Blog
LatestArticlesVideos
Radio
LivePodcastSerialsStations
TV
Podcasts
The Glenn Beck ProgramThe Glenn Beck PodcastThe Beck Story
Fine Art
Real Estate
More
AboutCharityBooksSponsorsShopContact
SEARCH
Live Radio

©2024 MERCURY RADIO ARTS.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

TERMS OF USE | PRIVACY POLICY

Live

Glenn's Show Prep

Ever wanted to change your life? This woman went from a "glamorous" life on Wall Street to hunting on the Great Plains

October 24, 2014
Wilson

Writer

Georgia Pelligrini had a cushy job in finance - but one day she needed to make a change. What was the pivot point that led her from the skyscrapers of New York City to sleeping under a tablecloth in a rundown house in France? Glenn sat down with the woman who has become a modern day pioneer and talked to her about living off the land and getting back in touch with the things that really matter in life.

"I realized at some point that I had a college degree, but I don’t know how to fix my own toilet. And it’s sort of like why not face those vulnerabilities? Not because we shouldn’t be vulnerable, but because there’s something really satisfying about sort of pushing through that and learning," Pelligrini told Glenn.

"I actually went to culinary school in New York, and then I cooked at a restaurant, a Michelin restaurant in the south of France, and I literally, I slept in a sort of rundown house under a tablecloth I had stolen from the restaurant. I had three green frogs living in my bathroom, and it couldn’t have been further away from that sort of glamorous life or, “glamorous,” in quotes, I should say," she continued.

"I loved it so much it didn’t feel like work. And I knew that’s why it was right. And while I was there, that’s when Lehman Brothers collapsed, and I just knew in that moment it was the best decision I could’ve made because I felt like I was alive again. I was feeding my soul. I wasn’t feeding my bank account, but I was feeding my soul."

What made her decide to Lehman and change her life?

"I just think it was one of those nights when I was just sitting there really late into the night at my cubicle and the fluorescent glow of the computer screen, I just thought to myself this can’t be the answer, you know? This can’t be the rest of my life. And I realized that the longer I stayed in it, the harder it was going to be to leave. You know, I think we get used to sort of these creature comforts, and I was looking at the people that were older than me that were sort of stuck. And then look what happened. They lost all their money."

Below is a transcript of the full interview

Glenn: Georgia is here, and we’re thrilled to have her because she is somebody who has been to the top of one field, left, and climbed up to the top of another field. And she is an empowered woman and believes in empowering other women. Also, she is just one of the best chefs out there. I don’t know what you think you can do with—

Georgia: I’m excited for the challenge.

Glenn: Yeah, I know. I’m on this crazy diet. We were talking before we went on. I’m on this crazy diet, and it’s not a diet. My body was breaking down, and I think we are poisoning ourselves with food.

Georgia: I agree with you completely.

Glenn: I don’t think people really understand. You know, people always say what happened to peanut allergies? You can’t bring peanut butter in. That didn’t happen…well, there’s a reason for that. Everything we’re doing.

Georgia: It’s true. And when you think about our grandparents’ generation, they just took pure ingredients and let them speak for themselves. It was very simple, pure food, and now there’s weird things in everything that we’re eating, corn, and, you know, we are poisoning ourselves, absolutely.

Glenn: Everybody I know is having some sort of problem, and the last thing we look is at our food, and I think it’s because it’s not convenient, and it’s really expensive now.

Georgia: And we don’t really know how to make anything anymore. We don’t know how to make anything basic with just a few simple ingredients. We’re used to just sort of a quick fix because we’re so starved for time.

Glenn: Right, and our body is not reacting well to it.

Georgia: Right.

Glenn: Tell me about leaving Lehman Brothers.

Georgia: Best decision I made, but it was also really scary.

Glenn: Had to be terrifying.

Georgia: Yeah, it was. You know, it was the path of least resistance coming out of college. You know, poor college student, when you’re sort of offered money, and it’s very alluring, you just sort of go for it, the path of least resistance.

Glenn: Was it a thing where you said I don’t like what we’re doing here or was it just you just weren’t fulfilled?

Georgia: You know, sort of as I sat there and watched the cafeteria dinner cart roll by night after night and had the glow of the Excel spreadsheet, I just was looking for something to feed my soul again. You know, I had grown up on the same land that my great-grandfather lived on. I was lucky in a sense that I really had a deep connection to my roots to where I come from. You know, I grew up using crushed berries and grass as my ink in painting and hanging from vines until they fell and making wreaths. And so I was looking for a way to sort of get back to my roots and sort of that DIY improvisational spirit of our grandparents’ generation.

Glenn: My daughter said…she came over. She’s been making apple butter with my wife…and she had a baby. She was a New Yorker, you know, just loves it, always wanted to live there. Moved down here, and she had a baby, and she said, “Dad, I just need to know how to can. I need to know how to make things from scratch”—total change but a natural change.

Georgia: Absolutely. It’s sort of a natural human instinct. You know, we all used to know how to…our grandparents, at least, used to know how to weed and dig and, you know, preserve and can. It was sort of just a way of life. It’s, you know, what I call manual literacy, and I think we live in a culture now where we’re surfing that information highway, you know, living in a virtual reality where it’s sort of everything is fast-paced. We’re not really connecting on a human level, and I think the more that we get back in touch with that, I think the more grounded we are, the more satisfying it is. We’re better to one another. We’re better to the land around us, I think.

Glenn: I find it interesting that we are…I just bought an old from the 70s, and it’s nothing special. It was just original engine with no computers on it at all. And I want to learn with my sons how to fix…I’m not handy at all. I have no idea.

Georgia: I love it. That’s great.

Glenn: But we laid underneath the car. It’s an old Toyota Land Cruiser, and we laid underneath it, and all of us just underneath and just looking up and going “I have no idea what that is,” just trying to figure out what things were.

Georgia: How fun is that to learn? I mean, it’s so satisfying. I realized at some point that I had a college degree, but I don’t know how to fix my own toilet. And it’s sort of like why not face those vulnerabilities? Not because we shouldn’t be vulnerable, but because there’s something really satisfying about sort of pushing through that and learning.

Glenn: I would imagine that a lot of people thought you were crazy for leaving, right?

Georgia: Yeah. I mean, I had spent all that money on an education, and I just sort of said I’m leaving it all.

Glenn: And then you went to France for another education.

Georgia: Yeah.

Glenn: Le Cordon Bleu?

Georgia: I actually went to culinary school in New York, and then I cooked at a restaurant, a Michelin restaurant in the south of France, and I literally, I slept in a sort of rundown house under a tablecloth I had stolen from the restaurant. I had three green frogs living in my bathroom, and it couldn’t have been further away from that sort of glamorous life or, “glamorous,” in quotes, I should say.

Glenn: Did you ever regret it at that time?

Georgia: I loved it. I loved it so much it didn’t feel like work. And I knew that’s why it was right. And while I was there, that’s when Lehman Brothers collapsed, and I just knew in that moment it was the best decision I could’ve made because I felt like I was alive again. I was feeding my soul. I wasn’t feeding my bank account, but I was feeding my soul.

Glenn: What was your pivot point? What was the thing where you hit and you said you know what, this is not who I am?

Georgia: I just think it was one of those nights when I was just sitting there really late into the night at my cubicle and the fluorescent glow of the computer screen, I just thought to myself this can’t be the answer, you know? This can’t be the rest of my life. And I realized that the longer I stayed in it, the harder it was going to be to leave. You know, I think we get used to sort of these creature comforts, and I was looking at the people that were older than me that were sort of stuck. And then look what happened. They lost all their money.

Glenn: So you were on with Dana, what, a couple weeks ago?

Georgia: Yeah.

Glenn: Yeah, you were on with Dana, and you had a women’s event where, you know, you invited people to come out and learn to be you. And we were talking before we went on the air. Tell me about the people you met.

Georgia: So one of the sort of unlikely things that happened when I started doing what I do is that I started getting e-mails from women around the world, and they were sort of…a lot of them were saying I think you can help me, and that really surprised me. And they would share their stories of vulnerability, things they were going through in life, cancer, major life traumas, and they asked if they could go on an adventure with me. And I was sort of surprised at first. I thought why me? But I realized that in a sense they could relate to me because I had lived that corporate life. I didn’t grow up living off the land always. I didn’t live that life currently.

Glenn: Scary for people who don’t—

Georgia: Yeah, and so I basically just started what I call “adventure getaways” for women, and they’re around the country. I host them a few times a year, and it’s one of the most amazing things that I get to do because I meet these women who really are there to roll up their sleeves and experience life more viscerally, step outside their comfort zone and face those vulnerabilities.

I just had one woman come who told me that she’d actually died for 45 minutes, and she came back to life. And when she came back to life, it took a while to recover fully, but it just changed the way that she wanted to live her life. It changed her perspective on what was important, and she was there to face more fears, to do things that she’d never done before. And that’s just so special and empowering to see those women doing that.

Glenn: How fantastic of an experience for you.

Georgia: Yeah, it’s totally a blessing that I get to do that and especially a blessing when I hear from parents about their young daughters looking up to me or realizing…I had one I’ll never forget. An uncle wrote to me and said that his daughter was no longer depressed, and it was because she realized that there was nothing that girls couldn’t do, and I had made her realize that. And I think that’s what makes me hop out of bed every morning, you know, thinking that so many young women especially don’t have role models these days and don’t get to—

Glenn: Not good role models. I’m tired of people saying that they’re feminists and, you know, this girl power and stuff, but they’re eviscerating what it is to be a woman.

Georgia: You can be distinctly feminine and still roll up your sleeves in the world.

Glenn: Right, and you don’t have to hate men, and you don’t have to be against things.

Georgia: It doesn’t have to be an angry thing.

Glenn: No, it doesn’t. It doesn’t. Okay, when we come back, I gave a challenge of…I can’t have tomatoes. I can’t have pasta. I can’t have bread. I can’t have anything. I can’t have anything, and so you said, “What do you miss?” And because I live with an Italian woman, I said pasta, pasta. Make that without any of the ingredients.

Georgia: Game on. I accept your challenge.

Watch the cooking challenge take place below:

You can get the recipe for Wild Boar Bolognese below*:

Ingredients

1 stalk celery

1 small white onion

1 carrot, peeled

2 tablespoons grapeseed oil

2 pounds ground wild boar

Salt and pepper

1 tablespoon tomato paste

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 bay leaf

½ cup red wine

¼ cup marsala

4 cups crushed tomatoes

1 pound pasta, cooked according to package instructions

6 fresh basil leaves, torn

1 tablespoon fresh oregano leaves

Instructions

In a food processor, combine the celery, onion and carrot and blend finely. Set aside.

In a large heavy bottomed pot over medium flame, heat the oil. Add the meat and brown it for about 10 minutes until cooked and releasing its juices. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Add the vegetable mixture and sweat further until softened, about another 10 minutes.

Add the tomato paste, garlic, and bay leaf, and stir.

Deglaze the pan with red wine and Marsala. scrape up the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon to distribute the flavor.

Add the crushed tomatoes and bay leaf, stir and partly cover. Let simmer over low heat for 30 minutes.

Serve over your favorite pasta or rice and garnish with fresh basil and oregano leaves.

*For Glenn's crazy diet version:

Substitute the tomatoes with roasted beets and carrots and Acorn Squash.

Substitute the red wine and marsala with chicken stalk and coconut milk

Substitute the pasta with spaghetti squash and zucchini

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

Tasos Katopodis / Stringer | Getty Images

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

Bloomberg / Contributor | Getty Images

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.