GLENN: It's going to be hard because they are so blind to the hypocrisy. And quite honestly, it's going to be hard for them because many of us are very blind to our own hypocrisy. What wasn't okay for Obama to do is suddenly okay for us to do because it's our guy. When we say how could they possibly be for this when they were against it four years ago? Where were they then? We can't have people say that about us. We have to be consistent. And like I said, it's going to be hard because in Ohio state today, at Ohio state, they have a safe space for anybody who's afraid of the inauguration.
STU: Oh, god.
PAT: How can you possibly think that's preparing these kids for the world? Are there going to be safe spaces isn't life? Where you don't have to hear anything that bothers you?
GLENN: A safe space.
PAT: I think it's the dumbest thing I've ever heard of in my life.
GLENN: Greg is on the phone. There are counselors in public schools now in Connecticut for today. Greg, are you a teacher?
CALLER: Yes, I am.
GLENN: Okay.
CALLER: By the way, good morning to you and your assembled coworkers.
GLENN: Thank you very much.
[Laughter]
So, Greg, tell me what's happening in Connecticut.
CALLER: Well, you can -- if you dig a little bit deeper and pardon me my voice, I have a cold. But if you dig a little bit deeper, it's not just my district, it's quite a few districts where not only after the election but now with the inauguration, they're charging the social workers, psychologists, and counselors in the schools to provide grief counseling for any faculty or students that are not happy with the state of the nation right now.
GLENN: Greg, was there anything to reach out to those in the last eight years that might have been upset with the direction of the country under Barack Obama?
CALLER: No, and it was -- I was listening to you talk about it eight years ago. Eight years ago I had left my full-time career of 20 years in business to go back to school to be a history teacher, and I was in college at the time that Obama won, and it was complete ecstasy amongst the kids. They were kids compared to me. That I was going to school with. And I think back to that now, and I think now I'm looking at these young people instead of learning to cope with change. They're being -- their feelings are being enabled, and they're never going to learn how to deal with this stuff.
GLENN: Yeah, and it's -- to me, it also says that you're right and half of the country is wrong.
CALLER: Correct. I totally agree.
GLENN: Because what about the grief of the people who disagreed with you last time? What about those people? You were called names if you disagreed.
CALLER: Oh, yeah, and I live in Connecticut, so you can imagine what it was like.
GLENN: Oh, no, eight years ago, I was living in Connecticut.
CALLER: Yes, I remember. I listen to you all the time. I remember when you were doing radio in Connecticut.
GLENN: Oh, my gosh. I'm so sorry for that. What were you? Three?
CALLER: Yeah, I wish.
GLENN: Eight years ago if you were in college, then --
PAT: Well, he was older, though.
GLENN: Because I was doing radio in the '90s. It must have been grade school for you.
CALLER: No, I was in my 30s.
GLENN: Okay. I can't work out the math. You're in your 30s now.
CALLER: I'm in my 50s now.
GLENN: Oh, okay.
STU: I was in school and listened to you on the radio.
GLENN: Shut up. My wife was neither junior high or high school, so it wasn't -- you know, I first met her, we first started dating and stuff. She was, like, I used to listen to you when I was a kid. And I was, like, all right. Stop what is that? That's creepy.
Thanks, Greg, for your phone call.
This plays a bigger role than I think we realize. We have to find a way to not -- to not dismiss people's feelings or call them names when we hear about the grief counselors. But we have to find a way to talk to people now and show them that this is not healthy for our society.
If you would have had grief counselors, you know, we're moving into a new studio tomorrow. Sorry. Thinking out loud here.
PAT: Monday.
GLENN: Yeah, Monday we're moving into a new studio for the radio show. Brand-new season. Brand-new president. And I've painted some paintings for the walls. And one of them is the mask of George Washington. The life mask of George Washington. And he's weeping, and you'll see it on Monday. And I call it the mask of civility.
This is a prime example of what that means. The mask of civility. Here we have -- here we have social workers. We have the most caring, the most loving, the ones who understand the human psyche who had no compassion for those who felt their country was being ripped apart. No compassion. They were called outsiders. They were called old thinkers. They were just trying to block progress. No compassion to somebody who said wait. Let's not throw the baby out with the bathwater. Let's remember who we are in the first place. No compassion.
The ones we pay to help teach us to be compassionate. It's the mask of civility.
Now, how do we get that across to people? Because we can either whine about it, bitch about it, call people names, say what babies they are, which is not going to -- nobody will listen to that. And we'll miss possibly an opportunity. I don't know how to get there.
Because my first response is what a bunch of two-faced hypocritical babies.
PAT: Well, yeah, that should be your first response.
GLENN: That's what they are.
PAT: It is. What a bunch of numskulls. How could you possibly think this is good for these kids? Say, yeah. Let's shelter them from reality. Why would you do that? Why?
I’ve only felt this weight once before. It was 2001, just as my radio show was about to begin. The World Trade Center fell, and I was called to speak immediately. I spent the day and night by my bedside, praying for words that could meet the moment.
Yesterday, I found myself in the same position. September 11, 2025. The assassination of Charlie Kirk. A friend. A warrior for truth.
Moments like this make words feel inadequate. Yet sometimes, words from another time speak directly to our own. In 1947, Dylan Thomas, watching his father slip toward death, penned lines that now resonate far beyond his own grief:
Do not go gentle into that good night. / Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
Thomas was pleading for his father to resist the impending darkness of death. But those words have become a mandate for all of us: Do not surrender. Do not bow to shadows. Even when the battle feels unwinnable.
Charlie Kirk lived that mandate. He knew the cost of speaking unpopular truths. He knew the fury of those who sought to silence him. And yet he pressed on. In his life, he embodied a defiance rooted not in anger, but in principle.
Washington, Jefferson, Adams — our history was started by men who raged against an empire, knowing the gallows might await. Lincoln raged against slavery. Martin Luther King Jr. raged against segregation. Every generation faces a call to resist surrender.
It is our turn. Charlie’s violent death feels like a knockout punch. Yet if his life meant anything, it means this: Silence in the face of darkness is not an option.
He did not go gently. He spoke. He challenged. He stood. And now, the mantle falls to us. To me. To you. To every American.
We cannot drift into the shadows. We cannot sit quietly while freedom fades. This is our moment to rage — not with hatred, not with vengeance, but with courage. Rage against lies, against apathy, against the despair that tells us to do nothing. Because there is always something you can do.
Even small acts — defiance, faith, kindness — are light in the darkness. Reaching out to those who mourn. Speaking truth in a world drowning in deceit. These are the flames that hold back the night. Charlie carried that torch. He laid it down yesterday. It is ours to pick up.
The light may dim, but it always does before dawn. Commit today: I will not sleep as freedom fades. I will not retreat as darkness encroaches. I will not be silent as evil forces claim dominion. I have no king but Christ. And I know whom I serve, as did Charlie.
On Wednesday, the world changed again. Two tragedies, separated by decades, bound by the same question: Who are we? Is this worth saving? What kind of people will we choose to be?
Imagine a world where more of us choose to be peacemakers. Not passive, not silent, but builders of bridges where others erect walls. Respect and listening transform even the bitterest of foes. Charlie Kirk embodied this principle.
He did not strike the weak; he challenged the powerful. He reached across divides of politics, culture, and faith. He changed hearts. He sparked healing. And healing is what our nation needs.
At the center of all this is one truth: Every person is a child of God, deserving of dignity. Change will not happen in Washington or on social media. It begins at home, where loneliness and isolation threaten our souls. Family is the antidote. Imperfect, yes — but still the strongest source of stability and meaning.
Mark Wilson / Staff | Getty Images
Forgiveness, fidelity, faithfulness, and honor are not dusty words. They are the foundation of civilization. Strong families produce strong citizens. And today, Charlie’s family mourns. They must become our family too. We must stand as guardians of his legacy, shining examples of the courage he lived by.
I knew Charlie. I know how he would want us to respond: Multiply his courage. Out of this tragedy, the tyrant dies, but the martyr’s influence begins. Out of darkness, great and glorious things will sprout — but we must be worthy of them.
Charlie Kirk lived defiantly. He stood in truth. He changed the world. And now, his torch is in our hands. Rage, not in violence, but in unwavering pursuit of truth and goodness. Rage against the dying of the light.
This article originally appeared on TheBlaze.com.
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.
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.
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
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.
