Transcripts For CSPAN2 After Words Cal Thomas Americas Expir

Were Massive National debt, the United States is a 23 trillion growing just the interest on that alone is greater then the Gross Domestic Product of some nations. I liked President Trumps state of the union speech the other night except he didnt talk about cutting a single Government Program or the rate of increase in spending. This is the only nonpartisan thing that happens is spending. You can always get more. A second contribution to the decline of great nations and superpowers and employers as uncontrolled immigration without assimilation. We want people to come to america that we want them to come legally and in an orderly fashion and then to be assimilated like the immigrants of the past and become fully american, not hyphenated americans as we have too often today. Then there is the moral sense contributing to the decline of great nations. In America Today there is a song in the 1930s anything goes. If you say stop or this is too far, you are immediately announced as a bigot or one of many folks, so it isnt a sandwich board that says the end is near i am saying while america is a great nation, there are certain seeds that are being sown and we have to renew the values of the greatest generation that weve been living off of by inertia throughouforabout the last 60 o. Host to that point when i look around the country i see most people trying to do the right thing so where specifically do the society going wrong . Guest we are tolerating virtually everything now. You take a look at the value of human life and not just abortion but weve had 60 million of them since roe v. Wade but there are other challenges now. In chicago and baltimore and major cities there are ten, 15, 20 or more shooting every weekend. So many that it hardly makes the news. This is how cheap life has become in america people getting shot and killed because driveby shootings, i wanted a Leather Jacket or a expensive shoes and now we are seeing the debate over healthcare and we saw in the Clinton Administration and was called hillary care the pressure to save money is going to be so great but once you devalue human life at one end of the pressure to devalue it at the other end and in between if you are too old according to the government and if you are not contributing enough to your taxes or taking more than you are getting at. Fullstop at the extremes. Things always do but once the precedent is said that doctor assisted suicide particularly on the west coast, that is a very slow step. One of the things i mention in the book also is that no one eagles it also contributes to the decline of the superpowers. You have to have a reason for living on the earth besides getting up and going to work, buying stuff. Stuff. Theres got to be more to life than that of 20 according to the polls have no religious affiliation at all. The answer none when asked by the pollsters and its whether you have to be religious or not. Host a lot of conservatives and im sure you are familiar say they believe in american exceptionalism. Is that a little foolish . Guest america is unique among the nations, that there is no lifetime guarantee and as i argue in the book, a lot of these other places, the roman empire for example, you go to the eternal city and its in ruins. They thought they would be around forever but they follow the same pattern as overextension, military experimentation. One of the other thing that contributes to the decline is military overreach. George mcgovern in the democratic president ial candidate, the senator from soutsenator fromsouth dakota, ae said during the vietnam war we cannot be the police of the world, to his great credit President Trump has been not only on the native hawaiians but others that have benefited for decades from the American Nuclear umbrella especially in europe to pony up and pay more and provide more troops and their defense and i think that is a good thing. Hes certainly on the right path of the issue. Host in your book you go through eight different empires and i think some people may find it tough to draw the parallel between the empire and what americans are doing but what do you see . Guest human nature never changes. You can put people in a dress or a suit but you cant change their human nature. Greed, envy, and title meant, sexual pleasure, military overreach, but some people have called the seven deadly sins. You cant change human nature so the point of the book looking at the history of the various empires and superpowers is to say you have hamburgers and all these other titles and people dressing differently and the rest, but they all suffered from the same internal dysfunction. If we dont learn from the themd by the way this is why this and that ththe transcendent and beig accountable to god is important for the extension and life of any nation. Host you can pai compare wiw america is similar and right now we are in a cycle of decadence. What does that mean exactly, how do you know where they are . Guest its based on a book and the final stage, and you know, lincoln talked about this and said america is to fail at wholesale from within before it is ever conquered from without. I reprinted a harvard and the templeton prize speech in the book and he was asked repeatedly has a great russian writer and was a prisoner in the soviet union and was finally released and came to america to war in america as i am trying to do in this book that there is no lifetime guarantee on any nation and to get back to the docket in thing to be co decadence, there is the loss of the sense of god as military overreach without assimilation and a focus on the self and the loss of the sense of right and wrong as you mentioned earlier. Now today if you say anything is wrong, you are denounced as being one of any kind of folks and this keeps a lot of people from speaking out because they dont want to be denounced and criticized. But the national debt, nobodys talking about. The last time there was any serious addressing host why do you feel that is a moral issue . Guest when paul ryan was the speaker of the house he came up with a proposal he knew everybody needed to be done but he was afraid to talk about to reform Social Security and medicare. The commercial was created showed an actor pushing granny in a wheelchair over a cliff. It was funny but it wasnt a serious response to what Everybody Knows must be done. The politicians of both parties continue to kick the can down the road. We need to reform Social Security. Not Everybody Needs it. It should be means tested. From buffalo they argued this years ago with anybody, the president and the state of the union speech, we are going to guarantee you can keep your Social Security. That sounds great, but Everybody Knows you cannot continue to spend and spend with more people retiring and fewer people working, or the programs are going to be bankrupt. But the politicians dont want to do anything about it. Kick the can down the road they will be denounced by paul ryan. Host you talk about the loss and it seems to me like these politicians refuse to take on these issues and dont have a sense of duty. How do you think we could restore that . Guest nobody, younger people dont serve in the military and dont know anybody who did. Theres millions of people on active duty right now so i do feel like when i talk about no one eagles they get swept under the rug. But my brother is part of the marine corps and a lot of loss and get swept under the rug. We get a lot of benefits, the freedoms we enjoy are not the natural state of humanity all of these things seem to be the norm we have to renew like a library that if you were old enough to remember. They have to be renewed in order for you to legitimately continue the borrowing experience. The. The vietnam war and now we are facing the greatest challenge of all, terrorism and the growth of china and its aggressiveness around the world under the radar for a lot of people. They are Building Bases to the South China Sea and south america and nobodys really addressing these things. So these values we cant live up to the inertia of the previous generations who shared them and yes, god bless those people who volunteer from the military not only after 9 11 since then. Some volunteer to get their tuition paid for, and thats fine. Host its not for the benefits i can tell you that, but what do you think the difference is between the greatest generation because there is something that is maybe different it goes to the loss of sense of duty and it may be teachers these values. I dont know what, that its maybe get back to state . Guest the whole idea of obligation we have an obligation to transfer to our children and grandchildren the virtues and values we inherited from our grandparents and parents if they are of a certain age. Most of the generation is gone now. At the super bowl several veterans of world war ii were 100yearsold being the per se nice little connection there. You will remember i think, you are such a young person but certainly studied history those that came back from vietnam were spat upon and it demonstrated against and treated like murderers and the rest. So, we havent really seen an appreciation of those that have served their country with honor and distinction. Those are the three things. We dont teach patriotism anymore. Now theyve done away with the pledge of allegiance in a lot of schools because it might offend other people that come from other countries but this is america. Excuse me if you want to pledge allegiance to your country, then why did you come here. So, if you dont teach these values, if you dont indoctrinate those virtues in the theory of freedom and beauty you have to have been inculcated in you you dont catch them naturally like a virus. Host im so curious about your thoughts on the current political environment because of your history with faith and politics. You were a Founding Member or veteran but you get a break with it once you solve a leadership power and it seems like there are a lot of parallels today. Guest there are. And i learned the virtues and morals do not come from the top down, but from the bottomup and that has been true of only in this country but virtually every other nation that has been sustained beyond its birthday. I do think that faith is something that can be transferred to others but cannot be done by the government. And you cant expect, especially people who do not believe as i do to accept what i believe based on legislation or a president or election. You can argue in the Public Square without saying you will try to impose biblical values on people, certain things that are common to all humanity, treating others with respect, equal pay for women, golden rule, love other people that you love yourself. We could use more of that in washington. But in politics ive been giving my column now for almost 36 years. Host twice a week. Guest yes, twice a week. Do the math. Host bought on the spot. [laughter] guest part of it is the polarization i have not seen since early in the vietnam war and in some ways it is even worse. People dont know each other anymore except by labels. People dont talk to each other and the two men on radios and reinforce what they already think and they dont listen host youve made the point of trying to reach people to try to find Common Ground you wrote a book and you think that is harder to do now . Guest after that it was what works and my argument is they dont care if it is liberal, conservative, democrat program. Lets have a look at it if it is producing the results as advertised by the charter or the legislation at a reasonable cost and cant be done better by the private sector, we keep it. Now we do that in business but if the competition is selling more items then you are in your plan is failing then you get rid of it or go out of business. Why cant we do that with government . Ronald reagan had one of the the greatest lines they only prove is a Government Program. Its easier to kill a vampire. We cant even reduce the rate of spending much less than cut it. Again you dont do that in business and plus i think there was a federal tea tasting commission before that went out of business there is a National Reserve when people thought it might be useful in warfare and after the denenberg explosion in the 1930s, this is the problem. Once a program gets past the never forget about it. The bureaucracy grows. Betsy is trying to cut and cut the federal presence in public education. Her predecessor in the Reagan Administration tried to get rid of department, couldnt do it. The teachers and all this stuff. So, i think that we need a top to bottom look at the government and the purpose and increasing loss of individual freedom and the government as it grows. Host i was struck on the topic of christians in the government and the media. You wrote in a recent column that theyve been perceived as many bytes one more Interest Group to attack the party and especially President Trump. If members need to make a choice as to which one is better true master, they cant serve both. What made you want to write that . Guest a lot of my evangelical brother in. I love President Trumps policies. They are working better than any president republican or democrat we have had in recent years whether it is unemployment or employment across demographics and whether it is by stock market which continues to set records host do you think that is the fact there was unified republican government and the pressure was relieved to guest unified since he was elected. The first year or so democrats are still, but a lot of it has to do with consumer cost. But you asked a question about the evangelicals and their feelings of President Trump. In terms of issues, whether its prolife, religious freedom, second amendment, hsecond amendn better than any republican or democratic president including Ronald Reagan and my memory. It do a lot of them like his personality or language, no. But given the choice in 2016 between Hillary Clinton who was far less liberal in their mind into trump who may have been in perfect mortally, and arent they all come about appeal to them on the basis of a policy of which they believe. We will have the same choice this year. Jesus said my kingdom is not of this world and that is the high your kingdom and the eternal kingdom and all the rest is just the rest. Host im sympathetic to voters that make that choice. In washington theres a lot of christian republicans who have to make a choice about how they can serve a president who forces people to defend really tough things. It might be uncomfortable to some of those things. Guest in terms of christian like behavior im not 100 in that area. Theyve fallen shorthey fallen y of god and we are pressing on the upward way as the old baptist says. Bill clinton certainly had his problems and lyndon johnson, jack kennedy covered up for all the affairs he was having. But this is the kingdom of this world and if y. Have to look beyond that in some areas and decide on the policy matters. Its too easy to say we are not electing a beacon or elderly are electing a president of the United States. And it would be great to have somebody that does all these things like mike pence. Hes a serious christian. He was made fun of when he said he wouldnt be u a bond with a woman unless his wife was present. But then came the Harvey Weinstein scandal. Nobody ever got in trouble for what they didnt do. Host guest its funny because i dont know if i should tell the story i knew in the profession. I met him a couple of times. He comes in in his wheelchair and this i thought you would be interested in something. I said watch and this is when he was doing background in the stations on conservatives and christians who were hypocritical not having affairs and other things. Guest he offered a Million Dollars to anybody and is as i thought he would be interested in this. He said was that, we get a Background Investigation on you. We didnt find anything. My goodness, personally approved by larry flynt. Host i guess that is a relief. [laughter] good for you. Guest host on impeachment, mitt romney was a lone republican vote and i want to ask because you reference roman 13 blunder is no glory except god to argue against things like impeachment. So, if you believe in the scripture as written, does that believe any president can do whatever they like . Guest we have a constitution and people swear to uphold the constitution. There are several areas where they intersect otherwise jefferson would not say that all men meaning the human race are created equal the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness and then in the next clause for the declaration of independence, jefferson outlined the purpose of simply as he always did. He said to secure these rights, governments are instituted among them. By the right god had endowed because as James Madison said, if men were angels we wouldnt need all of these. I cant explai explain stalin oo but when jesus stood before a pilot and said in the greatest church state moment ever dont you realize i have the power of life and death over you and he responded he wouldnt have that cover if my father hadnt given it to you. Is he trying to teach a lesson or guest i am not god. I cant tell you. Very prominent evangelical leader said in 2016 god showed up. I wrote in response to showed up when obama or clinton was elected . God isnt republican. Host dont fill some evangelicals that. Guest there were a lot of lousy leaders in scripture and all the new testament, so you cant argue with someone that you voted for is gods will because that puts you in the face of him which is the first to send by the way. Host dot there are a lot of faith abiding republicans that feel they have to go along with anything trumped us right now. To that point, Massive National<\/a> debt, the United States<\/a> is a 23 trillion growing just the interest on that alone is greater then the Gross Domestic Product<\/a> of some nations. I liked President Trump<\/a>s state of the union speech the other night except he didnt talk about cutting a single Government Program<\/a> or the rate of increase in spending. This is the only nonpartisan thing that happens is spending. You can always get more. A second contribution to the decline of great nations and superpowers and employers as uncontrolled immigration without assimilation. We want people to come to america that we want them to come legally and in an orderly fashion and then to be assimilated like the immigrants of the past and become fully american, not hyphenated americans as we have too often today. Then there is the moral sense contributing to the decline of great nations. In America Today<\/a> there is a song in the 1930s anything goes. If you say stop or this is too far, you are immediately announced as a bigot or one of many folks, so it isnt a sandwich board that says the end is near i am saying while america is a great nation, there are certain seeds that are being sown and we have to renew the values of the greatest generation that weve been living off of by inertia throughouforabout the last 60 o. Host to that point when i look around the country i see most people trying to do the right thing so where specifically do the society going wrong . Guest we are tolerating virtually everything now. You take a look at the value of human life and not just abortion but weve had 60 million of them since roe v. Wade but there are other challenges now. In chicago and baltimore and major cities there are ten, 15, 20 or more shooting every weekend. So many that it hardly makes the news. This is how cheap life has become in america people getting shot and killed because driveby shootings, i wanted a Leather Jacket<\/a> or a expensive shoes and now we are seeing the debate over healthcare and we saw in the Clinton Administration<\/a> and was called hillary care the pressure to save money is going to be so great but once you devalue human life at one end of the pressure to devalue it at the other end and in between if you are too old according to the government and if you are not contributing enough to your taxes or taking more than you are getting at. Fullstop at the extremes. Things always do but once the precedent is said that doctor assisted suicide particularly on the west coast, that is a very slow step. One of the things i mention in the book also is that no one eagles it also contributes to the decline of the superpowers. You have to have a reason for living on the earth besides getting up and going to work, buying stuff. Stuff. Theres got to be more to life than that of 20 according to the polls have no religious affiliation at all. The answer none when asked by the pollsters and its whether you have to be religious or not. Host a lot of conservatives and im sure you are familiar say they believe in american exceptionalism. Is that a little foolish . Guest america is unique among the nations, that there is no lifetime guarantee and as i argue in the book, a lot of these other places, the roman empire for example, you go to the eternal city and its in ruins. They thought they would be around forever but they follow the same pattern as overextension, military experimentation. One of the other thing that contributes to the decline is military overreach. George mcgovern in the democratic president ial candidate, the senator from soutsenator fromsouth dakota, ae said during the vietnam war we cannot be the police of the world, to his great credit President Trump<\/a> has been not only on the native hawaiians but others that have benefited for decades from the American Nuclear<\/a> umbrella especially in europe to pony up and pay more and provide more troops and their defense and i think that is a good thing. Hes certainly on the right path of the issue. Host in your book you go through eight different empires and i think some people may find it tough to draw the parallel between the empire and what americans are doing but what do you see . Guest human nature never changes. You can put people in a dress or a suit but you cant change their human nature. Greed, envy, and title meant, sexual pleasure, military overreach, but some people have called the seven deadly sins. You cant change human nature so the point of the book looking at the history of the various empires and superpowers is to say you have hamburgers and all these other titles and people dressing differently and the rest, but they all suffered from the same internal dysfunction. If we dont learn from the themd by the way this is why this and that ththe transcendent and beig accountable to god is important for the extension and life of any nation. Host you can pai compare wiw america is similar and right now we are in a cycle of decadence. What does that mean exactly, how do you know where they are . Guest its based on a book and the final stage, and you know, lincoln talked about this and said america is to fail at wholesale from within before it is ever conquered from without. I reprinted a harvard and the templeton prize speech in the book and he was asked repeatedly has a great russian writer and was a prisoner in the soviet union and was finally released and came to america to war in america as i am trying to do in this book that there is no lifetime guarantee on any nation and to get back to the docket in thing to be co decadence, there is the loss of the sense of god as military overreach without assimilation and a focus on the self and the loss of the sense of right and wrong as you mentioned earlier. Now today if you say anything is wrong, you are denounced as being one of any kind of folks and this keeps a lot of people from speaking out because they dont want to be denounced and criticized. But the national debt, nobodys talking about. The last time there was any serious addressing host why do you feel that is a moral issue . Guest when paul ryan was the speaker of the house he came up with a proposal he knew everybody needed to be done but he was afraid to talk about to reform Social Security<\/a> and medicare. The commercial was created showed an actor pushing granny in a wheelchair over a cliff. It was funny but it wasnt a serious response to what Everybody Knows<\/a> must be done. The politicians of both parties continue to kick the can down the road. We need to reform Social Security<\/a>. Not Everybody Needs<\/a> it. It should be means tested. From buffalo they argued this years ago with anybody, the president and the state of the union speech, we are going to guarantee you can keep your Social Security<\/a>. That sounds great, but Everybody Knows<\/a> you cannot continue to spend and spend with more people retiring and fewer people working, or the programs are going to be bankrupt. But the politicians dont want to do anything about it. Kick the can down the road they will be denounced by paul ryan. Host you talk about the loss and it seems to me like these politicians refuse to take on these issues and dont have a sense of duty. How do you think we could restore that . Guest nobody, younger people dont serve in the military and dont know anybody who did. Theres millions of people on active duty right now so i do feel like when i talk about no one eagles they get swept under the rug. But my brother is part of the marine corps and a lot of loss and get swept under the rug. We get a lot of benefits, the freedoms we enjoy are not the natural state of humanity all of these things seem to be the norm we have to renew like a library that if you were old enough to remember. They have to be renewed in order for you to legitimately continue the borrowing experience. The. The vietnam war and now we are facing the greatest challenge of all, terrorism and the growth of china and its aggressiveness around the world under the radar for a lot of people. They are Building Bases<\/a> to the South China Sea<\/a> and south america and nobodys really addressing these things. So these values we cant live up to the inertia of the previous generations who shared them and yes, god bless those people who volunteer from the military not only after 9 11 since then. Some volunteer to get their tuition paid for, and thats fine. Host its not for the benefits i can tell you that, but what do you think the difference is between the greatest generation because there is something that is maybe different it goes to the loss of sense of duty and it may be teachers these values. I dont know what, that its maybe get back to state . Guest the whole idea of obligation we have an obligation to transfer to our children and grandchildren the virtues and values we inherited from our grandparents and parents if they are of a certain age. Most of the generation is gone now. At the super bowl several veterans of world war ii were 100yearsold being the per se nice little connection there. You will remember i think, you are such a young person but certainly studied history those that came back from vietnam were spat upon and it demonstrated against and treated like murderers and the rest. So, we havent really seen an appreciation of those that have served their country with honor and distinction. Those are the three things. We dont teach patriotism anymore. Now theyve done away with the pledge of allegiance in a lot of schools because it might offend other people that come from other countries but this is america. Excuse me if you want to pledge allegiance to your country, then why did you come here. So, if you dont teach these values, if you dont indoctrinate those virtues in the theory of freedom and beauty you have to have been inculcated in you you dont catch them naturally like a virus. Host im so curious about your thoughts on the current political environment because of your history with faith and politics. You were a Founding Member<\/a> or veteran but you get a break with it once you solve a leadership power and it seems like there are a lot of parallels today. Guest there are. And i learned the virtues and morals do not come from the top down, but from the bottomup and that has been true of only in this country but virtually every other nation that has been sustained beyond its birthday. I do think that faith is something that can be transferred to others but cannot be done by the government. And you cant expect, especially people who do not believe as i do to accept what i believe based on legislation or a president or election. You can argue in the Public Square<\/a> without saying you will try to impose biblical values on people, certain things that are common to all humanity, treating others with respect, equal pay for women, golden rule, love other people that you love yourself. We could use more of that in washington. But in politics ive been giving my column now for almost 36 years. Host twice a week. Guest yes, twice a week. Do the math. Host bought on the spot. [laughter] guest part of it is the polarization i have not seen since early in the vietnam war and in some ways it is even worse. People dont know each other anymore except by labels. People dont talk to each other and the two men on radios and reinforce what they already think and they dont listen host youve made the point of trying to reach people to try to find Common Ground<\/a> you wrote a book and you think that is harder to do now . Guest after that it was what works and my argument is they dont care if it is liberal, conservative, democrat program. Lets have a look at it if it is producing the results as advertised by the charter or the legislation at a reasonable cost and cant be done better by the private sector, we keep it. Now we do that in business but if the competition is selling more items then you are in your plan is failing then you get rid of it or go out of business. Why cant we do that with government . Ronald reagan had one of the the greatest lines they only prove is a Government Program<\/a>. Its easier to kill a vampire. We cant even reduce the rate of spending much less than cut it. Again you dont do that in business and plus i think there was a federal tea tasting commission before that went out of business there is a National Reserve<\/a> when people thought it might be useful in warfare and after the denenberg explosion in the 1930s, this is the problem. Once a program gets past the never forget about it. The bureaucracy grows. Betsy is trying to cut and cut the federal presence in public education. Her predecessor in the Reagan Administration<\/a> tried to get rid of department, couldnt do it. The teachers and all this stuff. So, i think that we need a top to bottom look at the government and the purpose and increasing loss of individual freedom and the government as it grows. Host i was struck on the topic of christians in the government and the media. You wrote in a recent column that theyve been perceived as many bytes one more Interest Group<\/a> to attack the party and especially President Trump<\/a>. If members need to make a choice as to which one is better true master, they cant serve both. What made you want to write that . Guest a lot of my evangelical brother in. I love President Trump<\/a>s policies. They are working better than any president republican or democrat we have had in recent years whether it is unemployment or employment across demographics and whether it is by stock market which continues to set records host do you think that is the fact there was unified republican government and the pressure was relieved to guest unified since he was elected. The first year or so democrats are still, but a lot of it has to do with consumer cost. But you asked a question about the evangelicals and their feelings of President Trump<\/a>. In terms of issues, whether its prolife, religious freedom, second amendment, hsecond amendn better than any republican or democratic president including Ronald Reagan<\/a> and my memory. It do a lot of them like his personality or language, no. But given the choice in 2016 between Hillary Clinton<\/a> who was far less liberal in their mind into trump who may have been in perfect mortally, and arent they all come about appeal to them on the basis of a policy of which they believe. We will have the same choice this year. Jesus said my kingdom is not of this world and that is the high your kingdom and the eternal kingdom and all the rest is just the rest. Host im sympathetic to voters that make that choice. In washington theres a lot of christian republicans who have to make a choice about how they can serve a president who forces people to defend really tough things. It might be uncomfortable to some of those things. Guest in terms of christian like behavior im not 100 in that area. Theyve fallen shorthey fallen y of god and we are pressing on the upward way as the old baptist says. Bill clinton certainly had his problems and lyndon johnson, jack kennedy covered up for all the affairs he was having. But this is the kingdom of this world and if y. Have to look beyond that in some areas and decide on the policy matters. Its too easy to say we are not electing a beacon or elderly are electing a president of the United States<\/a>. And it would be great to have somebody that does all these things like mike pence. Hes a serious christian. He was made fun of when he said he wouldnt be u a bond with a woman unless his wife was present. But then came the Harvey Weinstein<\/a> scandal. Nobody ever got in trouble for what they didnt do. Host guest its funny because i dont know if i should tell the story i knew in the profession. I met him a couple of times. He comes in in his wheelchair and this i thought you would be interested in something. I said watch and this is when he was doing background in the stations on conservatives and christians who were hypocritical not having affairs and other things. Guest he offered a Million Dollars<\/a> to anybody and is as i thought he would be interested in this. He said was that, we get a Background Investigation<\/a> on you. We didnt find anything. My goodness, personally approved by larry flynt. Host i guess that is a relief. [laughter] good for you. Guest host on impeachment, mitt romney was a lone republican vote and i want to ask because you reference roman 13 blunder is no glory except god to argue against things like impeachment. So, if you believe in the scripture as written, does that believe any president can do whatever they like . Guest we have a constitution and people swear to uphold the constitution. There are several areas where they intersect otherwise jefferson would not say that all men meaning the human race are created equal the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness and then in the next clause for the declaration of independence, jefferson outlined the purpose of simply as he always did. He said to secure these rights, governments are instituted among them. By the right god had endowed because as James Madison<\/a> said, if men were angels we wouldnt need all of these. I cant explai explain stalin oo but when jesus stood before a pilot and said in the greatest church state moment ever dont you realize i have the power of life and death over you and he responded he wouldnt have that cover if my father hadnt given it to you. Is he trying to teach a lesson or guest i am not god. I cant tell you. Very prominent evangelical leader said in 2016 god showed up. I wrote in response to showed up when obama or clinton was elected . God isnt republican. Host dont fill some evangelicals that. Guest there were a lot of lousy leaders in scripture and all the new testament, so you cant argue with someone that you voted for is gods will because that puts you in the face of him which is the first to send by the way. Host dot there are a lot of faith abiding republicans that feel they have to go along with anything trumped us right now. To that point, Jerry Falwell<\/a> was asked by the Washington Post<\/a> is there anything President Trump<\/a> could do that would engage support from you or other evangelical leaders and he said no. And he said that is the shortest answer that ive ever received. Guest the president himself said he has such a strong evangelical support he could walk down fifth avenue new york and showed some body. Host do you think that is because people are afraid to trust the democrats . Guest it is a combination of things. But king david when he was the king of israel had the best flag and so basically said dont trust him. We have leaders and references, everybody has their preferences. But the thing that bothers me now among other things, and somebody made this point the other night on television, a member of congress i think, it used to be when you had an election the losing side would lick its wounds and have meetings how to retool the message and when the next time. Now its how do we bring this guy down. Theyve are arguing about impeachment, the democrats were coming even before, and certainly a day or two after her and some of the more radical numbers of congress. That isnt the way to do that in this place and the atmosphere and as people said in the recent impeachment fiasco, it is supposed to be rare, and now i hear that when republicans get back in control of both houses of congress and as a democratic president , they are going to go the same route and that will thl polarizing ways in a political atmosphere even more than it is now. Host it seems to me it gets the concept of forgiveness starting over with a blank slate and at the National Prayer<\/a> breakfast, Arthur Brooks<\/a>, who everyone knows as a scholar at aei, one of the nicest guys i think, he stood up at the podium and said raise your hand if youu loved someone you disagree with politically and most of them raised their hand, the President Trump<\/a> didnt. Guest writing a column called missed opportunity, the thing about reconciliation is that the power comes from the person that feels he or she has to defend it to extend forgiveness to the person that is guilty is as jesus said keeping fire above their head. If the president really wanted to do this it was a perfect opportunity. The speech was brilliant. It was wonderful and the president didnt even go down to the speaker sitting at the other end of the table. One of the greatest symbols of reconciliation and Arthur Brooks<\/a> also said during his time before they set foot if you cant really do it out of your heart, they get. Who is better at faking the reality tv stars donald trump, right. Jesus set the example when he was on the cross, unfairly tried and arrested and convicted and he was unfairly crucified and get he said forgive them for they know not what they do. That is the ultimate reconciling statements. Its not about the president agreeing with nancy pelosi. I think rightly feeling that he was wrong with these articles of impeachment thaimpeachment as ar the mueller report, charges of racism, all these other things have been thrown out that givent just ask them how they try to be impeachment route. I think they could perform a Great Healing<\/a> act and what would it have cost him, nothing. Guest its all about the quest for power but its not real power. God offers power, hes the only power to change a life in the direction of the nations. Host you to liberate story when you were asked a majority you were asked why is everything always so apocalyptic why cant they ever say we are doing a good job, can you tell us what you learned . Guest is not associated with the majority. I said why dont you ever send out a positive letter on what youre dealing with peoples conversations and he said you cant raise money on a positive. If you say things are going great, thanks for the contribution youve made a difference they are not going to send more money but if you say the president is terrible, whatever, send me 20 that is cynical manipulation and some have used the same fund raisers. As long as the check clears, who cares, and it contributes to the cynicism, the polarization and the anger. I mean, we are not each others enemies as lincoln said. If we dont make this great experiment called democracy a constitutional republic, we are succeeding generations as i argue in my book they are going to expire three there is no guarantee. Things are looking great but when they are looking great it is time to shore up the foundation on this road and if the foundation is to be destroyed what can the righteous do and i think our foundations are being destroyed by several levels as i argue. Host who are the right people to lead a country the way back . Guest again, its not the person. Its double love, not triple down. Host where have those efforts fail in the past if there is so much experience but the parallels are strong to a . Guest you cant change through legislation. Some may argue what about civil rights. Okay, what about civil rights. There was huge resistance to brown v. Board of education. There was opposition to the interracial marriage and not just from the south, but other parts of the country. But slowly, slowly over the years when that generation was racist and bigoted and was replaced by another more broadminded or biblically oriented i would argue, those things began to change, so they can be good to have shape, but it cannot force me to love my wife or be a good father to my children or an example or role model to my peers that is my responsibility and i have the ultimate responsibility no legislation can force me to be righteous and good not to commit adultery and some of these other things. That comes from the heart and only god can reach that. Host it seems like theres been a lot of legislation moving these days but President Trump<\/a> is trying to promote those values and looks to people that are really controversial like carl white who preaches the prosperity gospel and would be easy to be too useful for you to point out your thoughts on that. Pretty cynical about all of this they acknowledge that he said in his pre conversion days evangelicals were the easiest to manipulate. Theres a picture of president nixon and all of a sudden nixon could do no wrong. I would suggest the power of the sense of power in washington, d. C. Is a greater. Its more powerful and more supple. Its fun seeing if you are having an affair with somebody you can see them come up with power, im not asking for an answer. Kissinger talked about this some years ago, th, the former secrey of state. The powers are very, very subtly seductive and its not really power at all. If it were, with things not have changed by now an office in is that the president ial candidates especially the democrats talk about education and employment which is great. We spend all this money and have all this time to fix it under democratic president s with Democratic Congress<\/a> is how come they dont improve because that isnt where the real answer is its in the hardware only god can reach. Host it seems like we republicans and evangelicals with a backlash for not doing the most good when they have the power and they worry that happened to the church because corruption, people make money rather than providing for the poor, and also people looking at republicans in power who are not moving the ball on entitlements for the government and military expansion, what have you. So, when we are told that everything is so nationalized in our system and everybody looks to washington for answers, how do we get them to look inward . Guest my standard opening line is im happy to be here tonight from washington, d. C. The only politics with convictions are in prison. Host i was going to steal that one but hopefully not many more. Guest a friend of mine says it third time as i always say thats the way it works. I think once again you go back to the seduction of power if conservatives are as guilty as the liberals but thats another area they want Smaller Government<\/a> and yet they are constantly looking to the government to change things. You cant have it both ways. The government is designed to be limited by the founders so that the people of the unlimited in their pursuit of happiness however they define it but now its reversed into too many seem to be just as happy to manage the growth of government. You look at the ways and Means Committee<\/a> and the only bipartisan thing that happens thats how you get republicans and democrats together to spend money. Send it back to a base or airplane and the military doesnt want. One of the great invention but f the base realignment and Closing Commission<\/a> which drove politicians crazy because they were closing down bases that were world war ii vintage and havent been used in years, but it only brought money into the district and it worked and i think that we need another one of those. We need a top to bottom look at every single Government Program<\/a>. We eliminate the ones that dont work and keep the ones that are and i think that would save a ton of money. Host they talk about people that do it on, but who do you think is doing it right, is there anybody i know that this has happened from the bottom up but they need people to work towards. In all of your kind of cover and politics certainly there are some rays of hope. Guest my parents were my role model. I didnt know anybody that was divorced. I grew up in the Washington Area<\/a> and Northern Virginia<\/a> and went to school. Graduated from the american university, the things started to change in the 60s. You have the hugh hefner playboy philosophy which told them you didnt have to wait until they were in a committed relationship they said if women were upset anand started a man cant make commitments and cant trust them and then dont feel any obligation to stick to a marriage. Its awful and this is the crumbling of society. The foundation of any culture of society if you dont have strong families, if you have a reason for coming home at night and if the velocity go out and slaughter dinner so you can cook it up in over the open fire. Those things change for the foundation of any society or culture is a strong family. And again, no one can force me to be faithful to my wife, but if i am faithful and if i dont commit adultery and im honest in my business dealings, you influence others. People say why are you the way you are. I am not any great example but if you see any good in me it is godfrey producing himself and me. Jesus said my kingdom and father of this world and you see the prophecies of the old and new testaments and revelations especially, and then in the gospels that everything is winding down to the final act. History is so important people dont know what happened a generation ago and i started with the News Business<\/a> and i want to know a lot about who talked to the men and women who came late later in her correspoe during world war ii and remembered a lot of stuff it was instant history for me and i wanted them to pour their lives and to me. I was 1 18, 19, 20yearsold and these were my heroes. I had their pictures hanging on my wall. They wouldnt be known to todays generation probably come about whom do we have like that that are role models in our lives, not sports figures certainly had petitions. But whos out there, clergy. To this president or another republican president and the left does the same thing. A its between him and his wife. You go back and look at some of these others this is not unique to President Trump<\/a>. President of trump. Its been going on for a long time. Host guest you go through these empires rise and fall, some of them great, some of them walled. Which one scares you the most . Guest i would have to say they had a version of las vegas they went to it was a whole bunch of them they really thought they had all they were so full of themselves but they overreach and the decadence that characterized the full they wrote the classic on this and i dont presume to do any better but it begins to undercut the basic values depression, terrorism, all these other thing. And again i will repeat myself, these values have to be renewed by every generation and sometimes within generation. You get one executive order and theres a lot of problems which one thinks of each he . By executive order is. This shifting funds that dont build a wall. We have to see some of it is being built the wind came along. It was down substantially. I think that there is a lot like that have to change the course and then host and you talk about getting things t to the legislation is not about the abortion question a lot and could we actually change peoples minds on that question because before we have the morningafter pill this is a personal problem you have to talk with people directly. Guest it is cropped up since roe versus wade and raised millions of dollars in heard the stories of women that had abortion and said if i only known the following or if i had ever seen a picture of planned parenthood they turned the monitor around during the ultrasound so a woman doesnt see the gestation phase this is showing progress. The rate is down substantially and all should pass for disclosure. We take the left view of that before abortion occurs the have to know about alternatives including adoption. She has to see in the sonogram of her baby. This changes the polls have shown around 90 see a picture and hear about alternative alteo choose life and i think it is a great tool so im poor and towering women and to give them more information. Host the question in terms of strategy and reading the book and talking about bottomup solutions that make me wonder if evangelicals or wrong because its so much emphasis on overturning roe v. Wade with this kind of efforts that are far more effective. Guest i dont think that its either or. There are others that have already, there is cuomo in new york right at the moment of live birth. During the state of the union address, they introduced a woman and her child that was born i think 21 weeks and a few days the earliest premature baby and barely survive and get it a go at her mother wanted to abort her at 21, 30 weeks or the moment of delivery under the current fall, she would be perfectly free to do so. Is that the kind of power we should give to individuals, what about the man or husband he has no say even though he may be loving and willing to do anything including but the child in host we could make them pay Child Support<\/a> them on there is a pregnancy test and i said thats great, why not. I think hospitals have cut back. All these problems have existed for quite a long time and its the revival of the american spirit and revivals have saved us in the past. So, what would that look like . Guest theres the spiritual one that comes from god. The religious history in concert of prayer. Two men got together on their lunch hour on wall street and begin to pray once a week of revival and decided the problems of america as we were being torn apart in 1857 with the civil war to follow just a few years later they did meet every day for prayer and then the group got so big that they couldnt fit them all in the history building so they move to the churches at night. When we got down to West Virginia<\/a> in the middle of winter they cut holes in the ice to baptize people in the middle of winter prompting one commentator to say when baptists are you on fire, well i blew the punchline now because you interrupted me that when they do that, you know that they are on fire. Host put the fire out. Guest anyway, so thats where the change comes from a spiritual level. On the political level, economic level that comes from people deciding to live differently. A lot of schools are outlawing the pledge of allegiance to the flag. Thewe did that every day in sch. This is america but you dont want to offend democrats. This is the United States<\/a> i think i mentioned earlier mexico is better, let them go back to mexico and pledge allegiance. Previous. Host a lot of times its liberal speakers that want to be inclusive and think that somehow thats part of it. Guest by the inclusive theme. It seems the older i get it everything except what i believe. We have to tolerate everything except if we have to believe in everything except what i believe, so i find that some of my liberal secular progressive friend is who talked a great game about diversity in and i love the word diversity. They never talk about ideological diversity. But a liberal is a liberal whether it is male or female, africanamerican, hispanic, latino, whatever its not about you click on the outside, its about your thing in the process on the insights of diversity would mean people of different points of view and background but you dont see that increasing in the universities. When i was growing up we tolerate all kinds of speech. We wanted to hear opinions different from ours and now you have conservative speakers if they are invited at all shouting down are demonstrating against the universities. Guest host you look at fox news and most watched cable station ever. Some of the most influential voices are conservatives. Guest it depends on what you mean by influential. I hope he survives this physical challenge of host we should talk about him for a minute. He wrote in one of your books. Guest he really is a humble man. If you listen to him at christmas or last week its part show business and i use humor at he uses it to make a larger point. Heres the thing people now to a man and dont listen to other points of view. I would rather win an argument by discussing the virtues and fallacies of a particular program or proposal van i would to just tune into programs. But i also listen to others and then i would just winning an election because that doesnt change much. I want to win the issue and that is what we are not focusing on. Much better to win the issue than just the election is you dont persuade the other side said. Host throughout your career where ive been able to understand your thought to have your views included in the mainstream pages in media not being regulated as a Christian Conservative<\/a> on the back page or the crazy isle at the bookstore. Guest i am not always predictable and if tha that hela lot. Host you have resisted it. Guest ive joined some of theitheir organizations and i mt him in person when i used to do more speaking engagements can i do now because i deliberately cut back. I go and meet with the editor and some of them would say you are the first columnist to ever meet with me and i would go out at night and to speak to the group and say how many subscription your paper and it is usually fewer than half, sometimes absurd. Shout out the reason. Well i never see my views represented or theyll waste to stereotype but i believe. Okay how many would subscribe to the paper if i was in it and every hand goes up. Host you were vindicated just code it used to be over 500 for the newspaper industry is a subtle its about 300 now. I so said i want you to call te publisher because the publisher controls the Purse Strings<\/a> and he said he would take so i didnt appeal on the basis of diversity. It was on the basis of money and the sense of humor. You want subscriptions, take me. You may not agree that you are going tyouregoing to get the s. Host theres the temptation but youve had in a resting point you have the unique view. How do you stay so consistent and interesting . You can go to the archive is all very timely. People today want to have the hottest thats controversial. Guest one of the problems in journalism today, look especially at the New York Times<\/a> and Washington Post<\/a> which is kind of the bible in political washington. They are so predictable now. I grew up on the Washington Post<\/a> and the daily news and there were more newspapers here. But you almost dont have to read them anymore because every article and editorial, every columnist, they are antitrump and thinking of new ways to denounce trump. Guest thats okay host do people fall over the edge bucs guest we have blanket faith and then it becomes almost cultlike. That isnt good for the person. They need to be held accountable and if they do no wrong somebody needs to pay it. Its absolution the president uses a lot of bad language. He takes gods name in vain which is one of the commandments to do. He made all kinds of references that would be enacted by especially evangelicals but theres always a danger and both sides have done it. Ive said it remember when you said that some of us were getting too close to reagan and he said that this is different. We need to keep our eyes, those of us that are followers on the prize, on the person is no and o put our trust in princes and kings as we were warned. Part of the prize is eternal life, the shortterm prize is to really have an influence on other people. As Arthur Brooks<\/a> at the National Prayer<\/a> breakfast, loving your enemies of the most powerful ist powerful things that anyone could ever do. When an average believer looks at the Christian Community<\/a> as if there were such a thing is the first thing they recognize praying for those who persecute those were instructions for jesus himself and theyve claimed to be followers and believe that the bible doesnt immediately come to other peoples minds. I think if you really want to have influence you look at the time that most where is the power coming from, last place at the table. So over and over again because we are stupid and we dont if tt listen and he repeats himself. Humility gets caught the attention. Host humble yourself, love your enemies. I cant think of a better message to end on so we will end up there. Thank you so much. Americas expiration date","publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"archive.org","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","width":"800","height":"600","url":"\/\/ia902809.us.archive.org\/10\/items\/CSPAN2_20200302_020100_After_Words_Cal_Thomas_Americas_Expiration_Date\/CSPAN2_20200302_020100_After_Words_Cal_Thomas_Americas_Expiration_Date.thumbs\/CSPAN2_20200302_020100_After_Words_Cal_Thomas_Americas_Expiration_Date_000001.jpg"}},"autauthor":{"@type":"Organization"},"author":{"sameAs":"archive.org","name":"archive.org"}}],"coverageEndTime":"20240716T12:35:10+00:00"}