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Glenn's Show Prep

The Story of Passover

April 03, 2015
Wilson

Writer

A couple of week’s ago, Glenn invited Rabbi Bentzi Epstein to the studios to give a Torah lesson for anyone in the building interested in attending. Glenn found the session so compelling that he asked Rabbi Epstein to come back, this time with a full studio audience. Many only know the story of Passover from the Charlton Heston movies, so Glenn asked the rabbi to explain the true story behind this holiday and why it means so much to Jews and Christians around the world.

Glenn: Hello, America, and welcome to The Glenn Beck Program and to TheBlaze. This is the network that you are building. We have a studio audience today, and I’m glad you guys are all here. Is everybody ready to have a good time? All right, okay, so anyway, so, this weekend is Easter and Passover, and everything I knew about Passover I learned from Charlton Heston. So, I know squat about it, but I will tell you that in the last few years, I have gotten to know many Jewish people and many, many rabbis, and I love this religion. I love the people of this religion.

As I was in Israel at two o’clock in the morning, and I know nothing really, I mean, I’m the whitest white guy you’ve ever met. I lived in Seattle, Washington. I mean, nobody even has a tan there, and that’s where I grew up. I remember the first time that I ever saw an African-American, my father said, “Don’t stare.” I was just like, “Look how dark he is.”

The first time, I think, I don’t know, I didn’t card people as a kid, but I think the first time I ever met a Jewish person was when I moved to New York and I had a Jewish agent. I mean, I just didn’t know anybody. So, the culture is completely foreign to me, and so I’ve had a chance to discover it myself. I have several Jewish friends. Some practice, some don’t.

The ones who practice it have enriched my faith so deeply, because as Christians, we are scratching the surface. When you read the Torah, you start to see we don’t know jack as Christians. We just don’t have any concept of how rich all of this is. I honestly don’t think that we should close that book. I think we should embrace the Jewish people and learn from them because they have so much to teach. I absolutely love this, and so a Rabbi here in Dallas, Bentzie Epstein, is a man who has come in here, what were you, two weeks ago?

Rabbi: Two weeks ago.

Glenn: I asked him to start Torah studies for anybody in the building who wanted to learn the Torah, and so we had non-practicing Jews, we had Christians, we had everybody. We do this with Christians pastors as well, and we study the Bible. We had such a great time in that 90 minutes I thought we should do a show on Passover and let him just teach Passover.

Here’s the first thing I want to start with, if this is the Passover table, I don’t want to eat any of that. None of this looks yummy. So, maybe we’ll save that. Why don’t we start with everything I learned, I learned from Charlton Heston. So, that’s not much. I know the blood on the door, and I know you eat bitter herbs and everything else, but tell me the whole story of Passover.

Rabbi: Okay, so the first thing, my mother-in-law happens to be in your group as well. You know, she saw The Ten Commandments as a kid, and that was her education. As I’ve been teaching and going through history, I tell people whatever you learn from Hollywood is wrong. So, the only way you can go ahead and you can watch any of these shows, I said, is if you pay your kids, you know, $0.50, inflation, maybe a buck, for every mistake they find, because it gets so ingrained. Like at our Seder, my in-laws are here, and we talk about the Ten Commandments. All she can think of is Charlton Heston. That’s all she can think of.

Glenn: So, I think a lot of people are like that though. How much would it cost you if you did every dollar per mistake?

Rabbi: You know, it would take forever. I actually told a few of my students, I said, “Why don’t you tape the show?” I said, “And then we’ll have a little showing,” and we’ll stop the movie every scene, you know, and kind of see if they got anything right.

Glenn: Next year we have to do that. That would be fantastic.

Rabbi: But we need more than an hour. So, that’s kind of how these things go. So, Passover, we’re about to celebrate our 3328th Passover tomorrow night, okay? So, Passover, the actual Exodus in Egypt took place 3328 years ago. The Gregorian calendar, it would be 1313 B.C.E, and Jewish calendar would be year 2448, 2448 years from the creation of man, not the world. The world one is actually…well, before the world. Judaism has a fiscal calendar and a calendar year. Our fiscal calendar or our calendar year starts on Rosh Hashanah, right? That’s the anniversary of the world, anniversary of man.

Glenn: But this is the month of like New Year’s, right?

Rabbi: Right, so this month, this is the month of Nisan, and the month of Nisan which is really the first month—

Glenn: Everybody gets a car?

Rabbi: A Nissan. So, I was wondering how they got the—

Glenn: Yeah, I know.

Rabbi: This is the first month of the year. So, in the Jewish calendar, for example, today would be the 13th day to the month of Nisan, year 5775. [So] 5775 connotates from the creation of man, and the 13th of Nisan is from the Exodus of Egypt, okay? The Exodus of Egypt is probably the most important event. It’s a piece of the most seminal event in Jewish history because that’s really…tonight or tomorrow night we’re all going to be sitting down at our Seders, you have the birth of the Jewish people. Okay, this is where the Jewish people were birthed into. Okay, it means 430 years before tomorrow night what happened was you had Abraham ink a deal with God to be the Jewish people. So, Jewish people then were 1743 B.C.E. was when the Jewish people, when Abraham inked a deal with God for the Jewish people to be the Jewish people.

Glenn: I’ve never heard anybody ink a deal with God. It’s funny. It’s like, “I’ve got some changes here on page three.”

Rabbi: The Bible talks about that God told Abraham, take some animals, cut them in half, put them on either side, and then God sent down a pillar of smoke in a fiery furnace and walked through the pieces of the animal, right? Genesis 15, right, that’s where that takes place, so actually it’s a real deal. That’s when we became the Jewish people, so Abraham is considered the patriarch of the Jewish people. Got it? You have Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, those are the three patriarchs. You had four matriarchs, Sarah, Rebecca, Rachel, and Leah, and they are the patriarchs and matriarchs of the Jewish people. They created the spiritual DNA of the Jewish people. As a people, we became birthed on Passover, okay?

Glenn: Because that was the coming together and saying we’re all entering Exodus together. We are one as a people, and we are moving as one for the first time.

Rabbi: And we’re all accepting the deal that Abraham made with God. That’s actually what takes place, because one thing that we really don’t talk about a lot but you should know, only 20% of the Jewish people left Egypt. During the ninth plague, the plague of darkness, 80% of the Jewish people died because they said we would rather be slaves to Egypt than serve God. They said, “We’re outta here.” They said, “We’re not going.” God says you’ve got two choices, you could come with me or you can stay here dead.

Glenn: This is the thing that amazes me. When I first heard that, because I’ve heard 10%, but I’ll take your 20. Don’t argue with me, Rabbi. This is the thing that amazes me, because we think that is unusual, but there was only 20 to 30% of the American people that went to fight against the king. They weren’t all with George Washington. It was 30% was the number. The rest were either neutral or against it. If you look at what’s happening right now and you said, “Hey, we all have got to stand up,” you’d be lucky to get 20%. There would be a lot of people that believe, “No, this really isn’t right,” but standing up and doing something about it, that’s a small number. So, God always kind of unfortunately whittles it down and purifies those people right before there’s another great expansion.

Rabbi: Yeah. Actually Egypt is called a cauldron, right, a crucible. This is where the Jewish people were purified, and the 20% that left, all Jews today, descended from that.

Glenn: Now, how did they go from being purified…this is the thing I’ve never understood with The Ten Commandments, the Charlton Heston, is they’ve seen all these plagues. They’ve seen all these miracles. They walked across the Red Sea. They see Pharaoh’s armies destroyed. Moses leaves, and the minute he’s gone, it’s…it took a little longer than that?

Rabbi: Yeah, 40 days.

Glenn: Okay still, but 40 days and they are building an altar to—

Rabbi: A golden calf.

Glenn: I mean, what happens? How does that happen?

Rabbi: Actually it’s interesting. Really what happens on that piece is that the Jewish people are in the desert.

Glenn Because these are the good guys. These are the dedicated.

Rabbi: You should know, just in their defense, first of all, the 20% that left were not God-fearing people. When the Jewish people, seven days after we left, we came to the Reed Sea. It’s actually not the Red Sea. The Hebrew word is Yam Suph. Yam means sea. Suph means reeds, Sea of Reeds. It probably was the Red Sea. You know why the Red Sea is called the Red Sea?

Glenn: No.

Rabbi: Because the reeds that grow on the bottom of the Red Sea are red, so they make the water look red.

Glenn: Okay.

Rabbi: Okay, so it’s really the technical term is the Reed Sea.

Glenn: Is there a Reed Sea other than the Red Sea?

Rabbi: I don’t believe so.

Glenn: Okay, so we think it’s the Red Sea.

Rabbi: It’s probably the Red Sea, and actually the Red Sea—

Glenn: So, if it’s reeds, it’s not really deep. It’s like the new one I think or maybe I saw…I also learned a lot from Prince of Egypt, that great cartoon, because in that cartoon there’s like a whale or something there by the water. Like wow, that’s cool, there’s a whale in the sea.

Rabbi: So, I mean, the reeds could be pretty tall. So, Sea of Reeds, it’s actually interesting because there’s a question about the Gulf of Suez or the Gulf of Aqaba, and it seems that really took place, that the splitting of the Reed Sea actually was the Gulf of Aqaba, not the Gulf of Suez. So, if you could imagine, here’s Egypt, okay, and here’s the two fingers. Here’s the Suez which eventually they turned into Suez Canal, and you have here the Gulf of Aqaba where you have all the oil stuff coming out of. They traveled across the desert to the Gulf of Aqaba, probably a place called Nuweiba Beach, okay? Nuweiba Beach is sort of almost a peninsula or a delta into the Sea of Reeds, and that’s why when the Egyptian army came chasing after us we couldn’t go no place.

Glenn: No place.

Rabbi: I never understood if here’s the Sea of Reeds and you’re camped right here, go north, go south. The answer is we’re on a delta. The mountains came up to the Sea of Reeds, and so we’re stuck on this delta. There’s only one way in, and that was through the Wadi, and down the pike was coming the Egyptians. So, we were trapped on the beachhead.

Glenn: Tell me about…because we talked privately about miracles, so tell me about the parting of the Red Sea and the choice you have to believe.

Rabbi: Okay, so this is quite fascinating. Most people, when it comes to miracles, they have a hard time figuring it out. You know, like if I levitate you off this couch—

Glenn: That would be cool.

Rabbi: That would be cool.

Glenn: If I levitated you off this couch, that would be very cool.

Rabbi: I love your couches. Once you sit in them, you don’t get up.

Glenn: I know.

Rabbi: Right, so people define miracles, if I picked up this building, wow, what a miracle.

Glenn: Right.

Rabbi: Judaism, that’s not how we define miracles. Judaism, we define miracles, God will always try to do a miracle…He will always try to do it within the bounds of nature, okay? So, it will always be as natural as it could be, and in fact, if you actually read the Torah, right, it says that Moses stuck his hand out over the sea, and it says an east wind blew all that night. The next morning, the Sea of Reeds split. At dawn, the Sea of Reeds split, and in we went. So, you see the sea splitting was a natural event. The wind blew.

Glenn: It was the stacking up of the water.

Rabbi: The stacking up of the water.

Glenn: Have you ever read Velikovsky, a guy named Velikovsky, Worlds in Collision? Has anybody ever read Worlds in Collision?

Rabbi: Is he in the Bible?

Glenn: No. He was a guy who actually was really besmirched. He was a scientist and besmirched. When Einstein died, he had just written Velikovsky a letter and said I am sorry that I was part of the besmirching of you. He said some of the stuff that you’ve said has turned out to be accurate, and he said I will make it my life’s mission to correct any of the stuff that I have done. He died a week later.

So, Velikovsky is still discredited, and it’s not that his conclusions are necessarily accurate, it’s his idea. He talked about worlds in collision. He talked about let’s go through the Bible, and let’s look now if the sun did stop, we should find that in many religions, and they might explain it differently.

If the Red Sea…and how he explained the Red Sea, he said could it have been that the fire coming down and stuff was maybe a very large meteor coming by that actually changed the gravitational pull and actually made the riverbed or the sea stand up? What he was saying was if God created the universe, He would use his own natural laws to do these things, so we should look for scientific ways and natural ways for miracles to happen. It’s how we translate them. I thought that was great.

Rabbi: Actually the Jewish tradition teaches that when God came, like Noah and the flood, said God took two stars out of orbit and that flooded the world. It’s kind of quite fascinating. When you go through the Bible, it’s amazing. So, the Sea of Reeds, going back to the Sea of Reeds, it was a natural event, and yet in Judaism we consider that to be…the miracles that took place at the Sea of Reeds was five times, four times more than the miracles that took place in Egypt. Everyone knows the ten plagues, right? I didn’t watch the movie, so I can’t tell you.

Glenn: You didn’t watch the movie? Oh, you’ve got to come over to my house for Passover.

Rabbi: And so you go, you get the ten plagues, right? You have ten plagues there, right? And yet the plagues that took place at the Sea of Reeds were multiples of that. Fifty, two hundred, two hundred fifty plagues took place at the Sea of Reeds, right? It’s humongous, and yet like, “Well, what’s the miracle?” Like, big deal, you know, like whoopie-doo. The answer is as follows, and the answer to this is something so significant. The definition of a miracle is timing. The Jewish people stood at the Sea of Reeds, and the Egyptians are pounding now. They’re going to chop their heads off, right? They finally have them in their gun sights. You know, they’ve been taking it for a year, and you can’t fight God. Like, it’s hard to shoot God, right? They go ahead, and they’re about ready to take the Jewish people. They’re going to teach them a lesson, right? How many of them are they going to bring back? They’re going to wipe the floor with them, and they have them in their gun sights, right? The Jewish people are stuck, and we say, “God, help us.” God goes in, and God splits the sea, and we walk through. You have to pardon me. I don’t understand the Egyptians, okay?

Glenn: Yeah.

Rabbi: Ten plagues you’ve lived through, right? You’ve lost everything. You show up at the Sea of Reeds, and all of a sudden, the sea parts, and then you’re stupid enough to follow the Jews in?

Glenn: Yeah, I know, yeah, like way behind them too. If I’m like with them, that’s one thing.

Rabbi: What are you doing? Like, I just don’t get that. The Jewish people get in there, right? The Jewish people walk across. We go ahead, and we go through the Sea of Reeds, and it’s an amazing thing, right? In the last 3328 years, how many times has the Sea of Reeds split?

Glenn: Zero.

Rabbi: Zero, and before this time, how many times has the Sea of Reeds split?

Glenn: Zero.

Rabbi: So that, in Judaism, we put up a big sign, and we say “God.” We say that’s God because it’s timing. That’s God. That’s the miracle. The miracle is it never happens before. It happened just when we were there and we cried out to God. Stick out your hand and poof, poof, poof, and there we go. It’s like amazing.

Top THREE reasons we NEED the Panama Canal

Justin Sullivan / Staff | Getty Images

Is Trump seriously planning a military conquest of the Panama Canal?

In the weeks leading up to the inauguration, Donald Trump launched the Panama Canal into the national spotlight. The canal is one of the most important passages in the world, and its continued operation has been critical for both the U.S. military and economy since its construction.

Since America relinquished sovereignty of the canal, China has asserted its authority in the region. The Chinese Communist Party has been growing its influence in Panama and neighboring Latin American countries, convincing them to join their "Belt and Road Initiative," an effort to poise China as the main economic power in developing nations across the world. Panama in particular is quickly becoming a Chinese puppet state. There are currently over 200,000 Chinese living in Panama, a Chinese company runs two of the canal's five major ports, and another Chinese company provides telecommunication service for a large portion of the canal. The government of Panama has even gone as far as cutting diplomatic ties with Taiwan.

It's clear that the Panama Canal is under serious threat of falling into Chinese hands, but President Trump doesn't intend to let them move in. Here are the top three reasons we need the Panama Canal:

1. The canal was built by the U.S.

Hulton Archive / Stringer | Getty Images

Without the United States, neither Panama nor the Panama Canal would exist. In 1903, after Colombia refused to allow the U.S. to build a canal across the isthmus of Panama, President Teddy Roosevelt devised a controversial plan. He supported a Panamanian independence movement, which swiftly overthrew the local Colombian government. Meanwhile, he stationed a U.S. warship off the coast, preventing Colombia from sending military forces to retake Panama.

The moment Panama declared its independence, the U.S. recognized it and struck a deal with the new government: the U.S. would control the Canal Zone, while Panama would receive $10 million and an annual payment of $250,000. Construction of the canal took over a decade, cost $375 million, and resulted in thousands of American casualties, making it the most expensive U.S. construction project of its time.

Fast forward to 1964 when tensions between the U.S. and Panama over the canal erupted into a riot. President Lyndon B. Johnson decided it was time to transfer control of the canal to Panama. However, this proved more complicated than expected. In 1968, General Omar Torrijos, a known ally of Cuban dictator Fidel Castro, seized control of Panama in a coup. Negotiations over the Canal stalled, as many Americans opposed giving such an important asset to a controversial figure. It wasn’t until 1999, following the deployment of 27,000 U.S. troops to facilitate yet another change in power, that the Canal was officially handed over to Panama.

2. The canal is vital for the U.S. economy

IVAN PISARENKO / Contributor | Getty Images

The U.S. relies heavily on the Panama Canal for commercial shipping. Between 13 and 14 thousand ships use the Panama Canal every year, which is roughly 40 percent of the global cargo ship traffic. Additionally, 72 percent of ships traversing the canal are either heading toward or leaving a U.S. port.

The time ships save using the Panama Canal reduces shipping costs massively. For example, when the canal first opened in 1922, it was estimated that a ship’s journey from Oregon to the UK, was shortened by 42 percent, reducing costs by 31 percent. If the Panama Canal was blocked or destroyed, or if American merchant vessels were denied passage, the effects on the U.S. economy would be tremendous.

3. The canal is a key defense point for the U.S. military

Historical / Contributor | Getty Images

Similarly, the canal is key to the U.S. military and national security. The canal shaves off approximately 8,000 miles of the voyage between the Pacific and the Atlantic. If U.S. Navy ships were denied access in a time of crisis, the extra time required to bypass the canal would be disastrous. Conversely, if the U.S. can keep the Panama Canal from being used by foreign aggressors, it would provide a massive advantage in future conflicts.

A foreign enemy could easily exploit the canal's current vulnerability. This was proven in 2021 when a cargo ship accidentally blocked the Suez Canal for a week, paralyzing global trade. Imagine China intentionally sabotaging the Panama Canal, considering it controls ports on both ends, owns a bridge that spans the Canal, provides its telecom services, and has the second-largest fleet of ships using the route.

TOP 5 takeaways from JD Vance's 'Face the Nation' interview

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After an eventful first week in office, JD Vance wrapped the week up with a bang of an interview on "Face the Nation."

Last weekend, Vice President Vance joined "Face the Nation" host Margaret Brennan, who drilled Vance on everything from the economy to immigration. Vance clapped back with polite yet cutting responses, and he defended Trump against some of her more accusatory queries.

If there was any lingering doubt that JD Vance wasn't vice presidential (or presidential) material, they have just been blown away. Here are the major takeaways from his electricinterview on Sunday:

1. J.D. Vance defends Trump's cabinet picks

Bloomberg / Contributor | Getty Images

Brennan opened the interview with a barrage of questions that brought up concerns surrounding some of Trump's cabinet picks, specifically Pete Hegseth and Tulsi Gabbard.

Brennan began by questioning how effective Pete Hegseth could be as Secretary of Defence, given that he was confirmed with a tie in the Senate that VP Vance broke. Vance responded with a quick breakdown of all of the issues the military is currently facing. Vance argued that Hegseth's unpopularity in the Senate results from his being a disruptor.

Brennan also attacked Tulsi Gabbard, calling her unfit for the title of "Director of National Intelligence." Vance defended Gabbard, citing her formidable resume and strong character. Vance also discussed the corruption of our intelligence services, which out-of-control bureaucrats have weaponized against the interests of the American people. He expressed his belief that Gabbard would be the right person to reign in the corruption and return the National Intelligence Service to its intended purpose.

2. J.D. Vance explains how Trump's economic policies will lower consumer prices

Brandon Bell / Staff | Getty Images

Brennan pushed Vance on the economy, specifically questioning when prices for consumer goods would begin to fall. Vance explained that within the plethora of executive orders issued by Trump during his first week in office, many were aimed at bringing more jobs back into America, which will raise wages and lower prices. Other orders will boost energy production, which will reduce energy costs and decrease the costs of goods.

3. J.D. Vance sheds light on needed FEMA reforms

ROBYN BECK / Staff | Getty Images

Brennan drilled Vance on President Trump's proposed FEMA reforms, specifically regarding Trump's suggestion to send states a percentage of federal disaster relief funds so that they can quickly distribute aid rather than wait on federal action. While Brennen argued that FEMA has specialists and resources that states would not have access to, leaving people without aid, Vance argued that recent disasters, like Hurricane Helene, have proven that FEMA's current bureaucratic red tape deprived Americans of immediate aid when they needed it most.

4. J.D. Vance defends Trump's mass deportations

PIERRE-PHILIPPE MARCOU / Contributor | Getty Images

Vance defended Trump's decision to allow ICE to conduct raids into churches and schools against Brennen's criticisms, arguing that law enforcement should remove a dangerous criminal from a school or church, regardless of their immigration status. He also advocated for Trump's proposed changes to birthright citizenship to prevent illegal immigrants from abusing the constitutional amendment by having "anchor babies" on U.S. soil.

Vance also took a hard stance supporting Trump suspension of admitting Afghan refugees. Brennan argued that Afghan refugees were going through a thorough vetting process and were now being abandoned by the U.S. However, Vance cited the foiled terrorist attack in Oklahoma City during Trump's 2024 campaign that was orchestrated by an Afghan refugee, who was allegedly vetted by federal agents. The vetting process is clearly flawed, and it was a prudent decision to halt the admission of these refugees until further notice.

5. J.D. Vance insists that Trump will still reign in Big Tech

PIERRE-PHILIPPE MARCOU / Contributor | Getty Images

To wrap up the interview, Brennan questioned the Trump administration's stance on Big Tech given the attendance of the industry's biggest names at Trump's inauguration, including Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, Google CEO Sundar Pichai, Apple CEO Tim Cook, and TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew. Vance assured Brennan that Trump is still resolved to curb the power and influence of Big Tech.

Top THREE reasons the U.S. NEEDS Greenland

EMIL STACH / Contributor | Getty Images

Are Trump's repeated promises to claim Greenland for the U.S. just belligerent imperialism or a deft move to secure the future of America?

During his patriotic inaugural address, President Trump reiterated his campaign promise to expand American territories, including securing U.S. control over Greenland. This is not a new idea despite what the mainstream media may claim.

The idea of buying Greenland was originally introduced by progressive hero Woodrow Wilson in 1917 as an attempt to secure the homeland as America was gearing up to enter the First World War. The second attempt came after World War II when President Truman tried to buy the island from Denmark in another attempt to shore up national security, this time against the Soviets. Since then, Trump floated the idea in 2019, which was met with much the same ridicule as now.

The truth is that the acquisition of Greenland represents far more than just an outlet for repressed imperialist desires. It would be one of America's best investments in a long time, which is why we've been eyeballing it for so long. Here are three reasons the U.S. needs Greenland:

Strategic Military Position

THOMAS TRAASDAHL / Contributor | Getty Images

For the majority of the 20th century, Europe was the region from which a foreign attack on American soil could be launched: the Germans for the first half of the century, and the Russians for the second half. On both occasions, Greenland stood between our foreign enemies and the United States.

After the World War II, America was the official military defender of Greenland, per an agreement with Denmark. Under this agreement, the U.S. built Pituffik Air Force Base, a remote base 750 miles north of the Arctic Circle. Due to its location, approximately halfway between D.C. and Moscow, the Pentagon still views Pituffik as a vital component of America's nuclear defense.

The U.S. also built a secret base within the ice cap known as Camp Century. Camp Century was part scientific outpost, part nuclear-tipped ballistic missile silo built in the ice to withstand a direct atomic strike. The nearly two miles of icy tunnels were powered by a nuclear reactor and were designed to survive a nuclear first strike, and return fire. Although abandoned in 1967, Camp Century still symbolizes the strategic importance of Greenland for U.S. security.

Untapped Resources

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While Greenland's population is a mere 56,000, the island has a total landmass nearly three times the size of Texas. According to a 2009 geological assessment, a whopping 30 percent of the Earth's undiscovered natural gas, and 13 percent of its undiscovered oil is locked away beneath Greenland's icy ground. There are also untapped deposits of valuable rare earth metals including copper, graphite, and lithium.

Neither Greenland nor Denmark have any real plans to tap into this immense wealth trapped beneath the ice, but it could prove crucial for ending the West's dependency on China. China has the global market cornered on rare earth minerals- including America. We acquire 72 percent of our rare earth mineral imports from China, making us entirely dependent on them for the manufacturing of many essential goods. Tapping Greenland's natural resources would help free America, and the West, from China's yolk.

Polar Silk Road

mark peterson / Contributor | Getty Images

In 2018 China launched an ambitious project that aimed to cut the travel time of cargo vessels between its ports and European markets in half. China, in collaboration with Russia, plans on developing new shipping routes through the Arctic Ocean. This bold new strategy, dubbed the "Polar Silk Road," has been made possible thanks to new tech, including a fleet of Russian, nuclear-powered icebreakers, the latest of which is capable of breaking through nearly 10 feet of ice.

With clear waterways from eastern China and Northern Europe, it won't be long before the first cargo ships brave the frigid sea and China looks to the next leg of the journey: the Northwest Passage. The Northwest Passage is the area of sea between Canada and the North Pole that would be an optimal shipping route between America's East Coast and Asia if it wasn't frozen over most of the year. But with new technology, we may be able to overcome the challenges of the ice and open the passage to commercial traffic, and Greenland is positioned directly on the passage's easternmost mouth.

Greenland would quickly become a key location along the Northwestern Passage, acting as a sentinel of the east, with the ability to control traffic through the trade route. If China or Russia were to take control of Greenland, they would dominate the Northwestern Passage, along with the rest of the new northern trade routes.

Is Romania squashing its own 'Trump' candidate?

DANIEL MIHAILESCU / Contributor | Getty Images

This week the streets of Bucharest, the capital of Romania, erupted in protest after the Constitutional Courts annulled the recent first round of the presidential election after the "far-right" candidate won.

The government is lying to you. If you have been listening to Glenn for a long time you already know that, and you also know that if you try to call attention to the lies you get labeled a conspiracy theorist or "far-right." This is not only true in America but across the world. Politicians cheat, steal, and grab power, then lie about all of it. This is the root of countless issues across every government on the planet, and recently Romania has become the latest example of this unfortunate phenomenon.

But what is really happening in Romania? Was this an actual attempt to stamp out someone who would shed light on lies and corruption? Or did the Romanian government put a stop to a genuine bad actor?

The Election

Bloomberg / Contributor | Getty Images

On December 6th, 2024, the Romanian Constitutional Court canceled the second round of the presidential election amid claims of Russian interference. The second round of the election would have seen right-wing candidate, Calin Georgescu face off against pro-European centrist Elena Lasconi.

The trouble surrounds Georgescu, who stands accused of using Russian aid to run an unprecedented social media campaign that helped him win an election pollsters claimed he stood no chance of winning. Georgescu's rapid rise in popularity on social media does raise some eyebrows, and to add to the suspicion he declared he had zero campaign spending. On the other hand, Georgescu's supporters claim that his quick rise to stardom and underdog victory is due to the growing resentment for the ever-out-of-touch political elite.

Georgescu's Platform

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Georgescu rose to prominence on a platform many of his detractors have labeled "far-right," "pro-Russian," and "populist" (sound familiar?). His positions include supporting Romanian farmers, increasing Romanian self-reliance, and increasing local energy production. Georgescu has been lauded for his message of hope and vision for the future and his dedication to truth, freedom, and sovereignty.

Georgescu is also a vocal Christian and a supporter of the Romanian Orthodox Church. He has questioned the climate change and COVID-19 narrative as well as NATO and the war in Ukraine, which is how he earned his "Pro-Russian" monicker. Georgescu promised to respect and honor its obligations to the EU and NATO, but only to the extent that they respect Romania and its interests.

What Happens Next?

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After Georgescu's unexpected victory, the Romanian Constitutional Courts annulled the election's first round and scheduled it to restart on May 4th. As of now, it is unclear whether Georgescu will be allowed to participate in the new election. This act by the Constitutional Courts triggered mass protests in the capital, Bucharest, and has caused many Romainians to question the state of democracy within their country.

Many of the protesters are calling what happened a coup and are demanding the election be allowed to continue to the second round. They are also calling for the resignation of current President Klaus Iohannis, who has maintained power thanks to the incomplete elections. Georgescu has officially challenged the court's decision and even made a complaint to the European Court of Human Rights, but it is unclear if his appeal will make any difference.