Townhall Review | Commentaries

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.

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The dangerous world we are looking at today serves as an appropriate backdrop for our expression of gratitude for those who have died in the service of our nation.

From the time of our nation’s founding to today, well over 1.2 million Americans have paid the ultimate price in the service of our country.

Today is a day for us to say, “thank you.” It is also a day for us to dedicate ourselves.

In 1863 Abraham Lincoln called our country an “unfinished work.” And, in many respects, we remain an unfinished work.

Our commitment—the commitment of “the living”—to the values and freedoms our honored veterans fought for makes clear that they did not die in vain.

To those who have served or are serving today: A grateful nation says, “thank you.”

To those listening who have a loved one who died for this great cause: A special thanks to you—and a heartfelt civilian salute from me (and all my friends here at the Salem Media Group).

Happy Memorial Day.

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This is Hugh Hewitt for Townhall.com.

Memorial Day weekend typically serves as a kick-off for the summer months ahead.

Yes: This year it still holds that spot on our calendar, but—no matter where you are in this great country—this holiday weekend will not be normal.

Whether you’re somewhat back to normal, socializing and socially-distanced or isolating at home, take some time to consider the ultimate sacrifice made by so many on behalf of the nation we love.

Consider as well the many who have paid a very high price, short of dying.

If you can, please consider starting with those who serve the wounded and serve the surviving family members. Start with the Semper Fi Fund and the Fisher House Foundation.

Look them up.

Support them.

Support—especially—the families in your world who’ve paid a heavy price for their service to the nation.

We are debtors to those who serve, those who fight, those who die.

A grateful nation says, “Thank you.”

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Our government spending is way up—and everyone is seemingly fine with it.

A recent headline at the New York Times captured it well: “A Giant Deficit, Once Dreaded, Is Now Desired.” Historically, of course, we’ve had a long-standing argument in American politics about debt, the deficit, and government spending.

But now, all those old rules seem to be completely out the door.

On both sides of the political aisle, we have politicians making arguments they wouldn’t have believed they could have gotten away with just eight weeks ago. Republicans don’t sound like Republicans, and some of the Democrats sound like the kind of Democrat that other Democrats would have run from just weeks ago.

We need to be alerted to the danger of debt—a debt that future generations will have to repay.

Our economic decisions reveal our morality, our culture, our priorities … these decisions eventually reveal who we are.

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With millions of Americans unemployed or forced to shutter their businesses, charitable organizations are becoming even more vital. Through their “Smile” program, Amazon allows customers to give small amounts to charities as part of their orders.

But the tech giant relies on the progressive Southern Poverty Law Center to determine which charities are worthy of their support. But the SPLC isn’t a neutral arbiter: it’s a left-wing smear factory—labeling many Christian charities as “hate groups.”

In light of this, the Alliance Defending Freedom has launched a campaign to persuade Amazon, a publicly-traded company, to stop depending on the SPLC’s absurd blacklist as a guide for their program. It’s imperative that investors and consumers push back on organizations like the SPLC that exercise such enormous influence over corporate life.

Amazon should allow their consumer to help fund any charity that is actually helping people, not just those that conform to left-wing dogma.

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The explosive news regarding the government's handling of former National Security Advisor Lieutenant General Michael Flynn and the transition from the period from when President Obama was president to when President Trump took the oath of office ought to have the attention of every American.

President Trump has labeled it Obamagate.

Some have tried to dismiss it or label it as some sort of nutty conspiracy theory or “birtherism” and we should do neither nor allow it.

Obamagate is simply shorthand for the intentional interference with the peaceful, seamless, cooperative transition of power between presidential administrations.

It may not be criminal to mess around with the transition, but it's certainly destructive of the republic's greatest political tradition.

Federal Prosecutor John Durham is, no doubt, keenly focused on everything that happened in this period.

Was there a criminal act? Maybe. Wait and see.

Were these events deeply destructive of one of our finest traditions—the peaceful transfer of power? Absolutely.

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College students should be returning to campus this fall.

For some colleges and universities, the decision to bring back in-person research and instruction is a matter of basic economic survival.

But even where it is not, the pandemic crisis threatens the essence of college life. Even the best distance-learning program cannot replace the normal interactions that take place on the college campus.

A return to in-person instruction should follow a strategy based on the latest science, balanced with efforts to restore campus life and protect the vulnerable.

It begins with a comprehensive testing and contact tracing plan. Colleges should also focus on residential environments where social distancing may be difficult.

Not all students or faculty will be able to come back at the same time.

Some combination of distance learning with in-person instruction will be needed.

It will be tough to bring students back to college campuses this fall, but it’s an effort well worth making.

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Whether we remember our heroes or not tells us much about who we are as a people.

On this week 80 years ago—May 10, 1940—Winston Churchill became prime minister of Great Britain. In the midst of the worst crisis in one thousand years of Western history, he took the seals of office and began staging a master-class in statesmanship.

Churchill took the full force of his enemy, absorbing Hitler’s attacks psychically for the British people. The man’s greatest hour was the time of England’s greatest trial: the weathering of the terrifying aerial blitzkrieg, vicious U-boat hunting in the Atlantic, and much more besides.

Winston Churchill was no perfect man. But in the week marking the eightieth anniversary of the beginning of his prime ministerial effort to save Britain and Western civilization, we remember him.

We speak peace to his ashes and honor to his memory.

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In the first quarter of this year, GDP declined at an annualized rate of -5 percent. While that drop might set off alarm bells and panic for some, the truth is that this is a testament to the resilience of the American economy.

Despite the widespread closures and spiking unemployment, we’re still producing 95 percent as much wealth as we were last year.

While some sectors have been devastated by the crisis, many of them are not massive drivers of growth. Don’t get me wrong, this painful national quarantine is hitting many people hard.

But this crisis has shown that at its core, our economy is resilient. And we can look forward to a strong finish once the shutdowns are ended and all the suppressed economic power is unbound.

All in all, look for America to beat expectations—yet again.

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The death of Ahmaud Arbery—a young black man in Georgia—has highlighted some big issues in the rule of law.

Last week we saw an arrest of two white men charged with murder and aggravated assault and the fatal shooting of the 25-year-old.

Once video of the incident surfaced on social media, the story rightfully exploded all over the media and the public consciousness.

Many are rightly asking why it took 74 days between the shooting and an eventual arrest.

The Attorney General in Georgia on Sunday announced doing just the right thing, that Georgia would ask the United States government through the Department of Justice to conduct an investigation—as the DOJ is uniquely equipped to do.

This is exactly what the rule of law looks like and we’ll be watching the case closely.

For now, our prayer must be with the Arbery family and with that community as they grieve their loss and as we look for justice.

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