American Family Association offers Christian response to the issues of the day
>> Jeff Chamblee: The mission of American Family association is to inform, equip and activate individuals to strengthen the moral foundations of American culture and give aid to the church here and abroad in its task of fulfilling the Great Commission. Further, AFA believes this ministry, as well as everything in the heavens and on the earth, belongs to God. And AFA's role is that of a trusted manager. Thank you for standing with the American Family Association. Welcome to Today's Issues, offering a Christian response to the issues of the day. here's your host, Tim Wildmon. M. President of the American Family Association.
>> Tim Wildmon: Hey, good morning, everybody, and welcome to Today's Issues on the American Family Radio Network. Thanks for listening to AFR. This is Wednesday, August, 27th, 2025, and as always, we thank you for listening to American Family Radio, in studio with me, Zed Battagliano. Good morning, Ed.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Good morning, sir.
>> Tim Wildmon: Wesley Wildmon.
>> Wesley Wildmon: Good morning.
>> Tim Wildmon: And Fred Jackson. Good morning, Tim and Fred.
Shooter is contained at Minneapolis Catholic school; multiple injuries reported
got some, sad news to report. Start the day right?
>> Fred Jackson: Yeah, we do. It's a Catholic school in Minneapolis. a shooter there this morning. We're just starting to get details. The shooter is contained, are saying, but there are also reports of multiple, multiple injuries at this school. As I say, it's a Catholic school. It's at the Annunciation Church. I believe it's in the south side of Minneapolis. most of the major networks right now are doing live coverage from the scene. this happened about, 8:30 this morning. They say Minneapolis time. I, guess at this Catholic, school that they have a mass on Wednesday mornings about this time. And apparently someone. And that's about all we know. And neighbors are reporting hearing gunshots, multiple gunshots. what we're seeing right now is parents are beginning to show up and, their kids are starting to stream out. You see these kids in their school uniforms. And obviously for parents who have been able to get their kids, they are relieved. But, you know, there's got to be a whole lot of other parents that are being told, your child is at least injured. And, that's what's taking place right now. A lot of stuff unfolding. we'll try to keep you up to date as the morning goes along.
>> Wesley Wildmon: But the suspect is dead there.
>> Fred Jackson: The term that's being used is, is contained. Okay, that's the official.
>> Ed Vitagliano: And some sources are, some news outlets are reporting that a source said that the shooter is dead, but that is not official. So he's contained is what got you. The official statement is, you know, this. I've obviously never been in a situation like this as a young person, but school is just starting. Where do you go from here after the let's say all these kids, hopefully they or the victims all survive. But do you, do you call off the school year? I mean how do you get back to normal after, after something like this? Every time you walk into that school you're going to be reminded of the terror of that day.
>> Wesley Wildmon: I would imagine that they postpone the starting of school for a month and they'll probably have to skip a, shorten their holidays or go through the summer of next year. Try to do a lot of work at home. But I couldn't imagine going back within the next couple of weeks. Yeah, a minimum.
>> Ed Vitagliano: And they'll probably make counseling available and so on and so forth.
>> Tim Wildmon: So this just happened what an hour or so ago? And a couple hours ago what we're.
>> Fred Jackson: Hearing is as I say on Wednesday mornings at this Catholic school they have a mass service.
>> Tim Wildmon: Right.
>> Fred Jackson: So that was at 8:30 this morning. That's when we're, it's been reported that the shooting broke out.
>> Wesley Wildmon: Shooters dead on self inflicted gunshot wound is what MSNBC is reporting at the bottom of their screen.
>> Tim Wildmon: Yeah, yeah. well, okay, well we'll, we'll wait and see. But when you have a large gathering of, in one, you know, of one gathering meaning in one place. well, I'm going to speculate and probably no reason to do that but my mind starts to think that this is somebody who knew that all these kids were going to be in one place. Maybe it was a fellow student, you know, who was angry or something. We'll find out more probably pretty quick.
>> Ed Vitagliano: The, the suspect has not been publicly identified so we don't know anything about, we don't the age or background or.
>> Tim Wildmon: You know this could happen anywhere.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Yeah.
>> Tim Wildmon: At any time. Really.
>> Wesley Wildmon: Yeah. we'll wait and you know like, like we've been saying over and over again, more information but it would be good if schools had a police officer that was paid with a firearm and hopefully they had that.
>> Tim Wildmon: Hopefully they may have.
>> Wesley Wildmon: May have. That would be. Yeah, because you need it. at these schools you need that.
>> Tim Wildmon: But even that, you know, would not necessarily prevent.
>> Wesley Wildmon: No, it wouldn't prevent it, but it could minimize, Deter.
>> Tim Wildmon: Yeah. Or minimize. Yeah.
81% of Americans agree with President Trump on gun violence, poll shows
>> Fred Jackson: Some of the sources I've been reading just before coming into the studio, there have been multiple incidents in the last 24 hours of shootings. In fact one at 2:30 this morning on the Streets of Minneapolis. you know, it's interesting, the Democratic National Committee, the DNC is holding its annual meeting in Minneapolis right now. And we've talked about the speeches coming out of there, the Governor of Minneapolis, Tim Walsh, all condemning President Trump for focusing on crime, on violent crime. And it's hard to under. You cannot deny that this is happening in Chicago, in Baltimore, all of these cities. Yet the big stories in the mainstream media is how dare Trump talk about. And of course, Democrats are saying it's not as bad as Trump is saying.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Right.
>> Fred Jackson: You know, crime is under control. But here you have it in Minneapolis this morning. And, you know, one of the questions being asked right now, do they have security at the school? Is there somebody there? Because unfortunately, I'll bet you they do.
>> Tim Wildmon: A large Catholic school like that. I would. But like you said, we'll find out. But yeah, the irony is they're meeting in Minneapolis, talking about how Trump is, you know, making violence, more of a deal than it really is.
>> Fred Jackson: Yes.
>> Tim Wildmon: Especially in these big cities. And here we have this happen this.
>> Fred Jackson: Morning and we have, it's interesting, we have on our site this morning, afn.net, the latest AP north poll which says 81% of Americans agree with the President on this, that we are facing violence across the country, especially in big cities.
>> Tim Wildmon: 81%, by the way, just FYI, the, CNN and MSNBC are both, reporting that the shooter is dead. So anyway, for what that's worth, what do you. I'm sorry, what was the statistic you were citing, Fred?
>> Fred Jackson: Well, this is an AP north poll. We have this story. It's Associated Press story this morning on AFN.net, they took a poll. 81% of Americans agree with the President that we have a problem with violence in this country, especially in big cities. And yes, most of the big cities being talked about are Democrat controlled.
>> Tim Wildmon: Well, it's gun violence, Fred. and you know, guns are notorious for moving about, moving about, getting up, having a mind of their own and committing acts of carnage and violence that, that if we can get rid of said guns would solve the problem, then.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Gun violence would end gun violence. That's, that's the implication of it. Yeah, you know, that is kind of what Fred's talking about. And again, this is on afn.net American Family News. this is pretty stunning. You don't usually because survey. Yes, 81% see crime as a major problem in large cities. You're getting close to being in agreement. That's rare politically Speaking in terms of, you know, conservatives, liberals, people in the middle, you get 81% of Americans agreeing on anything. That's a real issue. And I'm surprised it is that high. but not surprised because it is an issue in these large cities.
>> Tim Wildmon: This is going to be interesting to see, if President Trump's, use of the National Guard and federalizing the policing in the District of Columbia, which I agree with, and we agree with because it's a, it's, it's the capital and it's a federal city. It's the federal city, it's not a state. so that's a different, it's a different situation. President, Trump's use of the National Guard, I think, than say in Chicago or Boston or New York or somewhere like that. We could talk about, and we are going to talk about that with Abraham Hamilton about the constitutionality of what, what is the authority that a president has to use the National Guard. But that aside, the question, the constitutionality aside, there's no question now that it's, that this is, this is being effective. Right.
>> Wesley Wildmon: The model's there and it's being proven and he has the lease for D.C. he has the constitutional authority to practice or try or do something different than what was being done. And apparently it's working.
>> Tim Wildmon: So, okay, here's, here's what my point is. It's going to be interesting to see if any Democrat mayor or governor in America.
>> Tim Wildmon: Sees the effectiveness of what Trump has done here in Washington D.C. and seen violence go way down as a result. Haven't had a murder in what, 13, 14 days or something?
>> Fred Jackson: That is correct, yeah.
>> Tim Wildmon: In Washington D.C. which is unheard of. will they see, will, will Democrat voters in these states and cities, these blue states and cities demand, law and order and say, look, we want to do like what Trump did in D.C. we want, yeah, we want more policing, more of a police presence, maybe even the National Guard in Chicago, but it would have to be called out by the governor. But I doubt they would do that at all because, they would be, shown. They would be accused of agreeing with Trump's methods. sure. What I'm saying.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Well, and they would be admitting that they're not doing a good job. The city council, the prosecutors, the police. The police. I feel bad for the police in these big cities. I'm guessing that they want to crack down on crime, but they turn these people over to the prosecutors, the district attorneys and to the, you know, to, to have these people jailed they're released right away. Some of these cops are probably picking up the same people time after time because they're out on cashless bail and then they're let off with a slap on the wrist. That's gonna be very frustrating for them. But for them to. They would have to admit that they're doing a bad job in their city and that's why they need to change methods.
>> Tim Wildmon: However, it's kind of ah, odd. I don't know, maybe that's not the right word. Okay. What I'm about to say sounds crazy, but I don't know how it's inexplicable to me that the citizens in these cities continue to vote for mayors and aldermen and city councilmen and prosecutors who are soft on crime. So it's kind of like you're going to denounce criminal activity in our area, somebody do something, and then when there's something that can be done, you say, no, I don't want that. I want to vote for somebody who's going to let them out of. Who's going to be for cashless bail and let people let the criminals be. Rap sheets would let them run the streets. So how does that make sense?
>> Wesley Wildmon: Well, you got to wonder then, if that's the case, how many people live in these areas that can vote. They can vote that it matters to them then because you know what I mean? Like I wonder if. Wonder if the people that are affected by, by the crime live outside the voting registry.
>> Tim Wildmon: no. The biggest black on black crime is a major statistic.
>> Wesley Wildmon: Well, I'm saying. Yeah, I'm saying the people that were.
>> Tim Wildmon: In the inner cities.
>> Wesley Wildmon: Yeah. What I'm saying is I think a lot of people that would that do work in the inner cities that are. That would say there's a problem, they don't live there even though they agree today.
Why do people in crime infested cities keep voting for the same politicians
So they can't vote to change the.
>> Tim Wildmon: Yeah, well, yeah, yeah, because they live outside the area. But why would the.
>> Wesley Wildmon: There's not enough problems.
>> Tim Wildmon: We're asking a question that there's not a good answer to and that is why. Why do the voter. Why do the people who live in these crime infested cities keep voting for the same people who don't do anything about it? That's what I do have.
>> Ed Vitagliano: I do have something to offer.
>> Abraham Hamilton III: I don't know whether this.
>> Tim Wildmon: You want to share your heart?
>> Ed Vitagliano: I want to share, I want to share my heart.
>> Tim Wildmon: Okay, share your heart.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Ed, I think that since the George Floyd incident in Minneapolis Minneapolis in 2020. A lot of folks in these big blue cities bought the lie that the young black men that are being arrested for committing crimes that are being put in prison, in their minds, they're being told it's at a disproportionate rate. It's because of racism. The police hate black people, even though there are a lot of black police officers in inner city police departments. And so they buy the lie that why all this crime is happening. It's happening because of systemic racism and we don't have enough money. They buy that, and then they vote accordingly.
>> Tim Wildmon: Okay.
>> Ed Vitagliano: And they vote for the people who say, well, we gotta defund the police.
>> Tim Wildmon: Okay?
>> Ed Vitagliano: Or we need to be. We need to try to right the injustices that have been going on. So cashless bail, they're all for it. And then they realize human nature kicks in and the crime goes through the roof. And then you have even Democratic politicians who are fall victim to the crimes, and then they start to complain about it. You remember there was a state legislator in Minnesota who are jacked, right? And then she was like, where are the police? Okay, Reality dawns.
>> Tim Wildmon: She was for defunding the police.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Yes, it's extraordinary. But they, but they're. I think they're buying the lie and voting accordingly. And then all of a sudden, crime goes up everywhere. And now they're saying, now they're realizing perhaps the foolishness of their actions.
Fox News now reporting 15 to 20 injured in Minneapolis school shooting
>> Fred Jackson: Just, to update our audience on this shooting at this Minneapolis Catholic school. Fox News now reporting 15 to 20 injured. and, this, this, these are young kids. We're talking 8, 9, 10, 11 year olds. that we're seeing that coming out of the school.
>> Tim Wildmon: Do they not have gun control in?
>> Fred Jackson: BBC, by the way, is saying three.
>> Ed Vitagliano: BBC is saying three dead.
>> Fred Jackson: Yes.
>> Ed Vitagliano: So what?
>> Tim Wildmon: Who's saying that?
>> Ed Vitagliano: That's the BBC looking at their news feed on this.
>> Tim Wildmon: Okay, probably not the time for sarcasm, so I'll pull that, tomorrow. Yeah. because people have died. So I apologize for saying that. But, but my, My point is on a serious note, that, these cities and states that pass all these gun control laws are not, ah, acknowledging human nature. Ah, they are, they're. They're pretending like the guns are the problem they're taking away from and not the people and the individuals who are using the.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Well, to your point, I heard Bishop Jackson this morning. He's hosting Jenna Ellis's show this week. He mentioned that in the short amount of time that Trump has had national guard troops in D.C. they have confiscated 115 illegal guns.
>> Tim Wildmon: Okay.
>> Fred Jackson: Yes.
>> Tim Wildmon: So wouldn't the left be for that?
>> Ed Vitagliano: Well, they, that's what that's actually Jackson was saying. He said, why isn't the media or the Democratic Party applauding that? But the fact that there were 115 guns illegally in violation of the gun control laws in D.C. should make it clear that forbidding, law abiding citizens from having guns, owning them legally is not stopping the criminals from having them. So they took 115 guns held illegally from people who have been arrested. And that proves that the criminals are getting guns and they are using them in crimes.
Fred Cracker: Chicago needs President Trump to help curb violent crime
>> Tim Wildmon: Well, again, the, top story we're talking about, happened a couple of hours ago, I guess, maybe even less in Minneapolis, Minnesota. somebody went in and shot, a bunch of students at the Catholics, at a Catholic school in Minneapolis, Minnesota. And some are dead. The news media is reporting, at.
>> Fred Jackson: Least one media outlet and the shooter.
>> Tim Wildmon: Himself or herself, you could say is dead.
>> Fred Jackson: Related to all of this. You know, we talked about the Democrats are meeting there in Minneapolis, but also, of course, what Trump has had to say about cities like Chicago, that's certainly in the news. But here's the other problem. The mainstream media, including the Associated Press, is only covering stories of complaints from Democrats against Trump. They are not telling the whole story. It was very interesting this morning on our newscast from Chicago, we had Pastor Cory Brooks. And he's been on Fox a number of times. But listen to what he has to say. He's a black pastor there in Chicago. Listen to what he has to say about the need that Chicago has right now for the kinds of things that are going on under Trump's direction in Washington D.C. cut number four.
>> Todd Stearns: We need to invite President Trump in. We invite the National Guard in. You know, we've had 254 deaths in 233 days. 80% of those have been black boys. And for anyone in our community to say, that things are getting better and that people are safe, that is an outright lie. We need to do any and everything we can to keep our citizens safe. One of the number one priorities of government is to make sure that the citizens of the American of America stay safe. And that should be the number one priority of the governor and the mayor. But it's not. Because the only thing that they're really concerned when it comes to black lives that matter is black lives that matter that vote.
>> Fred Jackson: And to his point, Mayor Johnson of Chicago and the Governor of Illinois, Pritzker, Listen to what they have to say about Trump talking about coming in to try to help Chicago cut number two.
>> Ed Vitagliano: We are being targeted because of what.
>> Tim Wildmon: And who we represent.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Mr. President, do not come to Chicago.
>> Tim Wildmon: I'm to going willing to go to Chicago, which is a big trouble. But we have a governor that refuses to admit he has problems. Yeah.
>> Fred Jackson: So the politicians say we can handle this. You have Pastor Cory Brooks. We need it. Did, you hear the statistic that he mentioned there? 254 dead, mostly 230something days. Mostly young black men.
>> Tim Wildmon: 80% he said. Yeah. Yet the black community keeps the vote, keeps voting for the, the, the same. the Democrats.
>> Fred Jackson: Yeah.
>> Tim Wildmon: in the, on these issues who are opposed to cracking down on crime. Well, and it's not the black voters in the inner city. They're going to vote for the Democrat. This, this mayor and this governor. They're going to get the vast majority of votes from the African American community. Go ahead.
>> Ed Vitagliano: No, I was just going to say that, the murder numbers are bad enough.
>> Fred Jackson: Yeah.
>> Ed Vitagliano: That does not include carjackings or armed robberies. and then setting aside the actual crimes that are being committed. How do you figure, how do you tabulate the fact that most of the citizens in Chicago live in fear?
>> Tim Wildmon: Yeah.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Every day. You know what, this goes on for years in these inner cities. I've read where some of the worst parts of, like Atlanta or Memphis or Chicago, where when they go to bed at night, sometimes moms put their kids to sleep in the bathtub because of drive by shootings. Now that is hard to tabulate the numbers, but how in the world does the. Well, the number you cited from the poll, Fred, 81% think that there's a problem. I'm guessing the 19% that don't include the criminals who are committing the crimes and politicians who refuse to admit that there's a problem.
>> Tim Wildmon: One person who has not committed any crimes, who was almost canceled was Uncle Herschel. Yes. And of Cracker Barrel fam.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Yes.
>> Tim Wildmon: Right. But we have good news to report.
Todd Stearn: CEO of Cracker Barrel decided redesign was bad idea
Fred, over to you.
>> Wesley Wildmon: Partially good news.
>> Tim Wildmon: Yes, partially good news. Uncle Herschel has arrived.
>> Fred Jackson: Yes. Yesterday afternoon, CEO of Cracker Barrel decided maybe this wasn't such a great idea. So, they're changing back, going back to the old branding of Cracker Barrel with Uncle, Hirsch sitting there.
>> Tim Wildmon: And there's a breakfast on the menu too.
>> Fred Jackson: Yes.
>> Tim Wildmon: I don't know if that was going to be gone. Yes, I don't think it was. He was the old man leaning, against the Cracker Barrel, which is the signature of the restaurant chain. Three years in his overalls signifying, you know, ah, a, country feel, a rural feel to the restaurant. And that's going to stay.
>> Fred Jackson: That's going to stay.
>> Ed Vitagliano: But, to Wesley's point, it is only a partial victory. Well, the rest of the changes are going forward. So the complete redesign of the inside of the restaurants. Who knows what else?
>> Tim Wildmon: let me ask you this question, and far be it for me to play the devil's advocate here.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Yeah.
>> Tim Wildmon: But, I'm not saying Uncle Herschel's the devil. Right. Or even this one. What's wrong with redecorating inside of your store? I don't. I don't. I don't would.
>> Ed Vitagliano: You awoke communist. Okay.
>> Tim Wildmon: I'm sharing my heart in and you're mocking me. And I don't ever mock you.
>> Ed Vitagliano: All right. okay, so here's my take on it.
>> Tim Wildmon: Yeah.
>> Ed Vitagliano: this was all being done to change the, the look of the logo and the inside of the restaurants, to move the restaurant away from this old country feel and make it so that it's. So that it, in their minds looks less white.
>> Wesley Wildmon: Which would include the lgbt. Rainbow rocking chairs will stay, Dad. I mean, so.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Which they actually had.
>> Wesley Wildmon: Yeah. So we. There's way more than just there's rainbow rocking chairs. This is, this is different than painting the inside. Okay, well, you know, it's not a facelift.
>> Tim Wildmon: Well, that's the reason I, could. I'm not able to teach my grandchildren there how to play checkers anymore because. Because they're not red and black like they used to be. They're all rainbow colors.
>> Ed Vitagliano: well, and by the way, that was E.W. jackson's take on trying to make the restaurant look less white. You know, they changed the. The wording on the little game. Little Peg game.
>> Tim Wildmon: Talk about that. By the way, the checkers are still red and black, folks.
>> Todd: Hello, Americans. I'm Todd Stearn. Stand by for news and commentary.
Nearly 3 million kids attended Vacation Bible School at Southern Baptist churches last summer
Next. Vacation Bible school may be old school, but it's still very popular among kids across the fruited plain. CBN News reports nearly 3 million kids attended VBS at Southern Baptist churches over the summer. Some 70,000 making a personal decision to follow Christ. Vacation Bible School, a week long affair hosted by churches featuring fun adventure themes for kids. Along with arts and crafts, singing and lots of recreation. Many churches turn snack time into an art form. You know, when I was a kid, I got to double dip. I went to my family's Baptist church vbs. Then I attended My grandparents VBS at the Methodist Church. Now the Methodist had a lot better snacks. Almost switched denominations as a second grader. Because of that, the surge in VBS attendance could be a sign that more young families are now returning to the traditions of our faith. And the best part, kids actually want to get up early to go to VBS public school. And not so much. I'm Todd Stearns. But he saves the poor from the sword of their mouth and from the hand of the strong. So the helpless has hope and injustice has shut its mouth.
>> Jeff Chamblee: American Family Radio, this is Today's Issues. Email your comments to commentsfr.net Past broadcast of today's Issues are available for listening and viewing in the archive@afr.net now back to more of today's Issues.
>> Tim Wildmon: Am I on? Is this thing on?
>> Wesley Wildmon: It's real. It's loud.
>> Tim Wildmon: Can you hear me in the back?
>> Ed Vitagliano: Can you hear me now? Can you hear me in the back?
Today's Issues comes from Abraham Hamilton the third, a constitutional attorney
>> Tim Wildmon: All right, welcome back, everybody, to Today's Issues on American Family Radio. I'm Tim with Ed, Wesley and Fred. We thank you for listening as, as always to afr. Well, joining us right now is Abraham Hamilton the third. He's the host of, the Hamilton Corner each afternoon, 5 to 6 o' clock central time, right here on American Family Radio. And by, profession, he is a lawyer, unfortunately.
>> Ed Vitagliano: And, well, it's pretty fortunate.
>> Tim Wildmon: No, I'm sorry, It's fortunate for us. Yeah.
>> Ed Vitagliano: But no, nobody likes a lawyer until you need one.
>> Tim Wildmon: Had to throw in a lawyer joke.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Yes.
>> Tim Wildmon: anyway, he is a constitutional attorney. he studied. we need more of those, constitutional law in college. Good morning, Abe.
>> Abraham Hamilton III: Good morning.
>> Tim Wildmon: Oh, did I, did I say anything that offended you? Offended you there.
>> Abraham Hamilton III: Well, I mean, it's making it harder to sit in my rainbow rocking chair.
>> Tim Wildmon: Uncle Herschel survives.
>> Abraham Hamilton III: Yeah, Uncle Herschel.
>> Tim Wildmon: Yeah, he survived to live another day.
We were talking about why voters in the inner cities continue to vote for Democrats
okay, so I want to ask you a question. We were, before we get to the question of the constitutionality of, the president's authority with respect to the National Guard, which you get to that in a minute, which is the question we gave you, we tell you was going to talk about. I want to ask you something, Abe. We were talking about law and order, crime and punishment, a life in inner city, a big, big inner city America. and what President Trump is doing in Washington, D.C. employing the National Guard and federalizing, basically law enforcement because it is the federal city. And, and he, he can do that. but the results seem to be coming in that so far it's Working to bring crime down, violent crime down, in particular in, Washington D.C. here's we were talking about why voters in the inner cities continue to vote for Democrats who are soft on crime and yet they are the victims of crime. And I ask you this because I know you've looked at it from two different perspectives. You've grew up in, the inner city of New Orleans, Louisiana.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Grew up on the mean streets. Yes, literally.
>> Tim Wildmon: Okay, that's true. So that's where you, that's where you grew up. So you, you experienced that as, as a child and as a youth and, and yet, and later in life you got into law enforcement as a, as a district, district attorney, or is that what it was?
>> Abraham Hamilton III: That's right.
>> Tim Wildmon: Okay.
>> Abraham Hamilton III: Yes.
>> Tim Wildmon: So you prosecuted crime.
>> Abraham Hamilton III: That's right.
>> Tim Wildmon: Criminals. So when felonies. Okay, so when I asked, you've seen it from both sides in terms of, I don't know if you want to call it liberal, conservative, left, right, whatever you want to call it. But so my first question to you is, why do you think, or is it a misnomer that people who live in these big cities, continue to vote for people who, who are soft on crime? Is that a. Go ahead?
>> Abraham Hamilton III: Yeah, I think one of the, one of the major things, and you described it right. I grew up in a crime ridden inner city environment and one of the things that contributed me going into prosecution was I heard lots of conversations about, well, the system is corrupt and you have this, you have that. So I said, well, why not, be a part of the system and to see it from the inside, you know, but growing up, the simple fact is my hometown, New Orleans, Louisiana has nothing but Democrat elected officials for over a century. So we never had an opportunity to vote for anybody other than Democrats who were soft on crime. Now I know a lot of people will say, well, they would never vote for a Republican, but I would say using the Michael Jordan theorem, you lose every, I mean, you miss every shot you don't take. How do you know? You know, and one thing that I experienced personally is when, Governor Bobby Jindal ran for governor in Louisiana. And his first, his first effort, he lost to Kathleen Blanco. And I had opportunity to talk to him and his staff and I just said, listen, you need to come to the hood, you need to come and share your ideas in the inner city. And when he did, surprisingly, he had a much larger percentage of support than he had previously. Previously. So I think one of the major problems is, I think conventional, I would say Republican strategies or whatever, said, hey, you'll never get a, get a chance, you'll never get any votes, you'll never get any headway in these urban areas, so you should just avoid them. And I think President Trump's campaign shows the error in that thinking because he got a, ah, pretty significant push in places like New Jersey, you know, and in other places. So if there is no competing ideology, then the people in those cities have no option to vote for anything other than that. And I think that's a major unspoken contributing factor to this phenomenon.
>> Tim Wildmon: But, but you don't have to be a Republican to be for law and order and, be against soft on crime, what would you call it? actions.
>> Abraham Hamilton III: Do you, I mean, I agree with that. However, in the modern Democrat Party, you have to oppose law and order in order to be supported by the Democrat Party.
>> Tim Wildmon: Okay.
>> Abraham Hamilton III: So I agree with you 100%. You don't have to be soft on crime.
>> Tim Wildmon: Looking at it from a perspective of somebody on, who's never lived in the inner city, big inner city like I grew up in, you just scratch your head and you go, why do these people continue to vote over and over and over and over and over to their own detriment? That's what it, that's what it looks like.
>> Abraham Hamilton III: Yeah. No, I agree with you 100%. And like I said, the unspoken reality is there often is nobody with a countervailing position that is actually running for the office.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Well, and even if, even if you had someone like that run for mayor, you still got to have the city council. You have to like, have a clean sweep in one of these blue cities in order to get actual changes in policies. Right. Because a mayor's not going to be able to make wholesale changes without like minded members of the city Council.
>> Tim Wildmon: Right?
>> Abraham Hamilton III: Yeah, right. And we experienced that to a degree. But unfortunately, as my old basketball coach used to say, pain stimulates the brain. You know, New York, New York City was a, haven of murder and all kinds of things. And it was the pain that led to Rudy Giuliani's election.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Right?
>> Tim Wildmon: Yeah.
>> Abraham Hamilton III: Was elected. Go ahead, Tim.
>> Tim Wildmon: No, well, he cleaned up city of New York.
>> Abraham Hamilton III: He cleaned up the city of New York and the New Yorkers enjoyed it. But what did they do after Rudy Giuliani left office? Yeah, they rescinded some of the same policy he put into place that, that led to New York being cleaned up.
>> Tim Wildmon: Let me.
>> Abraham Hamilton III: Was that the cry from the criminality, the pain from the criminality led to people Electing Rudy Giuliani.
Is there a prevailing suspicion of police in inner city America
>> Tim Wildmon: One other thing I want to ask you about, related to this is is there not though, a prevailing suspicion of police, in inner city America? Because maybe there are abuses, that get, get maybe sometimes blown out of proportion or that, that really happen. And so the voters are suspicious of giving the police more control, and authority. Do you know what? Do you understand my question?
>> Abraham Hamilton III: Yeah, I do. I do understand your question. And you have, you do have an element of that in places, like I said, my hometown that has been rife for corruption generationally. Right now, as we're talking, New Orleans is mayor, is being indicted right now, has been indicted, under corruption charges. And so you do have that as a contributing factor. But you also have the reality, though. A lot of times in these places and like where I grew up, people want the police there, they want help from police there. So you do have those competing narratives. But when things get to the place like you all have, like in Chicago and other places, they went from Lori Lightfoot to Brandon Johnson, you know, they, they didn't have a candidate who was, hard on crime, that had a law and order disposition. And you see that happening over and over and over because in these urban areas, in municipal politics, you have the Democrat Party that is entrenched, much to the exclusion, with no countervailing narrative ideologically.
>> Tim Wildmon: So that makes you, that makes people like me going, well, then have at it. If you want to vote for this and live in this. that's, that's the point.
>> Wesley Wildmon: That's one of the points I was making earlier is that you're going to have a lot of people that live and work there, or, sorry, that work there but live elsewhere.
>> Tim Wildmon: Oh, work. Otherwise work in the city, but live in the suburbs.
>> Wesley Wildmon: Because they otherwise would have voted. But they realize they're probably. I'm just giving you a.
>> Tim Wildmon: They're out, they're outvoted.
>> Wesley Wildmon: They're outvoted. So then they just move and then, then it's. You get no pushback.
>> Tim Wildmon: Yeah.
Fred Kaplan: Does President Trump have the constitutional right to send troops to cities
okay, so now the question, the constitutional question we have is what? Phrase it for us, Fred, if you would.
>> Fred Jackson: Well, basically, President, Trump sees the success of his plan to cut down on crime in Washington D.C. but he's been talking a whole lot lately, Abe, about, I'd like to take this plan and go to, violent cities like Chicago and Baltimore and New York. And of course, the politicians in those cities, the mayors and the governors are saying, ain't no way that's going to happen. And we're just not going to allow it because, by the way, crime is dropping, they say, in all these cities. We're doing a great job here, despite the fact the numbers aren't showing that at all. I guess the question is this, does the President have the constitutional right to send troops into these cities to deal with crime?
>> Abraham Hamilton III: And the short answer to that is no. so Washington, D.C. is unique, as you guys know, in our constitutional Republican fabric. D.C. is a federal city. President Trump has a lawful authority to do things in D.C. that he doesn't have in other and other cities and other locales around the country. The Home Rule act is the constitutional foundation following the US Constitution. Denotion of him as the executive in chief, commander in chief, as well as the congressional authority allowed to him as commander in chief to do that. In D.C. however, Chicago and other cities are an entirely different phenomenon. The Posse Comitatus act of 1878 limits the use of federal military personnel in domestic law enforcement. All right, so you cannot dis. Deploy the National Guard from the federal position to engage in domestic law enforcement. However, this is where there could be a, challenge concerns of the separation of powers. Because you can deploy the National Guard if they are functioning in a supportive role for local law law enforcement, that would presumably require the cooperation of local governors and municipal officials. However, as we saw recently in Los Angeles, as long as they are not actively engaged in the civil law enforcement function, then the National Guard could be deployed. So the question I would have is if President Trump says he wants to send in the National Guard, the specific question will be send them in to do what? What are they doing? If they're showing up as just a visible presence, are they showing up to support local law enforcement, those things may be okay. But if you're deploying them in an effort to be civil law enforcers, that is where you could run a file of the law.
>> Ed Vitagliano: So even, Even backing up, even backing up local, law enforcement, the federal government, the president can send them in even if the mayor and city council do not want them there.
>> Wesley Wildmon: That's what I was about to ask.
>> Abraham Hamilton III: And that is where the question will. That is where the issue will come to the fore. It will depend. It will turn on specifically what they're doing. So if you have the president saying, we want to send in the federal, not the National Guard to support local law enforcement, and you have the local law enforcement officials saying, now we don't want you, we don't need you, we don't need you to do that, then the question becomes well, what are you sending them there to do? What are you doing? Much of what was done in Los Angeles was nothing beyond simply being invisible presence that their presence helped to quell some of the rioting and things of that nature. That's something that could possibly be done, but I would. It would. One of those things, you know, the devil's in the details. We would need to know specifically what the federal troops are going to do.
>> Wesley Wildmon: But even in, Los Angeles, it was different because that was ICE doing their job, wasn't it? They wouldn't necessarily long. They weren't protecting local law enforcements, were they? Well, the National Guardsmen.
>> Abraham Hamilton III: Well, no, you had ICE doing their jobs, and then you had a contingent of National Guardsmen and responded to the rioting that was happening in Los Angeles.
>> Tim Wildmon: Yeah, I. The constitutionality question aside, I just think it would be a bad idea all the way around for President Trump to try to start sending federal. I mean, National Guardsmen to cities of America.
>> Wesley Wildmon: Like, I don't think he's going to do that.
>> Tim Wildmon: I don't think he's going to do it either, but he brings it up.
>> Abraham Hamilton III: Yeah.
>> Tim Wildmon: As a possibility.
>> Abraham Hamilton III: And that's why, of course he's.
>> Tim Wildmon: He's, the master of trolling President Trump is. So he'll say something that's inflammatory just to watch the head spin off. Now, sometimes I enjoy that spectacle too, when the, when the liberals. Heads start spinning off heads. It's really, it's really fun to watch.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Yes, it is.
>> Tim Wildmon: But. But at the same time, sometimes I wish, Okay, please just dial it back a little bit so that we don't get into the.
Tim Miller: The idea of a national police force is something our founders rejected
Where I'm gonna have to tell you, I agree with the liberals that you're wrong. Constitutional. You know what I'm saying?
>> Abraham Hamilton III: Yeah, yeah. And this is an issue, Tim. This is an issue that our founders debated. You know, this was a part of the concern expressed in the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia concerning, standing armies. If we had the capacity to repel the global superpower at the time, Great Britain, what will keep us from having a national army to enslave our own citizens locally?
>> Tim Wildmon: So.
>> Abraham Hamilton III: And so go ahead. Yeah. I'm just saying. And so the whole idea of having a national police force is something that our founders rejected out of hand immediately. And if you look at tyrannical regimes around the world, that's what they have national police in Venezuela, national police in Mexico, national police and these other places. That is not something. Yeah. The federal. That is something that I would be among the first people to Object to. If you would dispatch our soldiers for domestic law enforcement.
>> Tim Wildmon: The only way this would work constitutionally, it seems to me, would be if you had, let's say Illinois, let's say Chicago, Illinois, for example, if the mayor and the governor, one or the other. Well, it has to be the governor to call out the National Guard. The governor of, the governor of the state of Illinois says, Chicago is out of control with violent crime. We're going to crack down. So I, the governor of Illinois, am calling up a thousand National Guardsmen from the state of Illinois to go and support the local police department. maybe that. Would. That. Would that kind of scenario be constitutional? or still or. No. A.B. is that.
>> Abraham Hamilton III: No, that would be. That would be constitutional.
>> Tim Wildmon: Okay.
>> Abraham Hamilton III: That would be constitutional.
>> Tim Wildmon: That's what. Don't call. This is where. Anyway, this is not going to happen. As you said, we're talking about something that. But President Trump brought it up as a possibility and the Democrats are reacting to it as you would expect them to. And, Go ahead.
>> Ed Vitagliano: I was just going to just toss, in here. I'm appreciative of what President Trump has done in Washington, D.C. i'm happy for the people there that, crime seems to have dropped dramatically. But what happens when he pulls them out? DC Is going to go right back. At the heart of these problems are the policies and practices of the people in charge of these big cities. They're Democrats across the board. And as soon as these National Guard troops go, it's going to return to normal.
>> Tim Wildmon: I think he's going to probably keep them through his term until time maybe pull them out.
>> Wesley Wildmon: Well, they may rotate them.
>> Tim Wildmon: Rotate them out. or you may pull them out and see what happens.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Yeah.
>> Tim Wildmon: Subsequent to.
>> Abraham Hamilton III: Well, well, in D.C. in order for him to keep them and rotate them, as you guys are describing, he would have to have congressional approval of that.
>> Wesley Wildmon: So there was a turn or what's the limit?
>> Abraham Hamilton III: Yeah, it's 30. It's 30 days. There's a 30 day provision allowed by the Home Rule Act. Any extension of that time period would have to be the product of a joint resolution.
>> Wesley Wildmon: send them home for 24 hours and start over. I'm messing with.
>> Tim Wildmon: You're going to give Trump ideas he'll take advantage of like that, for sure.
President Trump's CDC has just greenlit a COVID vaccine injury study
All right. Hey, thanks so much. What's coming up? What's coming up on your show this afternoon here?
>> Abraham Hamilton III: Well, we're going to talk a little bit about Uncle Herschel and the Cracker Barrel, the Cracker Jack box and the brains at the barrel. And there's also a development. There's a development. President Trump's CDC has just greenlit a COVID vaccine injury study, which is the study. Those have been vaccine injured, which I find very interesting because very. For the longest, President Trump touted, you know, operation warp speed and things of that nature. So to have his CDC to formalize vaccine injury study seems to be an about face on that issue. So that is very interesting. That was one issue that I thought, was a vulnerability from President Trump. And it seems to be there's at a minimum, a, tacit willingness to consider vaccine, ah, injury. So we'll talk about that a little bit.
>> Wesley Wildmon: Hold on, clarification. Are you saying that the study's complete or they're going to do the study?
>> Abraham Hamilton III: No, they're going. They're going to do it, but within the cdc. So you've had vaers. You have. Others have done things outside of the cdc, but the CDC internally is going to produce its own spate in studying vaccine injuries, specifically COVID vaccine injury.
>> Tim Wildmon: Okay. All right, thanks, Abe. Talk to you later.
>> Abraham Hamilton III: All right, thank you, guys.
Anytime COVID vaccine is mentioned, Wesley has a visceral reaction
>> Tim Wildmon: Okay, that's Abraham Hamilton III joining us, on the, program. You're listening to today's issues. That's the name of the show on afr. Tim, Ed, Wesley and, and Fred. And I was watching Wesley across. He's about five feet away from me. Anytime you mentioned the two words together, COVID vaccine. There's a visceral reaction or mask. There's a visceral reaction on the part of Wesley. He perks up.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Yeah.
>> Tim Wildmon: Gets ready to go.
>> Wesley Wildmon: My hair stands up on his arm like.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Spider sense.
>> Wesley Wildmon: Yes, that's it. That's the best way to describe it on radio.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Yeah. Spider sense. Spider man.
>> Tim Wildmon: All right, next story. Fred.
The feds are going to take over Union Station from Amtrak
>> Fred Jackson: Well, just before we leave, Trump in Washington, D.C. his transportation secretary announced this morning, Transportation Secretary Duffy, that as part of what they're doing there in D.C. they, the feds are going to take over Union Station from Amtrak. Union Station. I haven't been there for a long time, but, it's a meeting place in Washington. Restaurants and the whole thing. but now they're going to take that over from Amtrak. And he wants to spend $2 billion in D.C. upgrading the whole city.
>> Ed Vitagliano: He wants it to be beautiful.
>> Fred Jackson: Two billion, what needs to be beautiful?
>> Tim Wildmon: I mean, so it's our right and kept clean and safe. It's our. It's our capital, for goodness sakes. I've been, I've been to the Union Station. Many, many times. I've never felt unsafe there, but. But I haven't been there.
>> Wesley Wildmon: And it'd be clean three years.
>> Tim Wildmon: Yeah. But they do have nice restaurants there, shops. It's where Amtrak comes in, to, it's where the metro, that's a subway system in Washington D.C. that's, where they go to as well. So a lot of these cities too are starting to have more and more homeless people. And that's a real problem that they have to contend with. And I, I'm not sure what all the answers are on that, but you can't let it start. I do know that you let encampments start. You see what. I haven't been to Los Angeles in.
>> Ed Vitagliano: A while or San Francisco.
>> Tim Wildmon: You see what happens in these cities when they let the encampment start for homeless people. And it just grows and grows and it becomes an area where people don't want to go to. the surrounding businesses suffer. So you can't let it start. You can't let it start. I, feel sorry for the homeless people because.
>> Wesley Wildmon: You feel sorry for the ones that. I don't feel sorry for the people that purposely put themselves there.
>> Tim Wildmon: Oh, no. The ones who just don't want any responsibility. But I'm just saying, when you see people who are obviously mentally ill. Sure.
>> Wesley Wildmon: Or they don't have, or one bad thing after the other half, they had.
>> Tim Wildmon: Bad luck in life.
>> Wesley Wildmon: Yeah, yeah. You know, and they're wanting to get out, but they're, they don't have any.
>> Tim Wildmon: Family to lean on. Just when you see. Of course, I don't go and interview these folks, but, you know, I know what you mean. You just wonder, you know, you just, you feel, you feel sorry for him.
Fred: Cracker Barrel reverses course on iconic mascot
All right. You're listening to today's issues. Fred, we got about five minutes left. As Uncle Herschel, by the way, has he had any comment or does he.
>> Wesley Wildmon: Does he still need AI for this one?
>> Tim Wildmon: Okay.
>> Wesley Wildmon: Or not AI, but like a, What is it? Yeah, an AI commercial here with Uncle Herschel.
>> Tim Wildmon: But one of the stories we're talking about here is Cracker Barrel. This is what I'm saying is true. Not kidding around. Cracker, Barrel did reverse course, with an announcement that, they're keeping, the old man in the sea of overalls. Anyway, the old man leaning against the Cracker Barrel, which, that's where they get their name from, which is on the sign. Of Cracker Barrel as you go down the interstate and see it, or in your hometown There. They were going to remove him. He was going to be canceled. And, he was. He was removed, as was the barrel.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Yes, the barrel is gone from the Cracker Barrel logo. I. I wanted to mention.
>> Tim Wildmon: They're back. They're staying.
>> Ed Vitagliano: They're. They are. They are bringing them back.
>> Tim Wildmon: Yeah.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Because they actually did change the logo. Were forced to, to, crawfish on that.
Cracker Barrel has changed the wording on its little peg game
But I had mentioned before the break earlier about the little peg game at Cracker Barrel. At Cracker Barrel. Now, obviously, folks, this is not a huge deal, but it goes to of mindset that a lot of people don't like. So the original little peg game where you hop over pegs and you try to get it down to one peg.
>> Tim Wildmon: Before cell phones, they started that.
>> Ed Vitagliano: So here's. Here's what was written on the little game. If you can leave only one peg, you're a genius. Leave two, and you're pretty smart. Leave three, and you're just plain dumb. Leave four or more, and you're just plain ignorant. You're just a plain ignoramus. Okay, so it was insulting, and I liked that. That reminded me of growing up in New England, where my dad would regularly insult me when I failed at something. So now they change, and still the peg games remain. But now they have language like, if you leave three or more, don't be embarrassed. Try again.
>> Tim Wildmon: no, they don't.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Yes, they do. I'm looking right here at a Fox.
>> Tim Wildmon: News story that isn't what it says.
>> Ed Vitagliano: It is.
>> Tim Wildmon: Says what?
>> Ed Vitagliano: They have changed the words. If you leave three or more. Instead of being a plain ignoramus, it says, don't be embarrassed. Try again. I am. I am opposed to that kind of encouragement on a game that I think it should. you're not going to motivate everyone by giving everybody a trophy.
>> Wesley Wildmon: That's right.
>> Ed Vitagliano: All right, so now I'm being serious about they changed the wording on the board game, the little peg game. But I will say my horror at that change is tongue in cheek.
>> Tim Wildmon: Yeah, I had a reaction to that the other day at a baseball tournament.
>> Ed Vitagliano: To what?
>> Tim Wildmon: Well, Wesley coaches youth baseball.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Yeah. And.
>> Tim Wildmon: And I have, Wesley some. Bennett plays youth baseball. Tenure. And I have four of the grandsons who now play what's, called travel baseball.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Yeah.
>> Tim Wildmon: Familiar with this?
>> Ed Vitagliano: Oh, yeah.
>> Tim Wildmon: It's like really competitive youth baseball. Anyway, so they had a tournament the other day, and it was like, seven or eight teams in the tournament. I think eight teams. Maybe. Maybe nine. Something like. Anyway, so when they finish the pool, what they call pool, play the first two games.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Yeah.
>> Tim Wildmon: Then they separate them into, brackets.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Winners and losers bracket.
>> Tim Wildmon: Well, they don't call them that, but, yeah, that's what they're. They're basically. Basically the. The console. I call it consolation tournament.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Yeah.
>> Tim Wildmon: Which is the. The, last four teams.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Yeah.
>> Tim Wildmon: Top four teams and the winners and the championship. And the other was in the constellation. That's what I call it.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Yeah.
>> Tim Wildmon: But then they said, well, they're going to give medals, they're going to give rings. Rings to the winners of the consolation tournament.
>> Wesley Wildmon: And it looks the exact same as those one in the.
>> Tim Wildmon: I said, what?
>> Ed Vitagliano: Come on.
>> Tim Wildmon: I said, no, you don't give. You don't give rings to the winners of a consolation.
>> Ed Vitagliano: You don't give winners to lose. You don't give rings to losers.
>> Tim Wildmon: You let the kids know they're losers, and they'll grow from it. They'll become real men. You know what I'm saying? Root back momentarily. The views and opinions expressed in this broadcast may not necessarily reflect those of the American Family association or American Family Radio.
