Lies cause great pain

We say the truth lives here, but what does that even mean?  Where does the truth really live?  That’s all that matters is truth.  When all is said and done, everything, everything that is outside of truth will be swept away, and everything that is truth will stand.  That’s it.

So when you see all the news and all the lies, I know it’s hard, but we really shouldn’t get even angry, because the lies are great teachers, and it won’t last.  Today, this morning, I got up, and I read the story on TheBlaze about the jobs numbers.  Just before the 2012 election, they now say oh, it looks like those were fabricated.  Really?

Unemployment dipped below 8%.  All indicators for the economy pointed to bad news, and I remember we talked about it – that’s not true.  That’s not possible.  How did that happen?  There are some other things you know to know about when it comes to truth.  Last night in a phone conference, the president said 100 million Americans had signed up at Healthcare.gov in the first month.  Listen.

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President Obama:  In the first month alone, we’ve seen more than 100 million Americans already successfully enroll in the new insurance plans.

Okay, not true, and it wouldn’t have been like 100,000 people.  The actual number is 26,000.  Where did that number come from?  The press isn’t too upset.  The just say he flubbed.  Did he?  So far, there’s no effort by the White House to correct the so-called mistake, so he can just say it, and everybody just says oh well, he just flubbed.

Last month there was another flub.  The president read a letter from a 48-year-old single mom, and he held her up as an ObamaCare success story but apparently not so much.  She’s saying that she received a letter of her own.  It was from the state exchange, notifying her that her tax credit was reduced.  A few days later, another letter came, said her tax credit was completely taken away, so now she can’t afford health care and health insurance at all.

Predictably over the coming weeks, the spin masters are going to try to find ways to explain things away or get you to lose, you know, attention, whatever.  I want you to remember one thing.  It’s really straightforward, and it’s not just to you and me but a lot of people.  They’re beginning to realize they’re not being told the truth.  But I’d like to change that.

It’s not that you haven’t been told the truth.  You are being lied to.  And I want you to ask your friends and neighbors if we use the same ethics in parenting as we do in politics, would everybody be okay?  I mean, you catch your kid lying.  Would it be okay for somebody to say, “Oh, did you just make a little flub?  Oh, you don’t need to correct that.  Did you just misspeak?”

I have never, ever asked my kids if they have misspoken.  “Did you misspeak?  Was that a misspeak?  Was that a flub?”  I always say, “Did you lie to me?  Did you lie to your mother?”  Why?  Because we know that lying is wrong.  Why is it wrong?  We teach our kids you have to own up to whatever it is you did.  Don’t ever lie.  Why?  Because it makes a difference.  Why?  Because lying makes everything 100 times worse, and you have no trust in the family.  You have no trust of everybody if you start to lie.

That’s why we put such an emphasis on truth, because we know lying leads to another lie and another lie, and it all causes pain, pain to the person on the receiving end and ultimately sooner or later even greater pain to the one dishing out the lies and everyone along the line.  But what defeats lie?  Truth, the truth sets you free.  It’s the most powerful weapon you have.  Empower the truth.

Play your cards face up on the table, and you’ll be able to stand with courage.  Keep things hidden, and you will cower in constant fear of being exposed.  How many of us don’t actually believe, you know, we can do anything great because we believe the lie that maybe this is as good as it gets, maybe that’s the best I can do?  It’s a lie.  It’s a lie.  Lies hold us hostage.  Lies keep us enslaved.  Lies tear us apart.

We have been lied to about almost everything by both sides.  America, you don’t even know who you are.  I didn’t.  I didn’t.  I wrote this book, Miracles and Massacres, and when I say I, it’s the collective I.  I picked all the stories.  I found the stories with my team, and then we wrote it together, because it’s 12 stories.

We spent a lot of time researching these 12 stories to make sure that it’s all right, and you will see that it has the, you know, it has all that you need here, all of the footnotes and everything else so you can see where we got it because miracles and massacres, that’s what this country is, miracles and massacres.

You have to know the worst of our country and the best.  What can you possibly learn from the worst of America?  How is it possibly relevant to today?  Well, if I said what day did Pearl Harbor happen, you’d say December 7, 1941, a date which would live in infamy.  Great, that’s a speech, but tell me about the ramifications of Pearl Harbor and how does the war with Japan relate to any news happening today?  I’ll show you.

I want to tell you about a 25-year-old daughter of a Japanese American immigrant.  She had set sail for her homeland of Japan.  She was born here, but she was going to go see a sick relative.  Well, then December 7, 1941 happened, and now she was trapped there, because the war happened, and we’re not going to bring in people from Japan, especially while we’re putting people up in internment camps.  We’re not going to bring this, you know, 20-something back into the United States.

She was steadfast in her patriotism.  She loved the country.  She declared at one point, “A tiger doesn’t change its stripes.”  Now, who did she declare that to?  The Japanese government, because the Japanese government told her she had to renounce her American citizenship, and she said a tiger does not change its stripes.

Well, she took a typing job.  She was actually friendly with the American POWs, and she had access to them.  And it came out later that she had smuggled food and medicine to the POWs.  She eventually found work as a typist to make ends meet while she was on the outs, and she ended up at a place called Radio Tokyo.

She was first recruited by Australian POW Major Charles Cousins, and he said you should be a host.  It wasn’t a huge role.  There were 20 minutes here and there.  The Japanese had wanted her to broadcast American propaganda and use the POWs to do it to demoralize American troops, but she said no, she wouldn’t do it.

She actually devised a plan of sending messages to our troops to help our troops.  The Japanese didn’t catch her.  Her stage name was Ann, and it was just short for announcer, but everybody knows her by the nickname Tokyo Rose, Tokyo Rose.  That’s what she use on the air, and after the war ended, she was anxious to come back home.  She was really excited to not only come back home but to tell the story.

A reporter reached out to her, promising her $2,000 for an interview to tell her story.  Well, she wanted to go home.  Two thousand dollars, she didn’t have the money to go home, and that was it.  It was her ticket home.  So she agreed to the interview because after all, she’s an American citizen.  She told her story.  She said the POWs and me, we didn’t go along with the Japanese propaganda plan.  She was proud of it.  She left the interview thinking this is going to be great, but when the story publication was released, she realized she had been lied to.

It was titled “Traitor’s Pay:  Tokyo Rose got 100 Yen a Month…$6.60.”  As soon as that happened, there was a knock on her door from three officers and a master sergeant from the Army Counterintelligence Corps.  She was under arrest.  She was deemed a traitor to her country.  A traitor?  There was evidence.  The POWs knew, right?

It didn’t stop anybody.  The prosecution plowed forward.  It was the most expensive trial in the United States history up until that time, and why was it so expensive?  Because they had to bribe people and get them to shut up.  She was sentenced to ten years in prison.  She served six years of a ten-year sentence before the witnesses, the POWs, began to admit they were lying during the trial, and this was wrong.

But the damage was already done.  You know Tokyo Rose.  Tokyo Rose was a traitor, right?  You know that.  We all know that.  While she was in prison and torn away from her family, her mother died in a Japanese internment camp.  She had her country stolen from her, both her homeland and her home of America, both of them.  She wasn’t wanted in any place, and it all started with a lie and furthered by lies on top of lies.

How did she possibly go to prison?  Why?  Why did they do that to her?  Well, because the press thought it was a good story.  It was a great story.  Everybody knows Tokyo Rose.  We’re going to get that story, and they already had it written before they ever met her.  And the administration needed good headlines.  There was an election, so putting her behind bars, getting the real bad Tokyo Rose, that worked.

The two groups separately or together, I’m not really sure, they just decided it’s okay to destroy somebody’s life because they knew the truth anyway, and the truth, you know, doesn’t really matter.  The ends justify the means.  So why did I put that story in this book, and how is that relevant to today?  Well, let me show you.  If you know history, you know that it repeats itself.

Do you remember the unemployment story right before the election, just talked about it with Jack Welch?  This is what happened.  Jack Welch, when he saw those numbers, he tweeted this.  He said, “Unbelievable jobs numbers…these Chicago guys will do anything…can’t debate so change numbers.”  He explained his position in an interview.  Listen.

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Jack Welch:  Chris, these numbers are all a series of assumptions, tons of assumptions, and it just seems somewhat coincidental that the month before the election, the numbers go 1/10 of a point below where they were when the president started, although I don’t see anything in the economy that says these surges are true.

As it turns out, they weren’t.  People dog piled.  People in the press, they called him a crazy old man, an unemployment rate truther, an insane crabby lesbian, and then they labeled him finally Conspiracy Jack.  So you know, Jack Welch is one of the most respected men, one of the most respected businessman in American history.  But not anymore.

Just like Tokyo Rose, where does Tokyo Rose go?  Where did Jack Welch go to get his reputation back?  Where does he go?  You see, the media, those people in power, the administration and the media, feel it’s okay.  You can destroy a man’s reputation because it serves a purpose just like Tokyo Rose.

Maybe years from now Jack Welch will be long dead, and nobody will really remember who he was.  And maybe a president of the day will recognize him and say hey, you know, he was right about that, but don’t hold your breath.  It wasn’t until 1976 that Gerald Ford recognized Tokyo Rose and pardoned her, but everybody still thinks of Tokyo Rose as a traitor.

This, this is her microphone that was used to help the Americans and to warn them.  This was taken by somebody who tried to burn Radio Tokyo down.  See, there were five Tokyo Roses, but the one that went to prison was on our side.  History tells a truth.

Today is the 150th anniversary of the Gettysburg Address.  President couldn’t show up, and when he did, Ken Burns is now saying that he specifically asked him to drop the “under God” out from the address.  Maybe he did.  Maybe he didn’t.  I don’t know.  I would’ve never accused him of lying, but I don’t know what the truth is anymore.

Lincoln spoke these words.  This is the Gettysburg Address, spoke these words on these two pieces of paper.  This is a very old copy, by the way, obviously not the real Gettysburg Address.  But he spoke these words.  That’s it.  At a time when America was at its breaking point, America literally hung in the balance, they didn’t know what was true.

He united the country by reaffirming America’s virtues and her commitment to the idea that all men are created equal, that we now here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain, that this nation under God shall have a new birth of freedom, and that governments of the people, by the people, for the people shall not perish from the earth.  Lincoln spoke the truth.

Today, we’re lied to.  He died because of that truth.  This is a piece of his bed sheet, and you can see the faded bloodstains here as they took the bed sheet and actually pushed it into his skull trying to stop the bleeding.  People die for the truth, so why don’t we value the truth anymore?  Why don’t people just give you the truth?  Why don’t you say the truth no matter how ugly or scary it is?

Because people are afraid or they don’t have the spine to deal with the problem.  They don’t have the spine to tell their kids you can’t sing.  They don’t know what to do, and so they kick the can down the road.  And some people do it because they can get what they want.  I’ll get free healthcare, doesn’t matter.  We’ll have a nice jobs report.  It doesn’t matter and crush Jack Welch.

Progressives lie because they are taught the ends justify the means.  Hey, ObamaCare is going to be great.  We’ve been trying to get it the right way.  We’ve been trying to convince people.  We can’t convince people.  It’s okay to lie.  You’re going to have to pass it to see what’s in it.  And people are stupid enough to buy it.

Prosecuting Tokyo Rose, it will make America feel good.  It doesn’t matter.  Okay, it’s one person, but it will make the collective feel good.  If we just lie on this one jobs report, we’ll get reelected, and we’ll be able to help people.  The ends justify the means.  This is the book that teaches this.  This is the book that the president taught when he was in college.  They say he was a constitutional scholar, my hat.  He taught this.

This is Saul Alinsky.  This is a copy that was signed by Saul Alinsky.  This is a copy I want to show you right here, the dedication page.  By the way, there’s a reason people don’t use fountain pens anymore, as you can see right here, although it has been freaking people out as I’ve been saying that that’s the sheet from Lincoln all day.

But here he says, “Lest we forget at least an over-the-shoulder acknowledgment to the very first radical, from all our legends, mythology, and history (and who is to know where mythology leaves off and history begins – or which is which), the first radical known to man who rebelled against the establishment and did it so effectively that he at least won his own kingdom – Lucifer.”

I’m sorry, Lucifer is the father of all lies, so if you know that, and you’re still doing this, I know who your father is.  The truth shall set you free, and you know, that’s not actually what was said.  I mean, that’s part of it, but that’s not the entire phrase, the truth shall set you free.  That’s only part of it.

The first part of that line is you will know the truth.  You will know the truth, and everybody does.  Everybody does.  You just have to stop and think about it.  You will know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.  When that was first uttered, the guys standing around the guy who said that said we’re are not slaves.  We came from Abraham, and we were freed by Moses.  What are you even talking about?

Anybody who lies, cheats, steals, tell this to your children.  I know you already do.  Anyone who hurts someone else is a slave.  We already fought to set men free, died to set men free.  One died to make men holy.  Only the truth works.  Only goodness prevails.  In the end, it does.  Jesus said I just do what I’ve seen my father do, and that’s how you will know me.  And I know you because I know who your father is.  I know you’re only doing what you’ve seen your father do.

It is the choice between good and evil, and it all starts with the simple truth.  It all starts with just doing the right thing.  So the job numbers came out, and they sucked, oh well, that’s the way it is.  There was the lie, the job numbers is down, and then they had to pile another one on, and they destroyed a man.

Don’t be a part of that at all, ever, ever, ever, ever.  Let the chips fall where they may.  The right path is here.  Choose the right path.  The time to choose it is now.  And only the truth leads to freedom.

'Rage against the dying of the light': Charlie Kirk lived that mandate

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Kirk’s tragic death challenges us to rise above fear and anger, to rebuild bridges where others build walls, and to fight for the America he believed in.

I’ve only felt this weight once before. It was 2001, just as my radio show was about to begin. The World Trade Center fell, and I was called to speak immediately. I spent the day and night by my bedside, praying for words that could meet the moment.

Yesterday, I found myself in the same position. September 11, 2025. The assassination of Charlie Kirk. A friend. A warrior for truth.

Out of this tragedy, the tyrant dies, but the martyr’s influence begins.

Moments like this make words feel inadequate. Yet sometimes, words from another time speak directly to our own. In 1947, Dylan Thomas, watching his father slip toward death, penned lines that now resonate far beyond his own grief:

Do not go gentle into that good night. / Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Thomas was pleading for his father to resist the impending darkness of death. But those words have become a mandate for all of us: Do not surrender. Do not bow to shadows. Even when the battle feels unwinnable.

Charlie Kirk lived that mandate. He knew the cost of speaking unpopular truths. He knew the fury of those who sought to silence him. And yet he pressed on. In his life, he embodied a defiance rooted not in anger, but in principle.

Picking up his torch

Washington, Jefferson, Adams — our history was started by men who raged against an empire, knowing the gallows might await. Lincoln raged against slavery. Martin Luther King Jr. raged against segregation. Every generation faces a call to resist surrender.

It is our turn. Charlie’s violent death feels like a knockout punch. Yet if his life meant anything, it means this: Silence in the face of darkness is not an option.

He did not go gently. He spoke. He challenged. He stood. And now, the mantle falls to us. To me. To you. To every American.

We cannot drift into the shadows. We cannot sit quietly while freedom fades. This is our moment to rage — not with hatred, not with vengeance, but with courage. Rage against lies, against apathy, against the despair that tells us to do nothing. Because there is always something you can do.

Even small acts — defiance, faith, kindness — are light in the darkness. Reaching out to those who mourn. Speaking truth in a world drowning in deceit. These are the flames that hold back the night. Charlie carried that torch. He laid it down yesterday. It is ours to pick up.

The light may dim, but it always does before dawn. Commit today: I will not sleep as freedom fades. I will not retreat as darkness encroaches. I will not be silent as evil forces claim dominion. I have no king but Christ. And I know whom I serve, as did Charlie.

Two turning points, decades apart

On Wednesday, the world changed again. Two tragedies, separated by decades, bound by the same question: Who are we? Is this worth saving? What kind of people will we choose to be?

Imagine a world where more of us choose to be peacemakers. Not passive, not silent, but builders of bridges where others erect walls. Respect and listening transform even the bitterest of foes. Charlie Kirk embodied this principle.

He did not strike the weak; he challenged the powerful. He reached across divides of politics, culture, and faith. He changed hearts. He sparked healing. And healing is what our nation needs.

At the center of all this is one truth: Every person is a child of God, deserving of dignity. Change will not happen in Washington or on social media. It begins at home, where loneliness and isolation threaten our souls. Family is the antidote. Imperfect, yes — but still the strongest source of stability and meaning.

Mark Wilson / Staff | Getty Images

Forgiveness, fidelity, faithfulness, and honor are not dusty words. They are the foundation of civilization. Strong families produce strong citizens. And today, Charlie’s family mourns. They must become our family too. We must stand as guardians of his legacy, shining examples of the courage he lived by.

A time for courage

I knew Charlie. I know how he would want us to respond: Multiply his courage. Out of this tragedy, the tyrant dies, but the martyr’s influence begins. Out of darkness, great and glorious things will sprout — but we must be worthy of them.

Charlie Kirk lived defiantly. He stood in truth. He changed the world. And now, his torch is in our hands. Rage, not in violence, but in unwavering pursuit of truth and goodness. Rage against the dying of the light.

This article originally appeared on TheBlaze.com.

Glenn Beck is once again calling on his loyal listeners and viewers to come together and channel the same unity and purpose that defined the historic 9-12 Project. That movement, born in the wake of national challenges, brought millions together to revive core values of faith, hope, and charity.

Glenn created the original 9-12 Project in early 2009 to bring Americans back to where they were in the wake of the 9/11 attacks. In those moments, we weren't Democrats and Republicans, conservative or liberal, Red States or Blue States, we were united as one, as America. The original 9-12 Project aimed to root America back in the founding principles of this country that united us during those darkest of days.

This new initiative draws directly from that legacy, focusing on supporting the family of Charlie Kirk in these dark days following his tragic murder.

The revival of the 9-12 Project aims to secure the long-term well-being of Charlie Kirk's wife and children. All donations will go straight to meeting their immediate and future needs. If the family deems the funds surplus to their requirements, Charlie's wife has the option to redirect them toward the vital work of Turning Point USA.

This campaign is more than just financial support—it's a profound gesture of appreciation for Kirk's tireless dedication to the cause of liberty. It embodies the unbreakable bond of our community, proving that when we stand united, we can make a real difference.
Glenn Beck invites you to join this effort. Show your solidarity by donating today and honoring Charlie Kirk and his family in this meaningful way.

You can learn more about the 9-12 Project and donate HERE

The critical difference: Rights from the Creator, not the state

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When politicians claim that rights flow from the state, they pave the way for tyranny.

Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) recently delivered a lecture that should alarm every American. During a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing, he argued that believing rights come from a Creator rather than government is the same belief held by Iran’s theocratic regime.

Kaine claimed that the principles underpinning Iran’s dictatorship — the same regime that persecutes Sunnis, Jews, Christians, and other minorities — are also the principles enshrined in our Declaration of Independence.

In America, rights belong to the individual. In Iran, rights serve the state.

That claim exposes either a profound misunderstanding or a reckless indifference to America’s founding. Rights do not come from government. They never did. They come from the Creator, as the Declaration of Independence proclaims without qualification. Jefferson didn’t hedge. Rights are unalienable — built into every human being.

This foundation stands worlds apart from Iran. Its leaders invoke God but grant rights only through clerical interpretation. Freedom of speech, property, religion, and even life itself depend on obedience to the ruling clerics. Step outside their dictates, and those so-called rights vanish.

This is not a trivial difference. It is the essence of liberty versus tyranny. In America, rights belong to the individual. The government’s role is to secure them, not define them. In Iran, rights serve the state. They empower rulers, not the people.

From Muhammad to Marx

The same confusion applies to Marxist regimes. The Soviet Union’s constitutions promised citizens rights — work, health care, education, freedom of speech — but always with fine print. If you spoke out against the party, those rights evaporated. If you practiced religion openly, you were charged with treason. Property and voting were allowed as long as they were filtered and controlled by the state — and could be revoked at any moment. Rights were conditional, granted through obedience.

Kaine seems to be advocating a similar approach — whether consciously or not. By claiming that natural rights are somehow comparable to sharia law, he ignores the critical distinction between inherent rights and conditional privileges. He dismisses the very principle that made America a beacon of freedom.

Jefferson and the founders understood this clearly. “We are endowed by our Creator with certain unalienable rights,” they wrote. No government, no cleric, no king can revoke them. They exist by virtue of humanity itself. The government exists to protect them, not ration them.

This is not a theological quibble. It is the entire basis of our government. Confuse the source of rights, and tyranny hides behind piety or ideology. The people are disempowered. Clerics, bureaucrats, or politicians become arbiters of what rights citizens may enjoy.

John Greim / Contributor | Getty Images

Gifts from God, not the state

Kaine’s statement reflects either a profound ignorance of this principle or an ideological bias that favors state power over individual liberty. Either way, Americans must recognize the danger. Understanding the origin of rights is not academic — it is the difference between freedom and submission, between the American experiment and theocratic or totalitarian rule.

Rights are not gifts from the state. They are gifts from God, secured by reason, protected by law, and defended by the people. Every American must understand this. Because when rights come from government instead of the Creator, freedom disappears.

This article originally appeared on TheBlaze.com.

POLL: Is Gen Z’s anger over housing driving them toward socialism?

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A recent poll conducted by Justin Haskins, a long-time friend of the show, has uncovered alarming trends among young Americans aged 18-39, revealing a generation grappling with deep frustrations over economic hardships, housing affordability, and a perceived rigged system that favors the wealthy, corporations, and older generations. While nearly half of these likely voters approve of President Trump, seeing him as an anti-establishment figure, over 70% support nationalizing major industries, such as healthcare, energy, and big tech, to promote "equity." Shockingly, 53% want a democratic socialist to win the 2028 presidential election, including a third of Trump voters and conservatives in this age group. Many cite skyrocketing housing costs, unfair taxation on the middle class, and a sense of being "stuck" or in crisis as driving forces, with 62% believing the economy is tilted against them and 55% backing laws to confiscate "excess wealth" like second homes or luxury items to help first-time buyers.

This blend of Trump support and socialist leanings suggests a volatile mix: admiration for disruptors who challenge the status quo, coupled with a desire for radical redistribution to address personal struggles. Yet, it raises profound questions about the roots of this discontent—Is it a failure of education on history's lessons about socialism's failures? Media indoctrination? Or genuine systemic barriers? And what does it portend for the nation’s trajectory—greater division, a shift toward authoritarian policies, or an opportunity for renewal through timeless values like hard work and individual responsibility?

Glenn wants to know what YOU think: Where do Gen Z's socialist sympathies come from? What does it mean for the future of America? Make your voice heard in the poll below:

Do you believe the Gen Z support for socialism comes from perceived economic frustrations like unaffordable housing and a rigged system favoring the wealthy and corporations?

Do you believe the Gen Z support for socialism, including many Trump supporters, is due to a lack of education about the historical failures of socialist systems?

Do you think that these poll results indicate a growing generational divide that could lead to more political instability and authoritarian tendencies in America's future?

Do you think that this poll implies that America's long-term stability relies on older generations teaching Gen Z and younger to prioritize self-reliance, free-market ideals, and personal accountability?

Do you think the Gen Z support for Trump is an opportunity for conservatives to win them over with anti-establishment reforms that preserve liberty?