Wild Week in Washington: ‘Anti-Christian’ task force, No Men in Women’s Sports, U.S. to Rebuild Gaza and more
Plus: Updates on reboots of ‘The Chronicles of Narnia’ and ‘Little House on the Prairie’
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Today, we’re covering developments from President Donald Trump’s fast-and-furious administrative actions to fulfill his campaign promises. His executive orders have affected almost every area of American society – and the progressive Left has been left spinning.
Magnetic North: Faith
On Thursday, President Trump announced the creation of an “anti-Christian bias” task force during the National Prayer Breakfast. This task force would be under the purview of the Department of Justice and newly sworn-in U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi. The Left decried the move as an act of Christian Nationalism.
The Christian Post has some of the responses from both Christians and secularists. Here is an opinion piece from Billy Hallowell explaining why Christian Nationalism isn’t the boogeyman the Left has made it out to be.
To the East: Culture
Trump triumphantly signed The Keep Men Out of Women’s Sports order Wednesday surrounded by a crowd of female athletes. The order revokes federal funding if schools allow biological men to play on women’s sports teams or use women’s locker rooms. The order also bans transgender athletes from taking part in the 2028 Olympic Games set to be held in Los Angeles.
LISTEN: Brandon Showalter of The Christian Post has covered the transgender debate for almost a decade. His podcast, “Generation Indoctrination: Inside the Transgender Battle,” is four seasons of in-depth interviews and coverage and is a no-holds-barred exploration of the transgender craze.
To the South: Politics
ICYMI …
First, Trump said the U.S. will take over rebuilding Gaza – and that Palestinian civilians will be relocated elsewhere. And the response from Trump detractors is as expected – WTH is he thinking?
At a minimum, the announcement has forced the world to discuss what happens after the war ends – perhaps the most elusive decision in world politics in the last 100 years.
Alex Winston’s opinion piece for the Jerusalem Post describes the “extreme demand” as just “the opening bid in a negotiation.”
“This is Trumpian negotiation 101, lifted straight from his 1987 book ‘The Art of the Deal.’ In his world, you start with an extreme demand – one that is so outrageous it shifts the boundaries of what was previously considered possible. Then, when the inevitable pushback comes, you negotiate down to something that, while far less extreme than your initial position, is still a big win. You aim for 100, knowing that landing at 50 is still a success,” Winston writes. Read more here.
Second, Elon Musk’s Trump-appointed (not Congressionally authorized) Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) said that the Department of U.S. Aid (USAID) should be shuttered. Again, the response was swift and expected. Where and how the billions of dollars USAID distributes is at the root of the issue for Trump and Musk. In one case that has dominated the headlines, statements revealed that at least $8.1 million had been spent on Politico premium news subscription access since 2016 – those subscriptions cost between $12,000 and $15,000 each. Politico has been accused of suppressing coverage of the Hunter Biden laptop scandal and of not covering President Joe Bidens cognitive decline while he held office.
Adam B. Coleman explains the mainstream media is trying to “pivot” American attention away from the real issue.
“Here is a quick media lesson for you: If there are great accusations made and the defense is not about the accusation but about the character of the person making it, it’s likely because the accusation is true. It’s called a ‘pivot.’ You pivot towards an area that you want the public to see, rather than attempting to defend the damning area that hurts your narrative or argument,” he writes for The Christian Post.
To the West: Just for Fun
Fans of C.S. Lewis’s “The Chronicles of Narnia” and Laura Ingalls Wilder’s “Little House on the Prairie” books got a peek at what’s happening behind the scenes on projects to bring the beloved books to the small screen.
Talia Wise from CBN News had the scope that “The Chronicles of Narnia” casting is underway. The project, with film director Greta Gerwid (“Barbie,” “Little Women” 2019) at the helm, is slated to come to Netflix as a television series. Read more about the developments here.
Wise also reported on developments in a “Little House on the Prairie” reboot and concerns that the classic TV show would be “wokeified” for a new generation. Original series actors Dean Butler (who played Almanzo) and Alison Arngrim (who played Nellie) defended the Netflix reboot saying it would be “different.” Melissa Gilbert (who played Laura) responded to concerns on Instagram and said the original show “doesn’t get much more ‘woke’ than what we did. We tackled: racism, addiction, nativism, antisemitism, misogyny, rape, spousal abuse, and every other 'woke' topic you can think of.”
Read more about the developments and concerns here.
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