Glenn welcomes ‘The People’s Sheriff’ David Clarke to TheBlaze Radio Network!

TheBlaze Radio Network announced a new podcast entitled 'David Clarke: The People's Sheriff', today during Glenn's radio show. Host David Clarke is the current Sheriff of Milwaukee County, Wisconsin and is an outspoken defender of individual liberties.

The weekly, one-hour podcast will launch on Saturdays beginning June 6 and will focus on law enforcement issues, knowing your rights, commentary on current affairs, racial issues, 2nd Amendment matters, and the importance of empowering individuals rather than the state.

TheBlaze Radio Network's VP of Programming, Dom Theodore, said, "Sheriff Clarke calls it like it is - with an emphasis on common sense and individual responsibility. I'm thrilled to have him join our lineup of amazing talent at TheBlaze Radio Network, where we are committed to being a leader in digital spoken word content."

Sheriff Clarke said, "What an honor to be a part of TheBlaze Radio Network! This podcast is an opportunity to add to the conversation of well-thought-out reason on issues confronting America. I look forward to being a part of TheBlaze family, working to keep the public well informed."

Sheriff Clarke joined Glenn on radio this morning to discuss his new show, the militarization of police, and more.

GLENN: Today, I want to make a major announcement on something we're doing with Blaze Radio. Blaze Radio is -- is kind of an experiment that we've been working on and really kind of kept it pretty quiet. We don't really advertise it or anything else. And it is already the 19th largest stream in the world.

It is wildly successful and allows you to be informed where you want, when you want, how you want. And we have made some additions to Blaze Radio that have been really exciting lately. And we want to make an announcement that we're adding another voice to Blaze Radio. And it's Milwaukee County Sheriff David Clarke. He is a remarkable man and a voice that I think needs to be heard. Well-spoken, well-thought out. And we wanted to welcome him to the Mercury family now.

David, Sheriff, how are you?

DAVID: Good, Glenn. How are you doing? First of all, thank you for this opportunity. When I first came up, I said wow. I've had a lot to say recently over the last, you know, four, five, six, seven, eight years. But I've never had my own platform to do it. So it was always a situation where I had to be led by someone else's platform and whether they wanted to take a discussion. And I am so thrilled to be a part of the Blaze network, a brand that you have built, that you've grown and you've nurtured. And I simply want to add value to what you started. And participate in this larger conversation about America. You mentioned, it's not the country that I recognize anymore either.

But I think that it's important to provide pushback and a countermessage to this modern liberalism that's in full throttle, and that's what I want to do

GLENN: David, first of all, you'll add value. I've heard some of the test broadcasts that you've done. They're remarkable. My guy who used to be the head of CBS radio and Clear Channel radio, a truly remarkable man who is working with you on my behalf. He says that he believes you're one of the biggest talents he's ever heard. And that's only after the first show. You're a natural at this.

But more importantly, we're bringing you on, David, because you can speak with authority. And, you know, black lives matter. But white lives matter too. Young lives matter. Old lives matter. Blue lives matter. All life matters.

And we're getting into a place, David, that I don't -- I don't think this country has seen since the 1960s, and we're headed for real trouble with policing. With the militarization, with the disenfranchisement of the police, with the pitting of the police against the traditional supporters of the police, our cities are going to be in real trouble because I believe there's a real effort underfoot through people like the Nation of Islam and Al Sharpton and some of the friends of the president and the Black Panthers, to literally set our cities on fire. So we need a reasonable voice that can tell us and speak from a position of authority on what to do.

What do our policemen even do?

DAVID: That's kind of interesting. As you know -- many of your listeners may not -- I have 37 years of urban law enforcement experience. All my education -- my bachelor's degree is in Criminal Justice Management. My master's degree is in Security Studies, Homeland Security related to the United States Naval Academy Post Graduate School. It's been my life. It really has. I bleed blue. I tell people, if you cut me open, you won't find red. I bleed blue.

But, Glenn, I sat up and watched after the days of Ferguson, where this proud profession that I've been a part of just came under attack. And I've predicted -- and not because I'm in the prediction business. But I knew. I know cops. I know this profession. I know the importance -- cops matter. I know the importance that law enforcement and public safety has, especially in your urban centers. We have densely populated areas. You don't have all the social controls necessary for these things to work themselves out. So you need to have an intermediary. Especially in the American ghetto, that intermediary is the American police officer. White, black, Hispanic, Asian -- who else is going down into these areas? When we -- our police come under attack. It's, you know, the white cop who shoots the unarmed black guy. And our cops are racist.

You know, these are the smears that we hear. And I go, wait a minute. Who else is going down there? I don't see the politician down there. I don't see the loudmouth demagogue like Al Sharpton down there. It's the American police officer who puts his or her life on the line, is willing to sacrifice their life, if it means that, in service to who in the American ghetto? Other black people. So to hear them maligned like this really bothered me. So I decided to step up and start to fight back, like I said. Countermessage. Defend this proposition. Look, I've said -- and I know this, and everybody knows. But I'll say it anyway. Are cops perfect? Not by any stretch of the imagination. Are police departments perfect? Not even close.

However, these communities we're talking about, these are the finest they have. They go down there with the best of intentions to do right, to do it within the rules. And every once in a while, something goes horribly wrong. But then to come down and throw all the maladies and the pathologies of the urban ghetto on the back of the American police officer and say, you go down there and do something about it. Keep them from killing each other, raping, robbing, and pillaging, and, oh, by the way, if something goes horribly wrong, you know, like it did in Ferguson and in New York and in South Carolina and in other areas, including here in Milwaukee County, all of a sudden it's, oh, the cops are the bad guys now. Let's go attack the cops.

Glenn, we expect that. Because we've seen that before from cop haters. All my 37 years. I know people that just don't like the police. We expect that from that -- that cabal. What we did not expect this time around was to see it come from an unlikely source. And that unlikely source is the political class, who -- we know we need their backing. Not only for resources, but at times when, yeah, maybe we made a mistake or even if we didn't make a mistake, like in the case of Ferguson, there was no mistake made. We don't expect the political class to turn us upside down and to attack us and want us criminally indicted and so on and so forth. That's what's different this time around

GLENN: We're talking to David Clarke. He's the sheriff in Milwaukee County. And if the name sounds familiar and you can't quite place it, it's because he was the guy who was featured on radio ads in Milwaukee saying citizens should not rely on police for protection. They should arm themselves. And they should be -- they're the first responders. And we have talked to him several times. He is fearless. And speaks his -- speaks his mind. And, quite honestly, I think that's what we need.

David, you know, as -- as we're watching this -- I think the police are being set up, myself. We are now starting to see that they're not patrolling because they won't get the backup they deserve. You're also seeing the decay because of the militarization, you're seeing people like me who I'm a big supporter of the police. But I'm gravely concerned about the militarization of our police because of what this administration has stated its goals.

We have now Al Sharpton who is one of the czars with this administration coming out and saying that the Justice Department needs to take over local policing. When the president says he wants to cut back on the militarization, what he's saying is, he wants to -- he wants to just not sell them tanks. But in that executive order, and I don't know if you've read it, in that executive order, it talks about the Pentagon and the Justice Department partnering with the local police, all the way down to things like uniforms. And what their uniforms will look like. It's a very frightening thing.

How can you help bridge the gap on making sure that the cops know that the average citizen still has respect for them? But we are concerned about some of the things that they're now being required to do and some of the things this administration -- we're trying to speak out and warn and say, look, you're going to be left alone because you're being set up. Do you believe that? And how would you respond?

DAVID: First of all, let's unpack that a little bit because there's a lot there. Your concern. I share that concern. I'm not at war with my community here in Milwaukee County. And I don't think any agency -- I have said from the beginning that that 1033 Program needs better oversight. There's no doubt about that. But I don't think that the president should have thrown the baby out with the bathwater. He said some of this equipment belongs in a battlefield. And my first thought was, has he been down in the American ghetto recently? I know he lives life in a bubble.

When you hear, you know, 15 dead, 37 shot in Baltimore in a weekend -- on Memorial Day weekend. When you hear 40 people shot in a month. When you go to Chicago and you look at, in one weekend, Glenn, 15 dead, 37 injured, 40 injured, that sounds like a battlefield. That doesn't mean that we should do overkill in terms of some of the overplus equipment. I think it needs oversight. Each agency should have to make a stronger case as to why they need this equipment. Some of this equipment is missing. It's not even accounted for. So I think it needs more oversight.

However, I think the worse thing that we can do in the United States is federalize local policing. The Founding Fathers didn't want a federal police force. As far as I'm concerned, local policing is a state's rights issue. Each state is responsible for the -- securing the personal safety of their citizens in that city. There's a role for the federal government, and it's not running these agencies. It's not taking these agencies over. It's not telling these agencies, you know, one-size-fits-all. Training them. Setting up policies and standards.

And that's kind of what this whole 21st century task force that the president hastily threw together is trying to accomplish. You know, a one-size-fits-all. Every community is different. Every community's citizens -- and I think it's what you're speaking to, Glenn -- every community's citizens have different wants, needs, and standards. What they'll put up with, what they won't. So I think it needs to be left to the locals. I think it's a slap in the face of the state governments. Because if there's a problem in Ferguson with what was going on -- and there was. Okay. If there's a problem in one of these other cities as to what's going on, you have a state attorney general. You have other oversight. Each city has their own oversight board of civilians. And if they're not doing their job, well then, the state attorney general, I believe, should step in and maybe be that intermediary, not the United States attorney general and especially not the president of the United States.

GLENN: We're talking to Milwaukee County Sheriff David Clarke who is joining us now on Blaze Radio, Saturdays. It will be posted at noon Eastern at the Blaze.com/radio. A very outspoken guy. A guy who has been with us several times. And I want to take a quick break and come back and ask you one question. You're there in Milwaukee. I'd love to hear your impression of Scott Walker.

[BREAK]

GLENN: Milwaukee County Sheriff David Clarke joins us. He is the latest to join the Blaze Radio. You can find that at the Blaze.com/radio. And it will air on Saturdays. Or it will be posted on Saturdays. So you can hear him. He's fearless. He's the guy that Michael Bloomberg threw money hand over fist during his last campaign and he still won huge. He is a plainspoken guy who can speak with authority and tell you what's really going on from the police perspective. And we're proud to have him a part of Blaze Radio now because we're huge supporters of the police departments and they are coming under fire, big time.

Tell me about Scott Walker. Because we haven't -- we haven't quite made up our mind on him, David. From a distance, he seems to be good. But then there are times, wait a minute. He just kind of flip-flopped here. Is that who he is? Can you give us insight on him?

DAVID: First of all, I want to thank you again for the complimentary comments. I hope people do tune in on the Saturday podcasts. Give me a chance. I think they'll like it. As you know, I give people information unvarnished and no sugarcoating.

Full disclosure, first of all, I'm a friend of Scott Walker. We became friends because we both worked in Milwaukee government. I'm the Milwaukee County sheriff. Came in the same year that he did as County Executive, so we worked closely together. He's a strong supporter of law enforcement. Always made sure that we were properly funded.

But what I've learned about Scott Walker is he listens to people. He would come to me and say, Sheriff, I have this deal here or some funding situation. I want to know how this affects public safety. I would tell them. He's like, I don't know that I want to do that. He's very decisive, but he listens to his advisers. You can bet that he'll listen to his military commanders. You can bet that he'll listen to his economic advisers. But he will make the decision. He will not vacillate.

But the one thing I'm looking for. And I'm telling people now -- and I do have a bias about Scott Walker. But I say, vet everybody. Okay, they'll all do what you just mentioned. Every once in a while, you get a candidate, you say, hey, this guy is looking good. This woman is looking good. Then all of a sudden, boom. Oh, jeez. You know, flip-flop there. I'm not sure now.

That's what this process is supposed to do is weed all of that out. So I'm telling people. And I'll talk about this on some of my shows leading up into the 2016 election. But vet them all. They all have weaknesses. There's no perfect candidate. What I'm looking for is the person that will bring this country back to its founding principles. That's what we need right now. Leadership in that area. And I think that this process will allow us to identify that individual. I like Carly Fiorina. I like Marco Rubio. He has his issues. I like Ted Cruz. I'm not going to say I like all of them. I'm not a big fan of Rand Paul. Because he did some things that kind of insults me in meeting with Al Sharpton.

GLENN: Hang on. Okay. David, I'm out of time. But I'm hoping you'll give that story on one of your first podcasts. Thank you very much. Sheriff David Clarke new to the Blaze Radio.

The Crisis of Meaning: Searching for truth and purpose

Mario Tama / Staff | Getty Images

Anxiety, anger, and chronic dissatisfaction signal a country searching for meaning. Without truth and purpose, politics becomes a dangerous substitute for identity.

We have built a world overflowing with noise, convenience, and endless choice, yet something essential has slipped out of reach. You can sense it in the restless mood of the country, the anxiety among young people who cannot explain why they feel empty, in the angry confusion that dominates our politics.

We have more wealth than any nation in history, but the heart of the culture feels strangely malnourished. Before we can debate debt or elections, we must confront the reality that we created a world of things, but not a world of purpose.

You cannot survive a crisis you refuse to name, and you cannot rebuild a world whose foundations you no longer understand.

What we are living through is not just economic or political dysfunction. It is the vacuum that appears when a civilization mistakes abundance for meaning.

Modern life is stuffed with everything except what the human soul actually needs. We built systems to make life faster, easier, and more efficient — and then wondered why those systems cannot teach our children who they are, why they matter, or what is worth living for.

We tell the next generation to chase success, influence, and wealth, turning childhood into branding. We ask kids what they want to do, not who they want to be. We build a world wired for dopamine rather than dignity, and then we wonder why so many people feel unmoored.

When everything is curated, optimized, and delivered at the push of a button, the question “what is my life for?” gets lost in the static.

The crisis beneath the headlines

It is not just the young who feel this crisis. Every part of our society is straining under the weight of meaninglessness.

Look at the debt cycle — the mathematical fate no civilization has ever escaped once it crosses a threshold that we seem to have already blown by. While ordinary families feel the pressure, our leaders respond with distraction, with denial, or by rewriting the very history that could have warned us.

You cannot survive a crisis you refuse to name, and you cannot rebuild a world whose foundations you no longer understand.

We have entered a cultural moment where the noise is so loud that it drowns out the simplest truths. We are living in a country that no longer knows how to hear itself think.

So people go searching. Some drift toward the false promise of socialism, some toward the empty thrill of rebellion. Some simply check out. When a culture forgets what gives life meaning, it becomes vulnerable to every ideology that offers a quick answer.

The quiet return of meaning

And yet, quietly, something else is happening. Beneath the frustration and cynicism, many Americans are recognizing that meaning does not come from what we own, but from what we honor. It does not rise from success, but from virtue. It does not emerge from noise, but from the small, sacred things that modern life has pushed to the margins — the home, the table, the duty you fulfill, the person you help when no one is watching.

The danger is assuming that this rediscovery happens on its own. It does not.

Reorientation requires intention. It requires rebuilding the habits and virtues that once held us together. It requires telling the truth about our history instead of rewriting it to fit today’s narratives. And it requires acknowledging what has been erased: that meaning is inseparable from God’s presence in a nation’s life.

Harold M. Lambert / Contributor | Getty Images

Where renewal begins

We have built a world without stillness, and then we wondered why no one can hear the questions that matter. Those questions remain, whether we acknowledge them or not. They do not disappear just because we drown them in entertainment or noise. They wait for us, and the longer we ignore them, the more disoriented we become.

Meaning is still available. It is found in rebuilding the smallest, most human spaces — the places that cannot be digitized, globalized, or automated. The home. The family. The community.

These are the daily virtues that do not trend on social media, but that hold a civilization upright. If we want to repair this country, we begin there, exactly where every durable civilization has always begun: one virtue at a time, one tradition at a time, one generation at a time.

This article originally appeared on TheBlaze.com.

A break in trust: A NEW Watergate is brewing in plain sight

Gary Hershorn / Contributor | Getty Images

When institutions betray the public’s trust, the country splits, and the spiral is hard to stop.

Something drastic is happening in American life. Headlines that should leave us stunned barely register anymore. Stories that once would have united the country instead dissolve into silence or shrugs.

It is not apathy exactly. It is something deeper — a growing belief that the people in charge either cannot or will not fix what is broken.

When people feel ignored or betrayed, they will align with anyone who appears willing to fight on their behalf.

I call this response the Bubba effect. It describes what happens when institutions lose so much public trust that “Bubba,” the average American minding his own business, finally throws his hands up and says, “Fine. I will handle it myself.” Not because he wants to, but because the system that was supposed to protect him now feels indifferent, corrupt, or openly hostile.

The Bubba effect is not a political movement. It is a survival instinct.

What triggers the Bubba effect

We are watching the triggers unfold in real time. When members of Congress publicly encourage active duty troops to disregard orders from the commander in chief, that is not a political squabble. When a federal judge quietly rewrites the rules so one branch of government can secretly surveil another, that is not normal. That is how republics fall. Yet these stories glided across the news cycle without urgency, without consequence, without explanation.

When the American people see the leadership class shrug, they conclude — correctly — that no one is steering the ship.

This is how the Bubba effect spreads. It is not just individuals resisting authority. It is sheriffs refusing to enforce new policies, school boards ignoring state mandates, entire communities saying, “We do not believe you anymore.” It becomes institutional, cultural, national.

A country cracking from the inside

This effect can be seen in Dearborn, Michigan. In the rise of fringe voices like Nick Fuentes. In the Epstein scandal, where powerful people could not seem to locate a single accountable adult. These stories are different in content but identical in message: The system protects itself, not you.

When people feel ignored or betrayed, they will align with anyone who appears willing to fight on their behalf. That does not mean they suddenly agree with everything that person says. It means they feel abandoned by the institutions that were supposed to be trustworthy.

The Bubba effect is what fills that vacuum.

The dangers of a faithless system

A republic cannot survive without credibility. Congress cannot oversee intelligence agencies if it refuses to discipline its own members. The military cannot remain apolitical if its chain of command becomes optional. The judiciary cannot defend the Constitution while inventing loopholes that erase the separation of powers.

History shows that once a nation militarizes politics, normalizes constitutional shortcuts, or allows government agencies to operate without scrutiny, it does not return to equilibrium peacefully. Something will give.

The question is what — and when.

The responsibility now belongs to us

In a healthy country, this is where the media steps in. This is where universities, pastors, journalists, and cultural leaders pause the outrage machine and explain what is at stake. But today, too many see themselves not as guardians of the republic, but of ideology. Their first loyalty is to narrative, not truth.

The founders never trusted the press more than the public. They trusted citizens who understood their rights, lived their responsibilities, and demanded accountability. That is the antidote to the Bubba effect — not rage, but citizenship.

How to respond without breaking ourselves

Do not riot. Do not withdraw. Do not cheer on destruction just because you dislike the target. That is how nations lose themselves. Instead, demand transparency. Call your representatives. Insist on consequences. Refuse to normalize constitutional violations simply because “everyone does it.” If you expect nothing, you will get nothing.

Do not hand your voice to the loudest warrior simply because he is swinging a bat at the establishment. You do not beat corruption by joining a different version of it. You beat it by modeling the country you want to preserve: principled, accountable, rooted in truth.

Adam Gray / Stringer | Getty Images

Every republic reaches a moment when historians will later say, “That was the warning.” We are living in ours. But warnings are gifts if they are recognized. Institutions bend. People fail. The Constitution can recover — if enough Americans still know and cherish it.

It does not take a majority. Twenty percent of the country — awake, educated, and courageous — can reset the system. It has happened before. It can happen again.

Wake up. Stand up. Demand integrity — from leaders, from institutions, and from yourself. Because the Bubba effect will not end until Americans reclaim the duty that has always belonged to them: preserving the republic for the next generation.

This article originally appeared on TheBlaze.com.

Grim warning: Bad-faith Israel critics duck REAL questions

Spencer Platt / Staff | Getty Images

Bad-faith attacks on Israel and AIPAC warp every debate. Real answers emerge only when people set aside scripts and ask what serves America’s long-term interests.

The search for truth has always required something very much in short supply these days: honesty. Not performative questions, not scripted outrage, not whatever happens to be trending on TikTok, but real curiosity.

Some issues, often focused on foreign aid, AIPAC, or Israel, have become hotbeds of debate and disagreement. Before we jump into those debates, however, we must return to a simpler, more important issue: honest questioning. Without it, nothing in these debates matters.

Ask questions because you want the truth, not because you want a target.

The phrase “just asking questions” has re-entered the zeitgeist, and that’s fine. We should always question power. But too many of those questions feel preloaded with someone else’s answer. If the goal is truth, then the questions should come from a sincere desire to understand, not from a hunt for a villain.

Honest desire for truth is the only foundation that can support a real conversation about these issues.

Truth-seeking is real work

Right now, plenty of people are not seeking the truth at all. They are repeating something they heard from a politician on cable news or from a stranger on TikTok who has never opened a history book. That is not a search for answers. That is simply outsourcing your own thought.

If you want the truth, you need to work for it. You cannot treat the world like a Marvel movie where the good guy appears in a cape and the villain hisses on command. Real life does not give you a neat script with the moral wrapped up in two hours.

But that is how people are approaching politics now. They want the oppressed and the oppressor, the heroic underdog and the cartoon villain. They embrace this fantastical framing because it is easier than wrestling with reality.

This framing took root in the 1960s when the left rebuilt its worldview around colonizers and the colonized. Overnight, Zionism was recast as imperialism. Suddenly, every conflict had to fit the same script. Today’s young activists are just recycling the same narrative with updated graphics. Everything becomes a morality play. No nuance, no context, just the comforting clarity of heroes and villains.

Bad-faith questions

This same mindset is fueling the sudden obsession with Israel, and the American Israel Public Affairs Committee in particular. You hear it from members of Congress and activists alike: AIPAC pulls the strings, AIPAC controls the government, AIPAC should register as a foreign agent under the Foreign Agents Registration Act. The questions are dramatic, but are they being asked in good faith?

FARA is clear. The standard is whether an individual or group acts under the direction or control of a foreign government. AIPAC simply does not qualify.

Here is a detail conveniently left out of these arguments: Dozens of domestic organizations — Armenian, Cuban, Irish, Turkish — lobby Congress on behalf of other countries. None of them registers under FARA because — like AIPAC — they are independent, domestic organizations.

If someone has a sincere problem with the structure of foreign lobbying, fair enough. Let us have that conversation. But singling out AIPAC alone is not a search for truth. It is bias dressed up as bravery.

Anadolu / Contributor | Getty Images

If someone wants to question foreign aid to Israel, fine. Let’s have that debate. But let’s ask the right questions. The issue is not the size of the package but whether the aid advances our interests. What does the United States gain? Does the investment strengthen our position in the region? How does it compare to what we give other nations? And do we examine those countries with the same intensity?

The real target

These questions reflect good-faith scrutiny. But narrowing the entire argument to one country or one dollar amount misses the larger problem. If someone objects to the way America handles foreign aid, the target is not Israel. The target is the system itself — an entrenched bureaucracy, poor transparency, and decades-old commitments that have never been re-examined. Those problems run through programs around the world.

If you want answers, you need to broaden the lens. You have to be willing to put aside the movie script and confront reality. You have to hold yourself to a simple rule: Ask questions because you want the truth, not because you want a target.

That is the only way this country ever gets clarity on foreign aid, influence, alliances, and our place in the world. Questioning is not just allowed. It is essential. But only if it is honest.

This article originally appeared on TheBlaze.com.

A nation unravels when its shared culture is the first thing to go

Spencer Platt / Staff | Getty Images

Texas now hosts Quran-first academies, Sharia-compliant housing schemes, and rapidly multiplying mosques — all part of a movement building a self-contained society apart from the country around it.

It is time to talk honestly about what is happening inside America’s rapidly growing Muslim communities. In city after city, large pockets of newcomers are choosing to build insulated enclaves rather than enter the broader American culture.

That trend is accelerating, and the longer we ignore it, the harder it becomes to address.

As Texas goes, so goes America. And as America goes, so goes the free world.

America has always welcomed people of every faith and people from every corner of the world, but the deal has never changed: You come here and you join the American family. You are free to honor your traditions, keep your faith, but you must embrace the Constitution as the supreme law of the land. You melt into the shared culture that allows all of us to live side by side.

Across the country, this bargain is being rejected by Islamist communities that insist on building a parallel society with its own rules, its own boundaries, and its own vision for how life should be lived.

Texas illustrates the trend. The state now has roughly 330 mosques. At least 48 of them were built in just the last 24 months. The Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex alone has around 200 Islamic centers. Houston has another hundred or so. Many of these communities have no interest in blending into American life.

This is not the same as past waves of immigration. Irish, Italian, Korean, Mexican, and every other group arrived with pride in their heritage. Still, they also raised American flags and wanted their children to be part of the country’s future. They became doctors, small-business owners, teachers, and soldiers. They wanted to be Americans.

What we are watching now is not the melting pot. It is isolation by design.

Parallel societies do not end well

More than 300 fundamentalist Islamic schools now operate full-time across the country. Many use Quran-first curricula that require students to spend hours memorizing religious texts before they ever reach math or science. In Dallas, Brighter Horizons Academy enrolls more than 1,700 students and draws federal support while operating on a social model that keeps children culturally isolated.

Then there is the Epic City project in Collin and Hunt counties — 402 acres originally designated only for Muslim buyers, with Sharia-compliant financing and a mega-mosque at the center. After public outcry and state investigations, the developers renamed it “The Meadows,” but a new sign does not erase the original intent. It is not a neighborhood. It is a parallel society.

Americans should not hesitate to say that parallel societies are dangerous. Europe tried this experiment, and the results could not be clearer. In Germany, France, and the United Kingdom, entire neighborhoods now operate under their own cultural rules, some openly hostile to Western norms. When citizens speak up, they are branded bigots for asserting a basic right: the ability to live safely in their own communities.

A crisis of confidence

While this separation widens, another crisis is unfolding at home. A recent Gallup survey shows that about 40% of American women ages 18 to 39 would leave the country permanently if given the chance. Nearly half of a rising generation — daughters, sisters, soon-to-be mothers — no longer believe this nation is worth building a future in.

And who shapes the worldview of young boys? Their mothers. If a mother no longer believes America is home, why would her child grow up ready to defend it?

As Texas goes, so goes America. And as America goes, so goes the free world. If we lose confidence in our own national identity at the same time that we allow separatist enclaves to spread unchecked, the outcome is predictable. Europe is already showing us what comes next: cultural fracture, political radicalization, and the slow death of national unity.

Brandon Bell / Staff | Getty Images

Stand up and tell the truth

America welcomes Muslims. America defends their right to worship freely. A Muslim who loves the Constitution, respects the rule of law, and wants to raise a family in peace is more than welcome in America.

But an Islamist movement that rejects assimilation, builds enclaves governed by its own religious framework, and treats American law as optional is not simply another participant in our melting pot. It is a direct challenge to it. If we refuse to call this problem out out of fear of being called names, we will bear the consequences.

Europe is already feeling those consequences — rising conflict and a political class too paralyzed to admit the obvious. When people feel their culture, safety, and freedoms slipping away, they will follow anyone who promises to defend them. History has shown that over and over again.

Stand up. Speak plainly. Be unafraid. You can practice any faith in this country, but the supremacy of the Constitution and the Judeo-Christian moral framework that shaped it is non-negotiable. It is what guarantees your freedom in the first place.

If you come here and honor that foundation, welcome. If you come here to undermine it, you do not belong here.

Wake up to what is unfolding before the consequences arrive. Because when a nation refuses to say what is true, the truth eventually forces its way in — and by then, it is always too late.

This article originally appeared on TheBlaze.com.