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TERMS OF USE | PRIVACY POLICY

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Featured Headlines

December 15, 2015
Ted Tuttle

Editor

Featured Headlines

Tuesday, December 22

Dad Brings Gun to Hospital and Saves Son's Life

In January, Pickering grabbed a gun, marched into Tomball Regional Medical Center and became locked in an hours long stand-off with police. Pickering's son, George Pickering III, was in the critical care unit on life support. MORE

Muslims Shield Christians When Al-Shabaab Attacks

Their M.O. is a tried and terrifying one: Launch a raid, single out Christians, and then spray them with bullets. But when Al-Shabaab militants ambushed a bus Monday, things didn't go according to plan. MORE

Navy Stealth Destroyer Rescues Fisherman

The USS Zumwalt has yet to officially join the Navy's fleet as one of its most advanced destroyer ships, but it has already helped bring a man to safety. The advanced guided missile destroyer, which boasts stealth capabilities and will one day help support Special Operations forces, responded on Saturday to a distress call from a fishing boat off the coast of Maine. MORE

SpaceX Lands Rocket After Launching it Into Space

SpaceX sent a Falcon rocket soaring toward orbit Monday night with 11 small satellites, its first mission since an accident last summer. Then in an even more amazing feat, it landed the 15-story leftover booster back on Earth safely. MORE

Trump Demands Apology From Hillary, Gets Blunt Response

Republican frontrunner Donald Trump on Monday demanded Democratic rival Hillary Clinton apologize for falsely claiming the Islamic State is using videos of him to recruit new fighters — and now the Clinton campaign is out with a blunt two-word response. MORE

Wyoming School Tells Students to Only Pray in Private

Do students need permission to pray? The principal of a Wyoming school thought so, until she was confronted with the First Amendment. MORE

 

Monday, December 21

Lindsey Graham Drops Out of 2016 Republican Presidential Race

Republican presidential candidate Lindsey Graham is dropping out of the 2016 race for the White House. The South Carolina senator, who revealed the news in a CNN interview this morning, is the fourth GOP contender to drop out of the race, following Texas Gov. Rick Perry, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker and Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal. MORE

'Star Wars' blasts box office records on opening weekend

To say that the force is strong with this one is an understatement. "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" brought in a galactic $238 million over the weekend, making it the biggest North American debut of all time according to studio estimates on Sunday. MORE

New trial for Baltimore officer in Freddie Gray death set for June

A Baltimore police officer will face retrial on a manslaughter charge over the death of black detainee Freddie Gray starting on June 13, a Maryland judge ruled on Monday, after the officer's first trial ended in a deadlocked jury. MORE

Boy Scouts help save leader from bear attack

A New Jersey Boy Scout leader fought off an attacking black bear with a hammer while hiking at a local reservoir Sunday afternoon, authorities said. Christopher Petronino, 50, was showing a cave to three young Scouts when the bear grabbed him and pulled him inside. MORE

Major Gun Manufacturer Steps in to Help 2-Year-Old Diagnosed With Rare Cancer

At just 2-years-old, Kellen Findley has experienced an overwhelming amount of medical problems. And so 42 custom-designed guns have been produced by Henry Repeating Arms manufacturing company that will be auctioned. The proceeds from the firearms, custom Henry Golden Boys, will be given to the Findley family to help with medical expenses.MORE

Las Vegas Strip sidewalk: Driver hits dozens of pedestrians in 'intentional' act

The woman who drove her car onto a sidewalk along the Las Vegas Strip, killing one person and injuring 37 others, has been identified as 24-year-old Lakeisha N. Holloway, Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department Sheriff Joe Lombardo said. MORE

 

Friday, December 18

Audience members recite Bible passage deleted from ‘A Charlie Brown Christmas’

Though Johnson County school officials deleted a Bible passage from a student production of A Charlie Brown Christmas despite protests, several adults in the audience at Thursday’s performance recited the lines normally spoken by the character Linus, a video shows. MORE

Radio Host Glenn Beck Says Trump Winning Presidential Nomination Would Be ‘End to Republican Party’

The feud between former Fox News commentator and current radio host Glenn Beck and Donald Trump escalated this week. Beck has been critical of Trump for months, but added new fire to the fight between himself and Trump during an interview with Fox’s Megyn Kelly this week. MORE

Glenn Beck Hits Back At Trump After The Billionaire’s Attack, And It’s Hilarious

On Wednesday, founder of The Blaze and top conservative talk show host Glenn Beck appeared on FOX New’s The Kelly File with Megyn Kelly to discuss, among other things, the fifth GOP debate. MORE

A Majority Of Americans Oppose 'Assault Weapons Ban' – Highest Number On Record

President Obama is the best sales person for guns and the worst spokesperson for gun control. New polls out. Majority OPPOSE an assault weapons ban. THE HIGHEST NUMBER ON RECORD! MORE

Glenn Beck’s Charity Raised More Than $12 Million for Evacuation of Iraqi Christians

Joseph and Michele Assad, former U.S. counter-terrorism officers, helped arrange for 25 families, 149 refugees in all including 62 children, to board a privately-chartered plane in the Kurdistan region of Iraq on Dec. 10, and land in Kosice, Slovakia, where they will be granted asylum within a month. MORE

 

Thursday, December 17

Little Boy Asks Mall Santa To Pray With Him For Beautiful Reason

While picture time with Santa often involves, well, a picture with Santa, this little boy used his photo op for a completely selfless purpose instead. Prestyn Barnette, a 4-year-old who lives in West Columbia, South Carolina, was featured in a viral photo, kneeling on the ground, praying with a mall Santa. MORE

House Passes $1.1T Omnibus Spending Bill

The U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday passed with overwhelming support a massive $1.1 trillion “omnibus” spending bill to fund government operations until Sept. 30. The bill passed 359-67. Sixty-four Republicans and three Democrats voted against it. The bill will now head to the Senate for debate and final passage. It is expected to either pass or fail by the end of this week. MORE

Defense Secretary Used Personal Email for Work

Defense Secretary Ash Carter said Wednesday he "should have known better" than to use his personal email for work-related matters. His remarks follow a report in the New York Times which said Carter used personal email to conduct some work matters during his first months at the Pentagon—a violation of Defense Department rules—and even after Hillary Clinton came under fire for doing the same while secretary of state. MORE

Google Doodle Honors Beethoven's 245th Year With a Musical Game

No one can ever do what Beethoven did, but today, you can replicate his talent as a composer in a very small way. Google is paying tribute to Ludwig van Beethoven on Thursday by turning the Google Doodle into a musical game. No one's sure of the artist's exact birthday, but Dec. 17 marks the 245th anniversary of his baptism. MORE

Hundreds of Ministers Enroll in Firearm Expert's Free Gun-training Course

A firearms expert has been hosting free self-defense courses for ministers and their congregations to address the increase in violence directed toward churches. In an interview with the Christian Post, Peabody shared that about 500 ministers have taken his course, which includes instruction in a classroom setting as well as training at a gun range. MORE

Disney Parks, SeaWorld Orlando Announce New Security Measures

Officials at Disney theme parks in Florida and California announced Thursday they were boosting security and banning toy guns, as SeaWorld in Orlando confirmed it was taking similar steps to protect tourists. Disney parks are adding metal detectors and deploying more security guards and trained dogs, the company confirms. In addition to the toy gun ban, workers are removing the items from its shops, including squirt guns. MORE

 

Wednesday, December 16

MIT Researchers Predict How Boring Your Selfie Is

Think your selfie is, like, the best ever? Brainiacs at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology will be the judge of that. Researchers at MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Lab (CSAIL) have created an algorithm they claim can predict how memorable or forgettable an image is almost as accurately as a human—which is to say that their tech can predict how likely a person would be to remember or forget a particular photo. MORE

Record 53% in U.S. Oppose Ban on Assault Weapons

For the first time in 20 years of ABC News/Washington Post polling, a majority of Americans oppose banning assault weapons, with the public expressing vast doubt that authorities can prevent “lone wolf” terrorist attacks and a substantial sense that armed citizens can help. The national survey shows that just 45 percent favor a ban on assault weapons, down 11 percentage points from a poll in 2013. Americans by 47-42 percent think that encouraging more people to carry guns legally is a better response to terrorism than enacting stricter gun control laws. MORE

Suspects Linked to Paris Attacks Arrested in Austria Refugee Center

No need to worry about refugees. No way would ISIS members or sympathizers be found in their ranks, right? Wrong. Two people have been arrested at a refugee center in the Austrian city of Salzburg on suspicion of being connected to last month's Paris attacks, the Salzburg prosecutors' office said on Wednesday. Yet more evidence that vetting of refugees entering the U.S. is critical. MORE

House to Vote Friday on Spending Bill

Just in time for the Christmas, GOP leaders told rank-and-file members the House will vote on the tax-extenders package on Thursday and the omnibus spending bill on Friday, the last business for Congress before the holidays. Ryan has pledged to follow House rules, which state that bills can only be brought to the floor three days after they are introduced — a way to give members enough time to read them. House lawmakers will need to pass a stopgap funding measure on Wednesday to ensure the government can keep its lights on. MORE

Putin Signs Bill Making Russia Untouchable by International Law

President Vladimir Putin signed a law Tuesday giving Russia the right to decide for itself whether or not international human rights court rulings should be implemented in the country. The Russian Constitutional Court can now pronounce any ruling “non-executable” if it doesn’t comply with the Russian constitution. The law comes after a verdict from the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) last year which forced the Russian government to pay more than $2 billion to shareholders of the Yukos oil company. MORE

Backyard Bonanza: Medieval Outhouses and Roman Roads Unearthed

Backyards haven't changed much over the past 1,000 years or so, new archaeological findings suggest. Rubbish pits, storage areas, outhouses, wells and short walls to keep the neighbors at bay are a few of the things that archaeologists in England recently unearthed while digging beneath an old bus depot in the city of Leicester. Dating back to the 12th through 16th centuries, the backyards also covered up the place where two second-century Roman roads once intersected. MORE

 

Tuesday, December 15

L.A. Schools Close Due to Bomb Threat

The morning commute took an unexpected turn for Los Angeles parents this morning when the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) announced all public schools were ordered closed due to a credible bomb threat at multiple locations. Some students were already on site when the announcement came. LAUSD is the second largest in the nation and enrolls more than 640,000 students in kindergarten through 12th grade. MORE

ISIS Murders 38 Disabled Infants

As Glenn As Glenn stated on air Monday, ISIS is evil. Islamists are evil. Nothing proves that more than the latest news being reported by Mosul Eye that the terror group has targeted children with disabilities. Reminiscent of Nazi-style extermination, ISIS has reportedly killed by lethal injection 38 disabled infants and issued a fatwa to kill children with Downs Syndrome. Mosul Eye is considered one of the most accurate chronicles of life under IS rule. MORE

SAS Sniper Kills Five ISIS Jihadis With Three Bullets

A British special forces sniper wiped out five jihadis on their way to carry out a terror attack, potentially saving hundreds of lives in an ISIS-controlled area of Iraq. After the terrorists were spotted leaving a bomb-making factory wearing heavy coats in hot weather -- a sign they were hiding suicide vests -- the veteran sniper was given the go-ahead. The first shot hit a jihadi in the chest and detonated his vest, killing him instantly along with two other jihadis in a nearby car. The second bullet hit an ISIS militant the head, while the third bullet struck another jihadi's suicide vest. MORE

House Republicans Try to Defend Christmas

Starbucks solid red cup continues to brew controversy. In an attempt to protect our Judeo-Christian heritage and declare support for Christmas, 36 House Republications have signed a resolution stating the House “strongly disapproves of attempts to ban references to Christmas” and “expresses support for the use of these symbols and traditions by those who celebrate Christmas.” The measure comes after Starbucks encountered controversy this holiday season for unveiling minimalist red cups. MORE

Football Coach Sidelined for Praying Fights Back

Coach Joe Kennedy who was removed from his job for praying at the 50-yard line after games filed a federal complaint today with the Equal Opportunity Commission, arguing the school discriminated against him based on his faith. Kennedy is being represented by the Liberty Institute which is requesting the school reinstate the coach and allow him to privately engage in religious expression. MORE

Turkish Citizens Supplied ISIS With Sarin Gas

A member of the Turkish opposition claims that Turkish citizens within the country are selling sarin gas to the deadly terror organization. Turkey has not yet confirmed the report, which could possibly strengthen Russia’s claim that Ankara is aiding ISIS. According to the report, which has not been confirmed yet, the components of the dangerous gas were smuggled “under the nose” of the Turkish government. MORE

A Sharia enclave is quietly taking root in America. It's time to wake up.

NOVA SAFO / Staff | Getty Images

Sharia-based projects like the Meadow in Texas show how political Islam grows quietly, counting on Americans to stay silent while an incompatible legal system takes root.

Apolitical system completely incompatible with the Constitution is gaining ground in the United States, and we are pretending it is not happening.

Sharia — the legal and political framework of Islam — is being woven into developments, institutions, and neighborhoods, including a massive project in Texas. And the consequences will be enormous if we continue to look the other way.

This is the contradiction at the heart of political Islam: It claims universal authority while insisting its harshest rules will never be enforced here. That promise does not stand up to scrutiny. It never has.

Before we can have an honest debate, we’d better understand what Sharia represents. Sharia is not simply a set of religious rules about prayer or diet. It is a comprehensive legal and political structure that governs marriage, finance, criminal penalties, and civic life. It is a parallel system that claims supremacy wherever it takes hold.

This is where the distinction matters. Many Muslims in America want nothing to do with Sharia governance. They came here precisely because they lived under it. But political Islam — the movement that seeks to implement Sharia as law — is not the same as personal religious belief.

It is a political ideology with global ambitions, much like communism. Secretary of State Marco Rubio recently warned that Islamist movements do not seek peaceful coexistence with the West. They seek dominance. History backs him up.

How Sharia arrives

Political Islam does not begin with dramatic declarations. It starts quietly, through enclaves that operate by their own rules. That is why the development once called EPIC City — now rebranded as the Meadow — is so concerning. Early plans framed it as a Muslim-only community built around a mega-mosque and governed by Sharia-compliant financing. After state investigations were conducted, the branding changed, but the underlying intent remained the same.

Developers have openly described practices designed to keep non-Muslims out, using fees and ownership structures to create de facto religious exclusivity. This is not assimilation. It is the construction of a parallel society within a constitutional republic.

The warning from those who have lived under it

Years ago, local imams in Texas told me, without hesitation, that certain Sharia punishments “just work.” They spoke about cutting off hands for theft, stoning adulterers, and maintaining separate standards of testimony for men and women. They insisted it was logical and effective while insisting they would never attempt to implement it in Texas.

But when pressed, they could not explain why a system they consider divinely mandated would suddenly stop applying once someone crossed a border.

This is the contradiction at the heart of political Islam: It claims universal authority while insisting its harshest rules will never be enforced here. That promise does not stand up to scrutiny. It never has.

AASHISH KIPHAYET / Contributor | Getty Images

America is vulnerable

Europe is already showing us where this road leads. No-go zones, parallel courts, political intimidation, and clerics preaching supremacy have taken root across major cities.

America’s strength has always come from its melting pot, but assimilation requires boundaries. It requires insisting that the Constitution, not religious law, is the supreme authority on this soil.

Yet we are becoming complacent, even fearful, about saying so. We mistake silence for tolerance. We mistake avoidance for fairness. Meanwhile, political Islam views this hesitation as weakness.

Religious freedom is one of America’s greatest gifts. Muslims may worship freely here, as they should. But political Islam must not be permitted to plant a flag on American soil. The Constitution cannot coexist with a system that denies equal rights, restricts speech, subordinates women, and places clerical authority above civil law.

Wake up before it is too late

Projects like the Meadow are not isolated. They are test runs, footholds, proofs of concept. Political Islam operates with patience. It advances through demographic growth, legal ambiguity, and cultural hesitation — and it counts on Americans being too polite, too distracted, or too afraid to confront it.

We cannot afford that luxury. If we fail to defend the principles that make this country free, we will one day find ourselves asking how a parallel system gained power right in front of us. The answer will be simple: We looked away.

The time to draw boundaries and to speak honestly is now. The time to defend the Constitution as the supreme law of the land is now. Act while there is still time.

This article originally appeared on TheBlaze.com.

Why do Americans feel so empty?

Mario Tama / Staff | Getty Images

Anxiety, anger, and chronic dissatisfaction signal a country searching for meaning. Without truth and purpose, politics becomes a dangerous substitute for identity.

We have built a world overflowing with noise, convenience, and endless choice, yet something essential has slipped out of reach. You can sense it in the restless mood of the country, the anxiety among young people who cannot explain why they feel empty, in the angry confusion that dominates our politics.

We have more wealth than any nation in history, but the heart of the culture feels strangely malnourished. Before we can debate debt or elections, we must confront the reality that we created a world of things, but not a world of purpose.

You cannot survive a crisis you refuse to name, and you cannot rebuild a world whose foundations you no longer understand.

What we are living through is not just economic or political dysfunction. It is the vacuum that appears when a civilization mistakes abundance for meaning.

Modern life is stuffed with everything except what the human soul actually needs. We built systems to make life faster, easier, and more efficient — and then wondered why those systems cannot teach our children who they are, why they matter, or what is worth living for.

We tell the next generation to chase success, influence, and wealth, turning childhood into branding. We ask kids what they want to do, not who they want to be. We build a world wired for dopamine rather than dignity, and then we wonder why so many people feel unmoored.

When everything is curated, optimized, and delivered at the push of a button, the question “what is my life for?” gets lost in the static.

The crisis beneath the headlines

It is not just the young who feel this crisis. Every part of our society is straining under the weight of meaninglessness.

Look at the debt cycle — the mathematical fate no civilization has ever escaped once it crosses a threshold that we seem to have already blown by. While ordinary families feel the pressure, our leaders respond with distraction, with denial, or by rewriting the very history that could have warned us.

You cannot survive a crisis you refuse to name, and you cannot rebuild a world whose foundations you no longer understand.

We have entered a cultural moment where the noise is so loud that it drowns out the simplest truths. We are living in a country that no longer knows how to hear itself think.

So people go searching. Some drift toward the false promise of socialism, some toward the empty thrill of rebellion. Some simply check out. When a culture forgets what gives life meaning, it becomes vulnerable to every ideology that offers a quick answer.

The quiet return of meaning

And yet, quietly, something else is happening. Beneath the frustration and cynicism, many Americans are recognizing that meaning does not come from what we own, but from what we honor. It does not rise from success, but from virtue. It does not emerge from noise, but from the small, sacred things that modern life has pushed to the margins — the home, the table, the duty you fulfill, the person you help when no one is watching.

The danger is assuming that this rediscovery happens on its own. It does not.

Reorientation requires intention. It requires rebuilding the habits and virtues that once held us together. It requires telling the truth about our history instead of rewriting it to fit today’s narratives. And it requires acknowledging what has been erased: that meaning is inseparable from God’s presence in a nation’s life.

Harold M. Lambert / Contributor | Getty Images

Where renewal begins

We have built a world without stillness, and then we wondered why no one can hear the questions that matter. Those questions remain, whether we acknowledge them or not. They do not disappear just because we drown them in entertainment or noise. They wait for us, and the longer we ignore them, the more disoriented we become.

Meaning is still available. It is found in rebuilding the smallest, most human spaces — the places that cannot be digitized, globalized, or automated. The home. The family. The community.

These are the daily virtues that do not trend on social media, but that hold a civilization upright. If we want to repair this country, we begin there, exactly where every durable civilization has always begun: one virtue at a time, one tradition at a time, one generation at a time.

This article originally appeared on TheBlaze.com.

The Bubba Effect erupts as America’s power brokers go rogue

Gary Hershorn / Contributor | Getty Images

When institutions betray the public’s trust, the country splits, and the spiral is hard to stop.

Something drastic is happening in American life. Headlines that should leave us stunned barely register anymore. Stories that once would have united the country instead dissolve into silence or shrugs.

It is not apathy exactly. It is something deeper — a growing belief that the people in charge either cannot or will not fix what is broken.

When people feel ignored or betrayed, they will align with anyone who appears willing to fight on their behalf.

I call this response the Bubba effect. It describes what happens when institutions lose so much public trust that “Bubba,” the average American minding his own business, finally throws his hands up and says, “Fine. I will handle it myself.” Not because he wants to, but because the system that was supposed to protect him now feels indifferent, corrupt, or openly hostile.

The Bubba effect is not a political movement. It is a survival instinct.

What triggers the Bubba effect

We are watching the triggers unfold in real time. When members of Congress publicly encourage active duty troops to disregard orders from the commander in chief, that is not a political squabble. When a federal judge quietly rewrites the rules so one branch of government can secretly surveil another, that is not normal. That is how republics fall. Yet these stories glided across the news cycle without urgency, without consequence, without explanation.

When the American people see the leadership class shrug, they conclude — correctly — that no one is steering the ship.

This is how the Bubba effect spreads. It is not just individuals resisting authority. It is sheriffs refusing to enforce new policies, school boards ignoring state mandates, entire communities saying, “We do not believe you anymore.” It becomes institutional, cultural, national.

A country cracking from the inside

This effect can be seen in Dearborn, Michigan. In the rise of fringe voices like Nick Fuentes. In the Epstein scandal, where powerful people could not seem to locate a single accountable adult. These stories are different in content but identical in message: The system protects itself, not you.

When people feel ignored or betrayed, they will align with anyone who appears willing to fight on their behalf. That does not mean they suddenly agree with everything that person says. It means they feel abandoned by the institutions that were supposed to be trustworthy.

The Bubba effect is what fills that vacuum.

The dangers of a faithless system

A republic cannot survive without credibility. Congress cannot oversee intelligence agencies if it refuses to discipline its own members. The military cannot remain apolitical if its chain of command becomes optional. The judiciary cannot defend the Constitution while inventing loopholes that erase the separation of powers.

History shows that once a nation militarizes politics, normalizes constitutional shortcuts, or allows government agencies to operate without scrutiny, it does not return to equilibrium peacefully. Something will give.

The question is what — and when.

The responsibility now belongs to us

In a healthy country, this is where the media steps in. This is where universities, pastors, journalists, and cultural leaders pause the outrage machine and explain what is at stake. But today, too many see themselves not as guardians of the republic, but of ideology. Their first loyalty is to narrative, not truth.

The founders never trusted the press more than the public. They trusted citizens who understood their rights, lived their responsibilities, and demanded accountability. That is the antidote to the Bubba effect — not rage, but citizenship.

How to respond without breaking ourselves

Do not riot. Do not withdraw. Do not cheer on destruction just because you dislike the target. That is how nations lose themselves. Instead, demand transparency. Call your representatives. Insist on consequences. Refuse to normalize constitutional violations simply because “everyone does it.” If you expect nothing, you will get nothing.

Do not hand your voice to the loudest warrior simply because he is swinging a bat at the establishment. You do not beat corruption by joining a different version of it. You beat it by modeling the country you want to preserve: principled, accountable, rooted in truth.

Adam Gray / Stringer | Getty Images

Every republic reaches a moment when historians will later say, “That was the warning.” We are living in ours. But warnings are gifts if they are recognized. Institutions bend. People fail. The Constitution can recover — if enough Americans still know and cherish it.

It does not take a majority. Twenty percent of the country — awake, educated, and courageous — can reset the system. It has happened before. It can happen again.

Wake up. Stand up. Demand integrity — from leaders, from institutions, and from yourself. Because the Bubba effect will not end until Americans reclaim the duty that has always belonged to them: preserving the republic for the next generation.

This article originally appeared on TheBlaze.com.

Grim warning: Bad-faith Israel critics duck REAL questions

Spencer Platt / Staff | Getty Images

Bad-faith attacks on Israel and AIPAC warp every debate. Real answers emerge only when people set aside scripts and ask what serves America’s long-term interests.

The search for truth has always required something very much in short supply these days: honesty. Not performative questions, not scripted outrage, not whatever happens to be trending on TikTok, but real curiosity.

Some issues, often focused on foreign aid, AIPAC, or Israel, have become hotbeds of debate and disagreement. Before we jump into those debates, however, we must return to a simpler, more important issue: honest questioning. Without it, nothing in these debates matters.

Ask questions because you want the truth, not because you want a target.

The phrase “just asking questions” has re-entered the zeitgeist, and that’s fine. We should always question power. But too many of those questions feel preloaded with someone else’s answer. If the goal is truth, then the questions should come from a sincere desire to understand, not from a hunt for a villain.

Honest desire for truth is the only foundation that can support a real conversation about these issues.

Truth-seeking is real work

Right now, plenty of people are not seeking the truth at all. They are repeating something they heard from a politician on cable news or from a stranger on TikTok who has never opened a history book. That is not a search for answers. That is simply outsourcing your own thought.

If you want the truth, you need to work for it. You cannot treat the world like a Marvel movie where the good guy appears in a cape and the villain hisses on command. Real life does not give you a neat script with the moral wrapped up in two hours.

But that is how people are approaching politics now. They want the oppressed and the oppressor, the heroic underdog and the cartoon villain. They embrace this fantastical framing because it is easier than wrestling with reality.

This framing took root in the 1960s when the left rebuilt its worldview around colonizers and the colonized. Overnight, Zionism was recast as imperialism. Suddenly, every conflict had to fit the same script. Today’s young activists are just recycling the same narrative with updated graphics. Everything becomes a morality play. No nuance, no context, just the comforting clarity of heroes and villains.

Bad-faith questions

This same mindset is fueling the sudden obsession with Israel, and the American Israel Public Affairs Committee in particular. You hear it from members of Congress and activists alike: AIPAC pulls the strings, AIPAC controls the government, AIPAC should register as a foreign agent under the Foreign Agents Registration Act. The questions are dramatic, but are they being asked in good faith?

FARA is clear. The standard is whether an individual or group acts under the direction or control of a foreign government. AIPAC simply does not qualify.

Here is a detail conveniently left out of these arguments: Dozens of domestic organizations — Armenian, Cuban, Irish, Turkish — lobby Congress on behalf of other countries. None of them registers under FARA because — like AIPAC — they are independent, domestic organizations.

If someone has a sincere problem with the structure of foreign lobbying, fair enough. Let us have that conversation. But singling out AIPAC alone is not a search for truth. It is bias dressed up as bravery.

Anadolu / Contributor | Getty Images

If someone wants to question foreign aid to Israel, fine. Let’s have that debate. But let’s ask the right questions. The issue is not the size of the package but whether the aid advances our interests. What does the United States gain? Does the investment strengthen our position in the region? How does it compare to what we give other nations? And do we examine those countries with the same intensity?

The real target

These questions reflect good-faith scrutiny. But narrowing the entire argument to one country or one dollar amount misses the larger problem. If someone objects to the way America handles foreign aid, the target is not Israel. The target is the system itself — an entrenched bureaucracy, poor transparency, and decades-old commitments that have never been re-examined. Those problems run through programs around the world.

If you want answers, you need to broaden the lens. You have to be willing to put aside the movie script and confront reality. You have to hold yourself to a simple rule: Ask questions because you want the truth, not because you want a target.

That is the only way this country ever gets clarity on foreign aid, influence, alliances, and our place in the world. Questioning is not just allowed. It is essential. But only if it is honest.

This article originally appeared on TheBlaze.com.