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

The GOP Is Poised to Pass Tax Reform – but Will It Help?

December 01, 2017
Staff

WRITER

Glenn was blunt about his feelings on the Senate Republicans’ plan for tax reform on today’s show: “This is an abomination, but I’ll take it.” If Republicans can’t give us something better, we’ll take what we can get, right?

Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) said at noon today that he would vote in favor of the tax reform plan, giving Republicans 50 votes to pass the legislation along with a tie-breaker vote from Vice President Mike Pence.

Want to learn more about the bill? Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) was on the show Thursday to talk about it, and you can listen here.

This article provided courtesy of TheBlaze.

GLENN: Bill O'Reilly from BillO'Reilly.com.

Let's switch to another worthless topic on -- on Congress. The tax bill. They now have 49 out of the 52 senators. Are they going to be able to pass this today?

BILL: Yes, they will. They'll make some other tweak to get one or two more on board. And, you know, it shouldn't be this hard. But, you know, again, you're dealing with a body that is not looking out for the folks, in my opinion. It's all about them.

And, you know, once you get into that zone, it's hard to get anything done --

GLENN: How can they be so myopic, where they are -- where they are getting these giant -- these giant breaks. And I'm for the business tax going down. I'm absolutely for it.

BILL: Yeah. Uh-huh.

GLENN: But then to not give the break to the average person is nuts! Is nuts!

BILL: Well, they are though in a sense that if you -- if you really analyze the bill, it does help the working class in America. I mean, it's not fantastic --

GLENN: It does help.

No.

BILL: But it's something. And then the thinking is -- the wisdom is that when you stimulate the economy to this extent and you mentioned it at the top of the hour, that there will be more jobs available for everybody. And then the market will drive salaries up, so that you will make money from this bill, not only by getting a tax cut, a little bit of one, but your opportunities will expand.

So I think that's the overall arch on it.

STU: The bottom line here too and no one is talking about this, the bottom 80 percent of families, currently pay 33 percent of all federal taxes and will get 37 percent of the tax cuts. They pay 33, would get 37 percent of the tax cut. The top one percent currently pays 37 percent of all the taxes, but would only get 18 percent of the tax cuts.

So they keep acting as if they're only giving money to the rich here. That's not true at all.

GLENN: Yeah, you're giving more --

BILL: Well, the big thing is the economy. That's the big thing. If you have a president who stimulates the economy to the extent that everybody wants to work and salaries go up, that's an effective administration, domestically. So that's what this is all about. Democrats, of course, don't want Trump to succeed. So they don't care how good the tax cut is or how good the tax bill is, they'll try to sabotage it.

GLENN: So the economy and the numbers, what is Trump thinking by just tweeting all this nonsense? This should have been a great week.

BILL: He doesn't think. He just doesn't think. I mean, that's the problem. I'm not a psychologist, and I'm not getting into that. But you're absolutely right. I have it said from the very beginning, it's about accomplishments, not feuds. You know, once in a while you can use a feud for a political advantage, and people will enjoy that. But not every day. You got two big accomplishments. The economy is on the move and you've hurt ISIS badly: That's what you should be tweeting about.

GLENN: Yeah. Tell me what you thought about the Pocahontas.

BILL: It's not a racial slur. It was inappropriate. The guys -- the Navajos in the White House didn't even know what he was talking. You see their faces, going, what did Pocahontas do that we were not aware of?

GLENN: I know.

BILL: Let's go back to Jamestown, what did she do? But, again, it's a stream of consciousness with our president. I mean, whatever pops into his mind, he says. Because that's what rich guys do, Beck. And, you know that, you're a rich guy. Whatever pops into your mind you say, that's what happens.

GLENN: Right. I was saying that when I was broke. And that may lead to me being broke again.

BILL: Yeah. But you weren't sober then. That was a whole different track.

GLENN: Yes. That's exactly right.

When we come back, we'll talk about Michael Flynn who has just been charged by the FBI with lying to the FBI. What does this mean to the Trump administration? Coming up.

(OUT AT 9:31AM)

GLENN: We're with Bill O'Reilly for BillO'Reilly.com. We got news this morning that the former national security adviser for Donald Trump, Michael Flynn, has pleaded guilty today to willfully and knowingly making false, fictitious, and fraudulent statements to the FBI about conversations with Russia's ambassador.

The White House responded and said, this was expected. Trump fired him for lying to Vice President Mike Pence. Of course, he lied to the FBI as well.

Bill, what does this mean?

BILL: I don't think it means very much. I mean, it means that CNN and MSNBC will have a full roster of hysteria. But, you know, Flynn was a guy who had a very nebulous -- word of the day nebulous, association with Turkey and Russia. Made money representing various things that they were doing.

And apparently, the inside story here, Beck, though, and that's why you have me on every week is apparently they made a deal with Flynn to plead guilty to lying to the FBI if they leave his son alone.

The son did work with the father. The younger Flynn was in kind of jeopardy. But I think the deal is, let the boy go. And I'll plead guilty. I think that's what happened.

GLENN: So does this move the case into the White House at all?

BILL: No. Because the White House did bail from Flynn fairly early. Because he did, as you pointed out, misled Pence. So unless Flynn has got some information, and nobody could possibly know that, that connects the president with Russia directly, it's probably going to die out fast.

STU: Bill, switching gears here a little bit, I did come across a little piece of an interview with you that I did find to be interesting this week. As you may have seen and remembered the Matt Lauer interview with you has been making the rounds quite a bit.

BILL: Yeah.

GLENN: I'm wondering, have you offered an interview for him on your show?

BILL: Nah. You know, everybody is caught up in the mass hysteria of all of these accusations. But I come back to the very simple thing, and what Americans should want is justice. They should want justice.

And nobody should be abused in the workplace. So when you keep your eye on that. And I think nobody would disagree with that. You can -- you can start to move through some of these things in a responsible way, unlike the press, which every headline is a conviction now.

So Lauer, who I've known forever, but I'm not a friend of his, what he did in my interview in September, with Killing England -- and people don't know that. But I was promoting the book. I was promoting Killing England. And I knew that NBC was telling Lauer, hey, you got to be tough on O'Reilly. You got to be ask him all -- I don't mind.

GLENN: Yeah. They did seven minutes on your firing and two on the book.

BILL: Yeah. And I didn't mind. All I wanted was my say. I went in there. And, you know, they did seven on that and two on the book. Fine, the book becomes number one. And I did what I had to do to promote the book. But as far as Lauer was concerned, I absolutely knew what he was going to do, what he was going to say. And if you looked at the interview, I answered the questions honestly. Now, he doesn't look good because all the while he was asking all those questions, he had to know that all this he has now admitted was in the background.

So how do you do that? I don't know. I don't know how do that. But that's him.

GLENN: So, Bill, you just said, you know, every accusation is a conviction now.

BILL: Yeah.

GLENN: Except when it comes -- except when it comes to Congress. That's not happening.

BILL: It is though. It is though.

Conyers is done, all right? He can -- he can -- his guy can say, I got to stay. He's finished, all right? And I expect he'll be out next week. And they'll say, his health is bad. I mean, that's what this is. And Franken is done.

STU: You think Franken is done?

GLENN: You think Franken is out?

BILL: He's out. Because the Senate Ethics Committee can't give him a pass. They can't. And they'll come back, Al, you know -- and I actually recused myself from Franken because I despised him so much. And I told my audience on BillO'Reilly.com, look, I'm not going to comment on what Franken allegedly did or did not do because I hate him. "Hate" is a bad word.

I despise him. He's a liar. All right?

GLENN: You hate the things he does.

BILL: I've known him forever, and he's the lowest of the low. You don't get lower than Al Franken. So I can't analyze what this situation is. But he has no future. He's done. And the ethics committee will come back, and there will be other people that will come in and say whatever they say.

GLENN: And so what about Roy Moore?

BILL: Now, that's a more interesting topic, Moore. Because I think Moore is going to win.

STU: I think so he is.

GLENN: I think he is too.

BILL: In December 12.

Now, is he going to win because he's the greatest guy?

No. He's going to win because the people in Alabama hate the press more than what he allegedly did. So that's what's happening.

GLENN: No, I don't think -- I think they're just willing to look away and say, I don't know what the story is because I hate the press so much.

BILL: I think it's more emotional than that. I think it's -- there is a -- if you look at the polling on it, okay? The majority of Alabama is not people who are going to vote for Moore. And, by the way, I would not vote for Moore. I would not cast a ballot for the man. But the majority of people who are going to vote in the election, all right? They say that the press is despicable and we don't trust them.

So that's the -- you know, people rationalize their actions. That's the rationalization. We don't know what he did.

You know, but the press is dishonest. So we're going to give him the benefit of the doubt. So then he'll get in there. And I think the Senate will bushwhack him. And then the governor of Alabama eventually will have to appoint somebody to take his place. I think that's how it's going to come down.

GLENN: You think the Senate is going to bushwhack him?

BILL: I think so. Because the Republican Party can't be tied to him. You see, they can't be tied to Roy Moore, and that's what the Democrats will do next year in --

GLENN: But we're already tied -- we're already tied to -- to Donald Trump. And if you believe the press reports, sources in the White House say that he's now saying that that -- excuse me. That Access Hollywood tape was fraudulent.

BILL: Okay. Then we get back to stream of consciousness. I don't take any of that seriously. I don't take any of that seriously.

But I will tell you this, I'm going to make a prediction here on the Glenn Beck Program. I wish I had the English accent to do it, but I don't.

After this tax reform thing gets passed, the press is going to then pivot into attacking Trump on the women accusations. That's going to be the next thing. Because they can't go into 2018 with a roaring economy, all right? And a pretty good accomplishment on Trump's resume. They've got to take him down personally. So you're going to see hysteria develop, coming up. And that's what's going to happen.

GLENN: So how do we -- because I think we're sending. And I don't know what message we're setting. And I've struggled with this. I mean, Bill, you and I have talked about this off the air with your situation. And I've pressed you up against the wall, saying, I don't want to defend a bad guy. Tell me the decision. And I've had to make tough choices, in my own life, you know, here. But I think we're all doing this throughout.

And I don't know what message we're sending. But I do believe the stories about Donald Trump. And I do believe he has that kind of attitude.

So what -- what is this -- what -- by saying, you know what, the president is off-limits. Or, you know, Al Franken is off-limits or whatever, what does this mean to us in 20 years? Because I think we're here because we said character didn't matter in the '90s.

BILL: Well, look, I know where you're coming from on this, but I think you've got to be careful. I know of a tape, an audiotape that I hope becomes public very soon, because there are at least three crimes on the tape that an anti-Trump person is offering money to someone to allege stuff against Donald Trump. That tape exists. All right?

And you got to be careful about this kind of stuff. Because there is very -- there are black ops, what they call in the CIA, going on, to ruin people that George Soros, Media Matters, Color of Change don't like. You know that. You know it. Don't discount that. Don't discount it.

GLENN: Well, see, that's why --

BILL: I don't know what Donald Trump did or did not do. I do know the American people elected him. But I know what's coming. I do know what's coming.

GLENN: So that's kind of where I'm at. Is, you know, we will say, you know, I'll give the person in politics the benefit of the doubt because I don't know -- because politics is so slimy, that I don't know what the truth is here.

BILL: That's right. And you can't know the truth. So, therefore, you can't form judgments. You've got to be -- if you're fair-minded, very circumspect on it, and very cautious.

STU: What's the appropriate way to look at these, Bill? Because I have struggled with this. These things come out, and we're forced to try to make without a court case, without a real accusation, without a charge being filed. We have to try to sit here and analyze through the media and random reports.

BILL: Yeah, but you can't because the media will never tell you the truth. And they're going to hang you in the headline, whoever you are. If you think this is going to stop, it's not. Next week, there will be five other people. Then once you get into the campaign season in 2018, almost everybody who runs is going to be slime in some way with this kind of stuff. It's just too easy to do. It's so easy to do.

GLENN: Look, I saw --

BILL: Americans have got to be aware that this thing is pretty much out of control right now.

GLENN: I saw the thing with Garrison Keillor. And if what Garrison Keillor says is true -- and, look, I mean, I think Garrison Keillor is talented.

STU: Ugh. Insufferable.

GLENN: I know. I'm a rare bird on this. I think he's talented. But he stands for almost everything that I stand against.

However, that being said, if what he says is true, it's insane to fire him. Was insanity. Because it's --

BILL: Absolutely. So, I mean, look, I'm not going to get into my situation, but I've told you and I've told everybody in this country, I've mistreated no one. Okay? And that -- there's no deviation from that.

And so, you know, you go on, but am I angry? I'm angry through the roof about this whole injustice in the media.

GLENN: So the question --

BILL: The media drives this stuff. But if there's evidence that you see, like a picture -- Al Franken -- or a police report -- Weinstein -- sure, that evidence has to be taken into account.

But if there isn't, it's just like Garrison Keillor saying I touched somebody on the back and now I lost my job, you know, you got to take that seriously, even if you don't like the guy.

STU: So you said before, Bill, you wouldn't vote for Moore. What was your decision-making process?

BILL: Right. I just don't think the guy is a problem solver. He's a pure ideologue, all right? Who has put forward a platform that I just don't think represents the country. And I don't know what he did or didn't do. I just don't know.

GLENN: So you're not making it on the charges?

BILL: No. But he sputtered around. He sputtered around it. "Sputtered" is a good word.

But when I see Gloria Allred involved in trying to get him, then I go, yeah, okay. Look at this.

STU: Yeah, you roll your eyes.

GLENN: Okay. Bill O'Reilly, thank you very much.

BILL: Can I say one more thing before you guys go to the British woman?

GLENN: Oh, jeez. Yeah, go ahead.

BILL: BillO'Reilly.com has an unbelievable Christmas promotion, and Glenn Beck needs this. If you buy three gift certificates for premium membership, Beck, you get four free books. That's seven gifts. So you can give your gifts to your staff, take care of everybody on BillO'Reilly.com.

GLENN: But there's 12 days of Christmas. There's 12 days of Christmas. It still leaves me wanting the pipers and the maids a milking.

BILL: Well, then do six, six gift certificates at BillO'Reilly.com, and then you'll get eight books. That's 14. Then you've outdone your 12 days of Christmas.

GLENN: I don't know six people that like Bill O'Reilly.

EXCLUSIVE: Tech Ethicist reveals 5 ways to control AI NOW

MANAURE QUINTERO / Contributor | Getty Images

By now, many of us are familiar with AI and its potential benefits and threats. However, unless you're a tech tycoon, it can feel like you have little influence over the future of artificial intelligence.

For years, Glenn has warned about the dangers of rapidly developing AI technologies that have taken the world by storm.

He acknowledges their significant benefits but emphasizes the need to establish proper boundaries and ethics now, while we still have control. But since most people aren’t Silicon Valley tech leaders making the decisions, how can they help keep AI in check?

Recently, Glenn interviewed Tristan Harris, a tech ethicist deeply concerned about the potential harm of unchecked AI, to discuss its societal implications. Harris highlighted a concerning new piece of legislation proposed by Texas Senator Ted Cruz. This legislation proposes a state-level moratorium on AI regulation, meaning only the federal government could regulate AI. Harris noted that there’s currently no Federal plan for regulating AI. Until the federal government establishes a plan, tech companies would have nearly free rein with their AI. And we all know how slowly the federal government moves.

This is where you come in. Tristan Harris shared with Glenn the top five actions you should urge your representatives to take regarding AI, including opposing the moratorium until a concrete plan is in place. Now is your chance to influence the future of AI. Contact your senator and congressman today and share these five crucial steps they must take to keep AI in check:

Ban engagement-optimized AI companions for kids

Create legislation that will prevent AI from being designed to maximize addiction, sexualization, flattery, and attachment disorders, and to protect young people’s mental health and ability to form real-life friendships.

Establish basic liability laws

Companies need to be held accountable when their products cause real-world harm.

Pass increased whistleblower protections

Protect concerned technologists working inside the AI labs from facing untenable pressures and threats that prevent them from warning the public when the AI rollout is unsafe or crosses dangerous red lines.

Prevent AI from having legal rights

Enact laws so AIs don’t have protected speech or have their own bank accounts, making sure our legal system works for human interests over AI interests.

Oppose the state moratorium on AI 

Call your congressman or Senator Cruz’s office, and demand they oppose the state moratorium on AI without a plan for how we will set guardrails for this technology.

Glenn: Only Trump dared to deliver on decades of empty promises

Tasos Katopodis / Stringer | Getty Images

The Islamic regime has been killing Americans since 1979. Now Trump’s response proves we’re no longer playing defense — we’re finally hitting back.

The United States has taken direct military action against Iran’s nuclear program. Whatever you think of the strike, it’s over. It’s happened. And now, we have to predict what happens next. I want to help you understand the gravity of this situation: what happened, what it means, and what might come next. To that end, we need to begin with a little history.

Since 1979, Iran has been at war with us — even if we refused to call it that.

We are either on the verge of a remarkable strategic victory or a devastating global escalation. Time will tell.

It began with the hostage crisis, when 66 Americans were seized and 52 were held for over a year by the radical Islamic regime. Four years later, 17 more Americans were murdered in the U.S. Embassy bombing in Beirut, followed by 241 Marines in the Beirut barracks bombing.

Then came the Khobar Towers bombing in 1996, which killed 19 more U.S. airmen. Iran had its fingerprints all over it.

In Iraq and Afghanistan, Iranian-backed proxies killed hundreds of American soldiers. From 2001 to 2020 in Afghanistan and 2003 to 2011 in Iraq, Iran supplied IEDs and tactical support.

The Iranians have plotted assassinations and kidnappings on U.S. soil — in 2011, 2021, and again in 2024 — and yet we’ve never really responded.

The precedent for U.S. retaliation has always been present, but no president has chosen to pull the trigger until this past weekend. President Donald Trump struck decisively. And what our military pulled off this weekend was nothing short of extraordinary.

Operation Midnight Hammer

The strike was reportedly called Operation Midnight Hammer. It involved as many as 175 U.S. aircraft, including 12 B-2 stealth bombers — out of just 19 in our entire arsenal. Those bombers are among the most complex machines in the world, and they were kept mission-ready by some of the finest mechanics on the planet.

USAF / Handout | Getty Images

To throw off Iranian radar and intelligence, some bombers flew west toward Guam — classic misdirection. The rest flew east, toward the real targets.

As the B-2s approached Iranian airspace, U.S. submarines launched dozens of Tomahawk missiles at Iran’s fortified nuclear facilities. Minutes later, the bombers dropped 14 MOPs — massive ordnance penetrators — each designed to drill deep into the earth and destroy underground bunkers. These bombs are the size of an F-16 and cost millions of dollars apiece. They are so accurate, I’ve been told they can hit the top of a soda can from 15,000 feet.

They were built for this mission — and we’ve been rehearsing this run for 15 years.

If the satellite imagery is accurate — and if what my sources tell me is true — the targeted nuclear sites were utterly destroyed. We’ll likely rely on the Israelis to confirm that on the ground.

This was a master class in strategy, execution, and deterrence. And it proved that only the United States could carry out a strike like this. I am very proud of our military, what we are capable of doing, and what we can accomplish.

What comes next

We don’t yet know how Iran will respond, but many of the possibilities are troubling. The Iranians could target U.S. forces across the Middle East. On Monday, Tehran launched 20 missiles at U.S. bases in Qatar, Syria, and Kuwait, to no effect. God forbid, they could also unleash Hezbollah or other terrorist proxies to strike here at home — and they just might.

Iran has also threatened to shut down the Strait of Hormuz — the artery through which nearly a fifth of the world’s oil flows. On Sunday, Iran’s parliament voted to begin the process. If the Supreme Council and the ayatollah give the go-ahead, we could see oil prices spike to $150 or even $200 a barrel.

That would be catastrophic.

The 2008 financial collapse was pushed over the edge when oil hit $130. Western economies — including ours — simply cannot sustain oil above $120 for long. If this conflict escalates and the Strait is closed, the global economy could unravel.

The strike also raises questions about regime stability. Will it spark an uprising, or will the Islamic regime respond with a brutal crackdown on dissidents?

Early signs aren’t hopeful. Reports suggest hundreds of arrests over the weekend and at least one dissident executed on charges of spying for Israel. The regime’s infamous morality police, the Gasht-e Ershad, are back on the streets. Every phone, every vehicle — monitored. The U.S. embassy in Qatar issued a shelter-in-place warning for Americans.

Russia and China both condemned the strike. On Monday, a senior Iranian official flew to Moscow to meet with Vladimir Putin. That meeting should alarm anyone paying attention. Their alliance continues to deepen — and that’s a serious concern.

Now we pray

We are either on the verge of a remarkable strategic victory or a devastating global escalation. Time will tell. But either way, President Trump didn’t start this. He inherited it — and he took decisive action.

The difference is, he did what they all said they would do. He didn’t send pallets of cash in the dead of night. He didn’t sign another failed treaty.

He acted. Now, we pray. For peace, for wisdom, and for the strength to meet whatever comes next.


This article originally appeared on TheBlaze.com.

Globalize the Intifada? Why Mamdani’s plan spells DOOM for America

Bloomberg / Contributor | Getty Images

If New Yorkers hand City Hall to Zohran Mamdani, they’re not voting for change. They’re opening the door to an alliance of socialism, Islamism, and chaos.

It only took 25 years for New York City to go from the resilient, flag-waving pride following the 9/11 attacks to a political fever dream. To quote Michael Malice, “I'm old enough to remember when New Yorkers endured 9/11 instead of voting for it.”

Malice is talking about Zohran Mamdani, a Democratic Socialist assemblyman from Queens now eyeing the mayor’s office. Mamdani, a 33-year-old state representative emerging from relative political obscurity, is now receiving substantial funding for his mayoral campaign from the Council on American-Islamic Relations.

CAIR has a long and concerning history, including being born out of the Muslim Brotherhood and named an unindicted co-conspirator in the Holy Land Foundation terror funding case. Why would the group have dropped $100,000 into a PAC backing Mamdani’s campaign?

Mamdani blends political Islam with Marxist economics — two ideologies that have left tens of millions dead in the 20th century alone.

Perhaps CAIR has a vested interest in Mamdani’s call to “globalize the intifada.” That’s not a call for peaceful protest. Intifada refers to historic uprisings of Muslims against what they call the “Israeli occupation of Palestine.” Suicide bombings and street violence are part of the playbook. So when Mamdani says he wants to “globalize” that, who exactly is the enemy in this global scenario? Because it sure sounds like he's saying America is the new Israel, and anyone who supports Western democracy is the new Zionist.

Mamdani tried to clean up his language by citing the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, which once used “intifada” in an Arabic-language article to describe the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising. So now he’s comparing Palestinians to Jewish victims of the Nazis? If that doesn’t twist your stomach into knots, you’re not paying attention.

If you’re “globalizing” an intifada, and positioning Israel — and now America — as the Nazis, that’s not a cry for human rights. That’s a call for chaos and violence.

Rising Islamism

But hey, this is New York. Faculty members at Columbia University — where Mamdani’s own father once worked — signed a letter defending students who supported Hamas after October 7. They also contributed to Mamdani’s mayoral campaign. And his father? He blamed Ronald Reagan and the religious right for inspiring Islamic terrorism, as if the roots of 9/11 grew in Washington, not the caves of Tora Bora.

Bloomberg / Contributor | Getty Images

This isn’t about Islam as a faith. We should distinguish between Islam and Islamism. Islam is a religion followed peacefully by millions. Islamism is something entirely different — an ideology that seeks to merge mosque and state, impose Sharia law, and destroy secular liberal democracies from within. Islamism isn’t about prayer and fasting. It’s about power.

Criticizing Islamism is not Islamophobia. It is not an attack on peaceful Muslims. In fact, Muslims are often its first victims.

Islamism is misogynistic, theocratic, violent, and supremacist. It’s hostile to free speech, religious pluralism, gay rights, secularism — even to moderate Muslims. Yet somehow, the progressive left — the same left that claims to fight for feminism, LGBTQ rights, and free expression — finds itself defending candidates like Mamdani. You can’t make this stuff up.

Blending the worst ideologies

And if that weren’t enough, Mamdani also identifies as a Democratic Socialist. He blends political Islam with Marxist economics — two ideologies that have left tens of millions dead in the 20th century alone. But don’t worry, New York. I’m sure this time socialism will totally work. Just like it always didn’t.

If you’re a business owner, a parent, a person who’s saved anything, or just someone who values sanity: Get out. I’m serious. If Mamdani becomes mayor, as seems likely, then New York City will become a case study in what happens when you marry ideological extremism with political power. And it won’t be pretty.

This is about more than one mayoral race. It’s about the future of Western liberalism. It’s about drawing a bright line between faith and fanaticism, between healthy pluralism and authoritarian dogma.

Call out radicalism

We must call out political Islam the same way we call out white nationalism or any other supremacist ideology. When someone chants “globalize the intifada,” that should send a chill down your spine — whether you’re Jewish, Christian, Muslim, atheist, or anything in between.

The left may try to shame you into silence with words like “Islamophobia,” but the record is worn out. The grooves are shallow. The American people see what’s happening. And we’re not buying it.

This article originally appeared on TheBlaze.com.

Could China OWN our National Parks?

Jonathan Newton / Contributor | Getty Images

The left’s idea of stewardship involves bulldozing bison and barring access. Lee’s vision puts conservation back in the hands of the people.

The media wants you to believe that Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) is trying to bulldoze Yellowstone and turn national parks into strip malls — that he’s calling for a reckless fire sale of America’s natural beauty to line developers’ pockets. That narrative is dishonest. It’s fearmongering, and, by the way, it’s wrong.

Here’s what’s really happening.

Private stewardship works. It’s local. It’s accountable. It’s incentivized.

The federal government currently owns 640 million acres of land — nearly 28% of all land in the United States. To put that into perspective, that’s more territory than France, Germany, Poland, and the United Kingdom combined.

Most of this land is west of the Mississippi River. That’s not a coincidence. In the American West, federal ownership isn’t just a bureaucratic technicality — it’s a stranglehold. States are suffocated. Locals are treated as tenants. Opportunities are choked off.

Meanwhile, people living east of the Mississippi — in places like Kentucky, Georgia, or Pennsylvania — might not even realize how little land their own states truly control. But the same policies that are plaguing the West could come for them next.

Lee isn’t proposing to auction off Yellowstone or pave over Yosemite. He’s talking about 3 million acres — that’s less than half of 1% of the federal estate. And this land isn’t your family’s favorite hiking trail. It’s remote, hard to access, and often mismanaged.

Failed management

Why was it mismanaged in the first place? Because the federal government is a terrible landlord.

Consider Yellowstone again. It’s home to the last remaining herd of genetically pure American bison — animals that haven’t been crossbred with cattle. Ranchers, myself included, would love the chance to help restore these majestic creatures on private land. But the federal government won’t allow it.

So what do they do when the herd gets too big?

They kill them. Bulldoze them into mass graves. That’s not conservation. That’s bureaucratic malpractice.

And don’t even get me started on bald eagles — majestic symbols of American freedom and a federally protected endangered species, now regularly slaughtered by wind turbines. I have pictures of piles of dead bald eagles. Where’s the outrage?

Biden’s federal land-grab

Some argue that states can’t afford to manage this land themselves. But if the states can’t afford it, how can Washington? We’re $35 trillion in debt. Entitlements are strained, infrastructure is crumbling, and the Bureau of Land Management, Forest Service, and National Park Service are billions of dollars behind in basic maintenance. Roads, firebreaks, and trails are falling apart.

The Biden administration quietly embraced something called the “30 by 30” initiative, a plan to lock up 30% of all U.S. land and water under federal “conservation” by 2030. The real goal is 50% by 2050.

That entails half of the country being taken away from you, controlled not by the people who live there but by technocrats in D.C.

You think that won’t affect your ability to hunt, fish, graze cattle, or cut timber? Think again. It won’t be conservatives who stop you from building a cabin, raising cattle, or teaching your grandkids how to shoot a rifle. It’ll be the same radical environmentalists who treat land as sacred — unless it’s your truck, your deer stand, or your back yard.

Land as collateral

Moreover, the U.S. Treasury is considering putting federally owned land on the national balance sheet, listing your parks, forests, and hunting grounds as collateral.

What happens if America defaults on its debt?

David McNew / Stringer | Getty Images

Do you think our creditors won’t come calling? Imagine explaining to your kids that the lake you used to fish in is now under foreign ownership, that the forest you hunted in belongs to China.

This is not hypothetical. This is the logical conclusion of treating land like a piggy bank.

The American way

There’s a better way — and it’s the American way.

Let the people who live near the land steward it. Let ranchers, farmers, sportsmen, and local conservationists do what they’ve done for generations.

Did you know that 75% of America’s wetlands are on private land? Or that the most successful wildlife recoveries — whitetail deer, ducks, wild turkeys — didn’t come from Washington but from partnerships between private landowners and groups like Ducks Unlimited?

Private stewardship works. It’s local. It’s accountable. It’s incentivized. When you break it, you fix it. When you profit from the land, you protect it.

This is not about selling out. It’s about buying in — to freedom, to responsibility, to the principle of constitutional self-governance.

So when you hear the pundits cry foul over 3 million acres of federal land, remember: We don’t need Washington to protect our land. We need Washington to get out of the way.

Because this isn’t just about land. It’s about liberty. And once liberty is lost, it doesn’t come back easily.

This article originally appeared on TheBlaze.com.