Not that anyone is counting — just kidding; we’re all counting — but by all measures, President Trump enjoyed three major successes by midweek. Not bad for a guy in the middle of a bunch of silly and serious probes. Still, the Left, and even some of the Right, can’t bother to notice or congratulate him, his party, or even the positive way this might affect our country.
This week, Trump’s well-qualified nominee for CIA Director Gina Haspel performed well during a Senate confirmation hearing. Despite her achievements as a career CIA employee, the Left dismissed her, in part because of her past support of torture methods during interrogation. The irony of the party that trumpets abortion suddenly claiming the moral high ground on torture aside, Haspel, like many qualified female judges and other women Trump has nominated for various positions supporting his administration, showed grit, wit, intelligence, and stamina. The Left, who also claim to be the party of feminists, looked at the fact that she was Trump’s nominee, coupled that with her torture views, and immediately ignored the fact that she is a woman, and banded together to make her confirmation process itself somewhat tortuous.
Somewhat more controversially, Trump also pulled out of the Iran nuclear deal, causing almost every conservative to rejoice and for liberals to call it “petulant” and misguided, because he lacks a forward plan. I’m no expert in international affairs, but even I know a good move like this when I see one and the fact that so many reasonable progressives couldn’t just acknowledge this is sad, if not pathetic.
Finally, early Thursday morning, Trump and Melania welcomed home three Americans who had been held hostage in North Korea. This was not just an incredible victory for these men personally, one of whom had endured hard labor, but one for the U.S. diplomatically. One of my favorite rangers on Twitter posted this, a worthwhile point:
Do you remember when we traded a bunch of terrorists for a traitor. I’m excited that we have these three hostages back from #NorthKorea with nothing exchanged.
— Tim Kennedy (@TimKennedyMMA) May 10, 2018
Still, one CNN tweet basically implied Trump and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo had nothing to do with it.
These are the three Americans released by North Korea https://t.co/pIk6p30k1u pic.twitter.com/P22hXGZzRd
— CNN Politics (@CNNPolitics) May 10, 2018
Of course, most conservatives would agree with liberals that the release of prisoners does not a peaceful future with North Korea make, and time will only tell what the next months hold. But the safe return of three Americans is worth celebrating.
Liberals are like legalists in that they can’t accommodate nuance or complexity. We all know people like this and they are a pain to even be around, let alone associate with daily. If a person is “bad,” or “wrong” about some things, or makes some poor choices, or has made some poor choices, they can’t possibly make any good decisions either; they can’t possibly enjoy success or accomplishments.
Accepting accomplishments, particularly from a national leader, doesn’t mean the bad, wrong, or questionable things Trump has done are excused or disappear — of course not. But one cannot argue that because some of his awful past decisions have now come back to haunt him that this country cannot celebrate the nomination of the first woman to be the CIA’s director, withdrawing from the Iran deal, and negotiating the release of three Americans from the authoritarian state of North Korea. Recognizing the nuance and complexity of human nature, particularly as it relates to politics, is an integral part of understanding the human experience and succeeding in the political realm.
Nicole Russell is a contributor to the Washington Examiner’s Beltway Confidential blog. She is a journalist in D.C. who previously worked in Republican politics in Minnesota. She was the 2010 recipient of the American Spectator’s Young Journalist Award.
