You may have heard President Donald Trump declare once or more his often repeated claim that the United States government has saved the lives of 25,000 Americans each time its military has blown up a purported drug trafficking boat over the last few months in the Caribbean and Pacific. That sounds impressive. But, as Jacob Sullum explained in a Tuesday Reason article, Trump’s numbers don’t make sense.
President Donald Trump, in a Friday memorandum, directed Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Acting Director Jim O’Neill “to review best practices from peer, developed countries for core childhood vaccination recommendations — vaccines recommended for all children — and the scientific evidence that informs those best practices.” If Kennedy and O’Neill “determine that those best practices are superior to current domestic recommendations,” Trump further directed that Kennedy and O’Neill update the US government’s childhood vaccine schedule accordingly.
A CBS poll conducted November 19-21 has found that 70 percent of polled Americans oppose the United States government taking military action in Venezuela. This result is in line with polling earlier in November by Reuters/Ipsos that found that only 21 percent of polled Americans support the US government using military force for the specific objective of removing from office Venezuela President Nicolás Maduro.
The Global War on Terror (GWOT) declared by United States President George W. Bush in 2001 has been a bonanza for the military-industrial complex and foreign intervention supporters over the last two and a half decades. It has also been the bringer of poverty, destruction, and death in parts of the world targeted by the sanctions, drone strikes, all-out wars and other interventions the US government has pursued in the name of advancing the imperial enterprise.
Donald Trump seems to be following through in his second term as president on the threat of a United States war on Venezuela he made in his first term. Significant US military force has been recently placed near Venezuela ready for attack, the US has already destroyed several boats near Venezuela and killed most the people on them in a claimed effort to counter “narco-terrorism,” and Trump last week said he has authorized Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) operation and is considering attacks on land in Venezuela.
The United States government has over the last couple years provided weapons hand over fist to support the Israel government in it bringing a great amount of death and destruction to Gaza. In answer to a reporter’s question Tuesday at the White House, Trump suggested the US government may soon take things to the next level — directly engaging in war in Gaza.
Eight years ago this month I commented that “I would not be surprised to see the US government legalize marijuana within the next five years.” That conclusion came upon my consideration of the then 64 percent nationwide support for legalization among Americans who had been recently polled by Gallup, plus — for the first time — majority support among Republicans.
Some critics of government overreach have regularly welcomed United States government shutdowns, arguing that they provide relief — if only temporarily — from spending and bossing around by government that threatens both freedom and prosperity. For them, the announcement from the Donald Trump administration that the government shutdown that started this week could lead to the cancelation of billions of dollars in spending on “clean energy” authorized during the preceding presidential administration could seem a welcome relief.
Back in the 1980s, I was not a fan of the television show Miami Vice. The focus of the show — cops Sonny Crockett and Rico Tubbs enforcing laws against vice — was not appealing. Stop the crackdown on vice — including by bowing out of the war on drugs — and follow a policy of live and let live instead, I thought. Miami and the rest of America would be a freer and safer place as a result.
“Take the guns first; go through due process second,” recommended Donald Trump in a meeting with Congress members during his first term as president. Through this comment offered in support of imposing rights-trampling “red flag” laws to deprive people of their guns, Trump displayed disdain for the right to bear arms and the right to due process, both protected in the Bill of Rights of the United States Constitution.