The World and Everything in It — October 29, 2020

MARY REICHARD, HOST: Good morning!

Urbanites know the downsides to city life during a pandemic. So many are heading out to the hinterlands and doing so in record numbers!

NICK EICHER, HOST: Also new research supports the Bible’s account of the beginnings of planet Earth.

Plus, Myrna Brown checks back in on two horses as they join the Atlanta Mounted Police.

And Cal Thomas on missed opportunities to ask pointed questions.

REICHARD: It’s Thursday, October 29th. 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, Kent Covington has today’s news.

KENT COVINGTON, NEWS ANCHOR: Zeta slams Gulf Coast as Category 2 » AUDIO: [Sound of hurricane]

Hurricane Zeta pounded storm-weary Louisiana on Wednesday, with heavy rain and winds of more than 100 miles per hour. 

It slammed the Gulf Coast as a Category 2, stronger than first expected.

Ken Graham with the National Hurricane Center says it roared ashore around a small fishing village. 

GRAHAM: Made landfall around 4pm Central Time near Cocodrie, right near Terrebonne Bay.  

The storm continued to the north and east, battering New Orleans, where it toppled trees and ripped the roofs off of houses. 

New Orleans has been in the warning areas of six previous storms that veered east or west this season. This time, Zeta stayed on course.

Utilities said the hurricane knocked out power to hundreds of thousands in Louisiana. And it’s not done wreaking havoc. 

Zeta was pushing to the northeast this morning with officials issuing Tropical Storm warnings as far inland as the north Georgia mountains. 

Giroir: COVID-19 infections are rising » Assistant Health and Human Services Secretary Admiral Brett Giroir said Wednesday that COVID-19 infections are in fact rising almost nationwide. 

Confirmed cases are now at an all-time high in the United States, more than 72,000 per day. The previous highwater mark was just under 70,000 daily in July. 

The country now has greater testing capacity, and Giroir said that’s part of the equation, but not all of it. 

GIROIR: Yes, we’re getting more cases identified, but the cases are actually going up. And we know that too because hospitalizations are going up.

Deaths are also up, now over 800 per day, but far below the April peak of more than 2,000 per day. 

Speaking with Good Morning America, Giroir said the Trump administration is not waving a “white flag” regarding the virus and will continue to fight it. 

He also said a vaccine is coming, likely by the end of the year. But he urged Americans to wear masks and socially distance in the meantime—both to avoid more illness, but also to avoid more coronavirus lockdowns. 

Judge orders USPS to ‘perform late and extra trips’ to deliver election mail » A federal judge this week ordered the U.S. Postal Service to do whatever it takes to ensure on-time delivery of election mail. WORLD’s Kristen Flavin has more. 

KRISTEN FLAVIN, REPORTER: Judge Emmet Sullivan ordered the post office to scrap the cost-cutting measures that Postmaster General Louis DeJoy put in place over the summer.

He said “personnel are instructed to perform late and extra trips to the maximum extent necessary.” He added “To be clear, late and extra trips will be approved to the same or greater degree than they were performed prior to July 2020.”

In a statement, the Postal Service said delivering election mail securely and on time is its top priority and that it is “deploying extraordinary measures” to ensure that happens. 

That includes “expedited handling, extra deliveries, and special pickups.”

Reporting for WORLD, I’m Kristen Flavin. 

Senate panel grills social media CEOs » Lawmakers on a Senate panel grilled the CEOs of Twitter, Facebook, and Google Wednesday. 

Republicans pressed the execs on what they called anti-conservative bias on the platforms. Senator Ted Cruz questioned Twitter’s Jack Dorsey. 

CRUZ: Does Twitter have the ability to influence elections?
DORSEY: No.
CRUZ: So you’re testifying to this committee right now that Twitter, when it silences people, when it censors people, when it blocks political speech, that has no impact on elections?
DORSEY: People have choice. 

Twitter recently blocked links to a New York Post report about the Biden family’s alleged dealings in Ukraine. The company later changed its rules to allow it. 

The platform has also selectively annotated tweets by President Trump—more or less fact-checking him. 

The tech giants enjoy legal protection from lawsuits over user-posted content under portions of a 1996 law known as Section 230. And GOP Senator Roger Wicker said that has helped protect “online platforms from endless” lawsuits. 

WICKER: But it has also given these internet platforms the ability to control, stifle, and even censor content in whatever manner meets their respective standards.

And he added—quote—“the time has come for that free pass to end.”

Some Democrats share concerns that the companies may have too much unchecked power. But they also want the platforms to take an active role in curbing malicious content. Washington Senator Maria Cantwell…

CANTWELL: What I do not want today’s hearing to be is a chilling effect making sure that hate speech or misinformation related to health and public safety are allowed to remain on the internet. 

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said the companies are getting mixed messages from lawmakers. 

ZUCKERBERG: Democrats often say that we don’t remove enough content and Republicans often say we remove too much. And the fact that both sides criticize us doesn’t mean we’re getting this right. But it does mean that there are real disagreements about where the limits of online speech should be. 

Regarding Section 230, Zuckerberg said Congress should—his words—“update the law to make sure it’s working as intended.”

But Dorsey and Google CEO Sundar Pichai urged caution in making any changes.

Satellite images show construction at Iran nuclear site » New satellite images show that Iran has begun construction at its Natanz nuclear facility south of Tehran. WORLD’s Leigh Jones has that story. 

LEIGH JONES, REPORTER: The images come as the U.N. nuclear agency acknowledged that Tehran is building an underground advanced centrifuge assembly plant. Its last plant exploded in a reported sabotage attack last summer.

Analysts say Iran appears to be excavating at the site and may be tunneling into a mountainside. 

Iran’s top nuclear official said last month that the government would replace the destroyed above-ground facility with one “in the heart of the mountains around Natanz.”

The Trump administration continues to call on other world powers to join its maximum pressure campaign to curb Iran’s nuclear pursuit. 

Democratic rival Joe Biden has signaled interest in rejoining the 2015 Iran nuclear deal. President Trump pulled out of the deal in 2018. 

Reporting for WORLD, I’m Leigh Jones.

I’m Kent Covington.

Straight ahead: the pandemic housing market boom.

Plus, Cal Thomas on questions the presidential candidates need to answer.

This is The World and Everything in It.

MARY REICHARD: It’s Thursday, the 29th of October, 2020.

Glad to have you along for today’s edition of The World and Everything in It. Good morning, I’m Mary Reichard.

NICK EICHER: And I’m Nick Eicher. First up: a rush on real estate.

Many businesses have struggled to stay afloat or have already shut down for good this year. One exception has been the housing industry. It’s booming. Sales of existing homes in this country have risen for four months in a row. So have median home prices. 

Analysts say low mortgage rates are part of the reason. But it’s also because many of us have realized that we may be stuck at home for a while, so we might as well like what we see.

REICHARD: People living in former Covid hotspots like Manhattan and San Francisco are fleeing that urban lifestyle. Some move to vacation towns with majestic views—places where it’s easy to social distance. That’s earned those towns the nickname “Zoom towns,” meaning executives working remotely are snatching up the real estate. 

WORLD senior correspondent Katie Gaultney visited a Zoom town recently. She brings us a snapshot of some of the highs and lows of being at the center of a real estate boom.

KATIE GAULTNEY, SENIOR CORRESPONDENT: This time of year in Crested Butte, Colorado, you can see the last of the aspen leaves glittering like confetti in the wind and hear their percussive rustling.

AUDIO: [Sound of aspens]

The natural beauty is part of what made the Pugh family fall in love with the area. They moved here full time from Denver this spring.

AUDIO: [Knocking, door opens, greeting)

Brian and Allie Pugh say there’s a lot to love about living in southwestern Colorado. From the natural beauty…

PUGH: We’re on the flank of Mount Crested Butte. So it drops off below the house, down to the East river. And then we’re very fortunate ‘cause the home backs right up to the national forest…

To the activities…

PUGH: We were pretty active both summer and winter. We ski, downhill ski. We cross country ski. We snowshoe in the winter time, and in the summer we’re hiking and biking and fishing.

To the friendly residents.

PUGH: We can go up and down the street, name every single person, name their kids. We’ve had dinner with them. We’ve had barbecues with them. We’ve gone hiking with them, boating with them, you name it.

The Pughs had been planning to get out of the city long before “COVID-19” was a part of anyone’s vocabulary. But they said the pandemic sped up their timeline, since the coronavirus prompted their kids’ school to close, and Brian could work remotely.

They’re not alone. After being cooped up in their houses, people across the country began to dream of having a little more space. A pool. A pretty view while they’re stuck at home. Plus, the amenities of the city seemed less important, as libraries, museums, and restaurants closed.

That type of wanderlust has made Crested Butte realtor Jesse Ebner’s phone ring off the hook.

EBNER: [Phone rings] Hi, this is Jesse. Yes, I can give you information on that property…

Colorado towns have seen a particular surge in interest. Insurify Insights analyzes real estate trends. It put the Colorado communities of Breckenridge and Sterling in the top 10 cities with the greatest pandemic real estate booms. Ebner’s customers tell her that it took the world shutting down to shake them awake.

EBNER: And I think it’s made people really evaluate their lives and kind of expedite their goals and dreams. 

And she doesn’t see the real estate boom slowing down. If fewer properties sell, it will only be because there’s not enough inventory.

EBNER: We crashed really hard in 2007 and 2008 because of the mortgage crisis. We don’t have a mortgage crisis. If anything, the mortgages right now are driving our market because of the interest rates, which just fell again to 2.8, which is insane.

Ebner said the rental market is also hot. One house in Crested Butte South had 20 applicants almost as soon as it listed. That kind of interest is great for realtors, sellers, and landlords, but harder for longtime residents.

AUDIO: [Sound of store]

Scott Pfister owns three popular shops in the heart of Crested Butte: a clothing store, a toy store, and a gift shop. He’s seen the town change a lot in his 47 years as a resident. The biggest change lately, though? The cost of living.

PFISTER: The prices stay pretty high for the average person, but it’s knocking a lot of the locals out of town or down valley or even out of here. So, the service industry has really taken a hit, you know, we can’t find employees to work for us. It’s kind of sad.

The day I talked to Pfister, his toy store opened late because an employee couldn’t make it in from where she lived, pretty far out of town. He said young people who make up much of Crested Butte’s service industry have to work two or three jobs to afford the real estate in town, and many don’t want to do that.

Down the main road a few miles is Dave Hindes’ auto repair shop.

AUDIO: [Sound of auto repair shop]

Hindes travels in to work from 30 minutes away. He lives in the nearby town of Gunnison, which is more affordable than Crested Butte. He said the housing boom in Crested Butte has its upside.

HINDES: There is no curb season or off season seemingly anymore, which is, to me, good for business. 

But, he has noticed some negative effects. Like traffic, with the service industry commuting into Crested Butte from out of town.

HINDES: So you get in your train of cars that are commuting and you’re going just like we would do typically in July, August, and during ski season, when we would encounter that. The traffic, so to speak, hasn’t let up.

Even the hiking trails are packed. That’s something the Pugh family noticed.

PUGH: This summer we saw things we’d never seen before. There were places where there were just a hundred cars where normally the most you’d ever seen as five or six. So it’s definitely put a lot of pressure on the community as well as the back country itself. 

It seems that just like the landscape of the Rockies themselves, with the real estate boom comes highs and lows.

MUSIC: [Take Me Home, Country Roads]

Reporting for WORLD, I’m Katie Gaultney in Crested Butte, Colorado.

NICK EICHER: Coming up next on The World and Everything in It: The beginning of earth.

Most secular scientists who believe the big bang was the beginning say the new planet had no water in its early days. They think the intense heat of the inner solar system would have evaporated any moisture. And when water finally did arrive, it came on comets or asteroids from cooler parts of the outer solar system.

MARY REICHARD: But the Bible says water covered the earth from the beginning. The Spirit of God hovered over the water at the beginning of creation. Now a new study published in the journal Science, offers some evidence for that account.

Joining us now to explain the research and its implications is Jeff Zweerink. He’s an astrophysicist and research scholar at Reasons to Believe. Good morning!

JEFF ZWEERINK, GUEST: Hi, Mary. It’s good to be here today.

REICHARD: This new paper focuses on a type of meteorite the researchers discovered in the inner solar system. That type of meteorite had hydrogen in it.  Why is that significant?

ZWEERINK: Well, the significance of that is astronomers are very interested in figuring out how the Earth formed and we know that there are different types of materials in different parts of the solar system. And one key feature of Earth that we’re all familiar with is that it’s covered in liquid water. And so the question is, how did Earth get all its water? And one of the prevailing ideas is that water forms very readily out in the outer part of the solar system because it’s just cooler out there, it allows ice to form, and that comets and asteroids could deliver it. 

But what they found in this particular type of meteorite, which is where the Earth would have formed is that it found a lot of hydrogen. And what that hydrogen will do is that when it—when the rocks are broken down and clumped up, they will combine with oxygen and they will make water. And so this is another source or another way that Earth could have accumulated its water. And what’s particularly significant about it is that that hydrogen comes in two forms. It comes either as a proton, which is kind of the normal hydrogen, or it can come with a neutron, which is called deuterium. And it turns out that the mix of normal hydrogen and deuterium in these meteorites is much closer to what Earth’s water has that same signature. So this is an indication that we might have found where Earth’s water came from, or at least a component that could have added a lot to the amount that Earth had.

REICHARD: These meteorites also contained other elements— oxygen, titanium, calcium, hydrogen, nitrogen—and in similar proportions to the composition on Earth. What’s the significance of that?

ZWEERINK: Well, again, as astronomers are trying to figure out what’s going on here on Earth, how the Earth was formed, they’re looking for the building blocks and that’s part of what was fascinating about these particular types of meteorites. They’re called instantite chondrites. They do have a chemical composition very similar to that of the Earth because they’re in the inner region where the Earth likely would have formed. So, the fact that these things have the same chemical composition of Earth indicates that they are a major building block of Earth, but now we see that these particular chondrites, these instantites, actually have the hydrogen that could produce the water. And so it’s filling in and making a more complete picture that we’re getting closer to understanding how the Earth formed, what were the materials that formed it, and how did Earth come to look the way it does.

REICHARD: The researchers who made this discovery are not advocating for creationism or even intelligent design. So what makes their research so important for us?

ZWEERINK: Well, as a scientist who’s a Christian as well, one of the things that I’m convinced of is that God’s the author of creation and the inspiration for Scripture. So, when we look at Scripture, as you mentioned earlier in the show, it starts out in Genesis 1:1–”God created the heavens and the earth. And the earth was formless and void. Darkness was over the surface of the deep and the spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters.” From its earliest moments, the Bible is describing an Earth covered in water. Well, we’re finding that the very building blocks of Earth would have produced a lot of water. So the scientific record of what Earth would have looked like in its earliest phases is matching what the Biblical description is. And I think that’s a powerful evidence that the God of the Bible is, indeed, the author of creation and the inspiration for Scripture.

REICHARD: Jeff Zweerink is an astrophysicist and research scholar at Reasons to Believe. Thanks so much for joining us today!

ZWEERINK: Glad to be here today.

NICK EICHER: With Halloween just two days away, many Americans are stocking up on candy, but they’re facing a new challenge: How to deliver the candy. 

Challenge accepted.

Andrew Beatte of Cincinnati decorated a 6-foot shipping tube and turned it into a candy chute. He spoke with KSDK television.

BEATTE: I have been wanting to do something similar to it for myself for a while just to help people with mobility issues, and with having an immune deficiency myself it’s a good idea.

Not to be outdone, Vince Mak of Pennsylvania showed off his new candy catapult or “Candypult.” Audio from WPMT television.

MAK: With just the—everything going on, everybody just needs to feel happy, you know, find something to laugh at.

Or just another reason to say: Incoming!

It’s The World and Everything in It.

MARY REICHARD: Today is Thursday, October 29th. You’re listening to WORLD Radio and we’re so glad you are. 

Good morning. I’m Mary Reichard.

NICK EICHER: And I’m Nick Eicher. Coming next on The World and Everything in It: Police Horses Part 2!

Last week, we took you to Wilmore, Kentucky. It’s a small town where college students train horses to work with police officers. Two of those horses are Kaiser and King. Today, WORLD Senior Correspondent Myrna Brown follows them to their new home. Here’s their story.

AUDIO: [LOADING HORSES ONTO THE TRUCK]

MYRNA BROWN, REPORTER: April 27th was graduation day for these 3-year-old bay-colored gelding horses: Kaiser and King. It’s a tearful goodbye for student trainers Hope Beers and graduating senior, Olivia Schnorbus.

OLIVIA SCHNORBUS: Him leaving is like the end of my time here at Asbury. 

HOPE BEERS: And so we put the horses on the trailer, got them set up with hay bags and they’re off on the road.

AUDIO: [TRAILER DRIVES OFF ON GRAVEL ROAD, WATER SPLASH IN BARN]

Six hours later, King and Kaiser arrive at an 18-stall barn with three pastures, in the heart of Atlanta, Georgia. Kelly Robison is one of the first humans they meet. Unit Commander, Lt. Greg Lyon hired the non-officer, stable master to pick up where the Asbury students left off with ongoing training.

LT. GREGORY LYON: We get them associated, get them comfortable here, and then we started riding them. We basically had three or four weeks and then boom!

AUDIO: [PROTEST SOUND OF FIRECRACKER EXPLOSION]

On May 29th, hundreds of demonstrators descended on downtown Atlanta, after the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis. The worst of it was less than 15 minutes from Kaiser and King’s new home. The Mounted Patrol Unit had to make a difficult decision.

LT. GREGORY LYON:  These horses basically sat. 

Lt. Lyon says while his human officers worked constant 12-hour shifts during the unrest, the horses never participated in crowd-control efforts. 

LT. LYON: We’ve got a horse that’s almost 2,000 pounds and you’ve got the strength of 20 men in one of those legs and I think we as a police department managed this in a way that didn’t have to see anyone get injured by a horse.

The unrest continued for weeks. King and Kaiser couldn’t continue their training. 

LT. LYON: But yes it was pretty much the first week of July we were able to kind of breathe and go back to normal. 

Even when the protests and riots ended, there was another interruption in the horse program—COVID.

LT. LYON: So because of COVID the stuff we do day to day, career days at the schools, community events, fairs, six days a week usually… were all cancelled.

Regardless, the horses still had to be cared for.

AUDIO: [HAIR BRUSHING]

OFFICER PEREZ: Grooming a horse is also good to get some kind of relationship with them.  

That’s Officer Abraham Perez Gilbert grooming King. 

Sergeant William Schapker gives Kaiser his daily shower.

AUDIO: [SHOWER]

MYRNA TO SGT: So, they actually don’t like it. SGT: So what you want to do is keep a steady pressure on him until he actually does calm down.

Nearby, with a shovel in one hand and a rake leaning against the pen, Officer Joseph Williams begins his daily routine cleaning the horses’ stalls, preparing their hay and…

OFFICER JOSEPH WILLIAMS: I’m going to empty the water because we give them fresh water every morning. Although it’s full, it’s been sitting there all day and all night. And then we’ll fill up two buckets at least.

Williams has been in the Mounted Patrol Unit for five years. His usual mount is Jasper, a 4-year-old bay colored gelding, also from Asbury University.

OFFICER WILLIAMS: Sometimes I refer to him as my dude. [laughs]

A nine-year-veteran with the APD, Officer Williams says when it comes to partners, he prefers horses to humans. 

OFFICER WILLIAMS: The difference is you’re a lot more intimate with your horse. You’re riding him.

And there are other advantages to policing on horseback.

OFFICER WILLIAMS: I want to say it was a carjacking and there was a weapon involved and they gave a description of the car and the suspects. The helicopter was up, people on foot,  people in cars, but they could not see the suspects. Because we sit high, we didn’t have to jump off our horse or anything. They immediately surrendered, seeing a big horse, you know.

It’s a tool officers have used throughout Atlanta P-D history—as seen by the showcase of old black and white photographs on the other side of the barn.

MYRNA TO LT. LYON: Tell me about this one. LT. LYON: This one here? Gosh, it’s from 1977. This right here… I would say this is the bread and butter for the mounted patrol: community engagement, especially with the children.

AUDIO: [Clip clopping of horses on the street as cars pass by]

And that’s what’s on the docket today. Kaiser and King are finally out meeting people.

AUDIO: He is 1½ and Charlie is three. You want to pet him?

Three-year-old Charlie has never been this close to a horse before. 

POLICE OFFICER: We’re kind of taking them out for just a training ride and it’s very important that they get used to people.  

See, look he’s licking my fingers.

This is the duo’s first time interacting with the public without a veteran horse along. 

Kaiser and King do great. It’s good for the horses, but as it turns out, it’s good for the community as well. 

MOTHER: And I think it’s a great opportunity for kids to have a good memory of a police officer at a young age.

MOTHER: It’s way more approachable and less intimidating than a police car. Would you ever walk them over…. I would never walk them over to a car. The horse it’s approachable. 

You want to pet the horse? (asks her child)

Reporting for WORLD, I’m Myrna Brown in Atlanta, Georgia.

NICK EICHER: Coming up next, an excerpt from tomorrow’s episode of Listening In. This week host Warren Smith talks with singer/songwriter Charles Billingsley. His career has spanned more than 30 years: Both as a member of the CCM group Newsong, and on his own as a solo artist. In this excerpt of their conversation, Billingsley offers some seasoned perspective on music as a ministry and a career.

WARREN SMITH: You know you’ve been in the Christian music business for a long time. You’ve been in church ministry for a long time. You’ve seen a lot of people come and go. I’m sure, as I have, you’ve seen a lot of people flame out, especially artists that are on the road a lot. They lose that connection to a local church. They lose the kind of connectedness to their family, just because they’re gone so much. How have you been able to maintain a faithful ministry, while doing the things that you have to do to maintain a successful career?

CHARLES BILLINGSLEY: Well, that’s an awesome question and it’s something I’ve had to find out and live the hard way, more than I am. As I told you, I was on the road for about 230 nights a year for a long time. And I came home one night and my wife was holding both of our little baby boys, they were 14 months apart. 

One was one and one was two and a half. And she looked at me and she goes, “look, I can’t do this anymore. It’s either us or that.” And when she referred to my ministry as “that,” I just…I knew we had a problem. I knew my life was completely out of balance. 

Ever since then, any role that I’ve had in a local church, to me, is a wonderful thing because it keeps me grounded. It keeps me tied, on staff, to accountability with a pastor. And at the same time, it gives my family a home base, and it allows us to plug into a family of believers. And it really grounds us and keeps us balanced in a sense that this thing doesn’t all become about me.

The problem with artists—and I’ve lived there and been there—is that, you know, if you’re not careful as an artist, the whole world revolves around you, your record, your release, your marketing plan, your—you know—your Instagram, your followers. How many can you get? Your radio play, and suddenly you look up and everything in your life is consumed with you. 

And I just did not want to go to my grave with that as a memory for my family. I want to go to my grave, having been a part of a greater ministry that’s beyond my name, and my followers and my record sales.

EICHER: That’s Charles Billingsley talking to Warren Smith. To hear the complete conversation, look for Listening In tomorrow wherever you get your podcasts.

MARY REICHARD: Today is Thursday, October 29th. Good morning! This is The World and Everything in It from listener-supported WORLD Radio. I’m Mary Reichard.

NICK EICHER: And I’m Nick Eicher.

Cal Thomas now on softballs and dodged balls in recent candidate interviews.

CAL THOMAS, COMMENTATOR: The 60 Minutes interviews of the presidential and vice-presidential candidates last Sunday were more revealing for questions not asked and for sidestepping than for what inquiring minds really want to know prior to Election Day.

First, there was the presumption that government has all the answers to contemporary problems. There was nothing said about liberty, personal responsibility, or accountability for one’s actions. The presumption among Democrats is that no one can do anything without government. If they succeed independent of Washington they will be penalized with higher taxes and more regulations to discourage initiative and risk-taking.

Joe Biden’s response to a question about systemic racism was to promise free college tuition for students in families that make less than $125,000 dollars a year. But he opposes “federal funding going to for-profit charter schools” and “vouchers for private school tuition.” Those programs might actually allow children trapped in failing public schools to have the intellectual foundation necessary to achieve in college.

Biden plans to pay for his free college plan by taxing corporations. Corporations employ people. If they are taxed more, they are more likely to lay off workers, or not hire people at all.

In her interview with Sen. Kamala Harris, Norah O’Donnell noted: “The nonpartisan GovTrack has rated you as the most liberal senator. You supported the Green New Deal, you supported Medicare for All. You’ve supported legalizing marijuana. Joe Biden doesn’t support those things. So, are you going to bring the policies, those progressive policies that you supported as senator, into a Biden administration?

Harris gave a nonsensical answer, and O’Donnell didn’t follow up. 

When Joe Biden had the opportunity to address those concerns, he also passed. Asked to respond to assertions that he is a “Trojan Horse” for liberals like Senators Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, or Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio Cortez, Biden responded: “(Trump would) love to run against them, wouldn’t he? Mr. President, you’re running against Joe Biden. Joe Biden has a deep, steep, and successful record over a long, long time.”

An obvious follow-up would have been about that record: Mr. Biden, you and President Obama promised “shovel-ready” jobs as part of your administration’s infrastructure spending. Later, President Obama acknowledged that those promised jobs in the stimulus bill weren’t shovel ready after all. He laughed and so did the audience. You are again calling for infrastructure spending. Why should people believe you will do this time what you failed to do before?

The president is correct that there is a double media standard when it comes to him and his opponents. Media credibility may be higher than that of Congress, but not enough to be encouraging. It’s certainly nothing to brag about.

I’m Cal Thomas.

NICK EICHER: Tomorrow: Culture Friday with Katie McCoy.

And, we’ll review a new storytelling podcast about a dog who handles ranch security.

That and more tomorrow. 

I’m Nick Eicher.

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.

May your love abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ.

Thanks for listening, and please join us again tomorrow.

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