Thanks to the overwhelming efforts of everyday American parents who have refused to bow to the radical Left, the war on Christmas seems to have gone cold.
In recent years, public fights and lawsuits over Christmas events and displays dominated the headlines every December. This season, however, they appear to have subsided.
Parents have bravely pushed back against woke propaganda in the schools, elected better leaders, and have fought for their children’s education over woke indoctrination.
Most teachers and administrators no longer want the hassle, the conflict, or the public attention and scrutiny that these disagreements bring. While in some aspects this is good news, the reality is the damage has already been done — the status quo implemented during the period of lawsuits and school board debates remains.
Students are treated to inoffensive and meaningless “holiday” and “winter” events that look more like low-octane paganism than anything actually believed by the critical mass of the student body.
Of course, this was the long-term goal all along. Even if the Left lost in the courts, in too many cases they won in the classrooms. Because most teachers and administrators don’t want the hassle, the end result has been the same as if they had actually won in the courts and the legislatures.
This is a tragedy for our children and for our culture. Instead, this should be an opportunity for educators and parents to share not only the tidings of the seasons, but also the importance of our country’s robust history of religious liberty.
Public schools, of course, are not meant to be a means of taxpayer-funded evangelization. At the same time, they should not be places where such voluntary discussions are stifled or drowned out by artificially inoffensive celebrations. They should not be an excuse for our educators to look away from the role that religious liberty played in our founding and what it means today. Many of our founders’ ancestors braved the difficult voyage across the Atlantic and carved out new lives in an uncertain and unforgiving wilderness, driven by the need to live out their beliefs in accordance with their consciences. There’s a reason the freedoms of conscience are the first to be included in our Bill of Rights, after all.
When we fail to teach children the foundational things, we do them a grave disservice. Children are going to take in values from whatever they are taught. They learn just as much from the absence of a thing as they do from the thing itself. Instead of learning that we live in a country where beliefs both matter and are respected, they learn to relegate them to the back of their minds and hearts as mere matters of taste and preference.
That’s no way to go through life, and it’s no way to form citizens who are ready to inherit the kind of republic our founders intended for them.
At the same time, America’s school children are still being instructed in values and beliefs from the front of the classroom, just not traditionally religious ones. For years, they’ve been instructed in Critical Race Theory and gender ideology, thanks to the dictates and incentives of the federal Department of Education. Now, that’s about to change.
<h3><a href="https://get.dailywire.com/gift-guide/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">CHECK OUT THE DAILY WIRE HOLIDAY GIFT GUIDE</a></h3>
With a new administration, we have an opportunity to push out all of the woke, anti-American bureaucratic rot at the top of the national education system. Really, we should not have a national education system. The best way to address the problems coming from Washington would be to get rid of them altogether and eliminate the Department of Education like President Trump has promised.
In addition to creating a bureaucratic nexus to indoctrinate our kids from Washington, it has done absolutely nothing to improve education outcomes since its inception. Since Jimmy Carter established this indoctrination machine in 1980, every academic statistic has only declined. We need to return control of education back to the states, where parents are in the driver’s seat, not some D.C. bureaucrat dictating decisions from their ivory tower.
People forget this country — the greatest country in the history of the world — was built without a federal Department of Education. The minds who built this country and sustained it through its most trying times were educated in one-room schoolhouses. The generations who defeated the 20th century axis powers and put a man on the moon for the first time in human history were the product of state-run education systems. We do not need federal bureaucrats to flourish — we need parents to be empowered to help their children prosper. After all, students are the next leaders of our great nation. This Christmas season, we can start preparing them for it.
* * *
Ryan Walters is Superintendent of the Oklahoma State Department of Education. You can follow him on X: <a href="https://twitter.com/RyanWaltersSupt">@RyanWaltersSupt</a>.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

Christmas crib.

Thanks To Brave Parents, The War On Christmas Has Turned Cold 

Christmas

Critical Race Theory

Department of Education

Education

Leftists

Oklahoma

Parental Rights in Education

School Boards

Schools

Woke Culture

President Joe Biden&#8217;s administration is punishing Oklahoma for refusing to promote abortion, Oklahoma Senator James Lankford argued in an amicus curiae brief to the Supreme Court first obtained by The Daily Wire.
The statement of interest, which is signed by 19 members of Congress — including Senators Markwayne Mullin of Oklahoma, Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, Steve Daines of Montana, and Cindy Hyde-Smith of Mississippi — argues that the Biden administration suspended the $4.5 million Title X Family Planning grant formerly awarded to Oklahoma&#8217;s Department of Health as a way to punish the state for refusing to promote abortion.
In Oklahoma, abortions of unborn babies <a href="https://states.guttmacher.org/policies/oklahoma/abortion-policies">are only allowed</a> if the health of the mother is in danger.
The Department of Health and Human Services had awarded the $4.5 million to the Oklahoma State Department of Health to spend on &#8220;family planning services&#8221; — then rescinded the sum effective May 24, 2023, after finding that Oklahoma would not spend the money on abortion. In September, the Supreme Court <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/supreme-court-title-x-funding-oklahoma/">rejected Oklahoma&#8217;s request</a> that the High Court restore the federal family planning grant that the Biden administration had removed.
Lankford filed the brief on Monday, in reference to Oklahoma v. Department of Health and Human Services. It argues that &#8220;the right of conscience is fundamental to our American freedoms&#8221; and that this freedom should be guaranteed by &#8220;protecting all health care providers from being forced to perform, refer, or pay for elective abortions.&#8221;
“President Biden is obsessed with elective abortion on demand,&#8221; Lankford told The Daily Wire. &#8220;Oklahomans should not have to miss out on funding for critical health services for women, AIDS testing, and cancer screenings because of the Administration’s extreme abortion agenda. I am proud to lead my colleagues on this brief that puts actual health care ahead of politics.&#8221;
The lawmakers describe themselves, in the statement of interest, as &#8220;pro-life elected representatives&#8221; who are committed to &#8220;protecting mothers, unborn children, and families from the harms of the abortion industry.&#8221;
These lawmakers have voted annually to adopt the Weldon Amendment, they wrote, which protects health care institutions from discrimination against those institutions&#8217; right to &#8220;conscientiously object against ending unborn human life.&#8221;
Lankford has pushed back against the removal of the millions of dollars stripped from Oklahoma. He introduced a <a href="https://www.congress.gov/bill/118th-congress/senate-bill/2539">bill</a> in July 2023 that <a href="https://www.lankford.senate.gov/news/press-releases/lankford-leads-fight-to-protect-oklahomas-health-care-funding/">would have clarified</a> that the Department of Health and Human Services can&#8217;t discriminate against Title X grantees for their pro-life stances. The bill was referred to the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
And in June 2023, Lankford <a href="https://www.lankford.senate.gov/news/press-releases/lankford-leads-delegation-letter-to-hhs-challenging-withdrawal-of-health-care-grants-because-of-oklahomas-strong-pro-life-laws/">led Oklahoma congressional delegation</a> in sending a letter to HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra, an outspoken pro-abortion Biden administration official. The letter argued that “HHS has chosen to prioritize abortion instead of prioritizing actual health care, by suspending Title X funding awarded to OSDH because of its obligation to abide by federal law and the state laws of Oklahoma.&#8221;
&#8220;It is absurd that HHS is suspending funds previously granted to OSDH for its refusal to refer for a procedure that the underlying federal statute explicitly forbids,&#8221; Lankford, and a number of his colleagues, wrote in the letter at the time.
<a href="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/11/24-437-Brief-of-Amici-Curiae-19-Members-of-Congress4.pdf">Click here to read the full amicus brief.</a>

Congressional Lawmakers React To The Expiration Of The Title 42 Border Policy

Biden Admin Punishing Oklahoma For Refusing To Promote Abortion, Senators Tell Supreme Court

Abortion

James Lankford

The Islamic man from Afghanistan who was arrested in Oklahoma on Monday for allegedly planning an <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/terrorism" target="_blank" rel="noopener">ISIS terror attack</a> on Election Day reportedly worked as a security guard in Afghanistan for the CIA.
NBC News <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/afghan-accused-plotting-terror-attack-worked-cia-guard-officials-say-rcna174783" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a> that 27-year-old Nasir Ahmad Tawhedi had &#8220;minimal interaction with Americans and he was not a CIA informant or a member of the U.S.-trained and armed paramilitary force known as the &#8216;Zero Units.'&#8221;
After news broke of his <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/afghan-who-entered-u-s-under-biden-harris-arrested-for-isis-attack-planned-for-election-day" target="_blank" rel="noopener">arrest</a>, questions immediately began to swirl about how the Biden-Harris administration failed to properly vet Tawhedi when he was evacuated out of Afghanistan following the administration&#8217;s disastrous withdraw in 2021.
Charging documents stated that he was brought to Oklahoma by the administration under its special immigrant visa program.
However, sources told NBC News that the charging documents were wrong and he did not enter the U.S. under the special immigrant visa program.
Instead, he entered the U.S. on humanitarian parole, which &#8220;entails far less screening than a special immigrant visa,&#8221; the report said.
<a href="https://www.amiracist.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.amiracist.com/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1726313279401000&amp;usg=AOvVaw115_qPFFEePDP86-Fvo-Vd">Am I Racist? Is In Theaters NOW — Get Your Tickets Here!</a>
Officials claimed that once he entered the U.S., he applied for a special immigrant visa and was vetted through that program, but even though he was approved, he never took the steps to make it official. No further details were provided.
The screening process included &#8220;searching for any possible ties to terrorism, ISIS or the Taliban using information from his electronic devices, biometrics and other identity information to search the extensive intelligence databases the U.S. compiled over 20 years of collecting in Afghanistan,&#8221; the report said.
Tawhedi was charged with providing, attempting to provide, and conspiracy to provide material support and resources to a designated foreign terrorist organization; and knowingly receiving, conspiring to receive, and attempting to receive firearms and ammunition to be used to commit a felony or Federal crime of terrorism.
Prosecutors say that Tawhedi and a juvenile co-conspirator (CC 1) from Afghanistan took steps to raise the funds needed to carry out the attack and repatriate their family members to Afghanistan a couple weeks prior to the attack by selling their home and personal property.
CC 1 is Tawhedi’s brother-in-law and was brought to the U.S. in 2018.
The suspects had an extensive amount of ISIS propaganda that encouraged terrorist attacks on the U.S. and posed for photos while making ISIS hand gestures.
Prosecutors said Tawhedi donated to a charity in March 2024 that was a front group for funneling money to ISIS, which is a crime.
The FBI started monitoring him after the donation and tracked down his social media accounts and encrypted Telegram account where he was connected to another Islamic extremist who was involved in ISIS recruitment.
Tawhedi sent CC 1 other contacts and encouraged them to be put into contact with the ISIS recruitment group.
In early September, an FBI Confidential Human Source (CHS 1) reached out to the suspects after they put the family’s home and personal possessions up for sale to fund the attack and their family’s repatriation to Afghanistan.
CHS 1 purchased a desktop computer and laptop from the suspects and told them he needed the devices for a new gun business that he was starting.
From that point, CHS 1 built a relationship with the suspects and encouraged them to come shooting and told them he would sell them weapons.
Messages on his Telegram account that were obtained by investigators allegedly show Tawhedi admitting to illegally purchasing two AK-47s and 500 rounds of ammunition. After he took delivery of the rifles and ammunition, undercover agents arrested both suspects.
Tawhedi said in his communications that the terrorist attack was planned for Election Day. In a post-arrest interview, investigators say that he admitted to the plot and said that he and CC 1 expected to be martyred during the attack, which was “targeting large gatherings of people,” court documents said.

Islamic State/Iraq/Syria: A masked Islamic State soldier poses holding the ISIL banner somewhere in the deserts of Iraq or Syria. ISIL publicity image, 2015

Disturbing Details Emerge About Afghan Arrested For Planning ISIS Attack On Election Day

2024 Election

Afghanistan

ISIS

Terrorism

U.S.

An email sent to Oklahoma State University’s psychology department solicited students to participate in a “Week of Rage” hosted by the school’s chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP).
The email, sent by the psychology department’s Student Diversity Committee (SDC), said that the “Week of Rage” would begin on October 7 – the anniversary of the terrorist attack on Israel that killed 1,200 and wounded more than 5,000.
“Since it’s been a year of genocide in Palestine, the students are continuing their commitment to the liberation of the Palestinian people and the end of the Zionist regime through a week of action from October 7th-11th,” the email said, according to a copy posted to X.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
The official diversity committee at Oklahoma State University’s psychology department sent an email soliciting students to participate in the &#8220;Week of Rage&#8221; sponsored by SJP.
The first event is on Oct. 7th to celebrate the massacre. This is systemic antisemitism. <a href="https://t.co/yQbatSzSwj">pic.twitter.com/yQbatSzSwj</a>
— Eyal Yakoby (@EYakoby) <a href="https://twitter.com/EYakoby/status/1842593911719739426?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 5, 2024</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
The email listed the events for each day of the week, which includes a “Vigil For Our Martyrs” on Monday night, a “Demand Divestment” protest on Tuesday, a bake sale on Wednesday, a panel on Thursday, and a movie on Friday.
In response to the post about the email, Oklahoma State’s official X account said the email “was student-authored and distributed by a student group. It was not reviewed or endorsed by the university.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
This email was student-authored and distributed by a student group. It was not reviewed or endorsed by the university.
— Oklahoma State Univ. (@okstate) <a href="https://twitter.com/okstate/status/1842645329348342167?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 5, 2024</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
In a statement to The Daily Wire, OSU further said:
<blockquote>This email was student-authored and distributed only within the psychology department by a student group on campus. It was not reviewed or endorsed by the university’s administration. Student use of university email to distribute political content is protected by the First Amendment. 
At OSU, we support free speech and an environment that encourages the sharing of different ideas and perspectives. We believe a robust public discourse is a contribution to the process of addressing society’s most pressing challenges, which is our charge as a land-grant institution.
We appreciate the opportunity to educate students and the public about the First Amendment and protected vs. unprotected speech on public campuses.
</blockquote>
After being pressed about whether the language of SDC&#8217;s email was simply &#8220;the sharing of different ideas and perspectives,&#8221; OSU provided the following statement, which it has published on Sunday:
Oklahoma State University did not and does not officially support or endorse the events or political positions promoted by the student chapter of SJP. OSU supports our students’ free speech and free assembly rights. We have campus policies in place to protect all students and ensure academic instruction is not disrupted. As this week unfolds, we will enforce those rules across campus, and we will be swift to respond to any unlawful events. We encourage all students, staff, and faculty to remain peaceful and respectful and adhere to the principles of the Cowboy Code.
OSU didn’t respond to a Daily Wire inquiry about whether there would be consequences for those behind the email, who used a university mailing list and the official sounding “osupsychdiversity” account name to send the email.
The language of the email from the SDC would appear to violate OSU’s current <a href="https://campuslife.okstate.edu/student-conduct/site-files/documents/code24-25.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Code of Conduct</a>, specifically its rule against discrimination.
&#8220;Discrimination includes but is not limited to, disparate treatment directed toward an individual or group of individuals based on sex, race, color, sexual orientation, age, status as a veteran, gender identity or expression, pregnancy or pregnancy-related condition, sex stereotype, national origin, religion or a qualified individual with a disability that adversely affects their employment or education,” the code says.
It is also unclear whether the SDC is a student group in the same way that SJP is, since the SDC isn’t a chapter of a national group and is specific to the school.
Other universities are also facing anti-Semitism on the anniversary of the terrorist attacks against Israel. Protesters at the City University of New York vandalized the school’s Advanced Science Research Center, the New York Post <a href="https://nypost.com/2024/10/07/world-news/oct-7-anniversary-live-updates-nyc-protests-and-memorials-around-the-world/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a>. Pro-Palestinian protesters have also gathered at Columbia University, but Pro-Israel protesters are drowning them out with chants of “Bring them home,” referring to the 97 people – including 7 Americans – still <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/1-year-later-families-demand-action-as-hamas-holds-nearly-100-hostages-from-october-7-attack" target="_blank" rel="noopener">being held hostage</a> in Gaza.
This post has been updated to include further comment from OSU.

Oklahoma State University

Oklahoma State University Student Group Sends Email Promoting Pro-Palestinian Events

Anti-Semitism

College

Students for Justice in Palestine

A judge in Oklahoma has blocked the Biden administration’s guidelines that force public schools to allow trans-identifying males into girls’ bathrooms, locker rooms, and sports.
Oklahoma is now the 22nd state to block the new Title IX rules, which would redefine “sex” to include gender identity and sexuality. Since they were issued in April, courts in eight districts have barred the regulations. The rules are set to take effect on August 1 for all states that have not received a preliminary injunction.
On Wednesday, Judge Jodi Dishman, a Trump-nominated judge, <a href="https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.okwd.126841/gov.uscourts.okwd.126841.48.0.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">ruled</a> in favor of Oklahoma’s motion for a preliminary injunction against the federal guidelines. Dishman issued her ruling even after numerous Blue States filed an amicus brief arguing against the injunction.
The only loss for advocates of due process and women’s sports came from a district court rejecting a request for a preliminary injunction by Alabama, Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina. The states have filed an emergency motion for a stay of the regulations, but the outcome is in doubt.
In addition to the rules being <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/bidens-title-ix-rules-allowing-men-in-womens-sports-blocked-in-21-states-where-things-stand" target="_blank" rel="noopener">blocked in 22 states</a>, dozens of K-12 schools and universities across the country have been blocked from implementing the rules.
Title IX is a federal statute that bans sex discrimination, but the Biden administration has expanded the definition to include sexual identity and gender identification. Courts across the country have determined that this expanded definition is wrong.
On June 13, U.S. District Judge Terry Doughty, a Trump appointee, issued <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/judge-blocks-bidens-transgender-title-ix-rules-in-4-states" target="_blank" rel="noopener">a preliminary injunction</a> against the Biden rules while calling them an “abuse of power” and a “threat to democracy.” His ruling blocked the new guidance from taking effect in Idaho, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Montana.
“Title IX was written and intended to protect biological women from discrimination,” Doughty <a href="https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.lawd.205659/gov.uscourts.lawd.205659.53.0.pdf">wrote</a>. “Such purpose makes it difficult to sincerely argue that, at the time of enactment, ‘discrimination on the basis of sex’ included gender identity, sex stereotypes, sexual orientation, or sex characteristics. Enacting the changes in the Final Rule would subvert the original purpose of Title IX: protecting biological females from discrimination.”
On June 17, U.S. District Judge Danny Reeves, a George W. Bush appointee, issued <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/court-issues-preliminary-injunction-on-bidens-title-ix-rewrite-stops-it-in-6-states" target="_blank" rel="noopener">a preliminary injunction</a> blocking the rules in Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia. A few weeks later, on July 2, U.S. District Judge John Broomes, another Trump appointee, issued a similar ruling blocking the new Title IX rules in Alaska, Kansas, Utah, and Wyoming.
Broomes’ <a href="https://www.bloomberglaw.com/public/desktop/document/KansasStateofetalvUnitedStatesDepartmentofEducationetalDocketNo52?doc_id=X7VSH1UVO6B9K1AAI088P6TS9IF" target="_blank" rel="noopener">ruling</a> went further, however,  and included <a href="https://www.scag.gov/media/pskl4phx/ks-v-u-s-dept-of-education-list-of-schools-enjoined.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">a massive list</a> of K-12 schools and universities across the country where the rules would also be blocked. That list came from schools attended by children of the defendants in that lawsuit, Moms for Liberty, and members of the Young America’s Foundation.
On July 11, U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk, another Trump appointee, issued another ruling that blocked the Biden Title IX guidance in Texas, Newsweek <a href="https://www.newsweek.com/transgender-policy-texas-schools-donald-trump-kacsmaryk-title-ix-1924387" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a> at the time.
On July 24, U.S. District Judge Rodney Sippel, a Clinton appointee, <a href="https://t.co/mdh7ZBIJAZ" target="_blank" rel="noopener">blocked</a> the rules in Arkansas, Iowa, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, and South Dakota.
That brought the total number of states where the rules can’t be implemented to 21, and Oklahoma now brings the number to 22.
The Biden administration has argued to at least implement the Title IX guidance that doesn’t include transgender capitulations – such as the provisions regarding reduced due process protections – in the states that have blocked the rules so far, The Hill <a href="https://thehill.com/homenews/lgbtq/4787089-doj-asks-supreme-court-restore-title-ix/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a>.
In the rulings against the regulations, however, judges have noted that because of the Biden administration’s redefinition of the word “sex” to include gender identity, transgender issues can’t be carved out from the rules as a whole.
“[T]he fact that the definition permeates the entire Rule, the Court concludes that it would be a nearly impossible task to excise the remaining regulations without also eliminating those regulations that involve sex discrimination,” Judge Sippel wrote in his ruling. Other judges wrote similar statements.

Title IX Protest

Oklahoma Becomes 22nd State To Block Biden’s New Title IX Rules That Would Allow Men In Women’s Sports

Oklahoma Becomes 22nd State To Block Biden's New Title IX Rules That Would Allow Men In Women's Sports

Biden Administration

Title IX

Former Senator Jim Inhofe, the Oklahoma Republican who once threw a snowball onto the Senate floor to make a point about climate change, has died.
Inhofe passed away on Tuesday, July 9, after suffering a stroke. He was 89.
Inhofe&#8217;s death was confirmed by former Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Andrew Wheeler, a former Inhofe staffer.
“Former Sen Jim Inhofe passed away this morning. He was a devout Christian and family man. He was also devoted to his former staff who he considered his extended family,” Wheeler <a href="https://x.com/AndrewRWheeler/status/1810690613215478096">wrote on X</a>.
Inhofe called climate change a “hoax” and frequently sounded off against the global warming narrative, at one point even <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3E0a_60PMR8" target="_blank" rel="noopener">bringing</a> a snowball onto the Senate floor to argue that human activity does not cause global warming.
&#8220;In case we have forgotten, because we keep hearing that 2014 has been the warmest year on record, I ask the chair, you know what this is?&#8221; Inhofe said during a floor speech in February 2015 as he produced a snowball from a bag beside his podium.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Senator James Inhofe famously throws a snowball in the Senate to discredit &quot;climate change&quot;<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/JamesInhofe?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#JamesInhofe</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Inhofe?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Inhofe</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/JimInhofe?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#JimInhofe</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Snowball?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Snowball</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/ClimageChange?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#ClimageChange</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/ClimageChangeHoax?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#ClimageChangeHoax</a> <a href="https://t.co/sta5G4gFgi">pic.twitter.com/sta5G4gFgi</a>
&mdash; Mister Montgomery (@MAGA_Montgomery) <a href="https://twitter.com/MAGA_Montgomery/status/1810692591370834171?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 9, 2024</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
&#8220;It&#8217;s a snowball,&#8221; he said. &#8220;From outside here. So it&#8217;s very, very cold out.&#8221;
&#8220;So here, Mr. President, catch this,&#8221; Inhofe added as he tossed the snowball.
As chair of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, Inhofe was a vocal critic of over-the-top environmental regulation. Some of his staffers went on to be influential in environmental policy in the Trump administration&#8217;s EPA.
Inhofe was friendly with former California Sen. Barbara Boxer, a staunch liberal Democrat, despite their differences. The two worked together on several major highway and water infrastructure bills.
Inhofe was the longest-serving senator from Oklahoma and was in office from 1994 to 2023.
He retired last year after 29 years in the Senate. Prior to his Senate career, he was a congressman from Oklahoma from 1987 to 1994. Before being elected to the federal government, he was mayor of Tulsa for six years and a member of the state House and then the state Senate.
In his 20s, Inhofe was drafted into the Army and served about a year.

Senate Republicans Hold Weekly Policy Luncheons

Former Senator Jim Inhofe, An Oklahoma Republican, Dead At 89

Former Senator Jim Inhofe Dead At 89

Climate Change

Congress

Environment

Environmentalism

James Inhofe

Politics

Senate

The following essay originally appeared on Andrew Klavan&#8217;s Substack, &#8216;<a href="https://thenewjerusalem.substack.com/p/the-age-of-willful-ignorance" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The New Jerusalem</a>.&#8217;
Oklahoma’s top education official has ordered the state’s public schools to teach the Bible. State School Superintendent Ryan Walters says, “The Bible is an indispensable historical and cultural touchstone. Without basic knowledge of it, Oklahoma students are unable to properly contextualize the foundation of our nation.”
The mandate set off a wave of near-hysteria among establishment elites. The New York Times called it an “extraordinary move that blurs the lines between religious instruction and public education.”
But no. Superintendent Walters is fully in the right. Indeed, his statement doesn’t go far enough.
The fact is, you cannot understand the West without thinking about God and the Bible. You cannot understand Western man or Western history, Western literature, art, or philosophy, without considering them in the context of faith.
This is true whether you believe in God or not. Human beings act on certain basic drives and instincts. If you don’t acknowledge and account for those drives and instincts, you can’t understand what humans are trying to do and why. If you don’t know human motives and desires, you can’t make sense of human actions or see into people’s inner lives. History, culture, politics, even personal relationships become little more to you than a meaningless jumble of facts and events.
<div id="attachment_757393" style="width: 522px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-757393" class="wp-image-757393 size-full" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/07/Klavan-II.jpg" alt="Wikimedia. Colin. The 12 Paisley Abbey gargoyles that were replaced in 1991. The set includes &quot;see no evil&quot;, &quot;speak no evil&quot;, &quot;hear no evil&quot; and an &quot;alien&quot;." width="512" height="167" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/07/Klavan-II.jpg 512w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/07/Klavan-II-300x98.jpg 300w" sizes="(max-width: 512px) 100vw, 512px" />Wikimedia.</div>
This is basic common sense. People want to live and thrive. You can’t begin to understand them without examining the pressures of survival that form their priorities. People are driven to mate and reproduce. You can’t understand women without considering their maternal instincts. You can’t understand men without parsing the nature of their sexual longings. It makes no difference that your Aunt Matilda hates children or your Uncle Ned never looked at a woman. Even those experiences must be understood in the context of the norm. This is not an imposition of societal values. This is the way things work.
After the desire to live, which is common to all creatures, perhaps the most basic human desire — the most human human desire — is the desire for happiness.
“Every art and every inquiry, and similarly every action and choice, is thought to aim at some good; and for this reason the good has rightly been declared to be that at which all things aim,” writes Aristotle in the &#8220;Nicomachean Ethics.&#8221; The good, he goes on to say, “is generally agreed to be happiness,” because happiness is an end in itself. And he adds: “Happiness is an activity of soul in accordance with perfect virtue.”
Through all of Western history, and most certainly in that portion of Western history dominated and shaped by Christianity, the form of virtue has been understood in relation to the will of God. This means that the central human drive for happiness is inseparably linked to faith.
“All men seek happiness. This is without exception,” wrote the great 17th century scientist-philosopher Blaise Pascal. “While the present never satisfies us, experience dupes us, and from misfortune to misfortune leads us to death, their eternal crown… These are all inadequate, because the infinite abyss can only be filled by an infinite and immutable object, that is to say, only by God Himself.”
For C. S. Lewis, the very presence of this God-shaped desire within us was cause for faith: “Creatures are not born with desires unless satisfaction for those desires exists. A baby feels hunger: well, there is such a thing as food. A duckling wants to swim: well, there is such a thing as water. Men feel sexual desire: well, there is such a thing as sex. If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world.”
Now, of course, Lewis could’ve been wrong about this. It may be that our desire for God cannot be satisfied. But that doesn’t make the desire go away any more than our sexual desires go away when they can’t be satisfied. As with sex, repression or abandonment of our God desire causes it to morph into other forms.
Those atheist philosophers honest enough to face the ramifications of their unbelief have acknowledged that, without God, both virtue and happiness must logically become manifestations of our will to power and pleasure.
The Marquis de Sade declared, “There is no God, nature sufficeth unto herself.” Therefore “if misery persecutes virtue and prosperity accompanies crime, those things being as one in Nature’s view,” isn’t it “far better to join company with the wicked who flourish, than to be counted amongst the virtuous who founder?”
Sade, the namesake of sadism, saw that the greatest pleasure of the strong is to satisfy their desires on the weak. One story has it that Sade helped spark the French Revolution by crying for help from within the Bastille. Though apocryphal, the story does illustrate this sadean insight: Seeking the basis of virtue within ourselves will quickly transform our quest for freedom into a riot of sadistic violence.
Nietzsche agreed that, without God, objective morality vanishes. We are left to deconstruct the genealogy of our contingent morals so that the strong among us can impose a morality of their own “beyond good and evil.” After his death, this philosophy was used — unfairly, some say; inevitably, I think — to support the depredations of Hitler and the Nazis.
Nietzsche’s most influential disciple, Michel Foucault, likewise believed that what we call morality is merely power in masquerade. To move beyond power’s oppressive conventions, he sought to dismantle them within himself and so destroyed himself (and likely others) in an orgy of sexual masochism.
We long for happiness. Happiness derives from virtue. Without God, virtue is a manifestation of power and desire. If we seek happiness in power and desire, we become agents of destruction. As God himself warned: “All those that hate me, love death.”
This is not to say that atheists can’t be good people, only that they can’t make sense of their own virtue. They cannot explain why the strong should suppress their desires for virtue’s sake. Thus even atheists, one way or another, will ultimately be forced to confront their unbelief in the context of God.
<h4><a href="https://thenewjerusalem.substack.com/p/the-age-of-willful-ignorance" target="_blank" rel="noopener">READ: Find more in-depth articles from Andrew Klavan at &#8216;The New Jerusalem.&#8217;</a></h4>
Nevertheless, we seem to have entered a time in which the clerisy is desperate to ignore God’s presence even as a psychic construct. The panic over Oklahoma’s Bible mandate is only one example of the ubiquitous attempts to erase any mention of the source and motivation of our culture and history.
Brilliantly rational believers like C. S. Lewis and Rene Girard are relegated to second rate status beneath thinkers like Nietzsche and Foucault, whose philosophies led to disastrous outcomes. The atheist arguments of writers like Richard Dawkins, Stephen Pinker and Yuval Harari are praised and elevated, though it is clear these men, while obviously intelligent, have absolutely no understanding of what religious thinkers actually think.
In 2007, the European Union marked the 50th anniversary of its founding without once mentioning the religion that shaped the continent formerly called Christendom.
The brilliant Wall Street Journal book reviewer Barton Swaim recently remarked, “I don’t know how many lives I’ve read in which otherwise fair and capable biographers dismiss or minimize their subject’s expressions of faith for no obvious reason.” This is true onscreen as well where biopics about such fervent Christians as Louis Zamperini and Johnny Cash reduce their subject’s faith to a footnote.
The resistance against — the hostility toward — considering life and culture in light of our God-shaped yearnings may have begun as a rebellion against superstition and church oppression, but it seems to have metastasized into something like the rebellion of Satan in John Milton’s Paradise Lost: an attempt to free ourselves from moral reality altogether, so we can define our own natures, genders, rights and wrongs and make “a heaven of hell, a hell of heaven.”
But because neither reality nor our desires will reshape themselves at our command, the predictable result of our willful ignorance about God is that we have become stupid about ourselves and our human situation.
The 2022 Pulitzer Prize winning novel &#8220;Trust&#8221; by Hernan Diaz contains a remark being much quoted on the internet as a kernel of wisdom: “God is the most uninteresting answer to the most interesting questions.” Taken as an axiom, this strikes me as the opposite of the truth. Certainly, without God, we can answer the questions available to science, namely how do things happen. But the most interesting question is always: why? And if the universe came into existence without an act of sovereign will, there can be no why. Everything just is.
Only when we consider the universe, our world and our lives as conscious acts of creation, can we begin to wrestle with the reasons they exist at all. This, this alone, is the path to finding meaning, virtue and happiness. If we think we can create a different path on our own, we do not know ourselves. We cannot know ourselves.
* * *
Andrew Klavan is the host of “The Andrew Klavan Show” at The Daily Wire. He is the bestselling author of the Cameron Winter Mystery series. The third installment, “<a href="https://www.amazon.com/House-Death-Cameron-Winter-Mysteries-ebook/dp/B0BW1ZTVP9?ref_=ast_author_dp" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The House of Love and Death</a>,” is now available. Follow him on X: @andrewklavan
This essay originally appeared on Andrew Klavan&#8217;s Substack, &#8216;<a href="https://thenewjerusalem.substack.com/p/the-age-of-willful-ignorance" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The New Jerusalem</a>.&#8216;

Holy Bible Lying on a Parochial School Desk

The Age Of Willful Ignorance

Andrew Klavan

Bible

Christianity

Judeo-Christian Values

Public Schools

A federal judge on Friday temporarily blocked an <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/oklahoma" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Oklahoma</a> law making <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/illegal-immigration" target="_blank" rel="noopener">illegal immigration</a> a state crime after the state was sued by the Biden administration.
In his decision, U.S. District Judge Bernard M. Jones <a href="https://oklahoma.gov/content/dam/ok/en/oag/documents/news-documents/2024/june/Preliminary%20Injunction%20Order%20-%20Immigration.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> that Oklahoma’s law giving state law enforcement more power to counteract illegal immigration appeared to conflict with federal law, issuing a temporary injunction against the law. Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond said that he would appeal the decision.
“While today’s court ruling is disappointing, I will not stop fighting for Oklahoma and our right to protect our borders. The Biden Administration’s complete failure to enforce federal immigration laws made House Bill 4156 a necessity,” he <a href="https://oklahoma.gov/oag/news/newsroom/2024/june/drummond-comments-on-ruling-that-pauses-oklahoma-immigration-law-vows-to-appeal.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a>. “We intend to appeal today’s decision and defend one of the most powerful tools we have to fight the criminal activity largely being fueled by illegal aliens in Oklahoma.”
Oklahoma’s <a href="http://webserver1.lsb.state.ok.us/cf_pdf/2023-24%20ENR/hB/HB4156%20ENR.PDF" target="_blank" rel="noopener">legislation</a> permits state law enforcement to arrest people for entering the United States illegally. If convicted, the illegal immigrant would be guilty of “impermissible occupation” and could be punished with up to a year in jail and a $500 fine. The person would also be required to leave the state within 72 hours “following his or her conviction or release from custody, whichever comes later.” A second offense, upgraded to a felony, would allow the illegal immigrant to be held for two years behind bars and fined up to $1,000. Again, the person would be required to leave the state within 72 hours of being convicted or completing a prison sentence.
The legislation was set to go into effect on July 1. The measure was passed 39-8 in the Senate and 77-20 in the House early this year.
After the law was enacted, the state was sued by the Justice Department, which claimed that the law was unconstitutional.
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“While this Court may very well be sympathetic to the concerns raised by Oklahoma, such concerns should not — and, indeed, cannot — be allowed to undermine the long-standing, comprehensive federal framework that defines immigration policy. Sensitive matters of immigration policy ‘must be made with one voice,’” Jones wrote. “And for better or for worse, that voice belongs not to one individual state, but to the United States.”
Oklahoma was one of multiple states, including Texas and Iowa, that have passed legislation to give law enforcement more tools to push back against the surge of illegal immigrants who have entered the country under President Joe Biden.

U.S. President Joe Biden Unveils Immigration Order Severely Limiting Asylum-seeker Crossings

Judge Blocks Oklahoma Bill Cracking Down On Illegal Immigration After Lawsuit From Biden Admin

Illegal Immigration

Lawsuit

An illegal immigrant from <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/el-salvador" target="_blank" rel="noopener">El Salvador</a> was arrested over the weekend and charged with the murder and rape of a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/maryland" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Maryland</a> mother of five. 
Victor Antonio Martinez Hernandez, 23, who police say unlawfully entered the United States in February 2023, was <a href="https://www.facebook.com/tulsapolice/posts/pfbid02jJLqHYRARyuSNstqQb9VyRfUUPphbqdn3V5kzoLnu8cgUwsEFxVWErdmh1mHANqyl" target="_blank" rel="noopener">arrested</a> by police and the FBI in Tulsa, Oklahoma, on Saturday. He is accused of raping and murdering 37-year-old Rachel Morin six months after illegally crossing the southern U.S. border. Law enforcement <a href="https://www.facebook.com/tulsapolice/posts/pfbid02jJLqHYRARyuSNstqQb9VyRfUUPphbqdn3V5kzoLnu8cgUwsEFxVWErdmh1mHANqyl">said</a> the suspect had been on a &#8220;crime spree that started in El Salvador and then multiple cities across the United States.&#8221; 
Morin <a href="https://www.nationalreview.com/news/salvadoran-illegal-immigrant-charged-with-rape-murder-of-maryland-mother/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">was</a> murdered in August 2023 after she went out hiking on the Ma &amp; Pa trail in Harford County, Maryland. She was later <a href="https://www.wbaltv.com/article/harford-county-sheriffs-office-arrest-rachel-morin-case/61119727" target="_blank" rel="noopener">found</a> naked in a nearby culvert. 
“Victor Hernandez did not come to this country to make a better life for him or his family, he came here to escape the crimes he committed in El Salvador. He came here to murder Rachel and God-willing, no one else,” Harford County Sheriff Jeffrey Gahler said on Saturday. “But that should have never been allowed to happen.”
The sheriff also called for the Biden administration to address the ongoing border crisis. 
“I want to now direct these comments to 1600 Pennsylvania Ave., and to every member in both chambers of Congress,” he continued. “Here in Harford County we are 1,800 miles away from the Southern border, and the American citizens are not safe because of failed immigration policies. This is the second time in just two years that an innocent Harford County woman has lost her life to a criminal in our country illegally.”
Investigators said that they identified Hernandez because they found his DNA at the murder scene. Police arrested him at a bar in Tulsa and said he &#8220;lied about his true identity.&#8221; 
Hernandez is also suspected of a January 2023 murder in El Salvador and of assaulting a 9-year-old girl in California. According to the Tulsa Police Department, Hernandez “violently assaulted a 9-year-old girl and her mother during a home invasion” in Los Angeles. 
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Police also said that they believe Hernandez has extensive ties to violent gangs in El Salvador. 
Patricia Morin, the mother of Rachel, <a href="https://nypost.com/2024/06/15/us-news/rachel-morin-murder-illegal-immigrant-from-el-salvador-charged-in-rape-killing-of-maryland-mom-of-5/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">discussed</a> that she did not believe that her daughter’s killer was going to be found. 
“At some of the points during this, I didn’t think that we were ever going to have an answer and that it would be a cold case,” she said. “At one point when things looked really bleak and hopeless, the lead detective told me, ‘Patience will win in the end.&#8217;”
Illegal immigrants have been arrested this year for a string of high-profile crimes, including the murder of 22-year-old nursing student Laken Riley in Georgia, as lawmakers have called on the Biden administration to enact stricter border security measures.

MixCollage-17-Jun-2024-09-18-AM-4897

Illegal Immigrant From El Salvador Arrested, Charged With Raping And Murdering A Maryland Mother

Crime

El Salvador

Maryland

Murder

Violent Crime

At least 19 people are dead as severe storms and tornadoes swept across Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Kentucky over the weekend, and more than 100 million people are at risk of severe weather on the East Coast on Monday.
The deadliest storms were in Arkansas, where eight people have been confirmed dead, and Texas, where seven people have died, CNN <a href="https://www.cnn.com/weather/live-news/oklahoma-texas-arkansas-tornado-storms-05-27-24-intl-hnk/h_474a6566637f3d58ffba8a2a66d7df59" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a>. Two people have been confirmed dead in Oklahoma following the storms and another two people were killed in Kentucky when the severe weather ripped through most of the Bluegrass State on Sunday night.
Cooke County, Texas — near the Oklahoma border — took the brunt of the storms, which killed seven people, including two children on Saturday night. The seven deaths were reported after a tornado swept through a rural area near a mobile home park, according to Texas Republican Gov. Greg Abbott, the Associated Press <a href="https://apnews.com/article/tornadoes-weather-texas-oklahoma-arkansas-kentucky-91b0ff5c06f9bdc8b8ca68f36afbafa2" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a>. Two of the seven killed were a 2-year-old and a 5-year-old. Three others killed in the north Texas storm were a mother and her two children, ages 15 and 9, according to NBC DFW.
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LATEST: Emergency officials say about 250 homes were completely destroyed in last night’s North Texas tornado across Montague, Cooke, Denton and Collin counties.
The breadth of the damage from this storm is massive, whole neighborhoods blown away in under a minute.<a href="https://twitter.com/NBCDFW?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@NBCDFW</a> <a href="https://t.co/huz6Jo2UX9">pic.twitter.com/huz6Jo2UX9</a>
— Keenan Willard (@KeenanNBC5) <a href="https://twitter.com/KeenanNBC5/status/1794845786838372532?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 26, 2024</a></blockquote>
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Family tells <a href="https://twitter.com/NBCDFW?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@NBCDFW</a> that Laura Esparza, her children 15-year-old Miranda Esparza and 9-year-old Marco Esparza died in last night’s North Texas tornado.
Their mobile home near Valley View was destroyed. Miranda and Marco were thrown across the street under these trucks where… <a href="https://t.co/Yyk407t9Yb">pic.twitter.com/Yyk407t9Yb</a>
— Keenan Willard (@KeenanNBC5) <a href="https://twitter.com/KeenanNBC5/status/1794833381865226294?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 26, 2024</a></blockquote>
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The storms continued east through Arkansas, where the city of Rogers was hit hard by a tornado early Sunday morning. Aerial footage of the town showed numerous homes and buildings that were leveled by the storm.
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Northwest Arkansas was hit hard by tornadoes early this morning with downtown Rogers being one of the hard hit areas. Aerial footage shows some of the destructions Shortly after it hit and then after daylight. <a href="https://twitter.com/weatherdan?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@weatherdan</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/4029Darby?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@4029Darby</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/ToddYakoubian?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@ToddYakoubian</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/arwx?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#arwx</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/tornado?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#tornado</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/arkansas?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#arkansas</a> <a href="https://t.co/AFnhthnkwW">pic.twitter.com/AFnhthnkwW</a>
— Charles Peek (@CharlesPeekWX) <a href="https://twitter.com/CharlesPeekWX/status/1794770205195006364?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 26, 2024</a></blockquote>
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&#8220;It was horrible. It was so loud and we were so scared,&#8221; one Rogers, Arkansas, resident said through tears.
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&#8220;We were in the hallway. That&#8217;s all we had to go into was the hallway,&#8221; the woman added.
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&#8220;It was so loud&#8230; and we were so scared.&#8221;
People in Northwest Arkansas awoke to tornado sirens in the middle of the night. Daylight Sunday revealed destruction in Rogers, that took a direct hit. <a href="https://t.co/D4hY3a7YUP">pic.twitter.com/D4hY3a7YUP</a>
— WeatherNation (@WeatherNation) <a href="https://twitter.com/WeatherNation/status/1794722656069226875?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 26, 2024</a></blockquote>
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More footage posted on social media Monday morning showed the destruction caused by a tornado that touched down in Dawson Springs, Kentucky, about 160 miles southwest of Louisville.
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*** Dawson Springs, KY Significant TOR DMG! *** 
First viewing of the Dawson Springs, <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Kentucky?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Kentucky</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Tornado?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Tornado</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/damage?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#damage</a> this morning. This video describes the full-on destruction across the area. I saw boats tossed into the trees, cars thrown, houses wiped down to the foundation, and… <a href="https://t.co/B76185isac">pic.twitter.com/B76185isac</a>
— Chicago &amp; Midwest Storm Chasers (@ChicagoMWeather) <a href="https://twitter.com/ChicagoMWeather/status/1795049461019807809?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 27, 2024</a></blockquote>
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Forecasters said that storms are likely to move through states from Alabama to as far east as New York on Monday. New York City; Philadelphia; Washington, D.C.; Richmond, Virginia; and Raleigh, North Carolina are all under a moderate risk for severe thunderstorms throughout Memorial Day, and isolated tornadoes are possible, The Weather Channel <a href="https://weather.com/storms/severe/video/severe-storms-for-east-coast-today" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a>.

Tornado

Memorial Day Weekend Storms Rip Through Multiple States, Kill At Least 19 People

Arkansas

Kentucky

Severe Weather

Texas

The late country singer <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/toby-keith">Toby Keith</a>’s daughter, Krystal Keith, delivered remarks at the University of <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/oklahoma">Oklahoma</a>’s commencement ceremony last week while accepting an honorary degree on his behalf.
Keith died in February following a battle with stomach cancer. 
&#8220;When he learned last fall that he was being inducted to Sooner Nation on this high of a level, he was so excited, and he was so proud,&#8221; Krystal said during her speech, per <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/toby-keiths-daughter-says-late-country-music-legend-told-her-never-apologize-for-being-patriotic">Fox News</a>.
Krystal went on to describe how her dad, an Oklahoma native, was devoted to the university, especially its sports teams, and was honored when he found out he&#8217;d be receiving the honorary degree.
&#8220;I actually made a joke about how many hours I spent here getting my bachelor’s degree, and he joked that he didn’t have to work that hard to get his,” she continued. “But we all know he earned it and spent many more hours dedicating his life to earning it this way. He loved his family (he loved all of us), God, our country, and Sooner Nation.&#8221;
&#8220;Throughout his life and career, he made sure to work hard to have the best, to be the best. He often said, ‘They may write better than me, they may sing better than me, and they may look better than me, but they will NEVER outwork me,’&#8221; Krystal said during her speech. &#8220;And that made all the difference. He was a larger-than-life legend, he was an icon, he did things his own way, his songs inspired nearly everyone in country music and beyond.&#8221;
The country music legend’s daughter also discussed how proud her father was to be an American, a value he passed to his children. &#8220;He always said, ‘Never apologize for being <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/patriotism">patriotic</a>,’ and practiced what he preached through his work with the USO [United Service Organizations],&#8221; Krystal said. 
She also described his dedication to performing for the military. &#8220;He was going into the most dangerous zones, where guys that never got those entertainers to come to them, were housed and were sitting, and he would go and boost their morale. And that’s who he wanted to go see. We called him Captain America. And that’s something he earned.&#8221;
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&#8220;My dad taught me everything: singing, writing songs and … most of what I know about life. And I hope the graduates that are here today can learn from him, too. He fought hard to live his dream,” Krystal said in conclusion.
&#8220;He had faith and believed in himself. He never gave up the fight, even when the odds were against him. He would want me to tell you to never give up on yourself. As you start your next journey in life, know that you have strong roots here at the University of Oklahoma. Work hard and be the captain of your own ship. Believe in yourself and live your dream.&#8221;
Keith was also posthumously inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame after being selected for the honor days before his death.

38th Annual Country Music Awards – Show

Toby Keith’s Daughter Said He Told Her, ‘Never Apologize For Being Patriotic’

Toby Keith's Daughter Said He Told Her, 'Never Apologize For Being Patriotic'

Celebrities

Entertainment

Patriotism

Toby Keith

Oklahoma Republican Governor Kevin Stitt signed a bill on Tuesday that makes illegal immigration a state crime punishable by fine and imprisonment. 
The <a href="http://webserver1.lsb.state.ok.us/cf_pdf/2023-24%20ENR/hB/HB4156%20ENR.PDF" target="_blank" rel="noopener">legislation</a> permits <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/oklahoma" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Oklahoma</a> law enforcement to arrest people for entering the United States illegally. If convicted, the illegal immigrant would be guilty of “impermissible occupation” and could be punished with up to a year in jail and a $500 fine. The person would also be required to leave the state within 72 hours &#8220;following his or her conviction or release from custody, whichever comes later.&#8221; A second offense, upgraded to a felony, would allow the illegal immigrant to be held for two years behind bars and fined up to $1,000. Again, the person would be required to leave the state within 72 hours of being convicted or completing a prison sentence. 
“I am disappointed this bill is necessary. Since President Biden took office in 2021, more than 10 million people have poured over the southern border,” Stitt <a href="https://oklahoma.gov/governor/newsroom/newsroom/2024/april2024/governor-stitt-signs-bill-to-defend-oklahomans-from-biden-s-open.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a>. “Countless individuals from across the globe, including thousands of Chinese nationals as well as people affiliated with terror organizations, have illegally crossed the U.S.-Mexico border.”
The legislation, <a href="http://www.oklegislature.gov/BillInfo.aspx?Bill=HB4156" target="_blank" rel="noopener">HB 4516</a>, is set to go into effect on July 1. The measure was passed 39-8 in the Senate and 77-20 in the House.
Similar laws have been passed in other Republican-led states like Iowa and Texas but have faced court challenges. Texas’s law is currently on hold while a federal appeals court considers a challenge to it. 
The text of the bill said that it was necessary in part due to the influx of Chinese-backed marijuana farms that have cropped up across the state. 
“Throughout the state, law enforcement comes into daily and increasingly frequent contact with foreign nationals who entered the country illegally or who remain here illegally,” the bill says. “This is particularly common in regard to illegal marijuana grow operations, which have exploded in number in recent years.”
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State Attorney General Gentner Drummond said he was grateful that the measure was passed, saying it would aid law enforcement.
“Oklahoma has reaped the consequences of the Biden Administration’s utter failure to secure our nation’s border, as evidenced by the flood of illegal marijuana grows and other criminal activity connected to Chinese syndicates and Mexican cartels,” he <a href="https://justthenews.com/nation/states/center-square/illegal-immigration-outlawed-oklahoma-starting-july-1?utm_source=daily&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_campaign=newsletter" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a>. 
In his statement announcing his signing of the bill, Stitt <a href="https://oklahoma.gov/content/dam/ok/en/governor/documents/Work%20Visa%20EO.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> he would create a work permit and visa task force “to find ways to bolster our workforce” to help “those who are here contributing to our communities and economy.” According to the governor, the task force will make recommendations to the governor and state legislature about making it easy for immigrants to work and find jobs in Oklahoma.

Key Speakers At The SelectUSA Investment Summit

Oklahoma Becomes Latest State To Give Police Authority To Arrest Illegal Immigrants

Border Crisis

Immigration

Joe Biden

Kevin Stitt

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