NEWS AND OPINION:
Friends of the National World War II Memorial in the nation’s capital offer some unusual and enlightening travel experiences — including the Last Battles Tour, set to explore key battlefields in the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg and Germany.
Historian and author Alex Kershaw will accompany the future travelers.
“This year will see 80th anniversary commemorations of several major battles in WWII, especially in Europe,” Mr. Kershaw said in a written statement.
“I’ve been lucky enough to have visited most of the battlefields in western Europe, in some cases many times. For those contemplating joining Friends for our 80th anniversary trip this coming September, The Last Battles Tour, and others wanting to travel to Europe this year, or any time, here are some must-see places that I’ve selected. They’re not museums but rather places where you can stand where Allied soldiers actually fought,” Mr. Kershaw said.
And what significant and hallowed locations is he talking about? Here they are, from the historian himself:
• Dog Green Sector, Omaha Beach, Normandy.
• The Chiunzi Pass above Maiori, Sorrento Peninsula, Italy.
• The I&R Memorial, Lanzerath, Belgium.
• The Memorial to the Waal Crossing, Nijmegen, Netherlands.
• The control tower, Thorpe Abbotts Airfield, England.
• Pampelonne Beach, St. Tropez, France.
• Number 11, Avenue Foch, Paris.
• Remagen, Germany.
• The Lidice Memorial, Czech Republic.
• St. Martin’s Church, Bladon, England.
Discover more details at https://wwwiimemorialfriends.org; check under the “Our Work” pull down menu. Find the historian’s analysis in the “About Us” section; click on “blog.”
HALEY SAYS NO
Nikki Haley is staying the course on her bid for the presidency.
“I don’t know how clear that I can make it. I don’t want vice president. I have said multiple times — I am a Republican. I am not running as any other party or independent. And I will continue to say this is not about my political career. This is about the future of America. This is about the future,” Ms. Haley told Fox Business correspondent Grady Trimble.
But what about another option?
“Will you ever run as a third-party candidate. though?” he asked.
“I’ve said no over and over again. I have no interest in a third-party candidacy,” she replied.
HALEY ON THE MOVE
The aforementioned Nikki Haley, meanwhile, has a wall-to-wall campaign rally schedule this week.
On Tuesday, she’ll be in Centennial, Colorado; on Wednesday it’s Orem, Utah. Come Thursday, Ms. Haley will visit Richmond and Falls Church in Virginia. And on Friday, she journeys to the nation’s capital and Charlotte, North Carolina. Ms. Haley arrives in Raleigh, North Carolina on Saturday and will also visit Needham, Massachusetts.
“More events are expected,” the campaign said in a press release.
EYE ON THE DEMOCRATS
Uh-oh. Nearly half of likely U.S. voters think the Democratic Party will find another candidate to replace President Biden in the presidential race this year.
A Rasmussen Reports national telephone and online survey finds that 47% of likely U.S. voters believe Democrats will replace Mr. Biden with another candidate as their presidential nominee before the election in November — including 22% who see this possibility as “very likely.”
Another 45% don’t think it’s likely Democrats will substitute another candidate for Mr. Biden, including 18% who consider such a scenario “not at all likely.”
We’ll see.
The survey of 960 likely U.S. voters was conducted Feb. 18-20 and released Monday.
APOLOGY TOUR NEEDED
Some are not impressed that President Biden has finally decided to visit the southern U.S. border and see the challenging and often dangerous state of affairs there as migrants continue to arrive by the thousands.
Will Reinert, press secretary of the National Republican Congressional Committee, offers his insight.
He dismissed Mr. Biden’s journey to the border as “a political stunt,” pointing out that the president has rejected every effort by House Republicans to secure the border.
“Joe Biden should be taking a trip to apologize to the family of Laken Hope Riley for his open-border policies that resulted in the tragic death of their child,” Mr. Reinert said in a written statement to Inside the Beltway.
Ms. Riley is the 22-year-old nursing student killed while jogging at the University of Georgia. An illegal immigrant from Venezuela has been arrested and charged with murder in her death.
STILL TROUBLED
One lawmaker remains troubled by the aforementioned killing of Laken Riley.
“The man arrested for the murder of Laken Riley should never have been in our country to begin with. He was released into America after crossing illegally under President Biden’s and Dept. of Homeland Security Sec. [Alejandro] Mayorkas’s catch-and-release abuse of the parole system, then released after an arrest in New York City due to their sanctuary city laws,” said Sen. Mike Braun in a written statement shared with Inside the Beltway.
“Joe Biden has released over 1 million migrants under this same parole policy. We have no idea who or where they are. Radical border policies and sanctuary city laws are a deadly threat to Americans citizens in every community,” the Indiana Republican said.
POLL DU JOUR
• 31% of U.S. adults “strongly disapprove” of the overall way Congress is handling its job.
• 21% “somewhat disapprove” of the way Congress is handling its job.
• 18% “somewhat approve” of the way Congress is handling its job.
• 6% “strongly approve” of the way Congress is handling its job.
• 16% neither approve nor disapprove.
• 8% are not sure about the issue.
SOURCE: An Economist/YouGov poll of 1,562 U.S. adults conducted Feb. 18-20.
• Contact Jennifer Harper at [email protected].