the world as well. It’s not necessarily an age issue, but Brit Hume of Fox News is just seven months younger than Biden, yet his reports and analysis are crisp, on point, and he easily reacts and responds to comments and questions from his colleagues adroitly. Former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, at 99 years of age, has a new book out (Leadership: Six Studies in World Strategy) and his counsel is still sought out in the political world. Kissinger has had recent editorials in The Wall Street Journal that are relevant and sharp.

Forget the so-called mainstream media - they will vilify any and all Republicans - even ones they seem to root for - at first. They did it to the late Senator John McCain (R-AZ) and Senator Mitt Romney (R-UT) in 2008 and 2012 respectively. What the United States needs is a free and open press - not calls for censorship from the progressive woke because someone doesn’t like someone else's opinions or stances on various issues. At present I’d be hard pressed to say that we have that. From Thomas Jefferson in 1787 came the following: “Were it left to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers, or newspapers without a government, I should not hesitate a moment to prefer the latter.”  It’s perfectly permissible to criticize and complain about the Democrats and their policies - that’s why there is the First Amendment to the United States Constitution. But be prepared to offer solutions.

The GOP has a deep bench heading toward 2024 and there is reason to have positive feelings for the future of the United States. Whether Ron De Santis (R-FL), who after his reelection rout on November 8 to remain Florida governor, or anyone else - look forward. I would like to see a ticket of Nikki Haley (R-SC) and Mike Pompeo (R-KS) take the reins and lead this nation into the next decade. Should De Santis be the GOP standard bearer, I would not hesitate to cast my vote for his ticket.

Other potential GOP hopefuls could include current or former governors Bill Lee (TN), Kristi Noem (SD), Mike Pence (IN), Kim Reynolds (IA), Chris Sununu (NH), and Glenn Youngkin (VA). Senators with potential White House aspirations include Tom Cotton (AR), Ted Cruz (TX), Josh Hawley (MO), Mike Lee (UT), Rand Paul (KY), Marco Rubio (FL), Tim Scott (SC), and Tom Scott (FL). I would include US Rep. Jim Jordan (OH) in the mix. For potential vice presidential candidates, in addition to the above, US Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (WA) is part of the GOP House leadership, and a longshot darkhorse - former US Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (HI) who not just left the Democrat Party, but took to the campaign trail for several conservative Republican Senate candidates including Blake Masters (AZ) and Don Bolduc (NH).

I love the United States of America, warts and all, which is why we strive for a “more perfect union.” I want the United States to succeed and thrive all the time, regardless of who is in the White House. (I would prefer a Constitutional Conservative.) It is in all our best interests. When America prospers, so too does the world. A nation whose people believe in the republic, who believe in representative democracy, who support the Constitution, who understand the importance of a free market economy and the evils of socialism and communism also want the United States to succeed and thrive. Free nations create, invent, build, invest, worship, and yes, openly debate, all without fear of retribution. These should have been more emphasized during the midterm campaigns. That the GOP learns from their mistakes and rights the ship of state in the 2024 elections is my hope and prayer.

Sanford D. Horn is a writer and educator living in Westfield, IN.

GOP Should Hold Primaries

GOP Should Hold Primaries
Commentary by Sanford D. Horn
September 17, 2019

To very loosely paraphrase the great British Prime Minister and Statesman Winston Churchill, Donald Trump is the worst presidential candidate - except for all those others.

(“Indeed, it has been said that democracy is the worst form of Government except for all those other forms that have been tried from time to time.” - Winston Churchill, November 11, 1947)

I support President Trump, but am unhappy with two important decisions he made during the week of September 11. Firing National Security Advisor John Bolton and the notion of meeting with the Taliban at Camp David. Meeting with the Taliban in the first place is less than intelligent. Doing so during the week of 9-11 is also insensitive. And at Camp David no less. Dwight Eisenhower no doubt rolled over in his grave. 

My vote will be to reelect the president, but he is neither an imperial leader nor a king who need not face the voters. Not only will he face the voters at-large in November 2020, he should stand before the members of his own party for, at the very least, their tacit approval in state by state primaries.

If the incumbent, Trump, needs protecting from Republican voters, G-d help him when he faces the Democrat nominee. Cancelling or simply not holding primaries is an  uncommon tactic, yet both major parties have employed it in several states during the 1992 (Bush), 1996 (Clinton), 2004 (Bush), and 2012 (Obama) primary seasons. Both Trump and a number of state GOP leaders claim not holding primaries is a cost saving decision. South Carolina’s GOP said their primary would cost $1.2 million.

Yet, opinions vary. Joe Jackson, a South Carolina GOP spokesman said the party voted against holding their primary, and the Kansas GOP said it would not hold a primary because “Trump is an elected incumbent from the Republican Party.” On the other hand, Fergus Cullen, a former GOP chairman from New Hampshire said, “This is the kind of thing that happens in autocratic nations led by dictators,” in support of primaries. Other states have not made final decisions and are discussing the matter, although Arizona is leaning toward not holding a primary.

As of this writing, there are three challengers to Trump, who he has already nicknamed “the three stooges.” Former South Carolina Governor and Congressman Mark Sanford, former Illinois Congressman Joe Walsh, and former Massachusetts Governor Bill Weld have tossed their sombreros in the ring. They have a right to a balloted primary or caucus as legitimate challengers to the president, regardless of Trump’s opinion or whether or not any of the three have even the slightest chance in hell of unseating Trump. Clearly these are all ego-driven candidacies. 

Even the late Senator Edward “Ted” Kennedy (D-MA) failed in his effort to take down President Jimmy Carter in the 1980 primaries, and Carter was an unmitigated disaster on so many levels. Trump, by comparison, is virtually untouchable. Yet, that does not limit people from challenging the incumbent, and perhaps the three challengers should raise the money in each state and offer to pay for the primaries or caucuses. At least then there would be no financial excuse for the various state Republican parties to balk at holding a primary or caucus.

As for the possibility of debates, the three challengers may invite Trump to participate, but it would serve him little purpose and could only hurt him. On the other hand, it would be a ratings booster should a network opt to televise such a debate. It could also serve as a pre-season scrimmage. Without Trump, it is likely only C-SPAN would cover such an event, perhaps only if the British Parliament is dissolved by new Prime Minister Boris Johnson and their sessions are preempted.

Trump’s three challengers, Sanford, Walsh, and Weld, co-wrote an op-ed that appeared in The Washington Post on Friday September 13. “Cowards run from fights. Warriors stand and fight for what they believe,” the three wrote, in an attempt to call Trump out. They need him more than he needs them. If he ignores them, while they may not go away, their influence and legitimacy will be tremendously diminished. Either way, I support both Trump and the right of his challengers to be balloted. 

Sanford D. Horn is a writer and educator living in Westfield, IN.

Congress Must Fix Healthcare at its Pace, not Trump's

Congress Must Fix Healthcare at its Pace, not Trump’s

Commentary by Sanford D. Horn

March 27, 2017

For once, Democrat Party vindictiveness helped the American people. They wouldn’t vote their own stay of execution if granted by President Donald Trump. Fortunately, they, with the Freedom Caucus of the Republican Party effectively quashed Trump’s milquetoast healthcare legislation.

President Trump is wrong with his all or nothing tactics on healthcare. Trump said with Congressional failure to vote on his legislation, then we the people are stuck with Obamacare and he will move to his next issue.

The Executive Branch does not write legislation, nor does it set the schedule of Congress. Congress is not answerable to the Executive Branch – something Trump seems to forget when attempting to run the government – of three equal, not subservient branches. The government is not his corporation.

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) proved herself to be hypocritical once again when making a statement that actually made sense. “The American people and the members [of Congress] have a right to know the full impact of this legislation before any vote in committee or by the whole House.”

Agreed.

Yet on March 9, 2010, the hypocrite from California said, of Obamacare, “But we have to pass the bill to find out what is in it, away from the fog of the controversy.”

The Freedom Caucus must remain strong against this Obamacare-lite pathetic measure. Controlling both houses of Congress and the White House, the GOP must produce the appropriate kind of healthcare legislation opponents of Obamacare have demanded for the past seven years.

Until that time, Pelosi is relishing what she considers not just a victory for the Democrats, but “a victory for all Americans.” Apparently, forced healthcare upon the citizenry, costing more than most can afford, and in some cases in states where there are no actual choices, is considered a victory for the American people by the obviously tone deaf Pelosi. Tone deaf because the American people demand, and have a right to, better than Obamacare and the first attempt at its replacement.

Start anew by not mandating coverage. Keep pre-existing conditions covered. Permit insurance policies to be both procurable across state lines, and portable – thus encouraging lower costs via competition. Increase transparency, and prevent government from injecting itself into the people’s healthcare as much as possible.

Sanford D. Horn is a writer and educator living in Westfield, IN.