Where did things go wrong for Miley Cyrus?

August 26, 2013

Writer

If you've turned on a TV, radio, read a newspaper, got on social media, or basically walked outside, you've heard about the Miley Cyrus performance at last night's MTV VMAs. While most of the media is talking about how "shocking" it was, Glenn took a minute to talk about a different angle — her parents.

"Billy, are you proud?" Glenn asked rhetorically this morning during the radio program. "Did she think that, 'yep, Dad's proud. Dad's proud of me now.' And was her dad proud?"

Six years ago, when Glenn was on CNN's Headline News, he interviewed Billy Ray Cyrus about his daughter's success — at that time she was a rising start among young children on the Disney Channel.

Stu recalled that during the interview, after Glenn asked if he's worried about Miley becoming the next Lindsey Lohan or Britney Spears, Cyrus answered that he tries to be close to his daughter. He tries to be her "best friend".

"That's a problem," Pat stated.

Stu agreed, noting that's the standard "bad thing" you want to try to avoid to a certain degree. He goes on to note that there must be a hard balance in the entertainment world between trying to raise your child correctly and allowing them to enjoy their success.

"I don't know how you walk that line," Stu said.

"You don't," Pat replied poignantly.

"That's why Ron Howard is the exception," Glenn added, noting that he too struggles to make his children aware of how unusual their lifestyle is compared to most kids.

"I've flailing and trying desperately to make sure that they understand that they live a privileged life. But I think I'm failing at that. And it is extraordinarily difficult to do," he said. "But one thing that you don't do is hand your kids off to Disney."

But when Walt Disney was alive, it may have been different, Pat pointed out.

"I don't think it would have been too bad a thing," he told Glenn. "It didn't seem like Annette Funicello went off the deep end."

The difference is Walt was present. He knew what he wanted his company to represent… and what Miley Cyrus did last night wasn't it.

"He was shepherding," Glenn said. "The reason why Rob Howard didn't go bad is because he had Andy Griffith there. He said Andy Griffith was like a dad to him. The whole time he was counseling him, 'don't let this go to your head. Don't pay attention to that. Don't listen to any of that.' So he had that, he still had guidance there. And the same thing if you're reading about Walt Disney. All of the kids that worked for Walt Disney — he did the same. He didn't build them into little monsters."

Looking at Miley's performance at the VMA's, it's clear she doesn't have that type of strong moral influence in her daily life. Looking back at Glenn's former interview with Billy Ray Cyrus, it was clear that her odds of avoiding this path were slim to none.

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Part 2

Instead of a strong father figure to help act as a GPS to guide her in the right directions later in life, she got a 'buddy'.

So how did Billy Ray react to Miley's performance? Well...we don't know for sure, but here's what he tweeted after her performance:

Thanking God for so many blessings tonight. Continue to pray for world peace. More love ...less hate.
— Billy Ray Cyrus (@billyraycyrus) August 26, 2013

The public didn't have quite the same reaction. Unlike many performances at the VMAs that have "shocked audiences," the public and celebrity reaction has been pretty negative. Here's a small handful of the reaction on Twitter last night.

Just saw a couple performances from the VMA's last night. 2 words.... #pitchystrippers
— Kelly Clarkson (@kelly_clarkson) August 26, 2013

Things I learned watching the #VMAs2013: There's nothing you can do with a foam finger that you can't air on MTV.
— James Van Der Beek (@vanderjames) August 26, 2013

I will always have this version of Miley. Let's live in the past and heal. pic.twitter.com/zMsEW2PvfO
— Judd Apatow (@JuddApatow) August 26, 2013

Poor Billy Ray ... pic.twitter.com/TkbTjf7vlR
— andyroddick (@andyroddick) August 26, 2013

Watching VMAs. Haven't been in a strip club in a while, but good to see nothing has changed
— Bill Maher (@billmaher) August 26, 2013

Just to put things in further perspective, TheBlaze's latest addition to the digital team may have summed up what happened on stage best when he said:

Miley Cyrus was born in 1992. She cannot begin legally consuming alcohol until November. Robin Thicke is 36. He has a 3-year-old son.
— Steve Krakauer (@SteveKrak) August 26, 2013

Trump's education secretary has BIG plans for the DoE

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Our education system is broken, and the Department of Education is a massive failure. But that all ends now.

It's no secret that America's school system is seriously lacking in many ways. President Trump pointed out that despite our massive spending per pupil, we are behind most of the developed world in most metrics. Our scores continue to plummet while our student debt and spending skyrocket—it's utterly unacceptable performance and America's students deserve better.

That's where Linda McMahon, Trump's pick for Secretary of Education comes in.

The former WWE CEO and leader of the U.S. Small Business Administration during Trump's first term, McMahon laid out her harsh criticisms of the DoE during a confirmation hearing on the 13th and revealed her promising plans to turn things around. McMahon described the public education system as "in decline" and promised that under her authority, the DoE would be reoriented towards student success.

Here are the top three changes to the Department of Education:

1. Dismantling the Department of Education

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From the beginning Trump's orders for McMahon were clear: oversee the end of the Department of Education.

During her Thursday hearing, McMahon clarified what dismantling the DoE would entail. As Democrats have repeatedly pointed out, Trump does not have the authority to destroy the DoE without Congressional consent, as an act of Congress created it. That is why Trump and McMahon's plan is to start by shutting down programs that can be stopped by executive action, then approach Congress with a plan to dismantle the Department for good. The executive orders have already begun to take effect, and once McMahon is confirmed she will author a plan for Congress to close the Department.

McMahon also promised that the end of the Department of Education does not mean an end to all the programs currently undertaken by the doomed department. Programs that are deemed beneficial will be transferred (along with their funding) to departments that are more suited to the task. The example given by McMahon was IDEA (Individuals with Disabilities Education Act) funding, which instead of being cut would be transferred to the Department of Health and Human Services.

2. School Choice

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In a huge win for parents across the country, McMahon pledged her support for School Choice. School Choice is the idea of allowing parents to enroll their student in any school of their choice, including religious schools and private schools. It would also mean that part or all of the funding that would have gone to a relocated child would follow them and continue to pay for their education.

This gives parents the ability to remove their children from failing schools and seek a better education for them elsewhere. A growing body of evidence suggests that the way we run our schools isn't working, and it is time to try something new. School Choice opens up education to the free market and will allow for competition.

Our children deserve better than what we can currently offer them.

3. COVID and DEI

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Trump's government-wide crackdown on DEI will ironically serve to increase inclusion in many American schools.

McMahon said as much during her Senate hearing: “It was put in place ostensibly for more diversity, for equity and inclusion. And I think what we’re seeing is, it is having an opposite effect. We are getting back to more segregating of our schools instead of having more inclusion in our schools.” She also spoke in support of Title IX, and the push to remove biological males from women's and girl's sports. In the same vein, McMahon pledged to push back against the rise of antisemitism on college campuses, which many Universities have failed to adequately address.

On Friday, February 14th, President Trump signed an executive order barring any school or university with COVID-19 vaccine mandates from receiving federal money. This only applies to the COVID-19 vaccine, and other vaccine mandates are still standing.

POLL: What DARK government secrets will Trump uncover?

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Will the dark secrets of the Deep State finally see the light of day? Or will they slip back into darkness, as they have many times before?

The Trump administration is gearing up to fulfill one of Trump's most anticipated campaign promises: to make the contents of the JFK files, along with other Deep State secrets, available to the public. Kash Patel, who has promised to publicize the highly anticipated files, is expected to be confirmed next week as Trump's director of the FBI. Moreover, the House Oversight Committee created a new task force headed by Rep. Anna Paulina Luna called "Task Force on Declassification of Federal Secrets," which is tasked with investigating and declassifying information on the JFK, RFK, and MLK assassinations, UFOs, the Epstein list, COVID's origins, and 9/11. This all comes after the FBI found 2,400 "new" records relating to the assassination of President Kennedy following Trump's executive order to release the files.

Glenn discussed this topic with the cast of the Patrick Bet David podcast. Glenn expressed his confidence in Trump's radical transparency—on the condition that Kash Patel is confirmed. The cast was not as optimistic, expressing some doubt about whether Trump will actually unveil all that he has promised. But what do you think? What files are likely to see the light of day? And what files will continue to linger in the dark? Let us know in the poll below

Do you think the JFK, RFK, and MLK files will be unveiled?

Do you think the 9/11 files will be unveiled?

Do you think the COVID files will be unveiled?

Do you think the UFO files will be unveiled?

Do you think the Epstein list will be unveiled?

Transgender opera in Colombia? 10 SHOCKING ways USAID spent your tax dollars.

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The government has been doing what with our tax money!?

Under the determined eye of Elon Musk, DOGE has rooted out the corruption that permeates USAID, and it turns out that it's worse than we thought. Glenn recently read a list of atrocious causes that were funded by USAID, and the list was as long as it was shocking.

Since the January consumer index report was published today, one thing is clear: eggs are bearing the brunt of inflation. That's why we illustrated the extent of USAID's wasteful spending of YOUR taxpayer dollars by comparing it to the price of eggs. How many eggs could the American people have bought with their tax dollars that were given to a "transgender opera" in Colombia or indoctrinating Sri Lankans with woke gender ideology? The truth will shock you:

1. A “transgender opera” in Colombia

USAID spent $47,000 on a transgender opera in Colombia. That's over 135,000 eggs.

2. Sex changes and "LGBT activism" in Guatemala

$2 million was spent funding sex changes along with whatever "LGBT activism" means. That equates to over 5.7 million eggs!

3. Teaching Sri Lankan journalists how to avoid binary-gendered language

USAID forked over $7.9 million to combat the "gender binary" in Sri Lankan journalism. That could have bought nearly 23 million eggs.

4. Tourism in Egypt

$6 million (or just over 17 million eggs) was spent to fund tourism in Egypt. If only someone had thought to build some impressive landmarks...

5. A new "Sesame Street" show in Iraq

USAID spent $20 million to create a new Sesame Street show in Iraq. That's just short of 58 million eggs...

6. Helping the BBC value the diversity of Libyan society

$2.1 million was sent to the BBC (the British Broadcasting Corporation) to help them value the diversity of Libyan society (whatever that means). That could have bought over 6 million eggs.

7. Meals for a terrorist group linked to Al-Qaeda

$10 million worth of USAID-funded meals went to an Al-Qaeda linked terrorist group. That comes up to be just shy of 29 million eggs.

8. Promoting inclusion in Vietnam

A combined $19.3 million was sent to two separate inclusion groups in Vietnam inclusion groups in Vietnam (why where they separated? Not very inclusive of them). That's over 55 million eggs.

9. Promoting DEI in Serbia's workplaces

USAID sent $1.5 million (4.3 million eggs) to “advance diversity equity and inclusion in Serbia’s workplaces and business communities.”

10. Funding EcoHealth Alliance, tied to the Wuhan Institute of Virology's "bat research"

EcoHealth Alliance, one of the key NGOs that funded the Wuhan lab's bat virus research, received $5 million from USAID, which is equivalent to 14.5 million eggs.

The bottom line...

So, how much damage was done?

In total, approximately $73.8 million was wasted on the items on this list. That comes out to be 213 million eggs. Keep in mind that these are just the items on this list, there are many, many more that DOGE has uncovered and will uncover in the coming days. Case in point: that's a lot of eggs.

POLL: Should Trump stop producing pennies?

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On Sunday, February 9th, President Trump ordered the U.S. Mint to halt the production of pennies. It costs the mint three cents to produce every penny, which Trump deemed wasteful. However, critics argue that axing the pennies will be compensated by ramping up nickel production, which costs 13 cents per coin.

In other news, President Trump promised on Truth Social that he would be reversing a Biden-era policy that mandated the use of paper straws throughout the federal government. From potentially slashing entire agencies to saying farewell to pennies and paper straws, Trump is hounding after wasteful spending of taxpayer dollars.

But what do you think? Was Trump right to put an end to pennies? And should plastic straws make a comeback? Let us know in the poll below:

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