The Hugh Hewitt Show

For You do not delight in sacrifice, otherwise I would give it;
You are not pleased with burnt offering.
The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit;
A broken and a contrite heart, O God, You will not despise.

New Year’s Eve.  If you are at all like me you will spend some portion of the day doing a fiscal review, making sure things are in the best possible order – particularly as relates to the look the tax man will soon take.  If it has been a good year, which mine has been – Praise the Lord, you may find yourself writing a few charitable checks.  After all, better it go to a worthy cause than down any of the wasteful rat holes the government might put it in.   Just make sure and not pat yourself on the back for it.

Let’s face it, tax avoidance giving is hardly Widow’s Mite giving.  Tax avoidance giving is giving from our plenty, not sacrificially.  Not to mention the fact that giving money, while important and necessary, is not God’s deepest desire from us.  We give our money because it is a step in the right direction towards God’s ultimate desire- the “broken and contrite heart” of Psalm 51. Continue Reading

Pamil Ellis is the nurse-missionary who works with Shalom House Maternity Center for the desperately poor of Manila.  She is part of the wildest small world story I’ve every been a part of, which she told on today’s show, during a home visit for Pami, a Biola grad and a Faith Academy alum in the Philippines.  She’s as wonderful in person as she sounds on the radio, so consider supporting this amazing ministry as a great way to end 2015 and begin 2016:

Audio:

12-3-hhs-ellis

Transcript:

HH: I like to add a little good news in this week between Christmas and New Year’s, amidst all the bad news. Pami Ellis is sitting in studio with me. She is a nurse in the Philippines. She is also the star of the best small world story I have ever known. But before I tell you that story, I want you to know Pami’s story. Pami, you were born in the Philippines?

PE: I sure was.

HH: But you’re an American citizen?

PE: I am.

HH: Why were you born in the Philippines?

PE: My parents are missionaries.

HH: And so you are now a missionary in the Philippines?

PE: Regretfully, yes. No, just kidding.

HH: And how many years did you spend in the States to get your training as a nurse?

PE: Ten years.

HH: And where was that done mostly?

PE: I went to BIOLA for my first degree, and then I did my nursing course at Cal State Fullerton.

HH: Okay, and so tell people what you do in the Philippines.

PE: Well, I run a maternity center. I’m a co-director. We see about 400 ladies a week. We work in the slums. As you know, the Philippines is, Manila, is the most-densely populated city in the world.

HH: I did not know that.

PE: It is, and just to get an idea, it’s half the size of Oahu, and Oahu has about a million people on it. And Manila, greater Manila, has 11 million people. Of the 30 most densely-populated cities in the world, eight are in greater Manila.

HH: I had no idea.

PE: 111,000 people per square mile. Continue Reading

Carly Fiorina joined me on today’s show:

Audio: 12-29hhs-fiorina

Transcript:

HH: As we come in running into the corner of the New Year, everyone is not working this week unless they’re running for president, but I have a feeling that Carly Fiorina is working somewhere today. Maybe in Iowa, maybe in New Hampshire, maybe in South Carolina, that’s where I’ve been catching up with her recently when it’s not Las Vegas. Carly Fiorina, Happy New Year. I hope you had a Merry Christmas.

CF: I did Hugh. How about you?

HH: A wonderful one, but where do I find you today? Are you at home or back on the trail?

CF: Well, believe it or not, I am at home today.

HH: (Laughs) Oh good. I found Governor Huckabee in a duck-hunting thing, so maybe everyone gets the week off (laughs).

CF: Well, I’m happy to talk with you.

HH: Now let me begin by playing for you a clip of Donald Trump talking this morning with Savannah Guthrie about Hilary and Bill Clinton. As a woman candidate, I want your perspective on this. [Audio file delay] Have you heard this exchange yet, Carly?

CF: Well, I’ve heard some versions of it, but–

HH: Here we are, now we can play it.

CF: Okay.

DT: There was certainly a lot of abuse of women and you look at whether it’s Monica Lewinsky or or Paula Jones or many of them and that certainly will be fair game, certainly if they play the woman’s card with respect to me. That will be fair game.

SG: You mentioned Monica Lewinsky. Are you saying an alleged extramarital affair that of course he has now admitted, is that fair game in a campaign?

DT: Is that alleged? I don’t think that’s alleged.

SG: No, he’s admitted it.

DT: Well, he’s admitted it, as you know, I just used the alleged.

SG: Right, exactly, so are you saying [an] extramarital affair by Bill Clinton is fair game, it’s something you think should be in the campaign.

DT: I’m not saying [that], what I’m saying is very simple. If she is going to play the woman card because I’ll do more for women than Hillary Clinton is going to do for women, including the safety of our country which is good for everybody. But if she’s going to play what she started about a week ago talking about, “Oh, he mentioned the whole thing,” playing up the woman card very strongly, and if she’s going to play that game, and he’s going to be out there campaigning, then he’s certainly fair game and I think just about everybody agrees with me on that.

HH: Carly Fiorina, do you agree with him on that?

CF: Well of course Bill Clinton is fair game, but that isn’t the way to beat Hilary Clinton. Continue Reading

Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee joined me on today’s show:

Audio: 12-29hhs-huckabee

Transcript:

HH: Joined now by former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee. Governor Huckabee, welcome. Merry Christmas. I hope you had great one and I hope you’re looking forward to a New Year.

MH: I certainly am, Hugh, and Merry Christmas and Happy New Year back to you.

HH: Now I got you for a couple of segments. I want to talk about Bill and Hilary next segment, but I was thinking as I was driving in today, here’s a guy who ran in 2008 and ran in 2016 and I’m curious what you think the big difference is between the presidential races of the eight years.

MH: Hugh, the biggest difference is that the anger of the voters is just beyond anything I have ever seen or have could have imagined going into the cycle. Voters were angry in 2008. There was a lot of frustration, lot of weariness with [the] financial situation in the country, lot of weariness of how long the war in Iraq and Afghanistan had dragged on. But there’s something about this cycle in which people now after seven years of Obama are so angry and, particularly on the conservative side, it’s almost a seething rage that is beyond any ability to sit down and rationalize with it, and people just are so ready to burn the whole thing down, and that’s the big thing I see.

HH: So how do yo talk to an audience like that because you and I both know we can’t do that, we have a constitutional republic that has endured for 200-plus because it was drafted by genius. How do you get back into the lane?

MH: It’s the biggest challenge. In fact, I found, Hugh, just take a look at the field. The more qualified a person is, the more experience, the more background, preparation, judgment, moments of leadership challenges that a person has had, it’s almost as if that is the disqualifying factor rather than for somebody to say “It looks like you’ve done the kinds of things that would prepare you to be president.” This time it’s almost like “You have done nothing to prepare yourself to be president of the United States,” that’s just who we want, and I don’t really know how to resolve that. Continue Reading