During an interview Sunday, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg announced her five-year plan. Asked how much longer she planned to stay on the Supreme Court, Ginsburg replied that Justice John Paul Stevens stepped down when he was 90. And since she is 85, Ginsburg said, “I have at least five more years.” Liberals are applauding.

I understand Ginsburg’s desire to live and be healthy enough to continue her life’s work, which she is very passionate about. The desire to live is universal. It is the same for everyone no matter their race, ethnic background, class or gender. And that is a great irony. 

Ginsburg is just about as far left as you can be. She has mocked the idea that our Constitution limits what she can do. She has even looked to foreign law for inspiration in interpreting our Constitution. And she, not surprisingly, is an aggressive supporter of abortion-on-demand.

Based on current statistics, if Ginsburg serves on the Supreme Court for another five years, more than four and a half million unborn children will be denied their right to life, not to mention their right to pursue their hopes and dreams as she has been able to do.

I don’t begrudge her desire to live. But if she does, it would be a wonderful miracle if she came to realize that defenseless unborn children want to live too! Don’t these vulnerable babies deserve to be protected by the law and welcomed into the world? Have mercy, Justice Ginsburg!

Religious Liberty Summit

The Trump administration is once again demonstrating its rock-solid commitment to religious freedom. Last week, the State Department hosted its first-ever Ministerial to Advance Religious Freedom. Naturally, the ministerial focused on events overseas.

Yesterday, the Justice Department is hosting a summit on religious liberty focused on events taking place here at home. In his opening remarks, Attorney General Jeff Sessions warned:

“A dangerous movement … is now challenging and eroding our great tradition of religious freedom. There can be no doubt. This is no little matter.  It must be confronted and defeated…

"We have gotten to the point where courts have held that morality cannot be a basis for law; where ministers are fearful to affirm … holy writ from the pulpit; and where one group can actively target religious groups by labeling them a ‘hate group’…

"There can be no doubt that we are stronger as a nation because of the contribution of religious Americans. Every day across America, they feed the hungry, shelter the homeless, educate our young people, and care for the sick. They do so not because the government tells them to, but because they want to. They do these things because of their faith. . .

"But in recent years, the cultural climate in this country — and in the West more generally — has become less hospitable to people of faith. Many Americans have felt that their freedom to practice their faith has been under attack…

"Americans from a wide variety of backgrounds are concerned about what this changing cultural climate means for the future of religious liberty in this country. President Trump heard this concern…”

I deeply appreciate the president’s concern, as well the attorney general’s concern. And I am pleased that the full weight and power of the federal government will finally be devoted to upholding religious freedom rather than the Obama administration’s approach of forcing nuns to pay for abortions.

Attorney General Sessions is right about the growing hostility to faith. One example of that hostility is the rising anti-Semitism both here in America and overseas in Europe. 

Over the weekend, The New York Times published a disturbing report about anti-Semitism in France. Britain’s Labor Party is reeling from ongoing charges of anti-Semitism. Anti-Semitism in Germany is on the rise as well. 

I can’t help but note that all three countries, thanks to their lax open borders policies, are struggling to deal with massive waves of immigration from nations where anti-Semitic attitudes are prevalent. Little is being done to ensure that they are not importing more hate into their nations.

So I was pleased last week when Vice President Mike Pence called out this shocking trend during his remarks at the Ministerial to Advance Religious Freedom. He said:

“In Europe, where religious freedom was born as a principle and is enshrined in law, sadly, religious intolerance is on the rise in many quarters. Just 70 years after the Holocaust, attacks on Jews, even on aging Holocaust survivors, are growing at an alarming rate.

"Last year, hate crimes against Jews hit a record high in the United Kingdom. And in the same period of time, there were an average of nearly four attacks against Jews every day.

"In France and Germany, things have gotten so bad that Jewish religious leaders have warned their followers not to wear kippahs in public for fear that they could be violently attacked, and in too many cases, that’s exactly what’s happened…

"It is remarkable to think that within the very lifetimes of some French Jews — the same French Jews that were forced by the Nazis to wear identifiable Jewish clothing — that some of those same people are now being warned by their democratic leaders not to wear identifiable Jewish clothing.  These acts of violence and hatred and anti-Semitism must end.”

“We’re Back!”

While the economy’s amazing 4.1% growth rate made headlines Friday, virtually every major media outlet spent the weekend talking about a 20-minute meeting at Trump Tower between Donald Trump, Jr., and a Russian lawyer the Obama administration allowed into the country. 

Is that really the most pressing issue on the mind of every American who got up this morning to go to the job they did not have two or three years ago? 

The booming economy is benefiting every group across the spectrum. Black and Hispanic unemployment are at record lows. Optimism about the future is sky high.

People have more take-home pay in part because of lower tax rates and bonuses from the Trump tax cut. 

The media don’t care about that. All the Left wants to talk about is collusion. 

But Tony in Granite City, Illinois, knows better. He’s a steelworker who was laid off two and a half years ago. Asked what the booming economy means to him, Tony said, “We’re back!” He’s back at work, and the steel mill is back in business.

For many in Washington, the economy is all theoretical, just a bunch of numbers and charts. But in the real world, it is about real people, men like Tony with real lives and real families.

This Just In…

Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) announced yesterday that he will support Judge Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation to the Supreme Court. Paul initially withheld his support due to concerns about Kavanaugh’s record on the Fourth Amendment.