Do Your Research HuffPo: Washington Had Three Copies of Don Quixote

Unlike Glenn, the Huffington Post is evidently not a student of history --- nor fond of research, for that matter.

Rather than publish with journalistic integrity, HuffPo decided to throw caution to the wind and publish an unsubstantiated hit piece questioning the authenticity of a book Glenn owns and has taken along on the campaign trail. The book in question is George Washington's volume of Don Quixote. The hit piece, titled "Mount Vernon Says It Owns George Washington's Copy Of Don Quixote, Not Glenn Beck," was published yesterday.

"The Huffington Post wrote a story, and it says, you know, Glenn Beck's people didn't respond for comment. Well, we weren't given a chance to comment on a story. They put a phone call in and then pushed print. And they went to press on this story, as they called us. We had no time to respond. And it is the sloppiest journalism I have ever seen," Glenn said Wednesday on The Glenn Beck Program.

So let's fill in the blanks and do HuffPo's work for them.

George Washington owned three copies of Don Quixote --- two in English, one in Spanish. The first English copy and the Spanish version are owned by Mount Vernon. The second English copy is owned by Glenn. That copy was given to Tobias Lear, George Washington's personal secretary, who was at Washington's bedside when he died. He then gave it to his son, Benjamin Lincoln Lear.

"Mount Vernon will not deny that George Washington had three copies, and he gave one to Tobias Lear," Glenn said. "How do I know they won't deny it? Because there are records at Mount Vernon that show it. He was a record keeper."

The Don Quixote copy that Glenn now owns came from the Lear family through an auction in Maine. It first went to the James D. Julia Auction House, a highly respected auction house, and was bought by Bauman Books in New York. Glenn purchased Lear's copy of Don Quixote (that was gifted to him by George Washington) from Bauman Books in New York --- and it's all documented.

"Now, I don't think you care at all about rare book dealers. ...But you know who does care? Me," Glenn said. "And here's why: Because people are now saying I'm dragging out a fake Washington book all around the country. And now they're starting to question the Washington compass, which also has documentation."

When Glenn acquired Washington's compass he was bidding against none other than Mount Vernon. Their response upon losing it to another bidder: "It doesn't matter. Some day we'll get it anyway."

Both relics of Washington's that Glenn has taken on the campaign trail --- the copy of Don Quixote and the compass --- were acquired through the highest ethical standards and from the most reputable antiquities dealers. And there's documentation to prove it.

"If it's fake, I'm going to file a gigantic lawsuit," Glenn said. "It will be a "uge" lawsuit. It will be the most magnificent lawsuit you've ever seen."

Listen to this segment from The Glenn Beck Program:

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

GLENN: But while we're here kind of talking about history this half-hour, I just want to address something that came out from the Huffington Post yesterday. And I think outrageous.

The Huffington Post wrote a story, and it says, you know, Glenn Beck's people didn't respond for comment. Well, we weren't given a chance to comment on a story. They put a phone call in and then pushed print. And they went to press on this story, as they called us. We had no time to respond.

And it is the sloppiest journalism I have ever seen. They ran a story. And it's all over Twitter this morning. They ran a story that I have this copy of George Washington's Don Quixote, which I've been taking around and talking about in all of my speeches. And they claim -- they called Mount Vernon to find out if that's George Washington's copy of Don Quixote. And they said -- and Mount Vernon said, "We have George Washington's copy of Don Quixote." So Glenn Beck must be a liar.

Here's the thing, George Washington owned three copies of Don Quixote. An English -- I'm sorry -- two English and one in Spanish. I have the second English version that he bought. In his library, it has his writing in it, it has his book plate in it. My copy was given to Tobias -- what was his name? Tobias Lear. Tobias Lear was the personal secretary that was at the bedside of George Washington when he died. He then gave it to his son, Benjamin Lincoln Lear. This book has -- from the personal library of George Washington book plate over it. Over that book plate is a book plate that says Benjamin Lincoln Lear. It also has George Washington's handwriting in it.

Mount Vernon will not deny that George Washington had three copies, and he gave one to Benjamin -- or, he gave one to Tobias Lear. How -- how do I know they won't deny it? Because there are records at Mount Vernon that show it. He was a record keeper.

This book came from the Lear family, through an auction in Maine. They finally let it go. It went to an auction house called the James D. Julia Auction House. Highly respected. It was bought by Bauman Books in New York. Bauman Books, the reason you would ever pay the price that Bauman pays -- because you're not getting a deal when you go to Bauman, is because you know the provenance. You know that this is -- is impeccably recorded on exactly -- when they say this is what it is, that is exactly what it is. Somebody brought it from Bauman Books, and I bought it from them.

Now, I don't think you care at all about rare book dealers, you know, previously had a book from George Washington. But you know who does care? Me. And here's why: Because people are now saying I'm dragging out a fake Washington book all around the country. And now they're starting to question the Washington compass, which also has documentation.

And, you know what, let me tell you something. I paid a fortune for these things. And these people who are printing these things are hurting the monetary value of those items. And they're only trying to do it because it's the same group of people that try to discredit any kind of history that is coming from a conservative. They have their own political motives for doing it.

HuffPo. When we called the HuffPo and said, "Hey, what's the deal?" Guy said everybody else was going to run with it, so I just had to run with it. You didn't even talk to us. So that excuses you for sloppy journalism? I paid a fortune for this. I have all of the documentation. It's solid documentation. And documentation that Mount Vernon will back.

And you know who was bidding against me for the compass? Mount Vernon. You know what they said when they lost, "It doesn't matter. Some day we'll get it anyway."

So if it's fake, I'm going to file a gigantic lawsuit -- it will be a uge lawsuit. It will be the most magnificent lawsuit you've ever seen.

PAT: And how long --

GLENN: The documentation is there. Hang on just a second.

And if these people are right, then I'm suing for enough money to put my name in gold on every building in New York and then maybe I'll be angry enough to run for president.

(chuckling)

PAT: And it took you a long time with that compass to scrape off the Made in China stamp on the back of it.

GLENN: Yes, it did.

JEFFY: It doesn't just come off.

GLENN: No.

PAT: So it just pisses me that they're doing this to you now. Because that wasn't easy.

GLENN: Yeah. I know it was very difficult to get the Made in China off. Just amazing.

PAT: You literally paid a fortune for that compass. And wasn't that part two of their investigative series --

GLENN: Yes. Tomorrow. Tomorrow, we question the compass.

PAT: Yeah. So, I mean --

GLENN: Jeez. If I need to drag around the documentation for everything -- so when I was on the road and said, "This is George Washington's." And we went back and checked the tape. There were times that I said, this is the one that he got on that day, and that wasn't the one he got on that day. He had three copies.

So that wasn't the one that he got on that day. But usually I said, "This was George Washington's copy of Don Quixote." And they're questioning that this was George washington's copy. And the only reason why they said that it wasn't was because they went on record because people were calling Mount Vernon saying, "Glenn Beck is lying, isn't he?"

And they said, "No, we have George Washington's copy of Don Quixote."

Yes, you have two of two them. He had three of them. I have the other one. But nobody cares to listen to that.

And so it's just sloppy journalism, at best.

STU: Obviously, no one -- they don't care --

GLENN: Nobody cares about that. Nobody cares about this.

STU: What's the reason they're doing this? The point you're making with the book, is that what they're attacking?

GLENN: No. No. The reason I brought the book out was how was it George Washington -- on the day they signed the Constitution, what he said was, in his diary, "Signed the Constitution today. I pick up my copy of Don Quixote."

So how -- that book has always bothered me. I look at it, and I'm like, "Okay. What was he trying to say? What was Don Quixote speaking to him about? Why was this book so important?"

It really isn't that. Because to me that's like somebody saying, "I save the world today, and I'm going to Barnes & Noble." What is that? And so what it was, was he finished the Constitution with purity, with exactness. He did exactly what he was supposed to do. And as he said at the end of the Constitutional Convention, the event is in the hand of God.

So he did exactly what he was supposed to do. He knew that that a future generation would see the Constitution. They would be faced with -- he didn't know what it would be, but totalitarian, socialism, you know, or the status quo. And people wouldn't know which way to run. And they -- because they did the right thing, in his words, they raised the standard to which the wise and the honest would run to. And so that allowed him to, when he finished say, "Yeah. And I get to go read a good book. I've heard these great things from this ambassador about this story. I've got that book coming in. I can sit under my tree on my farm and read."

The point I'm trying to make with the book is: When you do the right thing, you can sleep at night.

And George Washington saw this time, and he gave us the -- he gave us where we should be going. We shouldn't be going to socialism. We shouldn't be going to a strongman. We shouldn't be looking for the status quo. We should run to the Constitution. Because it was done with exactness and they could sleep at night, and we'll be able to sleep at night because our answers are all contained there. Our problems are because we didn't adhere to the Constitution. America, run to the Constitution. The event is in the hand of God.

Featured Image: American television personality and radio host Glenn Beck holds a copy of a Don Quixote book as he talks about Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz during a campaign event at the Johnson County Fairgrounds January 31, 2016 inIowa City, Iowa. Cruz is campaigning across the state on the eve of the Iowa caucuses. (Photo by Joshua Lott/Getty Images)

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

Harvey Meston / Staff | Getty Images

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The West: An idea worth saving

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

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

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

MATTHIEU RONDEL/AFP via Getty Images | Getty Images

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

Pick up your torch

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

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

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

This article originally appeared on TheBlaze.com.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Reclaiming educational agency

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

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

David Butow / Contributor | Getty Images

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

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

This article originally appeared on TheBlaze.com.

Glenn Beck joins TPUSA tour to honor Charlie Kirk

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

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

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

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

Glenn's daughter honors Charlie Kirk with emotional tribute song

MELISSA MAJCHRZAK / Contributor | Getty Images

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

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

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

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