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Glenn's Show Prep

Morning Brief 2023-10-19

October 19, 2023
Chris Brady

BOTTOM OF HOUR 1
GUESTS: Julia Wax & Brooke Goldstein
TOPIC: Amid pro-Palestinian rallies, Jewish college students say they feel unsafe on their college campuses.

TOP OF HOUR 2
GUEST: Rabbi Daniel Lapin
TOPIC: The battle between barbarism and civilization.

What Glenn Is Reading

Psalm 122:6

Domestic News...

7 months in prison for an anti-Hillary meme
Douglass Mackey was found guilty in NY on a federal charge after making memes that encouraged Hillary Clinton supporters to cast their votes via text message, which is obviously not possible and clearly a joke. There is no evidence anyone attempted to vote via text.

Poll Shows Close To Three-Quarters Of Americans Believe We Are In A ‘Police State’
A recent poll by Rasmussen Reports showed that 72% of respondents said that they are worried that “America is becoming a police state," described as “a tyrannical government that engages in mass surveillance, censorship, ideological indoctrination, and targeting of political opponents.”

Sam Bankman-Fried had dinner with Hillary Clinton after pumping $200M into former Clinton aide's firm
Former FTX Director of Engineering Nashad Singh told jurors that company founder Sam Bankman-Fried spent massive amounts of money on venture capitalism and celebrity endorsement deals.

Gavin Newsom ratchets up California’s social justice social credit system
California is again attempting to impose a compulsory social credit system with diversity mandates and fines, replacing freedom with coercive ideological conformity.

Are these Jewish organizations still supporting Black Lives Matter?
I wonder if the more than 600 Jewish groups regret publishing a full-page ad in the New York Times emphatically declaring their support for BLM and advancing its radical narratives.

Soros-backed DA and his elderly mother carjacked at gunpoint in New Orleans
Jason Williams and his elderly mother fell victim to a carjacking on Monday evening.

The Pentagon Would Rather Fund Troops’ Abortions Than Their Overseas Living Expenses
The Pentagon is reportedly planning to cut overseas service members’ cost-of-living allowances next month, even as it continues to subsidize travel for its employees to get abortions.

Leaker of Trump Taxes Worked for Biden Beltway Donor That Just Won a Big New IRS Contract
The IRS recently awarded a lucrative contract to the same Washington firm that employed the man who pleaded guilty last week to stealing and leaking thousands of private tax returns of wealthy Americans, namely Trump.

Joran van der Sloot says he killed Natalee Holloway with a cinder block on Aruba beach, dumped her body in water, and then watched porn
The shocking admission was revealed by prosecutors Wednesday in an Alabama courtroom before van der Sloot pleaded guilty to extorting money from the missing teen’s mother, Beth Holloway.

Iowa man sentenced to 50 years after satanic image found with date of woman's death and coordinates to location of her skull
During a search they found a satanic shrine with the image of a goat's head in the shape of a pentagram and blood spatters drawn on it.

Florida men allegedly kidnapped the wrong man, waterboarded him, then took him to a strip club
Once the kidnappers realized they had nabbed the wrong man, they waterboarded him anyway. After learning that the intended target was at a strip club, they drove the kidnapped man there and demanded he go inside and lure out the target, but instead, he called law enforcement.

Hedge fund manager plans to build the most expensive home on Earth — a $1B mega-estate
Ken Griffin, already a prominent figure in Palm Beach and a Florida native, is turning heads with his ambitious plans to create the most expensive home not just in America but on the planet.

This day in history: First Blockbuster store opens
On October 19, 1985, the first Blockbuster video-rental store opens, in Dallas, Texas.

Politics...

Disapproval rating for President Biden hits record high of 58% in new CNBC poll
The president received particularly low marks for his handling of the economy – 32% approve – and foreign policy – 31% approve.

List: 22 Republicans vote against Jim Jordan during second House speakership vote
The following list has been updated to reflect the changes since the second speaker vote.

Jim Jordan opposition hardens over 'intimidation and threats': 'I'm not budging'
But a pressure campaign to change their vote has only cemented what seems like insurmountable opposition to Jordan's candidacy. ... Conservative personalities from Sean Hannity to Glenn Beck have contacted or threatened to "punish" Republicans who oppose Jordan.

NY Times: As Interim Speaker, Patrick McHenry Could Actually Govern
House Republicans may not deserve a leader like Mr. McHenry, but they’re fortunate to have him. He is a serious person, widely respected for his honesty and intellect.

WaPo: The surprising group of Republicans preventing Jim Jordan from becoming House speaker
Six hail from districts Biden won in 2020, seven might be put off by Jordan’s approach to spending, eight belong to a bipartisan group of moderates, five belong to Republicans’ "governing wing," four opposed certifying the 2020 election.

Economy / ESG...

Victoria's Secret ditches woke rebrand as sales continue to decline
"Despite everyone's best endeavors, it's not been enough to carry the day," Victoria's Secret CEO Martin Waters told investors. Business of Fashion reported the progressive rebrand "over."

Starbucks sues workers' union after pro-Hamas posts lead to public boycott
"Given the Accused Marks’ similarities to the Starbucks Marks, the Accused Marks are likely to convey to consumers a false affiliation, endorsement, or sponsorship with Starbucks."

Huda Beauty faces boycott calls after founder spurns 'blood money' from Israeli customers
In another post since the Oct. 7 invasion, Kattan wrote that “Israel, who has the fourth largest army in the world, is NOT the victim, but they repeat the same story and gaslight anyone who comes with facts.”

Immigration...

Backlog of pending immigration cases continues to grow
The Executive Office for Immigration Review, which handles immigration cases, has 69 immigration courts, 597 courtrooms, and 659 immigration judges throughout the U.S. It faced a backlog of nearly 2.2 million pending cases as of July.

The US Government Hired A Pro-Hamas PLO Spokeswoman To Handle Asylum Claims
"F*** Israel, the government, and its military. Are you ready for your downfall?" Department of Homeland Security officer Nejwa Ali said.

Hawley grills Mayorkas on 'uptick in potential terrorist-linked illegal aliens' at southern border
Border Patrol agents have also reported arresting thousands "special interest aliens."

Israel at War: Latest... 

Claim: Joe Biden gives Israel 'private backing' for ground invasion of Gaza
The U.S. president told Netanyahu he was "fully in support" of Israel's plans to invade Gaza to "eradicate Hamas," according to the Times of London.

Biden announces $100 million for Gaza and West Bank
This comes after he gave $6 billion to Iran on 9/11. But not to worry, just like with Iran, he's going to make sure the bad guys don't get the money.

IDF releases audio of Hamas terrorists admitting they fired at Gaza hospital
“Is it from us?” “It looks like it,” his cohort replies. They are then heard acknowledging that the shrapnel of the missile “are local pieces and not Israeli shrapnel,” from rockets fired from the “cemetery behind the hospital.”

Heartbreaking moment Israeli boy survivor lays to rest entire family killed by Hamas
Gut-wrenching images showed an anguished 12-year-old Israeli boy saying goodbye to his news photographer father, mother, and sisters who were all slaughtered by Hamas terrorists while he went out on an early-morning run.

Israeli airstrike targets Qasem Soleimani monument in Lebanon
The Iranian terrorist commander Soleimani was blown up by Trump in 2020, and now Israel has blown up his statue.

Iran crows as West allows UN missile export ban to lapse
The ban expired despite the fact that Tehran continues to arm the likes of Russia and Hamas.

Israel at War: More... 

Biden Rambles When Asked On Air Force One About Meeting Survivors Of Israel Terror Attack
“Look, I spent an hour and a half about with the 17 or 18 before and – I don’t know how to say this,” he said. “Virtually every – mass shooting – every – circumstance where large number of people have been victimized and lost, I’ve spoken with them.”

Biden says Palestinians ‘gotta learn how to shoot straight’ after hospital blast
“It’s not the first time that Hamas has launched something that didn’t function very well.”

Are Media Lies Setting The Stage For Another Benghazi-Style Attack On American Embassies?
Legacy media lies surrounding the bombing of a Gaza hospital are endangering Americans aboard, as Islamic demonstrators throughout the Middle East were reported outside several Middle Eastern U.S. embassies on Tuesday evening.

Democratic lies are endangering American lives
In any armed conflict, it can be immediately clear who is responsible for what violence and how many people have been killed. But this is all the more reason that elected officials should exercise caution when sharing and promoting information from the battlefield. That is not what Rashida Tlaib or Ilhan Omar did Tuesday.

Rashida Tlaib Sobs As She Repeats False Hamas Claim About Hospital Bombing
“To continue to watch people think it’s okay to bomb a hospital where children ..."

Far-Left Protesters With Anti-Semitic Group Storm US Capitol: ‘Seeks To End Israel’
In the past, the group’s protesters have held signs that said, “Blaming Hamas for firing rockets is like blaming a woman for punching her rapist.”

Marjorie Taylor Greene to seek censure of 'terrorist sympathizer' Tlaib over Capitol Hill protest
Greene further announced that she planned to introduce a censure resolution against Tlaib.

Biden’s pick for ambassador to Israel defends record on Iran
Former Treasury Secretary Jack Lew defended his record related to the Iran nuclear deal during his confirmation hearing Wednesday.

Al Jazeera (Qatar): Al-Ahli hospital bombing — Israel performing its usual post-atrocity routine
The routine goes something like this: Israel commits a human rights atrocity, immediately denies having anything to do with it, says it has solid evidence that Palestinians committed the crime, and then just waits to see if someone manages to prove what really happened.

US Ally Qatar Shielding Hamas Terrorists After Israel Attack: Expert
A key U.S. ally in the Middle East is also one of the top financial and political backers of the Hamas terrorist organization.

Arab News (Saudi Arabia): Gaza war should change how Arab and Muslim Americans vote
Instead of continuing to pretend that the Democrats are “better” than the Republicans, Arabs and Muslims in America should realize that both political parties are as bad as each other.

Ukraine...

US decision to send long-range missiles to Kyiv a grave mistake — Russia's envoy
"The consequences of this step, which was deliberately hidden from the public, will be of the most serious nature," , Ambassador Anatoly Antonov said on the Telegram messaging app.

Destruction From Ukraine’s First ATACMS Strike Now Apparent
Satellite images show how effective cluster munition versions of ATACMS are for striking air bases full of soft targets out in the open.

Russian lawmakers unanimously vote to de-ratify the nuclear test treaty
Lawmakers voted to revoke Russia's ratification of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty, which bans any nuclear testing.

World...

NY Times: With Putin by His Side, Xi Outlines His Vision of a New World Order
The leaders of China and Russia hailed each other as “old” and “dear” friends. They took swipes at the United States and depicted themselves as building a “fairer, multipolar world.” And they marveled at their countries’ “deepening” trust.

EU migration ministers address militant Islamist attacks, risks from Israel-Hamas war
"The implications of the situation in the Middle East for our internal security ... are very topical right now," said an EU diplomat involved in preparing the ministerial talks.

COVID-19...

Randi Weingarten and her teachers' union are struggling to rewrite the history of how they kept schools shuttered
Weingarten called the Trump administration's proposal to reopen in-person learning in 2020 "reckless" and "cruel." While the AFT resisted a return to real work, union affiliates joined in, staging sickouts and going so far as to call reopening schools racist.

'Lawyer me to death': NBA drags out COVID vaccine mandate suit to bleed fired refs dry, they say
Former NBA referee Kenny Mauer, a familiar face in televised games since the 1980s, is raising money to fund his lawsuit with peers against the league for suspending, then firing them after denying religious exemptions from its vaccine mandate.

Entertainment...

Britney Spears Says Abortion Was Among The ‘Most Agonizing’ Experiences Of Her Life
"To this day, it’s one of the most agonizing things I have ever experienced in my life," Spears said of the abortion she was pressured into.

Cher promises to 'leave' the country this time if Trump wins the 2024 election
“I almost got an ulcer the last time,” Cher, 77, said.

Netflix hikes prices again
The company raised the U.S. price of the premium ad-free plan by $3 per month to $22.99.

Media...

AP Targets TPUSA’s Charlie Kirk With Cheap-Shot Hit Job
The AP published an unfair hit piece last week accusing Kirk of fleecing conservative donors to line his own pockets.

‘GMA’ forced to flee Times Square studio, staffers aren’t happy
The network’s flagship morning news show will relocate to New York’s Hudson Square neighborhood. “It may be in the basement! The talent and producers are not happy about it [and] it leaves advantage to ‘Today,'” the show’s morning competitor, the source said.

Environment...

Celebrity climate group to spend $80 million to promote Biden's climate change agenda ahead of 2024 election
“People overwhelmingly support what President Biden has done to combat climate change — but only if they hear about it.”

Education...

Harvard students hold 'die-in' and massive protests in support of Palestine just 12 days after letter sparked outrage
According to the invitation, the march was organized in part due to an "Israeli airstrike" on a hospital in Gaza.

Harvard Students Are Doxxed After Writing Anti-Israel Letter
A truck with a billboard displayed their names and photos, and critics put out do-not-hire lists. The students say it’s a campaign to shut them up.

I was a DEI director — DEI drives campus anti-Semitism
As a black woman, I was the perfect person for the job — on paper. Yet I made the mistake of trying to create an authentically inclusive learning environment for everyone, including Jewish students.

AI...

AI can detect diabetes — just by listening to you talk for 10 seconds: New study
The study by Klick Labs, published in “Mayo Clinic Proceedings: Digital Health,” showed an 89% accuracy rate for diagnoses in women and 86% for men, according to a release detailing the breakthrough.

Marines Test-Fire Robot Dog Armed With Rocket Launcher
A rocket launcher-toting robot dog could give Marines a valuable new way to remotely attack armored vehicles, especially in urban areas.

Animals...

Finding the truth? Researchers launch multistate investigation after viral video shows 'Bigfoot sighting' in Colorado
A multistate investigation was launched after a compelling "Bigfoot sighting" in Colorado energized other U.S. states to step up their search efforts.

Oct 19, 2001 - Anthrax update... Everyone is an American today... David, the worst caller... Bush is in China... Jim Dingle talks issues... Glenn claims he attended a Kenny G concert... End of the World update... Pentagon confirms we have troops on the ground in Afghanistan... Canada facing a pumpkin shortage...

Trump's proposal explained: Ukraine's path to peace without NATO expansion

ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS / Contributor | Getty Images

Strategic compromise, not absolute victory, often ensures lasting stability.

When has any country been asked to give up land it won in a war? Even if a nation is at fault, the punishment must be measured.

After World War I, Germany, the main aggressor, faced harsh penalties under the Treaty of Versailles. Germans resented the restrictions, and that resentment fueled the rise of Adolf Hitler, ultimately leading to World War II. History teaches that justice for transgressions must avoid creating conditions for future conflict.

Ukraine and Russia must choose to either continue the cycle of bloodshed or make difficult compromises in pursuit of survival and stability.

Russia and Ukraine now stand at a similar crossroads. They can cling to disputed land and prolong a devastating war, or they can make concessions that might secure a lasting peace. The stakes could not be higher: Tens of thousands die each month, and the choice between endless bloodshed and negotiated stability hinges on each side’s willingness to yield.

History offers a guide. In 1967, Israel faced annihilation. Surrounded by hostile armies, the nation fought back and seized large swaths of territory from Jordan, Egypt, and Syria. Yet Israel did not seek an empire. It held only the buffer zones needed for survival and returned most of the land. Security and peace, not conquest, drove its decisions.

Peace requires concessions

Secretary of State Marco Rubio says both Russia and Ukraine will need to “get something” from a peace deal. He’s right. Israel proved that survival outweighs pride. By giving up land in exchange for recognition and an end to hostilities, it stopped the cycle of war. Egypt and Israel have not fought in more than 50 years.

Russia and Ukraine now press opposing security demands. Moscow wants a buffer to block NATO. Kyiv, scarred by invasion, seeks NATO membership — a pledge that any attack would trigger collective defense by the United States and Europe.

President Donald Trump and his allies have floated a middle path: an Article 5-style guarantee without full NATO membership. Article 5, the core of NATO’s charter, declares that an attack on one is an attack on all. For Ukraine, such a pledge would act as a powerful deterrent. For Russia, it might be more palatable than NATO expansion to its border

Andrew Harnik / Staff | Getty Images

Peace requires concessions. The human cost is staggering: U.S. estimates indicate 20,000 Russian soldiers died in a single month — nearly half the total U.S. casualties in Vietnam — and the toll on Ukrainians is also severe. To stop this bloodshed, both sides need to recognize reality on the ground, make difficult choices, and anchor negotiations in security and peace rather than pride.

Peace or bloodshed?

Both Russia and Ukraine claim deep historical grievances. Ukraine arguably has a stronger claim of injustice. But the question is not whose parchment is older or whose deed is more valid. The question is whether either side is willing to trade some land for the lives of thousands of innocent people. True security, not historical vindication, must guide the path forward.

History shows that punitive measures or rigid insistence on territorial claims can perpetuate cycles of war. Germany’s punishment after World War I contributed directly to World War II. By contrast, Israel’s willingness to cede land for security and recognition created enduring peace. Ukraine and Russia now face the same choice: Continue the cycle of bloodshed or make difficult compromises in pursuit of survival and stability.

This article originally appeared on TheBlaze.com.

The loneliness epidemic: Are machines replacing human connection?

NurPhoto / Contributor | Getty Images

Seniors, children, and the isolated increasingly rely on machines for conversation, risking real relationships and the emotional depth that only humans provide.

Jill Smola is 75 years old. She’s a retiree from Orlando, Florida, and she spent her life caring for the elderly. She played games, assembled puzzles, and offered company to those who otherwise would have sat alone.

Now, she sits alone herself. Her husband has died. She has a lung condition. She can’t drive. She can’t leave her home. Weeks can pass without human interaction.

Loneliness is an epidemic. And AI will not fix it. It will only dull the edges and make a diminished life tolerable.

But CBS News reports that she has a new companion. And she likes this companion more than her own daughter.

The companion? Artificial intelligence.

She spends five hours a day talking to her AI friend. They play games, do trivia, and just talk. She says she even prefers it to real people.

My first thought was simple: Stop this. We are losing our humanity.

But as I sat with the story, I realized something uncomfortable. Maybe we’ve already lost some of our humanity — not to AI, but to ourselves.

Outsourcing presence

How often do we know the right thing to do yet fail to act? We know we should visit the lonely. We know we should sit with someone in pain. We know what Jesus would do: Notice the forgotten, touch the untouchable, offer time and attention without outsourcing compassion.

Yet how often do we just … talk about it? On the radio, online, in lectures, in posts. We pontificate, and then we retreat.

I asked myself: What am I actually doing to close the distance between knowing and doing?

Human connection is messy. It’s inconvenient. It takes patience, humility, and endurance. AI doesn’t challenge you. It doesn’t interrupt your day. It doesn’t ask anything of you. Real people do. Real people make us confront our pride, our discomfort, our loneliness.

We’ve built an economy of convenience. We can have groceries delivered, movies streamed, answers instantly. But friendships — real relationships — are slow, inefficient, unpredictable. They happen in the blank spaces of life that we’ve been trained to ignore.

And now we’re replacing that inefficiency with machines.

AI provides comfort without challenge. It eliminates the risk of real intimacy. It’s an elegant coping mechanism for loneliness, but a poor substitute for life. If we’re not careful, the lonely won’t just be alone — they’ll be alone with an anesthetic, a shadow that never asks for anything, never interrupts, never makes them grow.

Reclaiming our humanity

We need to reclaim our humanity. Presence matters. Not theory. Not outrage. Action.

It starts small. Pull up a chair for someone who eats alone. Call a neighbor you haven’t spoken to in months. Visit a nursing home once a month — then once a week. Ask their names, hear their stories. Teach your children how to be present, to sit with someone in grief, without rushing to fix it.

Turn phones off at dinner. Make Sunday afternoons human time. Listen. Ask questions. Don’t post about it afterward. Make the act itself sacred.

Humility is central. We prefer machines because we can control them. Real people are inconvenient. They interrupt our narratives. They demand patience, forgiveness, and endurance. They make us confront ourselves.

A friend will challenge your self-image. A chatbot won’t.

Our homes are quieter. Our streets are emptier. Loneliness is an epidemic. And AI will not fix it. It will only dull the edges and make a diminished life tolerable.

Before we worry about how AI will reshape humanity, we must first practice humanity. It can start with 15 minutes a day of undivided attention, presence, and listening.

Change usually comes when pain finally wins. Let’s not wait for that. Let’s start now. Because real connection restores faster than any machine ever will.

This article originally appeared on TheBlaze.com.

Exposed: The radical Left's bloody rampage against America

Spencer Platt / Staff | Getty Images

For years, the media warned of right-wing terror. But the bullets, bombs, and body bags are piling up on the left — with support from Democrat leaders and voters.

For decades, the media and federal agencies have warned Americans that the greatest threat to our homeland is the political right — gun-owning veterans, conservative Christians, anyone who ever voted for President Donald Trump. President Joe Biden once declared that white supremacy is “the single most dangerous terrorist threat” in the nation.

Since Trump’s re-election, the rhetoric has only escalated. Outlets like the Washington Post and the Guardian warned that his second term would trigger a wave of far-right violence.

As Democrats bleed working-class voters and lose control of their base, they’re not moderating. They’re radicalizing.

They were wrong.

The real domestic threat isn’t coming from MAGA grandmas or rifle-toting red-staters. It’s coming from the radical left — the anarchists, the Marxists, the pro-Palestinian militants, and the anti-American agitators who have declared war on law enforcement, elected officials, and civil society.

Willful blindness

On July 4, a group of black-clad terrorists ambushed an Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention center in Alvarado, Texas. They hurled fireworks at the building, spray-painted graffiti, and then opened fire on responding law enforcement, shooting a local officer in the neck. Journalist Andy Ngo has linked the attackers to an Antifa cell in the Dallas area.

Authorities have so far charged 14 people in the plot and recovered AR-style rifles, body armor, Kevlar vests, helmets, tactical gloves, and radios. According to the Department of Justice, this was a “planned ambush with intent to kill.”

And it wasn’t an isolated incident. It’s part of a growing pattern of continuous violent left-wing incidents since December last year.

Monthly attacks

Most notably, in December 2024, 26-year-old Luigi Mangione allegedly gunned down UnitedHealth Group CEO Brian Thompson in Manhattan. Mangione reportedly left a manifesto raging against the American health care system and was glorified by some on social media as a kind of modern Robin Hood.

One Emerson College poll found that 41% of Americans between the ages of 18 and 29 said the murder was “acceptable” or “somewhat acceptable.”

The next month, a man carrying Molotov cocktails was arrested near the U.S. Capitol. He allegedly planned to assassinate Trump-appointed Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, and House Speaker Mike Johnson.

In February, the “Tesla Takedown” attacks on Tesla vehicles and dealerships started picking up traction.

In March, a self-described “queer scientist” was arrested after allegedly firebombing the Republican Party headquarters in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Graffiti on the burned building read “ICE = KKK.”

In April, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro’s (D-Pa.) official residence was firebombed on Passover night. The suspect allegedly set the governor’s mansion on fire because of what Shapiro, who is Jewish, “wants to do to the Palestinian people.”

In May, two young Israeli embassy staffers were shot and killed outside the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington, D.C. Witnesses said the shooter shouted “Free Palestine” as he was being arrested. The suspect told police he acted “for Gaza” and was reportedly linked to the Party for Socialism and Liberation.

In June, an Egyptian national who had entered the U.S. illegally allegedly threw a firebomb at a peaceful pro-Israel rally in Boulder, Colorado. Eight people were hospitalized, and an 82-year-old Holocaust survivor later died from her injuries.

That same month, a pro-Palestinian rioter in New York was arrested for allegedly setting fire to 11 police vehicles. In Los Angeles, anti-ICE rioters smashed cars, set fires, and hurled rocks at law enforcement. House Democrats refused to condemn the violence.

Barbara Davidson / Contributor | Getty Images

In Portland, Oregon, rioters tried to burn down another ICE facility and assaulted police officers before being dispersed with tear gas. Graffiti left behind read: “Kill your masters.”

On July 7, a Michigan man opened fire on a Customs and Border Protection facility in McAllen, Texas, wounding two police officers and an agent. Border agents returned fire, killing the suspect.

Days later in California, ICE officers conducting a raid on an illegal cannabis farm in Ventura County were attacked by left-wing activists. One protester appeared to fire at federal agents.

This is not a series of isolated incidents. It’s a timeline of escalation. Political assassinations, firebombings, arson, ambushes — all carried out in the name of radical leftist ideology.

Democrats are radicalizing

This isn’t just the work of fringe agitators. It’s being enabled — and in many cases encouraged — by elected Democrats.

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz routinely calls ICE “Trump’s modern-day Gestapo.” Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass attempted to block an ICE operation in her city. Boston Mayor Michelle Wu compared ICE agents to a neo-Nazi group. Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson referred to them as “secret police terrorizing our communities.”

Apparently, other Democratic lawmakers, according to Axios, are privately troubled by their own base. One unnamed House Democrat admitted that supporters were urging members to escalate further: “Some of them have suggested what we really need to do is be willing to get shot.” Others were demanding blood in the streets to get the media’s attention.

A study from Rutgers University and the National Contagion Research Institute found that 55% of Americans who identify as “left of center” believe that murdering Donald Trump would be at least “somewhat justified.”

As Democrats bleed working-class voters and lose control of their base, they’re not moderating. They’re radicalizing. They don’t want the chaos to stop. They want to harness it, normalize it, and weaponize it.

The truth is, this isn’t just about ICE. It’s not even about Trump. It’s about whether a republic can survive when one major party decides that our institutions no longer apply.

Truth still matters. Law and order still matter. And if the left refuses to defend them, then we must be the ones who do.

This article originally appeared on TheBlaze.com.

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

Andrew Harnik / Staff | Getty Images

Trump’s DC crackdown is about more than controlling crime — it’s about restoring America’s strength and credibility on the world stage.

Donald Trump on Monday invoked Section 740 of the District of Columbia Home Rule Act, placing the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department under direct federal control and deploying the National Guard to restore law and order. This move is long overdue.

D.C.’s crime problem has been spiraling for years as local authorities and Democratic leadership have abandoned the nation’s capital to the consequences of their own failed policies. The city’s murder rate is about three times higher than that of Islamabad, Pakistan, and 18 times higher than that of communist-led Havana, Cuba.

When DC is in chaos, it sends a message to the world that America is weak.

Theft, assaults, and carjackings have transformed many of its streets into war zones. D.C. saw a 32% increase in homicides from 2022 to 2023, marking the highest number in two decades and surpassing both New York and Los Angeles. Even if crime rates dropped to 2019 levels, that wouldn’t be good enough.

Local leaders have downplayed the crisis, manipulating crime stats to preserve their image. Felony assault, for example, is no longer considered a “violent crime” in their crime stats. Same with carjacking. But the reality on the streets is different. People in D.C. are living in constant fear.

Trump isn’t waiting for the crime rate to improve on its own. He’s taking action.

Broken windows theory in action

Trump’s takeover of D.C. puts the “broken windows theory” into action — the idea that ignoring minor crimes invites bigger ones. When authorities look the other way on turnstile-jumping or graffiti, they signal that lawbreaking carries no real consequence.

Rudy Giuliani used this approach in the 1990s to clean up New York, cracking down on small offenses before they escalated. Trump is doing the same in the capital, drawing a hard line and declaring enough is enough. Letting crime fester in Washington tells the world that the seat of American power tolerates lawlessness.

What Trump is doing for D.C. isn’t just about law enforcement — it’s about national identity. When D.C. is in chaos, it sends a message to the world that America is weak. The capital city represents the soul of the country. If we can’t even keep our own capital safe, how can we expect anyone to take us seriously?

Bloomberg / Contributor | Getty Images

Reversing the decline

Anyone who has visited D.C. regularly over the past several years has witnessed its rapid decline. Homeless people bathe in the fountains outside Union Station. People are tripping out in Dupont Circle. The left’s negligence is a disgrace, enabling drug use and homelessness to explode on our capital’s streets while depriving these individuals of desperately needed care and help.

Restoring law and order to D.C. is not about politics or scoring points. It’s about doing what’s right for the people. It’s about protecting communities, taking the vulnerable off the streets, and sending the message to both law-abiding and law-breaking citizens alike that the rule of law matters.

D.C. should be a lesson to the rest of America. If we want to take our cities back, we need leadership willing to take bold action. Trump is showing how to do it.

Now, it’s time for other cities to step up and follow his lead. We can restore law and order. We can make our cities something to be proud of again.

This article originally appeared on TheBlaze.com.