Townhall Review | Conservative Commentary On Today's News

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.

British police arrested five young men near an air base used by American forces. They were suspected of explosives offenses and preparing a terrorist act.

Today, all five are out on bail. Authorities call them British nationals but won’t release their names. Police are investigating possible foreign-state involvement. Iran denies any role.

The public’s been told almost nothing. And while investigators are still working out what happened, every suspect has been released.

Police say bail conditions are strict. But armed officers responded. Bomb disposal experts examined the scene. If the threat was serious enough for that, why is releasing all five safe?

These men certainly deserve due process. But official secrecy and pompous reassurances are no substitute for protecting the public. This kind of politically correct, cowardly complacency is how once-great civilizations die.

25 Years After 9/11 The Americans and British are still wrestling with the big challenge we face and a crucial question:

Is the big challenge Islam?—or Islamism?

The Economist magazine recently published a notable cover story.

Where they argued —and I quote: “Islam poses no serious danger. But Islamism and the fear of Islam do.”

Then they argue Islam is not a threat, but Islamism is. They define it as a fringe ideology in Islam, the belief that government and society should be guided by Islamic principles.

The problem for that theory is that central to Islam not just Islamism, but Islam, is the combination of Islam as a religion and a government. It’s not a peripheral idea to Islam. It’s not a misreading. It’s in the Quran.

When you look at Islam, you are looking at a civilizational project. You are looking at a civilizational challenge.

And quite honestly we had better recognize it as such.

We all learned it – or should have – in civics class. Congress makes the laws. The executive branch enforces them. And judges interpret them. But some federal judges in Minneapolis have forgotten it. 

Patrick Schiltz, until recently chief judge of Minnesota’s federal district court, just gave a remarkable 90-minute interview to the New York Times. Schiltz and other judges were sharply critical of the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown. And as cases poured in, the judges met, consulted, and developed templates for court orders. 

Consider that. Judges personally opposed to administration policy were coordinating their rulings on cases challenging it. 

Judges must rule against any president when the law requires it. But judges shouldn’t become a coordinated opposition to policies just because they personally oppose them.  

That undermines faith in an impartial judiciary — and in a fundamental safeguard of American government.

In New York City this week, the United Nations is hosting 81st session of the U.N. General Assembly.

World leaders, you can count on this, will be discussing the deal President Trump announced with Denmark and Greenland they will allow the U.S. to deploy military throughout virtually all of the nation of Greenland.

President Trump posted: “The United States will forever have the complete ability to do what is necessary in Greenland.”

This is a big win for the U.S., Greenland - which is a semi-autonomous region of Denmark – and it’s big for Denmark itself.

As we watch the world order being re-shaped so dramatically, the polar ice cap becomes a place of vulnerability and military strategy particularly as we see the northern seas become more navigable for sea vessels.

This is the work of serious statesmanship.

So: When the ink is cleared on this one, let’s be thankful.

President Trump is right on this one. This is a three way win.

Let’s take it.

Canada legalized Medical Assistance in Dying, or MAID, in June of 2016—with promises of compassion. More than 100,000 assisted deaths later, the reality looks far different.

Last year, Canada had more MAID deaths than America had gun homicides -- despite America’s much larger population.

And now troubling questions are being raised about MAID. 

The family of eighty-three-year old Bridgitte Stegemann says she rejected assisted suicide because of her Christian faith. Later, they say, she lacked the ability to consent and wept inconsolably after learning she was scheduled to die.

  Forty-eight hours later, she was dead. Her family says she never gave final verbal consent. They describe her dying with her hands clasped in prayer, covered in her own blood after a botched attempt to start an IV.

That isn’t “death with dignity.”

It’s something far darker.

With CNN, Politico, and MS NOW in high dudgeon over being denied access to the White House, you’d think it was the end of democracy.  What it is is the end of hypocrisy.

For years, CNN and her confederates have been unified in distorting the news when it comes to Donald Trump, and burying news about the Biden administration. So much so that their behavior hardly gives them any moral high ground.  We should recall well their efforts to stifle reporting on Joe Biden’s mental condition as well as their complicity in covering up the story of Hunter Biden’s laptop, including uncritically platforming the 51 intelligence experts who abused their security clearances to further conceal political damage to the Biden presidency.  They were silent when the Biden administration tried to create a disinformation board and said little else about the exposure of the manifold Biden efforts to censor social media.

As they preen over their rights to report truth to power, let us not drown in their crocodile tears about their commitments to truth and free speech.