“You shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free.” Jesus

Cabbages and Kings – the significant and the mundane

The most expensive vehicle I drive is the shopping cart at the supermarket.

“I believe if we knew what our government has been up to the past 50 years, we wouldn’t be able to sleep at night.” Kim Keith Westfall, my daughter

“It’s not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena.” President Theodore Roosevelt

President Donald Trump – the Great Peacemaker

During only six months in office, President Trump has negotiated peace in 12 different countries that were at war. They were:

Armenia and Azerbaijan, countries in the South Caucasus.

India and Pakistan, both with nuclear warheads aimed at one another.

Cambodia and Thailand

Israel and Iran

Rwanda and the Republic of Congo

President Trump is the world’s great peacemaker. He informed these countries that if they would make peace, the United States would help them to become prosperous through trade and economic progress. He convinced them that war destroys nations and those nations’ people. He convinced them that peace and prosperity is the road to a successful nation. And they all agreed.

Now, the President’s Greatest Challenge

This week he met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska to discuss terms for a peaceful settlement in the Russian-Ukrainian war. To date, there have been nearly one million Russian casualties including 250,000 killed in action. Ukraine has suffered 400,000 casualties with as many a 100,000 killed, not including thousands of Ukrainian civilians.

One of President Trump’s campaign promises was to try to stop with Russian Ukrainian war. He is keeping that promise.

Some liberal news media have criticized the President for meeting with Putin who has caused so much death and destruction. But I recall the President Franklin Roosevelt met with Soviet Premier Joseph Stalin who killed millions of his own people and Gen. Douglas MacArthur met with the military leaders of Japan to sign the instrument of surrender even though the Japanese were responsible for millions of deaths during World War II. Also, President Richard Nixon met with Chairman Mao Zedong of China who killed millions of his own Chinese people when the communists took over China.

President Trump says he just wants to stop the killing of all the young men from Russia and the Ukraine as thousands of them are dying every week.

Let’s pray that he will be successful.

Washington Watch…More Waste, Fraud, and Abuse

$36 billion – funding for positive youth experience in Gaza.

$31 billion – supporting the transition to clean energy in Europe and Eurasia

$26 billion – supporting higher education in Egypt

$17 billion – providing Diversity and Inclusion Scholarship program to students in Burma

$12 billion – for worker empowerment in South America

$6 billion – supporting programs for LGBTQ individuals in Latin America and the Caribbean

These are a few of the dozens of examples of Waste, Fraud, and Abuse of the American taxpayers’ hard-earned money/taxes.

Words to Remember

QUI TACET CONSENTIRE VIDETUR!

Although I’m no Latin scholar, this phrase seems apropos for our generation. Literally the phrase means: ‘He who is silent seems to consent.’ If we Christians are silent on the subjects of abortion, same-sex marriage, mutilation of our children to try to change their sex, men playing I women’s sports – our silence in essence will be our consent.