American Family Association president Tim Wildman discusses upcoming issues
>> Ed Vitagliano: 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]
>> Tim Wildmon: welcome
>> Ed Vitagliano: to today's issues, offering a Christian response to the issues of the day. Here's your host, Tim Wildmon, president of the American Family Association.
>> Tim Wildmon: Hey, good morning, everybody, and welcome to the End of the World. And I'm, your. I'm your host for it.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Your host for the End of the World.
>> Tim Wildmon: actually, we call this show Today's Issues, but today we're renaming it Last of, Today's Issues. Today is Wednesday, March 18, 2026. We thank you for listening to this show, today's issues, and to American Family Radio. We hope you listen throughout the day and evening to afr, as we try to encourage you in your walk with the Lord and also tell you what's happening in our country and in our world so that we can be, salt and light as Matthew Chapter 5 tells us to be in terms of our culture and our society and our families and our churches. Joining me in studio who also shares this mission is Ed Battagliano. Good morning, Brother Ed.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Good morning, Tim.
>> Tim Wildmon: Good morning, Fred Jackson.
>> Fred Jackson: Good morning.
>> Tim Wildmon: You're our brother, too.
>> Fred Jackson: You just mentioned the end of the world.
>> Tim Wildmon: I did.
>> Fred Jackson: It reminded me Lorne Green, who starred in Bonanza.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Yeah.
>> Fred Jackson: Some of us remember that program.
>> Tim Wildmon: Yeah.
>> Fred Jackson: Well, before he was an actor, he was a newscaster for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.
>> Ed Vitagliano: I didn't know that.
>> Fred Jackson: Where I used to work.
>> Tim Wildmon: Good trivia question.
>> Fred Jackson: Yes. During World War II, he was doing newscasts and he was known as the voice of doom, Lord Greene.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Lord Green's.
>> Fred Jackson: If you remember his voice. Remember his voice. Imagine him reading a newscast. Voice of Doom.
>> Ed Vitagliano: And. And let me just take a moment with that, with this discussion unfolding that, folks, many times we live through things that happen that make it sound like it may be the end of the world. And one day, of course it will. But, keep your eyes on the Lord, because, you'd be surprised how many difficult, dark times people have gone through and come out on the other side because God said there's going to be another side to it.
>> Tim Wildmon: Amen. Like the medieval Times.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Yeah, absolutely. I'm listening to a podcast. Funny you should say that. Let me waste some more of our listeners time.
>> Tim Wildmon: Medieval times weren't funny, my friend. But you can laugh.
>> Ed Vitagliano: I was listening to a podcast, about three or four episodes. Podcasts about Christopher Columbus. And they were talking about how King Ferdinand and Queen Izabella, who funded the trip, they thought the world was ending in 1500 and that they would be the last monarchs to, win people to Christ. Okay. Because 1500, they said 500. the Trinity. First 500 years of Christianity, second 500 years of Christianity, third 500 years of Christianity. 500 for each members of the Trinity. 1500 games up. Okay. And I thought that's fascinating that we always tend to think our little sliver of years that make up our life that could be the end. And now here we are, more than five years.
>> Tim Wildmon: Just a drop in the ocean.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Yeah. Anyway, God's in charge.
>> Tim Wildmon: We're pathetic. That's our little, our little lives here in the year 2026.
>> Ed Vitagliano: 2026. You know, they, they. Tim, to kind of play off what you typically say, Ferdinand and Izabella funded the discovery of the new world.
Chris Woodward: I'm going home today to watch an episode of Bonanza
What have you been doing with your life?
>> Tim Wildmon: By the way, Krish Woodward, did we properly introduce you?
>> Chris Woodward: I don't believe you did. But I will say, if the world ending, I'm gonna go home. I've never seen an episode of Bonanza in its entirety. So I'm gonna go home today and I'm gonna watch an episode of Bonanza.
>> Ed Vitagliano: That's what you're gonna do on the
>> Fred Jackson: last day of your life.
>> Tim Wildmon: Let me just tell you.
>> Chris Woodward: Well, I checked out the Carpenters yesterday.
>> Tim Wildmon: Yeah. So there's some, there's some, there's some bucket list things Krish is trying to get to before he gets too old to do them. I would just like, Krish, if you're ready to watch Bonanza and it's a great show. I got it. Little Joe will be shot.
>> Chris Woodward: Okay.
>> Tim Wildmon: Okay.
>> Chris Woodward: Spoiler alert.
>> Tim Wildmon: And Little Joe was shot 73 times.
>> Ed Vitagliano: And little Joe will make it.
>> Tim Wildmon: But he's always shot in the arm.
>> Chris Woodward: Yeah.
>> Tim Wildmon: or you know something, that's how they die.
>> Chris Woodward: Is Bonanza the one that Micah Landon was on?
>> Tim Wildmon: Yes.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Oh, yeah, that's Little Joe.
>> Chris Woodward: Okay.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Okay.
>> Tim Wildmon: Little Joe. Three.
>> Fred Jackson: Three sons.
>> Tim Wildmon: Yeah.
>> Fred Jackson: Adam Haas and Little Joe.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Yeah.
>> Tim Wildmon: Ah, it was a great show. at least millions of Americans thought it was. I think it was second only to gun smoke in terms of, longevity for westerns.
>> Ed Vitagliano: And there was the, the non woke version of Asians with Hop Singh.
>> Tim Wildmon: Oh, was that for that.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Well, pretty.
>> Tim Wildmon: He was in the kitchen, right?
>> Ed Vitagliano: Yeah, pretty stereotypical.
>> Chris Woodward: That's why there hasn't been a reboot of that series.
>> Tim Wildmon: Probably why the Chinese came over here to big cooks and.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Yeah. build railroads. They were going to make a life for them.
>> Chris Woodward: Dry cleaning. they were the first people really, involved with that.
>> Ed Vitagliano: But they were legal. They came over legally.
>> Tim Wildmon: How do you know the history of dry cleaning?
>> Abraham Hamilton III: Seriously?
>> Fred Jackson: Yeah.
>> Tim Wildmon: You just threw that at us here. Can you say any more about it?
>> Chris Woodward: I read.
>> Tim Wildmon: Did you read, somewhere a volume on that or something?
>> Ed Vitagliano: I mean that was pretty. That's pretty insulting for all. All that you left unsaid, Krish, was no ticky. No laundry.
>> Tim Wildmon: Right. Well, why do, why do we use the. Where does the expression Chinese laundry come from?
>> Ed Vitagliano: Because I think they did have a lot of laundry Laundromats. They would take your.
>> Tim Wildmon: Yes, well, my wife says sometimes. And she's not a racist by any means, but she'll say our place looks like a Chinese laundry.
>> Tim Wildmon: And is that, Is that.
>> Ed Vitagliano: I don't know what that means.
>> Tim Wildmon: That derogatory.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Maybe because for the racing people.
>> Tim Wildmon: Huh?
>> Ed Vitagliano: I don't know. That may have reference to the busyness of a Chinese.
>> Tim Wildmon: I think that's what it is.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Yeah.
A lot of stereo stereotypes are based on something true
>> Tim Wildmon: All right. So anyway, I just. I don't know how we got off on this.
>> Ed Vitagliano: That was 30 minutes and 40 seconds. I'll never get back, folks.
>> Tim Wildmon: I am five minutes.
>> Chris Woodward: I am vindicated. I've found a number of credible websites not named Wikipedia that say what? that the, many Chinese immigrants in the 1800s were heavily involved in the laundry business.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Yeah, well, yeah, lots. A lot of times stereo stereotypes are
>> Tim Wildmon: based on something true. Based on something like Italians and mafia. Well, I mean, you just said true.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Right? well that's, that's a well known.
>> Tim Wildmon: I didn't mean to be offensive.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Fairly rare example of Italians being involved
>> Tim Wildmon: in the mafia and Canadians and being nice. Right?
>> Ed Vitagliano: Oh, that's not true.
>> Tim Wildmon: That's not. It is.
>> Ed Vitagliano: It is.
>> Tim Wildmon: Fred's not nice.
>> Ed Vitagliano: It is true. I like, I like Canada.
>> Tim Wildmon: Okay.
>> Ed Vitagliano: I don't like their very clean.
>> Tim Wildmon: Well, I tell you another stereotype that, that is hurtful to me and my people that Southerners are slow, you know, slow thinkers just because we're slow talkers.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Right.
>> Tim Wildmon: And I don't think that's fair. But that's, that's the way the perception was for so long until, Gomer Powell broke that mold.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Oh yeah.
>> Tim Wildmon: He introduced southerners to the rest of America, Yes. You know what I'm saying?
>> Ed Vitagliano: And, ah, I think he may be responsible.
>> Chris Woodward: That man was a very old.
>> Tim Wildmon: To the end of the world.
Fred Kaplan: Everyone is saying we should be cautious with artificial intelligence
>> Chris Woodward: Okay, all right. So it's interesting that we're talking about the end of the world because right now various, officials that run things like the CIA, the FBI, and even the Director of National Intelligence.
>> Tim Wildmon: All of them, the trio, yeah,
>> Chris Woodward: they're getting the band back together. Okay, so they're appearing in front of, lawmakers today for a hearing on terrorism threats. And I've got some audio here of Tulsi Gabbard, our current Director of National Intelligence. she's outlining the threat from things like AI from our enemies, China being one of them.
>> Tim Wildmon: Clip 9 the IC assesses that China is the most capable competitor in the field of artificial intelligence. The IC assesses that AI capabilities are rapidly advancing and changing the threat landscape. As this is a defining technology that enables computers and machines to simulate human learning, comprehension, problem solving, creativity and autonomy, it will be critical to ensure that humans remain in control of how AI is used and of the machines that may threaten to autonomously violate the interests of the American people across all domains. AI adoption at scale across the spectrum of usage poses serious risks. AI has the potential to aid in weapons and systems design, has been used in recent conflicts to influence targeting and streamline decision making, underscoring the risk and likely threats that could manifest on the battlefield.
>> Chris Woodward: So she's making those comments about China. And President Trump, for months now has been saying, we need to be the leaders in AI because countries like China are going to use it against us to take over the world.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Well, this is the problem with technological innovation, is it usually, like the horse escaping the corral, it usually gets out before you can adequately prepare, or repair fences, that kind of thing. There's a little bit of a muddle.
>> Tim Wildmon: There's a Bonanza reference that was a little muddled.
>> Ed Vitagliano: The thing I'm saying is, your point is, and the point is everyone is saying, hey, we got to be cautious with AI. We can't just let it loose without limits. The problem is, who's we?
>> Tim Wildmon: Right?
>> Ed Vitagliano: All right, maybe that's what we want to do. But if we want to keep up with China or other countries, that will would certainly use that, that technology to harm us. And that the international competition between heavyweights, you can't, you can't limit them. And so there are people in our country. He says, well, then you can't limit us if you limit us in this country. We can't keep up with them. And this is how technologies, you know, that there used to be and still is a lot of worry about nuclear proliferation. More and more countries getting the bomb. That's where at war with Iran over. But we were first. Soviet Union was close behind. Then the commie, red, pinko, Chinese, Wow, okay.
>> Tim Wildmon: Stereotype.
>> Ed Vitagliano: And so now I forget how many. I'll look it up. But there are a lot of countries with nuclear weapons. It's called proliferation. And AI is going to pose the same kind of potential threat. It's just going to explode at some point and everyone's going to have to hurry to keep up with it. And if you want to know what the danger is in that. I saw this documentary on this company that cloned dinosaurs on an island. And, those dinosaurs got loose and eight people.
>> Chris Woodward: Several times.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Yes, several times they got loose. Anyway, it's a little bit of a Jurassic park reference there, if you didn't get it.
>> Tim Wildmon: Fred, you got anything on this or you want to move on?
Tulsi Gabbard made concerns about terrorism and space programs
>> Fred Jackson: Well, I, I was listening to Tulsi Gabbard's presentation just before coming in, and I said to Ed, if you're, if you worry at night about threats around the world to America, you didn't want to listen to her presentation.
>> Tim Wildmon: Oh, is that right?
>> Fred Jackson: Oh, she went well beyond AI1. One point. She did make, you know, their concerns. She's the Director of National Intelligence. Their concerns about, terrorism in this country. And she made mention of the attack there at the synagogue in Michigan last week. And we now know the guy who drove that car into that synagogue in Michigan, he has family, relatives who are Hezbollah members. So she said, our vigilance has got to increase greatly these days because there are threats so many directions. I did not know that Iran has been telling the world that they're trying to develop a space program. She said, no, they're not. What they want is for the world to, leave Iran alone. Because what they really want to do is develop boosters to allow them to deliver intercontinental missiles to Europe. So that's what they're using. Falsely stating they want to develop a space program just like everybody else. No, they don't. They want to develop boosters so they can deliver their missiles to places in Europe.
>> Tim Wildmon: Would the ayatollah, ah, be on that spaceship?
>> Ed Vitagliano: Well, I could see the movie now. Mullahs on the moon. Okay, who believes that? Anybody believe that that's what they were designed? And by the way, nine countries have in total, over 12,000 nuclear weapons China, France, India, Israel, North Korea, Pakistan, Russia, the UK and of course, the us Nine countries with nukes.
>> Tim Wildmon: They mentioned Israel there.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Yeah, Israel's in that group.
>> Tim Wildmon: Go ahead. Next story.
Israel reportedly killed Iran's intelligence minister in a precision strike overnight
>> Chris Woodward: All right, well, speaking of Iran, this very well could have been the lead. but, Israel took out another Iranian official today. this man that they've eliminated.
>> Tim Wildmon: You can run the word they're using. the, this is widely known.
>> Chris Woodward: The latest person. The latest person that's been eliminated was Iran's intelligence minister. And I've got some audio of, Foxes Trey Yings talking about this.
>> Tim Wildmon: Wait a minute. It's the Iranian intelligence of a, Minister. Minister who was taken out. Yes, by the Israelis.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Ah.
>> Chris Woodward: With help from the U.S. clip three. A senior Israeli official telling Fox News
>> Ed Vitagliano: that Ismail Khatib, Iran's intelligence minister, was
>> Chris Woodward: killed in a precision strike overnight. Khatib was responsible for managing Iran's global cells, these sleeper cells in countries around the world that even threatened U.S. politicians and President Trump.
>> Ed Vitagliano: This official says this man had blood on his hands, American blood.
>> Abraham Hamilton III: They go on to say that Khatib
>> Chris Woodward: was actually the only person to survive the opening round of strikes in Operation Epic Fury that killed Iran's Supreme Leader. Those 40 officials killed in around 40 seconds. Now, in response to this, Iran did fire some stuff at Israel.
>> Tim Wildmon: Listen. Yeah, they did. And Iran or Iran, whichever you prefer, they've still got a few munitions that they can fire out here and there, and the other, but their military has been wiped out. I don't know what this. I, see these, people like the judge report and some others, and they support us. They. They make it, sound like the US And Israel are losing the war. I mean, I'm going like, that's. That's not accurate at all. Now, whether you agree with the war or not, that's a separate issue. But the, U.S. military and the Israeli military have just wiped out the. The Iranian military capabilities for the most part. Otherwise, you would be seeing Iran fight back. There are navies at the bottom of the sea. I don't.
>> Ed Vitagliano: I don't think. They've got little to no air power left.
>> Tim Wildmon: Yeah. So, I don't know. Early, again, agree or disagree with going to war in the first place, a fair analysis of how things have gone so far is that the US And Israel have cleaned their clock. to borrow an expression, over there now. Who knows what's going to happen two weeks from now, four weeks from now, six weeks from now. You can't see way, out into the. If that's considered way out into the future. I mean, when you're in war, you're. You're making plans, but you're also day to day. And so, But, you know, the other thing is, with some of these people, like the Democrats, not all Democrats, John Fetterman being an exception, the senator from Pennsylvania, who is a reasonable voice on this issue, in my opinion, and even some of the Republicans, I'm still going, listen, whether you, whether you like or dislike President Trump personally or politically, let's set that aside for a minute. If a country told you in your negotiations they were about to finish a nuclear weapon, which is what we were told, not by President Trump, well, he may have said it, too, but the gentleman who did the chief negotiating for us, what was his name with Jerry? Jared Kushner and Witkoff, Steve Witkoff, he said, do you remember this? We played this on this program. He said, they told us what they were about, that they were on the edge of getting.
>> Ed Vitagliano: And you can't stop us.
>> Tim Wildmon: And you can't stop us. That's basically in your face, America. M. Yeah, basically we're going to do this because you can't tell us what to do. And so if you believe, as I do, that Iran was being honest there and that they were about to have nuclear, nuclear weapon capabilities, to think that they wouldn't, you. You're running a big risk. I'm talking about a monumental historical top 20, top 20 events in history. chance that they wouldn't use it, that they wouldn't use the weapons. So if you're a president like Trump, again, take your, take your Trump derangement syndrome out of it, if you can, because that's what these people operate under. Many of these, they just, they just, they've lost their mind. Anything. They can't distinguish between good Trump, bad Trump, okay, they got to go all bad Trump all the time, Hitler type stuff. So if you believe that this country with these religious, zealots who hate Jews and Christians and Israel and the US and you're just going to say, well, we're ready. We're willing to roll the dice. and Fred, we're willing to roll the dice. And if they get a nuclear weapon, maybe they, maybe they won't use it. That is when they've told you that they want to wipe out Israel, and the Great Satan US. So what is a responsible president supposed to do, knowing all that? And, you know, you have the military capability to Stop them. And you say, well, no, I don't want to, because I'll get criticized too much and the left will jump on me and I might lose the midterms because of it. You see what I'm saying? I think, a president under those conditions would, do precisely what President Trump has done here.
>> Fred Jackson: Oh, absolutely. the mainstream media, m. Trump critics on this particular issue, the way you framed it, they just hate Trump, and they actually hope that that overrides
>> Tim Wildmon: any kind of reason.
>> Fred Jackson: Yeah, they actually hope Iran would win this.
>> Tim Wildmon: They do. You think so?
>> Fred Jackson: Oh, yeah. They hope. Just because they hate Trump.
>> Tim Wildmon: Okay. Because if Iran wins, it hurts Trump.
>> Fred Jackson: Exactly. Exactly. However, you know, and I'm not the first to say this, if Trump had not done anything and Iran ended up
>> Tim Wildmon: with nuclear weapons, wiping out NewSong York City.
>> Fred Jackson: Yeah. Wipe out NewSong York City. You knew this. You knew this, and you did nothing.
>> Tim Wildmon: You did nothing.
>> Fred Jackson: Yeah.
>> Ed Vitagliano: By the way, presidents, ah, all the way back to Bill Clinton. Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, Barack Obama, Donald Trump, Joe Biden, and then Donald Trump again, all said, Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon.
>> Tim Wildmon: Okay.
Some conservatives say Israel dragged the US into war over Iran nuclear threat
>> Ed Vitagliano: Because it poses a critical threat to US national security and global stability. And Republican president, Democrat, half and half. I mean, if you look at Donald Trump as two separate terms divided by Joe Biden, half and half, half Republican, half Democrat, all the way back to Bill Clinton in the early 90s. If it was possible for Iran to conceivable for Iran to have begun working towards a nuclear weapon, I think George H.W. bush would have said, no, that ain't happening on my watch.
>> Tim Wildmon: You know, I wonder if Israel would have gone. I think they probably would have. They would have gone, with or without us.
>> Fred Jackson: Yes.
>> Tim Wildmon: Don't you think so?
>> Fred Jackson: Absolutely.
>> Tim Wildmon: Because it's more comfortable for us to be an ocean away or two oceans away from Iran. But imagine if Iran was, I don't know, Colombia or Nicaragua or Ecuador, and they were threatening us, Houston and Dallas and Los Angeles with a nuclear weapon. And we just. You think a president would, Knowing that, Know that they were about to have this capability? You think a president would sit back and wait or you think. You see what I'm saying? I think Israel was going in, with or without us. Don't you think so, Fred?
>> Fred Jackson: Oh, absolutely. They knew what we knew, Israel knew. And Israel, because of what happened in October 2023, that was a defining line that we know. Hamas funded, weaponized by Iran. So after that, because some people blame Netanyahu for allowing 2023 to happen. So he was Never going to allow that again. So I think. And that meeting back a month ago, when Netanyahu came to the White House, left through the back door. Remember that? They had a three hour meeting in the Oval Office. I think Netanyahu.
>> Tim Wildmon: Yeah, I agree with you.
>> Fred Jackson: He told the President, with OR without you, Mr. President, we love you, we appreciate the United States, but we are going to go and make sure that Iran does not have a nuclear weapon.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Yeah, I think they had no choice. Israel, we conceivably would have a choice. We're talking about their quote, unquote, space program, which they wanted. ICBMs is what they wanted. But initially those ICBMs would have been able to reach Europe. So they're not even, they were not even close to being able to reach us yet unless they put it on a boat and detonated it outside of Miami. so we actually could have waited, but Israel couldn't. Because what Wyckoff was told was that, they were close to getting 16, operational nuclear weapons. They had enough physical material to do that. So Israel had no choice for its own. And I listen, I'm glad that President Trump said no, we'll go in with you because eventually we've got to deal with this issue, too. And I'm glad he did. I'm not saying that all the consequences are going to be pleasant. We're all dealing with high gas prices.
>> Tim Wildmon: Do you buy this criticism from some on the right, that Israel dragged the US into war here?
>> Ed Vitagliano: No.
>> Tim Wildmon: Okay.
>> Ed Vitagliano: No, I don't. I just. That's part of the kind of, some of the sickness that seems to be developing amongst conservatives blaming Israel. We're allies with Israel. I hope that Israel would tell us we're doing it. We'd like you to come along, but we're, we're grownups. Trump made the decision on his own.
>> Tim Wildmon: Right.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Nobody dragged us.
>> Tim Wildmon: All right, we'll be back. More with more. Abraham Hamilton iii, will be with us momentarily. Stay with us.
>> Ed Vitagliano: The AFR app is a powerful tool, but it does have limitations. You can't use it to change the oil in your vehic or get rid of carpet stains. It won't walk the dog, won't pick up the dry cleaning or take the kids to practice. But while you're doing those things, you can listen to your favorite AFR content through the app on your phone, smart device, or Roku. Just go to your app store or visit afr.net listen to AFR wherever you go with the AFR app.
>> Fred Jackson: We would like to Take a moment to thank our sponsor, PreBorn. When a mother meets her baby on ultrasound and hears their heartbeat, it's a divine connection. And the majority of the time she will choose life. But they can't do it without our help. Preborn needs us, the pro life community, to come alongside them. One ultrasound is just $28. To donate, dial £250 and say the keyword baby or visit preborn.com.
Abe Hamilton discusses jury nullification on today's Today's Issues
>> Tim Wildmon: This is Today's Issues.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Email your comments to commentsfr.net Past broadcasts of today's Issues are available for listening and viewing in the [email protected] now back to more of Today's Issues.
>> Tim Wildmon: Hey, welcome back, everybody, to Today's Issues on the American Family Radio Network. Tim, Ed, Fred and Krish, we are here in studio. And, joining us now is our, colleague, Abraham Hamilton iii, host of the Hamilton Corner, which you hear each afternoon from 5 to 6 o' clock here on American Family Radio, at the Hamilton Corner with Abe. Good, morning, Abe.
>> Abraham Hamilton III: Good morning.
>> Tim Wildmon: so, where were we? We were gonna. What was our topic for Abe today?
>> Ed Vitagliano: Well, I think gardening. No, we did have a, And, Krish may have a, A story. I have, I have an article here, from a website talking about jury nullification was the first thing we wanted to bring up. Did you have a story in that?
>> Chris Woodward: I had. Well, I had a legal story that I was going to run past him if we have time, but you go ahead.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Well, the story is, Abe about a liberal group. This was first reported, I think, by the Washington Free Beacon. It's a group called Freedom Trainers. It is funded by George Soros, Community Change.
>> Tim Wildmon: Guy never runs out of money, does he?
>> Ed Vitagliano: Yeah, and they've been hosting webinars and distributing materials on jury nullification. And the, the, the aim of this is for leftists to find ways to get on juries in important cases. I don't know how you do that, but, to resist the Department of Justice, and basically to use your vote as a member of the jury to make sure people get off regardless of the evidence. So, first of all, explain what jury nullification is. I used to think it was just what judges could do, but apparently jurors can just say, well, it needs to be a unanimous vote and I'm voting against it. And is this a significant threat to our judicial process?
>> Abraham Hamilton III: Well, I wouldn't say it's a significant threat. It is a threat, but the threat is only as broad as the makeup of our populace. in order to do this, you have to have a concerted amount of people who would be, in terms of executing this strategy by the George Soros funded groups, you have to have a concerted amount of people that are willing to just flat out lie and in so doing risk facing consequences for them lying. this is why I always tell people that the most important part of any jury trial is actually jury selection. And even the expression jury selection is a misnomer because it's really more of a process of deselection. it's the job of the attorneys during the jury selection process, to identify whether or not there are jurors who will ultimately, I should say it better veneermen because you're not a jury until you're sworn in. But veneermen are the people that present themselves for potentially being sat on the jury. but to determine whether or not you have veneermen who will follow the law. And so what the whole jury nullification Soros project is, is to get people who really have no commitment to following the law, but to find themselves on a jury nevertheless so that they can quote unquote, nullify a law that they disagree with by getting on a jury.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Okay, so, I'm happy to hear that, that you don't think this.
>> Tim Wildmon: How widespread is this? So is this.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Well, the reason I wanted to, to bring this up. I have no idea how widespread it is. Ah, I am, I have great concerns about these George Soros fund who have over the course of the last, I don't know, five, ten years gotten prosecutors elected in major metropolitan areas, who have basically been prosecutors now basically in favor of the criminals rather than the victims of crime. we, we've been complaining on the conservative side of things for years about just judges who are activist judges. I'm not blaming that George Soros that existed before, his groups began to be funded. But I am concerned that there are people in this country who don't care about law, who don't care about the Constitution, who don't care about the truth. They only care about their ideology and winning regardless of what comes after that. I, I just found this story kind of disturbing. any last comments or thoughts on that?
>> Abraham Hamilton III: Well, well no is disturbing but the pension toward lawlessness is far broader than the legal system. And then I would say in terms of thought, threats to the legal system system, specifically the Soros prosecutors are for far more prevalent threat than the jury nullification, trainers or whatever. Because you would have to get other jurors to go along with it, it's something that would be determined by the jurisdiction basis. you're not going to get in it. I've experienced this myself. You're not going to get a jury of, you know, Harris County, Texas, or, you know, and Mississippi, certain states, to go along with somebody who will blatantly say, oh, well, no, even though we see all evidence this dude is guilty, to go along with them to vote not guilty. That's not going to happen. And even in the criminal context, if you have a mistrial, all that happens is the potential for a retrial.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Okay.
>> Abraham Hamilton III: So that, that's not something that's necessarily going to be the conclusion of the matter. And so I think the Soros prosecutors are far more of a significant and imminent threat than any potential jury nullification strategy.
>> Ed Vitagliano: I feel better. That's why we have. That's why we have a constitutional attorney. Come on.
>> Tim Wildmon: All right.
>> Ed Vitagliano: I feel better. Thank you for that at all.
>> Abraham Hamilton III: well, I'm here for you. Single syllable. First names must stick together.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Yes.
Judge struck down Arkansas law that mandates schools display Ten Commandments
>> Fred Jackson: Ah, Abe, Krish has a story, that we have on our website this morning. This has to do with a judge appointed by former President Barack Obama who doesn't like the Ten Commandments.
>> Chris Woodward: Yes.
>> Abraham Hamilton III: Gee, I'm so surprised.
>> Chris Woodward: So, for those not aware, the Obama judge on Monday of this week, Timothy L. Brooks is his name, and he struck down Arkansas's law that mandates schools display the Ten Commandments. Arkansas, like Louisiana, like Texas, wants posters in the, public schools, to display the Ten Commandments as a way of paying tribute and educating students about the connection between the Ten Commandments and America's legal system. but this judge ruled that, what Arkansas wants, is not allowed or should not be allowed. And I know, Abe, that Arkansas is in a different appeals court circuit than Louisiana and Texas federal court. So Louisiana and Texas are in the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals. Arkansas is in the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals.
>> Tim Wildmon: Yeah.
>> Chris Woodward: And I guess Arkansas is not, they're not going to be impacted by the Fifth Circuit's recent ruling in favor of Louisiana's law. I guess my question is, like, are we, are we headed towards an inevitable supreme court case about Ten Commandments laws?
>> Abraham Hamilton III: Well, maybe not, because the 8th Circuit still has a rule on this. You know, one of the things that's interesting about this judge, Timothy Brooks only serves in the Western District of Arkansas. So his opinion on Arkansas's law doesn't affect anything beyond his own district. There are other portions of Arkansas that could even rule differently than what Timothy L. Brooks has ruled. But also, this is, as you rightly pointed out, a district court judge. And so before you can even have the prospect of a circuit split, we'd, have to see what the 8th Circuit is going to say on this matter. and you also rightly pointed out that the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals has already ruled that Texas, and Louisiana's laws are constitutional. You know, so if there's no circuit split, and the 8th Circuit tends to agree with the 5th Circuit, and then the matter will be settled at that juncture.
Abe Lincoln says you cannot force religion on children in public schools
>> Tim Wildmon: All right, let me ask you guys this, and take Abe's answer first. What do you say, Abe, to someone who says you cannot force religion on children in public schools, and you're forcing Christian. You're forcing religion by making them, you know, have to look at the 10 Commandments posted on the wall. Would you like it if we posted some Sharia law up there? maybe in, in Dearborn or somewhere in, you know, where there's a. A growing Muslim population? How would you Christians feel about that? We put some. So how do we answer, how do we answer that kind of a question?
>> Abraham Hamilton III: Well, I can answer it on the legal front, and I can answer. Answer it on the personal front.
>> Ed Vitagliano: we got time.
>> Tim Wildmon: We got time. Yeah.
>> Abraham Hamilton III: First, and I'll just say both very plainly. The Ten Commandments is what set the foundation for this entire nation, buddy. Whoever had a problem with that? You have another country you can go to. If you want to go in a country where there is Sharia law, you're more than welcome to go there.
>> Tim Wildmon: Go back to that country.
>> Abraham Hamilton III: Well, I wouldn't even say go back, because there may be some people that want to go. First instance, if you have a preference for that, you're welcome to do so. But that being said, I'm kind of saying that, kind of jesting slightly, but we have Moses engraved in marble on our U.S. supreme Court. We have chaplains who are paid with federal tax money because the concept of the separation church and state has been completely misrepresented. that is not.
>> Tim Wildmon: And God we Trust is our national motto.
>> Abraham Hamilton III: The God We Trust is our national motto. It's printed on the covenant.
>> Tim Wildmon: Allah.
>> Abraham Hamilton III: we're not at all. And the Ten Commandments. It's a fact. This is not a debatable notion. This is an objective fact. Our entire separation of our judiciary is based upon Jethro's counsel to Moses in Exodus, chapter 18. That's just a fact. It's in the Constitutional Convention's record. That's just a fact. So saying these things, and judge, I mean, Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders said it, that we have laws in the state of Arkansas that says you can't murder. we have laws against perjury, you know, not bearing false witness. These are, these are ideas like what is objectionable in telling a child, you know, what, murdering is bad, right? You shouldn't kill people. You know, so there are those who are so, focused on trying to strip faith from public life in our country that they'll even throw the baby out of the. Out with the bathwater just because they know that a statement is in the Bible. And it's a statement that most people agree with. They agree that people shouldn't be murdered, but they don't want it published in our schools because they don't want children to know, hey, by the way, the Bible says these things. Ah, it's an insane assertion, and it's one that doesn't bear our national history. The idea that this would be violative of the US Constitution is something that did not exist prior to 1947. The full bank and scope of our nation's history stands against any assertion that having children visibly see the moral law as recorded in the Scripture does not impose upon them, a necessity that they convert to become Christ followers.
>> Tim Wildmon: That's a good point.
>> Abraham Hamilton III: That's just the bottom line. I want the children to convert to become Christ followers. But the objective of the Ten Commandments being posted in these schools is not to cause anybody to convert to Christ following, but to connect the reality of the moral laws reflected in Scripture to our national history. And that's a laudable pursuit.
>> Tim Wildmon: You know, there are many, many, many, stories we could tell. Stephen McDowell of the Providence foundation, David Barton of Wall Builders, Bill Federer, There are others who are, they're walking encyclopedias with the history of America's Christianity, the Christian influence on America's history.
>> Abraham Hamilton III: But I mean, I literally just wrote a commentary on Ben Franklin's speech in 19, I'm sorry, 1787 at the Constitutional Convention, when he stands up before George Washington and Impromptu says, after four or five weeks of them being in a quagmire, and says, Mr. President, how has, how have we progressed? And we have not hitherto sought to apply to the Father of Lights to illuminate our conversations here. Now, you guys remember daily when we were in the conflict with Great Britain, that we offered prayers in this chamber every day while we were under sense of danger. Do we now feel like we don't need that. That divine friend. Do we not need him now? And, he moved.
>> Tim Wildmon: A formal move.
>> Abraham Hamilton III: He moved on the floor of the statehouse in Pennsylvania that daily prayers being offered every day so that we can press forward in developing our Constitution. Because without it, we were having localized arguments about localized things. And Ben Franklin's motion passed. And every day from that day forward, our Constitutional convention proceeded in prayer. That our Constitution was birthed out of a prayer meeting in the Pennsylvania State House. So to say, to have the Ten Commandments on the wall in our schools, in our country.
>> Tim Wildmon: Right.
>> Abraham Hamilton III: in the nation at the. Constitutes the birth and prayer is an insane assertion, is my point.
>> Tim Wildmon: Yeah. Amen. Well, I was going to say that, you know, in the year 1892, you know, Columbus sailed the. Hold on just a second.
>> Ed Vitagliano: 1492.
>> Tim Wildmon: Yeah, my bad. It was in 1892 that the United States Supreme Court ruled that the United States of America was a Christian nation.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Yeah.
>> Tim Wildmon: By. Not to mean that everybody was Christian or everything we did as a nation was Christian, but that our symbols, our history, our documents as Abe as cited, some of that here in the last minute or two point back to the. The Pilgrims, the, the Founding Fathers, the, just everything points to us having a, if you want to call it a Judeo Christian heritage, that's fine. But the vast majority of people who came here and settled came, here with religious freedom in mind. Yeah. They wanted to make money, too, and sustain themselves. And a lot of people came here for, you know, like I said, for business purposes. But, the Christian foundation of our country is inarguable and to the point where even the Supreme Court said so in 1892.
Abe Campbell: What's coming up on your show this afternoon
All right, you're listening to today's issues on the American Family Radio Network. What's coming up on your show this afternoon, Abe?
>> Abraham Hamilton III: Well, I talked a bit yesterday about Joe Kent. We're going to talk more about the progress. Yeah, Joe Kent and his cigarette.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Joe Camel.
>> Tim Wildmon: Oh, Joe Camel.
>> Chris Woodward: That was a different legal case, too.
>> Ed Vitagliano: You may be mixing up Joe Campbell with Mark.
>> Tim Wildmon: I've mixing up centuries here with 1890. two sell the ocean Blue. I just got to get my facts right. Go ahead.
>> Abraham Hamilton III: No, I plan on giving the latest updates on the progress, or lack thereof, concerning the SAVE act, and also giving a bit of the updates on Operation Epic Fury, where things are, how they progress at this point.
>> Tim Wildmon: Okay. All right, brother, thank you so much.
>> Abraham Hamilton III: All righty. Thank you.
>> Tim Wildmon: Take care.
The liberal idea of separation of church and state dates back to 1951
All right, go ahead.
>> Fred Jackson: You know, in our devotion this morning, one of our Staff members is writing a book and read the first chapter. And it had to deal with the Billy Graham crusade in Memphis in 1951. M. and we were told that the mayor of Memphis, when that Billy Graham crusade was going on, called for fasting and prayer. And nobody screamed.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Right.
>> Fred Jackson: There wasn't an A.C.L.U. say, you can't. Separation of church and state. You can't say that. That's not that long ago.
>> Tim Wildmon: No, the liberal idea of separation of church and state, and it's really Christianity that they loathe, is a relatively modern concept, for the last probably 30, 40 years, maybe 40 years or so before that. Nobody questioned, nobody questioned the, influence of, particularly the Christian religion on America being something we wanted to promote. I mean, it was good for. It's good for morals and values. It kept the crime down.
>> Chris Woodward: Yes.
>> Tim Wildmon: there's all kind of reasons why the outgrowth, I guess you should say, of Christianity being promoted in a country,
>> Chris Woodward: you know, I would say too, the opposition to, the whole church and state thing, oftentimes they only have a problem with it, depending on who's in the White House. for example, Joe Biden. Okay, Joe Biden. He ran on him being a man of faith. They spent an entire night in the 2020 convention talking about how he was a man of faith and he prayed. Nobody said anything. Every speech President Joe Biden ended, with him saying, God bless America, God bless our troops. And the humanists never complained. Nobody complained when Barack Obama had the prayer breakfast. Nobody complained when, President Bill Clinton signed RFRA into law and said, I'm glad to see I'm not one of the only Baptists in the room. They only complain when it's a Republican
>> Ed Vitagliano: talking about God because they know Republicans actually want God to be included and not using God as window dress.
>> Chris Woodward: Pelosi is not getting a letter from somebody from Wisconsin when she mentions Matthew 25 as a reason for immigration reform. They only complain when it's a Republican.
>> Ed Vitagliano: And by the way, most of our listeners know this. I think they've probably heard it enough on our network, by the way, that the use of, Because abe mentioned the 1947 Supreme Court case, I think that was Everson v. Walls. I, I sometimes get these mixed up. But that, I think, was the first time that this statement, a wall of separation between church and state, was ever used in a Supreme Court ruling. And the Supreme Court used it erroneously. The. The phrase a wall of separation between church and state comes from a letter that Thomas Jefferson wrote To a Baptist organization. I, want to say it was in Connecticut. I, may be wrong on that, but it was in NewSong England. They were worried that Baptists would become second class citizens because of what government would do. Thomas Jefferson was writing and saying, no, there is a wall of separation between what the government can do to churches.
>> Fred Jackson: Right.
>> Ed Vitagliano: it had nothing to do with, the way the Supreme Court used it, which was to imply that churches and religious people have no right to bring their religion into politics. It was a misuse of the statement. But it has existed and has become memorized. And everyone thinks it's in the Constitution. A lot of people on the left.
>> Chris Woodward: Yeah, a lot of people think it's in the Constitution, just like you said. Just like people are led to believe that evolution is a fact when it's still a theory. And so we have a. We have a generation, we've educated generations of nincompoops in this country. And that's why we have the problems that we have.
>> Tim Wildmon: Well, you're animated today, Krish.
>> Ed Vitagliano: He's fired up.
>> Chris Woodward: I only had one cup of coffee, and that was when I flew back here from my house.
>> Tim Wildmon: Three Red Bulls later, we see the real Krish. Red.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Red Bull gives you wings.
>> Tim Wildmon: All right. You're listening to the radio program Today's issues on American Family Radio. Tim, Ed, Fred and Krish.
Senator Mark Wayne Mullen is expected to be confirmed if confirmed
Hey, let me interrupt, the next topic. I was reading a story about, the hearings going on in Washington D.C. today having to do with, Senator Mark Wayne Mullin, a Republican from Oklahoma. You know, he said his confirmation here to take over for Kristi Noemi. She got, booted to the side. Where'd. Where'd they. Where'd they put her?
>> Fred Jackson: Southern Shield? Is that what it's called?
>> Tim Wildmon: Like an insurance company?
>> Fred Jackson: Yeah. Sounds like.
>> Chris Woodward: Goes over quotes.
>> Fred Jackson: This is the war on the cartels, in central.
>> Tim Wildmon: That's what she's over now.
>> Fred Jackson: She is.
>> Tim Wildmon: But it's a demotion.
>> Fred Jackson: Most consider the demotion, yes.
>> Tim Wildmon: Yeah. Well, anyway, so her successor. I get that, right?
>> Chris Woodward: Successor.
>> Tim Wildmon: Yeah, successor.
>> Chris Woodward: If confirmed.
>> Tim Wildmon: If confirmed, as Krish just said, is Senator, ah, Mark Wayne Mullin. Let me tell you, you don't get any more Southern name than Mark Wayne. It's not even a double name. It's one name. I've never heard that before. Mark Wayne. Just one word right there. But anyway, this gentleman's from Oklahoma. He's U.S. senator.
>> Ed Vitagliano: I did not know that till you just said that. Mark Laine. Mark Wayne.
>> Chris Woodward: he's also part Native American. He was the first Native American legislator in Oklahoma or something of that sort.
>> Tim Wildmon: Well, I think you forgot about Elizabeth Warren.
>> Chris Woodward: Well, she's not from Oklahoma unless she
>> Tim Wildmon: tells me she's not from Oklahoma. But she's she's like a 50th Cherokee or something.
>> Chris Woodward: Yeah, you're being kind.
>> Tim Wildmon: What is she. She's got some. Some DNA of some Indian. American Indian in her, right?
>> Ed Vitagliano: I. I don't know.
>> Tim Wildmon: Remember that.
>> Ed Vitagliano: I'm from NewSong England. Doesn't mean I know who.
>> Tim Wildmon: You got the name Pocahontas.
>> Chris Woodward: Yeah.
>> Tim Wildmon: President Trump. You remember that?
>> Ed Vitagliano: Oh, yeah.
Rand Paul is fighting with Mark Wayne Mullen over Homeland Security confirmation hearing
>> Tim Wildmon: Anyway, back to my story. so I'm reading about the, the hearing today, the, confirmation hearing for him to become, which is a cabinet level position. It's pretty big deal. Department of Homeland, Security, which, by the way, is unfunded right now by the Democrats because they don't like ice.
>> Fred Jackson: But.
>> Tim Wildmon: But pressure's building on the Democrats over this because TSA and the airports and everything. M. That's the main reason it's becoming a nightmare. And, TSA is funded under the Department of Homeland Security. And the Democrats have said, we don't like ice, so we're not funding the whole agency anyway. But I didn't realize there was such bad blood between Rand Paul and. Who's on the committee. The senator from Kentucky, himself a Republican.
>> Fred Jackson: He's the chairman of the committee.
>> Tim Wildmon: Okay.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Wow.
>> Tim Wildmon: He is the chairman of the committee. And usually you don't see two people of the same party going at it like this, but, in Washington today, I don't know, do we. Can we play this? maybe after the break. I'll send it to you anyway. It's on Fox News. It's one of the lead stories. But ran. Rand Paul is, He. He's angry with. He's upset with Mark Wayne Mullin because Mark. He says. Rand Paul, that Mark Wayne Mullin, made. Calls him a snake and made fun of the attacker. Remember the guy who attacked Rand Paul
>> Ed Vitagliano: when he was on his mower?
>> Tim Wildmon: Remember that? And broke all his ribs and everything. but so ran, I guess, Mullin. So Rand Paul's like, you know, say this to my face today. I mean, this is almost. They were to go into a wrestling match, you know, they probably would have, but, But Mullin tells Rand Paul, quote, we just don't get along. End of quote. let me earn your respect talking to, Guess talking to Rand Paul about him being the new Homeland Security. Anyway. It's personal and it's down and dirty. And it's going on right now between Rand. That's in a name you don't see every day.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Right.
>> Tim Wildmon: And Mark Wayne.
>> Ed Vitagliano: And Mark Wayne Martin.
>> Tim Wildmon: That's the name you don't see every day. So what do you. Any comments on this?
>> Ed Vitagliano: Well, I do have a comment on Elizabeth Warren. I look something up.
>> Tim Wildmon: Go ahead. Go ahead.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Okay. So, in 2018, she released results from a DNA test showing she had a distant Native American ancestor estimated to have lived six to ten generations ago.
>> Tim Wildmon: Okay.
>> Ed Vitagliano: But tribal leaders, including the Cherokee Nation, reject the use of DNA testing, emphasizing a tribal citizenship is based on documented lineage and cultural connection. Connections. So, apparently, Senator, Warren does have some Native American ancestry, but it looks like it's pretty small.
>> Tim Wildmon: Yeah. How many. How did.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Six. Six to ten generations ago.
>> Tim Wildmon: Yeah. I think we all got everything.
>> Ed Vitagliano: If you go back that.
>> Tim Wildmon: You go back that far, we, all. We all got everything from around the world. We'll be back momentarily. The views and opinions expressed in this broadcast may not necessarily reflect those of the American Family association or American Family Radio.
