The new year in America sadly kicked off with terrorist attacks that left scores dead and injured. But more may be on the way. The warnings to America about the threats of radical Islamist terror have been on the walls for years now. It's just that too many political leaders, particularly in the Democratic Party, have failed to acknowledge them and act accordingly. Thankfully, Donald Trump is taking over the White House and bringing with him a team of officials who fully understand you can't fight terror with fancy talk and diplomacy and concessions. But that doesn't automatically erase the risk. As Israel Ellis, author of a book about the warning signs of terror, says: America must wake up and smell the terrorism. Our nation has been ignoring the signs of looming attacks for far too long, he says.

The federal government, back in campaign season, put out word that violent crime in America was down -- and not just by a little, but by quite a bit. The government put out this word because that's what the FBI said to be true. So Kamala Harris and Joe Biden and all the Democrats and the leftist boot-lickers in the media went on a concerted journey to tell how Donald Trump was lying when he said crime in America was up, up, up, and also how lucky Americans were to have a president like Biden who actually lowered crime around the nation. Then the FBI's revised statistics came out and voila, suddenly it was seen: Trump was right. Crime was up, up, up. Violent crime had risen under Biden. And all the deep staters went, whoops! Democrats and deep state players will always pretend like crime falls under their watch, even when it's oh-so-untrue. But states don't have to rely on the feds to provide border security and crime-fighting tools to ensure their communities are safe from criminals. As Christopher Holton, a senior analyst with Center for Security Policy says, states can do a lot right now to make sure criminals aren't committing crimes in their local communities. Tune in for the recommendations.

For far too long, America has tried to work with China, instead of fight against China, all due to the misguided hope that if the communists were only given enough economic opportunity and treated to the same sort of U.S. foreign policy favoritism as other nations, then the CCP would shed its commie ways and walk a more Western government path. Now the cows have come home. Now it's time to pay the piper. Now the facts are showing that China has simply pretended to work with the West all the while building up its military, its economic influence, its communist propaganda plans, its psychological warfare. China expert and author Bill Gertz says America's missteps on China policy has "created a monster." But it's not too late for America, he says, so long as the political winds shift in the right direction.

Christians in Syria are facing a dangerous unknown. Will the de facto leadership grant them religious liberty? Or will they become the latest target of Islamic leaders who abuse their positions to persecute Christians? Remember how the Taliban in Afghanistan promised to respect the individual rights after America withdrew forces -- and then practically overnight broke those promises. The same could happen in Syria. As Rusty Reno warns, Christians in Syria are a bit on edge right now, and justifiably so.

Drones are flying in hundreds of spots above several states on the East Coast and the response from the White House, when asked what they are and who's flying them and what they're doing, is this: eh -- don't worry about it. If Americans could only trust their federal government officials, maybe that'd be an answer that would sell. But trust in government has fallen dramatically in recent decades. And trust in the Joe Biden administration in particular is at a deep, dip low -- and that's because this White House has been feckless on national security issues from beginning to end. As retired Lt. Col. and best-selling author Tony Shaffer says: "It's like a scene from Blazing Saddles" with this White House. That is to say: comical at best.