Mercury Confidential interview with Glenn Beck part 3: “It’s about what you watch on TV, it’s about your music, movies, and school"

August 08, 2012

Writer

by Meg Storm

Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5

In the wake of what proved to be a truly historic week of service and charity, we sat down with Glenn to get his thoughts on how Restoring Love completes the Restoring trilogy he began two years ago in Washington D.C., how he feels coming out of this remarkable chapter of his life, and what comes next.

In an age when our culture has been dominated by leftists in Hollywood (i.e. Glee), conservative principles always seem to be playing catch-up when it comes to making it into the ‘mainstream’. Glenn has made it clear that in order for us to succeed in restoring this country, we will have to take back our culture.

“It’s about what you watch on TV, it’s about your music, movies, and school,” Glenn told the crowd at Dallas Cowboys Stadium. “It’s about your America, the America we are building for you right now.”

With TheBlazeTV already making its mark in the television world, Glenn has recently turned his attention to music. As a medium that has the power to convey a message in ways spoken words often can’t, music seems like it will play a key role going forward.

“This is the beginning of something that I have had in my head for 15 years,” Glenn said. “We are going to be moving into all realms of music because music is the language of the heart, and conservatives always screw it up.”

In the weeks leading up to Restoring Love, Glenn introduced his radio and television audiences to the wide variety of talent he had found. From gospel to pop and just about everything in between, Glenn made it clear that music would play a big part in his July 28 event at Cowboys Stadium and in his future plans.

When it came to the actual music selected for the show, there was a delicate balance that needed to be struck. “It was important to me that we didn’t shock people who are conservatives,” Glenn explained. “We are always spoon fed Lee Greenwood. And there is nothing wrong with Lee Greenwood. But Lee Greenwood was good for 1990 – that’s not where we are anymore.”

Restoring Love featured performances from a classical orchestra, a gospel choir, and a pop singer to name a few. Singer/songwriter Kalai shared the stage with pastor and Christian pop singer Kari Jobe. Alex Boye brought the house down with his soulful rendition of the National Anthem, while Matt Maher performed an acoustic version of his hit, “Hold Us Together.”

Editor’s Note: All the music from Restoring Love can be found at www.glennbeck.com/music

A lot of thought went into finding the best way to marry these different genres in the same show. Creating a show that was entertaining and inspiring, but also comfortable was the primary goal.

“So I wanted to start the show with the National Anthem,” Glenn said. “And actually the way that we did the National Anthem – I kind of did it kicking and screaming. I wanted to flip the National Anthem in a completely different direction, but the staff thought that it would be a little too jarring to start."

“We wanted to make everyone feel comfortable with what they were about to see,” he continued. “We pushed them with Kalai a little bit. For those who like country, you know, we pushed them into pop. For those of you like pop, we pushed them a little bit into classical. I wanted to push the envelope with everybody without making them feel uncomfortable.”

Never one to waste even a second, Glenn is already forging ahead – planning out the rest of the year and the years to come. Music will be key to this plan, as Glenn plans to take on a new attitude as he goes ahead with his mission to take back our culture.

“[Composer Clyde Bawden] is currently composing a symphony for me. He is also composing a Christmas CD – a whole new way to celebrate an Andy Williams Christmas, if you will. This really was a marriage between the two of us,” Glenn said. “Clyde and I were working two projects ahead the whole time that no one really understood then nor do they understand yet.”

“Next year we will be one step closer,” he continued. “I have an end destination for this, but I try to do it in small chunks to make sure that we prove to ourselves that we can do it because we are now moving into territory that no one has ever done.”

The success of Restoring Love is a direct result of the devotion, charity, and compassion of a very special group of people: you, the fans. History was made because of your dedication and sacrifice, and tomorrow Glenn finally has the opportunity to say thank you and share his favorite fan moments from Restoring Love.

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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