Can We Trust Anything That Biden Says?

The topic of liberty principle for this Freedom Friday concerns freedom from illegal immigration. President Joe Biden and former-President Donald Trump both visited the southern border today. Biden chose to visit the border in Brownsville, Texas, and Trump visited Eagle Pass, Texas. Less than 50 migrants crossed at Brownsville in the past week, while approximately 2,000 crossed at Eagle Pass during the same period of time.

Why the difference in numbers? Texas Governor Greg Abbott ordered razor wire and train cars to be placed on the border. Texas has shown that America can stop the hordes of migrants crossing into America illegally. However, the Biden administration does not want to learn from Texas.

Biden and Trump both delivered remarks when they visited the border. Fred Lucas at The Daily Signal fact-checked four big claims that Biden made in his remarks. 

1. ‘Long Past Time to Act’

[Biden tried to claim that he is trying hard to manage the issues of illegal immigration and border issues.]

Biden insisted that Congress must act by passing the bipartisan border security deal that stalled recently in the Senate.

“They desperately need more resources, need more agents, more officers, more equipment in order to secure our border,” Biden said. “Folks, it’s time for us to move on this. It can’t wait any longer.”

However, president has a menu of options under his authority – just as he acted in his first 100 days and beyond to roll back the Trump administration’s border security measures.

The Biden administration has the authority to detain, expel, and deport illegal immigrants under current federal immigration law, as well as under international agreements….

Biden’s first 100 days as president offer greater context, since he took 94 separate executive actions related to immigration.

The office of House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., counted 64 executive actions by Biden that made border security worse, such as doing away with the “Remain in Mexico” policy to adjudicate asylum claims, halting the Trump administration’s construction of a wall at the southern border, and expanding “catch and release” of illegal border crossers.

Biden took 89 executive actions that specifically “reversed or started to undo Trump policies,” according to the Migration Policy Institute.

2. ‘My First Day as President’

Biden noted a bill that he proposed on his first day in office.

“In my first day as president, I introduced a bill I sent to Congress, a comprehensive plan to fix the broken immigration system and fix the border. No action was taken,” Biden said.

It’s true that on Jan. 20, 2021, the White House announced that the new president was sending a “comprehensive” immigration bill to a Democrat-controlled Congress that would include some border security measures as well as a “pathway” for illegal immigrants, which critics call amnesty for lawbreakers.

Most Republican lawmakers argue that the nation must regain control of its borders from illegal aliens before moving to address the legal immigration process.

3. ‘Backlog’ of Immigration Cases

Biden talked about the immigration bill that recently failed to pass the Senate, which would add 1,500 Border Patrol agents to man the border and 100 immigration judges to adjudicate asylum cases.

“We also need more immigration judges to help handle the backlog. There are 2 million cases,” Biden said. “This bipartisan deal would provide funding for 100 more immigration judges immediately. It would also establish a new, efficient, and fair process for the government to consider asylum claims for those arriving at our border. Today, to get a decision on an asylum claim takes five to seven years.”

Interestingly, Biden explained that the backlog could be a magnate for illegal immigrants to cross and claim asylum – knowing that it will take years before a judge hears their case….

However, on Feb. 2, 2021, Biden signed an executive order to eliminate the Trump administration’s agreement with Mexico known as the “Remain in Mexico” policy, and officially called the Migrant Protection Protocols….

4. ‘Toughest Set of Border Security Reforms’

Biden called for the Senate to take up the border security bill again after it failed to pass a procedural hurdle. If Johnson allowed the bill to come to a House floor vote, the president said, it would pass.

“It’s the toughest set of border security reforms we have ever seen in tis country,” Biden said. “Pretty basic. With this deal, we could hire 1,500 additional border security agents.”

Critics say it isn’t close to the toughest.

The bill would put the policy of catch and release “into law,” Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, says. The Texas Republican argued that the 370-page bill “normalized 5,000 illegal aliens [crossing the border] a day.” …

Most of the Senate’s $118 billion bill would go toward more U.S. aid for Ukraine’s defense against Russia, although it also contained aid to Israel.

[The bill would provide $1.4 billion to sanctuary jurisdictions to supply “critical services to newcomers” and “expedite work permits for people who are in the country and qualify.” However, the bill would do nothing about restoring the “Remain in Mexico” policy from the Trump administration. In addition, $2.3 billion would go to the same organizations who are encouraging illegal immigration.]

Although “toughest” is a subjective term, it’s not clear the Senate bill is tougher than border security legislation passed by the Republican-controlled House in May 2023. That bill would increase manpower, technology, and transparency in the Department of Homeland Security….

Why Did Hunter Finally Appear?

 Hunter Biden, son of President Joe Biden finally appeared today before the House Oversight and Accountability Committee, the Judiciary Committee, and the Ways and Means Committee for a closed-door deposition that last seven hours. Fred Lucas at The Daily Signal reported that Hunter was a belligerent witness, but he never took the Fifth Amendment. He showed scorn for the House impeachment inquiry by saying that it has been “MAGA-Motivated.” 

The reason that Hunter Biden was testifying under oath before the congressional committees is that he is a “key witness in our investigation of President Joe Biden,” according to James Comer (R-Ky), Chairman of the House Oversight and Accountability Committee. Comer added that evidence found so far shows “Public Corruption 101.”

According to Lucas, Hunter Biden, his lawyer Abbe Lowell, and Democrats on the committees claim that the investigation has not found any evidence to support the idea that Hunter had business transactions with his father. Lucas continued his article as follows.

The three House committees deposed James Biden last week. Key Biden family business associates also have been deposed, including Devon Archer. 

Several Biden family business associates have told congressional investigators that Joe Biden—while serving for eight years as vice president and during his four years between offices—made personal appearances and called in by speakerphone to various business contacts. Biden himself has contended for years that he had no involvement in family business matters. 

The House’s impeachment investigation was dealt at least a public relations blow earlier this month, when special counsel David Weiss secured a federal grand jury indictment against veteran FBI informant Alexander Smirnov for lying to the FBI when he claimed to have information about a $5 million bribe to Joe Biden in 2016. 

The president and other Democrats pounced, saying the entire impeachment inquiry should be shut down as a result. 

It certainly is interesting how the same Democrats who were so eager to impeach Donald Trump – twice- without evidence are now unwilling to see evidence about the Biden family corruption that is right before their faces. If the information found by the House committees is true, then the truth will soon be evident to all.

Why Are Catholic Churches Being Attacked?

Attacks on religions are increasing quickly. A tracker recently found that Catholic Churches have been attacked 400 times since 2020, according to Mary Margaret Olohan. The attacks on the churches began in May 2020 with the civil unrest that seemed to be everywhere. Olohan reported the following: 

The hundreds of attacks across the nation began in connection with widespread civil unrest in May 2020, CatholicVote said. Examples include church burnings, beheadings of statues of Jesus Christ or the Virgin Mary, swastikas painted on grave stones, satanic and blasphemous statements graffitied on walls, windows smashed, Masses disrupted, and even the murder of a Catholic priest.

The leak of the draft Supreme Court opinion overturning Roe v. Wade led to another spike in attacks – since then, there have been 236 attacks on Catholic churches.

CatholicVote has only found evidence of an arrest in about 25% of the cases it tracked and estimates that the attacks have caused around $25 million in physical damages to churches.

Many of these attacks are abortion-related and include graffiti such as “Jane’s Revenge” (a reference to Jane Roe of Roe v. Wade) or “If abortions aren’t safe, then neither are you,” indicating that the attackers could potentially be charged with violating the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act, a law protecting churches, pro-life pregnancy centers, and abortion clinics that the Department of Justice has used to charge dozens of pro-lifers praying outside of abortion clinics over the past few years.

President Joe Biden’s DOJ has not charged any vandals with FACE Act violations in connection to attacks on churches, however.

The attacks are currently on the Catholic Church, but they will spread to other churches as the hatred of God increases. All Americans of faith are in danger of persecution

 

Can the Spread of Pornography Be Stopped?

My VIP for this week is Senator Mike Lee (R-Utah) because he is actively working to protect children and victim-survivors from the harm of pornography. Hanna Seariac published an article in The Deseret News about the senator’s efforts. 

According to Seariac, “pornography was relegated to VCRs, magazines and brick-and-mortar buildings” prior to the explosion of pornography on the Internet in the 2010s. “Now pornography websites bring in billions of users and it’s available in people’s pockets at virtually any time.”

Having pornography much more available is one thing, but the change of morals is something else.

Gallup polling data from 2023 shows that 39% of respondents said pornography is morally acceptable. That’s up from 30% in 2011 when Gallup first started asking the question. Other survey data shows 37% of baby boomers (people born from 1946 to 1964) think pornography is “very bad” for society. By comparison, 14% of young adults hold that same view. 51% of respondents said they disagreed with the idea that pornography was morally wrong.

Viewership has also increased. Using data from the General Social Survey, a group of economists, a policy analyst and a sociologist evaluated pornography consumption of 18 to 26 years-old from 1973 to 2012. 45% of young men said they viewed pornography between 1973 -1980 and that increased to 61% between 1999 and 2012. These researchers pointed toward the spread of the internet as potential driver of the increase.

According to Seariac, attempts have been made to slow or stop the use of pornography. Utah and fourteen other states passed “resolutions to declare pornography a public health crisis.” In addition, “Psychology and health communication researchers have sounded the alarm, pointing toward negative impacts of viewership like increased physical aggression and a distorted perception of intimacy.”

Senator Lee took the issue to Washington, D.C., and is trying “to get legislation passed aimed at protecting children from seeing pornography and giving victim-survivors paths to legal recourse.”

Lee said that Congress has passed laws – such as The Communications Decency Act (title V of the Telecommunications Act of 1996) -- to protect children. However, this law was struck down by the Supreme Court as too broad.

The SCREEN Act, according to Lee, found “the sweet spot” and may be constitutional. He believes that this law will “survive if it becomes law, which it should.” This law focuses on “age verification with regard to commercial purveyors of pornography.” Seariac explained why.

This bill requires commercial websites distributing pornography to use technology to verify the ages of its users. Children would be blocked from seeing content defined as harmful in the bill including images and videos “taken as a whole and with respect to minors, appeals to the prurient interest in nudity, sex, or excretion.” Lee compared it to the sale of cigarettes. “Just as you can’t sell cigarettes to a minor and give them to a minor, you also shouldn’t directly market cigarettes to a minor,” he said.

Seariac’s article has much more explanation. “In some states which have passed laws restricting children’s access to pornography, there’s been a discernible impact on the industry.” After Utah passed its law, “Pornhub blocked access to all users who attempt to access the site.” Lee hopes to “put a lot of these bad actors out of business.”

Who Gave Americans Our Basic Rights?

The topic of discussion for this Constitution Monday is the basic rights of Americans and the source of them. Democrats, Progressives, and Communists are acting to destroy the powers of the Constitution of the United States and the Declaration of Independence. Rachel del Guidice at The Daily Signal reported on a statement by one such person. 

According to del Guidice, Heidi Przybyla, a reporter at Politico and a finalist for journalism’s Pulitzer Prize in 2023, made a statement that is wrong. On Friday, Przybyla appeared on MSNBC and said the following about “Christian nationalists.”

The one thing that unites all of them … as Christian nationalists, not Christians by the way, because Christian nationalists is very different, is that they believe that our rights as Americans, as all human beings, don’t come from any earthly authority, they don’t come from Congress, they don’t come from their Supreme Court, they come from God.

All the Christians that I know – del Guidice says, “Most, if not all, traditional Christians” – believe that our rights come directly from God and are provided or dismissed by some governments. However, Przybyla should study the founding documents before making such statements.

I found a “transcription is the first printing of the Declaration of Independence, the broadside produced by John Dunlap on the night of July 4, 1776.” The first two paragraphs of the Declaration of Independence read as follows: Text of the Declaration of Independence | Declaration Resources Project (harvard.edu)

When in the Course of human Events, it becomes necessary for one People to dissolve the Political Bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the Powers of the Earth, the separate and equal Station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent Respect to the Opinions of Mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the Separation.

We hold these Truths to be self-evident, that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness – That to secure these Rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just Powers from the Consent of the Governed, that whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these Ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its Foundation on such Principles, and organizing its Powers in such Form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness….

These words in the Declaration of Independence show that the Founders believed that our rights come from God. They do not come from politicians, judges, or media talking heads who are trying to rewrite the history of the United States. Del Guidice wrote the following:

Somehow, our Founders had the wisdom and foresight to know that this truth would be questioned again and again. So much so that they thought it was critical to make it the subject of the second sentence of the document declaring the United States of America to be an independent country.

Yes, Benjamin Franklin’s writings questioned the divinity of Christ. But about a month before he died, Franklin wrote in a March 1790 letter to theologian Ezra Stiles that it was a “question I do not dogmatize upon, having never studied it, and I think it needles to busy myself with it now.” He maintained that our rights and freedoms come from God.

“Freedom is not a gift bestowed upon us by other men,” Franklin’s fellow publisher, John Webbe, wrote in 1736 in Franklin’s Pennsylvania Gazette, “but a right that belongs to us by the laws of God and nature.”

John Adams, who became our second president, held that the bedrock of everything the Founders did was taken from Christianity.

“The general principles on which the fathers achieved independence were the general principles of Christianity,” Adams said. “I will avow that I then believed, and now believe, that those general principles of Christianity are as eternal and immutable as the existence and attributes of God.”

Benjamin Rush, another signer of the Declaration of Independence, said that the rights written into the founding documents came straight from God.

“I do not believe that the Constitution was the offspring of inspiration, but I am as satisfied that it is as much the work of a Divine Providence as any of the miracles recorded in the Old and New Testament,” Rush said.

The above statements by various Founders show the ignorance – or possible intention -- of Przybyla in making her statement. However, the Founders statements should settle “the debate over whether the United States was founded as a Christian nation.” The “Founders said in black and white – even Franklin, who wasn’t entirely convinced of the divinity of Jesus Christ” that God is the Source of human rights.

Do You Consider God’s Plan to Be Great?

My Come Follow Me studies for this week took me to 2 Nephi 6-10 in a lesson titled “O How Great the Plan of Our God.” The introduction of the lesson is as follows: 

It had been at least 40 years since Lehi’s family left Jerusalem. They were in a strange new land, half a world away from Jerusalem. Lehi had died, and his family had already started what would become a centuries-long contention between the Nephites – “who believed in the warnings and the revelations of God” – and the Lamanites, who did not (2 Nephi 5:6). Jacob, who was Nephi’s younger brother and was now ordained as a teacher for the Nephites, wanted the covenant people to know that God would never forget them, so they must never forget Him. This is a message we surely need today (see Doctrine and Covenants 1:15-16). “Let us remember him … for we are not cast off…. Great are the promises of the Lord,” Jacob declared (2 Nephi 10:20-21). Among these promises, none is greater than the promise of an “infinite atonement” to overcome death and hell (2 Nephi 9:7). “Therefore,” Jacob concluded, “cheer up your hearts”! (2 Nephi 10:23).

The principle for discussion tonight comes from 2 Nephi 9:7, “The Savior’s Atonement is infinite. First, we will review the words from the scriptures.

Wherefore, it must needs be an infinite atonement – save it should be an infinite atonement this corruption could not put on incorruption. Wherefore, the first judgment which came upon man must needs have remained to an endless duration. And if so, this flesh must have laid down to rot and to crumble to its mother earth, to rise no more.

Jacob described the Atonement of Jesus Christ as “infinite.” What does the word infinite mean? Merriam-Webster online dictionary defines infinite as “extending indefinitely, endless; immeasurably or inconceivably great or extensive, inexhaustible; subject to no limitation or external determination; extending beyond, lying beyond, or being greater than any preassigned finite value however large; extending to infinity.”

According to this definition, there is no end to Christ’s atonement. For a visual idea of what infinite means, consider the blades of grass in lawn or field, the grains of sand on a beach, or the stars in the sky. There are so many that we cannot number all the blades of grass, grains of sand, or stars in the sky.

The Savior’s Atonement is infinite in that it covers every single person who has ever lived on this earth, now lives on this earth, and will live on this earth. It covers you, and it covers me – as well as everyone else.

The Savior’s Atonement is also personal to each person. Just as each baby is blessed individually, each child is baptized and confirmed individually, and each adult is endowed individually, Jesus Christ atoned for each one of us individually. No one knows how He did it, but we know that He did it for us – every single one of us.

I want to proclaim, as did Jacob, “O how great the plan of our God.” I am grateful that His plan made possible for our bodies and spirits to be united, never to be separated again. I am grateful that He did not leave our bodies in the grave to rot and return to mother earth. Instead, His plan makes possible our return to the presence of Heavenly Father to live with Him for eternity. I am grateful for hope that my faith is not in vain.

Where Is the Justice?

Justice is not fair in America. In fact, there is increasing evidence that America has a two-tier justice system. Those who support Democrats have a get-out-of-jail free card no matter how many crimes they commit or how serious the crime. All others are treated differently.

Roman Jankowski, a senior investigative counsel for the Oversight Project at The Heritage Foundation, wrote about a case in Chicago.

A nasty divorce case has put a man behind bars for 18 months in Chicago’s Cook County Jail despite what he says is a clean criminal record.

Thanks to a law first proposed by Illinois’ black lawmakers after the George Floyd protests of 2020, thousands of dangerous inmates are being released onto the streets of Chicago and other cities, while those subject to civil complaints are jailed like criminals.

Such is the case of Illinois native Steve Fanady, 59, who has been rotting in a Cook County jail cell in solitary confinement for 18 months over an unresolved 14-year-old divorce settlement….

The Daily Signal spoke with Fanady via Zoom to bring attention to his study and shed light on the harsh consequences of woke measures such as the SAFE-T Act. Fanady said that he is being held in jail on a judge’s order until he can pay $10 million or transfer 120,000 shares of stock to his ex-wife.

He had agreed to give his ex-wife everything she demanded, and a judge allowed him to keep stocks he had in Swiss bank accounts, Fanady said. But, he said, he spent the next 10 years pursuing his business partners because she suspected them of hiding some of his assets.

In June 2022, a Cook County judge ordered Fanady to pay $10 million or transfer 120,000 shares of stock to his ex-wife, or face years in jail for indirect civil contempt.

Fanady told The New York Post that he never had “anywhere close to $10 million because he spent what money he had over “a decade of expensive divorce litigation and child support.” He says that he cannot provide proof that he no longer owns the stocks “because the record retention deadline on the Swiss accounts passed and documents aren’t available.” In addition, Fanady fears that the judge will “make another ruling, … making it almost impossible for him to get out of prison.”

Fanady told The Daily Signal in a Zoom interview that he “has been mistreated while in custody and is suing the sheriff for abuse. He added that his “cell is infested with rats and cockroaches” and that he was not allowed to “shower or get medical treatment for his physical and mental health.”

With both of his parents dead, authorities are concerned that Fanady will kill himself. So they keep him locked up in his cell, away from other prisoners – and release real criminals without cash bail.

What Is Happening Between ADL and the FBI?

Mike Howell, an investigative columnist for The Daily Signal, accused the FBI as compromising its integrity and fairness through its partnership with the Anti-Defamation League (ADL). 

Most Americans recognize that the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) as a far-left, dark-money behemoth with assets of nearly a quarter-billion dollars. The once-respected FBI is now viewed as being similarly politicized. Overall support for the agency has nose-dived to only 37% among the general public and a meager 17% among Republicans.

Yet few Americans realize how closely the ADL works with the FBI to advance their leadership’s political interests. This is a dangerous collaboration wherein the increasingly radical group provides ideologically driven guidance to people with the guns.

Right now, the FBI is pointing those guns at the political enemies of the far Left.

The ADL’s work covers the usual left-wing causes célèbres: fighting voting integrity measures, pushing for open-border policies and amnesty for illegal aliens, and vigorously defending the Black Lives Matter riots, to name a few.

The group has now politically weaponized its charges of antisemitism, falsely smearing conservatives while excusing blatant antisemitism among its political allies. For example, the organization has groundlessly denounced Elon Musk, a powerful libertarian voice, as an antisemite in a baldfaced effort to drain his social network X, of advertising revenue. Yet, when now-Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) came to the defense of his uncle for antisemitic remarks he made in the ‘90s, the organization refused to condemn him.

According to Howell, “Jonathan Tobin of Jewish News Syndicate traces ADL’s hard-left turn to its change in leadership from longtime leader Abe Foxman to Jonathan Greenblatt, a former staffer in the Clinton and Obama White Houses.” Tobin wrote, “Greenblatt has helped to shift the ADL from its former stance as the non-partisan gold standard for monitoring hate to being just another liberal activist group whose priority is helping the Democrat Party.”

In addition, Howell reported that the Oversight Project at The Heritage Foundation released an investigative report that detailed an “Extremist Sitrep” email from the “ADL Law Enforcement” account to The Washington State Fusion Center, which is a collective of various law enforcement entities ranging from local to the FBI.

The email advises law enforcement officers responsible for investigating domestic terrorists to focus their resources on the likes of Matt Walsh, Chris Fufo an Libs of TikTok…. Much like the FBI’s infamous anti-Catholic targeting memo, the ADL email suggests that law enforcement agencies – people with guns and the power to imprison and financially destroy enemies of the state-should concentrate their efforts on nonviolent citizens whose only ‘crime’ is to have exercised their First Amendment freedoms in support of political viewpoints contrary to the authoritarian Left.

The goal here is clearly to punish the “thought criminals” and force adherence to the dogmas of the state.

The problematic email is surely not the only contact between the ADL and the FBI. Howell reported that former FBI agents stated that “they are conditioned from the very beginning of their careers to be receptive to ADL propaganda.” The same former FBI agents said that “One of the first experiences of a new agent is an ADL-sponsored trip to the Holocaust Museum in Washington, D.C.” He added, “The ostensible purpose of the trip is to impress on new agents that they bear a tremendous responsibility that should never be abused.”

The former FBI agents told Howell that “the trip’s real purpose is to prepare agents to be receptive to the onslaught of propaganda and rewards that the ADL will be sending their way throughout the coming years.” In other words, agents are told at the beginning of their careers that “the ADL is a trusted partner.”

The partnership between the FBI and the ADL grows from that point. In fact, ADL brags on it website, “We educate annually an estimated 15,000 law enforcement personnel from local, state and federal agencies.” The site added, “in 2021 alone, the ADL Center on Extremism (COE) provided law enforcement with critical intelligence about extremism over 1,300 times and tracked over 7,300 incidents of hate on our online, interactive H.E.A.T. map.” Howell added that the ADL has a school to train “executive-level law enforcement officials.”

Howell understands why there is such little public confidence in the FBI. He suggested that one fix for the situation would be “to end the partnership between the ADL and the FBI.” This would “draw a bright line” between the FBI and “dark, far-left operations” and “make sure that line is not crossed.”

Why Are Work Ethics in Decline?

According to author David Bahnsen and reported by Noah Slayter, a strong work ethic is “the most important factor in work” because it is “a force that drives our society.” However, it is “on the decline, according to Bahnsen, who is the author of “Full-Time: Work and the Meaning of Life.” 

As reported by Slayter, Bahnsen believes in a “work-rest paradigm” rather than a “work-life balance” because the first is “a value on work over rest, while acknowledging in the value in not ‘overworking’ oneself.”

Bahnsen is the founder of a $5 billion private wealth management firm and was recently a guest on the “The Kevin Roberts Show.” Slayter reporter that Bahnsen “said that every person, from a busboy to a CEO, should find dignity in his work.” Then he quoted Bahnsen directly, “I believe that the work has dignity because I believe the worker has dignity. And I believe the worker has dignity because he or she was made by God.”

According to Slayter, Bahnsen “said that one proof of America’s lackluster work ethic is a retirement-focused workforce.” He also “lamented that our culture tells 30-year-olds that the only reason they work is ‘so that one day I won’t have to do it anymore.’”

Bahnsen discussed how “the loss of the older demographic from the labor pool has ‘sidelined some of our best talent.’ Essentially, retirement has weakened our national productivity due to the loss of wisdom and drive from the workforce.”

In addition to the losses caused by retirement, “Bahnsen said there is also a significant loss of jobs for high school- and college-aged people, the positions often taken by students after school or over the summer.”

Bahnsen claims that the job losses come from a “high minimum wage” that destroys such jobs. He states that raising the minimum wage is “an affront on high school employment.”

Bahnsen not only sees the problems, but he also has a suggestion to the issues. He suggests that the cure must come from the “bottom up.” The answer will be found “in local communities, small businesses, and churches” rather than the government.

According to Bahnsen, the local community has an “infectious” aspect that propels a healthy work ethic that often engages younger generations. He continued, “Gen-Z, I’m getting a totally different impression from. They want mentorship, they want the feedback.” This “desire for mentorship will create social cohesion that drives productivity.” So he believes that Gen Z can “really bridge a lot of these things [social cohesion] together.” “This, Bahnsen says he hopes, will create a more productive and dignified workforce.”

 

Should the Wars in Israel and Ukraine Be Treated the Same?

 

Should the Wars in Israel and Ukraine Be Treated the Same?

Americans are divided over the wars in Israel and Ukraine and how much foreign aid should go to each of the countries. Victor Davis Hanson claimed that the wars are similar but different conflicts “in more ways than we can imagine.” He then proceeded to explain why they are similar yet different. 

Ukraine was invaded by a huge Russian state, with a population three-and-a-half times greater, a gross national product 10 times larger, and an area 30 times its size.

Hamas, by contrast, is a terrorist clique of about 50,000 to 70,000 gunmen and terrorist kingpins who run Gaza. It is dwarfed by the Israeli population (20 times larger), economy (27 times greater), and area (60 times larger).

Most of Europe, the United States, and the West understandably supported arming Ukraine to repel Vladimir Putin’s Russian aggression.

By contrast, such support for democratic Israel was strangely mixed.

In many elite political, academic and media circles, Israel is criticized for its massive retaliation after Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack.

The Western attitude towards the two wars grows even more inconsistent, if not incoherent.

There are constant calls for Israel to be “proportionate” in Gaza following the massacres of nearly 1,200 Jes, the vast majority civilians.

But Westerners understandably seek to give Ukraine more and better arms than Russia to ensure a disproportionate response necessary to win the war.

Israel is faulted for collateral damage from its efforts to destroy Hamas – even though terrorists are burrowed in and beneath hospital, mosques and schools.

Hanson’s article is much longer with even more reasons for the difference between the two wars. He explained that Hamas launches rockets into Israel without any warning, but Israel is expected to drop leaflets into Gaza to warn the Gazan civilians to stay out of the area. In the other war, no Westerner expects Ukraine to warn civilians in either occupied Ukraine or across the border in Russia of impending attacks. Yet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is blasted for its “disproportionate” retaliation in Gaza.

Netanyahu is watched closely by Americans “for any sign of absolutist rule or failure to create” the right type of Cabinet. Yet, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has actually “suspended elections during the war but also declared martial law over his entire country.”

Hanson continued his explanation by recognizing that “Zelenskyy remains a rock star in the West,” while Israel “has not declared martial law” but “has formed a bipartisan coalition government with members of the opposition.”

According to Hanson, the media and politicians in the Western world “discount Russian propaganda … especially its unsubstantiated claims of relative Russian and Ukrainian casualties or Ukrainian setbacks or atrocities.” Yet, “many of these same Westerners oddly take Hamas’ casualty totals at face value” even to believing that “the Islamic jihad rocket that hit a Gazan hospital was an Israeli bomb.” Hanson stated that “Hamas has proven to be no more honest, and perhaps far more inaccurate, than even Russia state-controlled media.”

So, why are there so many “strange disconnects in Western attitudes toward these two wars?”

Here are Hanson’s reasons: It has nothing to do with who started the war or which country is more democratic or the most atrocities. It is about the rising of antisemitism in the West. Hamas’ killers are romanticized as “freedom fighters” while all Russians are considered as villains. “Middle East oil money and massive immigration into Western countries dwarf the influence of an ailing Russia.” Therefore, “Left-wing politicians in Europe and the U.S.” court Muslim nations while not worrying about the Russian lobby.

This means that the disconnect continues and “grows into absurdity.”

What Is the Best Way to Stop the Business of Illegal Immigration?

My VIP for this week is Brent Orrin Hatch, a son of former-Senator Orrin Hatch as well as an attorney and a candidate for the United States Senate from Utah. He wrote the following about the hordes of illegal immigrants crossing the borders in his article titled “Brent Orrin Hatch: Biden needs to shut southern border.” 

Hatch explained that he tells his clients to obey the law because it is his job. He also stated that the job of judges is to enforce the law, and the job of our elected leaders is to implement the law. However, some judges and the Biden administration are not doing their job. He stated, “What seems to be lost on the president is why everyone is upset and how unfair the situation is.” Then he explained as follows:

First, caring people realize how wrong the present policies are to the immigrants themselves. There is nothing charitable or Christian about recklessly allowing masses of people to come here after a perilous journey only to sleep in airports (Boston), schools (New York) or the streets, public parks and other facilities (everywhere) without the capacity to provide even the basics of shelter and care. Legal immigration is measured and never exceeds the resources available.

Second, allowing more immigrants into the country than we can reasonably assimilate is unfair to American citizens. Our cities and resources are being overrun, seemingly with no concern for the impact and cost on our citizens. The Biden policy is inhumane both to those coming here and to the American people whose lives are being upended by it.

Third, giving precedence to immigrants entering the country illegally at the expense of the homeless is not right. The homeless are citizens and many are veterans who have protected our homeland. Allowing non-citizens into our country before we can adequately take care of our own is more than unfair, it’s irresponsible. The Biden policies are simply straining our charitable organizations and government resources to the breaking point.

Fourth, it is unfair to our children because billions of dollars are being spent to support immigrants who entered the country illegally, thus putting pressure on our already sky-high $34 trillion national debt. Sadly, money that could be spent on reducing the deficit is actually being spent on increasing illegal immigration. A new report on the border and immigration shows how the Biden administration is paying the United Nations and nongovernmental organizations to facilitate the invasion. There are reportedly 57 international organizations and 132 national NGOs and civil service organizations designated to hand out $343 million in aid for 2024 to help more migrants invade America.

Fifth, not securing our borders threatens our national security needlessly and increases risk to our citizenry. Numerous terrorists have been caught trying to cross the border, but many more have evaded capture. It is troubling that many of these migrants appearing at our southern border are military age men from China, Africa and the Middle East. Drug cartels have used our open borders to flood our streets with Mexican- and Chinese-made fentanyl and use the same routes and connections into America for human trafficking and funneling terrorists across the border. If and when an attack on the homeland comes, it is highly likely their entry will have been through our porous southern border.

Hatch explained that the House Homeland Committee reported that “last year marked the worst in U.S. history for people entering our country without authorization. The impact of these misguided efforts is self-evident.” He continued his explanation: “The strain on schools and city budgets in many parts of the country is overwhelming.” He declared, “The current system has become an illegal immigration industrial complex. He added that “The president does not need a ‘deal’ or new laws to enforce our border.” He obviously believes that Americans will express their views in November on the job that Biden and his administration are actually not doing. 

Why Should Joe Biden Be Impeached?

The topic of discussion for this Constitution Monday concerns a possible impeachment of Joe Biden. Fred Lucas published an article in The Daily Signal titled “Come: ’30 Million Reasons’ Biden Impeachment Probe Will Continue Despite Indictment of Informant.” 

President Joe Biden called Friday for the House to shut down its impeachment inquiry into alleged influence peddling after the indictment of an FBI informant who said Biden might have accepted $5 million in bribes while vice president.

Special counsel David Weiss, appointed to investigate the financial activities of the president’s son, Huner Biden, secured a grand jury indictment against Alexander Smirnov, alleging that he lied to the FBI. Smirnov faces up to 25 years in prison if convicted.

A reporter asked Biden about the indictment at a press conference Friday, and whether the House should drop its impeachment inquiry.

“He is lying and it should be dropped, and it’s just been an outrageous effort from the beginning,” Biden said of Smirnov and the impeachment probe.

But House Oversight and Accountability Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., who is in charge of the inquiry, said the impeachment investigation doesn’t rely on Smirnov’s allegation of a bribe made in an FBI form known as a FD-1023. Comer said the evidence shows that millions of dollars in foreign cash went to Hunter Biden and other members of the Biden family.

Business associates of the Biden family have said that Joe Biden, mostly while vice president, was “the brand” in doing business in foreign countries.

“We have over $30 million reasons to continue this investigation and not one of those reasons relies on the corrupt FBI or an informant,” Comer said in a written statement, adding:

Bank records don’t lie. Bank records and witness testimony reveal Joe Biden knew about and participated in his family’s business schemes, and he has repeatedly lied to the American people about these facts. The American people demand the truth and accountability for any wrongdoing. We will continue to follow the facts to propose legislation to reform federal ethics laws and to determine whether articles of impeachment are warranted….

In July, Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, released the bribery allegation against Biden in a four-page FBI document, called an FD-1023, that he obtained through a Justice Department whistleblower. FBI special agents use the FD-1023 form to record raw, unverified information obtained from confidential human sources. Such forms don’t reflect the conclusion of an investigation.

“It costs 5 (million) to pay one Biden, and 5 (million) to another Biden,” the unclassified FD-1023 form quotes then-Burisma CEO Mykola Zlochevsky saying at the 2016 meeting, a reference to the then-vice president and his son, a Burisma board member.

Lucas and other members of the committee investigating claim that there are reasons to impeach Biden. If they can prove corruption on the part of Biden, they should show the evidence. The committee has shown some bank recorders showing corruption. They have no personal reasons for lying, while Biden has lots of reasons to lie about being corrupt.

  

How Can We Live in Happiness?

My Come Follow Me studies for this week took me to 2 Nephi 3-5 in a lesson titled “We Lived after the Manner of Happiness.” The lesson was introduced with the following information. 

Reading 1 Nephi, you might get the impression that Nephi was somehow larger than life. “Large in stature” both physically and spiritually (1 Nephi 2:16), he seemed unshaken by the trials he faced. Or at least that is what we might assume. While Nephi’s faith was remarkable, his tender words in 2 Nephi 4 reveal that even faithful people sometimes feel “wretched” and “easily beset” by temptations. Here we see someone who is trying, who wants to be joyful, but whose “heart groaneth because of [his] sins.” We can relate to this ad to the hopeful determination that follows: “Nevertheless, I know in whom I have trusted” (see 2 Nephi 4:15-19).

While Nephi and his people learned to live “after the manner of happiness”

(2 Nephi 5:27), they also learned that happiness does not come easily or without periods of sorrow. It ultimately comes from trusting the Lord, “the rock of [our] righteousness” (2 Nephi 4:35).

The principle for this discussion comes from 2 Nephi 3:6-24: “Joseph Smith was chosen by God to restore the gospel of Jesus Christ.” Lehi shared with his son Joseph a prophecy given by Joseph of Egypt. The prophecy was about a future “choice seer,” Joseph Smith. Verses 6-24 tell of many things that Joseph Smith would do to bless God’s people.

6 For Joseph truly testified, saying: A seer shall the Lord my God raise up, who shall be a choice seer unto the fruit of my loins.

7 Yea, Joseph truly said: Thus saith the Lord unto me: A choice seer will I raise out of the fruit of thy loins; and he shall be esteemed highly among the fruit of thy loins. And unto him will I give commandment that he shall do a work for the fruit of thy loins, his brethren, which shall be of great worth unto them, even to the bringing of them to the knowledge of the covenants which I have made with thy fathers.

8 And I will give unto him a commandment that he shall do none other work, save the work which I shall command him. And I will make him great in mine eyes; for he shall do my work.

9 And he shall be great like unto Moses, whom I have said I would raise up unto you, to deliver my people, O house of Israel.

10 And Moses will I raise up, to deliver thy people out of the land of Egypt.

11 But a seer will I raise up out of the fruit of thy loins; and unto him will I give power to bring forth my word unto the seed of thy loins—and not to the bringing forth my word only, saith the Lord, but to the convincing them of my word, which shall have already gone forth among them.

12 Wherefore, the fruit of thy loins shall write; and the fruit of the loins of Judah shall write; and that which shall be written by the fruit of thy loins, and also that which shall be written by the fruit of the loins of Judah, shall grow together, unto the confounding of false doctrines and laying down of contentions, and establishing peace among the fruit of thy loins, and bringing them to the knowledge of their fathers in the latter days, and also to the knowledge of my covenants, saith the Lord.

13 And out of weakness he shall be made strong, in that day when my work shall commence among all my people, unto the restoring thee, O house of Israel, saith the Lord.

14 And thus prophesied Joseph, saying: Behold, that seer will the Lord bless; and they that seek to destroy him shall be confounded; for this promise, which I have obtained of the Lord, of the fruit of my loins, shall be fulfilled. Behold, I am sure of the fulfilling of this promise;

15 And his name shall be called after me; and it shall be after the name of his father. And he shall be like unto me; for the thing, which the Lord shall bring forth by his hand, by the power of the Lord shall bring my people unto salvation.

16 Yea, thus prophesied Joseph: I am sure of this thing, even as I am sure of the promise of Moses; for the Lord hath said unto me, I will preserve thy seed forever.

17 And the Lord hath said: I will raise up a Moses; and I will give power unto him in a rod; and I will give judgment unto him in writing. Yet I will not loose his tongue, that he shall speak much, for I will not make him mighty in speaking. But I will write unto him my law, by the finger of mine own hand; and I will make a spokesman for him.

18 And the Lord said unto me also: I will raise up unto the fruit of thy loins; and I will make for him a spokesman. And I, behold, I will give unto him that he shall write the writing of the fruit of thy loins, unto the fruit of thy loins; and the spokesman of thy loins shall declare it.

19 And the words which he shall write shall be the words which are expedient in my wisdom should go forth unto the fruit of thy loins. And it shall be as if the fruit of thy loins had cried unto them from the dust; for I know their faith.

20 And they shall cry from the dust; yea, even repentance unto their brethren, even after many generations have gone by them. And it shall come to pass that their cry shall go, even according to the simpleness of their words.

21 Because of their faith their words shall proceed forth out of my mouth unto their brethren who are the fruit of thy loins; and the weakness of their words will I make strong in their faith, unto the remembering of my covenant which I made unto thy fathers.

22 And now, behold, my son Joseph, after this manner did my father of old prophesy.

23 Wherefore, because of this covenant thou art blessed; for thy seed shall not be destroyed, for they shall hearken unto the words of the book.

24 And there shall rise up one mighty among them, who shall do much good, both in word and in deed, being an instrument in the hands of God, with exceeding faith, to work mighty wonders, and do that thing which is great in the sight of God, unto the bringing to pass much restoration unto the house of Israel, and unto the seed of thy brethren.

Joseph Smith’s work has been “of great worth” to me, and it can be of great worth to you. From his work, I know that Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ are two separate Beings of flesh and bone. From his work, I know that families can live together for eternity. One important part of Joseph Smith’s mission was to bring forth the Book of Mormon – Another Testament of Jesus Christ. I have studied the Book of Mormon and prayed to God to know if it is true. I received a witness that the Book of Mormon is true and that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is God’s church on earth today.