Glenn breaks down the difference between 1776 and 2014

April 16, 2014

The Glenn Beck Program

David Barton will be joining Glenn on Wednesday's Glenn Beck Program to discuss the standoff in Nevada. David knew several people who were on the ground at the ranch, and he confirmed the violent rhetoric of the people lined up at the gate was not consistent with the general tone of the protestors. With that in mind, Glenn contrasted the state of the United States today versus the state of the country in 1776.

Update: Scroll down to watch a highlight from Glenn's interview with David Barton

“Ever since his Bundy ranch situation thing broke out, our listeners have been asking – some sincerely, some very disingenuously – why I don't believe it's time for violence; and if this isn't it, what is it; and the difference between now and 1776,” Glenn said. “Hmm. That's a hard one. First of all, as an excuse for violent uprising, cattle grazing wouldn't be [at] the tippy top of my list.”

As Glenn explained, Glenn has a “ton of sympathy” for Bundy, but he also recognizes that the rancher did not pay grazing fees for some 20 years. While in theory this should be a solid argument in favor of states rights, Glenn believes the case falls apart when you begin to look at the details.

Don't get me wrong. I have a ton of sympathy for Cliven Bundy. He has sounded like a very nice man to me. But let's not forget he's also a man who decided to not pay his fees for his cattle to graze on the land for 20 years. He is also a guy who wants the federal government disarmed. And he says that beyond the cattle. This is more about getting the United States government to disarm. Again, I would like that to happen. I'm not sure that the cattle rights is the way to make that happen. But that's his stand. And you know, no matter whether you recognize or whether he recognizes the land as federal or not, whether he believes it should be turned over to the state or not, whether I believe it – I do believe that – right now it isn't his land.

So let's try to mold this into a states rights issue or some sort of sovereignty argument. Okay. It doesn't seem like the best case to me. The land isn't his. And he hasn't paid the fees. And I understand all of the things that happened in 1976. I get that. And that is something that there are legislators that are actually trying to work on that, and we should support those people.

When it comes to the differences between the lead up to the American Revolution and today, Glenn sees one major, game-changing difference: Representation. And while that representative system is under attack, Glenn believes it still works.

As far as the difference between 1776 and today: Has anybody noticed that we have representation and they didn't? ‘No taxation without representation.’ I mean, do you think they put Ted Cruz in or you did? Do you think the big government guys put Mike Lee in or you did? Do you think that Matt Bevin is going to be beating Mitch McConnell because of the big government guys or because you will beat him? Which is it? We have representation.

And yes, as we just talked about, I think that we are headed towards an end of that representation. But while it has gotten bad, it is not over yet. That was the biggest issue for those guys, and, you know, a fairly big advantage for us. They didn't have it. We do. There was no one in a position of power for the colonists, no one who could go before the king or parliament and carry any weight. None. I mean they sent Ben Franklin how many times?

We have a constitution. They didn't. And it is hanging by a thread. Something we have warned about. I mean, man, it's on fire right now. But it is there nonetheless providing the protections and the protections the colonists absolutely didn't have. People don't even know the Constitution. How are you expecting people to actually fight for the Constitution or even understand your argument when they don't even know the Constitution?

While the U.S. government is currently spitting on the Constitution, Glenn questioned whether or not we are worse off than Martin Luther King, Jr. was in the 1950s and 60s.

Do you believe that you are as bad or worse off now than Martin Luther King was? I don't. I don't. I hope to never get there, but I don't feel that way. Martin Luther King wanted to defend himself and his family… And he would have defended himself and his family… He applied for a concealed carry permit. He was denied by the white man, by the government. Again, have you been denied your right?

Was Martin Luther King a coward for doing what he did? Was he a coward for doing it? Do you think that it made him popular with everybody in the black community? Do you think it made him popular to take that stand when people wanted blood? They were tired of it, really tired of it. Was he a coward? How long were people engaged in that battle… 200 years? 200 years.

Ultimately, Glenn believes this current movement of small government, liberty-minded Americans standing up for themselves has been about five years in the making, and the movement still has a long way to go before it reaches the tipping point the colonists faced in 1776.

So for possibly five years, some of you are have been actively involved in trying to bring about change. There are other people who have been engaged their whole life… Ron Paul been engaged his whole life and he's been begging people to wake up for a long, long time… [But] en masse… it's just starting to now…

The colonists, they were engaged for decades. They went back and forth to Britain. A 3,000-mile journey over the water in a ship... They took their grievances with them. They did that over and over again for 30, 40 years.

It's not the same. God forbid we ever get there. Maybe we will someday. But it's not now. And peace is the answer.

Watch David Barton and Glenn's full conversation about the conflict in Nevada from Wednesday night's episode on TheBlaze TV. Not a subscriber? Start your 14-day free trial HERE.

Is Mayor Bass HIDING the real reason behind LA’s riots?

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Protesters wore Che shirts, waved foreign flags, and chanted Marxist slogans — but corporate media still peddles the ‘spontaneous outrage’ narrative.

I sat in front of the television this weekend, watching the glittering spectacle of corporate media do what it does best: tell me not to believe my lying eyes.

According to the polished news anchors, what I was witnessing in Los Angeles was “mostly peaceful protests.” They said it with all the earnest gravitas of someone reading a bedtime story, while behind them the streets looked like a deleted scene from “Mad Max.” Federal agents dodged concrete slabs as if it were an Olympic sport. A man in a Che Guevara crop top tried to set a police car on fire. Dumpster fires lit the night sky like some sort of postapocalyptic luau.

If you suggest that violent criminals should be deported or imprisoned, you’re painted as the extremist.

But sure, it was peaceful. Tear gas clouds and Molotov cocktails are apparently the incense and candles of this new civic religion.

The media expects us to play along — to nod solemnly while cities burn and to call it “activism.”

Let’s call this what it is: delusion.

Another ‘peaceful’ riot

If the Titanic “mostly floated” and the Hindenburg “mostly flew,” then yes, the latest L.A. riots are “mostly peaceful.” But history tends to care about those tiny details at the end — like icebergs and explosions.

The coverage was full of phrases like “spontaneous,” “grassroots,” and “organic,” as if these protests materialized from thin air. But many of the signs and banners looked like they’d been run off at ComradesKinkos.com — crisp print jobs with slogans promoting socialism, communism, and various anti-American regimes. Palestinian flags waved beside banners from Mexico, Venezuela, Cuba, and El Salvador. It was like someone looted a United Nations souvenir shop and turned it into a revolution starter pack.

And guess who funded it? You did.

According to at least one report, much of this so-called spontaneous rage fest was paid for with your tax dollars. Tens of millions of dollars from the Biden administration ensured your paycheck funded Trotsky cosplayers chucking firebombs at local coffee shops.

The same aging radicals from the 1970s — now armed with tenure, pensions, and book deals — are cheering from the sidelines, waxing poetic about how burning a squad car is “liberation.” These are the same folks who once wore tie-dye and flew to help guerrilla fighters and now applaud chaos under the banner of “progress.”

This is not progress. It is not protest. It’s certainly not justice or peace.

It’s an attempt to dismantle the American system — and if you dare say that out loud, you’re labeled a bigot, a fascist, or, worst of all, someone who notices reality.

And what sparked this taxpayer-funded riot? Enforcement against illegal immigrants — many of whom, according to official arrest records, are repeat violent offenders. These are not the “dreamers” or the huddled masses yearning to breathe free. These are criminals with long, violent rap sheets — allowed to remain free by a broken system that prioritizes ideology over public safety.

Photo by Kyle Grillot/Bloomberg | Getty Images

This is what people are rioting over — not the mistreatment of the innocent, but the arrest of the guilty. And in California, that’s apparently a cause for outrage.

The average American, according to Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, is supposed to worry they’ll be next. But unless you’re in the habit of assaulting people, smuggling, or firing guns into people’s homes, you probably don’t have much to fear.

Still, if you suggest that violent criminals should be deported or imprisoned, you’re painted as the extremist.

The left has lost it

This is what happens when a culture loses its grip on reality. We begin to call arson “art,” lawlessness “liberation,” and criminals “community members.” We burn the good and excuse the evil — all while the media insists it’s just “vibes.”

But it’s not just vibes. It’s violence, paid for by you, endorsed by your elected officials, and whitewashed by newsrooms with more concern for hair and lighting than for truth.

This isn’t activism. This is anarchism. And Democratic politicians are fueling the flame.

This article originally appeared on TheBlaze.com.

Glenn Beck's 'No King but Christ' merch: Will faith STOP the chaos?

On Saturday, June 14, 2025 (President Trump's 79th birthday), the "No Kings" protest—a noisy spectacle orchestrated by progressive heavyweights like Randi Weingarten and her union cronies—will take place in Washington, D.C.

Thousands will chant "no thrones, no crowns, no king," claiming to fend off authoritarianism and corruption.

But let’s cut through the noise. The protesters' grievances—rigged courts, deported citizens, slashed services—are a house of cards. Zero Americans have been deported, Federal services are still bloated, and if anyone is rigging the courts, it's the Left. So why rally now, especially with riots already flaring in L.A.?

Chaos isn’t a side effect here—it’s the plan.

This is not about liberty; it's a power grab dressed up as resistance. The "No Kings" crowd wants you to buy their script: government’s the enemy—unless they’re the ones running it. It's the identical script from 2020: same groups, same tactics, same goal, different name.

But Glenn is flipping the script. He's dropping a new "No Kings but Christ" merch line, just in time for the protest. Merch that proclaims one truth: no earthly ruler owns us; only Christ does. It’s a bold, faith-rooted rejection of this secular circus.

Why should you care? Because this won’t just be a rally—it’ll be a symptom. Distrust in institutions is sky-high, and rightly so, but the "No Kings" answer is a hollow shout into the void. Glenn’s merch begs the question: if you’re ditching kings, who’s really in charge? Get yours and wear the answer proudly.

Truth unleashed: 95% say media’s excuses for anti-Semitism are a LIE

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Glenn asked for YOUR take on the rising tide of anti-Semitism, and you delivered. After the Boulder attack, you made it clear: this isn’t just a news story—it’s a crisis the elites are dodging.

Your verdict is unmistakable: 96% of you see anti-Semitism as a growing threat in the U.S., brushing aside the establishment’s weak excuses. The spin does not fool you—95% say the media is deliberately downplaying the issue, hiding a cultural rot that’s all too real. And the government’s response? A whopping 95% of you call it a disgraceful failure, leaving communities exposed.

Your voices shatter the silence. Why should we trust narratives that dismiss your concerns? With 97% of you warning that anti-Semitism will surge in the years ahead, you’re demanding action and accountability. This is your stand for truth.

You spoke, and Glenn listened. Your bold response sends a message to those who’d rather ignore the problem. Keep raising your voice at Glennbeck.com—your input drives the fight for justice. Take part in the next poll and continue shaping the conversation.

Want to make your voice heard? Check out more polls HERE.

JPMorgan Chase CEO issues dire warning about America's prosperity

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Jamie Dimon has a grim forecast for America — and it’s not a recession. He sees a fragile nation drifting into crisis while its leaders fight over TikTok.

Jamie Dimon, CEO of JPMorgan Chase — one of the most powerful financial institutions on earth — issued a warning the other day. But it wasn’t about interest rates, crypto, or monetary policy.

Speaking at the Reagan National Defense Forum in California, Dimon pivoted from economic talking points to something far more urgent: the fragile state of America’s physical preparedness.

We are living in a moment of stunning fragility — culturally, economically, and militarily. It means we can no longer afford to confuse digital distractions with real resilience.

“We shouldn’t be stockpiling Bitcoin,” Dimon said. “We should be stockpiling guns, tanks, planes, drones, and rare earths. We know we need to do it. It’s not a mystery.”

He cited internal Pentagon assessments showing that if war were to break out in the South China Sea, the United States has only enough precision-guided missiles for seven days of sustained conflict.

Seven days — that’s the gap between deterrence and desperation.

This wasn’t a forecast about inflation or a hedge against market volatility. It was a blunt assessment from a man whose words typically move markets.

“America is the global hegemon,” Dimon continued, “and the free world wants us to be strong.” But he warned that Americans have been lulled into “a false sense of security,” made complacent by years of peacetime prosperity, outsourcing, and digital convenience:

We need to build a permanent, long-term, realistic strategy for the future of America — economic growth, fiscal policy, industrial policy, foreign policy. We need to educate our citizens. We need to take control of our economic destiny.

This isn’t a partisan appeal — it’s a sobering wake-up call. Because our economy and military readiness are not separate issues. They are deeply intertwined.

Dimon isn’t alone in raising concerns. Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt has warned that China has already overtaken the U.S. in key defense technologies — hypersonic missiles, quantum computing, and artificial intelligence to mention a few. Retired military leaders continue to highlight our shrinking shipyards and dwindling defense manufacturing base.

Even the dollar, once assumed untouchable, is under pressure as BRICS nations work to undermine its global dominance. Dimon, notably, has said this effort could succeed if the U.S. continues down its current path.

So what does this all mean?

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It means we are living in a moment of stunning fragility — culturally, economically, and militarily. It means we can no longer afford to confuse digital distractions with real resilience.

It means the future belongs to nations that understand something we’ve forgotten: Strength isn’t built on slogans or algorithms. It’s built on steel, energy, sovereignty, and trust.

And at the core of that trust is you, the citizen. Not the influencer. Not the bureaucrat. Not the lobbyist. At the core is the ordinary man or woman who understands that freedom, safety, and prosperity require more than passive consumption. They require courage, clarity, and conviction.

We need to stop assuming someone else will fix it. The next crisis — whether military, economic, or cyber — will not politely pause for our political dysfunction to sort itself out. It will demand leadership, unity, and grit.

And that begins with looking reality in the eye. We need to stop talking about things that don’t matter and cut to the chase: The U.S. is in a dangerously fragile position, and it’s time to rebuild and refortify — from the inside out.