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Brad Thor: “Disgusting how the mainstream media has let this country down”

July 14, 2015
Staff

WRITER

Brad Thor joined Pat and Stu on radio this morning to discuss his new book, Code of Conduct, and the Iran nuclear deal that was announced the morning. Thor railed against the mainstream media, claiming their lack of intellectual curiosity has allowed the Obama administration to do whatever it wants, regardless of what it means for the country. Thor said the world is now a much more dangerous place because of the Iran deal, and Israel should be scared for its very existence.

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

PAT: We're excited to have Brad Thor join us. Brad has a busy week here on the Blaze. Also, he has his book out now called Code of Conduct.

Brad, welcome to the Glenn Beck Program with Pat and Stu.

BRAD: Yeah. I'm glad to be here. And I promised Glenn that when we started this I would share a message with listeners. Glenn forwarded it to me this morning and wants everyone to know that his vocal cord rest is because he was screaming with delight over my new thriller Code of Conduct, which he says --

PAT: Wow.

BRAD: And, Glenn, if you disagree, please call in right now, Glenn, if you contest this. If you disagree. If I read your note wrong. But he said it is the best thriller he has ever read in his life. Is the phone ringing? Nope. There you go.

Best thriller of his life. Thank you, Glenn. Those words mean so much to me, my dear friend. Thank you.

STU: That message obviously approved by Glenn Beck, because he's not called in to dispute it.

PAT: Still not called in. That's great.

BRAD: So there you go.

PAT: So, Brad, how are you excited you about peace in our time? Not since Neville Chamberlain and his announcement have we felt this relaxed in the world and this safe and this secure. Thank you to the new Neville Chamberlain, Barack Obama. This is fantastic news. Are you as excited as we are about the deal with Iran?

BRAD: I have to tell you, there is nothing more -- I'm a race fan. Whether it's NASCAR or New Proliferation, I love races. So I can't wait to see this arms race kick off in the Middle East. I'm telling you, my money is on the Saudis. I like the way they operate. They're smooth, they're lean, they're fast. I think we'll see them spin up a program really quick.

I have to tell you, it will be exciting. We live in interesting times. We definitely do. And I'm going to start buying jerseys. I'm going to get Sunni jerseys. I'm going to go long on the Shia jerseys. I don't know. But, yeah, it is exciting. Very exciting.

STU: Brad, you've been writing not only international events, but this particular region for a long time. Going back to several books you have released which have essentially predicted the news, you know, Blacklist being the most recent, which essentially predicted the Snowden thing to an incredible amount of deal a couple years when it happened. So when you look at this, you're not just a guy who writes really entertaining thrillers. You're a guy who does a lot of research. Who looks at this stuff and is able to digest it in a way that -- can bring it to people in way they can actually understand it. When you look at this and the way the president and the media are reacting to the Iran deal, what does it make you think?

BRAD: Well, what's interesting is that the lack of curiosity ever about Barack Obama and why he does what he does has always dumbfounded me.

PAT: Yes.

BRAD: The media is so biased.

PAT: Oh, my gosh.

BRAD: And I know you never talk about that on your program. We talk about what bulldogs they are in the media. This is insane. I mean, this guy, Barack Obama, has managed to unite Sunni Muslims with Israel. I can't remember the last time I saw Israel and Sunni Muslims standing on the same side. I mean, it's astounding.

This is very, very bad. Iran is the leading state sponsor of terrorism in the world. Now we're going to flood them with money and a nuke program, and we all expect this is going to end well. I really want to say this. To ABC, to NBC, to CBS, to PBS, to CNN, you all have let your country down. It is disgusting how the mainstream media has let this country down. And the world has just become a dramatically more dangerous place with this agreement because of this administration.

And, you know what, Israel should be terrified. In fact, I put out a tweet a little while ago and I said, you know what, Israel should have bombed Iran while they still had a friend in the White House. They should have done it while George Bush was in the White House. And they didn't. And I think that's a historic missed opportunity that the Israelis will regret and history will remember.

PAT: No question. No question. And I can't wait though to see some of the details of this deal which we've promised eliminates every pathway to a nuclear weapon for the Iranians. I -- I can't wait to see it. He's already promised to veto it anyway. So it's a done deal. It's a foregone conclusion. But you're right. It's just -- it's aggravating to watch. And it's frustrating to see the support he has in the media, rather than being watchdogs, they become lapdogs. But tell us about the new book. What is Code of Conduct about?

BRAD: So Code of Conduct is my new thriller. It came out last week. We are expecting tomorrow to find out a huge, huge placement on the New York Times best-seller's list. This is the most exciting thriller I've ever written. And it's based on two very, very interesting things. You know, Glenn coined the word faction. And he always says, what Brad Thor does is faction. You don't know where the facts end and the fiction begins.

And as we've talked about on this program before, I like to pick things that are in the news or about to explode in the news and weave them into my thrillers. The two things that I picked this year were back in the '80s, somebody down in Georgia, they don't know if it was Ted Turner or who it was, spent a fortune erecting these huge slabs of granite with this terrifying agenda written in about eight languages on the different slabs. They're calling it the American Stonehenge.

And I always thought, wow, that's bizarre. Out in some farmer's field in rural Georgia. Who would ever put these things up? Then a couple of years ago, I read an article about a very, very secret group within the UN. And I never touched the UN. And I had never written about them before. I thought they were a bunch of bozos. Didn't pay their parking tickets in New York. But I got interested because Ban Ki-Moon held a very secret meeting, rented a shaley in the Austrian Alps. This thing was like out of a Bond movie. And their agenda got leaked from this very secret meeting that he held, and several things on the agenda match up with these stones down in Georgia.

And it was beyond wild. And I said, you know what, this stuff, I can't say no to this. As a thriller writer, this is just too cool. And I'll weave that into Code of Conduct. So Code of Conduct kicks off with four seconds of video being transmitted to the White House that was anonymously captured halfway around the world. And the US government learns that probably one of the most ingenious terrorist attacks will be launched, not only in the US, but every other allied country simultaneously.

PAT: Wow. Looking forward to reading that. That's awesome. Now, don't you have something -- you have like 11 and a half million books in print, in this series.

BRAD: Yep. Correct. And you can read them in any order.

PAT: You don't mind? You probably would like them to start with this one, I would imagine.

BRAD: That is exactly right. This is the book. This is the book you'll see at the beach, at the lake, at the swimming pool. This is the one. And you know what, it's probably my best reviewed book ever, right down to the Associated Press.

PAT: Nice.

BRAD: So it's been great. But I think we come back to Glenn Beck himself who said this is not only Brad Thor's best thriller, but the best thriller he has ever read. And no sit-ups life. Who has time for sit-ups when you're reading Brad Thor novels?

STU: Especially as a guy who has actually written thrillers. It's amazing that he said yours was the best he's ever seen.

PAT: That was really generous of Glenn to say that. But, again, if he disputes that, he can call in right now and mention it.

BRAD: He's a giver. Right now.

STU: Can I ask one somewhat sensitive question here? I don't know how delicate you can be on this. And I don't want you to have to bite the hand that feeds you. But I'm interested to see, because you as you've talked about, Code of Conduct, about to be big time placement on the New York Times best-sellers list. A book written by a guy named Ted Cruz was recently released.

And he, despite outselling 18 of the 20 books on the best-seller list for the New York Times, was not included on the best-sellers list of the New York Times. He was accused of strategic bulk purchases, which not only does the publisher completely discount, but Amazon.com has come out and made a public statement that that did not happen.

Are you sick of the politics when it comes around this? Why can't we -- I mean, this is a number of books sold. It's a really easy way to find out how many books you sold.

PAT: When you think best-seller, you would think books that sell the best, wouldn't you?

BRAD: Right.

STU: Is it a thing we're imagining as far as agenda goes, or does that sort of thing actually exist?

BRAD: Well, first of all, let me take Pat to task. Pat, I'm an author. And my stock and trade is words. So I don't like when you play word games like that. Best-seller. It means selling a lot.

I think the American people have had enough of that kind of --

PAT: That kind of spin?

BRAD: Chicanery. Can we just stop that, please?

PAT: I apologize.

BRAD: Thank you, Pat.

But, yeah, listen, O'Reilly hates the New York Times. In fact, you know, he quotes other sources. He quotes the conservative book clubs list. And, in fact, O'Reilly even recently went after Publishers Weekly because he was complaining they didn't put his book Killing Reagan in their roundup of big fall books that were upcoming.

Listen, conservative, people to the right of center have had a lot of trouble with the New York Times' list because they will sell. The numbers are there. Then the New York Times will quote its own secret formula, saying, oh, it doesn't qualify or make the list.

The belief is, why would bias be absent from that list when bias isn't absent from any other nook or cranny of the New York Times? Stu, you're right. I say this to my own peril. They could be shifting the numbers right now to knock me out.

PAT: They sure could.

BRAD: My last three have been number one. We'll see what happens tomorrow. They could be sitting there. I'm sure they listen to this program, number one. So I just shot myself in the foot. You know --

STU: You're welcome, by the way. Brad.

BRAD: Yeah, the bias exists. So I think Ted Cruz has a valid complaint. So does his publisher. And I think Amazon, God bless them, that's really what they needed to put it over the top. And to say to the New York Times, okay, you proved it. Show us where these bulk purchases were. So I thought that was brilliant. And God bless Amazon for not taking a political -- just coming out and saying this is true.

PAT: Yeah, it was great. I'm really curious about who your influences were when you were coming up as a writer. Was there anybody that you kind of looked up to?

BRAD: Oh, you know what, I always tell young writers that you can't be a good writer without being a great reader. And that if you're looking for what to write. If you're a writer that wants to write, you should write what you love to read because that's what your passion is.

For me, I grew up Clancy. (all phonetic) Luke Haray. Freddie Foresife. Just amazing. And Louie La More. I like the western writer. Elmore Leonard. Some real greats in -- in fiction. So they definitely all influenced me. But I love the Cold War espionage stuff. And I'm a big fan still of guys still like Vince Flynn. God rest his soul. By the way, I know there's a lot of Vince Flynn fans in the audience. I got great news. I was thrilled to hear my buddy Kyle Mills, who is an actor, got selected by Vince's estate to carry on the Mitch Rapp character. And all the advanced praise for The Survivor is just awesome. So Vince's Mitch Rapp is coming back this fall in The Survivor. And I'm even excited to read it because that Mitch Rapp character is great. So after you read Code of Conduct, my new thriller which Glenn says is the best one he's ever read, I would highly recommend The Survivor. Vince Flynn and Kyle Mills.

STU: Awesome.

PAT: Okay. The book again is Code of Conduct. And the author, Brad Thor. Who will also be appearing later this week on radio again and also hosting Glenn's TV show on Thursday night during our month of terror shows. Thursday night's special focuses on national security terror alerts. We're excited to see you then too, Brad. Thank you for joining us.

BRAD: My pleasure. By the way, update from Glenn here, you both have just been given a 25 percent raise. Glenn, if I read that wrong, please call in now. So good news. What a day.

STU: I like this.

PAT: Great day, thanks, Brad.

STU: We need to manipulate the choice structure like this a little more often. This is good Cass Sunstein stuff we're pulling off. I like it.

A Sharia enclave is quietly taking root in America. It's time to wake up.

NOVA SAFO / Staff | Getty Images

Sharia-based projects like the Meadow in Texas show how political Islam grows quietly, counting on Americans to stay silent while an incompatible legal system takes root.

Apolitical system completely incompatible with the Constitution is gaining ground in the United States, and we are pretending it is not happening.

Sharia — the legal and political framework of Islam — is being woven into developments, institutions, and neighborhoods, including a massive project in Texas. And the consequences will be enormous if we continue to look the other way.

This is the contradiction at the heart of political Islam: It claims universal authority while insisting its harshest rules will never be enforced here. That promise does not stand up to scrutiny. It never has.

Before we can have an honest debate, we’d better understand what Sharia represents. Sharia is not simply a set of religious rules about prayer or diet. It is a comprehensive legal and political structure that governs marriage, finance, criminal penalties, and civic life. It is a parallel system that claims supremacy wherever it takes hold.

This is where the distinction matters. Many Muslims in America want nothing to do with Sharia governance. They came here precisely because they lived under it. But political Islam — the movement that seeks to implement Sharia as law — is not the same as personal religious belief.

It is a political ideology with global ambitions, much like communism. Secretary of State Marco Rubio recently warned that Islamist movements do not seek peaceful coexistence with the West. They seek dominance. History backs him up.

How Sharia arrives

Political Islam does not begin with dramatic declarations. It starts quietly, through enclaves that operate by their own rules. That is why the development once called EPIC City — now rebranded as the Meadow — is so concerning. Early plans framed it as a Muslim-only community built around a mega-mosque and governed by Sharia-compliant financing. After state investigations were conducted, the branding changed, but the underlying intent remained the same.

Developers have openly described practices designed to keep non-Muslims out, using fees and ownership structures to create de facto religious exclusivity. This is not assimilation. It is the construction of a parallel society within a constitutional republic.

The warning from those who have lived under it

Years ago, local imams in Texas told me, without hesitation, that certain Sharia punishments “just work.” They spoke about cutting off hands for theft, stoning adulterers, and maintaining separate standards of testimony for men and women. They insisted it was logical and effective while insisting they would never attempt to implement it in Texas.

But when pressed, they could not explain why a system they consider divinely mandated would suddenly stop applying once someone crossed a border.

This is the contradiction at the heart of political Islam: It claims universal authority while insisting its harshest rules will never be enforced here. That promise does not stand up to scrutiny. It never has.

AASHISH KIPHAYET / Contributor | Getty Images

America is vulnerable

Europe is already showing us where this road leads. No-go zones, parallel courts, political intimidation, and clerics preaching supremacy have taken root across major cities.

America’s strength has always come from its melting pot, but assimilation requires boundaries. It requires insisting that the Constitution, not religious law, is the supreme authority on this soil.

Yet we are becoming complacent, even fearful, about saying so. We mistake silence for tolerance. We mistake avoidance for fairness. Meanwhile, political Islam views this hesitation as weakness.

Religious freedom is one of America’s greatest gifts. Muslims may worship freely here, as they should. But political Islam must not be permitted to plant a flag on American soil. The Constitution cannot coexist with a system that denies equal rights, restricts speech, subordinates women, and places clerical authority above civil law.

Wake up before it is too late

Projects like the Meadow are not isolated. They are test runs, footholds, proofs of concept. Political Islam operates with patience. It advances through demographic growth, legal ambiguity, and cultural hesitation — and it counts on Americans being too polite, too distracted, or too afraid to confront it.

We cannot afford that luxury. If we fail to defend the principles that make this country free, we will one day find ourselves asking how a parallel system gained power right in front of us. The answer will be simple: We looked away.

The time to draw boundaries and to speak honestly is now. The time to defend the Constitution as the supreme law of the land is now. Act while there is still time.

This article originally appeared on TheBlaze.com.

Why do Americans feel so empty?

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.

The Bubba Effect erupts as America’s power brokers go rogue

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.

Warning: Stop letting TikTok activists think for you

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.