Townhall Review | Conservative Commentary On Today's News

The investor who bet on PayPal, bet on Facebook, and bet on Trump is now betting against Silicon Valley. I’m talking about Peter Thiel and his announcement that he’s leaving the Valley for Los Angeles. For years, Thiel has been ahead of the curve when it comes to investing and culture. And now he’s signaling possible trouble for Silicon Valley.

Thiel’s leaving because, in his words, Silicon Valley has gone from just liberal to a one-party state. They were always left-wing. Now they’re so radical that it’s hurt their ability to produce successful companies.

A city built on the principles of innovation and openness has sheltered itself from dissent. If they’re not open to new ideas, they can’t innovate, and if they can’t innovate, smart investors and entrepreneurs will find the places that can.

On Saturday night, dozens of citizens in Syria choked to death after what’s been reported as a suspected chemical attack by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

Assad’s way of breaking the will of this community that still opposes his rule was to use a chemical weapon, which killed not only men and women but also children.

These are the most abhorrent, murderous, and indiscriminate weapons ever invented by human beings.

What we’re seeing here breaks every civilizational rule. It breaks the Geneva Convention. It breaks every principle of the United Nations. It breaks every law of the international system. But you’ll notice that none of those arenas, none of those agencies was able to stop this murderous dictator in Syria from killing his own people.

The headline out of Syria reminds us that there is really no way to overestimate the human capacity for moral evil.

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On Saturday night, dozens of citizens in Syria choked to death after what’s been reported as a suspected chemical attack by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

Assad’s way of breaking the will of this community that still opposes his rule was to use a chemical weapon, which killed not only men and women but also children.

These are the most abhorrent, murderous, and indiscriminate weapons ever invented by human beings.

What we’re seeing here breaks every civilizational rule. It breaks the Geneva Convention. It breaks every principle of the United Nations. It breaks every law of the international system. But you’ll notice that none of those arenas, none of those agencies was able to stop this murderous dictator in Syria from killing his own people.

The headline out of Syria reminds us that there is really no way to overestimate the human capacity for moral evil.

President Trump loves walls—besides a border wall with Mexico, he wants to erect trade walls to protect American steel and aluminum with tariffs of 25 and 10 percent, respectively.

In his famous poem about walls, Robert Frost said, “Something there is that doesn’t love a wall,” adding that before he built one, “I’d ask to know what I was walling in or walling out, and to whom I was likely to give offence.” Those are good questions for Mr. Trump’s policy.

He wants to wall out foreign products that are cheaper than American products. But this will trouble not only nations that produce them, but also American consumers who like to save money.  

There’s also a question of constitutionality, since the president’s power to do this is based on national security. And the biggest question:  will tariff walls even work in a global economy?

Many important questions about walls.

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President Trump loves walls—besides a border wall with Mexico, he wants to erect trade walls to protect American steel and aluminum with tariffs of 25 and 10 percent, respectively.

In his famous poem about walls, Robert Frost said, “Something there is that doesn’t love a wall,” adding that before he built one, “I’d ask to know what I was walling in or walling out, and to whom I was likely to give offence.” Those are good questions for Mr. Trump’s policy.

He wants to wall out foreign products that are cheaper than American products. But this will trouble not only nations that produce them, but also American consumers who like to save money.  

There’s also a question of constitutionality, since the president’s power to do this is based on national security. And the biggest question:  will tariff walls even work in a global economy?

Many important questions about walls.

One of the most well-documented irrefutable trends of our times is the continued secularization of Western societies. A new study has come out about young people in Europe indicating that the future may be even more secular than we knew.

Commenting on the report, Steven Bullivant of St. Mary’s University in London says,

“With some notable exceptions, young adults increasingly are not identifying with or practicing religion. Christianity as a default, as a norm, is gone and probably gone for good or at least for the next 100 years.”

In the United States, we are ourselves looking at a speeded up velocity of this secularization, due to the political and moral change in the coming generations of the millennials and those identified now as Generation Z.

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Townhall Review – April 7, 2018

Hugh Hewitt talks with Michael Oren, former Israeli Ambassador to the U.S about the upcoming 70th anniversary of Israel’s independence and the bloody Palestinian protest at Israel’s border. Hugh Hewitt and Jeffrey Goldberg, editor in chief for The Atlantic, discuss Goldberg’s interview with Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, Mohammed bin Salman. Pete Peterson, Dean of the Pepperdine Graduate School of Public Policy, sits down with Ed Martin, regarding the electoral process. Oklahoma and Kentucky teachers are making noise, their red state politicians are listening and Michael Medved is talking about it. Larry Elder turns to Dr. Sebastian Gorka, former advisor to the President, for more about the appointment of John Bolton as Director of the NSA. Michael Medved caught up with South Carolina’s Congressman Trey Gowdy and Senator Tim Scott, who have collaborated on a book project. Marking the 50th anniversary of the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Michael Medved turns to Jason Riley to talk about his latest Wall Street Journal piece about the message of Dr. King that is a challenge to much of what we see from activists today.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

One of the most well-documented irrefutable trends of our times is the continued secularization of Western societies. A new study has come out about young people in Europe indicating that the future may be even more secular than we knew.

Commenting on the report, Steven Bullivant of St. Mary’s University in London says,

“With some notable exceptions, young adults increasingly are not identifying with or practicing religion. Christianity as a default, as a norm, is gone and probably gone for good or at least for the next 100 years.”

In the United States, we are ourselves looking at a speeded up velocity of this secularization, due to the political and moral change in the coming generations of the millennials and those identified now as Generation Z.

Townhall Review – April 7, 2018

Hugh Hewitt talks with Michael Oren, former Israeli Ambassador to the U.S about the upcoming 70th anniversary of Israel’s independence and the bloody Palestinian protest at Israel’s border. Hugh Hewitt and Jeffrey Goldberg, editor in chief for The Atlantic, discuss Goldberg’s interview with Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, Mohammed bin Salman. Pete Peterson, Dean of the Pepperdine Graduate School of Public Policy, sits down with Ed Martin, regarding the electoral process. Oklahoma and Kentucky teachers are making noise, their red state politicians are listening and Michael Medved is talking about it. Larry Elder turns to Dr. Sebastian Gorka, former advisor to the President, for more about the appointment of John Bolton as Director of the NSA. Michael Medved caught up with South Carolina’s Congressman Trey Gowdy and Senator Tim Scott, who have collaborated on a book project. Marking the 50th anniversary of the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Michael Medved turns to Jason Riley to talk about his latest Wall Street Journal piece about the message of Dr. King that is a challenge to much of what we see from activists today.

Stephen Reinhardt, who was called the “liberal lion” of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, passed away on March 29th in Los Angeles. During his almost 40 years on the appeals court bench, Reinhardt wrote opinions that struck down the constitutionality of the words “under God” in the Pledge of Allegiance and overturned Proposition 8, California’s initiative defining marriage as a male-female union.

Reinhardt’s death means that there are now seven vacancies on the notoriously liberal Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. President Trump has an historic opportunity to remake the Ninth Circuit—and the entire federal judiciary. The vast majority of his judicial nominees thus far have been stellar. They will adhere to the rule of law and interpret the Constitution based on the words in it, not the ideas they want to be in it. 

The President should continue his good work in this arena.  Doing so will remake federal jurisprudence for decades to come.

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