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Teachers in MI stand behind a colleague convicted of rape - Glenn speaks to the victim’s father

August 19, 2013
Wilson

Writer

On radio this morning, Glenn shared the story of John Janczewski, a resident of Rose City, Michigan whose son was molested by a teacher, Neal Erickson, at Rose City Middle School. The sexual abuse happened on several occasions when Janczewski’s son was in 8th grade. The boy is now a sophomore in college.

Erickson was convicted of statutory rape after a picture surfaced of the boy in a compromising position with the teacher. On July 10, 2013, the judge sentenced Erickson to 15-30 years in prison, but six educators and one school board member came out in support of the teacher and asked for leniency. According to The Detriot News:

Before the sentencing, six teachers and two retired ones wrote letters to the judge asking for leniency.

None of the teachers condoned what Erickson did. Instead, their letters focused on his 17 years of teaching, describing his popularity with students and teachers, how hard he worked and how often he volunteered for school functions.

Parents in the town have since called for the firing of the teachers and board member who have defended. The town has balked at the requests claiming the firings would result in expensive litigation that would drive the city into bankruptcy. Tonight at the Ogemaw Heights High School auditorium at 7pm, there will be a meeting to decide the fate of the administrators.

Glenn spoke with Janczewski this morning about the impact this ordeal has had on his family, who have endured a string of vandalism and threats since the verdict was handed down.

Below is a transcript of the interview:

GLENN: John, how are you, sir?

JOHN: I'm doing great. Thank you, Mr. Beck.

GLENN: I'm sorry that we have to meet under these conditions. I would imagine the conversation we had for the last couple of days had to be -- your son has -- did you guys know at all? Did you have any idea at all that this was going on?

JOHN: No. We had no idea at all. I basically, when it first started happening at about 13, 13 and a half years old, I chalked it up to puberty, but as it got worse, I said to myself, going through puberty myself, I was never that bad.

GLENN: What was happening?

JOHN: What was happening is he began to hate me. He began to lash out at me. We had physical battles. I was worthless to him as time went on. And we are a close family, we tell each other we love each other. That all diminished. And it never came back. And it just got worse.

GLENN: Is it back now?

JOHN: It is back now. Now we text and talk at least two to three times a week, maybe sometimes four; where over eight years, he wouldn't even talk to me. He didn't bother to take the time. We were -- we appeared to be a happy family on the outside, but on the inside, we were torn apart and tearing apart. It was horrible. For eight years, I lost my son that I'll never get back for over eight years, some of the best years of his life, growing up I lost, that are gone forever.

GLENN: So I don't want to be the guy that asks you the questions, so feel free -- nobody's going to say a word about you not answering a question and I do not mean to be rude or pry. It is none of our business.

JOHN: Please go ahead.

GLENN: The picture, how did the picture come out?

JOHN: What had happened is somebody sent the picture to the board of education the superintendent, the principal. And they sent it in an e-mail, and then they sent another e-mail, more pictures will follow. And four days before it came out, my wife was diagnosed with breast cancer.

GLENN: Oh, dear God.

JOHN: She was diagnosed and told about it on a Wednesday. On that Sunday back in October, four days after that, the state police were in my driveway and they showed up and they -- when they showed up, they had a picture of our son and asked if that was our son and they stated right there, he was molested by a Rose City Middle School teacher called Neal Erickson.

GLENN: So you had to -- first of all, how is your wife?

JOHN: My wife isn't doing very well. She's been through two breast surgeries. When she did radiation, on her last couple of visits of radiation, they do x-rays each week, and they told her it's in her lungs now.

GLENN: How is her relationship with your son?

JOHN: It's always been okay, but he has lashed out with her, but now her relationship is really well with him. My son and I are trying to open a new chapter and a new book, and try to start all over again.

GLENN: Was your son relieve that had this came out?

JOHN: He was relieved, yes. He's held this inside for eight to nine years. Psychologically, imagine that on a young boy, having to hold that in and be threatened all the time and hold that inside him? What a way to grow up and enjoy the best years of your life.

GLENN: So now there's two parts of the story we have to get to. One is the teachers that came in support, how many people with living in your town?

JOHN: Approximately, I would say 6,000 to 8,000.

GLENN: So it's a small town. And it is a small town school. I would imagine that your values are not New York City values.

JOHN: Right.

GLENN: And these teachers -- it had to be shocking for the teachers to come out and say, well, we don't know. The totality of this teacher's life and career is not so bad.

JOHN: Right.

GLENN: What exactly is the case they're making here?

JOHN: The case they were making is it was a one-time incident, you know, that the child could have stopped it. He was groomed and he was a predator.

GLENN: So the community, they want these teachers fired.

JOHN: Right. Right.

GLENN: They do?

JOHN: Yes, they do. They want the teachers fired, they want Mike Eagan recalled and taken off the board.

GLENN: Who's Mikey?

JOHN: Mike Eagan is a member of the school board. He sat on the molester's side. His wife, Amy Eagan wrote a letter.

GLENN: So tonight at 7:00 at the auditorium -- how do you say the name of your --

JOHN: Ogemaw Heights High School at 7:00 in the auditorium.

GLENN: And there you have to decide the fate. They are saying if you fire these teachers because they will sue, it will bankrupt the town.

JOHN: That's what they are saying, but as a molester, that does not matter. He molested a child.

GLENN: But they will say that it is just their right to free speech, so why should they be punished for free speech? Have we lost him?

Below is a transcript of the interview:

GLENN: We are talking to John Janczewski, he lives in Rose City, Michigan, where tonight they are having a meeting at the auditorium at 7:00 p.m. to decide the fate of teachers who openly supported a pedophile, saying that's an awful long risen sentence for a teacher we all know and love. No, no. We didn't know the whole raping of a child part. Now, they will say they have freedom of speech, it will bankrupt the city because they will all sue, but do you want somebody who says hey, lock, 15 to 30 years for raping of a child, an 8th grader is a little harsh. Do you want them teaching your child? I don't think they have the common sense to do it.

And bankruptcy's all the rage nowadays. So anyway, John is put in this horrible position and it's his son that was raped and there's something else that we have to talk about. You have now been the victim of violence, your family has, John. Can you tell me what happened to your garage?

JOHN: We had some threats on us, and they wrote letters on our house. The letters were YWPITY. You will pay. I told you.

My wife had threats on her right after July 10th sentencing. Then what happened, I called the state police, they said if we have any issues, call us back. Lo and behold, two and a half days later, 1:30 in the morning on a Saturday, I was awaken to a bomb sound going off, and then I went to the window to find my garage was on fire and engulfed in flames. My camper on the side of my house. If I wouldn't have woke up, we could have all died. We could have all not been here doing anything right now. That's what happened?

GLENN: Why would they do that to you? What is your motivation?

JOHN: Because we are speaking out against these teachers, because they're wrong. They took an oath when they did their license to be a teacher and that is to protect the child, and getting back to the money issue, it would bankrupt the county. Since when do we put a price on a child? Since when? It is wrong. How many teachers are going to turn a blind eye? These teachers cannot be trusted, they cannot be trusted.

GLENN: John, I wish I could stand there with you tonight. Mercury 1 is a -- has a charity that I started and we talked to them and normally don't get involved in things like this, but I think one of their founding principles is to bring people hope, and so we are going to take care of your garage and rebuild your garage.

JOHN: That is so awesome. We thank you from the bottom of our hearts. You know, I've got to tell you something else. Could you believe a church posted bail for him? A church just down from my house, that back in April, he came into where I work and I asked him, I said I'm losing my faith in God. My wife has cancer, I have MS, my son was molested. Can I talk to you. He said I'm going on a cruise for two weeks. I will call you then. It's been an awful long two weeks, hasn't it. And he was in court, sitting on Neal's side, and that church posted bail for a child molester.

GLENN: What church is that?

JOHN: Prince of Peace Church, Father Stonebeck. It's just unbelievable.

GLENN: John, move to Texas. I don't think -- I just don't think I have seen a family kicked in the teeth as much as your family has been kicked in the teeth, but I will tell you this. I'm sure in a town your size, there are -- out of 6,000 people I bet there's 4,000 that stand with you and know what you are going through I don't know John.

JOHN: This community has been so supportive for tonight, they made T-shirts, my son's favorite color, blue, and we are all going to be wearing them and they all say support the Janczewski family. We want all these teachers fired, we want the board member to step down, which he will not. He'd rather cost the school district $30,000 than have him recalled. That's how sick he is. It's just unbelievable. We would like to get out of this as Eagan to step down, fire the teachers, have background checks on teachers and every six months have them go through a training, how to spot signs of a child molestation?

GLENN: You're not asking for lawsuits, money, you're not asking for anything. You just want to make sure -- I mean, they didn't catch it the first time. They didn't catch it with your son. And how they can say it only happen this had one time. How do you know? Did they know this was happening?

JOHN: Yeah. They turned a blind eye. The community asked a question at the last board meeting and they said through the board members, there's six of them, would you want these teachers to teach your grandchildren or your children. All five of them said absolutely not. Mike Eagan grabbed the microphone and said I would have no problem with none of this. I would let them teach my children or grandchildren.

GLENN: I don't know, we will continue to follow the story. And our heart and our prayers go out to you. Just know there are millions of Americans who have heard this story now and will keep you and your family in their prayers. God bless, my friend. We will talk again.

The Crisis of Meaning: Searching for truth and purpose

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.

Warning: Stop letting TikTok activists think for you

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.

The melting pot fails when we stop agreeing to melt

Spencer Platt / Staff | Getty Images

Texas now hosts Quran-first academies, Sharia-compliant housing schemes, and rapidly multiplying mosques — all part of a movement building a self-contained society apart from the country around it.

It is time to talk honestly about what is happening inside America’s rapidly growing Muslim communities. In city after city, large pockets of newcomers are choosing to build insulated enclaves rather than enter the broader American culture.

That trend is accelerating, and the longer we ignore it, the harder it becomes to address.

As Texas goes, so goes America. And as America goes, so goes the free world.

America has always welcomed people of every faith and people from every corner of the world, but the deal has never changed: You come here and you join the American family. You are free to honor your traditions, keep your faith, but you must embrace the Constitution as the supreme law of the land. You melt into the shared culture that allows all of us to live side by side.

Across the country, this bargain is being rejected by Islamist communities that insist on building a parallel society with its own rules, its own boundaries, and its own vision for how life should be lived.

Texas illustrates the trend. The state now has roughly 330 mosques. At least 48 of them were built in just the last 24 months. The Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex alone has around 200 Islamic centers. Houston has another hundred or so. Many of these communities have no interest in blending into American life.

This is not the same as past waves of immigration. Irish, Italian, Korean, Mexican, and every other group arrived with pride in their heritage. Still, they also raised American flags and wanted their children to be part of the country’s future. They became doctors, small-business owners, teachers, and soldiers. They wanted to be Americans.

What we are watching now is not the melting pot. It is isolation by design.

Parallel societies do not end well

More than 300 fundamentalist Islamic schools now operate full-time across the country. Many use Quran-first curricula that require students to spend hours memorizing religious texts before they ever reach math or science. In Dallas, Brighter Horizons Academy enrolls more than 1,700 students and draws federal support while operating on a social model that keeps children culturally isolated.

Then there is the Epic City project in Collin and Hunt counties — 402 acres originally designated only for Muslim buyers, with Sharia-compliant financing and a mega-mosque at the center. After public outcry and state investigations, the developers renamed it “The Meadows,” but a new sign does not erase the original intent. It is not a neighborhood. It is a parallel society.

Americans should not hesitate to say that parallel societies are dangerous. Europe tried this experiment, and the results could not be clearer. In Germany, France, and the United Kingdom, entire neighborhoods now operate under their own cultural rules, some openly hostile to Western norms. When citizens speak up, they are branded bigots for asserting a basic right: the ability to live safely in their own communities.

A crisis of confidence

While this separation widens, another crisis is unfolding at home. A recent Gallup survey shows that about 40% of American women ages 18 to 39 would leave the country permanently if given the chance. Nearly half of a rising generation — daughters, sisters, soon-to-be mothers — no longer believe this nation is worth building a future in.

And who shapes the worldview of young boys? Their mothers. If a mother no longer believes America is home, why would her child grow up ready to defend it?

As Texas goes, so goes America. And as America goes, so goes the free world. If we lose confidence in our own national identity at the same time that we allow separatist enclaves to spread unchecked, the outcome is predictable. Europe is already showing us what comes next: cultural fracture, political radicalization, and the slow death of national unity.

Brandon Bell / Staff | Getty Images

Stand up and tell the truth

America welcomes Muslims. America defends their right to worship freely. A Muslim who loves the Constitution, respects the rule of law, and wants to raise a family in peace is more than welcome in America.

But an Islamist movement that rejects assimilation, builds enclaves governed by its own religious framework, and treats American law as optional is not simply another participant in our melting pot. It is a direct challenge to it. If we refuse to call this problem out out of fear of being called names, we will bear the consequences.

Europe is already feeling those consequences — rising conflict and a political class too paralyzed to admit the obvious. When people feel their culture, safety, and freedoms slipping away, they will follow anyone who promises to defend them. History has shown that over and over again.

Stand up. Speak plainly. Be unafraid. You can practice any faith in this country, but the supremacy of the Constitution and the Judeo-Christian moral framework that shaped it is non-negotiable. It is what guarantees your freedom in the first place.

If you come here and honor that foundation, welcome. If you come here to undermine it, you do not belong here.

Wake up to what is unfolding before the consequences arrive. Because when a nation refuses to say what is true, the truth eventually forces its way in — and by then, it is always too late.

This article originally appeared on TheBlaze.com.