Why Can’t A Democrat House Condemn Anti-Semitism?: Join us as we talk about the Democratic resolution in the House that was supposed to be calling out anti-semitism. Was it too watered down to do any good? Was hate addressed on all levels? What about Christians being left out? Tune in now to find out more!

Air Date: 03/26/2019

Guest: Rob Schwarzwalder

On-air Personalities: David Barton, Rick Green, and Tim Barton

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Transcription note:  As a courtesy for our listeners’ enjoyment, we are providing a transcription of this podcast. Transcription will be released shortly. However, as this is transcribed from a live talk show, words and sentence structure were not altered to fit grammatical, written norms in order to preserve the integrity of the actual dialogue between the speakers. Additionally, names may be misspelled or we might use an asterisk to indicate a missing word because of the difficulty in understanding the speaker at times. We apologize in advance.

Faith And The Culture

Rick:

Welcome to the intersection of faith and the culture. This is WallBuilders Live! Where we”€™re talking about today”€™s hottest topics on policy, faith, and the culture. Always from a biblical, historical, and constitutional perspective.

We’re here with David Barton, America’s premier historian and our founder at WallBuilders. Tim Barton is with us, national speaker and pastor and President of WallBuilders. And my name is Rick Green. I’m a former Texas legislator.

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David, Tim, later in the program, Rob Schwarzwalder will be with us to talk about what’s happening with the whole Democrat resolution in the House that was supposed to be calling out the Muslim congresswoman that’s been making all the anti-semitic remarks. But they watered it down to the point that it really didn’t say much.

I Guess It”€™s Still Okay To Hate Christians

David:

Yeah, it did not say much. And it, instead of being a denunciation of anti-Semitism, it was a denunciation of hate of any kind. Which is kind of like almost hate of no kind. It’s so watered down you didn’t target anything that you’re really against. You threw everything in. Well, I guess it didn’t throw Christians in there. I guess it”€™s still okay to hate Christians.

Tim:

I did not read all of their denunciations, but it would seem if there is one group that was left out it might have been the Christians. Although it might be so watered down that that was acceptable to them as well. So, we might have been included in that one that it’s okay, in this situation, to allow Christians to say, “€œYou can be part of the inclusion of who we no longer allow people to target.”€

But you’re right – they they made this so benign that, hey, if you are in favor of hurting puppies we oppose you. It’s like–

Rick:

Right. Right. right.

Tim:

We weren’t– nobody is talking about hurting puppies. What are you talking about? But kind of in an effort to defend a couple of their congressmen and congresswomen, so instead of targeting the people that are actually having bad behavior they said, “€œLet’s just target generic, all bad behavior, that even hypothetically could have happened even though that’s not the issue right now. We’re going to focus on that as well.”€

And therefore it waters down and really gives some insulation to protect their people from being exposed. Even though there are are frustrations on all sides because of these comments both from conservatives and liberals, from Democrats, Republicans. And then when Democrat Party came out and did this blanket apology, then there were people that were offended they apologized because they said, “€œWhoa, no, no, no. We should be attacking the Jews. They’re a terrible people. Don’t back up and apologize for it.”€

So, it really has kind of exposed some of the positions that some of these liberals have had. And how it’s even been tolerated and accepted and how they were even elected to support those positions by some of their constituents.

This Is A Bad Sign

David:

Yeah it is. It has become a very, very- how do you want to say this– a very evident strong group in Congress that is pretty strongly anti-Israel. They’re not in favor. We pointed out even with the government shutdown that happened a few months ago with Trump, that the way the Democrats in the Senate tried to get Trump to back down was they said, “€œWell, we’re just not going to fund this Israeli stuff.”€ They were willing to throw Israel under the bench as a bargaining chip to get Trump to back off the wall.

So, when Israel becomes a bargaining chip between the two political parties rather than both parties being behind Israel, that’s a bad sign. Now that’s that’s not a good sign. And then when you can come out and make that kind of a comment that was made, and there were actually several anti-Israel comments that were made, and those that support Israel have divided loyalties, and etc.

So, when those kind of comments came out, rather than just slapping them and saying, “€œHey, that’s not acceptable.”€ They said, “€œOkay, wait a minute, people don’t think that’s acceptable. We”€™ll have to figure out a way to defend this within our party. So, what let’s do, let’s just condemn everything. We”€™ll just throw–“€ So, they can’t even single anti-Semitism out as being an issue. And, of course, in FBI stats, we looked at this last year, FBI stats, the greatest single increase in hate crimes in America are against Jews. Almost doubled as I recall last year FBI stats.

So, that’s where the really the ire is really raising. We had last year sixteen hundred college campuses that held anti-Israel events. So, we’re really teaching the next generation how to be anti-Israel. And now the House has an opportunity to stand up, and denounce this growing form of hate, and they won’t do it.

Political Magician

Rick:

Well, and in fact, guys, not only did they they not single out what this is really all about. They worded this thing such that the Muslim members of Congress were able to hold a hold a press conference talking about it being an anti-Muslim discrimination resolution.

Think about that. They completely flipped it to the point that instead of representative Omar being called out on what she had done, she’s able hold a press conference saying, “€œHey this–“€ They actually said, “€œThis is a historic day. It’s historic on many fronts. It’s the first time we voted on a resolution condemning anti-Muslim bigotry in our nation’s history.”€ And then they talk about anti-Muslim crime.

So, how do you go from the purpose of the resolution was to say representing Omar should not have made anti-Semitic remarks, to represent Omar is able to hold up the resolution as a victory. It”€™s just crazy.

Tim:

Well, and especially when you have a short term memory and when the media controls the headlines–

Rick:

Yeah.

Tim:

–and they can distract you from what happened and what the whole point of the scenario was, it’s like bringing the magician to the birthday party. Where, let’s just entertain you for a little bit and you’ll forget what I showed you a second ago. Watch this new trick right here. And one of the reasons that Americans are so frustrated with politics is because they do recognize how much political posturing, how many political games, there are. How much political magicry, as I’m making up words, right.

But this kind of political magician of, “€œDon’t watch my left hand, watch my right hand. Forget what you just saw me do over here.”€ It really is this illusion that we’re going to come out and instead of condemning something that should be condemned, we’re going to come out and praise the person that did something that should have been condemned. And we”€™ll praise them for doing something that– noting what we’re going to stop this Muslim bigotry in America. That’s not the issue at that we’re dealing with right now, right? Like, if that happens, we’ll stand up with everybody and say, “€œHey, we don’t believe–“€

Rick:

Exactly.

Sharia And The Constitution

Tim:

–“€that we are targeting people and we should be taking away their their constitutional rights because of a set of beliefs.”€ Now, if we talk about Sharia, that’s probably a little bit different because Sharia opposes the Constitution and the Constitution is going to be above Sharia. Nonetheless, it definitely was a misdirect and the American people certainly hopefully were not fooled by this. But certainly the left, the Democrats, the media, has tried to change the narrative from what it was.

Rick:

Well, our friend, Rob Schwarzwalder, we’ve had him on the program multiple times in the past. We”€™ll have a link to his article today. It’s called Why the Democrats Can’t Just Condemn Anti-Semitism. He’s going to be with us when we come back from the break to tell us about the article and why this is such an issue. Stay with us, folks. You’re listening to WallBuilders Live.

Pastors Only Briefing Trip

Tim:

Hi, this is Tim Barton with WallBuilders and I want to encourage all the pastors out there with a unique opportunity that we’re presenting it WallBuilders. We’re doing a special tour just for pastors that you can come and learn more about the spiritual heritage of our nation. Not just seeing the sights but understanding the significance of what they are and what they represent.

We get to go to the Capitol at night.  And we get to see the spiritual heritage of our Founding Fathers, of who we are as a nation, where we came from. We bring in congressman that will tell you about current legislation, about our religious liberties  and freedom, and what’s going on in Washington, D.C.

If you’re a pastor or if you want to recommend your pastor for this trip, you can go to our website at www.WallBuilders.com. And there’s a link that’s for scheduling.  If you click on that link there’s a section for pastor”€™s briefing. There’s more information about the dates, when it’s going, and how it’s going to happen. If you want to know more about our nation, our religious liberties, our freedom, our spiritual heritage, this is a trip you want to be a part of.

Why Democrats Can’t Just Condemn Anti-Semitism

Rick:

Welcome back. Thanks for staying with us here on WallBuilders Live. Rob Schwarzwalder is back with us. It’s been way too long, Rob. Good to have you back, brother.

Rob Schwarzwalder:

Thank you. I really appreciate it, Rick. It’s a joy.

Rick:

Hey, great article about Why Democrats Can’t Just Condemn Anti-Semitism. Just dive right in, man. You went after them on this with good reason and you pointed out how this resolution they did in the House was just a lot of fluff, had so many different things thrown in there. Why can’t they just say anti-Semitism is bad?

Rob Schwarzwalder:

Well, it’s a great question. And I sort of, like many of us, scratch my head over this. The immediate context was Representative Ilhan Omar’s, yet again, anti-Semitic attack, comment. Many of her colleagues, chairmen of committees even, the chairman of the House Foreign Relations Committee Eliot Engle, was outraged, and others.

And I think the reason that they can’t just come out and say, “€œWe condemn anti-Semitism”€ is that the leadership is frightened of the pushback they’re going to get. That’s why they loaded this resolution up with everything that they could think of. Every kind of bigotry, every kind of  anti this, anti that. It was sort of like saying– I mean they might as well have said, “€œWe are really against not sending your mother a card on Mother’s Day.”€ It had basically that same effect.

Rick:

Right. Right.

Not Creating Rifts – Exposing Them

Rob Schwarzwalder:

And why they could not just come right out and say “€œanti-Semitism is wrong”€ is because they don’t have a united caucus on that very basic issue. There is a growing number of people in the Democratic Party who want to see a moral equivalence between Israel and the actions of the leadership of the so-called Palestinian State.

I think what we would affirm, and conservatives, and historically both parties– now, it seems now to be changing in the Democratic Party– is Israel has a right to exist, it has a right to exist as a Jewish State, and it has a right to be secure in its borders without being attacked, without terrorist missiles coming in from Gaza, whatever else. And the unwillingness of the Democrats simply to take that one strong stand is, I think, evidence as I mentioned in the article as one writer put it, it’s not creating rifts – it’s exposing rifts that have existed for a long time.

Rick:

So, you point to two things then. You’re saying one, it’s because they’re just all over the place. It”€™s the old “€œYou”€™ve got to stand for something or you’ll fall for everything if for anything. They don’t have anything they really stand for, so it’s hard for them to really come out strong on something.

But then you also do point out there’s a growing movement in their party that does want that moral equivalence with the Palestinian State.

Rob Schwarzwalder:

Right.

Rick:

But it sounds like that wouldn’t probably have the effect it’s having on them today if it wasn’t for just how there is kind of– it’s almost like Beto O’Rourke exemplifies this, right? It’s like no matter what somebody complains about he says, “€œOh, well, I can be that too.”€

They”€™ve Lost A Moral Center

Rob Schwarzwalder:

Yes.

Rick:

“€œI’m sorry offended– I didn’t– let me fix that. I can be all things to all people.”€ And if they weren’t like that, they could see the mor– have more moral clarity. And you point out, they used to. They would have taken a stand against this even five years ago.

Rob Schwarzwalder:

I think so. And it’s interesting you’d say that, Rick, because there was a skit on Saturday Night Live when Hillary Clinton was running for president a few years ago. The woman portraying her in the skit was talking to these imaginary people and someone asked her a question about whatever position it was. And she said, “€œWell, I haven’t really thought about that. Would you like me to? I can take a position on that.”€ And it was intended, it was really a pretty good jab–

Rick:

Yeah.

Rob Schwarzwalder:

On Hillary accommodating herself to whatever cultural or political winds that are blowing. I think that’s broadly true of the Democratic Party. They have lost a moral center. If you divorce yourself– and I know that you and David have written and spoken on this for so many years– If you lose a basic sense not just of what is “€œinappropriate”€, but of right and wrong, good and evil, grounded in the revelation not only that we have in the Bible, but what the Founders, of course, called in the Declaration “€œthe laws of nature and of Nature’s God”€, then you’re pretty much opening the Pandora’s box.

So, there is no ultimate basis on which they can decry evil and uphold the good. Everything is malleable, everything is shiftable, everything can be accommodated.

No. Israel Is Not Palestine

Rob Schwarzwalder:

Now, they’ve got a party with people as diverse as someone like Congressman Lipinski from northern Illinois, one of the last remaining pro-life Democrats, strong supporter Israel. Of course, he takes political positions that you and I would find extreme on the left hand side, but he’s still a pro-life, pro-Israel, Democrat. And then immediately to the north of him in Michigan you have someone like * who is herself a Palestinian American. Of course, everyone should be welcome in Congress whatever their ethnic, racial, religious, heritage. But she immediately upon becoming a member of Congress put up a map, apparently, of Israel in her office, stuck a yellow sticky note on it with the word Palestine. No.

Rick:

Wow.

Rob Schwarzwalder:

Israel is not Palestine. Israel is Israel. Are there Arabs who live in what historically was Palestine? Yeah, absolutely. But there is no such thing as a Palestinian people as a distinct ethnic entity. Moreover, Israel occupies only 8 percent of the ground in the Middle East.

Now, I know I’m getting into Israel American politics here. The larger issue to bring it back to what your original question was is this – Can we as a country still affirm that Israel has a sacred right to live in the land that it now is in and that it can be identified as a Jewish state? If we cannot make those basic declarations, then I think we’re in real trouble.

And final thing on this, I think this is something that we would agree about, one of the reasons that God has blessed America is that America has blessed Israel. And personally, I fear that if we begin to withdraw our support for the state of Israel and for the Jewish people there, I don’t think the Lord will be pleased with that. Now, I’m not going to make a big public argument about that. But among Christians I think that’s something we should be aware of.

What About The Republican Party?

Rick:

Yeah, no doubt about it. And let me ask you this – as you analyze the Democrat Party’s kind of being for anything and everything which opens up the door to be for evil and against good, what about the Republican Party? How do you think we’re doing on that side of the equation with regard to supporting Israel and taking a stand against this kind of anti-Semitic remarks?

Rob Schwarzwalder:

Yeah, I think it’s a lot better. I think that there is still a consistency within the Republican Party concerning Israel. But I was troubled that only 23 Republicans voted against this resolution, this kitchen sink, “€œwe”€™re against everything and for nothing”€ resolution.

Now, I realize, having been a senior staffer in Congress for years and so forth, I understand the politics. They didn’t want– those who voted for it didn’t want to be accused of being, “€œWell, you didn’t vote in support of Israel in this resolution. You didn’t condemn bigotry and hatred against Muslims.”€, all of that.

But I think there should have been, frankly, a united front where Republicans stood up and said, “€œOf course we are against all manner of evil, and true bigotry, and hatred. We oppose that. Those things are not the issue right now.”€

We’re not talking about America’s military campaign in Vietnam and any injustices committed there, we’re not talking about Vladimir Putin’s suppression of his people, we’re not talking about China’s attack on Christians that’s widespread and extensive, we’re not talking about racial bigotry or any of these things. Those issues are all important.

The issue of the moment was you have a sitting member of Congress who is making overtly anti-Semitic statements and they are basically excusing her saying, “€œOh, well she didn’t understand what she meant.”€ She is using words and phrases that have an obvious connotation of hostility to the Jewish people. If we’re at a point where one of America’s major parties can’t say to the American people that specific thing is wrong then I think it’s pretty evident that one of the parties, namely the Republicans, better grab the moral compass and hold it tight.

A Missed Opportunity

Rob Schwarzwalder:

And, frankly, I think that we lost some ground in not saying, “€œThis is not good enough.”€

Rick:

Yeah.

Rob Schwarzwalder:

We cannot just accept this kitchen sink statement. We are against anti-Semitism. Period.

Rick:

Yeah, we missed that we missed the opportunity to be very clear that they had watered it down to the point of hiding behind all of these other things. And, for a while there, it felt like to me, the last couple of years at least, especially with Trump’s positions and the things he’s done in the Middle East, that there was a voice of moral clarity with regard to, “€œHey–“€ for instance, for him to say, “€œWhy in the world would we fund what becomes terrorism.”€

Rob Schwarzwalder:

Yes.

Rick:

“€œWhy would we get all of these hundreds of millions of dollars to the Palestinian Authority to go out and pay terrorists to blow up Jews.”€ That’s just– it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to see that as wrong right.   

Rob Schwarzwalder:

Right.

Rick:

So, we’ve seen some good things, I think, on that front. But as a party as a whole, speaking from Congress, I agree. Missed opportunity big time there.

Rob Schwarzwalder:

Yes.

Taking Minor Steps Together

Rick:

Well, hopefully better moving forward though. We’ve got, unfortunately, I hate to say it this way, but we’re probably going to have more opportunities to do exactly that.

Rob Schwarzwalder:

Right. And I think the next time we need to be able to stand up and say, before the vote is taken– I called my representative who’s a Democrat and I think all of us need to take those kind of minor little steps because taken together as a whole, they make a big difference.

I would say too, Rick, you make this point and it’s worth saying, President Trump recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. That’s something that Congress passed and President Clinton affirmed 20 years ago, but nobody has had the courage to apply it. Finally he did. And you look at other things – the military support for Israel, the support for Israel’s security, that’s an impressive thing and I think we can be grateful for that.

I think the issue though is going forward, as you said, this seems to be a growing pattern and it’s increasingly more acceptable. We cannot abide that. So, I am glad to hear – I’ve read some news articles, perhaps you have to – apparently, there are people in Congresswoman Omar’s district who are thinking of running against her because they realize she’s an embarrassment.

I saw a recent poll that Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio Cortez, she is now viewed as the single politician who was most responsible for Amazon not coming to New York and her negatives are rising. I think as people maybe become more exposed to what these people really believe and want to do–

Rick:

Right.

Rob Schwarzwalder:

Maybe there is some growing sense of “€œWe can do better than this.”€ So let’s hope and pray to that end.

Rick:

Great article, Rob. I highly recommend you read the one on the false god education. He makes you stupid. Good stuff, man. Keep putting it out. Let’s get you back more often here on WallBuilders Live. We appreciate your time today.

Rob Schwarzwalder:

Thank you so much, Rick. It’s a pleasure.

Rick:

Stay with us, folks. We”€™ll be right back with David and Tim Barton.

This Precarious Moment Book

David:

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Moment From American History

This is Tim Barton with another moment from American history. The Second Amendment to the Constitution, which guarantees to every individual the right to keep and bear arms, has been targeted for years now by those who are determined to dismantle the individual right to self protection.

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He declared, “€œTo preserve liberty, it is essential that the whole body of the people always possess arms and be taught alike, especially when young, how to use them.”€

For more information about Richard Henry Lee and the history of the Second Amendment go to WallBuilders.com.

What Does It Say That They”€™re Not Willing?

Rick:

We’re back on WallBuilders Live. Thanks for staying with us and thanks for Rob Schwarzwalder for joining us as well. Be sure to check out his articles on stream.org. We”€™ll have a link today at WallBuildersLive.com to make that easy for you.

We’re back with David and Tim Barton. Guys, Rob was saying the same thing we were saying at the top of the program. It should be easy to do this, but what does it say about the Democrat Party that they’re not willing? And then I thought it was interesting to get his comments on how he thought the Republican Party was doing on this. Not good all the way across the board, right. The House and the Senate both missing opportunity here, but the President’s been strong on it at least.

David:

Yeah, the President has been strong on it. And the House does miss an opportunity. I also understand the politics and any of those Republicans that voted no on this resolution, their opponents will start tweeting that they do not oppose hate crimes, that they do not oppose bad things being said about whatever. So, even though they had the right motive, about the only way to get around that – not many members do it anymore – is you vote “€œno”€ and you instantly put out a piece to your entire district that says, “€œI voted “€˜no”€™ on this. And the reason I voted “€˜no”€™ on this is it did not condemn anti-Semitism nearly as strongly as it should.”€

It”€™s Ridiculous The Way It Goes

David:

And once you do that, if you can get the vote out there and then follow it up with a quick complete district wide blast of some kind, then you have a chance of being able to survive. But they are so afraid now of the way that polarization occurs, and the way they take sound bites and little pieces, they will turn these guys into voting against their grandmothers and voting to kill their daughters. It’s just ridiculous the way it goes. So, I understand it, but it should have been much stronger – no question.

But three things Rob said that really struck me was, first is, this resolution against anti-Semitism is not creating a rift, it’s exposing a rift. I thought, “€œThat’s exactly right.”€ This did not create a rift among Democrats, it exposed a rift that”€™s there.

Second thing he said is Democrat leadership is frightened of being found condemning anti-Semitism. That is they’re frightened to be pro-Israel, and pro Jewish, because they don’t have a united caucus. Which tells you that within their own group they have a really strong contingency that is against Israel, that is against Jews in general. Which, that’s not a healthy thing.

And the third thing is he made this comment, he said, “€œDemocrats have lost a moral center.”€ I don’t know why Rob would think they’ve lost a moral center. Would he think that because they support infanticide – including killing kids that survive birth and abortions? Or maybe it’s because they define marriage in a way that no country has ever defined it in previous history? Or maybe it”€™s because they think we should have completely open borders and no private property?

I don’t know why he thinks they have lost a moral center. Yeah right. There’s so many things to point to, but I thought he really nailed it in so many areas in the time we had with him.

Why Can’t A Democrat House Condemn Anti-Semitism?

Rick:

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