Millions of Americans believe our nation is in trouble. A troubled economy, attacks on our homeland, corrupt leadership and floundering educational and health care systems threaten to wreak havoc on this country. But everyone views these problems through a different lens - and that's what divides us.
On radio Tuesday, Glenn suggested we establish our "first principles" before even attempting to come together on solutions.
"It is easy to diagnose the problems. It is harder then to prioritize the solutions," Glenn said.
Our nation's founders believed God and the Constitution were their first principles, Glenn said. If you're going to restore America, he explained, those must be your first principles as well.
He then began writing down his own first principles:
1. God.
2. Constitution.
3. Life. (And that means all life. That goes into health care. That goes into war on ISIS. That goes into Planned Parenthood.)
4. Government corruption. (And that goes to limited government and rule of law. That would include immigration.)
Glenn lists his "first principles" during radio, Aug. 19, 2015.
When looking at problems through the lens of these first principles, Glenn found it much easier to know how the problems of our nation should be dealt with.
"You can't fix immigration until you fix corruption. You can't fix corruption until you fix the Constitution. You can't fix the Constitution until you fixed it right with God and you know where those constitutional principles come from," Glenn said.
Watch the segment or read the full transcript below.
Below is a rush transcript of this segment, it may contain errors.
GLENN: It is easy to diagnose the problems. It is harder then to prioritize the solutions. What are your first principles? Our founders believed God and Constitution were the first principles. So if you're going to restore America, not back to 2000 or 1980 with Ronald Reagan, you're going to restore it back to its first principles, those must be your first principles. That's my goal.
So when I talk about things, you can understand -- this whole -- this whole self-examination here is so I can understand you better. And you can understand me better. And we can stop calling each other traitors. We disagree.
STU: Yeah, look, I certainly never called anyone a traitor. And I know you haven't. But it's out there.
GLENN: No. It's happening online from people.
STU: Certainly.
GLENN: And we will divide ourselves. And we will destroy -- we will be our own worst enemy. We will destroy ourselves.
The difference is the lens. So I think we should look at our lens and say, what are our first principles? My first principles: God, Constitution, life. And that means all life. That goes into health care. That goes into war on ISIS. That goes into Planned Parenthood. Then I would say corruption. Government corruption.
PAT: It's important to have that. Is that what you're saying?
GLENN: No. And that goes to limited government and rule of law.
PAT: Yeah. Which would also include probably immigration.
GLENN: The border. Yeah, it would include the border.
PAT: Yeah.
GLENN: See, I mean, once you go into first principles, you say what are the problems? You can't fix the -- you can't fix immigration until you fix corruption. You can't fix corruption until you fix the Constitution. You can't fix the Constitution until you fixed it right with God and you know where those constitutional principles come from.
So this is my thinking on -- on Donald Trump. It's not that I don't like the guy. It's not that I -- I mean, I've seen his -- I was watching MSNBC, and they're like, Donald Trump and his crazy immigration policy. And I'm looking at the talking points, and I'm like, I agree with those. So I don't know. Maybe I'm crazy too, MSNBC. Because I agree with those.
STU: MSNBC has confirmed, you are also crazy. That is true.
GLENN: I know that. I know that.
PAT: Yes.
GLENN: So why is it that we're at each other's throats? Because of first principles. And so I tell you my first principles, the question is, what are your first principles? If you want to just fix jobs, we're not going to be able to do that. If you say we just want to fix jobs, well, then that gives Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton or Bernie Sanders the opportunity to fix jobs. Bernie Sanders says he can fix the economy and jobs. Why don't we go for him?
Because his first principles, we disagree with. His first principles are, we live in a collective. Our first principles are all men are created equal. And endowed with things that make them individuals.
So we don't agree with Bernie Sanders, not on policy. On first principles.
I heard something yesterday from Hillary Clinton I thought was astounding. She said -- she was talking to Black Lives Matter people. And it was before I think she was speaking in Ohio. And it was caught on tape behind the scenes. And it was billed as this tense moment between her and Black Lives Matter. Do you have it?
PAT: Uh-huh.
GLENN: Okay. Play it. It's good so far.
VOICE: This is and has always been a white problem of violence. It's not -- there's -- there's not much that we can do to stop the violence against us.
HILLARY: Okay. I understand what you're saying.
(talking over)
VOICE: And also respectfully --
HILLARY: Yeah. Well, respectfully, if that is your position, then I will talk only to white people about how we're going to deal with the very real problems.
VOICE: That's not what I mean. That's not what I mean. That's not what I mean. But, like, what I'm saying is, you -- what you just said was a form of victim blaming. And you were saying what the Black Lives Matter movement --
PAT: Oh, jeez. Help me!
GLENN: Listen. Listen.
PAT: It's agonizing, first of all. But there's more.
GLENN: I know. There's more. Listen to what she says, not what he says.
HILLARY: Look, I don't believe you change hearts. I believe you change laws. You change allocation of resources. You change the way systems operate.
GLENN: Stop. This is why respectfully, I say Hillary Clinton is possibly the Antichrist. I'm just saying. This is why I think she's wrong for the country. What she just said. I don't believe you change hearts. I do. I believe you could have all the policies. All of the laws in the world. But until you change hearts, you change nothing. You only have to have a bigger and bigger police force if you don't change hearts. Okay.
Her first principles are wrong. Her first principle is, government will solve this with the right policy.
PAT: Yes. Yes.
GLENN: So I don't hate Hillary Clinton. I honestly don't think she's the Antichrist.
PAT: But that falls right in line with her first principles. Her first principle is government.
GLENN: Correct. So this is what we have to concentrate on. When we talk to people who are Trump supporters: What are your first principles? And not in an accusation way or anything else. Knowing that we'll disagree on things: What are your first principles? And does he satisfy those first principles?