This week, the world is consumed by the war in Ukraine. There's a lot of bad commentary out there, and a lot of advocacy journalism, making it harder to figure out what's going on, and what we should do about it. Clearly, Russia is the aggressor here, and while NATO has compromised its credibility on the question of invading foreign countries that didn't attack member states first (Serbia, Libya, etc.), there's nothing to justify the first major land war in Europe since 1945 and the attendant humanitarian cost. The simple explanation here is that Russian President Vladimir Putin, boosted by high oil prices and taking advantage of President Joe Biden's weak return to the Obama-Clinton "reset" posture, took the opportunity to seize what he thought he could get easily. It turned out to be not so easy, and while Ukrainians are fighting for their lives, the rest of the world wonders how close we are to a superpower confrontation.
There's more going on, of course. I just returned from a trip to South Africa, and I'll have something to say about that. I've seen a country beginning to wake up from the pandemic -- and dreading a European war that will make recovery that much more difficult by raising fuel prices and depressing global trade. I've also seen the dysfunction of South Africa's governing systems -- and how they portend future disasters in our own system if we don't fix things, and soon.
February's jobs numbers point to a strong economic recovery -- but inflation remains a major problem, and Biden is still looking for ways to spend money. He tried dumping "defund the police" and demanded that Congress "secure the border" in his State of the Union speech this week. Is he for real? Meanwhile, the administration is backing efforts to "codify" Roe v. Wade -- and the bill facing Congress is rather shocking in its brazen "woke" rhetoric about abortion.
All that and more across three hours on the last Sunday of Standard Time...
With special guests:
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Today's episode is devoted to the second anniversary of the October 7 terror attacks. It was produced before the announcement of a ceasefire deal, yet remains current & relevant.
Please listen, and #bringthemhome.
SiriusXM Patriot 125, 7-10 p.m. ET (4-7 PT)
This week's portion is a beautiful poem, containing the Covenant between God and the people of Israel. But given the breaking news that Hamas may actually have agreed to release all of the Israeli hostages, I will devote my remarks to that.
One hopes it is true; if so, it makes this week's additional reading, from II Samuel 22, even more relevant: David's song of praise to the Lord for delivering him from the hand of his enemies.
"18 He rescued me from my powerful enemy,
from my foes, who were too strong for me.
19 They confronted me in the day of my disaster,
but the Lord was my support."
So much to focus on this week -- and much breaking news. A peace deal in the Middle East, perhaps? Eric Adams dropping out of the mayor's race? And a looming shutdown as Democrats push their demands beyond absurdity.
Special guests:
Tune in: 7-10 p.m. ET, 4-7 p.m. PT
Call: 866-957-2874