Glenn: Who will stand for man's freedom, if not us?

For the past few years, Glenn has been taking the audience of the radio and TV shows on a journey that has, hopefully, empowered them to restore themselves and restore the country. From the 40 Day/40 Night Challenge to the Restoring events and beyond, Glenn reflected on that journey and looked at how everything over the past few years has tied together.

You know, I've talked about the 40 Day and 40 Night challenge and all of these things, I don't know if ‑‑ I don't know if I'm alone in what I'm experiencing right now, but I'm seeing things now tied together that I didn't know exactly how they all tied together. I'm seeing them all come together now, what we've gone through together as a group for Restoring Honor and Restoring Courage. You know, what was Restoring Honor? Restoring Honor was get back to God, 40 Day and 40 Night Challenge. If you haven't done it, please, today, start today.

There's one thing I have learned here recently is when you have a prompting, it's no longer good to ‑‑ good enough to say, "I'm going to do that. I should do that. I'm going to do that." No. Do it now. When some ‑‑ when you feel inside of you, "I have to do this," do it now. Do not delay. Do it now. And exercise that muscle because you're going to need it and you're going to need it in a big way. 40 Day, 40 Night challenge. Be honorable. Pick up your staff. Know why you were born at this time. That was the first step.

The next one was courage: Do you have the courage to call out the bad guys to their face. Do you have the courage to stand at the foot of the Al‑Aqsa mosque at the Temple Mount in Israel where all of the world's powers will array against you, do you have the courage to stand up and say "Hear me now. You come through me because they're not alone. I'm with them." Do you have the courage to do that?

Last summer, last summer was about can you, do you have the will to serve. Do you have the will to be responsible for your brother. Will you help not ‑‑ even though they're chastising you, even though they're making fun of you, even though they're calling you names, no matter what they say, will you serve. Those three things were really important and they're now coming together and it's about time to use all three of those things. And I haven't known how they come together. I still don't really know exactly, but I want to read something from Hugh Stafford now. Hugh is a guy who I'm hoping that I can meet his family, and I want to bring them in on the TV show because after Restoring Honor in Washington, his family came and they delivered in my New York studios a shoebox. And the shoebox sat there for, like, three weeks on my desk and I didn't ‑‑ I didn't even know where it came from. Somebody came in, said, "Hey, we got this from somebody. You should look at this." Because we get all kinds of stuff.

So it sat there before I could do it, and I was going I think on a vacation and I thought, okay, let me just clear off all my desk. And I looked at the shoebox, and in the shoebox were all of these writings on the back of cigarette packages, Vietnamese cigarette packages. And I started to read a few of them, and I didn't even know what it was because the letter was, you know, at the bottom of the box or something. And I'm reading these and I'm like, these are profound. And I realize they were written by Commander Hugh Stafford who was in the Hanoi Hilton in Vietnam. He was a prisoner of war. Now, tell me that this, this doesn't relate to the girls in Ohio. "Don't dread suffering. It only makes it worse. Anticipate it. Predict it. Even exaggerate it in your anticipation of it. Don't fight a neurosis or a symptom of one. It may be a friend in disguise, a mere symptom of a deeper disturbance rendered less severe by it. A neurosis may well be a vital protective shield. Detach yourself from it. Predict it. Exaggerate. Laugh at it. It can safely and effectively be ridiculed away but not torn away. Try to find ‑‑ try to find meaning in this every circumstance. Meaning varies with the individual and with every circumstance. With him ‑‑ or with me it may vary by the hour. The meaning for a particular moment may simply be to endure that moment in a manner in which you can be proud of. But beware of false pride. Don't expect too much. Perhaps in retrospect it will show that it was meaningful enough just to have endured, to have survived, to try. Perhaps at the end of it, it is just as meaningful to look back and say "I tried" as it would be to say "I succeeded."

That is just one of these brilliant pieces written on the back of Vietnamese cigarette packages, as he was given a pack of cigarettes and cut them open carefully and wrote the meaning of life on the inside.

At the top of the hour I will share what he wrote for the return trip home, what it felt like to be rescued, what he was afraid of and what he felt he had to anticipate. Because that's what those girls are going through right now.

I said at the NRA convention that what people have mocked us with, the president mocked us and said when people get scared, they grab on and cling to their God and their guns. I can't tell you that I'm not afraid. I can tell you that I'm not ruled by fear because I know the source of fear. But I can't tell you that I'm ‑‑ I look forward to dark things happening in America or me even having to report on dark things happening in America. I'm tired of it. I want it to end. But I will speak, I will stand, and I will not comply. And I will do so with love and peace and as much gentleness as I can muster. A test of a man is how he performs while under stress, and I am sorry to say that I have been failing that in the last few weeks. I have been grumpy and not my best self, but I am working on it. And I sure would like ‑‑ I sure would like to know that there are others that are feeling the same way and working on it as well.

I have no problem if you want to say I cling to my God and my guns. My God is my rock, and guns are the at the very core of our foundation. So yes, I cling to them because in the end, I was going to say the only thing real, but there's only one thing that's real, and I will cling to Him every possible step. I hope that in the end that's all I can see.

Man's freedom is being snuffed out all around the globe. It's amazing to me that the Chinese and the Russians are actually encouraging their population to buy gold. We are discouraging. I find it fascinating that all of our founders and every single president up until this one has warned about special interests getting involved with the government and it becoming tyranny. And this president is saying pay no attention to those voices who warn of tyranny. The West has gone to sleep. Let me say a special message to the preacher and to those who are God‑fearing individuals: The English came over here and the first ones to die, the first ones to be killed, the first ones to be burned alive were the preachers. Were the diehard religionists. Why? Because they were teaching that you answered to God and God alone. They were teaching the truths that were so clear that they were declared self‑evident.

Do you think in our society the preachers are going to be the first to be rounded up? Do you think the preachers are going to be the first? Are they the ones getting the heat? They're not. It's the TEA Party that's getting the heat. It's the 9/12 project that's getting the heat. That's who's getting the heat. Where are the preachers? Where are they? Was it, was it Rosa Parks that did this, or was it Martin Luther King, standing with other preachers and other rabbis? We all have eternal consequences. We will all, at the end of the day, be asked. But preachers, I don't know what your excuse is. Is it your, "Well, if I start to speak out, I'll ‑‑ I can reach a bigger audience. I know that. I know that excuse. I almost took it myself. If I don't say certain things, I can reach a bigger audience." That's a hard ‑‑ that's a pretty seductive one. I know. Wrong choice. It's not really about even your voice. In the end it's about you. We all have a role to play, and there are going to be those who will pick up a gun. There will be those who want to overthrow the government on both the left and the right. There will be those that want to kill people and cause death and destruction and chaos. Who will stand against it? Who will stand against that if not us. Who will stand for man's freedom, if not us?

How did Trump's would-be assassin get past Secret Service?

PATRICK T. FALLON / Contributor | Getty Images

Editor's Note: This article was originally published on TheBlaze.com.

Former President Donald Trump on Saturday was targeted in an assassination attempt during a campaign rally in Pennsylvania. It occurred just after 6:10 p.m. while Trump was delivering his speech.

Here are the details of the “official” story. The shooter was Thomas Matthew Crooks. He was 20 years old from Bethel Park, Pennsylvania. He used an AR-15 rifle and managed to reach the rooftop of a nearby building unnoticed. The Secret Service's counter-response team responded swiftly, according to "the facts," killing Crooks and preventing further harm.

Did it though? That’s what the official story says, so far, but calling this a mere lapse in security by Secret Service doesn't add up. There are some glaring questions that need to be answered.

If Trump had been killed on Saturday, we would be in a civil war today. We would have seen for the first time the president's brains splattered on live television, and because of the details of this, I have a hard time thinking it wouldn't have been viewed as JFK 2.0.

How does someone sneak a rifle onto the rally grounds? How does someone even know that that building is there? How is it that Thomas Matthew Crooks was acting so weird and pacing in front of the metal detectors, and no one seemed to notice? People tried to follow him, but, oops, he got away.

How could the kid possibly even think that the highest ground at the venue wouldn't be watched? If I were Crooks, my first guess would be, "That’s the one place I shouldn't crawl up to with a rifle because there's most definitely going to be Secret Service there." Why wasn't anyone there? Why wasn't anyone watching it? Nobody except the shooter decided that the highest ground with the best view of the rally would be the greatest vulnerability to Trump’s safety.

Moreover, a handy ladder just happened to be there. Are we supposed to believe that nobody in the Secret Service, none of the drones, none of the things we pay millions of dollars for caught him? How did he get a ladder there? If the ladder was there, was it always there? Why was the ladder there? Secret Service welds manhole covers closed when a president drives down a road. How was there a ladder sitting around, ready to climb up to the highest ground at the venue, and the Secret Service failed to take it away?

There is plenty of video of eyewitnesses yelling that there was a guy with a rifle climbing up on a ladder to the roof for at least 120 seconds before the first shot was fired. Why were the police looking for him while Secret Service wasn't? Why did the sniper have him in his sights for over a minute before he took a shot? Why did a cop climb up the ladder to look around? When Thomas Matthew Cooks pointed a gun at him, he then ducked and came down off the ladder. Did he call anyone to warn that this young man had a rifle within range of the president?

How is it the Secret Service has a female bodyguard who doesn't even reach Trump's nipples? How was she going to guard the president's body with hers? How is it another female Secret Service agent pulled her gun out a good four minutes too late, then looked around, apparently not knowing what to do? She then couldn't even get the pistol back into the holster because she's a Melissa McCarthy body double. I don't think it's a good idea to have Melissa McCarthy guarding the president.

Here’s the critical question now: Who trusts the FBI with the shooter’s computer? Will his hard drive get filed with the Nashville manifesto? How is it that the Secret Service almost didn't have snipers at all but decided to supply them only one day before the rally because all the local resources were going to be put on Jill Biden? I want Jill Biden safe, of course. I want Jill Biden to have what the first lady should have for security, but you can’t hire a few extra guys to make sure our candidates are safe?

How is it that we have a Secret Service director, Kimberly Cheatle, whose experience is literally guarding two liters of Squirt and spicy Doritos? Did you know that's her background? She's in charge of the United States Secret Service, and her last job was as the head of security for Pepsi.

This is a game, and that's what makes this sick. This is a joke. There are people in our country who thought it was OK to post themselves screaming about the shooter’s incompetence: “How do you miss that shot?” Do you realize how close we came to another JFK? If the president hadn't turned his head at the exact moment he did, it would have gone into the center of his head, and we would be a different country today.

Now, Joe Biden is also saying that we shouldn't make assumptions about the motive of the shooter. Well, I think we can assume one thing: He wanted to kill the Republican presidential candidate. Can we agree on that at least? Can we assume that much?

How can the media even think of blaming Trump for the rhetoric when the Democrats and the media constantly call him literally worse than Hitler who must be stopped at all costs?

These questions need to be answered if we want to know the truth behind what could have been one of the most consequential days in U.S. history. Yet, the FBI has its hands clasped on all the sources that could point to the truth. There must be an independent investigation to get to the bottom of these glaring “mistakes.”

POLL: Do you think Trump is going to win the election?

Kevin Dietsch / Staff, Chip Somodevilla / Staff, Kevin Dietsch / Staff | Getty Image

It feels like all of the tension that has been building over the last four years has finally burst to the surface over the past month. Many predicted 2024 was going to be one of the most important and tumultuous elections in our lifetimes, but the last two weeks will go down in the history books. And it's not over yet.

The Democratic National Convention is in August, and while Kamala seems to be the likely candidate to replace Biden, anything could happen in Chicago. And if Biden is too old to campaign, isn't he too old to be president? Glenn doesn't think he'll make it as President through January, but who knows?

There is a lot of uncertainty that surrounds the current political landscape. Trump came out of the attempted assassination, and the RNC is looking stronger than ever, but who knows what tricks the Democrats have up their sleeves? Let us know your predictions in the poll below:

Is Trump going to win the election?

Did the assassination attempt increase Trump's chances at winning in November?

Did Trump's pick of J.D. Vance help his odds?

Did the Trump-Biden debate in June help Trump's chances?

Did Biden's resignation from the election hand Trump a victory in November? 

Do the Democrats have any chance of winning this election?

What is the Secret Service trying to hide about Trump's assassination attempt?

KAMIL KRZACZYNSKI / Contributor, Anadolu / Contributor | Getty Images

This past weekend we were mere inches away from a radically different America than the one we have today. This was the first time a president had been wounded by a would-be assassin since 1981, and the horrific event has many people questioning the competency and motives of the supposedly elite agents trusted with the president's life.

The director of the Secret Service apparently knew about the assassin's rooftop before the shooting—and did nothing.

Kimberly Cheatle has come under intense scrutiny these last couple of weeks, as Secret Service director she is responsible for the president's well-being, along with all security operations onsite. In a recent interview with ABC, Cheatle admitted that she was aware of the building where the assassin made his mark on American history. She even said that she was mindful of the potential risk but decided against securing the site due to "safety concerns" with the slope of the roof. This statement has called her competence into question. Clearly, the rooftop wasn't that unsafe if the 20-year-old shooter managed to access it.

Glenn pointed out recently that Cheatle seems to be unqualified for the job. Her previous position was senior director in global security at America's second-favorite soda tycoon, PepsiCo. While guarding soda pop and potato chips sounds like an important job to some, it doesn't seem like a position that would qualify you to protect the life of America's most important and controversial people. Even considering her lack of appropriate experience, this seems like a major oversight that even a layperson would have seen. Can we really chalk this up to incompetence?

Former Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle KAMIL KRZACZYNSKI / Contributor | Getty Images

The Secret Service and DHS said they'd be transparent with the investigation...

Shortly after the attempted assassination, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which oversees the Secret Service, launched an investigation into the shooting and the security protocols in place at the rally. The DHS promised full transparency during the investigation, but House Republicans don't feel that they've been living up to that promise. Republican members of the House Oversight Committee are frustrated with Director Cheatle after she seemingly dodged a meeting scheduled for Tuesday. This has resulted in calls for Cheatle to step down from her position.

Two FBI agents investigate the assassin's rooftop Jeff Swensen / Stringer | Getty Images

Why is the Secret Service being so elusive? Are they just trying to cover their blunder? We seem to be left with two unsettling options: either the government is even more incompetent than we'd ever believed, or there is more going on here than they want us to know.

Cheatle steps down

Following a horrendous testimony to the House Oversight Committee Director Cheatle finally stepped down from her position ten days after the assassination attempt. Cheatle failed to give any meaningful answer to the barrage of questions she faced from the committee. These questions, coming from both Republicans and Democrats, were often regarding basic information that Cheatle should have had hours after the shooting, yet Cheatle struggled with each and every one. Glenn pointed out that Director Cheatle's resignation should not signal the end of the investigation, the American people deserve to know what happened.

What we DO and DON'T know about Thomas Matthew Crooks

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It has been over a week since 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks narrowly failed to assassinate President Trump while the president gave a speech at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennslyvania. Despite the ongoing investigations, we still know very little about the would-be assassin, which has left many wondering if the agencies involved are limiting the information that Congress and the public are receiving.

As Glenn has pointed out, there are still major questions about the shooter that are unanswered, and the American people are left at the whim of unreliable federal agencies. Here is everything we know—and everything we don't know—about Thomas Matthew Crooks:

Who was he?

What we know:Thomas Crooks lived in Bethel Parks, Pennsylvania, approximately an hour south of Butler. Crooks went to high school in Bethel Parks, where he would graduate in 2022. Teachers and classmates described him as a loner and as nerdy, but generally nice, friendly, and intelligent. Crooks tried out for the school rifle team but was rejected due to his poor aim, and reports indicate that Crooks was often bullied for his nerdy demeanor and for wearing camo hunting gear to school.

After high school, Crooks began work at Bethel Park Skilled Nursing and Rehabilitation Center as a dietary aide. In fact, he was scheduled to work on the day of the rally but requested the day off. He passed a background check to work at the facility and was reportedly an unproblematic employee. Crooks was also a member of a local gun club where he practiced shooting the day before the rally.

It was recently revealed that sometime before his attempted assassination, Crooks posted the following message on Steam, a popular computer application used for playing video games: "July 13 will be my premiere, watch as it unfolds." Aside from this, Crooks posted no warning or manifesto regarding his attack, and little other relevant information is known about him.

What we don't know:It is unclear what Crook's political affiliations or views were, or if he was aligned with any extremist organizations. Crooks was a registered Republican, and his classmates recall him defending conservative ideas and viewpoints in class. On the other hand, the Federal Election Commission has revealed he donated to a progressive PAC on the day Biden was inaugurated. He also reportedly wore a COVID mask to school much longer than was required.

Clearly, we are missing the full picture. Why would a Republican attempt to assassinate the Republican presidential nominee? What is to gain? And why would he donate to a progressive organization as a conservative? This doesn't add up, and so far the federal agencies investigating the attack have yet to reveal anything more.

What were his goals?

What we know: Obviously we know he was trying to assassinate President Trump—and came very close to succeeding, but beyond that, Crooks' goals are unknown. He left no manifesto or any sort of written motive behind, or if he did, the authorities haven't published it yet. We have frustratingly little to go off of.

What we don't know: As stated before, we don't know anything about the movies behind Crooks' heinous actions. We are left with disjointed pieces that make it difficult to paint a cohesive picture of this man. There is also the matter that he left explosives, ammo, and a bulletproof vest in his car. Why? Did he assume he was going to make it back to his car? Or were those supplies meant for an accomplice that never showed up?

The shocking lack of information on Crooks' motives makes it seem likely that we are not being let on to the whole truth.

Did he work alone?

What we know: Reportedly, Crooks was the only gunman on the site, and as of now, no other suspects have been identified. The rifle used during the assassination attempt was purchased and registered by Crooks' father. However, it is unlikely that the father was involved as he reported both his son and rifle missing the night of the assassination attempt. Crooks' former classmates described him as a "loner," which seems to corroborate the narrative that he worked alone.

What we don't know: We know how Crooks acquired his rifle, but what about the rest of his equipment? He reportedly had nearly a hundred extra rounds of ammunition, a bulletproof vest, and several homemade bombs in his car. Could these have been meant for a co-conspirator who didn't show? Did Crooks acquire all of this equipment himself, or did he have help?

There's also the matter of the message Crooks left on the video game platform Steam that served as his only warning of the attack. Who was the message for? Are there people out there who were aware of the attack before it occurred? Why didn't they alert authorities?

We know authorities have access to Crooks' laptop and cellphone that probably contain the answers to these pertinent questions. Why haven't we heard any clarity from the authorities? It seems we are again at the mercy of the federal bureaucracy, which begs one more question: Will we ever know the whole truth?