Is There Any Comparison between Trump and Biden Policies?

Any fair-minded American would say that President Donald Trump inherited a terrible mess from former President Joe Biden. One year has passed since Trump was inaugurated for his second term in the White House.

Trump has “delivered a sharp policy reversal from the Obama-Biden era during his first year back in office, solving problems from border security to the economy to foreign conflicts,” according to Rob Bluey from The Daily Signal on Fox Business Network. The Daily Signal Staff shared their thoughts on how Trump solved the Obama and Biden mess.

“It sure is a different time in America,” Bluey told host Liz MacDonald on “The Evening Edit.” “We could probably extend or double or triple that list for all of the problems that Donald Trump has helped solve, and he was left a mess, as you indicated, from Barack Obama and Joe Biden.”

Bluey pointed to improvements across multiple policy areas. He’s not alone in noting the start difference from his Democrat predecessors. Axios’ Mike Allen called Trump the “Eraser-in-Chief” for undoing the policies of former President Joe Biden.

“As Trump approaches this one-year anniversary on Jan. 20, I think the United States is much better off with him as the leader,” Bluey said. “Our country – certainly both from a domestic standpoint and foreign standpoint – is in a much better spot today than it was when Joe Biden left office.”

Bluey not only stated that he believed that the United States is in a better spot now than one year ago. He shared some definite ways where Trump’s policies are better than those of Obama or Biden.

Border Crisis: Fixed

When MacDonald raised the contrast between the “far-left madness” of the Biden years and the relative stability under Trump, Bluey focused on border security as a prime example of policy sabotage.

“Joe Biden had the tools at his disposal to close the U.S.-Mexico border,” Bluey said, noting that federal law gave the president the authority Trump had successfully used in his first term. “On Day One, Biden wiped away all of those policies and left us with the situation we’re in now.

Bluey also criticized Democrat governors for refusing to cooperate with federal immigration enforcement….

Anti-Trump Media Bias

MacDonald asked Bluey about the media’s role in downplaying Trump’s achievements.

“They share a tone of blame, because Donald Trump doesn’t get the credit that he deserves,” Bluey responded, pointing to consistently negative headlines despite policy successes.

 

Can Protesters Legally Enter Church Buildings with Their Protests?

It seems impossible, but it really happened. Protesters stormed into a church building in Minneapolis on Sunday with chants and shouting. In doing so, they broke numerous federal laws, and the Department of Justice is preparing to press charges. Amy Ortez at The Blaze reported the following: 

[Department of Justice Assistant Attorney General Harmeet] Dhillon joined Blaze Media co-founder Glenn Beck on “The Glenn Beck Program” on Monday morning to address the incident, in which radicals disrupted a Christian church in the middle of a service.

“We don’t want to prejudge, but I think it is fair to say that I saw multiple federal criminal incidents yesterday, and there will be charges,” she told Beck.

Dhillon explained that as soon as she learned about the situation at Cities Church, she immediately activated prosecutors and sent FBI agents to investigate to determine whether the left-wing radicals had violated the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act or committed any related criminal offenses, including potential conspiracy charges and material support.

“It’s only a question of when we can get a judge to sign off on arrest warrants and exactly what the charges would be,” Dhillon stated, noting that the federal judges have to be in Minnesota. “This isn’t Texas, and we aren’t getting exactly rapid-fire support for charges there on the pace we would love.”

Dhillon criticized local leaders for failing to enforce the state’s laws by refusing to arrest any of the protesters.

“There could have been arrests yesterday if Keith Ellison, the attorney general of Minnesota, enforced his own laws, and Mary Moriarty, the district attorney of Hennepin County, enforced her own laws,” she remarked….

Dhillon explained to Beck that the federal government “has to jump through some additional hurdles.”

Beck asked Dhillon whether former CNN journalist Don Lemon violated any laws by following the protesters into the church. Dhillon responded that she would reserve comment on that situation but proposed a hypothetical involving “a podcaster, once a news anchor.”

A privately owned house of worship is not a public forum for protest in the U.S., she stated, adding that charges would likely be imposed in stages.

“We will not let this happen to another church in the United States. It is un-American, unacceptable, and there is a zero-tolerance policy for it at this DOJ,” Dhillon concluded.

 

 

 

What Is Happening with the Traditional Family?

My VIP for this week is the traditional family – a mother, a father, and children. The traditional family is declining, but it “has the most potential to bring Americans together,” according to Terence P. Jeffrey, investigative editor for the Daily Caller News Foundation. 

The Census Bureau recently released a report about the living arrangements American mothers have when they give birth to their first child. It did not paint a pretty picture.

“There have been sweeping changes to marriage and family structures in the United States over the last several decades,” said the report. “Fertility rates dropped to historically low levels. Marriage rates declined while cohabitation became more common. Childbirth increasingly occurred outside of marriage as legal and cultural norms shifted.”

The Census Bureau’s analysis indicated that since the early 1990s there has been a fairly consistent percentage of mothers who were married when they gave birth to their first child. But this percentage was always above 60%, leaving nearly 40% of first-born children in a household that was not a traditional family.

In the period from 1990 through 1994, according to the Census Bureau, only 62.2% of first-born babies were born to a married couple. Another 20.4% of the babies born in that period were born to a mother who was neither married nor “cohabiting” with a partner. Then there were 17.4% who were born to a mother who was cohabiting with a partner with whom she was not married.

In the period from 1995 through 1999, the percentage of first-born babies who were born to mothers who were married increased modestly to 63.8%. In the period from 2000 through 2004, it increased again to 66.3%.

But then it declined again.

From 2005 through 2009, it was 62.9%. From 2010 through 2014, it was 60.0%; from 2015 through 2019, it was 60.7%; and from 2020 through 2024, it was 60.8%.

While the percentage of first-born babies born to married mothers declined between 1990-94 and 2020-24, the percentage born to unmarried but cohabiting mothers increased, climbing from 17.4% to 23.9%.

And there were still 15.3% of first-born babies in the 2020-2024 period who were born to mothers who were neither married nor cohabitating.

The Census Bureau’s report also noted a distinction in the trends among women who had a college education and those who did not.

“Marriage became a more common living arrangement among first-time mothers with at least a bachelor’s degree, increasing from 74.4 percent in 1990-1994 to 84.5 percent in 2020-2024,” said the bureau’s report.

“In contrast, the prevalence of marital first births among mothers with less than a bachelor’s degree declined from 58.6 percent in 1990-1994 to 40.6 percent in 2020-2024, and the share of women cohabiting at first birth rose from 19.2 percent to 34.8 percent,” it said.

In other words, in the period from 2020-24, a significant majority (59.4%) of the first-born babies born to mothers without a college degree were not born in a traditional married-couple household.

The Census Bureau’s report concedes that babies born outside a traditional family structure also tend to be born in a less prosperous environment. “Children born to married parents on average have access to more economic resources,” says its report.

The Census Bureau’s household income data for 2024 shows two factors that, as this column has noted before, clearly have an impact on that income: family structure and education….

It makes sense that a married couple will give their children a stronger family structure. It also makes sense that a married couple, each with a college degree, will have more skills and knowledge than with individuals without a college degree or appropriate trades training.

My long-time readers know that I have encouraged education since the beginning of this blog. My children would tell you that I pushed education since they were in the lower grades of elementary school. As a result, all of them have a college degree and most of them have graduate degrees. They are all doing well, rearing strong families, and strengthening their communities. All of us should be involved in life-long learning.

Who Is to Blame for the Messy Deportation Situation?

The topic of discussion for this Constitution Monday concerns lawful deportation. The Biden administration opened the borders and invited ten million or more people to enter the United States illegally – “come on in, the borders open!” The Trump administration is now deporting as many criminal illegals – the worst of the worst – as quickly as possible.

Most Americans have heard of the billions of dollars of fraud in Minnesota and ICE’s attempt fight to deport as many of the fraudsters as possible. Democrats and others on the Left do not have anything else are desperate to make deportation a big mess for the mid-term elections.

Jarrett Stepman at The Heritage Foundation shared his thoughts about the ICE operations in Minnesota and other blue states. 

According to a new media narrative, President Donald Trump and the Department of Homeland Security are behaving irresponsibly by conducting more immigration raids around the country, which in turn have allegedly led to violence against innocent civilians and illegal aliens.

And if you’ve been listening to Democrats, you’d think that the reason that Immigration and Customs Enforcement is particularly active in blue states is that the Trump administration is being mean to them for political reasons.

Their reasoning goes that Trump wants to occupy and bully their states with ICE “terrorists” who spend their time murdering innocent American citizens for no reason….

[Democrats call it retribution-style politics, drams, performance politics at its worst. Republicans call it projection.]

But the narrative that aggressive ICE enforcement in blue states is just some kind of political retribution is bunk for many reasons. The biggest one is that Democrats have actively pursued policies that would lead to a confrontation with the federal government over immigration law.

This is happening by design.

Sanctuary city and state policies aim at blocking the federal government from carrying out federal laws through non-compliance. [Ice uses different processes in non-compliant states as it does in cooperative states.]

The Trump administration has generally prioritized bringing in illegal aliens with a criminal record. This can be done more easily in states that cooperate with the Department of Homeland Security. Generally, local authorities detain individuals for various crimes, and when they discover that the criminal is an illegal alien with a deportation order, they hand them over to federal officers.

Not so in blue states, where the federal government must actively pursue illegal aliens if it wishes to detain and deport them.

CNN actually covered this issue in August.

“In states that voted for President Donald Trump, ICE agents are far more likely to arrest immigrants directly from prisons and jails,” CNN reported.

“In Democratic-leaning states, by contrast, ICE is frequently arresting immigrants from worksites, streets and mass roundups that have sparked protests and intense backlash in cities such as Los Angeles. Most of those arrested don’t have any criminal record,” CNN continued.

CNN further found that “59% of arrests in red states took place in prisons and jails, while 70% of arrests in blue states took place in the community. That partisan gap between red and blue states existed before Trump’s second term began – but it has widened since last year.”

The sanctuary policies are triggering the federal government to engage in aggressive raids. These raids are less efficient, riskier, and more likely to sweep up illegal aliens who don’t have an extensive criminal record outside the initial crime of violating U.S. border laws….

Democrat politicians and their activist supporters certainly know that sanctuary policies encourage more aggressive ICE enforcement….

Instead of just accepting de facto nullification of federal law, the Department of Homeland Security has stepped up ICE raids to make up for non-cooperation in places like Minnesota.

When you combine that with an aggressive, activist street element and irresponsible Democrat politicians like [Minneapolis Mayor Jacob] Frey and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, you get situations like the ones that led to the ICE shooting of Rachel Good.

The blame for this messy situation doesn’t fall on the Trump administration. It falls on those who don’t accept the results of the 2024 election, who insist that the results of the open borders insanity of President Joe Biden be locked in forever, and now look to do everything in their power to undermine the law.

How Essential Is Marriage to Eternal Happiness?

My Come Follow Me studies for this week took me to three books of scripture – Genesis 1-2; Moses 2-3; Abraham 4-5 – that teach about the Creation of heaven, the Earth, Adam and Eve, and all the plant and animal life on the earth. This lesson is titled “In the Beginning God Created the Heaven and the Earth,” and it was introduced by the following information. 

Because the world around us is so beautiful and majestic, it’s hard to imagine the earth when it was “without form, and void” and “empty and desolate” (Genesis 1:2; Abraham 4:2). One thing the Creation story teaches us is that God can, over time, make something magnificent out of something unorganized. That’s helpful to remember when life seems chaotic. Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ are Creators, and Their creative work with us is not finished. They can make light shine in dark moments in our lives. They can fill our emptiness with life. They can transform us into the divine beings we were meant to be. That’s what it means to be created in God’s image, after His likeness (see Genesis 1:26). We have the potential to become like Him: exalted, glorified, heavenly.

This scripture block contained several principles, including the following: (1) “By mine Only Begotten I created these things” (Genesis 1:1-25; Moses 2:1-25; Abraham 4:1-25). (2) I am created in the image of God (Genesis 1:26-27; Moses 2:26-27; Abraham 4:26-27). (3) Marriage between a man and a woman is ordained of God (Genesis 1:27-28; 2:18-25; Moses 3:18, 21-24; Abraham 5:14-18). (4) I am responsible for caring for God’s creations (Genesis 1:28; Moses 2:28; Abraham 4:28). (5) God blessed and sanctified the Sabbath day (Genesis 2:2-3; Moses 3:2-3; Abraham 5:2-3).

I feel prompted to discuss principle #3 concerning marriage for eternity. First, we will look at the applicable scriptures. (Emphasis added.)

Genesis 1:27-28 (Old Testament)

27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.

28 And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.

Genesis 2:18-25 (Old Testament)

18 ¶ And the Lord God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him.

19 And out of the ground the Lord God formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air; and brought them unto Adam to see what he would call them: and whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that was the name thereof.

20 And Adam gave names to all cattle, and to the fowl of the air, and to every beast of the field; but for Adam there was not found an help meet for him.

21 And the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof;

22 And the rib, which the Lord God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man.

23 And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.

24 Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.

25 And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.

Moses 3:18, 21-25 (Pearl of Great Price)

18 And I, the Lord God, said unto mine Only Begotten, that it was not good that the man should be alone; wherefore, I will make an help meet for him.

21 And I, the Lord God, caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam; and he slept, and I took one of his ribs and closed up the flesh in the stead thereof;

22 And the rib which I, the Lord God, had taken from man, made I a woman, and brought her unto the man.

23 And Adam said: This I know now is bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of man.

24 Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife; and they shall be one flesh.

25 And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.

Abraham 5:14-19 (Pearl of Great Price)

14 And the Gods said: Let us make an help meet for the man, for it is not good that the man should be alone, therefore we will form an help meet for him.

15 And the Gods caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam; and he slept, and they took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh in the stead thereof;

16 And of the rib which the Gods had taken from man, formed they a woman, and brought her unto the man.

17 And Adam said: This was bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh; now she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of man;

18 Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife, and they shall be one flesh.

19 And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.

In short, these scripture references teach the following: Male and female were created in the image of God. God said that it was not good for the man to be alone, so He created the female to be a help meet for the man. It stands to reason that the man was also a help meet for the woman. Help meet means companion or partner. God blessed (or performed a marriage ceremony) Adam and Eve and commanded them to multiply (have children) and to cleave (hold tight) to one another. Now we will turn to the words of latter-day prophets and apostles.

President Russell M. Nelson taught: “Adam and Eve were joined together in marriage for time and for all eternity by the power of [the] everlasting priesthood” (“Lessons from Eve,” Ensign, Nov. 1987, 87). A marriage is sacred and should be treated with reverence and considered holy. Lessons from Eve

"The Family – A Proclamation to the World" was announced to the world 30 years ago. It proclaims that “the family is ordained of God” and “is central to the Creator’s plan for the eternal destiny of His children.” The proclamation declares “that God’s commandment for His children to multiply and replenish the earth remains in force.” It also states, “we further declare that God has commanded that the sacred powers of procreation are to be employed only between man and woman, lawfully wedded as husband and wife.” The Family Proclamation

At a different time, then-Elder Russell M. Nelson taught the following to an audience at Brigham Young University: the family is “pivotal to God’s plan…. In fact, a purpose of the plan is to exalt the family.” Faith and Families | Russell M. Nelson | BYU Speeches

Then acting as President of the Quorum of Twelve Apostles, Dallin H. Oaks gave the following counsel in his address during the October 2025 General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints: The Family-Centered Gospel of Jesus Christ

The Church of Jesus Christ is sometimes known as a family-centered church. It is! Our relationship to God and the purpose of our mortal life are explained in terms of the family. The gospel of Jesus Christ is the plan of our Heavenly Father for the benefit of His spirit children. We can truly say that the gospel plan was first taught to us in the council of an eternal family, it is implemented through our mortal families, and its intended destiny is to exalt the children of God in eternal families.

 

Why Are Strong Families Essential to Creating Strong Nations?

According to Dr. James Dobson, the “strength of our nation rises and falls on the strength of our families.” Therefore, strong marriages and strong families are essential for a strong nation.

J.P. De Gance, “founder and president of Communio, a nonprofit organization that equips churches to promote healthy relationships, marriages and the family,” discussed Dr. Dobson’s legacy in an article titled “James Dobson was right all along about the family.” 

According to the De Gance article, Dr. Dobson was a pediatric psychologist and founder of Focus on the Family. He shared his counsel about families for decades, but he was mocked by “socially liberal critics” who said that he was an “alarmist, out of touch and even repressive for his views.” De Gance rejected the socially liberally view and wrote, “But time has proved Dobson right, and we’re now witnessing the consequences of ignoring his warnings.”

Modern social science, on the other hand, backs up Dobson’s prophetic views about marriage. History also shows us what happens when the atomized family became dominant. Family breakdown, studies have shown, on the whole leads to the increase of poverty, crime and epidemic loneliness. Children raised without stable homes are, also on average, at greater risk for academic, economic and emotional struggles. Neighborhoods with high rates of family instability inevitably struggle with higher rates of violence.

But even as progressives have attacked Dobson and others who pointed this out, not everyone ignored him. Millions of Americans bought his books and listened to his radio broadcasts and built their lives around Dobson’s teaching. Their families are stronger for it. Parents used his guidance to raise what he called “the strong-willed child.” Couples took his advice to strengthen their marriages. Churches drew from his wisdom to build ministries that offered hope. Because of Dobson’s tireless work, countless families are flourishing today who otherwise might not have.

That is no small legacy. Dobson’s influence is woven into the lives of millions who found in him not just a critic of culture, but a coach for living faithfully and fruitfully.

Dobson’s vindication leaves us with a choice. We can lament what we’ve lost, or we can learn from his example and go build healthy marriages and healthy families. We now know, more than ever, what works. Stable, loving marriages give adults purpose and joy.

According to Brad Wilcox, director of the National Marriage Project, the happiest Americans aren’t the wealthiest or the most successful in their careers. The happiest Americans are married, churchgoing and, often, parents. Stable families give children the foundation to thrive. They provide communities with the resilience to withstand economic and cultural storms.

If America wants renewal, we must start at home. Churches need to place marriage and family back at the center of their ministry. Civic leaders need to recognize that family health is not just a private good but a public necessity. Parents need to see their marriages not just as a covenant with each other, but as an inheritance for their children and an investment in the next generation.

  

What Is the Effect of Flooding Refugees into Any Nation?

The liberty principle for this freedom Friday concerns the practice of flooding refugees into any nation. The ongoing violence in Minnesota is one example of what happens when a large number of people from a Third World country do not assimilate into the host nation.

The fraud recently exposed widely was known for at least a decade. When Nick Shirley posted his documentary, everyone knew about the ongoing fraud. The fraud happened because there was a flood of refugees from Somali brought into the United States and became a solid voting bloc.

Simon Hankinson at The Heritage Foundation explains why accepting a flood of refugees is not a smart policy. 

But there’s an underlying story that is no less important: the much larger cost of absorbing millions of low-skilled immigrants.

Back in 2016, George Borjas of Harvard wrote that, “the higher cost of all the services provided to immigrants and the lower taxes they pay (because they have lower earnings) inevitably implies that on a year-to-year basis immigration creates a fiscal hole of at least $50 billion.

Because most Somali immigrants came to the U.S. as refugees or on family reunification visas thereafter, they are an interesting subset to examine. At a press conference, Minnesota Democrat Rep. Ilhan Omar said of her Somali constituents that “we have … become nurses and doctors and engineers.”

Some, but not many. From 2019 to 2023, the median Somali household in Minnesota had an income of $43,600, compared to a national median of $78,538. That means that they will qualify for many federal benefits available to citizens and some immigrants.

In a 2024 report, Daniel Di Martino of the Manhattan Institute looked at the net lifetime fiscal impact of immigrants. Immigrants without a college education are a net fiscal burden of up to $400,000, DiMartino estimates, while “each immigrant under the age of 35 with a graduate degree reduces the budget deficit by over $1 million in net present value during his lifetime.”

Somali refugees fall more into the former category. According to a recent Center for Immigration Studies report, 58% of them do not speak English well, and 39% have no high school diploma. That translates into a heavy use of welfare programs.

Of Somali immigrant households with children, CIS reports, 89% use some kind of welfare – 86% of such families are on Medicaid, compared to only 28% of Minnesota households headed by a native-born citizen. More than one in five Somali men of working age re unemployed. More than half of children in Somali-immigrant households are below the poverty line, compared with only 7.6% of those in native-headed homes.

Studies in Europe have shown that, on average, immigrants from certain countries are net takers from the fiscal pot over their lifetime, while others are net givers.

In Denmark, the net fiscal contribution of the average native Dane over a lifetime is positive. In their working years, native Danes pay into the system more than they take. That’s the only way the fiscal equation can balance. But their average immigrant from the Middle East, North Africa, Turkey, and Pakistan never pays more to the government than they take in benefits.

A Finnish study had similar results. On average, people from Somalia and many other places were net lifetime losses.

Mass migration was sold to Europeans as a solution to their plummeting fertility rate. To pay for wraparound socialist benefits, the thinking went, they needed to import millions of younger workers. Unfortunately, they weren’t getting the kinds of migrants who are net contributors.

The countries that produce the most economically desirable immigrants have low fertility and don’t export people. Meanwhile, emigrants from the countries whose populations are burgeoning and are on average a lifetime fiscal drain are the ones that do export people….

The Trump administration has lowered refugee numbers for fiscal year 2026 to 7,500. But a future president might choose to ramp up refugees and also open the spigots with other Biden-era tools to facilitate mass migration.

American voters need to understand that accepting refugees and low-skilled migrants means taxpayers write a check for hundreds of thousands of dollars to support them for life.

Their children? Some will succeed and help balance the budget. Others will not….

But in the short-term, our fiscal hole will get much deeper, and the politics of refilling it will be impossible….

Was Jonathan Ross Justified in Shooting Renee Nicole Good?

A week has passed since the shooting of Renee Nicole Good in Minneapolis, Minnesota. There were numerous videos taken at the incident, and they were analyzed in ways that supported the particular viewpoint of the person doing the analyzing. A day or two later, a video began circulating that changed the point of view of many people. ICE agent Jonathan Ross took this powerful video with his cell phone as Good hit him with her car. Here is the sequence of events: 

ICE agent Jonathan Ross approaches the right side of Renee Nicole Good’s SUV, walking in front of her car to the driver’s side (Alpha News).

Renee says “That’s fine dude, I’m not mad at you” as he approaches (Alpha News).

Ross’ attention turns to Rebecca Good, Renee’s wife, who is standing outside the car filming the encounter. Ross goes to look at the license plate and Rebecca says, “It’s OK, we don’t change our [license] plates every morning, just so you know.” (Alpha News)

“You wanna come at us? I say go get yourself some lunch, big boy. Go ahead,” Rebecca Good sneers at Ross as he circles around the car back to the front (Alpha News).

Another ICE agent approaches the driver’s side and tells Renee to get out of the car, and tries to open the car door (Alpha News).

Rebecca tries to open the passenger-side door. When she can’t, she tells Renee to “drive, baby, drive!” Renee backs up the car and turns her wheels to drive away (Alpha News).

Renee guns the car forward and you hear it strike Ross, who is standing on the front driver’s side corner (Alpha News).

Ross’ camera is jostled and points in another direction. He fires three shots as the car drives away (Alpha News).

This video shows that Ross did not fire until after he was hit. Protesters in Minneapolis do not seem to know – or care – about the Ross video because they are still rioting.

We know that Ross walked away from the incident, but we learned yesterday that he suffered internal bleeding in his torso after being clipped by Good’s car. We do not yet know the severity of internal bleeding, but we do know that Ross was hospitalized after the incident and released later on the same day. He has since gone into hiding with his family because of death threats.

The Trump administration spoke from its point of view: Ross had no choice because Good had “weaponized” her SUV against him. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem noted that Ross had followed his training. She also reported that Ross had temporarily been hospitalized and went to spend time with his family upon his release.

Those on the Left – Democrats and their rioters – have the point of view that deadly force was not necessary. I suppose they think that Ross should have known better than to shoot.

The lesson that all of us should take from this incident is multi-pronged: (1) Do not interfere with a law enforcement activity, (2) get out of your car when a law officer commands it, and (3) do not weaponize your car. If Good had done any one of the three steps, she would be alive today.

There is some talk that Good’s wife, Rebecca Good, committed several felonies of her own and may be facing charges.

The Oversight Project conducted a force analysis into the shooting of Good by Ross, and Oversight Project President Mike Howell discussed the analysis with The Daily Signal this week. 

“Our team of career law enforcement has carefully reviewed all available evidence and has cleared the officer,” the force analysis reads from the Oversight Project, which has more than 60 years of law enforcement experience on its team. “The ICE officer in question is not only innocent, but was entirely justified in his actions. We pray that the far left comes to their senses and ends this violence.”

[Renee] Good, 37, was shot last week by an ICE officer after allegedly attempting to run him over in Minneapolis. Within hours, thousands of protestors gathered, and local lawmakers called for ICE to leave the city.

“Immediately after that event, every anti-American liberal wacko became a ‘use of force’ expert, right? You have a lot like Omar [Rep Ilhan Omar, D-Minn.] and others saying this is murder and all the Democrats saying this is murder,” Howell said. “It’s just incredibly frustrating to watch that because of the effect it has on a population.”

Through these claims’ lawmakers, like Omar, have made, they have convinced this “mentally ill and unhinged population” that you can attempt to block a federal officer from doing their job….

“They’ve called for the violence against the ice officers,” Howell said. “And now they’re use of force experts too.”

“This isn’t going to fly with us. The Oversight Project is unique amongst organizations in that we have over 60 years of very sensitive and senior law enforcement experience from the FBI intelligence community to elsewhere,” continued Howell.

Howell explained they have a team who have “wielded weapons for a living and been in law enforcement for a long time at the highest levels.”

“It’s indisputable that he was acting within his rights,” Howell claimed of the ICE officer. “He was justified not only legally, but in everything beneath that,” Howell answered.

To me – and I am no use of force expert – it looks like a classic case of self-defense. The ICE officer feared for his life, and he acted to protect himself and his fellow officers. He might have had a little more fear than the average person or average officer because he was dragged by a vehicle in a similar incident six months ago. In that incident, he was also hospitalized with injury to a leg.

I agree with Howell in his description for the people who come out to “protest” the removal of criminal illegal immigrants from our country. If she had just been protesting, Good would not have been interfering with the federal agents in their work – and she would still be alive. Only “mentally ill and unhinged” people would do some of the things that I have watched “protesters” do. Someone is hiring these people and urging them to act this way.

 

What Will the Justices Decide?

 Yesterday, the U.S. Supreme Court heard two cases to determine of what will happen with males playing female sports. The two cases, one from Idaho and one from West Virginia, are about state laws that ban males from playing on female sports teams.

Fred Lucas at The Daily Signal reported, “Chief Justice John Roberts, seen as a swing vote in the case, hinted that he would side with the states. He said allowing a male identifying as a female to compete in women’s sports could make federal Title IX statutes difficult to enforce.” 

“How we approach the situation of looking at it not as boys versus girls, but whether or not there should be an exception,” Roberts said during questioning. “If we adopted that, that would have to apply across the board and not simply to the area of athletics.”

Lindsay Hecox, a self-identified “transgender” athlete who wanted to be on the women’s track and cross-country teams at Boise State University, sued the state. The 9^th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals imposed an injunction.

In the West Virginia case, the plaintiff, Becky Pepper-Jackson wanted to compete on the middle school girls’ cross-country team. The 4^th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled West Virginia’s Save Women’s Sports Act violates Title IX, the federal law that prohibits sex discrimination in educational programs and school athletics. The high court heard the cases back-to-back on Tuesday.

The problem facing the justices is to determine how to be fair to normal or cisgender girls and women and honor the Title IX protections, while also not stigmatizing men and boys who think that they are a woman or a girl. The decision will come out sometime between now and the end of June or early July.

 

Who Is Marco Rubio?

My VIP for this week is Marco Rubio, the current Secretary of State. The Trump administration and, more specifically, the Department of State, has intensified and enhanced the vetting of foreign nationals who come to the United States. Because of their efforts, a record number of visas have been revoked, according to Candace Hathaway at Blaze Media.

The Department of State announced that in 2025, it revoked over 100,000 foreign visas, including 8,000 student visas and 2,500 specialized worker visas. That figure is more than double the number of visas that were revoked in 2024 – 40,000 – under former President Joe Biden’s leadership.

Foreign nationals whose visas were canceled included those who had encounters with U.S. law enforcement for criminal activity, the State Department reported….

The majority of those revoked by the State Department were for business and tourist travelers who overstayed their visas, Fox News Digital reported.

Some students and specialized workers who had their visas revoked also reportedly lost their legal status.

Half of the specialized workers whose visas were revoked had previously been arrested for drunk driving; 30% for assault, battery, or confinement charges; and 20% for theft, child abuse, substance abuse and distribution, and fraud  and embezzlement charges.

A department spokesperson told Fox News Digital that nearly 500 students lost their visas for charges related to drug possession and distribution.

The State Department announced in August plans to review all of the more than 55 million current visa holders to uncover potential ineligibility, such as overstays, criminal activity, public safety threats, and ties to terrorism.

“The Trump administration will continue to put America first and protect our nation from foreign nationals who pose a risk to public safety or national security,” State Department principal deputy spokesperson Tommy Piggott told Fox News Digital.

During a press conference last month, Secretary of State Marco Rubio addressed the administration’s increased efforts to revoke and deport foreign nationals.

“Who you allow to visit your country should reflect the national interest. We said that from the very beginning,” Rubio told reporters.

“There are [sometimes] we’ll deny people visas because of activities they’ve undertaken overseas,” he continued. “Other times it’s people that have visas but are in the United States doing things that run counter to our national interests. And the law gives us the right – and, in fact, I would argue, the obligation – to remove people like that from our country.”

  

What Should Americans Do?

The topic of discussion for this Constitution Monday concerns the sharp divide in the United States. America and Americans are sharply divided between liberals/those who lean left and conservatives/those who lean right. This division shows in almost everything that happens in the United States, and it happened this week in Minneapolis. Simon Hankinson at The Daily Signal marked the two parts of the division there as “hot takes” and “cold reasoning.”

Hankinson defined hot takes as “anger, a lack of control, lack of thought.” He also defined cold reasoning as thinking and pondering “about how we got here and how we avoid things getting worse.” 

Renee Good was shot in Minneapolis for trying to run over federal agents. Hankinson described the reaction of Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey as a “hot take.” “He should have expressed his regret at Good’s death – whatever the circumstances – and offered condolences to her family. Then, she should have asked citizens to stay calm and to wait for all the information to be known and evaluated before passing judgment.”

Hankinson continued by saying that “Ideally, [Frey should] have expressed support for the beleaguered federal agents who are daily harassed, assaulted, and vilified for doing their jobs as instructed. But apparently that’s asking too much.”

Instead, Frey “gave an emotional, unhinged press conference, in which he blamed federal agents for a situation which he risibly claimed “they created themselves” before telling ICE agents to get out of Minneapolis in not so nice language.

In addition, Gov. Tim Walz also gave a “hot take” when he claimed that “someone [was] dead in their car for no reason whatsoever.” Walz was right and wrong, according to Hankinson: “He was right that the shooting was ‘preventable’ and ‘unnecessary.’ But he was wrong about why.”

Walz and many on the Left blame the government for any injury or damage caused during protests against federal law enforcement for trying to enforce the law. Instead, they should blame activists trying to stop law enforcement using physical means.

“They want a show,” said Walz. By that, he means that the federal government wanted something like this to happen.

If anything, the opposite is true.

Those who oppose the Trump administration in everything it does, but particularly immigration, wanted something like this to happen. They needed a martyr, and they created circumstances to make one.

America is fiercely divided between Left and Right. Between those who want laws enforced, and those who want them abolished or ignored. Between open borders and nationhood. Between socialism and free markets.

On immigration, the Left does not believe any alien in the U.S. should be deported, for any reason.

They believe enforcement of immigration laws passed by an elected Congress is an outrage….

There was a media rush to paint Renee Good as either a perfect mom peacefully protesting, or as a domestic terrorist.

In truth, she was probably somewhere in the middle. A person who, motivated by passionate beliefs, crossed the line between First Amendment protest and – at best – actively impeded federal law enforcement, which is a felony.

At worst, she tried to run over an officer, which is attempted murder.

Being passionate about politics is as American as apple pie.

But that passion cannot be allowed to spill over into harassment, intimidation, vandalism, or assault against law enforcement or other civilians.

Those who should know better – politicians like Frey, Walz, and various members of Congress – should control their “hot takes” and allow the facts to come out. Like Hankinson, I would like the “political temperature” to “cool down and calmer heads prevail.” However, we both fear “that the hot takes, and hot heads, are in the ascendant. The cooler, calmer, reasonable majority of Americans will be left to endure the noise and pick up the pieces.”

I believe that so-called “leaders” like those in Minnesota and Congress need to face consequences for their outbursts before we will see less of them. As long as they are not punished for “fanning the flames” among the common folks, they will continue with their “hot takes.”

What Is a Divine Destiny?

My Come Follow Me studies for this week took me to Moses 1 and Abraham 3 in a lesson titled “This Is My Work and My Glory.” The lesson was introduced by the following information.

The Bible begins with the words “in the beginning God created the heaven and the earth” (Genesis 1:1). But what was there before this “beginning”? And why did God create all of this? Through the Prophet Joseph Smith, the Lord has shed light on these questions.

For example, He gave us the record of a vision in which Abraham saw our existence as spirits “before the world was” (see Abraham 3:22-28). The Lord also gave us an inspired translation or revision of the first six chapters of Genesis, called the book of Moses—which doesn’t begin with “in the beginning.” Instead, it begins with an experience Moses had that provides some context for the Creation story. Together, these latter-day scriptures are a good place to start our study of the Old Testament because they address some fundamental questions that can frame our reading: Who is God? Who are we? What is God’s work, and what is our place in it? The opening chapters of Genesis could be seen as the Lord’s response to Moses’s request: “Be merciful unto thy servant, O God, and tell me concerning this earth, and the inhabitants thereof, and also the heavens” (Moses 1:36).

Some principles found in Moses 1 and Abraham 3 (Both books are found in the Pearl of Great Price.) are (1) As a child of God, I have a divine destiny (Moses 1); (2) With the Lord’s help, I can resist Satan (Moses 1:12-26); (3) God’s work and glory is to help me gain eternal life (Moses 1:27-39; Abraham 3); (4) I lived as a spirit before I was born on earth (Abraham 3:22-28). This essay will discuss the first principle about divine destiny.

President Russell M. Nelson taught, “If the Lord were speaking to you directly, the first thing He would make sure you understand is your true identity” (“Choices for Eternity” [worldwide devotional for young adults, May 2022], Gospel Library. It stands to reason that Satan would try to confuse you on that same point. This pattern is found in Moses 1:4, 6, 12. 

4 And, behold, thou art my son; wherefore look, and I will show thee the workmanship of mine hands; but not all, for my works are without end, and also my words, for they never cease.

6 And I have a work for thee, Moses, my son; and thou art in the similitude of mine Only Begotten; and mine Only Begotten is and shall be the Savior, for he is full of grace and truth; but there is no God beside me, and all things are present with me, for I know them all.

12 And it came to pass that when Moses had said these words, behold, Satan came tempting him, saying: Moses, son of man, worship me.

President Nelson also taught, “The way you think about who you really are affects almost every decision you will ever make” (“Choices for Eternity”). He then elaborated on the topic. 

First: Know the truth about who you are. I believe that if the Lord were speaking to you directly tonight, the first thing He would make sure you understand is your true identity. My dear friends, you are literally spirit children of God. You have sung this truth since you learned the words to “I Am a Child of God.” But is that eternal truth imprinted upon your heart? Has this truth rescued you when confronted with temptation?

I fear that you may have heard this truth so often that it sounds more like a slogan than divine truth. And yet, the way you think about who you really are affects almost every decision you will ever make.

In 2006, when I married Wendy, I was in for several surprises—most of them quite wonderful. One of those surprises was the number of clothing items she owned that displayed a logo—universities from which she graduated, places she had traveled, and so forth. Whenever she wore one of those items, I teased her by saying, “Who are you advertising today?” She invited me to join in the fun!

Labels can be fun and indicate your support for any number of positive things. Many labels will change for you with the passage of time. And not all labels are of equal value. But if any label replaces your most important identifiers, the results can be spiritually suffocating.

For example, if I were to rank in order of importance the designations that could be applied to me, I would say: First, I am a child of God—a son of God—then a son of the covenant, then a disciple of Jesus Christ and a devoted member of His restored Church.

Next would come my honored titles as a husband and father, then Apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ.

All other labels that have applied to me—such as a medical doctor, surgeon, researcher, professor, lieutenant, captain, PhD, American, and so forth—would fall somewhere down the list.

Now, let us turn the question to you. Who are you?

First and foremost, you are a child of God.

Second, as a member of the Church, you are a child of the covenant. And third, you are a disciple of Jesus Christ.

Tonight, I plead with you not to replace these three paramount and unchanging identifiers with any others, because doing so could stymie your progress or pigeonhole you in a stereotype that could potentially thwart your eternal progression.

For example, if you are identified mainly as an American, those who are not Americans may think, “I know everything there is to know about you” and attribute erroneous beliefs to you.

If you identify yourself by your political affiliation, you will instantly be categorized as having certain beliefs—though I don’t know anyone who believes everything that their preferred political party presently embraces.

We could go on and on, rehearsing the constraints of various labels that we put on ourselves or that other people place upon us.

Some might label me as an “old man.” But I’m a lot younger than Adam was—and Noah too. Ageism, racism, nationalism, sexism, and a host of other “isms” are universally limiting.

How tragic it is when someone believes the label another person has given them. Imagine the heartache of a child who is told, “You are dumb.” Identifiers and labels are powerful!

The adversary rejoices in labels because they divide us and restrict the way we think about ourselves and each other. How sad it is when we honor labels more than we honor each other.

Labels can lead to judging and animosity. Any abuse or prejudice toward another because of nationality, race, sexual orientation, gender, educational degrees, culture, or other significant identifiers is offensive to our Maker! Such mistreatment causes us to live beneath our stature as His covenant sons and daughters!

There are various labels that may be very important to you, of course. Please do not misunderstand me. I am not saying that other designations and identifiers are not significant. I am simply saying that no identifier should displace, replace, or take priority over these three enduring designations: “child of God,” “child of the covenant,” and “disciple of Jesus Christ.”

Any identifier that is not compatible with these three basic designations will ultimately let you down. Other labels will disappoint you in time because they do not have the power to lead you toward eternal life in the celestial kingdom of God.

Worldly identifiers will never give you a vision of who you can ultimately become. They will never affirm your divine DNA or your unlimited, divine potential.

Because there is a grand plan of salvation authored by Heavenly Father, does it not stand to reason that you also have a divine destiny?

Make no mistake about it: Your potential is divine. With your diligent seeking, God will give you glimpses of who you may become.

So who are you? First and foremost, you are a child of God, a child of the covenant, and a disciple of Jesus Christ. As you embrace these truths, our Heavenly Father will help you reach your ultimate goal of living eternally in His holy presence. [Emphasis added.]