A Taft in Full

In December 1909, the president of the United States traveled to New York City to address a black-tie dinner promoting Christian missionary work. He was there in his official capacity, and not as his country's most prominent Unitarian, a faith as controversial then as John F. Kennedy's Catholicism was half a century later. From the elegant ballroom the president made his way through a driving rainstorm to a Bowery shelter for homeless men, "which I hope will always help you and others over the hard places," William Howard Taft told its residents, "the times when the Lord and everybody seems to be against you—to help you at such times to believe that there are people in the world who sympathize with you."

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Daniel Boorstin's American Experience

There's an old story about the four generations of the American Jewish experience: The first generation was a peddler, the second generation was a successful businessman, the third generation was a doctor- or lawyer-style professional, and the fourth generation was an artist or activist, or both. A funnier, more biting summary of this has appeared […]

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Trump takes no accountability for midterm bloodbath: ‘He just never gets to that point’



Republicans just got destroyed in the midterms, but President Trump doesn't seem particularly interested in admitting anything went wrong. Instead, he’s celebrating what he calls the “greatest two years in the history of the presidency.”

BlazeTV hosts Dave Landau and Stu Burguiere are far from convinced.

“The results were not good, and conservatives, Republicans, anyone who was not a socialist pretty much got smoked. With the exception of Florida, basically, everything went the wrong way,” Stu says.

“Trump says in an interview he will accept the election results,” he continues, noting that “every single Democrat I’ve talked to for the last two years has told me he would not accept the results if he lost.”

“And then he lost and he’s accepting the results,” he adds, before playing a clip of the president in a post-results interview on Fox News.

“Congratulations to the Democrats. They did a good job. They’ve been looking for this one for 11 years, and they finally got it. But I don’t view it as a hit on me. I think we’ve had the greatest two years in the history of the presidency,” Trump said.

However, Dave isn’t loving Trump’s response, comparing it to “saying when my dad was the sickest before he died, ‘I had the best two years with him.’”

“One of the things I’ve wanted from the day that Donald Trump came down the escalator is for him to just be like, ‘Look, it’s not going well, and I screwed X, Y, and Z up, and here’s how we’re going to fix it.’ And he just never gets to that point,” Stu agrees.

“I understand why he does it. He’s a big believer in the power of positive thinking. He believes he can will things into existence,” he adds.

While Trump’s response wasn’t what Stu and Dave hoped for, Trump has had a “rough decade.”

“There is something to be said of the Democrats for the constant impeachment going at him, the way that the media has conducted themselves when talking to him. It’s been a very rough decade,” Dave says.

But the rough decade isn’t being made better by Trump’s actions, as Dave says he “did not arrest the people that should have been arrested,” journalist Nick Shirley has been “going around and figuring out fraud online before you have the people that should be discovering it,” and ICE is being “very performative."

“But I mean, the way that everything was handled to actually fix the country, I think, has been pretty rough if I’m being honest,” he adds.

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Why Christians lose elections



The midterm left me with a question: Why do Christians lose elections? Is it because there aren't enough Christians left? Because the other side has more money? Because Christians aren't politically organized? Was this merely an anti-Trump rage vote on Iran, ICE, tarrifs, or gas prices?

These explanations may account for some electoral defeats. But I want to suggest three deeper problems. And all three are theological.

Not every moral obligation belongs to government to enforce.

Do Christians understand what government is for?

Ask the average Christian what government is supposed to do, and you're likely to hear answers drawn from contemporary political ideologies. Government should ensure equality, provide economic security, protect individual liberty, or maximize happiness.

These answers have their origins in competing philosophical traditions. Hobbes, Locke, Rousseau, Hegel, and Marx offered different accounts of government and its purpose. Christians frequently adopt these theories without recognizing their underlying assumptions.

But why start with human philosophers when God has already told us what government is for?

Romans 13 tells us that civil rulers are God's servants. They are appointed to punish evil and commend good. Government does not create good and evil. It is accountable to a moral standard that precedes it.

This immediately raises the questions Christians should be asking: What is good, and what is evil? And how does God's moral law apply to civil government? Instead, many Christians approach elections as consumers. Which candidate will give me the most benefits? Who will make my life easier? Who promises more money, services, and security? How can I improve my cost of living?

Christians misuse the Bible

When Christians do turn to the Bible, they will sometimes twist its meaning. It is remarkable to hear the left say that the nation is not Christian and then pick and choose a Bible verse to apply to the leftist ideology.

Consider Proverbs 31:8-9, which commands us to speak for those who cannot speak for themselves and defend the rights of the poor and needy. This is a clear biblical obligation. Christians must care about the poor, the vulnerable, and those suffering injustice. But what follows from this obligation?

Some Christians reason that because the Bible commands us to care for the poor, we must support socialism or even Marxism. They think these commands are for the nation-state rather than for the church and the individual Christian.

But this reasoning makes a fundamental mistake. The Bible commands us to help the poor, but it also commands those poor to obey the law of God. Under the law of Moses, a person who moved to Israel and set up shop for his idol would not be treated as an oppressed victim who must be given government assistance.

We must distinguish between the obligations of individuals, families, churches, and civil government. Not every moral obligation belongs to government to enforce.

Helping the poor is a Christian duty. The government helps the poor by following Romans 13. Whether a specific government policy also redistributes wealth, and whether that is what the Bible requires, is another question.

RELATED: Republicans need to be honest about why we lost

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Christians have lost their biblical vision for the nations

Proverbs 29:18 famously says, "Where there is no vision, the people perish." This is the vision of the Great Commission. It is stated in Isaiah this way, “for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea” (Isaiah 11:9) and in Matthew 28:19-20 this way “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.”

Many Christians today operate with one of two inadequate visions.

The first is materialistic. The purpose of politics is to secure physical comfort. Government should provide more benefits, more services, and more economic security. Political success is measured by how much people receive.

The second is escapist. Christianity becomes little more than getting people saved so they can die and go to heaven. What happens to our laws, institutions, and national life is treated as secondary or irrelevant.

Neither vision captures the full scope of Christ's command.

In Matthew 28:18-20, Jesus declares that all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to him. On that basis, he commands his disciples to make disciples of all nations. Notice that Christ does not merely tell us to prepare individuals to leave this world. He commands us to disciple the nations and teach them to obey what God has commanded.

That does not mean government can force people to convert or that winning elections fulfills the Great Commission. But Christ's authority is not confined to the interior lives of believers. Every institution (government, family, education, business) is transformed by the gospel.

The nations, including their rulers, are accountable to Him. Psalm 2 explicitly calls kings and rulers to serve the Lord. When Christians lose this vision, they may elect leaders whose principles undermine justice, attack religious liberty, or obstruct the church's mission, and even work against the gospel, without recognizing the consequences.

Christians need to recover a biblical understanding of government, a faithful interpretation of Scripture, and a Great Commission vision for the nations. Until we do, even winning elections will not solve our deeper problem. We won't know what to do with the victory.

Skip Travel Sports And Put Your Sons In Little League

Like many aspects of American life, little league baseball is suffering. Saving America, in a small way, means saving little league.

In Wake of Oct 7, American Psychological Association President Likened Gazans to George Floyd and Jews to Racist Cops

The former president of the leading professional psychology association in the United States, the American Psychological Association, reacted to Hamas's Oct. 7, 2023, terror attack on Israel by likening Gazans to George Floyd and Jews to racist police officers, internal emails obtained by the House Committee on Education and Workforce show.

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Hugh Hefner’s widow alleges d​isturbing abuse: 'Not a good guy, was he?'



Recent allegations against Hugh Hefner are stomach turning, as his widow claims the reality behind the Playboy empire was far darker than its glamorous image.

In an expose published by Page Six, Crystal Hefner accuses the late magazine mogul of sexual abuse and coercion, including allegedly forcing women into degrading sexual situations. The headline reads: “Hugh Hefner’s widow, Crystal, accuses late Playboy founder of rape, incest as she details horrific sex acts.”

Crystal alleges that the Playboy founder abused her sexually throughout their relationship. In one of the more disturbing allegations, the widow accused her late husband of attempting to force twins to perform sexual acts on each other.

She also claimed that Hefner would force women to use "visibly dirty sex toys.”


BlazeTV host Stu Burguiere and co-host Dave Landau are disturbed but not surprised that Hefner allegedly wasn’t a “good guy.”

“It’s actually a really terrible story,” Stu says, “Hugh Hefner, not a good guy, Dave, was he?”

“No, not a good guy,” Dave agrees.

“But I do have to say, not to defend Mr. Hefner, who we know is in hell. I try to be a bit sympathetic always to the people in these stories, but if a 90-year-old man is trying to force dirty sex toys onto you, you can just leave,” he adds.

“As I used to say, you know, as any father I think has said, is like, you know, use your legs. Like move. Don’t just sit there and scream across the house,” Stu says.

“It’s not hard to get away from any 90-year-old, I feel like,” he adds.

“He’s at an age where one good kick could kill him ... at the very least will bruise him for the rest of his life,” Dave says.

“Yeah, you kick him, I would say, hard enough, he just turns to dust. It just explodes into just a powder,” Stu agrees.

“It’s like a mummy,” Dave adds.

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Would you trust this politician with your wallet?



“My vote won’t make a difference. Why bother?” Because we still can.

I keep thinking about my ancestors. Our family history reaches back to the 1500s in what is now Germany. Eventually, members of that family left everything familiar and traveled to America.

The people on the ballot are applying for a job. If you owned a business, would you hire this person?

I cannot quote their conversations, but I imagine someone finally saying, “Wir müssen nicht so leben.” We don’t have to live this way. Taxes, control, and oppression had made staying unbearable. They had little say in the system governing their lives, so they crossed an ocean and accepted the dangers of a frontier for the chance to work, build, and keep the fruits of their labor. They expected hardship. They wanted a chance.

I cannot imagine looking those people in the eye and saying, “I have a voice in choosing who holds authority over my liberty, safety, and money. I just decided not to use it.” Yet election fatigue tempts us to do exactly that. We get disgusted, tune out, or decide one vote won’t count. I cannot control an election’s outcome, but I am responsible for using the voice I have.

That is stewardship. And part of stewardship means examining the ballot. Government must protect life and property, including infrastructure, national security, and fair commerce. Officials need clear responsibilities, limits on their power, and consequences when they abuse it.

Start with the term “public servant.” How many abuse both words? They serve, all right — themselves. And when the public asks questions, plain English suddenly becomes a foreign language.

Consider two recent examples. At a July Senate hearing, Anthony Fauci invoked the Fifth Amendment more than 100 times. He had the constitutional right to do so, of course. That does not make the spectacle reassuring.

Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), meanwhile, rejected the allegation as “insane” that her former husband was her brother. But when asked whether she was related to her former husband, she answered, “Not to my knowledge.” A federal court filing also identified her as “Ilhan Nur Said Elmi” — a designation the filing did not explain and that Omar disputes. What does it mean? The public deserves a straightforward explanation, supported by evidence.

Before defending either official, ask whether you would accept the same conduct from someone you opposed. Public scrutiny comes with public service. Demand answers, including from those on your own side.

Trump may be the first president in our lifetime so public that he scarcely needs a press secretary. Sometimes I wish he would use one more. But that is another column.

Four questions help me evaluate the people asking for my vote.

Have they built anything?

A business, a farm, a household — what have they been responsible for? Have they ever met a payroll? When Friday comes, employees need their checks. A speech about good intentions won’t cover them. Experience alone does not qualify a candidate, but I want evidence that the person understands work, responsibility, and consequences.

RELATED: The GOP’s favorite business model: Lose, beg, repeat

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Would they return my wallet?

Intact and without expecting anything in return. Would you trust this person with your property or to help your family in an emergency? Does the candidate’s conduct support the promises? If neither candidate inspires confidence, compare their records. Which one would need less watching?

Do they help people get on their feet?

Are public officials helping people become independent or dependent? A Center for Immigration Studies analysis of 2014-2023 census survey data estimated that 81% of Minnesota households headed by Somali immigrants received cash assistance, food assistance, or Medicaid. That figure alone cannot tell us which recipients work, how long they need help, or whether programs are succeeding.

Those are questions for the officials spending public money. Are families gaining the ability to support themselves? Is independence even the goal? People who cannot provide for themselves because of age, disability, or sickness need help.

But unable and unwilling are different things. Compassion requires us to examine what happens to the people we claim to help. Stewardship requires us to examine those claiming to help them with our money.

RELATED: Pray for the country. Then do your part.

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Will they protect life and property?

For me, that begins with unborn life and includes opposing medical gender interventions for children. It also means enforcing consequences against those who harm people or take what belongs to others. Examine candidates’ records on border security, bail, and sanctuary policies. Who was protected? Who paid the price? What did the official do when something went wrong? Apply the standard regardless of race, religion, wealth, connections, or party.

Compare what candidates promised with what they have actually done. Invite a neighbor to do the same. The people on the ballot are applying for a job. If you owned a business, would you hire this person? Would you bring this person in as a consultant?

Then vote.

My ancestors came here because they had so little voice in the decisions governing their lives. They accepted enormous risks for an opportunity their descendants now enjoy. I cannot promise them I will always choose wisely. But I will vote.

Because I still can.

Raised To Be Resilient

When the story of Karyann Parkinson—a Virginia mom convicted of child abuse for letting her five-year-old walk alone to a nearby pond—went viral last month, I didn't know what to think. Of course, the authorities' reaction was disproportionate; trusting your kid shouldn't be a crime. But as a parent, I wondered whether I would be […]

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Christians cannot afford to stay on the sidelines



While taking a break from our daily three-mile walk through a local park, my wife and I sat on a bench watching other walkers stroll by. One young woman passed wearing a plain, white T-shirt that read, in large letters, simply: “AND WE KNOW THAT.”

Underneath those words, in much smaller type, was the explanation of this enigmatic inscription: “Romans 8:28.”

Are we not called to be engaged in all aspects of life? Why would politics be out of bounds?

The full Scripture verse is incredibly powerful and should spring to mind whenever things in our personal lives — or even in the life of our nation — go kerflooey:

And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.

The midterm elections, already underway across America, popped into my head when I saw the T-shirt. Christians and true patriots alike worry about polls showing Democratic Party gains in key races. Some are moved to work harder; others throw up their hands and leave the results to fate — or, more piously, “Providence.” After all, if “all things work together for good,” even if Democrats regain power and go scorched earth on our country, that must be God’s will. Things will eventually work out “for good,” yes?

Otherwise well-meaning Christians can justify “sitting this one out” in any number of ways: “If God wants America to survive, the country will survive; if He wants her to go under, it will go under. I will just pray. I don’t get involved in politics.”

The idea that good Christians should stay out of politics because “Thy will be done” — or, as Doris Day sang, “Whatever will be, will be” — reminds me of that doctor joke about predestination:

After examining his patient, the doctor shares his diagnosis. “Joe, you are in terrible shape, and I am prescribing a series of pills that will help you live a long, healthy life.” But Joe shakes his head. “No, doc, I’m a Christian, and I believe in predestination. I’m not going to take the pills because I believe that if God wants me to live, I will live; if He wants me to die, I will die.”

The doctor responds: “Well, Joe, I too am a Christian, and I also believe in predestination. So I can tell you this: If you take the pills, you’re predestined to live. If you don’t, you’re predestined to die.”

RELATED: Christians: Don't fall for Talarico's performative messaging

Danielle Villasana/Getty Images

Christians who don’t get involved in politics — especially at an obviously critical juncture in a nation’s existence — are like that patient, confident God will save the country with or without their involvement. That conclusion is certainly true, but are we not called to be engaged in all aspects of life? Why would politics be out of bounds?

Consider Romans 13:1: “Every person is to be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those which exist are established by God.”

America was “established by God” more than 250 years ago. And in that establishment, the founders made it very clear that “We the People” were in charge, under the authority of “the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God.” Therefore, we must be involved in every way we can — voting, for example, is basic — to preserve the governing authorities to which we are subject.

Further along this political-involvement track, I believe an even more powerful declaration can be drawn from that one big, beautiful prayer Christians around the world pray daily. Much of the "Our Father" concerns, in a very real sense, both earthly and heavenly politics.

After addressing our Holy Father in heaven, Jesus prays, “Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” Many Christians close the prayer with the words, “For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.”

RELATED: Is ASU going to fire a Christian professor for being too Christian?

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Should we not then work for God’s Kingdom to come here on earth as it is in heaven, not only in our own lives but in the life of our nation and, through this nation, the world? Is God’s Kingdom not built on righteousness and holiness? Our kingdom here should reflect those noble, ethereal, and eternal goals as much as possible. Where it embraces vile and detestable practices — abortion, child mutilation, open borders, etc. — should we not work to abolish them? We also pray, “Deliver us from evil.” Should we not work alongside our Father to bring that about?

St. James wrote (1:22):

But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not just hearers who deceive themselves.

Finally, this reminder from St. Paul (Ephesians 5:14-16):

"Wake up, sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you." Be very careful, then, how you live — not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil.

This is no sit-on-your-hands (or just pray-with-your-hands) moment in the shaky life of America. Scripture and our Lord and Savior give us our marching orders. Yes, pray. No question about that. But also vote. And whenever and wherever you can, and with whomever you can, be politically influential, always remembering to “speak the truth in love.”

Doing that can advance two kingdoms at once.

Editor’s note: A version of this article appeared originally at American Thinker.