It continues to amaze me, reading foreign newspapers, especially in Asia, that U.S. centric coverage is virtually nil. They are focused on their own countries, as they should be.

On return to the USA, your editor was somewhat surprised that the Democrats in the House of Representatives and its announced Presidential candidates were moving left as fast as possible. The priorities they have staked out would shock a Jack Kennedy, Bill Clinton and even candidate Barack Obama.

Here are the shockers they are pushing that we observed: (1) Abortion up to birth, (2) Raise the top tax rate to 70% and increase the Social Security taxes to 6.5% for employees and employers (a 1.5 trillion dollar increase over 12 years), (3) Green New Deal - with major disruptions and dislocations of our current energy system and limiting beef use to boot, (4) Strongly oppose border security, (5) More free stuff - college, medical care regardless of your citizenship or status in the country, and (6) Socialism for all.

As a nation we have our challenges, but the kooky ideas these radicals have been proposing are scary, and must be sidelined and defeated. Democrats of course can reject these nutty ideas or face electoral defeat in 2020.

Another observation - nothing has changed with the Harris County Republican Party - same stale ideas, same void of leadership and vision, and a bench that was essentially wiped out. Most concerning is that the party brass does not seem to have taken the the time to assess what happened and why, to accept responsibility, and have a future plan to come back from the dead.

Since we are now about a year from the 2020 primaries, critical time has been wasted, which probably means any possible rebirth is years away.

This weekend on Red, White, and Blue our guest is new Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo, which causes us to reflect on the last election.

First, Lina is quite charming and bright. Yes, she is young, but a review of her campaign shows she raised decent money, was not afraid of Judge Ed Emmett like other major Democrats, and she campaigned hard. Yes, her margin of victory was the lowest of any countywide Democrat, but she still won.

Looking back at the race, it not only impacted itself, it also led to the narrow defeat of Commissioner Jack Morman.

Like it is often said, mistakes were made - (1) The flood bonds were voted on in August and not November, (2) Emmett's messageless campaign and failure to inform voters about his opponent, (3) Emmett's public spat with Lt. Governor Dan Patrick, (4) A Libertarian candidate in the race, and (5) Finally, the elephant in the room, O'Rourke's 80-million-dollar failed Senate campaign.

So we have a Democrat majority on the Commissioner's Court, two long-time Democrat politicians and Judge Hidalgo. Let's hope that she is truly independent and open-minded so we can continue to get things done. She is the hope for real progress in Harris County, if she will work with common sense Commissioners like Steve Radack and Jack Cagle.

Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is the new face of the Democratic Party and her platform is for free healthcare, free college tuition, green energy or the world will end in 12 years. To pay for all these freebies you need to have a progressive federal tax of up to 70 percent on income over certain levels, which in certain states would be close to a 90 percent tax on income. Let's not forget the carbon tax to get us off of fossil fuels because of climate change. This is modern day Socialism. Let's get to the real issue of the millennials desire to redistribute wealth in the US and reshape the moral fiber of our country. Congresswoman Ocasio-Cortez's goals are to make us more like Russia and China wherein the state owns everything and provides for its people.

This Congresswoman must have never read Marx, Engels or Lenin, the founders of Socialism and the workers state. First, it came about as an outcry of the European monarchs fighting that led to the First World War. These writers predicted that workers would uprise in European countries like England, not Russia, an agriculture based lack of education society. But, it happened in Russia when they got rid of the Czar, which led to a workers state, then to a dictatorship where millions of people were killed or put in prison. China, under Mao, instituted his form of Socialism. The state owns everything but did not advance as a society until it adopted some capitalist ideas as the top Communist Party leaders live better than the rest of the people. Both Russia and China do not have an immigration problem as people want to leave and not migrate there and they have the most corrupt social systems. Socialism does not work over time because as all of its writers and leaders found out, it is not in human nature for all to want the same things or have the same goals. People are individuals and want better than each other. It takes away the competitive nature in us, hinders advancement in the technology, science and education systems and leads to laziness. So, follow Congresswoman Ocasio-Cortez and her progressive Democrats down this path and you will see the U.S. become a second rate country, riddled with debt and people having no drive to succeed. If you do not like history, just change it. Get rid of Confederate statues or rewrite history. Notre Dame University wants to get rid of a Christopher Columbus mural because it is offensive to Native Americans.

Lastly, I leave you with the thought of free healthcare for all. In those Socialist countries that adopted that form of government, they selectively determine who is eligible for treatment based on age, illness and statistics. If someone is in need of an organ transplant and over a certain age, you are not eligible. You would have to wait 9 months on average in Canada or the UK for heart bypass surgery. But, I guess this is better than Russia or China where they just kill you off, or deny medical treatment unless you have the funds to pay for it. Do we really want the government to make this decision for our society or for us individually? Way to go Congresswoman Ocasio-Cortez and your fellow Progressive Democrats.

This week, friend Gary Bauer struck a nerve with all the lies the mainstream media seems to believe or just advance irresponsibly:

"When I got up this morning, it occurred to me that many people, some powerful and others not, are fighting for truth, justice, and the American way, here are some examples."

"(1) The northern Kentucky family of Nick Sandmann, clearly not powerful people, watched helplessly as their son was attacked by a left-wing media lynch mob. They are now suing the Washington Post for $250 million.

"But the lawsuit is a shot across the bow of other leftists who spread lies about conservatives. (And if it causes more reporters to follow journalistic standards, that would be a victory by itself.)

"(2) The much-maligned Chicago Police Department recently got a hate crime report from an influential black actor, Jussie Smollett. While many on the left immediately accepted Smollett's story at face value and rushed to attack the millions of Americans who support Donald Trump, the Chicago police methodically did its job.

"This morning, they took Smollett into custody, for filing a false report. If you missed Chicago Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson's press conference, it's well worth watching.

"(3) Professor Donald Harris, who none of us have heard of before, issued an extraordinary statement taking his daughter, Senator Kamala Harris (D-CA), to task for bragging about her past drug use and her Jamaican roots. He said his parents and grandparents 'must be turning in their grave right now' at such a crass 'pursuit of identity politics.'

"Professor Harris concludes his statement by writing: 'Speaking for myself and my immediate Jamaican family, we wish to categorically dissociate ourselves from this travesty.'

"(4) The case of Hoda Muthana, an Islamic supremacist who left America to become an ISIS bride. She frequently posted anti-American propaganda to her social media accounts and attempted to incite jihadi attacks here in the U.S.

"Now that the ISIS caliphate has been crushed, Muthana wants to come home to America. But President Trump and Secretary of State Pompeo say she abandoned her claim to citizenship and will not be allowed into the country.

"So a Midwestern family, a father undoubtedly proud of his accomplished daughter, a hard-working big city police department, our President and Secretary of State have all defended truth, justice, and the American way this week."

TCR joins Governor Greg Abbott and Supreme Court Chief Justice Nathan Hecht in support of judicial selection reform.

It is counterintuitive that we still have our judges required to also be politicians. Neither party has a monopoly on good judges or bad judges. Selection of judges in especially big counties is a total crap shoot. So we vote for parties and their nominees regardless of the quality and the candidates ride their tickets overall success.

Both parties could take a step forward and resolve to not challenge good incumbent judges in the other party. How do you determine good judges? There are objective measures. The best practice is the non-partisan evaluation process used by the Chicago Bar Association, which you can read about at www.chicagobar.org.

Red, White, and Blue featuring TCR Editor Gary Polland on Fridays at 7:30 pm on Houston Public Media TV 8, replaying Saturday at 6:30 p.m. on Channel 8, Monday at 11:30 pm on Channel 8.2 and on the web at www.houstonpublicmedia.org.

Upcoming shows:
Watch Current Show - Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo, topics include Harvey recovery funds, transparency in government, and criminal justice reform.

Gary Polland is a long-time conservative and Republican spokesman, fund-raiser, and leader who completed three terms as the Harris County Republican Chairman. During his three terms, Gary was described as the most successful county Chairman in America by Human Events - The National Conservative Weekly. He is in his twenty-first year of editing a newsletter dealing with key conservative and Republican issues. The last seventeen years he has edited Texas Conservative Review. As a public service for the last 15 years, Gary has published election guides for the GOP primary, general elections and city elections, all with the purpose of assisting conservative candidates. Gary is also in his 17th year of co-hosting Red, White and Blue on Houston Public Media TV 8 PBS Houston, longest running political talk show in Texas history. Gary serves on the Board of Directors of American Values, a national pro-family, pro-faith, conservative organization supporting the unity of the American people around the vision of our founding fathers and dedicated to reminding the public of the conservative principles fundamental to the survival of our nation. Gary is a practicing attorney and strategic consultant. He can be reached at (713) 621-6335.