Townhall Review | Commentaries

How is it that what we used to call the “liberal leaning media” have turned so decisively even further to the left?

The Wall Street Journal recently published an important piece from Van Gordon Sauter, a former President of CBS News. The headline captures his point perfectly: “The ‘Liberal Leaning’ Media Has Passed Its Tipping Point.”

He begins with an anecdote of his lunch with Jeanne Kirkpatrick, the foreign policy advisor to President Reagan, who was lamenting what she called the “liberal leaning media.”

Van Gordon Sauter then said, “it was only a liberal tilt and could be corrected.”

“You don’t understand,” said Jeanne Kirkpatrick, “It’s too late.”

Today, Sauter—one of the most prestigious of names in journalism—says, “Kirkpatrick was prophetic.”

His concern is that—at some point—the American people either will or have figured out that the elites of mainstream media don’t much like them and don’t much like their understanding of their country.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The widespread rioting and looting we’ve witnessed in the wake of George Floyd’s death at the hands of a Minneapolis police officer highlight the need for stability and trust in the achievement of justice.

In the United States, the act of political protest has often led to constructive political change, but rioting never has. And the more widespread and the more violent the rioting, the more negative the political effects have been over time.

The United States Constitution guarantees citizens the right to a redress of grievances.

But there are preconditions that are necessary—the first is a stable order in which justice can actually take place. The second is the kind of trust, social trust, that is necessary for any effort at achieving even approximate justice.

If you take out stability, if you eliminate order, and if you erode social trust, the accomplishment of justice becomes well-nigh impossible.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Do the riots make any sense? While there is a clearly an understandable rationale behind peaceful protests over the death of George Floyd, what purpose can there be in looting, destroying businesses and engaging in more acts of violence against innocent people?

How is justice served by piling injustice on top of injustice?

There’s no logic to this except for that of mysterium iniquitatis—Latin for the ‘the mystery of evil’. The sacking and burning of businesses, the breakdown of order, the embrace of chaos is not rational. It’s not just destructive—it’s self-destructive.

Much of what is happening has nothing to do with race or economics or politics or ideology.

Some things are too big for us to handle on our own. It’s time for Americans to pray about the crises that have engulfed us.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The recent events across America have reminded citizens that freedom, peace, and safety are fragile things.

The death of George Floyd in Minnesota calls for justice through our system of due process. The officer who suffocated Floyd had numerous citations for bad conduct. Unfortunately, police unions make it very hard to remove bad cops. Following Floyd’s death, peaceful protests were held. But then depraved rioting, looting, and destruction unfolded.

In the midst of this lawlessness, the group that calls itself Antifa has wreaked havoc. Antifa is evil, a movement of nihilism cloaked in the tones of liberation.

Thankfully, President Trump labeled Antifa a “domestic terrorist group,” one of the more important domestic decisions thus far of his presidency. Attorney General William Barr publically reinforced this stance in force.

In riled times, we seek freedom, peace and safety. And we seek justice—justice in Floyd’s case, and justice to end Antifa’s reign of terror.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The video of George Floyd, a black man in Minneapolis, held down by a police officer in an arrest with his knee on the back of his neck resulted—as we now know—in his tragic death.

Commenting on the video, Art Acevedo, who is the head of the Major Cities Chiefs Association said, “I haven’t heard anybody justify this.”

The sad reality is that George Floyd is now dead.

When you look at the protests and rioting in Minneapolis, it is an ugly picture everywhere you look—and now not just in Minneapolis.

But where does this story lead?

It all comes down to the importance of the rule of law. If the rule of law breaks down, there is no rescue.

Injustice documented before our eyes cries out for justice, but justice calls out for the rule of law—in the courtroom and on the streets of America’s cities.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

If you can think back to the beginning of the coronavirus crisis, the emergency that prompted the government to lock things down and impose regulations was the concern that the public health system would be overrun. The case for aggressive government mandates was to bend the curve and keep the health care system up and running.

Happily those days appear to be over. The curve is bent. The health care system has survived.

So then why are so many of us still under strict government mandates and lockdowns?

The answer is that we should not be. The danger now is to the health of individuals. And most decisions for the health of individuals are best made by the citizens. The role of government needs to shift now to one of giving information, not absolute orders; to warning, but not mandating.

Government must begin its own return to normalcy.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

China has now moved to exert more control over Hong Kong, ending the special treatment that was guaranteed to it when the former British colony was turned over to Beijing’s control in 1997. At the time, China promised Hong Kong would be governed for 50 years under the principle of “one country, two systems.” In other words, Hong Kong would retain its own legal system and police force through 2047.

But President Xi Jinping of China is now breaking that promise by imposing a sweeping new national security law on Hong Kong that would criminalize acts of protest against the Chinese government.

The American response was swift and appropriately strong—Secretary of State Mike Pompeo formally declared that the U.S. no longer considers Hong Kong autonomous from China.

It’s a move with numerous ramifications that will surely provoke Beijing, but sends the unmistakable signal that our support for the freedom-loving people of Hong Kong will not waver.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Should churches defy state shutdown orders in order to gather in person yet again?

This question goes to the heart of both America’s founding principles and the core convictions of Christianity. The early American position was strongly influenced by the Bible—and a disposition “to be subject to the governing authorities.”

But sometimes the state becomes tyrannical and forbids what God commands. What then? We reason with them, we exercise patience, we appeal to other authorities—as Paul appealed to Caesar.

When all other options have been exhausted, then we respectfully disobey.

The evangelical pastor John MacArthur recently quoted the Puritan Richard Baxter, “where he says, ‘If the magistrate, asks you to refrain from meeting because of a pestilence, you do not meet. On the other hand, if the magistrate tries to force you not to meet because of persecution of Christianity, you meet anyway.’”

That’s wisdom.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The World Health Organization botched its response to the novel coronavirus. It legitimized China’s early and misleading claims about the disease, which set back the initial response to the virus in other countries, including in the US.

What’s needed now is an independent investigation of the WHO’s reaction to the coronavirus crisis and an accounting of the interactions between the WHO’s leadership and China’s government.

We must also press for a new leader for the WHO. The current leader of the group, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, has not been transparent in a number of critical decisions, all while showing allegiance to the Chinese Communist Party on critical matters. Sidelining him now would let us identify a successor we can support while empowering others at the organization who will emphasize values like accountability and openness in the WHO’s ongoing efforts.

These reforms are urgently needed. Because as long as the organization plays the role it does, lives are at stake.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The presidential election might not be until November, but another election season has already started. America’s largest corporations are now holding annual shareholder meetings—and we should all be paying attention.

One to track closely is on May 27—when Amazon’s investors are going to be asked to vote on whether to end Amazon’s practice of outsourcing its charitable screening to the left-wing Southern Poverty Law Center.

By relying on these biased activists, Amazon has excluded Christian charities such as the Family Research Council from the list of options which customers can support via Amazon’s Smile program. As a publicly-traded company, Amazon is ultimately subject to its shareholders.

If you’re invested in Amazon, you’re an owner. You should speak out. There’s an election on May 27th and it will determine whether one of the largest corporations in the world can treat Christianity as a hate group.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.