Listen to “Homelessness Skyrockets in Los Angeles” on Spreaker.
The homeless rate in the city of Los Angeles skyrocketed over the last year, leaving state and local officials frustrated at the precipitous rise. Matt Fisher reports.
Jim Geraghty of National Review and Greg Corombos of Radio America reflect on the 75th anniversary of D-Day and applaud President Trump’s address at Normandy. They also discuss Democratic presidential front-runner Joe Biden walking back his position change on the Hyde Amendment and facing criticism from his rivals for not backing taxpayer-funded abortions. And they get a kick out of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi reportedly telling allies she would rather defeat President Trump and then see him prosecuted than have the House launch impeachment proceedings.
Listen to “The Magnitude of D-Day” on Spreaker.
On Thursday, millions of people will direct their eyes to ceremonies honoring the military operation that radically changed and greatly hastened the end of World War II – 75 years after it happened.
On June 6, the U.S. and our allies launched the allied invasion of Normandy known as D-Day. On that date, some 150,000 personnel attacked Nazi-occupied France from the skies, from the sea, and rushed ashore on five strategic beaches and neighboring cliffs to help free a continent from tyranny.
Today, only a tiny fraction of those veterans remain, but the magnitude of what they and their brothers in arms accomplished that day will forever reverberate through history.
So as Americans and our allies commemorate D-Day, what should we remember? Dr Thomas Conner teaches military history at Hillsdale College in Michigan and is author of “War and Remembrance: The Story of the American Battle Monuments Commission.” He says it’s hard to overstate the importance of taking the beaches and establishing another front in the European theater.
“It had to be successful for the Allies to get a foothold on the continent of Europe and begin driving the Germans back in on their own borders. The war ended in literally the ashes of Berlin, only eleven months after D-Day,” said Conner.
Listen to the full podcast to hear Conner explain how the Allies pulled off such a massive mission while keeping the Nazis completely unprepared for it, how close U.S. commanders were to declaring the mission a failure, how American soldiers adapted to parachuting into the wrong places and facing much stiffer German defenses than expected on bloody Omaha Beach and elsewhere along the coast.
He also describes the powerful experience of visiting the U.S. cemetery above Omaha Beach.
“I’ve seen more grown men cry in Normandy than anyplace else I’ve ever been and the cemetery evokes that kind of response,” said Conner. “The combination of the memorial but also the awareness that it is right in the center of the Omaha Beach battlefield is quite moving.”
Jim Geraghty of National Review and Greg Corombos of Radio America are glad to see Senate Republicans expressing major reservations over the Trump administration’s proposed tariffs against Mexico. They also discuss Parkland Officer Scot Peterson facing criminal charges for his non-response to the Stoneman-Douglas High School shooting and wonder whether the charges are appropriate for his dereliction of duty. And they have some fun with the news that some NBA owners no longer want to be called “owners” because the term is racially insensitive.
Listen to “The Inequality of the Equality Act” on Spreaker.
Earlier this year, the House of Representatives passed the Equality Act. Supporters say they want to add anti-discrimination protections for sexual orientation and gender identity similar to the existing provisions for people based on sex, race, ethnicity, and religion. However, critics contend the legislation would ramp up inequality for Americans who do not agree with the LGBT agenda.
Emilie Kao directs the Devos Center for Religion and Civil Society at the Heritage Foundation. She says the Equality Act actually leads to more inequality.
“We don’t think anybody should be discriminated against simply because they are gay or transgender. Everyone should be treated with respect. But the problem with the Equality Act is that it doesn’t treat everyone with respect. It basically codifies ideologies about sexual orientation and sex differences into civil rights law. That will lead to the punishment of people who don’t agree with those viewpoints,” said Kao.
Kao says the bill would lead to an erosion of freedom of religion, freedom of speech, and parental rights.
To begin, the Equality Act would trump the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, meaning wedding vendors such as bakers and florists who feel servicing a same-sex wedding would violate their consciences would not be able to cite their sincerely-held religious beliefs when sued under this law.
Kao says it would also strip legal protections for people who simply disagree with same-sex marriage or the transgender agenda. She says teachers have been fired for refusing to use the preferred pronouns of a student identifying as a different gender and hospitals have been targeted for refusing to perform gender reassignment surgery.
According to Kao, the Equality Act would also gut parental rights. And she cited a transgender case in Ohio as a preview for what the Equality Act would do nationwide.
“A Catholic family lost custody of their daughter when the Cincinnati Children’s Hospital said that she should be taking testosterone for gender dysphoria. When the parents disagreed, the state charged the parents with child abuse and a judge terminated their custody,” said Kao.
Parents would also find themselves powerless in confronting an increasingly activist curriculum on these matters.
“In many cases, the parents are not even informed that children as young as kindergarten are being read stories in which they are told something that is a fallacy, which is that a person can transition from one sex to the other sex,” said Kao.
Listen to the full podcast to hear Kao explain how the Equality Act would lead to greater inequality and why the promoters of the legislation are determined to criminalize those who disagree with their agenda.
She says there is a lot more at stake here than most Americans realize.
“I think what people should be aware of is the endangerment of religious freedom – it’s already happening at the state level – the endangerment of parental rights, and the endangerment of women and girls’ safety and privacy, not to mention fairness in sports,” she said.
Listen to “New Documents Raise Questions over FBI’s Handling of Clinton Investigation” on Spreaker.
New documents obtained by Judicial Watch reveal new information regarding the FBI’s investigation of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s private email server and raise questions regarding the agency’s handling of the matter. Matt Fisher reports for Radio America.
Jim Geraghty of National Review and Greg Corombos of Radio America discuss Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan deciding not to launch a GOP challenge to President Trump in 2020. They also examine Jim’s research into the staggering amount of corruption non-profit groups on the right are committing in the name of supposedly helping conservative candidates. Finally, Democratic presidential candidate John Hickenlooper slams socialism and takes on a chorus of boos at the Democratic convention in California.
Listen to “How to Protect Our Elections” on Spreaker.
While the political uproar continues following former Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s statement on Wednesday, little attention is being paid to his most important point: that other nations and other adversaries are trying to impact our voters and our elections.
This influence is nothing new but in the digital age the depth and breadth of this meddling takes on even greater scope.
“Mueller’s warning is spot on, not just for America, (but) for all democratic elections around the globe,” said Theresa Payton, who served as White House Chief Information Officer for President George W. Bush.
In the podcast, Payton explains how these bad actors not only hack and disseminate private information but also target impressionable voters through social media campaigns. Payton also tells us what’s being done to prevent those efforts from succeeding in 2020, how to spot suspicious activity, and what to do about it. And she explains how U.S. foreign policy ought to address the problem.
Listen to “Former Senator Thad Cochran Dies” on Spreaker.
Former Mississippi Senator Thad Cochran died at the age of 81 Thursday. Montie Montgomery has more.
Listen to “Trump Fires Back at Mueller” on Spreaker.
President Trump ripped former special prosecutor Robert Mueller for his handling of the Russia investigation and called into question his qualifications to lead such an investigation. Meanwhile, Democrats made clear all options are on the table after Mueller reiterated he could not prosecute Trump or clear him on obstruction of justice charges. Matt Fisher reports.