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Glenn's Show Prep

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 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.

Shocking: Chart-topping ‘singer’ has no soul at all

VCG / Contributor | Getty Images

A machine can imitate heartbreak well enough to top the charts, but it cannot carry grief, choose courage, or hear the whisper that calls human beings to something higher.

The No. 1 country song in America right now was not written in Nashville or Texas or even L.A. It came from code. “Walk My Walk,” the AI-generated single by the AI artist Breaking Rust, hit the top spot on Billboard’s Country Digital Song Sales chart, and if you listen to it without knowing that fact, you would swear a real singer lived the pain he is describing.

Except there is no “he.” There is no lived experience. There is no soul behind the voice dominating the country music charts.

If a machine can imitate the soul, then what is the soul?

I will admit it: I enjoy some AI music. Some of it is very good. And that leaves us with a question that is no longer science fiction. If a machine can fake being human this well, what does it mean to be human?

A new world of artificial experience

This is not just about one song. We are walking straight into a technological moment that will reshape everyday life.

Elon Musk said recently that we may not even have phones in five years. Instead, we will carry a small device that listens, anticipates, and creates — a personal AI agent that knows what we want to hear before we ask. It will make the music, the news, the podcasts, the stories. We already live in digital bubbles. Soon, those bubbles might become our own private worlds.

If an algorithm can write a hit country song about hardship and perseverance without a shred of actual experience, then the deeper question becomes unavoidable: If a machine can imitate the soul, then what is the soul?

What machines can never do

A machine can produce, and soon it may produce better than we can. It can calculate faster than any human mind. It can rearrange the notes and words of a thousand human songs into something that sounds real enough to fool millions.

But it cannot care. It cannot love. It cannot choose right and wrong. It cannot forgive because it cannot be hurt. It cannot stand between a child and danger. It cannot walk through sorrow.

A machine can imitate the sound of suffering. It cannot suffer.

The difference is the soul. The divine spark. The thing God breathed into man that no code will ever have. Only humans can take pain and let it grow into compassion. Only humans can take fear and turn it into courage. Only humans can rebuild their lives after losing everything. Only humans hear the whisper inside, the divine voice that says, “Live for something greater.”

We are building artificial minds. We are not building artificial life.

Questions that define us

And as these artificial minds grow sharper, as their tools become more convincing, the right response is not panic. It is to ask the oldest and most important questions.

Who am I? Why am I here? What is the meaning of freedom? What is worth defending? What is worth sacrificing for?

That answer is not found in a lab or a server rack. It is found in that mysterious place inside each of us where reason meets faith, where suffering becomes wisdom, where God reminds us we are more than flesh and more than thought. We are not accidents. We are not circuits. We are not replaceable.

Europa Press News / Contributor | Getty Images

The miracle machines can never copy

Being human is not about what we can produce. Machines will outproduce us. That is not the question. Being human is about what we can choose. We can choose to love even when it costs us something. We can choose to sacrifice when it is not easy. We can choose to tell the truth when the world rewards lies. We can choose to stand when everyone else bows. We can create because something inside us will not rest until we do.

An AI content generator can borrow our melodies, echo our stories, and dress itself up like a human soul, but it cannot carry grief across a lifetime. It cannot forgive an enemy. It cannot experience wonder. It cannot look at a broken world and say, “I am going to build again.”

The age of machines is rising. And if we do not know who we are, we will shrink. But if we use this moment to remember what makes us human, it will help us to become better, because the one thing no algorithm will ever recreate is the miracle that we exist at all — the miracle of the human soul.

This article originally appeared on TheBlaze.com.

Is Socialism seducing a lost generation?

Jeremy Weine / Stringer | Getty Images

A generation that’s lost faith in capitalism is turning to the oldest lie on earth: equality through control.

Something is breaking in America’s young people. You can feel it in every headline, every grocery bill, every young voice quietly asking if the American dream still means anything at all.

For many, the promise of America — work hard, build something that lasts, and give the next generation a better start — feels like it no longer exists. Home ownership and stability have become luxuries for a fortunate few.

Capitalism is not a perfect system. It is flawed because people are flawed, but it remains the only system that rewards creativity and effort rather than punishing them.

In that vacuum of hope, a new promise has begun to rise — one that sounds compassionate, equal, and fair. The promise of socialism.

The appeal of a broken dream

When the American dream becomes a checklist of things few can afford — a home, a car, two children, even a little peace — disappointment quickly turns to resentment. The average first-time homebuyer is now 40 years old. Debt lasts longer than marriages. The cost of living rises faster than opportunity.

For a generation that has never seen the system truly work, capitalism feels like a rigged game built to protect those already at the top.

That is where socialism finds its audience. It presents itself as fairness for the forgotten and justice for the disillusioned. It speaks softly at first, offering equality, compassion, and control disguised as care.

We are seeing that illusion play out now in New York City, where Zohran Mamdani — an open socialist — has won a major political victory. The same ideology that once hid behind euphemisms now campaigns openly throughout America’s once-great cities. And for many who feel left behind, it sounds like salvation.

But what socialism calls fairness is submission dressed as virtue. What it calls order is obedience. Once the system begins to replace personal responsibility with collective dependence, the erosion of liberty is only a matter of time.

The bridge that never ends

Socialism is not a destination; it is a bridge. Karl Marx described it as the necessary transition to communism — the scaffolding that builds the total state. Under socialism, people are taught to obey. Under communism, they forget that any other options exist.

History tells the story clearly. Russia, China, Cambodia, Cuba — each promised equality and delivered misery. One hundred million lives were lost, not because socialism failed, but because it succeeded at what it was designed to do: make the state supreme and the individual expendable.

Today’s advocates insist their version will be different — democratic, modern, and kind. They often cite Sweden as an example, but Sweden’s prosperity was never born of socialism. It grew out of capitalism, self-reliance, and a shared moral culture. Now that system is cracking under the weight of bureaucracy and division.

ANGELA WEISS / Contributor | Getty Images

The real issue is not economic but moral. Socialism begins with a lie about human nature — that people exist for the collective and that the collective knows better than the individual.

This lie is contrary to the truths on which America was founded — that rights come not from government’s authority, but from God’s. Once government replaces that authority, compassion becomes control, and freedom becomes permission.

What young America deserves

Young Americans have many reasons to be frustrated. They were told to study, work hard, and follow the rules — and many did, only to find the goalposts moved again and again. But tearing down the entire house does not make it fairer; it only leaves everyone standing in the rubble.

Capitalism is not a perfect system. It is flawed because people are flawed, but it remains the only system that rewards creativity and effort rather than punishing them. The answer is not revolution but renewal — moral, cultural, and spiritual.

It means restoring honesty to markets, integrity to government, and faith to the heart of our nation. A people who forsake God will always turn to government for salvation, and that road always ends in dependency and decay.

Freedom demands something of us. It requires faith, discipline, and courage. It expects citizens to govern themselves before others govern them. That is the truth this generation deserves to hear again — that liberty is not a gift from the state but a calling from God.

Socialism always begins with promises and ends with permission. It tells you what to drive, what to say, what to believe, all in the name of fairness. But real fairness is not everyone sharing the same chains — it is everyone having the same chance.

The American dream was never about guarantees. It was about the right to try, to fail, and try again. That freedom built the most prosperous nation in history, and it can do so again if we remember that liberty is not a handout but a duty.

Socialism does not offer salvation. It requires subservience.

This article originally appeared on TheBlaze.com.

Rage isn’t conservatism — THIS is what true patriots stand for

Gary Hershorn / Contributor | Getty Images

Conservatism is not about rage or nostalgia. It’s about moral clarity, national renewal, and guarding the principles that built America’s freedom.

Our movement is at a crossroads, and the question before us is simple: What does it mean to be a conservative in America today?

For years, we have been told what we are against — against the left, against wokeism, against decline. But opposition alone does not define a movement, and it certainly does not define a moral vision.

We are not here to cling to the past or wallow in grievance. We are not the movement of rage. We are the movement of reason and hope.

The media, as usual, are eager to supply their own answer. The New York Times recently suggested that Nick Fuentes represents the “future” of conservatism. That’s nonsense — a distortion of both truth and tradition. Fuentes and those like him do not represent American conservatism. They represent its counterfeit.

Real conservatism is not rage. It is reverence. It does not treat the past as a museum, but as a teacher. America’s founders asked us to preserve their principles and improve upon their practice. That means understanding what we are conserving — a living covenant, not a relic.

Conservatism as stewardship

In 2025, conservatism means stewardship — of a nation, a culture, and a moral inheritance too precious to abandon. To conserve is not to freeze history. It is to stand guard over what is essential. We are custodians of an experiment in liberty that rests on the belief that rights come not from kings or Congress, but from the Creator.

That belief built this country. It will be what saves it. The Constitution is a covenant between generations. Conservatism is the duty to keep that covenant alive — to preserve what works, correct what fails, and pass on both wisdom and freedom to those who come next.

Economics, culture, and morality are inseparable. Debt is not only fiscal; it is moral. Spending what belongs to the unborn is theft. Dependence is not compassion; it is weakness parading as virtue. A society that trades responsibility for comfort teaches citizens how to live as slaves.

Freedom without virtue is not freedom; it is chaos. A culture that mocks faith cannot defend liberty, and a nation that rejects truth cannot sustain justice. Conservatism must again become the moral compass of a disoriented people, reminding America that liberty survives only when anchored to virtue.

Rebuilding what is broken

We cannot define ourselves by what we oppose. We must build families, communities, and institutions that endure. Government is broken because education is broken, and education is broken because we abandoned the formation of the mind and the soul. The work ahead is competence, not cynicism.

Conservatives should embrace innovation and technology while rejecting the chaos of Silicon Valley. Progress must not come at the expense of principle. Technology must strengthen people, not replace them. Artificial intelligence should remain a servant, never a master. The true strength of a nation is not measured by data or bureaucracy, but by the quiet webs of family, faith, and service that hold communities together. When Washington falters — and it will — those neighborhoods must stand.

Eric Lee / Stringer | Getty Images

This is the real work of conservatism: to conserve what is good and true and to reform what has decayed. It is not about slogans; it is about stewardship — the patient labor of building a civilization that remembers what it stands for.

A creed for the rising generation

We are not here to cling to the past or wallow in grievance. We are not the movement of rage. We are the movement of reason and hope.

For the rising generation, conservatism cannot be nostalgia. It must be more than a memory of 9/11 or admiration for a Reagan era they never lived through. Many young Americans did not experience those moments — and they should not have to in order to grasp the lessons they taught and the truths they embodied. The next chapter is not about preserving relics but renewing purpose. It must speak to conviction, not cynicism; to moral clarity, not despair.

Young people are searching for meaning in a culture that mocks truth and empties life of purpose. Conservatism should be the moral compass that reminds them freedom is responsibility and that faith, family, and moral courage remain the surest rebellions against hopelessness.

To be a conservative in 2025 is to defend the enduring principles of American liberty while stewarding the culture, the economy, and the spirit of a free people. It is to stand for truth when truth is unfashionable and to guard moral order when the world celebrates chaos.

We are not merely holding the torch. We are relighting it.

This article originally appeared on TheBlaze.com.