Townhall Review | Commentaries

On one point regarding our country’s current condition, Republicans and Democrats seem to agree: three-quarters in both parties say, “religion is losing influence in American life.” According to a new study for Pew Research Center, Republicans consider that a bad thing, by a ratio of 9 to 1, while half of Democrats say they’re okay with the trend; 22 percent say religion’s decline makes no difference, while 25 percent insist that it’s a positive development.

But if organized faith continues to lose influence, what force should take its place? “Climatism”—a new faith derided by Josef Joffe in Commentary magazine promises earthly annihilation instead of heavenly salvation. For 100 years, Marxist true-believers created “Heavens on Earth” that became living hells for hundreds of millions, and unbridled secular materialism has recently spurred surging rates of deaths of despair. The spectacular failure of potential substitutes for organized faith have only served to emphasize its irreplaceability.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What do you get when you take a mysterious house, a talking lion, and an English professor?

You get magic.

You get a gateway to an enchanted land.

You get the Chronicles of Narnia.

56 years ago, Cambridge University professor CS Lewis died.
When he died, the world lost one of the two literary figures who had created a new wave of compelling fantasy. Both Narnia and the Lord of the Rings trilogy represented genuinely terrific fiction that functioned as a spiritual lens by which to see BOTH the world before us and the world beyond us.

And now—nearly 60 years later—appreciation for the work of Lewis and Tolkien shows no signs of abating. Even as children experience increasingly secular education in the West, many young minds are awakened and stirred by the possibility of hope beyond the horizon.

All thanks to a mysterious house, a talking lion, and an English professor.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In the first 175 years of the nation, the House of Representatives impeached only one president, Andrew Johnson. Now in the last 57 years, it’s impeached two, Richard Nixon and Bill Clinton, and it may be ready to impeach a third.

Why the rise in impeachments? Because we forget that impeachment is extraordinary. The normal way to remove a president is by the people through elections. The extraordinary way is impeachment, with its Constitutional requirement of “high crimes and misdemeanors.” Lacking political patience, we threaten to make the extraordinary now ordinary.

Politics is an ugly business. Quid pro quos in foreign policy? They doubtless happen more than we think and, if we don’t like them, we have a chance to cast our vote in one year. But a case of high crimes and misdemeanors demanding an extraordinary remedy?

I think not.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Phillip Johnson—lawyer, author, key critic of Darwinian evolution—has died at the age of 79.

He graduated from Harvard, then the University of Chicago Law School, and would go on to clerk for the chief justice of the United States, Earl Warren. He’d then go on to teach at Berkeley’s School of Law.

But the key moment in his life came as a result of an invitation his young daughter received to go to Vacation Bible School at a local church. That exposure led to Phillip Johnson’s own Christian conversion.

But he’ll be remembered by many for his book, published in 1991, “Darwin on Trial,” in which he challenged the dominant theory of evolution, recognizing that it could not possibly account for the world as we know it. This world, he pointed out, has nearly infinite complexity.

Phillip Johnson was brilliant. He was also a personal friend and a courageous defender of truth.

He was born in 1940. He died just a few days ago at his home in Berkley, California.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

As the Democrats in the House continue their hyper-partisan efforts to impeach the president, those of us in media who have defended the president need to stay far away from exaggeration during this process.

Some of the "deep-state" hyperbole we see distracts from the need to drive home the most important point — Chairman Adam Schiff is denying the president and his colleagues in the minority due process.

Senate Republicans should refuse any article of impeachment birthed by this deeply broken "process." But neither the president nor the country is helped by hyperbole on their side.

Our rhetorical efforts should be focused on the fact that Trump did not commit an impeachable offense. In fact, he committed no offense at all — no quid pro quo, no extortion, no bribery.

Opportunities are lost every day when the president's defenders overreach into conspiracy theory and refuse to wait upon the facts about wrongdoings by government officials in 2016, indeed if there are any at all.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

“Federal judge nullifies conscience rule backed by Trump White House.”

That was a recent headline in the New York Times, reporting on the new rule—now vacated—where the Trump administration sought to extend additional conscience protections, especially for medical practitioners and medical institutions.

What we’re seeing today is an alarming willingness to sacrifice conscience on the altar of abortion and the transgender revolution.

Of course, many of the hospitals where there is conscientious objection are Catholic or Protestant or Jewish.

The attitude today is very revealing. It comes down to essentially this:

“We are thankful that you established all these schools and these hospitals, but we will take them now because we’re going to operate them by entirely secular norms in keeping with the LGBTQ revolution and the demand for abortion and all the rest. Just give us the keys, thank you very much.”

Now, more than ever, we must defend these rights of conscience.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

As the House gets started with public hearings on impeachment, we should start thinking of how this partisan impeachment will play out if it reaches the Senate.

I’ve been leaning on the insight of Kelly Johnston—a former secretary of the Senate.

He says a critical moment will arise as soon as any “Articles” arrive in the Senate, but before any substantive proceedings occur.  Under rules, the Senate must approve a “Motion to Proceed” to consider the articles.

At the first sign of objection from a Senator, McConnell should move to shut the whole thing down, saying, effectively:

“This far and no farther. We will not put our nation at risk of a future littered with these sort of vendettas dressed in the garb of impeachment. We won’t ever approve a purely partisan Article of Impeachment for trial.”

And the thus the Senate would flush these articles of impeachment from the record as it stands today.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Recently failed presidential candidate Beto O’Rourke crudely told Americans he wanted to seize their guns. “Yes, we’re going to take your AR-15” he said.

Many decried this brazen call for a violation of the 2nd amendment to the U.S. Constitution. The right to bear arms is a crucial part of American liberty. It’s also a key part of protecting oneself in a dangerous world.

This past week, a Florida woman—eight months pregnant—and her family were brutally attacked by robbers. The robbers pistol-whipped her husband and manhandled her daughter. But the woman acted quickly. She ran into her bedroom, grabbed an AR-15, and fired. The robbers raced out of the house, one of them falling dead in a nearby ditch.

This story reminds us of fundamental truths:

Don’t rob people.

Don’t violate the constitutional rights of citizens.

And definitely don’t mess with a pregnant American woman—or her AR-15.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In Hong Kong, protestors are risking their lives to maintain their independence from China. While they put life and limb on the line, they’re waving American flags and singing our national anthem. Right now, the United States is engaged in a trade war with that very same government that the people of Hong Kong are fighting against.

That’s why the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act should be passed and signed immediately. The bill, which has bipartisan support in the Senate and House, reaffirms our commitment to Hong Kong’s special status and sanctions those who oppress the city.

Both Nancy Pelosi and Mitch McConnell have signaled their support for the law, which is a rarity in modern politics. The people of Hong Kong deserve independence. Passing this bill won’t solve their struggle for liberty, but President Trump’s signature will show that the world’s sole superpower is on Hong Kong’s side, and on the side of freedom.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

There are three paths before Senate Majority Leader McConnell when it comes to any articles of impeachment the House eventually sends the Senate’s way.

One is short: a quick dismissal by the Senate.

One is long: an extensive trial that would let the president and his defenders expose wrongdoing by Democrats and their ”permanent bureaucracy” allies.

The third—the only approach that is obviously wrong but that may also be the most likely outcome—would be a far more limited trial that would serve only to reward Democrats for their bad behavior before reaching the foreordained conclusion that President Trump will not be removed from office.

There’s a lot of appeal to the first in my list: a long, deep dive.

There’s also a strong argument to be made for peremptory dismissal—think of it as a motion for summary judgment.

Whatever course Leader McConnell takes, he should take care to not legitimize this sham impeachment.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.