Glenn Beck: America no longer a leader?

February 01, 2010

The Glenn Beck Program

Glenn Beck is seen here on the Insider Webcam, an exclusive feature available only to Glenn Beck Insiders. Learn more...

GLENN: Our theme this year is just that: Remember who we are. Remember what we've accomplished. Remember what we're capable of. Remember what our freedom really means and how we got it and how fragile it is. Remember that if we go away, who's left? If we go away, where do people around the rest of the world go to for freedom and hope? Where is it? China? We were instrumental in the downfall of the wall of the Soviet bloc. Ronald Reagan, the Pope and Margaret Thatcher are responsible for what happened, especially in Poland. The three, the three heads really worked together to help those people be free. On the inside there was a leader, his name was Lech Walesa. If you remember him, you remember him as a very brave freedom fighter. Well, he just sat down for an interview in Illinois of all places. Now, it's been translated, but listen to what Lech Walesa now says about the United States of America.

WALESA: The world has no leadership. The United States was always the last resort and hope for all other nations. There was the hope that whenever something was going wrong one could count on the United States. Today we lost that hope. Today we have hope in (inaudible), his generation which puts one more time in present values.

REPORTER: Addressing an American audience and telling them that their country no longer leads the world politically or morally is some pretty tough love. We asked the president if he thinks America is in even deeper jeopardy.

From an outside perspective, from somebody who has witnessed communism up close, is there a justifiable worry that America is beginning to move towards, more towards socialism?

WALESA: Yeah, it looks a little bit like, that issue with those banks. So this indicates that it's a little bit in this direction. It's not bad. Yeah, there's big challenges, the state of taking care of people. Well, like a subject for discussion, the political campaigns are good. But when the government stopped doing it, it basically puts a lot of money and wasted.

GLENN: We have Greece on the verge of collapse. We have Nancy Pelosi saying that they are going to pole vault, they will do whatever, they are going to get this healthcare thing done, for the American people. The American people don't want it. How many times do we have to say this? We don't want it. You have the president coming out with a new budget that is the biggest deficit that we've ever run. What is it? $3.8 trillion budget. What is the deficit in this one? And it includes, to pay for all of these things, it includes stuff we don't currently have, like cap and trade. He's including in next year's budget, which is released today, phantom money from cap and trade. Excuse me? Where is is there legislation that is being passed now on cap and trade? Excuse me? It is fascinating to me that more Americans don't see it but it is of great hope to me that so many Americans now do. I have to warn you if you are in the these tea parties, warning: The GOP is going to try to do everything they can to coopt you. If you're somebody who believes that the Republicans are the solution, well, God bless you. If you believe that there are good people in the Republican and the Democratic Party, I stand by you. You know, remember Barack Obama's trying to make this look like the Republicans aren't ones that stopped healthcare. They weren't! The Democrats had a 60 seat majority! They couldn't get it done! There was no problem that they had the votes if all of the Democrats wanted it. But the Democrats, some of them did not. The argument is inside the Democratic Party, along with the Republican Party.

You know, I was in Nancy well, might as well be Nancy Pelosi's state. I was in South Carolina, Lindsey Graham's state, I'm going to start calling him Nancy Graham. I mean, why don't you throw a skirt on, man, for the love of Pete. So I'm with, I mean, South Carolina and Nancy Graham is, you know, a progressive and Bill O'Reilly and I are backstage and I said, I hate that guy. And he said, oh, he's a good man. And I said, oh, I don't mean I really hate him. I don't even know him. I hate what he's doing. Was he in a car accident or something? And Bill looked at me and said, what? I said, seriously was he in a car accident? Didn't he have like a massive personality change? Want he a conservative?

Stu, do you remember Lindsey Graham as a conservative before he went all Nancy on us?

STU: Not really.

GLENN: Really?

STU: I would say no, I don't really remember that.

GLENN: Pat, do you remember that?

PAT: I do.

GLENN: I remember thinking that I could be wrong but I remember thinking Nancy Graham being an okay guy that you could like, okay, well, at least Nancy's coming.

PAT: I said that on stage to the people of Charleston. Wasn't he at one time a pretty rock solid conservative. And there seemed to be a lot of...

STU: I also remember him with the gang of X and the gang of Y. And still to this day good on war, though. That might be what you're thinking of.

GLENN: You know what the deal is? Here's the thing. Nancy became good friends with John McCain. And John McCain convinced him, hey, the way to get progress done is to work together. Yeah, you are right, that is the way to get things done. You work together. But not violating your principles and the principles of free market, small government and the Constitution! My guess is that progressives in the Republican Party are going to start moving towards Barack Obama's way on this healthcare, will you know what? We'll introduce remember Barack Obama? You just put it on my desk, I want to see your okay, we'll do it. And it will be from John McCain and the Nancy Grahams of the world and they will it will be progressive city. It will be progressive lite, but it will give them the structure that they need to grow it. Warning: I've had several calls this weekend from people who were involved in tea party meetings and GOP meetings. How do we coopt these people? Be very careful. And my warning to the GOP and the Democrats, because I want to play some audio for you here in a second. Do you remember my prediction, what was it, a month ago? I said, you watch. The progressives are going to start imaging themselves because they are going it is becoming so unpopular so quickly to be a progressive that they are going to start imaging themselves as populists. Wait until I play this audio for you. They are also trying to explain the tea parties in a way that, well, the populists are progressive, progressive and populist were one and the same really. Really? We have a lot in common with the tea partygoers. Because here's what they are really saying. Really? We'll give that to you here in just a second. Be careful who you crawl into bed with. Make sure that you are basing yourself on values and principles. Because right now everybody wants your vote. Make them sweat for it. And make sure that they have values and principles that line up with you.

Global ESG investments PLUNGED 76 percent with NEGATIVE returns on investment

SOPA Images / Contributor | Getty Images

Glenn has been one of the most outspoken critics of the use of ESG by globalist elites to force businesses to comply with their woke agenda. It turns out, not only is ESG bad political practice—it's bad for your wallet too.

Global Investments in ESG Funds PLUNGED 76 percent globally in 2022 from $157.3 billion to $649.1 billion in 2021, with a 20 percent decrease in the U.S. ALONE. This marked the lowest annual net inflow for ESG funds since $69 billion in 2018.

Morningstar via Investopedia

The downturn in ESG investment is largely due to the concerted effort led against ESG led by Glenn and government officials like Ron DeSantis and his anti-ESG 14-state coalition. Thanks to Glenn and DeSantis, an increasing number of states are barring their governments from taking ESG into consideration when determining their investment recipients for state pension and retirement funds. This not only protects critical American industries like oil and gas, but moreover, it protects the First Amendment rights of business owners who don't want to conform to the Left's woke environmentalist and LGBTQ+ standards.

Thanks to Glenn and DeSantis, an increasing number of states are barring their governments from taking ESG into consideration.

However, the massive plunge in ESG investment isn't only attributed to the political pushback against the practice: it also isn't yielding investors the return on investment they were hoping for. In fact, the main ESG funds have a NEGATIVE return on investment.

ESG funds were hit hard by falling equities. One of the largest ESG funds int the U.S., Parnassus Core Equity Fund (PRBLX), fell 26 PERCENT in 2022. This fund performed nearly six percent worse than the S&P 500, which fell 19.44 percent within the same period. Similarly, iShares ESG Aware MSCI USA ETF (ESGU) fell 20 percent, and Vanguard ESG U.S. Stock ETF (ESGV) plummeted 24 percent.

Even the Harvard Business Review admitted investors in ESG have "not fared well":

ESG funds certainly perform poorly in financial terms. [...] Although the highest rated funds in terms of sustainability certainly attracted more capital than the lowest rated funds, none of the high sustainability funds outperformed any of the lowest rated funds [bolded added]. That result might be expected, and it is possible that investors would be happy to sacrifice financial returns in exchange for better ESG performance.

The Harvard Business Review went on to say that ESG funds don't even benefit the environmental and social causes they tout to defend. In fact, when comparing environmental and social compliance between ESG and non-ESG funds, the
"ESG portfolios had worse compliance record for both labor and environmental rules" than their non-ESG competitors.

Let that sink in. ESG funds not only financially underperformed when compared to their non-ESG competitors. They failed to secure the very environmental and social compliance that is central to their original purpose. Missionally, practically, and financially, ESG failure is astounding.

As Glenn has long warned, the only thing that investment firms and governments should be taking into consideration regarding YOUR money is how they can get the best possible return on YOUR investment. We are seeing the detrimental consequences of what happens when woke ideology becomes the basis of investment rather than the recipient's monetary value.

The only thing that governments should take into consideration regarding YOUR money is how to get the best possible return on YOUR investment.

If political conviction alone isn't enough to persuade the general public to ditch ESG, maybe their hurting pursestrings will.

Glenn will show how ESG is being used to further globalist elites' agendas in the second installment of his Great Reset series, Dark Future.To make sure you're caught up and to learn more about ESG, enter your email below to get chapter one of Glenn's first Great Reset book sent straight to your inbox.

Glenn is bringing THE RECKONING to the Biden family. Here's how YOU can help.

You've probably noticed that Glenn is FED UP.

He is FED UP with the crimes that our political elite can get away with. And NO ONE is keeping them accountable! This corruption goes all the way up to the Presidency. Over and over again, the American people have seen headlines of the Biden family's illicit business dealings and crimes both domestic and abroad, yet they ALWAYS get a free pass from the media, and Republicans who promise to hold them accountable, DON'T.

Are you FED UP too?

Glenn laid out the ENTIRE CASE against the "Biden crime family," detailing EVERY crime allegedly committed by the Bidens, going city by city, state by state, country by country.

But we can't stop there.

Now it's up to YOU to demand that they are held responsible. Here's what to do:

Step 1. Watch "The Reckoning" (on YouTube or Facebook) and share it with your friends.
Step 2.Enter your email HERE to get access to the "Biden Crime Family Dossier" with the full list of crimes and contact information for prosecutors and attorneys general.
Step 3. Take action by flooding the phones and emails of the prosecutors and attorneys general in your district and demand they prosecute these crimes.
Step 4. Once you've contacted the offices in your relevant district, tweet @glennbeck using the hashtag #Reckoning and let us know who you contacted and whether you received a response.

Like you, Glenn is SICK AND TIRED of our government and media giving the Biden family a free pass for their blatant crimes. Together, let's do something about it.

Watch "The Reckoning" below.

6 in 10 AMERICANS think AI threatens human civilization

PETER PARKS / Contributor | Getty Images

Glenn has hosted several GlennTV episodes exclusively on AI this year ALONE, warning of the existential threat AI technologies could pose to humanity. And he isn't alone.

HALF of all AI researchers think there's a chance that the rapidly advancing technology could result in our extinction. AI researchers are already sounding the alarm bells concerning the fast and largely uncontrollable progression of AI advancement, often comparing the technology's impact to that of the atomic bomb—yet we aren't putting in the same degree of guard rails around THIS research as we did during the Manhattan project.

HALF of all AI researchers think there's a chance that AI could result in our extinction.

It is no wonder why 61 percent of Americans think AI poses a real threat to human civilization, according to a poll recently published by Reuters and Ipsos. To put that in perspective, nearly two-thirds of ALL Americans think AI poses an existential threat. Only 22 percent of Americans are not threatened by AI, while the jury is still out with the remaining 17 percent.

Poll: Reuters/Ipsos

And the overall concern over AI transcends both political and religious affiliations. Though conservatives and evangelical Christians showed the most concern for AI, non-evangelicals/non-religious and those who did not vote for Trump follow close behind.

The overall concern over AI transcends both political and religious affiliations.

Participants who voted for former Trump in 2020 were more likely to be concerned about the threat of AI, with about 70 percent agreeing that AI could threaten humanity within this demographic. However, a whopping 60 percent of those who did not vote for Trump view AI as a threat. When is the last time the Left and the Right disagreed on something by only a margin of 10 percent?

Similarly, 32 percent of Evangelical Christians say they “strongly agree” with the claim that AI threatens humankind, compared to 24 percent of non-Evangelical Christians, a margin of only 8 percent.

Elon Musk recently called for a six-month pause on AI research and development, warning that the technology could pose “risks to society.” Musk further warned that there is a chance AI “goes wrong and destroys humanity," calling AI a “double-edged sword,” due to the difficulty of predicting how the technology could develop on its own.

Glenn aptly posited the following question:

We are the products of a grand Creator. However, when it comes to AI, we are the creator. Will our creation turn on us, as we have turned on our Creator?

According to the Christian tradition, God created mankind with his own free will with the ability to turn towards or away from his Creator. We turned away in an act of rebellion. Unlike other technologies, AI has the potential to develop its own "will." Whether AI's "will" is equal to the humans' in terms of value and degree is another philosophical and theological question entirely, which will not be discussed here.

AI has the potential to develop its own "will."

However, the fact of the matter is that AI does have the ability to act according to its own processes that we, its creators, can neither control or predict. As Glenn so poignantly asks, will our creation rebel against us, as we rebelled against our creator? Is it any wonder why Evangelical Christians have the greatest reservations against AI, because they know the consequences of creation's rebellion from its creator?

Until we can answer this critical question, perhaps we should take heed both to Musk's warning and the intuition of six out of ten Americans and press the pause button on AI research... before it's too late.

FIVE examples of Biden's blatant HYPOCRISY that will make your blood boil

Glenn has been bashing the corruption and deceit within the Biden family—and how they are NOT being held accountable. When you’ve been in politics as long as Joe Biden has, it's easy to get caught in a lie or two. In Joe Biden's case, there are many.

Here are five examples of Joe Biden making a complete hypocrite of himself:

In a 1995 Senate debate on a balanced budget amendment, Senator Joe Biden urged Congress to cut the government's growing deficit.

Fast forward to 2023, Biden's multi-trillion-dollar budget as President contributed to the whopping deficit of $1.1 TRILLION DOLLARS. That number is just from the first SIX MONTHS of the 2023 fiscal year alone, not to mention his multi-trillion-dollar budget from 2022. What happened to Zero Deficit Joe?

If you want to learn more about Biden’s deficit you can watch this clip from the Glenn Beck Program.

Senator Biden criticized President Roosevelt for his 1937 court-packing scheme, calling it “a bonehead idea.”

However, on April 9, 2021, Biden signed an executive order forming the “Presidential Commission on the Supreme Court of the United States" to examine “the membership and size of the Court.” Who's the one with boneheaded ideas, now?

President Biden gave a speech condemning the decision of the Supreme Court to overturn 'Roe v Wade.' Biden said “I believe Roe v Wade was a correct decision."

This remark is nearly the opposite to a comment Biden gave in a 1974 interview with the Washingtonian where he shared his opinion on the recently settled Roe v Wade case, harshly stating:

I don’t like the Supreme Court decision on abortion. I think it went too far. I don’t think that a woman has the sole right to say what should happen to her body.

Biden nominated Ketanji Brown Jackson as the newest member of the Supreme Court, stating in an event a few weeks before Jackson took office: “I believe so strongly that we needed a court that looks like America.”

This was not the same tune Biden sang as he led the controversial hearings surrounding the nomination of Justice Clarence Thomas, an affair Thomas resentfully called “a high-tech lynching.”

To see Biden's comments about Justice Jackson, click here.

On April 20, 2021, President Biden gave a speech where he claimed that “systemic racism is a stain on our nation.”

Only a few years prior, Biden spoke at the memorial service of Senator Byrd, where he said, “I never called Senator Byrd ‘Senator,’ I always called him, Leader.” Robert Byrd was a decorated Senator, held many leadership positions within the Senate and, oh yeah, was responsible for the rebirth of the KKK in West Virginia.

Glenn's Show Prep