Participants:
Series Code: LI
Program Code: LI180416B
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00:05 Welcome back to the Liberty Insider.
00:07 Before the break with the guest, John Ashmeade. 00:09 I was testing his opinions on, not the opinions, 00:14 his knowledge on the dynamic of quotes being stacked, 00:19 and conservative liberal judges, and so on. 00:22 And you started the program as I remember 00:24 mentioning Justice Scalia. 00:26 Right. 00:27 And at one level he might not be missed, 00:30 he was one of the Cold War 00:33 right wing warriors of the court. 00:35 But I heard him a couple of times, 00:37 he was fascinating to the extreme. 00:40 And he certainly was the type that would stack the deck. 00:44 But how have things changed in your view since he lived. 00:47 His leaving really changed things 00:51 that for example, 00:52 Thomas for the first time spoke, you remember? 00:56 Right, right. You know... 00:58 They were fellow travelers, but Thomas, 01:00 Justice Thomas never spoke that I know on record, 01:03 but he spent within days of Scalia leaving. 01:07 Right, you know, I think 01:10 that Scalia was a brilliant jurist, 01:12 I, you know, don't necessarily agree with all of his opinions. 01:18 I think that he wrote the worst decision 01:21 for religious liberty of all times, 01:24 the Smith decision, but that said, 01:27 you know, he had a real sense of how he viewed the world 01:31 and certainly had the intellect and the writing skills, 01:34 and the ability to, you know, put pen to paper 01:37 and to get his point of view across. 01:39 I also think that Justice Thomas 01:42 is far smarter than people give him credit for. 01:44 Oh, he's having it short for his behavior, but, I mean, 01:51 it was a very contentious confirmation 01:53 that he would make up the first place 01:54 if he'd been an incompetent judge. 01:57 He's hardly... 01:58 I think he has some extreme positions 02:01 in the black community. 02:03 I can't be too happy on his comments 02:05 on affirmative action. 02:06 And that I think he's got a chip on his shoulder. 02:08 But now he's a very competent, 02:09 and I've heard him give the commencement addresses, 02:13 and he knows what he's still good... 02:15 Right, you know, in terms of the court, 02:17 I think, you know, that that five, four dynamic 02:21 sort of has remained in place, even, you know, 02:24 since Justice Scalia's untimely departure, 02:28 and, you know, now we're waiting to see 02:31 what happens with, you know, President Trump's appointment. 02:36 You know, we are facing a situation 02:40 where the 5/4 split will become hardened 02:43 because, you know, the person who has been appointed 02:46 maybe more you know, to the right 02:48 than the former justice who just departed. 02:51 So, you know, we'll see what happens. 02:53 It's hard to tell where the court will go, 02:57 you know? 02:58 It's always hard. Like, that's really my point. 03:00 No matter who stack that, they don't, in every case, 03:05 follow those expectations. 03:07 And I put it down to a very good thing. 03:10 Regardless of the bias of those who put them on, 03:13 and regardless, even sometimes of the judges 03:16 or the justices pass, when it comes down to it, 03:19 I think, at least in my lifetime, 03:22 they take it very seriously 03:24 to follow the law as they honestly see it. 03:27 You know, I think the key will be Justice Ginsburg, 03:31 you know, I saw a recent video online 03:33 where she was working out with her personal trainer. 03:36 And I think everyone was cheering on that trainer, 03:39 it's important for him to keep her alive 03:42 because if she does retire from the court, 03:44 then you will see a real shift in power 03:48 where the President will be able to appoint 03:51 another conservative justice, 03:52 and you'll have a six to three majority 03:55 that will be able to, you know, do some significant damage. 03:59 Well, you know, none of us know the future. 04:01 But I think the statistical probability 04:03 of her leaving one way or another 04:07 and such an appointment is almost certain. 04:10 Right, there's a real possibility. 04:12 We just don't know what will happen. 04:13 So it's a brave new world with the Supreme Court. 04:17 But, you know, it's a little bit more 04:18 than the Supreme Court going on in the US. 04:21 And let's just take a huge development 04:24 where the courts got involved again 04:25 on this so called Muslim ban, 04:28 the ban on people coming from other countries 04:32 in the Islamic world, 04:34 which I think it could have been expressed that way. 04:37 But the President foolishly set it up front 04:40 that he's trying to stop Muslims, 04:42 and, of course, the court seized on that. 04:44 How does that bear on religious freedom 04:46 or narrowing of religious tolerance 04:51 and practical freedoms? 04:52 Well, you know, I think clearly, 04:54 Muslims are being targeted. 04:55 It's a real political issue, you know, since 9/11, 05:00 Americans are very afraid of another attack. 05:04 And the President is aware of that, 05:06 and, you know, I think he's using that issue 05:09 as a wedge issue to distinguish himself 05:12 from the other party, 05:13 and, you know, trying to build a base 05:16 who will support him and his agenda. 05:19 And I think, in politics, 05:20 if you can create that wedge issue, 05:22 you can use it and capitalize on it 05:24 to your political advantage. 05:26 And I think that's what's happening, 05:28 you know, clearly I am not in any of... 05:32 you know, I'm not in the government, 05:34 so I don't know what the real threat is, 05:35 I'm speculating from the outside. 05:38 But, you know, I don't think 05:40 that the threat is as serious as being projected. 05:44 No, I agree with you. 05:45 I mean, On one level, I think radical Islam 05:49 has been awakened all over the world. 05:50 That's really, I mean, ISIS is exhibit A, 05:55 but as far as any existential 05:57 or even daily practical threat to US is very minimal. 06:02 And what does exist 06:04 can be handled as police actions. 06:06 But we've had the... The law is almost... 06:09 The whole structure of law enforcement change 06:11 from end-to-end, you know, you don't have to just fly, 06:14 I mean, there it's in your face, 06:15 constantly the whole procedure, but it's paranoia writ large. 06:19 And to me the parallel is, 06:21 I've never heard anyone make this, 06:22 but it's sort of the parallels in regular law enforcement 06:27 and punishing crimes 06:29 to then throwing in hate crimes legislation, 06:31 which sort of adds an extra unnecessary, 06:35 it's always been illegal 06:36 to act violently toward another person. 06:39 And the law always, when you brought up on murder, 06:42 it looks at your motive, doesn't it? 06:44 If there's no motive, it's accidentally done, 06:46 it could be manslaughter, you know, but first degree 06:50 or, you know, with malice and so on, 06:52 you would get a greater penalty, 06:54 but we thrown in that law, terrorism would always be wrong 06:57 with this law enforcement, military outside the country, 07:00 within the police can do it. 07:01 But we've so panicked that we've restructured 07:04 in many quite troublesome ways, 07:08 a system to accommodate this perceived threat. 07:11 And now it's writ large 07:12 on how we deal with other countries. 07:14 And I think this whole Muslim ban 07:15 is also tied into the immigration issue, 07:17 which is also has been 07:19 a hot button political topic in this country. 07:21 And I think, you know, 07:25 this is just building a political base 07:27 rather than getting to a solution. 07:29 I mean, we've been talking about these issues 07:31 for quite some time. 07:33 You've had politicians from both parties 07:36 who have tried to come up with a common sense solution 07:40 to our immigration issues. 07:42 And what happens is, you know, within the parties, 07:48 the extremes kind of pull people apart, 07:50 and they keep this issue going because they benefit from it 07:54 financially as well as politically. 07:56 Now President Trump has done many good things, 07:59 I'm not wanted to make a case 08:01 that I'm down on everything he does is not good. 08:04 He wouldn't appreciate it if he watched this program. 08:07 I hope you're watching, President Trump. 08:09 Sounds like I called out to Putin, doesn't it? 08:13 But facetiously, I think President Trump 08:17 went to Saudi Arabia early on, 08:18 and that speaks less about him 08:20 than about the US's crazy alliances 08:23 that haven't served as well. 08:24 But maybe he should go on a trip to China 08:27 and go see the Great Wall. 08:30 The story of walls is not a successful one. 08:33 You know, there's Hadrian's Wall in England, 08:35 Great Wall of China, and a wall of sorts, 08:39 there was a Maginot Line followed World War One. 08:43 But in all cases, 08:44 the barbarians either went around them 08:46 or all came through the gate. 08:49 It's not a solution. 08:51 But it's a political weapon that signals something. 08:55 But it speaks to the fear that we have as citizens. 08:59 A lot of people are afraid 09:01 of what's happening in the country and changes. 09:04 They are afraid of the melting pot, you know, 09:08 that they're looking as themselves losing rights 09:11 while others are gaining them. 09:13 And, you know, unfortunately, 09:15 we see politicians taking advantage of that fear 09:18 and putting in place policies 09:21 that will not benefit the country in the long term. 09:23 Politicians have had that tendency 09:25 from time immemorial, but I'll tell you when I date 09:28 the beginning of the misuse in the US 09:32 is the Willie Horton, remember? 09:34 Right. Right. 09:36 The malicious sort of fear mongering stuff 09:38 that not only going to political advantage 09:42 but produced a direct harm to the social situation. 09:46 And I have no... 09:48 I've told you in another regard, 09:49 I have no time for someone to gain advantage. 09:51 We'll have the system that you're working in. 09:56 And, you know, Adolf Hitler, I'm always quoting 09:58 because I study a lot about him. 10:00 You know, he was so fixated in getting his own way. 10:03 He actually at the end came to blame the German people 10:06 for his failings. 10:07 "You're not worthy of my plan." 10:09 You know, such a person 10:11 should never rule there if he... 10:14 we don't want what we really need. 10:15 Maybe it's a long way of coming at it. 10:17 I think there's a great one in the world at large, 10:20 and in the US since we're talking about it, 10:22 for statesman, people that... 10:24 Sure, they have ego, 10:26 but they're wanting the best for the country. 10:28 And I think both parties at the moment 10:30 are forgetting that aspect. 10:31 You know, I simply think that, 10:33 you know, this nation is at its best 10:37 when we are able to engage in debate, 10:40 we're able to talk issues through. 10:42 Whether we agree or not, we should support, you know, 10:47 the rights of citizens to debate issues 10:49 and to discuss them in a very vigorous way. 10:55 It's recorded that Jesus' disciples came to Him, 10:59 I'm sure on the more than one occasion, 11:01 and they said, "Tell us, when will these things be?" 11:04 It's a natural question. 11:05 And Jesus gave quite a long answer, 11:08 a litany of last day events, 11:10 might as well be the headlines for today. 11:12 But He says, the end is not yet because before the end comes, 11:16 there needs to be a great persecution, 11:18 there needs to be a great falling away, 11:20 there needs to be every man against his brother, 11:24 a total meltdown, 11:26 and a total revelation of God's character. 11:29 It's worth keeping that in mind 11:31 as we live through these 11:32 cataclysmic 21st century events. 11:35 I think it's arguably one minute to midnight. 11:39 But time is with the Lord, 11:41 and how long that minute truly last 11:42 we will yet see. 11:44 But let's make it our business to make sure 11:47 that God is truly with us 11:48 and that we're inspired 11:50 by His Spirit and strengthened to endure those days, 11:53 otherwise through which no flesh will survive. 11:56 This is Lincoln Steed for Liberty Insider. |
Revised 2018-12-30