Townhall Review | Commentaries

Tuesday night’s big election wins for Republicans sends a message to President Joe Biden and congressional Democrats: “Stop.”

Will they do so? Probably not.

After Senator Ted Kennedy died in 2009, the very blue electors of Massachusetts sent Republican Scott Brown to replace him in the Senate, but Democrats passed the wildly unpopular Obamacare anyway, and proceeded then to lose 63 house seats in the fall of 2010. Republican Glenn Youngkin led a sweep of blue Virginia, and he presents a model candidacy to Republicans everywhere. Courageous, calm, competent, combative when necessary, and above all, a constitutional conservative. Youngkin ran a disciplined message-specific campaign that took on CRT despite the left’s attempt to paint him as a racist for doing so.

This is the keystone message of Tuesday night. Run on issues. Clear eyes, clean heart really does work.

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I think you’ll agree with me that much of what we see in our entertainment culture today is morally and spiritually degrading.

We call our viewing habits streaming, but often it’s more of a sewer than a stream. That’s all the more reason that when something clear and cool quenching appears, we ought to make an effort to jump in.

I just finished watching the new film, “The Most Reluctant Convert: The Untold Story of C.S. Lewis.” It’s produced by and stars Max McLean playing C.S. Lewis. Simply put, I was amazed. The film is both entertaining and intellectually stimulating—and yet without a hint of snobbery.

We get truth, beauty, hope and yes, Joy … the longing for more. Lewis captured my heart as a teenager 40 years ago, and it was captured again with this marvelous film.

The film has limited nationwide release … it’s in theatres tonight, November 3. Go to CSLewismovie.com and find a theater new you.

Don’t miss this opportunity to go further up and deeper in.

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Just in recent days, the Supreme Court of the United States announced that it would be fast-tracking the question as to the constitutionality of the new Texas abortion law.

And when I say fast-track, we’re talking fast. They began hearing the case on Monday this week.

The Texas law basically outlaws abortion in the state after the detection of a fetal heartbeat, at about six weeks. It is both one of the most controversial and one of the most consequential abortion laws that we have ever seen.  And it comes as the nation is facing the greatest opportunity, the most opportune moment to confront the deadly logic of the Roe v. Wade decision—and that comes in the case coming out of Mississippi—and the court is going to begin hearing on December 1.

Adam Liptak of the New York Times points out that “the court rarely acts that quickly.” Well, that’s certainly true. The exceptions are important cases like Bush v. Gore, in 2000, and the Pentagon Papers case.

And now, of course, with the very important issue of abortion.

This week, watch closely and watch prayerfully.

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Many of you have no doubt tracked closely the recent statement from Terry McAuliffe, former governor and now candidate for governor of Virginia.  McAuliffe said in a debate, “I don't think parents should be telling schools what they should teach.”

His statement of course raises the huge question: Who should determine the education of children? The parents or the professional elite?

Our own nation has wrestled with this question and has—through the Supreme Court—answered the question very clearly.

It was answered clearly in 1925. It was answered again in 1972. In that decision known as the Yoder decision,  the court—in a unanimous decision—said this, with clarity: “The child is not the mere creature of the state. Those who nurture him and direct his destiny have the right coupled with the high duty to recognize and prepare him for additional obligations.” 

Let me repeat that key line: “The child is not the mere creature of the state.” 

The child was not created by the state. The child belongs to parents as those lives are given to us by God.

Keep that in mind: The child is not the mere creature of the state.

Thanks be to God.

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What’s done in the dark comes out in the light.  Newly revealed emails confirm that—despite denials from Anthony Fauci and Francis Collins—the NIH did fund gain-of-function research to change a bat coronavirus at the Wuhan Institute of Virology. They just funneled the money through Peter Daszak’s EcoHealth Alliance.

It’s obvious Drs. Collins and Fauci have misled Congress, the press, and the public. No wonder they were so eager to promote the idea that covid-19 came from a wet market!

Both Drs. Collins and Fauci have already lost the confidence of a broad segment of Americans because of their politicized and often contradictory advice.

These latest revelations confirm what many of us already suspected: Drs. Collins and Fauci have been unforgivably deceptive about a virus that has spread to over 45 million Americans, taking the lives of numbers fast approaching a million.

It’s time for some genuine accountability.

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How Glenn Youngkin could become the education governor we need?

On Tuesday next week, Virginia voters will be selecting their next governor.

They’ll be choosing between Clinton-era Democrat and former governor Terry McAuliffe, and the Republican nominee—Glenn Youngkin, a very successful businessman.

If Youngkin wins—and I believe he will—it will be as a result of the issue of education, which has become the central issue of the Virginia’s governor’s campaign.

McAuliffe struck a nerve with Virginia voters when—in their final debate—he told Youngkin what he actually really believes:

 “I don’t think parents should be telling schools what they should teach” 

Youngkin was right to press back immediately—and press back hard.

Youngkin has promised to return parents to a place of authority over their kids’ education. He could become the “education governor,” serving as a model for other governors across the nation—he’s promising to do that.

All the momentum is with Youngkin, but Virginia voters … of course … will decide.

They should not take anything for granted. They should get out there and vote! 

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In one of the great walkbacks of all time, the National School Boards Association has now apologized for its hysterical letter labeling parents “domestic terrorists”—just for showing up at school board meetings to weigh in on their children’s education. Apparently, the leaders hadn’t even gotten their board’s authorization to publicize the letter—they went rogue at The White House’s behest.

But what about Attorney General Merrick Garland, who has threatened to sic the FBI on suburban moms?—despite admitting there was no proof of increased violence at the meetings? He was serious. Apparently, the feds have shown up to at least one school board meeting in Fairfax County, Virginia.

Garland has said he “supports” parents’ First Amendment rights. But refusing to withdraw his over-the-top memo gives the game away. The goal is to intimidate the moms who vocally oppose critical race theory and pornographic books in the school library.

Good luck with that. The mama bears I know don’t back down from defending their cubs.

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The Chinese markets, and indeed global markets, took a big hit when China engaged in its second set of crackdowns on financial markets. First, it was education companies. Now it’s real estate. The Chinese real estate giant Evergrande is facing expectations of default.  

These events are widely known in the financial press, but what is less widely known is that these actions are the downstream effect of the forced abortion policies of the past. The One Child Policy has left China demographically distorted. These market crackdowns are the party’s attempt to deal with the consequences. 

Simply put: There is no policy solution for half a billion lost children. 
 
It’s easy for us to look down our noses on that regime, but the west has its own demographic challenges, having aborted much of its future as well. It's time for both a legal shift (away from Roe v. Wade) but also a cultural shift towards “be fruitful and multiply.” 

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Many of you have no doubt tracked closely the recent statement from Terry McAuliffe, former governor and now candidate for governor of Virginia.  McAuliffe said in a debate, “I don't think parents should be telling schools what they should teach.”

His statement of course raises the huge question: Who should determine the education of children? The parents or the professional elite?

Our own nation has wrestled with this question and has—through the Supreme Court—answered the question very clearly.

It was answered clearly in 1925. It was answered again in 1972. In that decision known as the Yoder decision,  the court—in a unanimous decision—said this, with clarity: “The child is not the mere creature of the state. Those who nurture him and direct his destiny have the right coupled with the high duty to recognize and prepare him for additional obligations.” 

Let me repeat that key line: “The child is not the mere creature of the state.” 

The child was not created by the state. The child belongs to parents as those lives are given to us by God.

Keep that in mind: The child is not the mere creature of the state.

Thanks be to God.

 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Last week, the presidential commission formed to examine reforms for the U.S. Supreme Court issued a draft report. At least for now, the Commission has declined to endorse any proposals to change the Court’s size or tenure.

This came as a disappointment to the left, which has been pushing to add new justices to the court to counterbalance its 6-3 conservative majority.  Quite sensibly, the report noted that court-packing would only reinforce a perception that judges are partisan while undermining judicial independence.

But stay tuned. The final report isn’t due until next month—and the two conservatives on the commission have just resigned.

The left should be careful what it wishes for. If the commission ends up endorsing court-packing, it may face an angry public. A poll conducted just last spring found fully 68 percent of Americans oppose it.

That’s because Americans understand the judiciary is supposed to be insulated from naked partisan power grabs—like the current effort to pack the Supreme Court.

 

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