Glenn's 2008 Message About Barack Obama Should Ring True for the Left in 2016

When Barack Obama was elected in 2008, Glenn went on air with a word of advice to Americans on both sides of the aisle. Hindsight being what it is, his message might be even more applicable today than it was back then.

RELATED: Dear Every Democrat Freaking Out Today: Learn From My Mistakes

From 2008:

He's going to be the President of the United States. Let's give the man the respect that the office deserves. Let's be better people than they were to George W. Bush, be better people than the left was to us. Let's treat them the way we would them to treat us.

And I believe that's by saying, congratulations, President-elect Barack Obama. You have the toughest job in the world. And in any way that I can, I will help you and support you. I am not going to sell out my values, but I think any man of honor, any man of integrity, any man who deserves to be in the Oval Office can appreciate that.

You're not their president. You're not the president of the left. You're the President of the United States. You're our President. You're my President.

In any way I can, without selling out my principles, we will help you.

Glenn reflected on this pivotal moment from the past during his radio program on Thursday. Echoing his own message from 2008, Glenn urged Americans --- and Republicans in particular --- to move forward with kindness.

"Let me give the advice on both sides: Republicans, please, do not push this pendulum. Do not go for revenge. Do not go for vengeance," Glenn said. "Dismantle the pendulum. Do not swing it so far, because as I said in 2008, it will swing back as far, if not farther than you push it."

He went on to call for Americans to reach out to those who did not vote for Donald Trump with decency and respect.

"It is our job to reach out now to our friends, our friends who didn't vote for Donald Trump," he said. "I know we had all kinds of words. Let's forget about that. Let's move forward."

Read below or listen to the full segment for answers to these pivotal questions:

• What did Glenn say in 2008 about the pendulum swinging?

• Why is it dangerous to concentrate too much power in one individual?

• Exit polling showed that 27 percent of voters want what?

• Why should we not dismiss the fears of those on the left?

• Should we treat liberals with more compassion and understanding?

Listen to this segment from The Glenn Beck Program:

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

GLENN: I want to play something that I said on this day in 2008, when Barack Obama -- and I want you to listen to this, especially if you didn't vote for Donald Trump or if you're on the left. I want you to listen what I said in 2008 on the day they announced that Barack Obama would be President-elect Barack Obama.

(audio starts)

I give the same warning to the Democrats that I gave to the Republicans in George Bush shortly after 9/11: Be careful how far you push this pendulum up. Because if you take this pendulum and try to swing it so far up, the pendulum always swings back. And when it does, it goes back as far, if not farther than you just swung it. That's what gave us Barack Obama.

What gave us Barack Obama was the pushing of that pendulum so far. The wrapping of America in the flag and everything else, and not really standing for anything, as they push this pendulum up. It's going to swing. Mark my words, Democrats. It will swing just as far the other way. And what I said was the danger after September 11th: You interject hunger and fear, that pendulum can stop. And it depends on who is in power that grabs that pendulum.

So while you may be happy today about Barack Obama, be careful what you do. Because we don't want an extremist on either end to grab the pendulum. We've got to -- we've got to bring the pendulum and stop it swinging so far and bring it closer to the center. We're not that different.

(audio ends)

PAT: That might be the truest best callback we've ever played of one of those clips, of something you said in the past.

GLENN: So that was 2008. So now let me issue an update on that.

We know that to be true now. We know that to be true.

PAT: Uh-huh.

GLENN: And one of the things we saw last night in the exit polling is that 27 percent of those who voted wanted a strong man. Wanted a strong man. That is the interjection of fear and hunger of -- it could be a million different things for a million different people. The pendulum swung too far.

If anybody was worried about the power of the government, like we were, if you weren't worried about that, during the Obama administration, we kept saying, "Somebody is going to come in that you're not going to like. You don't want to give them that much power."

So let me give the advice on both sides: Republicans, please, do not push this pendulum. Do not -- do not go for revenge. Do not go for vengeance. Do not take the IRS -- de-weaponize the IRS. Do not even allow it to continue to be weaponized. Dismantle the pendulum. Do not swing it so far -- because as I said in 2008, it will swing back as far, if not farther than you push it.

Now, let me give -- let me give some advice to the left that comes not from knowledge, but from wisdom. Because I've lived it.

Last night, I heard Donald Trump called everything. Everything. I realize -- I realize, as I pointed out under Barack Obama, there are echoes of 1933.

Now, you didn't want to hear that when I said that about Barack Obama. Too much power is being concentrated in one guy. Be careful. That's what happened in 1933. Okay. You didn't like it.

Last night, I heard so many comparisons of Donald Trump to Hitler. And we, on the right must not dismiss their fear.

For instance, people who are saying, people are going to be scooped up in the middle of the night, blah, blah, blah, blah. You may not believe that. You may say, "That will never happen." But instead of saying, "Oh, stop it. He's not going to ban all Muslims. Stop it." That's a real fear. Remember the fears that you had under Barack Obama. They could tell you a million times it wasn't going to happen, that he wasn't going to suspend the election, but a lot of people still had that fear and wouldn't let go of it.

And every time they said, "Oh, please," that's ridiculous, what happened? Did you feel better?

We have to say: Look, I don't believe he's going to scoop up Muslims. I don't think that's going to happen. He's not going to ban all Muslims.

But let me tell you something, if he does, I'm on your side. I'm on your side. I will stand against anyone who does anything against a man because of their religious beliefs. I'm for the Constitution. Don't worry about it.

And if we cross that bridge, we're going to cross that bridge together. Take that attitude instead of dismissing their fears because many on the left are truly afraid today. They need reassurance from reasonable people on the right.

STU: And that's what Trump tried to do in that speech.

GLENN: Exactly right.

STU: That's what he did.

GLENN: Exactly right.

STU: That was his point in the speech, I think.

GLENN: Yes. So we need to make an effort. It is our job to reach out now to our friends, our friends who didn't vote for Donald Trump. They don't have to be on the left. They could be people who didn't vote for Donald Trump. And they're on the right. And they're constitutionalists.

You need to tell them today, "Don't worry about it. I know we had all kinds of words. I know we had all kinds of words. Let's forget about that. Let's move forward."

Listen, if he would do something like that -- which he's not -- don't dismiss their fears. Please. Learn from my mistakes from 2010.

The other thing, to the left, every time you call him Hitler, believe me, because my job -- I see my job as using history to teach. That's not what you're doing.

When I'm using it, I'm taking a historic piece and saying, "Look at this piece. This piece looks exactly like 1934." But what you're doing is you're saying, "He's Hitler." No, he's not. Only Hitler is Hitler.

But you -- when I said that about Barack Obama --

PAT: I don't believe you ever said Barack Obama is Hitler.

GLENN: No. No, I didn't. Never did. Never did.

But I did say, "These earmarks happened at that time."

PAT: Yeah.

GLENN: And this could be very Hitler-esque.

PAT: Yeah.

GLENN: This is how it started. The seeds are very important to point out. So I will listen to you on the seeds. When you say, "Glenn, look at this," I am going to say to you, "I know. I know. But I'm with you if we continue down that road. I'm not going to dismiss that warning." But don't -- I'm telling the left, do not call people sexists, racists, Hitler.

PAT: Hmm.

GLENN: Don't do it?

PAT: Too late.

GLENN: It's not too late.

PAT: But they were doing it last night. All night long.

GLENN: I know. But today, we have to have a period of forgiveness. They're scared. And we also have to have -- please, I am the guy out of everybody in the country, I'm the guy who knows these things because I've learned them firsthand. You won't get anyone on our side to listen to you if you do what you did to George W. Bush or what we did to Barack Obama. It will only get worse, which will cause the right to push the pendulum even further and dismiss you and say, "You're a bunch of kooks anyway. I'm not listening to you."

Please, please, the left has a --

PAT: And they feel justified because that's what they did to the right in 2008.

GLENN: Correct. And we felt justified. We felt justified.

PAT: Uh-huh.

GLENN: They will feel justified too. We must be better. They -- we have to listen to them. Please. Listen to them.

Anybody who is on the left, don't be angry. Please don't be angry. It won't get you anywhere.

I will fight by your side. I hope I have gained some credibility with people on any side, that I am a constitutionalist. And I will stand next to any man who stands for the Constitution. I will stand by your right for religion, for speech, political, abhorrent speech, I will stand by your side. But I will tell you this: I understand your fear. But as a guy who has learned firsthand, you're going to survive, to the right, don't punish. Please, don't punish.

2020 is going to look very, very different than 2016. If we are lucky, Donald Trump will be the president of all of our dreams. We have a chance to change things. But if we engage in vindictiveness and anger on any side, our children lose.

Let's be better people, please.

Featured Image: US President Barack Obama waves as he arrives on the South Lawn of the White House March 6, 2009 in Washington, DC. Obama was returning after making remarks at the Columbus (Ohio) Police Graduation Exercise earlier in the day. (Photo by Ron Sachs-Pool/Getty Images)

Is the U.N. plotting to control 30% of U.S. land by 2030?

Bloomberg / Contributor | Getty Images

A reliable conservative senator faces cancellation for listening to voters. But the real threat to public lands comes from the last president’s backdoor globalist agenda.

Something ugly is unfolding on social media, and most people aren’t seeing it clearly. Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) — one of the most constitutionally grounded conservatives in Washington — is under fire for a housing provision he first proposed in 2022.

You wouldn’t know that from scrolling through X. According to the latest online frenzy, Lee wants to sell off national parks, bulldoze public lands, gut hunting and fishing rights, and hand America’s wilderness to Amazon, BlackRock, and the Chinese Communist Party. None of that is true.

Lee’s bill would have protected against the massive land-grab that’s already under way — courtesy of the Biden administration.

I covered this last month. Since then, the backlash has grown into something like a political witch hunt — not just from the left but from the right. Even Donald Trump Jr., someone I typically agree with, has attacked Lee’s proposal. He’s not alone.

Time to look at the facts the media refuses to cover about Lee’s federal land plan.

What Lee actually proposed

Over the weekend, Lee announced that he would withdraw the federal land sale provision from his housing bill. He said the decision was in response to “a tremendous amount of misinformation — and in some cases, outright lies,” but also acknowledged that many Americans brought forward sincere, thoughtful concerns.

Because of the strict rules surrounding the budget reconciliation process, Lee couldn’t secure legally enforceable protections to ensure that the land would be made available “only to American families — not to China, not to BlackRock, and not to any foreign interests.” Without those safeguards, he chose to walk it back.

That’s not selling out. That’s leadership.

It's what the legislative process is supposed to look like: A senator proposes a bill, the people respond, and the lawmaker listens. That was once known as representative democracy. These days, it gets you labeled a globalist sellout.

The Biden land-grab

To many Americans, “public land” brings to mind open spaces for hunting, fishing, hiking, and recreation. But that’s not what Sen. Mike Lee’s bill targeted.

His proposal would have protected against the real land-grab already under way — the one pushed by the Biden administration.

In 2021, Biden launched a plan to “conserve” 30% of America’s lands and waters by 2030. This effort follows the United Nations-backed “30 by 30” initiative, which seeks to place one-third of all land and water under government control.

Ask yourself: Is the U.N. focused on preserving your right to hunt and fish? Or are radical environmentalists exploiting climate fears to restrict your access to American land?

  Smith Collection/Gado / Contributor | Getty Images

As it stands, the federal government already owns 640 million acres — nearly one-third of the entire country. At this rate, the government will hit that 30% benchmark with ease. But it doesn’t end there. The next phase is already in play: the “50 by 50” agenda.

That brings me to a piece of legislation most Americans haven’t even heard of: the Sustains Act.

Passed in 2023, the law allows the federal government to accept private funding from organizations, such as BlackRock or the Bill Gates Foundation, to support “conservation programs.” In practice, the law enables wealthy elites to buy influence over how American land is used and managed.

Moreover, the government doesn’t even need the landowner’s permission to declare that your property contributes to “pollination,” or “photosynthesis,” or “air quality” — and then regulate it accordingly. You could wake up one morning and find out that the land you own no longer belongs to you in any meaningful sense.

Where was the outrage then? Where were the online crusaders when private capital and federal bureaucrats teamed up to quietly erode private property rights across America?

American families pay the price

The real danger isn’t in Mike Lee’s attempt to offer more housing near population centers — land that would be limited, clarified, and safeguarded in the final bill. The real threat is the creeping partnership between unelected global elites and our own government, a partnership designed to consolidate land, control rural development, and keep Americans penned in so-called “15-minute cities.”

BlackRock buying entire neighborhoods and pricing out regular families isn’t by accident. It’s part of a larger strategy to centralize populations into manageable zones, where cars are unnecessary, rural living is unaffordable, and every facet of life is tracked, regulated, and optimized.

That’s the real agenda. And it’s already happening , and Mike Lee’s bill would have been an effort to ensure that you — not BlackRock, not China — get first dibs.

I live in a town of 451 people. Even here, in the middle of nowhere, housing is unaffordable. The American dream of owning a patch of land is slipping away, not because of one proposal from a constitutional conservative, but because global powers and their political allies are already devouring it.

Divide and conquer

This controversy isn’t really about Mike Lee. It’s about whether we, as a nation, are still capable of having honest debates about public policy — or whether the online mob now controls the narrative. It’s about whether conservatives will focus on facts or fall into the trap of friendly fire and circular firing squads.

More importantly, it’s about whether we’ll recognize the real land-grab happening in our country — and have the courage to fight back before it’s too late.


This article originally appeared on TheBlaze.com.

URGENT: FIVE steps to CONTROL AI before it's too late!

MANAURE QUINTERO / Contributor | Getty Images

By now, many of us are familiar with AI and its potential benefits and threats. However, unless you're a tech tycoon, it can feel like you have little influence over the future of artificial intelligence.

For years, Glenn has warned about the dangers of rapidly developing AI technologies that have taken the world by storm.

He acknowledges their significant benefits but emphasizes the need to establish proper boundaries and ethics now, while we still have control. But since most people aren’t Silicon Valley tech leaders making the decisions, how can they help keep AI in check?

Recently, Glenn interviewed Tristan Harris, a tech ethicist deeply concerned about the potential harm of unchecked AI, to discuss its societal implications. Harris highlighted a concerning new piece of legislation proposed by Texas Senator Ted Cruz. This legislation proposes a state-level moratorium on AI regulation, meaning only the federal government could regulate AI. Harris noted that there’s currently no Federal plan for regulating AI. Until the federal government establishes a plan, tech companies would have nearly free rein with their AI. And we all know how slowly the federal government moves.

  

This is where you come in. Tristan Harris shared with Glenn the top five actions you should urge your representatives to take regarding AI, including opposing the moratorium until a concrete plan is in place. Now is your chance to influence the future of AI. Contact your senator and congressman today and share these five crucial steps they must take to keep AI in check:

Ban engagement-optimized AI companions for kids

Create legislation that will prevent AI from being designed to maximize addiction, sexualization, flattery, and attachment disorders, and to protect young people’s mental health and ability to form real-life friendships.

Establish basic liability laws

Companies need to be held accountable when their products cause real-world harm.

Pass increased whistleblower protections

Protect concerned technologists working inside the AI labs from facing untenable pressures and threats that prevent them from warning the public when the AI rollout is unsafe or crosses dangerous red lines.

Prevent AI from having legal rights

Enact laws so AIs don’t have protected speech or have their own bank accounts, making sure our legal system works for human interests over AI interests.

Oppose the state moratorium on AI 

Call your congressman or Senator Cruz’s office, and demand they oppose the state moratorium on AI without a plan for how we will set guardrails for this technology.

Glenn: Only Trump dared to deliver on decades of empty promises

Tasos Katopodis / Stringer | Getty Images

The Islamic regime has been killing Americans since 1979. Now Trump’s response proves we’re no longer playing defense — we’re finally hitting back.

The United States has taken direct military action against Iran’s nuclear program. Whatever you think of the strike, it’s over. It’s happened. And now, we have to predict what happens next. I want to help you understand the gravity of this situation: what happened, what it means, and what might come next. To that end, we need to begin with a little history.

Since 1979, Iran has been at war with us — even if we refused to call it that.

We are either on the verge of a remarkable strategic victory or a devastating global escalation. Time will tell.

It began with the hostage crisis, when 66 Americans were seized and 52 were held for over a year by the radical Islamic regime. Four years later, 17 more Americans were murdered in the U.S. Embassy bombing in Beirut, followed by 241 Marines in the Beirut barracks bombing.

Then came the Khobar Towers bombing in 1996, which killed 19 more U.S. airmen. Iran had its fingerprints all over it.

In Iraq and Afghanistan, Iranian-backed proxies killed hundreds of American soldiers. From 2001 to 2020 in Afghanistan and 2003 to 2011 in Iraq, Iran supplied IEDs and tactical support.

The Iranians have plotted assassinations and kidnappings on U.S. soil — in 2011, 2021, and again in 2024 — and yet we’ve never really responded.

The precedent for U.S. retaliation has always been present, but no president has chosen to pull the trigger until this past weekend. President Donald Trump struck decisively. And what our military pulled off this weekend was nothing short of extraordinary.

Operation Midnight Hammer

The strike was reportedly called Operation Midnight Hammer. It involved as many as 175 U.S. aircraft, including 12 B-2 stealth bombers — out of just 19 in our entire arsenal. Those bombers are among the most complex machines in the world, and they were kept mission-ready by some of the finest mechanics on the planet.

   USAF / Handout | Getty Images

To throw off Iranian radar and intelligence, some bombers flew west toward Guam — classic misdirection. The rest flew east, toward the real targets.

As the B-2s approached Iranian airspace, U.S. submarines launched dozens of Tomahawk missiles at Iran’s fortified nuclear facilities. Minutes later, the bombers dropped 14 MOPs — massive ordnance penetrators — each designed to drill deep into the earth and destroy underground bunkers. These bombs are the size of an F-16 and cost millions of dollars apiece. They are so accurate, I’ve been told they can hit the top of a soda can from 15,000 feet.

They were built for this mission — and we’ve been rehearsing this run for 15 years.

If the satellite imagery is accurate — and if what my sources tell me is true — the targeted nuclear sites were utterly destroyed. We’ll likely rely on the Israelis to confirm that on the ground.

This was a master class in strategy, execution, and deterrence. And it proved that only the United States could carry out a strike like this. I am very proud of our military, what we are capable of doing, and what we can accomplish.

What comes next

We don’t yet know how Iran will respond, but many of the possibilities are troubling. The Iranians could target U.S. forces across the Middle East. On Monday, Tehran launched 20 missiles at U.S. bases in Qatar, Syria, and Kuwait, to no effect. God forbid, they could also unleash Hezbollah or other terrorist proxies to strike here at home — and they just might.

Iran has also threatened to shut down the Strait of Hormuz — the artery through which nearly a fifth of the world’s oil flows. On Sunday, Iran’s parliament voted to begin the process. If the Supreme Council and the ayatollah give the go-ahead, we could see oil prices spike to $150 or even $200 a barrel.

That would be catastrophic.

The 2008 financial collapse was pushed over the edge when oil hit $130. Western economies — including ours — simply cannot sustain oil above $120 for long. If this conflict escalates and the Strait is closed, the global economy could unravel.

The strike also raises questions about regime stability. Will it spark an uprising, or will the Islamic regime respond with a brutal crackdown on dissidents?

Early signs aren’t hopeful. Reports suggest hundreds of arrests over the weekend and at least one dissident executed on charges of spying for Israel. The regime’s infamous morality police, the Gasht-e Ershad, are back on the streets. Every phone, every vehicle — monitored. The U.S. embassy in Qatar issued a shelter-in-place warning for Americans.

Russia and China both condemned the strike. On Monday, a senior Iranian official flew to Moscow to meet with Vladimir Putin. That meeting should alarm anyone paying attention. Their alliance continues to deepen — and that’s a serious concern.

Now we pray

We are either on the verge of a remarkable strategic victory or a devastating global escalation. Time will tell. But either way, President Trump didn’t start this. He inherited it — and he took decisive action.

The difference is, he did what they all said they would do. He didn’t send pallets of cash in the dead of night. He didn’t sign another failed treaty.

He acted. Now, we pray. For peace, for wisdom, and for the strength to meet whatever comes next.


This article originally appeared on TheBlaze.com.

Globalize the Intifada? Why Mamdani’s plan spells DOOM for America

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If New Yorkers hand City Hall to Zohran Mamdani, they’re not voting for change. They’re opening the door to an alliance of socialism, Islamism, and chaos.

It only took 25 years for New York City to go from the resilient, flag-waving pride following the 9/11 attacks to a political fever dream. To quote Michael Malice, “I'm old enough to remember when New Yorkers endured 9/11 instead of voting for it.”

Malice is talking about Zohran Mamdani, a Democratic Socialist assemblyman from Queens now eyeing the mayor’s office. Mamdani, a 33-year-old state representative emerging from relative political obscurity, is now receiving substantial funding for his mayoral campaign from the Council on American-Islamic Relations.

CAIR has a long and concerning history, including being born out of the Muslim Brotherhood and named an unindicted co-conspirator in the Holy Land Foundation terror funding case. Why would the group have dropped $100,000 into a PAC backing Mamdani’s campaign?

Mamdani blends political Islam with Marxist economics — two ideologies that have left tens of millions dead in the 20th century alone.

Perhaps CAIR has a vested interest in Mamdani’s call to “globalize the intifada.” That’s not a call for peaceful protest. Intifada refers to historic uprisings of Muslims against what they call the “Israeli occupation of Palestine.” Suicide bombings and street violence are part of the playbook. So when Mamdani says he wants to “globalize” that, who exactly is the enemy in this global scenario? Because it sure sounds like he's saying America is the new Israel, and anyone who supports Western democracy is the new Zionist.

Mamdani tried to clean up his language by citing the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, which once used “intifada” in an Arabic-language article to describe the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising. So now he’s comparing Palestinians to Jewish victims of the Nazis? If that doesn’t twist your stomach into knots, you’re not paying attention.

If you’re “globalizing” an intifada, and positioning Israel — and now America — as the Nazis, that’s not a cry for human rights. That’s a call for chaos and violence.

Rising Islamism

But hey, this is New York. Faculty members at Columbia University — where Mamdani’s own father once worked — signed a letter defending students who supported Hamas after October 7. They also contributed to Mamdani’s mayoral campaign. And his father? He blamed Ronald Reagan and the religious right for inspiring Islamic terrorism, as if the roots of 9/11 grew in Washington, not the caves of Tora Bora.

   Bloomberg / Contributor | Getty Images

 

This isn’t about Islam as a faith. We should distinguish between Islam and Islamism. Islam is a religion followed peacefully by millions. Islamism is something entirely different — an ideology that seeks to merge mosque and state, impose Sharia law, and destroy secular liberal democracies from within. Islamism isn’t about prayer and fasting. It’s about power.

Criticizing Islamism is not Islamophobia. It is not an attack on peaceful Muslims. In fact, Muslims are often its first victims.

Islamism is misogynistic, theocratic, violent, and supremacist. It’s hostile to free speech, religious pluralism, gay rights, secularism — even to moderate Muslims. Yet somehow, the progressive left — the same left that claims to fight for feminism, LGBTQ rights, and free expression — finds itself defending candidates like Mamdani. You can’t make this stuff up.

Blending the worst ideologies

And if that weren’t enough, Mamdani also identifies as a Democratic Socialist. He blends political Islam with Marxist economics — two ideologies that have left tens of millions dead in the 20th century alone. But don’t worry, New York. I’m sure this time socialism will totally work. Just like it always didn’t.

If you’re a business owner, a parent, a person who’s saved anything, or just someone who values sanity: Get out. I’m serious. If Mamdani becomes mayor, as seems likely, then New York City will become a case study in what happens when you marry ideological extremism with political power. And it won’t be pretty.

This is about more than one mayoral race. It’s about the future of Western liberalism. It’s about drawing a bright line between faith and fanaticism, between healthy pluralism and authoritarian dogma.

Call out radicalism

We must call out political Islam the same way we call out white nationalism or any other supremacist ideology. When someone chants “globalize the intifada,” that should send a chill down your spine — whether you’re Jewish, Christian, Muslim, atheist, or anything in between.

The left may try to shame you into silence with words like “Islamophobia,” but the record is worn out. The grooves are shallow. The American people see what’s happening. And we’re not buying it.

This article originally appeared on TheBlaze.com.