The World and Everything in It: March 8, 2023

MYRNA BROWN, HOST: Good morning!

CPAC, The Conservative Political Action Conference, returned to Washington DC last week. We’ll hit some of the highlights.

NICK EICHER, HOST: That’s ahead on Washington Wednesday.

Also today, World Tour.

Plus cattle, cowboys, and the government. The ongoing argument behind a controversial practice.

And does God have a sense of humor? World commentator Janie B Cheaney chuckles at the idea.

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

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

BROWN: Up next, Kent Covington with today’s news.

KENT COVINGTON, NEWS ANCHOR: In reversal, Biden weighs detaining migrant families »

In a major reversal, the Biden administration is thinking about detaining migrant families who cross into the country illegally.

Reporters pressed the White House for answers about that report on Tuesday but could not get a straight answer.

PIERRE: I’m not going to go in on rumors that are out there or conversations that are happening at this time.

Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre.

In 2021, the Biden administration began releasing many more illegal immigrants inside the country. Since then, border traffic has shattered record highs.

The Associated Press reports that Homeland Security officials are working through how to manage an expected surge on top of those record levels once the administration ends pandemic-era Title 42 restrictions.

Kidnappings latest » Meantime, two of the four Americans kidnapped in a Mexican border town have returned safely home. However, the other two were found dead.

Attorney General Merrick Garland:

GARLAND: I’ve been briefed by the FBI, which is working with Mexican authorities, and senior department officials are working closely with our counterparts at the State Dept.

At least one suspect is now behind bars in Mexico. Authorities are hunting for the others.

The group was reportedly caught in a cartel shootout in the northern city of Matamoros while traveling for medical treatment.

Mexican officials say no ransom was paid for the release of the surviving Americans.

Fed inflation »  Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell says those smaller rate hikes we’ve been seeing recently might not last. The Fed is trying to avoid raising rates more than necessary to avoid pushing the economy into recession. But Powell says inflation isn’t cooperating.

POWELL - Restoring price stability is  essential to set the stage for achieving maximum employment and stable prices over the longer run. The historical record cautions strongly against prematurely loosening policy. We will stay the course until the job is done.

And he told the Senate Banking Committee Tuesday that getting the job done might require larger increases soon.

Powell will again testify before the House Financial Services Committee today.

Israeli raid » 

NATS (Israeli bodycam footage): [SHOOTING]

At least six Palestinians are dead in the West Bank after an Israeli military raid today.

NETANYAHU : [Hebrew]

In a statement, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israeli soldiers killed a Hamas militant connected to last week’s killing of two Israelis in the West Bank.

More than a dozen people were wounded in the raid, including two Israeli soldiers.

Beijing warns US must change its attitude toward China or risk conflict »

QIN: [Chinese]

Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang says the United States needs an attitude adjustment if it wants to avoid conflict with China.

He told reporters Tuesday that the US government is manufacturing Chinese threats where none exist. And he accused Washington of  “hysterical neo-McCarthyism.”

White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby responded:

KIRBY: We seek a strategic competition with China. We do not seek conflict. And there is nothing about our approach to this most consequential of bilateral relationships that should anyone to think that we want conflict.

Qin Gang also reaffirmed Chinese support of Russia. US officials remain concerned that Beijing may choose to sell weapons to Moscow.

DeSantis state of state »

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis sounded a lot like a candidate with sights set on a higher office Tuesday as he delivered that state of the state address to Florida lawmakers.

DESANTIS: Due to the excessive spending and printing of money by the federal government, Americans are living through the worst period of sustained inflation in decades.

The governor said Florida over the past four years has become a blueprint for success that the rest of the country would do well to follow.

He touted his administration’s handling of COVID-19, reopening earlier than most other states and that battle against what calls leftist “woke” policies.

DeSantis has not yet declared a run for president. But early polls suggest he may be former President Trump’s biggest threat in Republican primary races.

Walgreens CA » Meantime, another possible presidential contender is looking to raise his national profile appealing to pro-abortion voters. WORLD’s Josh Schumacher reports.

JOSH SCHUMACHER, REPORTER: California Governor Gavin Newsom is heavily rumored to be eying a bid for the Democratic nomination if President Biden doesn’t run for reelection and perhaps even if he does.

On Tuesday, Newsom announced that his state will no longer do business with Walgreens. That after the pharmacy chain announced that will not sell abortion drugs in pro-life states after 20 attorneys general threatened legal action.

But Walgreens does plan to offer the pills in California and most other states after the Biden administration loosened safety rules restricting the drugs.

For WORLD, I’m Josh Schumacher.

I'm Kent Covington.

This is The World and Everything in It.

NICK EICHER, HOST: It’s Wednesday, March 8, 2023. We’re so glad to have you along for today’s edition of The World and Everything in It. Good morning, I’m Nick Eicher.

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

It’s Washington Wednesday. Washington was a busy place over the weekend for some Republican presidential hopefuls. CPAC--The Conservative Political Action Conference--returned to the nation’s capital for the first time since COVID.

EICHER: CPAC has traditionally been a who’s who of conservative leaders.

But this year, two major likely GOP contenders decided to skip the event: Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and former Vice President Mike Pence.

BROWN: Joining us once again to talk about what we heard and what we didn’t hear is Matt Klink. He is a political strategist and president of Klink Campaigns. Matt, good morning!

MATT KLINK: Hi, Myrna, good morning.

BROWN: Well, let's start with the headline of this year's event, which was, of course former President Donald Trump. What stood out to you about his speech?

KLINK: Donald Trump was super aggressive. He pitched it in the traditional us versus them, insider Washington DC inside the beltway versus conservative outsider populist, and he's going to run a hard aggressive campaign in 2024.

BROWN: Now, former ambassador and former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley, is Trump's only major opponent who has already declared a run for president. She spoke at CPAC and again talked about Republicans losing the popular vote and seven out of the last eight presidential elections. And she called for a new generation of leadership. But she didn't mention Trump by name. What do you think about her remarks over the weekend?

KLINK: Nikki Haley is running an aggressive campaign as well. And I must tell you that she's largely following the Glenn Youngkin model that works so well for the current Republican in Virginia. She likely won't mention Donald Trump by name, but her messaging of the need for younger, more middle not middle of the road, but more middle aged candidates certainly resonates with, you know, an 81 year old Joe Biden and an eight or 79 to 80 year old Donald Trump. And she's going to make the aggressive argument that it's time for the next generation of leaders to step up and have their turn at the helm of the country.

BROWN: Now for his part, Trump really hasn't said much at all about Haley. It seems most of his criticism has been aimed at Florida Governor Ron DeSantis. So what does that tell us?

KLINK: Donald Trump has tried to attack Ron DeSantis, who is proving to have Teflon for an outer coating at the moment. He's tried calling him Ron De-sanctimonious and, you know, a number of other names and his quippy one word errors that the President used very effectively in 2016. But Ron DeSantis, has not taken the bait. He is not a declared candidate. And my guess is that Ron DeSantis is gonna run, run. Just a very subtle campaign promoting his book talking about what's wrong with America. And then when he's ready, he'll declare, but look, Donald Trump knows. There was a poll just released in California where Ron DeSantis was over the weekend that showed in a head to head matchup DeSantis beating Trump in California by more than double digits, which, you know, everybody says, But California is the bluest of blue states. Well, we have a March primary this year in California, and we also have the largest Republican delegation. So if if any candidate does well in California, they will have a leap and bound advantage in terms of getting the Republican presidential nomination, and Donald Trump is toxic in California.

BROWN: You touched on where Ron DeSantis was this past weekend. Instead of speaking at CPAC he spoke to an exclusive donor retreat sponsored by the Conservative Club for Growth. So what are your thoughts Matt about his appearance there?

KLINK: Ron DeSantis, his campaign team, even though it's the unofficial campaign team, clearly made the decision that CPAC is a Donald Trump dominated audience and that he will he will win more supporters and raise a lot more money if he attends the Club for Growth which has already they haven't they haven't not endorsed Trump, but they have said that we need someone new, which is basically saying we're going to endorse someone but just not this guy, Donald Trump. And then Ron DeSantis jumped on an airplane and spoke at the Reagan Library to 1000 people and attended a fundraiser to the Republican Party of Orange County in California, where he raised almost $800,000. So Ron DeSantis again, he clearly has methodically thought out what he wants to do. And Donald Trump, he knew he was going to do really well, at CPAC. He won the straw poll, which should surprise no one. That was his crowd. But you get Donald Trump and other audiences and other forums. And it will be questionable if he draws the crowds that he has in the past.

BROWN: Well, Matt, when do you think we can expect the rest of the Republican field to take shape? You know, when might people like DeSantis, Pence and Pompeo announce?

KLINK: I think Myrna what you're going to see is a lot of candidates. I mean, there really is no advantage to declaring really early for president, it limits how you can raise money, primarily. So you know, and Ron, I believe that Florida has what's called a resign and run provision in its laws. So Ron DeSantis will likely get through the Florida the current session of the Florida legislature, and pass pass some some legislation that will really set him out as the conservative populist leader that can lead America forward. And he'll probably declare some time over the summer. Look, I guarantee you that everybody will dip their toe in the water before August when we have the first Republican debate. But I think you're gonna see people, you know, probably May, June, that field will will grow exponentially. You know, probably Mike Pompeo, you've already gotten Nikki Haley, Donald Trump, Ron DeSantis. We could have two senators Scott, one from South Carolina, one from Florida.

So I mean, look at what the biggest challenge for Republicans right now is a large field favors Donald Trump. A small field favors whomever is the challenger to Donald Trump, because Donald Trump brings 30% with him no matter what, they're not going to leave him. So if a large crowded field comes in Donald Trump, Donald Trump pulls his 30, he gets his delegates, but with a concentrated field of two or three total candidates. I think that puts up some really steep obstacles for Donald Trump. But on the flip side, Donald Trump knows how to win Republican conventions, and nobody else on the Republican Party has done it at this point. Doesn't mean they can't, it just means that they haven't done it.

BROWN: I'm glad you taught numbers one last question. Trump is clearly leading the GOP field at the moment, but multiple early polls have him under 50% among registered Republican voters. So how would you gauge the strength of Trump's campaign at this early stage?

KLINK: Myrna I respectfully dispute the fact that Donald Trump is leading the polling at this at this point. I think that I mean, look just like, just like Teddy Roosevelt, who stopped running for office and waited a term and decided to run again, and didn't fare so well. You know, Donald Trump, the world has changed significantly since since 2016, when he was successful. And even since 2020, when he unsuccessfully ran for president. 2024 will present new obstacles. It's a much different campaign environment. The geopolitical threats are radically different. And I think that what you're seeing, especially in early primary states, like North Carolina, or like New Hampshire, like in Nevada, like in California, is that Donald Trump is by no means the front runner. He might be the best known, but he's also the most polarizing. So the challenge for any Republican is, what's your plan for the future? How are you going to make the voters' lives better on a going forward basis? If Donald Trump talks about the future and what he wants to do? The world opens up for him. If he re-litigates 2020 voters have moved on and Donald Trump either moves on or he's going to get left behind. So and I think that that's what Nikki Haley, that's what Ron DeSantis, that's sort of Mike Pompeo, they're all talking about what they want to do in the future. Not about all the flaws of the past. And that's how you win presidential elections is talking about the future.

BROWN: Well, all right. Matt Klink with Klink Campaigns has been our guest, Matt, thanks so much.

KLINK: Thank you for having me.

MYRNA BROWN, HOST: Coming up next on The World and Everything in It: World Tour with our reporter in Africa, Onize Ohikere.

ONIZE OHIKERE, REPORTER: Tunisia unrest — We begin today’s roundup in Tunisia.

AUDIO: [Protesters chanting]

Hundreds of people crowded the streets of the capital of Tunis this weekend, chanting and waving flags.

They are decrying the rising cost of food and other goods. Protesters also called for the release of more than 20 prominent opposition figures detained in recent weeks by President Kais Saied’s government.

AUDIO: [Protesters chanting]

Saied has grown increasingly autocratic since he suspended parliament in a 2021 power grab. His anti-migrant rhetoric also fueled the protests.

During a meeting with the National Security Council late in February, Saied called the rise of illegal immigrants from other parts of Africa a criminal arrangement to make the country’s demography more African and less Arab.

Christian Kwongang heads the Association of African Students and Trainees in Tunisia.

AUDIO: [Speaking French]

He says here that sub-Saharan African students are facing attacks on public transport and on the streets and are also getting evicted by their landlords.

Ivory Coast and Guinea are sending planes to evacuate their citizens.

Refugee camp fire — Next, to Bangladesh.

AUDIO: [Fire responders]

A massive fire blazed through the tightly packed refugee camp for Rohingya Muslims on Sunday.

Many of the refugees arrived in the southern Cox’s Bazar district from neighboring Myanmar, also called Burma, since 2017. That’s when the military there launched a brutal crackdown on the ethnic minority group.

Bangladesh’s refugee commissioner said the Sunday blaze left about 12,000 people without shelter.

AUDIO: [Speaking Rohingya dialect]

This resident says she took her mother to the hospital when the fire broke out. They lost all of their belongings.

The fire also destroyed at least 35 mosques and 21 learning centers.

Malaysia floods — We head over to Malaysia.

AUDIO: [Floodwaters]

Residents in the southern region began cleaning up this week after days of heavy flooding inundated communities.

At least five people died. The floodwaters displaced more than 40,000 others.

Malaysia is witnessing its sixth episode of continuous heavy rainfall during the annual monsoon season that started in November. Weather officials warn that waters in 25 rivers nationwide have reached dangerous levels.

France protests — We close today in France.

AUDIO: [Protesters]

Thousands of demonstrators crowded the port of Marseille in southern France on Tuesday.

Similar scenes played out in the northern city of Calais and outside the airport in Paris. The strikes shut down transport and school activities nationwide.

The protests began nearly two months ago to oppose the government’s plans to amend pension laws. The proposed changes would raise the retirement age from 62 to 64.

French far-left leader Jean-Luc Melenchon joined the protests in Marseille.

AUDIO: [Speaking French]

He is urging French President Emmanuel Macron to call for a referendum or dissolve parliament.

The French Senate is debating the bill this week.

That’s it for this week’s World Tour.

Reporting for WORLD, I’m Onize Ohikere in Abuja, Nigeria.

NICK EICHER, HOST: The island of Key West off the southern coast of Florida is known for its sunsets, its beaches and its love of a local marine mollusk--the conch.

Every March, people from all over descend on the island for the annual Key West Conch-Shell Blowing Contest.

Players of all ages buzz and blow through the cut off end of the conch. As you’ve heard so far, it’s pretty much just a primitive trumpet.

Some just make a single toned sound while others learn to play a little more—like this year’s winner.

Brian Cardis of Macon, Georgia “conked” the beginning of the Jimmy Buffett song titled “Fins.”

I think year’s grammy award winner is safe.

BROWN: He’s not doing Jimmy Buffett any favors.

It’s The World and Everything in It.

MYRNA BROWN, HOST: Today is Wednesday, March 8th.

Thank you for turning to WORLD Radio to help start your day.

Good morning. I’m Myrna Brown.

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

Coming next on The World and Everything in It: Feral cattle in the Southwest.

Ranchers in New Mexico are at odds with the federal government. The issue: how to capture and remove feral cattle from the state’s largest wilderness area.

The Forest Service wants to continue to use lethal methods to get rid of the animals. Ranchers believe there’s a better way.

BROWN: They do. I talked to one of those ranchers. And we’ll also hear from someone just as adamant on the other side.

New Mexico’s Gila National Forest was established in 1905. Three million acres of forested hills, rugged mountains, deep canyons and vast wilderness. The area goes largely untouched. But in the last year, the Gila Wilderness has been the center of controversy.

PODCASTER: Many thought that the forest service would back away from this lethal option…

COMMENTATOR: …shooting cattle from a helicopter on public lands, I think that’s an incredibly dangerous precedent.

LEGISLATOR: Last year we drafted a letter that the majority of the house members signed onto over what the United States Forest Service is doing over the Gila National Forest.

In February of 2022, the Forest Service of the United States Department of Agriculture conducted an aerial lethal-removal operation. A helicopter carrying a sharp shooter flew over portions of the Gila Wilderness and gunned down 65 feral cattle. Last month, the Forest Service resumed that operation, and 19 more wild cattle were shot from the air.

LOREN PATTERSON: It just kind of broke everybody’s heart that they would even consider doing such a thing.

That’s Loren Patterson, President of the New Mexico Cattle Growers’ Association. The organization represents 14-hundred ranching operations throughout the state.

LOREN PATTERSON: What we saw last year was the animals had their legs shot off. It’s not an instant kill. It can take hours, sometimes days for these animals to die.

The problem, Patterson says, started in the 1990’s when a fellow rancher operating within a region of the Gila wilderness went bankrupt and lost his grazing allotment. A grazing allotment is an area designated by the Forest Service for ranchers—granting them grazing rights on that land. When that rancher fell on hard times and lost the use of his grazing allotment he abandoned the cattle. Today descendants of those animals run wild. They’ve become a nuisance both to the health of the wilderness and to the public that want to use the land.

LOREN PATTERSON: This is a human management problem. It’s not the cattle, it's not their fault they’re in there, so to go in there and treat them in an inhumane way, I think we’re better than that.

Patterson says his organization wants the Forest Service to invest in infrastructure, like corrals and fences, that will keep the cattle from entering vulnerable areas.

The Forest Service declined my request for an interview, but issued this statement defending its lethal aerial operation. “The use of ground-based methods alone did not sustainably reduce the feral cattle population. The most efficient and humane way to deal with this issue is with the responsible lethal removal of the feral cattle.”

ROBIN SILVER: These are animals that are incredibly wild, they’re dangerous.

Robin Silver applauds the Forest Service’s decision. Silver is co-founder of the Center for Biological Diversity. Based in Arizona, the organization is dedicated to the preservation of imperiled and endangered species and their habitats—like the Gila wilderness. Silver got involved in the fight to remove the wild cattle three years ago.

ROBIN SILVER: I walked across the Gila Wilderness in response to years worth of complaints from our members and others about being charged by feral cows and by extensive damage to the streamside areas within the wilderness.

A professional wildlife photographer, Silver began documenting what he describes as the fallout from feral cattle grazing along the Gila river bank.

ROBIN SILVER: And so they denude the streams and rivers of the streamside vegetation.

And that eliminates necessary habitat for the fish and other water animals creating a ripple effect across the whole ecosystem. In July of 2020, Silver started tracking feral cattle in the Gila Wilderness. He remembers the day he stood just a stone’s throw away from a two-ton, jet-black bull.

ROBIN SILVER: As soon as he heard the camera click, he turned around and ran.

Silver says that experience demonstrates both how skittish and how dangerous the wild cattle are.

ROBIN SILVER: They attack the horses of the cowboys that are trying to round them up. At best they can get a rope around them.

He argues it also suggests at least some of the ranchers on the ground aren’t any more humane than the sharpshooters in the air.

ROBIN SILVER: Then they tie them to a tree until the cow becomes exhausted. The cows are thrashing the entire time. They’re usually hurt. And then they literally have to drag them out between 20 to 30 miles over rugged terrain, put them in a truck, take them to an auction yard and then to slaughter.

It’s unlikely Silver and Patterson will ever agree on the best way to remove the cattle. But both admit, while the animals don’t belong in that part of the Gila Wilderness, they are still God’s creation. Again, Loren Patterson.

LOREN PATTERSON: As far as I’m concerned, He’s giving me that calling on my own ranches. That’s probably the purpose-driven life I have is to care for His land and animals and as an industry and as an association, we all demand that of ourselves and we expect the Forest Service to live up to that expectation, too.

Reporting for WORLD, I’m Myrna Brown.

NICK EICHER, HOST: Today is Wednesday, March 8th. Good morning! This is The World and Everything in It from listener-supported WORLD Radio. I’m Nick Eicher.

MYRNA BROWN, HOST: And I’m Myrna Brown. WORLD Commentator Janie B. Cheaney now on God’s sense of humor.

JANIE B. CHEANEY, COMMENTATOR: After waiting hours in pre-op, growing increasingly anxious, my husband had to answer a call of nature. No sooner had the bathroom door closed behind him than the gurney arrived. Our neighbor in the pre-op room who had been easing his own anxiety with a stream of wisecracks, now took advantage of the perfect setup. How could we shock my husband out of the john and into the operating room? He suggested, “Tell him you’re pregnant.”

Why was that funny? Recall one of the oldest jokes in the Bible, played on Sarah as she eavesdropped on a conversation between her husband and a visiting stranger. In one year, the stranger told Abraham, your wife will have a baby. She could not suppress her cynical laughter. A ninety-year-old woman becoming pregnant met all the hallmarks of comedy: the surprise, the reversal, the incongruity of a dignified gentleman slipping on a banana peel. True, the joke seemed cruel, but Sarah didn’t have to wait long for the punchline. And then she had to laugh again, but joyfully, not cynically.

Does God have a sense of humor? Philosopher Peter Kreeft insists that God is the author of humanity’s best jokes (namely, humans). His latest book is titled, Ha! A Christian Philosophy of Humor. In the introduction, he explains, “I was about to write a serious, heavy book entitled How to Save Western Civilization, as a sequel to my book How to Destroy Western Civilization and Other Ideas from the Cultural Abyss. But writing it was not making me happy, and reading it was not going to make anybody else happy either.”

Indeed: Saving Western Civilization can so occupy our minds that there’s no room to crack a smile. Are we taking ourselves too seriously? Friendships are destroyed and families divided over politics, when a good joke could dissolve tension and restore some perspective. Psalm 2:4 says God in heaven laughs at human pretensions. Can’t we?

Not all varieties of laughter are healthy, such as the scornful kind, the mocking kind, the dismissive and sarcastic and disdainful kinds. The best kind comes at the expense of our own frailties and pomposities. Life is not a joke, but we are: created in dust but destined for glory, with countless pratfalls along the way.

There is a time to weep. But joy comes in the morning, a joy made richer by suffering—or as Jesus said, “Blessed are you who weep now, for you shall laugh.” He himself entered the heart of suffering on the cross, the darkest three hours in history. Yet in the end, God’s greatest reversal: a resurrection that knocked Satan on his backside and secured an eternity of holy laughter for us slightly ridiculous humans.

Our world has always been determined to make itself miserable, but we don’t have to play along. It’s not that we’re immune or indifferent to misery: we’re just waiting for the final punchline.

I’m Janie B. Cheaney.

NICK EICHER, HOST: Tomorrow: COVID benefits are coming to an end. What might that mean for the poor? We’ll talk about it.

That and more tomorrow.

I’m Nick Eicher.

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.

The Psalmist writes: O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water. So I have looked upon you in the sanctuary, beholding your power and glory. Because your steadfast love is better than life, my lips will praise you. Psalm 63:1-3

Go now in grace and peace.

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