Point of View January 8, 2025 – Hour 2 : Mid-Week News

[00:00:04] Across America, Live, this is Point of View, Kirby Anderson.

[00:00:20] Second hour today, we're going to spend some time talking about immigration, talk a little bit about the criminal justice system, get into a variety of other topics that I think are relevant.

[00:00:28] And again, as a program note, let me just mention tomorrow is our Millennial Roundtable.

[00:00:33] I'm hoping that will come off.

[00:00:34] We are going to experience a little bit of a snow drift.

[00:00:38] And for those of you in the upper Midwest or our listeners in Alaska, you better be rolling your eyes.

[00:00:44] I know. But nevertheless, we'll see whether that's a problem.

[00:00:47] It may not be at all. But nevertheless, just thought I'd mention that briefly because I want to do get into a couple of issues.

[00:00:54] And the first article that we've posted today by James Lynch, and it could be from anybody, but that's the one I picked,

[00:01:01] points out that yesterday the House of Representatives passed the Laken-Riley Act.

[00:01:07] Now, if you're not familiar with that, it was introduced before, and let's give credit where credit was due.

[00:01:13] It was first introduced by Representative Mike Collins, who is a Republican from the state of Georgia.

[00:01:18] Of course, that makes a great deal of sense because of the death of Laken-Riley at the hands of an individual that was here illegally.

[00:01:27] And as a result, what this piece of legislation would do is require federal agents to detain anyone who is here illegally,

[00:01:37] an illegal immigrant, an illegal migrant, an undocumented worker, whatever phrase you feel comfortable using,

[00:01:45] if they are suspected of committing nonviolent crimes.

[00:01:50] And, of course, you would think that there would already be a willingness to detain those individuals who have committed violent crimes.

[00:01:58] And you would be naive to think that every governor and every mayor would want even to go along with that.

[00:02:06] So, it, I think, illustrates the pushback that's probably going to happen in the next couple of weeks

[00:02:12] as a person like Tom Holman, who will be the border czar, begins to deport individuals after, of course, Donald Trump,

[00:02:21] in less than two weeks, puts his hand on the Bible, takes the oath of office, and becomes the next president of the United States.

[00:02:28] The vote is significant, and this is why I'm thinking it might be an action item.

[00:02:33] We'll see how we go here.

[00:02:35] Because the House voted 264 to 159 to pass the Laken-Riley Act.

[00:02:42] That means that you had 48 Democrats in the House of Representatives that believed that if an individual is here illegally

[00:02:51] and has committed a crime that the federal enforcement agencies should detain him.

[00:03:00] This is in the category, I would think, pretty close of a no-brainer.

[00:03:06] Nevertheless, that means that, interestingly enough, you had 159 Democrats who said,

[00:03:13] no, we couldn't actually support that piece of legislation.

[00:03:17] And, of course, if you're not familiar, Laken-Riley was the Georgia nursing student who was murdered last year

[00:03:23] by, of course, this illegal immigrant.

[00:03:26] And, in a sense, the House has passed it in an overwhelmingly bipartisan manner.

[00:03:33] And Mike Collins, who was the one that first introduced the legislation last year,

[00:03:39] actually said that no family should have to go through what Laken's family has endured.

[00:03:45] And, of course, they passed it last year.

[00:03:49] And, of course, as you well know, it went nowhere.

[00:03:51] So now, he says, it's now up to the Senate to work together to put this crucial legislation on President Trump's desk.

[00:04:00] Now, last Congress, you had 37 Democrats join Republicans in voting for the Laken-Riley Act.

[00:04:09] So let's give credit to the fact that now you have 48.

[00:04:13] So the number has increased.

[00:04:15] That's helpful.

[00:04:16] But you also have to know that now it goes to the Senate.

[00:04:21] Now, the Senate has enough votes just among the Republicans.

[00:04:26] You have John Conley.

[00:04:28] John, no, wait a minute.

[00:04:30] Cornyn, excuse me.

[00:04:31] Goes back a few generations.

[00:04:33] John Cornyn, who is the senator from the state of Texas, who has been counting names, votes, and everything,

[00:04:41] and assures everyone that all 52 Republicans will vote for this.

[00:04:47] And it could be 53.

[00:04:48] But, as we pointed out, we're still waiting for the governor of West Virginia.

[00:04:52] So 52.

[00:04:53] Now, in order to actually move ahead to break filibuster, you need 60.

[00:04:59] So that means you need eight Democrats in the United States Senate.

[00:05:04] Now, the good news is that even though you have the Republicans controlling the Senate,

[00:05:10] they have to work with the Democrats.

[00:05:12] And the good news is, as far as I can determine,

[00:05:15] we can identify at least two of the necessary eight that have actually picked up this legislation.

[00:05:23] And, again, let's give credit where credit is due.

[00:05:25] That would be Democrats John Fetterman from Pennsylvania and Gary Peters from Michigan.

[00:05:32] So now we're looking for six more Democrats who would actually do the voting.

[00:05:39] And, again, John Fetterman has surprised me more than once.

[00:05:43] But here is what he said on X the other day.

[00:05:46] That is ICE, Customs and Immigration, have reported tens of thousands of migrants with criminal records,

[00:05:53] homicide or sexual assault.

[00:05:55] 425,000 have criminal records in total and should be deported.

[00:05:58] I support a secure border.

[00:06:00] I support a legal path for Dreamers.

[00:06:02] I support the Laken-Riley Act.

[00:06:05] So that is the case.

[00:06:07] So if you want to, even before we put up any kind of action item,

[00:06:13] congratulate if you have a Republican senator for their support, you could certainly do that.

[00:06:18] If you want to actually congratulate at least two Democrats,

[00:06:22] John Fetterman of Pennsylvania, Gary Peters of Michigan.

[00:06:25] But those of you that are in states where we have to pick up at least six more,

[00:06:30] you might write them as well.

[00:06:32] For those of you in the state of Alabama, let's give high praise to Senator Katie Britt.

[00:06:38] She is the one right now leading this in the Republican Senate.

[00:06:43] And as a result is somebody that has been working really hard to do that.

[00:06:48] Also, let's also mention that there's companion legislation that, along with, of course,

[00:06:53] the one I just mentioned by John Fetterman or Gary Peters, there's one from Senate Majority Leader John Thune,

[00:06:58] who's the Republican in South Dakota, and Ted Budd, who's on the program with us the other day,

[00:07:03] who's a Republican from North Carolina.

[00:07:05] So the Senate is expected to vote on Friday on the Laken-Riley Act.

[00:07:10] Now, it's not a vote on up or down.

[00:07:13] It's really a vote on whether or not we have the 60 votes necessary to overcome the filibuster.

[00:07:19] So we'll see where that goes.

[00:07:21] But again, Senator Britt put it this way.

[00:07:24] The American people did not just deliver a mandate on November 5th.

[00:07:29] They delivered a verdict.

[00:07:30] They made it clear they want to remove criminal illegal aliens and protect American families.

[00:07:36] She went on to say,

[00:07:37] We will soon know whether Democrats here respect or obey that verdict.

[00:07:42] Congress has an obligation to Laken, her family, and to families in every corner of our country

[00:07:48] to do everything in our power to help prevent this type of tragedy from occurring again.

[00:07:55] I might just mention that a number of years ago, and this was back in 2018, so it goes back a little bit,

[00:08:01] here I'm holding up my booklet on a biblical point of view on immigration.

[00:08:05] And it looks at both aspects, both the fact that we should treat individuals that are here,

[00:08:11] whether they're here legally or illegally, with respect, but also we should respect the rule of law.

[00:08:17] So I think it really helps understand both biblical principles.

[00:08:21] And we'll probably update this one, especially in light of some of the legislation

[00:08:25] and even this issue of deportation that will be in the future.

[00:08:29] But if you don't already have a way to kind of think through from a biblical point of view this issue of immigration,

[00:08:35] let me commend this booklet to you and be glad to send it to you.

[00:08:38] And we'll take a break and get into some other very important issues right after these important messages.

[00:08:58] This is Viewpoints with Kirby Anderson.

[00:09:02] Yesterday I talked about debanking, which occurs when an individual is denied banking services

[00:09:07] because of their political stance or business venture.

[00:09:10] What happens when this happens to a nation?

[00:09:12] We call this action financial sanctions and have seen many examples of that in the last decade.

[00:09:17] The U.S. and its allies were able to freeze Russian financial accounts

[00:09:21] and shut off the Russian central bank's access to hundreds of billions of dollars of foreign reserves.

[00:09:26] The IMF has been able to suspend the Taliban's access to various funds and financial instruments.

[00:09:32] As legitimate as these actions might be, punishing Russia for invading Ukraine

[00:09:37] or punishing the Taliban for terrorist activities, they concern other countries.

[00:09:42] Will the U.S. or other international agencies one day punish them for a policy they enact?

[00:09:47] That is why many countries are looking for another currency than the dollar,

[00:09:51] which right now serves as the world's reserve currency.

[00:09:54] That is why the BRICS nations have been talking about developing another currency.

[00:09:58] That is also why they and other nations are turning to Bitcoin.

[00:10:01] Harvard Ph.D. student Matthew Franti argues in his research paper,

[00:10:06] Hedging Sanctioned Risk, Cryptocurrency and Central Bank Reserves.

[00:10:10] These banks have begun to acquire gold and Bitcoin,

[00:10:13] but he warns they may not be able to collect enough gold

[00:10:16] and should consider the digital asset of Bitcoin to hedge the risk of sanctions.

[00:10:21] Why are nation states talking about acquiring Bitcoin?

[00:10:24] First, they see it as a digital asset.

[00:10:26] Recently, the Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell referred to Bitcoin as digital gold.

[00:10:31] Second, they see it as a hedge against sanctions risk.

[00:10:34] You never know when a nation or an international organization would want to shut down your finances.

[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 Israel, go to viewpoints.info.com.

[00:10:52] Israel.

[00:10:53] Viewpoints.info.com.

[00:10:56] Israel.

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

[00:11:04] Back once again, if you'd like to join the conversation, 1-800-351-1212.

[00:11:07] But I thought for just a minute, those of you watching online, I'll hold up my Babylon Bee cup.

[00:11:13] We had some debate.

[00:11:14] I remember when Steve Miller, my producer, went to one of the Babylon Bee events,

[00:11:19] I thought he brought this cup back from them, but I'm thinking maybe now I've ordered it.

[00:11:23] But either way, we want to salute Babylon Bee for this reason,

[00:11:26] because if you haven't seen it, the lead story today for Babylon Bee,

[00:11:31] which, again, has a lot of fun poking fun at individuals, has a picture of Mark Zuckerberg,

[00:11:37] the guy who said Facebook was not suppressing free speech, announces Facebook will stop suppressing free speech.

[00:11:45] That's a great line, and it may be the best line of the day,

[00:11:49] because what has happened since Mark Zuckerberg has posted that

[00:11:53] is there has been an avalanche of articles, pro and con, about what he had to say.

[00:12:01] I did cover it yesterday, but I thought it would be worthwhile to just mention it,

[00:12:06] because the theme that we sort of are working our way through this week

[00:12:10] has been the issue of censorship.

[00:12:13] My commentary yesterday was on debanking.

[00:12:18] That's when an individual has denied banking services because of their political stance

[00:12:25] or their business venture, and we gave examples from the past,

[00:12:30] more recent ones even out of Silicon Valley.

[00:12:33] My commentary today is about financial sanctions,

[00:12:37] and that one relates in a sense to the idea of debanking,

[00:12:41] but at the nationwide level, in which, of course, after Russia invaded Ukraine,

[00:12:48] we certainly saw the need, or at least this administration saw the need,

[00:12:53] to free some of the financial assets of Russia.

[00:12:57] At the same time, IMF has been able to suspend the access of the Taliban

[00:13:02] to various funds and financial instruments.

[00:13:05] And again, these may be legitimate, that is, punishing Russia for invading Ukraine,

[00:13:11] certainly punishing the Taliban for terrorist activities,

[00:13:14] but the impact has been that other countries have wondered,

[00:13:18] what kind of censorship is going to happen to our finances

[00:13:22] if indeed we find ourselves on the wrong side of one of these powerful agencies

[00:13:28] like the IMF or the Federal Government of the United States

[00:13:32] or whatever it might be.

[00:13:34] And I'll give you a preview.

[00:13:36] My commentary for Friday is actually entitled Ending Censorship,

[00:13:41] in which we're talking about, at that time,

[00:13:44] some of the individuals that Donald Trump has nominated

[00:13:49] for the Federal Trade Commission,

[00:13:52] the Federal Communications Commission,

[00:13:55] maybe the Department of Justice's Civil Rights Division,

[00:13:59] even the head of the NIH,

[00:14:01] not to mention, of course, the head of Health and Human Services,

[00:14:06] Robert Kennedy,

[00:14:07] all are kind of addressing that issue of censorship.

[00:14:11] So, certainly, this is kind of a theme that sort of runs through this week.

[00:14:16] But, just for a minute,

[00:14:18] I thought we'd come back to the requirements

[00:14:22] that Mark Zuckerberg have actually implemented,

[00:14:26] in which he said,

[00:14:27] you know what we're going to do?

[00:14:29] We're going to do what we can

[00:14:31] to prevent having so many of these fact-checkers.

[00:14:36] We're going to end up doing a program with community notes,

[00:14:41] very similar to what X, formerly known as Twitter, has been doing.

[00:14:46] And, as I pointed out to a couple of individuals

[00:14:49] that we were doing a back-and-forth on email comments,

[00:14:54] perhaps the most significant thing from Mark Zuckerberg was this.

[00:14:59] Those individuals that will be kind of monitoring this issue of speech,

[00:15:03] we're going to move them from California to Texas.

[00:15:07] Now, we just, in the last hour, of course,

[00:15:09] talked with Tim Anaya about the California Left Coast Survivor's Guide,

[00:15:14] but even more so,

[00:15:15] recognize that if you live in Palo Alto,

[00:15:19] the Silicon Valley area,

[00:15:21] you are living in a bubble

[00:15:23] where everybody pretty much reinforces your ideas.

[00:15:27] Most of the people at Stanford will agree with your leftist ideas,

[00:15:30] except maybe those at the Hoover Institution there.

[00:15:33] Where Victor Davis Hanson and others who are,

[00:15:35] most of the people in the community are going to agree with you.

[00:15:39] And so, in some respects,

[00:15:40] he's recognized that, you know,

[00:15:42] Silicon Valley isn't necessarily representative of America.

[00:15:46] You think?

[00:15:47] And so, it's kind of interesting

[00:15:49] that not only is he going to change

[00:15:51] how they monitor speech,

[00:15:54] but even the location of the people

[00:15:56] who will be monitoring some of that speech.

[00:15:59] Now, I'm not naive enough to think

[00:16:02] that all of this is done

[00:16:04] because he really is convinced

[00:16:07] that he needs to change what he's doing,

[00:16:10] but as some people are starting to say,

[00:16:13] he felt the need to go and kiss the ring of Donald Trump.

[00:16:18] Whether that's the case or not,

[00:16:20] that's the kind of editorial statements

[00:16:23] that are coming out now

[00:16:25] in not only the New York Times.

[00:16:28] Meta says,

[00:16:29] fact-checkers were the problem.

[00:16:31] Fact-checkers rule that false.

[00:16:33] Meta ends fact-checking,

[00:16:35] drawing praise from Trump.

[00:16:37] One's from the New York Times.

[00:16:38] One's from the Washington Post.

[00:16:40] And then if you look at the letters to the editor,

[00:16:43] there are people that just are so angry and frustrated,

[00:16:48] and many of them simply state bluntly,

[00:16:52] you don't have any free speech,

[00:16:55] at least not when you're on a social media site.

[00:16:59] And in some respects,

[00:17:01] they're partially right

[00:17:02] because the First Amendment doesn't apply to you,

[00:17:06] it applies to the government.

[00:17:07] But when the government has been fiddling with that

[00:17:10] and actually working all sorts of content moderation,

[00:17:14] that is indeed the case.

[00:17:16] So nevertheless,

[00:17:17] it is interesting to see the hue and cry

[00:17:21] and really some of the anger

[00:17:23] that has surfaced over the last 24,

[00:17:27] almost 48 hours

[00:17:28] since some of these announcements have come out,

[00:17:31] in particular,

[00:17:32] over the last about now 36 hours

[00:17:34] since Mark Zuckerberg appeared on video.

[00:17:37] So we'll follow where it goes,

[00:17:39] but nevertheless,

[00:17:41] it illustrates once again

[00:17:42] that this idea of free speech

[00:17:44] is still kind of a controversial idea,

[00:17:46] at least for many people

[00:17:48] that come from a leftist point of view.

[00:17:51] Just before we take a break, though,

[00:17:53] one of the things I would also want to talk about

[00:17:56] is on the anniversary of,

[00:17:59] of course,

[00:18:00] January 6th,

[00:18:01] there was a post

[00:18:03] that came from the Attorney General,

[00:18:06] Merrick Garland,

[00:18:07] in which he was talking about

[00:18:09] five officers who lost their lives,

[00:18:12] and Andrew McCarthy,

[00:18:14] who is up until fairly recently,

[00:18:16] supported the fact that

[00:18:17] Merrick Garland

[00:18:18] would probably be about

[00:18:19] the best Attorney General

[00:18:21] you could get

[00:18:21] given the fact that

[00:18:23] Joe Biden's going to obviously

[00:18:24] have a different viewpoint,

[00:18:26] really began to say,

[00:18:28] wait a minute,

[00:18:29] this is just going beyond the pale.

[00:18:32] So let me quote from Andrew McCarthy

[00:18:34] for just a minute.

[00:18:34] He says,

[00:18:35] first of all,

[00:18:36] let's stipulate that

[00:18:36] Merrick Garland is quite right

[00:18:38] to castigate all who punched,

[00:18:39] tackled,

[00:18:40] tased,

[00:18:41] chemically attacked

[00:18:41] or otherwise assaulted

[00:18:43] police officers,

[00:18:44] but,

[00:18:45] he says,

[00:18:46] again,

[00:18:46] maybe Donald Trump

[00:18:48] would be making a big mistake

[00:18:50] if he were to allow

[00:18:50] those individuals

[00:18:52] to be pardoned,

[00:18:53] but he says,

[00:18:54] let me actually state

[00:18:56] for the umpteenth time

[00:18:57] that no police officers

[00:18:59] died in the line of duty

[00:19:01] during the Capitol riot,

[00:19:02] which,

[00:19:03] of course,

[00:19:03] is exactly what

[00:19:04] was stated by

[00:19:05] the Attorney General,

[00:19:07] Merrick Garland.

[00:19:08] He says,

[00:19:08] we all know this,

[00:19:09] but don't take my word

[00:19:11] for it,

[00:19:11] because here's his argument.

[00:19:13] It is a serious felony

[00:19:15] violation of federal law

[00:19:17] to murder a federal officer

[00:19:19] in the line of duty.

[00:19:20] It is punishable

[00:19:21] by death

[00:19:22] or life imprisonment.

[00:19:23] Federal laws

[00:19:24] that the Justice Department

[00:19:25] enforces

[00:19:26] also severely punish

[00:19:27] conspiracies

[00:19:28] and attempts

[00:19:29] to murder

[00:19:30] federal officers

[00:19:31] who are carrying out

[00:19:32] their official duties,

[00:19:33] and by recent count,

[00:19:34] Garland's Department

[00:19:35] of Justice

[00:19:36] filed charges

[00:19:37] against nearly 1,600

[00:19:39] people in connection

[00:19:40] with the events

[00:19:41] of January 6, 2021,

[00:19:43] and here's the point.

[00:19:45] Not a single charge

[00:19:46] of murder

[00:19:47] of a federal officer

[00:19:48] nor conspiracy

[00:19:49] or attempt

[00:19:50] to murder

[00:19:50] a federal officer

[00:19:52] was alleged

[00:19:52] by the Department

[00:19:53] of Justice.

[00:19:54] He then goes through

[00:19:55] some of the stories

[00:19:56] that we've heard before

[00:19:57] about this

[00:19:58] and then points out

[00:19:59] again that

[00:20:00] the Attorney General,

[00:20:01] Merrick Garland,

[00:20:02] knows this.

[00:20:02] The government

[00:20:03] bears the burden

[00:20:04] of establishing

[00:20:05] that criminal acts

[00:20:06] brought about a murder.

[00:20:07] That is the reason

[00:20:08] why the Justice Department

[00:20:09] never charged,

[00:20:10] for example,

[00:20:10] the death of Officer Sicknick,

[00:20:12] which took place

[00:20:13] days later as that.

[00:20:15] And he said,

[00:20:16] you know,

[00:20:16] when, finally,

[00:20:17] President Biden

[00:20:18] nominated Merrick Garland,

[00:20:19] I said he was

[00:20:20] the best appointee

[00:20:21] that those of us

[00:20:22] who were politically

[00:20:23] and ideologically

[00:20:24] opposed to Joe Biden

[00:20:26] and progressive Democrats

[00:20:28] could hope for.

[00:20:28] I was expecting

[00:20:29] to disagree with him

[00:20:31] on law enforcement priorities,

[00:20:33] but at the same time,

[00:20:35] he said,

[00:20:36] but based on my experience

[00:20:37] interacting with him

[00:20:38] on terrorist prosecutions

[00:20:40] and a number

[00:20:41] of other things,

[00:20:42] I believed he would be

[00:20:43] an institutionalist

[00:20:45] regarding the Department

[00:20:46] of Justice,

[00:20:47] that he would do his best

[00:20:48] to shield the Department

[00:20:49] of Justice from politics

[00:20:50] and not sully

[00:20:52] his public legitimacy

[00:20:53] by making grave allegations

[00:20:56] he knew were untrue

[00:20:57] and couldn't be proven.

[00:20:58] And he ends

[00:20:59] by simply saying,

[00:21:00] how wrong I was.

[00:21:03] So, again,

[00:21:05] one of the best arguments

[00:21:06] against some of these

[00:21:07] comments that keep being made

[00:21:09] about five officers

[00:21:11] that lost their lives

[00:21:13] in the line of duty is,

[00:21:14] if so,

[00:21:15] why didn't you bring

[00:21:17] murder charges?

[00:21:18] The fact that you did not

[00:21:20] knows very easily.

[00:21:22] You could not prove it.

[00:21:23] Let's take a break, though.

[00:21:24] We have a lot more to cover.

[00:21:25] We'll be back right after this.

[00:21:31] Many years ago,

[00:21:32] they began saying

[00:21:33] that we live

[00:21:34] in the information age.

[00:21:36] Well, today,

[00:21:36] there is so much information

[00:21:38] coming at us

[00:21:39] from every direction.

[00:21:40] The hardest thing

[00:21:42] is to discern

[00:21:43] which issues

[00:21:43] are really important

[00:21:45] and how can I make

[00:21:46] a positive impact

[00:21:47] without wasting my time

[00:21:49] trying to figure out

[00:21:51] accurate information.

[00:21:52] Let me give you

[00:21:53] a suggestion

[00:21:54] to help with that.

[00:21:55] Visit pointofview.net,

[00:21:57] look at the tabs

[00:21:59] across the top.

[00:22:00] Find the one named

[00:22:01] Viewpoints.

[00:22:02] Kirby Anderson

[00:22:03] and others on our team

[00:22:04] are constantly watching

[00:22:06] for news

[00:22:06] to identify those issues

[00:22:08] that you really need

[00:22:09] to know about.

[00:22:10] They boil things down

[00:22:12] in a brief summary

[00:22:12] and then you can decide

[00:22:14] if it's something

[00:22:14] on which you want

[00:22:15] to learn more

[00:22:16] and get involved.

[00:22:17] Again,

[00:22:18] when you go to

[00:22:18] pointofview.net,

[00:22:20] click on Viewpoints,

[00:22:22] you'll see exactly

[00:22:23] what I mean.

[00:22:24] You'll see the issues

[00:22:25] that we are covering

[00:22:26] right now

[00:22:27] and when you like

[00:22:28] what you see,

[00:22:29] I honestly think

[00:22:30] you will,

[00:22:31] you can slide on over,

[00:22:32] enter your email

[00:22:33] and get them

[00:22:34] automatically sent

[00:22:35] to your inbox

[00:22:36] each day.

[00:22:37] That's it.

[00:22:38] Take a minute now,

[00:22:39] be informed.

[00:22:41] pointofview.net,

[00:22:42] click on Viewpoints.

[00:22:48] Point of View

[00:22:49] will continue

[00:22:50] after this.

[00:22:57] You are listening

[00:22:59] to Point of View.

[00:23:02] The opinions expressed

[00:23:04] on Point of View

[00:23:05] do not necessarily reflect

[00:23:07] the views

[00:23:07] of the management

[00:23:08] or staff

[00:23:09] of this station.

[00:23:10] And now,

[00:23:11] here again,

[00:23:12] is Kirby Anderson.

[00:23:14] We're going to get

[00:23:14] into a couple

[00:23:15] of other issues.

[00:23:16] One that shouldn't

[00:23:17] surprise you,

[00:23:18] but probably would

[00:23:18] be surprising

[00:23:19] if you hadn't

[00:23:20] think about it

[00:23:21] from a biblical

[00:23:21] point of view,

[00:23:22] is the issue

[00:23:23] of criminal justice.

[00:23:24] This is a booklet

[00:23:25] we put together

[00:23:26] a number of years ago,

[00:23:28] 2019,

[00:23:29] and again,

[00:23:30] we'll probably update

[00:23:30] it as well.

[00:23:31] A biblical view

[00:23:32] on criminal justice

[00:23:33] in part because

[00:23:34] it is a topic

[00:23:35] that deserves

[00:23:36] some attention,

[00:23:37] also because

[00:23:38] at the time

[00:23:38] the president,

[00:23:40] Donald Trump,

[00:23:40] had been dealing

[00:23:41] with some of those

[00:23:42] issues and there

[00:23:43] was some criminal

[00:23:44] justice reform,

[00:23:45] but most importantly

[00:23:46] it just is a

[00:23:47] Christian issue

[00:23:48] as illustrated

[00:23:49] by the fact

[00:23:50] that if you look

[00:23:51] at our booklet,

[00:23:52] and again,

[00:23:53] we'd be glad

[00:23:53] to make that available

[00:23:54] for those who

[00:23:54] would like to read it.

[00:23:56] One of the resources

[00:23:57] is from one of my

[00:23:58] chapters on Christian ethics.

[00:23:59] The others are from

[00:24:00] Chuck Colson's book

[00:24:01] on Justice That Restores

[00:24:03] or Daniel Van Ness

[00:24:04] who used to be

[00:24:05] with the Justice Fellowship

[00:24:06] associated with

[00:24:07] Prison Fellowship.

[00:24:08] Daniel Van Ness

[00:24:08] Crime and its Victims.

[00:24:10] And the bottom line

[00:24:11] is if you think

[00:24:12] about the issue

[00:24:13] of crime

[00:24:14] and we want to

[00:24:15] apply a biblical

[00:24:17] point of view,

[00:24:18] obviously the

[00:24:19] penitentiary system

[00:24:20] and the criminal

[00:24:21] justice system

[00:24:22] we have right now

[00:24:23] fall short

[00:24:24] in a number

[00:24:25] of different ways.

[00:24:26] But this article

[00:24:27] and it's the third

[00:24:28] article we've posted

[00:24:29] by our friend

[00:24:30] Cal Thomas

[00:24:31] raises another issue.

[00:24:32] It would be a great

[00:24:34] way to save money

[00:24:35] while at the same

[00:24:36] time implementing

[00:24:37] may be a more

[00:24:38] biblical view

[00:24:39] of justice.

[00:24:40] How so?

[00:24:41] He says,

[00:24:42] first of all,

[00:24:43] cutting spending

[00:24:43] is something that

[00:24:44] we are hearing

[00:24:45] right now from

[00:24:46] Donald Trump

[00:24:47] and many of his

[00:24:47] nominees,

[00:24:49] including,

[00:24:49] of course,

[00:24:50] the Department

[00:24:52] of Governmental

[00:24:53] Efficiency.

[00:24:53] But he also points

[00:24:56] out that according

[00:24:57] to the Sentencing

[00:24:58] Project,

[00:25:00] 72% of federal

[00:25:02] prisoners are

[00:25:03] serving time for

[00:25:04] nonviolent

[00:25:05] offenses and have

[00:25:07] no history of

[00:25:08] violence.

[00:25:08] More than half

[00:25:09] are drug

[00:25:10] offenses.

[00:25:11] Now, as much as it

[00:25:13] is important for us

[00:25:14] to deal with this

[00:25:14] issue and the

[00:25:15] scourge of drugs,

[00:25:17] at the same time,

[00:25:18] there may be a

[00:25:19] better solution.

[00:25:20] And it's worth

[00:25:23] considering for this

[00:25:24] reason.

[00:25:25] The United States

[00:25:26] has more people

[00:25:27] incarcerated in

[00:25:28] jails and prisons

[00:25:30] than any other

[00:25:30] so-called free

[00:25:31] nation in the

[00:25:33] world.

[00:25:33] Yes, there's some

[00:25:34] others like, of

[00:25:35] course, North Korea,

[00:25:36] Russia, China,

[00:25:37] whatever.

[00:25:37] But if we want to

[00:25:38] compare ourselves to

[00:25:40] like nations,

[00:25:41] nothing comes

[00:25:42] close.

[00:25:43] He then goes on to

[00:25:44] point out that

[00:25:45] according to the

[00:25:46] Prison Policy

[00:25:47] Initiative,

[00:25:47] prisons, jails,

[00:25:49] and other forms

[00:25:49] of incarceration

[00:25:51] hold over 1.9

[00:25:54] million people

[00:25:54] in 1,500 state

[00:25:56] prisons, 98

[00:25:57] federal prisons,

[00:25:58] 3,000 local

[00:25:59] jails, 1,300

[00:26:00] juvenile correction

[00:26:01] facilities, 142

[00:26:03] immigration detention

[00:26:04] facilities, which we

[00:26:06] were alluding to

[00:26:07] just a minute ago,

[00:26:08] even 80 Indian

[00:26:10] county jails, as

[00:26:11] well as military

[00:26:12] prisons and all

[00:26:13] sorts of other

[00:26:14] things, state

[00:26:14] psychiatric hospitals,

[00:26:15] at a cost of

[00:26:19] $182 billion

[00:26:20] each year.

[00:26:22] Now, if you just

[00:26:23] look at the prison

[00:26:24] system, the Federal

[00:26:24] Bureau of Prisons

[00:26:25] says the cost of

[00:26:27] caring for an

[00:26:28] individual's needs

[00:26:29] in the jails and

[00:26:30] prisons for the

[00:26:31] year 2020 was

[00:26:32] determined to be

[00:26:33] $39,000.

[00:26:35] As we look at

[00:26:37] this right now,

[00:26:37] considering that

[00:26:38] the median real

[00:26:39] income level in

[00:26:40] the United States

[00:26:41] for 2029 was

[00:26:43] $35,000, almost

[00:26:44] $36,000, it's

[00:26:46] safe to say that

[00:26:47] incarceration

[00:26:49] doesn't pay for

[00:26:51] anyone, not the

[00:26:52] offender, not the

[00:26:53] American community

[00:26:54] or the taxpayer,

[00:26:56] like everything

[00:26:57] else, the costs

[00:26:58] since have likely

[00:26:59] increased.

[00:27:00] So using those

[00:27:01] numbers, you can

[00:27:02] certainly see the

[00:27:03] problem.

[00:27:04] He then actually

[00:27:05] gives you a

[00:27:06] reference to the

[00:27:07] film, The

[00:27:07] Shawshank Redemption,

[00:27:09] and if you've

[00:27:10] never seen that,

[00:27:11] fascinating story

[00:27:12] where you, of

[00:27:13] course, it's

[00:27:13] fictional, but

[00:27:14] nevertheless has

[00:27:15] Tim Robbins and

[00:27:15] Morgan Freeman

[00:27:16] and the rest.

[00:27:17] But there's a

[00:27:17] line in which

[00:27:18] Andy Duchesne

[00:27:19] says, the

[00:27:20] funny thing is,

[00:27:21] on the outside

[00:27:21] I was an honest

[00:27:22] man, straight as

[00:27:23] an arrow, had to

[00:27:24] come to prison to

[00:27:25] be a crook.

[00:27:26] And there is a

[00:27:27] sense in which that

[00:27:28] is the case.

[00:27:29] Sometimes when we

[00:27:29] take somebody in

[00:27:30] there because of

[00:27:31] a drug offense,

[00:27:32] they're around

[00:27:32] other criminals,

[00:27:34] they don't come

[00:27:34] out rehabilitated,

[00:27:37] they come back

[00:27:38] more recently as

[00:27:40] a criminal because

[00:27:42] of recidivism.

[00:27:43] And so that's

[00:27:44] something to

[00:27:45] think about.

[00:27:46] Cal Thomas

[00:27:46] suggests maybe

[00:27:47] there's a better

[00:27:48] way.

[00:27:48] That is, nonviolent

[00:27:50] offenders could wear

[00:27:51] ankle bracelets and

[00:27:52] be confined at

[00:27:53] home, saving money

[00:27:55] and offering opportunities

[00:27:57] for real reform.

[00:27:58] And he points out

[00:27:59] that if you look at

[00:28:00] the Old Testament

[00:28:01] law, again, I

[00:28:03] don't always want to

[00:28:04] have a one-to-one

[00:28:05] comparison between

[00:28:06] the laws given in the

[00:28:08] Old Testament for

[00:28:10] the Israelite and

[00:28:12] Israeli theocracy

[00:28:13] and say that all

[00:28:15] of those have to

[00:28:16] be applied in the

[00:28:17] 21st century.

[00:28:18] They should not.

[00:28:19] I think we have to

[00:28:20] do some serious

[00:28:21] work of understanding

[00:28:22] the principles and

[00:28:23] seeing how they apply

[00:28:24] in the 21st century.

[00:28:26] That being said,

[00:28:27] though, one of the

[00:28:28] overarching principles

[00:28:29] in the Old Testament

[00:28:30] is the model of

[00:28:32] restitution.

[00:28:33] And he argues that

[00:28:34] that model of

[00:28:35] restitution would

[00:28:36] not only force the

[00:28:37] offender to pay back

[00:28:38] the victim for

[00:28:39] money or property

[00:28:40] that was stolen,

[00:28:41] but in itself invokes

[00:28:43] a notion of personal

[00:28:45] responsibility for

[00:28:46] one's crimes.

[00:28:47] The victim in these

[00:28:48] circumstances is not

[00:28:50] so much the state as

[00:28:51] the individual.

[00:28:52] Depriving one of

[00:28:53] liberty for a property

[00:28:55] or drug crime does

[00:28:56] not help the victim.

[00:28:57] And he says,

[00:28:58] I have known and

[00:28:59] know now people who

[00:29:00] have been subjected

[00:29:01] to an unjust system

[00:29:04] that includes sentence

[00:29:05] disparity and lengthy

[00:29:07] periods of incarceration

[00:29:08] benefiting nearly the

[00:29:10] public nor the

[00:29:11] prisoner.

[00:29:12] That prison reform

[00:29:14] has not been on the

[00:29:15] top ten issues for

[00:29:17] Republicans is no

[00:29:18] reason it can't be

[00:29:19] added now.

[00:29:20] Saving money and

[00:29:22] redeeming a system that

[00:29:23] no longer benefits the

[00:29:25] incarcerated for or the

[00:29:27] public is a winning

[00:29:28] issue.

[00:29:29] Rather than the

[00:29:30] Republicans tough on

[00:29:32] crime approach of the

[00:29:33] past, a new approach is

[00:29:35] needed for the

[00:29:36] nonviolent offender

[00:29:37] because it results in

[00:29:40] something that would be

[00:29:41] helpful and that should

[00:29:43] be a goal rather than

[00:29:44] political posturing.

[00:29:46] And he does make the

[00:29:47] case that prison

[00:29:48] sentencing reform is

[00:29:50] ready-made for

[00:29:51] bipartisanship and the

[00:29:53] incoming Trump

[00:29:54] administration to try it

[00:29:55] and invite Democrats to

[00:29:57] join in it.

[00:29:58] And so in here I do talk

[00:30:00] about some of these very

[00:30:01] important biblical

[00:30:02] principles.

[00:30:03] There are at least two.

[00:30:05] One is retribution and

[00:30:08] the other is restitution.

[00:30:10] Now what is retribution?

[00:30:12] Well retribution is the

[00:30:13] act of punishing a

[00:30:14] criminal and that is

[00:30:16] known as the lex talionis

[00:30:17] that we have in the Old

[00:30:18] Testament.

[00:30:19] And you find that in

[00:30:21] Exodus 21.

[00:30:22] You find it in Leviticus

[00:30:24] 24.

[00:30:25] You also see other

[00:30:26] regulations in the

[00:30:27] Mosaic Code, Deuteronomy

[00:30:29] 19, Deuteronomy 22,

[00:30:30] Deuteronomy 25, to

[00:30:32] mention a few.

[00:30:33] So we recognize that an

[00:30:35] individual should be

[00:30:36] punished for a crime

[00:30:38] that he or she committed.

[00:30:40] And that I think is the

[00:30:42] idea of retribution.

[00:30:43] But there is another

[00:30:45] principle here and that

[00:30:46] is the principle of

[00:30:48] restitution.

[00:30:49] And it does seem to me

[00:30:50] that that biblical

[00:30:51] principle sometimes is

[00:30:52] missing.

[00:30:53] And we see that in

[00:30:55] Exodus 21, verses 18,

[00:30:58] all the way to Exodus

[00:30:59] 22, verse 17, where

[00:31:02] again, the fines were

[00:31:04] not paid by the

[00:31:05] government.

[00:31:05] The offender paid the

[00:31:07] victim.

[00:31:08] And so it seems to me

[00:31:10] that that is very

[00:31:11] important.

[00:31:12] And again, these

[00:31:13] principles that we apply

[00:31:15] in the public sphere, I

[00:31:17] think also apply in the

[00:31:19] private sphere.

[00:31:20] For example, in Isaiah

[00:31:21] 1, verse 17, it

[00:31:23] instructs us to learn to

[00:31:25] do good, seek justice,

[00:31:27] correct oppression, bring

[00:31:29] justice to the

[00:31:30] fatherless, plead the

[00:31:31] widow's cause.

[00:31:32] You can also go to

[00:31:34] Micah 6, 8, which we

[00:31:35] quoted a couple of weeks

[00:31:36] ago in one of our

[00:31:37] interviews.

[00:31:38] He has told you, oh man,

[00:31:40] what is good and what

[00:31:41] does the Lord require of

[00:31:42] you but to do justice

[00:31:44] and to love kindness and

[00:31:46] to walk humbling with

[00:31:47] your God.

[00:31:47] God.

[00:31:48] So it seems to me that

[00:31:49] this idea of restitution

[00:31:51] is really important.

[00:31:53] And while we're talking

[00:31:54] about the criminal

[00:31:55] justice system, let me

[00:31:56] have a shout out to all

[00:31:58] of you that have been

[00:31:59] involved in some kind of

[00:32:01] prison ministries because

[00:32:02] let's face it, if we're

[00:32:04] expecting the institution

[00:32:06] of the penitentiary to

[00:32:08] actually have people want

[00:32:10] to have penance and really

[00:32:12] begin to change their

[00:32:14] behavior and as a result

[00:32:16] become rehabilitated, the

[00:32:18] best rehabilitation program

[00:32:20] that has ever existed is

[00:32:22] found in God's word.

[00:32:24] And so I think that these

[00:32:26] very important ministries,

[00:32:28] of course we just

[00:32:29] mentioned one prison

[00:32:30] fellowship a minute ago

[00:32:31] and many others are all

[00:32:33] very important ways to

[00:32:35] address that.

[00:32:36] And in the past, we've

[00:32:38] even on this program had

[00:32:40] a criminologist who's been

[00:32:41] at Baylor University, Dr.

[00:32:43] Byron Johnson, who has

[00:32:45] written, I think, the best

[00:32:46] book on the subject,

[00:32:47] More God, Less Crime, in

[00:32:50] which he made the case

[00:32:51] that, again, these prison

[00:32:53] ministries and other prison

[00:32:56] programs, sometimes, as we've

[00:32:57] talked about in the past,

[00:32:58] implemented by wardens and

[00:33:00] others in the prisons, have

[00:33:02] really been able to provide

[00:33:04] necessary life skills,

[00:33:06] education, but also

[00:33:08] biblical conversion.

[00:33:10] And so if we're interested

[00:33:11] in a criminal justice system

[00:33:13] that is based upon

[00:33:14] biblical principles, we've

[00:33:16] got a lot of work to do.

[00:33:17] If you'd like to know what

[00:33:18] that means, here's this

[00:33:20] booklet again.

[00:33:21] I'd be glad to make it

[00:33:22] available to you.

[00:33:22] Probably going to update it

[00:33:24] in light of some of the

[00:33:25] conversations that will be

[00:33:26] taking place in this next

[00:33:27] administration, but this is

[00:33:29] one on a biblical view on

[00:33:31] criminal justice.

[00:33:32] And again, feel free to

[00:33:33] contact us if you'd like to

[00:33:35] get a copy.

[00:33:40] This is a piece by

[00:33:40] Christopher Roach.

[00:33:41] We'll explain more right

[00:33:42] after this.

[00:33:56] You're listening to Point of

[00:33:58] View, your listener-supported

[00:34:00] source for truth.

[00:34:01] Back once again, if you

[00:34:02] want to go to the website,

[00:34:03] this is our fourth article,

[00:34:05] We Can Handle the Truth.

[00:34:06] Easy to find because it's

[00:34:07] got a picture of Jack

[00:34:08] Nicholson, of course, making

[00:34:10] the statement, you can't

[00:34:11] handle the truth, and this

[00:34:12] is written by Christopher

[00:34:13] Roach.

[00:34:14] But right beneath it is one I

[00:34:16] wanted to point you to as

[00:34:17] well, a trip to Greece with

[00:34:19] the Aegean Sea Cruise,

[00:34:21] because earlier in the

[00:34:22] first hour I did mention

[00:34:23] the fact that we do have a

[00:34:25] trip going to Greece May

[00:34:27] 17th to the 27th.

[00:34:29] I've had a couple people

[00:34:30] call and they'd say, well,

[00:34:31] I'd like to kind of see what

[00:34:32] it involves.

[00:34:33] And so even before you would

[00:34:35] receive something in the

[00:34:36] mail, you can actually click

[00:34:38] on that button there that

[00:34:39] says Trip to Greece.

[00:34:40] What you'll see then is,

[00:34:42] first of all, the first page

[00:34:43] has all sorts of pictures

[00:34:44] giving you an idea of where

[00:34:45] we would go.

[00:34:47] Then three pages of the

[00:34:48] itinerary with kind of a

[00:34:50] breakdown of what would be

[00:34:51] happening in each location.

[00:34:53] Then a final page there that

[00:34:55] talks about different costs.

[00:34:57] And some of those are

[00:34:58] variable because some people,

[00:35:00] especially when we get on the

[00:35:01] boat, want to have one kind

[00:35:03] of room or another one so you

[00:35:04] can do the calculations.

[00:35:06] But if you wanted to find out

[00:35:08] more about our trip to Greece,

[00:35:10] go to the website pointofview.net.

[00:35:13] There is a button that says

[00:35:14] See More.

[00:35:16] Scroll all the way to the

[00:35:17] bottom and you will see then

[00:35:19] information about the trip to

[00:35:21] Greece.

[00:35:22] It's a PDF.

[00:35:22] You can print it out or you

[00:35:24] can just watch, read it

[00:35:25] online.

[00:35:26] Of course, we can mail

[00:35:27] something to you.

[00:35:28] But for those of you that

[00:35:29] have access to a computer,

[00:35:30] and I would assume most of

[00:35:31] you do, you could actually

[00:35:32] check that out right there.

[00:35:34] And of course, I know we had

[00:35:35] a couple of phone calls

[00:35:35] about the trip to Greece.

[00:35:37] So if you'd like to know

[00:35:38] more, you can go to the

[00:35:39] website right now because

[00:35:40] Karen's posted that for you

[00:35:42] to read as well.

[00:35:43] Let's just before we wind down

[00:35:44] talk about this idea of

[00:35:47] we can handle the truth.

[00:35:48] And Christopher Roach looks

[00:35:49] at three different issues.

[00:35:51] One that we've already

[00:35:52] mentioned, and that is how

[00:35:54] political correctness

[00:35:55] sometimes distorts the way in

[00:35:58] which the news media covers

[00:36:00] an event.

[00:36:00] And the example that he uses

[00:36:02] is what we just talked about

[00:36:04] over a week ago.

[00:36:05] That is what happened in New

[00:36:07] Orleans.

[00:36:08] And that is, we could see

[00:36:10] that here is a man with an

[00:36:12] ISIS flag on his truck who

[00:36:14] actually ran over pedestrians

[00:36:17] and then shot it out with the

[00:36:18] police and announced his

[00:36:21] attentions even on social media.

[00:36:22] But we had difficulty getting

[00:36:25] the mainstream press to even

[00:36:27] acknowledge that there was a

[00:36:29] driver in the truck, much less

[00:36:31] that the driver actually was a

[00:36:33] terrorist.

[00:36:34] And one of the things that

[00:36:36] Christopher Roach says is,

[00:36:37] look, a third grade kid could

[00:36:39] figure out it was Islamic

[00:36:40] terrorism.

[00:36:41] And the fact that you had at

[00:36:44] least one FBI agent and then

[00:36:47] even a local police officer that

[00:36:49] just couldn't bring themselves to

[00:36:51] refer to it as a terrorist attack,

[00:36:53] I think illustrates again that we

[00:36:56] are trying to say to the media and

[00:36:59] to the government, we can handle

[00:37:01] the truth.

[00:37:02] And there is this attempt

[00:37:04] oftentimes to prevent people from

[00:37:07] really getting a chance to see the

[00:37:10] truth, which brings us to

[00:37:11] something I've been wanting to

[00:37:12] talk about for days because his

[00:37:14] second article is what's been

[00:37:16] going on in the UK.

[00:37:18] That is, you have had these

[00:37:21] Palestinian gangs.

[00:37:23] They've been referred to as rape

[00:37:25] gangs in the UK.

[00:37:27] And there has been really for years

[00:37:30] a willingness, not only on part of

[00:37:33] the media, but police, even some

[00:37:35] politicians, social workers and

[00:37:37] others to downplay the reality of

[00:37:41] these attacks.

[00:37:42] Well, it got back in the news

[00:37:44] because of, well, no surprise there,

[00:37:46] Elon Musk, who again called for the

[00:37:50] British government to investigate

[00:37:52] these matters.

[00:37:54] And as he points out, this is

[00:37:57] again, Christopher Roach points out

[00:37:59] when these stories first came to

[00:38:01] light in 2014.

[00:38:03] So we're talking about 10 years now.

[00:38:05] The media and politicians were

[00:38:08] really concerned about a backlash.

[00:38:10] And he says, defending the

[00:38:12] authorities atrocious handling.

[00:38:14] He had one British writer, Tom

[00:38:16] Holland, who said not the one that

[00:38:18] we've interviewed here.

[00:38:19] The true nightmare of Rotherdam is

[00:38:22] the motives of those who turned a

[00:38:24] blind eye.

[00:38:25] However, monstrous, the consequences

[00:38:27] were indeed noble.

[00:38:28] In other words, it was noble that

[00:38:31] they didn't want to cause maybe a

[00:38:35] backlash or a reaction to Muslims

[00:38:38] generally.

[00:38:39] But by not covering this, you did more

[00:38:43] harm than is good.

[00:38:45] And as a result, these rape gangs, as

[00:38:49] they've been referred to, or even other

[00:38:52] phraseology has been used as well, has

[00:38:56] been something that has been going on

[00:38:59] literally for a decade and only now

[00:39:02] seems to be covered.

[00:39:03] And as he points out, it was even the

[00:39:06] fear of being accused of racism that

[00:39:10] he thinks could even have resulted in

[00:39:13] the 9-11 attacks because the gate agent

[00:39:18] at the time did not want to stereotype the

[00:39:21] Arab men carrying box cutters.

[00:39:24] And so we've had so many examples of

[00:39:27] where we said, look, we don't want there

[00:39:29] to be Islamophobia.

[00:39:31] And I understand that.

[00:39:33] But at the same time, this fear of being

[00:39:36] labeled as racist, homophobic, Islamophobic,

[00:39:40] whatever it might be, has kept us from

[00:39:43] honestly speaking the truth.

[00:39:45] And as again, Christopher Roach says, we

[00:39:50] can handle the truth.

[00:39:52] His last one brings us all the way back

[00:39:54] to the theme that's sort of run through

[00:39:56] this week.

[00:39:57] And that is the issue of free speech and

[00:40:00] democracy.

[00:40:02] Because he says, under the emerging ethos

[00:40:05] of safety, authorities treat information and

[00:40:08] speech as things that need to be curated or

[00:40:12] may be managed or controlled to prevent the

[00:40:15] dangers of prejudice.

[00:40:16] And the dominant ideology conceives of the

[00:40:19] public as parochial, tempestuous and easily

[00:40:23] seduced by bad speech.

[00:40:25] And so as a result, there has been this

[00:40:28] argument, will we just for your own good have

[00:40:31] to regulate speech?

[00:40:32] And of course, we're now starting to see

[00:40:34] Mark Zuckerberg and others saying, well,

[00:40:36] maybe we need to back off from that a little

[00:40:38] bit.

[00:40:39] We'll see how serious X becomes in how

[00:40:42] serious a variety of things like Facebook

[00:40:45] and meta become.

[00:40:46] But we'll see so far, so good, at least with

[00:40:49] Elon Musk.

[00:40:50] But again, Christopher Roach ends by making

[00:40:53] this case.

[00:40:54] Self-government is not possible if the people

[00:40:58] are deprived of facts from authorities.

[00:41:01] Democratic self-government does not even have

[00:41:04] an obvious value if we also think the voters

[00:41:08] are too stupid, easily misled, or prone to

[00:41:12] spasms of emotional hatred to govern

[00:41:15] themselves.

[00:41:16] Far from hateful, he says, Americans, Britons,

[00:41:19] and Westerners in general are remarkably

[00:41:21] fair-minded because of a deep-seated tradition

[00:41:23] of individualism.

[00:41:25] We are adverse to judging others as part of

[00:41:27] groups or mistreating them because of their

[00:41:29] crimes or other issues.

[00:41:31] And he points out that the leadership class

[00:41:34] really has no respect for the West, its history,

[00:41:38] and its people.

[00:41:39] And this is evidenced by their consistent desire

[00:41:42] to hide the truth and subject our most vulnerable

[00:41:46] citizens to all sorts of horrific violence, lest we

[00:41:51] all get the wrong idea.

[00:41:52] They have forfeited their authority to rule because

[00:41:55] of their repeated refusal to treat us with candor and

[00:41:59] protect our most valuable and vulnerable citizens.

[00:42:03] Contrary to their prejudice, we can handle the truth.

[00:42:07] So this really brings together three things.

[00:42:10] One, of course, we talked about New Orleans.

[00:42:12] Number two, of course, we've talked about censorship,

[00:42:15] but this gives me an occasion to talk about this

[00:42:18] ongoing grooming scandal or gang rape scandal in

[00:42:23] England that, again, hasn't been covered, can you

[00:42:27] believe it, since 2014?

[00:42:29] Here we are in 2025, more than 10 years.

[00:42:33] So that is our last article.

[00:42:36] But again, if you'd like to find some of the other

[00:42:37] articles or information about the book we talked about

[00:42:40] in the first hour, the California Left Coast Survivor's Guide,

[00:42:44] all available at our website, pointofview.net.

[00:42:48] Most importantly, I want to thank Megan for her help

[00:42:50] engineering the program.

[00:42:51] Steve, thank you for producing the program.

[00:42:53] And I hope that you'll take the time to maybe find some

[00:42:55] of these articles, maybe post them on your website,

[00:42:58] maybe start a discussion even around the dinner table,

[00:43:02] because these are issues vital to the future of this country.

[00:43:06] We'll take a break.

[00:43:07] We'll see you back here tomorrow on our Millennium Roundtable

[00:43:10] right here on Point of View.

[00:43:11] At Point of View, we believe there is power in prayer.

[00:43:15] And that is why we have relaunched our Pray for America

[00:43:19] campaign, a series of weekly emails to unite Americans in prayer

[00:43:25] for our nation.

[00:43:27] Imagine if hundreds of thousands of Americans started praying

[00:43:31] intentionally together on a weekly basis.

[00:43:35] You can help make that a reality by subscribing to our

[00:43:40] Pray for America emails.

[00:43:42] Just go to pointofview.net and click on the Pray for America banner

[00:43:48] that's right there on the homepage.

[00:43:50] Each week you'll receive a brief news update,

[00:43:53] a specific prayer guide,

[00:43:55] and a free resource to equip you in further action.

[00:43:59] We encourage you to not only pray with us each week,

[00:44:03] but to share these prayers and the resources with others in your life.

[00:44:09] Join the movement today.

[00:44:10] Visit pointofview.net

[00:44:13] and click on the banner Pray for America

[00:44:16] right there at the top.

[00:44:18] That's pointofview.net.

[00:44:20] Let's pray together for God to make a difference in our land.

[00:44:28] Point of View is produced by Point of View Ministries.