Washington Monument Reopens, Faith Under Fire, Good News

Gary Bauer

by Gary Bauer: Washington Monument Reopens
The Washington Monument reopened today. It has been closed to the public for the past six months due to the coronavirus. But as of this morning, eight visitors at a time can once again take the elevator to the observation deck 500 feet up at the top.

This is the third time in recent years that the Washington Monument has been reopened. It was damaged in an earthquake in 2011 and was closed for two years for repairs. And in 2016 it was closed for three years to add security enhancements and to replace a faulty elevator.

So, the monument has been closed for a good part of the past decade. And what a decade it has been!

While we may be celebrating the reopening of the Washington Monument today, just a couple of weeks ago the mayor of Washington, D.C., proudly accepted a commission's recommendation that all monuments to people like George Washington be removed or publicly labeled for all the bad things they ever did.

This is the same George Washington who delivered his first inaugural address just a few blocks from Ground Zero. In that address, Washington declared that God delivered our nation victory from the greatest empire on the face of the earth.

Washington also warned that the "smiles of Heaven can never be expected on a nation that disregards the eternal rules of order and right, which Heaven itself has ordained."

I think we will find that the physical structure of the Washington Monument was a lot easier to fix than the cracks in the hearts of our children, created by an educational establishment that has twisted our history and turned our heritage against us.

Thankfully, President Trump is committed to fixing this serious flaw by restoring patriotic education in our nation's schools. He recently announced the formation of the 1776 Commission to counter the left-wing propaganda of the 1619 Project.

But this is a long-term battle. We did not get into this mess overnight, and it will take years to reverse the damage. That process can only begin if we reelect President Trump and Vice President Pence for four more years!

Faith Under Fire
The left is clearly gearing up to attack Judge Amy Coney Barrett over her faith. While that was largely expected, given her confrontation with Sen. Dianne Feinstein three years ago, a weekend Politico column leaves no doubt that Barrett's faith will feature prominently in the left's smear campaign.

The article focuses extensively on Barrett's association with Trinity School, a private Christian school in South Bend, Indiana. Barrett served on the school's board for two years. Of particular concern to the left is the school's "values statement," which outlines its commitment to Christian education and teaching.

Among other things, the statement declares that the school's beliefs "are rooted in a particular Christian understanding of marriage and sexuality. We understand marriage to be a legal and committed relationship between a man and a woman." And that is unacceptable to the left.

In spite of constant demands for tolerance, so-called "progressives" have no tolerance for anyone who believes in traditional Christian teaching on marriage. They are so intolerant of Christians that they believe such religious views are disqualifying for public service, even though the Constitution specifically prohibits "religious tests" for public office.

That was the essence of Sen. Feinstein's attack in 2017. It was the same anti-religious bigotry that led Bernie Sanders to attack a Trump appointee to the Office of Management and Budget. And it was the same anti-religious bigotry that led Kamala Harris to attack another judicial nominee for his membership in the Knights of Columbus.

Do you see a pattern here?

I am pleased to report that Majority Leader Mitch McConnell went to the Senate floor today and blasted progressive senators for their intolerance.


Standing For Faith
Kudos to Vice President Mike Pence! While the left is relentlessly attacking faith, this administration is doing everything it can to defend men and women of faith.

This week, the vice president fired off a letter to the Democrat governor of Nevada taking him to task for discriminating against churches. As you may know, Gov. Sisolak has allowed casinos to operate at 50% capacity, but he has limited churches to no more than 50 people regardless of their capacity.

In his letter, Pence wrote:

"While I am pleased you are interested in protecting entertainment and tourism jobs, your decision to prioritize blackjack and slot machines over places of worship is offensive to millions of Americans. I hope you will reconsider, and extend the same courtesy to churches, synagogues, and mosques that you have offered to casinos across the State."

Calvary Chapel Dayton Valley is continuing its legal fight to be treated equally with other Nevada businesses. And the governor is reportedly considering relaxing current restrictions.

Schumer's Big Plans
While Joe Biden and Kamala Harris are being coy with voters, trying to distance themselves from the left's radical agenda and refusing to answer questions about packing the Supreme Court, the left-wing media and progressive activists are demanding assurances that their extreme ideas will be enacted into law.

Well, New York Senator Chuck Schumer just gave it to them. During an interview on MSNBC last night, host Joy Reid pressed Schumer to commit to ending the filibuster and expanding the number of states in the union. Schumer eagerly replied:

"I would. Believe me, on D.C. and Puerto Rico . . . I'd love to make them states. And as for the filibuster, I'm not busting my chops to become majority leader to do very little or nothing. We are going to get a whole lot done. And as I've said, everything, everything is on the table."

By "everything," Schumer also means adding four or five more liberal Supreme Court justices, eliminating the Electoral College, mandating taxpayer funding of abortion on demand, passing a massive amnesty bill, massive tax hikes, a massive socialist healthcare scheme and the massively expensive Green New Deal.

My friends, we have just a little over 30 days to prevent this nightmare from becoming a reality.

Good News
While Joe Biden and other leftists attempt to smear President Trump as a racist, more and more black Americans appear to be rejecting the lies of the left.

For example, Robert Johnson, the founder of Black Entertainment Television, announced that he is voting for President Trump based on his record, adding, "I know what President Trump has done and what he's said he will do."

And Ohio State Representative Bernadine Kennedy Kent, a black Democrat from Columbus, endorsed the president this week, saying, "Under President Trump's leadership, Black Americans have experienced record employment and the poverty rate among the Black community has fallen to its lowest level in U.S. history."

Meanwhile, Gallup reports that President Trump's approval rating is now at its highest level since May. Gallup also asked respondents who they thought would win the election regardless of their personal preference. By a big margin of 56% to 40%, voters predicted that Trump would prevail over Biden.

This is an interesting question because some pollsters believe it is a way of measuring the president's support among so-called "shy Trump" voters.

Finally, I want to revisit the idea that President Trump conducted himself inappropriately during Tuesday's debate. Granted, Trump frequently interrupted Biden when it probably would have been better to let him keep talking, digging himself deeper holes on a number of issues.

But Trump did not call Biden any names. Biden, on the other hand, called the president a "racist," a "liar," a "clown," and "the worst president" in history. He also told the president to "shut up."

Of course, Trump gets pilloried for talking too much, while Biden gets a free pass for personally insulting the president.
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Gary Bauer (@GaryLBauer)  is a conservative family values advocate and serves as president of American Values and chairman of the Campaign for Working Families

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