Point of View May 22, 2024 – Hour 2 : The Firing Squad

[00:00:00] First of all, talking about a film that you need to know about and then we'll get back

[00:00:24] to some of the issues in the news.

[00:00:27] As you well know, so often we talk about these very important films that are faith affirming.

[00:00:32] This one certainly fits into that category.

[00:00:34] It's called The Firing Squad and we want to encourage you first of all to consider attending,

[00:00:40] also getting your friends, neighbors and coworkers, maybe Sunday school class to get into the

[00:00:45] theater.

[00:00:46] I even suggest, as we've done in my own situation, had our entire Sunday school class buy out

[00:00:51] a theater so that we can do that and it will be coming up.

[00:00:54] Again, The Firing Squad is a true story.

[00:00:56] We're going to hear about that in just a minute.

[00:00:59] Individuals who were facing death and chose life.

[00:01:02] It involves Kevin Sorbo, of course has been in studio with us and by phone, and James

[00:01:07] Barrington and my next guest, Cuba Gooding Jr.

[00:01:11] You of course know him from many of the films he's been in.

[00:01:14] Jerry McGuire, Boys in the Hood, A Few Good Men, As Good as It Gets, Men of Honor.

[00:01:19] And Cuba, thank you for joining us today here on Point of View.

[00:01:22] Thanks for having me.

[00:01:25] I'm blessed to be here and excited.

[00:01:28] Well, we're excited to find out a little bit more about you as well because we think of

[00:01:32] you being in some of these huge productions and this one certainly is one that has got

[00:01:38] a great story, but we tend to think of you as an individual that maybe is a football

[00:01:44] player or a deep sea diver, maybe even an angel with Robin Williams or something like

[00:01:49] that or somebody in the military.

[00:01:50] This time you play a prisoner.

[00:01:52] Can you tell us more?

[00:01:53] Sure.

[00:01:54] Kim Shea, who's the director, writer and producer of the project, and I had worked on a movie

[00:02:03] back in the early 2000s, a film called Freedom.

[00:02:05] It was a slave tale where these runaway slaves had found the Lord at the end of their journey.

[00:02:14] And we had such a spiritual connection on that shoot that he said, you know, let's find

[00:02:18] something else to do together.

[00:02:19] And you fast forward maybe 15 years.

[00:02:22] He calls me up last year and says, I have this true story based on these three Americans

[00:02:28] that find each other in prison and they've all been sentenced to die for their actions

[00:02:34] in this foreign land.

[00:02:35] And I want you to play one of the characters.

[00:02:38] Well, I did the first movie Freedom.

[00:02:42] He made me sing Amazing Grace at the end of it.

[00:02:45] I had never sung before.

[00:02:46] And I was one of those moments on the set where I was like, I don't know the words and

[00:02:51] they put it on cue cards.

[00:02:52] It was very embarrassing.

[00:02:53] Well, you fast forward 15 years later, prior to his call, I went on Broadway.

[00:03:00] I was on Broadway.

[00:03:01] I was on the London stage playing Billy Flynn in Chicago, the musical for five months with

[00:03:07] vocal training every day and then a year on Broadway.

[00:03:10] So when he called this time and he said, I want you to read the script and I read the

[00:03:14] script and it was emotionally moving to me that this third act, how these men were in

[00:03:21] their darkest moments in life.

[00:03:24] And here they are facing no way to get out of prison.

[00:03:28] And yet they found their faith.

[00:03:29] They connected to God.

[00:03:31] And my character lost his father while he was in prison.

[00:03:33] I had recently lost my father in 2018 and my father was a famous singer.

[00:03:40] So here's all these connected issue things happening.

[00:03:43] This man in his darkest hour loses his father.

[00:03:48] This church in this prison who enabled these inmates to come in and sing hymns to the Lord

[00:03:56] and him coming with this idea, this man having the clarity of mind to find that moment of

[00:04:01] strength and courage and faith and to sing Amazing Grace.

[00:04:07] And the fact that I had been on Broadway, it was all of these things that kind of this

[00:04:10] perfect storm of events that brought me to this tale and to this project.

[00:04:16] And I had said to a lot of my colleagues lately, I said, you know, not only in America, but

[00:04:22] how as a nation, have we gotten so far away from God?

[00:04:27] When did it become uncool not to say even in God we trust?

[00:04:30] When did that happen?

[00:04:31] When did that just happen?

[00:04:32] And I think there's accountability for that.

[00:04:34] And you can look in the news and see what we're dealing with in society today about

[00:04:38] how all these things are happening.

[00:04:41] I think this tale is very timely for now.

[00:04:47] These faith-based stories are timely.

[00:04:49] I think there's a need for it right now.

[00:04:51] I certainly agree.

[00:04:53] FiringSquadFilm.com, also FiringSquadMovie.com.

[00:04:57] We of course have some links.

[00:04:58] As a matter of fact, we have a trailer which when we go to the break you might want to

[00:05:02] watch real quickly.

[00:05:03] I might just mention that this is going to open in quite a number of theaters and we're

[00:05:09] giving you advanced warning about that.

[00:05:12] It has been supported by Campus Crusade for Christ.

[00:05:14] You're called Crew, Calvary Chapel, Greg Lloyd, our good friend, as well as people like Lifeway

[00:05:19] Christian Resources, Biola, Dallas Theological Seminary, Daystar TV.

[00:05:24] The list goes on and on.

[00:05:26] And the marketing being done by some of the same individuals that have been doing the

[00:05:29] marketing of The Passion of the Christ and of course even The Sound of Freedom.

[00:05:33] So this is a resource that is available to you.

[00:05:36] And one of the things I thought maybe I'd have you talk about, Cuba, is just the faith-affirming

[00:05:42] aspect.

[00:05:43] These men are sentenced to death and yet they find life in prison before being executed.

[00:05:51] And it's a powerful tale.

[00:05:53] And as I've seen some people say, you cannot make your way through the film without crying

[00:05:58] and without being totally moved.

[00:06:00] Can you share a little bit more about that?

[00:06:02] Sure.

[00:06:03] So we've had a few dozen screenings so far and the reactions have always been uniformly

[00:06:09] the same where people are weeping in that last third act and they're coming out.

[00:06:14] Certain people have found Christ during the end credits as Tim, our producer director,

[00:06:19] has led them in the prayer after the credits and the lights had come up.

[00:06:23] But it's one of those things where you have these people in, and I don't want to give

[00:06:30] too much of the movie away, but it's a movie that tells the story of these three secular

[00:06:35] men who find each other in prison and have to witness other men being executed prior to

[00:06:41] their date with destiny.

[00:06:43] And every time they're screaming and gnashing and going, I can't believe this is happening

[00:06:48] to me and they're going through this plethora of emotion and mainly dying without their

[00:06:54] dignity intact.

[00:06:56] And you can just see that when it comes to that final moment of death, they won't die.

[00:07:04] But yet here you have these Americans who find the Lord in that moment and they find

[00:07:10] the strength and their dignity and their hope and their faith to carry them.

[00:07:15] And actually, you see their expression, their countenance change because they see the Lord

[00:07:20] before they go.

[00:07:21] And it's one of those moments in cinema that you as an actor wish you can bring truth to.

[00:07:28] That's what we really do.

[00:07:30] I was taught years ago, a famous actor, Dustin Hoffman, who said, don't think of that recording

[00:07:37] device as a recording device.

[00:07:39] Think of it as a magnifying glass that sees right into your eyes.

[00:07:42] And if you don't believe the moment, the audience won't believe it.

[00:07:46] And it's one of those moments that I've had on the set during the filming of Firing Squad

[00:07:53] where even the extras felt the moment.

[00:07:57] And we all took a, after the first take, you could hear a pen drop, but you could hear

[00:08:05] weeping on the set.

[00:08:07] Even the security guards, these guys, these officers, the extras they call them, were

[00:08:12] coming up to me and certain cast members saying, I didn't know that was going to happen.

[00:08:17] We were like, well, we didn't know either.

[00:08:20] We were just in the moment as you're leaving the spirit of God and taking a lot of people

[00:08:24] over in that moment.

[00:08:26] But it's nice when you have a project that connects so powerfully with the actors and

[00:08:31] the material.

[00:08:32] And these are one of those scripts, one of those moments.

[00:08:34] Yeah.

[00:08:35] Let's take a break.

[00:08:36] And when we come back, we'll continue our conversation with Cuba Gooding Jr.

[00:08:39] The film is entitled The Firing Squad.

[00:08:42] We'll talk more about that right after this.

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

[00:09:03] Scott Galloway is a professor of marketing at New York University Stern School of Business

[00:09:07] and author of the book The Algebra of Wealth.

[00:09:10] In a recent TED Talk, he describes many of the concerns I've raised in previous commentaries.

[00:09:15] The first step in solving a problem is properly identifying it.

[00:09:18] He begins by reminding us that as we go down the generations, the last two generations

[00:09:23] are making less money on an inflation-adjusted basis.

[00:09:26] He argues that the social contract in America has broken because of the first time in U.S.

[00:09:31] history a 30-year-old is no longer doing as well as his or her parents were at 30.

[00:09:36] Most young Americans do not feel good about America.

[00:09:38] That attitude creates rage and can explain the incendiary movements like the BLM riots

[00:09:44] and the post-Demas protest.

[00:09:46] He also shows graphs that parallel the research by his colleague, Jonathan Haidt.

[00:09:50] Rates of self-harm increase.

[00:09:52] Rates of depression also increase.

[00:09:54] He recalls that when he was in high school, teenagers died because of drunk driving.

[00:09:58] Today, teenagers are killing themselves.

[00:10:01] You know, many of these disturbing trends were surfacing 30 years ago when I wrote Signs

[00:10:05] of Warning, Signs of Hope.

[00:10:06] The builder generation born before the end of World War II sent dad off to work and mom

[00:10:10] stayed home with the kids and most went to church.

[00:10:13] The boomer generation born between 1946 and 1964 had two parents working, had a more difficult

[00:10:19] time buying a home, and may or may not have gone to church.

[00:10:22] The latest generations have both husband and wife working, aren't sure they want to have

[00:10:26] kids, may never afford a home, and don't go to church.

[00:10:29] The economic and spiritual trends that started decades ago account for so many of the societal

[00:10:34] concerns surfacing today.

[00:10:36] It's time to admit that we have a broken economy and a broken society that needs revival.

[00:10:40] I'm Kirby Anderson, and that's my Point of View.

[00:10:47] For a free booklet on A Biblical View on Big Data, go to viewpoints.info.com.

[00:10:54] That's viewpoints.info.com.

[00:10:59] You're listening to Point of View, your listener-supported source for truth.

[00:11:04] Like once again, talking about the film The Firing Squad.

[00:11:08] First of all, there have been a number of premieres and screenings.

[00:11:12] They had one at the National Religious Broadcasters Convention.

[00:11:16] There are a number going on right now.

[00:11:18] As a matter of fact, after I finish here, I'm going to be going to San Antonio.

[00:11:22] One of those screenings is there.

[00:11:23] I also live near Plano.

[00:11:25] There's going to be one there.

[00:11:26] So you can actually check that out and see if there might be an opportunity for you to

[00:11:29] watch it now.

[00:11:31] And of course, there's a place where you can be a mobilizer to actually want to get a whole

[00:11:37] theater to promote that.

[00:11:39] And if you go to thefiringsquadmovie.com, you'll see a video with Kevin Sorbo talking

[00:11:46] about We're Going to Save America.

[00:11:48] And then the other video, Oscar-winning actor Cuba Gooding Jr.'s Journey to Christian Faith.

[00:11:53] And so you can watch some of that material as well.

[00:11:57] Get ready for this event.

[00:11:59] Let me encourage you to find out more about this because you might be able to set up a

[00:12:04] screening or help us get more information out.

[00:12:08] And Cuba, one of the things we've talked about so often is the need for us to show

[00:12:12] up for these events, whether it's a one-night event or whether it's a series of screenings

[00:12:18] or whatever it might be, because I really want to send the message to Hollywood that

[00:12:23] we want more of these faith-affirming films.

[00:12:26] And I know that you agree with that as well.

[00:12:28] Well, I take the messages out there.

[00:12:31] I seriously do because the one thing that motivates Hollywood we all know is money.

[00:12:35] Do re mi.

[00:12:36] Show me the money.

[00:12:38] And the one thing that they can't deny is that these faith-based movies have a built-in

[00:12:43] audience.

[00:12:44] You know, and you think about Christians who go to church on Sundays and they want to give

[00:12:50] their word of God for the rest of the week.

[00:12:52] And when their pastor explains to them that there's a movie for them in the theaters,

[00:12:56] they show up.

[00:12:58] And Hollywood's starting to take notice of that.

[00:13:00] You know, you had this phenomenon last summer of the Barbenheimer, which was a Barbie movie

[00:13:05] and an Oppenheimer movie making a billion dollars.

[00:13:07] There wasn't a lot of talk about the third movie that made a lot of money in Sound of

[00:13:11] Freedom.

[00:13:12] But now they're starting to take notice.

[00:13:14] They can't deny it.

[00:13:15] They can't deny that there's an audience hungry to go to the theaters just like they

[00:13:19] go to church and get their blessing, get that two-hour blessing.

[00:13:24] And that's these faith-based films.

[00:13:26] And that's why the audience is starting to grow so steadily.

[00:13:28] And that's why I believe Hollywood is starting to take notice.

[00:13:32] Well, again, like I said, there are screenings all over the places where we broadcast.

[00:13:37] And so it's quite possible that people can find a place.

[00:13:40] I mean, I'm finding ones in Texas and California and Florida and all sorts of places where

[00:13:45] we broadcast.

[00:13:46] And so that would make sense.

[00:13:48] But there's also an opportunity, as I understand, that if there isn't a screening in your community,

[00:13:54] there's an opportunity for you to establish one.

[00:13:57] Do you know more about how to do that?

[00:13:59] Yes, it's like you said.

[00:14:01] You go to the website, and you've stated the website prior, and there is a place to sign

[00:14:07] up.

[00:14:08] And then you can sponsor a screening and then have people in your community come and have

[00:14:12] it specific for your church or your organizational group or your support group, in whatever way

[00:14:19] you have it, to attend that screening set up just for you.

[00:14:24] I've been traveling some of the country to surprise attend some of these.

[00:14:28] I haven't been able to do all of them, but I know Kevin has made a few as well.

[00:14:33] And it might be fun to just connect with the people who know that we're out here in Hollywood.

[00:14:38] We're fighting a good fight for it.

[00:14:40] Yes. Well, just before I let you go, and I know you probably have some other activities

[00:14:45] there as well. There is a video there about your faith journey, and you sort of alluded

[00:14:49] to that, but I'd love to have you just share a little bit more about that because I know

[00:14:54] when I said about a week ago that we were going to have Cuba Gooding Jr. on, people

[00:14:59] go, what?

[00:15:00] What?

[00:15:01] Kevin Sorbo, they sort of know that, but I think it would be an opportunity for you to

[00:15:06] share a little bit of your own experience, if you mind.

[00:15:09] Sure.

[00:15:10] At nine, ten years old, I lived in an area in Los Angeles, Kodama Hills.

[00:15:17] My mom was a woman named Dolores McCraven, who passed away now.

[00:15:20] But she had a house and she would open it to all the kids in the neighborhood.

[00:15:24] She'd say, you can come, you can play all the games, you can eat all the candy you want,

[00:15:27] but you must recite one scripture from the Bible.

[00:15:31] And every day we wound up, it became one of those things.

[00:15:35] You went, you read the Bible, and then you played and you had candy.

[00:15:38] My mom came one day and she was very upset because I was way past my curfew.

[00:15:42] She came in yelling and screaming and brought it to the Lord.

[00:15:48] I'll never forget it, like it was yesterday.

[00:15:50] And it was from that moment on, I've had my journey for the rest of my life.

[00:15:55] I say a simple prayer every morning and every night, Thy will be done, God's will be done.

[00:16:01] And I've done a series of positive roles, dark roles, light-filled roles.

[00:16:06] I even played O.G. Simpson, but I came to the understanding a long time ago that I'm God's

[00:16:12] warrior in this town.

[00:16:15] You know, it's like a hammer doesn't ask a carpenter what nail it hits, it just hits the nail.

[00:16:20] And I know that he gave me the ability to portray these emotions in these different roles.

[00:16:25] And now he's called me to do this one in Firing Squad, which by the way,

[00:16:30] I should let you know it's in theaters on at least 2,500 screens August 2nd.

[00:16:35] But like you said, we're doing these grassroots screenings sponsored by individuals around

[00:16:43] these communities.

[00:16:44] So we're coming, we're coming.

[00:16:47] It's exciting time.

[00:16:49] It is exciting.

[00:16:50] And again, let me just mention what you just did.

[00:16:52] If you go to thefiringsquadmovie.com, of course we have that link there.

[00:16:56] We also have a link to the two-minute trailer.

[00:17:00] Of course it'll be in about 2,500 theaters August 2nd.

[00:17:03] But if you click on the button there that says movie screenings, you will see that there have been

[00:17:09] all sorts of other opportunities for you to watch it in your community or to bring it to a community

[00:17:15] and to really develop a tremendous amount of momentum that I think will actually culminate when

[00:17:22] it actually comes out in August.

[00:17:24] So we'll do obviously another interview or two before August 2nd, but I just wanted people to

[00:17:28] know about it now.

[00:17:30] And because I knew we could get you today and hear your story, I just am so thrilled that you are part

[00:17:35] of that film.

[00:17:36] And really thrilled that you could be part of this today with us here on Point of View.

[00:17:41] Well, thank you for having me.

[00:17:43] And it's truly been a blessing, and I can't wait for people to experience the film.

[00:17:47] Because I know at the end of the movie that they, it's a reaffirmation of their faith.

[00:17:53] And even if it's in a small way, it makes a change in the difference of people's lives.

[00:17:58] Well, again, thank you for being with us.

[00:18:00] And just before we take a break here, let me just point you to some of the resources available at

[00:18:05] the website here.

[00:18:06] Last hour, I didn't really spend much time talking about the fact that we do have a Tech Action

[00:18:11] item on the website.

[00:18:13] And if you haven't responded to that, I think we'll carry it for the rest of the week and then

[00:18:17] we're going to move on.

[00:18:18] So again, if you haven't had a chance to contact the administration about the World Health

[00:18:23] Organization creating this global pandemic treaty, although they call it an agreement, which I

[00:18:29] think would cause us to lose sovereignty.

[00:18:31] We make it very easy for you to click on the button that says take action and to indicate your

[00:18:36] concerns.

[00:18:37] I'm sure you will find out more if you have the time just to click on that button.

[00:18:42] There is a place, of course, where you can subscribe to the weekly updates that we do for

[00:18:48] Pray for America.

[00:18:50] So that is available as well.

[00:18:52] My commentary today is about Scott Galloway.

[00:18:54] Maybe I'll get into it in the last half hour.

[00:18:56] And again, let me mention that on the right-hand side, there are events registration.

[00:19:02] Right now, the one up there has to do with our outreach that will be taking place in Michigan.

[00:19:07] So if you're in Traverse City, Michigan, you want to click on that button and take out some of

[00:19:12] that information.

[00:19:12] If you'd like to listen to these broadcasts again on podcast, that is the case.

[00:19:16] And of course, we have the point of view highlights on Spotify.

[00:19:19] So all of those are available as well.

[00:19:22] Just before I take a break, I thought I'd give you an update.

[00:19:24] You might remember that we were talking on Friday about the fact that government officials

[00:19:30] were saying that the cemetery in Petersburg, Virginia could not have religious services.

[00:19:36] I'm not making this up.

[00:19:38] We cannot have religious services at a cemetery.

[00:19:41] And you thought, well, certainly, certainly the government would relent.

[00:19:47] They did not.

[00:19:48] And so where we are now is the Knights of Columbus working with, of course, First Liberty Institute

[00:19:54] and some of the local lawyers there have filed a suit because they were denied a permit to

[00:20:01] hold religious services at a cemetery.

[00:20:04] Knights of Columbus, again, wanted to do – actually has been doing this for, what was it, 50 years?

[00:20:10] But all of a sudden, we can't do that.

[00:20:12] So again, we talk about sometimes the hostility to religion.

[00:20:16] The argument being made now, again, it's hard to say this with a straight face, is

[00:20:21] that a religious service would be a demonstration.

[00:20:25] And since we don't allow demonstrations at a cemetery, in this particular case, a national

[00:20:31] cemetery, that that is enough to keep the Knights of Columbus from holding a mass there

[00:20:37] or any other religious services.

[00:20:39] But as we've said before, this is just the most upside-down world where we can't have

[00:20:43] religious services at a cemetery.

[00:20:46] And you've got to think I'm making this up, but I'm not.

[00:20:48] And that just is an update on a story that we carried on Friday, really haven't had

[00:20:54] a chance to talk about much.

[00:20:55] And I wanted to wait till we knew that the lawsuit had been filed.

[00:20:59] So that's where we are in that story.

[00:21:02] Maybe by Friday, during our weekend edition, we'll be able to give you some good news.

[00:21:07] I'm sure hoping so because if not, that means that coming Monday, Memorial Day, they

[00:21:11] won't be able to hold those services.

[00:21:13] So we'll see how that unfolds.

[00:21:15] We come back, though, we're in the midst of an election.

[00:21:17] A lot of things happening.

[00:21:19] So we're going to do our best to try to cover quite a bit of material in about a half an

[00:21:23] hour.

[00:21:24] We'll do our best.

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

[00:21:32] In 19th century London, two towering historical figures did battle, not with guns and bombs,

[00:21:38] but words and ideas.

[00:21:41] London was home to Karl Marx, the father of communism, and legendary Baptist preacher

[00:21:46] Charles Spurgeon.

[00:21:49] London was in many ways the center of the world, economically, militarily and intellectually.

[00:21:55] Marx sought to destroy religion, the family and everything the Bible supports.

[00:22:00] Spurgeon stood against him, warning of socialism's dangers.

[00:22:04] Spurgeon understood Christianity is not just religious truth, it is truth for all of life.

[00:22:11] Where do you find men with that kind of wisdom to stand against darkness today?

[00:22:16] Get the light you need on today's most pressing issues delivered to your inbox when you sign

[00:22:22] up for the Viewpoints commentary at pointofview.net slash signup.

[00:22:28] Every weekday in less than two minutes, you'll learn how to be a person of light to stand

[00:22:33] against darkness in our time.

[00:22:36] It's free, so visit pointofview.net slash signup right now.

[00:22:41] Pointofview.net slash signup.

[00:22:49] Point of View will continue after this.

[00:22:58] You are listening to Point of View.

[00:23:03] The opinions expressed on Point of View do not necessarily reflect the views of the management

[00:23:08] or staff of this station.

[00:23:11] And now, here again is Kirby Anderson.

[00:23:14] About a half hour, you know, after we've talked with Mark Atterbury and Stacy Womack and Cuba

[00:23:19] Gooding Jr., I'm ready to end, but I realize, no, we still have half an hour left, and that's

[00:23:22] good because we do have a few things to talk about.

[00:23:25] Just as a program note, tomorrow is the Millennial Roundtable, and then Friday is our weekend

[00:23:30] edition.

[00:23:31] And on both days, you'll get a chance to hear from Liberty, but also tomorrow, Chelsea,

[00:23:35] and on Friday, Dr. Merrill Matthews and others.

[00:23:37] So I think you will really enjoy the conversation there.

[00:23:40] But let me get into a couple of topics.

[00:23:43] Part of the issue that I've always had with some of the media is they cover a story, and

[00:23:49] they never come back to it.

[00:23:50] And you heard me just a few minutes ago talk about the cemetery that is in Virginia, where

[00:23:55] we were told that you could not have religious services.

[00:23:58] And of course, we talked about that on Friday, and Jeff Matier was laughing so much about

[00:24:03] it.

[00:24:04] He said, you can't have religion and religious services at a cemetery.

[00:24:07] Who would have guessed?

[00:24:08] And I just wanted you to get an update that there was a lawsuit that was filed.

[00:24:12] And another story that I want to come back to is that the other day, I talked about the

[00:24:17] fact that there was a problem in getting the aid to the people in Gaza, because Hamas

[00:24:27] primarily, but all sorts of other individuals were stealing it.

[00:24:31] And again, I put that under the, I hate to tell you I told you so file, but that was

[00:24:36] indeed the case.

[00:24:38] So again, we have some questions that were being asked.

[00:24:43] And this comes from one of the stories, ask if any of the aid from the pier, it's a floating

[00:24:48] pier by the way in Gaza had ever reached the Gaza residents in need.

[00:24:53] And so this was a conversation that was actually asked of the Pentagon press secretary, Major

[00:25:00] General Pat Ryder.

[00:25:03] And he said, I do not believe so.

[00:25:05] He said that the aid had resumed moving Tuesday from the secured area into Gaza after what

[00:25:11] had been a two day halt following Saturday's disruption, which I talked about earlier

[00:25:16] in the week.

[00:25:17] So again, this is how the conversation went at the United Nations.

[00:25:22] And this is a spokesman for the secretary general spokesman said there have been no

[00:25:27] new arrivals of trucks on the floating pier since Saturday question from the audience.

[00:25:33] And was the aid from those trucks actually delivered to the warehouse or to anybody on

[00:25:38] land?

[00:25:39] And the spokesperson said, well, on Friday, there were about 10 trucks that made it.

[00:25:43] On Saturday, there were 16 trucks that left the floating pier, but 11 of those trucks never

[00:25:48] made it to the warehouse.

[00:25:51] And you can look at the pictures what happened.

[00:25:53] Crowds stopped the trucks at various points along the way.

[00:25:57] I think I could refer to this as self distribution.

[00:26:01] You think it also was people stealing it so they could then resell it and those kinds

[00:26:07] of things.

[00:26:08] And so as a result, there was another question.

[00:26:10] So has there been any distribution of any of that aid?

[00:26:15] The kind of pause?

[00:26:17] Well, the aid is well, basically, the WFP, which is the World Food Program, drops off

[00:26:26] the aid at its warehouse and then its local partners then distribute the aid as they can.

[00:26:33] But I don't have that sort of granularity, which is a nice way of having no facts.

[00:26:38] As a matter of fact, I wouldn't be surprised if half of it was stolen and resold.

[00:26:42] But nevertheless, let me jump back in again.

[00:26:44] I think you know the fact that the trucks didn't make it underscores the need for a consistent

[00:26:48] delivery of aid and obviously for a ceasefire so that they can access the aid.

[00:26:53] What was holding up the ceasefire?

[00:26:54] Well, that was some loss.

[00:26:55] They didn't want the ceasefire, as you know.

[00:26:57] And so then question from the audience one more time.

[00:26:59] One final question.

[00:27:00] Who was responsible for security for those trucks?

[00:27:04] And then you get this, there was no, well, we didn't have any armed security.

[00:27:09] We operate separately, obviously, from the Israeli Defense Forces, the IDF.

[00:27:14] So part of it is the work we do with various community groups and humanitarian partners

[00:27:19] so that people understand where the trucks are coming from, where they're going, and

[00:27:22] what they're being used for.

[00:27:25] So again, what we have is the food that needs to get to the women and children and other

[00:27:34] people in Gaza is not getting there.

[00:27:38] And it is not being protected.

[00:27:40] And you after a while just have to say, can we have any other incompetency?

[00:27:48] As we said before, building a floating pier on Gaza was first of all risking the possibility

[00:27:57] that Hamas would fire at the people constructing it, which is exactly what happened, and not

[00:28:02] providing the kind of security, not that I'm calling for American boots on the ground,

[00:28:09] but you can see what happens when you don't have the USA or the IDF or even the EU, but

[00:28:16] instead the United Nations trying to put together a program without any security, where

[00:28:21] we're really surprised that this happened.

[00:28:24] But nevertheless, that is the world that we find ourselves in right now, so it's worth

[00:28:28] a mention.

[00:28:29] Let me for just a few minutes mention that we are in the midst of a campaign.

[00:28:35] Just a minute, I'm going to give you some of the facts and figures on the presidential

[00:28:38] campaign, but one of the articles I posted for you is a very good piece that came from

[00:28:44] Rachel Alexander.

[00:28:47] Stop accusing impressive candidates of not being qualified.

[00:28:51] She said, one of the many ways Republicans sabotage each other is by blasting candidates

[00:28:55] in primary races for allegedly lacking experience and qualifications.

[00:28:59] While Democrats often settle on one candidate early in the primary race, unlike us with

[00:29:04] our emphasis on treating people as individuals, Democrats are much easier to herd and control

[00:29:09] top down with groupthink.

[00:29:11] And so they, in many cases, avoid some of these long, bruising primaries which have

[00:29:16] been part and parcel of Republicans.

[00:29:19] The point she's making is that sometimes we've seen inexperienced candidates make great leaders.

[00:29:27] Six US presidents never served in office before becoming president.

[00:29:32] One of those is Donald Trump, but she also goes back and reminds us of say, Herbert Hoover,

[00:29:38] who certainly was a mining engineer, had some experience serving under Presidents Warren

[00:29:44] Harding and Calvin Coolidge.

[00:29:46] Calvin Coolidge hadn't been much of an experience, and many people think he was really one of

[00:29:49] the better presidents of the 20th century.

[00:29:51] Then she goes on to talk about Dwight Eisenhower, never had served in office, commanded Allied

[00:29:58] forces as a five-star general during World War II.

[00:30:03] Ulysses S. Grant led the Union armies to victory against the Confederacy.

[00:30:07] William Howard Taft came from a legal field.

[00:30:10] He served as Secretary of War under Theodore Roosevelt.

[00:30:13] Zachary Taylor served as an Army general during the Mexican-American War.

[00:30:19] And of those only, Hoover is included in multiple rankings as one of the worst presidents in

[00:30:25] history.

[00:30:26] And quite frankly, I think he deserved better, if for no other reason, than he came to office

[00:30:32] during the Great Depression.

[00:30:34] And some of that may have been his fault, but a good portion of it, I think you could

[00:30:38] honestly argue was not.

[00:30:40] So then she uses that to talk about some of the others.

[00:30:42] Of course, since she's in Arizona, she's thinking of Carrie Lake, for example, who of course

[00:30:47] has been in broadcasting, and then talked about some of the others.

[00:30:51] We, of course, have Arizona listeners, but we also have listeners in Georgia, Hershel

[00:30:55] Walker, Pennsylvania, Dr. Oz.

[00:30:58] I mean, you can go through a list of individuals, and I think it's important to recognize that

[00:31:03] it is helpful if an individual is given some level of experience, but it isn't essential.

[00:31:12] One of the things that oftentimes Americans have felt is that I don't just want somebody

[00:31:18] from the Senate, I'd rather have somebody from the government of the state who has been

[00:31:25] in the executive office.

[00:31:27] It is amazing how many times we've actually felt that a governor would be a better president.

[00:31:33] And it was Governor Franklin Delano Roosevelt, and it was Governor Jimmy Carter, and it was

[00:31:39] Governor Ronald Reagan, and it was Governor Bill Clinton, and it was Governor George W.

[00:31:46] Bush.

[00:31:47] I mean, you can kind of see that we felt that a person that has had experience, and we've

[00:31:51] been able to judge their experience as an executive, maybe is a little more helpful.

[00:31:56] But of course we've had Senator, of course, John F. Kennedy, and Senator, for example,

[00:32:02] Barack Obama.

[00:32:03] But nevertheless, that is, I think, part of that issue as well.

[00:32:08] And of course she ends by also reminding us that one of the promises that came from campaign

[00:32:15] from at that time candidate Joe Biden was that he wanted to put people in positions

[00:32:23] that were qualified and was very arguing against what he felt were some unqualified people put

[00:32:31] in the Trump administration.

[00:32:33] You can agree or disagree with some of those statements, but it is interesting because she

[00:32:38] quoted something I had never seen.

[00:32:40] And that is, according to The Hill, the campaign legal center has found that all but one of

[00:32:47] the non-career ambassadors that President Biden has appointed to office, all of them

[00:32:53] but one are political contributors, many of whom lack any kind of qualification to be

[00:33:00] an ambassador.

[00:33:02] His 55 appointees have contributed more than $22.5 million to Democratic committees, averaging

[00:33:10] about $400,000 per each.

[00:33:13] So again, we do have some people sometimes that are unqualified, that are put in political

[00:33:19] positions.

[00:33:20] And it turns out that in this administration, virtually all of them were donators to the

[00:33:25] Democratic Party and in particular to candidate Joe Biden.

[00:33:30] So something to think about.

[00:33:31] It's a very good piece that gives you some facts and figures both from history and then even

[00:33:37] from current involvement right now.

[00:33:40] Stop accusing impressive candidates of not being qualified.

[00:33:43] It's a good piece.

[00:33:44] Go back and talk about some others right after this.

[00:33:57] You're listening to Point of View, your listener-supported source for truth.

[00:34:02] For a few more minutes, let me again mention that tomorrow will be our Millennial Roundtable.

[00:34:05] I think you'll really enjoy that conversation.

[00:34:08] And then Friday, our weekend edition.

[00:34:09] There's certainly a lot of things that we haven't had a chance to talk about.

[00:34:13] About a minute ago, we were talking about the election.

[00:34:16] And you've heard me say before, I don't like to talk about polls too much because the only

[00:34:20] poll that really matters is going to happen in November.

[00:34:24] But that being said, it is intriguing to actually see that some of these most recent polls actually

[00:34:31] show Donald Trump ahead.

[00:34:34] And the reason I bring it up, because again, a lot can happen between now and November,

[00:34:38] is the way in which the Biden administration, and in particular President Biden, has been

[00:34:43] responding to that.

[00:34:45] And since I know that Dr. Merrill Matthews is going to bring it up again on Friday because

[00:34:51] he just published a very good article in The Hill, so I'll not steal any of his thunder,

[00:34:56] but I'll use some of the same numbers I think he'll quote to you about, is we've had poll

[00:35:01] after poll.

[00:35:02] But let's take the most recent one.

[00:35:03] This came out just this morning, the Bloomberg News Morning Consult poll, which again, if

[00:35:10] it is biased at all, and most of these polls try not to be, but if they have a tendency

[00:35:14] to be biased, probably going to be more biased towards a Biden and less for a Trump.

[00:35:22] And so the only place where Joe Biden looks good is in Michigan, and that's again 46% to

[00:35:32] 45%, which is a statistical tie.

[00:35:35] So that is the one outlier.

[00:35:38] But the rest show that again, Donald Trump in the other seven states, up three percentage

[00:35:45] points in Arizona, Georgia and Pennsylvania, up four percentage points in Michigan, North

[00:35:52] Carolina and Wisconsin, and up five percentage points in Nevada.

[00:35:57] There is a point at time that you have a couple of issues that might cause you to say,

[00:36:06] but again, most of those, the statistic margin is plus or minus 1%.

[00:36:10] So most of those are outside of the statistical margin.

[00:36:15] One point that maybe would be good for our listeners in North Carolina is North Carolina

[00:36:21] was always sort of seen as a swing state.

[00:36:25] But if you look at some of the polls, Donald Trump's ahead 49% to 42%.

[00:36:30] So that's seven percentage points, meaning it's probably not a swing state unless something

[00:36:35] really dramatically happens.

[00:36:38] If you look at the preceding six polls, you still have Trump ahead by five percentage

[00:36:44] points, six percentage points, and then a couple that were like six and three.

[00:36:48] So there's nothing that says that North Carolina is going to be a swing state unless some major

[00:36:58] change takes place.

[00:37:00] Now that's my point.

[00:37:01] I want to give you the facts.

[00:37:02] So in the midst of all these facts, you have to say, what is the president saying?

[00:37:08] Well, he was on the other day with CNN's Aaron Burnett saying, well, the polling data has

[00:37:14] been wrong all along.

[00:37:16] Well, we sometimes hear that, don't we?

[00:37:19] How many of you guys do a poll?

[00:37:21] CNN, how many folks do you call?

[00:37:23] And so we go through this whole thing.

[00:37:25] And again, I recognize that polls do have inherent bias sometimes because if you're

[00:37:32] only calling a certain number or if people don't respond to you, you have to sort of

[00:37:38] factor that in.

[00:37:39] If you get too many answers from one state but that's not representative of the entire

[00:37:44] country, you have to sort of re-normalize those.

[00:37:47] But again, keep in the back of your mind who is more likely to say they're undecided, a

[00:37:55] Biden voter or a Trump voter?

[00:37:58] I think you know the answer.

[00:37:59] That is at times when Donald Trump looks like he's only up a percentage point and wins a

[00:38:05] lot more is due to the fact that sometimes, especially if it's somebody from CNN giving

[00:38:09] you a call, well, I'm just going to say I'm undecided even though I know in my heart of

[00:38:13] hearts I'm going to vote for Donald Trump.

[00:38:15] And so it's sort of comical to hear the president saying that all the surveys are wrong and

[00:38:24] how many people do you call when you get one response, what's the case?

[00:38:30] And as a result, it's not just what he said on television but people that have gone to

[00:38:35] his fundraisers.

[00:38:36] And I'm not one of those but I'm just quoting from people that have in the Axios article

[00:38:42] in public and private, Joe Biden has been telling anyone who will listen that he's

[00:38:47] actually gaining ground and probably is already up on Donald Trump in their rematch from 2020.

[00:38:53] And so again, his argument is the press isn't covering it because the press doesn't want

[00:38:59] to talk about a Democrat incumbent actually having momentum against Donald Trump.

[00:39:06] Does that make any sense?

[00:39:07] I mean, you don't have to have a dog in the hunt.

[00:39:10] You don't have to believe one way or the other.

[00:39:13] You don't have to like Donald Trump or Joe Biden.

[00:39:16] But to say that the press is really covering for Donald Trump and really not accurately

[00:39:21] reporting and not doing good surveys so as a result it makes Donald Trump look better

[00:39:27] than he really is, does that really match logic or common sense?

[00:39:32] And it really doesn't for me.

[00:39:34] And so I just thought I'd pass that on because these polls are again polls and polls sometimes

[00:39:40] change.

[00:39:42] There's a lot between May and November, so I don't necessarily believe that that is a

[00:39:48] foregone conclusion.

[00:39:50] But again, the response has been from the Biden campaign and from President Biden himself

[00:39:56] is, well, the polls are wrong.

[00:39:58] And as a result, we should actually recognize that I am going to win reelection easily.

[00:40:05] Just don't think that fits very well with anything we know about polling or even about

[00:40:10] the statistical surveys that are actually taking place.

[00:40:14] The last point I wanted to make is there's a very good piece by Dennis Prager and he

[00:40:17] said, you know, all through my adult life I've warned people that sometimes colleges

[00:40:22] and universities can really have a negative impact.

[00:40:27] He even has said if you send your child to college, you're playing Russian roulette with

[00:40:31] his or her values.

[00:40:33] When I joined Probe Ministries 48 years ago, we had a brochure that said when your kids

[00:40:37] go off to college, will they lose their faith?

[00:40:40] It's another way to express the fact that we see some examples and he gives some really

[00:40:45] striking examples.

[00:40:47] Of course, he recognizes that if you're going to be in the STEM area, science, technology,

[00:40:52] engineering, math, probably do need to go to college.

[00:40:54] But in a lot of other places, that is the case.

[00:40:57] And he's starting to see now more and more of these American universities, British universities,

[00:41:03] even Western universities that are coming out and supporting Hamas, showing hatred

[00:41:09] towards Israel.

[00:41:11] We're having walkouts during commencement exercises.

[00:41:15] We're having individuals in the faculty accusing presidents if they do actually enforce the

[00:41:21] laws and the rules and regulations of the university of being biased and all the rest.

[00:41:27] And he says none of this is surprising to him.

[00:41:30] He says universities have been morally and intellectually damaging for more than 50 years.

[00:41:36] And then gives some interesting stories of individuals, and you can read it for yourself,

[00:41:42] of those who maybe came from a Jewish background, were supporters of Israel, and then eventually

[00:41:48] in one particular case left the Interior Department because of Israel's genocide.

[00:41:55] Yet interestingly enough, was very much supportive of Israel and of Jewish people, a Jewish individual.

[00:42:02] Tells another story of a UCLA student that as well wrote a hate-filled article about

[00:42:09] the Jewish state and asked what changed you, he said, and she responded, the university.

[00:42:16] So it's a reminder once again that parents and even many students are starting to rethink

[00:42:22] whether they want to spend four years.

[00:42:24] Sometimes it ends up being about six years and more than $100,000 in student debt for

[00:42:30] something that oftentimes turns them against some of the things they used to believe in.

[00:42:35] So just one more article by our good friend Dennis Prager, and it's all part of what we've

[00:42:40] posted on the website at pointofview.net.

[00:42:44] Go there, we have my viewpoints commentary, our take action item, of course, our various

[00:42:48] ways in which you can listen to these programs again on podcast, even our highlights on Spotify,

[00:42:54] all available at the website pointofview.net.

[00:42:57] One last time I want to thank Megan for help engineering the program, Steve, thank you

[00:43:01] for producing the program.

[00:43:03] We look forward to seeing you tomorrow on our Millennial Roundtable right here on Point

[00:43:07] of View.

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