Glenn: Why is the Confederate Flag our #1 priority?

Many are calling for the Confederate flag to be removed from grounds of the South Carolina state capitol in the wake of the church shooting in Charleston. Yesterday, Glenn made it clear that he doesn’t think it should be flown at the capitol, but he also knows that as a resident of Texas he doesn’t have much say in the matter. But he did see a deeper issue with the story - with everything in the country we should be upset about, why are we making the Confederate flag the top priority? Glenn delivered an epic response to everyone worried about a flag in South Carolina while ignoring some very scary problems in the U.S. and abroad.

Below is a rush transcript of this segment, it may contain errors:

GLENN: Nikki Haley. I want to start here. Nikki Haley called for the removal of the Confederate flag. Cut 176.

NIKKI: We respect freedom for expression. And that for those who wish to show their respect for the flag, on their private property, no one will stand in your way.

But the statehouse is different. And the events of this past week call upon us to look at this in a different way. Fifteen years ago after much contentious debate, South Carolina came together in a bipartisan way to move the flag from atop the capitol dome. Today, we're here in a moment of unity in our state, without ill will, to say it's time to move the flag from the capitol grounds.

[applauding]

GLENN: Okay. I'm not going to get involved in this debate. I made my feelings clear on the Confederate flag yesterday. I don't see a reason for it. A lot of people do. That's up to the state. They don't fly it here in Texas. So I as a citizen of Texas, have nothing to say about it. If you want to fly something yourself, you can fly the Nazi flag for all I care. I -- I actually like to know -- you know, like the guy who is a Nazi -- and I'm not comparing the Confederacy with the Nazis. But you have to a right to do what you do in your own life and on your own property. That's what you have.

Yesterday when we talked about the Nazi wearing the Nazi armband in Seattle. Said, what do you do about that? There's nothing you can do about that. You have a right to wear the Nazi armband. I wish everyone would wear an armband. I know that goes towards the Nazi rule. But you at least know who this guy is. You at least know who this guy is.

So the worst thing I can think of is the Nazis. You can fly that flag if you want. I know exactly who you are then. Done.

So we're not even talking about the Nazi flag. We're talking about the Confederate flag. I don't agree with it. But I didn't grow up in the South. If you want to fly that put it on your truck, you can put that on your truck. Whatever. I don't like in a state like South Carolina where they are flying it on the grounds. I don't think it should be flown on the grounds. But I don't live in South Carolina. That's up to you. Now, with that being said, could I ask a question?

This is the biggest thing we have going on in our country? Because if this is the biggest thing going on in our country, we have a sweet, sweet life

PAT: Well, it caused the shooting in South Carolina. You have to take it down so it doesn't cause anymore.

GLENN: No, it didn't cause the shooting in South Carolina.

We have $18 trillion in debt. We have the latest on Jonathan Gruber in the White House. And play the audio for you in a little while. We have the press not even willing to say the president lied. Here's yet another lie, and nobody is willing to say the president lied. Obamacare is in collapse. Your insurance rates for your children is skyrocketing. Kids in fourth grade, they can read as well as a kindergartener. Mutual fund managers all around the world is saying, you better have cash on hand. You better have cash on hand.

Our fed has lied to us, said they would never print money. They did. And we taught the rest of the world how to print money. Now the central banks all over the world are printing money. That's not going to end well. Our wars are still going. And they're not going well. ISIS is still beheading people, throwing homosexuals off the roof. Killing Christians because they won't comply. Muslims who aren't Muslim enough are enslaved. There was a new contest on the Koran with ISIS. The winners got women to be used as sex slaves.

Yesterday, the parliament of Iran met. They talked about the president's proposal. And they rejected any -- any inspections of their nuke sites. Oh, and then the parliament got together and, you know -- I don't understand parliamentary rules, but they got together and they chanted, death to America. But we're still going forward on a -- on a pact with Iran.

Baltimore is still on fire and hasn't been solved. Ferguson is still on fire and hasn't been solved. Debt for student loans is higher than ever. People don't even know how they'll pay these debts off.

Jihad. The threat against jihad. Our government came out and told us it is the highest threat level we've ever had. And we're talking about the Confederate flag? Are you kidding me?

This is the biggest thing we've got? The Confederate flag is the thing that America has got to stop and talk about and solve right now?

We have -- we are living in an Alice in Wonderland world. We have stepped threw the looking glass, and we're having tea parties with the Mad freaking Hatter. Don't say the N-word! Whatever you do! Yet Cornel West can say the N-word on television, and nobody seems to care. The network doesn't come out. They don't apologize. They don't say, oh, my gosh, we're so sorry. We apologize for him using that word. We're still concerned that Sarah Palin might use the word "targeting."

Meanwhile, the president has a podcast. And on his podcast, he's asked a question, and he uses the N-word without hesitation. The president of the United States uses the N-word, but that's not really the big deal.

I mean, after all, he was on a podcast called WTF. I'd tell you what WTF means, if you didn't know, but I'm on a federally licensed radio station, and so I can't tell you.

But let's spend the day talked about the Confederate flag. Because once we get that settled, everything will be fixed.

PAT: When you lay it out that way, I mean, it doesn't sound as important.

[laughter]

GLENN: You think? You think?

PAT: Wow. That's --

GLENN: What are we doing? We're insane. We're insane.

Look, I care about the Confederate flag. It's a part of history. I wish it would stay in the history books. I don't think that it is something that people should fly over the state. If you want to fly it because your family fought in the Confederacy and they weren't for slavery -- and I know all of the rigamarole. I've lived in the South long enough. I know it. I know the argument. That's great.

I don't think it should be flown on state property. I don't think that it is something that should be flown there. If you do and you live in a state where they're flying it, that's for you to decide. Here's my evil Libertarian plan: To slowly take over the world and then leave everyone alone. Yes! I've said it out loud.

That's for you to decide.

Maybe we should decide together the things that affect all of us. $18 trillion in debt. How are we going to pay for that?

Are we okay with someone who said, okay, so a couple of guys go walking down the street at night and decide to kill some Americans, what difference does that make? And we know that's a lie. We know that's a lie. Someone who erases their own hard drives and lies about it. Are we cool with that person being president of the United States? Apparently yes. The Confederate flag, God forbid!

We're being lectured about how we're supposed to live our lives and how we're supposed to be better people by a guy who uses the N-word, while telling us to never use the N-word. While telling us that we are supposed to watch our language in every step of the way, has made us so afraid of saying anything, that we could lose our job for calling a -- a homosexual couple a homosexual couple or is it a gay couple -- I'm not sure which one is politically correct anymore.

We are so skittish on probably 100 words right now. One hundred words. It's gone from, hey, it's not very nice to call people handicapped. Wouldn't it be better if we call them handicapable. To, you use that word, I'm going to boycott your company. And yet, the president uses it without hesitation.

Meanwhile, while he's doing that, he is telling us, you can keep your health care if you like your health care, when he knows it's a lie. And how do we know it's a lie? Because Jonathan Gruber told us that they sold that because they looked at us as stupid people. That we were nothing, but sheep. That the American people were so stupid, they would buy anything. That's Jonathan Gruber. That's what he said. But then the president came out and immediately said, he's a know-nothing. I don't even know who this guy is. He didn't work on health care. He had nothing to do with it. We finally find out yesterday, finally, it is confirmed -- something that everybody knew -- finally it was confirmed that, yes, indeed, he was one of the main architects of universal health care. He was one of the main guys in the White House with Obamacare.

So the president has lied again! Do we care? Get the flag down!

Watch the other hand. Watch the other hand.

They talk to us about women's rights and a War on Women, really? A War on Women?

ISIS has already committed countless unspeakable acts on Christian and Yazidi girls and women in Iraq. But the terrorist army may have now reached a new low with a twisted new contest in which female slaves captured in war are given away as prizes to fighters who show they have mastered the holy book of the Koran.

The shocking practice, giving away human beings as prizes called Sivia (phonetic) was organized by the Dawah and the mosque's department at Al-Barkara (phonetic) Province in Syria, in honor of the beginning of the new holy month of Ramadan.

So for their highest holy month of Ramadan, which, by the way, we moved Fourth of July to the third of June as to not upset any Muslims because we didn't want to say to them that our Fourth of July, our Independence Day, would interfere in any way with their holy month of Ramadan. Which, by the way, to commemorate the holy month of Ramadan, they're now giving away women and children, slaves that have been captured in war. They're giving them away as prizes, if you've mastered the holy book, which God forbid, we ever say a word about, the holy book! If you've mastered that, then you know you can capture slaves. You know you can give them away as prizes. You know you can have sex with them any time you want, against their will, because it's the holy book, and you have mastered it. And God forbid, as the president said, I will not live in a world where someone can blaspheme the prophet or the holy book.

Meanwhile, the Supreme Court is getting ready to decide what they're going to do with Christians and Christian churches. Tax-exempt status will probably be attacked nationwide. Christian colleges and schools, their accreditation will be attacked. Faith-based adoption and foster care providers will be attacked. Federal contractors and grantees including those with loans at religious schools will be attacked. They already are. Religious staffing at faith-based organizations will be attacked. Those in military who don't follow the agenda are already being attacked.

But I will not live in a country that blasphemes the prophet, peace be upon him.

Stop it. Stand up. Raise your hand. Be counted. Don't be shop! Be counted. For once in your life, do something. You're about to do something great.

Be counted. You are not born just to exist. You weren't born just to take up space. You weren't born to do the stupid job that I'm doing now or you're doing now. That's not what you were here for. You were meant to make a difference. Stand up, right now. Raise your hand and say, enough is enough! Yes, the Confederate flag is important. That's not the priority! How about we save some lives? How about we stop the madness? How about we stand for honor and truth and real justice, not social justice, equal justice?

Then maybe we can take care of the flag.

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.

Could China OWN our National Parks?

Jonathan Newton / Contributor | Getty Images

The left’s idea of stewardship involves bulldozing bison and barring access. Lee’s vision puts conservation back in the hands of the people.

The media wants you to believe that Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) is trying to bulldoze Yellowstone and turn national parks into strip malls — that he’s calling for a reckless fire sale of America’s natural beauty to line developers’ pockets. That narrative is dishonest. It’s fearmongering, and, by the way, it’s wrong.

Here’s what’s really happening.

Private stewardship works. It’s local. It’s accountable. It’s incentivized.

The federal government currently owns 640 million acres of land — nearly 28% of all land in the United States. To put that into perspective, that’s more territory than France, Germany, Poland, and the United Kingdom combined.

Most of this land is west of the Mississippi River. That’s not a coincidence. In the American West, federal ownership isn’t just a bureaucratic technicality — it’s a stranglehold. States are suffocated. Locals are treated as tenants. Opportunities are choked off.

Meanwhile, people living east of the Mississippi — in places like Kentucky, Georgia, or Pennsylvania — might not even realize how little land their own states truly control. But the same policies that are plaguing the West could come for them next.

Lee isn’t proposing to auction off Yellowstone or pave over Yosemite. He’s talking about 3 million acres — that’s less than half of 1% of the federal estate. And this land isn’t your family’s favorite hiking trail. It’s remote, hard to access, and often mismanaged.

Failed management

Why was it mismanaged in the first place? Because the federal government is a terrible landlord.

Consider Yellowstone again. It’s home to the last remaining herd of genetically pure American bison — animals that haven’t been crossbred with cattle. Ranchers, myself included, would love the chance to help restore these majestic creatures on private land. But the federal government won’t allow it.

So what do they do when the herd gets too big?

They kill them. Bulldoze them into mass graves. That’s not conservation. That’s bureaucratic malpractice.

And don’t even get me started on bald eagles — majestic symbols of American freedom and a federally protected endangered species, now regularly slaughtered by wind turbines. I have pictures of piles of dead bald eagles. Where’s the outrage?

Biden’s federal land-grab

Some argue that states can’t afford to manage this land themselves. But if the states can’t afford it, how can Washington? We’re $35 trillion in debt. Entitlements are strained, infrastructure is crumbling, and the Bureau of Land Management, Forest Service, and National Park Service are billions of dollars behind in basic maintenance. Roads, firebreaks, and trails are falling apart.

The Biden administration quietly embraced something called the “30 by 30” initiative, a plan to lock up 30% of all U.S. land and water under federal “conservation” by 2030. The real goal is 50% by 2050.

That entails half of the country being taken away from you, controlled not by the people who live there but by technocrats in D.C.

You think that won’t affect your ability to hunt, fish, graze cattle, or cut timber? Think again. It won’t be conservatives who stop you from building a cabin, raising cattle, or teaching your grandkids how to shoot a rifle. It’ll be the same radical environmentalists who treat land as sacred — unless it’s your truck, your deer stand, or your back yard.

Land as collateral

Moreover, the U.S. Treasury is considering putting federally owned land on the national balance sheet, listing your parks, forests, and hunting grounds as collateral.

What happens if America defaults on its debt?

David McNew / Stringer | Getty Images

Do you think our creditors won’t come calling? Imagine explaining to your kids that the lake you used to fish in is now under foreign ownership, that the forest you hunted in belongs to China.

This is not hypothetical. This is the logical conclusion of treating land like a piggy bank.

The American way

There’s a better way — and it’s the American way.

Let the people who live near the land steward it. Let ranchers, farmers, sportsmen, and local conservationists do what they’ve done for generations.

Did you know that 75% of America’s wetlands are on private land? Or that the most successful wildlife recoveries — whitetail deer, ducks, wild turkeys — didn’t come from Washington but from partnerships between private landowners and groups like Ducks Unlimited?

Private stewardship works. It’s local. It’s accountable. It’s incentivized. When you break it, you fix it. When you profit from the land, you protect it.

This is not about selling out. It’s about buying in — to freedom, to responsibility, to the principle of constitutional self-governance.

So when you hear the pundits cry foul over 3 million acres of federal land, remember: We don’t need Washington to protect our land. We need Washington to get out of the way.

Because this isn’t just about land. It’s about liberty. And once liberty is lost, it doesn’t come back easily.

This article originally appeared on TheBlaze.com.