Brad Thor: “Disgusting how the mainstream media has let this country down”

July 14, 2015

WRITER

Brad Thor joined Pat and Stu on radio this morning to discuss his new book, Code of Conduct, and the Iran nuclear deal that was announced the morning. Thor railed against the mainstream media, claiming their lack of intellectual curiosity has allowed the Obama administration to do whatever it wants, regardless of what it means for the country. Thor said the world is now a much more dangerous place because of the Iran deal, and Israel should be scared for its very existence.

Below is a rush transcript of this segment, it may contain errors:

PAT: We're excited to have Brad Thor join us. Brad has a busy week here on the Blaze. Also, he has his book out now called Code of Conduct.

Brad, welcome to the Glenn Beck Program with Pat and Stu.

BRAD: Yeah. I'm glad to be here. And I promised Glenn that when we started this I would share a message with listeners. Glenn forwarded it to me this morning and wants everyone to know that his vocal cord rest is because he was screaming with delight over my new thriller Code of Conduct, which he says --

PAT: Wow.

BRAD: And, Glenn, if you disagree, please call in right now, Glenn, if you contest this. If you disagree. If I read your note wrong. But he said it is the best thriller he has ever read in his life. Is the phone ringing? Nope. There you go.

Best thriller of his life. Thank you, Glenn. Those words mean so much to me, my dear friend. Thank you.

STU: That message obviously approved by Glenn Beck, because he's not called in to dispute it.

PAT: Still not called in. That's great.

BRAD: So there you go.

PAT: So, Brad, how are you excited you about peace in our time? Not since Neville Chamberlain and his announcement have we felt this relaxed in the world and this safe and this secure. Thank you to the new Neville Chamberlain, Barack Obama. This is fantastic news. Are you as excited as we are about the deal with Iran?

BRAD: I have to tell you, there is nothing more -- I'm a race fan. Whether it's NASCAR or New Proliferation, I love races. So I can't wait to see this arms race kick off in the Middle East. I'm telling you, my money is on the Saudis. I like the way they operate. They're smooth, they're lean, they're fast. I think we'll see them spin up a program really quick.

I have to tell you, it will be exciting. We live in interesting times. We definitely do. And I'm going to start buying jerseys. I'm going to get Sunni jerseys. I'm going to go long on the Shia jerseys. I don't know. But, yeah, it is exciting. Very exciting.

STU: Brad, you've been writing not only international events, but this particular region for a long time. Going back to several books you have released which have essentially predicted the news, you know, Blacklist being the most recent, which essentially predicted the Snowden thing to an incredible amount of deal a couple years when it happened. So when you look at this, you're not just a guy who writes really entertaining thrillers. You're a guy who does a lot of research. Who looks at this stuff and is able to digest it in a way that -- can bring it to people in way they can actually understand it. When you look at this and the way the president and the media are reacting to the Iran deal, what does it make you think?

BRAD: Well, what's interesting is that the lack of curiosity ever about Barack Obama and why he does what he does has always dumbfounded me.

PAT: Yes.

BRAD: The media is so biased.

PAT: Oh, my gosh.

BRAD: And I know you never talk about that on your program. We talk about what bulldogs they are in the media. This is insane. I mean, this guy, Barack Obama, has managed to unite Sunni Muslims with Israel. I can't remember the last time I saw Israel and Sunni Muslims standing on the same side. I mean, it's astounding.

This is very, very bad. Iran is the leading state sponsor of terrorism in the world. Now we're going to flood them with money and a nuke program, and we all expect this is going to end well. I really want to say this. To ABC, to NBC, to CBS, to PBS, to CNN, you all have let your country down. It is disgusting how the mainstream media has let this country down. And the world has just become a dramatically more dangerous place with this agreement because of this administration.

And, you know what, Israel should be terrified. In fact, I put out a tweet a little while ago and I said, you know what, Israel should have bombed Iran while they still had a friend in the White House. They should have done it while George Bush was in the White House. And they didn't. And I think that's a historic missed opportunity that the Israelis will regret and history will remember.

PAT: No question. No question. And I can't wait though to see some of the details of this deal which we've promised eliminates every pathway to a nuclear weapon for the Iranians. I -- I can't wait to see it. He's already promised to veto it anyway. So it's a done deal. It's a foregone conclusion. But you're right. It's just -- it's aggravating to watch. And it's frustrating to see the support he has in the media, rather than being watchdogs, they become lapdogs. But tell us about the new book. What is Code of Conduct about?

BRAD: So Code of Conduct is my new thriller. It came out last week. We are expecting tomorrow to find out a huge, huge placement on the New York Times best-seller's list. This is the most exciting thriller I've ever written. And it's based on two very, very interesting things. You know, Glenn coined the word faction. And he always says, what Brad Thor does is faction. You don't know where the facts end and the fiction begins.

And as we've talked about on this program before, I like to pick things that are in the news or about to explode in the news and weave them into my thrillers. The two things that I picked this year were back in the '80s, somebody down in Georgia, they don't know if it was Ted Turner or who it was, spent a fortune erecting these huge slabs of granite with this terrifying agenda written in about eight languages on the different slabs. They're calling it the American Stonehenge.

And I always thought, wow, that's bizarre. Out in some farmer's field in rural Georgia. Who would ever put these things up? Then a couple of years ago, I read an article about a very, very secret group within the UN. And I never touched the UN. And I had never written about them before. I thought they were a bunch of bozos. Didn't pay their parking tickets in New York. But I got interested because Ban Ki-Moon held a very secret meeting, rented a shaley in the Austrian Alps. This thing was like out of a Bond movie. And their agenda got leaked from this very secret meeting that he held, and several things on the agenda match up with these stones down in Georgia.

And it was beyond wild. And I said, you know what, this stuff, I can't say no to this. As a thriller writer, this is just too cool. And I'll weave that into Code of Conduct. So Code of Conduct kicks off with four seconds of video being transmitted to the White House that was anonymously captured halfway around the world. And the US government learns that probably one of the most ingenious terrorist attacks will be launched, not only in the US, but every other allied country simultaneously.

PAT: Wow. Looking forward to reading that. That's awesome. Now, don't you have something -- you have like 11 and a half million books in print, in this series.

BRAD: Yep. Correct. And you can read them in any order.

PAT: You don't mind? You probably would like them to start with this one, I would imagine.

BRAD: That is exactly right. This is the book. This is the book you'll see at the beach, at the lake, at the swimming pool. This is the one. And you know what, it's probably my best reviewed book ever, right down to the Associated Press.

PAT: Nice.

BRAD: So it's been great. But I think we come back to Glenn Beck himself who said this is not only Brad Thor's best thriller, but the best thriller he has ever read. And no sit-ups life. Who has time for sit-ups when you're reading Brad Thor novels?

STU: Especially as a guy who has actually written thrillers. It's amazing that he said yours was the best he's ever seen.

PAT: That was really generous of Glenn to say that. But, again, if he disputes that, he can call in right now and mention it.

BRAD: He's a giver. Right now.

STU: Can I ask one somewhat sensitive question here? I don't know how delicate you can be on this. And I don't want you to have to bite the hand that feeds you. But I'm interested to see, because you as you've talked about, Code of Conduct, about to be big time placement on the New York Times best-sellers list. A book written by a guy named Ted Cruz was recently released.

And he, despite outselling 18 of the 20 books on the best-seller list for the New York Times, was not included on the best-sellers list of the New York Times. He was accused of strategic bulk purchases, which not only does the publisher completely discount, but Amazon.com has come out and made a public statement that that did not happen.

Are you sick of the politics when it comes around this? Why can't we -- I mean, this is a number of books sold. It's a really easy way to find out how many books you sold.

PAT: When you think best-seller, you would think books that sell the best, wouldn't you?

BRAD: Right.

STU: Is it a thing we're imagining as far as agenda goes, or does that sort of thing actually exist?

BRAD: Well, first of all, let me take Pat to task. Pat, I'm an author. And my stock and trade is words. So I don't like when you play word games like that. Best-seller. It means selling a lot.

I think the American people have had enough of that kind of --

PAT: That kind of spin?

BRAD: Chicanery. Can we just stop that, please?

PAT: I apologize.

BRAD: Thank you, Pat.

But, yeah, listen, O'Reilly hates the New York Times. In fact, you know, he quotes other sources. He quotes the conservative book clubs list. And, in fact, O'Reilly even recently went after Publishers Weekly because he was complaining they didn't put his book Killing Reagan in their roundup of big fall books that were upcoming.

Listen, conservative, people to the right of center have had a lot of trouble with the New York Times' list because they will sell. The numbers are there. Then the New York Times will quote its own secret formula, saying, oh, it doesn't qualify or make the list.

The belief is, why would bias be absent from that list when bias isn't absent from any other nook or cranny of the New York Times? Stu, you're right. I say this to my own peril. They could be shifting the numbers right now to knock me out.

PAT: They sure could.

BRAD: My last three have been number one. We'll see what happens tomorrow. They could be sitting there. I'm sure they listen to this program, number one. So I just shot myself in the foot. You know --

STU: You're welcome, by the way. Brad.

BRAD: Yeah, the bias exists. So I think Ted Cruz has a valid complaint. So does his publisher. And I think Amazon, God bless them, that's really what they needed to put it over the top. And to say to the New York Times, okay, you proved it. Show us where these bulk purchases were. So I thought that was brilliant. And God bless Amazon for not taking a political -- just coming out and saying this is true.

PAT: Yeah, it was great. I'm really curious about who your influences were when you were coming up as a writer. Was there anybody that you kind of looked up to?

BRAD: Oh, you know what, I always tell young writers that you can't be a good writer without being a great reader. And that if you're looking for what to write. If you're a writer that wants to write, you should write what you love to read because that's what your passion is.

For me, I grew up Clancy. (all phonetic) Luke Haray. Freddie Foresife. Just amazing. And Louie La More. I like the western writer. Elmore Leonard. Some real greats in -- in fiction. So they definitely all influenced me. But I love the Cold War espionage stuff. And I'm a big fan still of guys still like Vince Flynn. God rest his soul. By the way, I know there's a lot of Vince Flynn fans in the audience. I got great news. I was thrilled to hear my buddy Kyle Mills, who is an actor, got selected by Vince's estate to carry on the Mitch Rapp character. And all the advanced praise for The Survivor is just awesome. So Vince's Mitch Rapp is coming back this fall in The Survivor. And I'm even excited to read it because that Mitch Rapp character is great. So after you read Code of Conduct, my new thriller which Glenn says is the best one he's ever read, I would highly recommend The Survivor. Vince Flynn and Kyle Mills.

STU: Awesome.

PAT: Okay. The book again is Code of Conduct. And the author, Brad Thor. Who will also be appearing later this week on radio again and also hosting Glenn's TV show on Thursday night during our month of terror shows. Thursday night's special focuses on national security terror alerts. We're excited to see you then too, Brad. Thank you for joining us.

BRAD: My pleasure. By the way, update from Glenn here, you both have just been given a 25 percent raise. Glenn, if I read that wrong, please call in now. So good news. What a day.

STU: I like this.

PAT: Great day, thanks, Brad.

STU: We need to manipulate the choice structure like this a little more often. This is good Cass Sunstein stuff we're pulling off. I like it.

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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