Townhall Review | Conservative Commentary On Today's News

In 1964, Ronald Reagan delivered a famous speech called “A Time for Choosing.”  A few years earlier, Paul Harvey delivered a famous broadcast entitled “The Testing Time.”  In those days of a heated fight against Marxism abroad and an aggressively expansive welfare state at home, we needed to be warned about a lot of decisions before us.

Both Marxism and the welfare state are here at home now. We are in such times again—times that are testing us, times where we are forced to choose, once again, not between right and left but up or down.

These times are brought to us by the same philosophies too regnant in the 1960s, revived by a leftist professoriate dominating our education system for over three decades, churning out millions and millions of students soaked in the study and praise of anti-Western curricula and Marxism.

They are also brought to us by a Democratic party so thirsty for votes they have complied and endorsed with candidates representing those radical views. 

This is why this election is crucially important.

Barack Obama was back on the campaign trail in the run up to the election. And, as he so often does before an adoring crowd, he indulged his penchant for mockery.

Obama ridiculed President Trump’s White House renovations, joking that they looked like “Saddam Hussein opened a Cheesecake Factory.” The crowd roared.

But perhaps Obama revealed more about himself than about the president. To make Trump the target, he made regular Americans the butt of the joke — people who happily patronize Cheesecake Factory on a night out.

Maybe they’re relatives of the “bitter clingers” Obama famously belittled back in 2008.

The remark is revealing of today’s Democratic Party, which once proudly called itself the party of the working person. Bereft of any new or exciting ideas, too many of its leaders now seem to offer little more than cultural condescension and sneering elitism.

Turnout, turnout, turnout. Everybody —everybody—agrees this year’s elections on November 3 come down to turnout.

If the ordinary GOP voters and the new voters Donald Trump brought to the Republican party show up on or before November 3, Republicans will hold on to their majority in the Senate and perhaps even the House. A blue tidal wave will be averted.

That is a big “if.” History tells us the midterms for a president in his sixth year can be tough.

If the GOP gets a “thumpin’”—President Bush’s description of what they got in 2006, it will be a wipeout for Republican majorities in House and Senate. That result: Bigger deficits, cuts to defense spending, endless impeachment circuses.

The battle with Iran is nearing its end. Oil flowing out of the Persian Gulf back as prewar levels. Voters should assess all of the great news—along with the cost of gas of course—and conclude that it has in fact been good to have Republicans in charge of the Congress—and vote accordingly.

In the 25 years since deadly terrorist attack shocked the entire world on September 11, 2001, our nation has been forced to have a conversation about Islam.

And from the George W. Bush administration to the Obama administration and the Biden administration, there's been one degree or another of evasion, both by these political leaders and by our cultural and intellectual elites.

The true nature of Islam is rarely acknowledged.

All this underlines the importance of an important new book by Eyman Ibrahim, the title of the book, “Sharia versus the US Constitution: Why Americans Must Choose Freedom.”

Professor Ibrahim writes with remarkable candor and academic precision, openly asking the question of whether Islam's core commitment to Sharia law is compatible with US Constitution. With remarkable accuracy and candor, he reveals that no such compatibility exists.

It's not just an awkward fit, it comes down to a contradiction.

Islam is fundamentally incompatible with our form of government and the US constitution, and Americans cannot say they were not warned.

Minnesota's massive fraud scandal could deliver a stunning Senate upset.

I’m referring to contest between longtime NFL broadcast professional Michele Tafoya and the Minnesota’s Lt. Governor, Peggy Flanagan. They’re squaring off in the senate race.

Tafoya demonstrated decades of quick on-camera thinking in her debate with Flanagan this week, combining it with a deft slash at Flanagan’s greatest vulnerability. That is: Flanagan’s apprenticeship as lieutenant governor to Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz during the tidal wave of fraud that swept across Minnesota after Covid-era “look-the-other-way” policies became a feature, not a bug, in Minnesota’s vast system of "safety net" programs.

Tafoya’s knockout line— “Sell it to someone else, Peggy”—was a wake-up call for the electorate.   

Tafoya would have been a good candidate in any cycle. She’s a terrific one for a midterm statewide campaign when her matchup is among the most watched in the country.

Ignoring the riots in France will not constitute the first time we downplayed important lessons from Europe at our peril.

Note the banners under which the protestors are rioting—the expanse includes every radical left-wing organization from the Revolutionary Socialist Party to Resiste Palestine to the International Communist League.  Palestinian flags and keffiyehs are everywhere. What do those movements have to do with what started out as a protest over education conditions? 

Everything.

The omni-cause of anti-Western civilizational sentiment is found in every part of today’s amalgamated left, yoking socialists’ Marxist philosophy to Islamism and Palestinian anti-Western violence.

Do not ignore the effort to sanitize the Democratic Socialist of America here in our country—as they look to decouple it from communism. That’s a separation wholly unknown to the members of the DSA, whose leaders and members affiliate boldly with their communist caucuses. Our DSA candidates may speak a genteel language, but the troops and members within it can be seen in full expression in the streets of France.

Democratic Senator Elissa Slotkin recently said something truly shocking. Speaking at the University of Chicago, she argued that Trump administration officials should be prosecuted—not because they’d actually done anything wrong, but to send a “deterrence message” to young people who might otherwise work for the administration.

She’s not alone. Florida Democratic Senate candidate Angie Nixon has called for her Republican opponent to be “locked up” and “punished in jail.”

This is nothing more than mean-girl politics, but with real power behind it: vilify and ostracize anyone outside your group. Except now, instead of banishment from the cool kids’ lunch table, they’re threatening people with prison.

That’s sinister. In America, we don’t prosecute people simply because we disagree with them. We debate them out in the open, fair and square—and then let the voters decide.

Scandal has once again hit CBS News, at least as defined by the rest of the Protection Racket Media. CBS reporters complained to Semafor's Max Tani that managing editor Bari Weiss has asked them to investigate Abdul El-Sayed’s many connections to the Muslim Brotherhood, unearthed by the Washington Free Beacon. 

Instead, these ‘reporters’ want to make this race about Trump. At CNN,  Dana Bash tried to make Mike Rogers answer for Trump’s ridicule of El-Sayed. Rogers pushed back hard enough to make Bash retreat while saying, “ I don’t want to debate with you” after bringing it up in the first place. 

The question here shouldn't be whether Weiss has the authority to hand out investigative reporting assignments. It should be why reporters from CBS and all of the rest of the mainstream media aren't embarrassed that they have shown zero interest in a story where a Senate candidate supports and is supported by foreign terrorist organizations.

Bari Weiss wants her news organization to cover all candidates. Mainstream media reporters want to cover for Democrats instead. 

Every time there is an election, we often are dismissed for saying, “This election is the most important of our lifetime.”  We shouldn’t be.  Never before has the opposition been more entrenched in, or succumbed to, a radical Marxism and Islamism than it is now. If it wins, it would put asunder everything Secretary of State Marco Rubio was lecturing about regarding the importance of Western Civilization when he was in Greece.

In years past, many took comfort by glibly quoting Ronald Reagan’s warning about losing America, speaking about a day where our sunset years would be spent with a sentimentality about an America that was.  We were too casual in doing so, satisfying ourselves that Reagan was being theoretical.

This cycle we have dozens of self-declared socialists running for federal office as Democrats. They’re aligned with organizations boldly preaching Marxism, Maoism and Islamism.

This election cannot be taken cavalierly. The Democrats have welcomed the extremists into their tent. We can’t afford to welcome them into our Capitol.

Please Vote.

Earlier this month, with a majestic view of the Acropolis of Athens behind him, Secretary of State Marco Rubio delivered an address in which he declared the enduring achievements of Western civilization, setting out a defense of the West while warning of the incalculable loss if that prized civilization were to be destroyed. 

It was a tour de force. As a statement of American power, it was clear and candid. Secretary Rubio met the moment and spoke with remarkable candor. Western civilization now faces an existential crisis and those who would defend the West had better seize the opportunity before it’s too late.

Rubio’s argument from history was both urgent and classic. 

The West truly stands at a moment of decision. What is at stake in this crisis far exceeds policies and platforms, though they are surely involved. 

Will Western civilization endure? 

I certainly hope so. 

My ultimate hope is in no earthly civilization, but I make no apology for working so that the civilization my grandchildren will inherit is a continuation of the Western civilization and its Christian commitment. 

Michigan voters face a stark choice for U.S. Senate: Mike Rogers, a former congressman, state senator, and FBI agent. Or Abdul El-Sayed, whose radical views should alarm Americans.

Consider his hostility toward Israel. In last week’s debate, he repeatedly refused to say whether Iran, our adversary, poses a greater threat than Israel, our longtime ally. He’s described Israel as “bloodthirsty” and opposes sending it defensive weapons.

There are troubling questions, too, about his family’s associations. His half- sister, a University of Chicago professor, wrote that her family had longstanding ties to Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood. That branch is now designated a terrorist organization by the U.S. government. El-Sayed denies any family ties.

Michigan deserves a senator who can tell an ally from an enemy. El-Sayed has no business in the U.S. Senate.

Ken Paxton won the nomination to the US Senate in Texas despite personal baggage from the end of his marriage. His estranged wife, state senator Angela Paxton, took the extraordinary step of endorsing the Republican ticket – and reminded voters what really matters in this midterm cycle.

“In a general election,” Ms. Paxton explained, “it’s not as much about the individual players on the team. It’s getting the whole team across the finish line.” She never mentions her husband or the Senate race specifically but declares her intention to vote for the full GOP ticket. To do otherwise, Ms. Paxton declares, would be to “hand the future of Texas to the other team” – and the future of the country.

Voters have the luxury of debating personalities in the primaries. In general elections, voters face binary choices on policies. With Democrats embracing socialism and Islamist radicals, Republicans in Texas no longer have that luxury. We must stand for freedom with the team we have, and follow Angela Paxton to fight for that future.

Democrats had one job to do in this cycle: Don't be crazy. But: Rather than offer a rational alternative to Donald Trump, the party has embraced Marxist revolutionaries and sympathizers of radical Islam as endorsed candidates.

And voters have noticed. A CBS poll from this summer indicated that 60 percent of Democrats held positive views of socialism. However, two successive polls from Center Square show a majority of voters have serious concerns about Democratic Socialists taking control of the Democrat Party.

This data shows Republicans have a real opportunity to get voters to deliver a harsh verdict on Democrats’ embrace of Marxism.

Republicans in every midterm race ought to be highlighting the danger of socialist control as the top issue this cycle.

There is an opportunity to push back the radicals to the fringe—and only a massive loss will force Democrats to purge the DSA.

This is a real Time For Choosing.

Choose wisely—and, please, make sure you vote!

Pollsters and the media are predicting a blue wave. They point to President Trump’s low approval ratings and Democrats’ lead in congressional polling.

But this election is no foregone conclusion.

For one thing, summer Senate polls in recent election cycles have often overstated Democratic support. A polling lead isn’t a victory.

For another, Republican committees and outside groups have a huge financial advantage. Some major Democratic donors are withholding money from the national party, still angry about how their donations to Kamala Harris’s campaign were spent.

That leaves less money for ads and getting voters to the polls. And in close races, those resources can make the difference.

Republicans still face a steep climb. Second-term midterms are notoriously tough for the president’s party.

But predictions don’t decide elections. Voters do. And this election is far from over.

There are certain things we just take for granted, or at least those of us of a certain age take for granted. Among those is the fact that when you get in a car, there’s a radio with the AM band. 

In the United States, that’s not an accident. It is at least partly because of federal mandates—going back to the early age of radio and automobiles.

There are some very important national security issues at stake here: 

I grew up in Florida. Look no further than the Cuban missile crisis for a reminder of how important communication can be.

I recognize that AM radio is no longer as popular as it once was, but AM radio remains important. Our digital transmissions are, technologically speaking, fragile.

The House of Representatives recently passed legislation requiring car makers to put AM radio in the vehicles. The United States Senate should take it up next—and I hope they do.

The Senate should pass it—and President Trump ought to sign the AM Radio for Every Vehicle Act.

It turns out. That’s important.

Now that the Democratic Socialists of America and their allies have engaged a non-hostile take-over of the Democratic party, prepare to see more and more professional Democrats try to deflect and project. This week, Donna Brazile wrote an op-ed saying the DSA is not a concern because House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries will have the spine to prevent them from enacting their agenda.

That would be much more convincing if elected leaders of the Democratic party told us this. The only denunciations of the socialist growth within the Democratic party are from un-elected commentators—like Brazile.  Hakeem Jeffries, himself, has said the socialists will be a welcome part of the Democratic caucus when elected.  Indeed, the socialists in the Democratic party have grown precisely because elected Democrats have capitulated to them time and again.

If you think elected leaders of the Democratic party will stand up to their extremists, just look at their anemic response to El-Sayed, Hasan Piker, Graham Platner, Ilhan Omar, Zohran Mamdani … and I could go on.

The stakes here are high, do not be gaslit.

The ugly face of Islamic terrorism has showed that face again.

I’m referring, of course, to the attempted hijacking of the FlyDubai plane by the co-pilot.

It was an extremely close call, averted only by heroism.

This is an enormous worldview issue. It comes down to the fact that civilization is and always is an achievement. Civilization is also more vulnerable than people think. 

Civilization built this aircraft—able to withstand the stressors put on it in the terrifying descent.

And civilization established the rules—rules having to do with which airliners are certified to fly and which are not.

And we’re talking about “rules” of moral behavior. 

This was not in the case of this airplane, a mechanical problem.

This was a moral problem.

And the moral problem, at its core, can be summed up as the forces of civilization juxtaposed with the forces of anti-civilization.

Thank God—this time—civilization won.

Social media influencer Hasan Piker is now the face of the Democratic party.

Piker wears his Mao jacket and hoses his Twitch audience down with absurd political takes. Piker uses social media to monetize the worst impulses of the extremes in American politics. In the course of doing so, he personally carried the most radical major-party candidate in memory — Michigan Democrat Abdul El-Sayed—to that party’s nomination for the United States Senate.

Piker has now gone so “supernova radical” that some Democratic leaders have tried to rebuke him without even naming him—including House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries.

It’s not going to work.

Piker—and the socialist fever he represents—is repelling the moderate Americans who love the country especially in the Democratic party.

It should not be difficult to say: voters ought to reject Hasan Piker, Abdul-El Sayed, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Rashida Tlaib and I could go on—by name.

They also ought to be rejected at the ballot box.

One week after Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu reminded the United Nations of the Entebbe terrorist attack, an international pro-Palestinian plane hijacking where four Israeli hostages and Netanyahu’s brother were killed, another hijacking of a civilian airliner destined for Israel was attempted.  Media has downplayed it, but it took courage and honor for the civilian passengers to subdue the terrorist and rescue the plane, their families, and fellow passengers.

Had the terrorist been successful, no doubt there would have been celebrations throughout the Islamist world—from Gaza to the West Bank, and in New York, just as there were the day after the terrorist slaughter of October 7th, 2023.

One passenger, Yaniv Hayoun, was particularly heroic in Wednesday’s rescue.  The world should know his name as it should know what he stood for: innocence. Thank God we have Todd Beamers and Yaniv Hayouns among us. Thank God some can still distinguish between them and those that would kill them--and us--in the name of, and for a delusion on behalf of, depraved and malevolent values.

Ronald Reagan used to quote the philosopher Montesquieu: “The deterioration of every government begins with the decay of the principle upon which it was founded.”  Reagan cited this point to warn us as more and more policies were enacted violating our principles of self- and limited government.  Later in his career, Reagan would also warn about our decayed and degraded state of knowledge about our own history.

Indeed, today, Americans’ knowledge about history and civics is at record lows, helping explain our new acceptance and promotion of literal socialist policies and politics in America.  Our education system, our schools, have failed us.  Thank God, however, a few historians have given us a gift to help us recoup the things we used to know.  Particularly beautiful and helpful is Allen Guelzo and James Haskins new two-volume history of Western Civilization: “The Golden Thread.”

Enough cannot be said about such a work as Guelzo’s and Haskins’—nor its scholarship, readability, and beautiful presentation.  Their work comes just in time, and could not be more necessary.