Rabbi Lapin: Here’s a question that should keep you up at night

It’s always a fascinating conversation whenever Glenn has Rabbi Lapin onto the show, and today’s interview was no different. For anyone who doesn’t believe in the power of God and the power of a movement, the Rabbi presented a very important question that will keep everyone up at night.

"How did human beings end up on this tiny speck of dust on the edge of a remote galaxy far, far away, from anywhere?" the Rabbi asked.

There's only two possible answers, and depending on what you believe it dramatically shapes your worldview.

Below is a rush transcript of this segment, it may contain errors:

GLENN: Rabbi, I'm glad to have you here. You'll play a role in what we announced on Monday. You were one of the first members of the Black Robe Regiment.

DANIEL: That's right.

GLENN: I can't wait to announce additional things. I don't think I can announce it today. But I'll give you hints of things that is happening in Birmingham. I'm telling you right now, get a hotel room in Birmingham, Alabama, on 8/28. Because you'll want to be there. This thing is turning into something divine and something of historic nature, I think. But you were on the show last night. And we were talking about the lack of faith that people have in God movements. It's amazing to me when I see -- I read Facebook and I read comment sections. People who claim to be people of faith that have no faith in the power of God and a movement. They say, we don't -- oh, yeah, like that's going to happen. What we really need is our guns.

DANIEL: Right.

GLENN: So tell me a little about God and guns and God and people. Because there is a time for guns, but there also is a time for God and people. How do we know the difference? How do we know what time it is?

DANIEL: Well, you know, let me start answering the question with perhaps one of the most fundamental questions that we all need to ask each other in one times or another, in terms of identifying where each one of us stands in terms of our own faith, this is a really useful question. It's something to mull over in the quiet hours of the night when you can't get to sleep. Because when you think about this question, you absolutely guaranteed will not get to sleep for the rest of the night. And that is, how did human beings end up on this tiny speck of dust on the edge of a remote galaxy far, far away, from anywhere?

Now, the way it seems to me is that there really are only two answers to that question. And if I'm wrong, I hope listeners will tell us because I'd hate to make a fool of myself unnecessarily again.

I know of no answers other than these two. The one is that by a lengthy process of unaided materialistic evolution, primitive protoplasm told into Bach and Beethoven.

And if you don't mind me saying so, Glenn, you shouldn't laugh because it's really rude to laugh at other people's belief system.

GLENN: You're right. I apologize. Yes.

DANIEL: I think we should treat them respectfully.

GLENN: Right. You're right.

DANIEL: The other way is that the Good Lord put us here in his own image. Now, I realize that those are both difficult challenges, but there aren't any others. Unless you want to admit the von Däniken school of theology which says little green men in spaceships came and put us here. But all that does is spawn the question of where they came from.

GLENN: Correct.

DANIEL: So I guess we can dismiss that. Well, you got to answer this question at some point or another. Because how you live your life depends on whether you think we're simply an extension of primitive protoplasms and primitive primates that evolved into people. So really, we're absolutely no different -- we're just sophisticated animals. Some of us has more hair. Some of us have less and less. You didn't have to laugh at that.

GLENN: But doesn't that one also delay the question? Because then I just say, well, where did the protoplasm come from?

DANIEL: Well, because it was a lengthy process. We must postulate billions of years. Because we have to wait for that one amino acid that splits because of some lightning bolt.

STU: But how did the amino acid get there? And how did the lightning bolt get there?

DANIEL: Okay. Nobody told me that this was going to be a grueling interrogation. I mean, I'm doing my best to put out the argument for secular fundamentalism.

GLENN: Got it. Okay. All right.

DANIEL: I mean, obviously there is an answer to that question because too many smart, intelligent people have this belief system. So I don't necessarily know where the amino acid came from. But I guess smart people who are -- who subscribe to this view have an answer.

And what this means is that we are animals and, therefore, that it has certain ramifications. One is infinitization (phonetic) because no cow comes to the farmer and says, you know, I think you're taking too much of our milk. The farmer says, look, you know, I got your mother impregnated. I'll cut your carcass away when you die, and from here to there, you give me all your milk. That's the deal. Which is exactly the promise of the ultimate socialist government: You belong to us. We'll provide you with security from the cradle to the grave or we'll promise you security at any rate. We'll educate your kids. We'll take care of your medicine. We'll pay you when you can't work anymore.

GLENN: Pretty much, honestly like cows.

DANIEL: The ultimate socialist government views us as its property. Which is one of the reasons that the Nazi government opposed smoking. I mean, you read some of the Draconian regulations about cigarettes and cigars in America, but it echoes more than anything else Nazi regulations about that. And the reason is because if you belong to us, we don't allow you to damage yourselves. We don't allow valuable cows to rub up against barbed wire fences because we don't want them to do that. We don't want to lower their value. It's exactly the same over here as well. So another ramification of that takes us back to your question, which is --

GLENN: I don't even remember my question. It's been so fascinating. But...

DANIEL: If we are nothing but animalistic creatures that have evolved to some level of sophistication, then when you buy a cow, the color of its skin becomes very important. Because if I want a black and white Hereford cow, do not give me a brown Jersey cow. And that is why the emphasis on race and skin color is most intense not in the evangelical churches of America. As you know, I speak in 40, 50 churches a year. And these are beautiful, welcoming places of true colorblindness. This is the modern Luther king quote you mention. I speak in these churches. The pastor might be a black congregant. White. A mixture. Nobody cares because we're talking about the content of our character. We're speaking about the bleast (phonetic) in our souls.

But the more you move toward the temples of secular fundamentalism, the universities of America, the campuses, that is where consciousness and focus on race reaches intense and almost intolerably, unimaginable levels. And so the more you believe that we're here because of an accident of evolution, the more you're going to be obsessively preoccupied with skin color. And the more you're focused on the other alternative, the only other alternative -- God you put us here. Well, if he put us here, then we're all in his image. And it doesn't matter whether our teeth are green or our skins are yellow. It just doesn't matter. That's not the issue.

GLENN: Wow. This is why -- this is why NASCAR has him as their rabbi.

DANIEL: No. But now you do too.

GLENN: That's right. That's right. You started talking to me last night because we were talking about evil. And you start talking about somebody I never heard of. The guy who Hitler dedicated Mein Kampf to.

DANIEL: Yes.

GLENN: Tell me about this.

DANIEL: This is fascinating stuff. And by way of brief introduction. I would just say that among the statesmen of the western democracies in the 1930s, as far as I've been able to ascertain, only one bothered to read the book that Hitler wrote, and that was Winston Churchill. Nobody else bothered to read it. Hitler, if nothing else, was honest and forthright.

GLENN: Oh, he was completely clear.

DANIEL: Yes.

GLENN: I read that in my '30s because I wanted to know -- I'm of German background. Did my relatives know? If they read that book, absolutely.

DANIEL: How could you not. Right? Although it was bantry (phonetic) to own a copy. I'm not sure that ordinary Germans actually read it. It's turgid impenetrable prose. But if you actually work your way through it, you really do get a sense of exactly what the plan is. It's extraordinary. This was written nearly 20 years before the war. It's really remarkable. So he dedicates the book to a guy called Dietrich Eckart. And Dietrich Eckart is an occultist, and he's a guy who understands the forces of evil. He's a man who is in possession of ancient Germanic and Norse legends and mythologies that find their way later on -- or, at least I should say earlier than Hitler in the mid- to late 1800s in the music of Richard Wagner, which as you know is music that the Israeli Philharmonic will never play. And most particularly, in a 17-hour stretch of music called The Ring Cycle, made up of Das Rheingold, Die Walküre, Siegfried, and Götterdämmerung.

The reason this is so important is because the first one, the Rheingold is all about dark hunchbacked black-cloaked little men who live underground and all they want is gold, suggesting obviously Jews. The rest of the 17 hours -- by the way, Hitler sat through at least 20 performances of The Ring Cycle.

GLENN: The whole thing?

DANIEL: Yes, the whole 17 hours of it. Because he was taught -- you'll remember, he was nothing at the time of World War I. And it was only after that that he was seen to be such a useful tool by people who understood some of his forces. And these are the forces that infused the entire belief system of the Nazi hierarchy. And no doubt, because belief is such a powerful fuel, even belief in something false, still imparts an energy -- this unquestionably is something of what drove the whole Nazi movement to, you know, close -- to ultimate victory. They came horribly close to winning.

[BREAK]

GLENN: So we're talking to rabbi Daniel Lapin, and he's talking to us. And there's a point to this. And it goes back to ISIS and what's happening in the world. But this guy that Hitler dedicated Mein Kampf to, he was an occultist.

DANIEL: Yes, Dietrich Eckart.

GLENN: So he studied the dark arts, if you will.

DANIEL: Yes, which are the mirror image of the Bible and God.

GLENN: You mean the opposite? Yeah, mirror image.

DANIEL: Yes. Yes.

GLENN: And what did he teach him, and what was it -- where was this Hitler fascination with this, and what did he teach him?

DANIEL: Well, whether you -- whether you believe and are exposed to a worldview that is comprehensive and that essentially explains and makes sense of the world in which we live in. Basically revealing how the world really works. This is incredibly seductive.

And you have such a worldview and I have such a worldview, and we largely share our worldviews. And there's not a lot of mysteries. There are things we don't understand. There are things that are a little bit outside of our range of comprehension that reside in that gray dark area just beyond the stage we can see. But by and large we know we have a road map to reality.

Well, the dark side, the forces on the other side are just as effective, a road map to reality. Accepting that one leads to an ultimate bright light to hope and redemption. The other leads to an abyss of eternal darkness.

That's why the Wagnerian musical drama, The Ring Cycle ends with Götterdämmerung, which is, in fact, the twilight of the gods, where everything comes tumbling down and everything burns up. And the stage darkens. And the curtain comes down, and there's absolutely nothing left, which is essentially, again, the difference between a secular worldview of life and a religious world of life, where we understand life to be in much the same way like a child in utero.

The child says, you know, I'm really not looking forward to the end of this nine-month period when all this ends. This will be like dying. It will be terrible. With no comprehension that that's the real beginning.

So we look at life the same way. That it's a preparation. It's a growing period. It's an opportunity to develop our spiritual connection with our Father in heaven. And this leads to a wonderful, bright optimistic sunlit future. The secular viewpoint is that, at the end of the day, there's absolutely nothing. The curtain comes down onto an eternal darkness. Your soul doesn't exist. You are nothing but a cunningly arranged set of molecules of carbon and hydrogen and oxygen. And when they stop pumping, that's the end of it all.

These are the two opposing visions. One is driven by the Bible. One is driven by occult forces of the darkness. And you're absolutely right. It has now spread to the Middle East.

GLENN: In what way?

DANIEL: Well, one of the most important principles of Judeo Torah teaching is the separation of life and death. Meaning, that as long as we are in the world of the living, God doesn't want us to tamper with the dead. So he doesn't say, oh, you cannot raise the dead. He says, don't do it. So when King Saul tried to raise Samuel and bring back the dead, that was a real problem. He was able to do it. But it wasn't good. And so we are -- are asked to keep things separate. Now, Jews even more than anybody else, as the people who have been given an additional set of rules, like 613 of them, if you really want to know. Are also given, for instance, when we eat, we don't eat milk and meat together. No dairy products belong with meat.

GLENN: Because one represents life. One represents death.

DANIEL: Exactly. Milk is the initial food of every mammal baby. Nothing dies to provide it. It's obviously associated with life. And meat, although admirable when grilled, nonetheless is -- if you know what I mean.

[BREAK]

GLENN: We're having a fascinating conversation with Rabbi Daniel Lapin. And Daniel Lapin's web address is youneedarabbinow.com.

DANIEL: No. Sorry, Glenn. Youneedarabbi.com.

GLENN: Oh. Okay. I guess the emergency version is now. I need him now. You need a rabbi, stat. But youneedarabbi.com.

And he's a good friend of the show. And fascinating. Just a great historian and just a great teacher. But we've been talking about Hitler. The occult. And it has led us now to the mixing of life and death which brought us to the separation of milk and meat.

DANIEL: Yes.

GLENN: If you keep kosher.

DANIEL: Yes, correct.

GLENN: And if I'm not mistaken, at one point, you and I were having a conversation off-air, and I had brought up something that was going on, but basically it was like a snuff film.

DANIEL: That's right. Or you're so good.

GLENN: Remember? And we were talking about something that was in the news. And I was like, this is so disturbing.

DANIEL: Yes.

GLENN: And I said to you, the worst thing that -- that just makes my skin crawl is when you cross sex with extreme deadly violence.

DANIEL: Yes.

GLENN: And it just -- it doesn't feel like there's anything more wrong than that.

DANIEL: Okay.

GLENN: And you explained that to me.

DANIEL: Okay. So you put your finger on it. And I'll just paint in some of the spots you left out. But you're exactly right.

Again, something that's required in -- in the Torah -- and, I mean, this is something that I recommend literally for absolutely every married couple. It's a commandment only for Jews. But that is that marital intimacy is suspended once a month for a period of time. And, I mean, obviously it's difficult, particularly for guys obviously. But to be forced to interact with your wife nonphysically for a week is really very valuable. To be in a situation where not every situation can be resolved with an arm around the shoulder and a kiss, but that it needs to be resolved with words and communication is enormously valuable. And why?

Well, because anybody with any sensitivity recognizes that the Good Lord created men with an infinite capacity to produce seed at almost any age, whereas he chose to create women with an absolute finite limited number of eggs. So the loss of an egg every month for any sensitive woman is sad because it's one less opportunity for life. And so foolish and insensitive people say, oh, you know, it's just hormonal imbalance. It isn't. It's a genuine, authentic sadness which suffuses any sensitive woman at the loss of an egg. You know, it's not the end of the world. But it's sad

GLENN: Wow. I've never thought of it that way. That it's actually a God-given sadness because there's death. Well, not death.

DANIEL: That's right. But loss of a potential of life.

GLENN: Exactly.

DANIEL: But it wouldn't make sense then. In the same way you would want to keep milk and meat separately, similarly you would want to keep the most life-affirming act that a man and woman are capable of doing, we would want to keep that separate from the moment when there's a subtle subconscious, but sometimes overwhelming sad awareness of death. Keep them apart again.

So this is why sex and death are kept so apart. So, for instance, if a husband is in mourning for the loss of a father. Although many would say, what a great way for his wife to comfort him in the best way she knows how. No. It's bringing two things that don't belong together. Our sanity and our grasp on reality is preserved by keeping life and death separate and far apart from one another.

Now, back to Wagner and the whole Germanic system of viewing reality. That ring cycle is absolutely filled with sex and death. In fact, about the only time that anybody seems to get aroused is when they're just about to die. And the whole story is bizarre in this way. Many of the biographers of Hitler and of the Nazi period insist that Hitler remained a virgin until just before he and Eva Braun took their lives. In other words, it was at that moment that all of the studden the guy had a libido.

Now, what were the 9/11 -- what was Muhammad Archer doing on the night of September the 10th, 2001? I think everybody knows. He was indulging physically with a woman. That's what he was doing. What is that all about? The night before you're about to become a martyr for your holy religious cause? It's bizarre. No, it's not if you remember that's part of the Germanic occult that was embedded in all of Nazi philosophy. And so for this reason, something which was taken for granted, we've heard so much of it -- think for a moment, isn't this weird, when you martyr yourself in Islam, where you get to is kind of like a Spanish bordella (phonetic). Seventy virgins. Yeah, right. What's that all about? Well, as long as you see that Judeo-Christian view is that life and death apart, therefore the Satanic occult mirror image of it must mean that sex and death go together. We were speaking about a particular horrible form of underground entertainment that does bring together sex and violence and death. And two people who have become sufficiently imbued with dark forces that that becomes very appealing and very seductive.

GLENN: So is this why -- because I always thought, you know, ISIS is kidnapping women and children and then enslaving them. And then giving them to the soldiers. And I just thought that that was -- like the Germans used to bring hookers in. Because guys have a libido, whatever. Is there more to that than just the libido?

DANIEL: Yes. There's much more to that, yet. There's more. It is the domination of women and a dark derivation of satisfaction of imposing power over women.

GLENN: Rabbi, where are the -- where are the Christians, the activists, the -- the women activists? Why is everyone so silent on this? Let's start with the left, then we'll get to the right.

DANIEL: Yes.

GLENN: Why?

DANIEL: Well, I think primarily because the -- the principle guiding philosophy of leftism is the abolition of Christian faith. There is nothing more important than that. And this is why it is that the forces on the left, you will remember, years ago, including the NAACP dramatically and vindictively opposed the nomination of Clarence Thomas, who when I last checked, was indeed a colored person.

GLENN: Right.

DANIEL: And his nomination was opposed by organizations who exist to advance --

GLENN: The color.

DANIEL: Right. Or how about when women like Sarah Palin were being treated unfairly and cruelly, where was the National Organization of Women? And so we realize then that -- that there's almost a Marxist cynicism to all of this. We don't really care about people with dark skins. We don't really care about women. We must exploit.

GLENN: But that goes -- that's one thing. That would say, okay, I understand why you would stay silent or whatever. But in this particular case, when you have gay people being thrown off the roofs of buildings, when you have women being sold into slavery and raped, and just horrible stuff. Not like Clarence Thomas. Well, chancer Thomas that will pass some things that will be bad for the -- these people are evil. And they stand with them. Sometimes actively really kind of throw -- provide cover for them.

DANIEL: Yes.

GLENN: So that's different. Why do you suppose that active running cover for them is?

DANIEL: Well, we began to just touch on this on last night's TV show, which I found fascinating. And really, what we have to ask ourselves is, what sense -- to answer your question, what sense is there in those on the left hurling vitriol at Christianity, which responds with love, whereas they love and embrace Islam, which if it had the chance would take their heads off.

GLENN: Correct.

DANIEL: So there is a bizarre love affair between the liberal left and the forces of Islam. Astonishingly. Many, many people on the left, regardless of their nominal religious affiliation will tell you that they consider Christianity in America to be a more serious peril than Islam.

GLENN: Yeah. Yeah. We've heard that.

DANIEL: Right. So what are they getting at here? What's going on here? And I do believe that cowards are attracted to force and power. And I do think that to the same extent that Christianity is -- look, I'm Jewish. But my understanding of Christianity is about love and compassion. To that same extent to which Christianity preaches compassion and benevolence, Islam preaches cruelty and brutality. They are two opposite ends. They're two extremes of that spectrum line. So I think as a result of that, when people find themselves -- let's put it this way, Stockholm syndrome. What is that? That's somebody who is a captive. And after a period of time, he starts building an emotional connection with his captor. What's that about?

Well, when you're a captive. When you're a hostage, you're totally dependent. Life and death depends on your captor. And so he is the manifestation of strength. You are the ultimate expression of weakness. And I think weakness is attracted. I'm not a psychiatrist, but in an almost psychosexual way, they're attracted to strength. And so Christianity is a lot more difficult to feel an appeal for by these people because, well, you know, Christianity is too nice. And you'll find people in entertainment who will tell you, we will mock -- I don't want to mention their names. But there are comedians with foul mouths who mock Islam -- excuse me, mock Christianity, mock Judaism. The Book of Mormon on Broadway. And the LDS Church was very, very mild about it. They didn't do anything. Why didn't they do a show on Broadway called the Crazy Book of Islam? The Koran?

GLENN: Because everybody would be dead.

DANIEL: They'll tell you! They said, we don't want to get killed. That's all. There is something appealing about strength. You know, it's the same way that the new recruit in the military really can get attached to a very powerful commanding officer who fills him with a sense of confidence and he's in charge. Well, people say, I'll follow him into the gates of hell. I think that the left feels a very similar -- the left is essentially spiritually and morally weak. They feel an enormous attraction to a world force for all its brutality and cruelty. For all its distortion and strangeness, no one can argue that these guys exhibit real strength. I mean, you insult us, we'll just take your head off. Now, there's something delightfully straightforward about that in a mutilated and bizarre kind of a way. And I think the left feels that attraction very strongly.

GLENN: Our guest is Rabbi Daniel Lapin. Youneedarabbi.com. Youneedarabbi.com is his website. And if you've never heard him speak in public, he is fascinating. Really fascinating.

URGENT: FIVE steps to CONTROL AI before it's too late!

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By now, many of us are familiar with AI and its potential benefits and threats. However, unless you're a tech tycoon, it can feel like you have little influence over the future of artificial intelligence.

For years, Glenn has warned about the dangers of rapidly developing AI technologies that have taken the world by storm.

He acknowledges their significant benefits but emphasizes the need to establish proper boundaries and ethics now, while we still have control. But since most people aren’t Silicon Valley tech leaders making the decisions, how can they help keep AI in check?

Recently, Glenn interviewed Tristan Harris, a tech ethicist deeply concerned about the potential harm of unchecked AI, to discuss its societal implications. Harris highlighted a concerning new piece of legislation proposed by Texas Senator Ted Cruz. This legislation proposes a state-level moratorium on AI regulation, meaning only the federal government could regulate AI. Harris noted that there’s currently no Federal plan for regulating AI. Until the federal government establishes a plan, tech companies would have nearly free rein with their AI. And we all know how slowly the federal government moves.

This is where you come in. Tristan Harris shared with Glenn the top five actions you should urge your representatives to take regarding AI, including opposing the moratorium until a concrete plan is in place. Now is your chance to influence the future of AI. Contact your senator and congressman today and share these five crucial steps they must take to keep AI in check:

Ban engagement-optimized AI companions for kids

Create legislation that will prevent AI from being designed to maximize addiction, sexualization, flattery, and attachment disorders, and to protect young people’s mental health and ability to form real-life friendships.

Establish basic liability laws

Companies need to be held accountable when their products cause real-world harm.

Pass increased whistleblower protections

Protect concerned technologists working inside the AI labs from facing untenable pressures and threats that prevent them from warning the public when the AI rollout is unsafe or crosses dangerous red lines.

Prevent AI from having legal rights

Enact laws so AIs don’t have protected speech or have their own bank accounts, making sure our legal system works for human interests over AI interests.

Oppose the state moratorium on AI 

Call your congressman or Senator Cruz’s office, and demand they oppose the state moratorium on AI without a plan for how we will set guardrails for this technology.

Glenn: Only Trump dared to deliver on decades of empty promises

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The Islamic regime has been killing Americans since 1979. Now Trump’s response proves we’re no longer playing defense — we’re finally hitting back.

The United States has taken direct military action against Iran’s nuclear program. Whatever you think of the strike, it’s over. It’s happened. And now, we have to predict what happens next. I want to help you understand the gravity of this situation: what happened, what it means, and what might come next. To that end, we need to begin with a little history.

Since 1979, Iran has been at war with us — even if we refused to call it that.

We are either on the verge of a remarkable strategic victory or a devastating global escalation. Time will tell.

It began with the hostage crisis, when 66 Americans were seized and 52 were held for over a year by the radical Islamic regime. Four years later, 17 more Americans were murdered in the U.S. Embassy bombing in Beirut, followed by 241 Marines in the Beirut barracks bombing.

Then came the Khobar Towers bombing in 1996, which killed 19 more U.S. airmen. Iran had its fingerprints all over it.

In Iraq and Afghanistan, Iranian-backed proxies killed hundreds of American soldiers. From 2001 to 2020 in Afghanistan and 2003 to 2011 in Iraq, Iran supplied IEDs and tactical support.

The Iranians have plotted assassinations and kidnappings on U.S. soil — in 2011, 2021, and again in 2024 — and yet we’ve never really responded.

The precedent for U.S. retaliation has always been present, but no president has chosen to pull the trigger until this past weekend. President Donald Trump struck decisively. And what our military pulled off this weekend was nothing short of extraordinary.

Operation Midnight Hammer

The strike was reportedly called Operation Midnight Hammer. It involved as many as 175 U.S. aircraft, including 12 B-2 stealth bombers — out of just 19 in our entire arsenal. Those bombers are among the most complex machines in the world, and they were kept mission-ready by some of the finest mechanics on the planet.

USAF / Handout | Getty Images

To throw off Iranian radar and intelligence, some bombers flew west toward Guam — classic misdirection. The rest flew east, toward the real targets.

As the B-2s approached Iranian airspace, U.S. submarines launched dozens of Tomahawk missiles at Iran’s fortified nuclear facilities. Minutes later, the bombers dropped 14 MOPs — massive ordnance penetrators — each designed to drill deep into the earth and destroy underground bunkers. These bombs are the size of an F-16 and cost millions of dollars apiece. They are so accurate, I’ve been told they can hit the top of a soda can from 15,000 feet.

They were built for this mission — and we’ve been rehearsing this run for 15 years.

If the satellite imagery is accurate — and if what my sources tell me is true — the targeted nuclear sites were utterly destroyed. We’ll likely rely on the Israelis to confirm that on the ground.

This was a master class in strategy, execution, and deterrence. And it proved that only the United States could carry out a strike like this. I am very proud of our military, what we are capable of doing, and what we can accomplish.

What comes next

We don’t yet know how Iran will respond, but many of the possibilities are troubling. The Iranians could target U.S. forces across the Middle East. On Monday, Tehran launched 20 missiles at U.S. bases in Qatar, Syria, and Kuwait, to no effect. God forbid, they could also unleash Hezbollah or other terrorist proxies to strike here at home — and they just might.

Iran has also threatened to shut down the Strait of Hormuz — the artery through which nearly a fifth of the world’s oil flows. On Sunday, Iran’s parliament voted to begin the process. If the Supreme Council and the ayatollah give the go-ahead, we could see oil prices spike to $150 or even $200 a barrel.

That would be catastrophic.

The 2008 financial collapse was pushed over the edge when oil hit $130. Western economies — including ours — simply cannot sustain oil above $120 for long. If this conflict escalates and the Strait is closed, the global economy could unravel.

The strike also raises questions about regime stability. Will it spark an uprising, or will the Islamic regime respond with a brutal crackdown on dissidents?

Early signs aren’t hopeful. Reports suggest hundreds of arrests over the weekend and at least one dissident executed on charges of spying for Israel. The regime’s infamous morality police, the Gasht-e Ershad, are back on the streets. Every phone, every vehicle — monitored. The U.S. embassy in Qatar issued a shelter-in-place warning for Americans.

Russia and China both condemned the strike. On Monday, a senior Iranian official flew to Moscow to meet with Vladimir Putin. That meeting should alarm anyone paying attention. Their alliance continues to deepen — and that’s a serious concern.

Now we pray

We are either on the verge of a remarkable strategic victory or a devastating global escalation. Time will tell. But either way, President Trump didn’t start this. He inherited it — and he took decisive action.

The difference is, he did what they all said they would do. He didn’t send pallets of cash in the dead of night. He didn’t sign another failed treaty.

He acted. Now, we pray. For peace, for wisdom, and for the strength to meet whatever comes next.


This article originally appeared on TheBlaze.com.

Globalize the Intifada? Why Mamdani’s plan spells DOOM for America

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If New Yorkers hand City Hall to Zohran Mamdani, they’re not voting for change. They’re opening the door to an alliance of socialism, Islamism, and chaos.

It only took 25 years for New York City to go from the resilient, flag-waving pride following the 9/11 attacks to a political fever dream. To quote Michael Malice, “I'm old enough to remember when New Yorkers endured 9/11 instead of voting for it.”

Malice is talking about Zohran Mamdani, a Democratic Socialist assemblyman from Queens now eyeing the mayor’s office. Mamdani, a 33-year-old state representative emerging from relative political obscurity, is now receiving substantial funding for his mayoral campaign from the Council on American-Islamic Relations.

CAIR has a long and concerning history, including being born out of the Muslim Brotherhood and named an unindicted co-conspirator in the Holy Land Foundation terror funding case. Why would the group have dropped $100,000 into a PAC backing Mamdani’s campaign?

Mamdani blends political Islam with Marxist economics — two ideologies that have left tens of millions dead in the 20th century alone.

Perhaps CAIR has a vested interest in Mamdani’s call to “globalize the intifada.” That’s not a call for peaceful protest. Intifada refers to historic uprisings of Muslims against what they call the “Israeli occupation of Palestine.” Suicide bombings and street violence are part of the playbook. So when Mamdani says he wants to “globalize” that, who exactly is the enemy in this global scenario? Because it sure sounds like he's saying America is the new Israel, and anyone who supports Western democracy is the new Zionist.

Mamdani tried to clean up his language by citing the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, which once used “intifada” in an Arabic-language article to describe the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising. So now he’s comparing Palestinians to Jewish victims of the Nazis? If that doesn’t twist your stomach into knots, you’re not paying attention.

If you’re “globalizing” an intifada, and positioning Israel — and now America — as the Nazis, that’s not a cry for human rights. That’s a call for chaos and violence.

Rising Islamism

But hey, this is New York. Faculty members at Columbia University — where Mamdani’s own father once worked — signed a letter defending students who supported Hamas after October 7. They also contributed to Mamdani’s mayoral campaign. And his father? He blamed Ronald Reagan and the religious right for inspiring Islamic terrorism, as if the roots of 9/11 grew in Washington, not the caves of Tora Bora.

Bloomberg / Contributor | Getty Images

This isn’t about Islam as a faith. We should distinguish between Islam and Islamism. Islam is a religion followed peacefully by millions. Islamism is something entirely different — an ideology that seeks to merge mosque and state, impose Sharia law, and destroy secular liberal democracies from within. Islamism isn’t about prayer and fasting. It’s about power.

Criticizing Islamism is not Islamophobia. It is not an attack on peaceful Muslims. In fact, Muslims are often its first victims.

Islamism is misogynistic, theocratic, violent, and supremacist. It’s hostile to free speech, religious pluralism, gay rights, secularism — even to moderate Muslims. Yet somehow, the progressive left — the same left that claims to fight for feminism, LGBTQ rights, and free expression — finds itself defending candidates like Mamdani. You can’t make this stuff up.

Blending the worst ideologies

And if that weren’t enough, Mamdani also identifies as a Democratic Socialist. He blends political Islam with Marxist economics — two ideologies that have left tens of millions dead in the 20th century alone. But don’t worry, New York. I’m sure this time socialism will totally work. Just like it always didn’t.

If you’re a business owner, a parent, a person who’s saved anything, or just someone who values sanity: Get out. I’m serious. If Mamdani becomes mayor, as seems likely, then New York City will become a case study in what happens when you marry ideological extremism with political power. And it won’t be pretty.

This is about more than one mayoral race. It’s about the future of Western liberalism. It’s about drawing a bright line between faith and fanaticism, between healthy pluralism and authoritarian dogma.

Call out radicalism

We must call out political Islam the same way we call out white nationalism or any other supremacist ideology. When someone chants “globalize the intifada,” that should send a chill down your spine — whether you’re Jewish, Christian, Muslim, atheist, or anything in between.

The left may try to shame you into silence with words like “Islamophobia,” but the record is worn out. The grooves are shallow. The American people see what’s happening. And we’re not buying it.

This article originally appeared on TheBlaze.com.

How private stewardship could REVIVE America’s wild

Jonathan Newton / Contributor | Getty Images

The left’s idea of stewardship involves bulldozing bison and barring access. Lee’s vision puts conservation back in the hands of the people.

The media wants you to believe that Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) is trying to bulldoze Yellowstone and turn national parks into strip malls — that he’s calling for a reckless fire sale of America’s natural beauty to line developers’ pockets. That narrative is dishonest. It’s fearmongering, and, by the way, it’s wrong.

Here’s what’s really happening.

Private stewardship works. It’s local. It’s accountable. It’s incentivized.

The federal government currently owns 640 million acres of land — nearly 28% of all land in the United States. To put that into perspective, that’s more territory than France, Germany, Poland, and the United Kingdom combined.

Most of this land is west of the Mississippi River. That’s not a coincidence. In the American West, federal ownership isn’t just a bureaucratic technicality — it’s a stranglehold. States are suffocated. Locals are treated as tenants. Opportunities are choked off.

Meanwhile, people living east of the Mississippi — in places like Kentucky, Georgia, or Pennsylvania — might not even realize how little land their own states truly control. But the same policies that are plaguing the West could come for them next.

Lee isn’t proposing to auction off Yellowstone or pave over Yosemite. He’s talking about 3 million acres — that’s less than half of 1% of the federal estate. And this land isn’t your family’s favorite hiking trail. It’s remote, hard to access, and often mismanaged.

Failed management

Why was it mismanaged in the first place? Because the federal government is a terrible landlord.

Consider Yellowstone again. It’s home to the last remaining herd of genetically pure American bison — animals that haven’t been crossbred with cattle. Ranchers, myself included, would love the chance to help restore these majestic creatures on private land. But the federal government won’t allow it.

So what do they do when the herd gets too big?

They kill them. Bulldoze them into mass graves. That’s not conservation. That’s bureaucratic malpractice.

And don’t even get me started on bald eagles — majestic symbols of American freedom and a federally protected endangered species, now regularly slaughtered by wind turbines. I have pictures of piles of dead bald eagles. Where’s the outrage?

Biden’s federal land-grab

Some argue that states can’t afford to manage this land themselves. But if the states can’t afford it, how can Washington? We’re $35 trillion in debt. Entitlements are strained, infrastructure is crumbling, and the Bureau of Land Management, Forest Service, and National Park Service are billions of dollars behind in basic maintenance. Roads, firebreaks, and trails are falling apart.

The Biden administration quietly embraced something called the “30 by 30” initiative, a plan to lock up 30% of all U.S. land and water under federal “conservation” by 2030. The real goal is 50% by 2050.

That entails half of the country being taken away from you, controlled not by the people who live there but by technocrats in D.C.

You think that won’t affect your ability to hunt, fish, graze cattle, or cut timber? Think again. It won’t be conservatives who stop you from building a cabin, raising cattle, or teaching your grandkids how to shoot a rifle. It’ll be the same radical environmentalists who treat land as sacred — unless it’s your truck, your deer stand, or your back yard.

Land as collateral

Moreover, the U.S. Treasury is considering putting federally owned land on the national balance sheet, listing your parks, forests, and hunting grounds as collateral.

What happens if America defaults on its debt?

David McNew / Stringer | Getty Images

Do you think our creditors won’t come calling? Imagine explaining to your kids that the lake you used to fish in is now under foreign ownership, that the forest you hunted in belongs to China.

This is not hypothetical. This is the logical conclusion of treating land like a piggy bank.

The American way

There’s a better way — and it’s the American way.

Let the people who live near the land steward it. Let ranchers, farmers, sportsmen, and local conservationists do what they’ve done for generations.

Did you know that 75% of America’s wetlands are on private land? Or that the most successful wildlife recoveries — whitetail deer, ducks, wild turkeys — didn’t come from Washington but from partnerships between private landowners and groups like Ducks Unlimited?

Private stewardship works. It’s local. It’s accountable. It’s incentivized. When you break it, you fix it. When you profit from the land, you protect it.

This is not about selling out. It’s about buying in — to freedom, to responsibility, to the principle of constitutional self-governance.

So when you hear the pundits cry foul over 3 million acres of federal land, remember: We don’t need Washington to protect our land. We need Washington to get out of the way.

Because this isn’t just about land. It’s about liberty. And once liberty is lost, it doesn’t come back easily.

This article originally appeared on TheBlaze.com.