AFA Action takes attacks on the family seriously. The enemies of the family constantly employ new tactics

>> Jeff Chamblee: AFA Action takes attacks on the family seriously. The enemies of the family constantly employ new tactics to try to sneak past our radar. They know if we stand together, their evil plans will fail. Your gift to AFA Action allows us to stay vigilant against their onslaught. And if you give this month, you'll receive access to the Cultural Institute video, when youn Faith is Illegal by Frank harbor on AFA Stream. As our thanks, you can make your gift [email protected] Foreign.

Today's Issues offers a Christian response to the issues of the day

>> Fred Jackson: Welcome to Today's Issues. Join us for the next hour as we offer a Christian response to the issues of the day.

>> Tony Vitagliano: Welcome to Today's Issues. I'm coming in loud and clear this morning, Brent. I appreciate it, brother. Yeah, this is Tony Vitagliano filling in for Tim Wildmon this week. Once again, I am joined in studio by the erudite Fred Jackson.

>> Fred Jackson: Oh, I'm an erudite.

>> Tony Vitagliano: Erudite. That's a compliment. All these are compliments, so don't bother looking them up. They're all compliments, trust me. The unflappable Ed Vitagliano.

>> Ed Vitagliano: listen, I. I'm just glad I'm not Erudite. Wasn't that one of the tribes that Israel fought in the land of Cain?

>> Tony Vitagliano: Close.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Erudites.

>> Tony Vitagliano: yeah, we brought. We brought back Ed because he did such a great job under pressure yesterday. Stepping in at the. With the technical difficulties, we just decided to bring him back. and joining us remotely from the Orange State is the sagacious Dr. Ray Pritchard. Welcome, Ray.

>> Tim Wildmon: You know, Tony, you called Ed unflappable. I want the world to know I'm very flappable. Whatever that means.

>> Tony Vitagliano: That is not flappable. It means like, calm collective under pressure. It. I guess it could also be used to describe penguins. Right. Unflappable chickens, I resumed.

>> Ed Vitagliano: You know, I think you just called your dad a penguin.

>> Fred Jackson: Everything was going well.

>> Tim Wildmon: Such a good start there.

>> Ed Vitagliano: A penguin and a chicken.

>> Tony Vitagliano: So, well, welcome, Ray.

>> Tim Wildmon: Thank you.

Tony Martin: We will not be live tomorrow for Thanksgiving

>> Tony Vitagliano: Now, folks, tomorrow, we will not be live, obviously, we'll all be enjoying, the Thanksgiving holiday with our family. But we do have a couple of specials airing over the today's issue slot. the first is the In Grace, radio special. That'll be the first hour. And then the second one is actually from Dr. Ray Pritchard, himself titled can we still believe in Romans 8. 28. Ray, could you give us just a little bit, just a tease, I guess, about what that special is about?

>> Tim Wildmon: You know, the Bible says in everything, give thanks and when life is going good, that's an easy command to obey when your prayers are being answered and the good news from the doctor and your kids are doing well and all of that. But, you know, Tony, there's a lot of our listeners who, for various reasons, come to Thanksgiving with some mixed feelings because life has been difficult the last, maybe last year, last few months. And so I'm just raising the question, what does it mean on Thanksgiving to say that we believe Romans 8:28. So it will be, in the end, I hope, a great encouragement to say, here's a hint. The answer is going to be yes, we can believe in Romans 8:28. And we're going to think together through to get to that answer tomorrow.

>> Tony Vitagliano: can't wait for it. And tell us real quick where we can find more great teachings like this, from your ministry.

>> Tim Wildmon: Just float on over. Float on the Internet, see, over to Keep Believing. Doing Keep Believing dot com. There's sermons, there's videos, and that Advent, free Advent ebook. It's right there on the front page. Behold the Lamb Advent from the Gospel of John. We start our journey next Monday. Journey through John all the way to Christmas Day.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Just flap on over there. Unless you're on flap, you'll have to take another route, another way to travel.

If you're flying, try to be civil on the plane

>> Tony Vitagliano: All right, all right. Well, that's the last day of the Nice. You'll all miss it when I'm gone. You'll, all miss it. You'll be just introduced as Ed and Ray, and you'll be like, you know what? It was nice while it lasted. So, Fred, I'm sure there are a few stories, here and there, some stuff happening in the news probably.

>> Fred Jackson: Yeah, it used to be quiet, during these holiday periods, but not anymore. But let's talk about, what's going on out there today. Pardon me? It's, You know, I was talking to our, morning anchor this morning, Rusty Pugh, and both of us were. What are you thankful for? We both were thankful that we're not traveling.

>> Tony Vitagliano: Yep.

>> Fred Jackson: Honestly, you know, our Transportation Secretary, Mr. Duffy, was. Made an appeal the other day. Folks, try to be civil. If you're flying, try, please. of course, he also said that it helps you if you dress nice. Like, don't wear your pajamas on the airplane.

>> Tim Wildmon: Right.

>> Fred Jackson: And your. What do they call slippers these days?

>> Ed Vitagliano: The house shoes?

>> Fred Jackson: Yeah, something like that. So, the care begins before you leave home on the flying. Kind of. Don't. Don't be, you know, dressed properly. And think about behaving civilly. I was telling, you folks before we went on the air, but watching a video on Fox this morning of some guy who was traveling on an airline, I, wasn't sure what airline it was, but anyway, he was sitting next to a kid who just did not stop booting this with, with his shoes. All you saw was the kids shoes. And, this guy was just sitting there and he was smiling and he'd look over every now and then, but nothing was being done. But, so traveling by plane. Yeah, you know, I, think you just have to challenge. As somebody said, you know, the airline doesn't make it always easy because they keep the seats getting smaller.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Yeah.

>> Fred Jackson: You know, and not much knee room. I feel sorry for people over 6ft. Traveling economy these days.

Sean Duffy says we need to get out of daytime pajamas

>> Ed Vitagliano: Well, I was mentioning here before the show started, there's an op ed on, the NewSong York Post, and it's by someone, Kirsten Fleming. I'm not familiar with her, but she says Sean Duffy is right. This is the headline. We are a nation of slobs and need to get out of daytime pajamas. And I've seen, you know, if you ever see old movies from the 40s and 50s, men, for example, wore suits when they went to the movies.

>> Fred Jackson: Oh, yes.

>> Ed Vitagliano: I mean, suit and tie everywhere out in public. I'm not saying go back to that. I wouldn't want to. I'm in jeans right now. Yeah, but, but pajamas, that's, that's pretty far down the list.

>> Fred Jackson: Oh, yeah.

Over 70 Americans are traveling this Thanksgiving, according to AAA

But, today we mentioned yesterday was the busiest day for flying over 52,000 flights. Today, they say, is the busiest day for road travel.

>> Tony Vitagliano: Okay, that makes sense.

>> Fred Jackson: Over 70Americans are, have packed their bags and are on the road today heading to grandma's place or, you know, your mom and dad's place.

>> Ed Vitagliano: It's gonna be hard to get into a bucky million.

>> Tony Vitagliano: Oh my goodness. Can you imagine Buc ee's Thanksgiving week. Oh my goodness. They need a Runway. They get a Runway. Just bring planes of people in.

>> Fred Jackson: So it's, but again, as we were saying yesterday, it's just everybody take your cool pill and just take your time. You know, it's arrive alive, as they say. but it's. And complicating matters, especially for folks up in the north, they're talking about snow up there. Meteorologist Britta Merwin, kind of went through the weather forecast for travel. And if you're living in the north, there are areas up there not too good. Cut number two.

>> Don Wildmon: Let's take a snapshot of what's happening today, though. So if you are traveling, if you're not at grandma's house just yet, we do have snow this morning in Minneapolis. That could be a big hiccup because these morning flights are going to struggle with the snow. And although the afternoon weather is improved, we're waking up to issues which can be hard to overcome. Meanwhile, the 95 corridor, we have rain moving through the snow. By far, though, is going to be the big headline. We have the first blizzard warning of the season that is in effect for parts of northern Wisconsin. The UP Of Michigan. We do have winter storm warning in effect right now for Minneapolis. Eventually, Chicago is going to get into this, especially with that second storm. That's going to be our hiccup for Friday into this upcoming weekend.

>> Fred Jackson: So there you have it. so, going back to what I said a moment ago, talking with my anchor Rusty Pugh this morning, we're thankful we're staying home.

>> Tony Vitagliano: Yeah, yeah, yeah, same here.

>> Ed Vitagliano: And I would say this too, for people who don't live in places like Chicago or Detroit, if you're flying, sometimes you still wind up going there because they're major hubs for airlines. Yeah.

>> Tony Vitagliano: Cause complications, the blizzard rolls through and starts delaying flights. Yeah, yeah, yeah, that's good, Good encouragement. Fred, everybody, you know what, Just take, just take a breath. Take a deep breath. Those of you who we don't thankfully, really travel much anymore around Thanksgiving, a lot of our family, as a blessing is centralized. But those of you, you know, loading up, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 kids in the car, just, remember to take your chill pill and be thankful.

>> Fred Jackson: Yeah. And seriously, we have much to be thankful for. And Pastor Robert Jeffress, pastor of First Baptist Dallas and well known here at American Family Radio, he was on Fox this morning saying, there's always something to be thankful for. Cut number one.

>> Jeff Chamblee: Well, you know, in 1st Thessalonians 5, 18, the apostle Paul wrote, in all things give thanks. The Bible is suggesting we should be thankful for everything that happens to us. But the Bible is saying in spite of what's happening to us, we can find something to be grateful for. You know, maybe some of our viewers today are concerned about the economy, and that's understandable. But if you make $75,000 a year, you are wealthier than 90% of the global population. We can thank God for that. The Bible isn't saying that thanking God regularly will erase, all your problems, but what it is saying is gratitude has a Way of. Of putting our problems in perspective. And that's why today or tomorrow, Thanksgiving ought to be not just reserved for one day a year. It ought to be a way of living. Thank God for the good things that he's doing in our lives.

>> Tony Vitagliano: Amen.

>> Fred Jackson: Amen.

>> Tony Vitagliano: Amen.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Got no complaints, with that kind of preaching, or teaching. We heard, from M. Jeff Chamblee, one of our staff members here, also a minister. he had our devotions this morning, and was teaching that, at the foundation of thankfulness is contentment. And, it's easy when lots of companies and corporations are trying to sell you things and appeal to, your desire for things. It is sometimes difficult to be content with what we have. but, it is a commandment and it is, a good, rule of life that we should be content for the things that we do have. I always try to remind myself I've been doing this the last several years. this didn't originate with me. Obviously, when I say what it is, people are going to recognize it. It's been around for a while. But I remind myself this is a first world problem.

>> Fred Jackson: Yeah.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Whatever it happens to be.

>> Fred Jackson: Yeah.

>> Ed Vitagliano: they don't have the. They don't have the particular brand of pasta I want, you know. That's a first world problem. Yeah. Because I have all kinds of choices. So anyway, this is, good, instruction and exhortation for us. And, while we do remember, we have here at, on our staff, a lot of people who are battling sickness and disease and tragedy. And we need to also, be a blessing to those people and come alongside them.

>> Tony Vitagliano: Yeah. As Christians, the source. Jeff mentioned this in his devo. The source of our contentment should flow from Jesus Christ who lives within us.

>> Ed Vitagliano: amen.

>> Tony Vitagliano: good encouragements.

>> Fred Jackson: And I bet you Ray is glad and thankful to be in Florida.

>> Tony Vitagliano: Yeah.

>> Tim Wildmon: Yeah.

>> Tony Vitagliano: Especially hearing about all the blizzards and everything. Yeah. It's not.

>> Tim Wildmon: He's not. I've seen those weather maps.

>> Tony Vitagliano: Not missing.

>> Tim Wildmon: That's all sweeping north, you know, it.

It's gonna be about 80 degrees here today

>> Tony Vitagliano: Just pulls up, just pulls up. Kansas City every once in a while. Just laughs.

>> Tim Wildmon: Start smiling.

>> Don Wildmon: Yeah.

>> Tony Vitagliano: Yeah, that's right.

>> Tim Wildmon: It's gonna be about 80 degrees here today. It's livable.

>> Tony Vitagliano: You could.

>> Ed Vitagliano: You can handle that.

14 arrested in Long island porch pirate ring that allegedly sold stolen goods worldwide

>> Tony Vitagliano: All right, Fred, let's press ahead.

>> Fred Jackson: Unless. We'll press ahead. Hey, listen. Hands up. Anybody listening right now. Who has ordered from Amazon?

>> Ed Vitagliano: You mean ever?

>> Fred Jackson: I'm seeing a lot of hands out there in the audience. I can just imagine. well, maybe You've seen some of the videos of what happens sometimes when that package gets to your door. And we were talking about this in our story meeting. There's a lot of videos out there of, people have found a way to put some kind of trap inside the package.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Yeah, I've seen videos where people porch pirates will grab something.

>> Fred Jackson: Yes.

>> Ed Vitagliano: And it blows up on them.

>> Fred Jackson: Yes. Well, there's a headline this morning from CBS News. apparently the porch pirating is getting more sophisticated. Yeah, the headline is this. 14 arrested in Long island porch pirate ring that allegedly sold stolen goods worldwide. Authorities say. Now, I won't read all the story, but just a little bit. The suspects allegedly hacked computer systems. Listen to this folks, to find out, and they're talking about cell phones here in electronics. To find out when phones and electronics would be delivered to the homes of Verizon and AT&T customers, then sent runners to steal them. The DA said the defendants had customers names, addresses, device types and FedEx shipping tracking numbers. So there's a lot to this story. First of all, the hacking is getting very sophisticated that you can get down to the point where you can find out what the tracking number is on individuals and what's being delivered. And speaking of videos, just watching a video before coming into the studio about this FedEx driver. He's delivering something to a home and he is accosted on the street by a couple of these thieves. Broad daylight. This is happening. so it's and the advice is that's coming from some of the authorities is keep, an eye on your tracking number and best to be home when the item arrives at your house.

>> Tony Vitagliano: People don't have a lot of control over that.

>> Fred Jackson: That's the, the convenience of this, is that it comes to your house.

>> Tony Vitagliano: Yeah.

>> Fred Jackson: But now they're suggesting, maybe you want to stay home until the package gets there.

>> Tony Vitagliano: I'll let my boss know. I'm expecting, expecting my delivery of protein powder. I can't miss it. You're going to steal it sometime.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Sometime today. It's supposed to come.

>> Tony Vitagliano: Look, I don't know, between 8 and 5 o' clock is the, is the delivery window. Yeah, it's sad, but the more desperate, the worse things get. I'm not saying that these people are to be, you know, they're not deserving of empathy. not that the thieves are, but the worse things get, the more people are going to resort to crime and the more sophisticated they're going to become. Now we should elaborate that the explosives in the packages, it's just. It's just color. Like, just, an explosion of color. Right.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Powder.

>> Tony Vitagliano: Powder, yeah. Ah. So there. No, you know, no one's porch pirates. Porsche pirating the Taliban. Remember the Taliban in their house. All right, that's completely different. Although it might. It might fix the issue. I don't know.

>> Fred Jackson: You know, I get a kick out of the. Some of these porch pirates in these videos, they. They get blue or red all over them, and they come up to the camera, the ring camera.

>> Ed Vitagliano: I'm m gonna sue you.

>> Fred Jackson: Y. Yeah.

>> Tony Vitagliano: Oh, goodness.

>> Ed Vitagliano: well, listen, to your point. I. I will say this. This is, I think, a problem that affects younger people because I. I know people who order a lot of stuff on Amazon. My wife and I don't order a whole lot. I. I like to see a product and, you know, you know, if it's clothing or whatever, touch it, hold it up or whatever. But there. There are young people who order a lot of stuff by AM from Amazon. They're good at it. This is a, you know, 1, 2, 3. It's on its way. for old folks like my wife and I. let me take that back.

>> Tony Vitagliano: It's already out there. He's definitely not hitting the button there. He's letting that one go. Letting that one go.

>> Ed Vitagliano: We just. We just go on down to the store and get it and, you know, waste who knows how much the general.

>> Tony Vitagliano: Store sell everything there, folks.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Oh, look, it's unlappable egg. Come on.

>> Tony Vitagliano: Candy guns, flour. We go to the general store and we get it all.

>> Fred Jackson: Oh, my goodness.

Ring busted on east coast for tracking packages and reselling them worldwide

All right. But this. This ring that's been busted there on the east, coast. What they. They had turned it into a business because they were getting these cell phones and electronics and then, taking them to a warehouse and then taking pictures of them and then selling them all over the world.

>> Ed Vitagliano: So this wasn't people. We've all seen videos of people riding behind the UPS truck, and when they drop off the package, they jump out. This wasn't just members of the neighborhood.

>> Fred Jackson: No, no.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Doing this. This is a. This is a racket, a ring.

>> Fred Jackson: This is a. Yes, it was, you know, fairly sophisticated. Like I said, they were tracking packages, and the moment they were dropped off, they were picking them up, taking them to this warehouse, and then reselling them all over the world. So this was. This was big business. So this is the kind of thing that's going on, and the authorities on the east coast are saying this is just the tip of the iceberg. Yeah, this is, this is happening on a very grand scale.

>> Tony Vitagliano: Yeah, folks, you gotta protect yourselves out there. And it's, it's getting, getting more and more perilous. so just be careful around the, especially around the holidays. We tell our employees too, there are certain precautions you can take to protect yourself. Nothing is ever certain. But there's things you can do.

>> Ed Vitagliano: I'll tell you one thing you can do. You just don't order off Amazon. Just go on down to the general store.

>> Tony Vitagliano: Local general store.

>> Tim Wildmon: Oh, Edge, go down to the general store.

>> Fred Jackson: All right, well, just move on.

National security analyst Rebecca Grant says Team Trump is close to ending Ukraine war

there is a bit of bright light, today. It appears on the Ukraine Russia front. there's a lot of people talking in very optimistic tones. And this all started back about 10 days ago. You remember the 28 point plan, I think was the Trump administration, released, they thought was a pretty good plan to try to bring this horrible war to an end. Well, there are a lot of meetings going on right now in Geneva. there is, an envoy from the Trump administration apparently meeting with the Russians in Moscow. the NATO nations, their heads are meeting on this. Want, to hear from national security analyst Rebecca Grant, and she says Team Trump is close to solving the war in Ukraine. Cut number three.

>> Don Wildmon: Putin has a taste for war. Witkoff has traveled to Moscow before, but I've got to tell you, this time, thanks to Team Trump, I think peace is on the way for Ukraine. This war needs to end for America's sake, too. It's unleashed geopolitical chaos with China, Russia, North Korea, and it's a humanitarian disaster. Best part of these talks so far, prosperity for Ukraine under a lot of the terms of this deal being negotiated.

>> Tony Vitagliano: Yeah, this is good news. I hope that, I hope that this moves forward. I am, I'll say it cautiously, optimistic.

Ed: Fred, do you think a Ukraine peace deal is possible

All right. We've been, we've been to this point a few times. It feels like, we've had a few of these good reports, or promising reports only for it to be, ah, to fall apart and roll back. But, this seems like it's headed in the right direction. Ed, it sounds like, from the comments I've heard Trump, make concerning this new deal and what's required of Zelensky before he'll even meet with him. I believe Trump said that he wants Zelensky, to have signed the agreement. Fred, if I'm wrong before he'll agree to meet with, ah, Zelensky back at the White House at the White House. So with, some of this more, firm language, do you think that we're, this is actually going to go through, or is this maybe just another, not head fake, but something, ah, else that might fall apart? What do you think?

>> Ed Vitagliano: I'm with you. I think I'm cautiously optimistic. I think the fact that we have kind of come to this point on a number of occasions previously, and then President Trump has been burned, I think that explains why the President has said he'd be happy to meet with Putin and Zelensky, but only if the deal's been signed, because he does not, he does not want to, to make, make it appear as, as if he's, like you said, head faked. And Putin has been, you know, one of the ones who has made it look like he was ready to make a deal and then unleashed another series of more bombings in Kiev and other places. So I'm, like everybody else, cautiously optimistic. I feel bad for the Ukrainians and it probably peace is going to come at a pretty big price for them, just like the war has caused, a lot of death and destruction. They're probably going to lose a good part of the eastern part of their own country, very important, economically important part in terms of minerals and food production. they're probably going to have to surrender that, but I'm not sure what the alternatives are. And if the west will come in and help Ukraine recover, they can, you know, hope, for the best, I guess.

>> Tony Vitagliano: Yeah, this is, I think there's going to be a few, a few points that they're going to want to renegotiate on or whatever. Whatever Ukraine agrees to, some of the more outrageous demands I think will probably be tapered back, like the reduction of the Ukrainian military, you know, things. Points like the promise, that they'll never be a member of NATO. I don't know, you know, where those land up, where those points will end up. maybe they'll agree to it, maybe they won't. But hopefully, hopefully we have some form of peace on the horizon, because there's just a lot of people suffering in this. when we come back, we'll have more news, more stories to talk about.

James White lost himself to find himself and a better job

You're listening to today's issues on American Family Radio.

>> Don Wildmon: It's my turn.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Here is your host for My turn.

>> Tony Vitagliano: Don Wileman.

>> Don Wildmon: For, whoever would save his life will lose it. And whoever loses his life, for my sake, he will save it. James White, 44, thought his civilian job at mcclellan air force base was a waste of time and money, doing the opposite of what most folks would have done. Mr. White took pencil and paper in hand and began to write a suggestion for the suggestion box. He told the US Government that the abolishment of his position as an inventory management specialist was in the best interest of all concerned. Now, that's something the average fellow wouldn't do. The average fellow would try to hang on as long as possible. But then, Mr. White wasn't an average fellow. The suggestion bounced through bureaucratic channels for several months until it finally reached the air force logistics command at Wright Patterson air force base in Dayton, ohio. And along the way, no doubt caused many an eyebrow to be raised and perhaps caused many a chuckle to boot. At Wright Patterson, someone appreciated his idea and agreed with him. So in a short time, White's job was scrapped. There was no longer an opening for an inventory management specialist. There's an old law which says that one has to lose himself to find himself. Mr. White's actions were an example of that law being put into practice. He considered the job an unnecessary burden on the taxpayers. He saw a better way of getting the job done, and he was willing to risk his source of livelihood for the betterment of his employer. He'd gotten self out of the way and put a desire to do what was best above himself. All of us could benefit from such an example, for many of us have never lost ourselves. We think of ourselves as the number one player in this game of life, and our thoughts hardly ever go beyond ourselves. We would seldom think there would be a better way of doing what we are doing and certainly would not suggest it if there were, we might lose what we're doing one day. Years ago now, Carpenter told some friends of his that if they would lose themselves, they could find themselves. In fact, he said, one could never find his true self until he had lost himself. And he went on to say that the person who was continually looking out for old number one would inevitably lose what he did have. The principle is true not only in religion, but in the whole of life. When you're willing to lose, then you're ready to find. And I guess many of us are concerned about James White. We nearly always worry over those who lose themselves in service to others. But we shouldn't. It's true. White lost his job as inventory management specialist, but he got a check for a thousand dollars for his suggestion and was promoted to supervisor. He lost himself to find himself and a better job. You know, truth is truth in whatever area, you find it.

>> Tony Vitagliano: This has been My Turn with Don Wildmon, a production of the American Family Association.

>> Ed Vitagliano: As it is written, what no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, and what no human mind has conceived, the things God has prepared for those who love him. First Corinthians 2, verse 9.

>> Fred Jackson: American Family Radio.

>> Tony Vitagliano: 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 [email protected] now back.

American Family Radio broadcasts multiple ways to listen to Today's Issues

>> Fred Jackson: To more of Today's Issues.

>> Tony Vitagliano: Welcome back to Today's Issues on American Family Radio. You can listen to us, in your car. If you have a radio station nearby, you can listen to us on afr.net and you can also listen to us on the AFR app, available on, all major app stores. So multiple ways to listen to us. I'm Tony Vitagliano sitting in for Tim Wildmon in the studio with me is, Ed Vitagliano. to my right and to my left is Fred Jackson. And tuning in over zoom land is Dr. Ray Pritchard.

Ray: Tony, you taught in Ukraine for several years before current war

Now, Ray, I found out, I didn't know this, but, I was informed that you actually taught in Ukraine, for several years. How long did you teach over there?

>> Tim Wildmon: We were there twice in 2016 and 2018, of course, which means a few years before this awful war broke out. But even back then, Tony, we were about 10 hours from, or 12 hours from where the fighting has been for the most part of the last couple of years. And everybody knew, I mean, there was a sense of heaviness with, the student body and the staff, because everybody knew, Tony, this was going to happen, that Russia was going to move in, that Putin was going to find an excuse. And, even when we were there, with those wonderful students, they came from all over the former ussr. We taught in Russian, and I taught through a translator. Wonderful. They're some of the bravest and strongest Christian young people I've ever been around. So, you know, I look at our discussion just before the break, and agree totally with what you and Ed both said. where's the devil at a moment like this? He's where he always is. He's in the details. Right. The devil is down in the details. And we don't know the details of this deal haven't been agreed to yet. But, yeah, I think it's obvious Ukraine's, going to have to give up some territory in the east to the Russians. That's just probably no other way to do it. But I join you in saying, for the sake of my Christian friends, our Christian friends, the evangelical community in Ukraine is not small. It's strong and it's growing. For the sake of our Christian friends over there, and for the safety of everybody, we pray that this horrible war will come to an end soon.

>> Tony Vitagliano: Amen. Yeah. I think that's a perspective. In the west, in America, with Western media, we don't get a lot of the perspective of actual Ukrainians, actual people who have lived there, or, like your perspective from someone who has lived among them. that's just not something we get a lot. We don't get how they feel about it, what they think about the war, what they thought about it beforehand. so it is helpful. I wish we got more of that because it would maybe help people develop here in the west develop a proper understanding of what this conflict. First of all, the cost of the conflict, you know, in human life, in financial terms, you know, and then understand the, whole picture rather than it being, you know, we have to, you know, we have to defeat, Russia at any cost or, you know, we need to take our hands out of it. Getting a perspective from people who live there and live in that situation would help. It would help me, I know, develop a more whole understanding of what's.

>> Tim Wildmon: Going on among those students that we taught and among the faculty members there at Word of Life Bible Institute outside Kyiv. Every single one of them, without any exception, either has lost someone in their family or their close friend lost in this war. Homes destroyed. Yeah, war is. War is awful. You know, we. We watch it. We watch it from our side over here and from the comfort of your living room. You can. You can cheer for one side or the other, but on the ground, it is a horrific. A horrific event. And, I pray. I pray to God that this peace, who knows? We shall see. Right? I think, Ed, you said it would mean that the president's been burned a couple of times. not really his fault that, the Russians have continued to attack and Ukrainians have fallen back. We pray this time there'll be peace and it will last.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Well, just as one last comment from me, anyway, I've mentioned this before, that when, the Cold War was ongoing, when the Soviet Union was in existence and its satellite countries, part of the Warsaw Pact, you had the United States and NATO. I remember reading way. This is way back when I was, a political science major at Boston College. One of the professors there saying that there was a Grimness to the Cold War in West Germany, because they. They used to say, the United States is certainly willing to go to war against the Soviet Union and fight to the last West German. and. And there is a. There is a sense in which the people in the west, in Europe, and some in the United States who want this conflict to continue have that same perspective. We'll fight the Russians to the last Ukrainian. well, they're over here. We're not sacrificing our sons on the front line. And it's a lot easier to say that when you've got no skin in the game.

>> Tim Wildmon: Well, the Germans will send, weapons, and they've got a lot of advanced weapons. And the Polish folks will, too. And from England, a lot of weapons will come in. But you don't see. You don't see a lot of West Western European nations putting boots on the ground in Ukraine for exactly that reason.

>> Ed Vitagliano: And Putin. Putin bet on that when he invaded.

>> Tony Vitagliano: Yep.

>> Tim Wildmon: Yes.

>> Ed Vitagliano: So.

>> Tony Vitagliano: All right, Fred, let's keep on going.

>> Fred Jackson: Keep on going.

FBI investigating six Democrats who made controversial video about President Trump

Well, it was learned yesterday that the FBI has opened investigations to all six of those Democrats that made that very controversial video, with regards to, I would say the attempt by those Democrats to undermine the authority of the president. Is that an overstatement?

>> Tony Vitagliano: Yeah. Yeah. It definitely wasn't a video, them saying merry Christmas and Happy Thanksgiving.

>> Fred Jackson: Yeah, it was. Now, they say they qualified it, you know, that our, members, our troops, do not have to follow illegal orders. But a lot of people are saying, why in the world would you put that out there? You know? And some of them, they haven't been, able to name any illegal orders.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Right.

>> Fred Jackson: That's the other thing.

>> Ed Vitagliano: So it's, you know, they've been asked.

>> Fred Jackson: And when asked about it. Well, I can't think of any illegal orders.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Right.

>> Fred Jackson: Eric Swalwell, great, great guy.

>> Tony Vitagliano: We're big fans around here.

>> Fred Jackson: Yeah. Democrat from California, who, by the way, announced recently he plans to run for governor of that state, taking on, maybe Kamala Harris, who knows? There's a pair for you. Battle of titans.

>> Tim Wildmon: Oh, brother.

>> Tony Vitagliano: They raised. Raise the media. Raised the median icon you. When those two are in the room.

>> Fred Jackson: But, Eric Swalwell, anyway, I guess felt he had to get in on this, although he wasn't, obviously one of the six Democrats, who are all, ex military. Anyway, he was on with Don Lemon, in a podcast, and the audio quality here isn't great, but here we go again. He says service members have Told him all the time that they will not obey the president. Cut number nine.

>> Ed Vitagliano: And I talk to, you know, service members all the time, and they tell me that I don't appreciate enough and the public doesn't appreciate enough, that while Congress is not a check on the president anymore, and the judiciary at the Supreme Court is hardly a check, military members have told me we can be, order. And so they're essentially saying, we're not going to betray our oath to the Constitution because this guy tells us to.

>> Fred Jackson: Yeah. you know, I'm always skeptical by. And even some of these six have said they have military people telling them that they're worried about the president. And there you have Swalwell saying, you know, they're coming to me all the time and saying that they can be a check and a balance. I'm skeptical of the integrity.

>> Tony Vitagliano: Yeah, it sounds a little anecdotal. And listen, I'm just gonna say it. Swalwell should probably sit this one out. you don't need any other.

>> Don Wildmon: He's.

>> Fred Jackson: Why, Tony?

>> Tony Vitagliano: Well, he's had. Let's just say, he had a girlfriend. Yes, he had a girlfriend who happened to be a Chinese spy.

>> Ed Vitagliano: So Commie.

>> Tony Vitagliano: I would just cool it a little bit on the seditious. Seditious light talk. you know, if you've already, you know, kind of been exposed as. As having possible run ins with bad actors, who are not fans of America, I probably wouldn't be out putting myself out there. And, Ed, I am also, like Fred, a little skeptical, of all these friends and people just coming up to them. Politicians have a habit of doing this where I talk to people all the time. You know, Mom, Donnie, I'm sure, has talked to people all the time. I've talked to millionaires and billionaires who are, you know, okay with just the anecdotal. People I've talked to have said, that they agree with me in this and they agree with us on this.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Yeah, there's over 1.33 million active duty U.S. personnel. there's, even more than that. When you include reserves, almost 3 million. When you include civilians who work, with the military, that's a lot of people. And then when you say I have military members of the military come up to me all the time. Well, we're just talking about handfuls out of that number. But the point that Swalwell is making, he's trying to make it appear as if the majority of the members of the military. And I'm Sure. Both sides do this kind of thing. Okay. However, I would even shrink the number even more by saying, well, I doubt members of the military who think that you, Eric Swalwell, are a traitor to your country are going to come up and get into this kind of discussion with you. So to me, what this video was doing and what the intent of this video was, was to prime the pump.

>> Tony Vitagliano: Yep.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Was to get members of the military thinking about personally deciding what an unlawful action, an unlawful order was, and then not to obey it. And that's why we said on the show, members of the military who are considering that better remember, Swalwell is not going to prison.

>> Tony Vitagliano: Yes.

>> Ed Vitagliano: If you do that, you are. Exactly. And there is a procedure in place within the military if you're dealing with what you perceive to be an unlawful, order. So I, I don't. If this, if the roles were reversed, I'm sure Democrats would be screaming bloody murder saying that the, that the Republicans who released this video, they're wanting the military to perform a coup. That's what they would be saying.

>> Tony Vitagliano: Well, and they're going to, turn around with. Because it's just. The FBI is investigating.

>> Fred Jackson: Yes.

>> Tony Vitagliano: Okay. So now what they're going to do, this is what the Democrats will do. They'll turn around and say, see, this is weaponization of the Department of Justice. We're just out here advocating, for our military, you know, speaking out. We're just speaking out against the fascist, dictator Trump. And now he's sicking his Department of Justice, which I'm laughing, just even saying that, because we've literally had four years of, a previous president having the Department of Justice sicced on him. But that's what they're gonna, that's what they're gonna paint it as.

Anytime Trump uses the military, he's going to be accused of issuing unlawful orders

>> Tim Wildmon: I have a question about this. Behind this. Does this all go back to the Venezuela. I mean, is that, Is this.

>> Ed Vitagliano: What is the unlawful order?

>> Tim Wildmon: That's right. Does this have to do with. Are we gonna overthrow Maduro?

>> Ed Vitagliano: I think this began, this thinking began with, Trump's use of the National Guard.

>> Tony Vitagliano: Yeah.

>> Tim Wildmon: Okay.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Going into cities to, to try to tamp down some of the out of control crime. But to your point, I'm sure it's, across the board. Anytime Trump uses the military, he's going to be accused of using them on unlawful, and issuing unlawful orders. But that's part of, that's part of the sneakiness of releasing videos like this.

>> Tony Vitagliano: Right.

>> Ed Vitagliano: They can always say, oh, man, we didn't tell them. We didn't tell them to try to perform a coup. We were just talking about actual.

>> Tony Vitagliano: I didn't know it was that, Epstein. Yeah, I wasn't. We didn't know. I wasn't talking necessarily about that, Epstein.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Yeah.

>> Fred Jackson: Fred, if I had an opportunity to interview, any of these six Democrats, I would like to ask them, you know, back there several years ago, when our members of the military were being forced to. To take an experimental drug or be booted out of the military.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Right.

>> Fred Jackson: Did you speak up on behalf of those military people that you say you're so concerned about?

>> Ed Vitagliano: Right.

>> Fred Jackson: And if I was a betting man, I would say there was silence amongst.

>> Tony Vitagliano: Those Democrats, which was an actual unconstitutional order, a violation of their First Amendment rights.

>> Fred Jackson: Yes.

>> Tony Vitagliano: Forcing them to take a vaccine that, they didn't want to.

>> Fred Jackson: Even for religious exemptions.

>> Tony Vitagliano: Even for religious exemptions.

>> Fred Jackson: Some of those military people. For religious exemptions, they said, because some of the vaccines might contain portions of babies that were aborted.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Right.

>> Fred Jackson: Remember that issue came m up as part of this. No, no, the Democrats weren't listening to that at all.

>> Tony Vitagliano: Absolutely.

>> Ed Vitagliano: But that is part of the way the game is played, and in my opinion, mostly from the left, but I don't think anybody escapes unscathed here. But part of the way the game is played is, you color the issue the way you want, and, and, and under certain different circumstances, we may actually come across as contradicting ourselves, but it's only because from the left, we get cover from the news media. And when you have, when you have individuals who are questioned, and sometimes here the last couple years or Certainly since the 2024 election results, you do see sometimes news members of the news media pressing Democrats. I'm thinking of one recently, but also Nancy Pelosi here not too long ago. Democrats don't know what to do because they're not usually challenged on it. but, anyway, this is the way the game is played, and this is why our founders said the republic depends on an educated electorate. The people have to understand the issues so that they can see through the pretense when politicians do political things.

>> Tim Wildmon: I agree.

>> Fred Jackson: Okay, Brett. All right. put your hand up. Have you ever heard a lot, a.

>> Tony Vitagliano: Lot of raising hands?

>> Fred Jackson: Wow.

>> Tony Vitagliano: Ray's already raised.

A new bill in Ohio would require businesses to accept cash for small transactions

>> Don Wildmon: All right.

>> Fred Jackson: how many have heard the phrase that we're headed towards a cashless society?

>> Ed Vitagliano: Oh, yeah.

>> Fred Jackson: And how many are concerned about that? A cashless society? Well, the good folks in Ohio are obviously very concerned, too. there's a new bill being proposed in Ohio that would transform the way businesses carry out transactions and offer a lifeline to Americans who still prefer to use cash when shopping. I have noticed lately in various stores, well known grocery stores, retail stores, etcetera, that often there are machines that say card only. Card only. Well, this bill in Ohio, being considered there, would require businesses to provide at least one point of sale that accepts cash for transactions under $500. And there is, a lot of concern about this. It's part, they say the, Cash act is part of a growing movement nationwide to guarantee consumers the right to pay in cash as more retailers and institutions shift to cashless operations. In fact, according to Pew Research, 14% of Americans reported using cash for almost all or most of their transactions in 2022, while 41% said they never use cash. So why would it be important? We'll ask the panel here. Why would it be important to maintain the right to use cash?

>> Tony Vitagliano: So I'm a little bit of, I'm a little bit of a hypocrite here because I almost never have cash with me.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Well, that's because you're married and have five.

>> Tony Vitagliano: Well, that's part of the reason.

>> Fred Jackson: The walking war. 100%.

>> Tony Vitagliano: That is a factor. However, I, you know, even if there was, I rarely carry it with me. But I never want to give up the, ability to be able to use cash if I wanted to or needed to. This is cash is when you use cash for a transaction. there are no, the government and any parties who would love to track information and data on you. there is next to no information in a cash transaction. I just hand you cash. Even at the store. I hand you cash and I get a can of cranberry sauce and there's nothing else there to track information on me. where that money came from. You know, it's just a blank transaction. So I think the danger of going towards a cashless society is that all that information and all that data is, is just a, it would be an authoritarian government's dream to be able to see where every penny of your paycheck goes, where, you know, where it went, what it was spent on. I, I, that's, to me, that's, that's what I would do if I was working towards, wanted to work towards a system like something like what they have in China, you know, a social credit score system, that, that's one step closer to that in my opinion. Ed.

>> Ed Vitagliano: No, I absolutely agree. there is, there are obviously advantages to using, a debit Card or credit card. in that convenience, it's convenient.

>> Tony Vitagliano: Yeah.

>> Ed Vitagliano: You don't have to carry a lot of cash. You're not caught without it. We open the wallet up and I discover that my wife has got. Taken the cash. Oh, whoops.

>> Tony Vitagliano: The grandkids came and cleaned out your drawer, of quarters.

>> Ed Vitagliano: They do on a regular basis. Happy to do that. but, but while there is that convenience, what we're talking about is choice. Right. And having the option. there are some places, around the community that my wife and I live in where they charge you 3.5% to use a debit card. And so we use cash there. But the basic point of this whole discussion is what you just said, Tony, and that is a cashless society is an instrument of control. And if we've learned anything, you can't trust the government. I don't care who's in charge of it. Because even if you have a Republican like President Trump at the top of the executive branch, the government, quote, unquote, is filled.

>> Don Wildmon: Yeah.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Filled with bureaucrats who can cause your life misery. And then when your party is out, then the other party comes in, and then, then, the amount of control increases. And that is abhorrent to me. I don't even like what Canada's done. Fred, you mentioned that they have begun replacing paper bills with coins, which is kind of a novelty, but nobody's going to want to carry 20 coins, $20, $21 coins in their pocket. They're going to stop using money altogether, and they're going to go to debit cards, which in my mind is a government scheme to, increase the amount of control on people. so I don't like it. I love what Ohio is doing. I hope that law passes. I hope it spreads in red states. And I hope eventually we amend the constitution and say you cannot ever get rid of cash as an option.

>> Tim Wildmon: Ray.

>> Tony Vitagliano: Ray, you live in the great free state of Florida. Would you like to see something similar, to the law that Ohio is putting into place in Florida?

>> Tim Wildmon: You know, to the whole question of cash. Boys, I'm holding up. when you started talking, I pulled the cash out of my wallet. Here I am encountered it. I am dismayed to say I have a grand total of $9. $9.

>> Ed Vitagliano: I'm jealous.

>> Tim Wildmon: Will that even get a cup of coffee at Starbucks?

>> Tony Vitagliano: Probably not.

>> Tim Wildmon: Probably not. I probably need. Certainly not going to go eat lunch with it. And just yesterday, I don't know where I was. We're buying. I was at some store, it was $5.70. I could cover that with the $9. But what did I do? What did that do it. I pulled out. Pull out the plastic because, you know, my pockets full of change and I put the plastic in there. It's really dumb to do that, but. But I did it. So having.

Steve Jordan: We need portable wealth in the days to come

Having said that, I think, yeah, I'm fine if Florida passes, I hope it passes up in Ohio. But I think the real lesson here, and we ought to think about this, is that, you know, people talk about conspiracy, but we're, we are moving toward total control of the world economy. Right. We've quoted Revelation 13 many, many times here. Right. This is all just leading in that direction. And I would say, my application of this is to all of our listeners. In the days to come, we are all going to need portable wealth. Portable wealth. if you're a gazillionaire, whatever that is, and your money is all digital, somebody flips the switch, you can't get to your gazillion dollars.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Or if the power goes out, so.

>> Tim Wildmon: Or the power goes out. That's right. That's right. So there's a lot to be said for a cash economy, and, we should all try to do better than $9 friends. That's really all I'm saying.

>> Fred Jackson: You know what? this was really brought home to me back a few years ago when Justin Trudeau was Prime Minister of Canada. You remember the big trucking protest?

>> Ed Vitagliano: Yes.

>> Fred Jackson: during COVID Right, during COVID And, the tool that he used to bring that to a stop was, we're going to freeze your bank accounts.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Yeah.

>> Tony Vitagliano: Yep.

>> Fred Jackson: So if you don't have any cash, folks, you're done. Because that's what the government can do to you. it can, it can use, its force. And can you imagine if you got $20 in your wallet and all of a sudden the government says, we're freezing your accounts.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Yeah.

>> Fred Jackson: How far are you going to go with $20?

>> Ed Vitagliano: And that is meant to bend your will.

>> Fred Jackson: Yes, it is.

>> Tony Vitagliano: Well, and cash goes around that. So people who wanted to support the truckers, if I went and handed them $200 cash, well, then Trudeau and his authoritarian government would have no idea where it came from or what they were going to do with it. and so, yeah, cash is a way, to get around that type of control. So, hopefully this passes in Ohio and other states follow suit. Maybe we can even get this codified, as you know, being something more permanent when we come back, we got, Steve Jordal and more news for you. The views and opinions expressed in this broadcast may not necessarily reflect those of the American Family association or American Family Radio.

Tony, Ed and Ray talk with Fred on top news headlines including a discussion on a cashless society.