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TERMS OF USE | PRIVACY POLICY

Live

Glenn's Show Prep

Morning Brief 2025-10-17

October 17, 2025
 Chris Brady

TOP OF HOUR 2
GUEST: Avi Loeb
TOPIC: Could the interstellar object 3I/Atlas be alien technology?

BOTTOM OF HOUR 3
GUEST: Eric Trump
TOPIC: The attacks on President Trump were attacks on America.

News...

DOJ brings first Antifa-related terrorism charges in Texas ICE attack
As Alvarado police were issuing commands to a "black-clad figure," one accused Antifa member allegedly yelled, "Get to the rifles."

John Bolton indicted on 18 counts for mishandling classified information
The 76-year-old former Trump adviser was indicted by a grand jury on 18 counts related to mishandling classified information, eight counts of transmission of national defense information, and 10 counts of unlawful retention of NDI.

‘No Kings’ is the clown show covering for a coup
Now that Trump has deployed National Guard troops to stop violent leftist mobs from attacking ICE officers, Democrats and the left have decided to stage a sequel on Saturday.

'Optical illusion' swastika flags distributed to multiple congressional offices prompt investigation: Sources
Multiple sources tell Fox News that what appeared to be a swastika flag in Republican Ohio Rep. Dave Taylor’s D.C. office may actually be an American flag with a hidden pattern visible only on camera — an "optical illusion" similar to flags quietly delivered to dozens of congressional offices now under investigation.

Arc de Trump? President shows off model of Independence Arch, says "it's going to be really beautiful"
The president showed off a model of the arch at a White House dinner Wednesday night for a group of wealthy donors who are funding his White House ballroom project. The arch is supposed to be completed in time for the country's 250th anniversary celebration next year.

The great feminization is remaking society
As women have come to dominate universities, media, and law, institutions have shifted toward emotion and consensus over merit and competition — producing cancel culture, risk aversion, and a weakening of the rule of law.

FBI’s Kash Patel shuts down ‘conspiracy theories’ about Charlie Kirk: We only deal with facts
"The best thing we can do to honor my friend Charlie Kirk's life is to make sure that everyone involved is prosecuted to the full extent of the law."

Corporate donation platforms block conservative charities using SPLC ‘hate group’ list
Major workplace giving services like Benevity, Groundswell, and Millie use the far-left Southern Poverty Law Center’s blacklist to restrict donations to conservative and faith-based nonprofits such as Turning Point USA.

Bombshell audio: Biden privately praised Clarence Thomas’ ‘character’ while claiming to believe Anita Hill’s smears
“Judge, this is Joe Biden. I called to say congratulations and remind you [that] you have [inaudible] years to write the history books that say exactly what you are: a person of character,” Biden said. “Don’t let this part get you down. Congratulations. Enjoy it.”

IRS whistleblowers settle with DOJ over alleged retaliation in Hunter Biden probe
Agents Joseph Ziegler and Gary Shapley reached a confidential settlement with the Justice Department after claiming they were punished for exposing political favoritism in the Hunter Biden tax case, saying the deal includes compensation and DOJ training reforms to prevent future retaliation.

Florida teen accused of abduction hoax faces justice — and alleged ruse appears even more elaborate than initially thought
Deputies say 17-year-old Caden Speight faked his own abduction, shot himself in the leg, and staged evidence to claim he was attacked by Hispanic men. Investigators later found ChatGPT searches about blood collection and Mexican cartels, leading to multiple felony charges.

Government Lockdown...

Senate departs Washington for three-day weekend without government funding deal
The Senate on Thursday afternoon adjourned for the week without a funding deal that would reopen the federal government, thereby pushing the ongoing government shutdown into a third week.

Democrats block legislation to pay troops during shutdown
The defense appropriations bill would fund the Department of War for the upcoming fiscal year and ensure that active-duty troops do not miss a paycheck during the shutdown. The measure also includes a military pay raise.

Sen. Jim Justice throws birthday bash for his bulldog amid shutdown
Babydog stole the spotlight in a pink tutu and birthday hat as hundreds of Hill staffers lined up for cake and photos during her sixth birthday celebration, offering a rare moment of levity during the government shutdown.

NYC...

NY Post: Mamdani suffers awful showing in mayoral debate — but Cuomo still can’t bury Dem Socialist
If Mamdani did badly, Andrew Cuomo did worse. And an enjoyable Curtis Sliwa buried Cuomo even deeper.

NY Times: 7 takeaways from the first NYC mayoral debate
The Times cast Mamdani as the night’s aggressor and likely winner, saying Cuomo failed to land a decisive blow and Sliwa mostly played spoiler. Cuomo’s attacks fell flat, while Mamdani’s sharp counterpunches and command of the issues kept him firmly in control of the stage.

Mamdani repeatedly accuses Israel of genocide in NYC mayoral debate
Zohran Mamdani, the leading candidate for New York City mayor, accuses Israel of genocide three times within a few minutes in a debate with his rivals, Andrew Cuomo and Curtis Sliwa.

Politics...

Polls show close Virginia attorney general race between Miyares, Jones after text scandal
The latest Decision Desk HQ polling average has GOP Attorney General Jason Miyares and Democrat candidate Jay Jones tied with 46.4% support.

Jay Jones suffers debate night bruising over text messages fantasizing about shooting his GOP colleague
"If you were to apply to be a line prosecutor … you would not pass a background check," Virginia AG Jason Miyares tells Jones.

Virginia’s House speaker targets recipient of Jay Jones’ violent texts
Instead of calling for Jones to withdraw, Democrats try to oust woman they blame for his texts becoming public.

Joy Behar thinks Jones is a Republican, says GOP hasn’t denounced his violent texts
Behar falsely accused Republicans of ignoring Jay Jones’ threats to shoot a GOP lawmaker’s family before being corrected that Jones is a Democrat. She doubled down anyway, insisting only Democrats condemned the remarks despite GOP leaders publicly calling for him to quit the race.

Susan Collins challenger called himself a communist, white people 'racist' and 'stupid'
Maine Democrat Graham Platner, who is seeking his party's nomination to run against Sen. Susan Collins, called himself a "communist," claimed to own guns because he doesn't "trust the fascists to act politely," and accused "white rural America" of being racist and stupid.

Stacey Abrams’ New Georgia Project shutters after copping to illegal campaign activity
Voter registration charity once led by Sen. Raphael Warnock is no more following years of internal turmoil.

Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker pockets $1.4 million in Las Vegas gambling winnings
Under Pritzker, gambling has expanded significantly across the blue state. He signed legislation legalizing sports betting and authorized six new casinos.

Economy...

Tariff surge helps shrink US deficit as debt payments hit record highs
The 2025 deficit fell slightly to $1.78 trillion, down 2.2% from last year, as Trump’s massive new tariffs drove a 142% jump in customs revenue. Despite record $1.2 trillion interest costs on the $38 trillion debt, Treasury officials say the deficit-to-GDP ratio dropped below 6% for the first time in three years.

PayPal’s crypto partner mints $300 trillion worth of stablecoins in ‘technical error’
PayPal says the tokens are always redeemable for U.S. dollars on a 1:1 basis.

Immigration...

Homan denies allegations that he took $50K from undercover Biden FBI agents
“I didn’t take $50,000 from anybody. I recused myself from any discussions of any contract or any monetary decisions like that, because I used to have a company that did consulting, so I cleared myself. Day one, what people don’t talk about is I took a significant, huge pay cut to come back and serve my nation, and I’m not enriching myself.”

Obama-appointed judge orders ICE officers in Chicago to wear body cameras
U.S. District Judge for the Northern District of Illinois Sara Ellis said she was a “little startled” after seeing clashes between agents and the public on TV, the Associated Press reported. “I live in Chicago if folks haven’t noticed,” Ellis said. “And I’m not blind, right?”

Israel...

Trump says there will be ‘no choice but to go in and kill’ Hamas if violence in Gaza doesn’t end
The president warned Thursday that continued bloodshed by Hamas would force an armed response, saying nearby allies could carry out the operation “under our auspices” if the terror group refuses to disarm under the peace plan it agreed to.

France, Britain, and US push UN plan for Gaza stabilization force
Western powers are finalizing a Security Council resolution to authorize an international mission in Gaza following the U.S.-brokered ceasefire. The proposed force would not be a U.N. peacekeeping operation but a multinational effort, with countries like Indonesia, Egypt, and the UAE in talks to contribute troops.

Israel shared intel on location of hostages’ bodies with mediators, official says
Turkey sends experts to Gaza in emerging multinational endeavor to locate hostages’ remains.

Hamas claims it can’t return remaining hostages’ bodies without equipment from Israel to clear rubble
The terror group insists it’s eager and willing to hand over the bodies ... but, you know, the Jews, they're to blame for the delay.

Israel freed prisoners, not hostages — there’s a difference
Calling criminals "hostages" is an insult to the innocent.

Ukraine - Russia...

Trump says he will again meet with Putin to discuss end of Ukraine war
“I believe great progress was made with today’s telephone conversation,” Trump wrote in a social media post, where he also suggested that last week’s breakthrough on a Gaza peace deal could create diplomatic momentum.

World...

China accuses US of ‘creating panic’ over rare-earth export controls
Beijing defended new limits on rare-earth exports as national security measures while signaling openness to trade talks with President Trump. The U.S. has warned of 100% tariffs if China doesn’t back down.

Elon Musk may be helping Tommy Robinson, prompting leftist British lawmaker to demand MI5 investigation
Robinson, who is facing trial for allegedly denying police access to his phone, says Elon Musk is backing his legal defense.

Entertainment...

Kathy Griffin claims Trump ‘stole’ 2024 election, blames Elon Musk for ‘buying votes’
The disgraced comedian alleged on her podcast that Trump’s re-election was illegitimate, accusing Elon Musk of paying voters and calling him a “professional Nazi.” Griffin, best known for her 2017 severed-head stunt, claimed Trump’s sweep of swing states was “suspicious.”

Taylor Swift fan accuses singer of selling Nazi-themed necklace in viral TikTok
A self-described “woke” fan claimed a necklace tied to Swift’s new album featured SS-style lightning bolts and an iron cross, calling it Nazi symbolism. The necklace was later removed from Swift’s merch site, though it’s unclear if it sold out or was taken down.

Ace Frehley, founding member of rock band KISS, dead at 74
He had reportedly been hospitalized on life support as of Thursday afternoon, after falling in his studio and suffering a brain bleed just a few weeks before his death.

Media...

Bari Weiss fires CBS News standards chief as first termination of her takeover: Report
Claudia Milne, who ran the division responsible for the moral, ethical, and legal implications of CBS programming since 2021, was reportedly on the team that banned reporters from using the term "transgender" when covering the Covenant shooting in Nashville, Tennessee, despite the shooter being transgender.

CNN is trying yet again with a new streaming service
The new service launches Oct 28. Will it last longer than 31 days this time?

Environment...

Trump administration rejects global carbon tax pushed by UN maritime body
Ambassador Mike Waltz said the U.S. will vote “hard no” on the International Maritime Organization’s proposed global carbon tax, warning it would raise prices and enrich China. President Trump called it a “Global Green New Scam Tax,” vowing the U.S. will not comply or fund the measure.

US regulators toss out rules requiring banks to prepare for climate change
Regulators are doing away with controversial regulations that required banks to plan for losses in the event of climate-related events, according to an announcement Thursday.

Education...

Harvard posts deficit of over $110 million as funding feud with Trump continues to sting
Harvard reported a nearly $113 million operating loss for the year ending June 30, 2025, compared to a $45 million gain for the prior fiscal year. Federal funding fell by around $58 million. Harvard's endowment generated an 11.9% return, up from 9.6% the prior year, bringing its value to $56.9 billion.

Science...

Scientists think they just caught dark matter in the act
A strange gamma-ray glow at the Milky Way’s core perfectly fits what Johns Hopkins researchers say would happen if dark matter particles were smashing into each other. If they’re right, it’s the first real glimpse of the invisible stuff holding the universe together.

AI...

US adversaries ramp up AI-powered cyberattacks and deception campaigns
Microsoft reports that Russia, China, Iran, and North Korea have sharply expanded their use of artificial intelligence to spread disinformation, clone officials, and launch cyberattacks on U.S. targets, with over 200 AI-driven incidents this year - ten times more than in 2023.

I searched for stories of trans contagion. Google AI lectured me with false propaganda
I tried searching for stories of kids peer-pressured into trans identities, and Google spat out unsolicited propaganda and falsehoods.

Technology...

Technology headlines from 2001: Computer virus disguised as sexy photos of Janet from 'Three's Company' fails miserably
An internet virus masquerading as a sexy picture of former "Three's Company" starlet Joyce DeWitt did not have its intended destructive result when few, if any, of its targeted victims worldwide even opened the email message.

Sports...

Former ESPN personality blasts Jaguars’ Travis Hunter for getting baptized on game day
Skip Bayless claimed the wide receiver was "checking out" after being baptized Sunday morning before Jacksonville’s matchup with Seattle, saying it showed a lack of focus. Hunter dismissed the criticism, saying, “Sunday. It’s God’s day. ... I changed my life over to become a better man.”

Oct 17, 2008 - Obama and Iranian caviar... Glenn chats with Scott Rasmussen... It's revealed on Drudge Report that Glenn is joining Fox News... Barack Obama's extreme pro-abortion record... Larry Burns from GM...

A Sharia enclave is quietly taking root in America. It's time to wake up.

NOVA SAFO / Staff | Getty Images

Sharia-based projects like the Meadow in Texas show how political Islam grows quietly, counting on Americans to stay silent while an incompatible legal system takes root.

Apolitical system completely incompatible with the Constitution is gaining ground in the United States, and we are pretending it is not happening.

Sharia — the legal and political framework of Islam — is being woven into developments, institutions, and neighborhoods, including a massive project in Texas. And the consequences will be enormous if we continue to look the other way.

This is the contradiction at the heart of political Islam: It claims universal authority while insisting its harshest rules will never be enforced here. That promise does not stand up to scrutiny. It never has.

Before we can have an honest debate, we’d better understand what Sharia represents. Sharia is not simply a set of religious rules about prayer or diet. It is a comprehensive legal and political structure that governs marriage, finance, criminal penalties, and civic life. It is a parallel system that claims supremacy wherever it takes hold.

This is where the distinction matters. Many Muslims in America want nothing to do with Sharia governance. They came here precisely because they lived under it. But political Islam — the movement that seeks to implement Sharia as law — is not the same as personal religious belief.

It is a political ideology with global ambitions, much like communism. Secretary of State Marco Rubio recently warned that Islamist movements do not seek peaceful coexistence with the West. They seek dominance. History backs him up.

How Sharia arrives

Political Islam does not begin with dramatic declarations. It starts quietly, through enclaves that operate by their own rules. That is why the development once called EPIC City — now rebranded as the Meadow — is so concerning. Early plans framed it as a Muslim-only community built around a mega-mosque and governed by Sharia-compliant financing. After state investigations were conducted, the branding changed, but the underlying intent remained the same.

Developers have openly described practices designed to keep non-Muslims out, using fees and ownership structures to create de facto religious exclusivity. This is not assimilation. It is the construction of a parallel society within a constitutional republic.

The warning from those who have lived under it

Years ago, local imams in Texas told me, without hesitation, that certain Sharia punishments “just work.” They spoke about cutting off hands for theft, stoning adulterers, and maintaining separate standards of testimony for men and women. They insisted it was logical and effective while insisting they would never attempt to implement it in Texas.

But when pressed, they could not explain why a system they consider divinely mandated would suddenly stop applying once someone crossed a border.

This is the contradiction at the heart of political Islam: It claims universal authority while insisting its harshest rules will never be enforced here. That promise does not stand up to scrutiny. It never has.

AASHISH KIPHAYET / Contributor | Getty Images

America is vulnerable

Europe is already showing us where this road leads. No-go zones, parallel courts, political intimidation, and clerics preaching supremacy have taken root across major cities.

America’s strength has always come from its melting pot, but assimilation requires boundaries. It requires insisting that the Constitution, not religious law, is the supreme authority on this soil.

Yet we are becoming complacent, even fearful, about saying so. We mistake silence for tolerance. We mistake avoidance for fairness. Meanwhile, political Islam views this hesitation as weakness.

Religious freedom is one of America’s greatest gifts. Muslims may worship freely here, as they should. But political Islam must not be permitted to plant a flag on American soil. The Constitution cannot coexist with a system that denies equal rights, restricts speech, subordinates women, and places clerical authority above civil law.

Wake up before it is too late

Projects like the Meadow are not isolated. They are test runs, footholds, proofs of concept. Political Islam operates with patience. It advances through demographic growth, legal ambiguity, and cultural hesitation — and it counts on Americans being too polite, too distracted, or too afraid to confront it.

We cannot afford that luxury. If we fail to defend the principles that make this country free, we will one day find ourselves asking how a parallel system gained power right in front of us. The answer will be simple: We looked away.

The time to draw boundaries and to speak honestly is now. The time to defend the Constitution as the supreme law of the land is now. Act while there is still time.

This article originally appeared on TheBlaze.com.

Why do Americans feel so empty?

Mario Tama / Staff | Getty Images

Anxiety, anger, and chronic dissatisfaction signal a country searching for meaning. Without truth and purpose, politics becomes a dangerous substitute for identity.

We have built a world overflowing with noise, convenience, and endless choice, yet something essential has slipped out of reach. You can sense it in the restless mood of the country, the anxiety among young people who cannot explain why they feel empty, in the angry confusion that dominates our politics.

We have more wealth than any nation in history, but the heart of the culture feels strangely malnourished. Before we can debate debt or elections, we must confront the reality that we created a world of things, but not a world of purpose.

You cannot survive a crisis you refuse to name, and you cannot rebuild a world whose foundations you no longer understand.

What we are living through is not just economic or political dysfunction. It is the vacuum that appears when a civilization mistakes abundance for meaning.

Modern life is stuffed with everything except what the human soul actually needs. We built systems to make life faster, easier, and more efficient — and then wondered why those systems cannot teach our children who they are, why they matter, or what is worth living for.

We tell the next generation to chase success, influence, and wealth, turning childhood into branding. We ask kids what they want to do, not who they want to be. We build a world wired for dopamine rather than dignity, and then we wonder why so many people feel unmoored.

When everything is curated, optimized, and delivered at the push of a button, the question “what is my life for?” gets lost in the static.

The crisis beneath the headlines

It is not just the young who feel this crisis. Every part of our society is straining under the weight of meaninglessness.

Look at the debt cycle — the mathematical fate no civilization has ever escaped once it crosses a threshold that we seem to have already blown by. While ordinary families feel the pressure, our leaders respond with distraction, with denial, or by rewriting the very history that could have warned us.

You cannot survive a crisis you refuse to name, and you cannot rebuild a world whose foundations you no longer understand.

We have entered a cultural moment where the noise is so loud that it drowns out the simplest truths. We are living in a country that no longer knows how to hear itself think.

So people go searching. Some drift toward the false promise of socialism, some toward the empty thrill of rebellion. Some simply check out. When a culture forgets what gives life meaning, it becomes vulnerable to every ideology that offers a quick answer.

The quiet return of meaning

And yet, quietly, something else is happening. Beneath the frustration and cynicism, many Americans are recognizing that meaning does not come from what we own, but from what we honor. It does not rise from success, but from virtue. It does not emerge from noise, but from the small, sacred things that modern life has pushed to the margins — the home, the table, the duty you fulfill, the person you help when no one is watching.

The danger is assuming that this rediscovery happens on its own. It does not.

Reorientation requires intention. It requires rebuilding the habits and virtues that once held us together. It requires telling the truth about our history instead of rewriting it to fit today’s narratives. And it requires acknowledging what has been erased: that meaning is inseparable from God’s presence in a nation’s life.

Harold M. Lambert / Contributor | Getty Images

Where renewal begins

We have built a world without stillness, and then we wondered why no one can hear the questions that matter. Those questions remain, whether we acknowledge them or not. They do not disappear just because we drown them in entertainment or noise. They wait for us, and the longer we ignore them, the more disoriented we become.

Meaning is still available. It is found in rebuilding the smallest, most human spaces — the places that cannot be digitized, globalized, or automated. The home. The family. The community.

These are the daily virtues that do not trend on social media, but that hold a civilization upright. If we want to repair this country, we begin there, exactly where every durable civilization has always begun: one virtue at a time, one tradition at a time, one generation at a time.

This article originally appeared on TheBlaze.com.

A break in trust: A NEW Watergate is brewing in plain sight

Gary Hershorn / Contributor | Getty Images

When institutions betray the public’s trust, the country splits, and the spiral is hard to stop.

Something drastic is happening in American life. Headlines that should leave us stunned barely register anymore. Stories that once would have united the country instead dissolve into silence or shrugs.

It is not apathy exactly. It is something deeper — a growing belief that the people in charge either cannot or will not fix what is broken.

When people feel ignored or betrayed, they will align with anyone who appears willing to fight on their behalf.

I call this response the Bubba effect. It describes what happens when institutions lose so much public trust that “Bubba,” the average American minding his own business, finally throws his hands up and says, “Fine. I will handle it myself.” Not because he wants to, but because the system that was supposed to protect him now feels indifferent, corrupt, or openly hostile.

The Bubba effect is not a political movement. It is a survival instinct.

What triggers the Bubba effect

We are watching the triggers unfold in real time. When members of Congress publicly encourage active duty troops to disregard orders from the commander in chief, that is not a political squabble. When a federal judge quietly rewrites the rules so one branch of government can secretly surveil another, that is not normal. That is how republics fall. Yet these stories glided across the news cycle without urgency, without consequence, without explanation.

When the American people see the leadership class shrug, they conclude — correctly — that no one is steering the ship.

This is how the Bubba effect spreads. It is not just individuals resisting authority. It is sheriffs refusing to enforce new policies, school boards ignoring state mandates, entire communities saying, “We do not believe you anymore.” It becomes institutional, cultural, national.

A country cracking from the inside

This effect can be seen in Dearborn, Michigan. In the rise of fringe voices like Nick Fuentes. In the Epstein scandal, where powerful people could not seem to locate a single accountable adult. These stories are different in content but identical in message: The system protects itself, not you.

When people feel ignored or betrayed, they will align with anyone who appears willing to fight on their behalf. That does not mean they suddenly agree with everything that person says. It means they feel abandoned by the institutions that were supposed to be trustworthy.

The Bubba effect is what fills that vacuum.

The dangers of a faithless system

A republic cannot survive without credibility. Congress cannot oversee intelligence agencies if it refuses to discipline its own members. The military cannot remain apolitical if its chain of command becomes optional. The judiciary cannot defend the Constitution while inventing loopholes that erase the separation of powers.

History shows that once a nation militarizes politics, normalizes constitutional shortcuts, or allows government agencies to operate without scrutiny, it does not return to equilibrium peacefully. Something will give.

The question is what — and when.

The responsibility now belongs to us

In a healthy country, this is where the media steps in. This is where universities, pastors, journalists, and cultural leaders pause the outrage machine and explain what is at stake. But today, too many see themselves not as guardians of the republic, but of ideology. Their first loyalty is to narrative, not truth.

The founders never trusted the press more than the public. They trusted citizens who understood their rights, lived their responsibilities, and demanded accountability. That is the antidote to the Bubba effect — not rage, but citizenship.

How to respond without breaking ourselves

Do not riot. Do not withdraw. Do not cheer on destruction just because you dislike the target. That is how nations lose themselves. Instead, demand transparency. Call your representatives. Insist on consequences. Refuse to normalize constitutional violations simply because “everyone does it.” If you expect nothing, you will get nothing.

Do not hand your voice to the loudest warrior simply because he is swinging a bat at the establishment. You do not beat corruption by joining a different version of it. You beat it by modeling the country you want to preserve: principled, accountable, rooted in truth.

Adam Gray / Stringer | Getty Images

Every republic reaches a moment when historians will later say, “That was the warning.” We are living in ours. But warnings are gifts if they are recognized. Institutions bend. People fail. The Constitution can recover — if enough Americans still know and cherish it.

It does not take a majority. Twenty percent of the country — awake, educated, and courageous — can reset the system. It has happened before. It can happen again.

Wake up. Stand up. Demand integrity — from leaders, from institutions, and from yourself. Because the Bubba effect will not end until Americans reclaim the duty that has always belonged to them: preserving the republic for the next generation.

This article originally appeared on TheBlaze.com.

Warning: Stop letting TikTok activists think for you

Spencer Platt / Staff | Getty Images

Bad-faith attacks on Israel and AIPAC warp every debate. Real answers emerge only when people set aside scripts and ask what serves America’s long-term interests.

The search for truth has always required something very much in short supply these days: honesty. Not performative questions, not scripted outrage, not whatever happens to be trending on TikTok, but real curiosity.

Some issues, often focused on foreign aid, AIPAC, or Israel, have become hotbeds of debate and disagreement. Before we jump into those debates, however, we must return to a simpler, more important issue: honest questioning. Without it, nothing in these debates matters.

Ask questions because you want the truth, not because you want a target.

The phrase “just asking questions” has re-entered the zeitgeist, and that’s fine. We should always question power. But too many of those questions feel preloaded with someone else’s answer. If the goal is truth, then the questions should come from a sincere desire to understand, not from a hunt for a villain.

Honest desire for truth is the only foundation that can support a real conversation about these issues.

Truth-seeking is real work

Right now, plenty of people are not seeking the truth at all. They are repeating something they heard from a politician on cable news or from a stranger on TikTok who has never opened a history book. That is not a search for answers. That is simply outsourcing your own thought.

If you want the truth, you need to work for it. You cannot treat the world like a Marvel movie where the good guy appears in a cape and the villain hisses on command. Real life does not give you a neat script with the moral wrapped up in two hours.

But that is how people are approaching politics now. They want the oppressed and the oppressor, the heroic underdog and the cartoon villain. They embrace this fantastical framing because it is easier than wrestling with reality.

This framing took root in the 1960s when the left rebuilt its worldview around colonizers and the colonized. Overnight, Zionism was recast as imperialism. Suddenly, every conflict had to fit the same script. Today’s young activists are just recycling the same narrative with updated graphics. Everything becomes a morality play. No nuance, no context, just the comforting clarity of heroes and villains.

Bad-faith questions

This same mindset is fueling the sudden obsession with Israel, and the American Israel Public Affairs Committee in particular. You hear it from members of Congress and activists alike: AIPAC pulls the strings, AIPAC controls the government, AIPAC should register as a foreign agent under the Foreign Agents Registration Act. The questions are dramatic, but are they being asked in good faith?

FARA is clear. The standard is whether an individual or group acts under the direction or control of a foreign government. AIPAC simply does not qualify.

Here is a detail conveniently left out of these arguments: Dozens of domestic organizations — Armenian, Cuban, Irish, Turkish — lobby Congress on behalf of other countries. None of them registers under FARA because — like AIPAC — they are independent, domestic organizations.

If someone has a sincere problem with the structure of foreign lobbying, fair enough. Let us have that conversation. But singling out AIPAC alone is not a search for truth. It is bias dressed up as bravery.

Anadolu / Contributor | Getty Images

If someone wants to question foreign aid to Israel, fine. Let’s have that debate. But let’s ask the right questions. The issue is not the size of the package but whether the aid advances our interests. What does the United States gain? Does the investment strengthen our position in the region? How does it compare to what we give other nations? And do we examine those countries with the same intensity?

The real target

These questions reflect good-faith scrutiny. But narrowing the entire argument to one country or one dollar amount misses the larger problem. If someone objects to the way America handles foreign aid, the target is not Israel. The target is the system itself — an entrenched bureaucracy, poor transparency, and decades-old commitments that have never been re-examined. Those problems run through programs around the world.

If you want answers, you need to broaden the lens. You have to be willing to put aside the movie script and confront reality. You have to hold yourself to a simple rule: Ask questions because you want the truth, not because you want a target.

That is the only way this country ever gets clarity on foreign aid, influence, alliances, and our place in the world. Questioning is not just allowed. It is essential. But only if it is honest.

This article originally appeared on TheBlaze.com.