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Glenn's Show Prep

The Entire List of Who to Blame for the Attempted Slaughter of GOP House Members

June 15, 2017
Staff

WRITER

For those scrambling to point fingers at who and what is responsible for the shooting in Alexandria that left five people shot and one person dead, Glenn provided a complete and thorough list on radio Thursday.

"I want to take this, and I want to put it in a lockbox, you know, where all the Al Gore Social Security money is," Glenn said. "I'm going to put that in a lockbox, and we're going to lock it away. And forever, those people responsible will be in that box."

He then opened up the metaphorical lockbox.

"Here's the truth. The shooter is responsible, by himself --- not the gun, not the bullets, not the gun industry . . . not the NRA, not the left, not the right, not the president, not the former president, not Hillary Clinton, not Antifa --- no one," Glenn said. "The shooter is responsible, period."

Listen to this segment from The Glenn Beck Program:

GLENN: Okay. I want to show you some pictures. Stu, Pat, you can describe them. Before I get to the real culprit of the shooting yesterday.

And --

PAT: It's the Kathy Griffin holding the head of Donald Trump.

GLENN: It's that one.

STU: You've got -- oh, that the Shakespeare In the Park murder of the Trump-like character.

PAT: Assassination.

GLENN: What does it look like?

STU: What does it look like? It looks like they're killing Donald Trump in a park.

GLENN: Yeah. And got blood all over him. Right?

STU: Yeah.

GLENN: Yeah. Okay. Notice, does it look similar to the Kathy Griffin --

STU: Yes.

GLENN: All right. What's this one?

STU: From one of the riots in Berkeley, right? It says, "Kill Trump."

GLENN: Yes. Spring painted up on a pillar or a wall, right? What is this one?

STU: More riots.

GLENN: More riots.

Okay. And what were the riots doing? What were they doing?

PAT: Protesting Trump. Anti-Trump people.

GLENN: Who are those people? Yeah.

STU: Is that an effigy being hung there? I can't even tell what that is.

GLENN: No, that's a guy up on -- a turned over garbage can where they have lit the street on fire, and he's got a mask and he's preaching to the people there, more violence.

STU: Got it.

GLENN: Okay. So these things have happened on the left. All of them, except for the Antifa -- that has happened several times, but the others have happened this week or late last week. Okay?

Nobody is mentioning these in the media today. You're not seeing the pictures of Kathy on CNN. Oh, no, no, no. You're not -- you're not hearing anybody talk about Shakespeare In the Park today. Oh, no, no, no, no. No. No. You're not going to hear that.

So what am I going to say? Well, let me tell you what brought this all about. Let me tell you who is responsible for the shooting. When all is said and done, let me tell you exactly who is responsible for the shooting.

And I want to take this, and I want to put it in a lockbox, you know, where all the Al Gore Social Security money is. I'm going to put that in a lockbox, and we're going to lock it away. And forever -- those people responsible will be in that box because there's two things I want to tell you. So let's open up the lockbox. (sound effect)

Who do we put in there? The shooter, period. End of story. The shooter.

He was living in his van for the last couple of weeks. He is a violent guy who has a history of family violence. His stepdaughter wanted to get out of his -- out of his control so badly, she poured gasoline on herself and set herself on fire. He has a history of gunplay. He is a crazy, dangerous man. Am I going to put him in there, along with Kathy? No. Just him.

How about Shakespeare In the Park? No. Just him. Well, how about the Antifa movement? No, no, just him. He's the guy who got up in the morning and apparently got up several times over the last -- over the last few -- few days and weeks, while -- I mean, it was a big apartment in the back of his van -- loser. But he got up and he paced back and forth in the back of his van. What am I going to do? He went. He got the gun. He got the bullets. He went to the park. He asked, "Are these Republicans, or are these Democrats?" He went to the baseball diamond, and he's the one who pulled the trigger. Period. End of story. Close the lid. Put a lock on it. That is the truth.

Today I saw Michelle Malkin retweet a story -- I don't even remember, from MSNBC. I think. Look at my Twitter feed. See who is it from. Because I retweeted it. And she said -- it was a story -- somebody was blaming Donald Trump for -- for the shooting yesterday. That Donald Trump is responsible.

Now, remember, I have the lockbox over here. Who is responsible? Who is in the lockbox, Pat?

PAT: The shooter.

GLENN: The shooter.

PAT: The shooter.

GLENN: I know it was hard to follow because I had so many people in there.

PAT: It was.

GLENN: It was just the shooter.

PAT: The shooter.

GLENN: Now, I put that in a lockbox because we're going to open it and add some more people to it?

PAT: No. Because -- no, you already shoved it away. It's locked.

GLENN: Shoved it away. It's locked. There's no one else responsible for the shooting yesterday. Is that clear? Is that clear?

PAT: Yes. I think so.

GLENN: Is that clear? It's in a lockbox. It's away. It's in a safe. No one else is responsible.

What did Michelle Malkin tweet? The retweet story?

STU: I don't see a Michelle Malkin tweet, but there's a tweet from the Washington Times, about heated rhetoric that led to the Alexandria shooting.

GLENN: Okay. And the heated rhetoric, they're blaming Donald Trump.

STU: Yeah, Donald Trump partially to blame.

GLENN: Partially to blame.

STU: And that comes from Mark Sanford, by the way.

GLENN: Right. And Michelle Malkin said: Look at this discredited G.O.P. guy who is now blaming Donald Trump. Okay.

STU: The quote does not seem to be as clear as he was actually blaming Donald Trump, by the way. But still.

GLENN: All right. Okay. So what did I tweet? What did I say?

STU: You said Trump is responsible, as much as I am. Rachel Maddow, the New York Times, we all are. What choice will we make today? Deeds, not words.

GLENN: Okay. That's crazy. That's crazy.

STU: Well, especially since you have a lockbox.

GLENN: Right. I've got a lockbox. So how could I possibly --

STU: You made a clear point that the shooter is the only one responsible.

GLENN: Is the only one responsible.

STU: How can you say that?

GLENN: Correct.

STU: It's almost as if you're about to make some nuanced point that actually involves some listening.

GLENN: Nuanced point. That kindergarteners will not understand.

STU: Oh, but our audience, are they filled with kindergarteners? I don't think so.

GLENN: No, they're not. No, they're not. They're intelligent people. And so that's why I'm going to make this point.

Now let's go to point number two. Is there -- have you ever heard of the broken windows theory?

What's the broken windows theory?

STU: Rudy Giuliani.

GLENN: Rudy Giuliani. Okay. Giuliani used it to clean up New York. What is that theory?

STU: The theory being that if people kind of see dumb things -- you know, graffiti, broken windows, stupid things like that, they're going to be more likely to commit crimes because they think no one cares. So fix those things, and you'll start cleaning up the streets.

GLENN: Right. If you are walking down the street and you see a neighborhood where all the windows are broken out and it's all in disrepair, the average person will pick up a rock or is likely to pick up a rock and throw and break another window in a house full of broken windows.

However, the average person will never pick up a rock and -- and throw it through a window in a neighborhood where there are no broken windows. It's the broken window theory. What does it mean, Stu?

STU: Well, as it was applied there, it meant, you know, you need to have these -- you need to clean these things up. And if you have a neighborhood without broken windows, people won't be tempted to --

GLENN: Why? They don't even think about it.

STU: Yeah.

GLENN: They don't even think about it. Because they're not bad people. Okay? However, we -- some of us have an instinct to do -- to do things -- and more importantly, criminals will prey on those areas because they think no one cares.

And so that opens up to the most nefarious among us, to take control and to do whatever they want because they think no one cares.

Okay. Broken windows theory: If I said to you I want a president who is walking around stage mocking Tea Partiers by calling them Teabaggers, do you want that?

STU: Uh-uh.

GLENN: Do you want a president who says, "Rough them up. You know, throw them outside in the cold and take his coat from him because he'll figure out what's right." That we want a president doing that?

STU: No.

GLENN: We don't want either of those presidents. We don't want either of those presidents. We'll accept those presidents because America has been walking down a street with more and more broken windows. And what are those broken windows? More and more politicians and more and more people, quite frankly, like me. Just leave everybody else out of it. Just make it me. Because Glenn Beck was on television at Fox saying crazy things. And he has -- he is opening up -- well, you know what, there's some truth to that. I'm not responsible for any of this. But yet, I am responsible in my own way for my own things, just like you are, when you get on and respond in kind. You're picking up a rock, and you're breaking a window.

What is Facebook? What is Twitter? That is the worst neighborhood in America. When you read that, people are vile. They are crude. They are mean.

They devalue other people. There's no kindness on Facebook. Or very little. There's no kindness on Twitter.

That is a neighborhood of nothing, but broken windows. And we are more inclined to pick up a rock and throw it at that other avatar that isn't really a person.

And what does that do? That makes somebody else want to pick up a rock and break another window.

Who is in the lockbox again? All the American people and all the people on the left or the right?

PAT: No, the shooter. Just the shooter.

GLENN: Oh, that's right. Just the shooter.

STU: He's also in there with Facebook and Twitter, right?

GLENN: No. No.

STU: Oh, it's just him by himself?

GLENN: It's just him by himself. In a lockbox. In a safe. Can't be changed.

PAT: Jeffy is not in there with him?

GLENN: Well, Jeffy is in there too, but nobody else is in that. He's the only one responsible.

The question is, will we take responsibility at all for throwing any stones that leads to a society that is not kind, is not gracious, that looks at the opposing point of view as the enemy?

There are bad people in America. I believe -- and I never believed this before, and I have nothing to back it up. And I'm hoping I'm wrong. I'm hoping these numbers are way too big. They may be too big, they may be too small. I don't know. But I hope it's no more than 10 percent of both sides that do want a revolution, that do want to duke it out, that do believe we're in a civil war. "Grab your guns. Let's just get this over."

But that leaves 80 percent of us who do not want anything to do with that. You get a hit of dopamine every time you pick up a rock and throw it. It feels good.

I've said to you before, it's going to be this audience that saves the republic. But only if you choose. I said there's going to come a time when you're going to want to go, and everybody is going one way, and you're going to have to stop and say, "Don't. Don't go that way." That time is right now.

And you may not get anyone else to go with you, but you go the other way. Do not pick up the rock. That doesn't mean surrender. That doesn't mean don't tell the truth.

Here's the truth: The shooter is responsible, by himself. Not the gun. Not the bullets. Not the gun industry. Not the NRA. Not the left. Not the right. Not the president. Not the former president. Not Hillary Clinton. Not Antifa. No one. The shooter is responsible, period.

But here's the truth, as well. We are all accountable for our own actions. And we are all creating an atmosphere where people just think, "You know what, there's no rules, and nobody cares." I care. I care. I care because I want a country left for my children and my grandchildren to grow up in. I want an end to chaos. And the best way to end the chaos is to end it in your own life first. And when you see rock throwing, do not pick up a rock. Help repair the neighborhood.

EXCLUSIVE: Tech Ethicist reveals 5 ways to control AI NOW

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

Bloomberg / Contributor | Getty Images

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.

How private stewardship could REVIVE America’s wild

Jonathan Newton / Contributor | Getty Images

The left’s idea of stewardship involves bulldozing bison and barring access. Lee’s vision puts conservation back in the hands of the people.

The media wants you to believe that Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) is trying to bulldoze Yellowstone and turn national parks into strip malls — that he’s calling for a reckless fire sale of America’s natural beauty to line developers’ pockets. That narrative is dishonest. It’s fearmongering, and, by the way, it’s wrong.

Here’s what’s really happening.

Private stewardship works. It’s local. It’s accountable. It’s incentivized.

The federal government currently owns 640 million acres of land — nearly 28% of all land in the United States. To put that into perspective, that’s more territory than France, Germany, Poland, and the United Kingdom combined.

Most of this land is west of the Mississippi River. That’s not a coincidence. In the American West, federal ownership isn’t just a bureaucratic technicality — it’s a stranglehold. States are suffocated. Locals are treated as tenants. Opportunities are choked off.

Meanwhile, people living east of the Mississippi — in places like Kentucky, Georgia, or Pennsylvania — might not even realize how little land their own states truly control. But the same policies that are plaguing the West could come for them next.

Lee isn’t proposing to auction off Yellowstone or pave over Yosemite. He’s talking about 3 million acres — that’s less than half of 1% of the federal estate. And this land isn’t your family’s favorite hiking trail. It’s remote, hard to access, and often mismanaged.

Failed management

Why was it mismanaged in the first place? Because the federal government is a terrible landlord.

Consider Yellowstone again. It’s home to the last remaining herd of genetically pure American bison — animals that haven’t been crossbred with cattle. Ranchers, myself included, would love the chance to help restore these majestic creatures on private land. But the federal government won’t allow it.

So what do they do when the herd gets too big?

They kill them. Bulldoze them into mass graves. That’s not conservation. That’s bureaucratic malpractice.

And don’t even get me started on bald eagles — majestic symbols of American freedom and a federally protected endangered species, now regularly slaughtered by wind turbines. I have pictures of piles of dead bald eagles. Where’s the outrage?

Biden’s federal land-grab

Some argue that states can’t afford to manage this land themselves. But if the states can’t afford it, how can Washington? We’re $35 trillion in debt. Entitlements are strained, infrastructure is crumbling, and the Bureau of Land Management, Forest Service, and National Park Service are billions of dollars behind in basic maintenance. Roads, firebreaks, and trails are falling apart.

The Biden administration quietly embraced something called the “30 by 30” initiative, a plan to lock up 30% of all U.S. land and water under federal “conservation” by 2030. The real goal is 50% by 2050.

That entails half of the country being taken away from you, controlled not by the people who live there but by technocrats in D.C.

You think that won’t affect your ability to hunt, fish, graze cattle, or cut timber? Think again. It won’t be conservatives who stop you from building a cabin, raising cattle, or teaching your grandkids how to shoot a rifle. It’ll be the same radical environmentalists who treat land as sacred — unless it’s your truck, your deer stand, or your back yard.

Land as collateral

Moreover, the U.S. Treasury is considering putting federally owned land on the national balance sheet, listing your parks, forests, and hunting grounds as collateral.

What happens if America defaults on its debt?

David McNew / Stringer | Getty Images

Do you think our creditors won’t come calling? Imagine explaining to your kids that the lake you used to fish in is now under foreign ownership, that the forest you hunted in belongs to China.

This is not hypothetical. This is the logical conclusion of treating land like a piggy bank.

The American way

There’s a better way — and it’s the American way.

Let the people who live near the land steward it. Let ranchers, farmers, sportsmen, and local conservationists do what they’ve done for generations.

Did you know that 75% of America’s wetlands are on private land? Or that the most successful wildlife recoveries — whitetail deer, ducks, wild turkeys — didn’t come from Washington but from partnerships between private landowners and groups like Ducks Unlimited?

Private stewardship works. It’s local. It’s accountable. It’s incentivized. When you break it, you fix it. When you profit from the land, you protect it.

This is not about selling out. It’s about buying in — to freedom, to responsibility, to the principle of constitutional self-governance.

So when you hear the pundits cry foul over 3 million acres of federal land, remember: We don’t need Washington to protect our land. We need Washington to get out of the way.

Because this isn’t just about land. It’s about liberty. And once liberty is lost, it doesn’t come back easily.

This article originally appeared on TheBlaze.com.