Bernie's Brand of Socialism Too Revolutionary for Chris Matthews

February 05, 2016

Writer

The Context

Bernie's brand of socialism has MSNBC's Chris Matthews worried. The socialist senator's calls for revolution and promises of free stuff is a bit too much, too soon for Matthews' slower-paced progressivism. In a recent interview with Democratic presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton, the Hardball host asked the former secretary of state how she can compete with a revolution.

Hardball or Softball

In the interview, Matthews set up the former secretary of state as the more sane option to Sanders' left-wing radicalism.

“The only person --- and I want to say this bluntly --- the only person between a confirmed socialist, who is calling for political revolution in this country, winning the nomination of the Democratic Party, which has always been more moderate than that, is you,” Matthews said.

Matthews went on to express his dismay over young people attending a Sanders rally responding enthusiastically to a call for revolution. Most importantly, he asked Hillary how she could win against someone promising everything --- free tuition, free healthcare, more social security benefits without a tax increase.

Oh, the Irony

Isn't that the same question the right has been asking for decades?

“The … question that is being asked here is so damn ironic,” Glenn said on The Glenn Beck Program. “That’s the question the right has been asking for the last 90 years. How do you possibly win when somebody says, ‘I’ll give you everything’?”

Glenn's answer: You don’t.

The Liberal Spectrum

What's in a name? A lot. As Glenn has taught over the years, paying attention to labels and words are important --- and telling.

"There is a Democrat. That's like a Harry Truman Democrat, that just believes in, you know, things that typical [Americans believe] --- my grandfather was a Harry Truman Democrat. Then you have the progressive, which is actually a slowed-down socialist, somebody who believes we have to take it step-by-step, but we're heading towards socialism. Then you have a full-out socialist, and after that, a communist. That's the real spectrum on the left."

What's Really at Stake

Hillary believes "we have an obligation to keep people focused on what's at stake in this election."

Thankfully, so does Glenn.

"Clearly the Constitution of the United States is at stake," Glenn said. "Will you truly have a First Amendment, a Second Amendment, a Fourth Amendment? Do you have those --- the Tenth Amendment --- at the end of the next presidential term? Those could be gone.

Glenn went on to explain the Supreme Court is also at stake, with likely four justices being appointed by the next president of the United States.

"If the Supreme Court is given to progressives that do not believe . . . the Constitution [is] no longer a valid document."

Common Sense Bottom Line

While Chris Matthews may find a revolution distasteful, progressivism is equally so. Both have the goal of controlling citizens lives through the government --- one more slowly and slyly, the other more aggressively and violently.

Enjoy this complimentary clip from The Glenn Beck Program:

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

GLENN: Welcome to the program. So Chris Matthews has been having this conversation. He is fighting hard for Secretary Clinton. And he is at least open about it. He is not a fan of Bernie Sanders. He is a progressive, not a revolutionary. And there is a difference.

There is a Democrat. That's like a Harry Truman Democrat, that just believes in, you know, things that typical -- my grandfather was a Harry Truman Democrat. Then you have the progressive, which is actually a slowed-down socialist, somebody who believes we have to take it step by step, but we're heading towards socialism. Then you have a full-out socialist, and after that, a communist. That's the real spectrum on the left.

Well, we've been warning for a while that you can't put revolutions back into a bottle. Once you open up the bottle of revolution, you can't just take it back out and say, "Okay. Everybody sit down." So Occupy Wall Street and everything else, they've been asking for a revolution. They have been looking at, you know, let's take to the streets and let's have a revolution. This is why the progressives came into existence in the first place.

Socialism and a nonconstitutional and a non-US-constitutional-style government was the goal of the progressives and the communists. Woodrow Wilson is clear. He talks about how he loves communism and how communism was the future. This totalitarian regime is the future, with a strong man. But -- this is a quote -- nobody wants to see blood on the streets. And so you take it one piece at a time so we avoid revolution.

Chris Matthews is not a revolutionary and neither is Hillary Clinton. She's a progressive, so is he. So they talk about this on Hardball. And I want you to listen to what he said. I think we should start -- don't you think we should start with "revolution is not how it begins." Cut 641. Here it is.

CHRIS: -- Democratic Party, your party. Not Bernie Sanders. He's not a Democratic Party member. Your party has produced the New Deal. It produced the progressive income tax, came from the Democrats, from Wilson. Social Security, the greatest antipoverty program ever came from Roosevelt. And Harry Truman started the fight for health care and civil rights and all these good things that led to the Affordable Care Act.

But in every case, you had to battle Republicans who voted against it to the last person. And it's always been a tough fight. And you need 60 votes in the Senate; you need -- what is it -- 218 in the House. And if you don't have them, nothing gets done.

HILLARY: Right. Right. That's right.

CHRIS: Then the Bernie people need to be -- not him. He won't be taught. Can the kids behind him -- need to be told, "This is how it works in our system." You can call for revolution, but it ain't going to happen. There ain't going to be a revolution. There's going to be an election, an inauguration, and then there's going to be a Congress sitting with you, you got to do business with, no matter who gets elected.

HILLARY: Well, also --

CHRIS: Like -- you don't have to worry about logic anymore, just I'm going to have a revolution and pay for everything.

(laughter)

GLENN: He's just -- he's in there swinging. Okay. Again, you can't put the revolutionaries back into a bottle. You can't stoke the fires, which the Democrats did, stoke the fires of revolution and expect them to go back and go back to their home and expect, "Oh, well, it's nothing to worry about. We don't need revolution. We have Secretary Clinton." That's not what they're looking for. That's not what they've been promised.

PAT: Yeah, what was the book we talked about from France a couple years ago?

GLENN: It was the Coming Insurrection.

PAT: Coming Insurrection kind of outlines all that. They're not happy with that. They're not happy with the slow progress.

GLENN: Yeah. They're tired of being told that we're going to have this revolution when they know -- and this is the problem with Secretary Clinton, when they know the people at the top, the ones promising them this glorious revolution are just getting rich themselves. So that's why it doesn't connect with the people who are younger because they're seeing her make $675,000 from Wall Street for a speech, which they know is Wall Street -- that's the part of corruption that they're trying to get -- Occupy Wall Street. That's the part they want revolution on. He goes on. Now, listen to this question and this answer.

CHRIS: The only person -- and I want to say this bluntly, the only person between a confirmed socialist who is calling for political revolution in this country, winning the nomination of the Democratic Party, which has always been more moderate than that, is you.

So when you saw that -- that rally last night that the young people all around Senator Sanders -- when he yelled revolution out there and they all applauded like mad, how do you compete with a person who is coming along in the primaries, however, saying, I'm going to give you all the things you want: Free tuition, more Social Security benefits without an increase in your taxes, health care --

GLENN: Stop. Do you hear what he's saying. What's his question? It's two questions.

PAT: It's, how do you stop a guy who is promising these young guys everything they want? Free everything, where I'm going to give you whatever you want.

GLENN: Isn't that ironic?

PAT: Yes, it is. Yes, it is.

GLENN: He's saying two things. There's two questions. How do you stop a revolution?

PAT: Uh-huh.

GLENN: Well, you don't start a revolution. This is what I've been saying since the caliphate. You don't start a revolution because they never end the way ours did in America. Never.

They -- the people who started and encourage the revolution are -- is the same Democrats that spoke highly of Occupy Wall Street. You know that Hillary Clinton spoke highly of Occupy Wall Street.

PAT: Oh, yeah.

GLENN: Barack Obama spoke highly of Occupy Wall Street. They all did. Those people are revolutionaries. We warned you at the time, you can't play with matches. And so these same people who were encouraging the revolution are now looking and saying, "Wait a minute. It slipped through the fingers."

What did I say about the Egyptian revolution? When they all said that this was going to be a glorious Jeffersonian revolution, I said, "It never ends with the people who start it." The people at the top that pour the gasoline and light the flames and use the masses, those people who pour the gasoline, except for the American Revolution, are never the people who control it in the end.

So now Chris Matthews who was all for the glorious revolution on the streets of Occupy Wall Street is now saying, "How do you stop it?" Because he's realizing the people like him who started it are not going to be the ones in control.

PAT: Right.

GLENN: They now want something different than his goals were. So there's your first question. And I hate to say I told you so. But I told you so. And I want to say something else. Right now, I know that there are people that literally go in and out of lockdown. They are news people who literally are going into lockdown because of the threats against their lives.

This goes back to something I've warned when I was at Fox. You people in the press better pay attention because a revolution is coming and people are going to be so angry at what's going on and so angry at the press, that they will pull you out of your seats. Do you remember me saying this?

PAT: Uh-huh.

GLENN: They will pull you out of your seats in your own studios and kill you in the streets. We are getting very close to that. There are news journalists right now that have to have massive security. I know, because I've had massive security for quite some time.

Most people cannot afford the kind of security it takes for a journalist or somebody who speaks their mind to be able to actually be secure and not have to worry about it. There are journalists that are in that situation. So you're ratcheting up revolution on both sides of the aisle.

Now, the second question that is being asked here is so damn ironic. Chris Matthews: How do you run against somebody who is promising the world, that I'll give you everything free? That's the question the right has been asking for the last 90 years. How do you possibly win when somebody says, "I'll give you everything?"

PAT: Uh-huh.

GLENN: Answer: You don't. You don't.

PAT: Interesting that they're experiencing exactly what we've experienced all this time.

GLENN: Yep.

CHRIS: To death. All the government pain. How do you compete a revolution -- a revolution of promises, really?

HILLARY: I do think that we have an obligation to keep people focused on what's at stake in this election.

GLENN: A revolution of promises. Okay. Stop. What's at stake in this Constitution, Pat?

PAT: The Constitution is at stake in this.

GLENN: Clearly the Constitution of the United States is at stake. Will you truly have a First Amendment, a Second Amendment, a Fourth Amendment?

PAT: Yeah.

GLENN: Do you have those -- Tenth Amendment -- at the end of the next presidential term, those could be gone. What else is at stake? Kind of related to that. Supreme Court.

PAT: Yeah.

GLENN: If the Supreme Court, because there are four justices, if the Supreme Court is given to progressives that do not believe -- no matter what anybody says, look the history up yourself, do not take my word for it. Look at the history of progressives. Hillary Clinton calls herself and she makes pains to point out, "I am an early 20th-century American progressive." She says it that way almost every time.

Those early 20th-century American progressives felt that the Constitution was no longer a valid document. It -- the rights of man did not -- are not held by the creator. They are more in line with Darwin than Newton. So they are not hard, fast, gravitational laws, but they are more like -- they are more along the lines of evolution. So they evolve. That's what a 20th century believed. And that's how she identified herself.

If you put those people on the court, you will lose the Constitution. Also at stake, ISIS. Our very lives are at stake. If we continue to behave like we did in Benghazi, like we have in the Middle East for the last eight, nine years, where we betray all of our allies, where they can't trust us, we won't admit the truth of what Islam really, truly is, and we don't have somebody who really understands the full might and power of the United States military and respects it. And they respect them. You've also lost the country.

Also at stake, the culture. Yesterday, the president came out and said, "By the way, stand up down at the border. Stand down at the border." Do you know why California is red now -- I'm sorry -- is blue now instead of red?

Who was it that did -- I believe Wilson is the one that everybody gives the credit, that he's the one that turned it from Republican to Democrat. It wasn't Pete Wilson. It was a guy who had that same name in his though.

PAT: Woodrow?

GLENN: Nope. Guy named after him. Guy named after Woodrow Wilson.

Ronald Wilson Reagan. It was Ronald Reagan and his amnesty. The thing that he said was the biggest mistake of his entire presidency that changed California from red to blue.

PAT: It sure was.

GLENN: Changed it from a Democratic republic, changed it from a conservative state, to a liberal state. Because there was no -- it flooded new voters in. And it never came back.

With what this president is doing, he knows now, the amnesty thing is in trouble. I've got to flood this country with people. So now he's telling people, "Stand down." And he's flooding our nation. Our culture is at stake. But what does she say is at stake? It's not that. We'll share it with you here in just a second

Featured Image: Democratic presidential candidates former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) during their MSNBC Democratic Candidates Debate at the University of New Hampshire on February 4, 2016 in Durham, New Hampshire. This is the final debate for the Democratic candidates before the New Hampshire primaries. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

The critical difference: Rights from the Creator, not the state

Bloomberg / Contributor | Getty Images

When politicians claim that rights flow from the state, they pave the way for tyranny.

Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) recently delivered a lecture that should alarm every American. During a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing, he argued that believing rights come from a Creator rather than government is the same belief held by Iran’s theocratic regime.

Kaine claimed that the principles underpinning Iran’s dictatorship — the same regime that persecutes Sunnis, Jews, Christians, and other minorities — are also the principles enshrined in our Declaration of Independence.

In America, rights belong to the individual. In Iran, rights serve the state.

That claim exposes either a profound misunderstanding or a reckless indifference to America’s founding. Rights do not come from government. They never did. They come from the Creator, as the Declaration of Independence proclaims without qualification. Jefferson didn’t hedge. Rights are unalienable — built into every human being.

This foundation stands worlds apart from Iran. Its leaders invoke God but grant rights only through clerical interpretation. Freedom of speech, property, religion, and even life itself depend on obedience to the ruling clerics. Step outside their dictates, and those so-called rights vanish.

This is not a trivial difference. It is the essence of liberty versus tyranny. In America, rights belong to the individual. The government’s role is to secure them, not define them. In Iran, rights serve the state. They empower rulers, not the people.

From Muhammad to Marx

The same confusion applies to Marxist regimes. The Soviet Union’s constitutions promised citizens rights — work, health care, education, freedom of speech — but always with fine print. If you spoke out against the party, those rights evaporated. If you practiced religion openly, you were charged with treason. Property and voting were allowed as long as they were filtered and controlled by the state — and could be revoked at any moment. Rights were conditional, granted through obedience.

Kaine seems to be advocating a similar approach — whether consciously or not. By claiming that natural rights are somehow comparable to sharia law, he ignores the critical distinction between inherent rights and conditional privileges. He dismisses the very principle that made America a beacon of freedom.

Jefferson and the founders understood this clearly. “We are endowed by our Creator with certain unalienable rights,” they wrote. No government, no cleric, no king can revoke them. They exist by virtue of humanity itself. The government exists to protect them, not ration them.

This is not a theological quibble. It is the entire basis of our government. Confuse the source of rights, and tyranny hides behind piety or ideology. The people are disempowered. Clerics, bureaucrats, or politicians become arbiters of what rights citizens may enjoy.

John Greim / Contributor | Getty Images

Gifts from God, not the state

Kaine’s statement reflects either a profound ignorance of this principle or an ideological bias that favors state power over individual liberty. Either way, Americans must recognize the danger. Understanding the origin of rights is not academic — it is the difference between freedom and submission, between the American experiment and theocratic or totalitarian rule.

Rights are not gifts from the state. They are gifts from God, secured by reason, protected by law, and defended by the people. Every American must understand this. Because when rights come from government instead of the Creator, freedom disappears.

This article originally appeared on TheBlaze.com.

POLL: Is America’s next generation trading freedom for equity?

NurPhoto / Contributor | Getty Images

A recent poll conducted by Justin Haskins, a long-time friend of the show, has uncovered alarming trends among young Americans aged 18-39, revealing a generation grappling with deep frustrations over economic hardships, housing affordability, and a perceived rigged system that favors the wealthy, corporations, and older generations. While nearly half of these likely voters approve of President Trump, seeing him as an anti-establishment figure, over 70% support nationalizing major industries, such as healthcare, energy, and big tech, to promote "equity." Shockingly, 53% want a democratic socialist to win the 2028 presidential election, including a third of Trump voters and conservatives in this age group. Many cite skyrocketing housing costs, unfair taxation on the middle class, and a sense of being "stuck" or in crisis as driving forces, with 62% believing the economy is tilted against them and 55% backing laws to confiscate "excess wealth" like second homes or luxury items to help first-time buyers.

This blend of Trump support and socialist leanings suggests a volatile mix: admiration for disruptors who challenge the status quo, coupled with a desire for radical redistribution to address personal struggles. Yet, it raises profound questions about the roots of this discontent—Is it a failure of education on history's lessons about socialism's failures? Media indoctrination? Or genuine systemic barriers? And what does it portend for the nation’s trajectory—greater division, a shift toward authoritarian policies, or an opportunity for renewal through timeless values like hard work and individual responsibility?

Glenn wants to know what YOU think: Where do Gen Z's socialist sympathies come from? What does it mean for the future of America? Make your voice heard in the poll below:

Do you believe the Gen Z support for socialism comes from perceived economic frustrations like unaffordable housing and a rigged system favoring the wealthy and corporations?

Do you believe the Gen Z support for socialism, including many Trump supporters, is due to a lack of education about the historical failures of socialist systems?

Do you think that these poll results indicate a growing generational divide that could lead to more political instability and authoritarian tendencies in America's future?

Do you think that this poll implies that America's long-term stability relies on older generations teaching Gen Z and younger to prioritize self-reliance, free-market ideals, and personal accountability?

Do you think the Gen Z support for Trump is an opportunity for conservatives to win them over with anti-establishment reforms that preserve liberty?

Americans expose Supreme Court’s flag ruling as a failed relic

Anna Moneymaker / Staff | Getty Images

In a nation where the Stars and Stripes symbolize the blood-soaked sacrifices of our heroes, President Trump's executive order to crack down on flag desecration amid violent protests has ignited fierce debate. But in a recent poll, Glenn asked the tough question: Can Trump protect the Flag without TRAMPLING free speech? Glenn asked, and you answered—thousands weighed in on this pressing clash between free speech and sacred symbols.

The results paint a picture of resounding distrust toward institutional leniency. A staggering 85% of respondents support banning the burning of American flags when it incites violence or disturbs the peace, a bold rejection of the chaos we've seen from George Floyd riots to pro-Palestinian torchings. Meanwhile, 90% insist that protections for burning other flags—like Pride or foreign banners—should not be treated the same as Old Glory under the First Amendment, exposing the hypocrisy in equating our nation's emblem with fleeting symbols. And 82% believe the Supreme Court's Texas v. Johnson ruling, shielding flag burning as "symbolic speech," should not stand without revision—can the official story survive such resounding doubt from everyday Americans weary of government inaction?

Your verdict sends a thunderous message: In this divided era, the flag demands defense against those who exploit freedoms to sow disorder, without trampling the liberties it represents. It's a catastrophic failure of the establishment to ignore this groundswell.

Want to make your voice heard? Check out more polls HERE.

Labor Day EXPOSED: The Marxist roots you weren’t told about

JOSEPH PREZIOSO / Contributor | Getty Images

During your time off this holiday, remember the man who started it: Peter J. McGuire, a racist Marxist who co-founded America’s first socialist party.

Labor Day didn’t begin as a noble tribute to American workers. It began as a negotiation with ideological terrorists.

In the late 1800s, factory and mine conditions were brutal. Workers endured 12-to-15-hour days, often seven days a week, in filthy, dangerous environments. Wages were low, injuries went uncompensated, and benefits didn’t exist. Out of desperation, Americans turned to labor unions. Basic protections had to be fought for because none were guaranteed.

Labor Day wasn’t born out of gratitude. It was a political payoff to Marxist radicals who set trains ablaze and threatened national stability.

That era marked a seismic shift — much like today. The Industrial Revolution, like our current digital and political upheaval, left millions behind. And wherever people get left behind, Marxists see an opening.

A revolutionary wedge

This was Marxism’s moment.

Economic suffering created fertile ground for revolutionary agitation. Marxists, socialists, and anarchists stepped in to stoke class resentment. Their goal was to turn the downtrodden into a revolutionary class, tear down the existing system, and redistribute wealth by force.

Among the most influential agitators was Peter J. McGuire, a devout Irish Marxist from New York. In 1874, he co-founded the Social Democratic Workingmens Party of North America, the first Marxist political party in the United States. He was also a vice president of the American Federation of Labor, which would become the most powerful union in America.

McGuire’s mission wasn’t hidden. He wanted to transform the U.S. into a socialist nation through labor unions.

That mission soon found a useful symbol.

In the 1880s, labor leaders in Toronto invited McGuire to attend their annual labor festival. Inspired, he returned to New York and launched a similar parade on Sept. 5 — chosen because it fell halfway between Independence Day and Thanksgiving.

The first parade drew over 30,000 marchers who skipped work to hear speeches about eight-hour workdays and the alleged promise of Marxism. The parade caught on across the country.

Negotiating with radicals

By 1894, Labor Day had been adopted by 30 states. But the federal government had yet to make it a national holiday. A major strike changed everything.

In Pullman, Illinois, home of the Pullman railroad car company, tensions exploded. The economy tanked. George Pullman laid off hundreds of workers and slashed wages for those who remained — yet refused to lower the rent on company-owned homes.

That injustice opened the door for Marxist agitators to mobilize.

Sympathetic railroad workers joined the strike. Riots broke out. Hundreds of railcars were torched. Mail service was disrupted. The nation’s rail system ground to a halt.

President Grover Cleveland — under pressure in a midterm election year — panicked. He sent 12,000 federal troops to Chicago. Two strikers were killed in the resulting clashes.

With the crisis spiraling and Democrats desperate to avoid political fallout, Cleveland struck a deal. Within six days of breaking the strike, Congress rushed through legislation making Labor Day a federal holiday.

It was the first of many concessions Democrats would make to organized labor in exchange for political power.

What we really celebrated

Labor Day wasn’t born out of gratitude. It was a political payoff to Marxist radicals who set trains ablaze and threatened national stability.

Kean Collection / Staff | Getty Images

What we celebrated was a Canadian idea, brought to America by the founder of the American Socialist Party, endorsed by racially exclusionary unions, and made law by a president and Congress eager to save face.

It was the first of many bones thrown by the Democratic Party to union power brokers. And it marked the beginning of a long, costly compromise with ideologues who wanted to dismantle the American way of life — from the inside out.

This article originally appeared on TheBlaze.com.

Glenn's Show Prep

Bernie's Brand of Socialism Too Revolutionary for Chris Matthews

The critical difference: Rights from the Creator, not the state

When politicians claim that rights flow from the state, they pave the way for tyranny.

In America, rights belong to the individual. In Iran, rights serve the state.

From Muhammad to Marx

Gifts from God, not the state

POLL: Is America’s next generation trading freedom for equity?

Do you believe the Gen Z support for socialism comes from perceived economic frustrations like unaffordable housing and a rigged system favoring the wealthy and corporations?

Do you believe the Gen Z support for socialism, including many Trump supporters, is due to a lack of education about the historical failures of socialist systems?

Do you think that these poll results indicate a growing generational divide that could lead to more political instability and authoritarian tendencies in America's future?

Do you think that this poll implies that America's long-term stability relies on older generations teaching Gen Z and younger to prioritize self-reliance, free-market ideals, and personal accountability?

Do you think the Gen Z support for Trump is an opportunity for conservatives to win them over with anti-establishment reforms that preserve liberty?

Americans expose Supreme Court’s flag ruling as a failed relic

Labor Day EXPOSED: The Marxist roots you weren’t told about

During your time off this holiday, remember the man who started it: Peter J. McGuire, a racist Marxist who co-founded America’s first socialist party.

Labor Day wasn’t born out of gratitude. It was a political payoff to Marxist radicals who set trains ablaze and threatened national stability.

A revolutionary wedge

Negotiating with radicals

What we really celebrated