Random Thoughts

          Some random thoughts on the issues of the day:

          Racism.  It had to happen.  A crazed gunman assassinates two police officers after announcing his intention to kill two policemen for one black man.  Race-Hustler-in-Chief Al Sharpton is scrambling to deny that his inflammatory cries for justice had anything to do with it.  I recall reading that the latest group he incited to protest hit the streets shouting, “What do we want? Dead cops!  When do we want it? Now!”  So much for justice.
          Cuba.  Marco Rubio charged that Obama’s normalizing of relations with Cuba is a betrayal.  He described this president as the worst negotiator ever, giving everything away without getting anything in return.  In his first speech to Cuba’s National Assembly after Obama’s announcement, Raul Castro announced that nothing will change.  I guess that means Cuba will remain a Communist dictatorship, an avowed enemy of the United States, and a denier of basic human rights for Cuba’s people.  Nice bargain.
          North Korea.  The FBI has identified North Korea as the perpetrator of the cyber attack on Sony.  Many have called this a matter of national security, some going as far as to label it as an act of war.  President Obama was quick to play down the belligerent nature of this attack.  Instead, he asked the Chinese to tell the North Koreans to play nice.  Well, the president did say earlier that we would respond at a time and method of our choosing.  Now we know.
          Education.   Jeb Bush has thrown his hat in the presidential ring, but his path to the White House may hit a few bumps.  One of them is his support for Common Core, federal educational standards for the nation’s public schools.  Conservatives like me acknowledge that standards are necessary, but we insist that federal government bureaucrats have no business imposing one-size-fits-all standards on states and local schools.  North Carolina was correct in repealing Common Core and leaving it to the State Board to adopt standards appropriate to North Carolina students.
          Energy.  Russia’s economy has been driven to its knees by the collapse of oil prices, not by ineffective sanctions or unserious threats from the West.  How ironic it is that this was brought on by the boom in oil and natural gas on private lands in the United States, at the very time that the Interior Department, at Obama’s direction, has blocked exploration on public lands, and the EPA has waged war on fossil fuels in favor of wasteful spending on renewable energy projects.