When Our Side Lies, We Must Call It Out

May 25, 2016

Staff

WRITER

The year was 1781, and British statesman Edmund Burke took to the floor of parliament and said these words:

There are three estates in parliament. The first estate is the clergy. The second is nobility. The third, the common man. But there in the reporter galleries yonder there sits a fourth estate, much more important by far than the rest."

What Burke was saying was really simple: In a democratic society there are institutions like religion, government agencies, unions, political parties. To ensure proper governance and fairness, they come together. They debate. They find agreement. They make new laws and repeal old laws. But Burke was saying right then, and he identified the value of a fourth estate in society, a free and independent press.

The press needs to act as a people's watchdog. They ensure the people retain their access to truth, that we are informed and aware of what the institutions and our leaders --- whether they're clergy, unions or governments --- what our leaders are doing and if our leaders are telling us things that are truthful and consistent. They are the fourth estate. And they are elevated above the government, above unions, above our churches, above our religious figures. They protect us by finding and publishing and exposing the truth, so then we can make an informed decision, so that we the people are not misled and aren't lied to, so our freedom can't be taken from us by con men.

So what happens when the press starts to lie? What happens when they make it their goal not to discover and present the truth, but rather to fulfill a particular political agenda? What happens when the press aligns itself heavily with a single political party and begins to shape stories to support a particular moral ideology? We know because we've seen it.

Photo: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

What happens is this: The truth is lost, and the people begin to trust no one. When the watchdog aligns itself with the wolves, it is the sheep who become the victims. The goal of the majority of the press stopped being about telling the truth around the time of Woodrow Wilson. That's when it became a coordinated effort, the fourth estate merged with the first and second estate.

It was three estates against one. The press stopped being about telling the truth and became about transforming the world, shaping it closer to their heart's desire, about getting certain candidates elected or changing the perception about human morality or our culture. The press developed an agenda that was far beyond fact-finding.

It began about presenting a story that gave readers and viewers a certain perception. It is the reason the Council of Foreign Relations was begun. Facts could be left out if they cricked the agenda. Certain photos or videos would be used or edited to tell the story, the editor, the reporter, or the company owner, or the politician, the government wanted to tell. And in their hearts, they had justified it, because to them, they were making the world a better place because they believed their agenda was right.

They were fighting against evil. They were fighting against deforestation. They were helping put a stop to gun violence. They were reducing alcoholism. Preventing obesity. Trying to put an end to income inequality. So a little lie here, a little omission here, a little snip of a video here or a sound bite --- you just select the right image, and you can create whatever perception you want among the readers.

So what if you have to bend the truth a little bit, if you have to smear a good man's name in the meantime? So what if you have to make people who look like they read the Bible, look like toothless rednecks to prevent gun violence, to save a child, it's worth that the truth be damned. We all know this because we've watched it for 100 years.

It's the job of the press to discover the truth and to present and inform us of the truth, but it hasn't been done in a long time. And without it, you know, because you see it. We become blind. We are lost because we cannot make an informed, rational decision about our future. And no one even looks to the press anymore because people say, "They're all lying." And when everyone is perceived as a liar, then there cannot be any search for truth. The truth becomes irrelevant.

Without a free press actually doing their job, the common man cannot do his job. We cannot protect each other's freedom. We can't act in concert to defend our neighbor's liberty.

We've known for a long time that the mainstream media has leftist bias. Independent watchdog organizations have released study after study showing how that bias impacts the veracity of their stories and their conclusions, how the truth is left behind. And every conservative knows it. We have lamented it for years. We have nicknames for it --- lame stream media, the drive-by media, the left stream media. It's even funny until we have completely lost the truth.

And now we find ourselves in a situation to where nobody is even looking for the truth --- because there is no standard of truth.

What we're lamenting is not just the lost of journalistic integrity. It's not just that they have a left-leaning bias. We have lost access to truth. And now the game has changed almost entirely, as it should have. But it's gone down the same road. In today's media world, the goal is just to sell eyeballs, to get shares, to get clicks. The more sensational the coverage, the more scandalous the story, the more bias you can pack into a story, the better. Throw them the red meat that they want. It's more likely to get shared, more likely to get clicked on. And, therefore, more likely to drive advertising dollars and high CPMs.

Show a polar bear standing alone on a tiny iceberg and write a story about global warming. Millions of shares. Millions of eyeballs. Millions of people all around the world feeling sorry for the polar bears who are going to drown out there in the freezing ocean.

CARMEN JASPERSEN/AFP/Getty Images

Should I mention the polar bear population is increasing dramatically? No, no, no. I say that, it takes away from the goal here, which is to paint a certain picture. To give a certain impression. To get more click-through his and comments. Don't let the truth get in the way of doing good. You may not get a promotion at the Huffington Post. If your story doesn't get clicks and comments, the polar bears, they don't care. So really, who gets hurt?

We know this problem has existed. We know that it's existed in media for probably since the beginning of time. But as a coordinated effort by the progressives --- on both sides of the aisles --- for 100 years.

Quite honestly, the only reason why I have any career and the reason why people know my name is because I was willing to go on radio and go on TV and simply tell the truth, first about me, and then about the truth as I understood it. And audiences were so hungry for it because they couldn't find authenticity anymore in their newspaper or broadcast news channel. They couldn't find somebody who would say what they mean and mean what they said.

Now, if we conservatives and Libertarians and constitutionalists, those of us on the political right, those of us who have seen the rise of leftist bias and willful deceit, if we are to take over the mainstream media and we do the same thing, why would we expect different results? Why would we expect to be able to garner trust?

When the New York Times --- when anybody does it, when Facebook does it --- it has to be called out. Bias is bias. When it's proven, bias is bias. When the Huffington Post does it, we have to call it out. But when our side does it, perhaps it's more important to call it out on ourselves because we don't have this image yet. We're not known as the liars, yet. They think we are. They think we're no different than they are. But I contend we are different than they are. I contend we do have higher values and higher principles. I contend we do have the truth. So when you hear somebody on our side smear to smear, print falsehoods, we need to call it out.

Yesterday, the Drudge Report posted a story about Bill Cosby, formerly facing sexual assault charges, as he should have. He should face that. But what was amazing was Drudge rightfully led with that story, but he also put a picture on top. And so the lead picture was Bill Cosby standing in front of a very young, maybe 10-year-old picture, of Hillary Clinton. So she was in the picture behind Bill Cosby.

How long did it take to find a picture of Bill Cosby that could implicate Hillary Clinton in his rape case? A picture of Bill Cosby in the foreground, with Hillary in focus in the background, completely out of context. How is that any different than the polar bear on the ice cap? How is that any different than the picture of that one polar bear floating there?

Photo: William Thomas Cain/Getty Images

I want you to know, I have no sympathy for Hillary Clinton. She has led the way of smearing the right for decades --- "the vast right-wing conspiracy," a lie to protect herself. There is plenty of very low-hanging fruit that she deserves to be attacked for, but this isn't about her. This is about us.

Do we or do we not hold a higher standard for ourselves? Because if it's wrong when the left-leaning press uses an image that misleads or confounds the truth, if that would have happened and it was a picture of Donald Trump, do you think Drudge would have used that picture? Of course not. He was furthering an agenda. Do you think if you would have had that picture and it was Donald Trump and the New York Times did it, do you think we would be outraged? Of course. Of course we would.

We believe in principles.

Everybody knows how I feel about Ted Cruz and constitutionalists, yet the one charge --- I've heard a lot of charges: I'm a drunk. I'm failing. I'm out of control. I'm crazy. I'm on drugs. I've sold out all my values. I'm not the guy I used to be. I got paid off by Ted Cruz, his super PACs. I've made millions of dollars. I've heard it all. But the one thing I haven't heard is that TheBlaze sold out and became an organ for Ted Cruz.

I believe in principles. The news must be separate from an agenda. That doesn't mean you don't stand for something, but we don't lie. We don't smear. We don't publish stories with iffy sources, no matter how much we want a story to be true. And believe me, there are stories we have wanted to be true. But we must go where the truth leads us. That must be our mission as people, to help others discover the truth, not to be hoodwinked into it. But to question with boldness, even the very existence of God. For if there is a God, he must surely rather honest questioning over blindfolded fear.

So where do we go now? We must go where the truth leads us. It must be the mission to help people discover the truth.

Featured Image: The Glenn Beck Program, May 25, 2016

Marxist Methods: Debunking the Left's LIES About Critical Race Theory

We've heard a lot about critical race theory lately, and for good reason: It's a racist ideology designed to corrupt our children and undermine our American values. But most of what we see are the results of a process that has been underway for decades. And that's not something the mainstream media, the Democrat Party, and even teachers unions want you to know. They're doing everything in their power to try and convince you that it's no big deal. They want to sweep everything under the rug and keep you in the dark. To fight it, we need to understand what fuels it.

On his Wednesday night special this week, Glenn Beck exposes the deep-seated Marxist origins of CRT and debunks the claims that it's just a harmless term for a school of legal scholarship. Newsweek opinion editor Josh Hammer joins to argue why we must ban critical race theory from our schools if we want to save a very divided nation.

Watch the full "Glenn TV" episode below:

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Glenn Beck: I'd give up my American citizenship ‘in a heartbeat’ if THIS happens

On the radio program Monday, Glenn Beck blasted the Democrats — and anyone else on the left — who have been so eager to open our southern U.S. border for the past several months, but also willing to turn a blind eye to the Cuban people in need of help today.

"While we are welcoming people from any country, all over the world, without any kind of information, and setting them into our country, putting them on American planes paid for by American taxpayers," Glenn began. "And our Coast Guard Cutters are turning these [Cuban] people away. Shame on you! Shame on you!"

Glenn said that he's "sick and tired" of hearing about "brave" leftist activists like Colin Kaepernick, who protest the America flag while wearing Che Guevara and Fidel Castro t-shirts. Meanwhile, the Cuban people are risking their lives by taking to the sea to escape their oppressive regime and come to America.

"Anybody who glorifies Che doesn't know their ass from their elbow. You can't call them a human rights activist. You're protesting the American flag, because you so deeply believe in the right to be free? And yet, you wear a Che T-shirt?" Glenn said.

Glenn went on to argue that, even though the left has "bastardized" the meaning of our country, he still believes America is the best nation on Earth. In fact, he'd give up his citizenship "in a heartbeat" if another country could prove to be better, more noble, and more free. But no other nation exists like ours, he said, which is why it's so imperative we fight for freedom here, in Cuba, and around the world.

Watch the video clip below to hear Glenn explain:

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'They believe their job is to REMAKE your child': WSJ writer warns public schools may be LOST to woke trans activism

There's a new "reality" spreading, and the mere act of questioning it has become incredibly dangerous, Wall Street Journal investigative journalist Abigail Shrier told Glenn on the most recent episode of "The Glenn Beck Podcast."

Shrier's book, "Irreversible Damage: The Transgender Craze Seducing Our Daughters," exposes the radical gender activism that — like critical race theory — has overtaken our children's schools and culture. But even worse, she warned, it could end your parental rights for good.

Shrier made it clear she is by no means "anti-trans," but simply speaking up against the extremes of this new "reality" has made her enemy No. 1 to many activists. Her book has been bashed so hard by the Left that Target has stopped selling it twice, Amazon once banned ads for it, and the American Booksellers Association even called sending it to others "a serious, violent incident."

In the clip below, Shrier explained why she believes "there may be no hope for the public school system."

"You have teachers behaving like activists across the country who have no interest in actually teaching. They believe their job is to remake your child," she asserted. "We're seeing so much evidence of that, I think it's fair to say that it may be too deeply rooted in the ideology being taught in public school. I'm not sure that the public school system is redeemable at this point."

Watch the video clip below for more or find the full podcast with Abigail Shrier here:

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Gov. Abbott: Yes, Texas really can ARREST House Democrats when they return. Here's how.

What is actually in Texas' new GOP-led voting bill? Nearly every Texas House Democrat fled the state to block its passage, calling it racist and oppressive, and President Joe Biden backed them as well.

But Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) joined Glenn Beck on the radio program Friday to set the record straight and call out the lies: All of these claims are "completely false." He also explained his promise to "arrest" the Texas House Democrats when they return to the Lone Star State.

"What is in the bill is completely different than what they're saying, what Kamala Harris is saying, what President Biden is saying. What's in the bill actually increases the number of hours that people have to vote in the state of Texas. In the state of Texas, we have at least 12 days of early voting, and we are adding hours to those days. And on top of that, we are giving people time off from work to be able to vote. Bottom line, we're making it easier to vote in the state of Texas," Gov Abbott explained.

"In comparison, Delaware — the state that President Biden votes in — has exactly zero hours of early voting," he added. "That said, there is one thing that we're doing in the state of Texas, and that is we're making sure we tighten the reins on mail-in ballots that can lead to voter fraud. And it's not me saying that. It's a federal judge, appointed by Barack Obama, in Corpus Christi, Texas, who wrote in a legal opinion that voter fraud occurs, quote, in abundance as it concerns mail-in ballots. We know. Texans know. There is fraud in mail-in ballots in the state of Texas. It must be fixed. That's one thing we're trying to do. That being said, all these claims that we're denying people the right to vote and yada, yada, yada, are completely false."

Abbott went on to discuss the much-debated voter ID laws in Texas and to explain why Democrats insist on calling basic voter ID requirements "racist."

"When Democrats do not have truth on their side, they resort to one single word and that is 'racism' ... Texas implemented voter ID almost a decade ago, and when we went through that fight, what word did they use? Racism," he said. "Guess what? After Texas imposed voter ID requirements in the state of Texas, there have been more people voting and more people of color who went to vote. Voting didn't get harder. It got easier and more abundant in the state of Texas. And so, once again, Democrats have absolutely no legal standing, other than to say, 'racism.'"

Glenn asked Gov. Abbott to explain his pledge to "arrest" the Democratic lawmakers that fled once they return to Texas.

"Let me explain how this works. So, whenever there is a break of quorum, which is what is happening now — meaning there is not a sufficient number of people who are showing up to the Texas House of Representatives for the Texas House to engage in business. Whenever there's a quorum break like that, the House issues what's called a 'call on the House.' And when that happens, the sergeant-at-arms is authorized to work with the Texas Department of Public Safety, to — you can call it arrest, apprehend, whatever you want to call it — any of the members who are not in the Texas House of Representatives and bring them to the Texas House where they will be 'cabined' with no ability to leave the Texas House chamber, without a permission slip from the speaker."

Watch the video clip below for more details:

Glenn's Show Prep

When Our Side Lies, We Must Call It Out

Will we EVER see justice in the FBI, Trump, Russia investigation?

Glenn Beck: Rand Paul was RIGHT to say Dr. Fauci LIED about gain-of-function

Critical Race Theory: A special brand of evil

Marxist Methods: Debunking the Left's LIES About Critical Race Theory

Want more from Glenn Beck?

Glenn Beck: I'd give up my American citizenship ‘in a heartbeat’ if THIS happens

Want more from Glenn Beck?

'They believe their job is to REMAKE your child': WSJ writer warns public schools may be LOST to woke trans activism

Want more from Glenn Beck?

Gov. Abbott: Yes, Texas really can ARREST House Democrats when they return. Here's how.

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