Allen Jackson NOW

Allen Jackson: Well, good evening and welcome to Nashville. I'm Alan Jackson. There's a growing concern about the use of political intimidation in America. Michigan Democrat Senator Elissa Slotkin, well, she's now facing an ethics complaint following remarks at a University of Chicago. She expressed her desire to send what she called a deterrence message to young Americans considering even entry-level jobs in the Trump administration, warning that doing so could bring serious problems down on the road for their political careers and future. Slotkin is suggesting that Americans should think twice about serving a duly elected president because of the consequences they might face.

Meanwhile, there's a power struggle developing inside the Democratic Party, and this one it could have enormous consequences for the next Congress if Democrats take control. There is a growing faction of Democratic socialists preparing to challenge the party's establishment, including House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries. Several socialist back congressional candidates have refused to commit to supporting Jeffries for speaker. They're positioning themselves to demand policy concessions if Democrats regain the House. They're discussing demands for influential committee assignments, changes to House rules, and votes on their legislative priorities, including Medicare for all, wealth taxes, abolishing ICE, and the stoppage of military assistance to Israel.

And the pressure on Jeffries, well, it's becoming increasingly public. An article in the DSA's own magazine carried the provocative headline, Socialist in Congress should hold the speakership hostage. Think about the implications. If Democrats win control of Congress, a handful of socialist back lawmakers could have significant influence over what legislation reaches the House floor. Socialism's not just rising in America, folks. It's already here. The Democratic Socialists of America is the largest socialist organization in US history. Shouldn't come as a complete surprise. There have been some foreshadowing of this for quite a while. In the last two presidential election cycles, Bernie Sanders would probably have won the Democratic nomination if it hadn't been for manipulation within his own party.

I think what we're watching now is that the trend is moving to a whole new level. While Democratic leaders and mainstream media are trying to soften the language, the party's activist base is moving towards something even more radical. They describe America as oppressive. Capitalism is treated as exploitation. Borders are called violent. Israel is cast as an apartheid power. Ocasio-Cortez of New York, well, she'll become one of the youngest members of Congress, even though she organized pro-Palestinian rallies the day after Hamas's terror attacks on innocent Israelis in October the 7th of 2023. In tweets between 2020 and 2022, she called for abolishing all police and prisons and abolishing borders and all deportations.

When given the opportunity to walk back past social media post, she doubled down by saying she continues to believe that all forms of deportation should be banned, including violent illegal individuals convicted of serious crimes like murder. New York State Assemblywoman Claire Valdez, well, she's called Israel's military action in Gaza a genocide and called for the US to withhold funding to Israel. Valdez has also called for the abolishment of ICE, which she described as a fascist agency and accused them of terrorizing the community and kidnapping people. I mentioned these two because they're part of the group of Democratic Socialists who plan on using their leverage on Hakeem Jeffries to force their policy positions onto the House floor.

Well, here's a reminder. According to the DSA platform, capitalism is a system designed by the owning class to exploit the rest of us for their own profit. Socialism is being presented as compassionate, inclusive, and morally superior to capitalism. But you can't define the needs of your life based on a comparison to someone else. If I look at someone else and what they have and I want what they have, I want their schedule or I want the car they drive, whatever it may be, there's a biblical word for this. It's covet. And coveting is addressed in the Ten Commandments.

There's a biblical prohibition upon looking at others and thinking, I need that, and then being discontent because of it. There are no promises in scripture that tell us we should aspire to equal outcomes. The socialist agenda demands a position of respect that is not commensurate with the level of sacrifice. Socialism isn't a biblical concept. In fact, it's antithetical to scripture. Private property is a biblical idea. Limited government, that's a biblical idea, too. God is not in favor of an expanded government. When the Israelites wanted a king, God said, Please don't walk that path. Go tell them the things that will happen if they expand the government's role in their lives.

Socialism's been on display now for more than a hundred years. It always yields into a heavily authoritarian environment. History shows us socialist movements are rarely about helping the poor. They are about seizing power. Misery and tyranny, they soon follow. So while we hear these platitudes that socialist candidates are presenting that you won't have to pay any bills and you won't have to work as hard, just remember, it does not work. I don't believe God is a socialist, but I also don't believe God is a capitalist. He's not confused, folks. God is sovereign overall. We've got to have more boldness.

It starts at our kitchen tables. While we still have the freedom to do so, let's go out and participate in the election process with your vote. It will make a difference. Well, in a moment, we're going to be joined by the political director in the Reagan White House, Jeffrey Lord. We write back after this short break.

Allen Jackson: It's Christmas time. It's one of my favorite seasons of the year. And the highlight for me, more than all my favorite recipes, is the opportunity to get together with friends and family. We have gatherings in this season that sometimes are only about this season. We want to lead with our faith. So we've got a tool to help you do that. They're conversation cards, but it's a holiday edition. So when you're with your family around Christmas or a holiday table, to deck a cards with some questions, we want to bring faith to bear in the midst of your holiday gatherings.

Don't just enjoy your favorite friends, your favorite foods. Don't just enjoy packages or your favorite holiday traditions. Let's bring our faith to bear in this holiday season. We don't want this season to come and go without Jesus living in the midst of the gatherings we have with friends and family. I'm excited about what God's doing in the earth, and I think these simple little conversation cards will help you and I join God as he's moving in the earth this holiday season.

Allen Jackson: Well, tonight we're joined by the political director in the Reagan White House, Jeffrey Lord. Welcome to the show, Jeffrey.

Jeffrey Lord: Good to be here. Good to be here this few days before an election.

Allen Jackson: We are in the final days of this midterm election, and it seems that leadership in both the House and the Senate is up in the air. There have been two things surprising to me in this election cycle. One has been the the powerful rapid growth of the DSA. And right alongside with that is the increase in antisemitism. You know, Hakeem Jeffries's approach has been a big tent. How's this going to play out for them?

Jeffrey Lord: Yeah, not well. I and I you're right. I mean, these things those those two things in particular are I think a real problem for the country at large. No matter what happens in this election, we can't go down the road here where antisemitism becomes the sort of method of choice of one of the main two political parties here. I mean, that is just that is that is very very bad news. And I don't I don't think that I I mean, I think there are going to be a lot of people or some people at least in the Democratic Party that are going to try it.

Hopefully, they will not be successful because Republicans certainly will stand up against it.

Allen Jackson: You know, the Democratic Socialist, they're saying the quiet things out loud. They're not hiding what they believe anymore. Their co-chair recently sat down with Shannon Bream and gave some very direct answers to some questions. Watch what she had to say.

Shannon Bream: So we're going to put up on the screen a few of the things that are part of your platform. And I want to ask you just give me sort of a true false on these. Abolish the Senate.

Guest (Female): True.

Shannon Bream: Okay. Replace the presidency and Supreme Court as we now know them.

Guest (Female): Yep.

Shannon Bream: Abolish ICE.

Guest (Female): Absolutely.

Shannon Bream: Abolish borders and give amnesty to anyone currently in the US illegally.

Guest (Female): As a long-term plan, yep.

Shannon Bream: Defund the Pentagon.

Guest (Female): Absolutely.

Shannon Bream: Abolish prisons at least in large part.

Guest (Female): Yeah, again, that as part of a long-term program, yeah.

Shannon Bream: Okay, so no prisons. Government or public ownership of most large corporations.

Guest (Female): Yeah, absolutely.

Allen Jackson: Yeah, I think it's safe to say we're going to have members of Congress that embrace that platform. How do we respond?

Jeffrey Lord: What what we're seeing there it it needs to be called for what it is. That that is a proposal for a communist dictatorship. We've seen this kind of thing with socialism and various countries around the world in our lifetimes. And the the end result is never good. And yet here we have you know, another generation coming along thinking that this is a smart thing to do. And we've got to apparently go through this battle all over again. When you think in our lifetime, the big battle in the Cold War, you know, President Reagan, you know, you can't see it.

But over here on my wall, I have a literal piece of the Berlin Wall from my Reagan days. Mr. Gorbachev tore down this wall. And the wall was built in the first place by communists to keep free markets and free people out and enclosed and all of that kind of thing. So we can't you know, the idea that we're going to go backwards and go through all of this again is just crazy.

Allen Jackson: It it it seems impossible to be honest. Long gone are the days of JFK who famously said, Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country. Today's Democrats seem to have turned to a completely different tactic. They're trying to bully and intimidate their opposition. Senator Elissa Slotkin recently urged Dems to use prosecution to make young people afraid of serving in this current administration. How do we respond to these kind of bizarre attitudes?

Jeffrey Lord: Yeah, I I mean, we have to address this stuff to take it full on and and confront it. You know, and I and I myself have written about this with I mean, I'm old enough to have remembered JFK's inauguration. I was a kid. And it was, boy, I vividly in my memory. We lived in my I lived with my parents in Massachusetts at the time, JFK's home state. And it snowed for the inauguration. And there he was coatless with just a suit coat on. You know, and so my fellow Americans ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country.

And wow, it became quite the thing. This then there was the establishment of the Peace Corps and all of that kind of thing. Well, suddenly now we're the Democrats seem to have just gone completely off the rails with this kind of thing. And it's not good. And they want to they want to prosecute people who disagree with them and and discourage them from getting into government unless they're willing to prosecute people. This is not good at all, and it's got to be stopped.

Allen Jackson: Well, you know, I think you and I would both agree that the only people that should have the right to vote in our elections are American citizens.

Jeffrey Lord: I think yes.

Allen Jackson: Yeah, we have federal judges that are trying to block Trump in seeing that that very thing is what happens. Do you think we'll ever come back to a day where we feel like our elections have integrity?

Jeffrey Lord: Well, you know, one of the things I've sort of figured out as I've gotten older is that things change and then they can repeat and then they change again and then they can repeat and all of that kind of thing. And it it's frustrating because you'd like to think that when we 've learned something, we we sort of accept that as the norm and move on. You know, nobody says after the invention of the car that we need to go back to horses. You know, you you you keep moving forward. And I think that that sometimes is a problem for some people.

And they've got their own special interest. And the thing that particularly concerns me is using the legal system to go after your political opponents. And that I think is becoming a real problem. And it's not a good one.

Allen Jackson: Well, but you know, it's a challenging issue because when that prohibition was in place and for most of my life, that was kind of a standing idea. But now we have politicians who blatantly break the law without apology or shame and their political party doesn't hold them accountable. You know, when we didn't use that system, it's because there was an accountability within the system, Richard Nixon being a primary example. So how do we resolve this? We're in a different place.

Jeffrey Lord: Yeah, well, I think that the the the only way to resolve it is enough people getting burned by this to build up the political pressure to to change it, to you know, to to to get to a a normal situation again. I I I I just don't see any other way to do that. I mean, our our system of government relies on popular support or whatever is at hand. And if that support is there is not there, then something doesn't happen. And so it will change when there is enough popular support to do X, fill in the blank.

And until that happens, don't expect much.

Allen Jackson: All right. Well, Jeffrey, we need to take a short break. Can you stand by for another segment?

Jeffrey Lord: Sure.

Allen Jackson: For those of you watching, log on to ajnow.com. Send us an email. I'd love to hear your thoughts on this topic. I 'll be right back. Hey, I've learned as a pastor, there's a tremendous difference in a crowd and a community of faith. When people decide to step out of the crowd and invest their time and their resources, they become a part of a community and it changes their lives. Well, I want to give you that invitation. I'm grateful you're a part of the crowd who watch the ministry. I want to ask you to consider becoming a monthly ministry partner.

I believe if you'll make that regular commitment to what God is doing through this ministry, it'll bring momentum to your spiritual life and it will help us reach more people than we've ever reached with the gospel before. Truth matters. You know, I'm not talking about your truth or my truth, but the truth. Well, on Alan Jackson now, I talk with top voices and insiders about what's happening today.

Allen Jackson: Because it's easy to look away from evil. And when you do that, it gets worse and worse and worse.

Allen Jackson: Including the economy.

Guest (Male): I expect a very strong year in 2026.

Allen Jackson: Conflicts in the Middle East.

Guest (Male): And if there's something that is evil and you're silent and you don't speak out against it, you're agreeing with it.

Allen Jackson: Energy, political unrest.

Guest (Male): They're trying to thwart the law to benefit them politically.

Allen Jackson: You'll be surprised at how much isn't covered by the legacy media. Well, our goal is to equip you to help find a trustworthy perspective on what's happening around us. So when you have conversations throughout your day, you can bring the truth you learn into those places. It's time to be salt and light. Our nation needs it. Now we're back now with the contributing editor for the American Spectator, Jeffrey Lord. Jeffrey, in Alaska, there's a ballot scandal that has risen to light, startling with maybe the help of the New York Times. But incumbent Senator Dan Sullivan is facing off against Democratic candidate Mary Peltola.

And it's being reported that Democratic operatives recruited somebody with the same name as the incumbent and got them on the ballot. This is a mess. This seems to be more than just politics as usual.

Jeffrey Lord: This this sounds to me like American politics in the machine age of, you know, I don't know, the 1920s or something like this, playing around with the with the system. You know, it's it's it's never good. I think the one thing that we have going for us and for most normal people is that this this stuff is going to get publicized and there's going to be a lot of bad publicity swirling around all the people who do this. And I think, you know, at at the end of the day, it's not going to survive and and we'll we'll get on with you know, normalcy.

What was the the slogan back in 1920 was a return to normalcy? That was all about following World War I. And I think that perhaps we may be seeing a bit of a demand for that now as well.

Allen Jackson: That would be refreshing. You are a political strategist with more than a year or two's experience. If you're going to provide counsel to the Republican candidates and even to the Republican voters that are trying to make decisions right now, what would you say to them?

Jeffrey Lord: Message. Stay on message. Get your message together and stay on it. And you know, the Republican message, this is a political party that has made free markets and capitalism. It's it's touchdown. It's go-to. It's not build bigger government. It it is about free markets. So I think that the Republican Party needs to stay focused on that and and keep building out from there.

Allen Jackson: Very good.

Jeffrey Lord: Well, the answer, you know, one of the one of the things that when I and I I no longer live in Washington, but I lived there for a long time. And one of the things I learned I learned is that what happens is a member of Congress gets up on the floor, you know, if his kid has awakened in the morning with a cold, the member of Congress goes to the House floor and introduces a bill to to build a government bureaucracy that the kids the the kids with runny nose department. And then they pass it because who wants to be against kids helping kids with runny nose?

So they pass it. They build a ten-story building in downtown Washington. They fill it with unionized bureaucrats. And off we go and they're looking for another problem. So we do need to get out of that that have it.

Allen Jackson: And then the common cold persists.

Jeffrey Lord: Yes.

Allen Jackson: Polling continues to be somewhat of an elusive predictor of what to expect on election night. And then we add in the admitted fraud from prominent pollsters. Should we have any reliance on polls at this point?

Jeffrey Lord: You know, I must say I'm somewhat amazed at the corruption that has been involved with some of these polls. And they're just not they're just not right. And you know, I think back long before we were around in 1948 and Thomas E. Dewey, the Republican nominee for president running against President Harry Truman. And Dewey was supposed to be such a a sure thing that I think one paper jumped the gun and ran a headline, Dewey wins. And then they find out in the morning, uh-oh, this was not so. And I think that sometimes we edge close to that kind of nonsense.

And you know, you've got to you've got to be accurate in what you've got here. And if we've got pollsters out there who are just grinding things out just to get them out and they're not accurate, then we do have a problem on our hands.

Allen Jackson: You know, I'm old enough. I was young, but I remember some of the bitter political battles between like Nixon and Hubert Humphrey. They were bitter political rivals, but they also held a kind of a respect for one another. They brought some boundaries to the engagement. Do you think that we'll come back to a place where we have a worldview that lets us bitterly disagree, but still agree we want the best for our country?

Jeffrey Lord: Yeah, I think so over time. You know, and it's interesting you mentioned Nixon. When I was in the Reagan White House political office, Richard Nixon came to Washington for the funeral of Arthur Burns, who'd been his chairman of the Federal Reserve. And for whatever reason, he decided to this was in 1986, I guess it was. It was in the middle of the Iran Contra affair. And he called over to the White House and asked to meet with Reagan's White House political office. So of course, there were about five of us. We said, you know, yes, absolutely.

So we went to a hotel about a block from the White House and walked into the down the hall and you know, this figure comes out from down in front of us, hands behind his back, shoulders hunched, and he walks ahead of us into this room. And then we walk in and he turns around and puts his hand out and says, You didn't all go to Harvard, did you? And of course, the funny thing was the only person gone to Harvard was somebody who was there working for him. But we got to listen to him.

It was quite fascinating. I mean, all of his years of experience. And he talked about debates and and you know, his debate with JFK and all the different things. And you know, there's much to learn from some of these people. But we need to stay focused on what our objectives are. And having a a a a good working political system should be part of that.

Allen Jackson: Well, Jeffrey, I thank you for your time today. Your experience brings an insight to the benefit to all of us.

Jeffrey Lord: That's how I got the gray hair.

Allen Jackson: We'll be back in just a moment. I want to give you a personal invitation to join my podcast Culture and Christianity.

Guest (Female): You don't compromise the truth, but you say it where the people know that you care about them.

Allen Jackson: We're trying to understand how to take our faith outside the walls of the church and live it out in the marketplace.

Guest (Female): I just never understood the double standard because they punished me while my peers were allowed to talk about how devastated they were that Roe v. Wade was overturned.

Allen Jackson: I brought in some friends, people that are trying to do this on a regular basis.

Guest (Female): They're never going to stop me because the truth is the truth. I'd rather be on God's side than to be a coward.

Allen Jackson: And we've been living in a season of unprecedented deception, propaganda, manipulation.

Shannon Bream: Our best option was to run. We were timing ourselves. I was trying to think how how can I protect my kids?

Allen Jackson: Well, I want to be a part of seeing Culture and Christianity intersect. I hope you'll join the podcast soon. Thank you for spending a few moments of your day with us. We always look forward to your emails. DJ Mason from Charlotte, North Carolina wrote, The northern border needs to be closed and President Trump needs to put his foot down with China so Americans aren't killed anymore. Each of us as Christians need to stand up and not allow all that's going on in our country. We need the backbones like the church in the Book of Acts.

Well, I think it's pretty good take you've got. I agree all of our borders need to be secured. There is no nation that will survive with open borders. I hope we've learned that lesson and it's reflected in the elections next week. As far as having the backbone to stand up, I agree, but I think it has to start at our kitchen tables. We'll have the courage to bring biblical truth to our homes and our families. It can grow from there. Folks, God's moving in the earth. Let's be certain we join him. God bless you. Good night.