5-Minute Videos

Americans fought a long and bloody war to get rid of one tyrant, the English King, George III. They didn’t want to install a new one of their own making. So how did the Framers ensure that the President would have enough power to be an effective chief executive, without making him a dictator? John Yoo, Professor of Law at the University of California, Berkeley, has the answer. #prageru #president #constitution #history #americanhistory SUBSCRIBE 👉 https://www.prageru.com/join Script: How much power should we give to the President? This was one of the most vexing (and critical) questions facing the Framers of the United States Constitution in the summer of 1787. To be effective, the President had to be perceived—both in times of war and peace—as the leader of the nation. For this to happen, he would have to be given significant authority. Americans learned this lesson in the years following the Revolutionary War when the nation floundered under the Articles of Confederation which had no provision for a chief executive. But this chief executive couldn’t be made so strong that he could become a tyrant. Americans fought a long and bloody war to get rid of one tyrant, the English King, George III. Nobody wanted to install a new one in his place. The Framers answer is found in Article II. The opening sentence reads as follows: “[t]he executive power shall be vested in a President of the United States.” This might sound straightforward, but it was anything but. Here’s why. “The vesting clause” of Article II, as it’s known, differs significantly from the vesting clause of Article I, which concerns the powers of Congress—the House of Representatives and the Senate. Article I’s vesting clause states: “all legislative powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress of the United States…” It then goes on to list those limited powers. That’s it. Congress can’t do anything else. There are no such limitations specified in Article II. The difference is subtle, but important. Whereas Congress is given specific responsibilities, the President is given broad responsibilities and wide discretion as to how he fulfills them. This is part of his executive authority. And just what is that executive authority? This is spelled out in Sections 2 and 3. The President is the commander in chief of the armed services. He sets military policy. He makes treaties with foreign countries. He sets foreign policy. He appoints his own advisors—what became known as his cabinet. He sets domestic policy. He appoints judges to the Supreme Court. That obviously gives him a big say in judicial policy. And finally, “he shall take care that the laws be faithfully executed.” This list is at once brief and vast because there’s so much involved in all these duties. Indeed, the President stands at the head of the entire administrative apparatus of the Federal government with all the rights and responsibilities that entails. For example, if the President can appoint federal officials, it stands to reason that he must be able to fire them, too. When you realize that enforcing the law involves layers and layers of people from department heads to federal law enforcement to government lawyers, all of whom are accountable to the President, you start to grasp how much power the chief executive has. So, how did the Framers keep the President in check? First and foremost, they gave Congress “the power of the purse,” the power to fund the operations of the federal government. Congress can restrain the President by withholding funding. The President literally can’t buy a light bulb for a lamp in the Oval Office without a Congressional appropriation. If the President proposes to add a new federal agency or to launch a war, Congress can bring his plans to a halt simply by refusing to fund them. The Constitution strikes a similar balance in foreign affairs. The President, as Commander-in-Chief, controls the strategy, tactics, and deployments of the U.S. Armed Forces, and also dictates U.S. foreign policy. Only Congress, however, has the power to declare war, and the Senate, by a two-thirds majority, must consent to any treaty negotiated by the President. Congress also has the power to impeach the President in cases of serious misconduct—treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors. But the bar for impeachment is set very high to protect the President’s independence from Congress. For the full script, visit: https://www.prageru.com/video/the-constitution-presidential-powers

Entertainment journalist Christian Toto explores why almost everyone in Tinsel Town—from the top star to the lowest crew member—seems to fall on one side of the political spectrum. There is no shortage of reasons. But that doesn’t mean those reasons are commendable. #hollywood #leftist #woke #prageru SUBSCRIBE 👉 https://www.prageru.com/join Script: Why does Hollywood lean so far to the Left? I'm an entertainment journalist and movie critic, so I get asked this question a lot. `If Hollywood reflected America, then half of Tinsel Town should be as red as it is blue. But that’s not remotely the case. Why? Here are five reasons. One. Guilt. A-list actors are paid incredible amounts of money to play dress-up. They’re ridiculously fortunate. And they know it. And they feel guilty about it. That guilt must be assuaged. And what better way to assuage it than to speak up for the “less fortunate”: the undocumented immigrant, the misunderstood criminal, women, blacks, gays, and the transgendered. And, by God, there’s an entire planet to be saved! You can’t feel guilty if you’re saving humanity, can you? Especially if it means no actual sacrifice on your part. Two. The Need for Meaning Somewhere along the line — probably in the ‘60s when so many wholesome ideas went south — the notion that providing entertainment was, in and of itself, valuable, lost currency — not with the public, but with the glitterati. Sure, acting brings money and fame, but not “meaning.” And meaning is more important than both, especially if you can purchase it so inexpensively: all you have to do is say the right things about the right causes. That those causes always happen to be leftist ones is merely a coincidence. Three. The Need to Be Loved. Everyone wants to be loved and admired. But most actors live to be loved and admired. Success for an actor is being adored by strangers. When stars rail against border enforcement, pro-lifers, or a certain real estate mogul, and get fawning press coverage, that’s even more love and admiration. And there’s a bonus. You get to be told how courageous you are “for speaking out.” A rant about “gun violence” on Oscar night becomes a “powerful statement.” It doesn’t get better than that. Speaking of Oscars, if you have any hope of winning an award — (and who doesn’t want awards?), that ambition goes out the window if you’re suspected of being on the wrong side of the political aisle. Four. Career Preservation Job security doesn’t exist in Hollywood. And this makes everyone, from the top stars to the lowest crew members, very nervous. So, in order not to give anyone the slightest excuse not to hire them, Hollywood types double down on woke posts to Twitter or Instagram praising the latest leftist fad. These messages send a clear signal to their colleagues, and especially to their employers: “I’m a forward-thinking progressive, just like you.” Push against this orthodoxy and you’ll pay a stiff price. Ask Gina Carano how that works. When the star of the popular Disney series, The Mandalorian, suggested that conservatives were being persecuted for their political beliefs, she was light-sabered from both the show and Hollywood, Inc. Or consider how singer Macy Gray changed her tune after she said trans women aren’t the same as women-women. Mercilessly pounded for this apostasy, it only took a few days for her to fully recant. Five. If It’s Right, It Must Be Wrong There is a pervasive belief in Hollywood that conservative ideas are grounded in “hate” or “denial”. Conservatives hate gays and minorities, deny science and even deny that America is systemically racist … and on and on. Imagine, they wail, if these haters ever gained power. We’d descend into fascism, or worse. This explains why celebrities get hysterical whenever the political winds shift. Hollywood activists never say, “oh, we lost that one,” they say it’s the “end of the world.” And to them, it is. Okay, I can hear you asking, why should we care what Hollywood actors think? I agree we shouldn’t care so much, but — let’s face it — a lot of people do. Stars are American royalty. And, like it or not, they have a big platform. When they take strident political positions, it further divides us. For the full script, visit: https://www.prageru.com/video/why-is-hollywood-so-woke

Did you know that the Founding Fathers referred to Deuteronomy, the fifth book of the Hebrew Bible, more than any other source? What is it about this book that is so special? Dennis Prager has answers. This video was made possible through our partnership with Dallas Baptist University. To learn more about DBU, please visit www.prageru.com/dbu. #god #deuteronomy #prageru SUBSCRIBE 👉 https://www.prageru.com/join Script: The only way to become a good person, or make a better society is by studying goodness. Many people think that all you need to do good or be good is to have good intentions. But you can no more be good without studying how to be good than you can play piano without studying how to play piano or practice medicine without studying medicine. There is a word for the study of goodness and how to make a good world: wisdom. Unfortunately, however, for much of the last century, few schools and few parents have taught wisdom. The result is moral chaos. Most of the wisdom of Western civilization—the civilization that has been the most successful in history in making good societies—comes from the Bible. That’s why the Bible is the most influential book ever written. So, I will share with you some of the wisdom from just one book of the Bible—the fifth, Deuteronomy. One. “Do not show partiality in judgment.” Chapter One, Verse Seventeen. A compassionate society is built on justice, not compassion. That might sound counterintuitive. But while we should be compassionate in our private lives, the state must be preoccupied with justice. That is the reason for this law: judges are forbidden not only to show favor to the rich but also to the poor. The purpose of a judge is to dispense justice. Two. "Do not be afraid of anyone.” Also Chapter One, Verse Seventeen. Every human being has fears. The question is whom do we fear? And for most people, only if you fear God will you not fear men. Pastor Dietrich Bonhoeffer,one of the few Germans to actively oppose the Nazi regime—and who was executed for doing so—feared God more than Hitler. If more Germans had feared God more than they feared Hitler, and if more Russians had feared God more than they feared Stalin, tens of millions of people would not have been murdered. Three. You will find Him if you seek Him. Chapter Four, Verse Twenty-Nine. Just as finding a spouse can take years of searching, so, too, finding God can take years of searching. But like a good spouse, the effort is worth it. Without God, life has no ultimate—no objective—meaning. If there is no God, every one of us is as insignificant as a grain of sand. It is not a coincidence that as fewer Americans take God and religion seriously, suicide and depression rates have risen dramatically. Four. “You shall have no other gods before Me.” Chapter Five, Verse Seven. We have more ‘gods’ in modern life than idol-worshippers had in the ancient world. Just to cite one of a dozen examples, many secular people believe in science the way religious people believe in God and the Bible. But there is a big problem with that. Unlike God and the Bible, science has nothing, simply nothing, to say about good and evil or about the meaning of life. For the full script, visit: https://www.prageru.com/video/deuteronomy-why-its-hard-to-love-god

Sarah Idan was the first woman to represent Iraq in the Miss Universe contest in almost half a century. She went to the competition hoping to make friends. She made one in Miss Israel, and then everything changed—but not in the way she expected. #iraq #prageru #middleeast SUBSCRIBE 👉 https://www.prageru.com/join Script: There’s an old saying: Man plans and God laughs. That couldn’t be more true. My plan was simple enough. Go to the Miss Universe contest as Miss Iraq and represent Iraqi women on the world stage. My country hadn’t sent anyone to the competition for 45 years, so my being there was a big deal. The Miss Universe contest brings women together from all over the world—it’s a true celebration of diversity. The world is made up of all kinds of people. I like that. So, when I met Miss Israel, I said, “Let’s take a picture so our people can see we don’t have a problem and we’re actually ambassadors for peace.” We took a photo together and I shared it on Instagram. I captioned it “Peace and Love from Miss Iraq and Miss Israel.” And that was the end of life as I knew it. Overnight, everything changed. The Miss Iraq organization—under pressure from the Iraqi government—threatened to strip me of my title if I didn’t immediately take down the photo. But that was nothing compared to the barrage of death threats I received. And not only was I getting them, so was my family. You see, Iraq doesn’t recognize Israel as a legitimate nation-state. It never has. There are no diplomatic relations between the countries. My selfie with Miss Israel was meant to be a gesture of goodwill—the start of something positive. But many Iraqis and other Arabs took it as a slap in the face. They thought I was betraying the Palestinians, and by extension, all Arabs and Muslims. As bad as it was for me, it was worse for my family, who were living in Iraq and, suddenly, in very real danger. To protect them, I did what the Miss Iraq mission told me to do. I issued a statement saying I do not support the Israeli government or its policies. Then, with as much grace as I could muster, I put a smile on my face and competed. I didn’t talk to the media. I didn’t talk to anyone. But the hatred didn’t stop. There was no way I could safely go back to Iraq and no way my family could stay there. Thank God, they managed to get safely out of the country. To this day no one in my family could return to Iraq. All because I smiled next to an Israeli. I went to the Miss Universe pageant as a musician and a model. I left conflicted and confused. What had I done that was so terrible? Why so much hate? During the pageant, my intentions were never political. I just wanted to meet people and make friends. But my experience showed me that I had to become political. But I would do it in my own way. I would bring my photo with Miss Israel to life. So I went to Israel, even though my Arab friends advised me not to go. They told me it would be dangerous and that it would ruin my future because they believed Israelis don’t like Arabs and the Arabs would hate me even more for going. Well, the second part certainly turned out to be true. As for the Israelis, they could not have been more welcoming. But here’s what surprised me: the Israelis were not just Jews. They were Muslims, Christians, and others, too. For the full script, visit: https://www.prageru.com/video/who-wants-peace-in-the-middle-east

Are we heading toward an all-renewable energy future, spearheaded by wind and solar? Or are those energy sources wholly inadequate for the task? Mark Mills, Senior Fellow at the Manhattan Institute and author of The Cloud Revolution, compares the energy dream to the energy reality. Take our survey: https://www.prageru.com/video-survey-how-much-energy-will-the-world-need Get your copy of The Cloud Revolution: https://www.amazon.com/Cloud-Revolution-Convergence-Technologies-Economic/dp/1641772301

The first responsibility of every government is to keep its citizens safe from invasion, violence and terror. So why is it that when Israel defends itself, much of the world sees it as the villain? David Brog invites you to step into Israel’s shoes when confronted with a real-life attack. What would you do?

How is it that Big Business “got woke?” Once the bastion of country club conservatism, it’s now a fortress of radical leftism. Vivek Ramaswamy explains this amazing and disturbing transformation.

What is the oldest holiday that people still celebrate today? Christmas? Easter? Halloween? Good guesses, but all incorrect. Dennis Prager has another answer, one you probably haven’t considered. The more you know about this holiday, the more you realize its incomparable significance.

There is systemic racism in America, and people of color are paying a terrible price because of it. It’s time to shine a bright light on the source of this regressive idea. PragerU’s own Amala Ekpunobi does just that.

Few presidents have connected with the American people like Ronald Reagan did. Through a combination of persuasion and policy, our 40th president turned a depressed nation into a confident one. Scott Walker, former governor of Wisconsin and president of Young America's Foundation, explains how he did it.