I love hero stories, especially unexpected ones.

I recently read one you have to share with your family and friends, as it will inspire the potential hero inside all of them, especially during this week we commemorate the 83rd anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor.

As most know, on a quiet Sunday morning, Dec. 7, 1941, Japan launched a surprise attack on U.S. military bases on the Hawaiian island of Oahu.

Two waves of 353 fighter planes hit military installments. The first was at Pacific Naval Air Base, destroying or crippling 36 seaplanes and taking the lives or maiming 84 Americans.

Seven minutes later, the Japanese hit Pearl Harbor, where 96 U.S. warships were anchored. All eight battleships of the U.S. Pacific Fleet were sunk or badly damaged, including the U.S.S. Arizona.

Amazingly, all of America’s aircraft carriers were untouched. But 188 U.S. aircraft were destroyed.

Gravest of all nightmares, 2,300 Americans were killed; 1,102 were aboard the USS Arizona alone.

Seven of the wasted U.S. battleships – excluding the USS Arizona – were eventually raised, six of them deployed in World War II.

Most inspirational, however, were myriad heroic stories that also surfaced from the devastating day that “will live in infamy.”

Here’s one about an unexpected hero who can still inspire the extraordinary in all of us.

Doris “Dorie” Miller grew up in Waco, Texas, tending to his father’s farm and playing football.

Dorie was a grandson of slaves and an African-American in a time and place when the South still struggled with polarization and racial prejudice.

But Dorie was determined to improve his life, serve his country, see the world and earn some money to help out back home, according to National Geographic.

So, at 19 years of age, in 1939, he enlisted in the U.S. Navy.

But there’s something we need to keep in mind about blacks in the Navy at that time.

Clark Simmons, who was a mess attendant on the USS Utah during the attack on Pearl Harbor, explained, “You have to understand that when Franklin Delano Roosevelt was president in 1932, he opened up the Navy again to blacks, but in one area only; they were called mess attendants, stewards, and cooks. The Navy was structured so that if you were black, this was what they had you do – you only could be a servant.”

What we regard now as racial restrictions Miller saw merely as opportunities to serve his country.

So, he joined the Navy as a mess attendant, third class, but he didn’t stay there.

He was quickly promoted to second class, then first class, and eventually to ship’s cook, third class. He even became the heavyweight champ boxer onboard his battleship!

Miller served on the ammunition ship Pyro, and then was assigned to the battleship West Virginia in 1940.

On Dec. 7, 1941, that battleship was in port at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, and Miller was aboard.

Even cooks had assigned combat duties in case of emergencies, so when the Japanese hit Pearl Harbor, Miller rushed to his battle station – an antiaircraft battery-magazine.

But after finding his battle station was damaged, he rushed to the above decks to help the wounded.

Simmons described the scene: “The captain and the executive officer, the ‘XO,’ were on the bridge and they both were injured. So Dorie Miller went up and physically picked up the captain and brought him down to the first aid station. And then he went back and manned a .50-caliber machine gun, which he had not been trained on.”

Historynet.com explained it this way, “By then the ship had sustained heavy damage from six Japanese torpedoes (a seventh failed to explode) and two bombs, and had taken on a drastic list, silencing the port side guns. Most of its starboard guns were still operational, however, so Lieutenant Junior Grade Frederic H. White ordered Miller to start feeding ammo, packaged in 27-foot-long belts, to one of a pair of .50-caliber Browning machine guns that stood idly nearby, while White fired the gun at incoming Japanese planes. The deck was awash with oil and water, and fires raged. But Miller, finding the second gun unattended, and without orders and with absolutely no training in its operation, took control and opened fire.”

After the battle, Miller himself explained his immediate response: “It wasn’t hard. I just pulled the trigger and she worked fine. I had watched the others with these guns. I guess I fired her for about 15 minutes. I think I got one of those Jap planes. They were diving pretty close to us.”

Miller is officially credited with downing two Japanese planes. He also helped rescue fellow wounded sailors after running out of ammunition.

Historynet.com again reported what happened next: “Doris Miller was one of the last three men to leave the West Virginia. He and his shipmates swam 300 or 400 yards to shore, avoiding patches of flaming oil from USS Arizona and strafing from Japanese planes. When he splashed ashore, Miller later told his brother, ‘with those bullets spattering all around me, it was by the grace of God that I never got a scratch.’ Even then, Miller helped scores of injured sailors to safety ashore.”

In May 1942, Miller became the first black man to receive the Navy Cross for bravery in the line of fire, which Fleet Admiral (then Admiral) Chester W. Nimitz, the Commander in Chief, Pacific Fleet personally presented to Miller on board the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise.

In addition to the Navy Cross, Miller would also be honored with the Purple Heart Medal (posthumously); the American Defense Service Medal, Fleet Clasp; the Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal; and the World War II Victory Medal.

He was also a nominee for the Congressional Medal of Honor, though the prejudice of then-Secretary of the Navy Frank Knox, who opposed black sailors serving the United States in any combat role, recommended against Miller receiving the Medal of Honor.

The Doris Miller Memorial website tells that he visited his Waco home and family for the last time during a Christmas leave in 1942. Afterward, he continued his service in the Pacific aboard a new escort carrier, the USS Liscome Bay.

But on Nov. 24, 1943, during the battle of the Gilbert Islands, his ship was torpedoed, killing 646 of its 918 sailors, including Dorie Miller.

In honor of his life, service and sacrifices, 40 years later, the U.S. Navy commissioned a new frigate – the USS Miller in 1973. It is only the third naval ship to be named after a black Navy man.

The U.S. Navy also honored him by naming a dining hall, a barracks and a destroyer escort after him.

Dorie was also honored by citizens across our country.

Back home in Waco, a park, cemetery, YMCA branch and a more recent statue and landscape area are named after Miller.

In Austin, Texas, an auditorium on Huston-Tillotson College bears his name.

In Houston, Texas, and in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, elementary schools are dedicated to his memory and name.

In Chicago, the Doris Miller Foundation honors citizens who aid in a greater understanding of the races.

And in Los Angeles, a Veterans of Foreign Wars chapter is named for him.

Most of all, as VA News reported, “Doris Miller’s legacy paved the way for other African-American service members to serve in combat roles. And his likeness was used in Navy recruitment drives, including an iconic World War II enlistment poster featuring the words, ‘Above and beyond the call of duty.'”

In an era of miniscule rights and privileges for African-Americans, Dorie didn’t play the victim, wage in class warfare, or even fight for racial justice.

He simply led the way through service to his country and fellowman. He laced up his bootstraps and fought for a better life for himself, his family and his country.

Miller was another clear proof that some heroes definitely don’t wear capes.

As of April 2024, there are fewer than two dozen Pearl Harbor survivors still living. The last surviving member of the USS Arizona, Lou Conter, died at the age of 102.

During this week of the 83rd anniversary of the Pearl Harbor attack, we again salute all our American veterans, living and deceased, for preserving our republic through their service and sacrifice.

Merry Christmas to you all, and all the rest of our courageous servicemen and servicewomen, serving here and abroad to keep us and others free.

Claudia Terry Pemberton was right: “America without her soldiers would be like God without his angels.”

(To read more about Pearl Harbor’s unexpected hero, go to http://www.dorismillermemorial.org)

Average Americans are walking into this holiday season with tougher financial constraints than they’ve had in decades.

As I noted in my recent column, “Make America Affordable Again,” the Washington Post reported, “Grocery prices have jumped by 25 percent over the past four years, outpacing overall inflation of 19 percent during the same period.”

“Stubbornly high grocery prices represent a critical drain on the finances of tens of millions of people and remain, along with housing, perhaps the most persistent economic challenge for the Biden administration as it tries to convince Americans the economy is back on solid footing. For all the attention on gas prices and housing, more than two-thirds of voters say inflation has hit them hardest through higher food prices. …That’s more than 50 percentage points higher than any other category.” (“High inflation made finances worse for 65% of Americans last year.”)

To compound their financial woes, the average American consumer now carries $6,329 in credit card debt.

Why? “People are stretched,” experts say.

So, how are stretched Americans supposed to afford holiday travel, gatherings and gifts this year without going deeper into debt?

Economic hope may be on the horizon with a new Trump presidency, but hardships still rule the roost in the lives of most Americans as we approach this Thanksgiving and Christmas.

On top of their financial struggles, myriad Americans face additional trials, tribulations and even tragedy, testing them to the core of their being.

And so, the big question this week is: “How can we, particularly those who have been gravely affected by tough times, be thankful this Thanksgiving?”

While I never minimize or tritely deal with anyone’s hardships, the answer is found, I believe, in rediscovering the hope of the original pilgrims.

Before you disagree because of what you’re facing, or don’t think it applies to you, let me explain.

Those upon whom the first Thanksgiving was founded, the Pilgrims who landed in 1620 at Plymouth Rock in Massachusetts, were those who also discovered the power to give thanks even in the midst of hardship, suffering, disease and death.

Though they came to a new land, the Pilgrims were by no means foreigners to the territory of pain and suffering.

Of the 102 original voyagers who set sail on the Mayflower to the New World, only 53 lived through the first winter.

History.com explained:

The colonists spent the first winter living onboard the Mayflower. Only 53 passengers and half the crew survived. Women were particularly hard hit; of the 19 women who had boarded the Mayflower, only five survived the cold New England winter, confined to the ship where disease and cold were rampant. The Mayflower sailed back to England in April 1621, and once the group moved ashore, the colonists faced even more challenges.

During their first winter in America, more than half of the Plymouth colonists died from malnutrition, disease and exposure to the harsh New England weather. In fact, without the help of the area’s native people, it is likely that none of the colonists would have survived. An English-speaking Abenaki named Samoset helped the colonists form an alliance with the local Wampanoags, who taught them how to hunt local animals, gather shellfish and grow corn, beans and squash.

H.W. Westermeyer couldn’t have said it better: “The Pilgrims made seven times more graves than huts … nevertheless, [they] set aside a day of thanksgiving.”

The Pilgrims, who were originally known as Christian Separatists and Puritans or “first-comers” and “forefathers,” crossed the Atlantic and faced their first treacherous winter with the comfort of their Geneva Bible, a translation made in 1560. (Though the King James Version was published in 1611, it was not yet popular when the Pilgrims came to America.)

In their Geneva Bible, they read the life-changing words in one small verse, 1 Thessalonians 5:18, which offers this great challenge and encouragement: “Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”

It’s that word “all” that must have provided a particular challenge for the Pilgrims as well for many of us.

And yet in that single word was also the remedy for their (as well as our) downcast souls.

That verse doesn’t say give thanks “for” all circumstances, but “in” all circumstances. There’s a big difference in those little words – think about it!

And it doesn’t say, “feel thanks,” but “give thanks.”

Like those who serve in our great military, thanksgiving is a duty before it’s a feeling.

Giving thanks is still a choice – a discipline, especially in times of trial and hardship.

What the “Thanksgiving verse” is saying is find something, anything, to be thankful for “in” even the toughest of times. If we do, our spirits will be lifted. We will experience the light at the end of life’s dark tunnels.

In tough times, in particular, we must call up our gratefulness reserves.

As Helen Keller, who saw and heard further than most of us without the senses of sight or hearing, explained it: “So much has been given to me, I have no time to ponder over that which has been denied.”

Dare I say, if someone like Helen can do it, there is definitely hope for all of us to see that we are still more blessed than we suffer.

Though it is definitely not always easy, it is always possible to list our assets alongside our losses.

Bottom line, God prescribed our thanks-living in all circumstances because He knew it would make us happier (and even healthier).

Harvard Health Medical School & Publishing concurs.

That is exactly what the academic agency reported, when it said that several scientific studies have concluded, “Giving Thanks Can Make You Happier.”

That might be a surprise to everyone except the Pilgrims and theologians, for that truth is more than 2,000 years old.

Though Thanksgiving is commemorated once a year, giving thanks was never intended to be bound up in a single day.

Gratitude is a seasoning for all seasons of life.

Thanksgiving is a school from which we should never graduate.

As Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a prisoner and martyr under Adolf Hitler, concluded, “It is only with gratitude that life becomes rich.”

You might say, “Easy for you to say, Chuck.” But it’s not, not always.

I’ve had tough times, too. I’m tested like anyone else. But one thing I know is: The older I get, the more grateful I am, for the good, the bad, and even in the ugly.

Thanksgiving is still born in adversity, so perhaps, respectfully speaking, it will mean even more to many of us this year than in years past.

That’s why I truly believe there may not be a better year for Thanksgiving in our lifetime than this one.

Thanksgiving is still a holiday for the courageous, those who face their fears and fight to remain thankful.

With all this in mind, I’d encourage and challenge Americans this Thanksgiving in particular to heed the call of William Bradford, governor of the Plymouth Colony, who, in 1623, challenged his people with these words (maybe you might even want to share or read them before you eat your Thanksgiving meal):

Inasmuch as the great Father has given us this year an abundant harvest of Indian corn, wheat, beans, squashes, and garden vegetables, and has made the forests to abound with game and the sea with fish and clams, and inasmuch as He has protected us from the ravages of the savages, has spared us from pestilence and disease, has granted us freedom to worship God according to the dictates of our own conscience; now, I, your magistrate, do proclaim that all ye Pilgrims, with your wives and little ones, do gather at ye meeting house, on ye hill, between the hours of 9 and 12 in the day time, on Thursday, November ye 29th of the year of our Lord one thousand six hundred and twenty-three, and the third year since ye Pilgrims landed on ye Pilgrim Rock, there to listen to ye pastor, and render thanksgiving to ye Almighty God for all His blessings.

Fellow Americans, more than ever before, Gena and I wish you and yours the happiest, most blessed and THANK-FILLED Thanksgivings!

(A must-see holiday movie this week is the inspiring and engaging blockbuster, “Bonhoeffer: The Untold True Story,” by Angel Studios. Watch the trailer here. Get tickets here soon, as 118 theaters across the nation are already sold out!)

Justine Bateman, 58, filmmaker, author, actress and recent graduate from UCLA in computer science and digital media management, feels like a “suffocating cloud” has been lifted since Election Day.

Lots of pundits and pontificators are still trying to figure out how Donald Trump trampled Kamala Harris at the ballot box in a landslide victory to become our next president. (More than 90% of America’s counties shifted in favor of Trump.)

Unlike many of her Hollywood peers, Justine agrees with those who are saying that among many reasons Trump won and Harris lost is that Americans are exhausted in particular over political correctness, public shaming, cyberbullying and cancel-culture mobs attacking people just for stating their differing opinions.

“Trying to shut down everybody, even wanting to discuss things that are going on in our society, has had a bad result,” Justine says. “And we saw in the election results that more people than not are done with it. That’s why I say it’s over.”

A few days after the election, Justine wrote on X, “Decompressing from walking on eggshells for the past four years.”

The New York Post reported, “Bateman’s point is that, during the Biden administration and even before, America has been living under a ‘cloud that has been pressing down on society.’ She’s referring to, as she tweeted, the concept of mob rule on social media and how ‘any questioning, any opinions, any likes or dislikes’ – be it about hot-button topics from Gaza to trans athletes in women’s sports or any form of social justice – were held up to a very limited list of ‘permitted positions’ in order to assess acceptability.”

You know what she means and feels by a “very limited list of ‘permitted positions'” if you’ve ever been hindered, harassed or afraid to state your honest opinions about any of a host of “controversial” issues, like wearing masks, vaccinations views, gender orientation, reproductive rights, religious convictions, border problems, global wars, or even mentioning who you voted for.

Proof of social retribution came again immediately after Justine posted her thoughts above online.

She shared with the Post over the weekend some of the responses to her X posts, even from Hollywood friends, like: “Oh Justine, I didn’t know you were a Nazi.”

Bateman added, “I did have friends say, ‘I love you, call me anytime, but I have to unfollow you’ or ‘I have to distance myself from you online, publicly.'”

“‘Man, we just went “1984” on ourselves,’ she told The Post with an exasperated sigh.

“‘Reporting the surveillance, surveilling each other. Come on. Why? Don’t you want to relax? Do you always want to feel like you are testifying? Do you always want to feel like somebody is recording evidence that’s going to be brought into a court of law? Why do you want to live like that?’

The Post quoted Bateman as saying, “There’s room for everyone to feel exactly how they want to feel. But you don’t get to come at me and start accusing me of certain things. … Go live your life and feel your feelings, but get out of my face.”

She’s particularly concerned and “really feels” for younger people (as my wife, Gena, and I do) who have never known a time where they were able to express their own opinions, especially if they differ from others.

Noted Bateman, “Their parents need to tell them, ‘Freely live your life the way you want to, but never infringe on somebody else’s ability to also live their life as freely as they want to.'”

Justine is of course not alone in “Hollywood” (though it might seem like that) as dozens and dozens of other celebrities across the country join her in saying the era of “emotional terrorism” by mob mentalities has ended.

I’m not sure it’s completely ended, but I do agree that it has been dealt a devastating blow, simply because a majority of Americans voted (sided, if you will) against the polarizing woke, DEI and other secular progressive views.

However, it’s still going to take hundreds of millions of brave souls just like Justine (and those reading this column) to finalize the free speech victory by voicing theirs without fear, just like she does.

The Gateway Pundit just reported another great fearless stand for free speech, as UFC champion Jon Jones did the “Trump Dance” after winning the main event at Madison Square Garden, with Donald Trump in the front row. He then led the crowd in chants of “USA! USA!” before publicly saying before a global audience, “I’m proud to be a great American champion. I’m proud to be a CHRISTIAN American champion.” A must-watch here.

If what Justine (or anyone else) says irritates you, I encourage you to watch her inspiring and liberating film “Violet” and read her equally insightful and powerful books “Fame: the Hijacking of Reality” and “Face: One Square Foot of Skin.”

In her own words on X, “‘Violet‘ is a map to get from a fear-filled life to an instinct-filled life. ‘Fame‘ is about the life-cycle of Fame and how we put it on a pedestal and democratized the seeking of it. ‘Face‘ is about women’s faces getting older and why that makes people angry.”

It’s greatly alarmed me for years that Americans’ constitutional right to freedom of speech is being choked out of our culture, but, as Justine said, it might just have been resuscitated.

It truly sickens me in particular that young people – and I’m talking millennials to Gen Z, on down – are in so much fear of stating their opinion, especially when it differs from others. And those who aren’t in fear often do so with vitriol and vengeance. Both extremes are un-American.

One of the geniuses of America’s Founding Fathers was to provide and secure the religious and free-speech liberties of every American as stated in the firm foundation of the First Amendment: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”

These liberties were what made America different from England where a king ruled.

Are we now trying to turn back the clock and abolish those liberties?

Indeed, modern progressives have tried to restrict them by social pressure (via accusations of “intolerance” and “hate speech”) and proposing legislation under the guise of “hate crimes and laws” – one more facet of lawfare.

But the American Library Association explained, “Under current First Amendment jurisprudence,hate speech can only be criminalized when it directly incites imminent criminal activity or consists of specific threats of violence targeted against a person or group.”

Yet, even that definition can and has fallen down some deep cracks and crevasses in legal interpretation and application.

While hate crime legislation purport to target crimes of brutality, not speech, they could very easily end up (even inadvertently) restricting First Amendment rights to speak freely against any practices or beliefs with which we don’t agree. As with other laws of this type, once enacted, local justices could easily expand its interpretive enforcement to encompass a wider meaning than originally conceived.

If our policymakers understood and followed the constitutional government our founders laid down for us, they never would advocate any so-called hate-crime speech bill.

That is why the great libertarian congressman Ron Paul once explained years ago:

Hate crime laws not only violate the First Amendment, they also violate the 10th Amendment. Under the United States Constitution, there are only three federal crimes: piracy, treason and counterfeiting. All other criminal matters are left to the individual states. Any federal legislation dealing with criminal matters not related to these three issues usurps state authority over criminal law and takes a step toward turning the states into mere administrative units of the federal government.

To clarify, contrary to many misconceptions today (especially among younger generations), the United States does not have hate speech laws, because the Supreme Court has ruled that laws criminalizing hate speech violate the First Amendment’s freedom of speech guarantee.

The First Amendment protects hate speech because the government should not shield people from ideas they find offensive, and because it’s important to allow for debate on public issues.

But agreeing to disagree agreeably is not exactly how the First Amendment has played out in modern America, has it? One glance at social media posts will prove that.

There is no doubt a double standard has proliferated in our land when it comes to free speech: Shall certain belief and opinion camps be expected not to offend while others are free to do so?

What’s so “free” about speech that is limited or burdened by societal pressure?

If the First Amendment is not also there to protect anyone’s “offensive speech,” no matter how much it is disliked, then what type of speech is it protecting?

And if it protects even “hate speech” as well, yet our culture remains intolerant of contrary opinions, then have we not abandoned the First Amendment?

I commend and thank Justine Bateman (and all those like her) for a host of things: for standing by her convictions and basic American right of free speech, for not bending to the politically correct, for not fearing public scrutiny, for not yielding her principles and especially her First Amendment rights.

It’s simply un-American and unconstitutional to impede, harass or persecute (online or in person) anyone who is guilty of nothing more than sharing their opinion or even exercising their right to vote.

This is America – not Iran!

Our founders cry out from their graves and heaven for us to remember what they established – a nation free from tyranny and oppression, where one can express his or her opinions without fear of repercussions.

Thomas Jefferson was particularly passionate and eloquent at this point with these words that are now indelibly inscribed on the memorial in Washington named after him. Whether to the dominance of religious sectarianism or the prohibition of free speech, his words apply: “I have sworn upon the altar of God eternal hostility toward any tyranny over the mind of men.”

So have I. Have you?

America, when free speech is restricted or punished, we can be certain that we’ve drifted from our roots.

Isn’t it time we all returned home to the entirety of all our rights in the U.S. Constitution?

Remember what my hero John Wayne once said, “Courage is being scared to death, and saddling up anyway!”

(Please watch Elizabeth Farah and Jeffrey Tucker’s recent outstanding broadcast on “The Death of Free Speech,” in which they expose the ongoing threat to free expression. Again, I encourage you also watch Justine Bateman’s film “Violet” and read her books “Fame: the Hijacking of Reality” and “Face: One Square Foot of Skin.” Last, to encourage your kids and grandkids this Christmas, I encourage you check out and buy from “Brave Books,” which reflect more American traditional values – contrary to those restrictive progressive books often found now in the children’s sections of major book stores and public school libraries.)

We want to honor all veterans this week in honor of Veterans Day. But first, I’d like to share with you my own family’s military service.

I am proud of the long lineage in our family of those who have served our country.

My father fought in World War II at the Battle of the Bulge.

My brother Aaron served in the Army on the Korean demilitarized zone.

And our brother, Wieland, was killed in action in Vietnam when he walked point alone and drew out enemy fire so that others in his platoon could fight their way out to freedom.

Many souls were saved on that day because of my brother’s bravery.

It was because of his sacrifice, and our love for him, that I dedicated all my “Missing in Action” films to him.

I still miss him every day. (My 103-year-old mom wrote a chapter on each of her three sons and their military service in her autobiography, “Acts of Kindness: My Story.”)

When I was a small boy, and my mom was seven-months pregnant with Wieland, we traveled by train alone to California to reunite with my father, who had moved there for work.

A group of Navy sailors on the train noticed my young pregnant mother and her small son, and they kind of took us under their wing as we traveled west, watching over us.

I’ll never forget their kindness.

They were good guys, and I was in awe of them.

My respect for the U.S. military had its beginnings right there on that train.

Because of their positive influence on me, I initially wanted to be a sailor.

But after I turned 18, I joined the United States Air Force instead, just two months after graduating from high school in Ryan, Oklahoma.

It was during basic training at Lackland Air Force Base in Texas that I took on the nickname “Chuck,” given to me by a fellow airman who thought it fit me better than my birth name, “Carlos.” It stuck.

I was soon after sent to serve in South Korea during the Cold War and was stationed at Osan Air Base as an air policeman, which today is called Air Force security forces. I served from 1958-1962.

My original goal was to have a career in law enforcement.

But as the adage goes, “We plan, and God laughs!” He had other plans.

It was during my service time in Korea that I also discovered and trained in judo and Tang Soo Do, a Korean martial art similar to karate.

One day while outside the base in the city of Osan, I discovered a dojo studio where Tang Soo Do was taught.

I was hooked and worked hard to master it.

I left Korea in 1961 as a black belt in Tang Soo Do and a brown belt in judo.

It was my military experience that instilled a sense of self-confidence, character and discipline in my martial arts and acting careers.

The rest, they say, is history.

My family’s service is a perfect backstory to Veterans Day this week.

For those who might not know, Veterans Day originated as “Armistice Day” on Nov. 11, 1919, the first anniversary of the end of World War I. (“Armistice” is an agreement by opposing forces to stop fighting war.)

In 1926, Congress passed a resolution to make Nov. 11 an annual observance.

In 1938, Nov. 11 became a national holiday.

In 1954, President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed legislation that changed Armistice Day to Veterans Day, to honor those who served in all American wars.

For all our servicemen and servicewomen have done for us, my wife, Gena, I always try to give back to them.

We are involved with a number of charities that support veterans, including the Veterans Administration National Salute and Hospitalized Veterans.

And in 2006 and 2007, during the Iraq war, I even visited U.S. troops twice in the Middle East to support and encourage them and their families back home.

Our time with veterans is always humbling and rewarding, and we always walk away being more enriched by them than they are of us.

In 2001, I was blessed beyond measure to be awarded the “Veteran of the Year” award by the U.S. Air Force.

And in 2007, Marine Corps Commandant Gen. James T. Conway made me an honorary United States Marine.

I am so humbled by such honors.

But, for me, the true patriot awards go out to every last veteran (and their family members) who have served and sacrificed for freedom, domestically and abroad.

We honor ALL of you today!

I agree with President John F. Kennedy, who said, “As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them.”

Please, pass along your contagious patriotism by educating others (and especially your posterity) about U.S. veterans. Whether you pass them in the streets or airports, as often as they are in your presence, shake the hands of those who are serving or have served our country as you say with enthusiasm and sincerity, “Thanks for your service!”

On behalf of millions of Americans, Gena and I salute all who serve and have served our great country and the cause of freedom. And we pray daily for those who continue to put themselves in harm’s way, including at this very moment.

Award-winning author and proud member of the Military Writers Society of America, Claudia Terry Pemberton, put it best, and her words can be easily adopted to include every branch of military personnel: “America without her soldiers would be like God without his angels.”

(To arouse the patriotic spirit in you and your loved ones, I encourage you to watch “Modern Warriors” on FOX Nation – www.FoxNation.com. I also encourage you to read the insightful and inspiring patriotic books of David Bellavia, a Medal of Honor Recipient for his actions during the Second Battle of Fallujah.)

There is no doubt that this is the most important election of our lifetime – there is so much on the line.

I must say that how to vote this election is not difficult at all for my wife Gena or me. It is a no-brainer to us, because the larger issues our country and citizens face and need resolved are so obvious.

We spent some extra time over the weekend and jotted down seven critical issues that guided our votes. I hope what we researched will help you in your vote as well.

Here are the seven critical issues to us:

1. Avoiding escalation of WWIII. The world is a powder-keg right now. Under the Biden-Harris administration, Russia has launched a war with Ukraine, and Iran (and its proxies Hamas, Hezbollah and the Houthis) launched a war with Israel. And the U.S. is now funding and involved with every side of those wars!

Let’s not forget that China sits on the brink with Taiwan. And North Korea just tested an intercontinental ballistic missile in hope of reaching the U.S., in addition to its advancing attacks against South Korea.

Military experts tell us we are quickly advancing to WWIII, if we’re not in it already.

It’s time to bring sanity, solvency and security back to our nation and world! I don’t have to remind you under whose reign all the above has occurred, while under Trump our world was made much safer. Let’s make the world safe again! To read more about this issue, see my previous column here

2. Securing the U.S. borders from further invasion. Under the Biden-Harris administration and their open-door policies to the border, a record number of well over 10 million illegal aliens have come across the U.S. southern border alone from California to Texas. New crime waves have increased in every state with illegals stealing, injuring, raping and murdering Americans, and even committing terrorism.

According to the latest report from the U.S. Customs and Border Protection over 50,000 illegals with criminal convictions have been arrested since 2021, with tens of thousands more still roaming free. Just over the weekend, an illegal alien sexually assaulted four minors in a New Orleans suburb – the victims included all male children from ages four to 13 and the suspect filmed the acts. Unbelievable! It’s treasonous that such criminals have been let into our country illegally, freely without any vetting!

On top of grievous migrant crime, we all know the last four years have brought record amounts of fentanyl (and other opioids) being smuggled into America from our southern border that have literally killed hundreds of thousands of Americans. And what about the grave increases of sexual trafficking, including of children?

Any president (without congress) can severely restrict illegal entrance at our borders for the safety of our citizens or nation, just as Trump did with Title 42 or building the 571 miles of border wall. It’s time for this present insane invasion that is a threat to our democracy to stop immediately! Make America safe again! To read more about this issue, see my previous column here.

3. Making America affordable again. America just had the worst jobs report in four years. And what more needs to be said about the costs of groceries, houses, gas, running a business, etc.? While the White House keeps saying inflation is “cooling,” check out this economic fact: Of the nearly 400 items that Bureau and Labor Statistics (BLS) tracks, about 2 in 3 (or 67 percent) increased in price between June 2023 and June 2024. Almost 300 out of the 400 items tracked increased MORE in price in just this past year, and those don’t include the increases from the last three years! That’s not exactly what I would call an inflation freeze!

The Washington Post reported, “Grocery prices have jumped by 25 percent over the past four years, outpacing overall inflation of 19 percent during the same period.” High inflation has made finances worse for 65% of Americans last year To show how inflation is crippling American homes, the average American consumer now carries $6,329 in credit card debt! Why? “People are stretched,” experts say. I don’t have to explain to you who has been in office the last four years while prices have gone through the roof. This fiscal insanity must stop crippling Americans! To read more about this issue, see my previous column here.

4. Protecting and preserving Americans’ First and Second Amendments. There are no two greater amendments to protect with our vote than the First and Second Amendments of the U.S. Constitution. The truth is: Our First and Second Amendment rights have never been in greater jeopardy than they are right now. The first secures our rights to free speech and religious choice. The second is our right to bear arms. Both are presently under attack, in their original meaning, by sheer public and political pressure. Secular progressivism and the Woke culture, and all who advocate them, have been the biggest enemies of the First and Second Amendments. Think about it: how free do you feel to speak your mind on sensitive or controversial issues in public? How free do you feel to say you’re a self-defense (gun) advocate in public? You should feel free to do both!

Trump has a very strong record of protecting First and Second Amendment rights. And if president, Trump said will re-open the White House Faith Office specially with the mission to protect religious freedom. Mrs. Harris has a record of profiling and prosecuting (hate) speech as well as controlling gun ownership. For more specifics on this issue, please read my previous columns here and here.

5. Genital mutilation, chemical castration, and sterilization of children. Between 2019 to 2023, at least 5,747 minors received sex-change surgery, and 13,994 received some sort of gender reassignment treatment. Most have occurred in five liberal states.

While we sympathize with those who truly struggle with Gender Identity Disorder, more and more pediatric specialists believe extreme invasive irreversible treatments should not be performed on minors. For example, the vice president of the American College of Pediatricians explained, “Adolescents have immature brains and should not be allowed to make decisions with lifelong implications, such as decreased fertility, when they are so young.”

We commend vice presidential candidate and Senator JD Vance (R-OH), who introduced in 2023 the Protect Children’s Innocence Act, which would ban the genital mutilation, chemical castration, and sterilization of innocent children by classifying the performance of so-called “gender-affirming care” on a minor as a Class C felony. As his website explained, “The legislation would also cease all taxpayer funding for such actions, including under government-sponsored healthcare plans of the Affordable Care Act, prohibit institutions of higher education from providing instruction on ‘gender-affirming care,’ and would deem illegals who have performed ‘gender-affirming care’ on a minor ineligible to receive visas or admittance to the United States. ‘Under no circumstances should doctors be allowed to perform these gruesome, irreversible operations on underage children,’ said Senator Vance. ‘With this legislation, we have an opportunity to save countless young Americans from a lifetime of suffering and regret.'”

We need a president who will stand up for innocent children and their wellbeing-longevity on planet earth. In short, Trump agrees with Vance, while Kamala opposes him on this issue. For more information on the psychological and physiological harm to children concerning the above, read this insightful article by Dr. Jennifer Bauwens. See also StopTheHarmDatabase.com.

6. Protecting human life in the womb. My wife, Gena, and I are fully aware how sensitive the abortion issue is. We really do. We’ve known many people who have struggled through this life-changing decision, and we’ve been there for them. We respect peoples’ views and beliefs, but we also ask people to respect ours as well, especially if they differ.

In our viewpoint, Jan. 22, 1973, was one of the worst days in American history because it nationally legalized killing babies in the womb. Abortion should have remained a legal issue for states, not the federal government, as the Tenth Amendment in our U.S. Constitution guides, and is now in place.

I was talking a while ago to an anthropology professor about the conception of life. He shared with me some very fascinating information from Dr. Dianne Irving, a biochemist and biologist who is a professor at Georgetown University. She wrote about the “Scientific Evidence for the Personhood of Unborn Children,” which are from their earliest stage in the womb a “genetically unique, newly existing, individual, whole living human being (a single-cell embryonic human zygote).”

In short, we believe as Thomas Jefferson explained in the founding of our country that preserving human value and life was government’s primary role: “The care of human life and happiness, and not their destruction, is the first and only legitimate object of good government.” And we believe all our presidents should believe the same.

Simply put, Trump and Vance are strongly pro-life, while Kamala is strongly pro-abortion. In fact, she says she plans to expand abortion into rural America at the taxpayers’ expense. Her vice president running mate Tim Walz believes in abortion up to the time of birth. They say they are protecting a woman’s (mother’s) rights, but who’s protecting the child’s rights? For more information on this issue, please read my former column here.

7. Needing an “Avengers” leadership team that is ready on Day One. With the world and America in such tough shape right now, we are going to need far more than just one person (or president) to get things back on track. He or she is going to need a cabinet like few others. I struggled to put together allies who were not already a part of the Biden administration to help Kamala in her presidency. Most have names people have never heard of and are extreme progressives, who Harris met when she was ranked in 2019 as the most liberal senator in the U.S.

However, because of Trump’s previous presidency and his extensive connections with stellar leaders everywhere, he will have access to build a team and cabinet that can accomplish huge goals in expeditious time. They include RFK Jr., Elon Musk, Tulsi Gabbard, Mike Pompeo, JD Vance, Ben Carson, Raul Ortiz, Tom Homan, Kristi Noem, Rick Perry, Nikki Haley, and many others, including some who were on his first cabinet and many other key leaders in their fields waiting to join Trump’s team.

I’ll say it again: this is the most important election of our lifetime—there is so much on the line. That is why I encourage Americans everywhere to get out of the political bleachers and onto the battlefield. It’s time for the black-belt patriots to stand up for the Constitution and Bill of Rights through their vote.

That is why I urge you, friends and fellow spiritual Americans, to pause what you are doing today and take three immediate actions:

• Please share this column with everyone you know to inform and encourage them on the largest issues at stake in this election.

• Understand where your local and state candidates stand on the seven issues above here, and vote for those who will correct them.

• Most of all, VOTE and encourage others to VOTE in this presidential election. If you’re not registered, register here. It’s free and only takes a few minutes. You can find where to vote in your state here.

Samuel Adams, one of America’s very influential founding fathers and leader of the Massachusetts “radicals,” and who was also a delegate to the Continental Congress, reminds us of the importance of voting with these words: “Let each citizen remember at the moment he is offering his vote that he is not making a present or a compliment to please an individual – or at least that he ought not so to do; but that he is executing one of the most solemn trusts in human society for which he is accountable to God and his country (The Boston Gazette on April 16, 1781.)

In the 2020 presidential election, despite record turnout, 80 million eligible voters decided not to vote.

Of that number, 25 million Christians did not vote.

Sadly, new research from the Cultural Research Center at Arizona Christian University, led by Dr. George Barna, indicates that millions more Christians are unlikely to vote this year.

The university reported, “Barna’s latest research shows that only 51% of all faith voters (defined as followers of any religion) are likely to vote in November. That means a full 104 million faith voters are unlikely to vote this election – including 41 million born-again Christians (defined by their beliefs regarding sin and salvation, not self-identification), 32 million regular Christian church attenders, and 14 million who attend an evangelical church.”

Wow! 104 million faith voters are unlikely to vote this election? 41 million Christians not voting? That’s 16 million more non-voters than in 2020.

And the big question is: Why aren’t they voting?

The research pinpointed several reasons why Christians in particular are stepping away from the voting booth:

• 68% lack interest in politics and elections
• 57% dislike all major candidates
• 55% feel none of the candidates reflect their most important views
• 52% believe their vote will not make a difference
• 48% think the election results will be manipulated

For Dr. Barna, these statistics reflect a deeper crisis of disengagement and distrust: “A lack of confidence in the process, frustration with the choices, and a general apathy toward the political sphere have left millions of believers on the sidelines,” he explained.

The University of Arizona further showed, “The survey showed a disconnect between the issues that congregants want to hear about and those that are being addressed from the pulpit. While 67% of regular churchgoers reported hearing teachings on religious freedom and 63% on poverty, fewer received instruction on:

• Abortion: Only 49% recalled receiving teaching on this issue
• Crime and Law Enforcement: Addressed in just 45% of churches
• Same-Sex Marriage: Mentioned in only 42% of congregations
• Transgenderism and Gender Identity: Discussed in just 27% of churches

The least-discussed topics included the role and authority of government (34%), the Israel-Palestine conflict (33%), artificial intelligence (18%), and immigration and border security (25%).

I would add one more critical ingredient for Christians’ election apathy: modern Americans have forgotten what the nation’s founders expected for our role in society and particularly the role of religion.

Too many have bought into the false secular notion that spiritual people (with their voice and vote) need to stay far away from worldly government and politics. Nothing could be further from the truth.

The way I see it: Re-educating and reigniting the founders’ original intent would in fact help fan into the flames the election passions of the entire faith community, no matter what your religious preference.

Our own U.S. Library of Congress documents, “Religion played a major role in the American Revolution by offering a moral sanction for opposition to the British – an assurance to the average American that revolution was justified in the sight of God. As a recent scholar has observed, ‘by turning colonial resistance into a righteous cause, and by crying the message to all ranks in all parts of the colonies, ministers did the work of secular radicalism and did it better.’

“Ministers served the American cause in many capacities during the Revolution: as military chaplains, as penmen for committees of correspondence, and as members of state legislatures, constitutional conventions and the national Congress. Some even took up arms, leading Continental troops in battle.”

Even on the PBS show, “History Detectives: Special Investigations,” it explained how “the Revolution became something of a religious crusade. Jonathan Mayhew, the pastor of the West Church in Boston, gave moral sanction to the war by preaching that opposition to a tyrant, in this case the British occupiers, was a ‘glorious’ Christian duty.

“Some ministers became military chaplains. One such Presbyterian minister, James Caldwell, famously helped at the Battle of Springfield, New Jersey, in 1780. Upon noticing that the company had run out of wadding, the paper used to hold the powder in the barrel of a gun, he ran to a nearby church and procured a pile of hymn books for the job.

“Ministers could also take part in the more clerical side of the Revolution. John Witherspoon was a political parson and represented New Jersey in the Continental Congress from 1776 to 1782. Not only did he serve on over one hundred committees, but his signature can be found on the Declaration of Independence.”

The Heritage Foundation explained the overwhelming clergy and Christian influence in the founding of our nation, including in most of those who drafted the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution: “The Founders identified themselves as Christians. Clearly, they did. In 1776, every European American, with the exception of about 2,500 Jews, identified himself or herself as a Christian. Moreover, approximately 98 percent of the colonists were Protestants, with the remaining 1.9 percent being Roman Catholics.”

One thing is clear about our founding era: Clergy, churches and Christians were the conscience of the nation. Their activity and participation in every arena of culture – from politics to education and entertainment – kept a civil, moral and religious check on our republic.

Though the Sixth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution prohibits a religious test for the election of a president, the founders preferred to elect God-loving politicians who upheld all the tenets in our Declaration and Constitution, and truly believed that we were endowed by our Creator with certain unalienable rights.

In the modern era, however, the corruption of the First Amendment, foremost with the Johnson Amendment, has been used to prompt fear and stifle American Christians’ voice, vote and First Amendment liberties. As a result, most pastors and Christians steer far away from being involved or even giving commentary on politics or the election process.

The fact is, the First Amendment protects religious voice and convictions anywhere in our republic, from church pulpits to congressional corridors. Yet, most have been convinced by secular progressive sources that we can’t share our religious convictions in public arenas like schools and churches. (Read the truth about the Johnson Amendment here.)

As a result, the Christian conscience of the nation has largely slumbered through decades and decades of indifference, hence enabling secular progressives the opportunity to seize and redirect our country and values.

Tony Perkins put it well in his Daily Signal article: “[Lyndon Johnson] never intended to bar advocacy organizations from mentioning elected officials, or pastors and churches from commenting on candidates. … Unfortunately, the Johnson Amendment certainly has been used in this way.

“So, the mainstream media can shape news and political opinions across our country, but church leaders can’t even inform their local parishioners to make educated votes without ‘breaking the law’?” (Read Dr. Jim Denison’s excellent article, “What should pastors say about the election?”)

Perkins added, “This ban is at odds with our own history. Since the birth of our nation, pastors and churches have been at the forefront of shaping public debate and our choice of public servants.”

Jesus himself said of His followers, “You are the light of the world, a city set on a hill, and the salt of the earth. And if the salt loses its’ saltiness, what use is it?” (Even Jesus and His Apostles opposed government wrongdoing.)

Modern America is light years away from our founders’ original intent for the First Amendment or their understanding of the role of religion in America, which was to produce and maintain civility and morality.

George Washington warned the American public about the future restrictions on religion in his Farewell Address (1796) after his two terms as America’s first president: “Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, religion and morality are indispensable supports. In vain would that man claim the tribute of patriotism, who should labor to subvert these great pillars of human happiness, these firmest props of the duties of men and citizens. The mere politician, equally with the pious man, ought to respect and to cherish them. A volume could not trace all their connections with private and public felicity. Let it simply be asked: Where is the security for property, for reputation, for life, if the sense of religious obligation desert the oaths which are the instruments of investigation in courts of justice? And let us with caution indulge the supposition that morality can be maintained without religion. Whatever may be conceded to the influence of refined education on minds of peculiar structure, reason and experience both forbid us to expect that national morality can prevail in exclusion of religious principle.”

How contrary are Washington’s words to Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris’ words this past week.

Kamala was speaking on her pro-abortion presidential goals when Christian University of Wisconsin-La Crosse juniors Luke Polaske and Grant Beth in the audience (one of whom was an undecided voter) yelled, “Christ is King! Jesus is Lord!”

Kamala retorted, “Oh, you guys are at the wrong rally!”

The crowd yelled and applauded in affirmation.

The two Christian students testified later on national news what happened next: that they were “getting shouted out, pushed, assaulted, screamed at,” and then got kicked out of Kamala’s rally.

Tyranny to suppress religion (and our First Amendment) is as alive and well as it was during the Reformation and Revolution! If for no other reason, that is why we need to get out and vote!

Interestingly, Donald Trump’s vice presidential running mate, J.D. Vance, was speaking about his faith and politics a few days after Kamala’s rally, when he was also interrupted by an attendee who shouted, “Jesus is King!”

Vance’s response was the exact opposite of Kamala’s: “That’s right. Jesus is King,” he said.

He added, “Frankly, whether you’re a person of Christian faith or not, Donald Trump and I are going to fight for your right to live your values, because that’s what the First Amendment protects. And I think whether you’re a Christian, a Catholic or any other faith or no faith at all, when you see an American leader, when you see a surrogate of Kamala Harris insulting people of the Christian faith, I think that we should say to every single one of those people, you’re fired. We’re not giving you any more power.”

Vance is absolutely right. Kamala has a long history of anti-religious (especially anti-Christian) sentiment and actions, which will tragically continue if she is the president. See his evidence here. See also her anti-Catholic record here.

No wonder, according to Dr. Barna, Christian voters are “a game-changer” in this election, whether they refuse or rush to get out to vote.

Conservative political activist, author, podcast/radio talk-show host Charlie Kirk took it one step further by calling the present apathy of Christian voters “a five-alarm fire” for Trump, if they don’t get out to vote.

That is why I urge you, fellow spiritual Americans, to pause what you are doing today and take four immediate actions:

• Please share this column with everyone you know (including your clergy) to inform and encourage them to “Make America Spiritual Again.”
• Share the excellent and balanced position with your clergy and other believers by Dr. Jim Denison, “What should pastors say about the election?”
• WRITE & FIGHT your representatives today who, in the words of George Washington, “should labor to subvert these great [religious] pillars of human happiness” and tell them to reverse course.
• Most of all, on Nov. 5, VOTE and encourage others to VOTE in this presidential election. If you’re not registered, register here. It’s free and only takes a few minutes. You can find where to vote in your state here.

Friends and fellow Americans, now is not the time for indifference or sitting on the sidelines of the battlefield. We need ALL people of faith to awaken not only to their First Amendment rights, but even more importantly to their righteous role in our republic, which includes their God-given right to vote.

Former President Ronald Reagan was absolutely right when he said, ” If we ever forget that we are One Nation Under God, then we will be a nation gone under.”

If anyone has doubts, struggles or wants to learn more about God, I encourage you download this FREE E-copy of the book, “The God Questions: Exploring Life’s Greatest Questions About God.” Also, please check out this inspiring bestselling 20th anniversary question-and-answer book on “Heaven” (now almost 50% off), by our great friend and prolific author Randy Alcorn.

For more insight into the status of America and this upcoming presidential election, please read the recent excellent and insightful Special Edition of Whistleblower, “Kamala’s America.”

Also, my wife, Gena, and I just saw Dinesh D’Souza’s new film, “Vindicating Trump.” WOW! This is a must-see powerful, insightful and inspiring exposé and documentary for ALL Americans showing what the mainstream media will never tell you, including how legal ballots can be purchased and added to polling rolls. Please watch it this week. Stream it, buy the DVD or watch the trailer here.

Outside of our First Amendment rights of free speech and religious choice, nothing means more to me (and my wife, Gena) than our Second Amendment rights.

Its 27 words are clear and concise, needing no further commentary or regulation: “A well-regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.”

Could it get any clearer? Please read it again, even slower.

There are no two greater amendments to protect with our vote than the first and second amendments of the U.S. Constitution. The first is backed with bullets of the second.

The truth is: Our Second Amendment rights have never been in more jeopardy than they are right now, and especially through this Nov. 5 election.

Vice president and Democrat presidential candidate Kamala Harris has touted that she’s a Glock gun owner who boasted: “If somebody breaks into my house, they’re getting shot.”

She talks like a Texas Ranger but, in reality, has the gun policies and past record of a Cruella De Vil or the Grinch.

In 2008, Harris was the district attorney of San Francisco.

The same year, a brief that she signed 1) argued that a total handgun ban was constitutional, and 2) strongly suggested that the Second Amendment doesn’t secure an individual right.

The National Rifle Association added, “In this capacity, Harris endorsed an amicus curiae brief of district attorneys in support of the District of Columbia and its handgun ban in the Heller case.

“In February 2008, months prior to the Heller decision, Gallup asked, ‘Do you believe the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution guarantees the rights of Americans to own guns, or do you believe it only guarantees members of state militias such as National Guard units the right to own guns?’

“Seventy-three percent of those surveyed responded that the Second Amendment protects the right of Americans to own guns, with a mere 20 percent endorsing the militia interpretation.”

It’s very simple: the Bill of Rights are there to protect American citizens not the state.

But Kamala’s record clearly shows that she does not believe the Second Amendment protects an individual right to keep and bear arms at all.

The Washington Times recently noted, “Ms. Harris has championed gun control for years. As San Francisco district attorney, she said, ‘Just because you legally possess a gun in the sanctity of your locked home doesn’t mean that we’re not going to walk into that home and check to see if you’re being responsible.’

“It seems Ms. Harris believes that gun ownership voids privacy rights and eliminates the need for consent to searches,” a clear abandonment of Americans’ Fourth Amendment constitutional rights.

As a presidential candidate, she now says that she won’t confiscate people’s guns, but her past record tells otherwise.

Harris has repeatedly called for government confiscation of some of America’s modern sporting rifles.

We need to remember: Once one type of personal firearm is confiscated, it’s a very slippery slope to confiscate a host of others.

The NRA further explained, “On the September 16, 2019, edition of the ‘The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon,’ Harris reiterated her support for gun confiscation.

“During a question-and-answer session, an audience member asked Harris, ‘Do you believe in the mandatory buyback of quote-unquote assault weapons and whether or not you do, how does that idea not go against fundamentally the Second Amendment?’

“The candidate responded, ‘I do believe that we need to do buybacks.’

“Making clear that she believes Americans’ Second Amendment rights are for sale, Harris added, ‘A buyback program is a good idea. Now we need to do it the right way. And part of that has to be, you know, buy back and give people their value, the financial value.’

“Further demonstrating Harris’s commitment to gun confiscation, the candidate called for a ‘mandatory buyback program’ during an Oct. 3, 2019, MSNBC gun control forum and again during a November 2019 interview with NBC Nightly News.

“Harris appears to have carried this position into the vice president’s office.

“During an Oct. 26, 2023, state luncheon with Australia Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, Harris lauded Australia’s gun control measures. Referencing violence perpetrated with firearms, Harris remarked, ‘And let us be clear, it does not have to be this way, as our friends in Australia have demonstrated‘ (emphasis added).”

Tragically, on top of gun control, Kamala repeatedly advocated for defunding the police before changing her position as a presidential candidate.

Moreover, in the last three years, together with Mr. Biden, she let into our country hundreds of thousands of criminals through their open-door immigration policy at the U.S. southern border.

She has also enacted further firearm regulation control as Biden’s gun czar over the newly established so-called Office of Gun Violence Protection.

The Harris-Biden administration is proof that more gun regulations and criminal liberality don’t reduce violent crimes (a 4.5% increase under Harris-Biden), but only cripple law-abiding citizens’ right and ability to defend themselves.

And to boot, their increased gun-free zones further enable criminals to know where innocent Americans abide for indefensible open-warfare. (Ninety percent of mass shootings occur in gun-free zones.)

Despite what Kamala pledges as a presidential candidate, her record is clear. She’s flip-flopped on a dozen critical issues in just a few short years, including on free speech and bearing arms.

The fact is: Kamala is an existential threat to the Second Amendment and Americans’ personal life, security and safety.

Harris might own a gun, but she doesn’t want you to. I guarantee you: she’ll NEVER advocate for it.

On the other hand, Trump doesn’t have a single empty-cartridge campaign promise when it comes to the Second Amendment. His record is very clear: he was a strong pro-Second Amendment president for the four years he was in office (2016-2020), and he will be as the next president. That is why the NRA and many other pro-Second Amendment groups endorsed him for president in 2024.

And just for the record, J.D. Vance, Trump’s vice-presidential running mate and a veteran Marine, has described shooting guns from an early age. The NRA and pro-gun group Gun Owners of America praised Vance for his “perfect voting record” on protecting the Second Amendment.

Again, the fact is: God and guns are what our country was founded upon. Any new student of American history and the Revolutionary period quickly learns that. They are what keep us strong, or what should keep us strong. Like our great military, and men and women in blue, they are there for our defense, too.

With crime, licentiousness and lawlessness running amok in our cities, and a desperate need for more law and order, now is the do-or-die time to stand strong for the Second Amendment by voting on Nov. 5, before progressives further suffocate our rights to bear arms by strangulating the barrels of our guns through further legislation and restrictions.

I urge you, fellow Americans, to pause what you are doing today and take three immediate actions:

• Please share this article with everyone you know to inform and encourage them to “Save our Second Amendment.”
• WRITE & FIGHT the White House and Washington elite today about their goals to reduce Americans’ right to bear arms.
• Most of all, on Nov. 5, VOTE and encourage others to VOTE in this presidential election. If you’re not registered, register here. It’s free and only takes a few minutes. You can find where to vote in your state here.

I’m calling all gun owners and Second Amendment-loving Americans to vote!

You know where Gena and I stand by the picture and plaque on the front door of my ranch house: “We don’t dial 911.”

Friends and fellow Americans, let’s make America SAFE and SECURE again!

For more insight into the status of America and this upcoming presidential election, please read the recent excellent and insightful Special Edition of the Whistleblower, “Kamala’s America.” Order a copy, or download it today for free!

Vice president and Democrat presidential candidate Kamala Harris keeps touting that she is going to create an “opportunity economy” for everyone.

Too late! Time’s up!

Kamala and Biden have been in the White House for nearly four years now, and Americans I’ve talked to across the nation are struggling more now than ever before.

It’s time to stop the madness. It’s time to “turn the page” on their economic misery, ineptness and skyrocketing inflation, and help Make America Affordable Again!

I want to remind you, my fellow Americans, of a few important things I shared over summer. These are facts not fiction.

Gallup reported earlier this year, “For just the third time in more than two decades, less than half of Americans say they are ‘very satisfied’ with the way things are going in their personal lives. The 47% of U.S. adults expressing high satisfaction with their lives has edged down three percentage points over the past year and is only one point higher than the 2011 record low for the trend.”

Gallup concluded, “Americans are currently less satisfied with their personal lives than they have been since 2011, whether that is based on the percentage satisfied or very satisfied. This lower satisfaction level coincides with weak economic confidence” [emphasis mine].

Though I’ve never believed government can provide for anyone’s happiness, they definitely can make it harder to experience “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness” when Washington D.C.’s policies, regulations, out-of-control borrowing and spending place more restrictions on our lives, freedoms and pocketbook.

Chief among Washington’s negative influences have been the soaring prices of everything (highest in 40 years), particularly since Mr. Biden and Kamala Harris took office in 2021. They have produced what Gallup calls, “weak economic confidence,” and there’s no end in sight IF their administration stays in the Oval Office.

Here’s how overall inflation looks over the past 10 years:

While the White House keeps saying inflation is “cooling,” check out this economic fact: Of the nearly 400 items that the Bureau and Labor Statistics (BLS) tracks, about 2 in 3 (or 67%) increased in price between June 2023 and June 2024. Almost 300 out of the 400 items tracked increased in price in just this past year, and that doesn’t include the increases from the last three years! That’s not exactly what I would call an inflation freeze!

According to BLS, these are the prices that increased most over the past year:

In particular, the costs of groceries continue to rob and cripple Americans and American homes the most.

The Washington Post reported, “Grocery prices have jumped by 25 percent over the past four years, outpacing overall inflation of 19 percent during the same period.”

Twenty-five percent! How do they expect Americans to continue to pay for their food?!

The Post explained, “Stubbornly high grocery prices represent a critical drain on the finances of tens of millions of people and remain, along with housing, perhaps the most persistent economic challenge for the Biden administration as it tries to convince Americans the economy is back on solid footing. For all the attention on gas prices and housing, more than two-thirds of voters say inflation has hit them hardest through higher food prices, according to a November 2023 survey by Yahoo Finance/Ipsos. That’s more than 50 percentage points higher than any other category.”

To show how inflation is crippling American homes, the average American consumer now carries $6,329 in credit card debt! Why? “People are stretched,” experts say. (High inflation made finances worse for 65% of Americans last year.)

That’s why I honestly say it’s a mystery to me why someone would vote for another four years of the Biden administration policies through Kamala Harris, who will give us what type of economic plan? You guessed it: more of the same! In fact, financial analysts and experts are saying hers could be even worse than Biden’s.

Forbes Chairman Steve Forbes said that Kamala’s policies would tank the stock market and lead to a 1929-style economic depression. Fellow billionaires and “Shark Tank” investors Kevin O’Leary and even Mark Cuban agree with Forbes, as do other financial analysts.

Kamala has never owned a small business or been a corporate officer, so why would we appoint her (or even expect her to do well) over the largest economic machine in the world (America)? I remind you that she’s been at the helm with Biden for three years and nine months already and look at the mess America’s economy is in! Where’s the “opportunity economy”?!

Trump was exactly right when said, “People are going to vote [for the next president] with their stomachs.” That is, their high grocery bills will guide them how to choose a next president.

Say what you will about former President Trump, but few can argue with his economic accomplishments as president. He doesn’t need to run on empty campaign promises. It’s his record that speaks for itself.

Stored at the U.S. National Archives, Trump administration documents report:

“As of January 2021, the Trump administration accomplishments led America into an unprecedented Economic Boom.

Before the China Virus invaded our shores, Trump’s administration built the world’s most prosperous economy:

• America gained 7 million new jobs – more than three times government experts’ projections.
• Middle-Class family income increased nearly $6,000 – more than five times the gains during the entire previous administration.
• The unemployment rate reached 3.5 percent, the lowest in a half-century.
• Achieved 40 months in a row with more job openings than job-hirings.
• More Americans reported being employed than ever before – nearly 160 million.
• Jobless claims hit a nearly 50-year low.
• The number of people claiming unemployment insurance as a share of the population hit its lowest on record.
• Incomes rose in every single metro area in the United States for the first time in nearly 3 decades.

Delivered a future of greater promise and opportunity for citizens of all backgrounds

• Unemployment rates for African Americans, Hispanic Americans, Asian Americans, Native Americans, veterans, individuals with disabilities, and those without a high school diploma all reached record lows.
• Unemployment for women hit its lowest rate in nearly 70 years.
• Lifted nearly 7 million people off of food stamps.
• Poverty rates for African Americans and Hispanic Americans reached record lows.
• Income inequality fell for two straight years, and by the largest amount in over a decade.
• The bottom 50 percent of American households saw a 40 percent increase in net worth.
• Wages rose fastest for low-income and blue collar workers – a 16 percent pay increase.
• African American homeownership increased from 41.7 percent to 46.4 percent.

Brought jobs, factories, and industries back to the USA

• Created more than 1.2 million manufacturing and construction jobs.
• Put in place policies to bring back supply chains from overseas.
• Small business optimism broke a 35-year old record in 2018.

Hit record stock market numbers and record 401ks

• The DOW closed above 20,000 for the first time in 2017 and topped 30,000 in 2020.
• The S&P 500 and NASDAQ have repeatedly notched record highs.

Rebuilding and investing in rural America

• Signed an Executive Order on Modernizing the Regulatory Framework for Agricultural Biotechnology Products, which is bringing innovative new technologies to market in American farming and agriculture.
• Strengthened America’s rural economy by investing over $1.3 billion through the Agriculture Department’s ReConnect Program to bring high-speed broadband infrastructure to rural America.

Tax Relief for the Middle Class passed $3.2 trillion in historic tax relief and reformed the tax code

• Signed the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act – the largest tax reform package in history.
• More than 6 million American workers received wage increases, bonuses, and increased benefits thanks to the tax cuts.
• A typical family of four earning $75,000 received an income tax cut of more than $2,000 – slashing their tax bill in half.
• Doubled the standard deduction – making the first $24,000 earned by a married couple completely tax-free.
• Doubled the child tax credit.
• Virtually eliminated the unfair Estate Tax, or Death Tax.
• Cut the business tax rate from 35 percent – the highest in the developed world – all the way down to 21 percent.
• Small businesses can now deduct 20 percent of their business income.
• Businesses can now deduct 100 percent of the cost of their capital investments in the year the investment is made.
• Since the passage of tax cuts, the share of total wealth held by the bottom half of households has increased, while the share held by the top 1 percent has decreased.
• Over 400 companies have announced bonuses, wage increases, new hires, or new investments in the United States.
• Over $1.5 trillion was repatriated into the United States from overseas.
• Lower investment cost and higher capital returns led to faster growth in the middle class, real wages, and international competitiveness.”

And the list goes on! You can read here a few hundred more Trump administration domestic and international economic accomplishments, including through fair and reciprocal trade, massive deregulation and American energy independence.

It is on account of all of the above that I urge you, fellow Americans, to pause what you are doing today and take three immediate actions:

• Please share this column with everyone you know to inform and encourage them to “Make American Affordable Again.”
• WRITE & FIGHT the feds today about their disastrous out-of-control spending and borrowing that is buckling our economy. Demand they do more to bring solvency and security to American homes.
• Most of all, on Nov. 5, VOTE and encourage others to VOTE in this presidential election. If you’re not registered, register here. It’s free and only takes a few minutes. You can find where to vote in your state here.

It’s really a very simple election: Are you better off than you were four years ago?

VOTE how your household finances and economic struggles advise you.

Together, we truly can Make America Affordable Again!

(By the way, my wife, Gena, and I just saw Dinesh D’Souza’s new film, “Vindicating Trump.” WOW! This is a must-see powerful, insightful and inspiring exposé and documentary for ALL Americans showing what the mainstream media will never tell you! Buy tickets or the DVD and watch the trailer here.)

Oct. 7 marks the very painful first anniversary when the jihadist and Iran-backed Hamas terrorists unleashed a barbaric surprise massacre in Israel that left 1,200 innocent people slaughtered and over 254 kidnapped, 121 of whom remain in Gaza, including 37 the Israeli army presumes are dead.

The 1,454 victims were not only from Israel but from 40-plus nations, including the United States, Canada, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, Thailand, Nepal and several other countries. The youngest victim to be slaughtered was a newborn baby who died 14 hours after birth, and the oldest was a 94-year-old woman.

As part of a U.S. Department of Justice federal indictment of Hamas’ leadership filed in September, we now know at least 43 U.S. nationals are now declared dead from the Oct. 7 massacre and aftermath.

Three of seven American hostages still in Gaza are presumed dead.

The U.S. citizens who authorities believe died in captivity but whose bodies remain uncovered are: Judith Weinstein, 70, Gadi Haggai, 73, and Itay Chen, 19.

The American citizens still believed to be alive and held hostage by Hamas are: Keith Siegel, 65, Sagui Dekel-Chen, 36, Edan Alexander, 20, and Omer Neutra, 22.

These are real American citizens still held in captivity by terrorists for 365 days and counting.

And what has been the yearlong Kamala Harris-Joe Biden response to the 43 U.S. nationals declared dead at the hands of the terrorist group Hamas, and four American citizens who are still alive and being treated like rats in a cellar?

Harris and Biden’s only advice to Israel is: “Try to negotiate a deal with the terrorists.”

Are you kidding? What a weak and pathetically passive response that has resulted in dozens being tortured and slaughtered.

I would have sent in our military’s best on the first day of captivity and been relentless until all the Americans were freed.

This American hostage crisis is one big déjà vu to many of us old enough to remember the American-Iran hostage crisis under President Jimmy Carter in the late 1970s.

As the U.S. Office of the Historian documents: “In the wake of a successful revolution by Islamic fundamentalists against the pro-American Shah of Iran, the United States became an object of virulent criticism and the U.S. Embassy in Tehran was a visible target. On November 4, 1979, Iranian students seized the embassy and detained more than 50 Americans, ranging from the Chargé d’Affaires to the most junior members of the staff, as hostages. The Iranians held the American diplomats hostage for 444 days.”

They were held in hostage until one much tougher than Jimmy Carter entered the presidency: Ronald Reagan.

The American-Iranian hostages were formally released into United States custody the day after the signing of the Algiers Accords, just minutes after President Ronald Reagan was sworn into office on Jan. 20, 1981.

All we are missing now is a Lone Ranger to ride into the Oval Office to save the day and our remaining living hostages!

Don’t ever forget: Hamas in Gaza, Hezbollah in Lebanon, the Houthis in Yemen, among others, are financed, armed and empowered by their bigger Islamic brother, Iran, the largest terrorist state in the world.

Proof of Iran’s terrorist-tentacles came again last Tuesday when the Islamic regime launched 200 more ballistic missiles at Israel, many piercing their Iron Dome.

This is Tehran’s second volley of bombs, as the world was stunned in April when for the first time Iran launched more than 170 attack drones, 30-plus cruise missiles and more than 120 ballistic missiles against Israel.

Fortunately, Israel’s Iron Dome (along with U.S. military) intercepted and blew up most of the incoming arsenal in both attacks.

That’s the good news.

Here’s the horrible if not insane news, and it might be difficult for some even to believe it: Democratic presidents and politicians funded Iran to attack Israel. Actually, in reality, they have funded both sides of the Iran-Israel war. I only wish I were joking or exaggerating!

Let me explain for those who might not know.

Tragically, Tehran’s Islamic regime has totally duped past U.S. Democratic presidents to believe that its leaders could be trusted. In so doing, the U.S. has enabled the funding of Iran’s terrorist missions and its proxies, including the very weapons fired on our ally Israel.

The most recent spiraling of U.S.-Iran relations was in 2015, when then-President Obama made his disastrous U.S. nuclear agreement with Iran, the largest anti-U.S., anti-Israel and pro-terrorist sponsoring state in the world.

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was absolutely right when he called the Iran nuclear deal a grave tragedy and threat not only to Israel but also a “historic mistake for the world.”

When I found out back then that the Obama administration secretly sent $400 million in cash to Iran as a ransom for the release of four American hostages, which the White House denied at the time was the case, I was shocked!

But then, when I heard that the Obama administration also secretly sent an additional $1.7 billion (yes, with a “b”) in cash and gold to Iran, without telling Americans or the Congress, I was furious!

Yet again, when I learned the Obama administration sent a total of over $33.6 billion dollars to Iran over a few year period, I was fighting mad!

Gratefully, during the Trump presidency, the Iran deal ended, further sanctions were increased and enforced, new pro-Israel actions were taken, and U.S. military bolstered its stand and increased its attacks against Iran and its terrorist proxies.

But then, crazy as it sounds, when the Harris-Biden administration took the helm in Washington, D.C., in 2021, the U.S. Democrat financing of Tehran’s terrorism ramped up again.

Harris-Biden started their reign by gifting the terrorist-sponsoring Islamic state another $6 billion by unfreezing funds held against them!

Then, it was beyond asinine that, despite the Hamas murderous atrocities on Israel a year ago Oct. 7, the Washington Post explained one month later, “The Biden administration has extended [another] sanctions waiver that will grant Iran access to roughly $10 billion from Iraq in exchange for electricity purchases.”

To add absolute insult to injury, the editorial board at the Wall Street Journal, in the article, “Biden keeps billions flowing to Iran,” explained: “The Iranian surge in oil exports since President Biden [and Kamala Harris] took over has brought Iran an additional $32 billion to $35 billion, according to the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. The calculations are tricky, but the cause of the Iranian windfall is clear: As part of Mr. Biden’s quiet diplomacy with Iran, the U.S. has curtailed sanctions enforcement. Customers and middlemen have concluded the risk is low and the discount on Iran’s oil is too good to pass up.”

In all, two Democratic presidential administrations (Obama-Biden and Biden-Harris) have gifted the Islamic Republic of Iran over $100 billion dollars!

Am I living in the government and military Twilight Zone?!

And what do Harris and Biden think those terrorist-funding jihad-loving extremists were going to do with all that money? Use it to feed the poor?

Did any of the U.S. funding stop the Iranian regime from threatening us or sponsoring terrorists like Hamas and Hezbollah? NO!

Did it make them think less about taking future hostages? NO!

Did it lessen the Islamic regime’s proliferation and control in the Middle East? NO!

Did it slow down their nuclear ambitions? NO!

Are they taking our money and laughing behind our backs all the way to the bank? YES!

How can Obama, Biden and Harris avoid taking responsibility and culpability for the Middle East chaos (and even American casualties) when they contributed over $100 billion to Iran’s bankroll?

Iran has gained so much money and power throughout the Middle East in the last four decades that it is presently funding, empowering and controlling Iraq through the Kataib Hezbollah and others, Yemen through the Houthis, Lebanon and Syria through Hezbollah, Pakistan through the Zaynabiyoun Brigade, Afghanistan through the Fatemiyoun Division, Bahrain through the Al Ashtar Brigades, and of course Gaza through Hamas. Iran has even made inroads to Saudia Arabia through the Hezbollah al Hejaz and committed to arm and equip 12,000 fighters of “the Islamic resistance” in Jordan!

And let’s not forget Iran is already in bed with three other major global enemies of the U.S. and Israel (among the “axis of evil”): Russia, China and North Korea.

According to John Wood, analyst and author of “Russia, the Asymmetric Threat to the United States,” Iran acquires a majority of its equipment and expertise from Russia and China, along with “acquiring technology through the black market, especially from Eastern Europe and North Korea, as well as through clandestine operations in Western Europe.”

The Harris-Biden administration’s own National Security Council spokesman, John Kirby, confessed to reporters a while ago that “Iran is seeking billions of dollars worth of military equipment from Russia,” including fighter jets, in exchange for providing the Kremlin with Shahed-136 drones and Fateh-110 surface-to-surface missiles.

And don’t ever forget Iran and its Middle East terrorist proxies’ primary goal.

It’s simple and straightforward: To wipe out the state of Israel.

As recent as 2020, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the country’s top cleric, deemed Israel a “cancerous tumor,” echoing rhetoric that has changed little in its intensity since the founding of the Islamic Republic in 1979.

After the first Iranian attack on Israel earlier this year, Khamenei arrogantly boasted in a post on X, “Jerusalem will be in the hands of the Muslims.”

What isn’t clear about this Middle East insanity, which is ultimately leading to, funding and fanning the flames of World War III?

“This is a very, very dangerous situation,” said Bernard Avishai, a professor of government at Dartmouth, who has written extensively on Israel and spoke a while back to Yahoo News about the imminent danger in particular that a nuclear-equipped Iran presents to the Jewish State, the Middle East and the world.

Friends and fellow Americans, now is the time to fight like hell before the Middle East turns into one.

A strong and secure Israel is imperative for Middle East stability. That is why I’ve repeatedly supported Bibi’s re-election, and why I vehemently opposed the disastrous U.S. nuclear agreement with Iran.

The fact is, the U.S. recognized Israel as a sovereign state in 1948, and we need to continue to do so. We – especially our next president – must never quit striving for Middle East peace, while always acknowledging that Israel is our chief ally there, backed up with actions and support to prove it.

In light of this first anniversary of the Oct. 7 massacre in Israel, I urge you to pause what you are doing today and take four immediate actions:

• Please share this column with everyone you know to inform them how dark Islamic forces are desperately trying to destroy Israel and our country, too.
• WRITE & FIGHT the feds today about their disastrous Middle East support and funding of both sides of the war. Demand they do more to bring the hostages home.
• Most of all, VOTE in this presidential election! If you’re not registered, register here. It’s free and only takes a few minutes. You can find out where to vote in your state here.
• Lastly, and most of all, we all need to call on the help and intervention of the Almighty. We need to heed and follow the words of Psalm 122:6 in the Bible: “Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: May they prosper who love you.”

(By the way, my wife, Gena, and I just saw Dinesh D’Souza’s new film, “Vindicating Trump.” WOW! This is a must-see powerful, insightful and inspiring exposé and documentary for ALL Americans showing what the mainstream media will never tell you! Buy tickets or the DVD and watch the trailer here.)

When I heard that Vice President Kamala Harris was visiting the U.S. southern border for the first time in three years because she’s running now for president, especially after she and Mr. Biden let in over 15 million illegal migrants through their open-door policy, I thought, “How hypocritical!”

I’m not being rude or biased. I’m telling you the truth. And you, my American friends, have a right to know what she’s really done behind the border curtain.

Anyone who knows me knows I respect all law-abiding people. I’m all for legal immigration, but I’ve known for a fact that too much crime and criminals pass through the dark shadows of the massive illegal invasion going on since Joe Biden and Kamala Harris took office.

The 100% proof came Friday as Kamala was taking a photo op on the border.

The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) released an official criminal rap sheet showing that the Biden and Harris administration let in over 662,000 criminals who are now roaming the streets of every state. I only wish I were kidding or exaggerating!

ICE’s non-detained illegals docket surged to a staggering 7.4 million cases, and that does not include the 1.9 million “gotaways” who evaded border patrols as they broke into the U.S.

“The agency reported that, among those not in detention, there are 425,431 convicted criminals and 222,141 with pending criminal charges.

“Those include 62,231 convicted of assault, 14,301 convicted of burglary, 56,533 with drug convictions and 13,099 convicted of homicide. An additional 2,521 have kidnapping convictions and 15,811 have sexual assault convictions.

“There are an additional 1,845 with pending homicide charges, 42,915 with assault charges, 3,266 with burglary charges and 4,250 with assault charges,” as reported by Fox News.

Please reconsider just these four categories of heinous criminals let loose into our country by Harris and Biden’s open-door, non-vetting policies:

• 13,099 convicted of murder
• 15,811 convicted of sexual assault (or rape)
• 62,231 convicted of assault
• 2,521 convicted of kidnapping

How many of them are in your state and community right now?

Look at the ICE chart at this link showing detained and non-detained criminal invaders (with their crimes) that Harris and Biden let into our country to stalk American citizens.

As if those staggering numbers of convicted criminals crossing into the U.S. aren’t enough, brace yourself as the news gets worse!

Let’s not forget illegals crossing into the U.S. from the state sponsors of terrorism and those who harbor terrorists like Iran, Afghanistan, Somalia, Bangladesh, Egypt, Yemen, Iraq and Pakistan.

Consider that there were a record number of 172 people on the terrorist watchlist apprehended in 2023 alone. These numbers represent a 72% increased of apprehended potential terrorists, the most ever on record – higher than the last six fiscal years combined. That’s how many we know of! We don’t have a clue how many potential terrorists were among the 1.7 million illegal got-aways.

What more needs to be said when, in June, ICE and the FBI arrested eight Tajikistan illegals with ties to ISIS?!

Does anyone in Washington, D.C., remember 9/11 anymore?!

It only took 19 terrorists to pull off the devastation of 9/11 on America. Think what 100, who are already in our country, could do in the future?

Officials have said that they have encountered illegals from more than 150 countries.

In February 2024, Pew Research further reported that “most border encounters now involve people from countries other than Mexico and the Northern Triangle [i.e., the nations of El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras].”

“Among countries with the largest numbers of illegals are India, Brazil, Canada and former Soviet Union countries” and China (Over 8,000 illegals from Communist China were encountered at the southern border in December 2023 alone.)

Those illegal invaders arrested have included 598 known gang members, 178 of those being MS-13 members. One hundred recent U.S. criminal acts have been traced to the Violent El Tren de Aragua Venezuelan gang crossing at the southern border.

And who can forget what they are smuggling into the U.S. that is killing hundreds of thousands of Americans?

In FY 2023 alone, the CBP, including Air and Marine Operations, seized 27,293 pounds of fentanyl, coming across the Southwest border – enough to kill more than 6 billion people – almost the entire population of the earth!

According to even NPR, any migrants trying to cross into the U.S. can become unwilling mules to smuggle drugs for cartels as a huge percentage are robbed, kidnapped and their families are extorted.

The Daily Beast reported that cartels have so much power over immigrant routes into the U.S. that they daily rape, murder and ransom children for human trafficking, prostitution rings and “may even be harvesting their organs for the U.S. black market.”

And everyone should be haunted by this statement from John Jones, chief of the Intelligence Counter-terrorism Division with the Texas Dept. of Public Safety: “In the last 7 years (in Texas), over 4,000 illegal aliens have been incarcerated for sexual assault. 62% of them are sexual assault against children.”

The fact is, despite what “tough talk” Kamala says at the border and elsewhere, she can’t escape the human toll of her criminal border record and how it has created countless U.S. victims.

The Harris-Biden migrant crime wave has reached epic proportions so that every U.S. state is now a “border state,” according to the House Homeland Security Committee and all other experts on the issue.

Illegal migrant crime is so challenging and crippling communities across the U.S. – from urban to rural cities and towns – that first responders and law enforcement, who are bravely and courageously trying to protect them, are being stretched thin and bearing the burdens and costs.

As the Federation for American Immigration Reform has rightly stated, even the states with the lowest number of illegals collectively cost U.S. taxpayers billions and billions of dollars:

• Many Americans believe that immigrants, both legal and illegal, are not attracted to less-populated states with rural economies. However, a growing number of immigrants actually appear to prefer such states. Many migrants choose life in those states because they offer diverse employment opportunities and a lower cost of living than states like California or New York. (Here’s a county-by-count map of where the known illegals that have filed cases are residing, so you can check your own county – granted only a very small fraction have filed and are tracked!)

• Notice NONE of these are actual U.S. southern border states: New Hampshire, Mississippi, Alaska, Maine, North Dakota, West Virginia, South Dakota, Vermont, Montana and Wyoming have the smallest populations of foreign-born residents, with approximately 415,000 foreign-born who live in these states. Currently, there are 29 “sanctuary jurisdictions” within these 10 states.

• Approximately 88,000 of those foreign-born residents in the 10 states – or 21% of the total – are unlawfully present in the United States.
• These illegal aliens cost American taxpayers $454 million dollars annually.

• Each illegal alien in these states carries a net tax deficit of between $4,000 and $6,500 annually.

• Roughly 35,000 U.S. citizens in these states are the children of illegal aliens. Over 50,000 are K-12 students classified as having limited English proficiency (LEP). These LEP students cost taxpayers nearly $96 million.

• Immigrants who have settled in these states compete with Americans for jobs across the economic spectrum.

• Increased numbers of immigrants in these states pose threats to national security and public safety.

If these are the costs to taxpayers in the less-populated states, you can imagine the astronomical amount taxpayers are forking out for the larger states.

Bottom line, despite what many Democrats think, migrant crime does negatively impact both the poor and rich, the urban and the rural citizens.

Consider that even wealthy, liberal Martha’s Vineyard has seen six ICE arrests in just one month, including an MS-13 gang member!

What’s crazy is that Kamala has absolutely no concern or intention to deport the 662,000 criminals she and Biden let into the country, as she even despicably dances to the chant, “Down, down with deportation!”

Yet, back on the campaign trail, Harris continues the Trump-blame-game, trying to convince her followers that “Trump did nothing to fix the immigration problem” when he was president.

Nothing could be further from the truth.

John James (J.J.) Carrell recently retired from the United States Border Patrol after a 24-year career as a Deputy Patrol Agent in Charge.

In his new book, “Invaded: The Intentional Destruction of the American Immigration System,” Carrell documents with irrefutable evidence how:

In the final year of the Trump Presidency, the border was within reach of being secure as the daily arrests had dwindled to the lowest numbers in Border Patrol history. Nations south of our border that once violated our nation’s sovereignty and blatantly disrespected our nation, now adhered to our strong President who forced those nations to heel and show our great nation respect.

On January 20, 2021, everything changed.

President Biden [and Kamala Harris have] intentionally destroyed the American immigration system through the manipulation of DHS policies and laws. Never before in American history has our nation been invaded by millions of foreigners all with the encouragement and direct assistance of the United States government. The once proud United States Border Patrol has been forced to participate in the unlawful smuggling of millions of illegal aliens to their final destinations across America. Morale within the DHS does not exist.

Within the first two years of Biden’s Presidency, over 5,000,000 illegal aliens have been arrested and millions have been fraudulently released into our nation. Another 10,000,000 have absconded undetected because hundreds of miles of the southern border are open with not one single Border Patrol Agent actively patrolling.

Our nation faces a crisis created by both political parties that if left to continue will destroy our nation from within. There is no greater threat to our Republic than the invasion of millions of foreigners that do not share our language, culture or our shared values and beliefs.

I couldn’t encourage you enough to listen to J.J. Carrell himself describe the sinister covert work of the federal government in this Rumble exposé: “REVEALED: The Horrifying Secret Behind the Border Invasion w/ J.J. Carrell.”

Knowing the exhaustive list of heinous criminalities described above, I can’t imagine how any politician on the left or right – let alone any American – could justify being an advocate of open borders without law and order like Mr. Biden and Mrs. Harris have done the last four years, not even vetting those who come in!

Even more, I sincerely can’t understand how any American would want four more years of the Biden administration open-border policies through Kamala as president.

And what chaps my hide the most is this: Harris and Biden imported, supported and released more than a half-million convicted criminals onto the streets of the U.S., and yet they say Trump is a “threat to democracy”? What does that make Harris and Biden?!

Trump was exactly right in his comments to a crowd on Friday: “Nobody who has allowed this to happen to our country is fit to be president of the United States.”

Art Del Cueto from the National Border Patrol Council said about Kamala’s visit to the border: “What it is in reality is a slap in the face towards the men and women that put their lives on the line every day, and also a slap in the face to the American public. Where has she been?”

In short, Kamala’s visit to the border was nothing short of her returning to the scene of her own crime. Even veteran investigative journalist John Stossel called her out on her immigration hypocrisy and flip-flopping.

That’s why I say, with all sincerity, it is disingenuous, hypocritical and a flat-out mockery to the American public that Kamala visited the U.S. southern border for the first time in three years as vice president, especially a month before the presidential election, and put on a total show and act there that she was tough on border control.

The fact is, Kamala’s now wanting and claiming to be the country’s chief fireman, when the last three years she’s been the arsonist who has lit and fanned the flames of crime in every state of the union. How tragic in particular for those countless Americans who have been real victims of illegals’ crimes spree. How very sad!

That is why I continue to plead with my fellow Americans to fight every day to stop the alien invasion and illegalities at all ports of entry into the U.S., and particularly at our southern border.

1. WRITE your representatives and the White House today and demand they: “STOP THE INVASION NOW! MAKE AMERICA SAFE & SECURE AGAIN!”

2. Most of all, VOTE! If you’re not registered, register here. It’s free and only takes a few minutes. You can find where to vote in your state here.

3. Lastly, in order to further help your individual state, because every state is now a border state, please check out the resources and educational tour at Border911.com coming soon to a city near you!

(For further insight on our border crisis, I recommend three additional resources: 1. Please read my recent column: “Texas sheriffs demand, ‘STOP THE U.S. INVASION NOW!‘” 2. Please read America’s First Policy Institute’s article “How Our Open Border Leaves Us More Vulnerable to Terrorism.” 3. Please read the Naval Post Graduate School’s report on Cooperation Between Mexican Drug Cartels and Al Qaeda or ISIS)

According to a national Gallup poll, the percentage of U.S. adults who report having been diagnosed with depression has reached a record high at 29% (roughly 100 million Americans). That’s nearly 10 percentage points higher than in 2015.

Women and young adults have experienced the greatest increases of depression, while black and Hispanic adults’ rate is rising at about twice the rate of white adults.

The highest rates of depression ever diagnosed by health care professionals were found among young adults (aged 18–24 years).

Therefore, it’s no surprise that nearly half of Americans (roughly 160 million of us) say their satisfaction with their personal lives is also at a record low, again according to a national Gallup poll:

The top cause of depression? “Stressful circumstances.” And chief among them is money worries, caused by inflation and our depressed economy.

An American Psychological Association study found that 72% of Americans feel stressed about money at least some of the time. The past four years of economic difficulties mean that even more of us are now facing financial struggles and hardship.

The federal government is deceitfully cheering their own half a percentage point interest rate cut last week – the first in four years, overlooking the fact they’ve raised it over 10 times (from 0% to 5%) since President Biden has been in office. And we’re supposed to be thrilled over a half-point cut?! (Is it also a coincidence that they cut it when we were only 48-plus days away from a presidential election?)

Forbes explained, “It’s easy to forget that the Fed was holding the federal funds rate at around zero as recently as the first quarter of 2022. The Fed was also still buying billions of dollars of bonds every month to stimulate the economy. All despite 40-year highs in various measures of U.S. inflation.”

That’s the bad news.

So, here’s some good news!

For over 20 years, my wife, Gena, and I have learned lots of lessons by running our Lone Wolf Ranch. Many of these principles apply to life itself.

I bet your life and experience have taught you many of the same lessons.

Whether you’ve struggled or have been depressed a lot or a little lately, I thought you might be encouraged and empowered by my reflecting and sharing on what I call my “7 Life Lessons from a Texas Rancher & Ranger.”

Ready? Here we go! …

1. Worries and anxiety will haunt you “until the cows come home.” Let go and let God.

If you’ve ever waited for cattle to come in from the range by themselves, odds are you’ve worried or stressed if they ever will.

They remind me of our worries and stressors that are scattered out in the fields of life, and we wonder if they’ll ever disappear.

I bet you’ve had your share of worry and heartache, right?

Every time Gena and I watch a sunrise or sunset on the ranch while sipping a hot cup of coffee, we think, “Why do we worry about the things we often can’t change?”

Troubles come and troubles go, but we don’t need to focus on them when there is so much right and good going on in our lives and even the world every minute.

Where’s our focus and hope? In our supply or the divine Supplier who has promised to provide?

You might say, “That’s easy for you to say. You’re Chuck Norris.”

However, we’ve had family struggles just like you and annual bills for our Kickstart Kids Foundation that helps thousands of middle-school students across Texas, and we’ve felt stress just like you many years to meet those challenges.

No matter what our individual needs are, we all have to learn, often the hard way: Let go and let God help you with your worries and burdens.

One of my favorite books in the Bible, the Psalms, tells us: “Cast your cares on the LORD and He will sustain you.

2. Remember, it’s relationships that matter most.

I learned the hard way in my younger life: Success depends far more on relationships than spreadsheets.

It’s a life lesson I’ve repeatedly learned on our ranch.

Outside of the Lord, my favorite companions have four legs and two.

I’m speaking about our ranch dogs, horses and, most of all, my family and friends.

There’s nothing better than spending time with all of them on our Lone Wolf Ranch.

But my absolute favorite moments are taking daily walks on our ranch with Gena.

Former President Ronald Reagan once said about his favorite person and place – his ranch in California: “I’m crazy about the girl who goes to the ranch with me!”

I totally agree with Reagan.

God’s greatest gifts to us come in the form of our relationships.

Don’t take one for granted, with two legs or four.

3. Even if you’re not home on the range, daily commit to eating well and staying fit, which will also give you brain power.

No getting around it: We are what we eat. And what we eat affects our moods, minds and mental health.

So, fight hard every day to eat well, whether you like cooking or not.

To be honest: I’m not home on the oven range.

Fortunately, Gena does most of the meal preparations in our home – she’s amazing!

Committing to daily eating and living well is exactly what prompted Gena and me to partner with my Roundhouse Provisions team in creating the best and most delicious products and health supplements. If you’re looking for more energy, a better attitude or even some weight loss, check out the Roundhouse Provision products here. We even used top veterinarian nutritionists to create a line of delicious USA-made power dog food!

As sisters Bessie and Sadie Delany recommended before they died (Bessie at 104 and Sadie at 109): “God gave you only one body, so you better be nice to it. Exercise, because if you don’t, by the time you’re our age, you’ll be pushing up daisies.”

4. Courage is being scared to death, and saddling up anyway.

I didn’t create that saying. It is a quote from my hero, John Wayne.

Life can throw at us lots of very tough situations and obstacles.

Facing our fears are essential steps for our continued growth.

Life on the ranch has repeatedly reminded me of the truth of Wayne’s wisdom: “Courage is being scared to death, and saddling up anyway!”

5. Sometimes you follow wagon tracks, and sometimes you create new trails.

Much of life is a repetition, but watch out not to turn repetition into a rut.

It’s been said: If you always do what you’ve always done, you’ll always be where you’ve always been.”

There’s wisdom in following the advice of others.

But sometimes we just need to set out and venture where few have been.

Continue to challenge yourself with something new – by creating your own trails.

There’s nothing like exploring new wide-open spaces, towering peaks and big horizons!

6. If you’re riding ahead of the herd, look back every once in a while to make sure it’s still following you.

Someone once said, “If you think you’re leading others and you look back and no one’s following, you’re just out taking a walk.”

Leadership is influence, and we all can influence and encourage others, whether our four-legged friends, family members or others.

The proof of leadership is if others are following. So, don’t forget to look behind you for the herd.

George Bernard Shaw passed along some great wisdom here: “I am of the opinion that my life belongs to the whole community and as long as I live, it is my privilege to do for it whatever I can. I want to be thoroughly used up when I die, for the harder I work the more I live.”

7. There’s no success without a lot of sweat and hard work.

It’s so true: the only place success comes before hard work is in the dictionary.

No one (and I mean no one) owns an active ranch who doesn’t work very hard at it.

If you’ve been successful, odds are it didn’t come because you were born with a silver spoon either.

The hard work we hated as kids made us who we are today, right?

It’s still true: When the going gets tough, the tough get going.

Grit and perseverance still win the gold!

Two things that young people today can definitely learn from older generations: the power of perseverance (weathering pain and difficulty), and the ability to find true happiness and contentment outside of a quick and temporary fix.

I encourage more older adults (including of course parents, guardians and grandparents) to invest more time in the near future to encourage these character traits in their younger family members.

If a lack of happiness is bringing you or a loved one down, then I highly encourage you read the bestselling book, “Happiness,” by my friend and prolific author Randy Alcorn (it’s available right now at half off through his website).

“Happiness” is one ginormous resource to discover yours and others’ true happiness, and regain health and balance in our hearts, minds, souls, households, communities and nation.

I also encourage people to listen to Randy’s Happiness audio and video messages and check out the resources on his Happiness blog, where his series of Happiness articles are available free of charge. Start with this great Lifeway interview with Randy about the subject of happiness.

Randy couldn’t have put it better when he addressed how we are hardwired for happiness but with one serious flaw: “I argue in the book the problem isn’t they’re trying to be happy. God wired us to seek happiness. The problem is we seek happiness in the wrong places.”

In so doing, we simultaneously overlook or forget the true source of happiness: our Creator.

That is also why Randy quoted in his book from Thomas Brooks (1608-1680), an early migrant to America, captain of the militia and well-loved pastor, who explained 400 years ago an age-old truth: “Nothing can make that man truly miserable that hath God for his portion, nor nothing can make that man truly happy that [lacks] God for his portion. God is the author of all true happiness; he is the donor of all true happiness; he is the maintainer of all true happiness, and he is the centre of all true happiness. … He that hath him for his God, for his portion, is the only happy man in the world.”

The Bible describes it this way: “God, You make known to me the path of life; You will fill me with happiness in Your presence, with eternal pleasures at Your right hand.” (Psalm 16:11)

America’s founders understood that spiritual fact. That is why they stated it among our unalienable rights in the Declaration of Independence: We are “endowed by [our] Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”

Sept. 16 is the 404th anniversary of the Mayflower’s launch from England and the founding of the Pilgrim colony, which served as a microcosm of what the U.S. would become.

Unfortunately, the Pilgrims are a piece of history that, if most progressives have their way, Americans students won’t hear about any longer in public schools.

A PBS article quoted Eric H. Shed, director of the Harvard Teachers Fellows Program and a lecturer on education, who justified retelling history: “I think it’s a part of a general shift in the way in which we teach history, to question the past and not accept it as fact.”

It’s fine to test history, but redefining (and often reinventing) history is being done across the board in public education and academia, especially with revered American historical figures like Christopher Columbus, the Pilgrims and all America’s Revolutionary founders.

For example, instead of focusing upon Pilgrim emigrants seeking to escape religious persecution, Shed advises teachers to focus on how a horrific disease had claimed countless indigenous lives in and around Plymouth, and how they consider the landing of the pilgrims a day of mourning.

Really? Skip or minimize the Pilgrims escaping religious persecution and their courageous venture overseas as the primary teaching about the origins of America?

Even the well-known and ginormous 1000-plus page AP History textbook “America’s History”(used for over a decade in academia across the country) devotes only three small paragraphs (paragraphs, not pages – image below) to the Pilgrims, while dozens of pages are given to how those first emigrants decimated the indigenous peoples by warfare, extortion and disease.

Is it right to teach students across the U.S. about the Pilgrims merely from a negative bent of colonization, domination and racism, without any further credit and explanation of how they modeled self-government, human rights, property ownership and religious freedom for all generations of the U.S.?

Let’s examine the facts.

On Sept. 16, 1620, the Mayflower set sail with its passengers from Plymouth, England, to Plymouth, Massachusetts. Though there is some debate about the exact number of people onboard, scholars believe there were 102 passengers and about 26 crewmen headed to the New World. The passengers were made up of 50 men, 19 women (three pregnant), 14 young adults (between ages 13-18), and 19 children, with their average age being 32 (most men were in their 30s). The oldest person onboard was 64, and the youngest was a baby born on the trip who was named Oceanus Hopkins.

The Mayflower was originally purposed to carry goods, not people. So, most of its passengers lived on the second deck of the three-deck ship that had a ceiling height of only about 5 and a half feet. Keep also in mind the fact that most passengers rarely if ever saw the sunlight on the top deck for the entire 66-day, 2,750-mile journey.

To compare, imagine being enclosed for 66 days in the rear of a semi-trailer truck for the 2,913 miles from New York to San Francisco, then add the sways and swells of storms in the ocean, and travel at an average speed of 2 mph! Needless to say, there were no showers, and we can only imagine the stench from inadequate and overused depositories for human waste.

Once they arrived in the New World on Nov. 11, 1620, they spent their first full winter onboard the Mayflower as they built their homes. Tragically, only 53 passengers and roughly 13 crewmen survived the first winter.

Once they moved ashore, living on land was just as challenging. Over the first winter, more than half of the remaining Plymouth colonists died from disease, malnutrition and the harsh New England climate. The truth is, without the intervention and help of the Native Americans, all the colonists likely would have perished.

You may have known most of the preceding about the pilgrims, but odds are your posterity – if attending public schools – are not hearing about. With the 404th anniversary of the Mayflower launch this week, maybe it’s time to have a chat with your kids or grandkids about the facts of history.

Here are a few more facts I dug up about the Pilgrims and the Mayflower that you might want to share with your loved ones and friends this week:

1. The Mayflower not only didn’t land in Plymouth but also wasn’t heading there in the first place.

The Hudson River was the original destination of the Mayflower, where the colonists hoped to find fertile farmland somewhere north of present-day New York City. At the time, Virginia extended from Jamestown in the south to the mouth of the Hudson River in the north, so the colonists hoped to live generally under the English law but govern themselves and, more importantly, worship in their own, separate church, north of Anglican Virginia.

Nevertheless, back on the Mayflower, they were blown off course by a storm and ended up at the tip of Cape Cod, Massachusetts, at what is now Provincetown. They wanted to make another run at the Hudson but eventually settled in Plymouth Harbor on Dec. 16, 1620, because of lack of supplies, the onset of winter and undoubtedly weariness to press on.

2. The Pilgrims didn’t name Plymouth, Massachusetts, for Plymouth, England.

As Wikipedia even explains, “Captain John Smith of Jamestown fame had explored the area in 1614 and is credited with naming the region of New England. He named many locations using approximations of Native American words. The future site of the Pilgrims’ first settlement was originally named ‘Accomack’ by Smith. In consultation with Prince Charles, son of King James, Smith changed ‘Accomack’ to New Plymouth. A map published in his 1616 work, ‘A Description of New England,’ clearly shows the site of the future Pilgrim settlement named ‘New Plimouth.'”

3. The Pilgrims were not the Puritans, but the Separatists.

Puritans and Pilgrims (Separatists) both thought the Anglican Church (of England) had become as corrupt as the Catholic Church (of Europe), and both were considered religious dissenters. However, the Puritans believed that the Anglican Church could be reformed, while the Separatists did not. The latter were booted from England for their religious rebellion, landing in Holland for a while, but eventually setting their sights on a New World (a New Jerusalem) in the west.

Encyclopedia.com explained it this way: “Though theologically very similar to the Puritans who later founded the Massachusetts Bay Colony, the Pilgrims believed that the Church of England could not be reformed. Rather than attempting to purify the church, the Pilgrims desired a total separation.”

4. The original Protestant Separatists didn’t proclaim themselves pilgrims at first but “saints.”

The roughly 40 Mayflower passengers who were Protestant Separatists called themselves “saints” who hoped to establish a new church in the New World. They would have reasoned that “saints” is a term used in the Bible (New Testament) for all Christians, rather than referring to an elite few as in the Catholic Church.

Separatists called their non-church-attending neighbors “strangers,” as documented in a National Geographic article on the colony talking about both. However, it didn’t take long for “pilgrim” to become a term referring to all the colonists, as the official Plimoth Plantation website explained:

• After the Mayflower arrived, the first baby born was a boy. His parents (William and Susannah White) named him Peregrine – a word which means traveling from far away and also means pilgrim.
• The writer of “Mourt’s Relation” in 1622 refers to the Plymouth colonists as pilgrims.
• Gov. William Bradford calls the Plymouth settlers pilgrims when he writes about their departure from Leiden, Holland, to come to America: “They knew they were pilgrims, and looked not much on those things, but lifted up their eyes to the heavens, their dearest country; and quieted their spirits.” Bradford also wrote a poem in which he refers to himself as a pilgrim.
• “Pilgrim” became (by the early 1800s at least) the popular term applied to all the Mayflower passengers – and even to other people arriving in Plymouth in those early years.

5. There originally could have been many more Separatists voyaging to the New World.

Though the number of Separatists in the Mayflower were roughly 40%, another half of the remaining were sympathizers to their cause. As a matter of fact, the Plimoth Plantation again explained that there could have been a far greater number of Separatists traveling to the New World then.

The official website teaches: “The entire congregation could not come to America together. Those who could settle their affairs in Leiden went first while the greater number, including their pastor John Robinson, remained behind. The congregation purchased a small ship, Speedwell, to transport them across the sea and to use for fishing and trading in America. At Southampton, a port in England, they were joined by a group of English colonists who had been gathered by the investors. Speedwell and Mayflower – a ship rented by the investors – departed for America together. After twice turning back to England because Speedwell leaked, they were forced to leave the ship. As a result, many families were divided when some passengers had to be turned back for lack of space. [Eleven people from Speedwell boarded Mayflower, leaving 20 people to return to London.] A month after first leaving England, on Sept. 16 [OS Sept. 6], 1620, Mayflower set out alone with 102 passengers.”

If only all U.S. educators would learn and teach what scholars at the Plimoth Plantation share with all the visiting population!

Tragically, progressives today would like to leave out or rewrite much of history and particularly the origin of America; they are doing so in public education across the country right now.

In a great 2020 online series, the Heritage Foundation explains:

“Many of the nation’s elite institutions are offering radically revisionist histories of the United States, focusing almost exclusively on the issues of slavery and racism. The first event in the series, ‘The Mayflower Compact and the Foundations of Religious Liberty,’ challenges these jaded narratives.”

“The radical Left would like to offer 1619, the year when enslaved Africans were first brought to our shores, as an alternative date for the American Founding,” says Heritage President Kay James in the series’ introduction. “But the year 1620 would be a better candidate: In the Mayflower Compact we can discern the roots of the Founders’ commitment to religious freedom, to the rule of law, and to the rights of private property.”

When it comes to history, and particularly American history, I’ll take it just as Detective Sergeant Joe Friday used to put it in “Dragnet”: “Just the facts, ma’am.”

(For more information on those amazing first settlers we still rightly call the Pilgrims, I recommend The Plimoth Plantation website’s many resources as well as the Heritage Foundation’s The Mayflower Compact and the Foundations of Religious Liberty.)

On 9/11/01, Americans pledged to our country and the world that we would “never forget.”

But don’t we risk that important remembrance 23 years later when our culture fears offending anyone and appeases everyone, including Islamic extremists?

President Trump did a great job as commander in chief in rebuilding the U.S. military and leading the fight against terrorist thugs like ISIS and al-Qaida. His pro-Israel leadership against terrorist-sponsoring Islamic states like Iran and their proxies gave us a stronger stance in the world and kept Israel’s enemies from attacking during his presidency.

However, when Biden and Kamala entered the Oval Office and enabled Islamic extremism by fearing to use terms like jihadism and then funding those who fund jihadists, the White House and Washington deliberately sidestepped our commitment of remembrance in addition to their duty to protect our land and liberties.

Rep. Brian Mast, R-Fla., a veteran who served in Afghanistan and the chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Oversight and Accountability, summarized the horrific Biden-Harris track record:

• Joe Biden [and Kamala] took the Houthis off the terrorist list so that he could send $3 BILLION in aid to Yemen. Now, these terrorists are using the money to wage attacks on American cargo ships and warships passing through the Red Sea.
• Joe Biden [and Kamala] conceded and handed over $6 BILLION to Iran in a prisoner swap deal. Shortly after, the Iranian-funded Hamas terrorists launched the Oct. 7 attack on Israel. To this day, [seven] Americans are held hostage in Gaza. [On top of that $6 billion, “Biden-Harris Allowed Iran to Access Another $10 Billion Amid Gaza War“!]
• Joe Biden [and Kamala also] conceded to the Taliban in Afghanistan and handed over more than $7 BILLION worth of military equipment to terrorists during the withdrawal [of U.S. troops, in which 13 precious U.S. servicemen were killed. Thanks to Trump for recently accepting the invitation by their families to pay tribute to them at Arlington Cemetery on the third anniversary of their sacrifice.]

As if that weren’t enough, among the at least 10 million illegal invaders coming in through the U.S. southern border under the Biden-Kamala administration, consider that there were a record number of 172 people on the terrorist watchlist apprehended in 2023 alone. These numbers represent a 72% increased of apprehended potential terrorists, the most ever on record – higher than the last six fiscal years combined. That’s how many we know of! We don’t have a clue how many potential terrorists were among the 1.7 million illegal gotaways.

“The numbers speak for themselves. When it first launched on Dec. 1, 2003, the consolidated watchlist – now known as the Terrorist Screening Dataset – included approximately 120,000 people. By 2017, the last publicly confirmed numbers, it included nearly 10 times as many: 1,160,000 individuals. Now, at the end of 2023, the Terrorist Screening Dataset contains the names of approximately 2 million people the government considers known or suspected terrorists … according to a CBS Reports investigation.”

Is this Biden and Kamala’s way to tell 9/11 survivors, “We will never forget,” by allowing more terrorists into the country?

Can you imagine how four more years of the Biden administration’s loose border policies and global military strategy via Kamala Harris will further jeopardize U.S. security?

To add crazy to chaos, today some of the Biden-Harris liberal comrades presently filling roles as U.S. representatives even mock those who gave their lives on 9/11 as if they did something to deserve it. Tragic!

Their pro-terrorist, anti-Israel mentorship has created a hoard of young people and students across our country who’d rather see killers and executioners like Hamas in power in Israel and taking over the entire country from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea. Wacko!

And did you know as we send weapons to Israel to defend itself, the U.S. is still also sending weapons to anti-American overseas terrorists?

As Sen. Rand Paul eloquently stated in his article, “Stop Arming Radical Jihadism,” Washington continues to give funds and weapons to our “Islamic allies” like Saudi Arabia and Qatar, who in turn are handing them over to terrorists!

While many rightly decry Iran as the largest terrorist regime on the planet, we give a free pass to Saudi Arabia, about whom Rand Paul explained: “Since the 1980s, the Saudis are estimated to have spent $100 billion exporting a radical jihadism that preaches hatred of Jews, Christians, and Hindus. The Saudis fund tens of thousands of madrassas teaching hatred and violence against the West. At one of these madrassas, it is said that 80 percent of the students join the Taliban to fight the Americans. What sane person would give such people [money and military weapons, including] nuclear technology?” (But that is exactly what the U.S. has done and is doing.)

The U.S. might have served a massive blow against ISIS during Trump’s presidency, but it’s not dead by any means. In fact, the Congressional Research Service reported in May of this year: “While the group no longer controls territory outright in Syria and Iraq, U.S. military officials warn that it continues to operate and has worked to expand its global presence through affiliates in Africa, the Middle East, and Asia.”

And guess where else?

The Islamic State and its jihad (or violent holy wars) are alive and well even in the U.S., but it’s simply not reported very often anymore by our liberal mainstream media.

In June, the FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force reported the presence of “eight suspected terrorists with possible ISIS ties arrested in New York, L.A. and Philadelphia.” And they came in from our southern border over the last few years!

Do younger Americans and pro-Hamas protesters have any idea that a score of Islamic jihadist violent acts occurred in the past decade on U.S. soil, including beheadings?

Here’s a sample we know of:

• 2014 beheading by Alton Nolen
• 2014 Queens hatchet attack
• 2014 Seattle, Washington, and West Orange, New Jersey, killing spree by Ali Muhammad Brown
• 2015 Boston beheading plot
• 2015 Curtis Culwell Center attack
• 2015 Chattanooga shootings
• 2015 San Bernardino attack
• 2016 Orlando nightclub shooting
• 2016 New York and New Jersey bombings
• 2016 St. Cloud, Minnesota mall stabbing
• 2016 Ohio State University attack
• 2017 New York City truck attack
• 2019 Naval Air Station Pensacola shooting
• 2022 Stabbing of Salman Rushdie

If these attacks on American soil actually occurred within five years after 9/11, they would have made national news and immediately raised red flags and actions of everyone from the White House to the Congress, Republicans and Democrats.

But today, we just want everyone to get along. It’s as if we want to export our First Amendment, and say to the world as Rodney King once did, “Can’t we all just get along?” Read the extremist tealeaves: Their answer is an emphatic “No!”

Don’t misunderstand me. I absolutely believe that in America we must support everyone’s choice of religion – or no religion at all. That’s what the First Amendment is all about.

However, in defending our country, we must remain strong and vigilant against Islamic extremism, lest we return to a pre-911 era heads-in-the-sand mentality when we dropped our guards and became sitting ducks.

Tragically, that is exactly what has happened: the U.S. has become numb and dumb again to Islamic extremism and terrorism.

It’s been said that one of the reasons the world – indeed, the U.S. – repeatedly finds itself in these perilous terrorist pickles and cycles is that we end up valuing safety more than liberty.

Christ Stewart, together with Ted Stewart, authored one of my favorite books, “The Miracle of Freedom: 7 Tipping Points that Saved the World,” which describes how radical Islam came within a hair of taking over the world during its early expansion.

The Stewarts were interviewed several years ago by The Blaze and asked this very point about the relation and reversal of valuing safety over liberty.

The Blaze asked Stewart, “What if we don’t really appreciate freedom as much as we think we do? Even today, average people are more concerned with safety and stability than they are with liberty.”

Stewart answered, “It’s a good point. I believe it is human nature to look around at the world today – or the world our parents lived in yesterday, or the world we assume our children will live in tomorrow – and say: Well, this is the normal state of the world. Things don’t change. One of the main points of [our] book is to point out how extraordinarily unique self-governance, liberty – whatever definition you want to give modern freedom – is in this world. You can talk to historians who specialize in this area. They believe that maybe 4 or 4 and a half percent of us have been able to control our own destinies and lives.”

He added, “So it is easy to just assume that this is the normal state of the world. But we have example after example of nations that have enjoyed freedom and then saw it recede, or, for reasons you mention, collapse. There are the former Soviet bloc nations: Once the Berlin Wall fell most of them marched quickly towards freedom. But since then, many of them have fallen back and are increasingly turning away. It’s been documented that there are only 22 nations in existence right now that have been democracies for over 50 years. I think that fact should shock people. For more than two generations there have been only 22 nations that consistently embraced freedom. I think it illustrates pretty clearly that what we have is fragile and that it isn’t necessarily going to last.”

The federal government and the citizens of our country need to take to heart the wisdom of George Santayana: “Those who don’t remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”

Our founders – like those veterans who have fought in our wars – valued liberty more than safety. And so should we. They risked everything for freedom and their republic, trusting in God as they did.

As our founders wrote, “And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred Honor.”

September 11 can still serve as America’s pivotal and big wake-up call – one that even preserves our liberty and republic – as long as those who occupy the White House and Congress don’t slumber in safety while remembering it.

But on this 23rd anniversary of 9/11, it’s paramount for all of us to recall (indeed, remember) the costs of indecision and forgetfulness in critical times like these as well as the power of courageous leadership to deliver us from the hands of radical Islam.

God bless and help all the victims and families of 9/11, from those on Flight 93 to those who were in the Pentagon and Twin Towers, as well as others who have fought and presently fight the war on terror.

Despite what the White House or Washington thinks or does on this 23rd anniversary, we patriots will never forget those who perished and the lessons learned on Sept. 11, 2001. We will commemorate their sacrifices and why they were made, vowing never to see their repeat.

May their memory live on in our hearts and minds so that even our posterity will say with patriotic pride, “We will never forget.”

For more insight into the status of America and the upcoming presidential election, please read the recent excellent Special Edition of the Whistleblower, “God, Trump, America … and the Democrats’ all-out Plan to Steal the 2024 Election.”

In last week’s column, I urged all Americans to run and see the new “Reagan” movie.

I guarantee you: Whether you lean more to the political right or left, you will be absolutely inspired and empowered by “Reagan.” (Watch the trailer here.)

For those possibly too young to remember, “The 40th president of the United States, who served from 1981-89, appeared in 53 films as an actor before segueing to politics. He served as the president of the Screen Actors Guild and later shifted from liberal to conservative in becoming the governor of California in 1966. He was reelected in 1970,” as the Hollywood Reporter reported.

Get the hottest, most important news stories on the internet – delivered FREE to your inbox as soon as they break! Take just 30 seconds and sign up for WND’s Email News Alerts!

As president, among myriad global accomplishments, he is credited with spearheading the West’s fight in ending the Cold War and bringing down the reign of the Soviet Union.

I remember when Ronald Reagan was running for the presidency in 1980. He was not a typical politician. That is why the Democratic Party was going to do everything possible to keep him from getting to the White House.

However, the American people, including me, felt Reagan would be a great president. We all saw him as an impressive person, a man of honor and integrity, and a man who cared for all the people.

Shortly after Reagan became the 40th president of our great country, I had the pleasure of meeting him and the first lady.

One day, Nancy Reagan’s assistant called my office. My assistant answered and told her that I wasn’t there. Then Mrs. Reagan’s assistant explained that the first lady was having a tennis celebrity event at the White House, and she wanted to invite me. My assistant said she would call me and let her know soon if I would be able to make it to the event.

When my assistant called me and explained Mrs. Reagan’s personal invitation, I replied that I definitely wanted to go. But then when I hung up the phone, I realized I had never played tennis in my life! So, I obtained a tennis teacher to give me 10 days of intensive lessons before I had to fly to Washington, D.C.

It was a lot of fun playing in the White House tennis event. I had a great time. I didn’t play so great, but I also didn’t embarrass myself!

After the event, those participating were all invited to a special evening at the White House, during which we would have the opportunity to meet President Reagan. When I met him in person, I immediately knew that he was not only a fine man but also a great leader for our country.

As a new president, Reagan faced many of the same problems we face today, which were also caused by four years of a previous Democratic president (Carter): skyrocketing inflation, a Middle East hostage crisis, threats from Iran and Russia (among others), soaring gas prices, weak global leadership, illegal immigration and border invasion, etc.

That is why I repeatedly say history clearly teaches us that four more years of Biden economics and leadership via Vice President Kamala Harris is NOT the answer. We don’t need more of the same; otherwise we’ll get more of the same! As an adage goes, if you always do what you’ve always done, you’ll always be where you’ve always been.

Reagan’s leadership and administration was not perfect by any means, but they corrected those national and international problems and reignited our economy, a stronger global position on the planet and the American dream for so many citizens.

I remember when Reagan ran for his second term in 1984. The Democratic Party leaders again were trying their best to beat him with their presidential candidate, Walter Mondale of Minnesota.

But Reagan had done an incredible job in his first four years, so people from all political persuasions – Republicans, Independents and even Democrats – reelected him. And as history recorded, he went on to be an even greater second-term president, accomplishing things like bringing down the Berlin Wall and dismantling the Soviet Union.

In Reagan’s second term, I was invited back to an event at the White House. I again had the pleasure and honor to talk with President Reagan and the first lady. They were two of the most polite and respectful leaders I had ever met. I will never forget their friendship. I will always be grateful for how they inspired me to be a better person and leader.

On Jan. 11, 1989, Reagan gave his farewell address after eight years as the president.

History.com explained: “In his speech, Reagan declared that America ‘rediscovered’ its commitment to world freedom in the 1980s. The United States was ‘respected again in the world and looked to for leadership.’ The key, according to the president, was a return to ‘common sense’ that ‘told us that to preserve the peace, we’d have to become strong again after years of weakness.'”

“Reagan proudly enumerated the successes of his vigorous foreign policy: achieving peace in the Persian Gulf, forcing the Soviets to begin departing from Afghanistan, and negotiating for the withdrawal of Vietnamese troops from Cambodia and Cuban forces from Angola. These efforts were all waged against communism, the ideology that Reagan believed was the main threat to freedom. ‘Nothing,’ he stated, ‘is less free than pure communism.'”

Most moving to me was Reagan’s dignity in his retirement and his twilight years, especially as he fought his last and greatest battle, against Alzheimer’s.

On Nov. 5, 1994, five years after leaving the presidency, Reagan wrote a letter to his fellow citizens from his home near Santa Barbara. In it he acknowledged that he had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. The former president was honest and vulnerable. In his weakness, he reached out to even help others. He wrote these touching words:

My Fellow Americans,

I have recently been told that I am one of the millions of Americans who will be afflicted with Alzheimer’s Disease. Upon learning this news, Nancy and I had to decide whether as private citizens we would keep this a private matter or whether we should make this news known in a public way.

In the past Nancy suffered from breast cancer, and I had my cancer surgeries. We found through our open disclosures we were able to raise public awareness. We were happy that as a result many more people underwent testing. They were treated in early stages and able to return to normal, healthy lives.

So now, we feel it is important to share it with you. In opening our hearts, we hope this might promote greater awareness of this condition. Perhaps it will encourage a clearer understanding of the individuals and families who are affected by it.

At the moment I feel just fine. I intend to live the remainder of the years God gives me on this earth doing the things I have always done. I will continue to share life’s journey with my beloved Nancy and my family. I plan to enjoy the great outdoors and stay in touch with my friends and supporters.

Unfortunately, as Alzheimer’s Disease progresses, the family often bears a heavy burden. I only wish there was some way I could spare Nancy from this painful experience. When the time comes I am confident that with your help she will face it with faith and courage.

In closing let me thank you, the American people, for giving me the great honor of allowing me to serve as your President. When the Lord calls me home, whenever that may be, I will leave with the greatest love for this country of ours and eternal optimism for its future.

I now begin the journey that will lead me into the sunset of my life. I know that for America there will always be a bright dawn ahead. Thank you, my friends. May God always bless you.

Sincerely, Ronald Reagan

What screams from that letter is the one characteristic I love and miss most about Ronald Reagan: his humility. He was vulnerable to a fault. He was truly transparent and respectful. He was the definition of a servant leader. He was always thinking and caring for others, even when he was down. He didn’t dip to dredge another man’s character through the mud. He knew when he pointed a finger out, he had three pointing back.

Reagan also worked with those across the aisle, those with whom he even vehemently disagreed, like Democratic Speaker of the House Tip O Neil. He didn’t disrespect and demonize his opponents. Sure, he had a lot of fun sparring and poking verbal jabs with them, but never forgetting they were just as much American as him. I sure wish that characteristic of respect and humility would return to Washington politics.

In the March 2020 edition of the Whistleblower magazine, Lee Edwards, the author or editor of 25 books and the distinguished fellow in conservative thought at the Heritage Foundation’s B. Kenneth Simon Center for American Studies, wrote about the divisiveness in our country: “We shall come through this crisis as we have other challenges in our 241-year history, following the example of leaders such as Reagan, who reminded us in his first inaugural address just what kind of people we are. The crisis we face, Reagan said, requires our willingness to believe in ourselves, ‘to believe that together, with God’s help, we can and will resolve the problems which now confront us. And after all, why shouldn’t we believe that? We are Americans.'”

I’ll encourage everyone one last time: Whether you lean more to the political right or left, you will be absolutely inspired and empowered by “Reagan” the movie, with an Oscar-worthy presidential role played by Dennis Quaid (Watch the trailer here!)

Content created by the WND News Center is available for re-publication without charge to any eligible news publisher that can provide a large audience. For licensing opportunities of our original content, please contact licensing@wndnewscenter.org.

SUPPORT TRUTHFUL JOURNALISM. MAKE A DONATION TO THE NONPROFIT WND NEWS CENTER. THANK YOU!

Former first lady Nancy Reagan once said about her beloved husband, “They broke the mold when they made Ronnie.”

Knowing them both personally, I can vouch for the truth of her words. (I will share a few personal stories about the Reagans in my column next week!)

Though no leader is without his or her flaws, President Ronald Reagan was a stellar man and ginormous influencer on this planet, like few others.

For those possibly too young to remember, “The 40th president of the United States, who served from 1981-89, appeared in 53 films as an actor before segueing to politics. He served as the president of the Screen Actors Guild and later shifted from liberal to conservative in becoming the governor of California in 1966. He was reelected in 1970,” as the Hollywood Reporter reported.

Get the hottest, most important news stories on the internet – delivered FREE to your inbox as soon as they break! Take just 30 seconds and sign up for WND’s Email News Alerts!

Politically as president, among myriad global accomplishments, he is credited with spearheading the West’s fight in ending the Cold War and bringing down the reign of the Soviet Union.

It would not be easy to capture his personage – let alone legacy – in film, but I believe that finally has been accomplished in a first full-length feature titled simply, “Reagan.”

I cannot say enough great accolades about this new movie, in which Dennis Quaid stars and gives an Oscar-worthy performance as the 40th president.

The screenplay was written by Howard Klausner and is based on Paul Kengor’s insightful 2006 book, “The Crusader: Ronald Reagan and the Fall of Communism.” (Kengor teaches political science at Grove City College in Pennsylvania.)

This new must-see biopic had its world premiere last Tuesday at Hollywood’s most iconic theater, TCL Chinese Theatre, coincidentally at the same time as the Democratic National Convention was broadcast. It will now open in theaters across the nation this Friday night, Aug. 30.

The film was showcased by our good friend and exhibition veteran Kevin Mitchell and his newly founded ShowBiz Cinemas. “Reagan” is the company’s debut release, partnering with former Lionsgate distribution president Richie Fay, and former Open Road distribution co-president Scott Kennedy, Deadline reported.

As his Linkedin profile explained, “Mr. Mitchell has been engaged in the theatrical exhibition business for more than 35 years. … .[Kevin] has also served on multiple board of directors, including former Chairman of the Board for Variety The Children’s Charity Of Texas, an Advisory Board Member for National Association Of Theatre Owners and Will Rogers Motion Picture Pioneers Foundation, as well as a Board Member for Chuck Norris’ Kickstart Kid’s Foundation.”

Discussion “Reagan,” Mitchell explained, “I’ve had my eyes on this movie for a while. Dennis Quaid does such an amazing job portraying Reagan. ‘Reagan’ was sought by many, and we are happy that we could reach an agreement with Mark Joseph and his team.”

Deadline reported: “A biopic set against the backdrop of the Cold War, the film follows Reagan’s journey from his childhood in Dixon, Illinois, to Hollywood and on to the White House. It begins with an aging [former KGB agent Viktor] Petrovich (Jon Voight), now 90 years old, being visited by an up-and-coming Russian leader who wants to know how the Soviet Union was lost. Petrovich, the spy who knows everything there is to know about Reagan, begins recounting the tale of his adversary: the man he mockingly nicknamed ‘The Crusader,’ beginning in 1922, when 11-year-old Ronald Reagan faces his first life crisis.”

Additional cast members include Penelope Ann Miller as Nancy Reagan, David Henrie as the teenage Reagan, C. Thomas Howell as Caspar Weinberger, Nick Searcy as James Baker and Lesley-Anne Down as Margaret Thatcher.

Gena and my very close friends are the veteran actor and mega-patriots Marshall and Lindy Teague. As part of the all-star cast, Marshall plays Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs Eduard Shevardnadze in “Reagan.”

Marshall explained his role to Gena and me this way: “When you have the opportunity to be a part of a movie about one of the greatest presidents, all I could do was smile!

“As a character actor, portraying a real-life personality is always captivating, as you not only take on the persona but also the physical look – in this case as Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs Eduard Shevardnadze with a Georgian/Russian accent. That was fun!

“Filming started in the fall of 2020, which made the challenges of COVID protocol difficult on set. Yet, in true Reaganesque nature, Dennis Quaid flawlessly crawled into the spirit of Reagan and would flash that indelible smile along with the iconic twinkle in his eye and say, ‘Let’s go to work!’

“It was an absolute honor to be a part of this amazing ensemble cast touching upon the greatest moments of one of the greatest presidents, Ronald Reagan.”

Outside of its amazing entertainment value, with lots of unexpected comedy too, another great aspect about the “Reagan” movie is that it’s receiving acclaim from those on every side of the political aisle.

Filmmaker Sean McNamara explained that “Reagan” is not a right-wing or leftist movie. He told the Hollywood Reporter, “With ‘Reagan,’ our film has everything. It’s not only about his presidency. It’s also about him as a little boy, how he grew up, how he fell in love with Nancy and their love story. It goes on to detail how he became governor then president through to when he retired and when he got Alzheimer’s. It’s the full length of his life story.”

Penelope Ann Miller, who stars opposite Quaid as Nancy Reagan, shared, “There are a lot of Democrats in the film, and a lot of Democrats are here [at the premier] to support our film because they are interested in finding out more about Reagan. We all need to be able to talk to each other.

“It’s so divisive in our country, and if you shut down one side over another, it’s harmful. We’re all a part of the same country, and it’s important that we all can be seen and heard. One of the great things about Reagan was that he was such an effective communicator. He was able to cross party lines.”

Quaid summarized his monumental role to Deadline this way: “Portraying Ronald Reagan was an enormous challenge. This is an important movie, one of my most interesting roles and I am really excited to work with the ShowBiz team to get this film opened in theaters this summer.”

Even Ronald Reagan’s Presidential Library in Simi Valley, Calif., hosted an interview with the cast of “Reagan” followed by a dinner in late July. The library’s official website explained about this amazing movie, “On August 30, 2024, REAGAN will be released in theaters nationwide. REAGAN is a cinematic journey of overcoming the odds. … This film offers a perspective as unique as it is captivating!”

I guarantee you: Whether you lean more to the political right or left, you will be absolutely inspired and empowered by “Reagan”! Don’t walk but run to see “Reagan”! (Watch the trailer here.)

Content created by the WND News Center is available for re-publication without charge to any eligible news publisher that can provide a large audience. For licensing opportunities of our original content, please contact licensing@wndnewscenter.org.

SUPPORT TRUTHFUL JOURNALISM. MAKE A DONATION TO THE NONPROFIT WND NEWS CENTER. THANK YOU!

When my wife, Gena, and I heard that Tulsi Gabbard, who served as the U.S. representative for Hawaii’s 2nd Congressional District from 2013 to 2021 and then became a presidential candidate, was recently placed on a TSA terrorist watch list, we thought in shock, “What?! How could this be?”

Gabbard is a stellar leader and American, not to mention a combat veteran and United States Army Reserve officer who also sat on the House Homeland Security Committee.

So, how could anyone have placed Tulsi on the federal government’s terror watchlist, prompting several obstacles and detailed personal searches by TSA agents on her and her husband’s recent flights? That’s what the Gabbards and the rest of us Americans want to know!

Get the hottest, most important news stories on the internet – delivered FREE to your inbox as soon as they break! Take just 30 seconds and sign up for WND’s Email News Alerts!

In a statement to the Honolulu Star-Advertiser, Gabbard said that her inclusion on the watch list “is clearly an act of political retaliation.”

“It’s no accident that I was placed on the Quiet Skies list the day after I did a prime-time interview warning the American people about … why Kamala Harris would be bad for our country if elected as president and commander in chief. What hurts me the most is the fact that like so many Americans I enlisted because of the terrorist attack on 9/11, deployed to war zones to go after those terrorists, still serve in the U.S. Army for over 21 years, and now my government is surveilling me as a potential domestic terrorist,” Gabbard said. “The real pain this has caused is the stress of forever looking over my shoulder, wondering if and how I am being watched, what secret terror watch list I’m on, and having no transparency or due process.”

Gabbard said this branding and infringement of her rights is about more than her and that every American has “the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”

“They have taken that away from me and my family,” Gabbard said.

Tulsi is exactly right. If it can happen to her, it can happen to any one of us.

The way I see it, she became a “potential terrorist” once she abandoned the Democratic Party and starting speaking up against the Biden administration, with Kamala Harris now as their lead duck. Tulsi fought for reform in the Democratic Party until she was left with no alternative but to abandon it.

A year ago, when Gena and I heard the political watershed news that Gabbard announced she was stepping away from the Democratic Party, we were thrilled and commended her courage.

We have the highest regards of Tulsi’s leadership, views and overall heart. We are glad Trump is pulling her into his inner circle for debate prep against Kamala. Tulsi would have made a fantastic next vice president and even future president. And we hope, if Trump is elected, he will give her a big position in his Cabinet because she is worthy of it.

Gabbard, who was the first Samoan-American voting member of Congress, was absolutely right when she wrote the following in her Twitter post as she departed from the Democratic Party: “I can no longer remain in today’s Democratic Party that is now under the complete control of an elitist cabal of warmongers driven by cowardly wokeness, who divide us by racializing every issue & stoke anti-white racism.”

Actually, I had a similar wake-up call and made the same political shift way back in the 1960s.

I explained all of it a few years ago in a column I titled, “Why I switched from Democrat to Republican.”

To summarize here, I remember watching television back in the 1960s when I lived in Southern California. I watched Democratic leaders restricting black students from joining a public school that had all white students in it.

I asked myself, “Why are these Democrats not allowing black people to be students there?” (I was actually a registered Democrat at the time – many of us conservatives were, including the great Ronald Reagan.)

So, I called a Democratic congressman in Riverside, California, and asked why they were chasing away black people from public schools? He replied, “Blacks have their own schools, and we don’t want them in our schools.” That happened in the liberal left-coast Los Angeles area!

On another day while watching television, I again saw black students trying to join the white students at school, while Democrat tough guys had their attack dogs chasing those black students away.

I was sitting on my couch screaming, “What is going on?! I can’t believe these Democrats are doing this. I am finished with them!”

I switched parties because Republicans were upset with the way Democrats were treating blacks. Back then, Republicans believed that blacks students should be able to study at any school and Democrats opposed it.

I have written many times over the years how the Democratic Party has pulled the wool over minorities’ eyes by getting them to believe they are the pro-minority party. These lies were clearly exposed in the small powerful book, “Little Book of Liberal Lies,” by Elbert Guillory, an African American former member of the Louisiana State Senate.

What should further bother all of us is that Marxist ideologies are behind many of the philosophies of the Democrats’ modern-day cultural woke and DEI movements like Critical Race Theory, Critical Social Justice, and Black Lives Matter. (In former columns, I’ve also thoroughly documented the Democratic Party’s “political playbooks” as found in the works of Neo-Marxist Saul Alinsky’s, “Rules for Radicals” and the Cloward-Piven strategies.)

Even a New York Post liberal columnist wrote an op-ed piece this past week noting that Kamala Harris’ federal government price-control proposals for groceries and other industries is validating her “communist” label by putting more power into the hands of far-off Washington bureaucrats.

Bottom line, if you don’t want the communist label, quit proposing communist policies!

In my column “Karl Marx would be proud of U.S. progress,” I explained that America’s founders intended “we the people” to have the power, not government. They expected “we the people” to control our lives, not government. They empowered “we the people” to manage our money and free enterprise. They never expected Washington to have the answers and solutions for life, liberty and happiness, but God and “we the people.”

That is why Tulsi Gabbard said this past week that hypocrisy and deception is embodied also in Democrat presidential candidate Kamala Harris, whom she debated in 2019:

“I think she revealed in that [July 2019] debate the same thing that I think her campaign handlers are worried about right now … Kamala Harris is an empty suit. They are trying to create this new version of Kamala Harris to match what their pollsters are telling them, so she can say whatever she needs to say to try to win over voters, which is the most offensive thing, I think, because they think we’re so stupid as to forget what her record actually is. In 2019, very simply, I confronted her with her hypocrisy of how what she said was very different than what she actually did, and she had no answer for it. She had no explanation. She didn’t even try to own or justify what her actions were. And that’s going to be the key thing here for voters as we head into this election is Kamala Harris will say whatever she thinks she needs to say. We have to pay attention to her actions, because on every single major issue, you will see that same kind of hypocrisy that I pointed out in 2019 where she’ll say one thing, but her record tells a very, very different story.”

Friends, America is again at a huge tipping point, maybe the biggest one ever. If we don’t stop liberal woke and DEI progressives now by choosing more constitutionally conservative leaders, they will plummet America and Americans (particularly younger generations) down the slippery slope to socialism and Marxism.

If the citizens of our great land are to preserve the heart and soul of America for the next generation, we must elect leaders who understand and advocate the tenets in the Declaration of Independence, the U.S. Constitution and our Bill of Rights. We must appoint godly men and women who uphold them, including of course those who promote the bedrock role of religion throughout society as the moral and civil basis for our republic, as America’s founders (including George Washington) advised and promoted.

As Benjamin Franklin said at the time of the signing of the Declaration of Independence in July 1776, “We must all hang together or most assuredly we will all hang separately.”

Content created by the WND News Center is available for re-publication without charge to any eligible news publisher that can provide a large audience. For licensing opportunities of our original content, please contact licensing@wndnewscenter.org.

SUPPORT TRUTHFUL JOURNALISM. MAKE A DONATION TO THE NONPROFIT WND NEWS CENTER. THANK YOU!

American happiness is in a freefall, and there’s a direct link to one area: economics.

In 2022 research by Oracle, at least one-third to one-half of Americans have outright confessed they have forgotten what it means to be “truly happy”: “27% of Americans surveyed said they couldn’t remember what it meant to be ‘truly happy,’ 45% of Americans surveyed said it had been more than two years since they last felt ‘true happiness.'”

Have the past two years helped happiness trends? Unfortunately, not.

Get the hottest, most important news stories on the internet – delivered FREE to your inbox as soon as they break! Take just 30 seconds and sign up for WND’s Email News Alerts!

Gallup reported earlier this year, “For just the third time in more than two decades, less than half of Americans say they are ‘very satisfied’ with the way things are going in their personal lives. The 47% of U.S. adults expressing high satisfaction with their lives has edged down 3 percentage points over the past year and is only 1 point higher than the 2011 record low for the trend.”

Gallup concluded, “Americans are currently less satisfied with their personal lives than they have been since 2011, whether that is based on the percentage satisfied or very satisfied. This lower satisfaction level coincides with weak economic confidence” [emphasis mine].

Though I’ve never believed government can provide for anyone’s happiness, it definitely can make it harder to experience happiness when Washington D.C.’s policies, regulations, out-of-control spending and borrowing place more restrictions on our lives, freedoms and pocketbook.

Chief among Washington’s negative influences have been the soaring prices of everything (highest in 40 years), particularly since Mr. Biden and Kamala Harris took office in 2021. They have produced what Gallup calls, “Weak economic confidence,” and there’s no end in site.

Here’s how overall inflation looks over the past 10 years:

While the White House keeps saying inflation is “cooling,” check out this statistic: Of the nearly 400 items the Bureau and Labor Statistics (BLS) tracks, about 2 in 3 (or 67%) increased in price between June 2023 and 2024. Almost 300 out of the 400 items tracked increased MORE in price in just this past year, and those doesn’t include the increases from the last three years! That’s not exactly what I would call an inflation freeze!

According to BLS, these are the prices that increased most over the past year:

In particular, the costs of groceries continue to skyrocket, rob and hurt American homes the most.

The Washington Post reported, “Grocery prices have jumped by 25% over the past four years, outpacing overall inflation of 19% during the same period.”

The Post explained, “Stubbornly high grocery prices represent a critical drain on the finances of tens of millions of people and remain, along with housing, perhaps the most persistent economic challenge for the Biden administration as it tries to convince Americans the economy is back on solid footing. For all the attention on gas prices and housing, more than two-thirds of voters say inflation has hit them hardest through higher food prices, according to a November 2023 survey by Yahoo Finance/Ipsos. That’s more than 50 percentage points higher than any other category.”

To add insult to injury, the average American consumer now carries $6,329 in credit card debt! Why? “People are stretched,” experts say (“High inflation made finances worse for 65% of Americans last year”).

Trump was exactly right this past week: “People are going to vote [for the next president] with their stomachs.” That is, their high grocery bills will guide them how to choose a next president.

That’s why I honestly say it’s a mystery to me why someone would vote for another four years of the Biden administration policies through Kamala Harris, who will give us what type of economic plan? You guessed it: more of the same. In fact, financial analysts are saying it could be even worse than Biden’s.

With millions of American homes crippled by economic inflation, is it really any surprise that both drinking and drug abuse are also soaring across the nation? Why? Because people want to be happier. They want to escape their financial problems.

Worst of all, of course, is the drug and opioid epidemic, now being led by fentanyl, the usage of which has gone through the roof, including for minorities and adolescents.

The American Medical Association reported, “The nation’s drug overdose epidemic continues to change and become worse. The epidemic affects every state and now is driven by illicit fentanyl, fentanyl analogs, methamphetamine, and cocaine, often in combination or in adulterated forms.”

Roughly 100,000 deaths are reported in the U.S. from drug overdose each year, and another roughly 88,000 people die of alcohol-related causes every year in the United States.

Data from CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics indicate there were an estimated 107,543 drug overdose deaths in the United States during 2023 alone.

As devastating as those statistics are, the most alarming statistic to me is this one: Approximately 80% of the world’s opioid supply is consumed entirely in the United States. Can you believe that? That’s 80% of all opiates being consumed by only 5% of the total world’s population in America! That’s truly staggering and sad.

Among young people nationwide, 17% of students (almost 1 in 5) has taken prescription drugs (e.g., Oxycontin, Percocet, Vicodin, codeine, Adderall, Ritalin or Xanax) without a doctor’s prescription one or more times during their life, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Youth Risk Behavior Survey, an annual report conducted each year since 1991.

Why is opioid use skyrocketing among those in our nation? There are a host of reasons, including a few valid ones, like chronic pain, but we know that’s not why the majority are consuming 80% of global opioids.

The fact is people’s hearts are stressed, anxious, discontent and hurting from life’s circumstances. And in a pleasure and comfort-based nation, with too many unable to weather tough times and difficulty without an instant stress and pain reliever or fix, they want (“need”) and take their “happiness pill.”

Dr. Peter Ubel, a physician and behavioral scientist, posits this explanation: “Even though many addicts are miserable, this misery doesn’t mean that their use of heroin or crack is irrational. As [Professors Gary] Becker and [Kevin] Murphy put it: ‘People often become addicted precisely because they are unhappy. However, they would be even more unhappy if they were prevented from consuming the addictive goods.'”

Two things young people in particular today can definitely learn from older generations: the power of perseverance (weathering pain and difficulty), and the ability to find true happiness and contentment outside of a quick and temporary fix. I encourage more older adults (including of course parents, guardians and grandparents) to invest more time in the near future to encourage these character traits in their younger family members.

If a lack of happiness is contributing to the core of addictions to opioids and even alcohol – and I believe it is, then I highly encourage people everywhere to study and master the art of being happy and content by reading the bestselling book, “Happiness,” by my friend and prolific author Randy Alcorn (it’s available right now 60% off through his website!).

“Happiness” is one ginormous resource to discover yours and others’ true happiness, and regain health and balance in our hearts, minds, souls, households, communities and nation. I also encourage people to listen to Randy’s Happiness audio and video messages and check out the resources on his Happiness blog, where his series of Happiness articles are available free of charge. Start with this great Lifeway interview with Randy about the subject of happiness.

Randy couldn’t have put it better when he addressed how we are hardwired for happiness but with one serious flaw: “I argue in the book the problem isn’t they’re trying to be happy. God wired us to seek happiness. The problem is we seek happiness in the wrong places.”

In so doing, we simultaneously (and often inadvertently) overlook or forget the true source of our core happiness: our Creator.

That is also why Randy quoted in his book from Thomas Brooks (1608-1680), an early migrant to America, captain of the militia and well-loved pastor, who explained 400 years ago an age-old truth: “Nothing can make that man truly miserable that hath God for his portion, nor nothing can make that man truly happy that [lacks] God for his portion. God is the author of all true happiness; he is the donor of all true happiness; he is the maintainer of all true happiness, and he is the centre of all true happiness. … He that hath him for his God, for his portion, is the only happy man in the world.”

The Bible describes it this way: “Do not put your hope in the uncertainty of wealth, but in God who richly provides us with all things to enjoy [or be happy].”

America’s founders understood that spiritual fact. That is why they stated it among our unalienable rights in the Declaration of Independence: We are “endowed by [our] Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”

(If anyone has doubts, struggles or wants to learn more about God, I encourage you download this FREE E-copy of the book, “The God Questions: Exploring Life’s Greatest Questions About God.”)

Content created by the WND News Center is available for re-publication without charge to any eligible news publisher that can provide a large audience. For licensing opportunities of our original content, please contact licensing@wndnewscenter.org.

SUPPORT TRUTHFUL JOURNALISM. MAKE A DONATION TO THE NONPROFIT WND NEWS CENTER. THANK YOU!

The Olympics’ governing body has a very serious public relations problem, and an even more serious athletic competitor fairness dilemma. And I’m not even sure the Olympic hierarchy understands how severe the issue is. But when my friends around the globe – who are on every side of the aisle – all complain to me, Olympic officials need to listen and make some better decisions.

If you’ve been on summer vacation and haven’t heard, at least two Olympic events this past week have caused earthshattering global disturbance, debate, division and even despair.

The first came in the Olympic’s opening ceremony which showcased DJ and producer Barbara Butch – an LGBTQ+ icon – flanked by drag artists and dancers in a scene that clearly mimicked and mocked Leonardo da Vinci’s “The Last Supper,” not the feast of Dionysus. (Butch even initially posted on her Instagram – but then removed it – a collage of the Last Supper alongside her performance with the exclamation, “Oh yes! Oh yes! The New Gay Testament!“). This scene was taken from the Bible in which Jesus was surrounded by His 12 Apostles and instituted the first Communion the night before His suffering and Crucifixion.

Immediate responses of disgust, disdain and condemnation (followed by a call to boycott the Olympics) came from millions on every social media platform followed by ecclesiastical and other leaders – including the French Catholic Church – and athletic champions and Olympic lovers all around the globe. The mockery and sacrilege were obvious.

Was it really necessary to use one of the most sacred rites and depictions in Christendom to demonstrate and even “push” LGBTQ+ diversity? Obviously not. And “we didn’t intend that” doesn’t justify such clear offensive oversight.

If the secular world can refrain from displaying images of Mohammed because Islam condemns them, can it not offer respect without defaming Jesus and offending Christians around the world?

Get the hottest, most important news stories on the internet – delivered FREE to your inbox as soon as they break! Take just 30 seconds and sign up for WND’s Email News Alerts!

Moreover, with a record low of people watching the summer Olympics already (only 35%, according to Gallup), did the Olympic overseers really overlook the likelihood of offending and alienating the largest religious population on the planet and further diminish its viewing audience?

A massive global boycott is exactly what resulted. And those who paid and pay the price are all the amazing Olympic athletes from every country in every sport who have worked for years with heart and perseverance to get to that stage of competition.

Don’t misunderstand me. I’m not homophobic. I believe in America we must embrace diversity. Indeed, America was founded upon it.

However, what happens when promoting diversity and inclusion denigrates and even desecrates others’ core convictions or religious practices?

Do DEI advocates, including those overseeing the Olympics, expect others to tolerate (and even embrace) their views while they denigrate others before a global audience? Justifying one’s freedom to act should not warrant stepping all over others who differ from you. Doesn’t diversity go both ways?

Democracy is not mob rule, and yet so often modern Americans (and those in other western countries) interpret it that way: “If you don’t believe as we do, we will force our convictions upon you, using social, economic, legal, emotional and any other type of pressure until you consent in agreement and conformity.”

(I encourage you subscribe and read the latest edition of the Whistleblower, “America’s All-Out Religious War,” which details many other anti-religious incidents in society like the above.)

The second Olympic fracture last week erupted when the Algerian boxer Imane Khelif, who was deemed to have male XY chromosomes (be biologically male) though registered as a woman, won a fight in just 46 seconds in the 66-kilogram women’s division against Italy’s Angela Carini.

Within 30 seconds, Carini was hit by Khelif in the face with brute force. Her nose started bleeding from what later was discovered was a broken nose. In her history of fighting, she said, she “never felt [a] punch like this.”

She went to her cornermen to call off the fight, decrying the competition afterwards as an absolutely “unfair” matchup.

After the judge announced victory to Khelif, Carini bowed to her knees in tears, not believing what just occurred and that her Olympic dreams were dashed to the wind by a man.

“I got into the ring to fight,” she said, via Italy’s ANSA. “I didn’t give up, but one punch hurt too much and so I said enough. I’m going out with my head held high.”

Carini, who is as tough as nails and a supreme woman’s fighter, was willing to step into the ring with this Algerian boxer despite all of Italy had been asking her not to fight for days, her coach explained.

Come to find out, “Khelif fought under a firestorm of controversy regarding a failed gender eligibility test in 2023, in which he ‘was disqualified during the 2023 World Championships sanctioned by the International Boxing Association. The organization said Khelif, and Taiwan’s Lin Yu-Ting failed to meet gender eligibility standards,'” according to FOX News.

International Boxing Association (IBA) president Umar Kremlev explained the decision at the time, according to Russia’s Tass News Agency. Reuters also reported that Khelif tested positive for having high levels of testosterone.

“Based on DNA tests, we identified a number of athletes who tried to trick their colleagues into posing as women. According to the results of the tests, it was proved that they have XY chromosomes. Such athletes were excluded from competition,” Kremlev said.

I knew when I saw Carini’s genuine fear and tears, and what appeared as a winning-smugness of Khelif, I had to say something as a world fighting champion.

Soon after the fight, Riley Gaines – a 12-time All-American swimmer who describes herself as a “leader defending women’s single-sex spaces” – posted on X, “Men don’t belong in women’s sports #IStandWithAngelaCarini.” (Riley also called the opening ceremony a “Satanic display.”)

Tesla, X and SpaceX owner Elon Musk, who first voiced opposition to the Olympic opening ceremony scenes by saying it was “extremely disrespectful to Christians,” secondly stood up for Carini by agreeing with Riley Gaines post, replying, “Absolutely!

And I think J.K. Rowling’s opine on X hit the proverbial nail on the head when it came to the fight between Carini and Khelif, posting the photo above and writing: “Could any picture sum up our new men’s rights movement better? The smirk of a male who knows he’s protected by a misogynist sporting establishment enjoying the distress of a woman he’s just punched in the head, and whose life’s ambition he’s just shattered.”

Even closer to home was the outrage of a former Olympic boxing champion and two-time gold medalist Claressa Shields, who has won titles in three different weight classes and the current undisputed junior middleweight champion, and the unified middleweight champion. (Women’s boxing is divided between 17 weight classes, from heavyweight to atomweight.)

Shields immediately wrote on X: “So they got men fighting against women in the Olympics boxing ! I wouldn’t have stood for no stuff like that! That is so heartbreaking to the women who have to have their dreams ruined by a man. Sad asf!”

The day after the Olympic boxing debacle, Claressa also hit the airways to voice her professional and personal opposition: “It is very hard to qualify for the Olympics. You have to go through so many different international tournaments, country tournaments to even make it to the Olympics. So, for me, I can understand [Carini’s] devastation. But it shouldn’t be ruined due to a man. And I think that the Olympics definitely dropped the ball.”

“It’s just unfair. I just can’t believe that it’s being done, and I just couldn’t imagine it happening to me,” Shields said.

Even trans Caitlyn Jenner, who won the 1976 men’s decathlon as Bruce Jenner, said in an interview on FOX News: “This issue has hurt the Olympic Games so much. … Everyone’s talking about it.”

Jenner agreed that Khelif should not be in a women’s category: “I hate to be so downright rough … but we have to have rules and regulations, and it has to come down to DNA,” explaining that those with XY chromosomes should be in a men’s competition.

“I think the Olympic committee did absolutely the wrong thing by letting [Khelif] compete,” Jenner added on X. “Shame on the IOC for not protecting the integrity of women’s sports, and shame on the IOC for not protecting the safety of women’s sports.”

“A 2020 study by the British Journal of Medicine showed that even male athletes who are ‘transitioning’ retain their competitive edge [at least a 12% advantage] against women even after two years of taking estrogen. Currently, trans-identifying biological males can compete on women’s teams in the NCAA and Olympics after only one year of being on estrogen,” the Heritage Foundation reported.

I (Chuck) don’t pretend to have all the Olympic or athletic answers for diversity and inclusion without causing further divisions and global disturbance. But I do know that in yesteryear’s generations, like those from my 103-year-old mother’s Greatest Generation, had a whole lot more respect for those they differed with. They agreed to disagree agreeably, rather than spew vitriol and make various threats to get their way as so many do today.

And as far as actual fighting goes: As a six-time undefeated middleweight world karate champion myself, we always competed within the boundaries of those who were in our class, including gender, weight, athletic abilities, belt degrees, etc.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has repeatedly said that if your passport says you are a woman, you can compete in women’s sports; but that criteria can no longer suffice our world of inclusion and diversity.

However, according to Dr. Dr. Bradley Anawalt, an endocrinologist and professor of medicine at the University of Washington School of Medicine, science has its limitations in this dogfight over female and male gender identification and verification.

While I don’t doubt that, it still seems to me most of the gender debate in athletics today can be settled by some upgraded form of chromosome or DNA testing. Of course, the mistakes and polarizations in the athletic history of gender identification and profiling will have to be avoided as an upgraded form of testing is established. Advanced neurobiology studies might even help.

As a general rule, those who have proven XY chromosomes fight in male competitions while those who have XX chromosomes fight in female competitions; even intersex individuals often lean one way or the other. Variance to these (however miniscule to the majority) will have to be handled on a case-by-case basis.

Even Reem Alsalem, the U.N.’s special rapporteur on violence against women and girls, echoed the need for further gender testing of some type: “We know that there are simple, efficient, dignified ways of testing sex … that are not invasive, that are cheap and that are reliable.

She explained, “So I think that will be one of the first things really to come back, why is that such a problem, if it can particularly resolve an issue and if it can allay fears, and concerns which are very valid. So that would be my question really to the IOC and … I have, in fact, discussed with the IOC in preparation for my report – the inclusivity and diversity guidelines.”

Alsalem will deliver to the U.N. General Assembly in October a report that will have a focus on violence faced by women in sport. Please read the Heritage Foundation’s submission as well.

I’ll say it one more time: The Olympics’ governing body has a very serious public relations problem, and an even more serious athletic competitor fairness dilemma.

Bottom line, if the Olympic authorities continue to promote sexual diversity and inclusion over fairness in international athletic competition, this I guarantee: They will continue to experience the thrill of victory and the agony of diversity.

Content created by the WND News Center is available for re-publication without charge to any eligible news publisher that can provide a large audience. For licensing opportunities of our original content, please contact licensing@wndnewscenter.org.

SUPPORT TRUTHFUL JOURNALISM. MAKE A DONATION TO THE NONPROFIT WND NEWS CENTER. THANK YOU!