🎂Happy birthday Glenn and Stu!🎂

February 10, 2019

Screenshot from YouTube

Writer

Life has a way of kicking you in the pants sometimes and we've had a few of those events in recent weeks. The silver linings in times like these are gaining a greater appreciation for your family and friends. Family isn't only blood. Family includes all those that have an impact on your heart and help you foster love and make the world a better place.

As a staff and as an audience, we can all say Glenn and Stu are our family. They work tirelessly to bring information to you but it's not for the paycheck. Their hearts are so full of love for you that they put in the long hours needed to be what you need them to be because of the love that has been fostered with you.

Stu a.k.a Steven Burguiere celebrated his birthday on February 9th with his daughter Ainslee with whom he shares a birthday.

See on Instagram

See on Instagram

Sunday the 10th is when the "Big Guy" celebrated his birthday. If you've been following the show as of late, Glenn has been whining about his new diet.

Glenn hasn't mentioned what he had planned for his birthday, but an educated guess might conclude it did not involve cake.

As this childhood birthday photograph attests, nobody loves Glenn more than his big sister, Michelle.

Watch Michelle's birthday message to her little brother, Glenn, below:

We all love Glenn and Stu and feel like they're family, so we thought we'd let you write in with your birthday wishes. We had messages pour in from California to Florida and even Scotland. Here are just a few of the many birthday wishes from listeners:

Glenn and Steve, thank you for being lights in the storm, voices of reason in a crazy world and the perfect combination of broadcasters. Wishing you both another healthy, happy and successful year. May God bless you and your families. After losing Doc this week, it really made me realize how much y'all impact my day. I invite you into my home 3-4 hours a day. That is more than any other guest. I know it is a one way relationship, but that relationship has changed my life. So thank you. HAPPY BIRTHDAY fellas! 🎊 — Shelley

Happy birthday Glenn and Stu ! Love you both and appreciate everyday what you do. I was with you in DC, Israel, Dallas, Salt Lake City and Birmingham . Thanks for the wonderful memories. — Diana from Rose Hill, Kansas

Glenn Beck, it's my joy to celebrate another year of your life! Who would have known that a sick twisted freak from the Pacific northwest would be one of the impactful men of our time. I thank God in heaven for the gift of you, and I pray we get to celebrate you for many, many more outrageous years! Happy Birthday from Dory Ann in Buffalo, N.Y.. [no relation to those jholes downstate] xoxo

Happy birthday Glenn and happy belated birthday Stu! Ya'll are like family to me and to so many others. Thank you for not just talking the talk but for always walking the walk as well, with dignity and grace. You work so hard to keep us informed and to seek truth. I have learned so much from both of you over the last 10 years through laughter and tears. You have helped to open my mind, spirit and heart over the years, a truly priceless gift. Thank you for fighting for we the people and for empowering us to seek truth and love. ♡ Big hugs to you both!!!! Love, Holly from Raleigh, NC

Dear Stu and Glenn, you and The Blaze bring quality information into our homes and lives everyday, but you do more than that. You also exhibit a Christ driven example of leadership for all of us to mirror. Not 'I am your leader', more of a 'this is how I think He wants us to be'. This is how we may save our America and those who depend on her, if it is in His will. Huge thanks to you and your staff for the true journalism and fact finding, and showing us the path for our own truth quest. Aaaaannnd.......you share a birthday with my lovely first born daughter. February 9th is really 'gift' day to us all, isn't it? — Caterina from Los Lunas, New Mexico

Happy Birthday, Glenn and Stu 🎁🎂 I have learned so much from you over the years, I have learned to grow my thinking, and I have even changed my views after reading and studying what you've said. Thank you for your hard work, diligence, commitment to our great nation, and for teaching and leading those of us who listen and follow. God bless you and keep you❣️— Amy from Waco, Texas

Happy birthday (February 9th for Steve "Stu" Burguiere and February 10th for Glenn Beck)! May we stand with you to assist others to join "Outrage Anonymous" so that we may all recover from our irrational addiction to thinking that getting upset and angry will solve our problems rather than employ the cool-headed and evenhanded critical thinking that you espouse every single day that is the only way to bring us all together and ensure a world and country that we can all be proud of for generations to come. — Zagros from Winston-Salem, North Carolina

Happy Birthday Stu! Happy Birthday Glenn! Thank you for all you do! I learn something new everyday! God Bless!!! — Teresa from Rock Valley, Iowa

Happy Birthday Glenn and Stu! Thank you for being voices of reason. Our Captain, and First Mate on this ship that feels rickety at times, charting the turbulent seas that our country has become. Your words often echo what we are already feeling, and many times you provide a measured approach to discourse that we have with friends and family. We appreciate all your work. All the 'news' you watch so we don't have to! We are all trying to ring the bell, show the way. You help us find each other and feel less alone. Only God knows how this will progress. But along the way, because of you and all of your team at the Blaze, Mercury One, O.U.R., we have met wonderful fellow travelers and learned the true meaning of charity. — Jean from West Palm Beach, Florida

Longtime listeners know that Glenn and Pat exchange the same pair of pants as a gift each year and have done so for decades. They may be the ugliest pair of pants ever designed, but they will live on in infamy on the Glenn Beck Program. That's all fun and games but have you ever wondered what Glenn gives Stu as a gift?

This year at least, he spared the only conservative vegetarian and did not send a meat basket.

Twitter/@WorldOfStu

We couldn't include all the messages sent in but thank you to all who did. Words cannot express how much this audience is connected and how much love we've shared over the years. You never know how long you've got and you never know how much we mean to each other so now is the time to express just how much we care about one another.

God bless and happy birthday Glenn and Stu!

This was originally published in 2019.

Exposed: The radical Left's bloody rampage against America

America's comeback: Trump is crushing crime in the Capitol

POLLS / QUIZZES

POLL: Can Trump make D.C. great again?

Durham annex exposes Hillary’s hand in Russiagate deception

Anna Moneymaker / Staff | Getty Images

Newly declassified documents show that Hillary Clinton approved the Russia hoax strategy — and that the Obama White House was briefed from the beginning.

Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) last week declassified a 29-page document known as the Durham annex. Its publication has received remarkably little attention from major media outlets, despite containing one of the most significant intelligence disclosures since the origins of the Russiagate investigation.

The Durham annex is not conjecture, analysis, or political spin. It is a collection of sensitive intelligence reports, internal memos, and declassified emails compiled by the intelligence community and withheld from public view for years under the pretext of “source protection.”

The Durham annex reveals that the FBI ignored evidence in 2015 and 2016 suggesting that foreign governments were attempting to collude not with Trump, but with Clinton.

The declassified document offers a clearer view of what many Americans have long suspected: that the narrative surrounding Trump-Russia collusion was not only politically motivated but deliberately constructed by the Clinton campaign, facilitated by sympathetic actors within U.S. intelligence agencies, and ultimately endorsed by senior members of the Obama administration.

This trove of documents does not merely reinforce existing criticisms of the FBI’s conduct during the 2016 election. It provides evidence that the Clinton campaign approved a strategy to discredit Donald Trump by promoting a false association with Vladimir Putin. And it does so using intelligence collected from foreign surveillance of American political actors — surveillance that the CIA deemed credible enough to brief President Barack Obama directly.

The cover-up unraveled

Central to the Durham annex is a source codenamed “T1” — a foreign intelligence asset who intercepted Russian cyber-espionage activity targeting American entities, including George Soros’ Open Society Foundation, the Clinton campaign, and U.S. think tanks. The reports T1 relayed to U.S. intelligence included detailed assessments of internal American political strategy. In effect, T1 was watching Russian spies watch us — and reporting back.

T1’s identity remains classified, but strong circumstantial evidence points to a Dutch intelligence source. The Netherlands reportedly gained access to Russian cyber operations as early as 2014. Regardless of who provided it, U.S. agencies treated the intelligence from T1 as credible.

Then-CIA Director John Brennan quickly briefed President Obama, Vice President Biden, FBI Director James Comey, and Director of National Intelligence James Clapper. Those briefings included memos indicating Hillary Clinton had personally approved a plan to tie Donald Trump to Russian election interference.

One memo, dated 2016 and reportedly obtained through Russian surveillance of George Soros’ Open Society Foundations, outlined a Clinton campaign strategy: “Smear Donald Trump by magnifying the scandal” over Russia’s preference for Trump. That memo laid the groundwork for the Trump-Russia collusion hoax now known as Russiagate.

Intelligence running Clinton’s interference

The CIA labeled the intelligence “sensitive” and credible. The FBI rejected it. Agents claimed it relied on hearsay, appeared exaggerated, and might have suffered from translation errors.

That kind of skepticism might seem reasonable — if the FBI had applied the same scrutiny to the Steele dossier. Instead, they accepted that now-debunked document without verification and used it to justify surveillance warrants.

The inconsistency runs deeper than analysis. The Durham annex reveals that the FBI ignored evidence from 2015 and 2016 showing that foreign governments weren’t courting Trump — they were cozying up to Clinton.

One memo, written before Trump even announced his candidacy, described a foreign intelligence operative preparing to meet with a Clinton associate to discuss a “plan.” The operative was acting on direct orders from a foreign head of state

Gilbert Carrasquillo / Contributor | Getty Images

The precise content of the plan is redacted, but the FBI’s field office viewed it as serious enough to request a FISA warrant. That request, however, was left to “languish in limbo” by senior FBI officials, who subsequently warned Clinton in a defensive briefing.

Frayed trust, no accountability

The documents suggest a coordinated operation — one in which political, bureaucratic, and media institutions aligned to discredit a political opponent using information they had strong reasons to believe was false. The CIA deemed the intelligence worth a presidential briefing. The FBI discarded it. The media ignored it. And Clinton operatives implemented it.

This is not merely a scandal of partisan excess. Nearly 10 years after the first Hillary Clinton email leaks, and eight years after Trump’s unexpected victory, we are only now beginning to see the scope of institutional complicity in the Russiagate deception. The political cost may never be fully calculated, but the institutional damage — to the FBI, to the intelligence community, and to the trust of the American people — is already done.

This article originally appeared on TheBlaze.com.

Empty house, heavy heart: A father’s realization after his kids move out

The silence of an empty home reminds me that life’s outcomes are out of my control — what matters is showing up.

My son moved out of the house this spring. My daughter moves out in a couple of weeks, and my older kids are headed up north. Now, it’s just Tania and me — and it’s been quiet. Too quiet.

As I sit here in a house full of space and silence, my mind has been meditating on the reality of being a dad — and what that really means.

As a father, I’ve learned that sometimes the most important thing is simply showing up and doing the best I can — even when I’m not sure what that looks like.

I didn’t grow up with the model of fatherhood that I now find myself trying to live out. My dad wasn’t present. He worked hard — harder than most people I’ve ever met — but he wasn’t there for me the way I needed him to be. My dad was passionate about his job, and that job was providing for the family. He taught me about hard work, but there wasn’t much emotional connection. We didn’t start developing any real relationship until I was 30.

I’m not complaining. That was just the reality. But such memories inevitably materialize as I reflect on my own experience as a father and try to navigate this new chapter in my life.When my kids were little, it was clear that I wasn’t home enough. And looking back, I knew that my work — this job — was costing me time with them. But we all talked about it as a family. When the opportunity to make this career change came in 2006, we discussed it openly because we knew it would change everything, for better or for worse. We made the decision as a team.

Now that they're moved out, I walk around in this big house filled with all this stuff, considering whether anything was worth it. In the end, it's just stuff. Everything in my home could be gone, and all I would miss are the kids.

The reality of fatherhood

Something I thought — and I think many others can relate — is that you think that your main job is to provide. You’re not needed in the same way mom is. You’re not the one the baby looks to in those early years. You watch your wife bond with the child, and you wonder where you fit in. It’s a strange feeling.

But as I’ve come to learn, you are needed in more ways than just a provider. You just don’t always get the immediate connection that mothers do.

A special season starts around age seven when dad becomes a little magical. You can feel it. The connection is there. It’s that sweet spot before the teenage years, when everything is awkward, when both dad and kid seem to be at odds. But in those years before, it’s golden.

Then, it all changes.

As kids hit the teen years, they start to pull away. The relationship with dad often becomes strained. They turn to mom when they need comfort, leaving dad in the background, unsure of where he stands. And that’s fine. That’s how it goes. But in this phase of life, as the kids start moving out and forging their own paths, I wish things were different.

I feel that loss deeply. As a father who wasn’t home all the time, I worked to provide. But now, I’m left with this ache in my chest, wondering, “Did I do enough?”

Releasing the outcome

The hardest part of fatherhood is when you stop expecting a certain outcome. My wife often tells me, “It’s going to happen. It will all work out.” And I believe her. But honestly, it’s hard not to be caught in the endless loop of second-guessing. Did I make the right decisions? Did I do enough? How can I fix this?

This struggle isn’t just about fatherhood. It’s about life. I’ve spent so much time looking ahead, planning, pointing to the horizon. I could always see the future and strive toward it. But in this season of life, I’m realizing that we also need to release our attachment to the outcome — whether it be over the injustices we see in the news cycle or the things we are wrestling with in our individual lives.

How strong fathers shatter a poisonous narrative about manhood one child at a time.

Photo by Kelli McClintock via Unsplash

It doesn't mean we're not engaged. It just means we have to stop wanting a specific outcome. It’s a journey where the road is uncertain, and the destination might look different than what I expected.

I’ve always been someone who could picture the future and work relentlessly toward it. But it’s not just about getting to the destination — it’s about being present in the moment, doing the next right thing, and giving the end result to God.

Applying this to life

We live in a world obsessed with results, with winning, with reaching that end goal. But what if, just for a moment, we stopped obsessing over the outcome? What if we focused on doing the next right thing, one step at a time?

I don’t have all the answers. I’m still figuring it out. But what I do know is that there’s beauty in the process. There’s meaning in the moments, even if they don’t lead to the perfect outcome. As a father, I’ve learned that sometimes the most important thing is simply showing up and doing the best I can — even when I’m not sure what that looks like.

The house is quiet now, but the work isn’t over. There’s still plenty to do. And it’s time to focus on making each moment count.

This article originally appeared on TheBlaze.com.

The dangerous rise of foreign allegiances in Congress

ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS / Contributor, Jemal Countess / Stringer | Getty Images

The rise of dual loyalties in Congress is a dangerous trend. Rep. Ramirez's allegiance to Guatemala calls into question her commitment to America’s laws and sovereignty.

When an elected official swears an oath to uphold the Constitution and defend the United States, that pledge should mean something. But what happens when a member of Congress chooses to place her allegiance with another country over the United States? It’s a violation of that oath, plain and simple.

Rep. Delia Ramirez (D-Ill.), a sitting member of Congress, openly stated in Spanish during a political event in Mexico City, "I'm a proud Guatemalan before I'm an American."

If we don’t demand that our elected leaders place their loyalty to the United States above all else, then we risk the very foundation of this republic.

Ramirez didn’t have a casual slip of the tongue. Her statement was a declaration of her loyalty to another nation. And it’s not just her words that are troubling; her husband, according to Rolling Stone, is in the U.S. illegally. That’s a violation of our immigration laws — laws that Ramirez should be sworn to uphold.

Ramirez’s statement isn’t an isolated incident. This is part of a growing pattern where elected officials, like Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), proudly identify with their country of origin before America. They claim cultural pride, but celebrating your heritage is distinctly different from putting your identity above the country that gives you the freedom and opportunity to express that identity.

Heritage vs. loyalty

I’m proud of my heritage, as many Americans are. My wife’s family is a great example. They’re Italian-Americans who are very proud of their roots. But they would never say they’re “Italian before American.” They are Americans who cherish their heritage.

This is what Theodore Roosevelt meant when he said, "There is no room in this country for hyphenated Americanism." This is not a swipe at immigrants. This is a call for unity under one flag, one national destiny. For too long, we’ve allowed dual loyalties to take root in the very institutions that are meant to protect our sovereignty. This is how nations crumble.

George Washington warned against foreign entanglements and divided loyalties in his Farewell Address. He understood the dangers of dual allegiances. He knew the republic couldn’t survive if its leaders pledged allegiance to foreign powers instead of the Constitution.

This isn’t about whether you love your country of origin. It’s about the fundamental principle of loyalty to the United States. You can’t serve in Congress, be part of the body that governs and protects America, if you’re more loyal to another country than to the sovereignty and integrity of the U.S.

National security at risk

This issue goes beyond politics. It goes to the very heart of our national identity. The growing influence of foreign allegiance among our elected officials poses a direct threat to national security. You can’t be trusted to defend America’s borders and enforce immigration laws if you’re willing to place another country above your sworn duty.

Anadolu / Contributor | Getty Images

Congress must hold these people accountable. Ramirez must be removed from any committees related to national security or immigration. She has shown that her loyalty lies elsewhere. Her position on the Homeland Security Committee is not only a conflict of interest, it’s a violation of the trust placed in her by the American people.

Her husband’s illegal status must be investigated thoroughly. If you or I were in the same situation, we’d be facing the consequences. There’s no reason why she and her family should be above the law.

Time to act

This issue is about loyalty, integrity, and national security. If we don’t demand that our elected leaders place their loyalty to the United States above all else, then we risk the very foundation of this republic. The time to act is now.

Will Congressional lawmakers listen to the American people and choose America, or will they continue to play politics with our sovereignty? We need to know, now more than ever, whom these leaders are really serving.

This article originally appeared on TheBlaze.com.

Horror on Park Avenue: Is America’s mental health crisis out of control?

New York Daily News / Contributor | Getty Images

The Park Avenue shooter wanted us to study his brain. But will we study our culture?

Late Monday afternoon in Midtown Manhattan, the summer heat clung to the glass and steel of Park Avenue, usually a quiet street save for the occasional honking horn or blaring siren. But as the sun dipped behind the towering skyscrapers, violence erupted.

A 27-year-old man, whose name I won't bother mentioning, stepped out of a black BMW he had double-parked near 51st and 52nd Streets. His movements were calm, deliberate. In his hands, he carried an AR-15 rifle. His target was 345 Park Avenue, a tower of wealth and power, housing the offices of Blackstone, the National Football League, and Rudin Management. The idea of chaos here, in this building, felt foreign — until it wasn’t.

If we don’t get back to the root causes of violence, we’re doomed to continue spiraling into chaos.

The shooter made his way into the building lobby, where he shot in the back 36-year-old New York City Police Officer Didarul Islam, whose wife was about to give birth to their third child. The gunman then gunned down a woman hiding behind a pillar, her life taken in an instant.

The footage shows him moving with a chilling calm, methodical and relentless. A guard behind a desk became his next victim. Then another man, an NFL employee, was shot and is still in critical condition.

The shooter made his way to the elevators, and, strangely, as one opened, a woman stepped out. He let her pass. Why? We’ll never know. But she will likely ask herself that question for the rest of her life.

He continued to the 33rd floor, where Rudin is located. There, in the quiet hum of fluorescent lights and the soft chatter of cubicles, he began “to walk the floor, firing as he traveled.” Another victim fell, another family destroyed.

And then, in a final act, he turned the rifle on himself.

NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch confirmed that the scene was contained. But the damage was done. Four people were dead: one officer, one security guard, and two civilians. Several more were wounded.

The root issue: Mental illness

As details emerged, we learned more about the gunman’s background. He had driven cross-country from Las Vegas to New York. By trade, he was a security guard at a Las Vegas casino, and he held a concealed carry permit. Yet his history of mental illness, coupled with a backpack full of ammunition, medication, and his clear intent, painted a grim picture.

We also learned that his real target was the NFL, not Rudin. The shooter, suffering from chronic traumatic encephalopathy, a neurodegenerative disease common in high-contact sports caused by repeated head collisions, blamed the NFL for his condition.

He had played football in his youth, but never at the professional level. His note, found on his body after he shot himself, said he wanted his brain studied, to contribute to the understanding of his condition.

This wasn’t just an ordinary act of violence; it was a tragic collision of a mentally unstable man and a gun.

A growing crisis

America is in the midst of an unprecedented mental health crisis. As I walk through cities like New York, I am confronted by the increasing number of unstable individuals teetering on the brink of violence. Not long ago, my wife and I were walking through Manhattan when a man on a bike circled us, looking me directly in the eye, saying, “I’m going to kill me a white man today. Today is the day.”

Michael M. Santiago / Staff | Getty Images

The man was clearly unhinged. Fortunately, he noticed the armed security behind us, and he quickly rode away. But what if they hadn’t been there? What if he had been someone who wasn’t aware of the people around him?

The world we live in today is one where violence is erupting in public spaces, fueled by mental illness, societal breakdown, and a lack of accountability — and it’s becoming a national trend. This isn’t just about guns or laws — it’s about what’s happening inside the minds of those who perpetrate these acts.

A wake-up call

It’s easy for people to point fingers. To blame social media, to blame the media itself, to call for more laws. But this crisis is about much more than that. It’s about a loss of morality, family, social cohesion, transcendent purpose, genuine human connection, and so much more that comes with a society whose values are rooted in God’s truth.

I’m not a mental health expert, but surely the degeneration of these social goods and the historic rise in mental disorders, especially among young people, are not coincidental. We can’t keep turning a blind eye to such things and pretend that new laws or more regulations will fix it.

This isn’t just about changing laws; it’s about changing hearts. If we don’t, we’ll keep losing those we hold dear.

This article originally appeared on TheBlaze.com.