Glenn: Are America's best days over or can history be defied?

August 23, 2012

Writer

On today's radio show, Glenn took the opening moments of the show to look at the direction of the country and to elaborate on his recent cautious optimism. He spoke broadly about the historical cycle that countries go through - from nothing to greatness and back to nothing - before explaining why he thinks America could take a different course. Why does he think Americans can defy history and return to greatness? It has nothing to do with the government and everything to do with people.

"I want to talk to you a little bit about your faith in the country. What is it that you believe in? Who are we as a nation, as people? Where are we headed? Why do you believe that America's better days are ahead of us, or do you?" Glenn asked the audience.

"You know, there's survey after survey that is showing now that Americans believe that things are not going to get better, that our better days are behind us. I'm tired of that lie."

Glenn explained that when looking at the past successes and failures of America, it's important to recognize that people today cannot take the blame or credit for things that didn't happen in their lifetime.

"It's not my fault about slavery, it's not my fault on what happened to the Native American, it's not my fault what happened to the Jews. However, if those things happen again in my lifetime, it is my fault. I can't take the credit for stopping the Nazis. I can't take the credit for the Industrial Revolution. That was all accomplished by somebody else at a different time. We can't really even take credit for freedom in America, but we will take the blame for its loss," he explained.

"So we have to decide: Is America over? Are our best days behind us? Is there any reason to believe that we can pull this thing out?"

Glenn explained that in the history of the world, most great civilizations have all inevitably risen, only to be erased from history.

"Every country has always hit this point, declined, and erased. Every time. However, no other country has ever given the world the light bulb, the washing machine, the television, the radio, the Apple iPod, iPad, the telephone. No other country has ever done what we've done. No other country went to the moon. We did."

"Past performance does not guarantee future success, but past performance should give you an idea of who we are when we set our mind to it. So who are we? What do we choose to do?"

"I'm telling you, right around the corner, just over the horizon, a cure for cancer is here. A cure for cancer. I know three cancer institutes that I think are very close, and I don't mean some cancer. I mean all cancer. It's close. If you talk to people like Ray Kurzweil, he's a futurist, he'll tell you now don't buy think solar panels. Buy solar panels in about ten years because solar panels will change the way we have energy. We're approaching the point of singularity. Now, that can either be horribly, horribly wrong and bad, or it can be unbelievably magnificent. But it won't be the technology that decides this, the point of singularity, when everything just starts to work. It won't be technology that decides whether this is a good thing or a bad thing. It will be people. And right now we have chosen to go down an easy path, but nothing worth anything comes easy. Nothing. "

"The only things that are worth anything in life are the ones that you really sweat over because that's where you stretch your muscles. That's where you grow. Nobody is asking you to reach anymore. They will bail you out. There's no struggle. Struggle should be gone. No pain, no gain. There's a lot of pain that is coming. There is. We'll show you some stats today on just the price of bread. Wheat bread's up 56%. They'll tell you that there's no problem with inflation, but try to make a sandwich for the same price that you did two years ago. There's no way. You'll pay 40% more just in the ingredients of that sandwich. And things are going to get worse. Do you see how many people are buying gold now? Russia just put a whole bunch more money into gold. China did the same thing. People are preparing."

"Now let me ask you a question: Is your state preparing?" Glenn asked the audience.

"I came to Texas for a reason because the people here not just are well armed and will defend a republic. More importantly, I came here because the people here are good and decent, God‑fearing, they still will help their neighbor. And they'll still allow you to be free to create in Texas. Texas is preparing. Whether even Texans know it or not. Several states are. Do your own homework. Find out. What is your state doing? Does your state even have its assets? If your state has any gold, is it in your state, or is it sitting in the bank at the basement of the vaults of the Federal Reserve in New York City? If there's a problem, does your state get that money from the Federal Reserve? See, everybody trusted the Federal Reserve, "Yeah, you just keep it because it will be safe there. Texas moved their gold, or at least the University ofTexas moved their gold to Texas. They said we want it all. They're guarding it themselves. How many states have done that? Has any state done that?"

"We used to have ‑‑ I have in my office some civil defense signs, the fallout shelters from the early Fifties, Sixties, and early Seventies. I have a Geiger counter that was made in the 1960s right out of ‑‑ brand‑new out of a box. It was sitting in some fallout shelter. The federal government prepared us before. The federal government made sure that we had food. Does your state have food? Because if there is, God forbid, a breakdown in the banking system, I've told you to be prepared. But if you look at that survey that came out a couple of days ago, he we told you where the most charitable people are, you'll see sections of the country. For instance, the Northeast, the least charitable area of the country and some of the greatest wealth of the country is in the Northeast. They don't understand charity anymore. Their charity are taxes. That's why taxes are so high. Because they're not going to church anymore, they are not linking arms with their charities and their churches and their neighborhoods. They're paying taxes. That's the way they understand charity."

"So if the federal government and the state government can no longer provide, what happens to that society? They get angry. What happens to the society that can't make it? What happens to that society? Well, depends on where you live.

"Let me tell you about a story that we found in Kansas. The farmers are experiencing a drought. In Kansas there was a summit where they talked about what was happening to them. I sent a reporter out from The Blaze. There's a new story up that you have to read. It is inspiring. I didn't want to find the bad stories of the drought. Everybody knows. Prices are going to go up."

"There was a story this week where there are farmers actually feeding cows out‑of‑date candy because it has some nutrition, nutritional value. They can't afford to feed the cattle. The drought is off the charts bad."

"I instructed our reporter from The Blaze to go there, to find the story of the real people of the drought. He went to Oklahoma, went to Kansas. I talked to farmers. His solution ‑‑ they asked for Americans to help. The solution that he found was universal: Please pray for rain. Please pray for us. That's the only thing we need: Prayers for rain. See, the people in these states, they have faith and that's why some of these states are the highest in giving. Because the people are still connected to one another. They're still connected to the neighborhoods. They're still connected to their neighbors. They're still connected to their family and to their God and to their church. And that's why at this summit when they were talking about what was happening to them, the drought is worse than it's been in half a century, water is extraordinarily valuable and scarce, and in Kansas they've set things up between senior farmers and junior farmers. Senior farmers have direct access to the irrigation system, and they take what they want. The junior farmers get what's left. And usually there's enough to go around for everybody. They just take it off the top and then whatever's left goes to the junior farmers, but now there's not even enough water in Kansas to be able to grow a full crop for the senior farmers and that would kill everything for the junior farmers."

"But here's what they've done: Without any regulation, without any state or federal enforcement, without anybody coming and making grand speeches, without Congress passing a single bill, the senior farmers who have access to all of the water decided to give the junior farmers enough water to get a crop. The senior farmers are already getting very little profit because of the reduced water supply. This agreement means they are going to get even less. Some of them will go out of business. But they still realize that they are neighbors. They still have enough American decency in themselves. They know they have to live together. They know they're in this together. It's still the greatest American generation. It's people like these farmers in Kansas that are still willing to help each other without being told what to do. They don't need to be hold."

"I found this out firsthand. I have a farm. It's in the Mountain West. There's something about driving a truck. My wife just said to me last night, she said, I've got to get the car cleaned. It's just driving me crazy, there's so much dust on it. She ‑‑ at the farm she said that for about the first week. There's to way to get it clean. It will never be clean. There's nothing that's clean, especially when there's no rain. It's dusty. Everything is dusty. Your clothes, your ‑‑ everything. But there's something about the soil. There is something about being rooted in the American soil that just makes everything real. It roots you. And you start thinking about the person whose dust is blowing now in your house. It's from their farm. And you realize, we are not alone. How is the neighbor doing? We're in this together and we're going to succeed, if we always remember who we are. We always remember that we are in this together, that we don't hate each other, whether you're a senior farmer or a senior farmer. We're in this together. And so we'll make it through the droughts, we'll make it through the tough times because that's what Americans do. And then when it begins to rain again, Americans will grow crops better and more plentiful than anybody on Earth. Because that's what we do when it rains."

The Deep State's NEW plan to backstab Trump

Brandon Bell / Staff | Getty Images

We cannot make the same mistake we made in 2016 — celebrating victory while the deep state plots its next move.

In 2016, Donald Trump shocked the world by defeating Hillary Clinton. Conservatives cheered, believing we’d taken back the reins of our country. But we missed the bigger battle. We failed to recognize the extent of the damage caused by eight years of Barack Obama and decades of progressive entrenchment. The real war isn’t won at the ballot box. It’s being waged against an insidious force embedded deep within our institutions: the administrative state, or the “deep state.”

This isn’t a new problem. America’s founders foresaw it, though they didn’t have a term for “deep state” back in the 1700s. James Madison, in Federalist 48, warned us that combining legislative, executive, and judicial powers in the same hands is “the very definition of tyranny.” Yet today, that’s exactly where we stand. Unelected bureaucrats in agencies like the Environmental Protection Agency, the Department of Energy, and the Department of Justice hold more power than the officials we vote for. They control the levers of government with impunity, dictating policies and stifling change.

This is the fight for the soul of our nation. The founders’ vision of a constitutional republic is under siege.

We’ve felt the consequences of this growing tyranny firsthand. During COVID-19, so-called experts ran our lives, crushing civil liberties under the guise of public safety. Our intelligence agencies and justice system turned into weapons of political warfare, targeting a sitting president and his supporters. Meanwhile, actual criminals were given a pass, turning American cities into lawless war zones.

Thomas Jefferson wrote in 1816 that “the functionaries of every government have propensities to command at will the liberty and property of their constituents.” Today, we see Jefferson’s prophecy fulfilled. The deep state exercises unchecked power over our freedoms, and information itself is controlled by the fourth branch of government: the legacy media.

Even when we win elections, the deep state doesn’t concede defeat. It switches to survival mode. Trump’s first term proved this. Despite a historic mandate to dismantle the bureaucracy, the deep state fought back with everything it had: leaks, investigations, court rulings, and obstruction at every turn. And now, with the possibility of Trump returning to office, the deep state is preparing to do it again.

Progressives are laying out their attack plan — and they’re not even hiding it.

U.S. Rep. Wiley Nickel (D-N.C.) recently boasted about forming a “shadow cabinet” to govern alongside the deep state, regardless of who’s in the White House. Nickel called it “democracy’s insurance policy.” Let’s be clear: This isn’t insurance. It’s sabotage.

They’ll employ a “top down, bottom up, inside out” strategy to overwhelm and collapse any effort to reform the system. From the top, federal judges and shadow officials will block Trump’s every move. Governors in blue states like California and New York are gearing up to resist federal authority. During Trump’s first term, California filed over 100 lawsuits against his administration. Expect more of the same starting January 20.

From the bottom, progressive groups like the American Civil Liberties Union will flood the streets with protesters, much as they did to oppose Trump’s first-term immigration reforms. They’ve refined their tactics since 2016 and are prepared to unleash a wave of civil unrest. These aren’t spontaneous movements; they’re coordinated assaults designed to destabilize the administration.

Finally, from the inside, the deep state will continue its mission of self-preservation. Agencies will drag their feet, leak sensitive information, and undermine policies from within. Their goal is to make everything a chaotic mess, so the heart of their power — the bureaucratic core — remains untouched and grows stronger.

We cannot make the same mistake we made in 2016 — celebrating victory while the deep state plots its next move. Progressives never see themselves as losing. When they’re out of power, they simply shift tactics, pumping more blood into their bureaucratic heart. We may win elections, but the war against the deep state will only intensify. As George Washington warned in his Farewell Address, “Government is not reason, it is not eloquence — it is force; and force, like fire, is a dangerous servant and a fearful master.”

This is the fight for the soul of our nation. The founders’ vision of a constitutional republic is under siege. The deep state has shown us its plan: to govern from the shadows, circumventing the will of the people. But now that the shadows have been exposed, we have a choice. Will we accept this silent tyranny, or will we demand accountability and reclaim our nation’s heart?

The battle is just beginning. We can’t afford to lose.

Editor's Note: This article was originally published on TheBlaze.com.

Drone mystery exposes GLARING government incompetence

Gary Hershorn / Contributor | Getty Images

The drone issue is getting way out of hand.

Earlier this month, Glenn first reported on the mysterious drones stalking the night sky over New Jersey, but the situation is increasingly concerning as the sightings have escalated. Not only have drones been seen across the Northeast Coast, including over New York City, Maryland, and Pennsylvania, but recently, they have been spotted over the night skies of San Diego and other parts of Southern California.

It doesn't take an expert to identify the potential dangers and risks that dozens of undetectable, unidentified six-foot or larger drones pose to national security. Yet, our government's response has been one of unimaginable incompetence, leaving us to speculate on the origin and intention of these drones and wonder in astonishment at the government's ineptitude. Here are three examples of the government's lackluster response to the mystery drones:

Iranian Mothership and Missing Nuclear Warheads

- / Stringer | Getty Images

After several weeks of hubbub, New Jersey Representative, Jeff Van Drew gave an interview on Fox News where he claimed that the drones originated from an Iranian "mothership" off the East Coast of the United States. This theory has since been disproven by satellite images, which show that all Iranian drone carriers are far from U.S. shores. Another theory suggests that drones may be equipped with sensors capable of detecting nuclear material and that they are looking for a nuclear warhead that recently went missing! With these apocalyptic theories gaining traction in the absence of any real answer from our government, one can't help but question the motive behind the silence.

Pentagon's Limp Wristed Response

Alex Wong / Staff | Getty Images

In a recent press conference, national security spokesman John Kirby responded to reporters demanding answers about the government's lack of transparency, which has caused increasing public anxiety. He insisted that the drones did not pose a threat and were not assets of a foreign power, such as from Iran or China--even though he is still uncertain about their identity and origin. He also claimed that many of the sightings were simply misidentifications of normal aircraft.

This lackluster answer has only further inflamed national anxieties and raised even more questions. If the government is unsure of the identity of the drones, how do they know if they are a threat or if they aren't foreign assets? If they aren't foreign, does that mean they are U.S. assets? If so, why not just say so?

The Pentagon has also stated that they are leaving it up to local law enforcement to spearhead the investigation after concluding that these drones pose no threat to any military installation. This has left many feeling like the federal government has turned a blind eye to a serious issue that many Americans are very concerned about.

Where's Pete Buttigieg?

Chip Somodevilla / Staff | Getty Images

We are in the closing weeks of the Biden administration, and with the finish line in sight, Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg probably figured nothing else could go wrong on his watch—but boy was he wrong. As Secretary of Transportation, Buttigieg is in charge of the FAA, the agency responsible for managing all air traffic across the nation. One would think that mysterious, 6-foot-long, seemingly intractable drones are invisible on radar and flying above major cities would pose a serious threat to the myriad of legal aircraft that traverse our skies. Yet, Buttigieg has been silent on the issue, adding another failure to his resume which includes: malfunctioning airplanes, the train derailment in Ohio, and the Baltimore Key Bridge collapse, just to name a few.

Glenn: How Alvin Bragg turned hero Daniel Penny into a villain

Michael M. Santiago / Staff | Getty Images

We cannot allow corrupt institutions to punish those who act to protect life and liberty.

America no longer has a single, shared understanding of justice. Two Americas now exist, each applying justice differently depending on who you are and where you live. One America, ruled by common sense and individual courage, praises heroes who stand up to protect others. The other, driven by political agendas and corrupted institutions, punishes those same heroes for daring to act.

This stark division couldn’t be clearer than in the case of Daniel Penny, the Marine whose trial in New York City this week drew strong reactions from both sides across the divided line of justice.

If we let this slide, we accept a world in which heroes are treated as criminals and the law is a weapon for ideological warfare.

Penny was on a subway train last year when Jordan Neely — a man suffering from severe mental illness and reportedly high on drugs — began threatening passengers, saying, “I’m going to kill you all.” The fear on that subway car was palpable, but nobody moved. Nobody, that is, until Penny did what needed to be done. He took action to protect innocent lives.

In the America many of us used to believe in, Penny’s response would be heralded as heroic. His actions mirrored the courage of Todd Beamer on Flight 93, who, on September 11, 2001, rallied others with the words, “Let’s roll,” to prevent further tragedy. But in New York, courage doesn’t seem to count anymore. There, the system turns heroes into villains.

Penny subdued Neely using a chokehold, intending only to restrain him, not kill him. Tragically, Neely died. Penny, filled with remorse, told the police he never meant to hurt anyone. Yet, instead of being recognized for protecting others from a clear and present threat, Penny stood trial for criminally negligent homicide.

In Alvin Bragg’s New York, justice bends to ideology. The Manhattan district attorney has made a career of weaponizing the law, selectively prosecuting those who don’t fit his narrative. He’s the same prosecutor who twisted legal precedent to go after Donald Trump on business charges no one had ever faced before. Then, he turned his sights on Daniel Penny.

A jury may have acquitted Penny, but what happened in New York City this week isn’t justice. When the rule of law changes depending on the defendant’s identity or the prosecutor's political motives, we’re no longer living in a free country. We’re living in a state where justice is a game, and ordinary Americans are the pawns.

The system failed Jordan Neely

It’s worth asking: Where were activists like Alvin Bragg when Neely was suffering on the streets? Jordan Neely was a tragic figure — a man with a long history of mental illness and over 40 arrests, including violent assaults. The system failed him long before he stepped onto that subway train. Yet rather than confront that uncomfortable truth, Bragg’s office decided to target the man who stepped in to prevent a tragedy.

This isn’t about justice. It’s about power. It’s about advancing a narrative where race and identity matter more than truth and common sense.

It’s time to demand change

The Daniel Penny case — and others like it — is a wake-up call. We cannot allow corrupt institutions to punish those who act to protect life and liberty. Americans must demand an end to politically driven prosecutions, hold DAs like Alvin Bragg accountable, and stand up for the principle that true justice is blind, consistent, and fair.

If we let this slide, we accept a world in which heroes are treated as criminals and the law is a weapon for ideological warfare. It’s time to choose which America we want to live in.

Editor's Note: This article was originally published on TheBlaze.com.

CEO Brian Thompson's killer reveals COWARDICE of the far-left death cult

Jeff Swensen / Stringer | Getty Images

Early on the chilly morning of Wednesday, December 4th, Brian Thompson, CEO of health insurance giant, UnitedHealthcare, was walking through Midtown Manhattan on his way to a company conference. Suddenly, a masked and hooded figure silently allegedly stepped onto the sidewalk behind Thompson, drew a 3-D printed, silenced pistol, and without warning fired multiple shots into Thompson's back before fleeing the scene on an electric bicycle. After a multiple-day manhunt, a 26-year-old lead suspect was arrested at a McDonald's in Altoona, Pennsylvania after being recognized by an employee.

This was not "vigilante justice." This was cold-blooded murder.

As horrific as the murder of a husband and father in broad daylight in the center of New York City is, the story only gets worse. Even before the murder suspect was arrested, left-wing extremists were already taking to X to call him a "hero" and a "vigilante" who "took matters into his own hands." Even the mainstream media joined in on the glorification, as Glenn pointed out on air recently, going out of the way to show how physically attractive the murder suspect was. This wave of revolting and nihilistic fanfare came in response to the findings of online investigators who surmised the murder suspect's motives to retaliate against healthcare companies for corruption and denied coverage. The murder suspect supposedly underwent a major back surgery that left him with back pain, and some of his internet fans apparently viewed his murder of Thompson as retribution for the mistreatment that he and many other Americans have suffered from healthcare companies.

me liking tweets celebrating the assassination of the united healthcare ceo pic.twitter.com/N41w51ZuZR
— 🔻 (@pegasustits) December 5, 2024

The murder suspect and his lackeys don't seem to understand that, other than depriving two children of their father right before Christmas, he accomplished nothing.

The murder suspect failed to achieve his goal because he was too cowardly to try.

If the murder suspect's goals were truly to "right the wrongs" of the U.S. healthcare system, he had every tool available to him to do so in a constructive and meaningful manner. He came from a wealthy and prominent family in the Baltimore area, became the valedictorian at a prestigious all-boys prep school, and graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with a master's in engineering. Clearly, the murder suspect was intelligent and capable, and if he had put his talent into creating solutions for the healthcare industry, who knows what he could have accomplished?

This is the kind of behavior the far-left idolizes, like communists on college campuses who wear shirts that celebrate the brutal Cuban warlord, Che Guevara. Merchandise celebrating the UnitedHealthcare CEO murder suspect is already available, including shirts, hoodies, mugs, and even Christmas ornaments. Will they be sporting his face on their T-shirts too?

A liberal TikToker is selling a t-shirt that glorifies the recent assassination of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in NYC.
“deny , defend, depose” was reported to have been on the shell casings. pic.twitter.com/IWpHYkx2lF
— SteveSant66 🇺🇸 (@SSant66) December 8, 2024

This macabre behavior does not breed creation, achievement, success, or life. It only brings death and risks more Americans falling into this dangerous paradigm. But we still have a chance to choose life. We just have to wake up and take it.

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