Brain Trust: Matt Barber, Liberty Counsel

Matt Barber is Director of Cultural Affairs with Liberty Counsel and Associate Dean of Liberty University School of Law.  


Tell me about your recent column on mainstreaming radical Islam.

We've heard a lot in recent days about the Muslim brotherhood and their stated mission to destroy America from within.

More shocking than that is the Left fawning and drooling all over the Muslim brotherhood in the last few weeks and holding them out as some kind of examples of democracy.

Today's "useful idiots" in America are the Left, including the mainstream media.
If our nation is ever to be destroyed, it won't be from outside, but from the inside.

Do you think it's an honest position they're taking?

They have a disdain for their country best-case, or worst-case a dislike for their country.

You have to wonder what's going on here. I think it's spiritual.

I think they have a shared enemy that is truth. And a nation that was founded on Christian truth isn't  something they want.

Their goal is to wipe out America as it currently is, built on Christian principles.

Did Obama really shift his stance on gay marriage?

No. He didn't really.

He took the politically expedient stance during his election, and now he's finally showing his true colors.

Could it be that the ground is shifting on homosexual marriage?

I think it's a little bit of both. Politically, the issue is the Independents, and right now they're split right down the middle. President Obama sees that it's now or never to get it done.

What's your opinion about inviting Muslims into conduct their own worship services in churches?

That goes again to that "useful idiots" mentality. The Quran says they have to execute, enslave, or convert us.

And we say, "Sure, c'mon in, share the donuts and coffee and have your service before ours, just don't behead us on your way out the door."

Christ said, "I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through me."

The Muslim religion is Satanic. Anything that is not of Christ is of is the enemy.
When you invite them to worship in your church, you're really rebelling against the very God you purport to represent.

Brain Trust - David Christensen, Family Research Council

David Christensen:  Family Research Council, Senior Director of Congressional Affairs

What is Obama doing about the Planned Parenthood scandal?

Frankly, I'm not sure what the Obama administration is doing. The House Republicans led the effort to defund Planned Parenthood last week. The House passed an amendment to prevent any govenrment funding to Planned Parenthood.

Unfortunately, a number of the pro-choice Democrats adamantly defended Planned Parenthood.

They killed 324,000 babies in a year. Enough is enough.

A lot of people suggest that this bill is dead upon arrival in the senate. is it worth it to pass it?

Absolutely. The House and the Senate are ultimately accountable to the people.
And I think it's important that the people are able to cast their vote in this issue. Americans need to let their senators know enough is enough, no funding for Planned Parenthood.

There's also the conscience protection problems that we've been seeing among healthcare workers. On Friday, the Obama administration reversed the conscience protection measures that the Bush administration put into place.

Talk to me some more about this conscience protection.

This is not about even private discrimination. This has to do with government discrimination.

If you're a doctor or a nurse, they may try to  force you to participate in an abortion. These are major issues. Healthcare workers who choose not to participate in an abortion have a right to do that.

There's a bill called the Abortion Non-Discrimination Act. There's the Protect Life Act, which  would remove federal funding for abortion under Obamacare.

If you support these kinds of bills, you need to let your representatives know.

Chris Christie: pro-life or not?

He doesn't really let his public position be known as far as abortion.

He did defund Planned Parenthood in New Jersey. We applauded him for doing that. There was an appeal to let Planned Parenthood back into funding, and he vetoed that.

He's clearly not a pro-abortion governor, or he wouldn't have defunded Planned Parenthood

Are Personhood amendments in various states important?

Yes. They are important for the goal of protection the inherent life of all humans, including the unborn.

We think they're important to educate the poeple.

We do support carefully crafted amendments, since some of them aren't as carefully crafted as they could be as far as cloning and other matters.

Brain Trust: Hunter Baker, Union University

Dr. Hunter Baker is the Associate Dean of Arts and Sciences at Union University, author at The End of Secularism, blogger at First Things and the 2011 winner of the Novak Award @ The Acton Institute.

Mess in Egypt. Is it looking brighter?

I am not very confident. The implication is, well we've had a revolution, everything is great, let's get on with life.

This happened in Iran in '79.

In Egypt now we have a nation that is under military control. And, you have the Muslim Brotherhood sitting in the background as an obvious political organizer.

They have an agenda, which includes reestablishing the Caliphate, which also restores Sharia law.

Do you appreciate president's leadership on Egypt?

I was watching Niall Ferguson talking about this...he said the White House was caught by surprise by this.

The Israelis have been preparing for this..we have not.

That may explain why it was sort of a random affair.

As far as the Middle East...I'm nervous.

Egypt has been a country that we have been closely involved with. We have given them quite a bit of aid...now that becomes an X factor.

Does Obama have Republicans right where he wants them on the budget?

The submission of his budget is really disappointing.

In president Obama's defense, he did not take over an America that he wanted.

On the domestic front he really wanted to increase spending, to increase taxes. His problem is his dream has met with reality.

Instead of stepping out and leading, he is playing this political game of kind of submitting this budget like there really isn't a problem.

Should governor of New Jersey Chris Christie run for the presidency now?

That is such a difficult question. On the one hand you can't help but be excited...he just takes the issues on in a very blunt fashion.

This guy is not a rich, white, Republican country-club guy. I would prefer that he stays in the governor's seat for one more term.

Brain Trust: Kevin McCullough

Kevin McCullough is the nationally syndicated host of "The Kevin McCullough Show" & "Baldwin/McCullough Radio". His new book "No He Can't" comes out in March.

Reaction to Obama's budget.

This budget is, well, I don't think it's going to be passed...before it even comes up for debate.

It's like pulling up to an all-you-can-eat buffet and filling up the pick-up truck.

If I had the ear of McConnell and Boehner, I'd tell them to not play the games.

The road leads right off the cliff. The problem is Rep. Paul Ryan is about ten yards ahead of everyone and can see what's coming.

CPAC?

I was there for the most part up-close and personal.

I was more disillusioned about this year's CPAC than any other political event I've been at.

Libertarians are in some ways the worst form of politics in America, because they take the economic desire to make money from the Right and they take the lifestyles of the Left.

In the end they want a society that looks like anarchy instead of the God-based society we need.

The idea that CPAC should've let the libertarians in the past few years is a bad idea.

You've got three people who cannot win the election taking the first three places in the straw poll, for instance.

Ann Coulter saying Christie has to be the GOP nominee.

My hope there is one other person who can do it.

I want Governor Huckabee to run.

I'm going to see who plays out at the end of the day. Obviously Sarah Palin's going to play a huge role in how the party votes. And if she is the nominee, compared to Obama, I'd vote for her.

I don't like Romney...Only Republican elites are lining up for him.

Chris Christie is very popular in this region. He's done some amazing stuff standing up to the teacher's unions, but he's not going to get the nomination, because he's not interested in running.

The toughest fight for Governor Huckabee would be the nomination.

The thing about Huck is that he's the only candidate who I think knows how to battle Obama's psychology.

Human trafficking and Planned Parenthood

The Lila Rose videos that came out...painted a very disturbing picture of what our tax dollars are going for (Planned Parenthood).

Now we are..involved in aiding and abetting sex traffickers.

We must defund Planned Parenthood and we must defund them now.

There's no reason we should have an association with an organization that's looking the other way on sexual trafficking.

Are you as positive about the future of the country as Reagan could be?

Mike Huckabee wrote the new foreword for my book and said that it was the most positive book he had read about our scenario.

As long as we leave the American people in charge, the future will be good.

Brain Trust: James Carafano, Heritage Foundation

Did Mubarak's announcement that he won't step down surprise you?

No.

And I may be the only out here who can say that, since the director of the CIA said that he would step down.

Here's the problem. They're so fixated on trying to pretend they're on top of events, they've kind of lost the ability to see.

Adjectives fail to describe the White House's response to the crisis in Egypt, but "inept" would be a good start.

What should the White House have done?

Primarily what the people of Egypt really want is economic freedom.

Egypt is a large population, a very young population...what they really want is jobs, fair prices, and food on the table.

If you look at Egypt, they're ranked as a country that's mostly unfree.

What I really fault the administration for is to myopically focus on what the media is focusing on.

This has now become largely a situation that will be determined by the military.

They don't want to have to crack down on violence, because that would hurt their credibility.

The other thing you have to worry about is if factions of the military start to go in different directions.

This isn't going to be over in a New York minute. We're not even at the end of the beginning. It's just not something that will be over by the six o'clock news.

They've spent all their time playing patty cake with Iran.

They've squandered two years of leadership.

And the president wants to focus solely on domestic issues.

Do you get scared about people want to cut military?

I do and it's very disappointing.

Defense is not a burden on this society.

Defense spending is at a near historic post-WW2 low.

If you took defense spending to zero, it wouldn't solve the long-term federal deficit of this country.

So yeah, we've got real fiscal problems in this country..but you don't solve them by cutting defense.

Someone's going to come at us. If you're not ready, you're going to pay the butcher's bill.

The Constitution says more about the requirement of the federal government to defend us than any other thing.

This is the first and arguably the only requirement for government to defend us and provide security.

There are people who say we should just stay home and do nothing. We did that, and the results are (Pearl Harbor) and (9/11).

America going down the ladder in Index of Economic Freedom - tell us anything?

America is no longer the land of the free. In terms of the economy, we're the land of the mostly free.

We're losing our economic freedoms, not gaining them. That's a prescription for disaster.

Great civilizations didn't collapse from without. It wasn't invaders...they collapsed from within because they got fat, lazy, lost their virtue, and allow their economies to stagnate.

You look around the world at the countries that are doing well and they're climbing the ladder of economic freedom..

Brain Trust: MS Lt. Gov Phil Bryant

Reagan and Obama

Now it seems as if they're finding the good things about Ronald Reagan (as they compare Obama to the former president).

On the night of the State of the Union I was twittering to some people about how conservative the President sounds.

If we can moderate his liberal-social views all the better (in Obama's seeming adoration of Reagan).

Healthcare?

We've had two judges say it was unconstitutional. And two...say it is constitutional. So it does seem to be a partisan issue even in the judicial.

The unconstitutional portion that says I can be punished for simply not buying insurance is unconstitutional, so the whole thing must be unconstitutional.

I think, Matt, it will go to the Supreme court and I think we'll have a 5-4 ruling that the whole law in unconstitutional.

Wisconsin AG says state won't follow law

Well, I would not think that will happen in Mississippi.

I do not believe that our Democratic AG would choose to say the leader of his party has made a mistake and passed a bill that is unconstitutional.

I would hope that he would say at some point, though, that we will adhere to the federal court's opinion.

Immigration?

We in the MS Senate simply think you ought to abide by the federal immigration laws.

Matt, it is the most baffling thing in the world...those of us who want to enforce the federal laws, protect our borders..we somehow are the bad guys. The people who say "cross the borders, break the law, create a false identification"...they somehow are the righteous.

One day, like Ronald Reagan, people, I hope, will say those who...were protecting the borders, those who were defending states rights...they will say that those people were right.

We all know that one day the terrible reality will occur and someone will cross that border..and in a backpack there will be explosives. It's not if that's going to occur; it's when that's going to occur.

Superbowl pick?

Green Bay!

The reason is that that town owns that franchise.

I'm old enough to remember the first Superbowl, the ice bowl, Vince Lombardi, those great days when Green Bay was the team in the frigid north.

Brain Trust: Peter Brooks, Sr. Fellow - Heritage Foundation

Why problems in Egypt?

Recently the government in Tunisia..was overturned by a people-power revolution. And recently this spread to Egypt.

Egypt is not insignificant. It's a very significant country...it's generally pro-Western. It's secular. There are other forces out there that are not pro-West, so we could have a problem in the future.

We could make Egypt even less free than they are today.

On WH blame:

I don't know if that's really fair...This would be tough for any administration. If Mubarak goes away, we don't know who will replace him.

Part of Al Qaeda came out of Egypt. Al Zawahiri came out of Egypt. There are some strong Islamic forces in the country.

The people do deserve more freedom.

The question is how do you get it to the best situation for American interests while actualizing the dreams of the Egyptian people.

You've gotta be really careful how you proceed with this, and that's why people are treading really carefully.

Muslim Brotherhood?

They are Islamists and they are very conservative in their political views.

They've kept their profile quite low at this point.

Some said they're not a problem others are concerned about them.

Another group you've gotta think about is the military...the military will play a really big role. If they don't support Mubarak, he'll have to go.

You could even see a military leader in power.

Worst-case scenario?

What I'm worried about are extremists taking over the government and it becoming an anti-western, anti-America government.

The factors of the revolution

A lot of these (young) people are coming of age..so there's a lot of tensions out there.

A lot of these nations are powderkegs.

Positive outcomes to all this?

If we see an evolutionary transitions to Democracy, I think there is. That's why I say if we see an evolution, not a revolution, that's positive.

Brain Trust: Craig Smith of SwissAmerica.com

Does the Egypt uprising affect the average person's pocketbook?

Well obviously the immediate impact will be the increased price of oil.

Yeah, there is an immediate impact, it all depends on what happens at the Suez canal.

So it won't be the end of the world, Matt, but it will have an affect on price.

I'm also concerned about what effect this will have on world markets.

So, yes, there's some impact. I think what Egypt demonstrates to us is the totally incoherent foreign policy coming out of Washington DC.

Does the U.S.'s silence on Egypt impact the world financially?

Oh yeah, there's a tremendous impact financially, Matt, because the dollar revolves around a confidence factor.

We can not expect the world to have alliances when we abandon them in situations like in Egypt.

Could America have a people's uprising like Egypt?

The American people are reasonable people, they're sensible people...we know that the legislative process we have in America is designed around responsibility and peaceful exchange of power.

I don't think we're going to go the way the rest of the world has gone, unless our leaders take us that way.

I think this President is in over his head...quite frankly I don't think this man knows how to make a decision, because he's voted present all his life.

(Obama's) the leader of the free world, so he has to make some very difficult decisions now.

Leaders that make difficult decisions are never popular people, but they are people who lead the world into relative balance.

I think we have to be very concerned - Wall Street is doing well right now, but Main Street isn't.

Do markets watch rulings like the one in Florida?

Yes. That's why when the ruling was issued yesterday I told my people that stocks would rise today.

That's the problem with our economy. We're on the mend...but America is uncertain of the future, because we don't know where this administration will go next.

Until we know we have some certainty out of the White House, we won't make those bets. Now we have that after the decision yesterday.

Should we be scared about a crash?

I think the fundamentals that are propelling the current rally..are very tenuous.

I think it can last if we address..jobs and spending in Washington D.C.

If we show the world we are very serious about getting our house in order, the rally will last.

Too late for Obama's desired "Sputnik" moment?

You're right. We can't unless we're willing to borrow the money.

It's very difficult to send men into outer space to pursue the future when we're paying...welfare, Medicare and Social Security benefits to people.