News Burst: July 05, 2017 (Patreon)

I hope you’re all doing well! I’m taking a moment away from editing tomorrow’s video to throw up a News Burst (the topic of tomorrow’s video has something to do with XXV… and I’ll leave it there).

But before we get into the news, I wanted to say that I hope all of you Americans out there had a fantastic and fulfilling Fourth of July. Mine was pretty awesome. Quite tranquil and enjoyable, if I do say so myself. I probably gained five pounds, but hey. This is America.

Alright. Let’s jump in!

Could the US Stop a North Korean Nuclear Attack?: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-northkorea-missiles-usa-defenses-idUSKBN19Q32F

My Take: Perhaps my assumptions have been too optimistic. With recent word that the North Korean regime has successfully tested an ICBM capable of reaching the American homeland for the very first time, we as a people (and, specifically, our government and military) must start asking ourselves an obvious question for the first time: If they launched, could we stop it before it arrived? My assumption was always “yes,” but it doesn’t seem that’s the case. Either that, or the powers-that-be are intentionally underselling our capabilities, which is certainly possible.

The story linked above notes that while our defensive capabilities are impressive -- and recently scored massive successes in testing -- our missile defense system is apparently far from perfect. We’ve spent billions upon billions upon billions of dollars since the Soviet era trying to perfect something that may be largely imperfectable (as it were), and that’s a tough pill to swallow. As the last sentence in the story says, “Even if it had a test record of 100 percent, there are no guarantees.” That references testing of our THAAD missile defense system, which has scored perfect tests for 11 years straight.

But here’s my rosy opinion: Our missile defense system is a beast, it likely requires space-borne lasers or other types of weapons that are totally illegal to admit we have, and we won’t use any of it (and therefore won’t reveal its existence to the world) unless we absolutely have to. I find it hard to believe that the US can’t stop an incoming ICBM from North Korea, of all countries. Then again, 9/11 exposed massive defense vulnerabilities on a small scale. So, there’s no reason to think, in reality, that they can’t (or don’t) exist on a big scale.

(Related Story | North Korean Missile Advances Stress US Defenses: https://www.apnews.com/c99069b92c6449a2b67982faba64dcbd/North-Korean-missile-advances-put-new-stress-on-US-defenses)

(Related Story | Is the US Missile Shield Ready?: http://www.politico.com/story/2017/07/05/north-korea-missile-defense-240246)

(Related Story | Alaska’s Getting Nervous: http://thehill.com/policy/defense/340759-alaska-lobbies-for-defense-boost-after-north-korea-launch)

Eastern Europe, Meet Trump: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4668724/Trump-hero-s-welcome-Warsaw.html

My Take: President Trump is overseas again, this time in Eastern Europe, where he will find (and apparently is finding) a much warmer reception than he found during portions of his previous European Vacation. Trump has flown to Poland, where -- I suppose not surprisingly -- many of his messages resonate with the Polish people. Poland, after all, is struggling with its relationship with the European Union, and has a population devoutly opposed to outside immigration to its country. As The Daily Mail notes, “Poland is one of the holdouts against the notion of resettling massive numbers of foreigners.”

Understanding Trump’s reception (and expected further reception) is complex, though. Germany is at the forefront of the immigration movement that’s plaguing Europe, and the Polish hate the Germans, scaling all the way back to World War II. In fact, the Polish hate the Russians, too, and are pincered in between two powerful countries -- and economic and cultural ecosystems -- that they don’t much care for. In Trump, they find someone strangely relatable, someone who is nationalist and believes that a person’s countrymen should come first.

On Thursday, Trump will deliver an address in the famous Krasinski Square, the home of incredible history, and a rallying point of Polish politics. What he will say remains unknown -- my only hope is that he doesn’t embarrass himself (or us) -- but I also have to assume that, since he’s welcome there, the pressure will be off a bit, and he can instead concentrate on delivering his prepared remarks without sticking his foot in his mouth. Of course, anything with Trump is wrought with danger, so we’ll have to wait and see.

(Related Story | Trump’s Polish Lovefest: http://www.politico.com/story/2017/07/05/trump-poland-warsaw-uprising-240239)

(Related Story | NATO Allies Look to Trump in Poland For Reassurance: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-poland-usa-trump-idUSKBN19R02Q)

CNN Shits the Bed: https://theintercept.com/2017/07/05/cnn-anonymous-critic-trump-wrestling-gif-reddit-user/

My Take: It’s amazing that we once all looked at CNN as this bastion of honest, good, wholesome journalism that you could rely on. Between the nearly two-decade-long partisan feud between MSNBC on the left and Fox News on the right, many looked to CNN for a centrist vision of American and global politics, with little room for partisan squabbling. Little did anyone know that CNN would inject itself into the political fray with such force that even Donald Trump, known for his own notorious tantrums, could goad them into acting they way they’ve been acting.

As most (or all) of you have already seen, CNN chased after the man who created the infamous Trump video of him attacking CNN at a wrestling match. The article (linked below) is excruciating in its delivery, its goal, and its conclusion. Creating a harmless meme that POTUS mirrored to the world is not worthy of possibly having your life blown to smithereens by the enterprising “journalists” of CNN. It’s bizarre in the truest sense of the word.

Of course, everyone’s major takeaway is nestled within the body of the story itself: CNN basically blackmailed (or made it appear they blackmailed) the person by seemingly exchanging not publishing who he is in return for showing “remorse,” taking down his posts, and that he won’t repeat this “ugly behavior” again. Now, it appears HanAssholeSolo isn’t a very good person. But this is, like, beyond the pale behavior. And I would have never expected it from CNN until maybe a year or so ago, when they began to descend into the same madness they are apparently so aghast by.

(Related Story | CNN’s Original Reporting: http://edition.cnn.com/2017/07/04/politics/kfile-reddit-user-trump-tweet/index.html)

(Related Story | CNN Staff Getting Doxxed: http://dailycaller.com/2017/07/05/cnn-staff-reeling-after-personal-info-leaked/)