The Solution Is the Problem: The U.S. Constitution

February 09, 2016

Writer

Glenn's recent trip to San Francisco inspired a powerful monologue Tuesday on The Glenn Beck Program. Things have changed in America — and that was no more evident than on the streets of San Francisco. Once bound by common principles, Glenn realized he had "very little in common with many of the people who were the loudest on the streets."

There was a time when most Americans were grounded by principles found in the Constitution. Today, too many of us — especially younger citizens — tie themselves to political parties rather than our founding documents, thinking they are the secret to restoring America. In fact, the parties have long been corrupted, and they're exactly what's wrong with America.

We've forgotten our common sense, First Principles, all of which the Founders laid out in the Bill of Rights:

• Practice Your Faith — First Amendment

• Question the Government — First Amendment

• Right to Protect Your Family — Second Amendment

• Right to Protect Your Property — Fourth Amendment

• Right to Privacy — Fourth Amendment

• No Torturing People — Eighth Amendment

• Everything Else — Ninth & Tenth Amendments

These rights are guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution — and they're not given to us by any man or government. They're given to us by a higher power — call it the universe, call it God, but don't call it the government.

Listen to this segment from The Glenn Beck Program:

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

GLENN: Does anybody really wonder what happened to America, the America that we all grew up in? I grew up in a small farming community 90 miles north of Seattle, a small town called Mount Vernon. My dad owned the city bakery. I never remember my folks talking about politics or people framed by who they voted for.

My parents were Republicans. My grandparents were Democrats. They were shaped by FDR, and they never looked at the policies again. Just, FDR was good, and that's all they needed.

But with an exception of the Watergate days, they never argued politics. Even with Nixon in the White House, it was about lies and not politics. My folks believed Richard Nixon; my grandparents did not. When it became apparent Nixon was a liar, my family gathered around principles that they agreed on: Lying is not a quality suitable to be president of the United States.

This last weekend I was in San Francisco. I came to work while the rest of the world came to party at the Super Bowl. And as I walked through the crowds and through the streets, I found that I had very little in common with many of the people who were the loudest on the streets.

From a woman and several women carrying signs that said, "His body, his choice," a bizarre protest against circumcision, the foul lyrics and the gyrating that was happening on the stage across the street in a family park, to the street preachers screaming that we're all going to hell, my country looked like a movie. I didn't even recognize it. My son who is now 11, not one to hold dad's hand in public much anymore, grabbed my hand and held it tight.

Later in a quieter section of town, on a street that sells Bentleys, fine steakhouses, and homes that can cost up to $15 million, we walked to dinner and to CVS. The entire street reeked HEP of urine. While the homeless, dangerous, and mentally ill roamed the streets in such numbers that none of the men with me said they would feel comfortable with their wife or their daughter walking alone on that street, and this was at 4:15 in the afternoon.

No matter where I went in San Francisco, I was greeted as both a hero and a villain. I'm neither. My son spent the week watching, taking it all in, while I who had grown up in Seattle was taking in the memories of a town that was much like mine as a kid and wondering what happened to us.

I think the solution is the problem. Principles. We no longer agree on principles. Actually let me take that back. When the chips are down, we do agree on principles. We did on 9/11.

On 9/11 and 9/12 and 9/13, we were people that had more in common than not. But that was 15 long years ago. This, right now, today's America is the only America anyone under 20 remembers. Restore America, bring back the Reagan years, those are long gone and long forgotten.

How would you even do that? Most people don't even remember it. And too many of us think that it's our political party that's the secret to restoration. It's our political party that is the secret to progress.

Our political parties are not. In fact, they are as Washington pointed out in his Farewell Address, the problem. We hold tight to the idea that the party is our savior. And we know our party platform perhaps better than we know the Constitution. It's time to return to first principles. This election has got to be a return to first principles.

Should people be able to speak their mind in public? We all know the answer to that, yes. Is there a college campus safe zone? If there's a safe zone in college, then why do we have to have on colleges, why do we have to have tenure? Tenure is made so people can say the uncomfortable things and not get fired. But if colleges have a safe zone, what's the point of tenure?

Should the press be free to report on information given to them by whistle-blowers, or should those press members be thrown in jail by the government? Should you be free to practice your faith or science? Should you be able to question the government, protect your family, be the first responder? Should your private property be able to be seized, gone through? Can a squatter come through your house and just take it? Can a hotel chain force you out of your house?

Because the public votes for you to pay more in taxes, can the public vote that somebody can come in and take your money? Do you know what's happening in Spain right now? Spain has become so socialist, that if you have two houses and you don't live full-time in one, the government is now talking about just taking that second house.

Do we have the right to privacy? Can somebody just go through your phone records and your email accounts, listen to your phone calls, read your email? Should we as a nation torture people? I'm not talking waterboarding. I'm talking torture people.

Should we enforce our own laws, or should we have special exceptions for our laws? Is justice blind? Should rich people get off because they're rich or they're in a special protected class? Wasn't it wrong when whites shielded whites in the 1950s, and isn't it wrong now when we shield the rich, the privileged, illegals? Is a finger gun really a Class 2 lookalike weapon, or do we all know that's bullcrap?

Abortion supporters are looking to sell baby parts, and they have. Should you be able to sell human organs? This is beyond, "Are you pro-choice or are you pro-life?" This is is, "Should you sell baby parts?"

Now, here's the latest. Because of the Doritos ad in the Super Bowl, NARAL is saying you can't humanize a fetus. Can't humanize -- they're giving birth to a dog? That's what a fetus is, it's a human fetus. We can argue about when life begins, but whether or not it's human life is settled. Making it a criminal offense for a Class 2 lookalike weapon when it's a finger gun is nuts. And we all know it. These are our principles. These are the things that bring us together.

But we're not tied to any of those. Practice your faith, First Amendment. Question the government. First Amendment. Protect your family, Second Amendment. Property, Fourth Amendment. Right to privacy, Fourth Amendment. Torture people, eighth amendment. Anything that I haven't mentioned, the Ninth and the Tenth Amendment. These all come from the Constitution. These are all the things that we have rights to. And they're not given to us by the government. They're given to us by a higher power. Call it the universe, call it God. All men are created equal and endowed by their creator with certain unchangeable rights.

The government always goes mad, and it always needs to be reigned in. Throughout history, reconstruction, taking guns away from blacks so they could hang them in the trees. Out of fear, Japanese internment camps. Out of fear, the war on the red man. Each time, each time, the government oversteps its bounds and we lose our way. And each time, a coming generation is embarrassed by that and has to apologize. And it soils our reputation. And they blame it on the Founders. They blame it on the government. They blame it on this outdated piece of paper, when this outdated piece of paper had nothing to do with it. This outdated piece of paper called the Constitution railed against it the whole time, crying out, screaming in silence from the paper locked away, behind the walls of the national archives. It screams out, "Listen to me."

This election, we need to see the road that we're on and turn back to the principles that we have -- all of us have in common: the Constitution. Ted Cruz, Donald Trump, Bernie Sanders, they all have more in common, if we use the Constitution. And if we, the people, want to get rid of the Constitution, then that is the argument that we should be having. We shouldn't just let it go quietly in the middle of the night. We should have the conversation.

Do we believe in these first principles? Do we, the people, anymore believe in this Constitution? If we do, our first priority must be to restore it, to empower it again, to heed its warnings, to make sure the government is held by its chains and restraints. And if we don't want to do that, then let's have that conversation about real revolution. But what are you going to replace it with?

Most people who are voting for Bernie Sanders say they're for socialism. But when asked, "What is socialism," they have no idea.

It is the step in between capitalism and communism. What rules you, if you can take people's property? Because it isn't the Constitution. What rules you if you can just say, "Well, yes, we're in a panic now. We have fear of an outside force, and so we can scoop people off the street. Or we can just listen to every email and every phone call of every citizen in in America without a warrant?" What rules you if it's not the Constitution?

If we had that conversation, we wouldn't be as divided as we are. But right now, we're in little subsections. This is no longer Republican and Democrat. It's Trump people, Sanders people, Cruz people, Rubio people, Clinton people. And we can't find our way to one another because very few of them are saying, "Look, don't listen to me. I'm not going to make America great again. You're going to make America great again. I don't have the solutions. The solutions are found with the people and the government being restrained by the restraints of the Constitution." Instead, almost all of them offer answers that are beyond the Constitution. You want to save your country, now is the time to do it. And there is truly only one way. Otherwise, the fundamental transformation of America will be sealed and will be cemented in for all time.

The real conversation we should be having in New Hampshire and in South Carolina is, "What rules our nation?" Not a man. If it's ruled by the Constitution, if it's not, then the conversation should be, "How much of a strong man do you really want," as the people cry out for a king.

Featured Image: Screenshot from The Glenn Beck Program

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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