Recent polling has some good news for the conservative cause: More Americans identify as conservative than as liberal.

Gallup’s 2018 tracking polls in all 50 U.S. states asked respondents to self-identify as either liberal, conservative or moderate.

The aggregated results, which were released Friday, show that more respondents identified as liberal than as conservative in only six states. Gallup previously reported that on a national level, conservatives outnumbered liberals 35 percent to 26 percent in 2018.

The states where the number of self-identified liberal residents exceeded the number of conservatives were Hawaii, New Hampshire, New York, Massachusetts, Vermont and Washington.

Gallup’s 2018 survey results reveal a slight change from their 2017 poll, which showed nine states where self-identified liberals outnumbered conservatives.

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This means that according to Gallup, there were a few states that had a slight liberal bent in 2017 that now lean conservative.

However, Gallup noted that “it is unclear how meaningful these changes are,” as “many of the changes are within the margin of error for the state’s sample.”

Still, the 2018 poll does show that more Americans consider themselves conservatives than liberals.

The liberal-conservative gap meets in California, where conservatives and liberals both make up 29 percent of the population. In 43 other states, though, there are more conservatives than liberals.

According to Gallup, conservatives lead by 38 points in the country’s most conservative state (Mississippi), while liberals have a 14 point-edge in the most liberal state (Massachusetts).

Fifty percent of Mississippians identified themselves as conservative, while only 12 percent said they were liberal.  Another 29 percent identified as moderate.

On the other side of the political divide, 35 percent of Massachusetts residents identified as liberal, and 21 percent as conservative.

Conservatives have a significant advantage in 25 states. In 19 “highly conservative” states, Gallup said “conservatives outnumber liberals by at least 20 percentage points.”

The results may come as a surprise to some. The establishment media‘s decidedly liberal bent often paints America as less conservative than it is.

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It will be interesting to see how the country’s political demographics shift leading up to the 2020 elections.

Hopefully for conservatives, more and more Americans will realize that liberal policies simply don’t work.

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It happened 74 years ago, and a photograph of an astonishing moment from the event has become an iconic part of American History.

In memory of the Battle of Iwo Jima and the raising of the American flag on Mount Suribachi, the U.S. Marine Corps shared a video tribute on Twitter.

The short clip tells the powerful story about what happened at the moment the flag went up.

74 years ago today, Marines on Iwo Jima raised the flag atop Mount Suribachi.

Semper Fidelis. pic.twitter.com/UsQ2z344Xp

— U.S. Marines (@USMC) February 23, 2019

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“There was a loud roar that went up on Iwo Jima from every Marine there,” the unidentified narrator said.

“Some of them just laid their rifles down, stood up, and waved their hands. It was a joyous moment, and it was a great morale raiser.”

Knowing the story behind that moment explains the reaction.

Just days before, on Feb. 19, 1944, Marines stormed the island. But the island was heavily fortified and the Marines suffered heavy losses, the American Military Times wrote.

Undaunted, the Marines took the highest peak on the island, Mount Suribachi. It would provide them with a good “strategic overlook position.”

In the Battle for Iwo Jima, approximately 7,000 brave Marines were killed; 20,000 more were wounded.

This made the Battle for Iwo Jima one of the most deadly in all of World War II. But that isn’t all. It is also one of the most deadly in the history of the U.S. Marines.

It was called Operation Detachment.

“American victory was never in doubt; the US had an overwhelming numerical advantage and complete aerial superiority and had cut off the island, preventing retreat or the arrival of reinforcements,” Business Insider wrote.

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The Japanese, however, were determined to make that victory costly.

“But the Japanese had prepared for a massive battle on the island. They had evacuated all civilians and burned all the vegetation and brush to eliminate places where the Americans could conceal themselves,” Business Insider wrote.

“Most important, the Japanese had built a massive network of tunnels and bunkers that enabled them to access any part of the island and wait out long bombardment.”

Ultimately, the American Military News wrote, the taking of Iwo Jima was “vital” to the American war effort:

“The island became a landing site for B-29 bombers, and is attributed to saving the lives of 24,000 airmen. It also paved the way for the final and largest Pacific region battle, the invasion of Okinawa.”

Associated Press photographer Joe Rosenthal was there covering the battle. He captured the raising of the flag on film on Feb. 23, 1945.

The memorial video shared by the U.S. Marines clearly highlights why the Marines would be filled with such pride at the raising of the American flag that day. They had paid dearly to get to that moment, and would pay more dearly still in the fighting ahead — on Iwo Jima and elsewhere.

But it was a symbol that final victory was assured.

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The fact that Republican Illinois Rep. Adam Kinzinger is big on border security is no surprise. The fact that part of his reasoning behind it is drug interdiction shouldn’t be, either.

“When drugs come into Arizona, they end up in Illinois,” Kinzinger told Fox News in a report published Saturday. “To protect this country from, frankly, all the drugs that are coming over, is awesome.”

When he’s talking about protecting America from drugs, however, what might be surprising is that he’s not just sitting in the nation’s capital voting for a border wall or spending more money on Customs and Border Protection — not that he’d be averse to any of those things, mind you.

Rather, it’s the fact that Rep. Kinzinger is actively stopping those drugs from coming in — as part of a National Guard unit deployed to the southern border.

Kinzinger is a lieutenant colonel with the Wisconsin Air National Guard, according to Fox News. Since earlier this month, he’s been deployed with his unit in Tucson, Arizona.

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“I love to be able to do it,” Kinzinger told Fox.

pic.twitter.com/B7zXYNtOEN

— Adam Kinzinger (@RepKinzinger) February 13, 2019

“As with his previous border missions while elected, the Congressman will stay within the United States,” a statement from Kinzinger’s communications director read.

“The Congressman is humbled to serve his IL-16 community here in the People’s House and equally proud to serve as a reconnaissance pilot in the Air Guard. In both of these roles, Congressman Kinzinger fights to make our national security stronger, our border more secure, and our communities safer.”

Kinzinger is a pilot for the RC-26 surveillance aircraft, which can fly five-hour missions without being detected.

Not only does it help him put his money where his mouth is — both when it comes to national service and border security — it’s also a way to keep himself (pardon the pun) grounded.

“I have some colleagues,” Kinzinger told Fox News about Capitol Hill, “they have let their position get to their head a little bit.”

“When I deploy with these guys, it’s just my old buddies,” he added. “They say basically, ‘Hey, you are a lieutenant colonel here. Nobody special.’”

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Well, lieutenant colonel might be”nobody special” to Kinzingers’ comrades in the guard, but it’s still pretty cool.

As for his mission, while the RC-26 may look like a normal commuter airplane (and is based on one — the Fairchild Swearingen SA-227 Metroliner), Fox News notes that “it’s specially equipped to gather information and high-resolution video of any illegal activity they may spot, on the ground.”

That’s important in the mountainous part of Arizona over which Kinzinger pilots, where technology plays an important part in interdiction.

“We have over 200 miles of border out here that’s just almost unmanned. No fencing on it at all,” Lt. Col Kenneth Bruce with the Arizona Air National Guard told Fox. “We have a lot of traffic through there.”

And the illegal traffickers at the border know what they’re doing, Ron Bellavia, the acting deputy chief patrol agent for the Tucson sector, told Fox News.

“They are very difficult to find,” he said. “They are crossing the border in camouflage. They are putting carpet on their shoes, so we cannot track them through the desert.”

It’s an interesting perspective Kinzinger’s time in uniform is giving him, on both border security and national service. Kinzinger told Fox “Congress would be in a better spot” if every member had the same experence to draw from.

Anyway, kudos to again to Kinzinger for doing double duty this way.

It’s a shame we don’t have more men and women in the halls of the Capitol willing to do the same.

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Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) has admitted that the socialist country of Venezuela is experiencing a “serious humanitarian crisis” and has called on the Maduro regime to stop using violence against those attempting to bring aid into the country.

Over recent days, leading Florida Democrats have been criticizing Sanders’ more sympathetic stance toward the far-left regime after Sanders had said he did not recognize opposition leader Juan Guaidó as the country’s legitimate president and had refused to label Maduro a “dictator.”

However, Sanders appeared to take a harsher stance against Maduro on Saturday afternoon, when he admitted that the country was experiencing a “serious humanitarian crisis,” and he called on the regime to stop attacking civilians attempting to transfer aid into the country, which the U.S. and other regional contributors had provided.

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Five Democratic representatives in the Congressional Black Caucus are being called out for their mockery of House ethics rules after it was revealed they went on a $60,000 completely paid-for vacation to South Africa, which included exclusive performances by music artists Beyoncé and Jay-Z.

The nonprofit group, Global Citizen, paid for the representatives’ 3-day trip in December to attend the “Global Citizen Mandela 100” concert, which featured popular artists like Beyoncé, Jay-Z, Ed Sheeran, Pharrell Williams and Coldplay’s Chris Martin, the Washington Examiner reported, citing congressional disclosure records.

The Democrats, who all had VIP passes to the concert, were U.S. Reps. Gregory Meeks of New York, Barbara Lee of California, Bobby Rush of Illinois, Terri Sewell of Alabama and Hank Johnson of Georgia.

And it wasn’t just Democratic politicians who went on the paid-for vacation. Far-left media personalities like “Daily Show” host Trevor Noah and MSNBC host Joy Reid also came along.

The politicians even chummed around with Oprah Winfrey and activist Al Sharpton.

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I’m in South Africa headed to the Global Citizen Festival with Congressional Black Caucus members Greg Meeks, Barbara Lee, Bobby Rush & Hank Johnson & my @MSNBC colleague Joy Reid. #GlobalCitizenFestivalSA pic.twitter.com/vnYAbI8J09

— Reverend Al Sharpton (@TheRevAl) December 2, 2018

The stated purpose of the event was to raise awareness for global poverty.

But of course, the three-day vacation (one full day in South Africa and two travel days) was more extravagant than that — besides a concert, the group of politicians flew business class, stayed in a fancy hotel and had private security.

The actual total cost for all the food, lodging, airfare and security was $60,272.

A spokesperson for one of the recipients of the vacation defended the trip in a statement to the Examiner by pointing out the money didn’t come from taxpayers.

Sewell’s spokesperson said that “her travel was pre-approved by the House Ethics Committee and was not paid for at taxpayer expense.”

Nevertheless, the House Ethics Committee is supposed to have rules against accepting gifts because it can obviously open politicians for bribes.

But according to Sewell’s spokesperson, the luxury trip and huge concert was “a platform for world leaders to speak out against racial injustice and inequity, and voice their support for international assistance for underprivileged populations.”

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The president of the National Legal and Policy Center Government Integrity Project, Tom Anderson, isn’t buying that excuse — it was a vacation, not a humanitarian trip.

“These members of Congress that were given an all-expense paid vacation to party with Oprah, Jay Z, and Beyoncé in South Africa are claiming with a straight face this was needed to help poor children around the world live better lives,” Anderson said.

While the concert did raise a lot of money for impoverished people, that was because of the star power from the performers. Nobody went to the concert to see politicians.

“This was in fact, a mockery of House ethics rules on gifts and travel, the truly poor, and all Americans that expect members of Congress to live not only by the letter of the law but by the spirit and intentions of the rules of the House of Representatives.”

Democrats endlessly talk about the dangers of money in politics, but these five Democrats apparently don’t apply that principle to themselves.

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