The World and Everything in It — October 15, 2020

MARY REICHARD, HOST: Good morning!

Two countries of the former Soviet Union are fighting over boundaries, and Turkey is stepping in. We have a report.

MEGAN BASHAM, HOST: Also COVID-19 side effects that may linger.

Plus a visit to north-east France for a celebration.

And Cal Thomas on treats and tricks in Washington.

REICHARD: It’s Thursday, October 15th. This is The World and Everything in It from listener-supported WORLD Radio. I’m Mary Reichard.

BASHAM: And I’m Megan Basham. Good morning!

REICHARD: Time for news. Here’s Kristen Flavin.

KRISTEN FLAVIN, NEWS ANCHOR: Democrats press Barrett on presidential pardon powers » Democratic senators once again grilled Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett on Wednesday. 

Vermont Senator Patrick Leahy asked Barrett…

LEAHY: Would you agree, first, that nobody is above the law, not the president, not you, not me. Is that correct?
BARRETT: I agree, no one is above the law. 

He then asked her if a sitting president has authority to pardon himself from wrongdoing. 

BARRETT: Senator Leahy, so far as I know, the question has never been litigated. That question has never risen. That question may or may not arise, but it’s one that calls for legal analysis of what the scope of the pardon power is.  

She said for that reason, she could not offer a view during the hearing. 

Barrett once clerked for the late Justice Antonin Scalia and at times she took exception to some lines of questioning that she felt implied she would be Scalia 2.0.  

Barrett is heard here responding to a question from Delaware Senator Chris Coons. 

BARRETT: I hope that you’re not suggesting that I don’t have my own mind or that I couldn’t think independently or that I would just decided – oh let me see what Justice Scalia has said about this in the past, because I assure you, I have my own mind. 

And Barrett pledged to keep an open mind on all cases if she’s confirmed to the high court. 

The Senate Judiciary Committee will reconvene this morning for the fourth and final day of the hearing. Lawmakers will hear from eight outside witnesses about her fitness for the high court. 

Trump, Biden to speak in dueling town halls » President Trump and his Democratic opponent Joe Biden will not participate in a town hall debate tonight as originally planned. But both will make prime-time appearances. WORLD’s Anna Johansen reports. 

ANNA JOHANSEN, REPORTER: The debate commission scrapped tonight’s second presidential debate after President Trump tested positive for COVID-19 and said he wasn’t interested in debating virtually. 

But NBC News has agreed to put the president before voters in a one-hour town hall event tonight. That after the president submitted to an independent coronavirus test that came back negative. 

The announcement Wednesday sets up dueling town halls. Former Vice President Joe Biden is appearing in a similar town hall event televised by ABC.

NBC said Trump would be at least 12 feet from moderator Savannah Guthrie and the audience.

Both town halls will begin at 8 p.m. Eastern Time.

Reporting for WORLD, I’m Anna Johansen. 

Republicans blast Twitter, Facebook for suppressing Biden report » Republicans on Capitol Hill say Twitter and Facebook are once again practicing anti-conservative censorship and they demand an explanation. 

Twitter and Facebook on Wednesday suppressed the distribution of a New York Post report on the Biden family’s dealings in Ukraine. 

The Post called its report a “smoking gun” revealing corrupt dealings between former Vice President Joe Biden, his son Hunter, and a Ukrainian gas company. 

Both social media platforms cast doubt on the veracity of the article. It was based on information from a copy of a hard drive that Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani obtained and gave to the Post.

The paper said the hard drive contained emails between Hunter Biden and an executive at Burisma. Hunter served on that company’s board of directors. 

If authentic, the emails would show a Burisma executive asking the Bidens to use their political influence to help the company and later thanking them for doing so. 

The Biden campaign said an alleged meeting between the then–vice president and the Burisma contact never happened. 

2020 Census count ends today » The Census Bureau will wrap up its 2020 survey today after the Supreme Court earlier this week allowed the Trump administration to end the count. WORLD’s Paul Butler reports. 

PAUL BUTLER, REPORTER: The census count was originally supposed to end in July, but that was before the pandemic. In April, the Census Bureau said it would need until Oct. 31st. But it later announced a new end date of September 30th. 

The Trump administration argued that it needed three months to complete the process and deliver final results to Congress by the year-end deadline. 

But multiple parties filed lawsuits, saying Sept. 30th was too early to ensure an accurate count. A federal judge agreed and suspended the deadline. 

But on Tuesday, the Supreme Court overturned the lower court ruling and ordered the count to stop today. 

That was a legal win for the Trump administration though plaintiffs still managed to extend the deadline by two additional weeks through legal action. 

The government uses census data to determine how many seats each state holds in the U.S. Congress. 

Reporting for WORLD, I’m Paul Butler. 

American, Russian cosmonauts blast off for space station » American Kate Rubins and two Russian cosmonauts blasted off from Kazakhstan Wednesday. 

AUDIO: 3, 2, 1, and liftoff. Kate Rubins, Sergey Ryzhikov and Sergey Kud-Sverchkov now on their way to the International Space Station.

A few short hours later, they docked safely at the space station.

Rubins said the scientists will run numerous experiments.

RUBINS: We are planning to try some really interesting things like bioprinting tissues and growing cells in space, and of course continuing our work on sequencing DNA. 

They’ll also try to find the source of an oxygen leak on the station that hasn’t posed any immediate danger to the crew. 

They’re expected to spend about six months aboard the space station.

I’m Kristen Flavin.

Straight ahead: the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan.

Plus, Cal Thomas on wearing Halloween masks in Washington.

This is The World and Everything in It.

MEGAN BASHAM: It’s Thursday the 15th of October, 2020.

So glad you’ve joined us today for The World and Everything in It! Good morning, I’m Megan Basham.

MARY REICHARD: And I’m Mary Reichard. First up, conflict in the South Caucasus.

A new chapter of violence has begun between two former Soviet republics. Azerbaijan and Armenia have disagreed for three decades about the status of a small enclave about the size of Delaware.

The disputed territory lies within the boundaries of Azerbaijan. But it’s home to a mostly Christian Armenian population and churches that date back to the 4th century. They declared their independence shortly after the fall of the Soviet Union, but Azerbaijan rejected that claim. Since then, Armenia has served as its protector.

BASHAM: Azerbaijan’s leaders have repeatedly threatened to reclaim the land, and this time around, Turkey appears to be lending a hand. WORLD’s Jill Nelson reports on the latest violence and why regional powers are getting involved.

AUDIO: [Bombings]

JILL NELSON: REPORTER: In late September, Armenia and Azerbaijan reignited some of the worst fighting since the early 1990s.

KARAPETIAN: I was just walking on the street and I witnessed a young man getting a call that his brother just died in the war.

Shushan Karapetian is a professor of Armenian studies at the University of Southern California. She’s currently visiting the Armenian capital of Yerevan. She says prior skirmishes took place between troops in the border regions, but this time, civilians are dying and historical sites are being shelled.

KARAPETIAN: The fear now is that the kind of violence and discourse and nationalistic discourse on both sides which serve authoritarian needs have just made peace even more impossible.

At the heart of the conflict is a small mountainous enclave that is home to about 150,000 mostly Armenian people.

In 1922, Stalin gave Nagorno-Karabakh to Azerbaijan as a token of goodwill to nearby Turkey. That upset the Armenians, so he granted the territory autonomous status. This created a messy situation in a volatile part of the world. Iran lies to the south, Turkey to the east, and Russia to the north.

KARAPETIAN: So at the crux of the problem is this historically Armenian territory that is majority Armenian being placed within the boundaries of the Soviet Azerbaijani republic but given autonomous status.

Nagorno-Karabakh held a referendum vote after the breakup of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s and declared its independence. Azerbaijan cried foul, and that led to war with Armenia. The fighting claimed 30,000 lives and displaced 1 million people.

The two countries declared a ceasefire in 1994 but the conflict remained unresolved. And 30 years of military buildup have earned both countries a top 10 ranking among the world’s most militarized nations.

This time around, Turkey has joined the fray.

Baroness Caroline Cox is a member of Britain’s House of Lords and WORLD’s 2004 Daniel of the Year. She has made 86 trips to the region and worries about the rise of rhetoric from Turkish authorities.

COX: The fear is that they are very aggressive in their statements. Extremely aggressive. And there is a fear that they could feel they have a military capacity—Azerbaijan and Turkey—to carry out a genocide. It was only a hundred years ago they carried out that first genocide when over a million Armenians were slaughtered and driven off their land.

AUDIO: [Erdogan speaking]

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan vowed to stand with Azerbaijan until Nagorno-Karabakh is liberated from Armenian control. Azerbaijan has used Turkish drones to attack the enclave, and Armenia claims Turkey shot down one of its fighter jets.

Azerbaijan is predominantly Shia Muslim, and Armenia is a self-proclaimed Christian country. But Karapetian says religion isn’t the primary driver of the conflict. The two ethnic groups lived together peacefully until the 1980s. She says Azerbaijan wants its territory back, but Armenia argues that the enclave has a right to self-determination and protection from a country that has discriminated against Armenians.

Carey Cavanaugh is a former American ambassador who helped broker talks between Azerbaijan and Armenia in 2001. He agrees, but says Turkey could be injecting religion into the conflict:

CAVANAUGH: One of the things Turkey has been doing, and France and Russia have both said there’s proof, is helping import mercenaries from the battlefields in Syria to help fight here. There’s a danger in that, that many of those people might be highly religious.

And Turkey’s meddling could draw Moscow into the conflict, according to Karapetian:

KARAPETIAN: Russia views this area as its back yard, and doesn’t want Turkey involved in its backyard.

The fighting has displaced 90 percent of Nagorno-Karabakh’s women and children according to some estimates. Baroness Cox is concerned about a looming humanitarian crisis.

COX: In the early day or two Azerbaijan seems to deliberately target key things like water resources and power stations so I think a lot of the infrastructure has been taken away. The humanitarian needs are legion.

Despite heightened rhetoric on both sides, Karapetian challenges the narrative that both sides are responsible for the renewed fighting. She says Armenia had no incentive to stir up trouble.

KARAPETIAN: This was obviously a military aggression from the Azerbaijani side. For Armenia, the status quo was desirable. It has the territory occupied, it has extra territory occupied…

Armenia gained Azerbaijani territory around Nargorno-Karabakh during the war in the 90s to create a buffer zone. Azerbaijan wants that land back, but with Turkey’s aid, it could also try to conquer the entire enclave.

And with nearly 600 dead on both sides, Baroness Cox says world leaders need to act before the conflict escalates.

COX: And what I think they can do is put great pressure on the political leaders to put pressure on Turkey and Azerbaijan to accept a cease fire. If we go on waiting at the negotiating table, they can achieve their military objectives. There’s no more time for waiting.

Reporting for WORLD, I’m Jill Nelson.

MEGAN BASHAM: Coming up next on The World and Everything in It: COVID-19 side-effects.

For most people, COVID-19 is a relatively mild illness. But doctors are starting to realize its effects can linger long after a patient has recovered. WORLD’s Kent Covington reports.

KENT COVINGTON, REPORTER: As a headline news reporter, I cover more than a thousand stories every year. Most don’t have a direct, tangible impact on my life personally. But that changed this spring.

On April 17th, as I stood in my kitchen, I bent over to pet my dog and it felt like someone had punched me in the gut, knocking all the wind out of me. For a split second, I thought wow, maybe I’m a bit more out of shape than I realized. But no, just bending down shouldn’t leave me breathless. 

Dr. Sherry-Ann Brown is director of Cardio-Oncology at the Medical College of Wisconsin. She told me that often with COVID-19…

BROWN: The lungs themselves are infiltrated, and because of this, the airways that should normally be filled with air are filled with — not air, primarily with fluid and inflammation. 

And the lungs being filled with not air is not good. That’s why I could hardly breathe in that moment. But I didn’t know that at the time. 

And it went away pretty quickly. I didn’t have a fever. No cough.

But then I started to have recurring tightness in my chest and that’s when I knew I had to find out about getting tested. 

CDC hotline: Thank you for calling CDC info, a service of the Centers for Control and Prevention. If you would like to continue in English…

I drove to a drive-up testing site nearby. A doctor in protective gear used a nasal swab to collect the sample as I sat behind the wheel. 

Two days later, I opened my email, and there were my test results—positive. 

And shortly thereafter, my daughter also tested positive. So we both hunkered down and isolated from everyone else. 

And after 10 days of too much TV and overeating, we had met the CDC criteria. Our mild symptoms were gone and neither of us ever ran a fever. 

We’re perfectly healthy now, with an interesting story to tell. No worse for the wear, right? 

Well, as it turns out, not necessarily. 

In Senate testimony last month, the nation’s top infectious disease expert, Dr. Anthony Fauci said this…

FAUCI: We found to our dismay that a number of individuals who have completely recovered and apparently are asymptomatic, when they have sensitive imaging technology such as magnetic resonance imaging or MRI are found to have a disturbing number of individuals who have inflammation of the heart. 

That disturbing number, in that particular sample, 60 to 70 percent. 

Whether that damage is permanent or will generally heal with time, Fauci said we just don’t know. 

He noted that “When you have inflammation you can have scarring … that could lead to arrhythmias later on.” In other words, an irregular heartbeat. And he said it can also lead to something called cardiomyopathy.

Dr. Brown put that in plain english for me. 

BROWN: Cardiomyopathy mainly refers to any dysfunction of the heart muscle. And primarily, we look at lower chambers of the heart when we are looking for cardiomyopathy. 

With cardiomyopathy, the heart muscle can be weakened, meaning it doesn’t pump as well. And that can cause heart failure. 

And the heart isn’t the only organ at risk for long-term complications with this disease. Dr. Brown said doctors have found tiny blood clots in the lungs and elsewhere in the bodies of COVID-19 patients. 

BROWN: We see that strokes are noticed more commonly in COVID-19 than one might expect, as well as different forms of issues with the heart and other organs such as the kidneys, and so any of those organs could potentially have lasting effects.

As far as the heart is concerned, Dr. Brown says regardless of whether you’ve had the coronavirus, you should watch for symptoms.

BROWN: If you’re having trouble breathing or any chest discomfort, especially if it radiates to anywhere else in the body such as the arms, jaw, back. If there is any fainting or feeling lightheaded when normally you wouldn’t or any of those things. All of those can be indicators that something perhaps needs to be looked at. 

She added that if you experience one or two of those things, there’s no need to panic. There are many harmless conditions that can cause things like chest discomfort or lightheadedness. 

The possible long-term effects are just something to be aware of and be sure to mention any symptoms you notice to your doctor.

There’s still so much we don’t know about this disease and the long-term impacts. One thing is certain. Dr. Brown said this is NOT something we should compare to the flu.

BROWN: More serious, more long lasting, and more contagious.

Reporting for WORLD, I’m Kent Covington.

MARY REICHARD: Police in Denmark recently seized an electric vehicle from someone in Copenhagen because they said it goes too fast. Going at several times the legal limit! 

This vehicle in question? Well it can travel as high as 36 miles per hour! 

Okay, that probably doesn’t sound like much. And it isn’t for a car or a motorcycle. But this? It’s a motorized scooter!

E-scooters you can rent are a common in European cities. But some people riding them have ended up in emergency rooms or even worse. 

So police are strictly enforcing the e-scooter speed limit of 12 miles per hour. 

Forewarned.

It’s The World and Everything in It.

MARY REICHARD: Today is Thursday, October 15th. You’re listening to WORLD Radio and we’re so glad you are! Good morning. I’m Mary Reichard.

MEGAN BASHAM: And I’m Megan Basham. France had one of the tightest lockdowns in Europe last spring as COVID-19 cases soared in the country.

Case counts are rising again. And now the government restricts private gatherings to no more than 30 people.

REICHARD: But in late summer, there was a window of reprieve. WORLD correspondent Jenny Lind Schmitt was there and brings us the story of a very special occasion.

JENNY LIND SCHMITT, CORRESPONDENT: Guillaume and Laurence Rousset each have big birthdays this year. The kind that end with zeros. 

AUDIO: [SOUND OF PREP]

To celebrate, they’ve invited their friends to a party in a field where everyone can socially distance. Nearly everyone they invited accepted. After months of lockdown and extra caution, everyone in France is feeling the need for something to celebrate. And a big celebration means elaborate food. So Guillaume and Laurence asked a friend to cook an entire lamb and a pig for the party.

AUDIO: [LE COCHON D’UN CÔTÉ]

Pascal Suter is a mechanical engineer who spends his weekdays designing and building machines for the watch-making industry. Today he’s using a different kind of machine, one he also built himself.

AUDIO: [PASCAL TALKING ABOUT BUILDING HIS MACHINE]

It’s a giant two-sided spit. To build it Pascal used a laser to cut the metal pieces to his specifications. Then he welded them together. He made a frame four feet high, six feet long, and one foot deep with grating on either side. Inside the grating, Pascal started a fire at 6 a.m. this morning. 

AUDIO: [ROASTING, TURNING LAMB]

On either side of the fire, two long steel poles turn slowly, one rotation per minute. The motors turning the poles are repurposed windshield wiper motors. On one pole is an entire young pig. His head, ears, and tail are all still attached, slowly rotating and turning a dark golden pink. On the other pole is a lamb, roasting to a rich brown color. It smells something like Old Testament feasts must have. 

AUDIO: [SIZZLING SOUND]

Pascal dips a huge metal ladle into the pan collecting the juices under the poles and bastes the lamb and the pig. The aroma of roasting meat wafts through the air. 

He only does this kind of barbeque a couple times a year, for big celebrations. The lamb was named Corona. Pascal and a friend butchered it yesterday, in the field where it was raised. He says that the death of the animal is a sad moment, but when done with respect, it can point to something profound. 

PASCAL: Quand on mange la viande, ca coute la vie a un animal, et c’est important de savoir que si nous on peut vivre, on vit du pardon, et la pardon qq part a coute la vie. Nous on sait que notre vrai pardon devant Dieu a couté la vie a Dieu lui- meme, a Jesus qui a donne sa vie pour nous. Le chretien qui croit en en Jésus, cruicifie et ressucite doit comprendre qu’il y a cette dimension la qui existe. C’est a dire que quand on croit en sacrifice, c’est pas juste un symbole, pas juste une theorie.

TRANSLATION: “When we eat meat, it costs the life of an animal. It’s important to know that if we live, it’s because we’re pardoned, and that pardon costs a life. We know that our true pardon before God cost Him his own life, that of Jesus who gave His life for us. The Christian who believes in Jesus, crucified and resurrected, must understand that that dimension exists. That when we believe in sacrifice, it’s not just a symbol or a theory.”

AUDIO: [SPOON IN THE SAUCE, ENGINE TURNING]

AUDIO: [PASCAL TALKING ABOUT THE PROCESS]

Pascal says what he loves most is that this process makes you feel the effort of preparing good food. This isn’t warming up something in the microwave. You can’t do it quickly. You can’t wander off. He has to stay watchful for five hours, tending the fire and basting the meat. 

AUDIO: [SOUND OF BASTING] 

The fire slows down a little, so he uses a small electric air pump to get the coals hot again. 

AUDIO: [AIRING THE FEU]

It’s already a hot day, and standing next to the fire for more than a few minutes is sweltering.  

AUDIO: [PASCAL TALKING ABOUT MARINADE] 

The lamb is prepared with mustard, herbes de provence, and garlic. Now Pascal is pouring on white wine. The pig on the other hand, is stuffed with onions, peppers, and garlic, and closed up with steel pins. 

When the pig is almost done, Pascal takes the stuffing out of its belly, and heats up the fire to make the skin blister and crackle. Then he peels the skin off, and serves the crackling as an appetizer, like potato chips.

AUDIO: [PEOPLE TALKING]

Finally the meal is nearly ready. Onlookers get out of the way, and Pascal cuts up the meat. 

Guillaume, the host, says that what he really wants is for today to feel like everyone’s party. 

GUILLAUME: On a tellement besoin d’etre en relation. D’aller plus loin d’une discussion juste Covid, mais de prendre des nouvelles, de savoir comment ca va, de profiter des un des autres. 

TRANSLATION: “We all really need to be in relationship. To have more than just a discussion about COVID and to really talk to each other, get news, find out how it’s going and to enjoy each other’s company.”

AUDIO: [GREETING, GUILLAUME TALKING]

Guillaume thanks the guests for coming. After reminding everyone to use hand sanitizer he invites them to the table where abundance awaits. 

AUDIO: [PEOPLE SINGING]

But first, he asks everyone to sing a hymn to thank God for the chance to be here today and to feast together.

Reporting for WORLD, I’m Jenny Lind Schmitt wishing you “Bon Appetit” from Roches-Les-Blamont, France.

MEGAN BASHAM: Coming up next, an excerpt from tomorrow’s episode of Listening In. This week host Warren Smith talks with husband and wife team Jeff and Terra Mattson. They are Christian counselors, authors, and podcasters.

MARY REICHARD: Their latest project is titled: Shrinking the Integrity Gap. In it, they consider why some Christian leaders fail, and how to close the gap between what they preach and who they really are.

WARREN SMITH: We live in an era where we have a lot of celebrity pastors that often, they’re in non-denominational churches so there’s not there’s not a structure of accountability around them that’s kind of a new historical phenomenon. Ravi Zacharias, Mark Driscoll at Mars Hill church, James McDonald in the Chicagoland area Bill Hybels…I’m sure they didn’t say “I want to dishonor the gospel or, or you know dishonor God,” and that’s what happened. How can we guard against that? What can we do to build hedges of protection around both these leaders, and the people in our churches? 

TERRA MATTSON: I think that you’re saying it spot on and that most people never start out thinking they’re going to end their race this way. But honestly, it seems so simple, we would say, “do I have a small group of people that really know everything about me? Does my spouse and my children, am I allowing them to give me feedback and do I hear them?” 

These are the things that are smaller markers in the life of a leader that’s really loved you know globally. But who’s in your inner circle is really going to give you probably the most honest feedback on who you are and who you’re becoming. And I think that’s God’s heart and desire and grace to give us feedback in our inner circles. 

JEFF MATTSON: It’s very disheartening to see one leader after another, especially after decades of preaching the gospel and having such tremendous influence over so many lives in the next headline. And that’s really the angst behind this book to make a dent in that.

Leaders are vulnerable to isolation, hiding the negative coping strategies that leaders use to get their needs met in unhealthy ways. After just reading yesterday about Ravi he describes how it said to those that he perpetrated sexual abuse on that he needed this, and he reframed and justified and even said that God was okay with his sexual appetite.

That’s just a lie, and that’s not okay. And I’m happy that we as Christians can look at that and say yes there was wonderful things that he did and others did. But that’s not okay and there is no biblical reframe for that kind of behavior. Abuse has no home in Christianity.

BASHAM: That’s Jeff and Terra Mattson talking to Warren Smith. To hear the complete conversation, look for Listening In tomorrow wherever you get your podcasts.

MEGAN BASHAM: Today is Thursday, October 15th. Good morning! This is The World and Everything in It from listener-supported WORLD Radio. I’m Megan Basham.

MARY REICHARD: And I’m Mary Reichard. Commentator Cal Thomas now on a Halloween version of the bait-and-switch.

CAL THOMAS, COMMENTATOR: Halloween, like so much else, will be different this year. But it still offers an analogy to the current presidential campaign. Halloween masks are supposed to hide one’s identity and be scary. The Left’s masks are designed to look comforting, but in reality they hide a radical agenda.

Politico reported last week that “progressives” (that is, the far left) have put together an agenda they hope to use to pull Joe Biden in their direction should he win the White House. The group includes members of the House of Representatives known as “The Squad,” and groups such as Black Lives Matter, labor leaders, and other far-left organizations.

They are calling it the “People’s Charter” and if that sounds a little like titles favored by communist dictators you would not be far off. Think of the People’s Republic of China and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.

This charter adds evidence to the claim that Biden is a tool of the left. He has no fixed positions, and has flipped on numerous issues he once claimed were his principles. That includes federal funding for abortions, which he opposed for decades, but now favors.

He refused until this week to say whether he would favor packing the Supreme Court. He finally said late Monday that he would not support it, but that could change. He’s also refused to take a position on adding Puerto Rico and Washington, D.C., as the 51st and 52nd states. That would add four likely Democratic senators to Congress, solidifying a permanent Democrat majority and rendering the two-party system dead.

The “People’s Charter” is the progressive agenda we have heard for years, but with a lot more that should scare everyone. It includes more free stuff—medical care, college tuition, forgiveness of student debt. The evil rich will pay for it all, even though that’s impossible at this level of spending.

Democrats style it as Americans caring for each other, but it’s really the imposition of government “caring” for us. It would addict even more to government and thus the politicians and activists who run it. Freedom and liberty would be lost as taxes and spending increase and new regulations are imposed on guns and virtually everything else we are used to doing on our own without government intrusion.

Am I exaggerating? Read it for yourself. And while you’re at it, peruse the Biden-Sanders Unity Task Force Recommendations as well. It reads like it could have come from the Soviet Union.

When asked about charges that he’s a socialist, Biden likes to respond, “Do I look like a socialist?” As with many of his statements, the remark is meaningless. What does a socialist look like? Better to look at those who lust for power behind a potential Biden presidency.

The “progressives” inside and outside the Democratic Party have revealed their real agenda. It’s seductive because many people will trade their freedoms for the government promise to take care of them. In the end, though, such people will find they have been tricked when they thought they were getting treats.

I’m Cal Thomas.

MEGAN BASHAM: Tomorrow: John Stonestreet will be here for Culture Friday.

And, a new Apple TV streaming series that’s getting a lot of buzz, even in Christian circles.

That and more tomorrow. 

I’m Megan Basham.

MARY REICHARD: 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.

Love does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It doesn’t dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 

Go now in grace and peace.

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