This & That

THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK/ROUND ONE – Moderate Thom Tillis successfully defeated two unstable Tea Party challengers to secure the Republican nomination for the North Carolina Senate seat. Tillis earned the right to face off against Democrat incumbent Senator Kay Hagan in the general. Winning the North Carolina seat is critical to any hope Republicans have of taking control of the Senate. Tillis’ ability to defeat Tea Party candidates backed by Rand Paul and Mike Huckabee is a big win for the Republican establishment. On a side note…90% of the money spent in the campaign came from outside special interest groups. The purchase of this election was brought to you by the United States Supreme Court.

ROUND TWO – Speaker John Boehner successfully defeated two Tea Party challengers to win his party’s nomination to seek a thirteenth term in congress. Yawn! Boehner’s camp flooded the local airwaves with radio and television ads over the past several weeks. One has to wonder if the money would have been better spent elsewhere than on a campaign whose success is a foregone conclusion.

BENGHAZI…again – Republican leadership has authorized the formation of a Watergate type ad hoc committee to investigate the events surrounding the attack on the Benghazi consulate that took four American lives. Democrats have refused to participate in what they feel is a political witch hunt. Both sides need to be careful here. By refusing to acknowledge the legitimacy of the committee Democrats risk being accused of a cover up. For their part Republicans run the risk of being accused of politicizing the deaths of four Americans. As one Republican analyst said: "There is a fine line between an invetigation and a kangeroo court." Either way this is a boil that will continue to fester through the upcoming elections.

NIGERIA – The United States is sending kidnap and hostage negotiation experts to assist the Nigerian government returning the 200 young girls kidnapped by Islamist terrorists. This is a moral issue and we applaud the administrations’ willingness to help. But once again we have to ask…why us? Why do we always have to be the one stepping in whenever a tragedy occurs? Is there no other nation in the world capable of offering the Nigerian government the assistance they seek?

PUTIN – It appears inevitable that the Russians intend to annex the Ukraine. The large number of Russian troops now stationed on the eastern Ukrainian border, the internal violence and unrest propagated by Russian agents and the call for subsequent new elections mirrors the course of events immediately prior to Putin’s invasion of Georgia and later Crimea. President Obama is soon going to have to decide when enough is enough. The world, as always, is sitting on its hands and watching.