By Dr. Munr Kazmir*/
Last night, the Stare of the Union produced an incredibly touching moment involving Carryn Owens, the wife of Navy SEAL Ryan Owens, who was killed in action during a raid in Yemen back in January. The moment produced tears, standing ovations, and an assurance from President Trump that Ryan Owens’ death was not in vain.
“I just spoke to our great General Mattis who reconfirmed that, and I quote, ‘Ryan was a part of a highly successful raid that generated large amounts of vital intelligence that will lead to many more victories in the future against our enemy’,” he declared.
In that moment, Donald Trump became president of the United States, according to somebody you would never have expected to utter those words.
“He (Trump) became president of the United States in that moment, period. There are a lot of people who have a lot of reason to be frustrated with him, to be fearful of him, to be mad of him, but that was one of the most extraordinary moments you have ever seen in American politics, period,” said CNN commentator and former Obama staffer Van Jones, an ardent Trump critic who compared the president’s Republican National Convention speech to something George Wallace – the former Alabama Governor and fierce defender of racial segregation – would have delivered.
Jones continued, “And for people who had been hoping he would become unifying, hoping that he might find some way to become presidential, they should be happy with that moment. For people who have been hoping that maybe he would remain a divisive cartoon, which he often finds a way to do, they should be a little bit worried tonight. Because that thing you just saw him do, if he finds a way to do that over and over again, he’s going to be there for eight years.”
The rest of the speech was what you largely would expect: the president vowed to increase the nation’s military budget, build a wall on the southern border to stop the flow of illegal immigration, fight Islamic extremist terrorism to the ends of the earth, produce a $1 trillion infrastructure bill, repeal and replace Obamacare, and reform the tax code.
For anybody who has been paying attention, this is nothing new, as the president had pledged to do these things all throughout his campaign. But what it does show is that President Trump has not forgotten these promises and intends to be a man of his word.
It also shows that despite all the unhinged hysteria in some circles, the president is not at all a rigid ideologue.
I happen to think the infrastructure bill is a bad idea, just as I did when President Obama pushed a similar stimulus bill back in 2009. These massive spending bills never work as intended and infrastructure should be handled at the state and local level, anyway.
But this is certainly not a “Republican” idea. It just as easily could have come from the mouth of Bernie Sanders, Hillary Clinton, or – as I just demonstrated – the aforementioned President Obama.
The point is, if President Trump thinks something will be helpful to the American people, he will do it, regardless of party orthodoxy. Much as I do not like this particular idea, it is refreshing to have a president – from either party – who truly operates independently and does not much care for the usual partisan bickering.
And if I may echo Van Jones, if he can be THAT guy going forward, he just may still be sitting in the White House at this time in 2024.(The Huffington Post)
* Dr. Munr Kazmir
Doctor, businessman, entrepreneur, and philanthropist
Dr. Munr Kazmir was born in Pakistan in 1957. He graduated from the University of Punjab where he received his M.B.B.S./M.D. He then went on to complete a one-year internship at the Mayo Hospital in Lahore, as well as a two-year residency at the Holy Family Hospital in Rawalpindi, Pakistan. In 1984, Dr. Kazmir arrived in the United States where he successfully completed his Internal Medicine internship at the White Plains Hospital/Montefiore Medical Center in 1986. He went on to complete additional medical studies in 1988 at Methodist Hospital and Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas. During his externship in Houston, Dr. Kazmir was recognized for being the lead fundraiser for the Juvenile Diabetes Fund at the Methodist Hospital of Houston. In 1989 after completing his externship, Dr. Kazmir’s first American entrepreneurial and philanthropic initiatives lead him to develop a health care employment agency, which provides medical staffing to hospitals in the metropolitan area and provides free medical services to needy residents within the area. He continues his quest to ensure that indigents, homeless, HIV patients, and neglected children receive the appropriate medical care they deserve.