Dave Brat’s convincing victory over Rep. Eric Cantor (R-VA) marked the first time a House Majority Leader has been defeated in a primary. While Brat remains relatively unknown in mainstream media and establishment circles, it didn’t take long for the smears to begin. Brat, an economics professor, is already being painted as a right wing extremist, but on radio this morning, Glenn explained why Brat’s victory actually represents a return to the “common sense center of this country.”
“Last night and this morning, they were all talking about the extreme right taking over. This is the Virginia loss of Eric Cantor,” Glenn said. “Now, let's just define ‘extremism’ because Nancy Pelosi immediately came out and said… 'The extreme right is trying to take over the Republican Party.' I am so sick of this… We are not the extreme right.”
So what constitutes an extremist in the United States?
“The extremist is someone who takes power away from the people,” Glenn said emphatically. “Here in America, the extremist is the one who says, ‘You don't have a right to do that’… Anybody who is taking power, usurping the power of the people; anybody who is trying to go around the Constitution, going around the three branches of government; anybody who is not living or enforcing the laws of the United States of America… Let's be very clear: That's the extremist.”
When you look at some of the biggest issues of the day – immigration reform, Common Core, the VA – the common sense solution is the one being discussed by the so-called extremist right.
“Who is stopping Common Core? Is it the extreme right? The extreme left? No,” Glenn said. “It is the common sense people right in the center that says this is wrong. This is a power grab in America – not Europe – but in America.”
“Common sense says let's take care of the veterans first,” he continued. “What happened to the liberals who used to say, ‘Let's take care of our own self first, our own schools first, take care of our own cities that are crumbling first? What happened to you guys? Because common sense says: Yes, let's take care of our own first – especially our veterans.”
With that in mind, Brat’s victory in Virginia on Tuesday represents the people’s desire to see the power returned to the people. While Cantor personified the ultimate Washington insider, Brat ran on a platform based on Constitutional principle.
“David Brat is a return to common sense. Dave Brat is a return to listening to the people,” Glenn said. “Dave Brat is one that says, ‘Let's stop spending so much money.’ Dave Brat is a guy saying, ‘We can't have a president… that just makes up the rules.’”
Glenn explained that common sense Americans on both the left and right are craving a return to responsibility and accountability that simply no longer exists in the world today.
“What is it that is making the average American, both left and right upset? Both left and right are upset at something going wrong and no one taking responsibility,” Glenn said. “That's the whole problem. We don't love people anymore. We love things… People are a means to the ends of the things. That's the whole problem. We have too many things. We love too many things. That's it. We need to start loving people again.”
Glenn warned that the true extremists in Washington will begin to reveal themselves – specifically in regards to the ever-growing immigration debate – as they attempt to cling to power.
“What they are going to try to do again is – when it comes to immigration – they will use those people on the border to keep positions of power for them. That's it,” Glenn concluded. “They will use anybody, any time, any plight, any emergency, anything that will pull on your heartstrings, that's an extremist. That's an extremist. This is a return to common sense, and God help us, common decency.”
