The WallBuilders Show
The WallBuilders Show is a daily journey to examine today's issues from a Biblical, Historical and Constitutional perspective. Featured guests include elected officials, experts, activists, authors, and commentators.
The WallBuilders Show
The Golden Calf Of Political Niceness
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Something doesn’t add up for a lot of Americans after this election and the worst move we can make is to either swallow every rumor or shrug and quit. We sit down the Monday after Election Day to sort through what we actually know, what questions are fair to ask about turnout and registration, and why frustration in the base can be just as decisive as any headline about “missing voters.” Along the way, we talk candidly about broken expectations, communication failures, and the way social media algorithms can trap good people inside a political echo chamber.
We also confront a harder reality for the church: millions of evangelicals not showing up is not a strategy, it is a surrender. Voting is a responsibility, and it takes discipleship to evaluate leaders by policies and worldview outcomes, not personality and “niceness.” If Christians are going to engage faith and culture with integrity, we have to know what biblical truth is and how to apply it to real ballots and real legislation.
Then we shift to the constitutional perspective: what impeachment can and cannot do, why Senate conviction matters, how veto power works when Congress shifts, and why rules like the filibuster and reconciliation shape everything. We close with what to watch next at the state level, including special sessions, and we ask for prayer as state leaders gather to plan how to rebuild.
If this helped you think more clearly, subscribe, share the episode with a friend, and leave a review so more people can find practical biblical and constitutional analysis.
Monday After The Election
Rick GreenWelcome to the Intersection of Faith and Culture. Thanks for joining us on this Monday on the WallBuilder show. Rick Green here with David Barton and Tim Barton, taking on the hot topics of the day from a biblical, historical, and constitutional perspective. Had the weekend to kind of breathe a little bit, guys. We uh, you know, Sabbath yesterday, so we could just stop for a second, rest maybe, soak it all in. Uh, I think the Lord's already starting to download some strategies going forward. So uh it's Monday after the election and time to get to work, folks. Got a lot to cover today. Uh some things happening over the weekend that of course we'll talk about from the headlines, but then also just talking about our attitude and and tone going forward. Uh, we talked a lot last week about God not being surprised and and you know, how do we respond to this and and uh how do we see God working this together for good uh for those who love the Lord and are called according to his purpose. So we we've covered a lot of that last week. Today we'll talk a little bit more in terms of
Voter Swings And Hard Questions
Rick Greenspecifics. Uh David, Tim, before we jump into specific topics, any epiphany moments over the weekend. Has you had a chance to catch your breath a little bit? I don't think all three of us have been home for 48 hours at the same time, uh, maybe the whole year.
Tim BartonYeah, I was actually speaking at a conference up in Arkansas. Uh there was Well, there goes home for 48 hours, no? Yeah, mid's retreat. So uh there was an incredible weekend. It was refreshing. Uh it was not entirely restful, but it was refreshing. It was incredible to be around guys. Uh, so I had a lot of windshield time, um, but not not a lot of uh deeper contemplation. Definitely had a lot of conversations with people um that were there at the mids retreat, uh asking the questions, the analysis. My my phone has still kind of been blowing up with text from friends and uh kind of allies in in this uh fight for biblical foundation, biblical truth, Christian engagement in the process. And it's I definitely have a lot of thoughts. I think I've kind of clarified um my analysis, but I don't know if it's a brand new revelation. Uh in fact, I I actually have told most people in this look, I have some questions now. Uh uh obviously there's been a lot of stories going around about these, you know, 20 million new Democrat voters. And you look at the analysis and breakdown, that's not entirely accurate to say 20 million new voters. Uh, because if you back up a couple elections, uh it we didn't have we didn't have 20 million more voters than we've had before, but it was a swing from Republicans to Democrats of nearly 20 million. And that's where people are like 20 million new voters, but then there were maybe 10 million voters that maybe it's closer to 10 million that are uh unaccounted for in the sense of like where do these guys come from? I I think there's a reason people are asking questions, and I think it's fair to ask questions if if it's true that you know millions and tens of millions of people were registered between 2022 and 2024, and in in these states where they got registered, if it required no proof of citizenship, no driver's license to get your voter ID number. I think there's a reason to ask questions. Um, the DOJ has already announced they're gonna open an investigation into this. We know that, for example, in Texas, there were already people, I think maybe hundreds is the number that I saw of people that were arrested uh in Montgomery County alone. Uh people that had fraudulently voted. And so that there there is stuff happening, but hundreds of people down by Houston is not tens of millions of votes in the swing. And so I I think there's a reason to ask questions, but I don't think it's like the Candace Owens kind of questions. Uh, you know, I'm not drinking that level of Kool-Aid uh and in processing. So I definitely have questions about how it happened, but also I I think the analysis is a lot easier to identify that guys, the last two years, President Trump has been more out of touch with the base and the American people than than the eight years before that. Um, his first four years, he did a really good job kind of having his finger on the pulse of the American people, it felt like the next four years when he was being persecuted and prosecuted, um, the American people were still connected with him in so many ways. He gets elected. And and then a lot of things that were uh the driving factors that led people to want to support this guy, that you're gonna instantly bring down gas and grocery prices. And he's done that to some extent, but but maybe not to the the the way and the level that people thought. Uh, and again, we could talk about are there some shenanigans involved in that, the fact that right after the election, uh the the future barrels went down from like $97 a barrel to $81 a barrel. There's again, there's reasons to ask questions, but Trump said, I'm gonna, you know, day one, prices are going down, and it's gonna be the most affordable it's ever been. That that kind of messaging from Trump. He said there wouldn't be new wars. And obviously there's stuff going on in Iran. And one of the things, guys, we've all talked about Senator Kennedy from Louisiana came out and and said, Look, I can't give you all the uh classified intelligence, but like here's what I can tell you. And and he starts breaking it down that they had all these ballistic missiles and and they basically threatened Trump and said that if you don't let us do the nuclear program, right, we can bomb London. We we can bomb Germany and all these places. And so Trump was put in a situation where either he removes their capability um or they're threatening to build the nuclear bomb and then they're gonna wipe out so much of Europe in the Middle East by their own acknowledgement. At least that's what Senator Kennedy said. All that to say is President Trump ran on a platform that we're not gonna have new wars, and then there was a new war, and then nobody communicated in enough detail and clarity clearly why that this was going on. And so people looked and said, man, right, did this guy promise not to do this and now we're there? And then there was a lot of young men at the conference, and and by the way, even young men that we work with, our organization, our partner uh organizations, the Epstein files are still a huge thing in their mind. And whether President Trump um did not fully understand what the Department of Justice, FBI, what they really did and didn't have, um, or he over-promised and under underdelivered as the way the perception is. All that to say is I understand why there was a decreased voter turnout from the Republican base. Fully understand it, and I see it. It doesn't mean it instantly gives me clarity and understanding. Where, like in Texas, Governor Abbott got more votes in this election than he did his previous governorship election. But the Democrat vote increased by 1.7 million votes in Texas. And a lot of people would go, well, yeah, it's all these liberals moving into Texas, but you start looking at the data of people moving into Texas, and in many cases, depending on the state, but it's like two-thirds of the people that are moving into Texas from some of these California-like states, they're actually conservatives because they were they were trying to find a conservative state to move to from and and their word and mind, the hellhole they left. And so, again, all this to say I I definitely have questions, but I don't have enough questions that I'm drinking the Candace Owens Kool-Aid and I'm like, it's all a cover-up, it's all fraud, right? I'm not denying an election, but I definitely have questions. But the questions could have easy answers. Again, maybe like the Iran war scenario where the Trump administration did not give the American people really any uh or enough of the details, the verification and justification for why they were doing what they were doing. Uh, but the election could be the same way in my mind, guys. It could be very, very simple. They're a very frustrated, disappointed base who did not turn up. The Democrats who all they need to hear is uh, you know, Trump is in office and they're gonna rally because they hate President Trump more than virtually anything else that they hate in life. Uh it could be that simple, but I I definitely I see a reason to ask some questions and hopefully we can gain some more clarity on the outcome uh of why the election went down the way it did.
Christians Skipping Voting And Discernment
Rick GreenYeah, and then of course, you know, just uh encouraging our people not to get uh so focused on that that they they don't start rebuilding as well, right? And and um, you know, we know uh there was a ton of fraud and things that happened in the past. We know there's always cheating in elections. I think one of the things we did well here at WallBuilders, even in 2020, was bringing back the history and saying, look, this stuff happened in the eighteen hundreds, you had states that turned in three sets of electors, you had states that had a hundred and five percent turnout, and there's nothing new under the sun, and cheating in elections is nothing new. Um the question this time around is gonna be, you know, in a state like Texas where we had supposedly secure elections, you know, could they have pulled off such a huge heist? I I doubt it, but you know, um I just I just am uh I am concerned about our people getting, you know, all wrapped up in that and then not focusing on how to respond and be like David at Ziklag and go get the goods back, which is what it's gonna take two years to do.
SPEAKER_00Well, I I was focused on a really kind of different aspect. All of that concerns me and all that I want to know about, but I'm concerned about the fact we mentioned a couple days ago the fact that you had seven point one million fewer evangelical voters turn out. And maybe there were issues that they were frustrated with or whatever, but you know, y you don't turn out to vote when you like the issues or don't like the people or like the people. You turn out to vote because that's your responsibility every single time there's an election. And it doesn't matter if it's a local ordinance election or a presidential election, you have a vote that you've been given and you have to use it to the best of your ability. And you know what? It might take a few minutes sitting down looking up stuff uh uh computer-wise to find out who people are and what they believe, but that can be found. So I was I think I was more concerned with the fact that so many people checked out on a threw a temper tantrum, man.
Rick GreenI threw a temper tantrum. That's what happened.
Tim BartonExactly. You can't do that. And Dad, let me add to uh I haven't told you guys this yet, but one of one of the guys at the conference uh from Kansas, uh, and this is the men's conference I was at this weekend, and and as people were talking about politics, he said, Man, I'm really excited about this Adam Hamilton guy. And all of us looked at him like, what are you talking about from like the the new senator who's a Methodist pastor from Kansas? And we all look at him like, what are you talking about? He says, Guys, it's a pastor. This is great. We have a pastor now who is got elected, and we're just like, oh my gosh, like you have no idea. And I think again, it reaffirmed what we know is that people's algorithms feed them different things, and and apparently he's not following some of the conservative voices that are the our friends, right? The world that we live in. Um, we apparently our algorithm feeds us our little bubble of the echo chamber. Unfortunately, and I say this knowing, I mean, I follow on all my social medias, I follow the CNNs, I follow the Bill Maher's and the Jake Tappers and these different people because I I I do want to see what they're saying, but I I don't have these other individuals like this guy who was there. I I don't have his phone. I don't know if his algorithm is actually showing and telling him, but apparently he was only seeing the positive things. And so, Dad, to you to your point, it's a major issue that 7.1 million fewer Christians showed up because that could have made a significant difference on so many races. Uh, so many states that we look at now, and some of the states that were considered really strong Republican, conservative Christian states, uh, you now have to go, uh, I'm I'm not I'm not sure, right? After this election, if we feel they're as strong in any of those categories as we thought. But I think, and we talked about this already last week, uh, especially we hit on this, but just to reiterate, because literally I just talked to a guy this weekend who had no idea who he had actually voted for and what the policies were this guy was promoting. But this is where I think the other challenge is not just that Christians didn't Show up, but that so many of the Christians that did Show up, they voted poorly based on the policies of some of the people they voted for. Uh, I mean, I mean, look into Texas, the fact that James Talarico had about 1.2 million more votes than Ken Paxton, and I can identify uh on on my social media, I can find people that are on staff at really good churches, at least that was my perception of those churches, uh, like pastors' wives, people that were posting in favor of James Talarico, and you're going, This is utterly crazy, but it's because they go, Well, he's a really kind guy, he's really nice, he cares about the poor and the needy, and he wants to bring uh equity and justice. And they're saying all these keywords and phrases without having the understanding of of what those words actually mean in the kind of a Marxist ideology uh in the DEI framework, but also the policies these people promote. So it's in my mind, it's twofold. We have to we have to encourage Christians to Show up, but then we have to work to help make sure that the Christians that do Show up are discipled to know what biblical truth, number one, is, but then number two, how to properly evaluate the candidates you are voting for. It's not the niceness, it's not the personality of the candidate, it's the policies they are promoting that will determine the righteousness of the nation. Um, and and so, guys, that was literally a guy this weekend. And and again, all of us just looked at this guy like you've got to be kidding, because the rest of us knew he had no idea. And I think that's another problem that we will have to to help encourage and navigate. And obviously, that's a lot of what we do at wall builders. We do a lot of work with churches uh and and and trying to help educate the people that are there, trying to give them the biblical framework and then the strategy of how to apply that framework to the culture around them. Uh, so guys, uh all I think I'm really seeing is uh the the job security, unfortunately, we're gonna have for several more years as we continue to work to rebuild the wall. And and yeah, you know, Rick, to your point, we don't want people discouraged. The name wall builders, the the idea comes from that Bible story. Guys, we just have work to do. We have to keep rebuilding the wall. And it could be very similar, Dad. You could speak to this a lot. Uh, going to the story of Nehemiah. You know, Nehemiah probably thought he was gonna have a lot more help than he did. And then people that he thought were gonna help him didn't. And and then then people were threatening and coming against him. And it came to the point where it was like, all right, everybody, you need a sword in one hand, and then you have your trowel in the other. As you're working to build this wall, uh, it was not easy. There was frustrations, there was disappointments, uh, there was conflict, and yet in the midst of it, they stayed focused on what they were doing. And so I think, Rick, to your point, that's that would be the encouragement we would give everybody listening is don't be distracted, don't come down off this wall. There is still much work to do.
Rick GreenAll right, as we're going to break, Tim, I'm just imagining your thought when that guy said that about this this uh you know left-wing pastor and being excited. You probably saw in your head a couple of Hebrews coming around the corner going, hey guys, have you seen this new golden calf? It's really great. Let's go check it out. It probably felt about like that, right? All right, we'll be right back. Stay with us, folks. You're listening to the Wah Boulder show.
Share The Show And Spread It
Rick GreenHey friends, Rick Green from the WallBuilders show. Encouraging you to share the program with friends and family and listen to it on the podcasts that are out there. There's so many options out there for you to listen to in the car or from home or while you're working out. You've got Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, iHeartRadio, Castbox. I mean, there's so many options, and we just want to make sure you know we've worked hard to get it out there and make it available for you on all those different apps. Everybody's got their favorite app, so choose your particular app. And if it's not on there yet, email us, radio at wallbuilders.com and let us know about your favorite podcast app, and we'll make sure Wallbuilders Radio is listed there. But you can listen and most importantly, share it with your friends and family. That's how the program grows, that's how we get more truth in the hands of as many people as possible. And then, of course, wallbuilders.Show, super easy place uh to find all of those podcast apps and to just download right there from that website as well as be able to share it with your friends and family. So check it out today, wall builders.Show, or just go directly to your favorite podcast app, listen to the Wallbuilders Show, and share it with as many people as you possibly can.
Impeachment Limits Veto Power Filibuster
Rick GreenWelcome back to the Wallboulder show. Thanks for staying with us. It's the Monday after the election. Everybody kind of getting their feet under them and getting getting back to work, as Tim was saying before the break to rebuild the walls. Wanted to ask you guys a little bit about uh some of the news over the weekend, just kind of what things might look like. And I thought, you know, one of the things that I do think we do pretty well around here is take a constitutional look at things, one of the three perspectives that we often uh bring to the program. And just to kind of put put to rest a lot of people are, you know, okay, are they gonna impeach Trump and he's gone in January? Is it is that, you know, so just to remind everybody a conviction has to happen in the Senate. They will probably impeach guys like Exeth or Trump, who knows? Um, but a conviction requires, what is it, 67 votes? Um, so there's no way they're gonna get a conviction. We we we're not concerned about that. Um but the real question I guess I have for you guys is how much do you think President Trump can do with veto power uh with such a minority in the in the House and Senate? Um and what have we seen historically after Obama took a shellac in in his midterm and Clinton went through the same thing, uh they did not, you know, go uh crawl up in the fetal position and give up. They they kept fighting. Uh what what do you guys think?
SPEAKER_00I'm curious to see if they'll change the rules, particularly in the Senate, because you do have the filibuster rule and it's gonna take sixty votes to get something to the floor unless it's economic. If they use the what the Republicans have been using, the reconciliation method, then they can say, well, there's a price tag on it, and we're doing this as a monetary measure and therefore we can do it. But there's a whole lot of things the Republicans did not get to the floor because of that that filibuster margin. I'm curious to see if the Democrats are willing to set that aside and say, hey, this is our opportunity to do everything we can and make the president veto everything, and that'll give us the presidency in two years. So I'm willing I I'm curious to see if they will change the rules by which they have been uh holding the Republicans and go to a a different set of rules for themselves. I think that's possible. Um I and I I think this is one of the things that that I'm somewhat concerned about and and that even with what Tim was describing, we really don't understand how government works anymore or civics. And so I was thinking since the election, we we've got to get back to teaching what schools don't teach, and that's civics and government. How how does the process work? Uh, how do things get through? How we don't even know how to judge that anymore. And so when our senators promise things or our house members promise things, you and me and Tim will scratch our head and say that that's not even possible. You can't even do that. But it still makes news and they still talk about it. And so at some point we've we've got to better understand the process. But I'm curious to see what Democrats will do to get things moving where they want if they will start implementing some of the things they have fought for the last two years with the Republicans.
Rick GreenYeah, I mean one of the things I was I was, you know, trying to um make sure we people understand is even you know, with the president's veto pen, what essentially means is they will Congress will try to reverse um you know a lot of different things or stop a lot of things, um, but just in terms of separation of powers, he does have that ability to at least, you know, stop really bad stuff. And and then the question is, can he influence them with the threat of a veto to get some good things done? Um the another question that's come up, maybe this is what you're referring to, David, in terms of the process and what's actually possible is what could they do during the lame duck? So there's you know, sixty days left uh before or not quite sixty days, I guess we're down to about forty-five days before the Democrats will be sworn in and have the majority. Um, both parties have done this in the past. If they get thrown out, they've got a few days to to do something. This is why the you know 20th Amendment kind of shrank that that lame duck time, but it's still there. Um, could they could they pass some things that then the Democrats wouldn't be able to reverse at least for those two years while while uh President Trump could veto it? And do you think they have the will to do it? I mean, these are the same people that clearly could have passed a lot of you know the Save Act and some of these other things and didn't do it. So I guess could they and should they and will they?
SPEAKER_00You know, the other thing they've got to deal with is three angry Republicans that got beat in the primaries. Uh that makes it hard.
Rick GreenYeah.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. Fo folks like Cornyn and and and Tillis and others that got beat by the voters in the primaries, not the general, but in the primaries, uh, they have been very supportive of the Democrats uh since they lost their seat. And so I think that makes it even a little tougher. And you know, John Thune is is getting such a beating right now and is such under attack that I I don't know that he'll want to do that because he's gonna remain in the Senate. So I think there's a lot of ifs
Red State Surprises Special Sessions
SPEAKER_00out there. Um but sh switching just for a minute, I do want to point out that the the five states that suffered the biggest losses, or no, the most surprising losses on election night were all five considered to be solid red states with high Christian uh numbers in those states. And they're the ones that really are the most shocking that they went in in in a really completely opposite direction that does not reflect their tradition or their values, but Texas is one of them. But South Carolina and North Carolina and Kansas and Ohio, those have been considered five really solid red states. Uh, for example, in in North Carolina, they had so many Republican legislators that they had a supermajority in the House and Senate so that they could override any veto because they had a supermajority. Is now a Democrat supermajority. So in one election, you went from two-thirds being Republican to two-thirds being Democrat, North Carolina, and Ohio has always been a solid kind of Bible belt in that upper Midwest. It's not really a Bible belt state that's kind of the Southeast. But Ohio had always been that strong, and they've that strong Christian area up there, and now they reverse, and the same with Kansas. So it's just interesting to me that probably five of the strongest Republican states did a complete repudiation in in just one election. And that's what doesn't kind of what you guys mentioned earlier, in some ways it doesn't make sense. But that's a that's a different direction from what you asked Rick about what'll happen in the Federal Congress and what'll happen there with with Thune and the Senate and the House. So that's just another thing to think about that's interesting to me anyway.
Tim BartonWell, and Dad, to your point, so they could call for a special session, but could it be productive? Because we already know that the House passed over 700 bills that the Senate didn't even take up. So so could it be uh productive? That's uh that is the real question you're asking. Um, would some of these guys want to be heroes before they leave? Because right now, I can tell you that that John Cornyn is not gonna be uh loved when he returns to Texas. The majority of Texans are gonna be very disappointed and frustrated with him. So, like, is this a moment you can go out on top? It is possible, but is the moment also that he might look and be uh bitter and spiteful and whatever else? Like, yeah. So to your point, they they might call it what to be productive. That's unknown. We do know that some states already have announced they're gonna do special sessions, which is also another question, uh strategy related for some of these states that that definitely lost uh their state house, their state senate, their state control and power and authority. Could you call a special session? And would they want to do some things now uh to try to shure things up? They could try it, but then could the next legislature come in and undo all of that? Well, well, yes, it could, but not to digress too much. We do know that Florida, as an example, uh Florida has announced that uh they're gonna do a special session. And uh I mean, I think there's one more state uh that said they were gonna do a special session. I don't remember which one it is now, but that it was not the ones that lost uh the power and control from their state assemblies. So I I think Florida was doing one to sure up um a property tax measure that had been passed on uh election night, and they're gonna go ahead and enshrine that because Governor DeSantis wanted to get that signed before he left office. So it's possible other states could also call for a special session. Um, but again, if they do that, and I think some states probably will, um, depending on how close the margin is in the House and Senate, uh in Texas, for example, if if they did a special session and got things done, because currently there's a majority of Republicans in the House and the Senate, and you have the governor who can sign things, if they call the special session and then Democrats come in and they're sworn in and take control in January. Well, Democrats have control in Texas. They have control of the state house, but not the state senate. So they might get things through the state house, but then the Republican Senate could block it. So is that a strategy? I think this is something that literally this week, we probably will find out uh more about what states might end up calling a special session to try to shure up some of the conservative, whether it be uh tax proposals or ideas, but some of the conservative policies before Democrats come in and take power. So that's definitely something that we will watch and and track this week and try to keep people updated on for what we're hearing from some of our friends.
State Leaders Conference And Prayer
Tim BartonAlso this week, we have our our annual state legislators conference in Dallas that we're gearing up for, where uh I think we had 38 states send um, or state legislators came from 38 states last year. We had several more states represented by uh policy uh directors and leaders. Um so it's our largest conference of the year that we're hosting and uh very excited for that. So people listening, we would love to have your prayers this week as we are going to hopefully encourage and educate and strategize with some of the statewide leaders to see what they can do to help rebuild the wall in their state. That's coming up this week, Thursday through Sunday. So please keep us in prayer.
Rick GreenAmen. No doubt about it. Uh, you know, some of those special sessions, uh, all the Democrats would just run off and and break quorum. But but for the Congress, that they can't do that. So they they might have a better chance of getting some stuff done. So we'll absolutely see it. Going to be a great conference. I'll be praying for those state legislators to encourage each other and uh to go home with great ideas as uh as they begin their legislative sessions starting in January. Thanks so much for listening today. You've been listening to the WallBuilders show.
