WATCH: Cyprus a global "shark bump"

March 19, 2013

Writer

Updated 3/20:

Hello, America, and welcome to The Glenn Beck Program and to TheBlaze. This is the network that you are building, and dare I say the only network surprisingly bold enough to bring you the stories that are important, so important that the mainstream media has missed or I believe chosen to ignore, and they mean something to you. In the next 30 minutes, you’re going to learn things about the U.N. and their new arms treaty that you’re not going to hear anyplace else on television.

First, let me give you a quick update, the president is on the ground now in Israel. No word if he has found any really expensive golf courses yet, but we’ll keep you up to speed on that. Let me also give you the latest on the global economic meltdown, at least the one that is coming. Maybe this is the beginning of it. Let’s go Cyprus where we were yesterday. They have rejected the Euro Zone’s bailout offer.

This bailout came with a condition. The people of Cyprus were going to lose part of their savings accounts. Anything that you had in the bank, you were going to be taxed anywhere from 6% to 10%. I love that. Hey, everybody, we’re not going to tell you about it. We’re just going to take money from your account. We’re not stealing. Well, I mean, we’re not stealing as much from you as we are the rich guy. Cool, right?

The banks are remaining closed until Thursday over fears that there might be a run on the bank. Gee, you think there might be a run on the bank? No. What will likely happen is that the largest banks will now fail, and the country will go bankrupt. Uh oh, that sounds like an emergency, a crisis. And the people of Cyprus will now be left looking for a strongman, somebody that can fix this problem because there will be no other way out. Yet, there is a solution, and I’ll tell you about in the minute. And I bet you they don’t take it.

Here’s what’s really happening – the politicians in Europe are farther ahead in the decay scale than we are here. We don’t trust our politicians at all; however, we’re not at the point the rest of Europe is at yet. The politicians have so discredited themselves here, but over in Europe, it’s happened for so long that the newly elected President of Cyprus can actually promise one thing and then three weeks later do exactly the opposite when it comes to your bank account and think he can get away with it. Hmm, I don’t think so.

See, this is what this really means – the politicians know they no longer have any clout. They no longer have any possibility that they can change people’s minds. They know that they can’t stand up in front of people and say, Hey we’ve got a do this. They have no chance of turning the tide of public opinion because there is zero credibility left in the tank for the politicians and the banks and everybody else.

This is the beginning of two things, two things globally. One, Totalitarianism. Totalitarianism, when the people are so far away from the politicians or the politicians are so far away from the people, and there is an emergency, and there’s nobody with an answer, it will be handled by a strongman and in that part of the world probably the Nazis. I can’t believe that we were mocked so much for talking about how the Nazis were going to come back and be a part of our lives again, and here they are. They’re going to need a strongman, and it will happen.

The other thing that is happening here is this is a shark bump. It’s a global shark bump. Cyprus is just kind of like the little Petri dish. It’s the first to get it. We’ve talked about shark bumps before on this program. Sometimes sharks will bump a potential meal before attacking, they just kind of rub into it to see if it’s going to fight back. I believe that’s exactly what is happening with the EU. Will the people rise up and fight back? How do we handle this?

Cass Sunstein wrote a book called Nudge. The premise is that individuals are incapable of making any kind of correct choices so they need to be nudged into the right choice. Well, as it turns out, it’s weird, people don’t like to be nudged, so they resist, and eventually a nudge has to turn into a shove. We’ve talked about this many times in the past. Europeans have been nudged enough, and now they’re about to be shoved in a big way.

So why does this matter to you? Who cares if a few skinny-jeans wearing, you know, Europeans get tossed around by big government, right? Because this is a global shark bump because we are all in this one together. We’re just the last in the boat, but we are the biggest fish that will come into the boat.

Let me start here. The radicals in our own government are very interested observers, watching very closely how the people of Europe respond to this Cyprus offer. What are they going to do? What can the politicians do better next time? Cyprus is a teachable moment for all of the people that want to grab control of power, but it is also a teachable moment for us if we will just see it that way. It will explain a ton.

I think I asked you yesterday about guns. Has anybody asked why they’re limiting guns? Has anybody thought of that? Why are we limiting guns? And I told you last night it was Cyprus, but there is another thing. At the same time they’re limiting guns, they’ve got soda, too, that they’re limiting, and those things make sense, right? They’re limiting cigarettes, soda, trans fats, SUVs. That makes sense. These two make sense together, but then this one doesn’t.

At the same time, they want you to be able to smoke pot, all the pot you want, apparently. We showed you Mike Bloomberg yesterday, and he is going after everything except – watch this video – except for pot:

VIDEO
Mayor Bloomberg: Commissioner Kelly and I support Governor Cuomo’s proposal to make possession of small amounts of marijuana a violation rather than a misdemeanor and will work to help him pass it this year. But I’ll tell you, we aren’t going to wait for that to happen. Right now, those arrested for possessing small amounts of marijuana are often held in custody overnight. We’re changing that. Effective next month, anyone presenting an I.D. and clearing a warrant check…

Okay, stop. Do you have this? He’s got to go – today he’s going after cigarettes. He’s got to go in after soda. He’s got to do these things, but he thinks it’s a waste of time to go after pot. Isn’t that a health risk? If you believe that soda is a health risk, how is smoking pot – I don’t care about, let’s say the intoxication – the lungs, what it’s doing. He has to move cigarettes out of the way, but pot isn’t a problem. We’ll maybe it’s because we couldn’t afford it, because that’s kind of what the president said yesterday. The president has said we have bigger fish to fry than going after pot smokers. Watch:

VIDEO
President Obama: As it is, you know, the federal government has a lot to do when it comes to criminal prosecutions. It does not make sense from a prioritization point of view for us to focus on recreational drug users in a state that has already said that under state law that’s legal.

This puts us into a constitutional crisis, and you would think a man who is a constitutional professor would know that. Now think of this, we have – let’s take him at his word – we have to prioritize things. So the man who made a big deal over free condoms at colleges, a man who spent his time lobbying to change the college football playoff system, doesn’t have the time to keep us out of a constitutional crisis. But don’t get lost there.

These two, these three, these two match; these three do not. Why is it these champions of manufacturing only healthy choices are not willing, they’re in favor of legalizing pot? Let me get back to this here in a second, and let me go over here. Why are Progressives trying so hard – I’m sorry, over here – trying to take away your guns, here and internationally? See, this is not about Sandy Hook, because in international terms, Sandy Hook was no big deal.

We know why we’re supposedly going through it is because of the shooter in Sandy Hook, but why is the U.N. arms treaty being pushed right now and going through? They’re working on it right now.

And then, why is the administration pushing so hard behind the scenes to absolutely, totally control your child’s education, the curriculum and every piece of access you as a parent have via Common Core? And in that educational system, they are teaching you about this, through here, they’re teaching you irrational fear of guns, a disdain for the Western way of life, how bad this is, but that one is popular still.

Why is Michael Bloomberg, the Mayor of New York City, injecting himself into a school board issue, as we told you last night, in New Orleans? This man is worried about who is elected to the Board of Education in New Orleans. He spent money on that race, when today we find out that 80% of those who graduate from high school in New York City are incapable of reading or writing or doing enough arithmetic to gain entrance to any level college – 80%. You would think if they don’t have time to bust the drug users, they wouldn’t have time to worry about cigarettes under the counter or education in another state.

The answer again, found in Cyprus. You see, before a strong-arm, a strongman, or totalitarian government can grab power, they have to try to make people really, really want it. You have to train the citizens to think that their best friend is government. To cement that idea in place for all time, you have to teach kids to distrust their parents and instead make government their mom and dad. Remember this:

VIDEO
Al Gore: There are some things about our world that you know that older people don’t know.

Got it? Strip away the authority of mom and dad, and this has been done for years. Give kids the green light to whatever they want. I mean, you can’t have a soda. You can’t have chips. You can’t talk about God, but there are condoms and abortion pills in the vending machine in the hallway, and the health teacher is demonstrating the healthy ways for teenagers to engage in sexual promiscuity. This isn’t making sense, is it?

We also have to cut mom and dad off from viewing the curriculum at all, and then we’re going to call it “Common Core,” meaning the core of who we are that is common. The common core of their world view comes now from school and radicals, not those old people like mom and dad who, I mean, you just know better than they do. And then they have a curriculum that teaches how bad the Western way of life is and the free market is, especially if you’re just a greedy capitalist like Michael Bloomberg or George Soros. This is – if you were just a greedy capitalist, that’s bad in the curriculum, but there is a better way, working for everybody in a communist utopia, and that’s darn near exact from the textbook.

And then at the same time, you have to teach an irrational fear of guns, not a fear of guns, but an irrational fear of guns. You make kids afraid of assault Pop Tarts and pieces of scrap paper shaped like an L, and you call the police on that. Now, here’s the latest example. I want to show you a picture. This was posted. I saw this picture, and New Yorkers would say, Oh, he’s in camouflage with a gun! I saw that picture and I said, Look at the way he’s holding the gun. This kid’s been well trained. It is unnatural for a kid to grab onto a gun, for anybody to grab onto a gun without putting their finger in with the trigger. You have to be trained to hold a gun like that. This kid has been well schooled, most likely from his parents.

Well, according to his dad, merely posting this picture prompted an unannounced visit from the New Jersey Department of Youth, who were accompanied by police officers. The police officers did not have a warrant. They demanded entry into this home and access to the firearms. Dad said, You don’t have a warrant, beat it. I personally don’t think this is the end of this story. I instructed TheBlaze today to make sure they’re on top of it and inform the family that if anything happens in the future to know that they have a friend in TheBlaze. We will bring you up to speed. We will be a watchdog.

But you have to understand, you are no longer mom and dad. The government is now the new mom and dad, but your new mom and dad is dangerous. How? Let me take you back to Cyprus because remember, they’re ahead on this timeline. Since the bailout offer has now been rejected – okay the idea was, Hey, we’re going to prop up the banks that have been screwing all of us. We’re going to prop up the banks by taking 6 to 10% of everybody’s savings, or we’re all going to die. Oh, wow. So they said, No, we’re not going to do that.

Now, there is another offer on the table. Russia has an offer on the table, and they said, Hey look, Cyprus, we’ll pay for your bailout. You just let us explore in your water for oil or gas. But my guess is the dysfunctional mom and dad will not want a capitalist way out of this. They will not want to solve this problem. They need this problem. In fact, they’ve just made it worse. That’s great. You lost 10%, but now your banks are going to fail, so you’re going to feel the immediate pain, and the message of control is more important than a solution to the problem. With this vote, their banks will fail, and the country will be in chaos, but mom and dad will be happy behind closed doors, because mom and dad will tell you, We told you so.

And the chaos will cause the children to, look, mom, dad, come help. It’s what’s happening right now in a small way with our Easter egg hunts and our White House tours. Why do you think he’s cutting the Easter – they had a St. Patty’s day party, but they’re cutting the Easter egg hunt. Why? To irritate you. I mean, if they think that we’re going to rise up over an Easter egg hunt and say, enough, enough. But that’s what’s happening. The Easter egg hunt and the White House tours, that’s this Cyprus scenario, but Cyprus is at DEFCON 1.

That’s why you must educate yourself, and it is why they are not educating but indoctrinating. You have to indoctrinate to be able to control, but then you have to disarm. You have to disarm the adults, because when you come after their life savings, their blood, sweat, and tears, their entire life, you better reduce the odds for a successful civilian uprising. You have to train ’em. You have to train ’em, and you have to take their guns away, limit the guns. I mean, you can’t have a bunch of guns, right?

You limit the success of an uprising, limit it, but you need the uprising because you have the uprising allows a strongman to gain control. Look to Egypt for the prime example of this. By the way, in Cyprus, private citizens – we just looked this up about an hour ago – completely forbidden from owning handguns and rifles in any category, any caliber. They only are allowed to have shotguns, and those require a license. And they’re limited the two rounds. Joe Biden would fit right in.

So let’s go back to drugs, because drugs and soda and guns doesn’t make sense, unless you know history – the Weimar Republic, notorious for having extremely lenient drug laws. They infiltrated, discredited religion, and then they promoted reckless partying and promiscuity and drug use. People would get sauced up. They’d forget their problems in sex, booze, or bong. See, this is what stuck out to me. It’s interesting Progressives will go after a 16-ounce soda but not pot.

I mean, I understand if you’re a Libertarian, you might be for legalizing drugs because you think the drug war doesn’t work, and you think that, you know, there’s no necessarily inherent value in you taking the drug, but you believe you should have the right because they’re not your parent; you are. You control – maximum freedom, maximum liberty. I get that, but Progressives typically don’t believe that, or you’d be allowed to have Ho Hos and a soda.

Why would Soros favor lenient drug laws? Cyprus is the answer. Before government can come for your life savings, you’ve got to limit the guns, but if they’re going to take everything that you’ve worked for in your entire life, I mean, you’ve got to have a getaway car, you know. You have to have an escape car for the Progressives, for the Totalitarians. You have to be able to control the citizens, and you need to have them just a little blurry eyed so you can get away fast. It’s Oceans 11 times 16 trillion.

Here’s what makes, I think, TheBlaze unique. Have you seen anybody put these facts together like this at all on the air, at all? Are you hearing anybody talking about why guns and soda and drugs and education, and what does Cyprus really mean?

The most important move on guns in the history of the world, a move that would guarantee the world would fall into the hands of thieves, technocrats and dictators is afoot right now, and our government knows it, and our press knows it, and it’s happening in New York City right now. And I believe we’re the only network talking about it, and I’ll show it to you and finish this picture when we come back.

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.