Glenn interviews Bishop E.W. Jackson

October 18, 2012

Writer

Fans of TheBlaze will remember the video of Bishop E.W. Jackson calling for African Americans to end their slavish devotion to the the Democratic Party. Glenn interviewed Bishop Jackson on this morning's radio show.

Read the transcript of their interview below:

GLENN: Pat and I found a video that most people have not seen of a guy, a pastor in Virginia that is one of the biggest truth‑tellers I've ever seen, one of the bravest guys I've ever seen. I mean, and we were trying to put it in the machine and it's like, I don't know, ten minutes or something

PAT: It's pretty long, yeah, four or five at least.

GLENN: We tried to put it in the machine and we were just trying to put sound bites in it and we couldn't stop it because we were like, no, you can't stop it there. I mean, I hate to start playing it because it's so impossible to stop because you're like, oh, my gosh, somebody's actually saying that.

PAT: That's another great point.

GLENN: That's another great point, I can't believe this guy's saying it. Here's just a little bit of it.

VOICE: My name is bishop E. W. Jackson, chairman of Ministers Taking a Stand with a message to Christians in the black community. It is time to end the slavish devotion to the Democrat Party. They have insulted us, used us, and manipulated us. They have saturated the black community with ridiculous lies. Unless we support the Democrat Party, we will be returned to slavery. We will be robbed of voting rights. The Martin Luther King holiday will be repealed. They think we are stupid and that these lies will hold us captive, while they violate everything we believe as Christians. The Democrat Party has created an unholy alliance between certain so‑called civil rights leaders and Planned Parenthood, which has killed unborn black babies by the tens of millions. Planned Parenthood has been far more lethal to black lives than the KKK ever was.

PAT: Wow.

VOICE: And the Democrat Party and their black civil rights ‑‑

[ OVERLAPPING SPEAKERS ].

GLENN: It's hard to stop because it just keeps going and going and going and he just takes them all apart. Bishop E. W. Jackson is with us now on the phone from Virginia. His website is standAmerica.us. Bishop, how are you, sir?

BISHOP JACKSON: I'm doing great, Glenn. And first of all, let me just say thank you for having me on and let me say that my wife and I and most of our friends are very big fans of yours and we want to express our gratitude for all that you have done to help wake this country up. God bless you for it. And also I want to bring you greetings from a mutual friend of yours, Lieutenant General Jerry Boykin.

GLENN: Oh, yeah.

BISHOP JACKSON: I told him I was going ton to be on. So he told me, well, don't mess up.

GLENN: He's a good man. Have we met before?

BISHOP JACKSON: No, we have not. I wanted to come to your ministers convention in D.C.

GLENN: Yes.

BISHOP JACKSON: And my schedule didn't permit it. So we have not had a chance to meet, no.

GLENN: Well, you are ‑‑ you must be despised by a great many some in the underworld.

BISHOP JACKSON: I've got a few detractors, yes.

GLENN: I bet you do.

PAT: You can't say the things you say and not just be vilified. I mean, because with, what is it right now? 94% of the African‑American populus being in favor of voting for this guy again, they've got to just tear you apart every time you say this kind of stuff.

GLENN: And it's not even about Barack Obama. It is about the progressive policies.

PAT: Yeah.

GLENN: That have destroyed ‑‑ I mean, I can't believe Planned Parenthood ‑‑ bishop, how is Planned Parenthood not known in the African‑American community for exactly what it is and what it was, a death sentence to the black community. That's what it was designed to be.

PAT: Yeah, founded for that.

BISHOP JACKSON: And Glenn, that's why I intentionally did not mention Barack Obama explicitly in that tape because I was trying to help people to see ideas and get away from the personality and just look at what the principles are that they are following and how much they are in discordance with what people in the church community at least claim to believe. And frankly I mean, yeah, I just got finished reading an e‑mail just before coming on the program, one of those nasty e‑mails that you get calling me an Uncle Tom, saying that I'm an antigay hero, you know, this and that. But, you know, I'm getting a tremendously positive response from many in the black community and I think this may be the beginning of a fissure and the end of that slavish devotion as I referred to it to the Democrat Party.

GLENN: I tell you, I just read Booker T. Washington's book, Up From Slavery just recently in the last year. And between him and Frederick Douglass, every American but especially every black American should read Booker T. Washington and Frederick Douglass. These guys were amazing and they talked about this, as you called it, slavish devotion to a party or to the government and said exactly what would happen and it has all happened. And that's why I think so many real black heroes have been erased from history.

BISHOP JACKSON: And, you know, Glenn, that's one of the reasons why I will not be silent because I believe in humanity. I believe in people. I believe in members of the black community that they are full of potential and beauty and God‑given gifts. And what I see is a party and a progressive movement that is robbing them of their vision and robbing them of their dreams and their vision and I want to awaken them to the sense that, there's more for you than that. God has something more for you than that. Don't accept this dependence and this sort of sycophancy that says we'll give you a few crumbs, all you've got to do is ignore your bidding and ignore those principles you believe in because after all, if you don't those boogie men are out there and they are going to get you.

GLENN: That's what I want to ask you about because African‑Americans, if it wasn't for the African‑American and the Hispanic in California, Prop 8 would ‑‑ I mean would have ‑‑ would have gay marriage. You'd have gay marriage in California. And because people actually came out and said, "No, I don't believe in that, and they were the minorities, it failed. Now, tell me how do you get people to ‑‑ who are religious, who are decent people just completely to divorce themselves of those principles in the voting booth? Because it's like Harry Reid: I'm a Mormon; he's a Mormon. I don't understand, and I'm sure he doesn't understand me, but I don't understand how he can be for the things that he is and do some of the things that he does and still say that he's, you know, in good standing with the scriptures because it doesn't work.

BISHOP JACKSON: Well, you know, Glenn, there's a saying that I've heard among ministers: Some are called and some were sent and some just got up and went. And I think some of the people who claim to be Mormon or claim to be this or claim to be that, that's all they're doing. They're just claiming. It's a hit thing. It's something they inherited but they don't believe it or feel it in their hearts. But with the black community particularly, there are two things I think that have led to this. One is fear. They've been manipulated by fear. You know, the fear that they are going to get you, they're out there, they're out there to get. I mean, Glenn, you know, I have watched your program. I've had people say to me, "Well, somebody ‑‑ they told me that Glenn Beck is a racist." And then I started watching his program. I said, I want to see this guy, I want to see is he ‑‑ and then they started, "Well, you know, I didn't hear him say anything racist." And then I watched a little bit more and they said, "Well, wait a minute, where is that coming from?" It's a lie intended to manipulate people. And then the second thing is bad leadership. When you've got the likes of Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton, some of these civil rights leaders who are interested in promoting racial division and hostility and a sense of victimization in order to further their own careers, then you get people listening to the wrong kind of leadership, and to me bad leadership produces bad results.

GLENN: Do you feel ‑‑ first of all, I may ‑‑ I have firm reliance on the protection of divine providence. I don't believe that God is neutral in the affairs of man or the freedom of man, and if America falls, the whole world falls. I mean, there's nobody to stand for freedom.

BISHOP JACKSON: I agree.

GLENN: And it will be for gen ‑‑ it will be generational darkness. And I have had an overwhelming sense that His will will be done and that there are enough people that are standing up that are good, that are ‑‑ actually I shouldn't say standing up. Are humbling themselves to not have God on their side, which he doesn't do, but to be ‑‑ for us to move to be on his side. And I think there's ‑‑ I think we're on the threshold of miracles and profound change. Do you feel that way?

BISHOP JACKSON: Glenn, to me that is the genius of America. It is not just our Constitution or Declaration. It's the sense that we are not a mere historical happenstance but we are a providential nation, that the favor of God has been on us.

GLENN: If we're humble. If we're humble.

BISHOP JACKSON: That's right. That's right. And, of course, there are people who want to end that. They want to do ‑‑ you know, we saw it in the Democrat Party's convention, you know, get God out of the platform. Who needs God. And you're right, I do sense an awakening happening in America. It's slow, but I speak in black churches and white churches and in black churches particularly where people might not expect it, I get an overwhelmingly positive response. I've had people come up to me and say, you know, you woke me up. And here again, I think it's God moving. I don't think it's attributable to me as a person but rather to God moving on people's hearts and saying, okay, there are enough of you standing up; I'm going to move in your behalf and I agree with you, Glenn. I think God is going to do some marvelous things to help bring this nation back to Him.

GLENN: So how do we heal the division? Because I think we're at the beginning of real problems. The president just said it on Univision a couple of weeks ago. He said I realize you can't change Washington from the inside. You have to change it from the outside. And they are only good, really these guys are only really good at stirring up trouble and being the dissent. They are not good at governing. They are good at tearing things apart and causing division. How do we as people bring people together and when you've got the media and everybody else saying what they say about us and Mitt Romney and you and everybody else, how do we break that and bring people together?

BISHOP JACKSON: Well, obviously a lot of prayer. And I know you're a man who believes in prayer. And secondly I would say to people, when I speak to groups and they say, well, how do I bridge that gap? I know black people ‑‑ I'm white, I know black people but I'm afraid to approach them. And I said, you know, it needs to be on a very personal level and say, look, you know me. We've known ‑‑ do you think I'm against you? Do you think I want to hurt you? Do you think I'm out to get you? Can you at least concede that I have ideals and principles that matter to me, that have nothing to do with race? I love you. I care about you. I'm interested in you. And I think my view is that the people whose hearts are open to truth will respond.

Now, there are some people, as I'm sure you know, I don't care what you do. You're never going to reach them.

GLENN: Never going to reach them.

BISHOP JACKSON: They are hardened in their views. But I find a lot of Americans' hearts are very open.

GLENN: What is going to happen in Virginia?

BISHOP JACKSON: That's a good question. I believe that Mitt Romney is going to win and I'm working very hard to see to it that that happens and I believe that George Allen who is running against Tim Kaine, of course Tim Kaine is an Obama clone, an Obama, he was actually recruited by Obama to run. I believe that George Allen will prevail over him, although Mitt Romney is doing better right now than George Allen is, but I trust that we will end up having Mitt Romney win in Virginia and having George Allen win in Virginia. So that's my take.

GLENN: Do you think that people need a leader to be able to ‑‑ you know, for instance, the Tea Party doesn't have a leader and it just became this spontaneous movement. Do you think people need a leader in the black community to see? I mean, because they must know that things have gotten much worse for the African‑American in the last four years, and I just read a study that shows that African‑Americans feel as though it is harder for them to speak out now and be who they want to be than when it was ‑‑ than what it was before the president got into office. And I think when it comes to race, I think we all feel that way. He was supposed to heal us. He did the opposite. I am much less likely to feel comfortable speaking to an African‑American or an African‑American group because of all the things that have been said that people like me believe, et cetera, et cetera. And I think there are a lot of African‑Americans that will say I ‑‑ especially if they're conservative, "I don't feel comfortable speaking out and saying anything because my own community will attack me he or the system will attack me." At what point does that just break down? Because in the white community I think people are just like, "Oh, I'm a racist? Really? Move on. Heard it before. It's not who I am." At what point does that break?

BISHOP JACKSON: Yeah, I had the same hope, Glenn, but how can a good ‑‑ how can a bad tree bear good fruit? And I realize that was probably a quixotic hope. But with regard to leadership, no, I don't think that the black community needs a leader, but I do think there is always a need for leadership. I mean, you know, you provide leadership. Because for me leadership is influence. It is simply trying to open people up to the truth and trying to help them see. If not trying to control them or make decisions for them but trying to expose them to the truth and trying to be a positive influencer. And I think that those, that kind of leadership is always needed. It's there, but I think people have been cowed into not speaking up. And I'm hoping that one of the influences that my video and other things that we're doing has is to cause people to say, "You know what? I'm going to stand up. I'm going to speak up. I agree with Bishop Jackson. I'm not going to be silent about this and I'll let God take care of me."

GLENN: Well, bishop, I hope we get a chance to meet soon. I am ‑‑ from what I know of you, I'm very impressed. I know you have a new book coming out soon. Right? You have a new one coming?

BISHOP JACKSON: Yes, I do. Called America The Beautiful: Reflections of a Patriot Descended from Slaves, yes.

GLENN: Are you from slave family?

BISHOP JACKSON: As a matter of fact, yes, my great‑grandparents Gabriel and Eliza Jackson were slaves and then share croppers in Orange County, Virginia. I date my lineage back at least as far as year before George Washington was born. We believe it goes back before that.

GLENN: Wow.

BISHOP JACKSON: By the way, George Washington is my favorite president, just wanted you to know. I read the book you recommended. That was the second biography I read about him. I love George Washington. But at any rate, yes, yes, my ‑‑ I am a direct descendant. My grandfather was not born in slavery but his parents were and they moved out of Virginia. My grandfather did and ultimately migrated to Pennsylvania where I was born. But yes. And look, and I tell people, you know, I'm proud of that because only in America do we have a country built on the truth that God gave us all humanity the right to life, liberty and pursuit of happiness. So the seed of the destruction of slavery unlike any place else on the Earth was built into our founding framework.

GLENN: You, sir, are a ‑‑ you, sir, are a bright spot, I can guarantee you, on the other side of the veil. Your slave ancestors are saying free at last, free at last. You are a remarkable story and a ‑‑ one of the freest men I know. God bless you. Thank you very much.

BISHOP JACKSON: God bless you, Glenn. Thank you.

GLENN: We'll talk to you. His website is standAmerica.us. StandAmerica.us. Bishop Jackson.

Colorado counselor fights back after faith declared “illegal”

Drew Angerer / Staff | Getty Images

The state is effectively silencing professionals who dare speak truths about gender and sexuality, redefining faith-guided speech as illegal.

This week, free speech is once again on the line before the U.S. Supreme Court. At stake is whether Americans still have the right to talk about faith, morality, and truth in their private practice without the government’s permission.

The case comes out of Colorado, where lawmakers in 2019 passed a ban on what they call “conversion therapy.” The law prohibits licensed counselors from trying to change a minor’s gender identity or sexual orientation, including their behaviors or gender expression. The law specifically targets Christian counselors who serve clients attempting to overcome gender dysphoria and not fall prey to the transgender ideology.

The root of this case isn’t about therapy. It’s about erasing a worldview.

The law does include one convenient exception. Counselors are free to “assist” a person who wants to transition genders but not someone who wants to affirm their biological sex. In other words, you can help a child move in one direction — one that is in line with the state’s progressive ideology — but not the other.

Think about that for a moment. The state is saying that a counselor can’t even discuss changing behavior with a client. Isn’t that the whole point of counseling?

One‑sided freedom

Kaley Chiles, a licensed professional counselor in Colorado Springs, has been one of the victims of this blatant attack on the First Amendment. Chiles has dedicated her practice to helping clients dealing with addiction, trauma, sexuality struggles, and gender dysphoria. She’s also a Christian who serves patients seeking guidance rooted in biblical teaching.

Before 2019, she could counsel minors according to her faith. She could talk about biblical morality, identity, and the path to wholeness. When the state outlawed that speech, she stopped. She followed the law — and then she sued.

Her case, Chiles v. Salazar, is now before the Supreme Court. Justices heard oral arguments on Tuesday. The question: Is counseling a form of speech or merely a government‑regulated service?

If the court rules the wrong way, it won’t just silence therapists. It could muzzle pastors, teachers, parents — anyone who believes in truth grounded in something higher than the state.

Censored belief

I believe marriage between a man and a woman is ordained by God. I believe that family — mother, father, child — is central to His design for humanity.

I believe that men and women are created in God’s image, with divine purpose and eternal worth. Gender isn’t an accessory; it’s part of who we are.

I believe the command to “be fruitful and multiply” still stands, that the power to create life is sacred, and that it belongs within marriage between a man and a woman.

And I believe that when we abandon these principles — when we treat sex as recreation, when we dissolve families, when we forget our vows — society fractures.

Are those statements controversial now? Maybe. But if this case goes against Chiles, those statements and others could soon be illegal to say aloud in public.

Faith on trial

In Colorado today, a counselor cannot sit down with a 15‑year‑old who’s struggling with gender identity and say, “You were made in God’s image, and He does not make mistakes.” That is now considered hate speech.

That’s the “freedom” the modern left is offering — freedom to affirm, but never to question. Freedom to comply, but never to dissent. The same movement that claims to champion tolerance now demands silence from anyone who disagrees. The root of this case isn’t about therapy. It’s about erasing a worldview.

The real test

No matter what happens at the Supreme Court, we cannot stop speaking the truth. These beliefs aren’t political slogans. For me, they are the product of years of wrestling, searching, and learning through pain and grace what actually leads to peace. For us, they are the fundamental principles that lead to a flourishing life. We cannot balk at standing for truth.

Maybe that’s why God allows these moments — moments when believers are pushed to the wall. They force us to ask hard questions: What is true? What is worth standing for? What is worth dying for — and living for?

If we answer those questions honestly, we’ll find not just truth, but freedom.

The state doesn’t grant real freedom — and it certainly isn’t defined by Colorado legislators. Real freedom comes from God. And the day we forget that, the First Amendment will mean nothing at all.

This article originally appeared on TheBlaze.com.

Glenn Beck joins Megyn Kelly LIVE — One night ONLY in Fort Worth!

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This promises to be more than just an interview — it’s a live showdown packed with wit, honesty, and the kind of energy you can only feel if you are in the room. Tickets are selling fast, so don’t miss your chance to see Glenn like you’ve never seen him before.

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What our response to Israel reveals about us

JOSEPH PREZIOSO / Contributor | Getty Images

I have been honored to receive the Defender of Israel Award from Prime Minister Netanyahu.

The Jerusalem Post recently named me one of the strongest Christian voices in support of Israel.

And yet, my support is not blind loyalty. It’s not a rubber stamp for any government or policy. I support Israel because I believe it is my duty — first as a Christian, but even if I weren’t a believer, I would still support her as a man of reason, morality, and common sense.

Because faith isn’t required to understand this: Israel’s existence is not just about one nation’s survival — it is about the survival of Western civilization itself.

It is a lone beacon of shared values in the Middle East. It is a bulwark standing against radical Islam — the same evil that seeks to dismantle our own nation from within.

And my support is not rooted in politics. It is rooted in something simpler and older than politics: a people’s moral and historical right to their homeland, and their right to live in peace.

Israel has that right — and the right to defend herself against those who openly, repeatedly vow her destruction.

Let’s make it personal: if someone told me again and again that they wanted to kill me and my entire family — and then acted on that threat — would I not defend myself? Wouldn’t you? If Hamas were Canada, and we were Israel, and they did to us what Hamas has done to them, there wouldn’t be a single building left standing north of our border. That’s not a question of morality.

That’s just the truth. All people — every people — have a God-given right to protect themselves. And Israel is doing exactly that.

My support for Israel’s right to finish the fight against Hamas comes after eighty years of rejected peace offers and failed two-state solutions. Hamas has never hidden its mission — the eradication of Israel. That’s not a political disagreement.

That’s not a land dispute. That is an annihilationist ideology. And while I do not believe this is America’s war to fight, I do believe — with every fiber of my being — that it is Israel’s right, and moral duty, to defend her people.

Criticism of military tactics is fair. That’s not antisemitism. But denying Israel’s right to exist, or excusing — even celebrating — the barbarity of Hamas? That’s something far darker.

We saw it on October 7th — the face of evil itself. Women and children slaughtered. Babies burned alive. Innocent people raped and dragged through the streets. And now, to see our own fellow citizens march in defense of that evil… that is nothing short of a moral collapse.

If the chants in our streets were, “Hamas, return the hostages — Israel, stop the bombing,” we could have a conversation.

But that’s not what we hear.

What we hear is open sympathy for genocidal hatred. And that is a chasm — not just from decency, but from humanity itself. And here lies the danger: that same hatred is taking root here — in Dearborn, in London, in Paris — not as horror, but as heroism. If we are not vigilant, the enemy Israel faces today will be the enemy the free world faces tomorrow.

This isn’t about politics. It’s about truth. It’s about the courage to call evil by its name and to say “Never again” — and mean it.

And you don’t have to open a Bible to understand this. But if you do — if you are a believer — then this issue cuts even deeper. Because the question becomes: what did God promise, and does He keep His word?

He told Abraham, “I will bless those who bless you, and curse those who curse you.” He promised to make Abraham the father of many nations and to give him “the whole land of Canaan.” And though Abraham had other sons, God reaffirmed that promise through Isaac. And then again through Isaac’s son, Jacob — Israel — saying: “The land I gave to Abraham and Isaac I give to you and to your descendants after you.”

That’s an everlasting promise.

And from those descendants came a child — born in Bethlehem — who claimed to be the Savior of the world. Jesus never rejected His title as “son of David,” the great King of Israel.

He said plainly that He came “for the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” And when He returns, Scripture says He will return as “the Lion of the tribe of Judah.” And where do you think He will go? Back to His homeland — Israel.

Tamir Kalifa / Stringer | Getty Images

And what will He find when He gets there? His brothers — or his brothers’ enemies? Will the roads where He once walked be preserved? Or will they lie in rubble, as Gaza does today? If what He finds looks like the aftermath of October 7th, then tell me — what will be my defense as a Christian?

Some Christians argue that God’s promises to Israel have been transferred exclusively to the Church. I don’t believe that. But even if you do, then ask yourself this: if we’ve inherited the promises, do we not also inherit the land? Can we claim the birthright and then, like Esau, treat it as worthless when the world tries to steal it?

So, when terrorists come to slaughter Israelis simply for living in the land promised to Abraham, will we stand by? Or will we step forward — into the line of fire — and say,

“Take me instead”?

Because this is not just about Israel’s right to exist.

It’s about whether we still know the difference between good and evil.

It’s about whether we still have the courage to stand where God stands.

And if we cannot — if we will not — then maybe the question isn’t whether Israel will survive. Maybe the question is whether we will.

When did Americans start cheering for chaos?

MATHIEU LEWIS-ROLLAND / Contributor | Getty Images

Every time we look away from lawlessness, we tell the next mob it can go a little further.

Chicago, Portland, and other American cities are showing us what happens when the rule of law breaks down. These cities have become openly lawless — and that’s not hyperbole.

When a governor declares she doesn’t believe federal agents about a credible threat to their lives, when Chicago orders its police not to assist federal officers, and when cartels print wanted posters offering bounties for the deaths of U.S. immigration agents, you’re looking at a country flirting with anarchy.

Two dangers face us now: the intimidation of federal officers and the normalization of soldiers as street police. Accept either, and we lose the republic.

This isn’t a matter of partisan politics. The struggle we’re watching now is not between Democrats and Republicans. It’s between good and evil, right and wrong, self‑government and chaos.

Moral erosion

For generations, Americans have inherited a republic based on law, liberty, and moral responsibility. That legacy is now under assault by extremists who openly seek to collapse the system and replace it with something darker.

Antifa, well‑financed by the left, isn’t an isolated fringe any more than Occupy Wall Street was. As with Occupy, big money and global interests are quietly aligned with “anti‑establishment” radicals. The goal is disruption, not reform.

And they’ve learned how to condition us. Twenty‑five years ago, few Americans would have supported drag shows in elementary schools, biological males in women’s sports, forced vaccinations, or government partnerships with mega‑corporations to decide which businesses live or die. Few would have tolerated cartels threatening federal agents or tolerated mobs doxxing political opponents. Yet today, many shrug — or cheer.

How did we get here? What evidence convinced so many people to reverse themselves on fundamental questions of morality, liberty, and law? Those long laboring to disrupt our republic have sought to condition people to believe that the ends justify the means.

Promoting “tolerance” justifies women losing to biological men in sports. “Compassion” justifies harboring illegal immigrants, even violent criminals. Whatever deluded ideals Antifa espouses is supposed to somehow justify targeting federal agents and overturning the rule of law. Our culture has been conditioned for this moment.

The buck stops with us

That’s why the debate over using troops to restore order in American cities matters so much. I’ve never supported soldiers executing civilian law, and I still don’t. But we need to speak honestly about what the Constitution allows and why. The Posse Comitatus Act sharply limits the use of the military for domestic policing. The Insurrection Act, however, exists for rare emergencies — when federal law truly can’t be enforced by ordinary means and when mobs, cartels, or coordinated violence block the courts.

Even then, the Constitution demands limits: a public proclamation ordering offenders to disperse, transparency about the mission, a narrow scope, temporary duration, and judicial oversight.

Soldiers fight wars. Cops enforce laws. We blur that line at our peril.

But we also cannot allow intimidation of federal officers or tolerate local officials who openly obstruct federal enforcement. Both extremes — lawlessness on one side and militarization on the other — endanger the republic.

The only way out is the Constitution itself. Protect civil liberty. Enforce the rule of law. Demand transparency. Reject the temptation to justify any tactic because “our side” is winning. We’ve already seen how fear after 9/11 led to the Patriot Act and years of surveillance.

KAMIL KRZACZYNSKI / Contributor | Getty Images

Two dangers face us now: the intimidation of federal officers and the normalization of soldiers as street police. Accept either, and we lose the republic. The left cannot be allowed to shut down enforcement, and the right cannot be allowed to abandon constitutional restraint.

The real threat to the republic isn’t just the mobs or the cartels. It’s us — citizens who stop caring about truth and constitutional limits. Anything can be justified when fear takes over. Everything collapses when enough people decide “the ends justify the means.”

We must choose differently. Uphold the rule of law. Guard civil liberties. And remember that the only way to preserve a government of, by, and for the people is to act like the people still want it.