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Will Harvey’s Impact on the Oil Industry Increase Tensions With Russia?

Tropical Storm Harvey continues to douse Texas with rain, and flooding from the storm has halted production at the biggest oil refinery in the country. If the U.S. isn’t purchasing oil because there’s no way to refine it, the price of oil could crash worldwide, affecting relations with Russia, Glenn asserted on radio Thursday.

Besides displacing tens of thousands of people whose homes were flooded, Harvey could have international ramifications if the price of oil drops and hurts the Russian economy.

“If that happens, that makes Vladimir Putin a caged animal,” Glenn said.

Author Brad Thor joined Thursday’s show to talk about how Tropical Storm Harvey could affect international tensions and what we need to watch for when it comes to Russia and Putin.

“[Oil] is where Putin does make a good amount of his money,” Thor agreed.

His larger concern is that Russia will take advantage of the coming fall and winter to strong-arm nearby countries by cutting off their fuel supplies.

“If Putin is going to try to expand, this fall, this winter, is when he’s going to do that,” Thor said.

This article provided courtesy of TheBlaze.

GLENN: Brad Thor, who is one of my favorite authors has a new book out called Use of Force. If you haven't read it yet, you really need to. But I have a question about it all the way through. And if I'm right, he has just saluted one of the greatest men that the world does not know even exists. And I want to talk to him a little bit about that.

Also, if you are anywhere in -- well, probably in the United States. I mean, it's happening in New York. But it's really bad here in Texas now. We're trying to get gas today. You might see the gas prices have gone up 30, 50 cents a gallon. This in Texas is taking root as gas stations are just closing down. They have no gas. Four gas stations on the way in. My son-in-law just wrote to me, and he said, "Dad, every gas station I go to, the pumps are all closed." That's because 90 percent of all gas comes out of the Houston area for this part of the country.

We talked to Ken Paxton, our attorney general, he said those lines of -- lines of supply lines are being rerouted. But it could make for a rough weekend.

More importantly, Brad is here. And I want to talk to him about, what does this mean for Russia and the instability of the world?

We go there with Brad Thor, right now.

(music)

GLENN: Before we get to Brad Thor, let me just give you an update: Yesterday, thank you. Thank you, thank you, thank you so much for donating to this, from all over the country and indeed the world. We had some guy in Jerusalem say, I can't make an international donation. I don't know why we can't do that. But somebody was trying to help the victims in Houston from Israel yesterday.

And we so appreciate everybody who is trying to help. And if you're using our portal through Mercury One, every dollar that is raised for these causes goes to the cause. Every single dollar.

We're working with six disaster-related partners right now. These are the main ones we're working for. I want to give you an update: Operation Barbecue, Houston. They serve 12,000 meals to those affected. And first responders, just yesterday. Sixty volunteers showed up to help them do it.

By tomorrow, they're going to be serving 25,000 hot barbecue complete meals. They're supporting the US Coast Guard. We have team Rubicon out. A couple more updates.

The boats are coming in. And they're present today in Beaumont or will be tonight, I think. They plan to be part of the search-and-rescue efforts until they're no longer needed. Until the water goes down. Team Rubicon is continuing the operations with the cleanup. Also, City Impact -- these are church partners that we have from Corpus Christi, you know, all the way up to Baytown.

We have deployed now, I don't even know, ten tractor-trailers with water and everything else. They are also delivering a huge donation of survival food to victims who have lost their house from My Patriot Supply.

They are also -- My Patriot Supply is so amazing. They're also delivering 2500 water filtration systems. This -- and I'm not kidding you. We've done it. I haven't done it. But we did it when we were in New York. When they first did this water filtration system, they said it's the best in the world. They said, look. Come out with us. We were in New York. Come to this muddy pothole in New York Street. In the streets. Would you ever -- I don't even want to touch that water. It will kill you.

STU: Right.

GLENN: Drank water from that pothole. And they're still walking today.

PAT: After it had been filtered through their system, of course.

GLENN: Yes.

STU: They didn't just do it for fun.

PAT: It was pure.

GLENN: Yeah, it's amazing.

STU: That's the Alexapure Pro. Right?

GLENN: Yes. And 2500 of those are being delivered. Somebody Cares: Also, these are people that are helping in cleanup the mud out, putting tarps on the roof, et cetera, et cetera.

There's Gleaning For the World: They're doing the baby products and the water. Also, Provisions Project. This one is really important. These guys are funding -- we're providing the funding so they can provide the fuel for the search-and-rescue vehicles, the equipment and the meals. And they are in not only Houston, but they're also up in Louisiana, one of the parishes up there that was hard hit by Katrina. Thank you for donating. Mercuryone.org.

We go to Brad Thor now, who has written use of force. And, Brad, I wanted to talk to you a little bit about the hurricane and the unforeseen consequences at least by the people in the media that will never look into these things. With the price of gas going up because 20 percent of our fuel is not being refined now -- the 20 percent of that, means that we're not buying oil, which could make the price of oil globally crash. Which, if that happens, that makes Vladimir Putin a caged animal.

Are you seeing any ramifications from Harvey that I might be missing?

BRAD: Well, that's probably one of the biggest ones you've got to be careful with there. Because that is where Putin does make a good amount of his money, is with -- with that.

You know, I have to tell you, I'm concerned, and it is something I'm watching. But part of a larger play which involves basically no sanctions for him taking the peninsula in Crimea. I'm very concerned for some of those Baltic states, particularly as we go into the winter. And will he cut off fuel supplies, natural gas, as he does to Ukraine? But will he make a move on Lithuania or Estonia or something like that, with Trump so wobbly on the Article V of the NATO treaty?

If Putin is going to try to expand, this fall, this winter is when he's got to do it. And that's what I'm really concerned about.

GLENN: So am I alone in feeling that this -- we're approaching the most dangerous fall that I think we've approached since possibly 2001. Just something doesn't feel right. This is a dangerous fall. Feels like the season has changed. Do you feel that at all?

BRAD: It's almost like -- we joke around about Star Wars a lot on the show. But it's almost like you sense that disturbance in the force.

GLENN: Exactly right.

BRAD: Particularly with the North Koreans kicking things up, with launching that missile.

And, by the way, one of the things the media got wrong about the recent launch that they did over Japan was that the North Koreans were very tactical about this.

They sent the missile up so high, over that Japanese Island, that technically, they didn't violate their airspace or their sovereignty. And where it came down was nowhere near Guam. So they're being very tactical. But make no mistake, it was a big middle finger, held up towards Donald Trump.

GLENN: You know what, they can -- they can hold up middle fingers to Donald Trump and to us all they want. Let's do the right thing and not get our egos involved. This is a dangerous situation.

BRAD: Well, and they're going to keep going and doing it. Because winter is coming.

It's like Game of Thrones: They're going to need heating oil, and they're going to need food. Those are two of the biggest things they are going to be lobbying for. So you're going to see things get more dangerous.

But it only takes one mistake in these provocations to lead us to war. And the big thing that I'm looking for -- and it will be a big kind of trigger point for me is if the United States government gives an order to evacuate military families and nonessential diplomatic personnel from South Korea and Japan. If that happens, we know it's game on. And that's what I'm watching for in that part of the world.

STU: Brad, just to let you know, for the rest of the interview. You've already done Star Wars and Game of Thrones. I will need a pop culture reference for each point that you make.

GLENN: Now, back to the interview.

(laughter)

So -- so try to find one here: Afghanistan, two weeks ago seems like 100 years ago.

PAT: Rambo. It's like Rambo.

(laughter)

GLENN: Seems like 100 years ago that the president said, "Hey, by the way, we're ramping up troops," something he was dead set against, which really put a chill down my spine. Because it reminded me of what George Bush said to me in the Oval, which was, don't worry about it. Whoever gets into the Oval Office, when they sit behind this desk, they're going to do exactly what I've done because they'll see that the president really has no more options left.

BRAD: Yeah. That is totally correct. And I know a lot of people have been upset with Erik Prince putting forward this idea that maybe we ought to have a greater private military corporation presence in Afghanistan.

I will tell you this: I'm good friends with a gay named Sean Parnell. And Sean Parnell wrote a fabulous book about his experience in Afghanistan called Outlaw Platoon. I highly recommend it.

And Parnell had -- his team, they had one of the longest combat deployments on the war on terror: 485 days in Afghanistan. They actually said that as painful as it was being away from home, that that length of time was excellent because the villagers got to know them, they knew the terrain better than the bad guys. They knew where the bad guys were.

So this idea that putting people in for longer stretches, who can get to know the villagers, can work on some of that counterinsurgency stuff, may not be a bad thing. I'm a big believer. And I love the Defense Department, but they still buy 600-dollar hammers.

I'm also in favor of considering options that allow the private sector, when held accountable, to try to do things better, cheaper, faster, stronger than the United States government. So I think it's worth looking at.

GLENN: Have you read the news -- this is not covered by anyone going to Iran.

The head of the Supreme Council came out about four weeks ago and said to the people, "I just want you to know that the Twelfth Imam is here. He is among us. And he is walking among us now. And he will come forth soon."

Is that disturbing to you at all?

BRAD: It is disturbing when you know as much about this as you do and your audience does. I mean, Ahmadinejad had all of the avenues in Tehran widened so that they could celebrate and do a big parade for the Mahdi when he came. So this is a disturbing thing. If they are ramping up that apocalyptic rhetoric.

Why else would they be doing it? Why would they be ginning their people up, unless they needed a faith-based reason to prepare them to go through some real, serious bad stuff, and that's what this sounds like.

GLENN: Last on the world events -- we're seeing people ginning things up in North Korea. They're building the giant bridge. I don't know if you saw the bridge that Russia is building now in Crimea. It's like 12 miles long. First land bridge to that area from Russia.

People are starting to really lay claim to things. And here in the United States, we have Antifa and the Nazis. And, you know, the -- the -- the right is being told, you've got to stand against the communists. And kind of just, you know, look the other way about the Nazis. And the left is saying, you've got to fight against the Nazis. And many on the left are saying, "And you've got to join the communists." What do you make of this?

BRAD: Well, so it's funny I was actually reading back on some of your old articles on GlennBeck.com.

GLENN: You have no life. You really have no life.

(laughter)

BRAD: You know, it's like Groundhog Day. I read the same thing over and over and over.

GLENN: Okay. Good.

BRAD: You actually, Glenn, were saying in the spring of 2016, that you thought that summer was going to be like '68. And I think you were a year too early. I think we are seeing it now. I think the stuff that you thought was coming in '16 actually hit this summer with Charlottesville. And I think it's only going to get worse.

GLENN: Yeah.

BRAD: But -- but I am heartened by the fact that even the Washington Post, even though they kind of softened at the end of the op-ed is willing to go after Antifa.

If you've got to put a mask on to show up and practice your free speech rights, you're doing it wrong, if you've got to wear the mask. So these are bad guys. The Nazis are bad people. I hate the Nazis. I hate the alt-right.

But we're in a very dangerous time in our country, where we're not supporting free speech. We're telling people, you've got to pick sides. And, you know what, I stand on the side of liberty. And I want the truth. And I want people to be able to discuss differences of opinions and ideas, without worrying about getting their heads caved in.

GLENN: Yeah, this is really -- this is where your -- here's where the rubber meets the road: Charlie Hebdo, I don't know if you've seen this, the latest cover of Charlie Hebdo, which, you know, we rallied for and stood with them.

I am Charlie. When they were being told to sit down and shut up in the strongest of terms by the Islamic extremist community, we stood up for them. The world did. We have to do it today. But here's where it's really hard: The cover of Charlie Hebdo is now a cartoon of Americans giving a Nazi salute with just their arms coming out of the water. And the headline says, what, Pat?

PAT: God exists. He drowned all the neo-Nazis in Texas. Something to that effect.

GLENN: Right. So the original reaction -- the immediate reaction to people is, "Oh, my gosh. How dare them. That's just wrong."

Yeah, it is wrong. I hate that. But they have a right to say it. We just have a right not to buy it and not to spread it.

BRAD: Well, and this is what I've always said, when I had the Islamic extremists that didn't like my thrillers: I've got a First Amendment right to write whatever I want, and it's equaled by a right just as powerful, the right not to read it.

So, listen, this is bad when America is viewed this way, internationally. And I think, had Trump handled Charlottesville better, that this wouldn't have happened.

But this is where we are now. What you hear from Donald Trump on Twitter and at the rallies is the real Trump.

When he's off-prompter, that's the real Trump. He is not very adept. He's not good at handling this stuff. And his instincts are not good. He's a pugnacious reality TV star, that that does not lend itself towards effective leadership.

And so you end up seeing this craziness. Listen, it's the French, right? We'll go back to having freedom fries instead of french fries, if they want to pull this BS when it comes down to Texas.

But anybody who is trying to score political points or to do fundraising like that insane woman Linda Sarsour, on the backs of the tragedy happening in Texas, Louisiana, and Mississippi, you're a bad person. You're a bad person if you cannot put your politics aside and see that there are black, brown, white, yellow, red, blue, polka dot people that are suffering. Politics don't matter right now. This is about human beings, and we need to do all we can to be helping those folks down in Texas, instead of trying to score cheap political points.

GLENN: There it is. You let the man talk, and he always hangs himself. Did you hear that? Now he's claiming there are polka dot people. You heard it here. You heard it here from Brad Thor.

STU: Similar to Episode 7, Season 2, of Caroline In the City, which I think we're all thinking about.

GLENN: Back in a second with Brad Thor. One more question for him. And it regards a hero in your book that I've been reading your book. And I'm like, I got to ask Brad Thor this.

And I think I'm right. And if I am, you need to tell -- you need to -- you need to tell the story, when we come back.

GLENN: Brad Thor, the odds are probably slim, but I have to know. I'm reading your book. One of the heroes named Haney. Is that the way you're pronouncing it in the book?

BRAD: Correct, yep.

GLENN: Did you name it after a guy who I don't think anybody in the country really knows who he is and I believe one of the greatest heroes of our generation, Phil Haney?

BRAD: So -- no.

GLENN: It's not?

BRAD: It's not -- it's not. There's actually a real-life Mike Haney, and that's who it's named after.

The real-life hero in the book is the (inaudible) boss, Reid Carlton. I dedicated Use of Force to Dewey Clarridge, who was a huge CIA spymaster, fantastic American. And the Reid Carlton character, nobody knew it until this book came out, was always based upon Dewey Clarridge, who set up the counterterrorism center at the CIA. But I know who Phil Haney is. Good guy.

GLENN: Unbelievable man. Unbelievable man. Maybe we'll get into it next week and just on this program explain who Phil Haney is. But he's a guy that I think every American should know. He's remarkable. And that's what I love about your books, and that's why I thought it might be Phil. But I love -- I love your books because I learn so much from them. You don't right fiction, you write faction. And I love that.

Brad, thank you so much. We'll talk to you again, my friend.

BRAD: Thank you, my friend.

RADIO

Cabinet Wins, DOGE Audits, Tariffs: Trump's Third Week Has Been WILD!

It's only been 3 weeks of Donald Trump's second presidency and A LOT has changed! Glenn reviews some of the biggest wins that we've seen in the past few days: RFK Jr. and Tulsi Gabbard were confirmed as members of Trump's cabinet, Kash Patel is one step closer to being FBI Director, Trump has called for “fair and reciprocal” tariffs on US trade partners, DOGE is preparing to audit the IRS, and the list goes on!

Transcript

Below is a rush transcript that may contain errors

GLENN: Let's see what the president has been up to in the last 24 hours.

Does this guy sleep? What's Melania doing for Valentine's Day today?

STU: One thing. When he's the president of the United States, is he thinking about that type of thing?

GLENN: No. He has people think about it. People who have people.

STU: Uh-huh.

GLENN: Yeah, people who have people. Usually, maybe like, maybe his son. Like, Dad. Maybe you should carve out a couple of hours tonight.

Oh, crap. I didn't even. You're president. I think I can make a few calls.

STU: I feel like, it's interesting that we just have a president that is awake, like every day. He seems to wake up. We see him places. Have you noticed this? I don't know if you've noticed this at all. But current president of the United States, we see him out doing things. Isn't that weird?

I feel like it's weird.

I don't know about this system we have, where the president is awake every day. It's changing our traditions, Glenn. I'm concerned about it.

GLENN: It is. It is. Well, Barack knows. We have to change our --

STU: That's true. Trump has kind of dropped the hammer on the rest of the world with tariffs. And I kind of like this tariff. Whatever they charge us, we're going to charge them.

STU: Reciprocal tariffs.

GLENN: Reciprocal tariffs. That's fair. We're not going to charge you -- I mean, maybe China would.

But we will not charge you more than you charge us. You charge us something. We'll charge you.

I think that's good!

STU: Yeah, it's interesting. It certainly seems fair. Right? Like, don't fire up.

Because the rest of the world loves tariffs. They love tariffs more than we love tariffs, even though we --

GLENN: I don't love tariffs.

STU: I don't love them at all.

Trump does love them. We've talked to him even in private conversations. By the way, in case you're wondering, is he just saying this just for the cameras? No. He really loves them. He loves tariffs. I don't agree with him on that policy. Though, he's used it to great effect recently.

That being said, I mean, if someone started charging you 100 percent tariff on a particular item, picking that same item and putting a tariff, 175 percent, certainly is fair. Now, of course, the reason we import things typically is because we don't have them here.

GLENN: Right! But not necessarily, like cars. Cars. Europe charges us a 10 percent tariff to send a Ford over.

And they charge -- we charge them 2 percent to send a Mercedes. I mean, what's fair about that?

STU: Now, again, one of the things that's fair about that. Is it's not paying an extra 8 percent on a car. We get a benefit of that, as a consumer.

That if we want to buy a European car, we will pay a little bit less and now we'll pay a little bit more. So there is a penalty to that.

However, it is certainly fair. The word "fair," I think applies when it comes to nation-to-nation relation.

And one of the things we've liked about having these lower tariffs on our side is getting lower prices for our consumers.

GLENN: Correct.

STU: And so they're -- and as Trump has discussed, he's been very up front with us. There will be pain with these policies. But long-term, we think it's worth it.

And that's really where the rubber meets the road.

GLENN: Okay. So now, everybody is very, very upset about Donald Trump signing off on DOGE and the audit of the IRS.

Now, I do have to question your sanity when you're against the audit of the IRS.

STU: You seem to be for audits. You can't audit them?

GLENN: Yeah. Who do you have to be, to be against an audit of the IRS, and bring every single receipt you have! I want to see every receipt. Oh, I want to help them.

STU: By the way, Glenn, I work with you.

GLENN: Uh-huh.

STU: My job is -- and for multiple decades now, has to be -- become closely associated with Glenn Beck.

GLENN: Yeah, it's good.

STU: Oh, the perks. The benefits. Oh, gosh, I can't even count them!

GLENN: Yeah. Hmm.

STU: Yet, somehow, I made it through the entire Barack Obama administration. And the entire Joe Biden administration.

GLENN: Yeah!

STU: Without getting audited.

GLENN: Yeah. Not me.

STU: No. I know. I remember. And yet what about happens two weeks ago? I get a letter with the IRS, with Trump in office. That I'm getting audited.

And I don't know if this is just a parting gift from the Biden administration. How is that happening?

GLENN: That's what I'm saying. Thank God somebody noticed your shadiness. Somebody finally noticed. He's very shady. He's very shady.

You know, the good thing is, both of us stay -- to our accountants, we always say the same thing. Anybody who is preparing our taxes. Stay way away from the line.

STU: Yes. 100 percent.

GLENN: When in doubt, leave it out.

STU: Still, it's incredibly frustrating. We were talking to Alan Dershowitz, I have every single book -- everything -- yeah. Sure. Somewhere, I have every receipt from 2022. I'm sure.

But, I mean, the -- this is this relationship that we have with the government, that is this adversarial torture fest, that we pay for every year. Oh, gosh. I can't wait to pay by taxes.

Maybe I'll get a refund. Maybe they'll give me some of the money that is mine, back to me, multiple months later.

GLENN: I believe that's actually what happened to me.

I believe they owed me money.

STU: After the audit. Yeah.

GLENN: I stayed away from the line.

STU: That's what you have to be.

GLENN: You know, jail time does not sound good to me. In any way, shape or form.

STU: The wrong IRS agent, that doesn't like your show, happens to be doing it, well, guess what happens? They push it beyond the limits of normalcy. So the good senator and common sense-filled senator from Oregon, Ron Wyden said, this means Musk's henchmen are in a position to dig through a trove of data about every taxpayer in America.

Wait. What? You mean like the IRS does?
(laughter)

STU: What core of government function are you guys talking about?

GLENN: No, what's up with that? And it could be the very reason behind possible delays, in people receiving their tax refunds for 2024.

What a scare tactic.

STU: Hmm.

GLENN: These guys are so freaked out about Donald Trump. I mean, you know, the one thing that happened yesterday, that everybody should recognize. Mitch McConnell was alone. He was alone.

STU: That's huge.

GLENN: That's gigantic.

STU: On two votes. Tulsi and RFK!

GLENN: I know. I know.

STU: And before this, if McConnell said, hey, this is where I'm going, he would always have a bunch of buddies that would come with him. His closest friends. It would always do that.

GLENN: It's weird, you cut off the money, and things change.

STU: Yeah, he no longer has the leadership. He no longer has control of that cash. All of a sudden, he's a lonesome dove.

GLENN: Yeah!

So let me just ask -- I want to ask, are you tired of winning? Let me just give you the winning streak so far number Congress. Marco Rubio, voted to be confirmed, 99 to zero. Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent, confirmed, 68 to 29.

Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum, seventy-nine to 18. Brook Rollins, Secretary of Agriculture, 72 to 28.

Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy, seventy-seven to 22. Pam Bondi, 54 to 46. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Scott Turner, 55 to 44.

Secretary of Energy Chris Wright, 59 to 38. Doug Collins Veterans Affairs, seventy-seven to 23. Kristi Noem.

Secretary of Homeland Security, 59 to 34. Lee Zeldin became the EPA administrator 56 by 42.

I have to tell you, Lee Zeldin, there's some stuff he did yesterday, that you're like, holy cow.

STU: Yeah, I have high hopes for the him. He's off to a very good start.

GLENN: Yeah, Russ Vought, who I just absolutely love. Director Office Management and Budget. He's done a lot of incredible things this week. 53 to 47.

John Ratcliff, confirmed as CIA director, 74 to 25. Tulsi Gabbard and RFK were confirmed yesterday. You have Kash Patel who got out of the committee and is going to be voted on early next week. And, of course, you have Pete Hegseth. I mean, and Mitch McConnell, standing there alone, all day yesterday.

This is good. Now, the president did a couple of other things yesterday, that are ground-breaking. But we need to make sure Congress passes all of these things as laws.

And they're not just executive order.

And that's going to require us to keep the heat on Congress. And they're working on the budget.

Congress just put together their budget for next year.

The Senate is squealing like stuck little pigs.

But we need to get them to pass in one bill. And you're going to get some crap in that one bill, I'm sure. But you have -- you really have a hard time, going to get two bills through on reconciliation.

So we need it in one bill.

RADIO

Elon Musk is NOT a Threat to "Democracy." He's a Threat to Bureaucracy

Elon Musk and DOGE are not threats to "democracy," like Democrats are complaining. They're threats to the bureaucracy that has taken over the government our Constitution established. Glenn explains how this all originated with Woodrow Wilson, who dreamed of "freeing" the government from the "chains" of the Constitution and replacing it with a government of "experts" and administrators. That's where the shadow government began and that's what Trump and DOGE are "destroying."

Transcript

Below is a rush transcript that may contain errors

GLENN: Elon Musk said, that we're not living in a democracy, we're living in a bureaucracy.

When he said that, my response was, yes. Now, I don't know if you know who Elon. I don't know if you know who Woodrow Wilson is.

But, yes!

Living under a bureaucracy, that's the point. Let me give you the quote, the history of liberty is a history of resistance.

The history of liberty is a history of limitation of governmental power, not the increase of it. Who said that?

Sounds like a guy who understands and values freedom. Somebody who understands the delicate balance of power, between the individual and the state. Right?

But the guy who said that, was the 28th president of the United States, Woodrow Wilson.

Now, does that sound like somebody that we know, maybe on the left, that is now saying things like, we've got to save democracy? We've got to save democracy?

He's killing democracy, by cutting the bureaucracy.

Wilson was exactly the same kind of politician. Except, he was the grandfather of all of this.

He was the architect of a vision, where government would no longer be confined by the rules, the outdated rules. And the chains of the Constitution.

He was the guy who said the Declaration of Independence needed to be cast aside, because it's an outdated relic. He was the guy that wanted you not to be governed by the laws of nature. And nature's God. But by an elite ruling class of scientists, experts, bureaucrats.

That's -- that's what he wanted.

Isn't that what we have right now? We're not -- we don't elect the president. You elect the president and nothing changes. Why?

Not just because both parties are alike. But because the bureaucracy is set in stone!

It's a ruling class, of scientists, experts, and bureaucrats. Wilson believed that the government was no longer the machine of our Founding Fathers, that needed to be shackled and restrained.

He thought government should be a living organism, an evolving entity, free from the so-called outdated principles of 1776. This is where we get the Constitution is a living, breathing thing.

No, it's not. No, that's Woodrow Wilson.

He looked at the Constitution. The greatest safeguard of liberty ever written. And didn't see it as a beacon of freedom. He saw it as an obstacle that needed to be overcome. He -- let me paint you this picture.

Imagine, you're sitting in a grand lecture hall. It's early 1900s. Gaslights are flickering. And a young professor steps up to the podium.

He stands at the podium, everybody starts to be quiet. It's all -- you're in the crowd, everybody there is the future rulers of America.

And he starts in to thunderous applause, with something that, I don't know.

Me. It would -- the back of my neck, the hair on the back of my neck would stand up.

He said, quote, the makers of the Constitution constructed the federal government upon a theory of checks and balances. Which was meant to limit the government's power.

And therefore, its ability to govern.

This was a great mistake. The Constitution was founded on the Newtonian theory of the universe.

But we now understand, that the government is not a machine. But a living thing.

It must evolve. It must adapt. And it must be freed from its chains!

End quote.

Freed from its chains. When I read that line, I -- I thought to myself. I thought of setting the monster free in Young Frankenstein.

You're free! You're free! It didn't work out well.

Okay? When you take something that is like fire. Hello, California. And just release it. It is a very bad thing.

Washington said, government is like fire!

It will be the master of you, if you're not the master of it. Are we the master of our government, or is it the master over us?

What do you think happens, when you -- when you have a government, I free it from its chains?

Does it become a benevolent force?

Does it look out for your best interest. Does it even know who you are, let alone answer to you?

Wilson wasn't just a professor. He was a man on a mission.

To change, and this is his words.

To change a man or a boy, to be the most unlike his father, as possible.

Isn't that what our education system is doing?

Wilson believed that we needed to move away from the messy system of self-government.

And have it all placed into the capable hands of an intellectual elite, that he called administrative experts.

So you can see this throughout our whole government. Anthony Fauci.

The law was, that we are not supposed to do gain-of-function research!

We now know, through all kinds of records, that have been released, that Anthony Fauci disagreed with that. And he made the decision, that we were going to do gain-of-function research!

Because it's not up to him, to answer to the people!

He answers -- he's the expert!

He's the administrator. He knows better than the average person. Even if other scientists disagree with him, he is science!

These experts, that are unelected, and unaccountable, Wilson saw this. This is -- these are the people that need to run the country.

Not as representatives of the people. But as scientists, technocrats, bureaucrats, who know better than you do, on how to live your life.

For Wilson, and now you're seeing his finished product, that Trump and Elon Musk are beginning to dismantle. You are now seeing, that his vision was that the American people were not individuals that were given God-give up rights.

They were just parts of a collective. A mass to be organized. To be managed.

To be directed.

He viewed the old principles of liberty and self-determination. Those are relics of an ignorant past.

Things that have to be replaced. By science. And numbers. Cold, efficiency of science and government regulation.

Now, our founders would say, that's all well and good.

We understand that, let's just take you, at face value and say you're honest in that. But what you're forgetting is that men go bad with power and money!

All men can be corrupted.

So it's not that we are putting chains on the government, because government is bad! No. Government is made up of the people that are in it.

And if you don't limit it, if you -- if you allow them to gain more and more power, and more and more money. It will go corrupt.

And it will begin to oppress you.

The government -- the founders weren't anti government. They were anti-out of control large government. Where the people were servants of that government, not the other way around.

Wilson wrote, the Declaration of Independence. That the -- the foundation of our freedoms.

He said, it was outdated.

He called the principles for all practices and purposes in the Declaration, meaningless.

Meaningless is his word.

The words that inspired the American Revolution, the ideas that all men are created equal, that our rights come from God. Not from government. Were to Wilson, irrelevant. And meaningless in the modern world.

Why? Because you're too stupid to understand what's really going on. You're too stupid to be able to manage the affairs, of not only the nation. But the world!

Every time we try to manage a nation, or the world, we go wrong!

Every single time!

He didn't believe you really have a right to property. To speech. To life itself, unless the government allowed it. If that doesn't terrify you, let me tell you something darker than that. Not morality.

Not faith, not the Constitution. But science should be the guiding force of government.

Well, we saw that with COVID. Didn't we?

Follow the science!

What kind of science?

The experiments that Fauci has been doing on animals and everything else. It's -- it's -- it's -- it's Mengele stuff.

It's really evil stuff! Because it has no medical purpose to it at all. The science that Wilson was talking about. Was eugenics.

And that's the same kind of stuff, that just named it something else. But it's the same kind of medicine that we're talking about now.

The kind that kills those who are unfit. Look at what's happening in Canada!

It's the kind of politics that led to policies of forced sterilization.

And racial segregation.

Which he put into practice. He was the guy who reseparated -- resegregated the military.

He segregated the government.

He praised the film, birth of a nation. Which we don't need to be the Klan. He believed in an America where government, led by an enlightened few, would decide who was fit to participate in society, and who wasn't.

Does that sound like America to you at all?

Or does that sound like the birth of something entirely different?

When he left office, it grew!

It took root in Washington, because they figured out, companies could go to Washington and lobby and get their way.

This was the beginning of all of the lobbyists in Washington.

And it -- it just grew. Ever expanding bureaucracy. A shadow government of unelected officials, who now control almost every aspect of your life! From what kind of car you drive. To what you eat.

To what stove you can have in your house. How you can build your house.

His dream was that a government would no longer be by the people. But by the experts.

The people would be managed. Guided. And nudged in the right direction.

So when they're saying that they're destroying democracy, no. They're destroying the bureaucracy, which is the antithesis to our founding documents.

TV

PBD Reacts to Glenn Beck's Prediction the Epstein Files WILL Be Exposed | Glenn TV | Ep 413

Radical transparency IS coming to America, Glenn says, but only if Kash Patel is confirmed to head the FBI. In fact, Glenn makes one of his boldest predictions yet: Kash will release the Epstein client list on his FIRST DAY leading the bureau. On tonight’s episode of "Glenn TV," Glenn is joined by ‪@PBDPodcast‬ host Patrick Bet-David and co-hosts Tom Ellsworth, Adam Sosnick, and Vincent Oshana. They discuss the damning ramifications releasing the Epstein list (or the Diddy list) may have for those who were associated with the island but were not guilty of partaking in criminal activity there — something President Trump expressed concern for before becoming elected. Plus, what will releasing the JFK files do to the CIA? We now know the CIA was in Miami following Lee Harvey Oswald, so why then didn’t the CIA stop him? Public trust in our federal government dropped substantially after the JFK assassination, and it continued to plummet over the next several decades until it hit a new low (14%) under Biden. Can Trump — with the radical transparency Glenn predicts is coming — turn that all around? PBD predicts Trump could increase that number to 50% or even 60%. Democrats see it coming, too. Their meltdowns over the DOGE and Elon Musk ending wasteful spending now are on fully display: “Accountability is here, and they’re panicking.” Lastly, Glenn and the "PBD Podcast" guys discuss how the first assassination attempt against Trump changed him as a person, providing him with both laser focus and an understanding that his job in the White House is much bigger than himself.

RADIO

Trump’s Treasury Secretary SHUTS DOWN Reporter Trying to Attack DOGE

The Biden government hired 80,000 new IRS agents to make sure YOU followed every one of their complicated tax laws. But when President Trump ordered DOGE to audit the government, politicians and the media squealed! That should speak volumes about what their true priorities are, Glenn says. Glenn and Pat review some of the latest pushback from the establishment, including how Democrats are whining about Elon Musk and how a judge tried to block even Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent from accessing Treasury data.

Transcript

Below is a rush transcript that may contain errors

GLENN: You know, it's astonishing how many people have found a very clear common sense voice and a lack of fear.

They seem to be all over this administration.

Stephen Miller is one of them, don't you think, Pat?

PAT: Definitely.

And he was talking about the angry Dems. And had some things to say about them. Deputy chief, Stephen Miller, cut 14.

VOICE: The Democrat use of the term unelected is really quite remarkable here. Donald Trump was elected in an overwhelming landslide.

These are Donald Trump staffers. It's like saying that Mike Walls, National Security adviser is unelected. Or Susan Wiles, the chief of staff is unelected. Or Donald Trump's communication team is unelected.

This is presidential staff that serves at the pleasure and for the president, just as I do. I am a staffer, for the president of the United States. He is elected. He is the one that the American people have chosen to implement his agenda. This is the agenda the American people voted for.

That he is asking his staff. His subordinates. His employees. To implement.

The unelected power in this country is the rogue bureaucracy.

USAID is unelected. The FBI, that persecuted President Trump for eight years, is unelected.

The CIA and those who have laundered intelligence to try to change the foreign policy of the United States are unelected.

President Trump is restoring democracy, by controlling the federal bureaucracy.

There is one man in the country, who is elected bit whole American people, to implement an agenda they support. That is the president.

Every other officer in this country, members of Congress and Senate are elected at the state and local level. The Constitution puts one man in charge of the federal executive branch. And that's the president.

GLENN: Understood. Understood.

PAT: Let him finish.

GLENN: He's absolutely awesome.

And absolutely right.

I mean, that's the thing -- I just don't understand. When they were -- when the federal judge tried to block and did for this weekend.

But it's not going to last long.

Tried to block the secretary of the Treasury

PAT: Yeah.

GLENN: From even looking at the data, that is produced by the Treasury?

PAT: Yeah.

GLENN: Who is running things? My gosh.

PAT: Well, Treasury secretary Scott Bessent was interviewed over the weekend, and he had some things to say about -- just about that!

VOICE: Mr. Secretary, we are inside the cash room in the Treasury department. It's almost impossible to overstate how important the work that's done in the US building. Is the US financial system.

Yet right now, there is widespread concern about the DOGE teams access to sensitive payment systems.

Are you worried at all, that that access and that tinkering of the payment systems, could affect the Treasury's market or cause any disruption.

VOICE: Well, good. Thank you for asking me about that.

Because there's a lot of misinformation out there.

First of all, when you say the DOGE team, these are Treasury employees. Two Treasury employees, one of whom I personally interviewed in his final round. There is no tinkering with the system. They are on read only. They are looking. They can make no changes. It is an operational program to suggest improvements. So we make 1.3 billion payments a year. And this is two employees who are working with a group of long-standing employees.

VOICE: The letter that the treasury department sent earlier this week, talked about how the team currently does not have access to change the system.

Have they, at any point this year, had the ability to make changes?

VOICE: Absolutely not. This is no different than you would have at a private company.
By the way, the ability to change the system, sits at the Federal Reserve.

So it does not even lie in this building. So they can make suggestions on how to change the system, but we don't even run the system.

VOICE: And if they ask her, they request the ability to change the system. Would you grant that?

VOICE: No. Again, they have no ability to change the system.

I have no ability to grant that change. That they can make suggestions. Then it would go to the Federal Reserve. And just like any large system. There would be tests.

There would be this. There would be that.

And then the fed will determine whether these changes are robust or not.

VOICE: As the Secretary of Treasury, you also oversee the IRS.

Do you know what kind of access the team has to IRS data or individual taxpayer data?

VOICE: Well, I'm glad you asked that too.

Because, look, the IRS, the privacy issue is one of the biggest issues. And over the past four years, we've seen a lot of leaks out of there. The IRS systems are quite poor.

When I started in college in 1980, I learned the program. I think, there are 12 different systems at the IRS that still run on COBOL. But as of now, there is no engagement at the IRS.

VOICE: Elon Musk just a few -- half an hour ago, tweeted out that Treasury needs to stop approving certain payments. Has your staff tried to block any payments at the Treasury?

VOICE: We have not.

And I'm glad you asked that too. And just to put it in perspective, Elon and I are completely aligned in terms of cutting waste and increasing accountability and transparency for the American people.

I believe that this DOGE program in my adult life is one of the most important audits of government. Or changes to government structure, we have seen.

That when I was in my 20s, we had the grace report. And there's some great suggestions that came out of that.

Never implemented under Clinton and Gore.

I think it was to government efficiency. Or to reduce government. Nothing happened.

So, you know, President Trump came in. There's a big agenda.

And I think there are gigantic cost savings for the American people here.

And I think it's unfortunate the way the media wants to lampoon what is going on.

PAT: Yes.

GLENN: Thank you.

VOICE: These are highly trained professionals. And this is not some broken band going around doing things. This is methodical, and it is going to yield big savings.

PAT: Jeez. And what's wrong with that? Is there anything wrong with that? I don't think so.

GLENN: Right. Did you hear a nonhostile question coming from the Bloomberg reporter?

PAT: No. A nonhostile? No. But he handled it in a nonhostile way.

He was great, wasn't he?

GLENN: Yeah, very well.

I mean, yeah. And it's a little scary, that the Treasury Secretary can't make any of these decisions, they're all made by the Federal Reserve.

That's a problem, which is why DOGE wants to bring Ron Paul in for an audit of the Fed, which would be fantastic.

PAT: It would be great.

GLENN: Can you imagine what we would find at the Fed now?

PAT: Oh, my gosh. I can't imagine it. And it's the fed with the power to make these changes.

That's amazing too.

That they can't even do it from the Treasury. That's kind of eye-opening.

But I think they need to use that term audit of government more. Because what's wrong with that.

GLENN: Yes. That's why they're going into the Pentagon. The seventh audit failed.

Let me ask you something: You know, she brings up the IRS.

The government hired 80,000 new IRS agents, to go over your records. To make sure nothing -- no funny business is going on with you.

That you're paying every dime that you're supposed to pay. Because there's a shortfall.

No! There's not a shortfall.

They're spending too much. When we go in, and try to send accountants in, to say, how did you spend this money?

The same thing the IRS does to you, every year, they squeal like little pigs.

I don't know.

If -- you know, you went in to the IRS every year with the attitude that the Democrats have.

You would be audited every year. Because somebody, probably rightfully so would go, wait a minute.

Why are you panicking so much. Why are you saying we can't have access to your records?

This is a legal operation. What's happening here?

And it -- it kills me that the media is sticking up for corruption.

Whose side are they on?

PAT: Well, they're on the side of corruption. Because they're benefiting from it.

And that's been the problem for how many decades now?

How many centuries now?

GLENN: I know. I know.

PAT: Have we run the nation in a way that the Founding Fathers intended, since, I don't know. 1830. Probably not.

GLENN: No. So, you know what, I have a copy of the first budget. It was on the front page of a Columbia newspaper from South Carolina.

And it -- it lays out George Washington's budget.

And it actually asks Congress to increase the budget for firewood, because the Capitol was cold.

And they needed extra firewood to keep things warm.

PAT: Uh-huh.

GLENN: And I don't even know if that got passed. I have no idea if that got passed.

PAT: Jeez.

GLENN: But that's the way we should be. Oh, you know what, put a sweater on, Congress. Oh, you're a little cold in there. Put a sweater on.

PAT: Exactly.

GLENN: They're the ones that should be putting the sweater on. Not us. Not us.

PAT: Look how Thomas Jefferson struggled with the Louisiana Purchase.

I mean, we almost didn't do it. Because he thought, it wasn't proper. He thought it was unconstitutional.

But it turned out to be too good a deal, and we did it anyway.

But they had a completely different mindset. You know, the funds that the federal government had, that they got from American taxpayers, whether they pay in excise taxes, or wherever their taxes came from. Those were sacred funds.

And they didn't just throw them out to anybody for any reason.

GLENN: Yes. And look at --

PAT: We've got to get back to that.

GLENN: We can spend a trillion dollars and have it all just vanish on us.

But if Donald Trump says, let's take $2 trillion and buy Greenland.

Everybody would freak out. Which one should you freak out about?

The investment, or the loss?

PAT: Uh-huh.

GLENN: It's -- it's -- it's an unspeakable horror, what is going on. And how the people are reacting to it.

You know, everybody in America should be happy about this.

One other truth speaker. Somebody else who is just very good at saying exactly what he means. And getting right to the truth. Is Hegseth.

Here he is, talking about our strength. Cut 22.

VOICE: I think the single dumbest phrase in military history, is our diversity is our strength.

I think our strength is our unity. Our strength is our shared purpose. Regardless of our background. Regardless of how we grew up. Regardless of our gender. Regardless of our race. In this department, we will treat everyone equally.

We will treat everyone with fairness. We will treat everyone with respect, and we will judge you as an individual by your merit. And by your commitment to the team and the mission.

That's how it has been. That's how it will be.

Any inference otherwise, is meant to divide or create complications, that otherwise should not and do not exist.

GLENN: I've got to tell you. How is that controversial at all?

We're -- you know why they keep teams together.

You go through buds and you keep that team together, because their strength is their unity. You don't send them into war with a bunch of people that are all different with each other. You send them into war that all have different skills, yes.

But are acting as one, with one purpose.