Remember the 2014 Chibok schoolgirls’ kidnapping?
Probably not by that name, but you certainly will remember the #bringbackourgirls campaign that briefly took the world by storm before being forgotten.
Aside from the girls who initially escaped from the mass kidnapping by the Boko Haram radical Islamist group in Nigeria, only one girl from the original kidnapping group has escaped.
The rest have either died or been condemned to sex slavery, as have thousands of others, mostly Christians, in the war-torn area. The cause itself was worthy of attention, but attention from celebrities and a brief spate of social media virtue signaling by others is all it got.
I remember this mostly because of Michele Obama’s execrable social media post, which was to me INFURIATING. It was, in a few pixels, an example of just how morally vacuous (or worse) the liberal mindset is. To call it virtue signaling is far too kind. The United States government–and Michele Obama had more than a little influence on its Chief Executive– dedicated a photograph of the First Lady looking sad to the cause of saving young girls from savage slavery perpetrated by enemies of civilization.
Liberals loved it. Performance is everything, results are nothing.
In contrast, Melania Trump has been quietly working to free Ukrainian children held by Russia, essentially kidnapped by Putin’s army and shipped east as chattel. I should say that at least 70% of my disgust with Russia over the war has to do with this particular barbaric practice, and much less with its war over territory.
FLOTUS delivers a remarkable address.
“A child’s soul knows no borders… we must foster a future where dreams are realized, not faded by war.”
She’s been in direct communication with Putin for months — coordinating the reunification of Ukrainian children separated by war.
She… pic.twitter.com/DK3K2v6gxb
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) October 10, 2025
FLOTUS delivers a remarkable address.
“A child’s soul knows no borders… we must foster a future where dreams are realized, not faded by war.”
She’s been in direct communication with Putin for months — coordinating the reunification of Ukrainian children separated by war.
She reveals that 8 children have been reunited with family, and more are on the way.
The latter is sadly not unusual, and while tragic, it is yet another in a long list of such wars in the region going back over a thousand years. This may sound grossly insensitive, but I frankly see the pressing moral issue in the territorial dispute to be finding a negotiated solution that minimizes casualties, with the exact border lines being almost irrelevant.
But kidnapping children? That is evil, not the brutal politics of international anarchy.
In contrast to the liberal/Obama/virtue signaling strategy that accomplishes nothing but making liberals feel good, Melania has put her head down and actually been moving the ball down the field.
Children are being returned–a few, so far–with more to come.
Yes, she has had to deal with Putin, and liberals can’t stand the idea that the United States would talk with Putin (unlike, say, making deals with “Death to America” Iran), but if you want to get something done in Russia, you deal with reality, not fantasy.
As I wrote earlier today about dealmakers getting things done, it takes a relentless focus on facts on the ground to accomplish a goal. Mere expressions of fine intent are worth less than a 100 trillion dollar bill.
One of the many, many things that drives me insane about liberals, whom I genuinely like, is that they are susceptible to virtue signaling.
100% of them will wax rhapsodically about Michele Obama, and admire her willingness to take a sad photo with a hashtag that means and does nothing in the real world, while they simultaneously express disgust and Melania Trump.
The world in which liberals live is almost entirely symbolic, unless reality literally mugs them and leaves them on the street bleeding. Then there is a 50-50 chance they might take note. Empty words move them; real-world progress not so much. That’s why, as Ed noted earlier, the lefties are mostly ignoring Trump’s towering achievement in the Middle East.
Trump is a boor. That is all that matters to them. He talks crudely. He trolls. He just isn’t nice. Compared to that, lives saved matter little.
It’s an odd way of thinking to me, and one born out of living very comfortable and safe lives where events are viewed on TV and read in tony publications. Reality is abstract, and only words are real to them.
Kudos to Melania. She will not save every child, because happy endings for all are a Hollywood thing. But she is making the world a better place.
Unlike some people.
Editor’s Note: The Schumer Shutdown is here. Rather than put the American people first, Chuck Schumer and the radical Democrats forced a government shutdown for healthcare for illegals. They own this.
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