Trump is no puppet

Is Trump a puppet of Putin, an impeachable offense? Let’s look at his record:

2017 — Trump fires dozens of missiles at an air base of Assad, Putin’s ally, destroying numerous war planes.

2017 — Trump downs Russian Mig over Syria.

2018 — Trump heavily bombs Syria again over use of poison gas.

2018 — Trump expels 60 Russian diplomats.

2018 — Trump imposes tough new sanctions on Russia, tougher than Obama, according to the Liberal Hill.

2018 — Trump tells EU to stop buying Russian LPG.

Now let’s contrast with Obama and Hillary

2009 — Obama and Hillary give Putin red reset button and apologies.

2010 — SOS Hillary agrees to sell Uranium One to Russia.

2012 — Obama secretly tells Putin he can be more flexible after the election.

2014 — Russia invades Ukraine and captures Crimea. Obama declines to intervene.

2015 — Russians give Hillary $500,000 for a secret speech in Moscow and then give Clinton Foundation up to $140 million. Clintons mysteriously go from “dead broke” to a wealth of $250 million.

And let’s not talk about Bernie Sanders who honeymooned in the USSR!

But Trump met privately with Putin! And so did Obama, thrice, in 2009, 2013 and 2015. And sometimes privately over the phone.

So, while Obama withdrew from international leadership and weakened the military, Trump is strengthening the U.S. military, strengthening NATO and exerting strong international leadership again.

If Trump is Putin’s puppet, he is doing a terrible job!

John Shepherd

Sisters

Revolution at the BBQ

Well, another holiday, come and gone, the family returned to California, and I’m finally getting rested up, but the fourth will never again be the same — that is the family BBQ. Now understand this: the man’s job, that is the MAN’s job, as relegated by nature, tradition and God himself is: to man the BBQ. It is a job passed on from father to son for generations, until now!

As is usual I lit the fire and put the ribs on the coals, adjusted the heat and spread on the BBQ sauce, all is perfect and I sat back and relaxed. Then abruptly, a “voice” broke the silence: “Mind if I check the ribs” the intruder asked. Well, folks, by the time I had recovered my breath, this interloper had opened the hood, adjusted the heat and turned a few ribs over. Now, get this my friends, at my advanced age I am no longer willing to stand my ground; it’s sort of like when the boss came by 30 some odd years ago and said, “this is John and I want you to show him what you do, as it’s now time for you to retire.” To be put out to pasture, painful memories, to be sure, but how about the ribs, you ask? Well, they ended up a bit on the burnt side, (I’m being generous) and a little bit dry. Now please understand, I’m not one to gloat, but I want to tell you: I enjoyed every bite!

Gil Ward

Bend

Provide more information about writer

Time and again, people respond to guest columns written by Paul deWitt. While he has always provided an extremely conservative viewpoint, the description at the end, “Paul deWitt lives in Bend”, implies that he is simply a man sharing his opinion. In fact, Paul deWitt is vice chair of the Deschutes County Republican Party. A Google search for him shows that he has spoken in various articles in various publications about politics as a Republican official. His guest columns in the opinions section go back to 2011. While he is certainly welcome to share his views, I believe The Bulletin should consider it newsworthy (important to report) that his views are essentially political propaganda. Almost all other published items in the opinion section identify their source to a greater extent. Readers should consider the source of information in the media to check for bias and unreliability.

Scott Schroeder

Bend