Principles ground us. Principles are the anchor in the storm of passing fancies. Sadly, people without principles often don’t understand why they matter until it's too late.
From his studio replica of the Oval Office, Glenn pointed to artifacts around the room to help drive home the importance of keeping principles clearly in sight during The Glenn Beck Program Thursday.
Pointing to Native American items from the second Tea Party in early 1900’s, a Civil War drum, guns from World War II, photos of Ronald Reagan and a Norman Rockwell painting, Glenn talked about how each item is a reminder of important principles.
The Norman Rockwell painting of a Boy Scout with the Scout Oath written in the background serves as a reminder to Glenn to "do your best" to both God and country. It's a simple guideline, but one that's all to easy to lose site of.
Politics are messy. They always have been and always will be. Getting down in the mud might be Donald Trump’s go-to move but his rough couple of weeks provides us a chance to look beyond the candidate and to principles and values.
The Republican frontrunner said "there has to be some form of punishment" for women who receive abortions during an interview with Chris Matthews earlier this week.
In traditional Trump fashion, he quickly changed his position and walked back from the strong response only hours later.
Articulating Conservative Principles Takes Practice
Changing a position or a view is something we all do, but Glenn and co-host Stu Burguiere discussed just how intense of a process this was for Glenn years ago.
“Stu, I wouldn't say I would make a good one, but am I somewhat qualified --- not on all of it, but at least to help make decisions, somewhat qualified, maybe not to be president, but to stand in the room and to have solid advice for a president?” Glenn asked.
Without hesitating, Stu responded.
"Yeah. Absolutely. Because you've taken the time to think about these things and develop your belief system," Stu said.
Glenn continued to probe with another question.
“Okay. Correct. Would you say when you started working with me in, what, 1998, '96, that I would be qualified to stand and advise a president?" Glenn said.
Stu answered the obvious question, "No."Â It took Glenn, and as it does anybody, a long time of real introspection to get to that point.
"A decade, easy, of really wrestling," Glenn said. "And that's a decade of me doing this for a living, to where I was challenged every single day on my viewpoint."
Referring back to Donald Trump's interview, everything from his body language to his stalling techniques and his hesitancy to provide an answer all point to his unformulated opinion. He simply didn’t have a principle anchoring him to a point of view and he has not taken the time to truly understand the subject.
"There's no principle, and there's been no intellect curiosity," Glenn said. "When you hear him say this now, you can see there's been no intellectual change at all."
Trump has said himself he used to be pro-choice and is now pro-life, that is a huge change in perspective and would take some thinking if there had been a true change. His inability to articulate his stance is indicative of not only being prepared but a lack of true understanding.
Ben Carson Attempts to Explain the Abortion Fiasco
As one of Donald Trump’s top endorsers, Ben Carson was asked about this misstep. Carson's response proves that neither he nor Trump are tied to principles.
“Bear in mind I don't believe that he was warned that that question was coming," Carson said.
Needless to say, this explanation didn’t fly with co-host Pat Gray.
"What does that have to do with it? Like you're going to be warned, 'Hey, Vladimir Putin is going to say he wants you out of Eastern Europe right now. Every base has to go.' 'Well, I didn't know he was going to say that. So originally I said okay, but then I went and talked to people and now I say no.' It's too late, my friend," Pat said.
Carson’s endorsement of Trump was confusing at the time, but this response goes to show how the political process has swayed his principles. It also demonstrates why Glenn would not pull the lever for him.
"This is my problem with Ben Carson. I like Ben Carson. Ben Carson was a good man. He had his principles in order. But what did I always say about Ben Carson? He's not well read enough. He's not --- he hasn't been briefed enough and gone through the drills to know what a president needs to know at the drop of a hat," Glenn said.
Trump May Have Hit His High Water-Mark
Despite all of his antics, Trump hasn’t experienced many --- if any --- major stumbling blocks to his campaign. He has made insensitive and prejudicial remarks, flip-flopped and lied and spearheaded character assassination against anyone standing in his way.
His attacks on Megyn Kelly were one thing, but his latest attacks on Heidi Cruz and saying women should be punished for having abortions may just be what finally trips him up. Wisconsin will be an important testing ground.
The latest polls show Cruz moving up 21 points to 40 percent while Trump has stayed even at 30 percent --- and Kasich pulls up the rear with 21 percent.
"Ten points in Wisconsin, according to this latest poll. And why is that happening? I think it's because Trump has hit a high-water mark," Pat said.
It’s beginning to be more apparent to everyone just how little of a foundation Trump has and how little principles matter to him.
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