Blog
LatestArticlesVideos
Radio
LivePodcastSerialsStations
TV
Podcasts
The Glenn Beck ProgramThe Glenn Beck PodcastThe Beck Story
Fine Art
Real Estate
More
AboutCharityBooksSponsorsShopContact
SEARCH
Live Radio

©2024 MERCURY RADIO ARTS.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

TERMS OF USE | PRIVACY POLICY

Live

Glenn's Show Prep

UFC Fighter Tim Kennedy Promises to Match Glenn's $50,000 Offer to the Deadspin Fight Winner

January 26, 2017
Ted Tuttle

Editor

Deadspin's trash-talking editor-in-chief may have just talked himself into getting a serious beating.

After lashing out at Ted Cruz in his magazine, Tim Marchman took to Twitter dumping on the Texas senator's supporters and challenging anyone with enough guts to a fight:

That was a big mistake. It wasn't long before Army Ranger turned UFC fighter Tim Kennedy accepted the challenge:

Marchman has suddenly gone silent. But he won't be able to hide forever. Glenn upped the game by promising $50,000 of his own money to the winner's charity of choice.

Kennedy called in to Glenn's radio program Thursday to share where he would want the donated funds to go, assuming he won the fight. He then added a promise of his own.

"Obviously mine---the nonprofit---is going to go to a military/law enforcement-supporting charity. That's where mine is going to go," he said. "And, you know, I'll match yours, Glenn. That's coming from me, Tim Kennedy, as a person, supporting this cause as well."

Watch the clip or read the full segment transcript below.

GLENN: Oh, I love this. Okay. So you're going to love it as well. Ashley Feinberg, she's a writer for Deadspin. She was owned by Ted Cruz two times this week, when she was making fun of Ted Cruz and his basketball skills. And Ted Cruz tweeted back a picture of him -- or, a guy who kind of looked like a young him, a Duke basketball player, and just didn't say anything. Just let it speak for itself.

STU: He said, "What do I win?" He said, "What do I win?"

GLENN: Yeah, lets it speak for itself.

Then Tim Marchman. Tim Marchman is the editor for Deadspin. He writes, "Amazing that low testosterone Ted Cruz enthusiasts are comfortable haranguing Ashley Feinberg, but not me, Deadspin's actual editor. Ted Cruz is a pathetic, expletive. His social media intern's joke was basic, and complaints should go to Marchman at Deadspin.com. Unsurprising that not one Ted Cruz-supporting kuck Twitter user is willing to face me in the UFC octagon. Hundreds of dudes who can't do pushups are tweeting at me, but literally not one has had the brass to send me an email."

PAT: What? Unbelievable.

GLENN: Well, that's when Ted Kennedy -- or, Tim Kennedy does it. He writes --

STU: Ted Kennedy would have been a real story.

GLENN: That would have been a big story, yeah.

(laughter)

STU: Wow. We should have led the show if Ted Kennedy tweeted this one.

GLENN: All right.

He says: I'm your huckleberry. I also take note that you are a pathetic cyber bully. My email is Tim@RangerUp.com. Uh-oh, RangerUp.com.

STU: Uh-oh. Uh-oh.

GLENN: I'm available at your leisure.

So Tim has said: Any time, anyplace, I will meet you.

So I'm going to -- we have Tim on the phone now. Tim, how are you, sir?

TIM: I am spectacular. Good morning.

GLENN: So, Tim, you are Special Forces, a ranger?

TIM: Yes and yes.

GLENN: Yes. And you are an MMA fighter?

TIM: Yes. I'm also -- I've been a special MMA fighter for the past 20 years. And I think for the past ten I've been ranked in the top ten.

PAT: That is --

GLENN: And you're a Ted Cruz fan?

TIM: Yeah. He's a -- he's a fellow conservative from my home state of Texas.

GLENN: Yeah.

TIM: And while we don't agree on all things, I've actually gone to bat for him a couple of times on social media. So, yeah.

GLENN: So here's what I would like to do -- because you're ready to take what's-his-face up?

JEFFY: Yeah, whatever his face's name is.

GLENN: Whatever goes with that face. The editor of Deadspin. You're willing to take him up and fight him anytime, anywhere.

TIM: Yeah. I mean, first, let's look at how pathetic it is that we got to this point. A journalist -- that's an editor for a marginally successful online vlog sphere goes and has to resort to violence, typical of kind of anybody that doesn't have the aptitude to have real rational, logical argument and discussion or have a sense of humor.

So now here we are talking about actually doing a fist fight. And that was an escalation on his part after, I think, a kind of clever and witty response by Ted Cruz's intern. Such a pathetic state that we're in that the editor of Deadspin is going and saying profanity online and lobbing these unfounded accusations and saying really these ugly things just because he can't do anything else.

GLENN: So here's what I would like to offer, Tim. I would like to offer you and the editor of Deadspin to come on in and have a real conversation. And that's nice. We could have a real conversation, and you can discuss things and see if we can be civil.

PAT: Then beat the hell out of him.

GLENN: And then I'm offering a 50,000-dollar prize to the winner for their charity -- charity of their choice, either TheBlaze -- I haven't asked TheBlaze. But either TheBlaze or GlennBeck.com will do pay-per-view. Every dime will go to charity.

(chuckling)

GLENN: And the charity of whoever the winner is, their choice. So if you wants to give it all to Planned Parenthood, I guess he can because I'm going to put my money on Tim, and Tim will win and be able to take it to whatever charity you would like to give it to.

TIM: Yeah. I, of course, am fine with any of that.

You know, things have changed. I normally fight at 180 pounds middleweight. But right now I'm 225 pounds, working full-time as a Special Forces guy again, so as a Green Beret. So my charity would really love that generous contribution. And I appreciate that, you know, from Tim for making that happen.

Yeah, of course. I would love to, you know, at, again, his convenience.

GLENN: Okay. So what I would like all of the audience to do, and we'll reach out this morning as a company to Deadspin. But I'd like everybody to tweet now that we have put a 50,000-dollar prize for a charity of their choice, and we'll do pay-per-view. That will do at least another 50 grand. And we'll do pay-per-view. So it will probably be about 100,000-dollar prize, goes to the charity of be sure choice. That's a great, great offer. And I'd love to have a conversation first, if we can have a civil conversation between the two of you. And then if not, we'll just settle it --

JEFFY: Step into TheBlaze octagon.

GLENN: Yes.

STU: Civil conversation with a Deadspin editor. Good luck with that one.

GLENN: Yeah, I figure it won't -- but let's see if he can grow up and actually have a conversation.

STU: Yeah.

GLENN: And then they can get into the octagon and Tim can --

TIM: While I'm not hoping for violence, you know, having been in violent things my entire adult life, I think you're kind of being kind, Glenn. I think unnecessarily. What happened was we had a witty kind of comical satire response from Ted Cruz. And then a dude -- a really -- a nobody gets online and says a whole bunch of ugly things, cussing, throwing accusations, you know, insinuating all sorts of nastiness. And then ultimately threatens people with violence.

PAT: Uh-huh.

TIM: And now we're saying, "Okay. Let's go back to a civil conversation. Let this be the embodiment of kind of who the adults are in this conversation."

Okay. We'll give him that out. Okay. Tim, I would love for your rudeness yesterday, to give you what you asked for. But we all know you don't want to do that.

GLENN: No, wait. Wait. Wait. No, I'm not giving him the -- no, the conversation is part of the deal. If he wants to skip right to the beating, he can. But I as a guy who has turned over a new life would love to have the conversation first.

STU: Can we have the conversation later when he's writhing in pain? Where he has to grown in pain?

GLENN: Well, maybe he beats Tim.

STU: Well, sure, that's possible.

GLENN: He's also a fighter, is he not?

TIM: No, I think he's a fighter of pointless causes with unfounded irrational logic. Not an actual fighter.

(chuckling)

GLENN: Well, those sounds like fighting words to me. That sounds like something that he at Deadspin could not just let sit there on the counter and just go unanswered. Don't you think, Stu? Don't you think, Pat? His honor is at stake.

PAT: No, I think his honor is at stake now. He's got to step out now.

GLENN: Yeah. His honor is at stake.

Hey, Tim --

TIM: You know, I'm not a cosmopolitan. I'm not a fellow HEP statistican. You know, I'm obviously not as capable of understanding the complex concepts of, you know, this thing we have of our republic, which apparently he's the only person that understands. And then if anybody agrees with him, he just says whatever he wants with no repercussions. But I would be fine to have a conversation before or after --

(chuckling)

GLENN: The contest. Okay. So we're offering a guaranteed $50,000. TheBlaze cameras will be there, or the Glenn Beck Mercury cameras will be there if TheBlaze doesn't want to do it. But I'm sure they will. We'll cover it. It will make it an event. We'll make it pay-per-view. Every dime will go right to the charity. So who knows how much you could make.

So I want everybody to tweet to Deadspin today. And what's his name again?

PAT: Tim Marchman.

GLENN: Tim Marchman. He says that everything should be going to -- is it just Tim Marchman? Because he said, it should be go to -- what? Yes, it should be going to Twitter.com/TimMarchman, slash, something or other. I want to get it right --

PAT: That will get them right there. Slash, something or other.

STU: It's got to be just --

GLENN: Hang on. It's just got to be Tim Marchman. Just do @TimMarchman.

PAT: It's @TimMarchman.

GLENN: So do TimMarchman and let him know that his charity could be very, very wealthy if he just wants to complete what he started with his mouth, if he would just like to cash the check that his mouth just wrote.

TIM: I will -- you know, obviously mine -- you know, the nonprofit is going to go to a military/law enforcement-supporting charity. That's where mine is going to go. And I'll match yours, Glenn. So that's coming from me. Tim Kennedy as a person, supporting this cause as well.

PAT: Wow. Wow.

GLENN: So wait. Wait. Wait. I'm offering 50,000. You're offering 50,000 as well?

TIM: Yes. Yes, I am.

GLENN: Holy cow.

PAT: Wow.

GLENN: So there's $100,000 --

PAT: And then with the pay-per-view, will be a lot more than that.

GLENN: Yeah, we could make this into a big deal.

PAT: Nice.

GLENN: We could -- there's a possibility of making this into a quarter of a million dollar fight.

PAT: Uh-huh.

GLENN: And I'm sure Planned Parenthood would like some of that money, Mr. Marchman. If you can get into the ring with Tim and beat him, you could make a lot of money. I don't want to write a check to Planned Parenthood. Tim, do you want to write a check to Planned Parenthood.

TIM: While I believe women's issues are important and their reproductive protection and right to contraceptives, not overly thrilled with the prospect of writing the check to Planned Parenthood.

GLENN: Yes, thank you very -- what a -- boy, what a nice way --

STU: Great. Yeah, great effort there.

PAT: That's great.

GLENN: Yes, thank you. A lover, not just a fighter.

Okay. Tim, thank you very much. We'll be in touch. And we'll see what Mr. Marchman says.

TIM: Yeah, I'm not hard to find. Unless you're ISIS, then it's a rough night.

(laughter)

GLENN: Thanks a lot, Tim. I appreciate it. Thanks for your service, by the way.

JEFFY: Man, wow, you guys have won me over. I think I'm going to donate some of my money too today. Fifty cents. Fifty cents.

GLENN: Really? You couldn't even do --

JEFFY: He's going to do 50 --

GLENN: You couldn't even do $50.

JEFFY: I can't do that.

GLENN: Right.

STU: Percentage-wise, that would --

GLENN: He's done 50,000. (?) 100,000.50.

STU: That's a large donation.

GLENN: Are you guys going to step to the plate on this?

STU: Well, sure. Yeah.

JEFFY: You think you can maybe match me?

STU: I will match Jeffy. I will match Jeffy right now.

GLENN: Wow. Wow. Don't go overboard here. Don't go overboard.

PAT: With the -- this is -- with the pay-per-view, this is going to be --

GLENN: You know, we should take calls. If anybody wants to match that -- if anybody wants to come and not match his, but if anybody wants to come in -- anybody wants to come in --

STU: And match 50,000-dollar donations?

GLENN: Or no. $1,000. Let's see how much money we could raise for charity. Because I think with the pay-per-view -- how many people do you think -- if we really promoted this, we could get at least 100,000 people, right?

PAT: Oh.

JEFFY: I hope think so.

GLENN: So if we did 100,000 people and say it was even $10. I mean, you're making a lot of money.

STU: Guaranteed the guy doesn't even show up.

PAT: I know. We should probably get the commitment first from Tim Marchman, shouldn't we?

GLENN: I'm not saying sell the deal. Anybody who wants to make the commitment. Let's get -- the prize money is already up to 100,000.

JEFFY: And a dollar.

GLENN: And a dollar. So $100,000 is not something to laugh at. That's not, I'm going to prove -- that's $100,000 for charity.

STU: I have no idea if Tim Marchman cares about donating to charity. He may. I just don't know.

GLENN: Oh, if this guy has a single noodle in his bowl, this guy is -- wants me to write a check to Planned Parenthood.

STU: Or something maybe --

GLENN: Yeah, The Communists of America. He wants me to write that check. So I can't imagine how he's -- how he's going to turn that down, unless he's afraid.

STU: It's been a rough year for the good old Gawker media group, hasn't it?

GLENN: It really has.

STU: Jeez.

GLENN: It hasn't gone well for loudmouths who -- who want to push people over the edge.

STU: Well, it's funny, the Cruz thing (?) of the duke basketball player, with a funny message. And then they responded with eat S.

GLENN: Yeah. Yeah. Which was very clever.

STU: Which was very clever. However, the last time they did that, they did that to someone else when they complimented one of their stories. (?) that person became president of the United States in November, or just the other day actually.

Counting cookies? Here are the CRAZIEST ways people predict the election.

Jeff Swensen / Stringer | Getty Images

Every four years, America faces the same question: who will win the presidential election?

Top political scientists and media companies devise elaborate polls, complex formulas, and sophisticated projections to calculate who will win the election at any given moment. Even Stu has thrown his hat in the ring with Plusecast, a one-stop shop for all your polling questions. But these methods aren't the only ways to predict who will be the next commander-in-chief.

From cookies to football, here are some unorthodox ways to predict the next president:

The Cookie Poll

Jeff Swensen / Stringer | Getty Images

Can cookies really predict the next president? According to Busken Bakery, they are more accurate than you might think.

Busken Bakery, has been using cookies to predict the winner of presidential elections since Regan beat Mondale in 1984, and has only been wrong once. Their method is simple: they sell cookies with the faces of both candidates and tally the sales of each. Whoever sells the most cookies is predicted to win. The simplicity of this method is its strength, and the only time it was wrong was the 2020 election. Currently, President Trump is far outstripping VP Harris, selling 23,477 cookies compared to her 8,781 cookies (as of 8/15). Busken posts daily updates on their Instagram, here.

Busken isn't the only bakery to make presidential predictions. Lochel's Bakery in the critical swing state of Pennsylvania has gained popularity recently. Lochel's has correctly predicted three of the last four elections by selling red and blue cookies printed with the names of the candidates. The current count for Lochel's is 28,212 for Trump and 2,097 for Harris. Again, Lochel's posts daily updates on their Instagram, here.

According to the cookies, this election is looking pretty sweet for President Trump!

Vegas Odds

Bloomberg / Contributor | Getty Images

It's time to put your money where your mouth is.

It's not just political scientists who cook up election predictions. Casinos and sports betting services get in on the action. What could be a better way to predict an election than by asking people to put their hard-earned dollars on the line?

The big casinos and sports betting sites all have odds on the election, and Trump tends to be the favored candidate. If you are unfamiliar with betting odds in the U.S., the simple explanation of how they work is the smaller the number the better the odds. Here is the spread for three of the big betting sites:

bet365- Trump: -138, Harris: +110

BetMGM- Trump: -137, Harris: +110

Caesars- Trump: -145, Harris: +120

While you shouldn't take this as a sign to put all your money (or any) on President Trump, it is an optimistic sign!

The Redskins Rule

The Washington Post / Contributor | Getty Images

The Redskins Rule is a well-documented correlation between the outcome of the presidential election and the performance of the Washington D.C. football team, the Redskins (now The Commanders). The rule is that if the Redskins win their last home game before the election, the incumbent party will win the election. If the Redskins lose, the challenging party will win the election. This rule is surprisingly accurate and held true for every election between 1940 and 2000.

If this rule is to be believed, the determining game is on Sunday, October 27th when the Redskins/Commanders play the Chicago Bears in Washington D.C. If the Bears win, that should mean Trump will win the election. If the Redskins win, then Harris will win.

But there is the fact that the rule has been broken several times since 2000. Has the charm worn off? And does it even count anymore if the team is no longer called the Redskins? Only time will tell!

Glenn joined Trump for an eventful weekend in the Southwest

Rebecca Noble / Stringer | Getty Images

We are mere weeks away from the election, and President Trump has been making every day count.

This last weekend, Trump held two rallies back to back in the southwestern corner of our country—one just outside Coachella, California, and the other in Prescott Valley, Arizona. Glenn joined Trump in Arizona, along with thousands of other Americans, to support the former president in his final push towards election day. The polls still show a very tight race. Every vote matters, and with so much at stake, Trump has to finish strong.

Catch up with Trump and Glenn's busy weekend below:

Coachella

On Saturday the 12th, thousands of Donald Trump supporters flocked to Calhoun Ranch, an area not far from the famous Coachella fairgrounds, and braved the heat, drawn by Trump's promise to "Make America Great Again."

The headlining event of the rally was the alleged third assassination attempt on President Trump, although the Trump campaign doesn't see it that way. The action started when the alleged assassin, Vem Miller, was arrested while trying to enter the rally using allegedly fake press credentials and was charged with illegal possession of a handgun, a shotgun, and a high-capacity magazine. Miller has not admitted to an attempted assassination, and in fact, claims to have been a strong Trump supporter since 2018. Miller claims the firearms were purchased as a defensive measure after he received death threats linked to his work in the media. He also claims that the press credentials are not fake, and the mix-up was caused by the fact that he uses a different name on his press credentials as a safety precaution.

The Trump campaign, Secret Service, and FBI do not believe this was an assassination attempt, but in this heated political climate, one can never be too safe.

Prescott Valley

As soon as his rally in Cali was over, Trump hit the road to prepare for his next rally. On Sunday the 13th Trump held a rally in Prescott Valley, Arizona, where both Glenn and U.S. Senate candidate Kari Lake gave opening remarks.

In Glenn's short, yet powerful speech, he emphasized the importance of this election and highlighted all that was at stake— this is a battle of good and evil. He brought up the Left's attempt to erase women through transgender ideology and how that ideology encourages the predation of children. Glenn furthered the case of good versus evil by citing the Left's obsession with abortion. Glenn called abortion the sacrifice of a child's body for the convenience of the parents, a perversion of Christ's sacrifice of His body for us. Glenn called for God's Army to stand up and fight back against evil, using our voices and most importantly, our vote.

Glenn also lambasted Kamala for a recent interview where she admitted she wouldn't have changed anything if she had a chance to do her term as VP over again. He laid into her for marketing herself as an agent of change, while simultaneously defending the status quo. Glenn pointed out that if anyone wants to change the country for the better, Trump is the man to do it: Trump is the candidate for change, not Kamala.

Glenn: What I saw on the ground in Asheville gave me hope

Melissa Sue Gerrits / Stringer | Getty Images

The government can’t save us. Washington is too slow and too bureaucratic, and quite frankly, the government doesn’t care.

I’ve seen a lot of destruction in my life. I’ve walked through war zones and cities torn apart by riots, and I've stood at the sites of natural disasters that leave communities devastated. But what I saw in Asheville, North Carolina, after Hurricane Helene was unlike anything I’ve ever witnessed.

Houses were washed down rivers, upside down and crushed. Train tracks, strong enough to support locomotives, were left suspended in midair after the earth beneath them was eroded away. Semi-trucks, rolled by the force of the floodwaters, now lie like children’s toys, tossed and overturned hundreds of feet from the road. Whole towns have been uprooted and scattered — debris from homes miles away, stacking up like dominoes, bridges that stood for decades washed out by water so high that it flowed six feet over their tops.

'You tell everybody you know — even if they don’t care — we’ll take care of our own damn selves if nobody shows up.'

I stood there, looking at this idyllic small town in the Blue Ridge Mountains, and I thought, “This will take years to rebuild. Maybe even decades.” But I didn’t just see destruction. I saw something far more powerful than nature’s wrath: the resilience of the American spirit.

My expectations for the government’s assistance were low before I arrived in Asheville, given its failing track record in previous natural disasters, but its response to Hurricane Helene victims — or lack thereof — was a new category of negligence. But the people in Asheville weren’t waiting on FEMA or the federal government to swoop in. They knew no one was coming.

The bridges were out, roads were destroyed, and the mountains had isolated them from outside help. But instead of despair, I saw hope. Instead of panic, I saw action. People were taking care of each other, and that is the America I remember, like in the days after 9/11 when we came together regardless of political party, race, or background. We didn’t care about who voted for whom. We just saw our neighbors hurting, and we asked, “Are you OK? What can I do to help?”

I saw that again in North Carolina. I saw it in the man who turned his Harley-Davidson dealership into a helicopter landing zone, shoveling mud out of his showroom just so rescue teams could land. I saw it in the volunteers flying missions across treacherous terrain, getting the elderly and the injured out of danger. They weren’t asking for government permission. They were doing what needed to be done.

Adam Smith, a retired Special Forces veteran who is coordinating the landing of helicopters in Asheville, told me that the FAA is trying to shut down the operation because it isn’t federally regulated. He told the feds that they’re going to leave because he has a helicopter landing in a few minutes that will actually help people while they are barking orders from Washington.

One story stood out to me. We landed to help evacuate an elderly woman with a broken hip and a severe infection. She just had surgery, but because her family didn’t have insurance, the hospital pushed her out as fast as it could. Her wound became infected, and her leg was on fire. We helped airlift her to get her desperately needed antibiotics and treatment. There were no government resources to help her to an emergency room.

As we loaded the woman into the helicopter, her grandson turned to me and said, “You tell everybody you know — even if they don’t care — we’ll take care of our own damn selves if nobody shows up.” That hit me hard because it’s the truth. It’s the way America used to be, and it’s the way we need to be again.

As I flew through those mountains in the helicopter, I couldn’t help but think of Billy Graham. I’d visited Asheville about 10 years ago to see him, and I remember thinking how beautiful and peaceful the town was. Today, it’s unrecognizable. The destruction is overwhelming. But the people are stronger than ever.

The government can’t save us. Washington is too slow and too bureaucratic, and quite frankly, the government doesn’t care. I saw it firsthand. We found a FEMA truck parked under a tree, its workers sitting at a card table in the shade. They weren’t doing anything to help.

But we’re Americans. We can take care of ourselves. We don’t need Washington to save us. We need each other. This is the America that Billy Graham spoke to me about — the America that will rise again in times of trouble. And while the government might fail us, we will not fail each other. And that’s exactly what I saw in North Carolina — Americans stepping up, taking care of their neighbors, and rebuilding their communities.

This is what I told the people of Asheville: You are not forgotten. There are millions of Americans who love you, who are praying for you, and who are ready to help. Because that’s what we do. We don’t wait for permission. We roll up our sleeves and take care of our own.

And to the rest of America, I say this: It’s time to remember who we are. It’s time to stop looking to Washington for solutions and start looking at each other. Because when the chips are down, it’s not the government that’s going to save us. It’s you and me, and if we stand together, nothing — no hurricane, no flood, no disaster — can break us.

Editor's Note: This article was originally published on TheBlaze.com.

UPDATE: Will Florida survive Hurricane Milton?

Handout / Handout / Getty Images

For the second time in two weeks, Florida is in the path of a major hurricane.

Hurricane Milton is expected to make landfall sometime tonight, Wednesday, October 9th, somewhere near Tampa Bay. This will mark the first time in a hundred years the city has been hit directly by a hurricane, raising concerns about the preparedness of the city's infrastructure. Milton, which was rated a category five hurricane earlier this week, has been reduced to a category four as it approaches land and is expected to make landfall as a powerful category three.

The Sunshine State has already begun to feel the effects of the historic storm, with strong winds and heavy rains battering Tampa Bay this morning. Many are still trying to evacuate or prepare for the storm as conditions worsen. Highways have slowed down, and gas has run short. Residents are preparing for the worst.

The federally recognized "Waffle House Index" is in red, meaning that several Waffle House locations in the Tampa Bay area will be shut down. Waffle House prides itself on being open 24/7, no matter the conditions, so for them to shut down, if only for a brief time, indicates that severe damage to the area is anticipated.

Bloomberg / Contributor | Getty Images

In short, Milton is anticipated to be a disaster, and as we have learned, FEMA is unlikely to be much help. Fortunately, Floridians have Ron DeSantis, who has continued to prove himself a capable governor, and the aid of good-hearted Americans from across the country. If you want to lend a hand to your fellow Americans you can donate at Mercury One and rest assured that your money will be used to step in to help hurricane victims where the government is failing.