Point of View November 7, 2024 – Hour 2 : Radical Freedom

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

[00:00:20] Second hour, we're going to spend some time, first of all, talking about this issue of addiction,

[00:00:24] and then we're going to get back to some of the issues in the news, in particular some of the thoughts about the election that took place on Tuesday.

[00:00:31] But again, we'll have full coverage of that on Friday, tomorrow, when we pull together our roundtable of discussion,

[00:00:39] our end-of-year and end-of-week kind of discussions that will be taking place over the next couple of months, are certainly the case,

[00:00:47] but certainly our weekend edition with Kelly Shackelford and Jeff Mateer will be part of that,

[00:00:52] but we'll be doing that all the way to the end of the year as well, and do some wrap-up of various news and information,

[00:00:58] and a lot of that will take place tomorrow.

[00:01:00] But I thought it would be appropriate in light of the fact that oftentimes we do talk about this issue of drug abuse,

[00:01:06] I'm holding up our book here on a biblical view on drug abuse, and we talk about addiction,

[00:01:12] and recognize that that has become a more serious problem than ever.

[00:01:16] We thought it would be very appropriate, especially since that is something we will continue to talk about here on Point of View,

[00:01:23] to bring Melissa Hooray to the program.

[00:01:26] She is an individual who herself was addicted, and I'll let her tell the story about that in just a few minutes.

[00:01:33] She also has become an addiction counselor with a master's degree in physiology,

[00:01:40] and she has spent 12 years counseling addicts in some of these very intensive treatment programs,

[00:01:49] and then serves, of course, now as the executive director at the Lindell Recovery Network.

[00:01:56] You might also maybe have seen her in the past as a news reporter and an anchor such programs as His Glory Ministry,

[00:02:04] and of course she also has written Blackout to Blessing, which is her memoir,

[00:02:09] and this book that we're going to be talking about today, which is called Radical Freedom,

[00:02:14] a 365-day devotional.

[00:02:17] I'll hold it up here, but of course you can also find out about it on our website at pointofview.net.

[00:02:23] Melissa, thank you for joining us today here on Point of View.

[00:02:27] Hi, Kirby. Thanks so much for having me. It's an honor.

[00:02:30] Well, Melissa, let's tell your story first, because I think one of the things that I always believe is helpful

[00:02:37] if you're counseling an individual is to say, well, I'm a fellow traveler.

[00:02:41] I've been there where you are now, and in some respects you've got an incredible testimony, don't you?

[00:02:48] Well, thank you. I love to share the story of what the Lord has done in my life.

[00:02:53] I was raised in the Northwoods of Minnesota, and I had an alcoholic dad.

[00:02:57] He was also a musician. My mom was a codependent people pleaser.

[00:03:01] She was a great woman but struggled with dealing with my dad's addiction.

[00:03:05] My brother was an overachiever, and I just felt lost in that family dynamic.

[00:03:10] And there was so much shame that followed me.

[00:03:12] I always had this cloak of shame, this pervasive entity that seemed to follow me everywhere I went.

[00:03:18] So it started with my father humiliating me when I was young and going to my softball games drunk

[00:03:25] and just all the while I was trying to escape the way that I felt.

[00:03:29] It started out with numbing myself through TV shows.

[00:03:31] What I'd do, I was a latchkey kid in the 80s, I'd get off the school bus and I would watch TV shows

[00:03:36] like the Jeffersons and the People's Court in the 1980s, and I'd eat junk food.

[00:03:41] And that's how I dealt with my anxiety of being left alone.

[00:03:44] When I was young, I had to learn a couple of survival skills at an early age,

[00:03:48] how to deal with being alone and how to self-soothe.

[00:03:51] So TV and food did that for a while, but as I grew older, I started to need something more.

[00:03:56] And that's really what happens with addiction.

[00:03:58] I mean, we develop a greater and greater tolerance to deal with our issues, with our anxiety, with our panic.

[00:04:04] And I had this shame that I've come to understand.

[00:04:06] It's not just a feeling, it's a dark entity that would weave its way through my mind, through my experiences.

[00:04:14] And as my dad's addiction grew, so did my shame.

[00:04:16] By the time I was 15, I had gravitated toward a group of partiers.

[00:04:22] And I just had this sense that that was going to help me.

[00:04:24] I just really believed the enemy had been priming me from a young age.

[00:04:28] Alcohol is going to help you.

[00:04:29] It's going to do something for you.

[00:04:31] It's going to take away these feelings you have.

[00:04:33] So I started dating a guy who was older than me.

[00:04:36] We got into, really quickly, a sexual relationship, and then he introduced me to drinking.

[00:04:42] And honestly, it did exactly what I thought it would at first.

[00:04:45] I was able to escape how I felt.

[00:04:48] The first time I drank, I had the most incredible euphoria I had ever experienced.

[00:04:52] And I really believed that living in that stressful home environment had depleted my brain of endorphins and dopamine,

[00:04:58] and I just lived in constant stress.

[00:05:00] And when I drank, I was flooded with this feeling.

[00:05:03] I mean, that's what every addict is trying to do, I think, is trying to escape, trying to numb, trying to just find a way to cope.

[00:05:10] And I knew the Lord.

[00:05:11] I had accepted Jesus when I was probably nine years old, but I didn't have discipleship that followed.

[00:05:17] And I saw such confusing messages in my home with my dad drinking and my mom hiding it from everybody.

[00:05:23] And just, I didn't know how to really follow God.

[00:05:27] I didn't know what it meant to be in a surrendered relationship to Jesus.

[00:05:32] So I went, I had this broken identity.

[00:05:34] And I, the things that worked for me for so many years were attention and alcohol that went on for 15 years, just this destructive cycle of blackout drinking.

[00:05:43] I mean, from the very beginning, my drinking was destructive, just reckless.

[00:05:48] Went on until I was 26.

[00:05:50] I'd been married and divorced, just a lifestyle of chaos.

[00:05:53] That's what happens in addiction.

[00:05:54] It's just constant recklessness.

[00:05:57] And, but the Lord was pursuing me through all of it.

[00:06:00] And I can stop here, but there did come a turning point where the Lord came and rescued me from that.

[00:06:06] Let me just mention, we do have a link to your website.

[00:06:09] It is MelissaHurray, H-U-R-A-Y.com.

[00:06:13] But you, of course, don't need to know that because you can simply go to the website, pointofview.net, and get some information.

[00:06:20] As a matter of fact, it also includes her other book, Blackout to Blessing.

[00:06:23] And, of course, this one, which we're talking about today, which is Radical Freedom, came out just a few months ago.

[00:06:28] You might be able to find it in your local bookstore, but I think it would be simply easier to order it from her website.

[00:06:33] Of course, we have that on our website as well.

[00:06:36] And if we can, what you're really trying to do is help people understand that there is a place for faith in the midst of this.

[00:06:43] And one of your devotions actually gets into the idea of putting God first and really understanding how important that is.

[00:06:52] Because a lot of this gets down to being willing to fully submit that you talk about and really being able to hold on to what God has called you to do.

[00:07:01] So, in some respects, it isn't just kind of a self-help therapy.

[00:07:05] It's really based upon biblical principles, isn't it?

[00:07:09] Yes, it really is.

[00:07:11] And I think it tells the story of God's work in my life and really the way that he is pursuing each one of us.

[00:07:17] I recently had this realization that my whole life has just been God trying to draw me back to himself.

[00:07:24] You know, and I think he's doing that with each one of us.

[00:07:26] He was using my broken road and the destructive consequences I had from drinking to lead me to the true answer, which was him.

[00:07:35] I tried many things, as a lot of us do.

[00:07:38] It took me a lot to come to the end of myself.

[00:07:40] I sought solutions from the world.

[00:07:42] And not that those are bad or completely unhelpful, but the way I would go about them was backwards.

[00:07:48] I was always seeking external, you know, fixes.

[00:07:52] I went to AA.

[00:07:54] I had a drunk driving arrest where I was forced to go to outpatient treatment.

[00:07:59] I had a very reckless accident where I rear-ended a lady in a blackout.

[00:08:04] That stopped my drinking for 18 months.

[00:08:06] But unless there's some kind of internal change that happens, typically we will go back to the behavior that we know.

[00:08:12] And I had AA.

[00:08:14] I had therapy.

[00:08:15] I had medications.

[00:08:16] They would work for a while, but then inevitably I'd start thinking I could control it again.

[00:08:22] And this is why I know there was the miraculous power of God.

[00:08:25] Nothing of the world could break me of this.

[00:08:27] So this went on after the 18 months.

[00:08:29] I went back into it.

[00:08:30] I had rationalized that I could control it now.

[00:08:33] I had convinced myself that I had healed, but really I hadn't.

[00:08:38] So I went back to drinking and very quickly I was back on the highway to hell again.

[00:08:42] Hmm.

[00:08:42] Let's take a break.

[00:08:43] We'll continue our conversation about this new book, Radical Freedom.

[00:08:46] All that coming up right after this.

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

[00:09:02] 20 years ago, I did an interview with Bernard Goldberg in his book, Bias.

[00:09:06] I bring it up because his analysis has stood the test of time.

[00:09:09] At the time, he was the first media insider to reveal what many of us suspected about the background and attitudes of people who determine what you read, see, and hear in the media.

[00:09:19] There were other studies like the Lictor-Rothman studies that also provided insight.

[00:09:24] But Bernard Goldberg's book provided lots of information and an important perspective.

[00:09:28] His perspective was helpful because it set aside the idea that media bias was some liberal conspiracy.

[00:09:34] He said there isn't a well-orchestrated, vast left-wing conspiracy in America's newsrooms.

[00:09:40] Instead, he said the bitter truth is worse.

[00:09:42] Essentially, what we have in the mainstream media is a common worldview that is promoted in the newsrooms and promoted in the way news stories are covered.

[00:09:51] Various studies of the media leak concluded that people who determine what is newsworthy and how it is covered are very different from the rest of the American public.

[00:09:58] Let's look at a few examples.

[00:10:00] Polling data of political parties show that the United States is about evenly divided between Republicans and Democrats.

[00:10:06] But when you ask journalists to identify their political party, you can only find 4% of them identify themselves as Republican.

[00:10:13] One study found that members of the media, when compared to the public at large, are less likely to get married, have children, less likely to own homes.

[00:10:21] They are also less likely to go to church or synagogue.

[00:10:23] And how many journalists polled belong to the American Legion or service organizations like the Rotary Club?

[00:10:29] The answer was zero.

[00:10:32] You know, 28 years later, Bernard Goldberg's book still reminds us that the media elite view the world differently than the average American.

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

[00:10:47] Go deeper on topics like you just heard by visiting pointofview.net.

[00:10:53] That's pointofview.net.

[00:10:57] You're listening to Point of View, your listener-supported source for truth.

[00:11:03] To junior conversation today with Melissa Hooray.

[00:11:06] The book is entitled Radical Freedom, Breaking the Chains of Addiction for Good.

[00:11:09] It's a 365-day devotional.

[00:11:12] I have information about it.

[00:11:14] And again, you might be able to find it in your local bookstore, but we've made it very possible for you to get it in imitation leather or Kindle.

[00:11:21] And it's something where you can read.

[00:11:22] For example, I mentioned Place God First.

[00:11:24] There's a whole section here about the Old Testament of that.

[00:11:27] And then at the end, Surrender.

[00:11:29] Today I will focus on seeking God's first in all my areas of life.

[00:11:33] Or let's take another one on Bring on Your Brokenness.

[00:11:36] Again, the focus there on Romans 8.28.

[00:11:39] And again, a surrender passage.

[00:11:41] And you do talk about the fact in this booklet, if you read through some of these issues, that you've sought all sorts of counseling.

[00:11:49] And again, counseling is helpful, but your focus has been on seeking God's guidance first.

[00:11:55] And it does seem to me that that's really kind of the ultimate answer because it's helpful to talk to other addicts.

[00:12:03] It's certainly helpful to have a relationship and accountability.

[00:12:08] But ultimately, we need to ultimately turn to God to begin to address some of these problems, these underlying problems that lead to addiction, don't you think?

[00:12:19] Absolutely.

[00:12:20] And I had put my identity in all the wrong things.

[00:12:22] I had sought the things of the world to fix my brokenness.

[00:12:25] It was never going to work.

[00:12:27] That's actually what led me into the news media, partially.

[00:12:30] I did love writing and storytelling, but I became a news anchor and reporter and lived this double life trying to appear to be a community representative and then blackout drunk at night.

[00:12:40] This continued up until my father died of liver failure.

[00:12:43] And then I had six more relapses and I came to the end.

[00:12:46] The Lord had used every single time that I went off into rebellion to bring me to a point of surrender.

[00:12:54] And I really believe, Kirby, that needs to happen in the life of every addict where you come to that place where you're at the end of yourself.

[00:13:00] You've tried everything.

[00:13:01] I call that my Psalm 3418 moment.

[00:13:04] It says, the Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.

[00:13:09] And I have never been more broken or crushed as I was the morning of August 22nd, 2003.

[00:13:15] I came to out of a 12 hour blackout.

[00:13:17] I was in a strange motel room.

[00:13:19] I didn't know how I got there.

[00:13:20] And I came to the end that day.

[00:13:22] I did a couple of things.

[00:13:23] I said, I decided I wanted to be done.

[00:13:27] That's what the first thing was.

[00:13:28] And I repented.

[00:13:29] I repented.

[00:13:30] That old antiquated church word a lot of people don't want to talk about.

[00:13:34] And I didn't even realize that's what I was doing in the moment.

[00:13:36] But I agreed with God.

[00:13:38] I turned away from what I was doing and I changed my mind to agree with God because he had been pursuing me,

[00:13:44] been chasing me down and showing me this is going to take your life.

[00:13:47] The Holy Spirit spoke to me when I was 28 and said, you're not going to make it to 30 if you don't stop.

[00:13:53] And I knew that my time was running out.

[00:13:55] My life was going to end tragically.

[00:13:56] So that morning I said a simple prayer of surrender and the Lord delivered me and restored me.

[00:14:01] It was nothing anything in the world could have done.

[00:14:03] And I've been sober over 21 years now.

[00:14:06] And I can tell you honestly that in those 21 years, I haven't had a moment where I've had craving or obsession or, hey, I think I could do it again.

[00:14:14] That's how I know it was supernatural.

[00:14:16] And that's why I called the book radical freedom, because it was supernatural.

[00:14:21] It was transformational.

[00:14:22] It was something that could only come from surrender to almighty God.

[00:14:25] Yes.

[00:14:26] In your previous book that dealt with a blackout to blessing.

[00:14:30] Again, we have a link to MelissaHurray.com.

[00:14:32] But I thought you'd pick out one other illustration.

[00:14:35] This comes in your devotional on May of addicted to love, because you mentioned that in passing.

[00:14:42] But sometimes when we see somebody who is going from one relationship to the next, we don't necessarily see that as addiction.

[00:14:50] But you point out that from age 14, my childhood abandonment wound actually drove an addiction for the wrong kind of love.

[00:14:58] And so as a result, you said, I pursued bad boys, rebels, people who were interested in my body, but not my mind.

[00:15:05] There is a sense in which sometimes we don't necessarily understand that a person is addicted because they're not actually putting a needle in their arm, hanging out on the street, taking fentanyl, whatever it might be.

[00:15:18] But they may be dealing with various underlying issues that lead to a type of addiction.

[00:15:22] In that case, maybe sexual addiction.

[00:15:26] Yes.

[00:15:27] And I think the devotional really speaks to a lot of those things that came after my deliverance, because the Lord delivered me just supernaturally.

[00:15:34] Of the mental and physical obsession, the craving and all of that.

[00:15:37] But there was so much healing in my life that needed to take place between the Lord and me.

[00:15:42] And so the book looks back on 21 years of wisdom of walking with him, because as you said, I did have a dysfunctional pattern in relationships.

[00:15:49] I had a father wound.

[00:15:50] I was looking for men to complete me.

[00:15:52] I wanted to get married and be able to have a family.

[00:15:55] But I couldn't do that because I was broken and unhealed inside.

[00:15:59] So the devotional addresses things.

[00:16:00] As you say, many people are addicted to money or power or they're people pleasers.

[00:16:06] They need human validation where everything they do, they're looking outside.

[00:16:09] It just becomes this blood-sucking slog where you're going from one dopamine hit to the next.

[00:16:16] And so I really believe in the pages of these books you're going to find how to deal with spiritual warfare, how to deal with renewing your mind and putting God first.

[00:16:24] Because I had never learned how to do that, even when I was first delivered of addiction.

[00:16:29] I mean, I got married pretty quickly after that, a year later.

[00:16:33] And my husband and I both had baggage we brought into the marriage.

[00:16:37] And the Lord used us to refine each other and to heal a lot of those old wounds.

[00:16:41] But if we don't get healing from the Lord, it doesn't just happen.

[00:16:45] I mean, we continue passing along to new relationships to our kids, to our families.

[00:16:49] And I really believe the Lord wants to heal us.

[00:16:52] You know, he wants to heal us completely.

[00:16:53] But we have to go to him for that.

[00:16:55] And then he will guide us to the things we might need.

[00:16:58] Maybe we need a Christian therapist.

[00:16:59] Maybe we do need treatment.

[00:17:01] Well, with the Lindell Recovery Network, we only point people to free or low-cost Christian discipleship programs.

[00:17:07] Because treatment can be, you know, it can be a waste if you're just going somewhere to get locked away, but there's no environment for the Holy Spirit to move.

[00:17:14] So we want to point people to programs that are going to change them from the inside out, help connect them to churches, give them free help through the Operation Restored Warrior program and all these digital counseling books we have.

[00:17:26] But you have to seek the Lord first.

[00:17:28] And then he will show you the next steps.

[00:17:30] I've learned that over the past two decades.

[00:17:33] I've lived outside God's will for so many years.

[00:17:36] I've finally learned how to put him first.

[00:17:38] Again, I might just mention some of the devotions are on Ask Wisely or Crucify the Flesh or Divine Intervention and many others.

[00:17:47] But just in the last few minutes we have remaining, Melissa, talk about how somebody can use this devotional.

[00:17:54] It's certainly one you would want to hand to somebody as maybe an encouragement if they're dealing with some of those issues.

[00:18:01] But, again, it is made so that each day of the 365 days there's a devotional and a surrender.

[00:18:09] But have you maybe had some experience with this now that it's been out for a couple of months on how it can be used and the kind of impact that it can have?

[00:18:19] That's a great question.

[00:18:20] And I've had such wonderful feedback on it.

[00:18:22] And, you know, at first when I was approached by the publisher to write this, I thought, piece of cake, 365 devotionals, that'll be a lot easier than writing a novel.

[00:18:30] But when I sat down to do it, I thought this was quite an undertaking.

[00:18:33] But when I surrendered it to the Holy Spirit, he began to bring up memories.

[00:18:37] And the thoughts just started to flow.

[00:18:39] They're memories from my childhood, from my adolescence, from times in the past 20 years.

[00:18:44] And I think the Lord has put this book into the hands of the people who need it.

[00:18:47] I recently got it into 1,300 Salvation Army adult rehabilitation centers.

[00:18:52] That is only a door that God could have opened.

[00:18:55] Me trying to kick down doors doesn't work.

[00:18:57] But the people who get this book tell me that it supernaturally follows their life.

[00:19:01] And I honestly believe the Holy Spirit puts it in the hands of those who need it.

[00:19:05] I've been told it's a gift-giving book.

[00:19:07] And I think it will help people, whether they're struggling, they're feeling lost, they're feeling hopeless, like God's forgotten them,

[00:19:13] or they can't break free from addiction, or if they've been walking this road a while.

[00:19:17] Because, like I said, I was sober, but I still had a lot of other wounds that the Lord needed to deal with

[00:19:23] and character defects he wanted to work through.

[00:19:25] So I think this book can uniquely minister to people at really different stages of recovery.

[00:19:31] Again, it just helps you harness the power of faith and really to stay strong,

[00:19:35] to address this issue of temptation and make a positive difference.

[00:19:39] And so, Melissa, I appreciate you not only taking the time to write this,

[00:19:43] but also thank you for giving us some time today, because I know you're very busy.

[00:19:47] They're working at the Lindell Recovery Network.

[00:19:50] And if people would like to know more about you, about the network, about the book,

[00:19:54] we have all those links on our website at pointofview.net.

[00:19:57] So thank you for joining us today.

[00:19:59] So great. Thank you for the opportunity.

[00:20:01] We're going to take a break, and when we come back,

[00:20:03] I thought we would make some final comments over this last half hour over a couple of issues.

[00:20:08] There are people talking about the fact that this election by Donald Trump really signals a historic realignment.

[00:20:15] I'm pretty sure that my next booklet, well, not the next one because we've already written those,

[00:20:20] but fairly soon in 2025 will be on this idea of realignment, some real changes.

[00:20:25] So I've got an article about that, which kind of parallels some of the things I read yesterday by Scott Jennings,

[00:20:31] the CNN coordinator.

[00:20:33] And then we'll get into some of the concerns, which we will also deal with tomorrow,

[00:20:38] with Kelly Shackelford and Jeff Mater.

[00:20:41] Here, and that is what happened in the Democratic Party.

[00:20:46] Noel Rothman asks a very important question.

[00:20:48] Can Democrats break out of their echo chamber?

[00:20:51] We all sort of live in this silo.

[00:20:54] We live in an echo chamber.

[00:20:56] We sort of hang out with our tribes.

[00:20:58] But in some respects, it is probably worse for people that are liberal because much of the media is liberal.

[00:21:05] There is a sense in which sometimes they live in even more significant insulated echo chambers.

[00:21:11] So we'll talk about that as well.

[00:21:13] Get into a couple of other issues.

[00:21:15] But if you'd like to know more about either of our guests today, James Spencer or Melissa Hooray,

[00:21:20] we have information about that on our website at pointofview.net.

[00:21:24] Let's take a break.

[00:21:24] We'll be back right after this.

[00:21:30] It almost seems like we live in a different world from many people in positions of authority.

[00:21:35] They say men can be women and women men.

[00:21:39] People are prosecuted differently or not at all depending on their politics.

[00:21:44] Criminals are more valued and rewarded than law-abiding citizens.

[00:21:49] It's so overwhelming, so demoralizing.

[00:21:52] You feel like giving up.

[00:21:54] But we can't.

[00:21:55] We shouldn't.

[00:21:56] We must not.

[00:21:57] As Winston Churchill said to Britain in the darkest days of World War II,

[00:22:02] Never give in.

[00:22:03] Never give in.

[00:22:04] Never, never, never.

[00:22:06] Never yield to force.

[00:22:08] Never yield to the apparently overwhelming might of the enemy.

[00:22:12] And that's what we say to you today.

[00:22:14] This is not a time to give in, but to step up and join Point of View in providing clarity in the chaos.

[00:22:22] We can't do it alone, but together, with God's help, we will overcome the darkness.

[00:22:28] Invest in biblical clarity today at pointofview.net or call 1-800-347-5151.

[00:22:38] Pointofview.net and 800-347-5151.

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

[00:22:56] You are listening to Point of View.

[00:23:01] The opinions expressed on Point of View do not necessarily reflect the views of the management or staff of this station.

[00:23:09] And now, here again, is Kirby Anderson.

[00:23:12] Finally, we'll get to a couple of other issues.

[00:23:14] We're going to talk about historic realignment.

[00:23:16] And then, Noah Rothman asking a good question, and that is, can Democrats break out of their echo chamber?

[00:23:23] Again, if you're a Democrat, that's something to think about.

[00:23:26] But if you're Republican and independent, I'm going to talk about that as well.

[00:23:28] And sometimes, if nothing else, even if it doesn't relate to you, you can maybe learn a vicarious lesson.

[00:23:34] So that's certainly the case.

[00:23:35] But let me just mention real quickly that on our website today, not only do we have information about James Spencer and his book and Melissa Hooray and her book,

[00:23:44] also my commentary today is about media bias.

[00:23:47] And in particular, it's based upon a book that came out many years ago by Bernard Goldberg.

[00:23:52] And I thought I would bring it back in the sense of having talked about it because it was like 20 years ago, two decades ago.

[00:24:01] I did an interview with him on his book called Bias.

[00:24:04] And it was really very significant at the time because back that far back, and in some respects even before that interview took place,

[00:24:15] he might have been one of the first kind of media insiders to actually say, yes, there is media bias.

[00:24:22] Yes, we, of course, had the Lichter Rothman report that came out in the 1980s.

[00:24:28] But it was really helpful for somebody who was in the business, who had actually worked in that field for so many years,

[00:24:35] to actually say, yeah, there is a bias.

[00:24:37] And his book really provided that kind of perspective.

[00:24:40] And he, in his books, talked about the fact that there isn't a well-orchestrated, vast left-wing conspiracy in the newsrooms of America.

[00:24:51] But he said the bitter truth is worse, and that is the mainstream media have a common worldview.

[00:24:57] Now, I mentioned the Lichter Rothman studies in the 1980s.

[00:25:01] They had already documented that.

[00:25:02] But it isn't that people sit down and plan that, although I think that is now true the case.

[00:25:08] Too many times you can see where people use the same phraseology in every one of these news programs.

[00:25:16] So obviously some of that's coming out by e-mails and the rest.

[00:25:20] But the point he was trying to make at the time was that these people that cover the news are so different than the rest of America.

[00:25:29] And if you haven't had a chance to read my commentary, I would encourage you to do so.

[00:25:34] Of course, you can read the book.

[00:25:36] But I think my little commentaries are kind of like the old Cliff Notes, you know.

[00:25:40] Remember those things you used to read because you didn't want to read the Shakespeare?

[00:25:43] So you'd read the Cliff Notes, something like that.

[00:25:46] If you don't want to read the book, you can read mine.

[00:25:48] And just to again point it out at the time when he did that, only 4% of the people in the media identify themselves as Republican.

[00:25:55] But what I thought was even more striking is the study that came out that showed that individuals in the media are less likely to get married, less likely to have children.

[00:26:06] They're less likely to own homes.

[00:26:08] Obviously, from the Lictor Rothman report, they're less likely to go to church or synagogue.

[00:26:12] And then when you ask how many people in the mainstream media back then, and I don't think it's changed at all now,

[00:26:18] are maybe belonging to the American Legion or the Rotary Club, the answer for that was zero.

[00:26:26] Zero.

[00:26:27] You think of people that you know in the Chamber of Commerce, American Legion, Rotary Club, whatever it might be,

[00:26:33] Lions Club, you know, all these different groups.

[00:26:35] None of them, none of the reporters ever even walk in the door in those meetings.

[00:26:41] And so they don't go to church or synagogue.

[00:26:43] They don't know people that go to church or synagogue.

[00:26:45] They don't know people in various service clubs.

[00:26:47] And then they're the ones telling you what is real in the world around you.

[00:26:51] And I think you can see the problem.

[00:26:53] Anyway, just thought I'd mention that commentary for you.

[00:26:56] It's available on the website at pointofview.net.

[00:27:00] Let me come to my first article here.

[00:27:02] It is Philip Wegman, Trump Signals Historic Realignment.

[00:27:07] He points out, first of all, that Donald Trump, of course, is not only the 45th president,

[00:27:13] but he will soon become the 47th president.

[00:27:16] He not only won more than 270 electoral votes, now it looks like he'll win all seven swing states.

[00:27:23] And that brings him up to, I think, 312 or whatever.

[00:27:27] Of course, a lot of it depends on what happens in that one vote there in Maine.

[00:27:30] But we'll leave that for a moment.

[00:27:31] But also won the national popular vote.

[00:27:33] There are some people that have been having a little bit of fun because, if you know,

[00:27:37] there is this national popular vote compact which says that many of these states have said that they would sign on to the fact that,

[00:27:46] indeed, they would actually, even if their particular individuals in their state voted one way,

[00:27:53] they would actually send electors to their state capital to actually vote for the popular vote.

[00:28:01] So the joke has been, well, that would mean then, since Donald Trump won the popular vote,

[00:28:05] even though more people in California voted for Kamala Harris,

[00:28:11] they should send electors to the Congress that actually are going to actually vote for Donald Trump.

[00:28:18] Of course, the compact only is going to go into effect if you get to the requisite number of states that sign on.

[00:28:26] But nevertheless, it's just a reminder that just be careful for what you want or wish for.

[00:28:32] Maybe we'll talk about that tomorrow, but as well.

[00:28:34] But then it goes on to say that Donald Trump is on track to become the first Republican to win a majority of the vote,

[00:28:40] as we just pointed out, since George W. Bush did it in 2004.

[00:28:44] First president to win two non-consecutive terms since.

[00:28:49] Vince Grover Cleveland did that in 1892.

[00:28:53] And also, of course, an individual that has been attacked almost relentlessly as well.

[00:28:59] He declared his candidacy, he says, immediately after the 2022 midterms.

[00:29:05] And, of course, J.D. Vance the other night, when they were actually gathered together at West Palm Beach,

[00:29:10] said, I think we have witnessed the greatest political comeback in the history of the United States.

[00:29:14] And most people say that's probably not an exaggeration.

[00:29:17] It probably is true.

[00:29:18] The first time Donald Trump won the White House, he did so as the leader of what we oftentimes identify as the white working class coalition,

[00:29:28] promising those he would call in his inauguration address back then,

[00:29:34] the forgotten men and women to reverse the American carnage brought on to them by deindustrialization, globalization, and unchecked immigration.

[00:29:45] And so he certainly made that as his case eight years ago.

[00:29:51] But you see some of that happening again.

[00:29:54] And then, of course, because of that, and because he emphasized those groups,

[00:29:59] and because he wanted to address issues like the broken border and a variety of other topics,

[00:30:05] and certainly disagreed with the mainstream media, he then faced and has faced, and his family has faced,

[00:30:13] all sorts of denunciations for being racist.

[00:30:17] And you know the list.

[00:30:19] It's a very, very long list as well.

[00:30:22] What I thought was so interesting is, and this is where, again, Philip Wegman points out,

[00:30:27] those denunciations ultimately had little effect.

[00:30:32] Not only did Donald Trump maintain his support with the white working class,

[00:30:36] but he also made significant gains with both Hispanic and black voters,

[00:30:41] if indeed we can trust the early exit polls.

[00:30:44] And I think we can, but in a few weeks we'll have all sorts of other things that will help us understand what is happening there.

[00:30:52] And so this has been kind of an interesting realignment.

[00:30:56] It's kind of a multi-class, multi-ethnic coalition that actually returned him to power.

[00:31:03] And one of the things that was most striking was the number of individuals that have supported them

[00:31:11] that would fit into the category of young men.

[00:31:14] So this realignment, I think, is going to last for some period of time.

[00:31:19] But then again, one of the other things that was kind of interesting is when he spoke the other night at his, if you will, acceptance party,

[00:31:28] he reflected on some of the breadth of his support and told the people there that this was a coalition that was drawn from,

[00:31:37] and here's his quote,

[00:31:38] from all quarters, union, non-union, African-American, Hispanic-American, Asian-American, Arab-American.

[00:31:46] He also, surrounded by his family, said, we had everybody and it was beautiful.

[00:31:52] Of course, he loves that word beautiful.

[00:31:54] And it was, as he said, a historic realignment.

[00:31:57] And I don't disagree with that.

[00:31:58] This is something that we've seen a few times in history.

[00:32:01] We saw that with the so-called Reagan Democrats,

[00:32:04] but we've seen this now again.

[00:32:07] And so, again, he talked about some of the other issues

[00:32:11] and how, in some respects, he actually reached out to younger individuals through the Bro Podcast.

[00:32:19] Okay, I don't watch or listen to the Bro Podcast,

[00:32:23] but on that particular program,

[00:32:25] he talked about everything from aliens to artificial intelligence with Joe Rogan.

[00:32:30] He began to talk about, with the Barstool Sports Podcast,

[00:32:34] Busting with the Boys,

[00:32:36] talking with some of these NFL players.

[00:32:38] He asked Theo Vaughn, I should say,

[00:32:42] if he still uses cocaine.

[00:32:44] These are very different kind of interviews than presidential candidates have done.

[00:32:50] And I think it's just a good illustration

[00:32:52] of how this is a very unusual realignment

[00:32:57] and maybe a very unusual campaign.

[00:33:00] It is hard to imagine George Herbert Walker Bush

[00:33:04] or Ronald Reagan

[00:33:05] or even, for that matter, Bill Clinton

[00:33:08] to go and be busing with the boys,

[00:33:11] being on the Bro Podcast and some of the rest.

[00:33:13] But this, I think, illustrates

[00:33:14] a very different kind of coalition,

[00:33:17] a different kind of realignment,

[00:33:19] and really a different kind of presidential campaign.

[00:33:23] So, I thought we'd take a break.

[00:33:24] We'll come back and get into some other issues.

[00:33:26] But it is something that is not just a one-off

[00:33:31] that happened on November 5th.

[00:33:33] I think it's going to have some continuity and impact.

[00:33:37] And we'll see where that takes us

[00:33:39] in the next couple of weeks, months, and years.

[00:33:42] We'll be back right after this.

[00:33:55] You're listening to Point of View,

[00:33:57] your listener-supported source for truth.

[00:34:00] Back for a few more minutes,

[00:34:01] let me just mention that tomorrow

[00:34:03] we're going to get into this in more detail.

[00:34:04] But the other article we have posted for you to read today,

[00:34:08] Noah Rothman,

[00:34:08] Can Democrats Break Out of Their Echo Chamber?

[00:34:11] is really kind of a preview to tomorrow,

[00:34:14] because I've already posted a couple of articles

[00:34:16] for actually sent out,

[00:34:18] so they can be posted from some individuals.

[00:34:21] Dan McLaughlin has written,

[00:34:23] You did this to yourselves, Democrats.

[00:34:25] And that one appeared in National Review.

[00:34:28] The editors of the Wall Street Journal wrote it this way,

[00:34:31] Democrats, blame yourselves.

[00:34:32] So in some respects, there are some lessons to be learned.

[00:34:36] And if you're a Democrat and maybe saying,

[00:34:38] This is not the Democratic Party I signed up for

[00:34:41] a couple of years ago or many decades ago,

[00:34:44] you'd be right about that.

[00:34:45] And more importantly,

[00:34:46] whether you're a Democrat,

[00:34:48] an Independent, a Republican,

[00:34:49] I think you can learn some lessons.

[00:34:51] And that's what I wanted to talk about for just a minute,

[00:34:53] because I think Noah Rothman asks a very important question.

[00:34:57] Can Democrats break out of their echo chamber?

[00:35:02] We all live in a little bit of a silo

[00:35:04] where we talk to all of our friends.

[00:35:06] We don't necessarily talk to people that disagree with us,

[00:35:09] which is why I say one of the things you can do is read widely.

[00:35:13] But he's pointing out the fact that 10 years ago,

[00:35:17] there was a red wave that did crash over the country,

[00:35:21] and it actually took down nine Democratic senators

[00:35:26] and 54 House Democrats.

[00:35:29] And so at the time,

[00:35:31] President Barack Obama,

[00:35:33] kind of sifting through the wreckage,

[00:35:36] struggled over how to talk to his fellow Democrats

[00:35:39] about this incredible misfortune.

[00:35:43] And the bottom line is,

[00:35:44] Noah Rothman says,

[00:35:45] he could have been honest about the extent

[00:35:48] to which Democrats spent 2014,

[00:35:51] 2014,

[00:35:52] talking only to themselves

[00:35:54] about income inequality,

[00:35:57] the gender pay gap,

[00:35:58] or even the issue of Obamacare,

[00:36:01] or the Affordable Care Act.

[00:36:03] He might have even had a more humble tone

[00:36:07] and said,

[00:36:07] maybe we need to refocus.

[00:36:10] But what Barack Obama said at the time was,

[00:36:13] to everyone that voted,

[00:36:14] I want you to know that I heard you.

[00:36:16] But Noah Rothman points out

[00:36:18] that even though that seemed like a great promise,

[00:36:21] it was a mirage.

[00:36:22] He went on to say,

[00:36:23] two-thirds of voters that chose not to participate

[00:36:26] in the process yesterday,

[00:36:27] I hear you too.

[00:36:29] Again,

[00:36:29] that was something that Barack Obama said,

[00:36:32] but it turned out very quickly

[00:36:34] to not be the case.

[00:36:36] Instead,

[00:36:37] even though there were all sorts of Republicans

[00:36:40] in the Senate

[00:36:41] and Republicans in the House

[00:36:43] that were elected

[00:36:44] over the Democratic Senators

[00:36:46] and House Democrats,

[00:36:48] the President,

[00:36:49] in a condescending way,

[00:36:50] said,

[00:36:51] I'm the guy

[00:36:51] who is elected by everybody,

[00:36:54] not just from a particular state

[00:36:56] or a particular district.

[00:36:57] In other words,

[00:36:58] even though you were elected

[00:37:00] from your congressional district,

[00:37:02] even though you were elected

[00:37:04] from your particular state,

[00:37:06] means nothing,

[00:37:06] because I'm still the President

[00:37:08] of the United States.

[00:37:08] And it didn't go well,

[00:37:11] because ultimately,

[00:37:13] as Noah Rothman points out,

[00:37:15] Barack Obama's Democrats

[00:37:17] took their cues

[00:37:18] and they learned nothing

[00:37:19] and changed nothing.

[00:37:21] And Noah Rothman suggests

[00:37:23] that here we are again

[00:37:24] ten years later.

[00:37:27] And that is,

[00:37:28] Democrats, he says,

[00:37:29] are at a similar crossroads today,

[00:37:31] but their position

[00:37:32] is far weaker than it was

[00:37:34] even in the wake

[00:37:35] of the 2014 midterms.

[00:37:37] The Republican Party

[00:37:39] will not have

[00:37:40] the prohibitive House majority

[00:37:42] it enjoyed in 2015.

[00:37:43] Might not even have

[00:37:45] a House majority at all.

[00:37:46] But the 119th Congress

[00:37:48] will seat at least

[00:37:49] 52 Republican senators

[00:37:52] and as many as 55,

[00:37:54] depending on how

[00:37:54] the two close-to-call races

[00:37:56] in Michigan, Nevada,

[00:37:57] and Pennsylvania shake out.

[00:37:58] Not sure how those

[00:37:59] will shake out,

[00:38:00] but we'll leave that

[00:38:01] for another conversation,

[00:38:02] perhaps tomorrow.

[00:38:04] But the other point is

[00:38:06] that you will have

[00:38:07] Republicans in the House,

[00:38:08] possibly,

[00:38:09] for sure in the Senate

[00:38:10] and in the White House.

[00:38:12] And on the other side,

[00:38:14] Democrats will not have

[00:38:15] a Barack Obama

[00:38:16] to talk the party

[00:38:18] off the ledge this time.

[00:38:20] Democrats really,

[00:38:21] he argues,

[00:38:22] are leaderless.

[00:38:23] And there's no escape

[00:38:24] from the obvious.

[00:38:26] This reserve army of women

[00:38:28] for whom the only issue

[00:38:29] was supposed to matter,

[00:38:30] abortion,

[00:38:32] didn't really show up

[00:38:33] that much.

[00:38:34] So again,

[00:38:35] you can ask some questions.

[00:38:36] What did the Democrats in?

[00:38:39] Was it the economy?

[00:38:40] Was it Joe Biden's

[00:38:43] unpopularity

[00:38:43] and lack of mental acuity?

[00:38:45] Was it the border crisis?

[00:38:46] Was it wokeness?

[00:38:48] Well, no,

[00:38:48] Rothman said yes.

[00:38:50] But it was much more

[00:38:51] than that.

[00:38:52] Because he says

[00:38:53] if the Democrats

[00:38:54] want to be successful,

[00:38:55] they should dispense

[00:38:57] with the belief

[00:38:58] that they can really

[00:38:58] carve up the electorate

[00:39:00] into what he called

[00:39:01] balkanized,

[00:39:02] mutually antagonistic

[00:39:03] cantons.

[00:39:04] In other words,

[00:39:05] we're just going to appeal

[00:39:06] to black people

[00:39:07] as black people,

[00:39:08] Hispanic people

[00:39:09] as Hispanic people,

[00:39:10] women as women,

[00:39:11] and not understand

[00:39:13] that the issues

[00:39:14] go far beyond

[00:39:16] race and gender

[00:39:17] and all sorts

[00:39:17] of other issues.

[00:39:18] And John Podoretz,

[00:39:20] who it's been a while

[00:39:21] since we had him on,

[00:39:22] he said,

[00:39:23] had it right

[00:39:23] when he observed

[00:39:24] last night,

[00:39:25] whatever Trump's

[00:39:26] many personal

[00:39:27] shortcomings might be,

[00:39:29] and obviously

[00:39:30] John Podoretz

[00:39:31] and even Noel Rothman

[00:39:33] agree that there are many,

[00:39:34] he says,

[00:39:35] he was the only person

[00:39:37] who leveled

[00:39:37] with the American people

[00:39:39] about the mess

[00:39:40] we're in.

[00:39:41] And that was one

[00:39:42] of the successes

[00:39:43] if you might remember

[00:39:44] with, of course,

[00:39:45] Donald Trump

[00:39:46] eight years ago.

[00:39:47] He's an individual

[00:39:49] that came down

[00:39:50] the escalator.

[00:39:51] He's an individual

[00:39:52] that talked about

[00:39:53] forgotten men

[00:39:54] and women.

[00:39:55] He's an individual

[00:39:56] that said,

[00:39:56] we've sent

[00:39:57] entirely too many

[00:39:58] industries and companies

[00:40:00] and corporations

[00:40:00] overseas.

[00:40:02] Globalism has not

[00:40:03] been good,

[00:40:04] and we have

[00:40:05] an unchecked

[00:40:06] immigration at the border

[00:40:07] which has gone,

[00:40:09] frankly,

[00:40:10] from bad to worse.

[00:40:11] And so he was

[00:40:12] the individual

[00:40:13] that eight years ago

[00:40:15] and then this time

[00:40:16] was willing to level

[00:40:18] with the people

[00:40:18] and acknowledge

[00:40:19] we have some

[00:40:20] real problems here

[00:40:21] that we need

[00:40:22] to address.

[00:40:23] And so as a result,

[00:40:25] this, I think,

[00:40:26] was one of the keys

[00:40:27] to his success

[00:40:28] and one of the keys

[00:40:30] to the failure

[00:40:31] of many Democrats,

[00:40:34] not just the president,

[00:40:35] but in some of these

[00:40:36] senatorial races

[00:40:37] and some of these

[00:40:38] congressional races

[00:40:39] there as well.

[00:40:40] So as he winds

[00:40:42] down this particular

[00:40:43] question about

[00:40:44] the echo chamber,

[00:40:45] I thought it was

[00:40:46] interesting that then

[00:40:47] he turns his focus

[00:40:48] on the Republicans

[00:40:49] and says,

[00:40:50] you know,

[00:40:50] Republicans are not

[00:40:52] immune from hubris.

[00:40:53] The party is likely

[00:40:55] to overread its mandate.

[00:40:58] Oftentimes,

[00:40:58] he points out

[00:40:59] the new presidents

[00:41:00] sometimes enter

[00:41:01] into office convinced

[00:41:02] that they have to get

[00:41:03] a lot done

[00:41:04] in the first two years.

[00:41:05] This president,

[00:41:06] I think,

[00:41:07] certainly wants

[00:41:08] to work very hard

[00:41:10] to dismantle

[00:41:11] the administrative state

[00:41:12] that is going

[00:41:14] to lead to all

[00:41:15] sorts of controversy.

[00:41:16] And you already

[00:41:17] have individuals

[00:41:18] in some of these

[00:41:19] blue states,

[00:41:21] governors and others,

[00:41:21] saying they're going

[00:41:22] to fight the president.

[00:41:24] But that's going

[00:41:25] to have to be a fight

[00:41:26] that's going to be

[00:41:28] kind of interesting

[00:41:28] because the fight

[00:41:30] is in many cases

[00:41:32] going to take place

[00:41:32] in Congress.

[00:41:33] And if you have

[00:41:34] Republicans in the House,

[00:41:36] Republicans in the Senate,

[00:41:37] and a Republican

[00:41:38] in the Oval Office

[00:41:39] who actually are

[00:41:41] guaranteed to want

[00:41:43] to bring that fight on,

[00:41:45] who's going to fight them?

[00:41:46] We will know

[00:41:47] there will be a lot

[00:41:48] of hue and cry,

[00:41:49] but we'll see

[00:41:49] where it takes us.

[00:41:50] But tomorrow,

[00:41:52] we'll get into that

[00:41:52] in more detail

[00:41:53] because, again,

[00:41:54] we've already going

[00:41:56] to post a couple

[00:41:57] of articles.

[00:41:57] One, again,

[00:41:58] from the Wall Street Journal,

[00:42:00] the editorial board,

[00:42:02] Democrats,

[00:42:02] blame yourselves.

[00:42:03] And then one

[00:42:04] by Dan McLaughlin

[00:42:05] writing for National Review,

[00:42:07] You Did It to Yourselves,

[00:42:08] Democrats.

[00:42:09] And we'll go through

[00:42:09] that in some detail

[00:42:11] because sometimes

[00:42:12] there are lessons

[00:42:13] to be learned

[00:42:14] from an election.

[00:42:15] There are lessons

[00:42:16] to be learned

[00:42:17] from a defeat.

[00:42:18] And this is something

[00:42:20] that Barack Obama

[00:42:21] promised to do

[00:42:22] 10 years ago,

[00:42:24] but it never really happened.

[00:42:26] The real question is,

[00:42:27] will Democrats learn

[00:42:28] this time?

[00:42:29] And also,

[00:42:31] will Republicans learn

[00:42:32] from some of their mistakes?

[00:42:33] There are a few

[00:42:34] Senate races

[00:42:35] that could have been

[00:42:36] won that were not.

[00:42:38] And anybody

[00:42:39] who is willing

[00:42:40] to look at those facts,

[00:42:41] is willing to make

[00:42:42] some changes,

[00:42:43] is going to be successful

[00:42:44] in the future.

[00:42:45] Well, that's all

[00:42:46] we have for today.

[00:42:47] Tomorrow, of course,

[00:42:48] this is our weekend edition,

[00:42:49] and we're going to be

[00:42:50] looking at this election,

[00:42:51] but also looking ahead

[00:42:53] to what needs to happen

[00:42:54] in the future.

[00:42:55] I want to thank Megan

[00:42:56] for her help

[00:42:56] engineering the program.

[00:42:58] Steve, thank you

[00:42:58] for producing the program.

[00:42:59] We look forward

[00:43:00] to seeing you tomorrow

[00:43:01] right here on Point of View.

[00:43:10] There is an old military saying,

[00:43:12] if you don't have communications,

[00:43:14] you don't have anything.

[00:43:17] Good information

[00:43:18] is the key to success,

[00:43:19] not only for those

[00:43:21] in the military,

[00:43:21] but for all of us.

[00:43:23] You can't take positive,

[00:43:25] productive,

[00:43:25] and helpful action

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[00:43:28] good information.

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