Author: The Daily Signal

America has spent years fighting communism outside its borders, but now a Marxist threat is growing from within the country, Heritage Foundation senior fellow Mike Gonzalez says.

Gonzalez, author of “BLM: The Making of a New Marxist Revolution,” says the Black Lives Matter organization has encouraged Americans, especially young people, to embrace communist ideology. 

In 2020, there “were 633 riots … according to the U.S. Crisis Monitor run out of Princeton [University], and 95% of those riots in which we know the identity of the perpetrator ... Black Lives Matter members were included,” Gonzalez says. 

Through his book, Gonzalez hopes to “open people's eyes” to the true nature of Black Lives Matter. 

Gonzalez joins “The Daily Signal Podcast” to discuss the book and why he’s standing against the communist influences in our culture today. 

Also on today's show, we read your letters to the editor and share a good news story about a New Jersey community that is going above and beyond to make sure all returning military personnel receive the welcome and thank you they deserve. 

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There's a strong connection between critical social justice ideology, including critical race theory, and a rising tide of antisemitism around the globe, according to a new report from the Jewish Institute for Liberal Values.

As more businesses and governments adopt initiatives based on critical social justice ideology, antisemitic and other forms of bigotry are flourishing.

"When you hold an ideology that there are really only two kinds of people in the world, those that are oppressed and those that are oppressors, you're going to end up empowering ideas of antisemitism," says David Bernstein, a longtime Jewish advocate as well as the founder and CEO of the Gaithersburg, Maryland-based Jewish Institute for Liberal Values.

He joins "The Daily Signal Podcast” to discuss his organization's new report, as well as the implications for continued global acceptance of critical social justice ideologies.

We also cover these stories:

• President Joe Biden and House Democrats vow responses to counteract Texas' new pro-life law.
• After the Supreme Court’s 5-4 decision not to enjoin the Texas pro-life law, some liberals are calling again for court-packing.
• A group of 26 Republican senators, led by Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas, demand that Biden provide information regarding the precise number of Americans, green-card holders, and special immigrant visa applicants stranded in Afghanistan, in addition to the vetting protocols used on Afghan evacuees entering the U.S.
• Biden will visit Louisiana to talk with officials and see firsthand the damage caused by Hurricane Ida.

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Loudoun County, Virginia has been the focus of national attention for some time now. Stories of woke school board members pushing critical race theory and gender ideology have led to pushback as parents realize their children are being indoctrinated.

Shawntel Cooper is one of those parents who decided to take action. Cooper was the focus of a viral video back in May where she lambasted the Loudoun County School Board over critical race theory in the classroom.

"I don't understand how you would not want to ban anything that is this divisive and divides each other because of color," Cooper tells the Daily Signal Podcast, "You can't understand evil."

Cooper joins the show to talk about her experiences as a Loudoun County mom, and offer advice on how we can push back against woke school boards across the country.

We also cover these news stories

• Texas bans abortions after an unborn child's heartbeat can be detected, generally around six weeks.
• There are still Americans stranded in Afghanistan, including at least 27 students and a family from California.
• House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy speaks out agaisnt House Democrats for calling on telecommunications companies to preserve records believed to be relevant to the Jan. 6 Capitol Riot.

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Can a rock be racist?

It can be, according to student activists at the University of Wisconsin at Madison. The school in early August moved a giant boulder that had sat prominently on campus for nearly a century to honor geologist and former university President Thomas Chrowder Chamberlin.

“This moment is about the students, past and present, that relentlessly advocated for the removal of this racist monument,” said Juliana Bennett, a student and campus representative on the Madison City Council. “Now is a moment for all of us [black, Indigenous, and people of color] students to breathe a sigh of relief, to be proud of our endurance, and to begin healing.”

Chamberlin was never accused of racism or anything else inappropriate. Instead, the massive 42-ton boulder was removed because of a single line in a local newspaper nearly 100 years ago in 1925 that referred to the rock using an offensive anachronism.

Fred Lucas and Jarrett Stepman join "The Daily Signal Podcast" to discuss the incident and the broader movement to remove politically incorrect statues and monuments around the country.

We also cover these stories:

• President Joe Biden addresses the nation after all U.S. troops are withdrawn from Afghanistan.
• House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy criticizes the Biden administration for leaving Americans behind in Afghanistan.
• Several of the parents of the troops killed at the Kabul airport in Afghanistan are speaking out against Biden.

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After 20 years in Afghanistan, the American military was set to complete its evacuation from Kabul by Tuesday, leaving behind a nation under Taliban control. 

“It’s a sad geopolitical irony that the Taliban will control more of Afghanistan on Sept. 11, 2021, than it did on Sept. 11, 2001, Luke Coffey, director of The Heritage Foundation’s Center for Foreign Policy, says. 

The Biden administration's poor handling of the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan will cause adversaries to push “the envelope a little bit more,” Coffey says, adding that even “America's friends are questioning U.S. resolve” on the international stage. 

Panjshir is the only one of Afghanistan's 34 provinces under the control of a resistance movement led by Ahmad Shah Massoud Jr. 

Coffey says Shah Massoud Jr. “is probably, right now, the best hope in terms of slowly turning the tide against the Taliban.”

Coffey joins “The Daily Signal Podcast” to address concerns over Americans who remain trapped in Afghanistan and to explain the potential ramifications of the withdrawal. 

We also cover these stories:

• Hurricane Ida tears through southeastern Louisiana, leaving over 1 million without power.
• The European Union recommends suspension of all nonessential travel from America. 
• China bans the playing of video games beyond three hours a week.

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Today, biological men who identify as women are celebrated. Young girls taking puberty blockers are hailed as brave. How did we arrive at this place in our culture? 

Carl Trueman, a professor at Grove City College and author of “The Rise and Triumph of the Modern Self," says humanity's search for identity played a large role in the sexual revolution and the embrace of gender identities we see today. 

“I set the sexual revolution against the background of what I call the revolution in selfhood, which ... is a fundamental transformation in the way that human beings think of their personal identities,” Trueman says. 

Trueman joins “The Daily Signal Podcast” to explain how he believes society has come to embrace gender identity ideology. 

Also on today’s show, we read your letters to the editor and share a “good news story” about a special 9/11 remembrance event hosted by Wreaths Across America.  

Learn more about Wreaths Across America here: https://www.wreathsacrossamerica.org/.

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Joel Pelsue, co-founder and CEO of Arts & Entertainment Ministries, is a champion of quality Christian and conservative movies and TV shows. 

About 20 years ago, Pelsue says, he became frustrated with the lack of Christian discipleship within the arts community. As a musician, he knew that many artists were seeking Christian community, but didn't feel accepted by the church. 

Pelsue turned his frustration into motivation, and in 2004, he founded Arts & Entertainment Ministries with his wife, Michelle. 

“We are based in Los Angeles, and we mentor and disciple Christians who are engaged in [the] video game industry, film, television, writing, fine art, you name it,” he says. “If you're a creative, we're there to disciple you, and mentor you, and encourage you to be salt and light in the mainstream.” 

Pelsue joins “The Daily Signal Podcast” to discuss why conservatives and Christians should engage in the arts. He also explains how the political left uses movies and television to promote their ideology, and challenges conservatives to consider how they can be a positive influence within the entertainment industry. 

We also cover these stories:

• At least two suicide bomb attacks outside the Kabul airport in Afghanistan kill 13 U.S. service members and at least 60 Afghans.
• Republicans criticize the Biden administration in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks in Kabul.
• Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker, a Democrat, announces a new indoor mask mandate, as well as mandatory COVID-19 vaccinations for K-12 teachers and staff, college professors and staff, college students, and health care workers.

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Andrew Cuomo left the New York governor's mansion in disgrace this week after multiple controversies, including his poor handling of the COVID-19 pandemic as well as credible allegations that he sexually harassed 11 female state employees.

Cuomo, who was in his third term, resigned before facing near-certain impeachment in the New York State Assembly and a likely humiliating removal after a trial held by members of the state Senate and judiciary.

However, throughout U.S. history, other governors chose to stay and fight—sometimes with success, such as the legendary Louisiana Gov. Huey Long, and sometimes not, such as Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich.

The first governors of Nebraska and Kansas both were impeached. In the 1920s, Oklahoma saw two governors impeached and removed. In Cuomo's state of New York, one governor has been impeached and ousted from office: William Sulzer in 1913.

On today's episode of "The Daily Signal Podcast," Fred Lucas and Jarrett Stepman talk about the nation's 15 impeached governors going back to the very first in 1862, when the country itself was at war.

We also cover these stories:

• Efforts continue to ensure no Americans or local allies are left stranded in Afghanistan.
• A Supreme Court ruling reinstates tighter controls over immigration at the southern border.
• Delta Air Lines announces that it will charge unvaccinated employees an extra $200 per month for health insurance.

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President Joe Biden is moving ahead with plans to evacuate all U.S. citizens and troops from Afghanistan by Aug. 31, providing the Taliban do not interfere with the evacuation. But Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, a combat veteran, says she does not see how it’s possible to meet that deadline. 

The notion that Americans and our Afghan partners can be evacuated by the end of the month “is a fantasyland that has been developed by President Biden, by the administration,” Ernst says. “I don't see how we have everyone out by Aug. 31 and honor those commitments we've made to our own citizens and our Afghan partners.”

Ernst served in the military for more than 23 years. In 2003, she was a company commander in Kuwait and Iraq, and led 150 Iowa Army National Guardsmen during Operation Iraqi Freedom. Ernst was the first female combat veteran to be elected to the Senate. 

The current situation in Afghanistan is an “international embarrassment” that puts both “Americans and our allies in harm's way,” the Iowa senator says.

Ernst joins “The Daily Signal Podcast” to explain what the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan could mean for America, and what the Biden administration needs to do to prevent further disaster. 

We also cover these stories: 

• Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., calls on the Biden administration to rethink its original Aug. 31 deadline for U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan.
• Vice President Kamala Harris rebukes China for its "coercion" and "intimidation" in the South China Sea. 
• The University of Notre Dame leprechaun mascot comes under fire for supposedly being "offensive.” 
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The House Rules Committee voted Monday on rules governing debate on election legislation known as HR 4, the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act. The controversial bill now goes to the House for a vote. 

After Democrats failed to pass HR 1, a partisan piece of election law, they crafted HR 4, which Heritage Foundation senior legal fellow Hans von Spakovsky says is a danger to states' election rights. (The Daily Signal is the news outlet of The Heritage Foundation.)

HR 4 “gives federal bureaucrats control over all these state [election] rules all over the country,” says von Spakovsky, a former member of the Federal Election Commission. “It is an unbelievable invasion of state sovereignty.” 

The bill is likely to pass along party lines in the House, but faces a battle in the evenly divided Senate, he says. 

Von Spakovsky joins “The Daily Signal Podcast” to explain why the left is advocating for federal control of elections, and how HR 4 would affect the nation if it were to become law. 

We also cover these stories:

• The Food and Drug Administration formally approves the Pfizer coronavirus vaccine.
• The Pentagon plans to mandate that all U.S. military personnel be vaccinated.
• Monday was Andrew Cuomo's last day serving as governor of New York.

Enjoy the show!

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