Really?!: Bloomberg diverts resources to NYC Marathon while city struggles to recover - UPDATED

UPDATED: The New York Times has confirmed at 5pm ET Friday the NY Marathon will not take place on Sunday DETAILS

Common sense died today in a truly obnoxious fashion thanks to of non-other-than your least favorite mayor, Michael Bloomberg.

While Bloomberg's city, and the entire Tri-State area, is hurting from the aftermath of one of the biggest storms the country has ever seen, he's decided to move forward with the New York City Marathon. Yes, despite the millions of New Yorkers without power, homes completely destroyed, the climbing death toll, and countless other issues (like a major gas shortage), Mayor Bloomberg will be diverting countless resources to the marathon.

In utter disbelief, Glenn explained how much of a slap in the face this is to those suffering around the city.

"If you've never been to New York or you've not lived in New York, you don't know what it takes to run, for instance, the Macy's Day Parade.  The Macy's Day Parade, they take down light poles. The cost of doing anything in New York is astounding.  To do the New York City Marathon," Glenn explained, "you have to have city trucks and city workers out putting barricades on all of the streets, and they start doing that days in advance."

The marathon brings in tens of thousands of people from all over the world -- it is an international event. There are huge tents, giant signs, water stations, food stations, clocks, generators -- it's enormous. So while downtown Manhattan is transportation-less, possibly still without power; while the people of Staten Island are trying to rebuild what's left of their homes; while the citizens of Coney Island fight off looters, Mayor Bloomberg will divert NYPD, water, generators, city workers and more to the Marathon.

"You have people in Staten Island who are crying out for food," Glenn said. "You have the mayor saying we have to put cops on all of the bridges and all of the tunnels for checkpoints because everybody who comes in has to have three people in their car or they can't come in.  So he's putting checkpoints at all of the bridges and tunnels because traffic is so bad because of the hurricane, and yet he's blocking the streets this weekend to run the New York City Marathon."

When Glenn lived in New York City, he could see Coney Island from his apartment. The people there are crying out for water, food, electricity and safety. There are looters, now labeled "wolf packs," that have citizens so scared that they won't even leave their homes. While the citizens of New York are doing what they can to survive, their nightmare of a mayor is more worried about how many ounces of soda they ingest at one time and that all of the people coming in town to run his precious marathon have their hotels rooms. So all of the people who have hotel rooms right now and don't have a house to go to will be kicked out of their hotel because somebody's coming in to run the race.

Glenn had a better idea for the runners:

"What do you say you have the people grab the water from the tables that you're setting up and you have those runners who are the best in all the world run up 70 flights of stairs to the elderly people that live up at the top who cannot take an elevator down and may not have water," Glenn suggested. "Has anybody checked on them?  No.  Because you live in New York and you don't know your neighbors."

Earlier in the show Glenn shared some of the devastating stories that are now being reported in the wake of the horrible storm -- stories that will make any humane individual question Mayor Bloomberg's sanity for moving forward with the race this weekend, just days after Hurricane Sandy ripped through the region.

The starting line for the race is being prepped on Staten Island -- one of the hardest hit areas in New York. While the rest of the island is left to deal with the aftershocks of the hurricane, the notion of diverting even one police officer, one responder, one asset away from this carnage is beyond irrational.

"On Nelson Avenue, not far, an elderly couple was found dead, pinned beneath a 41‑foot power cruiser that had been lifted up by the storm.  Lifted up in the harbor a mile away and dumped on this elderly couple," Glenn told listeners. "But don't worry about that.  We've got to set up the starting line for the New York City marathon."

In another story, two days ago, right at the starting line, police found the bodies of two young boys, ages 2 and 4. They were swept away in their mother's arms after her SUV had been taken over by waves. They had nowhere to go -- there was nothing the mother could do. The waves overwhelmed the SUV and swept the children out to the sea.

"They found the bodies two days ago, where they are now setting up water tables and clocks and they'll have the start gun," Glenn said.

In a basement on Beach Avenue, the mayor of the town, age 51, was found in the basement of his home arm-in-arm with his 20-year-old son. Both were dead.

This is not a partisan issue, Glenn explained, this is an issue of sanity and common sense. America is wide awake, and it's the out-of-touch politicians who are in desperate need of a wakeup call.

"I am so sick and tired of these politicians telling us who we are, telling us how to live," Glenn said. "Take your 16‑ounce soda, Mayor Bloomberg, and shove it up your ass.  You're telling me that I don't have the common sense to stop drinking, if I wanted 18 ounces of soda, I'm just reckless?  And you are setting up the New York City marathon two days after this stuff?  Are you out of your mind?  Take your soda and shove it up your ass.  Mayor Bloomberg and progressives like him, both Republican and Democrat, are damn near insane.  They are out of control."

Sandy and Benghazi are a wake-up call to the way progressivism has changed the country and the attitude of many Americans toward government. Big government is not a solution to a crisis, it is a mechanism that hides or uses a crisis to gain more power and control. The president told the leaders of the communities in the Tri-State area to overlook the red tape, not to take no for an answer -- but what happens when it's the community leaders who are saying no? Does he follow-up? Does he ask Mayor Bloomberg about his priorities of the marathon versus the people left dark in the destruction on Staten Island?

No. He takes his endorsement and leaves.

Glenn explained that this is why America must once again look to it's neighbors, churches, and religious organizations for help when they need it. Your neighbor won't put a race above your personal well-being. A government official won't pray with your or help you cope with personal loss after a storm like Sandy.

"Let Sandy and Benghazi be a wake‑up call," Glenn told listeners. "You have damn near been fundamentally transformed.  This is your last call, America.  This is it.  You don't think it makes a difference?  It does make a difference.  It does.  There is no difference between the way the president is handling Sandy and how the president handled Benghazi.  He went out and campaigned.  He did his little show and he went out and campaigned."

"Benghazi, he left Americans to die.  He left Bloomberg to run the New York City marathon."

The West is dying—Will we let enemies write our ending?

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The blood of martyrs, prophets, poets, and soldiers built our civilization. Their sacrifice demands courage in the present to preserve it.

Lamentations asks, “Is it nothing to you, all ye that pass by?”

That question has been weighing on me heavily. Not just as a broadcaster, but as a citizen, a father, a husband, a believer. It is a question that every person who cares about this nation, this culture, and this civilization must confront: Is all of this worth saving?

We have squandered this inheritance. We forgot who we were — and our enemies are eager to write our ending.

Western civilization — a project born in Judea, refined in Athens, tested in Rome, reawakened in Wittenberg, and baptized again on the shores of Plymouth Rock — is a gift. We didn’t earn it. We didn’t purchase it. We were handed it. And now, we must ask ourselves: Do we even want it?

Across Europe, streets are restless. Not merely with protests, but with ancient, festering hatred — the kind that once marched under swastikas and fueled ovens. Today, it marches under banners of peace while chanting calls for genocide. Violence and division crack societies open. Here in America, it’s left against right, flesh against spirit, neighbor against neighbor.

Truth struggles to find a home. Even the church is slumbering — or worse, collaborating.

Our society tells us that everything must be reset: tradition, marriage, gender, faith, even love. The only sin left is believing in absolute truth. Screens replace Scripture. Entertainment replaces education. Pleasure replaces purpose. Our children are confused, medicated, addicted, fatherless, suicidal. Universities mock virtue. Congress is indifferent. Media programs rather than informs. Schools recondition rather than educate.

Is this worth saving? If not, we should stop fighting and throw up our hands. But if it is, then we must act — and we must act now.

The West: An idea worth saving

What is the West? It’s not a location, race, flag, or a particular constitution. The West is an idea — an idea that man is made in the image of God, that liberty comes from responsibility, not government; that truth exists; that evil exists; and that courage is required every day. The West teaches that education, reason, and revelation walk hand in hand. Beauty matters. Kindness matters. Empathy matters. Sacrifice is holy. Justice is blind. Mercy is near.

We have squandered this inheritance. We forgot who we were — and our enemies are eager to write our ending.

If not now, when? If not us, who? If this is worth saving, we must know why. Western civilization is worth dying for, worth living for, worth defending. It was built on the blood of martyrs, prophets, poets, pilgrims, moms, dads, and soldiers. They did not die for markets, pronouns, surveillance, or currency. They died for something higher, something bigger.

MATTHIEU RONDEL/AFP via Getty Images | Getty Images

Yet hope remains. Resurrection is real — not only in the tomb outside Jerusalem, but in the bones of any individual or group that returns to truth, honor, and God. It is never too late to return to family, community, accountability, and responsibility.

Pick up your torch

We were chosen for this time. We were made for a moment like this. The events unfolding in Europe and South Korea, the unrest and moral collapse, will all come down to us. Somewhere inside, we know we were called to carry this fire.

We are not called to win. We are called to stand. To hold the torch. To ask ourselves, every day: Is it worth standing? Is it worth saving?

The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. Pick up your torch. If you choose to carry it, buckle up. The work is only beginning.

This article originally appeared on TheBlaze.com.

Stop coasting: How self-education can save America’s future

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Coasting through life is no longer an option. Charlie Kirk’s pursuit of knowledge challenges all of us to learn, act, and grow every day.

Last year, my wife and I made a commitment: to stop coasting, to learn something new every day, and to grow — not just spiritually, but intellectually. Charlie Kirk’s tragic death crystallized that resolve. It forced a hard look in the mirror, revealing how much I had coasted in both my spiritual and educational life. Coasting implies going downhill. You can’t coast uphill.

Last night, my wife and I re-engaged. We enrolled in Hillsdale College’s free online courses, inspired by the fact that Charlie had done the same. He had quietly completed around 30 courses before I even knew, mastering the classics, civics, and the foundations of liberty. Watching his relentless pursuit of knowledge reminded me that growth never stops, no matter your age.

The path forward must be reclaiming education, agency, and the power to shape our minds and futures.

This lesson is particularly urgent for two groups: young adults stepping into the world and those who may have settled into complacency. Learning is life. Stop learning, and you start dying. To young adults, especially, the college promise has become a trap. Twelve years of K-12 education now leave graduates unprepared for life. Only 35% of seniors are proficient in reading, and just 22% in math. They are asked to bet $100,000 or more for four years of college that will often leave them underemployed and deeply indebted.

Degrees in many “new” fields now carry negative returns. Parents who have already sacrificed for public education find themselves on the hook again, paying for a system that often fails to deliver.

This is one of the reasons why Charlie often described college as a “scam.” Debt accumulates, wages are not what students were promised, doors remain closed, and many are tempted to throw more time and money after a system that won’t yield results. Graduate school, in many cases, compounds the problem. The education system has become a factory of despair, teaching cynicism rather than knowledge and virtue.

Reclaiming educational agency

Yet the solution is not radical revolt against education — it is empowerment to reclaim agency over one’s education. Independent learning, self-guided study, and disciplined curiosity are the modern “Napster moment.” Just as Napster broke the old record industry by digitizing music, the internet has placed knowledge directly in the hands of the individual. Artists like Taylor Swift now thrive outside traditional gatekeepers. Likewise, students and lifelong learners can reclaim intellectual freedom outside of the ivory towers.

Each individual possesses the ability to think, create, and act. This is the power God grants to every human being. Knowledge, faith, and personal responsibility are inseparable. Learning is not a commodity to buy with tuition; it is a birthright to claim with effort.

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Charlie Kirk’s life reminds us that self-education is an act of defiance and empowerment. In his pursuit of knowledge, in his engagement with civics and philosophy, he exemplified the principle that liberty depends on informed, capable citizens. We honor him best by taking up that mantle — by learning relentlessly, thinking critically, and refusing to surrender our minds to a system that profits from ignorance.

The path forward must be reclaiming education, agency, and the power to shape our minds and futures. Every day, seek to grow, create, and act. Charlie showed the way. It is now our responsibility to follow.

This article originally appeared on TheBlaze.com.

Glenn Beck joins TPUSA tour to honor Charlie Kirk

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If they thought the murder of Charlie Kirk would scare us into silence, they were wrong!

If anything, Turning Point will hit the road louder than ever. On Monday, September 22, less than two weeks after the assassination, Charlie's friends united under the Turning Point USA banner to carry his torch and honor his legacy by doing what he did best: bringing honest and truthful debate to Universities across the nation.

Naturally, Glenn has rallied to the cause and has accepted an invitation to join the TPUSA tour at the University of North Dakota on October 9th.

Want to join Glenn at the University of North Dakota to honor Charlie Kirk and keep his mission alive? Click HERE to sign up or find more information.

Glenn's daughter honors Charlie Kirk with emotional tribute song

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On September 17th, Glenn commemorated his late friend Charlie Kirk by hosting The Charlie Kirk Show Podcast, where he celebrated and remembered the life of a remarkable young man.

During the broadcast, Glenn shared an emotional new song performed by his daughter, Cheyenne, who was standing only feet away from Charlie when he was assassinated. The song, titled "We Are One," has been dedicated to Charlie Kirk as a tribute and was written and co-performed by David Osmond, son of Alan Osmond, founding member of The Osmonds.

Glenn first asked David Osmond to write "We Are One" in 2018, as he predicted that dark days were on the horizon, but he never imagined that it would be sung by his daughter in honor of Charlie Kirk. The Lord works in mysterious ways; could there have been a more fitting song to honor such a brave man?

"We Are One" is available for download or listening on Spotify HERE