Editor’s note: The views expressed by guest columnists are not necessarily those of The Costa Rica Star, its advertisers, or its staff. 

If you loved President Donald Trump before Phoenix, after Phoenix you love him even more.

The president’s last campaign-style rally held at the Phoenix Convention Center Tuesday night before 15,000 adoring fans produced a vintage Trump rally complete with all the controversial slogans from past rallies, new attacks upon the media, and voicing displeasure with Arizona’s two Republican Senators John McCain and Jeff Flake without mentioning them by name.

Both McCain and Flake recently voted against President Trump’s American Healthcare Act of 2017 to repeal and replace ObamaCare. President Trump has heavily criticized them since. Neither attended the rally.

However, outside the convention center the scene was entirely different. Local and state police clashed with several thousand anti-Trump protesters using tear gas and pepper spray to clear the streets near the end of rally so everyone could go home in peace without further violence or serious injuries.

According to the Arizona Republic newspaper police in full-riot-gear made few arrests. Just as soon as some of the demonstrators became violent the police took over quickly with authority and control unlike the scene in Charlottesville, Virginia nearly two weeks ago when a Confederate monument protest was allegedly allowed to get out of control for political purposes resulting in a fatality on the streets of this home of U.S. Founding Father Thomas Jefferson.

The president’s critics blasted Trump for blaming the violence on both sides of the Charlottesville protest – white supremacists trying to save a famous Confederate statue and those wanting it removed. Arrest records show numerous supporters from both sides were arrested for inciting violence, so Trump was right, according to news reports. One man suspected of ramming his car into a crowd of anti-statue demonstrators killing a woman has been charged with her murder.

President Trump used the rally to further attack mainstream media over their coverage of the Charlottesville violence.

“Did they report that I said racism is evil,” Trump asked while pointing at the media inside the convention center. “They didn’t, because they are dishonest people.”

News reports before the rally said that President Trump may use the occasion to announce a presidential pardon for former Maricopa County (Arizona) Sheriff Joe Arpaio, who was held in contempt-of-court involving a civil-rights case which received national attention. But White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders quickly issued a statement saying these news reports were wrong and no pardon would be announced during the rally.

However, President Trump did hint at a pardon for Arpaio.

“Do the people in this room like Sheriff Joe,” Trump asked. The crowd then erupted in loud applause and cheering at the mere mention of Arpaio’s name, according to the Arizona Republic. “Was Sheriff Joe convicted for doing his job? I’ll make a prediction. I think he’s going to be just fine … OK. I won’t do it tonight because I don’t want to cause any controversy.” Now that’s funny.

Arpaio, 85, earned his reputation as “America’s Toughest Sheriff” during his time as the elected sheriff of Maricopa County from 1993 to Jan. 1, 2017. He was an outspoken critic of U.S. immigration policies long before President Trump came along. He gained national attention decades ago when he refused to release jail inmates due to overcrowding so he had large tents erected on the property to house prisoners until their time was up. He was often interviewed on national news programs offering his opinions and advice on subjects concerning police. He is one of the most hard-line conservative, controversial public figures elected repeatedly to public office for 25-consecutive years. Arpaio is the ‘John Wayne’ of law enforcement.

In another public forum — on Monday night — President Trump spoke directly to the America people and a group of soldiers from Ft. Myers, Va., about an ongoing foreign conflict.

In the president’s first prime-time address to the nation he outlined a new strategy for Afghanistan but gave few details except to say his previous campaign statements about getting out of this war were wrong and he had changed his mind about how to deal with this rogue nation. News reports said prior to his address that the president would ask for 4,100 more U.S. troops, but that was not confirmed during the speech. What was confirmed is neighboring Pakistan and Iran have been put on notice for harboring Afghani Taliban Islamic extremists and allowing them safe passage between the three countries. The president also asked for India to pressure Pakistan to kick out Afghani extremists and seal its border with Afghanistan.

After the Russians occupied Afghanistan for 10 years and gave up, the United States moved in and has tried for 17 years to expel Islamic extremists from this Muslim nation. The Taliban fuels their hate with heroin-producing poppy fields that pays for their terrorism. This highly addictive drug ends up on the streets of the U.S. killing thousands upon thousands from drug overdoses in record-setting numbers.

There’s a lot more at stake in Afghanistan than most people realize. American troops withdrawing from Afghanistan would be a huge mistake. The extremists would take over this country of 33 million people and possibly overrun their next door neighbor gaining control of nuclear-armed Pakistan.

Imagine if Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan all merged into one anti-American, radical-Islamic country – nuclear armed!

Pakistan is where radical Islamic leader Osama Bin Laden was killed during the Obama administration. Bin Laden, his protectors and family had been living there in secret for years until a U.S. Navy Seal Team ascended on his compound by helicopter and took him out. At the time of his death Bin Laden was the world’s number-one, most-wanted terrorist. Pakistani authorities at the time claimed not to know he was there which virtually no one believed.

“Conditions on the ground will guide operations from now on,” Trump said in his address. “We are not nation building again … we’re killing terrorists.”

For President Trump’s supporters, Tuesday’s rally reaffirmed their support for this president. Monday’s Afghanistan address put that region on alert that the goings-on inside Afghanistan must be brought to a halt using new strategies with new rules allowing the U.S. military to get the job done once and for all.

About the Author

Britt Nelson relocated to Costa Rica in 2011 from Florida, where he served as news editor for the Palatka Daily News, a newspaper owned by the New York Times Regional Newspaper Group (NYT-RNG) for 20 years.

Nelson served the NYT-RNG for 18 years in Tennessee, Kentucky, Virginia, North Carolina and Florida as a correspondent, reporter, staff writer, senior staff writer training new reporters, copy editor, page designer, editorial writer, editorial page editor and editorial board member.