WES VERNON — As acknowledged by most of the non-communist world, Ronald Reagan did civilization a monumental favor by "bringing down the Soviet Union without firing a shot." The fact that destroying the "evil empire" did not "end communism," which still spreads its influence largely unabated, or that the Soviet Union (Russia) may not have been crushed as thoroughly as it might have been, is, for the time being, a matter for another day. The truth is that in the post-Soviet world, today's Russia is no longer a "super power" and is relatively weak, which for the time being bodes well (or so we hope).... (more)

CLIFF KINCAID — In regard to the illegal invasion by criminal traffickers and child abusers from the narco-state of Mexico, Senator Tom Cotton noted on Tuesday that the liberals were promoting a "solution" to "family separation" that should be called the Child Trafficking Encouragement Act. He said the liberals want criminals to know that if they show up at the border with a minor and claim to be its parent, they get released into the U.S. He added, "The children will be abducted & sold to drug cartels & slave-traders as a free ticket into U.S."... (more)

WASHINGTON TIMES — A majority of voters blame the parents of the separated children at the southwestern border for the current immigration crisis, not the federal government, according to a new poll. "When families are arrested and separated after attempting to enter the United States illegally, 54 percent of likely U.S. voters say the parents are more to blame for breaking the law," says a Rasmussen Reports survey released Thursday.... (more)

CAL THOMAS — Need proof that the current controversy over children of undocumented immigrants is more political than humanitarian? Hillary Clinton said she was "adamantly against illegal immigrants" and supported a border wall until she ran for president in 2016.... (more)

THE GUARDIAN — Donald Trump has always proudly paraded his Time Magazine covers but the latest may not make it on to the walls at the golf club. The powerful image on this week's cover depicts the US president looking down at a sobbing two-year-old girl next to the caption "Welcome to America"...though this girl's father, Denis Valera, told Reuters she was kept with her mother, Sandra Sanchez, during their detention in the Texas border town of McAllen.... (more)

WASHINGTON FREE BEACON — ABC News issued an apology Wednesday after a banner during a live report claimed that former Donald Trump aide Paul Manafort had admitted to killing five people. The network covered President Donald Trump's afternoon meeting live in anticipation of his announcement that he was issuing a directive to end the practice of separating parents and children caught crossing the border illegally.... (more)

WASHINGTON TIMES — One of the shouting socialists who chased Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen out of a D.C. Mexican restaurant Tuesday night is a Justice Department worker. Democratic Socialists of America member Allison Hrabar reveled in her actions Wednesday to the Washington Examiner, saying it "feels really good to confront people who are actually responsible" for arresting any illegal immigrants. One of the chants on the video says Immigrations and Customer Enforcement should be abolished.... (more)

WASHINGTON TIMES — Senators voted Wednesday to block President Trump's $15.4 billion spending cuts package, with lawmakers saying it trimmed the budget too much. Brushing aside administration promises that the cuts were chiefly to money that was never going to be spent, the Senate voted 50-48 to keep the bill bottled up. Two Republicans -- Susan Collins of Maine and Richard Burr of North Carolina -- joined Democrats to defeat the package.... (more)

WASHINGTON TIMES — Three of the five FBI employees dinged for anti-Trump bias in the inspector general's report ended up on the special counsel's investigation into Donald Trump's presidential campaign, raising still more questions about the team Robert Mueller assembled. Two of those -- FBI lawyer Lisa Page and her paramour, agent Peter Strzok -- became known when their vehemently anti-Trump text messages came to light. But the inspector general's report identifies a third person, labeled "FBI Attorney 2," who also fired off messages denigrating Mr. Trump and saying, "Viva le resistance."... (more)

ART MOORE — Amid a national outcry over the temporary separation of children from parents prosecuted for entering the country illegally, President Trump signed an executive order Wednesday to keep the families together.... (more)

DAILY CALLER — The media and political class become more and more outraged over the Trump administration's decision to detain and prosecute immigrants illegally crossing the border. Lost in the debate is any acknowledgment that President Obama's administration also used detention facilities. Current U.S. immigration laws, when enforced, have the consequence of temporarily separating adults who arrive with children into separate detention facilities in order to prosecute the adults.... (more)

DAILY WIRE — On Tuesday, CNN reported that FBI agent Peter Strzok, who helped head up both the Hillary Clinton email investigation and the Russian collusion investigation, was escorted from the FBI building last Friday.... (more)

WASHINGTON TIMES — Much-investigated Carter Page is volunteering to help the FBI conduct its planned nation-wide anti-political bias training, saying he is an expert on the bureau's "reign of terror" against him. Perhaps no other Trump campaign associate has been more investigated by the FBI than Mr. Page, a New York energy investor who lived in Moscow and had many Russian business contacts.... (more)

THE HILL — The Trump administration on Monday pushed back against criticism from former first lady Laura Bush of its "zero tolerance" policy that has led to the separation of migrant families.... (more)

VICTOR DAVIS HANSON — Much has been written -- some of it either inaccurate or designed to obfuscate the issue ahead of the midterms for political purposes -- about the border fiasco and the unfortunate separation of children from parents. Rich Lowry's brief analysis is the most insightful.... (more)

WASHINGTON EXAMINER — The national media have focused intense pressure on President Trump and the administration's "zero tolerance" border enforcement policy by weaponizing pictures and audio of distraught families in illegal immigrant detention centers.... (more)

DAVID FRENCH — I once had a pastor who never, ever delivered the Good News of the Gospel without first sharing the bad news. In fact, as he argued, the bad news is what helps us understand the enormous worth of the Good News. And what is that bad news?... (more)

WASHINGTON TIMES — The Trump administration finalized plans Tuesday to let small companies and the self-employed band together and buy health insurance outside of Obamacare's strict rules, moving to offer coverage to people priced out of the market by the 2010 health care law.... (more)

YAHOO — Just 13.9 percent of the US population smokes cigarettes, according to a US government report Tuesday which said the American smoking rate has reached "the lowest level ever recorded."... (more)

ALAN KEYES — A senator and a representative solemnly read a new pledge of allegiance today in a dramatic Flag Day ceremony on the Capitol steps. As a new flag donated by the American Legion was raised high over the Capitol dome, Sen. Homer Ferguson, R-Mich., and Rep. Louis C. Rabaut, D-Mich., intoned the words of the allegiance approved by Congress last week.... (more)

JOAN SWIRSKY — I remember as a young teenager going by myself to see "On the Waterfront" at the Whalley Theater in New Haven. I was so mesmerized by the performance of Marlon Brando (30 years old at the time) that it took a dozen more viewings – really, that's how many times I saw the film, maybe more – before I realized that the greatest actors of the day – Eva Marie Saint, Karl Malden, Lee J. Cobb, Rod Steiger – were also featured in the movie.... (more)

WASHINGTON EXAMINER — Harvard Law School professor emeritus Alan Dershowitz said it was "obnoxious to our Constitution" to put former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort behind bars prior to a trial.... (more)

BYRON YORK — It didn't take long for defenders of the FBI's Trump-Russia investigation to claim that the Justice Department inspector general's report found no bias in the bureau's conduct of the Hillary Clinton email investigation, nor in the early days of the Trump-Russia probe.... (more)

WASHINGTON EXAMINER — In the run-up to Saturday's heavyweight matchup, Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, took a quick break from trash talking late night host Jimmy Kimmel to play the expectations game. "It may be the biggest crowd assembled to watch the least talent in the history of basketball," Cruz joked to the Washington Examiner Friday night.... (more)

NATIONAL REVIEW — On Thursday, the Justice Department inspector general released a sprawling 568-page report on the handling of the Hillary Clinton emails investigation in 2015-16 by the FBI and DOJ. There's far too much in the report to detail here in one bite, as it covered (among other things):... (more)