Point of View December 31, 2024 – Hour 1 : Religious Liberty, 2024 in Review

[00:00:04] Across America Live, this is Point of View, Kirby Anderson. Thank you for joining us. This is of course the last day of 2024. This is a live broadcast and we certainly encourage you to follow up with some of the things we're going to be talking about today. Going to hear from a lot of voices here in about the first hour and then it will kind of calm down a little bit. Penna Dexter with me in studio. Of course, Kelly Shacklevard, Chief Counsel and CEO of First Liberty Institute. Just a minute, we're going to be talking about a little bit about a little bit about a little bit.

[00:00:43] I'm with Gary Bauer, but one of the things I thought we'd start off with is to let you know how we're doing because we have actually had a match on the table, a matching challenge and an opportunity for you to give before the end of the year. Give the gift of truth. So we also decided to bring in for a few minutes the president of Point of View and that is Warren Kelly. How are we doing? We are doing well and I'm very excited to say that. I don't think that we've we've I think we've only once in all the history of Point of View missed

[00:01:13] a match. We always make them, but we've never made them early like this before. So we have actually met the match. You said on air yesterday, if you want to have your gift match, you need to do it now because we might meet the match before the week is over. And sure enough, we have. But we have two other donors who have come together and want to continue to inspire people to give. So we have a new $20,000 match for today only.

[00:01:43] So, again, if you want to have your gift matched, you need to do it soon because once this is gone, it's gone.

[00:01:49] You know, Kelly, you and I were talking off air just the other day about the fact that people seem to be giving earlier. We've, of course, highlighted the need for people to support not only Point of View, but First Liberty. And you've noticed that as well, haven't you?

[00:02:00] Yeah, I mean, I think part of it is there was a pretty somber mood, especially economically over the country. Bidenomics was not exactly a cheerful experience for people.

[00:02:11] And I think there is a new hope that there's going to be a change in the economic condition of the country.

[00:02:19] And I think people are giving that way. You know, I mean, everybody always says one of the worst things for giving is uncertainty.

[00:02:26] And that was kind of solved by the election. You know, people now kind of feel like they know what the future, what kind of things are coming, what kind of policies are coming.

[00:02:35] And then they can make decisions on where to put their money a lot easier.

[00:02:38] And I will say, though, also, now those people can't see this unless they're watching online.

[00:02:44] And I'm encouraging them to watch online because the president of Point of View, Warren Kelly, looks the most like Santa of anybody I know right now.

[00:02:54] He's got the white beard and the whole thing.

[00:02:57] And so maybe part of the Point of View is people feel like the spirit of Santa is here.

[00:03:02] Here to Santa.

[00:03:04] Which brings me to Gary Bauer, who I don't think is going to end up looking like Santa.

[00:03:08] But Gary Bauer, of course, is an individual that has worked in the Reagan administration, both as the Undersecretary of Education, Chief Domestic Policy Advisor, of course, with American Values.

[00:03:17] And, Gary, thank you for joining us by phone.

[00:03:19] Well, Kirby, it's great to be with you and Kelly.

[00:03:22] And as I was listening to you discuss how things were moving along on your fundraising, which was great to hear.

[00:03:30] But now I know why things are so slow for me.

[00:03:33] All the donations I normally get are going to Kelly and Kirby, ladies and gentlemen.

[00:03:39] Well, we brought you on for one very good reason.

[00:03:42] That is to encourage people to also give to you.

[00:03:45] The other day we talked about the importance of giving to American Family Association.

[00:03:49] Of course, we have talked about it and we'll talk before Kelly heads off to a wedding.

[00:03:53] A lot of people wonder if he's going to watch football.

[00:03:55] No, he's going to go to a wedding.

[00:03:56] But nevertheless, we'll also talk about First Liberty.

[00:03:59] But we do encourage people and have a link there for people to give to American Values or even if they want to give to the Campaign for Working Families.

[00:04:07] All that's there as well.

[00:04:09] But, Gary, for just a few minutes, I did want to talk about something because we also posted your end-of-day report.

[00:04:15] And the one we posted was about Biden exposed.

[00:04:18] And I'll hold up.

[00:04:20] First of all, this is one of the many interviews we've done over the years with Peter Schweitzer.

[00:04:24] This is a book off of my own personal shelf called Blood Money.

[00:04:27] And there you can see a picture of, of course, Joe Biden and Xi Jinping.

[00:04:32] But what you talk about yesterday in the end-of-day report is it has taken forever to get the pictures that the bureaucrats at the National Archives didn't want to post

[00:04:43] because it really documents what we've known for some time.

[00:04:46] Can you tell us more?

[00:04:47] Well, that's a great summary, Kirby.

[00:04:50] Yeah, so this photo was taken back in 2013, I believe, on a trip by Biden to Beijing.

[00:04:59] And it shows his son Hunter with him.

[00:05:02] And they get to meet Xi, the leader of Communist China, as well as a number of what would become Hunter Biden's business partners.

[00:05:14] And, man, it looks like they're having a jolly old time.

[00:05:16] Now, of course, over the years, President Biden has repeatedly said, I've never met his business partners.

[00:05:24] I don't know anything about him.

[00:05:25] I've never paved the way for anything in Washington, D.C. or in Communist China.

[00:05:31] And, of course, the National Archives and the folks that took the photo and so forth.

[00:05:37] I don't know if anybody had to say to them, don't let that photo out.

[00:05:42] These people are all members of the same club.

[00:05:45] So they know when they need to run cover and when they can be, you know, more honest and fair.

[00:05:53] There was an infamous photo years ago of Barack Obama with Louis Farrakhan, a screaming anti-Semite, a crazy man.

[00:06:04] And Obama met with him, as did members of the Congressional Black Caucus.

[00:06:09] And that picture, the photograph, the photographer who took it admitted years later that he kept that photograph private for, I think it was a decade,

[00:06:19] because he knew if it got out, it would hurt them.

[00:06:22] And he was politically on their side.

[00:06:26] So we get this, we see this sort of both the deep state and the media combine get up every morning trying to figure out how they can help the left.

[00:06:36] That's the bottom line.

[00:06:37] Gary, it's Penna Dexter.

[00:06:39] And, you know, I look at this and I find it fascinating that the National Archives would refuse for 11 years.

[00:06:48] Wasn't it 11 years since these pictures were taken?

[00:06:50] I mean, you don't think there's any pressure coming from the White House or the FBI or somebody?

[00:07:00] Well, you know, yeah, it may very well.

[00:07:03] There may have been direct pressure for that to happen.

[00:07:09] But, look, these folks, have you ever noticed, I've noticed this over the years, there will be a debate going on.

[00:07:18] And literally within 24 hours, every liberal or leftist, no matter what line of work they're in, they could be in government or business or in academe,

[00:07:29] they will all use exactly the same phraseology.

[00:07:34] And I guess where I'm getting at now, there may have been a memo that went out, although nobody's ever been able to get on that list that's on our side.

[00:07:42] But I think it's almost an instinctive thing.

[00:07:45] Ah, there's our talking point.

[00:07:47] So nobody needs to tell anybody else.

[00:07:50] They just hear it once and they know what they're supposed to do.

[00:07:53] And I think everybody in the government bureaucracy, many of them, are so driven by ideology that when Donald Trump takes the oath of office,

[00:08:04] when they get up every morning, nobody will have to tell them, do whatever you have to do to frustrate and block what President Trump is trying to do.

[00:08:16] And likewise, when there's a leftist in or somebody like Joe Biden or whatever, whether it's the National Archive or the Department of Education or the Justice Department,

[00:08:27] they all know their job is to cover for the guy in the White House because they're part of the hive.

[00:09:16] Let's take a break.

[00:10:17] He's doing more than just talking.

[00:10:19] He has implemented the largest and fastest military buildup since the Second World War.

[00:10:24] He is stockpiling grain and other commodities.

[00:10:26] He is surveying America for strikes and sabotage.

[00:10:29] He is mobilizing China's civilians for battle.

[00:10:32] His final chapter details what America must do now.

[00:10:36] I pray that the incoming administration is taking note.

[00:10:39] I'm Kirby Anderson, and that's my point of view.

[00:10:46] For a free booklet on a biblical view of Patriot Preachers, go to viewpoints.info slash Patriot Preachers.

[00:10:54] Viewpoints.info slash Patriot Preachers.

[00:10:58] You're listening to Point of View, your listener-supported source for truth.

[00:11:04] Back once again, let me just encourage you, if you would want to give to Point of View,

[00:11:07] that number is 800-347-5151.

[00:11:10] We'll give to it again, that number a little bit later.

[00:11:13] Might hold up this book, Plan Red, and this is from Gordon Chang.

[00:11:17] That's my commentary today, but you'll also see Penadextra's commentary about disappearing dining rooms,

[00:11:22] which actually we'll talk more about on Friday.

[00:11:25] And, of course, we have with us Gary Bauer.

[00:11:27] And if you would like to give to him a couple ways to do it,

[00:11:30] first of all, you will see that we've posted his end-of-day report, so click on that.

[00:11:34] That second button says Contribute,

[00:11:36] so there's a way you can contribute to our American values.

[00:11:40] We also have a link that is provided, which we often haven't provided, but this time did,

[00:11:45] to the Campaign for Working Families, in case you wanted to help the political events that he's involved with as well.

[00:11:52] But, Gary, we certainly have wanted to focus on some of your financial needs,

[00:11:57] and it sounds like you still have some needs because I keep getting your emails.

[00:11:59] So how are you doing so far?

[00:12:02] Well, I apologize for this 10 emails a day, Kirby.

[00:12:06] But, look, we're doing fine.

[00:12:09] I joked a little bit when we began our conversation,

[00:12:12] and I really don't want to leave our time together today without throwing my two cents worth in

[00:12:21] that people really need to stand with point of view.

[00:12:26] The work you do to inform your audience, it's just central.

[00:12:31] And likewise with Kelly and his wonderful organization and how they defend our rights in court.

[00:12:38] So there's a lot of great groups out there, folks.

[00:12:42] You know, I'm stuck here in the swamp, and, you know, it's tough going.

[00:12:47] But, yeah, somebody's got to do it, right?

[00:12:50] But I really hope that you all continue to have success, and you deserve it,

[00:12:57] and you're doing something that few other places do to get the right information out.

[00:13:02] So, Gary, I love reading your updates, and it does help me sift through and see what you think is important,

[00:13:07] and that's a good piece of information for us to have.

[00:13:12] But I wanted to ask you, because we were talking before about how the left gets on the same page just, you know,

[00:13:19] maybe automatically no one needs to tell them.

[00:13:21] And I'm wondering now, with the death of Jimmy Carter, I'm seeing all over the media that he was a nice man,

[00:13:28] and even many saying that, you know, he came into a bad situation.

[00:13:33] The country was in trouble, and that's the reason he was such a failure as a president.

[00:13:38] I mean, is that one of those things where they all think they have to say that?

[00:13:43] Well, I'm not sure how this happened, but I've seen the same thing that you've noticed, Pena.

[00:13:49] I mean, my goodness, I've been reading and listening to these reviews of the Carter years,

[00:13:54] Carter years, and I have to say, even to some extent, on Fox News.

[00:14:00] And I lived during those years, and it was not good.

[00:14:07] It was – our country was on the ropes.

[00:14:11] I think it was the Carter years where the polling first started to show a majority of Americans thought we were moving in the wrong direction.

[00:14:18] We were being humiliated by the Islamic Republic of Iran.

[00:14:24] There was the whole gas lines and all the rest of that.

[00:14:29] Carter did his famous Malay speech where he blamed the American people for what was going wrong.

[00:14:36] He called Israel an apartheid state.

[00:14:40] He wanted to welcome Hamas into the community of legitimate organizations.

[00:14:46] This was not a good guy on policy.

[00:14:50] I mean, I think he was a Christian.

[00:14:52] I think he had fairly good character.

[00:14:54] But it just goes to show that while that's a wonderful thing to be, it's not enough to make you a great president.

[00:15:01] He was a terrible president.

[00:15:03] And it's the reason Ronald Reagan carried 44 states in 1980.

[00:15:08] And then I believe, if I'm remembering correctly, 49 states in 1984 because the public was tired of Carter.

[00:15:18] Yeah.

[00:15:18] You know, Gary, the thing – we talked about this on Point of View.

[00:15:22] I saw a political odds maker.

[00:15:26] He, like, literally used to do Vegas and – but he's done politics now for a number of years.

[00:15:31] And he predicted before the election that this was – that Trump was going to win and he was going to win big when everybody wasn't predicting that.

[00:15:40] And when they asked him why, he said, this is a repeat of Carter to Reagan.

[00:15:46] And he started going through all the similarities.

[00:15:49] And it was incredible, right?

[00:15:50] I mean, the economic – you know, the Bidenomics was exactly, you know, or similar to what Carter had brought on the country and the lack of respect abroad and all of this.

[00:16:03] And I thought that was really telling.

[00:16:07] I kind of feel like Biden – and I'm going to take a little of the blame off him but not much because of his lack of capacity.

[00:16:16] But I feel like he's a mean, angry Jimmy Carter.

[00:16:21] So he's got the bad policy.

[00:16:23] But he's also got the really obnoxious things, like even what he did when they were – when Trump issued a very kind statement regarding Carter's death.

[00:16:33] And they asked Biden the question, and he uses that as an opportunity to attack Trump on his way in and his way out.

[00:16:43] And so that's – I just see him as equally bad on policy but not acting so good as a person, you know, with some of these things he says and does.

[00:16:54] Trying to – saying that Merrick Garland hadn't gone far enough and all these other things that he's doing now, really sad to watch.

[00:17:02] Kelly, I think that's a great summary of the reality.

[00:17:07] And, you know, over the last four years, you've experienced the same thing, I'm sure.

[00:17:13] I'll be talking to some establishment Republican senator or somebody that's been around town for a while, and they'll say,

[00:17:20] well, Gary, you know, I don't agree with Joe Biden.

[00:17:24] But I was over there the other day, man, he's a nice guy.

[00:17:28] No, he isn't.

[00:17:30] He's not a nice guy.

[00:17:32] He's been lying for years.

[00:17:34] He knows he's been lying about a whole host of things.

[00:17:38] He plays the race card over and over again.

[00:17:42] And that's a terrible thing to do, to exploit race and racial divisions for your own political gain.

[00:17:50] The guy wants unlimited abortion all nine months of pregnancy.

[00:17:56] And then he turns around and shows mercy to 47 convicted murderers and rapists on death row.

[00:18:04] A nice guy doesn't do that.

[00:18:06] That's a terrible guy.

[00:18:08] And we can't – he can't be out of office fast enough.

[00:18:12] Just before I let you go, let me just mention that we do have some links to American values.

[00:18:17] And you actually point out that not only in the commentary we mentioned a minute ago about China, that 2025 will be a war.

[00:18:24] I think there are some people that are thinking, well, it's all over.

[00:18:28] Yesterday we had Alan West with us, and he said it's kind of like the Empire Strikes Back.

[00:18:32] You know, it was the second one of the Star Wars.

[00:18:34] I think somewhere along the line some of the conciliatory comments being made are going to end pretty quickly,

[00:18:42] and we're going to have to gear up for 2025, aren't we?

[00:18:46] No question about it, Kirby.

[00:18:47] We have a tendency on our side.

[00:18:49] When we lose, we slink away depressed.

[00:18:53] And when we win, we go, wow, it's all over.

[00:18:56] Those are both wrong reactions.

[00:18:59] And 2025, we have to make sure it's a successful year for faith, family, and freedom.

[00:19:07] They want to make it a terrible year.

[00:19:10] They want Donald Trump to fail.

[00:19:12] So people, you know, again, take a little bit of rest here on New Year's, but be ready for the battle because it's going to start in earnest on January 20th.

[00:19:21] And, Gary, you know, one of the things I think is great about people that want to read sort of from somebody in D.C.

[00:19:28] about what's really going on from the conservative viewpoint is we're about to watch something we've never seen attempted.

[00:19:34] We've always had the government going for more power, more swampiness.

[00:19:42] You know, it just grows a little bit every year, right?

[00:19:44] We have never really seen an administration come in with a mandate to take it on.

[00:19:51] And to have all these new people that are going to be in charge of the FBI and all these different agencies that are literally supposed to reform their agencies,

[00:20:00] to hear your report and what's really going on, I think it's going to be important for people to have that information.

[00:20:07] Well, thank you, Kirby.

[00:20:09] But you're absolutely right on your observation.

[00:20:11] I mean, politicians run for office promising all kinds of things that will expand the size of government and the amount of spending we're doing.

[00:20:22] That's not what President Trump's mandate is.

[00:20:25] He made it very clear that he wanted government to get smaller, your taxes to go lower, the deficit to be improved.

[00:20:34] So I'm convinced they're going to try to do it.

[00:20:37] But, man, the resistance will be unbelievable.

[00:20:41] So people, you know, the average guy, the average taxpayer, this is your opportunity.

[00:20:47] You've got the right lineup in Washington, and great things can be accomplished.

[00:20:51] Well, again, our AmericanValues.org is there, and so we encourage you.

[00:20:56] And, Gary, Happy New Year.

[00:20:58] Happy New Year to you all, too, and look forward to the battles ahead and many, many victories to come.

[00:21:03] As we go to a break, though, let me just mention that Warren Kelly told us that we have another match on the table.

[00:21:08] That's a dollar-for-dollar match.

[00:21:10] So let me encourage you, if you would want to, call that number, 800-347-5151, 800-347-5151.

[00:21:20] We have staff answering the phone.

[00:21:22] I even have my wife answering the phone.

[00:21:24] So we're ready for your phone call, 800-347-5151.

[00:21:28] We'll be right back.

[00:21:31] I probably don't need to tell you, but it is the last day of 2024,

[00:21:36] and the last day for you to have your donation to Point of View doubled.

[00:21:41] We are trying to raise $300,000 today so that in 2025 we can continue reaching listeners like Cliff in South Africa.

[00:21:51] Here's what he told us.

[00:21:52] I discovered Point of View when I was looking for balanced conservative commentary and analysis on events in the USA before the election.

[00:22:03] Your website is like a treasure trove of very important information and reliable data.

[00:22:10] Again, that's Cliff in South Africa.

[00:22:12] When you give to Point of View, you're ensuring that listeners all over the world can access a reliable voice of clarity amid chaos.

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[00:22:47] Point of View will continue after this.

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[00:23:02] The opinions expressed on Point of View do not necessarily reflect the views of the management or staff of this station.

[00:23:10] And now, here again, is Kirby Anderson.

[00:23:13] Back once again and again.

[00:23:14] I noticed that sometimes people tune in and tune out because of things that happen.

[00:23:18] And if you did not hear, at the top of the hour, we did talk with Warren Kelly.

[00:23:23] And he said that we were able to meet our initial match.

[00:23:26] And now we have another one.

[00:23:27] And so if you go to the website right now, pointofview.net, you see that we still now have posted the $20,000 matching challenge.

[00:23:35] And you can give us a call at 800-347-5151.

[00:23:39] For those of you that like to wait to the last day, you can do so.

[00:23:43] Or, of course, you can go to the website, pointofview.net.

[00:23:45] In a few minutes, I want to certainly talk about Kelly's material.

[00:23:48] But I thought just since we have Pentadexter and Kelly Shackelford here, one of the articles I posted came from the Wall Street Journal, the House Republican Speaker Test.

[00:23:59] Now, a couple of days ago, it looked like it might be a little more difficult for the Speaker of the House, Mike Johnson.

[00:24:05] But then Donald Trump endorsed him.

[00:24:07] And I think on the air, I actually read that in its entirety so you could hear what he said.

[00:24:12] It was about the best possible endorsement that the incoming president could give to the Speaker of the House.

[00:24:19] And, again, Kelly, let me come to you because more than once you've said, I've known Mike for a long time.

[00:24:24] He's worked with me.

[00:24:25] I would never have predicted ever that he'd be Speaker of the House.

[00:24:29] And if they don't have Mike Johnson as Speaker of the House, I don't know who they get.

[00:24:33] But no, I mean, you know, anybody who watched what happened, I mean, you know, please tell me when the last time we had a strong evangelical Christian as a Speaker of the United States.

[00:24:44] I mean, nobody can point to that.

[00:24:46] OK.

[00:24:47] And the only reason Mike got it.

[00:24:49] I mean, Mike worked at First Liberty.

[00:24:51] So, I mean, this is my prejudices.

[00:24:52] Known Mike for a number of years.

[00:24:54] The only reason he got it.

[00:24:56] And everybody knows this is the situation.

[00:24:58] They just kept trying to get a Speaker and kept trying.

[00:25:00] And they were so frustrated after all the attempts and nobody worked that they kind of turned and saw, well, this guy's at least nice to all of us.

[00:25:10] And they kind of put him up there.

[00:25:12] And only God could bring them to a point where they would actually pick somebody who is, I mean, way more conservative than you could ever hope for in a Speaker of the House.

[00:25:24] And then, you know, but he's got no margin.

[00:25:28] He's got, I mean, pretty much no margin.

[00:25:30] And everybody's always wanting to attack him.

[00:25:32] But I remember when I was there years ago and Dick Armey was there.

[00:25:40] And we were standing with Dick Armey and he said there's going to be a – there was a vote coming up on parental consent for abortion.

[00:25:46] And he said, watch, we'll lose the vote.

[00:25:49] And we said, well, why?

[00:25:51] You know, the Republicans have the House.

[00:25:53] And he said, we have 175 votes.

[00:25:56] That's how many conservatives there are.

[00:25:59] The rest are Republicans.

[00:26:01] And so even when you have a little bit of a cushion, it's really almost impossible to get really conservative things through the House.

[00:26:10] In this case, though, he's got like one or two seats.

[00:26:14] So I think it was really smart of Trump to come behind him because there would have been chaos absent that.

[00:26:23] And there's still going to be some chaos because there's always one or two people in the House that are nutty and want to not vote for the Speaker when they have this little margin.

[00:26:33] And so, you know, we're going to have Massey do that evidently out of Kentucky and maybe somebody else.

[00:26:39] And that's going to create some chaos.

[00:26:41] But I do think it looks like that Mike Johnson will end up being Speaker because if you go against Mike at this point, you're also going against Trump and MAGA Nation.

[00:26:50] And I just don't think representatives want to do that.

[00:26:53] Last time we had a new Congress, Kevin McCarthy was up for Speaker.

[00:26:57] And it was, you know, people remember, I think, that it was dramatic, many rounds of voting.

[00:27:02] He had pledged to vote pretty conservatively on things fiscally and socially.

[00:27:10] And he had done it because he wanted to make sure he had the votes.

[00:27:13] He knew how to count the votes.

[00:27:14] He did that.

[00:27:15] But he still ended up not being reelected.

[00:27:19] Mike Johnson came in.

[00:27:20] And I think the situation now is it's not just it's not really pledges for Mike Johnson and how he's going to behave.

[00:27:26] It's people know what his core convictions are.

[00:27:29] And he hasn't even been able to go with.

[00:27:31] I know him, too, because I served on the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission at the Southern Baptist with him.

[00:27:37] So I got to know him.

[00:27:39] And he also came and did point of view a lot when he was working for First Liberty.

[00:27:44] He would come in.

[00:27:45] And so I know about even the time when he felt that he was supposed to serve the Lord in a greater degree.

[00:27:53] He had an actual experience where God showed him.

[00:27:57] I really am not surprised, he's speaker.

[00:27:59] I thought even when he was way younger, I saw something.

[00:28:03] And there is something about him because he is congenial and he listens to everyone and he's a very good communicator.

[00:28:11] So I actually when he when he was elevated, I wasn't surprised.

[00:28:16] And I've been fervently praying for him.

[00:28:19] And we whoever the speaker is, we need to be praying.

[00:28:22] That's a powerful position.

[00:28:23] And it's a very difficult position because you need 218 votes and he doesn't really have the votes.

[00:28:30] And that's the thing.

[00:28:31] He's got to get some Democrats to vote with him because he doesn't have the Republicans.

[00:28:35] You know, again, it has been oftentimes perfunctory who we elect to speaker of the House and then how we count the votes on January 6th.

[00:28:43] And four years ago, January 6th was contentious, to put it mildly.

[00:28:46] And one of the commentators the other day said the Trump election has made January 6th boring again.

[00:28:54] So that is the case.

[00:28:55] But Pena talked about prayer.

[00:28:57] We do have a button here for Pray for America.

[00:28:59] I suspect many of you are on our list for Pray for America.

[00:29:02] But we have another one going out.

[00:29:04] And she just encouraged you and I would encourage you to follow her lead to pray for this debate and this vote on Friday,

[00:29:12] which would be, of course, the speaker vote.

[00:29:15] And then on Monday, we'll talk about this a little bit later, whether or not there might be some disruption on January 6th.

[00:29:21] But I think a lot less than what we saw.

[00:29:24] I don't think so.

[00:29:24] Yeah, it's probably a few angry speeches and that'll be that.

[00:29:28] And so, again, as we said, Donald Trump sort of turned January 6th boring again.

[00:29:33] And that, I think, Kelly, back to your comment, is important.

[00:29:36] When you win all seven swing states, when you win the Electoral College vote,

[00:29:41] and when you win the popular vote, it really kind of shuts the other side down pretty quickly, doesn't it?

[00:29:46] It does.

[00:29:47] It takes away the controversy.

[00:29:50] And, you know, so nobody's claiming this time on the Democratic side that Donald Trump didn't win the election.

[00:29:55] Now they're saying, well, he was an insurrectionist.

[00:29:59] You know.

[00:30:00] And we'll hear those speeches probably on Monday.

[00:30:02] Which is really silly.

[00:30:02] I mean, again, you know, even, I mean, it's just amazing what they do.

[00:30:07] He's up giving a speech saying, peacefully protest.

[00:30:12] And that makes him an insurrectionist.

[00:30:15] I mean, it's just bizarre.

[00:30:17] But it just shows, I think there hasn't been a single time that a Republican has won the presidency

[00:30:25] where, since I think 2004 maybe, when Democrats in the House did not, on the floor, object.

[00:30:35] And somehow, though, when the Republicans, some of the Republicans did it, it made them treasonous.

[00:30:42] But somehow it's okay every time for the Democrats to do it.

[00:30:46] And, I mean, look, it really is not that big of a deal because we do have the majority controls in the House and the Senate.

[00:30:56] And so even if somebody tried to create some situation, even if the president of the Senate, which is the vice president,

[00:31:05] tried to create a situation, the House and the Senate, it's a combined meeting, can overrule them.

[00:31:10] They control, not the president of the Senate is really just perfunctory.

[00:31:14] So there's a lot of, you know, I don't know what the word for it is.

[00:31:19] There's a lot of, oh, my gosh, and, you know, terror over things that really are baseless.

[00:31:27] Ultimately, the people control through their representative government, and those are senators, which represent the states,

[00:31:35] and House members, which is more the general population.

[00:31:38] They're all together in that meeting as one, and they control, not any person or any person objecting or anything like that.

[00:31:50] That's always been silly to me.

[00:31:52] Yes.

[00:31:53] Well, again, we've got to recognize it.

[00:31:55] When you said 2004, I think there was one, but remember 2000, all the controversies.

[00:31:59] So there was always something.

[00:32:01] You have to probably go back to the election of George H. Bush to finally find one where there wasn't somebody,

[00:32:08] at least objecting during the time in which they simply ratify the votes that took place in the 50 different state legislatures for the Electoral College.

[00:32:18] So we are starting to get back to a little more peaceful action, but we should, as Penna suggested, be praying about this Friday.

[00:32:26] And we'll be on the air Friday, so we'll be talking about it, and we'll see what happens there.

[00:32:31] When we come back from the break, though, I do want to talk a little bit about the year ahead.

[00:32:35] Kelly Shackelford has this video.

[00:32:36] It's about 30 minutes long.

[00:32:39] I know that you are busy, but you can probably afford 30 minutes because he helps you really understand the fact that, again,

[00:32:46] look at all the victories that First Liberty has had in terms of religious liberty.

[00:32:50] But we still recognize that there are still woke, multi-billion-dollar corporations that are forcing employees to choose between their jobs and their faith.

[00:33:00] They're out-of-control local governments shutting down ministries, putting people out in the cold, not allowing you to feed people.

[00:33:07] We'll talk about some of that.

[00:33:08] And then some of these groups trying to prevent you from even being able to express your faith in public.

[00:33:13] So this is a link to First Liberty.

[00:33:15] First Liberty, it also then gives you a chance to watch the video, and if you scroll down, there's a place in which you can actually donate.

[00:33:22] And what's your match-up to these days?

[00:33:24] We have some donors that came forward and put up $600,000 that they're matching through today.

[00:33:31] So, again, I don't think you have to make a choice.

[00:33:34] You can support Point of View, and you can also support First Liberty.

[00:33:37] Most of us around the table do both of those, so we're not asking you to do something that we don't do.

[00:33:41] But let's take a break.

[00:33:42] We'll come back and hear from Kelly Shackelford, maybe a few comments about the bowl games.

[00:33:46] Got to get that from him before he has to head off.

[00:33:48] We'll be right back.

[00:33:55] You're listening to Point of View, your listener-supported source for truth.

[00:34:01] Ben, once again, Pennedexter, Kelly Shackelford.

[00:34:03] At the top of the hour, we'll have Warren Kelly come in and see how we're doing.

[00:34:06] But, again, if you have just joined us, we were talking about the fact that we did meet the match,

[00:34:11] and we've had two couples step forward and put another match on the table.

[00:34:15] So if you are one of those, and there are quite a number of Point of View listeners that like to wait to the last day,

[00:34:21] we're at the last day, coming up to the last hour.

[00:34:24] And if you would want to join with us, you can go to the website, pointofview.net,

[00:34:29] or give us a call at 1-800-347-5151.

[00:34:33] Of course, Kelly, we have a link to your website and this video for about 30 minutes.

[00:34:38] You and Stuart Shepard spent some time talking about the challenges you're facing in the future.

[00:34:42] What are those?

[00:34:43] Yeah, I mean, really, we talked about if you're a person who cares about religious liberty, what's happening?

[00:34:48] What's coming?

[00:34:49] And, really, my summary is I've really never been more excited about what I see right ahead of us

[00:34:57] that can have such a huge impact on our religious freedoms.

[00:35:01] And not just for us, but even for our kids and even our grandkids.

[00:35:06] And it's rare to be able to say something like that.

[00:35:09] But we start, number one, with the courts.

[00:35:12] The Trump administration last time was really committed to this idea of putting originalist judges on the court,

[00:35:19] ones who said you look to the original meaning of the text, including the Constitution,

[00:35:24] instead of sort of the living, evolving document approach,

[00:35:28] where truth evolves and the words evolve and they just change them to what they mean.

[00:35:33] I mean, well, you know, we saw the result eight years ago.

[00:35:36] We went in and we did that.

[00:35:39] And, you know, it was five years later.

[00:35:42] We were at the Supreme Court with the Biden administration against us, by the way,

[00:35:46] in a number of these cases.

[00:35:48] And we won four cases and major religious liberty cases at the Supreme Court

[00:35:53] because we had judges who, you know, almost everybody knows about Coach Kennedy, right?

[00:35:58] We would have not have won that case had those justices not been put on the court under President Trump.

[00:36:06] And so Coach Kennedy and every coach in the country would be, you know, fired if they prayed by themselves.

[00:36:14] The massive overturning of precedent that occurred there that is opening up, you know,

[00:36:19] you'll see creches and menorahs and things all over the country for the first time this year.

[00:36:25] There was even a nativity scene at the Capitol this year.

[00:36:29] That's just the beginning.

[00:36:30] But none of that would have happened.

[00:36:32] And so there's going to be probably 150 to 160 judicial seats that Trump will get to appoint.

[00:36:39] These are lifetime appointments.

[00:36:42] And it's really important that they be really solid judges and justices.

[00:36:47] And the first two years especially are crucial because right now the Senate is 53-47,

[00:36:55] which gives the president some leeway to go with stronger, more conservative nominees.

[00:37:02] Two years from now, that could change.

[00:37:04] I mean, the Senate could flip.

[00:37:06] It could go down to 51 or 50.

[00:37:08] And now you've got a lot more difficult getting really solid constitutionalist judges on the court.

[00:37:15] So this is a huge deal because, you know, one case is really big.

[00:37:20] You know, one judge is bigger because it's a lot of cases.

[00:37:24] 150 judges, 160 judges.

[00:37:27] That is a lot, a lot of cases for a lot of time into the future.

[00:37:31] These are lifetime appointments.

[00:37:33] So they're probably going to average 25, maybe even 30 years on the court.

[00:37:38] So your kids, your grandkids, you talk about their freedoms, their protection.

[00:37:43] It's really rare for you to be able to do something right in front of you that has such a broad and long in years impact on your freedoms and your children, your grandchildren.

[00:37:54] You know, the prevailing thought, I think, of Americans is that government is hustle to religion.

[00:38:00] It has to be.

[00:38:02] It's supposed to be somewhat hostile.

[00:38:04] You can't allow too much religion in the public square.

[00:38:08] Right or wrong, I think that's been sort of the atmosphere.

[00:38:12] But with the cases that have been won at the Supreme Court, now that's changing.

[00:38:19] Of course, I know that at First Liberty you're doing things to help bring the public awareness of those changes,

[00:38:26] especially governments, that they can now do things.

[00:38:29] They probably had the right to do before, but they've been sort of prevented either by self-censorship or really misguided public leaders that haven't allowed certain expressions of religion.

[00:38:42] But that whole mindset in America, I mean, really, it's had the rug pulled out from under it.

[00:38:49] And now I think there's a time for a lot of religious liberty to flow into America.

[00:38:53] And then I think you have three cases that may go to the Supreme Court and the opportunity to get some judges in the lower courts that are really, really solid.

[00:39:03] So it's pretty exciting.

[00:39:04] Yeah, we'll see what happens with Supreme Court justices.

[00:39:08] Even if like a Justice Thomas or a Justice Alito, who are very well-known, well-respected as conservative jurists and some of the leading people in the country,

[00:39:19] even if they're replaced, it's significant to replace an 80-year-old judge with a 48-year-old judge because you're now making sure that that continues,

[00:39:33] that approach to the Constitution continues in the future.

[00:39:36] And so the judges is a big deal.

[00:39:39] And for those who aren't following First Liberty, I would encourage them, make sure to go to first – go to pointofview.net, hit on the First Liberty link,

[00:39:47] and they can sign up for the FLI Insider, the First Liberty Insider.

[00:39:52] And on Fridays, like this Friday, they're going to get some things, and it's going to mention some things that have been going on with courts and judges,

[00:39:58] and we will keep people up to date on what's happening.

[00:40:02] But that will affect so many cases.

[00:40:04] And see, I'm not even talking about by probably February.

[00:40:09] I think right now we have three cases sitting at the Supreme Court.

[00:40:12] I think by February we'll have five.

[00:40:14] Wow.

[00:40:14] So we've got like a bunch of big cases on their way up there.

[00:40:18] Normally we'd be talking about that because those are big, but man, another Supreme Court justice is even bigger because that's a lot of future cases.

[00:40:27] That's right.

[00:40:27] Again, a lot of things I want to talk with you about, but you'll be back on Friday,

[00:40:31] but you're going to have to leave early, not to watch a football game, unfortunately, because Penn State and Boise State are playing,

[00:40:37] but to go to a website, to a wedding, I should say.

[00:40:40] But I thought I'd get some comments from you because, if nothing else, the old argument was that a camel is created by a government bureaucracy.

[00:40:49] I think the playoff system this year was created by a government bureaucracy.

[00:40:54] Well, no doubt about that.

[00:40:55] It seems to be having some problems, don't you think?

[00:40:56] Yeah.

[00:40:57] You know, when you do things the first time, you know, you often make a lot of mistakes and you learn your lessons.

[00:41:04] You would have thought, though, the NCAA would have been able to have learned.

[00:41:08] I mean, their basketball tournament has been going for years and is incredibly successful,

[00:41:14] and they just refused to follow a couple of the basic things that the basketball NCAA had learned.

[00:41:23] So, number one, they not only let people in the football playoffs because they won their conference,

[00:41:29] but they seeded them higher.

[00:41:31] Well, that's a really bad idea.

[00:41:34] Because you get all these lopsided situations, and good teams are put behind teams that are in a weak conference,

[00:41:42] and they win their conference.

[00:41:43] And so, everybody's recognized this is really not a fair system.

[00:41:47] I mean, Oregon, the number one team in the country, has one of the most difficult paths to win because of this weird way they did it.

[00:41:54] The way they do it in the NCAA tournament, the basketball, if you win your conference, that might get you into the tournament,

[00:42:00] but they seed you based upon how good you are in the year.

[00:42:03] The other thing that I thought was a horrible mistake is in the first round, they had the favorites play at home.

[00:42:11] So, guess what's going to happen when they're already favored, and then you let them play at home.

[00:42:17] Everybody's going to get bored because it's going to be blowouts.

[00:42:20] That's what it was.

[00:42:21] That was predicted beforehand in the NCAA basketball tournament.

[00:42:24] They do not do that.

[00:42:25] You do not play home games.

[00:42:27] You play on neutral places where sometimes you can have upsets.

[00:42:31] So, I have a feeling because they like good TV because it brings in money that these two things will change.

[00:42:37] But they made mistakes because when you do things for the first time, sometimes you make some big mistakes,

[00:42:42] and they made some big mistakes, I think, this year.

[00:42:44] We'll see you Friday, and then we'll see how you thought about the quarterfinals.

[00:42:47] But this, if nothing else, illustrates what Penna has to put up with every once in a while.

[00:42:51] We talk about football, and Penna's like, I'm really not that interested, but we certainly enjoy that.

[00:42:55] That's not true.

[00:42:56] I enjoy football.

[00:42:57] Yeah, she's gone to the Rose Bowl, so I shouldn't play it off that way.

[00:42:59] But nevertheless, we are going to a break.

[00:43:02] And let me mention right now that we do have a match on the table.

[00:43:05] So, if you would want to call 800-347-5151.

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