Paul Random

Reporter to President Trump: Is Being a Good President Like Being a Good Father?

President Donald Trump recently sat down inside the White House with Bev Turner of GB News – the United Kingdom’s most-watched news channel. In a wide-ranging interview, America’s chief executive shared how much his late mother loved Queen Elizabeth, how much he admired the Royal Family, and why he is planning to sue the BBC for $1 billion.

Lots of other timely and controversial topics were covered, but Ms. Turner ended the nearly hour-long conversation on a personal note.

“You’re obviously a really good dad,” she said. “Your children really like you, which is obvious.”

Smiling, President Trump interjected, “Or love” – as in all his children love their father.

“But everybody loves their parents, but they don’t all like their parents when they’re adults,” Turner countered. “And they clearly have so much respect and warmth towards you. And I often think watching you that actually being a good president is a bit like being a good father.”

She continued, sharing what she perceives to be the qualities of both a good father – and a good president:

“Tough love, clear boundaries in the interests of the people that you’re looking after,” she explained. “Does it ever occur to you how much the role is like being a father, being a president?”

It was clear President Trump liked the question. “I’ve never thought of it that way,” he said. “I can’t believe I’m getting a question I’ve never thought of or never been asked before.”

After so many years in the world spotlight, Trump has clearly grown accustomed to the questions most reporters regularly ask. He then responded,

If you think about it, I love this country. I love the people of the country. But people do say, ‘What do you recommend for growing your children?’

I’ve seen so many brilliant children of brilliant people go bad and become tremendous failures. And I find that so much of it is caused by drugs, alcohol, you know, different substances. And I always would say to my kids, ‘No drugs, no alcohol, no cigarettes.’

If you don’t start it, you don’t have a longing. I mean, I have friends that long to have a cigarette. They quit smoking, but they long and they see somebody with a cigarette and they’re like caged lunatics. But even more so with drugs and alcohol.

The kids are a disaster because they got hooked in drugs. And when you’re hooked, it’s hard to get off. And if you never start them, like I’ve never had a drink in my life and I don’t take drugs. I have no longing.

If you never start, it’s so easy.

Was President Trump suggesting he has no vices?

“Now, I have other problems,” he acknowledged. “I got plenty of problems like everybody else, but it’s just not a problem that I have. And I always say, ‘No drugs, no alcohol, no cigarettes.’ Ivanka said to me, ‘Dad, you’re driving me crazy. Stop saying that.’ I’d say all the time whenever I see them, no drugs, no alcohol, no cigarettes.’ I think it worked.”

President Trump went on to talk about how much he also loves his 11 grandchildren.

Whether you’re a president, a prince, or a plumber, the most important relationships will wind up being those you enjoy with your immediate family.

Image credit: GB News

Abortion’s Lies Exposed by Activist’s Own Bumper Stickers

In a way, the bumper sticker predates the bumper – minus the adhesive.

Prior to the advent of Ford’s Model A in 1927 that included the world’s first car bumper, those wanting to communicate a message were known to strap wooden or metal signs using rope or wire onto the back of motorized vehicles. Prior to the car, they were affixed onto horse drawn buggies or carriages.

Forrest P. Gill is credited with inventing the “bumper strip” in the 1940s using self-adhesive paper and fluorescent ink. His first big order was to help promote a park in Clearwater, Florida. It took a few years before politicians began using them to campaign. Dwight Eisenhower’s election in 1952 was buttressed by bumper stickers featuring the ideal short and pithy slogan: “I LIKE IKE”. He won in a landslide.

Bumper stickers have been used for political and social activism ever since. If not always effective, they’ve certainly become ubiquitous. And why not? They’re cheap and everywhere. Motorists can’t help but look at the bumper in front of them while waiting at a red light.

Most causes benefit from reducing the mission, goal or call-to-action down to a single phrase that can fit on a bumper. And yet some are actually exposed by such an exercise – especially the abortion lobby and industry.

I was waiting at a red light the other morning when I spotted a sticker on a silver Subaru in front of me. It read:

ABORTION IS HEALTHCARE

PRO LIFE IS ANTI-WOMEN

Both statements are lies, of course.

According to Merriam-Webster, “healthcare” is “efforts made to maintain, restore, or promote someone’s physical, mental, or emotional well-being especially when performed by trained and licensed professionals.”

Abortion isn’t healthcare by any stretch of the imagination. It doesn’t restore anything but destroys innocent life and then burdens and enslaves the mother and father with a lifetime of guilt and regret.

The claim that being pro-life is somehow “anti-women” is a nonsensical statement on numerous levels, especially since half of the babies aborted are female. But it does speak to the selfish ideology that permeates the abortion movement overall. Many of the activists refuse to acknowledge the existence of life inside the womb and instead put all the emphasis on the mother and none on the baby.

Contrasting pro-life bumper stickers with pro-abortion ones is also instructive and revealing. It’s easy to note the aggression, anger and ignorance in the pro-abortion stickers:

“Keep Your Laws Off My Body,” “No Uterus, No Opinion,” and “My Body, My Choice.”

The slogans are also downright stupid. Do pro-abortion activists really not want any laws concerning the human body? Countless laws protect the bodies of both women and men by making murder illegal or regulating countless other things we ingest/utilize that can potentially kill us – everything ranging from medical procedures to our food and medicine. And only women can have an opinion about abortion? They seem to be fine with pro-abortion male presidents appointing pro-abortion justices to the Supreme Court.

The pro-life messaging?

“Choose Life,” “Every Life Matters,” “Love Them Both,” “Children Are a Gift From God.”

How can anyone be intellectually honest and disagree with these statements?

It can be difficult to reduce contentious issues to soundbites and bumper stickers, but truth is often revealed by contrast. None more so than by examining the rival messages regarding the sanctity of life making their way around the streets of our towns and cities.

Trump Administration Moves Step Closer to Dismantling Department of Education

It’s not every day when a department of the federal government is actively and vocally advocating for its own closure – but that’s what’s happening these days within the Department of Education.

Linda McMahon, who heads up the department, released a video this week offering proof of just how unnecessary the bloated bureaucratic government group really is.

“The Federal Department of Education furloughed 90% of its staff, and what happened?” asked the secretary. “Nothing. Schools stayed open, students went to class, teachers got paid. The shutdown proved our schools don’t depend on Washington bureaucracy to function.”

Just yesterday, the department released a video highlighting past pledges and promises to shut down the agency. It’s produced with dramatic music and calendar graphic that begins in 1980.

“I would like to dissolve the 10-billion-dollar National Department of Education created by President Carter,” declared Ronald Reagan during his 1980 campaign for president. We then jump to the Gipper in 1983, observing, “But better education doesn’t mean a bigger Department of Education. In fact, that department should be abolished.”

In 1991, President George H.W. Bush stated, “I can assure you that teachers don’t want to waste their time making their way through a maze of regulations.” By 1996, Senator Bob Dole was asked during a debate with President Clinton, “Do you still favor eliminating the Department of Education?” He answered, “Yes.”

In 2002, President George W. Bush stated, “We believe strongly that the best path to education reform is to trust the local people.” In 2008, former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich opined, “We have to literally erase the board and rethink from the ground up.” Rep. Rand Paul said in 2012, “There’s no authority for the federal government to be involved in education.” 

Despite the steady and consistent rhetoric and near unanimous conservative support for shutting down federal oversight of public education for decades, nothing ever happened.

But now President Trump says he’s committed to making it happen. “My administration will take all lawful steps to shut down the department,” he recently pledged. “We’re going to shut it down and shut it down as quickly as possible.”

On Tuesday, the department announced steps they say will lead to the agency’s dismantlement.

Six new interagency agreements with four agencies were announced – basically a shifting of responsibilities and oversight to other federal agencies and then also down to the state level.

“Cutting through layers of red tape in Washington is one essential piece of our final mission,” declared Secretary McMahon. “As we partner with these agencies to improve federal programs, we will continue to gather best practices in each state through our 50-state tour, empower local leaders in K-12 education, restore excellence to higher education, and work with Congress to codify these reforms. Together, we will refocus education on students, families, and schools – ensuring federal taxpayer spending is supporting a world-class education system.” 

Critics of the changes often cite – without evidence – that the decentralization will negatively impact students and the various services and schooling they currently enjoy. Yet, many of the same people voicing concern about the Trump administration’s commitment to reimagining and revamping public education by empowering states and local school boards ignore the dire condition of public education itself.

Whether dealing with declining academic performance, shoddy or downright offensive curriculum, unqualified teachers, or outdated policies that make it more difficult to educate children, the federal government has demonstrated that children in the classroom will be better served by their state rather than by the federal version of Big Brother.

Secretary Linda McMahon is trying to work herself out of a job at the same time many bureaucrats are trying to save their own. A former executive with professional wrestling, she appears well-suited for a tussle of epic proportions.

Image from Getty.

The Epstein Files Highlight Once More Why God’s Laws are the Best Laws

A vote is expected this week in the House of Representatives, possibly even as early as Tuesday, to release the files in the Jeffrey Epstein case – the disgraced late financier and convicted sex offender who operated a massive trafficking ring that included young girls.

Tens of thousands of emails were already released last week highlighting a wide array of exchanges between Epstein and others. It’s all very sordid and despicable. From the beginning, the case has been tabloid and partisan fodder on a very large scale because it has allegedly involved high profile individuals doing very bad things.

Epstein’s 2019 death in prison added another layer of controversy and conspiracy. Dr. Al Mohler, president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, succinctly summed up the entire spectacle when he wrote, “Epstein’s case represents the intersection of power and crime, sin and celebrity, wealth and politics.”

To be clear, the tragic saga doesn’t only just involve sexual immorality but also sexual abuse and criminal behavior.

The case also stands as a timeless illustration and example of why God’s laws are the best laws and the laws that should be shaping and informing our behavior.

A lot of individuals are nervous about what’s in those files because a good many of them have ignored or disregarded God’s guidance and commandments regarding the sanctity of marriage and the importance of sexual purity.

We read in Exodus, “You shall not commit adultery” (20:14) – a clear and concise prohibition of sexual relations outside of the marital covenant. In delivering the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus’ strict warning leaves no room for even flirtation: “Anyone who looks at a woman to lust after her has already committed adultery with her in his heart” (Mark 5:28).

The Apostle Paul echoed this teaching, emphasizing, “But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity” (Eph. 5:3). He also reminded believers in Corinth, “The body is not meant for sexual immorality, but for the Lord” (1 Cor. 6:13).

There’s a reason the Bible has so much to say about sexual sin. It’s because it’s destructive – and also an ageless problem.

Martin Luther warned that lust and sexual sin were rooted in unbelief – that we just don’t trust God to meet our every need and desire. Charles Spurgeon called it the “crying sin of our land.” Decades ago, Dr. Billy Graham observed, “Our young people have very little restraint placed on them. In many universities religion is frowned on and sexual freedom is idolized.”

The sordidness of the Epstein saga is tempting to ignore, but Christians don’t need to dig too deeply into the offensive drama to use it as a teaching moment, especially for young people. At a very base level, the lessons are clear. As Paul wrote, we’re to, “Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a person commits are outside the body, but whoever sins sexually, sins against their own body” (Eph. 6:18).

He also wrote:

“Do all things without grumbling or disputing, that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, holding fast to the word of life, so that in the day of Christ I may be proud that I did not run in vain or labor in vain “(Phil. 2:14-16).

There are a lot of opinions on where the Epstein story should go from here. Many are exhausted and disgusted by it. Others are exercised and mystified. But regardless of where you fall, we should all be able to agree: The wickedness of Epstein makes abundantly clear that the morally straight life is the best life.

To Jay Leno, His Marriage Vows Are No Joke

It’s been over a decade since comedian Jay Leno departed as host of The Tonight Show, and several years since he disclosed that Mavis, his wife of 45 years, is battling dementia.

Mingling with attendees and reporters this past weekend at a Harley-Davidson event this past weekend in California, Leno reiterated his commitment to personally caring for Mavis in their home.

“I’ve been very lucky in my life,” he said. “My wife is fighting dementia and all that, but it’s not cancer. It’s not a tumor.”

An estimated 6.7 million Americans are fighting the disease, a number that is expected to double in the next few decades. Characterized by a progressive loss of intellectual capacity, especially memory, the condition not only burdens the individual who suffers from it, but also the loved ones often tasked with caring for them.

With an estimated net worth of over $450 million, Jay Leno has the means to arrange for Mavis’ care in any facility they desire – but he’s chosen to manage it himself. On Sunday, he reflected on the situation in both candid and compassionate terms. To the legendary comic, caring for his wife is a labor of love.

“It’s not work, because people come up, and say they feel so sorry,” he shared. “I understand the sympathy, because I know a lot of people are going through it, but it’s okay.”


“I enjoy taking care of her. I like taking care of her. I enjoy her company, and we have a good time. We have fun with it, and it is what it is,” he continued.

But then he went even farther.

“I’m just lucky that I am able to take care of her,” he added. “I would still rather be with her than not be with her. But is it ideal? No.”

Not every couple is in the position to do what Jay is doing. Whether lacking the flexibility, financial means or even the extent of the condition of the patient or the loved one doing the caretaking, there are many heartbreaking cases where caring for a spouse at home is either not safe or possible.

In fact, there are over one million Americans currently being cared for in an assisted living facility. Thankfully, Jay Leno has managed to keep Mavis at home.

Speaking of home, a sweet and remarkable story is told of Jay buying Mavis the house of her dreams back in Newport, Rhode Island in 2017. This was before her dementia diagnosis. Driving along a scenic road adjacent to the ocean, Mavis spied a spectacular Louis XIV inspired chateau.

“Look at that house,” she remarked to her husband. “It is unbelievable.”

“It is unbelievable,” agreed Jay. And then spoken only like a person with major financial means, he said, “Do you want that house? Let’s see if it’s for sale.”

Within the hour they had toured the 15,861-square-foot estate with the caretaker and made a deal over the phone with the owner to buy it – “as-is, with everything, all the furniture, the ketchup in the refrigerator, the salt shakers,” recalled Leno.

Jay is now 75 and Mavis is 79. The comedian recognizes that tomorrow won’t necessarily be an extension of today.

“There are going to be a couple of years that are tricky,” he predicted. “So, the first 46, really great. But it’s okay. It’s not terrible. I’m not a woe-is-me person.”

Jay Leno is a legendary comedian – but he’s also a husband who takes his marital vows seriously and literally.

On November 3, 1980, Jay pledged to Mavis, “For better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, till death do us part.”

To Jay, that pledge is no joke.

Image from Getty.