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DAVID MARCUS: Forgive me, but I was wrong about school prayer

FOX News

Fox News contributor Jonathan Morris and Pastor Robert Jeffress react to the president unveiling new guidance on public school prayer. The battle over prayer in school is raging in Texas right now, with Attorney General Ken Paxton vowing to defend any school district that introduces the controversial practice under a recent state law expanding religious expression in education. For the entirety of my life, and I'm old, the prohibition on public school-sponsored prayer seemed like settled Constitutional science, owing to a 1962 Supreme Court decision barring what had previously been a widespread and normal practice. In the past, I agreed with this form of separation of church and state. For me it was almost a question of better safe than sorry regarding the rights of minority religions, and importantly, I believed that Christian moral values were so ingrained in our culture that 30 seconds a day of praying could be forsaken.


Sen. Tim Kaine 'very frustrated' by lack of answers on drone incursions at Langley Air Force Base

FOX News

Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., tells Fox News Digital he's frustrated by U.S. officials not being forthcoming about the drone incursions over Langley Air Force Base. Nearly one year after mysterious drones hovered near a top-secret military base in Virginia for 17 days, Sen. Tim Kaine says he is "very frustrated" with "so many unanswered questions" that remain. The Virginia Democrat said his state delegation will get a classified briefing on the situation Thursday. For more than two weeks in December 2023, the mystery drones flew into restricted airspace over the installation, home to key national security sites and the F-22 Raptor stealth fighters. The Pentagon has said little about the incidents other than to confirm they occurred after a Wall Street Journal report in October.


House votes to curb Trump's power to strike Iran without Congress OK

The Japan Times

WASHINGTON – The U.S. House of Representatives voted Thursday to limit President Donald Trump's authority to strike Iran, a mostly symbolic move Democrats say defends Congress's constitutional powers but Republicans say endangers national security. The resolution was adopted on a 224-194 vote, as tensions in the Middle East remain high after a U.S. drone strike killed Iranian general Qassem Soleimani. Iran retaliated with missiles striking an Iraqi base used by U.S. troops late Tuesday, without casualties, leaving uncertainty about future hostilities. With Thursday's resolution, the House is saying that Congress should be consulted before the conflict with Iran escalates. The Senate now can either consider the House-passed measure or move forward with a different version introduced by Sen. Tim Kaine, a Democrat from Virginia.


Pentagon rejects Trump threat to strike Iranian cultural sites

The Japan Times

WASHINGTON – The Pentagon on Monday distanced itself from U.S. President Donald Trump's assertions that he would bomb Iranian cultural sites despite international prohibitions on such attacks. Defense Secretary Mark Esper said the U.S. will "follow the laws of armed conflict." When asked if that ruled out targeting cultural sites, Esper said pointedly, "That's the laws of armed conflict." The split between the president and his Pentagon chief came amid heightened tensions with Tehran following a U.S. drone strike that killed Gen. Qassem Soleimani, the head of Iran's elite Quds Force. Trump had twice warned that he would hit Iranian cultural sites if Tehran retaliates against the U.S. Esper's public comments reflected the private concerns of other defense and military officials, who cited legal prohibitions on attacks on civilian, cultural and religious sites, except under certain, threatening circumstances.