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Glenn's Show Prep

As the Election Turns: Our Real Life Soap Opera

September 29, 2016
Lori Hanes

Writer

A presidential election, murder, an international beauty contest --- it's the stuff of daytime TV. Yet, it's all happening right before our eyes. Are we living in a real life soap opera?

Who better to weigh in than a real soap opera writer?

"In fact, we have a soap opera writer --- Ellen," Glenn said Thursday on his radio program.

Ellen Wheeler, Head of Content at Mercury Radio Arts, also happens to be an Emmy-award-winning actress and former writer for Guiding Light.

"Imagine if I come to you and I say, Okay, all right, so far we've done all the things that Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton have done. These are the characters. Now, we're going to have her bring up a Miss Universe that he called Miss Piggy, and we're going to smear her. But what they don't know is that in Venezuela she drove the getaway car in a murder," Glenn said.

With experience on two major daytime TV shows that included playing evil twins, Ellen shared her unique perspective.

"It's always been one of my favorite things when real life trumps -- ha ha -- trumps what you could write in a soap opera, and people would say, You can't write that story line. That is too outrageous," she said.

Could Ellen have gotten away with writing the storyline in As the Election Turns?

"People would have beat me up for writing a story like that," she admitted.

Read below or watch the clip for answers to these overly dramatic questions:

• Did Anderson Cooper get Alicia Machado to admit to being accessory to murder?

• How proficient is Alicia Machado's English?

• How famous is Alicia Machado in Venezuela and Mexico?

• Does Alicia Machado have a past?

• Does anyone really care about this?

Listen to this segment from The Glenn Beck Program:

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

GLENN: Here's the problem: Is there anyone in this story -- when I heard the Anderson Cooper interview with Miss Universe, honestly, you could -- soap opera writers would look at what's happening, and they would mock this. They would say, "Okay. Come on."

In fact, we have a soap opera writer, Ellen, is this -- is this soap opera of the last year and all of the things that are going on -- imagine if I come to you and I say, "Okay. All right. So far we've done all the things that Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton have done. Okay. These are the characters. Now, we're going to have her bring up a Miss Universe that he called Miss Piggy, and we're going to smear her. But what they don't know is that in Venezuela she drove the getaway car in a murder."

ELLEN: It's always been one of my favorite things when real life trumps -- ha ha -- trumps what you could write in a soap opera, and people would say, "You can't write that story line. That is too outrageous."

GLENN: So you know, Ellen is an Emmy-award-winning actress. And wrote -- did you just write Guiding Light?

ELLEN: Guiding Light.

GLENN: Okay. And she was on -- I know just.

She wrote every episode of like -- for three years. And she was on Bold & Beautiful and everything else.

ELLEN: So there's no story I can't make up.

GLENN: And you played an evil twin.

ELLEN: I've played an evil twin twice. Three times, if you count real life, right? Three times if you count my own marriage.

But --

GLENN: Wait. There might be something to delve into on some point on that.

ELLEN: But I do think it's fun when life is bigger than the weird art that you could create. And people would have beat me up for writing a story like that.

GLENN: Right. They would say no way anybody would believe this.

ELLEN: Yeah.

GLENN: No way. The only thing that we haven't seen so far is an evil twin. That's the only thing. Or -- oh, my gosh. Oh, maybe, wait, wait, wait. Maybe Zuckerberg is right. We're in the Matrix. Oh, please let this be a dream. Please let me wake up in the shower. Please let this be a dream, like it was in Dallas.

JEFFY: But we have kind of seen the twin, right? With the Hillary double.

PAT: Yes. We kind of have.

GLENN: Yes, we have. So we only have the dream sequence left. And that ends happy.

PAT: So this was Miss Universe. Which that is a little bit presumptuous of us, right?

GLENN: Can we downgrade her to at least Miss Galaxy?

PAT: At least Solar System. We know she's maybe the most beautiful in the solar system. We have no idea about galaxy or solar system.

GLENN: Right. Right. And who are we to judge?

PAT: But here's the Anderson Cooper clip.

ANDERSON: You said that, you know, the Trump campaign will try to discredit you. There are reports that Trump surrogates tonight have been referencing and pointing to on CNN and elsewhere about an incident in 1998 in Venezuela where you were accused of driving a getaway car from a murder scene. You were never charged with this. The judge in this case also said you had threatened to kill him after he indicted your boyfriend for the attempted murder. I just want to give you a chance to address these reporters that the Trump surrogates are talked about.

GLENN: Okay. Stop. Now, you're watching this, and you're thinking to yourself, there's no way this can be true.

PAT: Right. You're thinking, she's going to say, "Absolutely not."

GLENN: Right. There's no way this can be true.

PAT: The Trump people are making that up.

GLENN: Because Hillary would never pin her hopes on a Miss Universe thing who, oh, by the way, also assisted in a murder. Right?

PAT: Right.

GLENN: Here's her answer.

ALICIA: He can say whatever he wants to say. I don't care. You know, I have my past. Of course, everybody has --

PAT: You have a past.

ALICIA: Everybody have a past.

PAT: Oh. Yeah, but not everybody has participated in a murder for a past.

GLENN: No, wait. Wait. Wait. And so far, I'm still believing her. When I'm watching this, I'm still going, okay. Maybe she's just saying -- he's just --

PAT: I'm not. At that point?

GLENN: I'm thinking, he can say whatever he wants. He's just making this up. She's going to come back and say, "That's ridiculous." But you know Donald, he says whatever he wants to. He believed the National Enquirer. I thought that's where she was going at this point.

ALICIA: I'm no saint girl.

PAT: She's not a saint girl.

GLENN: Saint girl.

PAT: I'm not a saint girl.

GLENN: So when I heard that I thought, "Well, let's see, Mother Teresa is technically a saint, and she didn't murder anyone, that we know of."

PAT: She set the bar way too high.

GLENN: Right.

PAT: By not murdering somebody. Come on, we can't all do that. We can't all do that.

(laughter)

GLENN: I'm not a saint. No, I think you understand the definition of the word "saint."

STU: I mean, I think obviously this plays to whether this is going to be an effective campaign for Hillary Clinton.

PAT: It's not.

STU: Does anyone think -- does it make it okay to call a Venezuelan woman Miss Housekeeping because, in the future, she might commit a crime, or she might do porn in the future, after the incident where you call her Miss Housekeeping?

GLENN: Yeah, no. So here's the thing: The trouble with this is there's no good guys in this soap opera. There's nobody. I mean, no soap opera lasts when you don't have somebody that you're rooting for, somebody that you like. Where the best character in this is a Tony Soprano.

JEFFY: Yeah, maybe.

GLENN: So you kind of -- after you kind of feel dirty. When you're like, I'm not entirely comfortable with rooting for Tony Soprano. Oh, yeah, but it's fun.

This eventually isn't fun. And you're just left with that dirty feeling of rooting for Tony Soprano. At some point -- I mean, honestly, think of all the people surrounding both Trump and Clinton.

Do you have friends like those guys do?

You know, yeah, I want you to meet Sandy. He went into the national archives and was smuggling things out of his underpants, but he's cool. Oh, this is Miss Universe. And Donald Trump was calling her Miss Piggy, and she assisted in a murder. But she's great. You don't have these kinds of friends on either side.

Oh, this is -- I want you to meet my -- my new CEO. He -- he's a big fan of, you know, the neo-Nazi movement. He's helping rebrand that whole thing right now.

(laughter)

PAT: Well, if there's anybody who needs re-branding, it's the neo-Nazis.

GLENN: The Neo-Nazis. Skinheads.

PAT: They don't have a good PR firm.

GLENN: Yes, they do. It's called Breitbart.

(laughter)

JEFFY: Chelsea opened the door for Trump to be able to respond next time though, right? I mean, because she responded saying that, "Oh, it's just a distraction from his inability to talk about what's actually at stake in this election."

PAT: Oh, that's --

JEFFY: So now Donald can say, "I'm fighting back. I'm punching back."

ANDERSON: You said that, you know, the Trump campaign will try to discredit you. There are reports that Trump surrogates tonight have been referencing and pointing to on CNN and elsewhere about an incident in 1998 in Venezuela where you were accused of driving a getaway car from a murder scene. You were never charged with this. The judge in the case also said you had threatened to kill him after he indicted your boyfriend for the attempted murder. I just want to give you a chance to address these reports that the Trump surrogates are talking about.

ALICIA: He can say whatever he wants to say. I don't care. You know, I have my past. Of course, everybody has. Everybody have a past.

GLENN: Murder and threatening judges.

ALICIA: And I'm -- a saint girl.

GLENN: You're no saint girl?

ALICIA: But that is not the point now.

PAT: Hmm. Uh-huh.

ALICIA: That moment in Venezuela --

GLENN: Uh-huh.

ALICIA: -- was wrong.

GLENN: Wrong.

ALICIA: Was another speculation about my life.

GLENN: Hold it.

ALICIA: Because I'm a really famous person in my country.

GLENN: Wait. Stop. Stop. She is denying it

PAT: She's essentially admitting it.

JEFFY: No, I think it's the other way.

STU: She's saying that moment was wrong. There was a lot of speculation.

PAT: It sounds like she's saying it was wrong of her to do that.

STU: I think she has a tenuous grasp on the English language.

JEFFY: Yes.

PAT: Well, that's clear.

STU: She says that moment -- that was wrong, and there was a lot of speculation.

GLENN: Okay. I thought she was saying that moment, like me driving the getaway car.

PAT: That's what I thought she was saying.

GLENN: Oh, okay.

STU: Right. Right.

ALICIA: Because I'm an actress there and in Mexico too.

JEFFY: Wait. What?

GLENN: I'm an actress.

JEFFY: Yeah, I haven't seen those videos.

ALICIA: He can use whatever he wants to use.

The point is, that happened 20 years ago.

GLENN: Stop.

STU: They're not real though.

PAT: She's admitting it. That happened 20 years ago.

GLENN: That happened 20 years ago.

PAT: Something happened, and she was a part of it.

STU: By the way, so is the reason you're on Anderson Cooper. That also happened 20 years ago.

GLENN: Yeah, I know.

STU: Is a little less important than a murder investigation.

GLENN: Murder. Yeah.

Wait. Wait. Wait. So she's accused of driving the getaway car for her boyfriend who murdered somebody, and then threatening the judge that I'm going to kill you. I think that's kind of an important thing to decide whether -- I mean, it has nothing to do with Donald Trump calling her Miss Piggy. And Miss Housekeeper, Housekeeping is worse.

STU: But isn't this --

GLENN: Maybe, maybe, I don't know.

STU: Isn't this Hillary Clinton just using a play from Donald Trump's playbook?

You can call Ted Cruz's dad the murderer of JFK. Everyone starts talking about it. You direct the conversation to that for a few days. And the fact that in the end, that you're completely wrong, what does that even matter? The point is, she got 84 million people to hear him calling a woman -- a Venezuelan, Miss Housekeeping. The fact that she has issues later on -- two and three days later -- when they fact-check it on Anderson Cooper is meaningless. I mean, this is the same tactic he's been using the entire campaign. And she's using it too. That's where we are in 2016.

GLENN: We are as what's his name, Yiannopoulos, or whatever his name is -- we are in a post-fact period.

Featured Image: Actress Alicia Machado speaks onstage during the NALIP 2016 Latino Media Awards at Dolby Theatre on June 25, 2016 in Hollywood, California. (Photo by John Sciulli/Getty Images for NALIP)

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.

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?

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.