Glenn: It's time for a reboot

On Thursday's Glenn Beck Program, Glenn explained why the world is in need a reset... but it's not as scary as you may think. Using the metaphor of attempting to reboot an old computer, Glenn showed why 'rebooting' the system might be exactly what America needs. How do we do that? Glenn offers some solutions in the clip below.

The below is the transcript for Glenn's monologue:

We brought this old dusty computer up here, and it’s amazing how slow our computers used to be.  This is an old one from the studio that has just been kind of sitting around.  When was the last time you use one like this?

Alright, I have this here for a reason, because this is the American system.  This is what we have.  Some would say that it’s old, it’s antiquated, it’s not working, blah, blah, blah.  But just a few changes need to be made.  I’ll get back to this here in a second.

First, earlier on this program, earlier this week, we mentioned the story of Madison Root, an 11-year-old girl from Oregon who wanted to help pay for her braces that her parents got her, so she came up with the idea to go to her uncle’s farm and to gather mistletoe which they grow there, put them into bags.  And so she did, and then she started selling them on the street in Oregon.  Great idea, right?  Except that’s not what the town said.

The town decided that they had to shut her down because she didn’t have the proper license or permit.  She’s 11, and they came and said you have to stop.  The town wouldn’t allow her to sell.  They actually told her, because she said what about the people over here that are begging?  And they said well, you can beg.  You just can’t sell.

You can’t sell in the marketplace, okay.  Well, it was the word “marketplace” that caught my ear when I heard the story because I have a marketplace, TheBlaze Marketplace.  Here’s the update to the story.  I had her on this morning, and I asked her if she would sell 1,000 of those.  Well, because of what she said – I’m going to play it for you in a minute – because of what she said and who she is, she sold those 1,000 mistletoes in 30 minutes.

So we called her back and said do you want to do another 1,000?  Do you have another 1,000?  Yeah, within an hour, those were sold out.  We called her up again, and she said I don’t know if we can get these out.  Her dad said we can get another 1,000 out – sold out again.  God bless America.  This isn’t about money.  This isn’t about anything, except someone being exceptional, someone saying I want to work for it.

Now, obviously she has exceptional parents.  We haven’t talked to the parents, but I did talk to her on the radio today.  I want you to listen to what she said.

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Glenn:  Did he volunteer that you could beg for the money?

Madison:  Well, we asked him about the beggars around us, and he said that they’re begging for money, so you could beg, but you can’t sell.

Glenn:  Does that make any sense to you?  You’re 11.  Does that make any sense to you at all?

Madison:  No, it does not make sense, because I’m working hard and trying to get something that I want, and I’m doing something.  I’m applying myself.  But now they’re saying that you don’t need to apply yourself.  You can just sit down and ask for money.  But what it really boils down to is this generation’s work ethic, and I think that how it’s going right now, it’s just disappointing.  It disappoints me that this country has come down to begging instead of working hard for something you want and need.

Glenn:  You go to public school.  Where are you learning this?  Because you’re not learning it in public school, are you?

Madison:  I don’t know.  My dad has his own company.  He’s an entrepreneur.  Everyone, my whole family, has always been entrepreneurs.  They always have some business going on.

That is an exceptional girl.  I mean, I love the fact that she’s like I can’t believe what this country is coming to.  I remember when I was eight, it wasn’t like this.  I mean, come on.  You don’t need a fancy Harvard education to solve America’s financial problems.  What you need is a little determination and common sense, and that is what we sorely lack.

When you have the people in charge in both parties that are supposed to be the adults, and they’re not, and they’re actually advising kids to beg for money instead of working for money, it’s not exactly surprising to learn that America has serious economic trouble.  We’re a group of people that quite honestly our men are addicted to pornography, our young men, and video games, and they’ve been sold a load of goods, a load of goods that everything will just fall their way.  And they know that they’ve been lied to.

So what do you do?  Jim Rogers, one of the top economic minds around the country, a guy I really appreciate, he’s been on the show several times because at least he’ll tell you the truth, no matter how ugly it is.  Now, whether you agree with him or not, that’s for you to do your own homework, but here’s his latest warning.

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Jim:  But eventually, Amanda, of course, the whole world is going to collapse.  We in the West have staggering debts.  The United States is the largest debtor nation in the history of the world.  This is going to end badly.  We’re all floating around on a sea of artificial liquidity right now, Amanda.  This is not going to last.  You know, 2008 was worse than 2002 because the debt was so much higher.  You wait until 2015 or 2016, Amanda.  The debt has gone through the roof.  The next one’s going to be really bad.  Be very careful.  Be prepared.  Be worried, and be careful.

Be worried.  Be careful.  So he says a global collapse.  The world has never seen what is coming, and you know, if you disagree, I hope you’re right.  But this is why Progressives have been feverishly working on building a framework, and when I say that, remember that Progressives are in both parties, because a massive reset is coming.

Let me explain it.  Go back to the computer.  Computer’s finally up.  Our system is like this old computer, and we have just put too much crap on it.  We have put all kinds of bugs in the system.  We’ve just been loading it up with all kinds of applications that are slowing it down, that are bogging it down, that don’t work, and so what happens?  It’s freezing up.  It’s not working, which means because we have done all kinds of repair, at some point, this has to happen, a reboot.

Now, this is the scary part, because you and I can sit here for a while and watch it reboot.  We can sit here and go okay, installing update one of 15; however, when a global system goes down, what happens when all systems go down?  The world doesn’t sit around and go okay, hang on, we’re just rebooting; we’re just trying to put together a new monetary system.  It ends badly.

Every successful investor always says the time to buy is when everybody else is selling.  When everybody else sees calamity, they see opportunity.  The same lesson applies here.  There is opportunity, but not financial opportunity.  We have the opportunity soon to be the people that our founders knew eventually would come.

In the Constitutional Convention, New York was asking for free stuff, and they wanted more free stuff in the Constitution.  And they said we won’t be able to bring this to the people in New York.  They’re not going to want it – what a surprise.  They’re not going to want it.  They didn’t want a new constitution.  They want the Articles of Confederation.

And that’s when George Washington stood up and said with everything that we have given – I’m paraphrasing – with everything that we have given everything, everything that we’ve done, we can’t screw it up now.  We can’t screw it up now.  Let us do the right thing.  Let us raise a standard.  Let’s put a banner up that everyone can see around the whole world and say this is what we think is the best thing, and then let us raise that standard so the wise and the honest can repair it.

We’ve screwed it all up, gang.  We’ve loaded everything onto it.  We have a spending and debt crisis.  If you taxed all Americans 100%, you still wouldn’t solve it, 100%.  There’s overregulation.  When you have an 11-year-old who’s being shut down on the streets because she’s trying to pay for her own braces, what is that?

State sovereignty is on life support.  Your own personal sovereignty is, your church’s sovereignty.  If you’re an atheist, you have…your sovereignty is up for grabs.  The federal government has overwhelmed the system of checks and balances, and the founders knew all of this.  Despite all of the protections they put in, they knew a government would eventually reach overbloated, out-of-control levels because they knew it would go corrupt because people do when power and money is involved.

But that’s why they included Article V of the Constitution, George Washington, so the wise and the honest can repair it.  Well, what is Article V?  Well, Article V basically says Congress can amend the Constitution at any time if two-thirds of both houses of Congress agree.  Well, are you ever really going to get term limits?  No, you’re not.  Why?  Because they’re not going to limit their time in office.  They have to vote for it.  It’s not going to work.  You think you’re ever going to get budget limits where you say spending limit?  You’re not going to get that.  Why?  Because it hurts their power.

The founders knew it.  They had one lever to pull.  If everything else failed, the American people could pull this one lever.  It’s our escape pod.  They lay out a possibility of a convention of states.  If you can’t get Congress to do it, all you have to do is call two-thirds of the states to submit applications on the same issue.

Now, this is something that Mark Levin has come out, and I am wildly intrigued by a convention of states.  And it’s starting to happen.  Check and find out if it’s happening in your state.  If not, find out why.  The question is can we get two-thirds of the states to participate?  Well, there’s a lot of people that are dealing in fear right now and saying well no, it could go horrible.  We could have this global government.

No, you need 13 states, 13 states.  If we can’t get 13 states to say no to global government, we’re going to get a global government anyway, gang.  Yaron Brook, he is from the Ayn Rand Center.  He was on last week.  He actually said something, you know, I think we should rewrite the Constitution or the Declaration of Independence.  Now, that might sound counterintuitive because most people, you know, the ones who are suggesting that we replace these documents are usually the Progressives, and they want to replace it with a charter of positive liberties instead of negative liberties, all the things the government has to do.

No, that’s not what we’re talking about.  Remember, you only have to get 13 states, 13 to disagree.  For an amendment, if you can get 38 states to say yes, do you think we could get 38 states to say term limits in Washington?  Remember, they’re local, so you’re with them.  You’re with the state.  Why wouldn’t they be for federal term limits?

How about unlimited spending?  Do you think your state wants the government to continue to straddle them with all of this debt?  How about do you think we can get 38 common-sense states to say Congress has to live by the same rules that we do for healthcare?

How about this one, I mean, I don’t know if there’s any ground support for this one, but how about matching the salaries of Congress to the median salary of those in the private sector?  They start making $65,000 a year like you are, and they don’t have all the fancy healthcare and everything else, they’ll fix this damn economy.  They’ll want your salary to go up because theirs will.

The point is we’re standing at a crossroads, and geez, we’re still on 15 of 15.  What happens when we reboot the system?  Because nobody has ever printed money and had it work out.  So what happens?  Are we going to move forward in fear or in love, in charity, in hope, in thinking about a brighter future?  I choose the latter.

All the tools have been put in place to make it happen.  It’s just going to take a major change in consciousness.  Einstein said the consciousness that created the problem can’t solve the problem, so it’s a major change in consciousness.  Get out of the system.  But it’s not just consciousness.  It really is only perspective.  A change of perspective, I believe, is a miracle really.

In Miracles and Massacres, we highlight some of the miracles, and people say no, a miracle is when, you know, God parts the Red Sea.  Really, is it?  Is it?  I can tell, I’ll bet you, you give me ten minutes, I bet you I could come up with 100 miracles I’ve seen in my lifetime, and none of them were parting the Red Sea, but they’re miracles because it’s a change in perspective.

And that’s what we need in a big way, because the current train of thought is leading us off a cliff.  We need to rid an entire generation of the lies that they have been taught and are currently being taught, that you can’t make it on your own, that you’re not good enough, that you’re not successful or you’re going to have a crappy job because somebody else became successful.  No, that’s not true.

We need to think out of the box.  We need more Madison Roots, more 11-year-olds that say I just want to sell this to pay for my own braces.  We need more voices teaching opportunity over hatred, oppression, more people teaching work ethic over welfare.

I’ve had a miracle happened in my life in the last few weeks, quite honestly.  I was on Hannity’s TV show for the first time ever this week.  That wasn’t a miracle.  The miracle was, and David Barton wrote to me last night about it.  He said Glenn, I’ve never seen you like this before.  I said I haven’t been this way.  It’s a miracle.  I had a very awkward pause.  Watch.

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Hannity:  What do you think privately is going to happen to this country?

Glenn:  I think…I think that we are…

Hannity:  In trouble.

Glenn:  Yeah.

This was the strangest thing for me on television, because I really couldn’t answer that question.  You know what I feel is coming.  I mean, reboot, it’s coming.  I couldn’t answer the question, what do you think is coming?  Now, I know I’m usually the Debbie Downer at parties because, you know, oh Glenn’s going to talk about economic collapse and make everybody cry.  Okay, I mean, I got it.  I got it.

But that’s not the way I view things really anymore.  I mean, I do think the reboot is coming, but I’m more optimistic than ever before.  My perspective is changing.  I am seeing the calamity, but in that calamity I am seeing tremendous opportunity if we choose it.

The Jim Rogers comment I played earlier, I don’t agree with that entirely.  I do think that it is coming, but you don’t need to be afraid.  Don’t be afraid, in fact.  If you are afraid, everybody else around you will be afraid.  Be confident.  Know that we survive.  Be good to your neighbors.  Be good to your family.  Raise them to be ready, to be prepared.

We have a chance.  In fact, I tell you now we are the people that our founders saw, the wise and the honest.  They knew it would fall apart.  They knew the system would have to be rebooted, and in 1822, Jefferson and Adams are going back and forth, and they said you have to trust the people, trust the people.  They’ll see what we were doing, and they’ll do it better.  We don’t have to deal with the compromises on slavery.  We need to free all people.

I’m really deeply religious.  You’re an atheist?  I’m fine with that.  We can’t regulate each other.  That is old thinking.  All of these czars and everything else, I mean, think of the miracle that has happened to a good portion of America in the last ten years.  Are you the same person that was reacting today the way you were reacting after 9/11?  I mean, are you the same person?  Would you say yes to the Patriot Act today?  I wouldn’t.  I wouldn’t.  I’ve changed.  That’s a miracle.  America is waking up.

We are the people who will raise a new standard, and it’s already happening.  You’re just not seeing it.  The amazing story from Highland Michigan, this is a town that is now known for prostitution and drug dealing and crime and violence.  Unemployment is 24%.  It is about as desperate as you can imagine, but there is a group of people that are not accepting any excuses.  They are not accepting the circumstances around them.

A 25-year-old teacher, affectionately known as Mr. V to his students, has decided he thought he could pull off a miracle.  What you’re about to see is that, a change of perspective.  It is a miracle in progress.

URGENT: Supreme Court case could redefine religious liberty

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.

Get ready for sparks to fly. For the first time in years, Glenn will come face-to-face with Megyn Kelly — and this time, he’s the one in the hot seat. On October 25, 2025, at Dickies Arena in Fort Worth, Texas, Glenn joins Megyn on her “Megyn Kelly Live Tour” for a no-holds-barred conversation that promises laughs, surprises, and maybe even a few uncomfortable questions.

What will happen when two of America’s sharpest voices collide under the spotlight? Will Glenn finally reveal the major announcement he’s been teasing on the radio for weeks? You’ll have to be there to find out.

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.

Get your tickets NOW at www.MegynKelly.com before they’re gone!

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.

This article originally appeared on TheBlaze.com.