After listening to former D.C. mayor Marion Barry berate a local investigative reporter for daring to question why he had not paid fines on several years’ worth of parking and traffic violations, Glenn found himself wondering what we can do as a society to eliminate this sort of ‘above the law,’ lack of accountability mindset from not just politics but daily life. As Glenn explained, it is time to stop digging our heels in and start taking responsibility for our actions.

Earlier this year, Glenn made headlines when he told Fox News’ Megyn Kelly he is remorseful for the role he played in the partisan divide in this country. While the media twisted that admission a million different ways, Glenn was actually talking about the rhetoric he and others in the news and opinion realm used that ultimately further divided people.

“I'm thinking out loud here… I think we played a role in helping [Barry] get re-elected because of the way… our words were used by him so effectively to make it look like we were demonizing him,” Glenn said. “So the right was coming out, and we were saying things. And they would turn things around and make it about race. We're ‘attacking’ him.”

As Glenn explained, the language coopted by both the left and right has brought us to this point of complete polarization. Take, for instance, the term ‘Obamacare.’

“We've been used. We've been played. And we also participated in it unbeknownst to us,” Glenn said. “And that's why when you hear people say, ‘We gladly called it Obamacare.’ ‘We want to make sure everybody knows it's ‘Obamacare.’ But every time we do that, his followers say, ‘Oh, really? Yeah, that's right: It is Obamacare.’ And the sides just get stronger and stronger. It pisses us off. It pisses them off.”

The same thing is happening in the Israel/Gaza conflict. Glenn does not believe the outrage expressed against Israel has anything to do with the death of the Palestinian people and everything to do with uniting the Muslim people against a common enemy.

“I contend the Palestinians are absolutely being used – and even Hamas is being used. Nobody cares about the Palestinians in the Middle East. They've never cared about the Palestinians in the Middle East,” Glenn said. “Here's what they are interested in… They're interested in right now uniting the Muslim world against something. It's really, really easy for leaders to be against something. It's very difficult to be for something… And that's exactly what's happening.”

When the Muslim population unites against the Jewish people or the Western way of life they have what Glenn described as a “common purpose,” “something that they are trying to do globally.”

While it may seem as though the United States is at impasse, Glenn believes there is a chance to begin to right the wrongs. It will require, however, a conscious return to the principles and values this country was founded on and the right leadership.

“I contend it's happening all over the world… We're all picking sides and digging our heels in,” Glenn concluded. “The world is going to cry for a leader very soon… because the world is going into chaos. And believe me, there will be a charismatic leader that will appear. Do not run to him… Be very careful.”

Front page image courtesy of the AP