The World and Everything in It: August 8, 2024

PREROLL: The World and Everything in It is made possible by listeners like us. My name is Nick Woods. I live in Louisville, Kentucky, and I work as an HVAC technician and a resident manager for an impact real estate company which rents to many refugees, immigrants and Americans. I hope you enjoyed today’s program.

MYRNA BROWN, HOST: Good morning! The Secretary of Defense upends a plea deal with 9/11 terrorists. Why haven’t the cases been settled sooner?

AUDIO: Terrorists to do not get deals. Never have in this country, never should.

PAUL BUTLER, HOST: Also, new Title IX guidelines from the Biden Administration face legal obstacles from concerned parents. Plus, a chef doing community service finds his purpose in serving others.

AUDIO: I’ve never seen love like this, and compassion…

And Cal Thomas on the Secret Service and its opportunity to own up to recent failures.

BROWN: It’s Thursday, August 8th. This is The World and Everything in It from listener-supported WORLD Radio. I’m Myrna Brown.

BUTLER: And I’m Paul Butler. Good morning!

BROWN: Up next, Mark Mellinger with today’s news.

MARK MELLINGER, NEWS ANCHOR: Dueling presidential campaigns » The U.S.’s leading presidential campaigns are rumbling through the Rust Belt. Both the Harris and Trump campaigns spent Wednesday trekking through the swing states of Michigan and Wisconsin.

In Eau Claire, Wisconsin, Vice President Kamala Harris’s running mate, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, accused former President Trump of weakening the country to strengthen his own hand.

WALZ: He mocks our laws. He sows chaos and division among the people. And that’s to say nothing of the job he did as president.

President Trump’s running mate, Senator J.D. Vance, has been mirroring Team Harris’s travel schedule. Also in Eau Claire, he pushed back against Democratic characterizations of the Trump/Vance ticket as ‘weird’... using that word to describe his opponents, starting with the vice president.

VANCE: I think it’s pretty weird to be the border czar and to open up the border and allow fentanyl to come into your community. I think it’s pretty weird to try to take children away from their parents if the parents don’t want to consent to sex changes. That’s something that Tim Walz did.

The two campaigns were even briefly at the same airport, where Vance, outside Harris’s plane, criticized her for not taking more questions from the media since becoming the presumptive Democratic nominee.

Study: U.S. abortions up since Roe » A pro-abortion group claims total abortions in the U.S have gone up since the fall of Roe v. Wade.

The Society of Family Planning says there were an average of roughly 99,000 abortions per month from January through March 2024 compared to an average of 84,000 in the two months before the Supreme Court struck down Roe in 2022.

However, it also found abortions fell to near zero in states that outlawed the killing of unborn children and dropped by half in states that protect children from six weeks’ gestation.

The increases came in states like Illinois, Kansas, and New Mexico which allow abortions further into pregnancies, but border states with better protection for the unborn.

EPA removes pesticide over fetal damage » The Biden administration has issued a rare emergency order… banning a pesticide it says is dangerous for unborn babies. WORLD’s Travis Kircher has more.

TRAVIS KIRCHER: The Environmental Protection Agency announced on Tuesday that it was banning the use of the pesticide Dacthal.

Also known as DCPA, Dacthal is used primarily to kill weeds and protect crops including Brussels sprouts, broccoli and cabbage. The chemical has applications both on and off the farm.

But the E-P-A says exposure to the pesticide can also have harmful effects on unborn babies…causing low birth weight and impaired brain development. Those same children could later suffer from a permanent decrease in IQ as well as compromised motor skills.

Tuesday’s announcement was the first time in roughly 40 years the E-P-A has implemented such a ban.

For WORLD, I’m Travis Kircher.

Israel-Hamas latest » Hezbollah is launching rocket and drone attacks in northern Israel as Israel braces for a possible larger-scale attack from Iran and its proxies at any moment.

That attack would be in retaliation for the recent killing of a top Hamas leader in the Iranian capital of Tehran.

U.S. diplomats are urging de-escalation. State Department spokesman Matthew Miller says new attacks could hurt progress toward ending the Hamas-Israel war in Gaza.

MILLER: This is obviously a very delicate time for the region. Tensions are high. We’re in the final stages, hopefully, of a cease fire deal. And escalation has the potential to make every problem the region faces worse.

The White House says it’s ready to defend Israel against Iranian threats, and President Biden has been on the phone discussing the situation with world leaders.

Putin accuses Ukraine of provocation » Russian President Vladymyr Putin says Ukraine has gone on the offensive.

PUTIN: [Speaking in Russian]

Putin  accusing the Ukrainian military of undertaking what he called a ‘large-scale provocation’ in Russia’s southern border region of Kursk.

He accused the Ukrainian military of conducting indiscriminate shelling and missile strikes on civilian buildings—including homes—as well as ambulances.

Russia’s state run media says that the offensive involved as many as 1,000 Ukrainian troops as well as tanks and drones. Those claims have not been verified. Ukrainian officials have yet to comment directly on the attacks.

Here in the U-S: Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre says the White House is reaching out to the Ukrainian military to learn more about its objectives. But she also added Ukraine can speak for itself.

JEAN-PIERRE: That's where, I would I would refer you to, but we are, generally speaking, as you know, we have been supportive of Ukraine. As they are, they are, defending themselves against Russia's aggression.

If confirmed the cross-border incursion would be among Ukraine’s largest since Russia’s full-scale invasion more than two years ago.

SABRINA WOODS: Good morning gentlemen. 

6. NTSB Boeing hearing » Another day of testimony in the National Transportation Safety Board’s hearing, and it’s still not clear how a Boeing 737 jet was delivered to Alaska Airlines without the bolts needed to keep a door plug in place.

That door plug blew out in January, leaving a gaping hole in the plane mid-flight. Amazingly, there were no major injuries.

During Wednesday’s testimony, a Boeing executive said he can’t guarantee the company will never again deliver an improperly-installed door plug, though he says Boeing is committed to making the changes needed to fix the procedural gaps that led to the failure.

I’m Mark Mellinger.

Straight ahead: The rise and fall of a plea deal for September 11 terrorists. Plus, new Title IX guidelines.

This is The World and Everything in It.

MYRNA BROWN, HOST: It’s Thursday the 8th of August. Glad to have you along for today’s edition of The World and Everything in It. Good morning, I’m Myrna Brown.

PAUL BUTLER, HOST: And I’m Paul Butler.

First up: holding those responsible for 9/11 accountable.

This week, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin revoked a plea deal for three men allegedly responsible for the terrorist attack on September 11th. The move comes after more than 20 years of pre-trial proceedings.

AUDIO: A joint Pakistani-U.S. operation led to Mohammed’s arrest. Authorities believe he’s the mastermind behind the September the 11th terrorist attacks.

BROWN: In 2003, authorities arrested Khalid Shaikh Mohammed—or KSM— he was one of about 1,200 people authorities detained. Many were released or deported, but a few were kept in US custody. Then in 2006…

AUDIO: Today President Bush acknowledged publicly for the first time the existence of secret overseas prisons run by the CIA. The president said top terrorism suspects had been interrogated at these prisons, giving the U.S. information that's prevented major attacks.

BUTLER: Those interrogations included techniques that some classify as torture. Then President George W. Bush said KSM along with 13 other suspected terrorists would be moved to the Guantanamo Bay detention camp and asked Congress to create military commissions to try the prisoners.

BROWN: Since then, the prisoners’ cases have been passed from military court to civilian court and back again, all while being detained at Guantanamo. Then, last month a Pentagon official authorized a plea deal.

AUDIO: The men agreed to admit to conspiracy charges in exchange for a possible life sentence after a possible death sentence was excluded.

BUTLER: But some survivors and political leaders said that wouldn’t be justice.

AUDIO: Terrorists to do not get deals. Never have in this country, never should.

BROWN: Michael O’Connell dug victims out of the rubble after the 9/11 attack. He told Fox News that after witnessing people jumping out of buildings, the terrorists shouldn’t get to live.

So, last week, Defense Secretary Austin seemed to cave to mounting pressure and rescinded the plea deal.

BUTLER: What happens now and why has this case taken so long to litigate?

Joining us now to talk about it is Steve Vladeck. He was co-counsel for one of the men arrested following 9/11. Now he’s a professor at Georgetown University School of law.

BROWN: Steve, good morning.

STEVE VLADECK: Thanks for having me.

BROWN: Steve, let me start with the obvious question for many people: if it’s been more than twenty years since KSM allegedly planned the 9/11 attacks, why haven’t he and his co-conspirators been sentenced yet?

VLADECK: It's a good question. I mean, we might even extend it to why haven't they been tried yet? So, you know, we're now in what is basically the third different round of military commissions at Guantanamo. And you know, first there was an effort to get these off the ground in early 2003, 2004. The Supreme Court slapped those efforts down in 2006 in the Hamdan case, where I was one of the lawyers who represented Hamdan. Then there was an effort by the Obama administration in 2009 to move the 9/11 trial out of Guantanamo and into the federal civilian courts in New York. That was abandoned after, you know, heated pushback from some of the victims and from Republican politicians. And really, for the last 15 years, Myrna, we've been in this, you know, quagmire, where the torture of the defendants, where the, you know, the government's behavior has just slowed all of these proceedings down to a crawl. And where, I think, for the last five or six years, the assumption has been that the only way we were ever going to get some kind of resolution was a plea deal, you know, which we had, seemingly for a moment last week, and then it blew up.

BROWN: Lots of obstacles. After hearing about the plea deal, I was surprised to hear that the person rescinding the agreement wasn’t a judge, but the Secretary of Defense, Lloyd Austin. What does he have to do with this case?

VLADECK: Yeah, so you know, Congress passed, in the response to the Supreme Court's Hamdan decision in 2006, a statute known as the Military Commissions Act, or the MCA for short. And one of the things that Congress tried to do in that statute was make the military commissions look like a weird stepsister to courts martial, the military courts that we use to try service members for crimes that they commit. And in that system, it's pretty common to have the commanders, you know, the sort of the more senior officials in the military, up to and including the Secretary of Defense, serve as what's known as the convening authority, the person who basically takes the position of a grand jury in an ordinary civilian case, but also with some oversight over the prosecutors as well. And you know, borrowing from that, we've had a succession of convening authorities in the military commissions. This is now the second time that a convening authority has been basically strong-armed and overridden by the Secretary of Defense because of their efforts to make the 9/11 case, you know, go away, to plead it out. And I think, you know, now this is going to give folks a lot of pause before there'd ever be a third try.

BROWN: Steve, you mentioned you were part of the legal defense team that brought the case of Osama bin Laden’s former chauffeur Salim Ahmed Hamdan to the Supreme Court in 2006. At issue was whether the military commission created after 9/11 had the necessary authority to try crimes in the War on Terror.

The Supreme Court said the commission didn’t comply with U.S. law in how it prosecuted Mr. Hamdan, and that because it kept some information classified, his trial was illegal.

Steve, does that case have any bearing on how a trial for KSM and others would be conducted?

VLADECK: Not much. I mean, so part of the problem is that Congress responded to that ruling by trying to reinvent the wheel, and so the Military Commissions Act is Congress's effort to say, okay, Supreme Court, we hear you. You know, the we had not provided the right authority for all of this in the immediate aftermath of 9/11, but now we are. But guys, here we are, you know, 18 years after Congress passed that statute, and there are still some pretty fundamental questions about the statute that the courts have never answered. And so again, you know, when folks ask themselves, how is it 2024 and we're still having these conversations, part of it is because, you know, every time there's been a step like this where it seemed like we were getting a compromise, some kind of resolution that was not great for everybody, but sort of a little bit of everything, someone pushed back. And I think it's been this desire to have some kind of absolutist solution to Guantanamo. That's why here it is 2024 and there are still 30 men at the Naval base there, including the folks who are in these seemingly interminable military commission proceedings.

BROWN: Looking ahead, do you see any end in sight for this situation? What do you think it will take to bring KSM and others to justice for planning acts of terror?

VLADECK: Yeah. I mean, you know, the question of what is justice at this point is obviously deeply fraught, and I think folks are going to have very different answers. I guess, my own view—and I come at this, you know, having been part of this process for a short period of time 20 years ago—is that justice is some kind of solution where we're not still talking about the ongoing military commission trial of KSM in 2034. And given all of the baggage in this case, given the history, given the torture, given the gravity of the charges against KSM and the other defendants, it seems like the only real path to justice at this point is for everyone to accept that there's no perfect solution. That's why I had thought that the plea deals for at least three to five defendants were a first step toward that solution. Now that those are off the table because of Secretary Austin, it's not at all clear to me how we get out of this mess, and I'm pretty sure it's not clear to the government either.

BROWN: Steve Vladeck is a professor at Georgetown University Law School. Steve, thank you for your time!

VLADECK: Thank you.

MYRNA BROWN, HOST: Coming up next on The World and Everything in It: major changes to Title IX.

Title IX was signed into law back in 1972. It prohibits institutions that receive federal funding from excluding students from educational and athletic opportunities because of their sex. For decades, the law has ensured that girls have access to the same activities as boys.

PAUL BUTLER, HOST: But earlier this year the Biden Administration announced changes to Title IX. They require schools to consider sexual orientation and gender identity as protected from discrimination.

The changes went into effect August 1st, but there have been multiple legal challenges, and as of now, 26 states are exempted from enforcing them.

BROWN: Not only that, several groups, including Moms For Liberty and Female Athletes United, are involved in litigation in Kansas that resulted in exemptions from the rule changes. That means for now the changes are stayed in schools where members of those groups attend or have children.

BUTLER: With many young people going back to school over the next few weeks, what do the new guidelines and the lawsuits against them mean for families?

WORLD’s Lindsay Mast spoke with Tiffany Justice, one of the co-founders of Moms for Liberty, to find out.

Here’s their conversation.

LINDSAY MAST: Tiffany, good morning.

TIFFANY JUSTICE: Good morning. Thank you so much for having me today.

MAST: Tiffany, let’s talk first about Title IX changes specifically when it comes to sexual orientation and gender identity. What concerns does your group have about the changes for girls?

JUSTICE: Yeah, we absolutely like to be clear and say we don't want any child to be discriminated at school. But when you have a situation like we did with one of the plaintiffs in our case before the 10th Circuit, that was that Kansas case you spoke of, a mom saying that my daughter has compulsory swim classes at school, and this new change to Title IX is going to mean that if there's a boy in the girl's locker room, not only will she not be able to share the fact that she might feel unsafe or uncomfortable, but if she does, in fact share that she feels unsafe or uncomfortable, she will now be the problem. A Title IX complaint could now be launched against her for saying that she's not comfortable changing in front of someone of the opposite sex.

MAST: Turning to the legal decisions. So far, a number of states and school districts are not enforcing the Title IX regulations as a result of legal action taken by Moms for Liberty. Can you talk us through your strategy in that?

JUSTICE: Absolutely. So we filed in the 10th Circuit. That was Kansas, Alaska, Utah and Wyoming. What we saw out of the 10th Circuit was a ruling that said that any school that has a Moms for Liberty member's child is exempt from having to put into effect the Department of Education under the Biden-Harris administration those new regulations that the schools do not need to put new regulations into effect. And so for many people in blue states, especially where you know, there have been, I think, five different federal courts that have ruled here and have put injunctions, preliminary injunctions in place, so this rule doesn't go into effect. But if you're in a state like California or Michigan, your state isn't covered. And this is a wonderful way for people who are concerned about these new Title IX regulations---and let me be clear, you should absolutely be concerned about these regulations. This means boys on your girls' sports teams. This means boys in your girls' private spaces, bathrooms and locker rooms. This also means that if your child expresses gender confusion at school, that the school then can consider you to be the threat if you're not willing to affirm your child's wish of changing their gender, and so parents absolutely need to be aware of this. And our strategy was really to focus on the First Amendment harms that would come to our individual students at schools, as I said, that one little girl who's in the bathroom or the locker room and won't be able to express the fact that she feels unsafe with having a boy in that locker room with her. Our moms also said, as declarants in the case that they will not force their children to lie at school. So this is an egregious violation of First Amendment rights in America---compelled speech---the idea that you would send your child into school and they would be forced to use the wrong pronouns for someone is absolutely unacceptable, and our moms refuse to force their children to lie.

MAST: Tiffany, what happens now in those schools and colleges that are part of the litigation? What are the next steps?

JUSTICE: Well, it's the states that have brought the claims, and as far as the schools are concerned, for Moms for Liberty, I'll focus on us. So every periodically, every few weeks, the judge has given us the opportunity to update the court as to which schools are exempt from the Title IX regulations going into effect. So as you said, they were supposed to go into effect on August 1. Very proud to say that as of right now, over 3,000 schools that have Moms for Liberty member's kids in them have been submitted on a list. But to be clear, just because your school's name isn't on the list doesn't mean that they can enforce the Title IX regulations. The court was very clear to say that anywhere that there is a Moms for Liberty member's child going to school, if you're taking federal funds, you cannot enforce new Title IX regulations.

MAST: Well, I know it's early yet, schools are just starting to go back, but the rules are in effect in a number of states not yet involved in the litigation. Do you know anything about what's what's happening, where they are being implemented?

JUSTICE: No, schools really haven't started yet. So you know, I'm sure that school districts are, you know, trying to go through their policies and update them. The truth is, they don't have to. Just a little reminder for school board members, for teachers, for administrators, superintendents: in the 52-years history of Title IX, not once has the federal government ever stopped giving federal funding to a school district because of a Title IX complaint, not once. And so if this is something that goes against your conscience, if you know that it's wrong to make girls feel uncomfortable or put them in unsafe positions by having boys on their school sports teams, stand up, take a stand now. Tell the federal government, no, we're not going to do this. I think what we're reaching is a real breaking point with the American public. The Biden-Harris administration continues to force us to this breaking point. But parents, nobody's going to fight for anything like you are going to fight for your child, and our kids need us right now.

MAST: Anything else, as far as strategy to continue to block this that people need to know about?

JUSTICE: People need to stand up and have their voices heard. As I said, most Americans don't want this, but we need to stand up and speak out about it. You need to be honest when you're speaking to people, your friends and your family, the time for this idea of being nice, there's no such thing as a transgender child. The nice thing to do is to help to get those children the resources and the tools and the mental health help they need in order to feel comfortable in the body that they've been born in. No child is born in the wrong body. So being honest right now, telling the truth, and knowing that if you stand up and tell the truth, you won't be the only one. I promise people are going to join you. But the most important thing we can do right now is tell the truth in America.

HOST: Tiffany Justice is a co-founder of the group Moms for Liberty. Tiffany, thank you for your time.

JUSTICE: Thank you for having me on. Such an important topic to talk about.

MYRNA BROWN, HOST: Before continuing with today’s program, many of you have been asking about Mary Reichard’s condition since her message for you on Tuesday. She’s currently in the hospital awaiting the next step and she took a moment and recorded this update for us.

MARY REICHARD: A couple of things I've learned so far is that you have to tell your story over and over and over and over and over and over again to different fields in the hospital, whether it's social work, the doctor, the attending the interns, the residents, the medical students, the psych majors that all come through and want to pick your brain. So it's kind of interesting if you come at it with a curious mind, but you do have to tell your story a lot.

The other thing is there's nothing as humbling as trying to put on your own hospital gown. My goodness on my first try, I think my head was in the arm hole. Finally got that worked out. And then trying to take a shower with five cardiac leads, an IV line and oximeter attached to your arms. I would like to not ever have to do that again. So I'd be grateful if you didn't have to do that today.

I'm just listening to chill music and prayer apps and reading uplifting things. Some of you have sent me wonderful prayers. Thank you for that. Also on my room board, my nurse Rachel wrote the dreaded N P O which is Latin for nil per os and it means nothing by mouth.

So I am making friends with my hunger pains and I need to lose 15 pounds anyway. God is good. He's going to get your attention one way or the other. And thank God for that.

Over and out.

PAUL BUTLER, HOST: Today is Thursday, August 8th. Thank you for turning to WORLD Radio to help start your day. Good morning. I’m Paul Butler.

MYRNA BROWN, HOST: And I’m Myrna Brown.

Coming next on The World and Everything in It: Life change.

In a study conducted last year, food insecurity is worsening across America, and primarily in the Midwest. Community organizations and volunteers are trying to step in to help.

BUTLER: World Journalism Institute Young Professionals graduate Coltan Schiefer recently caught up with a former chef now serving at a soup kitchen.

AUDIO: [Sounds from kitchen]

COLTAN SCHIEFER: The biggest mistake of Tobin Simpson’s life turned into the biggest blessing. In 2011, the South Carolina resident had recently begun his career working in the kitchen of a fine-dining restaurant. The future was bright.

TOBIN SIMPSON: I was very competent at the time, and saw myself moving on to have opportunities to go to Chicago or to go to New York.

However, the pressure to come in early and stay late was constant. Much of the staff was engaging in substance abuse. The owners were taking long vacations when making the next payroll was still in question.

One night in 2011, it came to a head. Simpson walked out of the kitchen to see a drunk customer throwing a chair and threatening a female server. Simpson’s growing frustrations all came out.

SIMPSON: He made it outside before I got to him, and then when I was outside on the sidewalk, there was a cop across the street, and I pushed him. I never even, I never even hit him, but I did it. And when I pushed him, he fell down. He fell down the hard. And in that moment, I thought that he… I actually thought that he was dead.

Thankfully, the customer suffered no serious injuries, but Simpson was still in trouble. Because of his clean record before this incident, the court only mandated community service hours. He was given a list of options, and one in particular stuck out to him.

SIMPSON: So I was going to, you know, work my way through community service and pay to make it go away. And, you know, you're looking down there, and I saw a soup kitchen, and I'm like, I'll show them how to cook. And it was, man, it wasn't anything like that.

Simpson already loved to cook. His career path had been clear. But he quickly realized that he was also falling in love with something else. He loved people–particularly struggling people that were ready to turn their lives around.

SIMPSON: At that, the first day that I volunteered in the soup kitchen, volunteered, I just, I went home, and it was my—she was my girlfriend at the time—now, my my wife, and just I cried. I told her I was like, I've never seen love like this and compassion.

At the end of his community service, Simpson had no desire to return to the restaurant setting. Creating elaborate banquets for the wealthy now sounded uninspiring. Tobin Simpson realized that he had something more important–an organization and people that needed his help. He could help Project Host.

AUDIO: [People coming in the door]

Six days a week, Project Host offers hot meals to anyone that shows up. The Greenville, South Carolina-based nonprofit is in an area with great need. According to 2022 statistics from Feeding America, over 60,000 people in Greenville live in food insecure households. Data USA adds that 14% of the population was below the poverty line in the same year.

AUDIO: [People eating, talking]

Today’s meal consists of ham and bean soup, salmon patties, an orzo, spinach, and sun-dried tomato casserole along with bread and fresh fruit.

AUDIO: [Sounds from kitchen]

But Project Host is much more than just a soup kitchen. They have a six-week culinary school, host large community dinners, and run a food truck to events all over the city. They even have a garden that provides more than 2000 pounds of produce each year.

After Tobin Simpson volunteered in the soup kitchen for several months, he was asked to become the culinary school instructor. By 2020, Simpson climbed his way to CEO. Instead of trying to expand laterally, he focused on vertical growth.

SIMPSON: We have to stay in our lane. There are so many other nonprofits that address all the other barriers to employment. There's, there's not one that I've come across yet, that there's not a agency that's designed specifically for that barrier.

Now, in 2024, Project Host has three kitchens. One is for the soup kitchen. The other two are used for the Culinary School and internships. Over 200 people have finished the six-week program. After graduation, Project Host helps them find employment and over 90 percent of graduates have then landed jobs.

However, it’s not always easy. Students have been dismissed for violence or theft. Sometimes the students join for a week and then disappear.

MICHELLE LIGGETT: And we get it. Sometimes a job comes up. Transportation falls through, childcare falls through.

Michelle Liggett is the COO of Project Host.

LIGGETT: Yeah, and so all those applicants are we'll hold all the applications if they want to try again. Next time [the] doors open.

With the vertical growth focus, the organization has dramatically increased their meal distribution. In just 2023, they gave away well over 100,000 meals. So why do all this work? For Liggett, it’s clear.

LIGGETT: To take everything I've learned and all the skills I have, and apply it to something that gives back, is a really satisfying feeling.

Giving back to her community is important for Liggett, and it’s what leads to the best part of working at Project Host–watching someone that does change their life around. Tobin Simpson explains.

SIMPSON: Just all the work, all the days that you've had where you're like, I don't know if we're making a difference. I don't know if what we do makes sense. All that is gone in that moment, you're like, yes, even if it's for just one person, like, it's worthwhile.

Reporting for WORLD from South Carolina, I’m Coltan Schiefer.

MYRNA BROWN, HOST: Today is Thursday, August 8th, 2024. Good morning! This is The World and Everything in It from listener-supported WORLD Radio. I’m Myrna Brown.

PAUL BUTLER, HOST: And I’m Paul Butler. Cal Thomas now on what recent Secret Service failures mean for the country.

CAL THOMAS: Composer Irving Berlin debuted his final musical “Mr. President” in 1962. The show has a silly little song that contains the lyric: “the Secret Service makes me nervous.”

I thought of that song after the real Secret Service failed to protect former President Donald Trump at a rally three weeks ago in Butler, Pennsylvania. The bureaucracy seems to be putting more effort into protecting agency management than it did Trump.

We’ve heard the reports of how rally goers spotted Thomas Crooks as much as 90 minutes before he fired eight rounds—wounding Trump and two others and killing retired fire chief Corey Comperatore. A Secret Service sniper, the first to be deployed at these rallies, shot and killed the shooter. The familiar blame game started soon after.

Director Kimberly Cheatle resigned after her poor performance before the House Oversight Committee. Acting director Ronald Rowe Jr. acknowledged the agency failed in its mission to fully protect Trump, but blamed local law enforcement. Local police pushed back at allegations they were at fault for the security breakdown.

Rowe and FBI Deputy Director Paul Abbate testified last week before a joint hearing of the Senate Judiciary and Homeland Security committees. Rowe said agents were not aware of the presence of a man on the roof of the AGR building until he began firing his weapon. He also admitted the responsibility for the security breakdown at the former president’s rally ultimately rests with the Secret Service.

A video recorded by a rally attendee who was sitting behind Trump shows Crooks making his way across the roof of the building to a position where he would have a clear shot. Earlier, several rallygoers shouted at police that someone was on the roof, but neither the Secret Service nor local law enforcement responded. One officer said he started to climb up on the roof but when Crooks pointed his weapon at him he retreated. Various people blamed a breakdown in communication between the Secret Service and local police. It makes one long for the days of walkie talkies.

Some in Congress and conservative media are suggesting the Biden administration’s emphasis on diversity, equity and inclusion—or DEI—may have lowered standards for applicants to the Secret Service. A look at the agency’s website might give credence to that argument. It lists various categories for outreach and recruitment including: African American, Pacific Islander, Hispanic, Indigenous Nations, Federal Women’s Program (FWP), LGBTQ, Persons with Disabilities/Disabled Veteran, Office of the Ombudsman, and Inclusion and Engagement Council, but mentions nothing about merit.

Three years ago The Washington Post reported: “The morale of Uniformed Division officers, who guard the White House, is so bad that a new study by a National Academy of Public Administration panel said job satisfaction and employee engagement are at a ‘concerning level of risk’ related to a ‘crisis in work-life balance.’”

NBC News recently reported: “Former Secret Service officials say it can be difficult to get experienced agents to remain on the job.”

Now let's give credit to this agency—many of its members are willing to take a bullet for the ones they are protecting. They have saved the lives of presidents, and probably countless others. By owning their mistakes and giving the public full disclosure this time, they can win back public confidence. If not, as that song suggests, we should all be very nervous.

I’m Cal Thomas.

PAUL BUTLER, HOST: Tomorrow: Katie McCoy joins us for Culture Friday. And this month’s Word Play with our resident word guy: George Grant. That and more tomorrow.

I’m Paul Butler.

MYRNA BROWN, HOST: And I’m Myrna Brown.

The World and Everything in It comes to you from WORLD Radio. WORLD’s mission is biblically objective journalism that informs, educates, and inspires.

“And the high priest stood up in the midst and asked Jesus, ‘Have you no answer to make? What is it that these men testify against you?’ But he remained silent and made no answer. Again, the high priest asked him, ‘Are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed?’ And Jesus said, ‘I am and you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of power and coming with the clouds of heaven.’” —Mark 14:60-62

Go now in grace and peace.

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