Links for 09/15/16

In the Washington Post, activists push for the release of Edward Snowden. There was a time when I admired the work of groups like the ACLU and Amnesty International. That was before they got taken over by ideologues who lack all sense of moral proportion. First, they argue that Catholic hospitals should be forced to perform abortions and now call for amnesty for Edward Snowden. We should all be proud of the fact that in our country, there is civilian control of the military, but the rest of us get to elect the civilians that control our military. Snowden doesn’t get to appoint himself. I pray for the day when he and Julian Assange will be in jail.

At Politico, an in-depth look at how Trump is managing to stay even or ahead in Florida, which may be the state that decides this election. Hint #1 to Team Hillary: If you are counting on winning the votes of Puerto Ricans along the I-4 corridor, you might want to unveil a plan for rebuilding the economy on the island. Hint #2: Puerto Ricans pay more for electricity than any other U.S. citizens and the island gets less than 1 percent of its electric power from sustainable energy sources.

At Millennial, editor Robert Christian interviews Michael Wear, one of the founders of a new group called Public Faith. Wear worked in the Obama faith-based office and has good things to say on many topics, from the fact that religiously motivated people often feel like we don’t fit in well with either party these days, to the need for a holistic approach to issues like abortion. Here is an especially welcome observation from someone who has observed the political machinations up close:

We reject and will continue to speak out about those in both parties who view the issue of abortion as a way to stoke conflict when it benefits them. The culture wars are for the benefit of politicians and the advocacy groups whose financial models rely on raising money off of demonizing people. We care about abortion, because we care about human life at all stages.