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Don Imus: Trump Didn’t Want to Serve in Vietnam Because He’s a 'Coward'

September 08, 2017
Staff

WRITER

Legendary radio host Don Imus brought his usual vim to commentary on President Donald Trump’s job performance on radio Friday.

Glenn attempted to add something uplifting to the conversation by talking about people helping each other after Tropical Storm Harvey devastated parts of Texas and left tens of thousands of homes flooded.

“The world has been at each other’s throats for the last couple of years, and then we’ve had a nice break where people come together and they love each other and it’s nice,” he said.

But “nice” isn’t exactly the Imus brand. “How’s your boy Trump doing?” Imus asked.

“Don’t even start with me,” Glenn returned.

Imus asserted that he was just waiting for Trump “to say ‘I’ve had enough’ and go back to Trump Tower.” He pointed to the president’s Twitter habit as a weakness, asking why he needs constant validation on the size of crowds hearing him speak.

“It’s not the same guy I knew; I knew him for 40 years,” Imus said.

The longtime radio host then proceeded to trade barbs with Glenn while knocking Trump for reportedly dodging the draft for the Vietnam War.

“You know why he didn’t want to go to Vietnam? ‘Cause he’s a coward,” Imus said, recalling Trump’s disparaging comments on veteran and POW Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.). “I was in the jungles of Vietnam … so people like you could have these stupid little radio programs,” he said.

This article provided courtesy of TheBlaze.

GLENN: Every time I -- I say something like what I'm about to say, I am -- in my head, it is always preceded with, the guy is still alive. Don Imus joins us on the program now.

Now, hello, Don, how are you?

DON: Not good.

GLENN: So, Don --

DON: First of all, I'm on hold, listening to these commercials. You got one for the IRS, if you're in debt, haven't paid your taxes. Then the next part is a blood thinner deal. And then the last part, they give you if you're 85 -- or, you get a deal on a -- on a funeral -- who is listening to your program?

GLENN: You. Those were fed down the phone line for you.

(laughter)

So, Don, first of all, were you affected by the hurricane? Because you live in Texas. Most people don't know that.

DON: We live in Buddham (phonetic), Texas. We have a ranch here, in Washington County. We're 85 miles from Houston. We got 30 inches of rain here at the ranch. My son, Wyatt Imus, goes to Rice University, which is right in the middle of Houston. And my other son flies fighter jets out of Pensacola.

GLENN: So maybe this is God just trying to wipe the Imus family out. Have you thought about that?

DON: It does sound that way.

GLENN: Yeah, it does sound that way.

DON: So we weren't flooded here because we're at a high point in the county. But, you know, 30 inches of rain, like the house is -- 11,000 square foot house, got a brand-new copper roof on it, and the roof started leaking.

So, but nothing like -- hey, what's this Operation Barbecue thing you're doing?

GLENN: We thought that it would be, you know, helpful to go cook some food. So we're -- we are supporting the Operation Barbecue, a group that goes out. And they're actually doing at the convention center, they've provided I think 335 meals since this thing began.

DON: Is that your deal?

GLENN: We're one of their big supporters, yes.

DON: Okay. And who handles the money?

GLENN: Not me.

DON: Okay. Well, that's fine.

GLENN: Yeah.

DON: But, I mean, is the Red Cross involved or FEMA?

GLENN: I'm not sure how -- I'm not sure what everybody is doing. I know that we're supporting a couple of them. Operation Barbecue. Team Rubicon. Do you know anything about them? They're an amazing group.

DON: No, I don't.

GLENN: They're a group of veterans all over the country, that when there's a need, they just all kind of come in. And we've flown I think 1100 of them in from all over the country. And they're just going in, and they're mucking out these houses.

DON: Well, Deirdre Imus, you know, my lovely wife. You've met her.

GLENN: Yeah.

DON: Well, we call her El Chapo around the ranch here. We wanted to give some money, but there's certain organizations we won't give any money to. So maybe off the air, you can text me.

GLENN: Sure.

DON: Tell me who it is. We'll be happy to send you some money.

GLENN: Yeah, yeah, yeah. I'll give you some --

DON: Is O'Reilly on?

GLENN: Oh, jeez. Here we go.

STU: No, we didn't. We didn't.

DON: What do you mean, oh, jeez, here we go?

GLENN: Because, Don, the world has been, you know, at each other's throats for the last couple of years. Then we've had a nice break, where people come together and they love each other and it's nice. And, you know, I did question my wisdom inviting you. I thought, well, you know, all good things have to come to an end. Let's just pile Don Imus into this and reverse the thrusters.

DON: Well, we all know what O'Reilly did, and we all know what I did when I got fired for trying to be funny, which I shouldn't have been. And Bill wound up okay. But, you know, listen -- the thing I was thinking about this morning is we don't know what you're doing.

GLENN: Wait. What?

DON: There's something that you're doing that we, the great unwashed out here, that we don't know. You could have a couple of midgets -- you can't say midgets, Imus -- you could have a couple of little people in your basement with a pony and two hookers. And who -- but we wouldn't know about it.

GLENN: Right. You wouldn't have any idea. I've hidden it pretty well, haven't I?

DON: Yes, you have. But here's the thing: You can bet on this, it's going to come out. It's going to come out. So here's what I'm saying to you: Tell us now. Tell me.

(laughter)

GLENN: I -- I really --

DON: What are you doing? What are you doing to the pony, Glenn? Glenn, did you try to kiss a pony?

(laughter)

STU: Try? Yeah. Even ponies won't kiss me.

DON: How is your boy Trump doing?

GLENN: My boy Trump?

DON: Yeah.

GLENN: Don't even start with me on my boy Trump. You're the one who writes to me, telling me how much you love him.

DON: You know, it's not the same guy I knew. I knew him for 40 years. Not the same guy. God Almighty.

GLENN: So did he -- you know, there's some people saying he's become the -- yesterday was his first day as a Democrat in office. Do you buy into that?

DON: No. I don't -- I mean, I'm just waiting for him to say, I've had enough, go back to Trump Tower, which, by the way, has ruined his name and everything else. The guy is a moron. Please stop it.

GLENN: Wait a minute. I thought this was your guy?

DON: Well, he's not my guy anymore, Glenn. So now what?

You know, I was done with him when he jumped on McCain. Not his -- you know, his kind of war hero is not one that's captured. Are you kidding me? This fat, blubbered-tittied moron has got five deployments to keep from going to Vietnam. You know why he didn't want to go to Vietnam? Because he's a coward. You know who did go to Vietnam, got shot down over Vietnam? John McCain, that's who. You know that I was in the Marine Corps. I was in the jungles of Vietnam, killing the Congs so people like you could have these stupid little radio programs. What are you talking about?

(laughter)

DON: Well, actually I played the bugle in the Marine Corps band.

GLENN: Right. But you were there. You were there. You were there.

DON: Yeah.

GLENN: So, Don, what has changed in Donald Trump since -- you say you've known him for 40 years. This is not the guy you knew. What's different about him?

DON: Well, I just thought he was a lot smarter. And, you know, once you're president, you wouldn't think you would have to defend every slight. You wouldn't think you would have to validate your presence on the planet with tweets about how big the crowd was or this -- I mean, you know, I had gotten into a huge fight with him that the press covered back 25 years ago. He was a bachelor then. And he was posing for some -- I forget what it was. And I said he had grandma arms. You know, he had the big old flap on his arms.

GLENN: Yeah.

DON: And he was going bankrupt in his casinos. So I said the boy was going from the back of the limo to the front of the limo. So he took great offense to that. And said, now that I wasn't drinking liquor anymore and doing cocaine, I wasn't as funny as I used to be. Howard Stern was a lot better. And Stern voted for Hillary Clinton, but...

GLENN: Is there any -- is there any difference though on, A, how you treated Bill Clinton? I'll never forget the flop sweat on Don Imus.

DON: There wasn't any flop sweat. What are you talking about?

GLENN: Oh, my gosh. Oh, my gosh. I felt like I was living -- you know, if I would watch it again, there would be no difference between this and Hurricane Harvey. There was so much water coming off of you.

DON: I had the guts to stand up there and hammer his ass.

GLENN: You did.

DON: And, by the way, I played the speech the next day on-air. I killed it though. What are you talking about?

GLENN: I agree you did. But it -- I've never seen you squirm like that. It was --

DON: Well, no. He was glaring at me. And Hillary, she was glaring at me. And they were thinking about walking out. They were so --

GLENN: Right. So what is the difference -- what is the difference between what you said there and their reaction? And when you talk about grandma arms and to, quote you, blubber titties, what is the --

DON: Well, I don't know. I don't know how to answer that question. Don't ask me difficult questions.

(laughter)

No, but I don't want -- I like you. I like to call your program. My wife and I wanted to give some money to this deal, if it's not some scam. But I didn't call up to take an SAT test.

GLENN: It's not a scam. All right. All right. How much money are you going to give?

DON: I'd give 100 grand if we would -- I'd give 100 grand, if it's legitimate.

STU: Wow.

GLENN: Well --

STU: It is legitimate.

GLENN: It is legitimate, Don. Not a dime goes through --

DON: I want to know who handles the money. If the Red Cross or FEMA handles any of the money, then I'm not giving any money.

GLENN: No. FEMA and the Red Cross -- actually my charity was started because I don't trust FEMA and the Red Cross.

DON: All right. Good.

GLENN: And so there's not a dime that comes to us. If you mark it for Hurricane Harvey or Irma or whatever, 100 percent of the proceeds go right directly to the things that we have earmarked on the site. And you can even say, "You know, I want it to go to Operation Barbecue or Team Rubicon." Or --

DON: You can -- you can -- you have my email address. I get your whiney little email from you all the time. Send me a note about who handles the money, once it leaves Mercury Arts and whatever. And where to send the money. And we'll give you $100,000.

STU: Wow.

GLENN: That's nice of you, Don. That's a little cheap now that you've gotten rid of the cancer farm. You know, I thought you would be a little more generous.

DON: You really are just a worm.

(laughter)

DON: We always knew you were weird.

(laughter)

DON: I just --

(laughter)

Little fat boy, sitting there getting a lap dance from...

GLENN: All right. All right. All right. Don -- all right.

DON: I got to go.

GLENN: Goodbye, Don.

(laughter)

STU: That was Imus in the Morning. Imus.com. You get the updates on the -- on whatever Glenn is doing with that pony in the basement. We have that coming up, along with Doris Goodwin.

He's awesome.

GLENN: He is great. I have to ask him for permission to print the emails -- the email exchanges from us over the years. For like ten years, we've been going back and forth on emails. And they're the most cruel, politically incorrect, just brutal beatings of one another.

I mean, just beating of one another.

STU: Relentless.

GLENN: Hysterical.

STU: And there's not a moment of saying, no, but, you know, we like you. There's none of that.

GLENN: No, I said that -- remember this? The first time we went back and forth, and I -- you know, I thought, okay. I'm going to write -- Don gave me his email address. I can't write something nice. Because that's not who he is. So I gave him a backhanded compliment. And he came back even stronger. And so then we just got into this war. And then about -- I don't know. About six emails in, I decided to say, but really, you're a great guy and everything else. And he just went off on me. Really? Really? This is who you are? You really need to think you need to say that? Don't ever write to me again.

I mean, he's just brutal in all ways.

STU: Uh-huh.

GLENN: But what I really like about him is he's a really nice guy, and he can take the punch as hard as he can throw it.

STU: Yeah. And also say, you should not brush off the fact that he just offered $100,000 for Harvey relief. You know, I mean, it doesn't --

GLENN: He spends that in medication every month.

STU: That's true. But, I mean, that's -- every week is probably more accurate.

GLENN: Probably every day. But -- all right. Well, but we accept it. And that is really nice. That's very nice of him.

The melting pot fails when we stop agreeing to melt

Spencer Platt / Staff | Getty Images

Texas now hosts Quran-first academies, Sharia-compliant housing schemes, and rapidly multiplying mosques — all part of a movement building a self-contained society apart from the country around it.

It is time to talk honestly about what is happening inside America’s rapidly growing Muslim communities. In city after city, large pockets of newcomers are choosing to build insulated enclaves rather than enter the broader American culture.

That trend is accelerating, and the longer we ignore it, the harder it becomes to address.

As Texas goes, so goes America. And as America goes, so goes the free world.

America has always welcomed people of every faith and people from every corner of the world, but the deal has never changed: You come here and you join the American family. You are free to honor your traditions, keep your faith, but you must embrace the Constitution as the supreme law of the land. You melt into the shared culture that allows all of us to live side by side.

Across the country, this bargain is being rejected by Islamist communities that insist on building a parallel society with its own rules, its own boundaries, and its own vision for how life should be lived.

Texas illustrates the trend. The state now has roughly 330 mosques. At least 48 of them were built in just the last 24 months. The Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex alone has around 200 Islamic centers. Houston has another hundred or so. Many of these communities have no interest in blending into American life.

This is not the same as past waves of immigration. Irish, Italian, Korean, Mexican, and every other group arrived with pride in their heritage. Still, they also raised American flags and wanted their children to be part of the country’s future. They became doctors, small-business owners, teachers, and soldiers. They wanted to be Americans.

What we are watching now is not the melting pot. It is isolation by design.

Parallel societies do not end well

More than 300 fundamentalist Islamic schools now operate full-time across the country. Many use Quran-first curricula that require students to spend hours memorizing religious texts before they ever reach math or science. In Dallas, Brighter Horizons Academy enrolls more than 1,700 students and draws federal support while operating on a social model that keeps children culturally isolated.

Then there is the Epic City project in Collin and Hunt counties — 402 acres originally designated only for Muslim buyers, with Sharia-compliant financing and a mega-mosque at the center. After public outcry and state investigations, the developers renamed it “The Meadows,” but a new sign does not erase the original intent. It is not a neighborhood. It is a parallel society.

Americans should not hesitate to say that parallel societies are dangerous. Europe tried this experiment, and the results could not be clearer. In Germany, France, and the United Kingdom, entire neighborhoods now operate under their own cultural rules, some openly hostile to Western norms. When citizens speak up, they are branded bigots for asserting a basic right: the ability to live safely in their own communities.

A crisis of confidence

While this separation widens, another crisis is unfolding at home. A recent Gallup survey shows that about 40% of American women ages 18 to 39 would leave the country permanently if given the chance. Nearly half of a rising generation — daughters, sisters, soon-to-be mothers — no longer believe this nation is worth building a future in.

And who shapes the worldview of young boys? Their mothers. If a mother no longer believes America is home, why would her child grow up ready to defend it?

As Texas goes, so goes America. And as America goes, so goes the free world. If we lose confidence in our own national identity at the same time that we allow separatist enclaves to spread unchecked, the outcome is predictable. Europe is already showing us what comes next: cultural fracture, political radicalization, and the slow death of national unity.

Brandon Bell / Staff | Getty Images

Stand up and tell the truth

America welcomes Muslims. America defends their right to worship freely. A Muslim who loves the Constitution, respects the rule of law, and wants to raise a family in peace is more than welcome in America.

But an Islamist movement that rejects assimilation, builds enclaves governed by its own religious framework, and treats American law as optional is not simply another participant in our melting pot. It is a direct challenge to it. If we refuse to call this problem out out of fear of being called names, we will bear the consequences.

Europe is already feeling those consequences — rising conflict and a political class too paralyzed to admit the obvious. When people feel their culture, safety, and freedoms slipping away, they will follow anyone who promises to defend them. History has shown that over and over again.

Stand up. Speak plainly. Be unafraid. You can practice any faith in this country, but the supremacy of the Constitution and the Judeo-Christian moral framework that shaped it is non-negotiable. It is what guarantees your freedom in the first place.

If you come here and honor that foundation, welcome. If you come here to undermine it, you do not belong here.

Wake up to what is unfolding before the consequences arrive. Because when a nation refuses to say what is true, the truth eventually forces its way in — and by then, it is always too late.

This article originally appeared on TheBlaze.com.

Shocking: Chart-topping ‘singer’ has no soul at all

VCG / Contributor | Getty Images

A machine can imitate heartbreak well enough to top the charts, but it cannot carry grief, choose courage, or hear the whisper that calls human beings to something higher.

The No. 1 country song in America right now was not written in Nashville or Texas or even L.A. It came from code. “Walk My Walk,” the AI-generated single by the AI artist Breaking Rust, hit the top spot on Billboard’s Country Digital Song Sales chart, and if you listen to it without knowing that fact, you would swear a real singer lived the pain he is describing.

Except there is no “he.” There is no lived experience. There is no soul behind the voice dominating the country music charts.

If a machine can imitate the soul, then what is the soul?

I will admit it: I enjoy some AI music. Some of it is very good. And that leaves us with a question that is no longer science fiction. If a machine can fake being human this well, what does it mean to be human?

A new world of artificial experience

This is not just about one song. We are walking straight into a technological moment that will reshape everyday life.

Elon Musk said recently that we may not even have phones in five years. Instead, we will carry a small device that listens, anticipates, and creates — a personal AI agent that knows what we want to hear before we ask. It will make the music, the news, the podcasts, the stories. We already live in digital bubbles. Soon, those bubbles might become our own private worlds.

If an algorithm can write a hit country song about hardship and perseverance without a shred of actual experience, then the deeper question becomes unavoidable: If a machine can imitate the soul, then what is the soul?

What machines can never do

A machine can produce, and soon it may produce better than we can. It can calculate faster than any human mind. It can rearrange the notes and words of a thousand human songs into something that sounds real enough to fool millions.

But it cannot care. It cannot love. It cannot choose right and wrong. It cannot forgive because it cannot be hurt. It cannot stand between a child and danger. It cannot walk through sorrow.

A machine can imitate the sound of suffering. It cannot suffer.

The difference is the soul. The divine spark. The thing God breathed into man that no code will ever have. Only humans can take pain and let it grow into compassion. Only humans can take fear and turn it into courage. Only humans can rebuild their lives after losing everything. Only humans hear the whisper inside, the divine voice that says, “Live for something greater.”

We are building artificial minds. We are not building artificial life.

Questions that define us

And as these artificial minds grow sharper, as their tools become more convincing, the right response is not panic. It is to ask the oldest and most important questions.

Who am I? Why am I here? What is the meaning of freedom? What is worth defending? What is worth sacrificing for?

That answer is not found in a lab or a server rack. It is found in that mysterious place inside each of us where reason meets faith, where suffering becomes wisdom, where God reminds us we are more than flesh and more than thought. We are not accidents. We are not circuits. We are not replaceable.

Europa Press News / Contributor | Getty Images

The miracle machines can never copy

Being human is not about what we can produce. Machines will outproduce us. That is not the question. Being human is about what we can choose. We can choose to love even when it costs us something. We can choose to sacrifice when it is not easy. We can choose to tell the truth when the world rewards lies. We can choose to stand when everyone else bows. We can create because something inside us will not rest until we do.

An AI content generator can borrow our melodies, echo our stories, and dress itself up like a human soul, but it cannot carry grief across a lifetime. It cannot forgive an enemy. It cannot experience wonder. It cannot look at a broken world and say, “I am going to build again.”

The age of machines is rising. And if we do not know who we are, we will shrink. But if we use this moment to remember what makes us human, it will help us to become better, because the one thing no algorithm will ever recreate is the miracle that we exist at all — the miracle of the human soul.

This article originally appeared on TheBlaze.com.

Shocking shift: America’s youth lured by the “Socialism trap”

Jeremy Weine / Stringer | Getty Images

A generation that’s lost faith in capitalism is turning to the oldest lie on earth: equality through control.

Something is breaking in America’s young people. You can feel it in every headline, every grocery bill, every young voice quietly asking if the American dream still means anything at all.

For many, the promise of America — work hard, build something that lasts, and give the next generation a better start — feels like it no longer exists. Home ownership and stability have become luxuries for a fortunate few.

Capitalism is not a perfect system. It is flawed because people are flawed, but it remains the only system that rewards creativity and effort rather than punishing them.

In that vacuum of hope, a new promise has begun to rise — one that sounds compassionate, equal, and fair. The promise of socialism.

The appeal of a broken dream

When the American dream becomes a checklist of things few can afford — a home, a car, two children, even a little peace — disappointment quickly turns to resentment. The average first-time homebuyer is now 40 years old. Debt lasts longer than marriages. The cost of living rises faster than opportunity.

For a generation that has never seen the system truly work, capitalism feels like a rigged game built to protect those already at the top.

That is where socialism finds its audience. It presents itself as fairness for the forgotten and justice for the disillusioned. It speaks softly at first, offering equality, compassion, and control disguised as care.

We are seeing that illusion play out now in New York City, where Zohran Mamdani — an open socialist — has won a major political victory. The same ideology that once hid behind euphemisms now campaigns openly throughout America’s once-great cities. And for many who feel left behind, it sounds like salvation.

But what socialism calls fairness is submission dressed as virtue. What it calls order is obedience. Once the system begins to replace personal responsibility with collective dependence, the erosion of liberty is only a matter of time.

The bridge that never ends

Socialism is not a destination; it is a bridge. Karl Marx described it as the necessary transition to communism — the scaffolding that builds the total state. Under socialism, people are taught to obey. Under communism, they forget that any other options exist.

History tells the story clearly. Russia, China, Cambodia, Cuba — each promised equality and delivered misery. One hundred million lives were lost, not because socialism failed, but because it succeeded at what it was designed to do: make the state supreme and the individual expendable.

Today’s advocates insist their version will be different — democratic, modern, and kind. They often cite Sweden as an example, but Sweden’s prosperity was never born of socialism. It grew out of capitalism, self-reliance, and a shared moral culture. Now that system is cracking under the weight of bureaucracy and division.

ANGELA WEISS / Contributor | Getty Images

The real issue is not economic but moral. Socialism begins with a lie about human nature — that people exist for the collective and that the collective knows better than the individual.

This lie is contrary to the truths on which America was founded — that rights come not from government’s authority, but from God’s. Once government replaces that authority, compassion becomes control, and freedom becomes permission.

What young America deserves

Young Americans have many reasons to be frustrated. They were told to study, work hard, and follow the rules — and many did, only to find the goalposts moved again and again. But tearing down the entire house does not make it fairer; it only leaves everyone standing in the rubble.

Capitalism is not a perfect system. It is flawed because people are flawed, but it remains the only system that rewards creativity and effort rather than punishing them. The answer is not revolution but renewal — moral, cultural, and spiritual.

It means restoring honesty to markets, integrity to government, and faith to the heart of our nation. A people who forsake God will always turn to government for salvation, and that road always ends in dependency and decay.

Freedom demands something of us. It requires faith, discipline, and courage. It expects citizens to govern themselves before others govern them. That is the truth this generation deserves to hear again — that liberty is not a gift from the state but a calling from God.

Socialism always begins with promises and ends with permission. It tells you what to drive, what to say, what to believe, all in the name of fairness. But real fairness is not everyone sharing the same chains — it is everyone having the same chance.

The American dream was never about guarantees. It was about the right to try, to fail, and try again. That freedom built the most prosperous nation in history, and it can do so again if we remember that liberty is not a handout but a duty.

Socialism does not offer salvation. It requires subservience.

This article originally appeared on TheBlaze.com.

Rage isn’t conservatism — THIS is what true patriots stand for

Gary Hershorn / Contributor | Getty Images

Conservatism is not about rage or nostalgia. It’s about moral clarity, national renewal, and guarding the principles that built America’s freedom.

Our movement is at a crossroads, and the question before us is simple: What does it mean to be a conservative in America today?

For years, we have been told what we are against — against the left, against wokeism, against decline. But opposition alone does not define a movement, and it certainly does not define a moral vision.

We are not here to cling to the past or wallow in grievance. We are not the movement of rage. We are the movement of reason and hope.

The media, as usual, are eager to supply their own answer. The New York Times recently suggested that Nick Fuentes represents the “future” of conservatism. That’s nonsense — a distortion of both truth and tradition. Fuentes and those like him do not represent American conservatism. They represent its counterfeit.

Real conservatism is not rage. It is reverence. It does not treat the past as a museum, but as a teacher. America’s founders asked us to preserve their principles and improve upon their practice. That means understanding what we are conserving — a living covenant, not a relic.

Conservatism as stewardship

In 2025, conservatism means stewardship — of a nation, a culture, and a moral inheritance too precious to abandon. To conserve is not to freeze history. It is to stand guard over what is essential. We are custodians of an experiment in liberty that rests on the belief that rights come not from kings or Congress, but from the Creator.

That belief built this country. It will be what saves it. The Constitution is a covenant between generations. Conservatism is the duty to keep that covenant alive — to preserve what works, correct what fails, and pass on both wisdom and freedom to those who come next.

Economics, culture, and morality are inseparable. Debt is not only fiscal; it is moral. Spending what belongs to the unborn is theft. Dependence is not compassion; it is weakness parading as virtue. A society that trades responsibility for comfort teaches citizens how to live as slaves.

Freedom without virtue is not freedom; it is chaos. A culture that mocks faith cannot defend liberty, and a nation that rejects truth cannot sustain justice. Conservatism must again become the moral compass of a disoriented people, reminding America that liberty survives only when anchored to virtue.

Rebuilding what is broken

We cannot define ourselves by what we oppose. We must build families, communities, and institutions that endure. Government is broken because education is broken, and education is broken because we abandoned the formation of the mind and the soul. The work ahead is competence, not cynicism.

Conservatives should embrace innovation and technology while rejecting the chaos of Silicon Valley. Progress must not come at the expense of principle. Technology must strengthen people, not replace them. Artificial intelligence should remain a servant, never a master. The true strength of a nation is not measured by data or bureaucracy, but by the quiet webs of family, faith, and service that hold communities together. When Washington falters — and it will — those neighborhoods must stand.

Eric Lee / Stringer | Getty Images

This is the real work of conservatism: to conserve what is good and true and to reform what has decayed. It is not about slogans; it is about stewardship — the patient labor of building a civilization that remembers what it stands for.

A creed for the rising generation

We are not here to cling to the past or wallow in grievance. We are not the movement of rage. We are the movement of reason and hope.

For the rising generation, conservatism cannot be nostalgia. It must be more than a memory of 9/11 or admiration for a Reagan era they never lived through. Many young Americans did not experience those moments — and they should not have to in order to grasp the lessons they taught and the truths they embodied. The next chapter is not about preserving relics but renewing purpose. It must speak to conviction, not cynicism; to moral clarity, not despair.

Young people are searching for meaning in a culture that mocks truth and empties life of purpose. Conservatism should be the moral compass that reminds them freedom is responsibility and that faith, family, and moral courage remain the surest rebellions against hopelessness.

To be a conservative in 2025 is to defend the enduring principles of American liberty while stewarding the culture, the economy, and the spirit of a free people. It is to stand for truth when truth is unfashionable and to guard moral order when the world celebrates chaos.

We are not merely holding the torch. We are relighting it.

This article originally appeared on TheBlaze.com.