The World and Everything in It — November 24, 2020

MYRNA BROWN, HOST: Good morning!

A Muslim extremist recently killed a French history teacher because of something he said in class. That has sparked a debate over whether free speech really is free. We’ll tell you about that.

NICK EICHER, HOST: Also, Apple has made it easier to hide apps and photos on iPhones and iPads. We’ll talk about what concerned parents can do about it.

Plus the first in a three-part series on a California town destroyed by the state’s deadliest wildfire on record.

And editor in chief Marvin Olasky with some suggestions for the next time we go to the polls.

BROWN: It’s Tuesday, November 24th. 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: Now the news with Kent Covington.

KENT COVINGTON, NEWS ANCHOR: Michigan certifies Biden victory » Joe Biden is the “apparent winner” of the Nov. 3rd election. 

That’s the word from the General Services Administration on Monday. The federal agency’s announcement clears the way for Biden to officially begin his transition to the White House. 

That came just hours after election officials in Michigan certified Biden’s victory in the state.

Allies of the Trump campaign had asked for a delay. But the Republican vice-chair of the Board of State Canvassers, Aaron Van Langevelde said the board had a job to do. 

LANGEVELDE: We have a duty to certify this election based on the return. That is very clear.

Georgia certified Biden’s victory on Friday, and Pennsylvania counties have also started certifying vote counts. 

Following Monday’s announcement, President Trump said on Twitter he’s not giving up the legal fight, but he is directing his team to cooperate with the transition. 

Biden announces first cabinet picks » Meantime, President-elect Biden has announced his first Cabinet picks. WORLD’s Anna Johansen Brown has more. 

ANNA JOHANSEN BROWN, REPORTER: Biden on Monday tapped several Obama-era officials for top national security and economic roles. 

He will nominate lawyer Alejandro Mayorkas to head Homeland Security, Jake Sullivan as national security adviser, and Avril Haines as director of national intelligence.

For secretary of state, Biden will tap longtime adviser Tony Blinken, steering away from more controversial picks. Other rumored candidates, such as former national security adviser Susan Rice would face strong opposition from Senate Republicans.  

Meanwhile, former Secretary of State John Kerry will take the lead on climate change.

And Biden is expected to pick former Fed Chair Janet Yellen for treasury secretary.

Reporting for WORLD, I’m Anna Johansen. 

Third coronavirus vaccine impresses in late-stage trials » Another vaccine is fending off the coronavirus at an impressive rate in late-stage trails. 

Drugmaker AstraZeneca teamed up with the University of Oxford to develop the vaccine. And the company said Monday that the latest data showed it to be up to 90 percent effective. 

Oxford vaccinologist Sarah Gilbert…

GILBERT: It’s really excellent to see the high efficacy that we’re now getting out of these trials, coupled with the safety, the ability to manufacture in large doses, because all of that together, this vaccine and other vaccines as well, is what’s going to really make a difference.

Vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna have shown to be 95 percent effective in late-stage trials. But, unlike its rivals, the Oxford-AstraZeneca offering does not have to be stored at ultra-cold temperatures. That makes it cheaper and easier to distribute, especially in developing countries.

Immunologist Adam Finn said it will still take months before the world can begin returning to normal. 

FINN: The next challenge is going to be to get enough people immunized fast enough to have an impact on the virus. And that does take time. I mean, it simply takes time to manufacture, to get the vaccines distributed, and then to get them into people’s arms. 

Drugmakers are now in a race to the finish against the virus. As vaccines approach government approval in record time, the coronavirus is spreading faster than ever. 

The number of confirmed daily cases in the United States has tripled since mid-October—now more than 170,000 cases per day. 

Millions pass through U.S. airports ahead of Thanksgiving » That surge comes against the backdrop of the holidays.

And the TSA reports that more than 2 million people passed through airport security scanners Friday and Saturday.

That’s far lower than the normal travel volume the weekend before Thanksgiving. But by current standards, it’s a big number. It’s only the second time since mid-March that passengers have topped 1 million. 

Airlines say they’re trying to shorten lines while sanitizing gates and kiosks, and increasing ventilation.

GM to recall 7 million vehicles over airbags » GM is recalling millions of vehicles worldwide over potentially dangerous Takata air bags that U.S. regulators say run the risk of exploding. WORLD’s Kristen Flavin has that story. 

KRISTEN FLAVIN, REPORTER: General Motors will spend more than a billion dollars to recall 7 million full-size pickup trucks and SUVs from model years 2007 through 2014.

The announcement came Monday after the U.S. government told the automaker it must recall 6 million of the vehicles in the United States.

The company argued the air bag inflator canisters have been safe on the road and in testing. But U.S. regulators aren’t convinced. 

Exploding Takata inflators have forced automakers to recall a record 63 million of them. 

Takata used volatile ammonium nitrate to create a small explosion to fill air bags in a crash. But the chemical can deteriorate when exposed to heat and humidity, and they can explode with too much pressure.

Exploding inflators have killed 27 people worldwide, including 18 in the United States. 

Reporting for WORLD, I’m Kristen Flavin.

I’m Kent Covington.

Straight ahead: the debate over free speech in France.

Plus, Marvin Olasky with election suggestions for 2024.

This is The World and Everything in It.

MYRNA BROWN, HOST: It’s Tuesday, the 24th of November, 2020.

You’re listening to The World and Everything in It and we’re glad you are! Good morning, I’m Myrna Brown.

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

First up: threats to free speech.

It’s a hot topic in the United States, but it’s also an issue abroad. Especially France, where an Islamic terrorist recently beheaded a history teacher because of comments he made in his classroom. After a series of similar terror attacks, the country is reopening a conversation about what people should and shouldn’t be allowed to say.

WORLD correspondent Jenny Lind Schmitt reports.

DAUTRY: Il nous a montrer… 

JENNY LIND SCHMITT, CORRESPONDENT: Marie Dautry’s 11-year old son recently came home from school in Beaucourt, France, upset about a picture his teacher had shown the class. It was a caricature of Jesus. As a Christian, her son didn’t like seeing Jesus portrayed that way. Dautry wondered about the teacher’s motivations, and if other parents had a similar experience. 

Dautry’s experience is part of a national conversation happening in France following the brutal murder of teacher Samuel Paty. Paty taught history in a suburb of Paris. The class had been learning about freedom of expression and freedom of the press. That led to a discussion about the current trial of the terrorists who murdered 12 journalists at the Charlie Hebdo magazine in 2015.

After giving students the chance to leave the room if they wished, Paty showed his class the cartoons of Mohammed that prompted the attack. Days later, Paty himself became the victim of a brutal beheading. It scandalized the world and left France feeling like freedom of speech was under attack.

BRABANT: C’est la premiere fois en France depuis qu’il y a l’école publique, depuis un siècle et demi, qu’un professeur est tué pour le metier qu’il fait. 

Laurent Brabant teaches the same subject as Samuel Paty, in Chirens, eastern France. He says Paty was by all accounts an excellent teacher, well-respected. And he was teaching freedom of expression the same way he had in previous years.

BRABANT: Lecole: C’est notre boulot ça, d’expliquer et réexpliquer. Parce que si nous, nous le faisons pas, personne ne le fait. L’école c’est l’endroit où on doit leur expliquer les choses, pour présenter une autre valeur à quelques élèves. 

[TRANSLATION: That’s our job: to explain and reexplain. Because if we don’t do it, no one will. School is the place where things are explained, to present other values to certain students.]

In France, free speech is tied to the so-called “right to blasphemy,” that is, to criticize a religion or institution. It’s guaranteed in the French bill of rights adopted in 1789. While the caricatures in Charlie Hebdo have become a symbol of freedom of speech, Brabant says blasphemy should not be the end goal. 

BRABANT: Mais ce que j’apprends à mes élèves c’est pas l’usage de blasphème, c’est l’usage de la liberté d’expression, c’est à dire, de dialogue… Mais dialogue respectueux. Nous pouvons être en désaccord, nous pouvons l’exprimer. On peut dire des choses qui peuvent heurter ton interlocuteur, mais ça n’empêche que le dialogue existe quand même.

[TRANSLATION: What I teach my students is not the use of blasphemy, instead I teach them how to use freedom of expression, that is: dialog. Respectful dialog. We can disagree, we can express it. You can say things that may offend your listener, but that doesn’t prevent dialog from happening.]

In response to Paty’s murder, some people said all teachers should show the caricatures of Mohammed to their classes. Nancy Lefevre disagrees. She is the in-house lawyer for the National Council of French Evangelicals. 

LEFEVRE: Our French state should not encourage or discourage religious blasphemy. It has to be neutral. If the Ministry of Education wants to educate French pupils about freedom of expression. They can use caricature, but let them use caricature against Mohammed, Jesus, Mr. Macron, against Jean-Jorres, the European Union, in a pluralist way. 

She says it’s essential to uphold the principles of “laicité” or secularism. Before the French Revolution, the Roman Catholic Church had too much power in the country. So secularism, the freedom of speech, and the freedom to publicly criticize powerful religious and government institutions were enshrined into law. But there are limits. 

LEFEVRE: The judge of what is allowed and not allowed is the criminal court. We talk about the right to blasphemy, but indeed it’s not the right to blasphemy as such, it’s the right to criticize any opinion, any institution, even the government, as long as you don’t incite people to hatred, to violence, and to discrimination. 

The problem, Lefevre says, is that people in France are more influenced by what media and public opinion say about the limits of free speech, than by what the law says. For example, when France banned Muslim headscarves in schools that created confusion about what people were allowed to wear or say in public. To counter that, the National Council of French Evangelicals launched a campaign called Freedom to Speak. It’s specifically aimed at Christians knowing, and protecting, their rights in the public arena. 

LEFEVRE: The campaign is really about stating what’s already in our good French law. And making people realize that our law is protecting them more than threatening their freedoms. And this campaign was also in reaction to either political or media or public opinion coverage of this issue, making freedom of religion weaker or freedom of expression smaller than actually our French law or international law protects them. 

Both Brabant and Dautry say misuse of social media has caused big problems for freedom of speech. Angry diatribes on Facebook allegedly incited Samuel Paty’s murderer to action. Brabant says it’s a challenge to help his students understand that the same laws of civil society also apply online. 

BRABANT: Alors ça c’est aussi quelque chose que l’école peut amener, et l’éducation des parents aussi. C’est le temps pour réfléchir et pas etre seulement dans la réaction du message. Déconnecter un instant et discuter.  

[TRANSLATION: That’s also an area where school can help, in addition to the teaching of parents. To take the time to be thoughtful, and not just be in a reaction to a message. Disconnect for a moment and have a discussion.]  

Marie Dautry says the recent events have allowed her to have good discussions with her son. 

DAUTRY: Je veux que Charlie Hebdo ait le droit de faire ça, parce que si Charlie Hebdo n’a pas le droit de faire ça, de faire les caricatures… ça veut dire que nous nous avons plus le droit de faire grand chose dans nos eglises. 

[TRANSLATION: I want Charlie Hebdo to have the right to do that, because if Charlie Hebdo does not have that right, to publish caricatures, that means that we no longer have the right to do much in our churches.]

And those discussions have led to deeper reflection on where freedom of expression comes from.

DAUTRY: J’ai vraiment le sentiment que Dieu fonctionne comme ça avec nous. En fait, Dieu nous laisse vraiment libre de faire ce qu’on veut. Et on peut faire des caricatures de Jésus et puis revenir vers Jésus et lui demander pardon, et être son enfant, être un enfant de Dieu.  Et du coup je me dis, Dieu nous laisse réellement libre. Pourquoi est-ce que je souhaiterais que l’État nous prive d’une liberté que Dieu nous accorde en fait. 

[TRANSLATION: It really seems this is how God is with us. God leaves us free to do what we want. And we can make caricatures that mock Jesus and then come back to Jesus, ask his forgiveness and be a child of God. And so I think, God gives us real freedom. Why would I want the state to deprive us of a freedom that God gives us?]

Reporting for WORLD, I’m Jenny Lind Schmitt in Delle, France.

NICK EICHER, HOST: Coming up next on The World and Everything in It: kids and cell phones.

Remote learning during the pandemic has given children more access to internet-connected devices than ever before. Laptops, tablets, phones these are no longer luxury items. They’re vital to education, some say. 

And that makes it more difficult for parents to limit screen time and keep a tight rein on what their children do and see online.

MYRNA BROWN, HOST: Earlier this year, Apple exacerbated the problem when it updated the operating system for its popular iPhones and iPads. The new update gives users the ability to hide photos and apps. 

That was possible before but required third-party software. Now that it’s part of Apple’s native system, it’s much easier to do. And that has parents worried.

Joining us now to explain why is Jason Thacker. He’s head of research in technology ethics at the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention.

Good morning, Jason!

JASON THACKER, GUEST: Good morning. Thank you for having me. 

BROWN: Well, let’s start right there by explaining why this new set of features has parents so concerned.

THACKER: Yeah, with this new update to the iOS system, there are some concerning things that parents need to be aware of that you can actually hide apps or you can hide photos where it’s much more difficult to see what’s going on on these devices. And if parents don’t know about these types of features or know how things have moved around on these devices, it can be really concerning that maybe their teenager or even a younger child has downloaded an app that they’re not supposed to or shouldn’t be on and maybe spending extra time or taking photos that are inappropriate and sending those to friends. And so it’s one of those things that parents need to be aware of and be monitoring. This update makes it a little more difficult but not impossible to have healthy screen time habits in terms of technology use. 

BROWN: So, is it possible to disable this feature? If not, are there ways to easily see what’s hidden?

THACKER: As of right now it doesn’t look like there’s the ability to actually disable the feature, though, especially when it comes to applications, even though an application can be hidden from the home screen, you can actually continue swiping left to pull up what’s called the App Library. And this is a new feature there that shows every single app that’s on the phone in alphabetical order. You can also search the library. And very similar with the photos. Even though photos can be hidden, you can actually go into the settings and make sure that the hidden album is still turned on so you can actually go to the bottom of the photo app library and see this hidden album to make sure there aren’t inappropriate photos being taken or photos that could be explicit or something that that could put our children in danger. But also could compromise their online behavior and engagement with friends. 

BROWN: I think most parents realize there is some risk involved with allowing their children to have phones and tablet devices. What are the latest options to help parents monitor and control what their children do on these devices?

THACKER: Yeah, one of the things that I think parents can do is utilize even the parental controls that are often built right into these devices. It’s built into the system to be able to lock out certain apps or certain types of apps. I think having one of those family Apple ID accounts is also really helpful because that way you can see what is being downloaded through the App store through the Music store. And then there are also a plethora of third party services like Bark that help you to monitor your interactions on the phone and with content without having to comb through your child’s phone. But, I think, really, it’s going to have to start with open and honest dialogue and communication not only with our children but as parents about our usage of screen time and our uses of these devices to create kind of a healthy model environment within our families to be open, to be honest, and to be accountable to one another. 

BROWN: To be good models, yeah, that’s important. Of course, nothing provides 100 percent protection. How would you advise parents trying to navigate these technology challenges with their kids?

THACKER: Yeah, and there’s a host of helpful resources out. A number of tips and tricks. And some of them that I’ve found helpful at least in my family—and this may not be helpful for every family—is trying to keep screens out of bedrooms. That’s an area that my wife and I have said, look, our boys are not going to have a computer, they’re not going to have a TV, they’re not going to have tablets or devices in their bedrooms, which is a place of, often, privacy and also vulnerability. And so being able to keep those out of bedrooms. Having certain expectations of a family: curfews, expected behaviors, various expectations of the family—maybe having meals where you don’t have a device with you all the time, or a family drive where you don’t pull out an iPhone or iPad. And this isn’t just for our kids. We often think that we just need to shield them or keep them away from these things, but what we really need to do as parents is be thinking in kind of discipleship categories, thinking about how are we discipling not only them but even ourselves and having healthy habits with these technologies because we can’t really cut them off completely, but we can have age-appropriate limits and also expectations. And then it really all goes back to having those healthy conversations because you can block somebody and take a device away or block certain types of content, but if you don’t explain why and the purpose behind it, you really miss out on that aspect of moral formation, which is really important to us as Christians is teaching these discipling kind of behaviors of why we do these things and why this for our good and why this is helping them to grow up and to be healthy men and women.  

BROWN: What an important word you use: discipling. Yes, so good. Well, Jason Thacker is head of research in technology ethics at the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention. Jason, as always, thank you. 

THACKER: Yeah, thank you. 

NICK EICHER, HOST: Sometimes it seems money grows wings and flies away.

Kind of like this: Can you imagine spending $2 million for a pigeon?

Now, now, not just any old pigeon, mind you—a racing pigeon.

Turns out there’s some serious money in the sport  that some say goes back as far as the year 220 A.D. 

Nikolaas Gyselbrecht is CEO of the auction house that sold the two-year-old superstar named New Kim. He explained why the bird was so valuable.

GYSELBRECHT: The pigeon New Kim is very special because she’s very young, so we can still breed—or the buyer can still breed many years from the pigeon.

Lifespan: about 15 years. Fertility: about a dozen eggs per year. Doing the math, maybe these pigeon investors know something the rest of us don’t.

It’s The World and Everything in It.

NICK EICHER, HOST: Today is Tuesday, November 24th. This is WORLD Radio and we’re so glad you’ve joined us today! 

Good morning. I’m Nick Eicher.

MYRNA BROWN, HOST: And I’m Myrna Brown. Two years ago this month, California suffered the deadliest and most destructive wildfire on record in the state, called the Camp Fire.

The blaze killed 88 people. It destroyed more than 18,000 homes and businesses.

EICHER: Today, tomorrow, and Thursday—over three days—we will hear from a handful of survivors who thought they’d found paradise, then lost it all in a matter of hours. 

Earlier this fall, WORLD’s Sarah Schweinsberg traveled to the town at the center of the tragic wildfire and she has our story.

SARAH SCHWEINSBERG, REPORTER: In the Sierra Nevada foothills, trees grow like grass. From the air, the forest looks like a manicured lawn. There’s oak, pines and firs. And it doesn’t stop when it reaches the town of Paradise. Instead, Paradise grew up with the trees.

Townsfolk disagree over how Paradise got its name. 

One story says Gold prospectors and loggers flocked to the area in the 1850s—drawn by thick forests and a river rich with gold. In fact, one prospector found a 54 pound gold nugget. 

The loggers struck it big too. And one day after delivering a shipment of wood, one sat down under the shade of a ponderosa pine, sighed and said, “Boys, this is Paradise.” 

The city’s official history page embraces this version. Jody Jones was the mayor at the time of the fire. 

JODY JONES: I really do think that people named it Paradise because it was a beautiful place.

There are other stories that are less noble. The legend goes that the same loggers and prospectors were a rough crowd—drinking and gambling. So, overtime, the name evolved like this: Pair Of Dice, Pair uh dice, Paradise. 

Jody Jones isn’t buying it. 

JODY JONES: I don’t think that’s true.

Regardless, over the years, the town’s reputation changed and it became a kind of paradise for the families and retirees. They came here for a slower, simpler life under a canopy of trees. 

TOMILEE DEATHERAGE: We lived in Paradise before the Camp Fire.

Tomilee Deatherage, her husband, and two teenagers left the bustling Sacramento area five years ago and moved to Paradise. 

Deatherage taught music at a studio down in Chico, but she didn’t want to live there. 

Chico is down in the valley and it’s the largest city in Butte County with 100,000 people. Paradise is just 15 minutes up into the forested foothills with a quarter of the population. 

TOMILEE DEATHERAGE: Even though it’s not far from Chico, it still had its own personality. It had a really good small town feel. 

That’s how Paradise became a bedroom community. People trying to escape high housing costs and the “city” lifestyle, came up here. 

The Deatherages bought a house with five acres and went to work making it their own. 

TOMILEE DEATHERAGE: Our house felt like it was kind of like a tree house. It had so many trees around. My kids would call it our vacation home, even though we lived there all the time. 

Paradise didn’t have a lot of chain restaurants or shopping, but Tomilee Deatherage says it had everything they needed.

TOMILEE DEATHERAGE: We didn’t have a lot of clothes shops and things like that, but we had all the necessities.

Of course, Paradise also has its quirks. Jody Jones says one of the reasons the town didn’t have more industry and businesses is that it doesn’t have a city sewer system. 

JONES: Paradise is the largest town west of the Mississippi without a sewer system. 

Paradise didn’t officially become a town until 1979. That means it grew up without much of a plan. 

Gold miners and railroad companies laid the roads. But their interests were getting to mineral deposits…not moving traffic through the area efficiently. 

There’s three main roads through town running north and south. Those roads have short, dead-end streets sprouting off in all directions. 

Jody Jones says what the town lacked in organization, it made up for in activities. 

AUDIO: [Parade]

JONES: Gold Nugget days was in April. The chocolate fest was around Mother’s Day. In the spring, Johnny Appleseed Days…

Donnie Harp and his wife, Tanya Ross-Harp say that the close-knit community was perfect for raising their six kids. 

DONNIE HARP: It was a really great small town feel.

They trusted their neighbors. Children were safe to experience and explore the area on their own. Logan Harp would ride his bike on an old railroad track through town.

LOGAN HARP: Most of my friends were a small slight walk away from that trail. Everything felt close.

Dad, Donnie Harp, moved up to Paradise in the 90s. He was drawn by the affordable housing. Even though his construction business was down in Chico, Donnie wanted to live up here. 

He tells a story about a time he went to the bank in Paradise shortly after he moved there. Someone had left their debit card in the ATM. 

DONNIE HARP: And there was a note posted on the ATM that said so and so you left your card in the machine. I’ll bring it to the bank tomorrow kind of thing. And I thought, Wow, that’s a good community. (laughter)

AUDIO: [CAR DOORS SLAMMING]

Chris and Andy Robins like to drive up Paradise every now and then. 

ANDY ROBINS: This was grass, and it was usually green. And the stumps over there were a couple big large oaks.

The couple stand where their cozy, ranch-style house tucked off into a grove of oak trees once stood. The house they raised their family in once. 

Now the only evidence it was ever here are some cracked concrete steps and a charred retaining wall. 

ANDY ROBINS: This is our staircase down to the concrete slab, which was part of the driveway. And where all those limbs are was where the house was. 

Chris and Andy Robins both grew up in the area, so they’ve seen forest fires before. 

CHRIS ROBINS: We’ve been evacuated, oh, how many times… 

But the Camp Fire wasn’t anything anyone in this area had ever experienced. 

NEWS CLIP: At 30% contained the Camp Fire has already destroyed more than 6,000 structures, burning 100,000 plus acres.

ANDY ROBINS: Normally you have time to evacuate. Because normally it takes a while for the fire to get over there.

Not this one. This was unlike any fire the area had ever seen. In just 90 minutes, the fire traveled seven miles—catching an entire town by surprise. 

Reporting for WORLD, I’m Sarah Schweinsberg in Paradise, California.

BROWN: Sarah returns tomorrow with part two of her three-part series with dramatic stories of a town on fire. 

MYRNA BROWN, HOST: Today is Tuesday, November 24th. Good morning! This is The World and Everything in It from listener-supported WORLD Radio. I’m Myrna Brown.

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

Next up, Marvin Olasky offers some advice for the next presidential election.

MARVIN OLASKY, EDITOR IN CHIEF: With all the attention paid to counting this year’s presidential election votes, liberals and conservatives are each overlooking a lesson that should help us minimize future election problems.

Liberals should see how impractical it would be to get rid of the electoral college and substitute a national vote. Right now we have recounts only in states with razor-thin margins. If total votes nationally were to decide the winning candidate, we’d need a recount in every state. That would take half an eternity and open the door to more corruption.

Some complain about non-battleground states being ignored. They have a point. No constitutional reason keeps states from doing what Maine and Nebraska do: allocate electoral votes by congressional district instead of winner-take-all. Republicans could win some electoral votes from California and upstate New York. Democrats could pluck electoral votes from the Rio Grande Valley of Texas and other blue domains.

Conservatives also need to study up. They should take the percentage of votes Donald Trump won from blacks and Hispanics to be a floor, not a ceiling. The Republican Party started as an anti-slavery party. Black Americans stuck with the GOP from the 1860s to the 1930s. The Great Depression led some to be Democrats.

The biggest change came after Congress passed the Civil Rights Act of 1964. More Republicans than Democrats in Congress voted for it, but Republican presidential candidate Barry Goldwater voted against it. His highly publicized decision led to blacks becoming heavily Democratic. It’s been that way for more than half a century: That voting pattern is ripe for change.

The Latino vote should also be up for grabs. Donald Trump won about a third of it. Other Republicans like George W. Bush and John McCain have done better. You’ve probably heard two usual reasons: Latinos are on average more socially conservative than other voters. Also, many become evangelicals. But here are two reasons why economic conservatism can also appeal to many: Some have seen socialism at work in Cuba, Nicaragua, and Venezuela. They don’t want that to happen here. Also, Latino college attendance is lower, so they haven’t heard as much propaganda.

National Review editor William F. Buckley in 1961 and again in 1963 said, “I should sooner live in a society governed by the first two thousand names in the Boston telephone directory than in a society governed by the two thousand faculty members of Harvard University.” I’d certainly say the same about any 2,000 Latino church members. Probably the same goes for any 2,000 drawn from an Internet directory. 

I’m Marvin Olasky.

NICK EICHER, HOST: Tomorrow: Republicans are at a crossroads. Will the party continue on the path Donald Trump started or return to the status quo ante? We’ll talk about that on Washington Wednesday.

And, we’ll bring you part two of Sarah Schweinsberg’s report on recovery in Paradise.

That and more tomorrow. 

I’m Nick Eicher.

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

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I hope you’ll have a great rest of the day. We’ll talk to you tomorrow!

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