The World and Everything in It - September 30, 2021

MARY REICHARD, HOST: Good morning!

It’s time to draw the political maps following the census, but states are running behind schedule.

PAUL BUTLER, HOST: Also an update on the ongoing crisis at the southern border.

Plus, the Olasky Interview. Today, a conversation with journalist Helen Andrews.

And Cal Thomas on what the current Democrat commitments tell us about the party and its future.

REICHARD: It’s Thursday, September 30th. This is The World and Everything in It from listener-supported WORLD Radio. I’m Mary Reichard.

BUTLER: And I’m Paul Butler. Good morning!

REICHARD: Now the news. Here’s Kent Covington.

KENT COVINGTON, NEWS ANCHOR: Gen. McKenzie: Deal with Taliban and eventual pullout doomed Afghan army » Top Pentagon officials testified for a second day on Wednesday about the calamitous U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan this time before the House Armed Services Committee.

Centcom commander Gen. Kenneth “Frank” McKenzie said the collapse of the Afghan army really began in 2020 when the Trump administration struck a deal with the Taliban promising a complete U.S. pullout.

MCKENZIE: Signing the Doha agreement had a really pernicious effect on the government of Afghanistan and on its military, psychological more than anything else, but we set a date certain for when we were going to leave and for when they could expect assistance to end.

That, he said, dealt a huge blow to the morale of Afghan troops. And he added that President Biden’s decision to move forward with the complete withdrawal was a 'nail in the coffin' for the Afghan army. He said he has long held that once the number of U.S. troops in the country dropped below 2,500…

MCKENZIE: I believed that the government of Afghanistan would likely collapse and that the military would follow, and one might go before the other, but I believed that was going to be the inevitable result of drawing down to zero, and I’ve expressed that opinion in writing for quite a while.

This week's hearings marked the start of what is likely to be an extended congressional review of U.S. failures in Afghanistan.

YouTube censors anti vaccine videos » YouTube has announced that it plans to block anti-vaccine content. WORLD’s Leigh Jones has more.

LEIGH JONES, REPORTER: The new rules are not confined to videos critical of COVID-19 vaccines but content claiming any current vaccine approved by the World Health Organization is dangerous. The platform will flag assertions that vaccines cause cancer, autism, or infertility.

And channels that post vaccine-related content in violation of the new policy will be subject to suspension if three violations are reported in a 90-day period.

YouTube, which is owned by Google, has already removed several accounts connected to prominent COVID-19 critics.

The new policy does allow critical content about vaccines still being tested. And personal stories about reactions to any vaccine do not violate the rule unless they come from an account already flagged for misinformation.

Reporting for WORLD, I’m Leigh Jones.

North Korea test fires hypersonic missile » North Korean state media reported Wednesday that the country successfully tested a new hypersonic missile this week. The report called the missile a significant addition to North Korea's “strategic” weaponry as the country strives to increase its defense capacity by a—quote—“thousand-fold.”

Military officials in South Korea said the missile fired from the northern province of Jagang on Tuesday morning.

The U.S. military in a statement said the launch posed no immediate threat to U.S. personnel, territory, or allies. The test marks North Korea’s third round of launches this month as it opposes U.S. sanctions and joint U.S.-South Korea military drills.

China cracks down on ‘Hong Kong’s BBC’ » China is taking more steps to erase press freedoms in Hong Kong. WORLD’s Kristen Flavin has more.

KRISTEN FLAVIN, REPORTER: RTHK, short for Radio Television Hong Kong, is the only publicly funded media group on Chinese soil. Founded in 1928, it has often been referred to as the BBC of Hong Kong.

But RTHK angered the Chinese government with its coverage of pro-democracy demonstrations protesting its sweeping new so-called national security law. That law has erased many liberties in what used to be a semi-independent territory.

And the Chinese government has now reportedly issued a detailed document to RTHK staff. It spells out new policies and editorial responsibilities. And it stresses that “under no circumstances” should its reporting—quoting here— “provide a platform to encourage, incite, promote, glorify, endorse or sympathise with any act or activity endangering national security or otherwise contain any contents which are contrary to the interests of national security”.

China has used its new national security law to jail protesters and seize the assets of pro-democracy activists.

Reporting for WORLD, I’m Kristen Flavin

I’m Kent Covington. Straight ahead: America’s porous southern border.

Plus, a political policy trifecta.

This is The World and Everything in It.

MARY REICHARD, HOST: It’s Thursday, the 30th of September, 2021.

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

PAUL BUTLER, HOST: And I’m Paul Butler. First up: the unrelenting border crisis.

In the month of August alone, Border Patrol reported nearly 200,000 encounters with migrants on the southern border and there is no end in sight to the surge.

REICHARD: The Biden administration has avoided the word “crisis,” opting instead to call it a “challenge.” But last month, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas conceded this:

MAYORKAS: We are encountering an unprecedented number of migrants in between the ports of entry at our southern border.

BUTLER: Last week, border officials were faced with a crisis within a crisis as tens of thousands of mostly Haitian migrants amassed at a border camp in Del Rio, Texas. The camp is now empty, but many Republicans and Democrats are unhappy with how the Biden administration went about clearing that camp.

REICHARD: And now more large groups, also in the tens of thousands, are reportedly gearing up to make their way to the United States.

Joining us now with more insight on the border crisis is Victor Manjarrez. He served for many years as sector chief for the U.S. Border Patrol. Today, he is Associate Director of the Center for Law and Human Behavior at the University of Texas El Paso. Chief, welcome back and good morning!

VICTOR MANJARREZ, GUEST: Good morning and thank you very much.

REICHARD: Well we wanted to have you back on today to help us see this through the eyes of Border Patrol agents. As we mentioned, you were a sector chief for many years. You still live and work along the border, and are in contact with people within the Border Patrol.
What have you heard from agents in the Del Rio area about this Haitian migrant crisis? What was their reaction?

MANJARREZ: Well, the reaction in general has been is that they could not imagine a flow this large or a grouping this large and really for such a sustained period. It's easy to look at this group of Haitians—of course the numbers range anywhere from 12 to 18,000 people depending on the reporting agency—is to look at that as one singular event. But what we easily forget though is that they've been dealing with huge flows now since at least February. And so when this big number of again that 12-to-18,000 it’s really starting to amass, it was a little shocking just because of the sheer number.

REICHARD: Let’s talk now about the latest controversy...when images emerged online that appeared to show Border Patrol agents on horse back lashing at migrants with leather reins. Have you heard from anyone with the Border Patrol about that controversy?

MANJARREZ: Well, I have. And quite frankly, it's got many—if not all—the border patrol agents pretty upset. That photo and the way it was interpreted was not correct. To a person, they all speak about those being the split reins to actually control the horse. And even the angling in the photo, the photo did not look good. But the truth of the matter that was they're not whips. They're used to control the horses. And what I've heard from the agents in particular in Del Rio is pretty upset within the chain of command at the Department of Homeland Security and as well as with the White House, is that the kind of a rush to judgment before the facts were known. And I think what gets most of the agents is when the President said that the agents would pay while an investigation is ongoing. So they felt that the investigation has been tainted now.

REICHARD: I know Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said that no attempt was made to stop the Haitian migrants from entering the country until the Texas Department of Public Safety and the National Guard showed up with steel barriers.

Victor, did DHS instruct agents not to try to stop them from entering — to allow them to enter and make asylum claims? Or could they not stop them because they were massively outnumbered?

MANJARREZ: No, the case in Del Rio, when you look at that number, let's say that a middle number of 15,000 Haitians, and you look at Del Rio sector. Del Rio sector is 300 miles of river border. And the Del Rio sector has about 1,500 border patrol agents. And so we're already talking about a vast area to be covered by, you know, 1,500 Border Patrol agents over three shifts. And so the number even dwindles. So when you have a significant event, such as a large group of Haitians, what simply occurs is the operators on the ground have to collapse their operations to deal with the Haitians. And if you're collapsing your operations to deal with a significant event, you simply can't patrol other parts of the border. And this certainly was the case that happened in Del Rio. And so the governor's deployment of National Guardsmen and DPS troopers, he said he built a steel fence, he was really speaking in regards to the trooper vehicles. And so they're able to be placed in high visibility areas to provide some form of deterrence. Because without those troopers, without their deployment in the area, there would have been no coverage.  The Del Rio Border Patrol sector simply ran out of resources.

REICHARD: Secretary Mayorkas reiterated over the weekend that the Biden administration doesn’t support the building of walls or barriers along the border.

What do Border Patrol agents think they need to do their job effectively? More walls? More vehicles? More manpower? What do they feel they need?

MANJARREZ: Well, to a person with Border Patrol agents, you know, the biggest thing they actually -- they're not even looking at the number of resources, right? Resources for a border patrol agent really is a three-legged stool. It's personnel, technical infrastructure, which could be you know, border barriers, vehicle barriers, things of that nature, and technology. And up to this point, what they've been resourced had been adequate. The biggest gripe, so to speak from agencies, is a perceived lack of support within the department at very high levels and within the White House. They really believe that the words and actions are enticing this flow to continue at a very high rate. And so that's really the number one concern of most Border Patrol agents is the perceived lack of support.

REICHARD: Victor Manjarrez with the University of Texas El Paso has been our guest. Chief, always informative to hear from you. Thanks so much!

MANJARREZ: Thank you very much.

MARY REICHARD, HOST: Coming up next on The World and Everything in It: map drawing time.

The Constitution orders that every ten years the states must redraw federal and state voting districts based on the latest census information. But Covid restrictions delayed that process.

PAUL BUTLER, HOST: Now that delay means states haven’t been able to draw congressional districts until now, putting many on a tight deadline that could affect next year’s elections. WORLD’s Sarah Schweinsberg reports.

SARAH SCHWEINSBERG, REPORTER: September has been a rat race for the Maryland Citizens Redistricting Commission. The commission draws the boundaries for the state’s eight congressional districts and 47 state legislative districts.

Walter Olson co-chairs the nine-member body. He’s also a public policy scholar at the Cato Institute.

OLSON: Instead of having a meeting or two a week, that might end at a civilized hour, we are pulling, not yet all nighters, but it may come to that. We pulled a three and a half hour meeting last night. And so, people are being asked to set aside a lot of their family time, a lot of their recreational time.

The governor wants the commission’s maps by next week. But Olson says the group didn’t get vital census data until the end of August … leaving commissioners just over a month to complete a job that usually takes up to six months.

OLSON: It's the difference between leisurely, let's take time to think about every angle, into kind of a steeplechase in which the public hearings sometimes are on consecutive days, because we have to fit in a lot of public hearings. And we have to be working at the same time.

And most states are facing the same problem. David Canon is a political science professor at the University of Wisconsin Madison. He says extending the 2020 census deadline seven months, from April to October, has had continued ripple effects on redistricting.

Reapportionment felt it first. That’s where states find out whether they’ve gained or lost seats in the U.S. House of Representatives based on national population shifts.

CANON: That first step of reapportionment is supposed to happen at the end of the calendar year in which the census happens. So December 31 2020, that was supposed to be done. That was delayed until April 26 of this year.

That four month delay jammed the next step: giving states the detailed census information they need to redistrict.

CANON: That's supposed to be released on April 1 of 2021. That actually didn't come out until August 12. And so we're about four and a half months behind schedule right now.

Next year’s midterm elections may seem like a long way off. But David Canon says in some states, the election process actually starts this year. Texas and North Carolina both require candidates to register by December. But without the new congressional maps, many potential candidates still don’t know what districts they live in.

CANON: And so if we don't know the maps, you're really in tough shape.

Timothy Wesco is an Indiana state representative who chairs the House Elections and Apportionment Committee.

WESCO: One of the most fundamental deadlines here in the state of Indiana is that you have to, by our Constitution, live in your state legislative district for at least one year, before standing for election in that district. So a lot of people who might be considering running for office have been kind of in limbo, because they don't know for sure what district they're going to end up in.

The Indiana State Senate could vote to approve the House Committee’s maps as soon as tomorrow. And then the governor could sign off on them this weekend. But that still only leaves potential candidates a month to decide if running in their district is worth it.

Some election experts say, while delays are hard on candidates, the redistricting process shouldn’t be rushed.

EGUIA: As a voter, I feel this is hard for 2022 politicians and candidates, but it will make better maps for 10 years.

John Eguia is an economist and political scientist at Michigan State University. Michigan’s Constitution mandates congressional and state legislative maps be completed by September 17th. Eguia says the state’s independent citizens redistricting commission has already missed that deadline. And unless the Michigan Supreme Court intervenes, the commission also plans to miss its extended November 1st deadline.

EGUIA: They say they'll have them by late December.

Eguia says the commission is missing its deadlines because it doesn’t want to reduce the time the public has to offer feedback on the maps.

EGUIA: You could cut commission map drawing time. You could cut public input, or you could cut time for the campaigns to prepare at the end. The Commission has chosen to not cut public participation.

Walter Olson and Timothy Wesco say although they’ve had to work with tighter deadlines in their states, they believe their maps will still be nuanced and fair.

Olson says his Maryland commission has spent long days thinking about which communities to group together as well as how to give the most people the loudest voice.

OLSON: You want, if at all possible, a sense of the differences between communities. And also, there's every different philosophy on questions of economic division. Should you make it a point to put poorer people with other poor people just to create more clout for their point of view? Or is it better to put a cross section of high, middle, low and all the gradations within a single district?

And in Indiana, Timothy Wesco says his congressional committee has tried to hold as many public hearings as possible.

WESCO: I've chaired 12 meetings in Indianapolis and across the state on redistricting. So we have sought to engage with the public as much as possible in this process.

But whether congressional maps are actually fair will mostly remain a matter of perspective—whether states receive census data on time or not.

Reporting for WORLD, I’m Sarah Schweinsberg.

PAUL BUTLER, HOST: Perhaps you and your family are planning on carving a nice big pumpkin this October. But of course, big is a relative term.

This season an Ohio farmer grew a pumpkin as big as a Pacific Walrus! Jeff Theil’s gourd took top honors at the 57th annual Barnesville Pumpkin Festival.

It tipped the scale at nearly 2,200 pounds. That’s more than 100 pounds heavier than the second place finisher.

Theil’s gargantuan pumpkin also claimed the state record outweighing the previous record holder by about 50 lbs.

Now that’s what I call a big pumpkin. Or better yet…

CLIP: It’s the great pumpkin!

It’s The World and Everything in It.

PAUL BUTLER, HOST: Today is Thursday, September 30th. You’re listening to WORLD Radio and we’re so glad you are!

Good morning. I’m Paul Butler.

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

Coming next on The World and Everything in It: The Olasky Interview. 

Today, a conversation between WORLD editor-in-chief Marvin Olasky and journalist Helen Andrews. She’s a senior editor at The American Conservative. Earlier this year she published a book that considers six influencers from the boomer generation who “promised freedom but delivered disaster.”

BUTLER: They touched on several subjects during their conversation: Supreme Court Justice Sonya Sotomayor, computer pioneer Steve Jobs, politician Al Sharpton, and economist Jeffrey Sachs. But in this excerpt of their conversation, they focus on feminist Camille Paglia—who preached throwing off sexual restraint, but ended up ensnaring a generation.

MARVIN OLASKY, EDITOR IN CHIEF: The advent of streaming video, would not have been such a route for decency, if the legal and cultural barriers against porn had not been obliterated in pretty short time, could you unpack that a little bit?

HELEN ANDREWS: I think it is almost impossible for anyone over the age of 35, to understand just how devastating a plague pornography has become, I was watching a debate among various conservative talking heads on the future of conservatism, just the other week. And all of the people who were on the panel—journalists in their 40s and 50s—were talking about foreign policy and domestic policy, whatever. But it was in front of an audience of Gen Z students. And what they wanted to talk about was, what are you going to do about the opioid addiction? And what are you going to do about pornography addiction?

Because young people today understand that pornography is, one, ubiquitous, and two more depraved than it has ever been before. And as someone who has given thought to this problem from a policy perspective, I very often run into people even within conservatism, who say yes, pornography is very bad, but there's just nothing we can do about it. You know, the First Amendment is absolute. And they the internet makes it impossible to do anything to control the spread of pornography on the web.

And so in the research for this book, I did a little investigating into the history of pornography and the First Amendment. And I found that up until the 1960s, the idea that pornography was protected by the First Amendment would have been laughable. And it was the spirit of license and cultural revolution of the boomers, 60s heyday, that really decimated all of the legal protections against obscenity that had been taken for granted up until that very moment.

And so the argument I make in the Paglia chapter, is that the rout of those legal protections against obscenity that took place in the 1960s didn't really become sort of a cultural plague until the advent of streaming video in the last 15 years, which was the match that lit the flame on the current pornography addiction plague. But the fact that those legal reforms were done in a spirit of blithe optimism about human sexuality in the 1960s, meant that when technology, made pornography such a potent, social ill, we were completely unprepared to do anything about it. And so doing something about it today will involve undoing those reckless legal revolutions. That undid obscenity law in the 1960s.

OLASKY: So I often hear people today, blaming technology, streaming video, for the ubiquity of pornography, but it sounds like has, as I learned in high school driver education, the cause of most accidents is the nut behind the wheel.

ANDREWS: That's true. And a lot of people say, Well, how can pornography be such a big problem today? I mean, humans are no more depraved today than they used to be. And that's true. But video pornography has only existed you know, since the advent moving pictures. And in the days of film, you know, in order to watch a movie, you would have to go to a movie theater. And so that was a technological limit on the spread of pornography.

Today you have a situation where any 10 year old with a smartphone can watch any sex act he wants, as long as he has an internet connection. So it's true that technology is the reason why millennials and Gen Z are so we are not inclined to be blithe or humorous about this issue because you know, the women see it and what it's doing to the men. So older generations just almost don't get it. But that does not mean that as long as they're streaming video, there will be ubiquitous pornography, there are things that we can do about it.

OLASKY: So at this point, if I if someone campaigns against pornography, that person is usually looked upon as a raging Fundy and just some weird person and so forth, what what are the steps to try to try to bring back some some sanity and at least try to, if it's possible to put the genie back in the bottle?

ANDREWS: Well I can't promise that fighting pornography will ever be socially accepted  their social class. And that was why they picked him for this particular crusade. But I think the people who engage in that kind of work, know that they will never be thanked for it, but that they are doing important work anyway. And I don't think we need to convince the younger generations that we need to do something about the scourge of pornography, because they know it already. So what my prediction for the anti pornography fight in the next 10 or 15 years is that it will become more salient and it will become more approved and it will make some gains once the baby boomers finally fade from the scene because the boomers and the Gen Xers are the last generation who see fighting against pornography it's something only a backwards Fundy would do. I think millennials and Gen Z years know that it's a serious problem that needs some kind of solution.

BUTLER: That’s Helen Andrews talking with Marvin Olasky. To read more of their interview, we’ve posted a link in today’s transcript at wng.org/podcasts.

PAUL BUTLER, HOST: Today is Thursday, September 30th. Good morning! This is The World and Everything in It from listener-supported WORLD Radio. I’m Paul Butler.

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

Well, you just heard Marvin Olasky doing one of his signature interviews. It’s a real skill to ask tough questions and keep the interviewee in the seat.

BUTLER: It is. And as it turns out, he’s also good at answering questions. On tomorrow’s episode of Listening In, host Warren Smith talks to Marvin about his new book, Lament For A Father. It’s an interview you won’t want to miss. If you’re not already subscribed to Listening In, search for it wherever you get your favorite podcasts. We’ll also repost it here on our Saturday feed.

REICHARD: Alright, well, it has been an eventful week in Washington. And commentator Cal Thomas has some thoughts on what some of the recent legislative moves tell us about the Democratic Party.

CAL THOMAS, COMMENTATOR: Last week, all but one Democrat voted for the Women's Health and Protection Act. It would establish a federal right to an abortion. And with that vote, the party that once claimed to stand for “the little guy” has now hit the trifecta. It has become the party of death, debt, and debauchery. I could add deception, but that would require changing the metaphor to the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.

If the Democrats' multi-trillion-dollar spending bill clears both houses of Congress (at the moment a dubious proposition, but stay tuned), it will increase the national debt past already unsustainable levels.

President Biden plans to pay for the spending by raising taxes on "the rich" and corporations, a refrain Democrats have sung for decades, along with the "pay their fair share" lyric. It isn't true. Even if the government imposed a 100 percent tax on the rich and corporations it would not be enough to pay the bill, according to the Manhattan Institute and others who have done the math.

When it comes to deception, just look at what we once called the southern border. It no longer exists. Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas has claimed on several occasions that “the border is closed.” But last Sunday, he acknowledged the Biden administration has admitted as many as 12,000 Haitians to the United States.

Why is the Biden administration doing so little about this uncontrolled migration? Cynics might argue President Biden and his fellow Democrats are importing future voters for the party. Notice they are less hospitable to Cuban migrants, perhaps because, according to Pew Research Center, Cubans are mostly conservative and vote for Republicans, especially in Florida. And that is a critical swing state in presidential elections.

As for debauchery, look no further than the definition of the word: “Excessive indulgence in sensual pleasures; intemperance.” How many Democrats are known for legislatively supporting what we once considered traditional values?

Some on the right, and occasionally in the center, already suggest the eight-month-old Biden administration is a failure. Last Sunday, New York Times columnist Ross Douthat listed just some of Biden's failures as president, including his increasingly obvious lack of clear-headedness, to put it charitably.

Whether he is a failure depends on how you define success. It appears to me that Biden and his fellow Democrats in Congress are a raging success at advancing policies that undermine American economic strength, military preparedness, and the destruction of what is left of our moral foundation. That foundation once defined right and wrong, good and bad. It also recognized enemies that want to destroy us from without. Why should they bother when we are doing the job for them from within?

I’m Cal Thomas.

PAUL BUTLER, HOST: Tomorrow: we’re in Minnesota with a live audience for Culture Friday, your listener feedback, and more with Nick and Myrna!

Plus, we’ll review a new movie about Christian music.

I’m Paul Butler.

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

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

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

Jesus said: “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep.”

Go now in grace and peace.

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