I get more enamored of U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley with each passing day. Somehow I missed this story. Last Thursday night Haley in no uncertain terms told congressional Republicans that Russia is no “friend” of America and doubled-down on President Trump’s recent request that Congress help stop giving money to countries that don’t support the United States. Glory freaking hallelujah! It’s about damn time someone said it. “Russia is not our friend,” Haley said at a dinner at the Greenbrier resort, where the Republicans were holding their annual retreat. “There may be some things we can work with them on, and we should do that where we can. But Russia … will not be our friend as long as their government has the values that it has, and as long as it conducts itself the way it does internationally.” And don’t forget, as long as it is communist.

Haley’s speech comes after more than a year-long investigation by the politically weaponized Justice Department and FBI into whether associates of Trump colluded with Russian operatives during the 2016 presidential race or during the transition period before the administration moved into the White House. So far… they have found squat. Yes, Manafort is being charged with financial misdeeds from years before the election… I’m all in on that. Flynn was let go for ties to the Russians… I agree with that as well. And yes, I still believe Carter Page is a Russian plant… but none of those translate to President Trump doing anything out of line. And they’ll never prove what just doesn’t exist. There is far more Russian collusion on the left with Hillary Clinton and that is actually provable.

While I am sure that in some way Trump admires Putin, he also knows what a dangerous threat he is to this nation and to the world. I think his advisers and military leaders disabused him of the idea that we could ever be chums. Haley on Thursday evening cited several examples that suggest the administration is tough on Russia — including that it sent weapons to the Ukraine, conducted a military strike on Russian allies in Syria and expelled Russian diplomats in the U.S. Now, if they could just ferret out the spies they have in our government, our media and other places here in the U.S. we’d be getting somewhere.

“That fact is this: In the last year, this administration has been tougher on Russia than any American administration since Ronald Reagan,” she said to applause. “I have no idea what Russia expected from the American elections. But I have to tell you, they are not happy with what they ended up with. And that’s the way it should be, until Russia starts to act like a responsible country,” Haley noted. Slow clap… that’s on point and absolutely right.

“And as long as it conducts itself the way it does internationally. Russia is the defender of Assad’s brutal regime in Syria aiding and abetting atrocities against Syrian civilians and vetoing every effort at the U.N. to hold Assad accountable. Russia has an increasingly close alliance with Iran and protects Iran against more vigorous nuclear inspections,” she continued. “Russia continues still legally occupy Ukrainian territory in our own hemisphere. Russia the defender and bankroller of the corrupt and lawless Maduro regime in Venezuela and yes Russia did meddle in our elections. That is not a controversial statement. Russia has been meddling in Western countries’ elections for many years.” That’s exactly what I have been saying forever. I’m thrilled she stated it.

The one thing I saw that gives me pause over the last couple of weeks is that the administration recently said it would not impose new, congressional-imposed sanctions on Russia for meddling in the 2016 elections. But I think I understand why… it hasn’t been substantively proven yet and I don’t think they want to go down that road until their ducks are in a row. Especially with how close we are to war with Russia, China, Iran and North Korea. Haley made it very clear that Russia meddled in the 2016 U.S. election, but also noted that “there is no reason to think the Russian interference made any difference between who won and lost. The very fact that they did it is an outrageous thing, and something the administration is taking steps to prevent in the future,” Haley said.

California GOP Rep. Ed Royce introduced Haley and called her “a rising star” in the Republican Party and a “force” in the United Nations. She is that and more. Haley is an absolute lioness on the geopolitical stage. Haley, a former GOP South Carolina governor, on Thursday night also asked Congress to pass legislation to “help ensure American foreign-assistance dollars always serve American interests, and only go to America’s friends.” That echoes Trump statement during his SOTU address that he wants to restrict billions in U.S. foreign aid to “American friends.” That’s the sane approach, not the groveling one that Obama took.

“This is hugely important,” said Haley to the congressional Republicans, whom she also thanked for their public service. “It’s outrageous to see so many countries who we support go against us at the U.N. In many cases, it’s just that we have not told them we expect them to have our backs at the U.N. That needs to stop. The President and I are now telling all countries we’re watching their votes, and we’re taking names. We need your help to send the same message.” That is an entirely different approach than what we have seen in previous administrations.

“What a difference a year makes,” said Haley, who touted such first-year successes for the administration as dismantling the ISIS and enforcing chemical-weapons restrictions in Syria. We’ve damn near wiped out ISIS and Mattis has become a larger than life nightmare for terrorists out there. He is now turning his gaze towards Russia and China. They should probably take that seriously. Just sayin’. If Haley keeps this up, we may one day see her in the Oval Office.

Secretary of the PLO Executive Committee Saeb Erekat just told Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley to “shut up” and refrain from criticizing Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. The arrogance here is breathtaking. He is trying to put Haley in her place. That’s not going to work. He accused President Donald Trump’s administration of orchestrating a “coup” to get rid of the Palestinian leadership.

“Nikki Haley needs to shut up and realize that the Palestinian leadership is not the problem,” the top Palestinian diplomat said in an interview with the Palestinian Al-Watan Voice news website. “Instead, the problem is the Israeli occupation and the policies it continues to pursue. I’m not saying that we don’t make mistakes; every society and every government makes mistakes.” It’s always the Jews fault, right? What an anti-Semitic douchebag.

Those heated remarks come after Haley condemned a speech given by Abbas last week at the PLO’s most recent meeting. He spread lies and anti-Semitic verbal abuse against Israel. You know, Caroline Glick is right… it’s time for the US to walk away from the PLO. “She called for overthrowing the democratically elected Palestinian president,” Erekat complained, calling the UN envoy “impudent.” What this asshat didn’t say was that Abbas’ four-year term ended in 2012 and since then no elections have been held.

“This is the president who led the peace process and promoted the principle of the two-state solution,” Erekat said. “Now this ambassador is accusing him of lacking courage, and is calling for replacing him.” And Nikki Haley is right… that’s exactly what should happen. “The Palestinian people are loyal to their martyrs, prisoners, wounded, struggles, steadfastness and heroism. This is the reality. The Palestinians are the only ones who are entitled to hold their leaders accountable.” Yes, and they are loyal to slaughtering innocent Jews in the name of Allah… let’s not forget that point either.

In her speech last week, Haley slammed Abbas for peddling “outrageous and discredited conspiracy theories.” “President Abbas declared the landmark Oslo Peace Accords dead. He rejected any American role in peace talks. He insulted the American President. He called for suspending recognition of Israel. He invoked an ugly and fictional past, reaching back to the 17th century to paint Israel as a colonialist project engineered by European powers,” Haley said. “A speech that indulges in outrageous and discredited conspiracy theories is not the speech of a person with the courage and the will to seek peace,” she added.

“I ask here today, where is the Palestinian King Hussein? Where is the Palestinian Anwar Sadat?” she continued, paying homage to the Jordanian and Egyptian leaders who made peace with Israel. “If President Abbas demonstrates he can be that type of leader, we would welcome it. His recent actions demonstrate the total opposite.” Man, that left a mark. I love it.

Erekat stated that Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and his envoy’s incendiary comments was tantamount to staging a “coup” against the “Palestinian political system.” No, it’s not. Trump did the right thing. It should have been done long ago. And I would really suggest that he not beg for a real coup here. He might just find out what one really looks like. Israel and the U.S., he said, sought to “liquidate the Palestinian national project.” Neither have done any such thing. This is hyperbole to gin up violence and justify the slaughter of more innocent people, whose only crime is they are a different religion.

“U.S. and Israeli officials are saying that any Palestinian leader who insists on East Jerusalem becoming the capital of Palestine and is committed to the right of return, in accordance with United Nations resolution 194, should be removed from power and replaced,” he said. Hard to argue with that. “The Palestinian leadership has told the Americans and Israelis that, even after 1,000 years, they will not find any Palestinian who will collaborate with their scheme,” Erekat said. We don’t expect to, but we do expect that one way or another, the violence will end. “We will take Trump’s decision [to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel] to the International Court of Justice and we will seek membership in more international agencies,” he said. Good luck with that… it means squat.