I don't much care who the prime minister of the United Kingdom is at any given time or what his or her policies happen to be, save for a preference that the Brits take seriously their status as an ally and partner with the United States. The same pretty much goes for all of our key allies and other developed nations with whom America is generally friendly.
Certainly, I would favor leaders of nations like Great Britain, Germany, France and Canada being more right-leaning in terms of political philosophy, but this is a wholly unrealistic expectation. Leftism and statist doctrine have permeated the worldview of the citizens of these nations to such a degree that few would abide a leader who held to what Americans recognize as conservative or libertarian values.
In this context, I find it very curious that the mayor of a large European city would go to great and prolonged lengths to denigrate an American president.
For quite a few months now, there's been a back-and-forth of scathing rhetoric between President Donald Trump and Sadiq Khan, the mayor of London. The catalyst for this was a series of June 2017 tweets by Trump criticizing Khan's abysmal handling of the London Bridge terrorist attack, which occurred earlier in the year.
This gave rise to the ongoing war of words between Khan and Trump. Khan subsequently called on the British government to cancel a planned state visit by Trump and then boarded the Global Anti-Trump Express. He encouraged Londoners to protest Trump's visit, which they did in ostentatious fashion, lending credence to the notion that despite European liberals' disdain for so-called American hegemony, they still think of the American president as president of the world, regardless of who he may happen to be.
The takeaway here is that the Khan-fostered anti-Trump London protests – which extended well into 2018 – tend to give pause when one considers that London is a city in the U.K., rather than the U.S.
The phrase "shut up and run your city" tends to come to mind as regards Khan, particularly since "gun-free" London has become the stabbing capital of the world under his tenure.
Sadiq Khan is a practicing Muslim and was heralded as such when he ascended to that post in 2016. I've made no secret of the fact that I see any Muslim holding any position of power or influence in any Western nation as extremely bad news, but considering the degree and pace of sociological degradation in Britain, this isn't really a surprise.
Khan's deportment is in keeping with that of the leftist-Islamist axis that had its heyday in America during the presidency of Barack Obama. This axis has common enemies, these being Western democratic republics and the Judeo-Christian ethos. Donald Trump represents a bulwark against this axis and globalist encroachment – which is why the effort to destroy him is not limited to leftist zealots and statist power players in America.
Right now, there is a laughably transparent campaign being carried on by deep state operatives to find absolutely anyone within the Trump administration whom they might connect to alleged efforts on the part of the Russian government to influence the 2016 election – and that's just the most front-and-center effort. Barring this, they're not above making stuff up.
Case in point: Even though the left's efforts to smear Trump with a sex scandal have fizzled miserably, they're currently engaged in an attempt to bring down his most recent Supreme Court nominee, Brett Kavanaugh, through such a vehicle. Laughable though the charges leveled against Kavanaugh may be, it is emblematic of the desperation infecting the left at present.
As I've stated previously, the "throwing stones from glass houses" axiom is entirely wasted on the left; far more of their number have fallen as a result of the #MeToo movement than individuals on the right. As I write this, the Democratic National Committee is in the process of reviewing allegations against its deputy chairman, Rep. Keith Ellison, D-Minn., who has been accused of physically and verbally abusing an ex-girlfriend.
Would it be racist if I offered that as a Muslim, Ellison might be granted a "cultural allowance" since followers of Islam hold different sensibilities concerning acceptable behavior within intimate relationships than we do? In the operative sense, of course it would not be, since Islam isn't an ethnic designation.
But I digress. Indeed, it seems that every prominent leftist worldwide is champing at the bit for an opportunity to denigrate President Trump. Even former Beatle Paul McCartney saw fit to weigh in, intimating that Trump is both insane and stupid in a song on his most recent album. The fact that the former Fab Four member did so is getting far more play in the press than it deserves.
McCartney, who's lived in that insular leftist bubble and had the world as his oyster since he was a very young man, is not an American. Neither are quite a few of the vociferous entertainment industry celebrities who've sprayed both spittle and vitriol against Trump over the last two years.
I must say, as someone for whom Donald Trump was perilously close to being at the bottom of preferred GOP nominees going into the 2016 election cycle, I never thought I would be defending him with such vigor. Not that he needs it, of course: The alacrity and efficiency with which he handles his detractors is half of what drives them to crazed distraction and, I must admit, one of the most gratifying spectacles I've ever witnessed.