colleague, the reverend jesse jackson. and with him, dr. james a. falls, president and founder of the healing of the nation s ministry, and the former pastor of riverside church in new york. thank you both for being here today. let me go to you first. i was fascinated with reading this book. you are a part of a very politically active family. after serving in congress and later going to prison for fraud, you have seen life s ups and downs. how did seeking redemption spark the idea for writing this book? you talk about redemption. you go all the way back to the founding fathers and you talk about, you started developing this while you were doing solitary confinement for helping prisoners trying to get out of jail, trying to appeal to get out of jail.
the book is amazing, in how you bring us to the founding fathers and talk about what s going on in the penal system today. thank you for having me. in 1995 when i was elected to congress, i served under three presidents. william jefferson clinton, george w. bush, and barack obama. and for 17 years, i watched three presidents as a representative pardon turkeys on thanksgiving and i struggled whether or not the founding fathers had turkeys on their minds when they elevated the idea of granting clemmency to end shape, blame and guilt in a person s life to the constitution. i don t think so. during the obama administration i watched the first african american president exercise the exact same power as his predecessor. so color has nothing to do with it. after pleading guilty for using my campaign funds, as you correctly noted, i then started talking with other men who needed the benign prerogative of
for the first time in american history the finger of god placed there by the founding fathers of our country is a real interpretation, and it has real consequences for every facet of american life and every policy from the moment of discovery forward. how does it may into right now? in the political and, frankly, social division that we re seeing. the reality that the earth is the lord s and the fullness there of. i just had a chance to mention at henry mitchell s funeral yesterday. the idea that we have gotten to the place that we want to be a nation where values such as truth, where values such as compassion for the lowly, are no longer considered a part of american sensibility. somehow until we begin to