Senate Campaigns Were Never Intended to Be National Elections

After reports about his alleged predilection for teenagers, Roy Moore’s Alabama campaign is becoming a national issue. But ultimately, his Senate race is about persuading voters in his own state.

“It doesn’t matter what we think,” Glenn said on today’s show. “It only matters what the people of Alabama think.”

Glenn and Stu also talked about the basic principles of conservatism that Republicans are leaving behind because they simply want to “win.” When it comes to governing, Republicans have so far failed to keep their promises to repeal Obamacare, pass tax reform and fight for the average American. Where is their credibility now?

“I want to win elections … but I’m not going to pay any price to win elections,” Stu said.

This article provided courtesy of TheBlaze.

GLENN: You know, Stu just said to me, you know he's going to end up winning. I think he's going to.

STU: He probably will.

GLENN: I think he will. I think the people of -- of Alabama -- I mean, think of this, this is the reason why -- one of the reasons why our Founders made sure in the Constitution that all of the senators were -- were picked by the people in their state. And each senator was picked by the --

STU: The state legislature.

GLENN: Yeah. The state legislature. So we reversed that. With progressives, we reversed that. Why? To make every Senate campaign a national election.

Well, that's not what it was for. They were to make sure that they defend the state. It's changed everything. But also, it has involved all of us in something that we have nothing to do with it. We have -- we can sit here -- I can sit here in Texas. You can sit in Utah or California or New York, and we can all talk about this all day long. It doesn't matter what we think. It only matters what the people of Alabama think.

And I think the people -- I just have this feeling that -- remember how the Democrats dumped all of that money into the Georgia election?

STU: Yeah. Yeah.

GLENN: Okay. And they dumped it all and said, "This is going to be a big deal and everything." And what happened? The local people were like, you know what, screw all you people. Don't come into our town and tell us what to do.

I think that might happen in Alabama.

STU: Yeah. Sean Trende is an elections analysis, and we've had him on before. Really smart guy. Over at RealClearPolitics. He said this -- tell me this isn't exactly what's happening, not only now, but in past elections as well. And I think it's a really understandable response.

He says: I don't think you can underestimate the degree to which many conservatives have this attitude. A, we fought a battle over whether character counts, and we got our asses handed to us. And, B, liberal leaders always circle the wagons around their guys, and ours always cave.

GLENN: Yep.

STU: Both of those things I think individually are true. But to me, it adds up to something that we should try to resist.

GLENN: Yeah. Yes.

STU: An instinct we should try to fight against.

GLENN: We don't want to be -- we don't want to be them. Otherwise, you have no -- otherwise, you have no credibility. They don't have any credibility with us. They can't ever make any inroads with us because they have no credibility. You can't talk to me about, oh, how much you care about women, Hollywood, when you're -- when you're defending all of these monsters and hiding them. You can't do it. You can't preach to me about ethics and how women are, you know -- have powerful males over them. And even if it's consensual, it's not really consensual, and then defend Bill Clinton. You can't do it. But they do.

I don't want to be that person. I don't want to be that. I don't want to defend people who are doing things that, you know, are slimy. I don't want to -- I don't want to be that person.

STU: And I think the battle there is, people will say, well, look at what that gets you. It means you lose.

If that's what it gets me, that's what it gets me. I want to win elections. I want to -- sure, yes. That's all true. But I'm not going to pay any price to win elections.

GLENN: Let me ask you this: That's what it gets you. Okay. If we don't stand by our principles, if we don't stand by and say, "No, I don't care if this guy can win, he's got to have principles," where does that get you? First of all, we have no credibility. We now as Republicans -- and I'm not a Republican, thank God. But now the Republicans -- and I'm afraid too many churchgoers and too many religious people and just blanket conservatives, now have lost all credibility to be able to stand up and say, "Hey, this is wrong. Morally, this is wrong. What are we teaching our children?" You can't say that anymore.

You not only have lost that. But you also have -- well, let's talk about Texas. We're for small government, right? Did we get that? Are we getting a giant tax cut?

No. Because the guy -- the guy who we elected doesn't really believe in that stuff. He's not a champion of that stuff. He just wins.

Well, he'll take a win. But it's not really a win. Not for conservatives. Not for small government. Not for low tax people. That's not a win.

How about -- give me the audio of the guy from the Pentagon? This is the new guy representing the DOD.

STU: Oh, yeah. Yeah. This is the Trump nominee for the DOD.

GLENN: Okay. So here's a guy that Trump is putting in, at the DOD -- now, he's talking about guns. This is our champion. Listen.

VOICE: I'd also like to -- and I may get in trouble with other members of the committee, to say, you know, how insane it is that the United States of America, a civilian can go out and buy a fully semiautomatic assault rifle, like an AR-15, which apparently was the weapon that was used. I think that's an issue, not so much for this committee, but elsewhere.

GLENN: Wait. What?

STU: Huh. Wait. What?

GLENN: This is the guy that Trump is appointing? What? That's not good.

And if you don't think that we are not entering a time where there is massacre after massacre, and instead of going after, one, the laws that have loopholes and closing all of those loopholes, two, making sure that the law is actually enforced every time, three, we go and examine the message health in this country, and four, we look at domestic violence. That's what's happening in our country.

Now, we're doing the same thing with guns that we are doing now with radicalized Islam. We are looking for any other reason, other than their religious belief. We're looking for, what did we do? What can we do? Maybe we should have grandma go through an anal cavity search at the airport. Instead of saying, no, it is the religious belief of these crazy people, that believe they have a right to enslave people that don't agree with them and kill people that they deem infidels. That's the problem.

But we're looking at every other place. And we're going to do the same thing with guns. A battle is coming -- and I'm telling you, if Donald Trump can appoint that guy in the Department of Defense, he thinks that's okay to have a guy who says, "Semiautomatics, I mean, how can you possibly have a semiautomatic?"

STU: It's insane that a regular person could go buy -- how could we let regulars go into stores and buy things like that?

GLENN: What is that? What is that? So did you really win? Because you've lost all credibility. All credibility. You can no longer say, we have the high moral ground. We're America in the Middle East. That's what -- that's what conservatives are now. We're America in the Middle East. We talk a good game. But we don't actually stand for anything.

We get in, our guys, we'll just accept everything.

STU: And, look, there are costs to some of these things. Sometimes standing on these values does have costs. You could lose elections. You know, there's -- a very defensible with Roy Moore is if you don't believe these people. If you go through this and say, I don't believe any of them, and here's my reasons why, that's a defensible position. If you believe them, but eh, I just want to win, that's not a defensible position to me. But, I mean, you make your own decisions. I think if you look at it though -- we talked to Johnnie Moore yesterday, you brought up the Middle East. We talked to Johnnie Moore yesterday. Look at what people will sacrifice for their principles around the world. He told the story about a family who had a letter sent to him by a terrorist, that basically threatened their lives.

GLENN: Didn't basically. Said, we will behead you, unless you convert.

STU: And they wrote back --

GLENN: I'm sorry. Crucify you.

STU: Wrote back to the terrorist -- now, I can't imagine wanting to respond to that mail. And said, you know what, we're never going to convert. And actually, you can come kill us, but please don't kill us through crucifixion, because we're not worthy of that punishment, because that's really about Jesus and it's a little bit above us. So please don't kill us that way. But kill us any way you need to. Come on over whenever you need to. Because they were so dedicated to their faith. They were willing to give up that cost. And were like, eh. I don't know. An Alabama Senate seat. I can't -- it's too much. It's too much.

The West is dying—Will we let enemies write our ending?

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The blood of martyrs, prophets, poets, and soldiers built our civilization. Their sacrifice demands courage in the present to preserve it.

Lamentations asks, “Is it nothing to you, all ye that pass by?”

That question has been weighing on me heavily. Not just as a broadcaster, but as a citizen, a father, a husband, a believer. It is a question that every person who cares about this nation, this culture, and this civilization must confront: Is all of this worth saving?

We have squandered this inheritance. We forgot who we were — and our enemies are eager to write our ending.

Western civilization — a project born in Judea, refined in Athens, tested in Rome, reawakened in Wittenberg, and baptized again on the shores of Plymouth Rock — is a gift. We didn’t earn it. We didn’t purchase it. We were handed it. And now, we must ask ourselves: Do we even want it?

Across Europe, streets are restless. Not merely with protests, but with ancient, festering hatred — the kind that once marched under swastikas and fueled ovens. Today, it marches under banners of peace while chanting calls for genocide. Violence and division crack societies open. Here in America, it’s left against right, flesh against spirit, neighbor against neighbor.

Truth struggles to find a home. Even the church is slumbering — or worse, collaborating.

Our society tells us that everything must be reset: tradition, marriage, gender, faith, even love. The only sin left is believing in absolute truth. Screens replace Scripture. Entertainment replaces education. Pleasure replaces purpose. Our children are confused, medicated, addicted, fatherless, suicidal. Universities mock virtue. Congress is indifferent. Media programs rather than informs. Schools recondition rather than educate.

Is this worth saving? If not, we should stop fighting and throw up our hands. But if it is, then we must act — and we must act now.

The West: An idea worth saving

What is the West? It’s not a location, race, flag, or a particular constitution. The West is an idea — an idea that man is made in the image of God, that liberty comes from responsibility, not government; that truth exists; that evil exists; and that courage is required every day. The West teaches that education, reason, and revelation walk hand in hand. Beauty matters. Kindness matters. Empathy matters. Sacrifice is holy. Justice is blind. Mercy is near.

We have squandered this inheritance. We forgot who we were — and our enemies are eager to write our ending.

If not now, when? If not us, who? If this is worth saving, we must know why. Western civilization is worth dying for, worth living for, worth defending. It was built on the blood of martyrs, prophets, poets, pilgrims, moms, dads, and soldiers. They did not die for markets, pronouns, surveillance, or currency. They died for something higher, something bigger.

MATTHIEU RONDEL/AFP via Getty Images | Getty Images

Yet hope remains. Resurrection is real — not only in the tomb outside Jerusalem, but in the bones of any individual or group that returns to truth, honor, and God. It is never too late to return to family, community, accountability, and responsibility.

Pick up your torch

We were chosen for this time. We were made for a moment like this. The events unfolding in Europe and South Korea, the unrest and moral collapse, will all come down to us. Somewhere inside, we know we were called to carry this fire.

We are not called to win. We are called to stand. To hold the torch. To ask ourselves, every day: Is it worth standing? Is it worth saving?

The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. Pick up your torch. If you choose to carry it, buckle up. The work is only beginning.

This article originally appeared on TheBlaze.com.

Stop coasting: How self-education can save America’s future

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Coasting through life is no longer an option. Charlie Kirk’s pursuit of knowledge challenges all of us to learn, act, and grow every day.

Last year, my wife and I made a commitment: to stop coasting, to learn something new every day, and to grow — not just spiritually, but intellectually. Charlie Kirk’s tragic death crystallized that resolve. It forced a hard look in the mirror, revealing how much I had coasted in both my spiritual and educational life. Coasting implies going downhill. You can’t coast uphill.

Last night, my wife and I re-engaged. We enrolled in Hillsdale College’s free online courses, inspired by the fact that Charlie had done the same. He had quietly completed around 30 courses before I even knew, mastering the classics, civics, and the foundations of liberty. Watching his relentless pursuit of knowledge reminded me that growth never stops, no matter your age.

The path forward must be reclaiming education, agency, and the power to shape our minds and futures.

This lesson is particularly urgent for two groups: young adults stepping into the world and those who may have settled into complacency. Learning is life. Stop learning, and you start dying. To young adults, especially, the college promise has become a trap. Twelve years of K-12 education now leave graduates unprepared for life. Only 35% of seniors are proficient in reading, and just 22% in math. They are asked to bet $100,000 or more for four years of college that will often leave them underemployed and deeply indebted.

Degrees in many “new” fields now carry negative returns. Parents who have already sacrificed for public education find themselves on the hook again, paying for a system that often fails to deliver.

This is one of the reasons why Charlie often described college as a “scam.” Debt accumulates, wages are not what students were promised, doors remain closed, and many are tempted to throw more time and money after a system that won’t yield results. Graduate school, in many cases, compounds the problem. The education system has become a factory of despair, teaching cynicism rather than knowledge and virtue.

Reclaiming educational agency

Yet the solution is not radical revolt against education — it is empowerment to reclaim agency over one’s education. Independent learning, self-guided study, and disciplined curiosity are the modern “Napster moment.” Just as Napster broke the old record industry by digitizing music, the internet has placed knowledge directly in the hands of the individual. Artists like Taylor Swift now thrive outside traditional gatekeepers. Likewise, students and lifelong learners can reclaim intellectual freedom outside of the ivory towers.

Each individual possesses the ability to think, create, and act. This is the power God grants to every human being. Knowledge, faith, and personal responsibility are inseparable. Learning is not a commodity to buy with tuition; it is a birthright to claim with effort.

David Butow / Contributor | Getty Images

Charlie Kirk’s life reminds us that self-education is an act of defiance and empowerment. In his pursuit of knowledge, in his engagement with civics and philosophy, he exemplified the principle that liberty depends on informed, capable citizens. We honor him best by taking up that mantle — by learning relentlessly, thinking critically, and refusing to surrender our minds to a system that profits from ignorance.

The path forward must be reclaiming education, agency, and the power to shape our minds and futures. Every day, seek to grow, create, and act. Charlie showed the way. It is now our responsibility to follow.

This article originally appeared on TheBlaze.com.

Glenn Beck joins TPUSA tour to honor Charlie Kirk

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If they thought the murder of Charlie Kirk would scare us into silence, they were wrong!

If anything, Turning Point will hit the road louder than ever. On Monday, September 22, less than two weeks after the assassination, Charlie's friends united under the Turning Point USA banner to carry his torch and honor his legacy by doing what he did best: bringing honest and truthful debate to Universities across the nation.

Naturally, Glenn has rallied to the cause and has accepted an invitation to join the TPUSA tour at the University of North Dakota on October 9th.

Want to join Glenn at the University of North Dakota to honor Charlie Kirk and keep his mission alive? Click HERE to sign up or find more information.

Glenn's daughter honors Charlie Kirk with emotional tribute song

MELISSA MAJCHRZAK / Contributor | Getty Images

On September 17th, Glenn commemorated his late friend Charlie Kirk by hosting The Charlie Kirk Show Podcast, where he celebrated and remembered the life of a remarkable young man.

During the broadcast, Glenn shared an emotional new song performed by his daughter, Cheyenne, who was standing only feet away from Charlie when he was assassinated. The song, titled "We Are One," has been dedicated to Charlie Kirk as a tribute and was written and co-performed by David Osmond, son of Alan Osmond, founding member of The Osmonds.

Glenn first asked David Osmond to write "We Are One" in 2018, as he predicted that dark days were on the horizon, but he never imagined that it would be sung by his daughter in honor of Charlie Kirk. The Lord works in mysterious ways; could there have been a more fitting song to honor such a brave man?

"We Are One" is available for download or listening on Spotify HERE