Three Things You Need to Know - October 12, 2017

Think before you tweet.

That should be our new national slogan.

In less than 140 characters, the President told us what he thought of the First Amendment yesterday.

In response to an NBC news report that he suggested increasing the nation’s nuclear arms stockpile during a meeting with top Cabinet officials, Trump tweeted, "With all of the Fake News coming out of NBC and the Networks, at what point is it appropriate to challenge their License? Bad for country!"

Ok, let me break this down.

What is bad for the country is our President advocating for obstructing the free press.

What is bad for the country is violating the Constitution.

What is bad for the country is not understanding the First Amendment at the most basic level. That goes for every American citizen and every elected official serving those citizens.

Look, I get it. NBC can be absolutely shameful. Believe me, I’m not a fan. But that doesn’t mean the President can just shut them down because they say things he doesn’t like.

And even if Trump wanted to challenge their license, he couldn’t. NBC doesn’t have a broadcast license. NBC’s local affiliates do, not the national network. And it would be highly unusual for the FCC to revoke a local license based on a broadcaster’s content. It just doesn’t work that way.

Here’s some free advice for Trump.

One. You need to do some homework. Learn about how the Federal Communications Commission works and re-read our country’s Constitution.

Two. Stop caring about what NBC says about you. They will never be fair to you. I’ve been there. They are not going to like you. Get over it. Try to focus on the things that actually matter like North Korea, Puerto Rico, California, for example.

And three. Always think before you tweet.

Hell has come to California.

22 wildfires have sprung up all over the state of California, scorching everything in their path. As of this morning, 23 people have been killed and almost 300 are missing.

Despite the numerous earthquakes this state has seen, this could be the worst natural disaster in California history. 170,000 acres of land and over 3,500 buildings have been destroyed. 20,000 people have been evacuated, and thousands are without power.

Napa Valley has taken the worst of it. The images are straight apocalyptic. Rivers of wine boil as they leak out of scorched vineyards. Entire communities have been wiped off the map. Neighborhoods near Santa Rosa look like WWII pictures of Stalingrad or Hiroshima.

Many residents in the worst-hit areas never even knew the fires were sweeping down on them until the last minute. All was quiet until the shouts of frantic neighbors jarred people from their homes. As they walked out into their front yards, the sound of smoke detectors could be heard from nearby neighborhoods. Car horns added to the chaos as families sped down the roads in desperation.

Where was the warning? The truth is many people didn’t get any. Cell towers were being wiped out by the fires and landlines were destroyed. The area has access to the federal Wireless Emergency Alert system, but it’s unclear if authorities even used it, and if so, why so many people received nothing.

San Jose has had this problem before. Just a few months ago, the city got nailed for not warning the public of destructive floodwaters. A report found that “there was a general lack of institutional knowledge” on how to use the Wireless Emergency Alert system. I’m sorry but this is just ridiculous. Lives are at stake, and those in charge don’t know what to do. How is this even possible in this area! This is Silicon Valley! The tech community needs to come together and ensure this doesn’t happen again because the local government isn’t getting it done.

A cold front is blowing in this morning creating winds that will keep these fires moving fast. The carnage is expected to last, at least until Saturday. The American spirit has been tested a lot this year. From multiple catastrophic hurricanes to massive floodwaters, and now this. Help your fellow man --- and if you can’t help --- send your prayers toward California today.

U.S. soldiers have been killed in Niger.

It was just supposed to be a “routine reconnaissance mission.” But four American soldiers were killed. It happened last week, in Niger.

Did you even know about it? Did you know that the U.S. has soldiers operating in Niger?

We’re suffering from content inflation --- a fire hydrant of so much useless information and juvenile bickering that we miss stories that are actually important.

The U.S. has 800 troops stationed in Niger to help train Niger’s military and help gather intelligence in the fight against Al Qaeda and other terrorist groups in the region.

A dozen Green Berets and 20 Niger soldiers were on a reconnaissance mission when they were ambushed by terrorists driving pickup trucks with mounted machine guns. The fire-fight lasted 30 minutes. When it was over, four Green Berets lay dead and two others wounded. Four Niger soldiers were also killed.

The Pentagon is now investigating the incident, but officials believe Al Qaeda was responsible for the attack. The terrorist group operates along the border between Niger and Mali, near where the U.S. and Niger soldiers were.

The U.S. Defense Department attempts to follow what is known as the “golden-hour standard,” in which the military tries to rescue wounded soldiers within one hour of being wounded. One U.S. general said it’s not possible to have the golden hour standard in Africa because of the extremely remote locations in which some U.S. soldiers operate. Niger is a land-locked, mostly desert nation in northwest Africa, about twice the size of Texas. These remote operations leave U.S. soldiers particularly vulnerable to ambushes.

American helicopters did not arrive to rescue the wounded troops in Niger. French helicopters finally arrived from 275 miles away in Burkina Faso. Some soldiers say the standard rescue wait time in Africa is closer to ten hours.

These are the first American troops to die in the counterterrorism effort in Niger, where the U.S. has been since 2015.

Why hasn’t this story been more prominent in the news? America’s been too busy talking about kneeling during the national anthem. Oppressive statues. Melania’s footwear. Empathy tents. There are bigger issues at stake --- and we’re either ignoring them, or missing them altogether.

MORE 3 THINGS

POLL: What DARK government secrets will Trump uncover?

Mark Wilson / Staff | Getty Images

Will the dark secrets of the Deep State finally see the light of day? Or will they slip back into darkness, as they have many times before?

The Trump administration is gearing up to fulfill one of Trump's most anticipated campaign promises: to make the contents of the JFK files, along with other Deep State secrets, available to the public. Kash Patel, who has promised to publicize the highly anticipated files, is expected to be confirmed next week as Trump's director of the FBI. Moreover, the House Oversight Committee created a new task force headed by Rep. Anna Paulina Luna called "Task Force on Declassification of Federal Secrets," which is tasked with investigating and declassifying information on the JFK, RFK, and MLK assassinations, UFOs, the Epstein list, COVID's origins, and 9/11. This all comes after the FBI found 2,400 "new" records relating to the assassination of President Kennedy following Trump's executive order to release the files.

Glenn discussed this topic with the cast of the Patrick Bet David podcast. Glenn expressed his confidence in Trump's radical transparency—on the condition that Kash Patel is confirmed. The cast was not as optimistic, expressing some doubt about whether Trump will actually unveil all that he has promised. But what do you think? What files are likely to see the light of day? And what files will continue to linger in the dark? Let us know in the poll below

Do you think the JFK, RFK, and MLK files will be unveiled?

Do you think the 9/11 files will be unveiled?

Do you think the COVID files will be unveiled?

Do you think the UFO files will be unveiled?

Do you think the Epstein list will be unveiled?

Transgender opera in Colombia? 10 SHOCKING ways USAID spent your tax dollars.

MANDEL NGAN / Contributor | Getty Images

The government has been doing what with our tax money!?

Under the determined eye of Elon Musk, DOGE has rooted out the corruption that permeates USAID, and it turns out that it's worse than we thought. Glenn recently read a list of atrocious causes that were funded by USAID, and the list was as long as it was shocking.

Since the January consumer index report was published today, one thing is clear: eggs are bearing the brunt of inflation. That's why we illustrated the extent of USAID's wasteful spending of YOUR taxpayer dollars by comparing it to the price of eggs. How many eggs could the American people have bought with their tax dollars that were given to a "transgender opera" in Colombia or indoctrinating Sri Lankans with woke gender ideology? The truth will shock you:

1. A “transgender opera” in Colombia

USAID spent $47,000 on a transgender opera in Colombia. That's over 135,000 eggs.

2. Sex changes and "LGBT activism" in Guatemala

$2 million was spent funding sex changes along with whatever "LGBT activism" means. That equates to over 5.7 million eggs!

3. Teaching Sri Lankan journalists how to avoid binary-gendered language

USAID forked over $7.9 million to combat the "gender binary" in Sri Lankan journalism. That could have bought nearly 23 million eggs.

4. Tourism in Egypt

$6 million (or just over 17 million eggs) was spent to fund tourism in Egypt. If only someone had thought to build some impressive landmarks...

5. A new "Sesame Street" show in Iraq

USAID spent $20 million to create a new Sesame Street show in Iraq. That's just short of 58 million eggs...

6. Helping the BBC value the diversity of Libyan society

$2.1 million was sent to the BBC (the British Broadcasting Corporation) to help them value the diversity of Libyan society (whatever that means). That could have bought over 6 million eggs.

7. Meals for a terrorist group linked to Al-Qaeda

$10 million worth of USAID-funded meals went to an Al-Qaeda linked terrorist group. That comes up to be just shy of 29 million eggs.

8. Promoting inclusion in Vietnam 

A combined $19.3 million was sent to two separate inclusion groups in Vietnam inclusion groups in Vietnam (why where they separated? Not very inclusive of them). That's over 55 million eggs.

9. Promoting DEI in Serbia's workplaces

USAID sent $1.5 million (4.3 million eggs) to “advance diversity equity and inclusion in Serbia’s workplaces and business communities.”

10. Funding EcoHealth Alliance, tied to the Wuhan Institute of Virology's "bat research"

EcoHealth Alliance, one of the key NGOs that funded the Wuhan lab's bat virus research, received $5 million from USAID, which is equivalent to 14.5 million eggs.

The bottom line...

So, how much damage was done?

In total, approximately $73.8 million was wasted on the items on this list. That comes out to be 213 million eggs. Keep in mind that these are just the items on this list, there are many, many more that DOGE has uncovered and will uncover in the coming days. Case in point: that's a lot of eggs.

POLL: Should Trump stop producing pennies?

SAUL LOEB / Contributor, Chip Somodevilla / Staff | Getty Images

On Sunday, February 9th, President Trump ordered the U.S. Mint to halt the production of pennies. It costs the mint three cents to produce every penny, which Trump deemed wasteful. However, critics argue that axing the pennies will be compensated by ramping up nickel production, which costs 13 cents per coin.

In other news, President Trump promised on Truth Social that he would be reversing a Biden-era policy that mandated the use of paper straws throughout the federal government. From potentially slashing entire agencies to saying farewell to pennies and paper straws, Trump is hounding after wasteful spending of taxpayer dollars.

But what do you think? Was Trump right to put an end to pennies? And should plastic straws make a comeback? Let us know in the poll below:

Should Trump stop the production of pennies? 

Do you agree with Trump's reversal of the plastic straw ban?

Was this the most PATRIOTIC Super Bowl yet?

CHANDAN KHANNA / Contributor | Getty Images

The 2025 Super Bowl demonstrated Trump’s vision of a new America.

On Sunday, February 9th, the Philadelphia Eagles defeated the Kansas City Chiefs in the biggest sporting event of the year. But this wasn't just a victory for Eagles fans. For those watching, it became apparent that American culture has changed, the zeitgeist has shifted, and America has become cool again. While remnants of woke culture lingered, they felt out of step next to the parade of American Flags and patriotic messaging that dominated the national event. The message was clear: America is back.

Everybody knows that the commercials are the best part of any Super Bowl, and last night's game was no exception. As Glenn has pointed out, while some of the ads still carried woke messages (like Nike's), many more captured the newly kindled patriotism felt nationwide. Here are four of the best commercials from last Sunday that make this the most patriotic Super Bowl yet:

1. Rocket: "Own the Dream"

This touching commercial by the financial services company, Rocket, states "Everyone deserves a shot at the American dream," while showing images of people returning home and building families. The ad included a cover of John Denver's iconic song "Take Me Home, Country Roads" and featured an in-stadium sing-along, live from the Super Bowl.

2. Secret Service: "A History of Protection"

Donald Trump made history by being the first sitting president to attend a Super Bowl, which required the efforts of hundreds of Secret Service agents to ensure his safety. The Secret Service boasted of this feat during their minute-long commercial, which lauded American values and achievements and featured iconic American imagery.

3. Brad Pitt: "Huddle Up"

The Super Bowl introduction celebrated snapshots of American achievement accompanied with a powerful commentary about unity narrated by Brad Pitt. The message is clear: Americans can achieve great things when we work together. The ad conjures up American ideals such as hard work, ingenuity, self-sacrifice, and teamwork.

4. Jeep: "Big Game"

Movie star Harrison Ford appeared in Jeep's Super Bowl commercial to promote freedom and to remind us that "freedom isn't free." Ford treks through the mountains while ruminating on what freedom means in America and the opportunities and responsibilities that come with it.