Important headlines for June 29th – And you say we don't need a border wall?
Bottom Line: These are stories you shouldn't miss and my takes on them...
Excerpt: President Donald Trump's "zero tolerance" immigration policy, which dominated the news cycle last week and resulted in more than 2,000 children being separated from their families near the southern border, largely hasn't affected the way voters view the president.
Despite public outrage over the policy of separating children from their parents who crossed into the United States illegally, the president's approval rating has not deviated from its recent trend, according to recently released surveys.
The number of voters who say they approve of the president has gone slightly up since a week ago while the percent disapproving has remained constant.
Hot Take: First, it's important once again to note that zero tolerance simply means enforcing the existing law and that separation policy isn't the Trump administration's policy. It's the law of the land that's long standing and was enforced by Barak Obama's administration as well. Other than the false characterization the rest of this story is instructive. Once again, it's a demonstration that media's influence isn't what it once was and isn't as effective as many perceive it to be. In fact, I think we'll find, that the effort to demonstrably mislead the American public will only further to erode the relevance of traditional news media to influence public opinion.
Excerpt: More than 100 politicians in Mexico have been killed since September in the lead-up to the country’s election this Sunday, and more than 13,000 Mexicans have been killed since January.
In an 11 year war on drugs, Mexico has failed to control organized crime and criminal infiltration of local governments and law enforcement.
Some 20 or so percent of voters remain undecided, and security is expected to be a major factor in how they choose to vote.
Hot Take: And we're having a debate about a stronger, more secure southern border why? How is it defensible to not provide the border patrol who's tasked with securing our southern border with the resources they've said they need to provide proper security – which includes the border wall? Basic American security shouldn't be a political issue. In fact, the only federal mandate our government has is to provide security.
Until Tomorrow...