Is this Glenn's favorite show on TV?

One of Glenn's favorite TV shows is Pawn Stars, and this morning on radio, he interviewed one of the stars of the show, Rick Harrison. There is no question that Rick is a tough negotiator, but Glenn respects his fairness. Rick explained his business philosophy and revealed some of the incredible government bureaucracy his company has endured.

Full Transcript of interview is below:

GLENN: We are ‑‑ it's Friday and we're going to take a different tack today. We're going to talk about, I think if I had to name my favorite show on television and I watch such little television, I mean really I don't think I ever get a chance to watch a full episode of anything, my favorite show on television has to be Pawn Stars. I was a fan of Antiques Road Show but that was like, I don't know, I felt I had to wear an ascot and be in a robe.

PAT: Oh, this is so much better than Antiques Road Show.

GLENN: Yeah, but it's the same ‑‑ it's the same thing. They bring in really cool stuff and you get to see really cool stuff, but this one has an attitude to it.

PAT: Yeah.

GLENN: And it's like for regular people. But the stuff that they show and the things that you see on the show are just fantastic.

PAT: What I like about it is Rick is a brutal negotiator. Somebody will come in and they will tell you their thing is worth, you know, "This is the original flag that George Washington rode into battle with against the British at Yorktown." Really? Okay. Uh, what do you want for it? What do you want to do with it?

GLENN: I want to sell it.

PAT: What do you want?

GLENN: $198,000.

PAT: Not gonna happen. I'll give you $12.

STU: (Laughing.)

GLENN: Usually gets it for 11.

PAT: Yes. And they wind up, you know, and you see them interviewed before they go in and, "I'm not gonna take a Penny under $194,000." "I'll give you $15." "Okay."

STU: (Laughing.)

GLENN: And I love the people who don't sell. It's usually the crap you wouldn't want to buy anyway because the crap ‑‑ and they're like, "I wouldn't take it. I'm not going to be insulted by him saying that it was a complete fake." It says ‑‑ it's the Declaration of Independence and it says made in China on the back.

We have Rick Harrison on the phone. Hi, Rick, how are ya?

HARRISON: I'm doing great this morning.

GLENN: Good to talk to you. I'm just such a huge fan and I actually, we spoke off the air, I don't know, a few weeks ago and I said to you ‑‑ because I watch your show and I'm like, man, I want to develop a relationship with Rick because I want to know when you get stuff like that in there, I want to be on your call list because we're putting together a museum and I want to know if you're getting really cool, unique stuff. But mainly the stuff, Rick, that most people, you know, you would never see it in a museum because people are like, "Oh, that's just, that's silly, that's..." and I've seen a couple of things where I'm like, this is one of the coolest pieces of history I've ever seen.

HARRISON: I actually think I bought probably the coolest thing I ever bought since I've had the pawn shop a couple of weeks ago actually. It was a ‑‑ it was a contemporary copy. General Lee from the South, his father was George Washington's main general during the Whiskey Rebellion, and George Washington wrote him a letter. You would ‑‑ once you see the episode, you will be amazed. He basically wrote him a letter saying "These are the powers of the government. You know, I have to go to Washington. I have to do everything in the government. These are the powers that should be the army, this should be the powers of civil court," and this general, you know, thought it was so important that he made a contemporary copy. It's not the actual copy by George Washington. That would be worth hundreds of thousands of dollars. But this was ‑‑ he thought the letter was so important, that he made a copy for himself and put it in his own records.

PAT: Wow.

GLENN: So ‑‑

HARRISON: So it's a pretty amazing letter.

GLENN: So Rick ‑‑

HARRISON: I'll send you a copy of it.

GLENN: I'd love to ‑‑ I'd love to see it. You have to come out here sometime. I know you're really super busy because you do more than that show. You also ‑‑ how many shows do you ‑‑ how many shows are you responsible for now on TV?

HARRISON: I work on, like, three other shows, I'm producing some other shows. Was going to ‑‑ was going to produce another show but the ‑‑ the BLM decided because of sequester I couldn't pay the government for a filming permit on government land, which is insane to me, but ‑‑

GLENN: Oh, my gosh.

HARRISON: That's another story.

GLENN: Would you mind telling the story, Rick, about ‑‑ speaking about a control government, of your expansion? Are you willing to tell that story about your expansion of your business?

HARRISON: Well, it's everything. You know, I go to ‑‑ you know, over the years, you know, this show has just kept on getting bigger and bigger and bigger, more and more customers. I need to expand my showroom. Luckily I wanted to tear down a wall, okay? Because right behind that wall I had warehouse space to turn into the showroom. $400,000 to tear down a wall.

GLENN: What?

PAT: Jeez.

HARRISON: I mean, these are the things I run into. Put a new sign out in front of my building. 6 bucks.

PAT: To put a sign in front of the building?

HARRISON: Oh, yeah, because ‑‑

PAT: Is that for the permit process and all that nonsense?

HARRISON: The permit process and everything and they come back, well, you're on a scenic byway, you're in a historical district, you need to go in front of 20 different committees.

PAT: Jeez.

HARRISON: And, you know, "Oh, we're going to have to change your sign here, change your sign here, change your sign here." And it just never ends. I mean ‑‑

GLENN: When did we go wrong, Rick? When did we go wrong? When do you think we started going wrong?

HARRISON: Because every legislature and every congress thinks, oh, we need more laws, we need more laws, we need more laws. And it just comes to a point where it just grinds business to a standstill.

I wanted to produce a show in Southern California. It was on government land. It's a ‑‑ it was about off‑roading and stuff like that. People off‑road there every day. I went, you know, and ‑‑ you know, even a small reality show employs 100 people.

GLENN: Mmm‑hmmm.

HARRISON: The BLM comes back and says, "No, we can't issue a film permit because of the sequester." So I said, "Let me get this straight. I'm going to pay you $250 a day to film and..."

GLENN: You can't ‑‑

HARRISON: "‑‑ you can't do it because of budget cuts?"

PAT: Jeez.

HARRISON: He mean, this is what we deal with nowadays.

GLENN: I mean, you're in Nevada which, jeez, man, you have legalized prostitution. You would think that Nevada would be ‑‑ would be okay to work in. Is Nevada okay?

HARRISON: Nevada's better than most states. I have a lot of friends that make very good money. They're just packing up out of California and leaving. They cannot deal with it anymore.

GLENN: I know.

HARRISON: You know, I said, yeah, come on up. Help our economy out.

GLENN: I know.

HARRISON: I mean, it's government in general. I mean, all the way from ‑‑ where I was filming the television show was Southern California, but it was on federal land. But it's government on every level, you know. It's business, it's the EPA. The EPA would rather, you know, close down a factory in the United States that puts out some air pollution, okay? They would rather close that down and have the same factory open in China with ten times the air pollution. It's all the same air we breathe. There's no sense to it all.

GLENN: Do you ‑‑ I was in Washington D.C. this week and for the first time I saw a difference in the capitol police. I mean, we've always been friends with the police. We have ‑‑ I have good relationships. We do fundraisers for the police and the sheriffs and everybody else, and we have always ‑‑ I believe in a good strong police department. Rat the bad guys out. Don't punish all the police. Rat the bad guys out and get them off the force. And when I was in Washington, between the permits and the way the Department of Homeland Security and the capitol police treated people and even looked at the people that were standing there for the Constitution, I've never seen anything like it. And now when you start to say, "I don't know if I can trust the police" or "I don't know if I can trust the judicial system," I mean, you're in a different world, man.

HARRISON: Umm, it's all the bureaucracy. I mean, I have a close family member that something really bad happened to her. I'll even say his name. He's pleaded guilty to forceable sexual abuse in Utah. And this guy was charged four years ago; hasn't spent a day in jail because of all the bureaucracy.

GLENN: Wait. Wait a minute, wait. He pleaded guilty to forced sexual abuse, he pleaded guilty?

HARRISON: Yes.

GLENN: And he hasn't ‑‑ he hasn't spent a day in jail yet? Four years?

HARRISON: No, because he ‑‑ because he asked to have his psychosexual evaluation before they can sentence him.

GLENN: Oh, dear God.

HARRISON: And that was in February. They're saying it's now delayed until September. And mind you, he doesn't have to register as a sex offender until he's sentenced.

GLENN: Where in Utah is this happening? Who's the judge? Who's the judge? Where is it?

HARRISON: Okay, the judge is St. George, Utah. It's southern Utah. Wallace A. Lee. He literally let this person ‑‑ you know, I mean, you would think once he pled guilty, okay, we're going to remand you to custody until ‑‑

PAT: Yeah.

HARRISON: You know, until you're sentenced. So ‑‑

GLENN: Is Wallace A. Lee, is that the judge or is that the ‑‑

HARRISON: That's the judge. The ‑‑ well, I was going to call him ‑‑ we're on the radio. I'm sorry. I almost said something else.

GLENN: Well, no. He pleaded guilty to sexual ‑‑ what was it, sexual assault, sexual ‑‑

HARRISON: Felony sexual abuse. This was a plea bargain, by the way.

GLENN: Felony sexual abuse?

HARRISON: There was over seven felony assault charges against him and, you know, his name is Richard Burdette. The ‑‑ and I'm on the phone the other day to the prosecutor and I'm going, "What is the problem here?" And they go, "Well, they need this psychosexual evaluation to see if he's going to reoffend."

GLENN: The guy plead ‑‑ the guy pleaded guilty!

HARRISON: He pleaded guilty and they want him to talk to a psychologist to see if he's going to reoffend. You really think he's going to tell the psychologist the truth?

PAT: I mean, he's create sexual assault but he's not a liar, you know? These guys draw the line somewhere.

HARRISON: This is what you're dealing with where we have to ‑‑

GLENN: So hang on just a second. I'm trying to understand. This is ‑‑ what's the judge's name again?

HARRISON: Wallace A. Lee.

GLENN: Wallace A. Lee. So you're telling me that the judge in St. George, Utah, Wallace A. Lee, is actually saying, "Well, before I give him his penalty, I want to make sure that he ‑‑ that he's already learned his lesson." He's learned his lesson? You haven't even punished him yet. He's learning ‑‑ he is learning. Hey, judge, he is learning a lesson here. You're teaching him a very important lesson. So he's ‑‑ I'm going to listen to him, we want to talk to him, we want to make sure the psychiatrists talk to him to see if he's learned his lesson before we've given him any punishment at all. So then, what, he'll lessen the sentence? Is that the idea?

HARRISON: I have no idea. And you know we ‑‑ you know he's not going to go to a psychologist and say, you know, "I like having sex with children." "No, I'm all better." It's the insanity of our legal system. You know, a DUI is a very, very bad thing and I think those people should be punished, but he would have spent more time in jail if he got a DUI.

GLENN: Wow.

HARRISON: And there's other things too. I mean, you have young kids who do something stupid and you give them a ‑‑ you give them a record for the rest of their life, as opposed to what we used to do is, "Hey, put the kid in the military; he'll be all right." That's what they ended up doing to my dad and he ended up being a great person to society. So every ‑‑

GLENN: I don't think your dad likes you too much, though. I see your dad.

HARRISON: My dad is the greatest guy in the world.

GLENN: No, he really is. He really is.

HARRISON: He gets up ‑‑ even if there is nothing for him to do at work, he is there at 6:30 in the morning with a suit on.

PAT: Wow.

GLENN: You know what's really great, what I love about it is you guys work hard, you're honest, you don't ‑‑ you're not cheating anybody. I've never seen anything where you're trying to get the leg up on a deal. And you're straight up with people. That's why, you know, Pat said you're brutal at negotiating. No, you're just honest: Dude, this is what it's worth; I have to resell it.

PAT: Well, and you've got to make money.

GLENN: I have to make money.

PAT: Have to make money.

GLENN: That's all it is.

PAT: Yeah.

GLENN: And you win because of the two lessons I've learned from very wealthy people: One, never get emotionally attached to anything. You don't want ‑‑ you don't need it, you don't want it that much; don't get emotionally attached to something. It's just something ‑‑ something else will come along. And the second thing is, is just be straight‑up honest and be willing to walk away. Never bluff. Be willing to walk away from the table. How is that a ‑‑

HARRISON: Well, I mean ‑‑ yeah, I've always told ‑‑ I mean, I've told people this in a million interviews and people I know: The deal's not right, the deal's not right.

GLENN: Yep.

PAT: Yeah.

HARRISON: Just plain and simple it's not. And, you know, I own a small business and I ‑‑ well, the government considers me a medium business now.

STU: Congratulations.

HARRISON: And I've been in business for over 25 years and I really truly believe in that whole six degrees of separation you're honest and good to your employees, good to your customers, it's good for business.

GLENN: I tell you, Rick, I would really, I would really love ‑‑ I'm coming out to Vegas I think next week, I think we're doing ‑‑

PAT: Next Friday I think we're doing it.

GLENN: I'm doing some stuff with the people ‑‑ I don't know if you've ever heard fly‑by Foy but they are the people who do all the fly‑by wire stuff for Cirque du Soleil.

HARRISON: Okay.

GLENN: And they are working on a show with me, Man in the Moon, and I have to, they have to tear it all ‑‑

HARRISON: Are you going to start doing back flips in the air and stuff like that?

GLENN: You'd be surprised what you're going to see.

PAT: Oh, he's limber ‑‑ limber.

GLENN: Before they break it down, I have to go see it myself in Vegas before they ship it out. And so I'm going to be in town. I'd love to stop by and shake your hand and just stroll through your ‑‑ stroll through your place. But I'm not bringing my wallet.

STU: (Laughing.)

GLENN: I'm not bringing my wallet.

HARRISON: Well, come by and maybe I'll bring you to lunch.

GLENN: All right, man. Thank you. Rick, I appreciate it. Keep up the good work. You guys are doing a great, great job. And let us know what happens. Let us know what happens with Judge Lee and the dirtbag.

HARRISON: I will. Talk to you later.

GLENN: Thank you very much. Appreciate it.

Is the U.N. plotting to control 30% of U.S. land by 2030?

Bloomberg / Contributor | Getty Images

A reliable conservative senator faces cancellation for listening to voters. But the real threat to public lands comes from the last president’s backdoor globalist agenda.

Something ugly is unfolding on social media, and most people aren’t seeing it clearly. Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) — one of the most constitutionally grounded conservatives in Washington — is under fire for a housing provision he first proposed in 2022.

You wouldn’t know that from scrolling through X. According to the latest online frenzy, Lee wants to sell off national parks, bulldoze public lands, gut hunting and fishing rights, and hand America’s wilderness to Amazon, BlackRock, and the Chinese Communist Party. None of that is true.

Lee’s bill would have protected against the massive land-grab that’s already under way — courtesy of the Biden administration.

I covered this last month. Since then, the backlash has grown into something like a political witch hunt — not just from the left but from the right. Even Donald Trump Jr., someone I typically agree with, has attacked Lee’s proposal. He’s not alone.

Time to look at the facts the media refuses to cover about Lee’s federal land plan.

What Lee actually proposed

Over the weekend, Lee announced that he would withdraw the federal land sale provision from his housing bill. He said the decision was in response to “a tremendous amount of misinformation — and in some cases, outright lies,” but also acknowledged that many Americans brought forward sincere, thoughtful concerns.

Because of the strict rules surrounding the budget reconciliation process, Lee couldn’t secure legally enforceable protections to ensure that the land would be made available “only to American families — not to China, not to BlackRock, and not to any foreign interests.” Without those safeguards, he chose to walk it back.

That’s not selling out. That’s leadership.

It's what the legislative process is supposed to look like: A senator proposes a bill, the people respond, and the lawmaker listens. That was once known as representative democracy. These days, it gets you labeled a globalist sellout.

The Biden land-grab

To many Americans, “public land” brings to mind open spaces for hunting, fishing, hiking, and recreation. But that’s not what Sen. Mike Lee’s bill targeted.

His proposal would have protected against the real land-grab already under way — the one pushed by the Biden administration.

In 2021, Biden launched a plan to “conserve” 30% of America’s lands and waters by 2030. This effort follows the United Nations-backed “30 by 30” initiative, which seeks to place one-third of all land and water under government control.

Ask yourself: Is the U.N. focused on preserving your right to hunt and fish? Or are radical environmentalists exploiting climate fears to restrict your access to American land?

  Smith Collection/Gado / Contributor | Getty Images

As it stands, the federal government already owns 640 million acres — nearly one-third of the entire country. At this rate, the government will hit that 30% benchmark with ease. But it doesn’t end there. The next phase is already in play: the “50 by 50” agenda.

That brings me to a piece of legislation most Americans haven’t even heard of: the Sustains Act.

Passed in 2023, the law allows the federal government to accept private funding from organizations, such as BlackRock or the Bill Gates Foundation, to support “conservation programs.” In practice, the law enables wealthy elites to buy influence over how American land is used and managed.

Moreover, the government doesn’t even need the landowner’s permission to declare that your property contributes to “pollination,” or “photosynthesis,” or “air quality” — and then regulate it accordingly. You could wake up one morning and find out that the land you own no longer belongs to you in any meaningful sense.

Where was the outrage then? Where were the online crusaders when private capital and federal bureaucrats teamed up to quietly erode private property rights across America?

American families pay the price

The real danger isn’t in Mike Lee’s attempt to offer more housing near population centers — land that would be limited, clarified, and safeguarded in the final bill. The real threat is the creeping partnership between unelected global elites and our own government, a partnership designed to consolidate land, control rural development, and keep Americans penned in so-called “15-minute cities.”

BlackRock buying entire neighborhoods and pricing out regular families isn’t by accident. It’s part of a larger strategy to centralize populations into manageable zones, where cars are unnecessary, rural living is unaffordable, and every facet of life is tracked, regulated, and optimized.

That’s the real agenda. And it’s already happening , and Mike Lee’s bill would have been an effort to ensure that you — not BlackRock, not China — get first dibs.

I live in a town of 451 people. Even here, in the middle of nowhere, housing is unaffordable. The American dream of owning a patch of land is slipping away, not because of one proposal from a constitutional conservative, but because global powers and their political allies are already devouring it.

Divide and conquer

This controversy isn’t really about Mike Lee. It’s about whether we, as a nation, are still capable of having honest debates about public policy — or whether the online mob now controls the narrative. It’s about whether conservatives will focus on facts or fall into the trap of friendly fire and circular firing squads.

More importantly, it’s about whether we’ll recognize the real land-grab happening in our country — and have the courage to fight back before it’s too late.


This article originally appeared on TheBlaze.com.

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

MANAURE QUINTERO / Contributor | Getty Images

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.