If you listen to today's liberal politicians and their flunky's in the main stream media, you wonder where their common sense has gone – it seems their once common sense has morphed into nonsense.

A good example are the thoughts and policies put forth by the Democrat candidates for president and some of the movers and shakers in the rank and file of the Democrat Party itself. You wonder, do they really believe what they say or are they just mouthing what they think the Democrat base wants to hear? To any intelligent person, it is just pure nonsense to spout such platitudes promising voters something for nothing, which seems to be the major promise they are making in hopes of enticing the voters to vote for them.

Let's go down the list of what the Democrats are professing to believe in. Free college for all and the paying off of the students debt; Medicare for all, including for illegal aliens; no border walls to stem the flow of illegals into our country and the same with the amount of deadly drugs smuggled in; doing away with the Trump tax cuts and the imposition of a 70% income tax on successful wealthy citizens; mandating the introduction of “green energy” in place of fossil fuels; trying to impeach a sitting president who has committed no high crimes and misdemeanors only for purely political purposes; and on and on. You wonder, do they really believe that the general public will fall for their “snake oil”? That isn't common sense, it is nonsense.

In addition, their policies mirror many of the ideas out of the Karl Marx playbook. Many in the Democrat Party really think that socialism is the preferred economic system we should follow in place of our tried and true capitalist system. To justify their warped thoughts, they throw out the nice sounding word “fairness” that drips off their lips as if they think everyone should be equal regardless of what they contribute to society. That mentality sort of makes everyone fall into the mediocre category as the incentive to succeed is frowned upon. Is that really fair, or is that the nonsense I was referring to in my headline of this editorial.

The left-wing liberal who preach that socialism is the preferred economic system, never seem to mention or point out where, when or what country socialism has succeeded. On the other hand, people with common sense can point out the economic “basket cases” like Cuba, Venezuela, Argentina, the former Soviet Union, and most Muslim countries in the Middle East and most countries in Africa. Some of those countries that have embraced Marxism/Socialism, were once very successful economically until they embraced the socialist economic model. In South America, both Venezuela and Argentina fall into the category of being endowed with great wealth, but after falling into the hands of rulers who embraced socialism, their economies, consequently, went into the tank.

So when you hear the liberal politicians promise outrageous ideas of you getting something for nothing, you should remember that old saying of “there is no such thing as a free lunch” as the liberals try to turn common sense into nonsense.

Conservative commentary by Chuck Lehmann

Should President Trump be judged upon his personality and his personal peccadillo's, or should he judged on his performance in the oval office? The main chant by his detractors is that he doesn't act presidential and is sometimes crude in his language, and that he is a braggart, a bully and a prevaricator (imagine any politician using those words on another politician?). Those criticisms might be true in some sense, but does that really affect the policies that he presents and institutes in order to “Make America Great Again”?

Since his inauguration, what have been his accomplishments? Do his detractors, mainly the “Never-Trumper's” (especially even some Republicans) agree with his appointment of Judge Neal Gorsuch and Judge Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court to fill the seat of Justice Kennedy; do they agree with his tax cuts whereby both rich and poor get a tax break; do they agree with the unparalleled boom in our stock markets and the lowest unemployment rates in decades; do they approve of his approval of the Keystone pipeline and his opening up of ANWR for future oil exploration; do they agree with his voiding of the business killing regulations that has hampered businesses for years; do they agree with his outreach to some of our international adversaries in China, No. Korea, and Russia in trying to avoid the next World War 111; do they agree with his trying to crackdown on halting the flow of illegal aliens into our country, etc., etc.? Most likely the answer to these policies should be positive, but still they criticize him with over the top rhetoric, not about his policies, but against his personality and demeanor. This reminds me of an analogy of choosing a surgeon for a serious operation. Would you choose an experienced surgeon, with a lousy demeanor and a poor bedside manner, or would you choose a pleasant, friendly, inexperienced surgeon with a pleasant bedside manner? I'll bet the majority would choose the gruff surgeon, right? The same should be applied to President Trump in carrying out of his duties as the chief executive officer and the commander in chief
of the United States. Remember, he is not your usual politician, he says what he means and means what he says. Can you say that about most politicians?

This compulsive desire on the part of the Democrats and their flunky's in the news media (90% of all mention of Trump is negative), to hamper President Trump in anyway possible, is a stain on the country as a whole. Most of the vitriol against President Trump is based on extreme emotion rooted in the fact that they cannot accept the fact that he beat their anointed queen, Hillary Clinton, against all odds and all polls. From the beginning, the Democrats have instituted a “total resistance” plan to try to bring down President Trump and his administration, but the more “crazy” they act the higher President Trump's approval poll numbers go up.

So, the personal attacks against the president seems to be discounted by most “sane” people in determining what is best for them and their families. He is flawed like all of us, including other recent presidents like John F. Kennedy, Lyndon Johnson, Richard Nixon, and Bill Clinton, so these sanctimonious hypocrites who condemn the president personally, should be thankful that he is the president and not Hillary Clinton, who was primed to continue the failed polices of President Obama.

We elected a leader, not a Pope!

Conservative commentary by Chuck Lehmann

That absolute fact is seldom or never taken into consideration when the “gun grabbers” or the anti-gun zealots make their plea to confiscate guns from the law abiding public. Think of all the times law abiding citizens (gun owners) have defended themselves and/or their families by using their legal firearms to thwart a possible or real personal attack. The”fake news media”, who are almost universally opposed to gun ownership, very seldom report on those instances of self-defense because it does not fit their narrative of most all guns are bad and that the patriotic NRA (National Rifle Association) is an “evil” organization that should be denied existence.

Let's look at the facts. Most mass killings and individual killings are performed in places called “gun free zones” (schools, malls, theaters, and other public places where people gather) where the victims cannot defend themselves from harm from a crazed individual(s) who is wanton to do his/her dirty deed. Legally armed public citizens cannot prevent all such instances, but they could mitigate the damage done by a perpetrator(s) bent on personal destruction by using a firearm, or other lethal weapons like a knife, machete etc.

The people who blame guns instead of the person who uses that instrument to do harm to others, are emotionally blind to the happenings in the real world. A gun (whether a handgun or a rifle) cannot perform without the assistance of a person behind the firearm pulling the trigger. It should be the person pulling the trigger that should be the focus of the authorities, not the legal gun owner who never, or seldom, uses his firearm to do harm to the community.

The “gun grabbers” blame the patriotic members of the NRA as being the culprit in the various gun crimes committed in the United States that are hysterically reported in the media. In all these terrible instances of gun violence, how many of the perpetrators belonged to the NRA or other peaceful gun organizations? Would the answer be close to none?

I personally, do not own a firearm (I did have a “Red Ryder” B-B gun as a youth), but I would welcome a legal gun owner to be present in my company if or when a crazed individual decided to shoot at innocent people, including myself, in a venue I was attending.

​I don't naively claim that an armed individual would prevent all gun crimes, but I do, again, claim that legally armed gun owners could lessen the damage done by one or more individuals bent on creating death or havoc upon innocent people by using a gun or other lethal weapon. In the main, the police and law enforcement agencies do a commendable job in protecting us from harm, even with the obstacles thrown up against them by some feckless politicians, but as the headline of this article states, when seconds count, the police are only minutes away. A legally armed citizen could close that gap in response to confronting that criminal, by using his legal firearm before
the police arrived.

Conservative Commentary by Chuck Lehmann

Yes, I'm referring to our President Donald J. Trump. Trump can be vulgar, he can be crude, he can be undignified at times. I don't care. I can't spare this man for an alternative because he FIGHTS FOR AMERICA.

Some people say they won't vote for him because of his personality and manners, but should that be a valid reason to vote against him? As an answer to those who will use that reason for not voting for him,think of this. Suppose you had a life-threatening medical problem. You had a choice of two doctors who could perform that serious operation and possibly save your life. One of the doctors was a charming person with a terrific bedside manner who had just limited experience in treating your medical problem. On the other hand, you had a doctor who had a gruff personality with a bedside manner that could be considered not friendly, but had a reputation of being a competent and highly knowledgeable doctor in treating your kind of medical problem. The question is - who would you choose to perform that life-saving operation? It should be a no-brainer as to which doctor you should choose. The same with our Chief Executive and Commander in Chief, Donald J. Trump. He might portray all those negative personality traits mentioned above, but he has delivered big time on the economic front and in our foreign affairs. I have never had it so good, and it should be the determining factor for the rest of you as to whether or not he should be re-elected as President of the United States.

President Trump has endured 3 years of perpetual harassment and undermining of his administration by the feckless Democrats and their toady's in the “fake news media”. Who would have thought he'd accomplish so much with such vilification heaped upon him and his administration?

Here's a partial list of what this president has accomplished over the past 3 years:

• He signed into law the biggest tax cut and reform measure in our country's history, which benefited over 90% of the taxpayers.

• He had two great “Originalist” judges confirmed to the Supreme Court and over 150 more federal judges to the various appeals and district courts.

• He has eliminated, by executive order, hundreds of onerous government regulations.

• He has re-negotiated a number favorable trade agreements with countries that had been ripping us off for years, including So. Korea, Japan, the USMCA (which replaced the awful NAFTA trade agreement), and, in the works, trade deals with China and the United Kingdom.

• He has opened up areas, that were previously off limits, for the exploration for new sources of energy which has made us an energy exporting country rather than an energy importing country.

• His economic policies have produced a tremendous boost to our stock markets which have reached all-time new highs, and he has reduced the number of people receiving food stamps, and the unemployment rate, for all sectors of our population, has reached an all-time low.

• On the international front, he has recognized the City of Jerusalem as the capitol of Israel after previous presidents couldn't or wouldn't do it. Ditto with the Golan Heights.

The list could go on and on, but I'm sure you get the message.

Our President Donald J. Trump, with all his warts, has been a terrific leader for all our citizens. He deserves to be re-elected come November 2020, because he FIGHTS FOR AMERICA, which means he fights for you and me.

Conservative commentary by Chuck Lehmann

Remember that old phrase that was spoken by Sarah Peller in a Wendy's commercial a number of years ago? Well, that same phrase, “Where's the Beef”, can be used today when evaluating what the Democrats have to offer the voters in the upcoming elections in 2020, and for their obsession with the impeachment of President Trump on “trumped up” (no pun intended) charges?

Instead of constantly bashing President Trump, calling for his impeachment on dubious grounds, and resisting all his and the Republican policies, why don't they spell out what they plan on doing for the citizens of our country if they regain the majority of the Congress and the presidency?

From what I read and see, the Democrats are proposing the following (which they don't always tell you): reversing the Trump tax cuts; free college tuition, even for illegal aliens; government payoff of individual student loans; keeping Obamacare; a guaranteed government job for the unemployed; open borders and getting rid of ICE; championing sanctuary cities; instituting a national $15 minimum wage; and the biggy, Medicare for all - all those proposals will increase our national debt by $90 trillion over the next 10 years. Remember, there's no such thing as a “free lunch”. Those proposals are right out of the Karl Marx playbook as the Democrats continue to continue to veer left in their philosophy and policies.

Is it feasible to think that the voters will be so hoodwinked or naive to believe those promises of getting “freebies” from the public treasury, which would be the death knell for our free enterprise capitalist system which was handed down to us by our founding fathers? In other words, we would become a 3rd world nation like Cuba, Venezuela, Nicaragua and other Marxist/Socialist oriented countries which are economic “basket cases”. How many people are trying to sneak into those countries? Slim to none. That should tell you the value of Socialism.

Could these leftist proposals really come about in our country? Probably not, but when you see polls that show “Millennial's” (by a 60% approval rate) would prefer socialism over capitalism, you have to wonder whether our future, as the most prosperous nation in the world, is in danger? Most of the people who profess to want socialism can't give a rational answer as to what socialism really is all about. They all seem to like the “freebie” aspect of getting something for nothing paid for by a powerful central government, which is a guaranteed recipe for economic disaster.

The Democrat candidates running for the House and Senate, and those running for president, must ask their fellow Democrats if they agree with those proposals listed above. The so-called leaders of the Democrat Party, Chairman Tom Perez, Congresswoman Maxine Waters, Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi, Sen. Chuck Schumer, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, and ole Sen. Bernie Sanders, and of course, the “self-proclaimed” pseudo Democrat leader, AOC (Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez) and her “Squad”, have all embraced those socialist policies, so it is important for the Republicans to get their opponents to take a position on these issues. Once they agree with those budget-busting proposals, the Republicans can use it to discredit them and hopefully win their elections.

Yes, Sarah Peller's question is very pertinent today - “Where's the Beef ?” - should be the one question that every Republican candidate should ask each Democrat opponent and let them try to wiggle out from what their Party is espousing, a far-left agenda, and especially when it comes to impeaching a duly elected president with flimsy or no evidence, only wild speculation and innuendo, with intent to do harm to the president.

Conservative Commentary by Chuck Lehmann