Former President Donald Trump greets fans as he arrives before the finals of the NCAA Division I Wrestling Champion- ships at BOK Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma, March 18, 2023. Photo by Brett Rojo/ USA TODAY Sports via REUTERS
(MV) — In March, former President Donald Trump was indicted in New York for his role in paying hush money to an adult-movie actress on the eve of the 2016 election — the first time a former president has faced criminal charges, according to the Wall Street Journal. As of October, he was facing 91 felony counts in four criminal cases in Washington, New York, Florida, and Georgia. The AP said Trump was charged with violating Georgia’s anti-racketeering law by scheming to illegally overturn his 2020 election loss. He’s also accused of election interference in a federal indictment, and charged with hoarding classified documents and refusing government demands to give them back. His civil fraud trial in New York courtroom is yet another legal problem facing Trump. The AP reported that “the judge overseeing the case, Arthur Engoron, resolved the lawsuit’s top claim before the trial even began, ruling that Trump routinely deceived banks, insurers, and others by exaggerating the value of assets on paperwork used in making deals and securing loans. Engoron will decide on six remaining claims in New York Attorney General Letitia James’ lawsuit, including allegations of conspiracy, falsifying business records, and insurance fraud.”
And yet despite all his legal woes — or probably because of them — Trump remains the top Republican candidate for president. Says Jim Geraghty, a conservative commentator who calls himself a Never Trumper: “What is especially maddening about the 2024 presidential primary is that Republicans were offered a menu of options besides the former president, who has exceptionally high disapproval ratings, drives Democratic Party turnout like no other figure in U.S. history, lost to the incumbent by 74 electoral votes and roughly 7 million popular votes nationwide, and demonstrates the impulse control of an over-caffeinated ferret. And it appears that roughly half the Republican Party was never even willing to kick the tires on options other than Trump.”
“None of Trump’s mistakes or bad moves seem to matter, as half the party doesn’t care and always loves him,” Geraghty added. “By ordinary presidential-candidate standards, Trump is running a terrible campaign. He doesn’t leave Mar-a-Lago much. His tirades on his personal social-media platform, Truth Social, are less coherent than ever, but no one beyond his fan base appears to pay much attention. He skipped the debates and suffered no consequence. The normal rules of politics, campaigning, and public communication do not seem to apply to him.”
Migrants from Venezuela make their way through the razor wire after crossing the Rio Grande into the United States in Eagle Pass, Texas, Sept. 26, 2023. REUTERS
Meanwhile, tens of thousands of migrants and asylum seekers are still attempting to enter the U.S. across its southern borders. The latest wave included individuals carrying small children as they “walked along the highway near the southern Mexican city of Villa Comaltitlán. Some held a banner reading ‘Exodus from poverty.’ ” Reuters reported. “Rosa, from El Salvador, said she hoped the officials would ease the suffering of migrants. ‘We are looking for something better for our children and our families,’ she said as she walked. ‘I hope this touches their hearts,’ she added.”
In the U.S., “a Wall Street Journal poll conducted in late November and early December found that 64% of voters disapprove of Biden’s handling of border security. That is the highest disapproval since the Journal began asking the question in March 2022.”
Fire damage is shown in the Wahikuli Terrace neighborhood in the fire ravaged town of Lahaina on the island of Maui in Hawaii, Aug. 15, 2023. REUTERS
For NPR, 2023 was “a tragic and bizarre year of wildfires.” And these included the inferno that tore through Maui in Hawaii, killing 100 people and destroying the historic town of Lahaina. According to CNN, “A perfect storm of conditions led to the deadly blazes. The drought blanketing swaths of the archipelago played a major role. Hurricane Dora, meanwhile, churned in the Pacific several hundred miles south. The islands were not under hurricane warnings. Still, the storm’s resulting low pressure, paired with a high pressure to the north, created strong winds that would fuel the destruction. Quickly spreading wildfires [soon] ignited into what [Hawaii] Gov. Josh Green described as likely the ‘largest natural disaster in Hawaii’s state history.’ Several fires hit Maui hard, leaving over 2,200 buildings damaged in Lahaina alone.”
Four months later, USA Today reported that “longtime island residents” are expressing “despair and frustration…. [They] are angry about the lack of help available. They blame city and state officials for not doing enough to free up housing. Many are facing emotional distress…. Aid is lagging in some ways and dwindling in other cases….” An island resident lost her home and acupuncture office while her husband lost his surfboard-building workshop. But “they found a place to live in a home through a friend,” USA Today said. “We got lucky,” the island resident said.
<p style=”text-align: center;”><strong>BORDER CRISIS. PARADISE IN FLAMES.</strong>