Random thoughts from Taiwan to flag burning
Columnist Ray Hanania looks at a range of issues and random thoughts from the controversy over President-elect Trump’s phone call from Taiwan and the issue of Chinese corruption, to the offensiveness of the “liberty” of allowing anyone to burn the American Flag.
Originally published in the Des Plaines Valley News, Southwest News-Herald, The Regional News and the Reporter Newspaper Thursday Dec. 8, 2016.
By Ray Hanania
Finally a president who doesn’t care what China thinks.
We must we kowtow to China and their corruption, economic blackmail, and cheap manufacturing industry that relies on subpar wages and a work force of children?
If China is our friend, why don’t they do something about that murderous maniac in North Korea, Kim Jong Un? Despite their rhetoric, China keeps Kim Jong in power.
Why shouldn’t President-Elect Donald Trump take a congratulatory call from Taiwan’s President – yes I will call Tsai Ing-wen “President” — not “leader” as the Chinese insist.
Taiwan is currently America’s 9th largest goods trading partner with $67 billion in goods traded between us last year. Exports totaled $26 billion and imports totaled $41 billion, which means we took in more of their products than we gave them, a trade deficit of $15 billion we need to change.
So to you Trump haters and hypocrites, quit kicking your own country down. Be real Americans for once!
On Bruce DuMont’s Beyond the Beltway radio show Sunday night, substitute host Bruno Behrend asked panelists (including myself, Brian Kasal, Tio Hardiman and DePaul’s Mike Miller) what ideas we had to help stimulate the economy.
I remembered enlisting in the Air Force during the Vietnam War while in college gave me an experience that helped me focus on my future by giving me my first fulltime job (after working part-time at Berlands Shoes at the Ford City Mall for a great boss, Ed Bliss).
I suggested imposing a military draft to stimulate the economy, re-built our military, and to train recruits for careers, professions and trades. It even helped straighten out the “tough guys” making them productive members of society instead of becoming into short-lived gangbangers.
Several of my military pals at Basic Training in Lackland AFB had street gang backgrounds that the military broke right away.
It was also my first real contact with health care, something many people don’t get until they are too old and it’s too late. It forced me to quit an eight-year smoking habit I started at age 12.
You want to burn the flag, take a hike and join those radicals overseas. Sure, the Constitution says everyone has a right to burn the flag, but I think it’s so wrong.
Trump is right. We should change the Constitution to ban the desecration of our flag.
Funny how free speech didn’t prevent people from yelling and screaming about flying the Confederate Flag. The “Johnny Reb” Flag is a part of America history dating back more than 150 years – it’s not just about slavery, which has long been abolished, but about a Southern tradition that was a major part of our nation. Not all of those who respect the flag are racist, but they have been bullied by that claim.
And yet the same people attacking them think it’s OK to burn the American Flag.
That’s why Trump was elected. To say what needs to be said. Burning the American Flag should be a crime.
I read Trump’s book “Great Again: How to Fix our Crippled America,” where he spelled out his goals and I was impressed.
Trump explains his policies on immigration, which he clams have been distorted by the biased mainstream national news media. What other nation allows people to come into their country illegally, without consequences?
His objectives are clear, to implement a secure immigration system to control who comes enters and who doesn’t. He wants every immigrant to have the same rights and respect for this nation.
My father immigrated here in 1926. I know the times have changed. He came here to better his life, build a career ad business, and he embraced this country totally. He wouldn’t even let me speak Arabic when I was young. I had to learn English, and I am glad he did that.
Trump insists he is not anti-Mexican and blames the media for promoting that lie. Accusations of “drug traffickers and rapists” refer to a small percentage of illegals from Mexico like the murderous killer El Chapo Guzman who exploit a weak border to commit crimes.
Once the borders are secured, immigration can resume legally. And we can address the issues of those who are undocumented to give them a path to citizenship. Becoming a citizen should be a proud moment, but it is a privilege that must be earned not a right.
LOCALLY IN OAK LAWN: Longtime Trustee Bob Streit is preparing to enter the race for mayor. His supporters are distributing literature and petitions. I’ve known Streit for many years. He is a good family man who loves Oak Lawn and has many ideas to make Oak Lawn great again. I’ll check the race out more closely later, but for now, check his website at FriendsofBobStreit.com. He’s a good candidate.
(Ray Hanania is an award winning former Chicago City Hall reporter and columnist. Email him at [email protected].)
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Hanania also writes about Middle East issues for the Arab News, and The Arab Daily News criticizing government policies in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Hanania was named "Best Ethnic American Columnist" by the New America Media in November 2007, and is the 2009 recipient of the SPJ National Sigma Delta Chi Award for column writing.
Email Ray Hanania at [email protected].
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