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telling our children and our children’s children what it was once like in the United States where men were free.”

Speaking to reporters after the vote, Johnson noted that this is a “critical time” and that “Xi (China) and Vladimir Putin and Iran really are an axis of evil.”

This is not a matter of our nation aspiring to be the world’s policeman.

It is a matter of knowing that the force of evil cannot be ignored and the price of believing that it can be ignored only grows and becomes increasingly more dangerous.

Is this a matter of focusing abroad at the expense of what is happening at home?

Certainly not. If a hero, in the words of Herman Wouk, embod ies the “virtue” of his or her people, how do we define the virtue of the American people?

It’s about the principles of a free nation under God. We also face great danger at home as we have departed from these principles.

The $95 billion that will go in aid abroad is peanuts compared to what we waste at home in spending programs that do nothing.

The Biden administration has appropriated $80 billion to the IRS to bol ster tax collection. But at the same time, Biden has submitted a 2025 budget to Congress increasing federal spending by some $800 billion.

We are now trillions of dollars in the red as result of bankrupt entitlement programs that are basically socialism. These programs are gushing red ink because they are not about, and never have been about, American principles of freedom and personal responsibility.

We, of course, need to assure that those that immigrate to our country come to embrace the principles that make our country great.

But Republicans need to contend with a president and his party who have long abandoned those principles.

Enough Democrats do seem to understand the importance of defending our principles abroad, and here Republicans and Democrats must work together.

So it’s not a matter of either/or.

Freedom is about knowing that we have choices, that there is good and evil, and we must fight evil everywhere by choosing the good.

Johnson has done us all a favor through his principles and courage. We have great challenges at home, but we cannot ignore what’s happening around us.

Star Parker is president of the Center for Urban Renewal and Education and host of the weekly television show “Cure America with Star Parker.” Her recent book, “What Is the CURE for America?” is available now. To find out more about Star Parker and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators. com. COPYRIGHT 2024 CREATORS. COM