The World and Everything in It - June 14, 2021

MARY REICHARD, HOST: Good morning!

It’s time for commencement speeches and we’ll hear one today from a U.S. Supreme Court Justice.

NICK EICHER, HOST: That’s ahead on Legal Docket.

Also the Monday Moneybeat—inflation worries, unfilled job openings, and is America’s energy independence at risk?

Plus, the WORLD History Book. Today, the 40th anniversary of the maiden flight of an odd fighter plane.

REICHARD: It’s Monday, June 14th. This is The World and Everything in It from listener-supported WORLD Radio. I’m Mary Reichard.

EICHER: And I’m Nick Eicher. Good morning!

REICHARD: Up next, Kristen Flavin has today’s news.

KRISTEN FLAVIN, NEWS ANCHOR: Biden heads to Brussels after wrapping up G7 summit » President Joe Biden is in Brussels today, where he’s meeting with leaders from NATO and the European Union. The president made the trip across the English Channel Sunday after wrapping up the Group of Seven summit in Cornwall.

President Biden said the leaders of the world’s wealthiest nations walked away from their meeting with a list of priorities.

BIDEN: One, delivering vaccines and ending the pandemic. Two, driving substantial and inclusive economic recovery around the world. Three, in fueling infrastructure development in places that most badly need it. And four, in fighting climate change.

During their weekend meeting, the G7 leaders pledged more than 1 billion coronavirus vaccine doses to poorer nations. Critics say that’s not enough. The World Health Organization says it will take 11 billion doses to vaccinate at least 70 percent of the world’s population.

The G-7 leaders also voiced support for a minimum tax of at least 15 percent on large multinational companies. Biden championed that policy as a way to stop corporations from taking advantage of international tax havens.

The president had wanted the group to take a stronger stand against China. But he said he was satisfied with pledges to consult on policies that protect free markets.

BIDEN: I think we’re in a contest, not with China per se, but in a contest with autocrats, autocratic governments around the world, as to whether or not democracies can compete with them in a rapidly changing 21st century.

The group also called on China to respect human rights and the fundamental freedoms of Uyghur Muslims in Xinjiang.

AMBI: Band playing Marine Corps hymn

The president capped his visit to the U.K. with a stop at Windsor Castle for tea with Queen Elizabeth II. He said she asked him about Chinese leader Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin during their hour-long visit.

Biden is set to meet with the Russian leader in Geneva on Wednesday.

Israel’s parliament approves new government » AMBI: [Sound of cheering, honking horns]

Israel has a new prime minister. The country’s parliament approved a new coalition government on Sunday.

Crowds gathered in the streets of Jerusalem cheered the news. The narrow 60-59 vote ended Benjamin Netanyahu’s 12-year run as the country’s leader.

Naftali Bennett, head of a small ultranationalist party, was sworn in as the new prime minister.

Yohanan Plesner is president of the Israel Democracy Institute, a nonpartisan think tank.

PLESNER: This creates an opportunity for change—change in discourse, change in the political climate, change in the rhetoric and in the divisive nature of our politics. And I hope this will bring the crisis to an end and put Israeli society and economy on a new trajectory.

Eight parties make up the new ruling coalition. They agreed to form a power-sharing government to end the country’s political gridlock. That impasse triggered four elections in two years.

The ruling parties are united in their opposition to Netanyahu but agree on little else. That could make it hard for them to hold on to power. Analysts expect the new government to pursue a modest agenda that focuses on maintaining good relations with the United States and easing tensions with the Palestinians.

Although no longer prime minister, Netanyahu remains head of the largest party in parliament. In a speech following Sunday’s vote, he vowed to return to power.

Bipartisan group reaches new infrastructure compromise » A bipartisan group of senators working to draft an infrastructure spending bill has reached an agreement.

Speaking Sunday on CBS’s Face the Nation, Repubilcan Senator Susan Collins of Maine called the proposal targeted and responsible.

COLLINS: We are focusing on the traditional infrastructure definition: roads, bridges, airports, seaports, waterways, highways, broadband. And I think that makes sense.

The “compromise framework” would invest $1.2 trillion over the next eight years. But Collins said it does not require a gas tax increase. She also promised it would not undo the 2017 tax reform bill.

The group of five Republicans and five Democrats has proposed three revenue sources to help pay for the new projects. First, an infrastructure financing authority. Second, a tax on electric vehicles. And finally, they want to tap into unspent COVID-19 relief funds.

President Biden ended negotiations last week with a group of Republican lawmakers working on a different compromise proposal. If lawmakers can’t reach an agreement, the president has threatened to use the budget reconciliation process to pass parts of his own $1.7 trillion plan. Senate Democrats could approve those measures without any GOP support.

Three weekend shootings raise fears for violent summer » Three weekend shootings across the country are raising fears of more violence as the summer heats up.

Two people died and at least 30 others suffered injuries following shootings in Austin, Texas, Savannah, Georgia, and Chicago.

Police believe all three shootings involved personal disputes. Joseph Chacon is the interim police chief in Austin.

CHACON: This does appear to be an isolated incident between two parties. Most of the victims were innocent bystanders but we’re still sorting out all of the victims to see what their involvement is in this case.

Two men allegedly opened fire early Saturday morning on a crowded downtown street lined with bars and nightclubs. One suspect is in custody but the other remains at large.

Suspects in the shootings in Chicago and Savannah also remain at large.

Violent crime and homicides spiked last year. Some analysts blamed the stress of pandemic lockdowns and economic conditions. But others have linked the increase to a reduction in policing following last summer’s protests.

I’m Kristen Flavin.

Straight ahead: Justice Sonia Sonomayor offers some advice to new lawyers.

Plus, the death of a famous American traitor.

This is The World and Everything in It.

MARY REICHARD, HOST: It’s Monday the 14th of June, 2021.

You’re listening to The World and Everything in It and we’re so glad you’ve joined us today. Good morning, I’m Mary Reichard.

NICK EICHER, HOST: And I’m Nick Eicher.

It’s time for Legal Docket. Last week, we finished up covering all 64 oral arguments from this term. Opinions are expected today and through the end of the month. Twenty-one more opinions left to come in.

REICHARD: Two came in last week. One we covered briefly concerning people who enter the United States illegally and cannot take advantage of the special status granted to handle emergency situations, as when earthquakes struck El Salvador. The court held that temporary protected status doesn’t count as admission to the country.

EICHER: The second opinion came in a case in which Justice Samuel Alito displayed a little sarcasm:

ALITO: It’s always a pleasure to have another case involving the Armed Career Criminal Act. It is a real favorite.

The Armed Career Criminal Act, ACCA, is a frequent flyer at the Supreme Court. It sets out a mandatory 15 year minimum sentence for a person found guilty of illegally possessing a firearm IF that person has three prior convictions for violent felonies.

Charles Borden, Jr. fit that description. But he argued one of those three priors ought not count against him because he did not intend to do the action; he’d merely been reckless. ACCA requires purposeful or knowing conduct.

A plurality of five justices agreed and decided that intentional conduct is not the same as reckless conduct.

Four justices in dissent pointed out that conscious disregard of substantial risk to others should suffice as “knowing.”

REICHARD: Well, we don’t have any more oral arguments to cover, but this is graduation season. So today we will let you hear portions of a speech delivered by Justice Sonia Sotomayor to her alma mater, Yale Law School.

Her comments will sober new lawyers. She lays out how they might best shape the legal landscape.

Here now is Supreme Court Justice Sotomayor, and regardless of your personal viewpoint, I think you’ll find her remarks interesting and useful.

SONIA SOTOMAYOR, U.S. SUPREME COURT JUSTICE: I am delighted to be back at Yale Law School. You have finished a remarkable journey during especially difficult times. I know how challenging the last year has been in particular, and my heart goes out to those of you who have suffered illness or other hardship, or who have lost a loved one. I am thankful that we can take this day to celebrate all that you have accomplished and overcome. Congratulations.

Not to scare you, but in a sense, your path in the law will be more challenging than mine was when I graduated. Let me explain why. I was born a month after the Court's decision in Brown versus Board of Education. The fact that I was able to graduate from Yale Law School only 25 years later, was a direct product of that landmark decision. Growing up in a South Bronx public housing project, against the backdrop of the civil rights movement, I knew I wanted to be a lawyer from an early age. In those times, there was simply no higher calling than to seek justice on behalf of those who were denied it. That conviction only grew stronger by the time I graduated law school.

We understood the law as a force for good. We had Justice Thurgood Marshall, a black man on the Supreme Court. Justice Sandra Day O'Connor arrived as the first woman only two years after I graduated. The world and our work within it felt steeped in possibility. We not only saw the social utility of being a lawyer, but also believed in its power to change the very structure of our society.

You are graduating into a very different world, one where lawyers are less revered. One where the good that lawyers can do is viewed more skeptically, and even cynically by some. One where it is especially challenging to sustain the costs of living while working at a public interest job, especially if you have family obligations. Graduating in 2021, choosing to practice the law now is no small thing. Indeed, a star Yankees catcher, and wordsmith Yogi Berra once said, “The future ain't what it used to be.”

Let me offer a few reflections on the law and the ways in which you contribute to its betterment. The first is that process matters. It is critical to justice.

The procedures by which legal claims are formed, channeled and decided, can matter as much as the substance of the claims themselves. As newly minted lawyers, you are going to be relied on to navigate our complex legal system. As you grapple with these issues, you will gain a concrete appreciation for the real substantive work that our procedures do in safeguarding rights. You will also gain a sober understanding of the ways in which our procedures fall short. My charge to you is this: never stopped being students of procedure. Never lose that critical eye and eagerness to learn and master the rules. It will be your life's work, and it will help you do a lot of good.

My second reflection is that storytelling matters.

As much as the law can be focused on problems that seem technical or abstract, the core work of our profession is to translate real people’s stories into a common legal language. One of the most important parts of having one's day in court is simply being heard. Your job as you head off this year is to find people who have stories that need to be told. And to tell those stories well. The best lawyers can make the most complex disputes plain and understandable. Finally, the third reflection I want to share is that in the law, as in life, honesty matters. It matters more than anything else. It is imperative to maintain honesty about precedent, honesty about the facts of your case, and honesty in your conduct. You will inevitably find yourself in situations where it seems expedient or advantageous to bend the truth or even hide it in a misleading way. That will always be the wrong decision. Let me tell you a hard truth now. The legal profession can be a difficult place. There is a lot of suffering and a lot of injustice out there. You will lose cases, including ones you ached to win. Now, given these challenges and uncertainties, and the fierce resistance you will encounter to that which you believe is right and just, how can I tell you to maintain optimism? Well, first and foremost, I would say to never forget the progress that lawyers have driven up to this point. Racial integration, the advancement of women's rights... these are developments that happened during my lifetime, spearheaded by dedicated lawyers like Thurgood Marshall and Ruth Bader Ginsburg. You all have grown up in a world transformed by the seismic shift these lawyers engineered. As a result, more recent changes can feel slower and more marginal than the sweeping changes of my youth. Indeed, it is incremental work. But incremental work shores up hard earned advances. Without it, we are liable to slip backwards. You are a new generation of talented, caring and courageous people who will take the reins of our profession and continue to drive towards progress.

I would like to end today where my thoughts often go. When I think about the challenges we face. My mom. She overcame so much growing up as an orphan raised by siblings in Puerto Rico, migrating to the United States during World War Two, and raising me and my brother mostly alone, while working as a nurse. When I got into Princeton, she insisted on using the little money she had saved to buy me a coat. It was a white coat, sleek, well made and trimmed with fake fur. In my eyes it was one of the most beautiful garments I had ever owned. I wore that coat till its death. But whatever happened wherever I went, she wanted me to have that coat. To have a piece of her holding me close, reminding me of who I am and where I came from.

All of you are about to set off on a new journey. Filled with dramatic and unexpected changes and challenges. I wish that I could wrap each of you in a brand new coat, protect you on the path ahead. While I cannot give you a physical keepsake. I urge you always to remember who you are, and where you came from. Chase your dreams far and wide. Seek out those in need, wherever they might be. And learn all you can tell. Please remember to call up your families now and then. While you're at it, don't forget to thank them for today to the class of 2021 congratulations again.  

[APPLAUSE]

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor, addressing Yale Law School graduates in May.

And that’s this week’s Legal Docket.

MARY REICHARD: One more thought. Remember Justice Sotomayor about halfway through when she discussed the power of stories.

“The best lawyers can make the most complex disputes plain and understandable.” That’s what Justice Sotomayor said, and please, mark this moment: I agree with her.

Using my law degree the way I use it here at WORLD is exactly where I know God has me for his purposes. To help you understand the most complex disputes plainly and to demystify the third branch of government. Because it’s not about the lawyers and the judges. It can’t be about that. In a free society, it’s about you. Government of, by, and for the people.

So I hope what we do here each week and what we do on the Legal Docket podcast (season two: coming this summer!),  it’s designed to help you be the best citizen you can be and glorify God in doing so.

And I have you to thank for that. Your support makes it possible.

So thank you if you’ve given already to support our June Giving Drive.

If you haven’t yet, do keep in mind that from right now through close of business tomorrow—Tuesday the 15th—the impact of your giving is doubled, thanks to some generous families who offered a dollar-for-dollar match—again, through the 15th.

We’ve got a big goal and we’ve got a long way to go. You know, our work at WORLD is labor-intensive and costly, so I ask you humbly to keep us going strong.

Just visit WNG.org/donate to support our June Giving Drive. WNG.org/donate and thank you!

MARY REICHARD, HOST: Next up on The World and Everything in It … the Monday Moneybeat.

NICK EICHER, HOST: Financial analyst and adviser David Bahnsen joins us now for our regular conversation and commentary on the economy. David, good morning to you.

DAVID BAHNSEN, GUEST: Good morning, Nick, good to be with you.

EICHER: I’ve got a lot to cover, quickly today—a grab bag of reports I’d like your thoughts on.

But I want to start on oil. Some interesting developments: number one, a legal matter in the Netherlands on Royal Dutch Shell, essentially a court there imposing emissions caps on the company to bring the company in line with the Paris Climate accords. Really unprecedented and the possible effect there of empowering Russia, China, OPEC, all of them, maybe. We don’t know the effect.

That's number one. Number two, President Biden suspended ANWR oil leases—so no oil production out of the Arctic national wildlife refuge. Number three, Trans Canada abandoning the Keystone pipeline, the company just is done fighting with the U.S. government. And I bring all of those three up under the broad umbrella of American energy independence or a resurgent OPEC.

BAHNSEN: Well, I think that there's some truth to that conclusion.

But I would add, though, because you're like you said, you're referring to the supply side, OPEC, having greater control of the supply. And I would also point out that we're giving more and more power to China on the demand side.

Because to the extent that we're asking the oil and gas, the use of it, the consumption of it to decline, while China does not, we're getting no environmental benefit, we're getting no carbon benefit. And then on the production side, any incentives for those for American production, are necessarily beneficial to the OPEC plus cartel.

So I think that the overall story is one of declining American energy independence, something that was the exception, not the rule for many decades, much to our geopolitical detriment. And we achieved something that was previously thought unthinkable. And that was American energy independence. And right now we're doing our very best to unwind it. And I think it's tragic.

EICHER: Another month and another record high for job openings, the government’s JOLTS report came out, again, a record 9.3 million jobs for May. That’s after April’s record high 8 million job openings, with employers reporting they can’t find workers. So month after month records falling and new records being set. When does this end?

BAHNSEN: Well, I think it ends when more and more states go off the federal unemployment subsidy or when you get to September when the federal unemployment subsidy ends.

And and that's actually right now, my new sort of prediction on this is that, who set this thing up to be a big benefit to President Biden, because they will say, in the fourth quarter of this year or the first quarter of next year, when unemployment inevitably dips lower, because the federally subsidized incentive to not work goes away. They will take credit for an improved unemployment rate.

But I think what they miss around that is how much damage gets done along the way. How many people lose out on over a year's worth of on-the-job training and other development and other opportunity, the seasoning in the job, and then also Nick, how much corporate America does and small businesses do to move the ball in not needing that level of entry-level employment, more automation, more technology?

So do I think that they're adding into a sort of secular entrenchment of permanent structural unemployment? I definitely do. And the timeline right now has got to be when this thing goes away, because it's one of the most unforced errors of disastrous implication from public policy that I've ever seen in my adult life. And I mean that, obviously, economically, but really politically as well, there is just no reason for that provision to have been part of that mostly thoughtless COVID bill.

EICHER: Alright, more talk of inflation—the government’s consumer price index year on year up 5 percent and The Wall Street Journal editorialized—quoting here—“This is a price shock largely made by government. Congress has shoveled out trillions of dollars in transfer payments, and the Fed has [interest] rates at zero, while the economy may be growing at a 10% annual rate.” End of quote. Concerning whether that 5 percent rise is simply transitory, the Journal says, “let us pray.” David you know these numbers as well as anyone, what do you say?

BAHNSEN: Yeah, it's really a very bad analysis. And so the reason when you look at 5 percent and are including energy, I guess most people have forgotten that in the month of May last year, nobody was driving and nobody was flying anywhere.

But if one wants to go back to 2019, and just do a two-year annualized level, most of these numbers are much, much smaller, right in that range—around 2%, not three, four, and five.

But my point is that inflation right now is not easily measurable monolithically.

We have to do better than that. And when you look at the food prices being up 2.2% year over year, that doesn't indicate big, broad monetary inflation.

You have mostly government policy errors, where there are inflationary problems.

Where prices are moving, obnoxiously higher, tend to be the areas where the government is directly subsidizing. We've had very benign inflation, low inflation for a long time, except for the areas of healthcare, higher education costs, and housing prices. And, of course, all three of those are basically the three areas of our economy that the government is most directly involved in, including in the form of direct subsidies.

You have some idiosyncratic things like the supply chain inadequacies and bottlenecks around various commodity imports.

But at the end of the day, I don't say that because I think everything is hunky dory, I think that there are significant challenges, but they are more in economic stagnation, not in an overheating economy.

It's just that we're coming out of COVID right now, and naturally, we're getting really great economic numbers. But I want to look to post-COVID to see how much stagnation this excessive government debt brings. The idea of a society living above its means, is a radically deflationary idea. And, and I pray that we start getting this right, regardless of one's political orientation.

EICHER: David Bahnsen, financial analyst and adviser. He writes at dividendcafe.com. If you’re interested in his newsletter, you can sign up and David’ll send it to your inbox. Good info if you want to keep up with markets and the economy. Appreciate it.

BAHNSEN: Thanks so much, Nick. Always a pleasure.

NICK EICHER, HOST: Today is Monday, June 14th. Good morning! This is The World and Everything in It from listener-supported WORLD Radio. I’m Nick Eicher.

MARY REICHARD, HOST: And I’m Mary Reichard. Next up: The WORLD History Book. Today, stealth technology, the constitutional rights of the accused, and the death of a traitor. Here’s senior correspondent Katie Gaultney.

SONG: “Hush,” Joy Williams and Matt Berringer, from AMC’s Turn

KATIE GAULTNEY, SENIOR CORRESPONDENT: “Benedict Arnold,” a name synonymous with betrayal. After the Americans uncovered his treason, he escaped, defecting to the British. But he couldn’t escape death. Arnold died of natural causes 220 years ago, on June 14, 1801.

Arnold rose to the rank of major general in the American Continental Army. Motivated by the promise of 20,000 British pounds—and at his wife’s urging—Arnold plotted to gain command of the American fortress of West Point, New York, then turn it over to the British. West Point was so critical, soldiers called it “the key to the colonies.” Losing it would cut the colonies in half—and cut off access to important supplies, sabotaging the revolutionary effort.

Papers outlining Arnold’s scheme fell into the hands of American militia forces, who alerted Washington.

U.S. Army Lieutenant General Dave Palmer shared with Biography how America’s top brass regarded Arnold.

PALMER: Right after his treason, George Washington decreed that the name Benedict Arnold would never be mentioned again in anything written about the army or about the country.

But the British didn’t welcome him either, despite that he made a home among them. They provided for his needs, setting Arnold’s wife, Peggy, up with a pension for life. But Arnold was largely shunned socially. He developed a nervous disorder that would ultimately claim his life. The Biography channel reenacted one of Arnold’s last wishes. He asked his wife, Peggy…

CLIP: Let me die in my old American uniform, the uniform in which I fought my battles. God forgive me for ever putting on another. Benedict Arnold, 1801.

He died at age 60 in London on June 14, 1801, followed not long after by his wife. She was just 44 years old.

DETECTIVE: You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney. If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be provided for you at no cost.

Any fan of Law & Order knows those familiar words: the Miranda rights. But they aren’t just a trope of crime procedurals. They came as the result of a U.S. Supreme Court decision 55 years ago. On June 13, 1966, the nation’s highest court ruled in Miranda v. Arizona that police must inform suspects of their rights before questioning them.

A man named Ernesto Miranda faced charges of kidnapping and rape in 1963. He didn’t have a lawyer during his two-hour police interrogation. During questioning, he confessed to both crimes. A lengthy jail sentence followed. But, he appealed his conviction, saying he didn’t know he had the right to remain silent.

The Fifth Amendment says “No person... shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law.” And the Sixth Amendment protects the right of those facing criminal prosecution to “have the assistance of counsel for his defense.”

In a 5-4 decision, the Supreme Court ruled that prosecutors could not use Miranda’s confession against him. They said investigators had not informed Miranda of his right against self-incrimination or his right to an attorney. Ultimately, they said an accused person’s rights don’t mean much if he doesn’t know he has them. So, the “Miranda Warning” was born. It aims to protect people from self-incrimination when their lives are on the line.

After the Supreme Court decision, Miranda stood trial again. The second time, a jury convicted him without the confession.

And we’ll top off today’s History Book with top-secret technology.

SONG: “Danger Zone,” Kenny Loggins

Lockheed’s F-117 Nighthawk made its maiden flight on June 18, 1981, after six years of development at the Pentagon. The plane was the first operational aircraft designed around stealth technology. The Defense Department finally admitted the plane’s existence in 1988. In the early 1990s, the plane proved to be a valuable asset during Operation Desert Storm. Colonel Rick Wright of Holloman Air Force Base.

WRIGHT: You notice the airplane has a pretty strange shape to it. It doesn’t have any curves on it, it’s in a faceted shape like a diamond or some kind of jewel.

And that unusual shape is the key to its stealth technology. A Russian scientist determined in the 1960s that sharp edge configuration decreases an object's radar signature.

WRIGHT: The shape of the airplane bounces radio signals so they don’t return back to the transmitter, and then any signals that do bounce back are attenuated by the skin of the airplane so that they come back much smaller…

The Air Force retired the F-117 in April 2008 as other advanced stealth aircrafts joined its fleet. Still, some Nighthawks remain airworthy, and people have reported sightings as recently as last year.

That’s this week’s History Book. I’m Katie Gaultney.

NICK EICHER, HOST: Tomorrow: market manipulation. Beef is getting more expensive for consumers, but the price of cattle is dropping. We will explain.

And, political turmoil in Israel. We’ll hear how the latest shakeup could affect relations with the United States.

That and more tomorrow.

I’m Nick Eicher

MARY REICHARD, HOST: And I’m Mary Reichard.

The World and Everything in It comes to you from WORLD Radio.

WORLD’s mission is biblically objective journalism that informs, educates, and inspires.

The Bible says, “God, who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness,’ has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

Go now in grace and peace.

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