Three Things You Need to Know - November 6, 2017

Time to mourn.

The worst-ever mass shooting in Texas occurred just before noon on Sunday. Evil, in the form of a gunman, invaded the modest worship service at First Baptist Church of Sutherland Springs, Texas, and murdered 26 people. Twenty-six people, ranging in age from five to seventy-two.

Horrific. Unimaginable. It is a time to weep and mourn today.

Unfortunately, because this is 2017 America with our political tribes and instant media, there won’t be a proper period of mourning before the clamor starts for laws to prevent this from ever happening again. In fact, the clamor has already started.

The reality that you probably won’t hear in those debates is that this is not a winnable fight. You cannot legislate the human heart. No amount of freedom or restriction can keep this from happening. That’s not a fatalistic view, for some reason it’s just the way of the world we find ourselves in. Evil definitely exists, so does good, and they’re constantly at war.

There are no easy answers here. Just about anything anyone could say after a tragedy like this sounds trite and inadequate. Sometimes there are no words – only a time to mourn, and to be present for the families of the victims.

If you were blessed to wake up this morning, you have a choice. How will you choose to live after you hear about 26 strangers murdered in south Texas? Will you choose to let it change your perspective? Will you choose to live with renewed purpose and diligence, to help someone in your life, to serve your community, to love your family better?

Or will you choose to ignore this tragedy and move on, just another far away news story that has no bearing on your life. That would be a terrible mistake. Between Las Vegas and Sutherland Springs, if we aren’t shaken to our core by the reality that life is precious, and short, and that we need to live it well, then perhaps nothing will wake us up.

You’re stepping out into an angry, cynical, bitter world today. But you can choose to work against that grain. May God help each one of us to make that choice.

Rand Paul was attacked by his neighbor.

Not only is it unsafe for Republican Congressmen to play baseball, but now it’s apparently dangerous for them to mow their own lawns. Senator Rand Paul was cutting his grass on Friday when his neighbor tackled him from behind. Paul suffered several broken ribs and cuts on his nose and mouth.

Now granted, we don’t yet know what really started this attack. It’s very possible it was triggered by the Paul families overuse of bright colored garden gnomes, or maybe Paul was playing his music too loud the night before. Maybe it was a combination of both annoying garden gnomes AND loud music. Whatever the case, this neighbor snapped.

So what do we know about this neighbor? We know he’s a registered Democrat, hates President Trump and he follows postings by Occupy Democrats social media accounts. How do we know all this? Well, surprise surprise, just like the man who attacked the congressional baseball practice, he’s very active on Facebook. His page is full of anti-Trump and anti-Republican ramblings. He even posted an Occupy Democrats Noam Chomsky meme calling the Republican Party quote: “the most dangerous organization in world history.”

Not all are like this, but why are so many on the left these days so angry and willing to resort to violence? All the talk the past several months has been on the danger posed by the violent right, but we are seeing a rise in the violent left that harkens back to the late 1960’s and early 70’s. Yesterday’s Weather Underground and Students for a Democratic Society are today’s ANTIFA and all the other radical left groups taking to the streets the past year.

On Saturday, the left-wing “Refuse Fascism” group kicked off demonstrations in nearly two dozen cities. Their demand is the removal of President Trump and Vice President Pence. They claim to continue protesting in the streets until that happens. Although turnout was low, the action sounds eerily similar to the Days of Rage in 1969. John Jacobs, a leader in both the SDS (Students for a Democratic Society) and Weather Underground, stood on the rubble of a police statue they had just bombed in ‘69 and compared their protests to “the fight against fascism in World War 2.” Now doesn’t that rhetoric sound familiar?

Weather Underground turned into a full-on domestic terror group. In 1970, police found in one of their hideouts 57 sticks of dynamite and four completed bombs. In 1975 they bombed the headquarters of the US State Department in Washington DC. Is today’s radical left going in this same direction? They’re using the same rhetoric and following a similar playbook as before. The violent left is evolving and growing. People are getting angrier and angrier. Even in small suburban neighborhoods in Kentucky.

Did you hear about "Obama Con"?

Some people go to Comic Con. Some flock to music festivals or biker conventions. Whatever floats your boat. But for the serious citizen – those who actually care about hope and change and health-food-in-school-vending-machines and other really important stuff like that – for those citizens, there is only one gathering worth spending so much time, effort, and money to attend: Obama Con.

Okay, it’s not really called Obama Con, but it will be in time as its stature, self-importance, and cultural relevance blossoms. And it will. How could it not? America’s unofficial royal couple, Barack and Michelle, invented it. And you know their ideas are what’s best for you.

It’s actually called the Obama Foundation Summit and it happened in Chicago. You haven’t heard of it? Well, this was its inaugural year. Obama Con is the convention that America didn’t even know it needed. Plus, it gets Barack and Michelle back on stage and in front of the cameras – finally. We’ve barely seen them since they left the White House, well, other than the daily photos of them vacationing in the Mediterranean and on Martha’s Vineyard. Fortunately, Obama Con managed to drag those two back into the spotlight.

There are so many activities to choose from at Obama Con. It’s like summer camp, well, a summer camp run by New Age-socialist-hippies. Actually, maybe summer camp is a bad comparison because camp has potential dangers – bug bites, poison ivy. No dangers at Obama Con. It’s a safe space on steroids. One attendee called it the “sanity bubble.”

Feeling stressed and uptight by all the baskets of deplorables back home? Check out the morning meditation and yoga sessions.

Need help figuring out how to navigate the horrors of Trumpian America? Obama Con’s got you covered with sessions like “The Adventure of Civility” and “Who Narrates the World?”

Need to articulate your hopes somewhere other than social media? Write them with colored chalk on the giant blackboard labeled: “I hope _____.” Good luck trying to come up with something better than the person who wrote, “I hope – my nephews can escape toxic masculinity.”

There were also vital educational sessions, led by people like America’s preeminent historian, Lin Manuel Miranda.

But the biggest magic happens in the small, completely organic, totally unplanned moments when you’re sitting in a yoga pose or listening to the rapper Common give a life-changing talk on “art and activism,” when suddenly, Barack himself enters the room from the back. Actually, his aura enters first, alerting attendees to the presence of greatness. Then someone near the back glimpses him and squeals, and then a tidal wave of cheers rolls across the room and engulfs Barack. He beams, for the people still need him.

And for one blissful moment, you feel the hope-iest and change-iest you’ve ever felt, you forget the hellhole of Trump’s America that lurks outside the swank Marriott hotel, and for that moment all is right – make that Left – in the world.

MORE 3 THINGS

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.