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TERMS OF USE | PRIVACY POLICY

Live

Glenn's Show Prep

Morning Brief 2025-12-08

December 08, 2025
Chris Brady

No guests slated for today's show. Subject to change.

News...

Glenn Beck: Political Islam is playing the long game — America isn’t even playing
Sharia-based projects in the U.S. show how political Islam grows quietly, counting on Americans to stay silent while an incompatible legal system takes root.

Supreme Court takes up Trump’s bid to end birthright citizenship
Justices will hear the challenge this spring after lower courts blocked the president’s order restricting citizenship for babies born to illegal aliens, setting up a major fight over the 14th Amendment and decades of precedent as both sides brace for a ruling by early summer.

Inside President Trump's new 'America First' national security strategy
On Friday, the Trump administration published a document that lays out the national security strategy to put America first going forward.

January 6 pipe bomb suspect is an 'autistic recluse computer nerd' ... and he is not a Trump supporter, family says
“He’s not politically affiliated with anything,” his grandmother said in an interview. “He has no social media contacts. He’s never online going back and forth with politics or anything like that. He says he don’t like either party.”

Charlie Kirk assassination leaves students fearful as campus free-speech divide widens
A new survey shows half of college students are now less willing to attend or host controversial events and nearly as many are hesitant to speak up in class, with moderates and conservatives growing more wary of aggressive protest tactics.

The Somali Welfare Fraud Scandal Is Even Worse Than You Think
"We believe the Somali fraud operation in Minnesota is the single greatest theft of taxpayer dollars, through welfare fraud, in American history."

Ilhan Omar attempts to paint alleged perpetrators of billion-dollar fraud scheme into victims
The congresswoman insisted her community members are “victims” too after nine-in-ten defendants in the $1 billion Feeding Our Future scam were Somali, sidestepping questions about why the scheme flourished and downplaying terror-financing concerns even as federal sources say stolen Minnesota funds ultimately reached Al-Shabaab.

Disability group, coroners press Illinois governor ahead of assisted suicide decision
A Chicago-based disability-rights organization is seeking a meeting with Gov. JB Pritzker’s office as Illinois prepares for possible action on legislation that would legalize physician-assisted suicide in the state.

Federal judge in Florida orders release of long-hidden Epstein grand jury documents
U.S. District Judge Rodney Smith argued that a recent law now takes precedence over the rules that prohibited past disclosure.

None of the 12 remaining US military survivors of Pearl Harbor — all over age 100 — able to attend annual memorial
An estimated 87,000 troops were stationed on Oahu on Dec. 7, 1941, when the American naval base was attacked by Japanese kamikaze planes, killing more than 2,300 soldiers and flinging the U.S. into World War II.

Black man acquitted of stabbing white man by Portland jury — after victim said the N-word following the attack
The attacker admitted to the stabbing but claimed it was in self-defense after the victim had used hurtful words. The victim, however, claims he only said hurtful words after literally being stabbed. Both men are homeless and have lengthy rap sheets.

Politics...

House GOPers Surrender On Obamacare Fight
By every measure, the GOP is more useless than that raccoon that broke into an ABC store, got drunk, and passed out on the bathroom floor.

Kennedy rejects claims Trump coalition is cracking over affordability concerns
The Louisiana senator said voters’ frustration over high costs doesn’t mean the GOP is losing support, arguing Republicans already have tools to address living expenses through reconciliation if the Senate shows urgency, even as the party shifts its message ahead of the 2026 midterms.

Trump Considering Move to Oust Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem: Report
Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin has reportedly been floated as a replacement after he leaves office in mid-January. CNN previously reported Youngkin “expressed more interest in an economic or business portfolio, rather than one focused on immigration” but would still be “excited by the prospect” of any Cabinet post.

Trump blasts Rep. Cuellar for continuing to run as Democrat after pardon
The president accused Democrats of relentlessly pursuing the Texas congressman and his family over bribery charges before his administration intervened, venting that Cuellar chose to seek re-election with the same party Trump says tried to put him and his wife in prison.

Democrats see an opening to win the Miami mayor’s race in the latest test of the US political mood
The city of 487,000 is part of Miami-Dade County, which Trump flipped last year, handily defeating Kamala Harris after losing the county to Joe Biden in 2020. Related fun fact: Miami has a population smaller than Raleigh, only makes up about 7.5% of the metro population.

Economy...

Bessent says 'Trump accounts' will act as a 'trust fund' for eligible children
"It is a piece of the American economy for every child, and they will be able to take it out when they’re 18, or they can convert it to a more IRA-type program and keep it for their retirement."

The consumer is 'fine' but inflation is 'not going down,' Dimon says
The American consumer is in good shape, even as the labor market softens and inflation appears persistent, JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon said Sunday.

Boeing Says Trump’s Equity Stake Plan Doesn’t Apply To It
This year, the Trump administration has taken equity stakes in chipmaker Intel and rare-earths company MP Materials.

Immigration...

NY Times: How Biden Ignored Warnings and Lost Americans’ Faith in Immigration
The Democrat president and his top advisers rejected recommendations that could have eased the border crisis that helped return Trump to the White House.

Zohran Mamdani gives advice to thwart, evade ICE in video message calling to ‘stand up’ to feds
The Democratic Socialist positioned himself as the mayor of “more than three million immigrants” as he spoke following last weekend’s ICE raid in Chinatown, which was disrupted by protesters.

New Charlotte stabbing reignites debates on commuter safety, immigration
Court filings confirmed the suspect in a train stabbing was illegally in America and had at least once been deported.

WAR news...

Dem Rep. Seth Moulton Suggests Trump Will ‘Murder’ Americans Like Narco-Terrorists
“The president of the United States and his secretary of defense are conducting murder on the high seas ... if it’s happening off the coast of America with people that we don’t know, just give it time before Donald Trump starts doing the same kind of thing to people we do know right here at home.”

Tammy Duckworth Calls Double-Tap Strike A ‘War Crime,’ Then Admits She Hasn’t Seen The Video
Duckworth said she made her assessment without watching the classified video nor reading the after-action reports on the strike.

Tom Cotton Has ‘No Problem’ With Releasing Video Of Drug Boat Double-Tap
"It's not gruesome. I didn't find it distressing or disturbing."

Democrats once called out links between drug trafficking and terrorism but then came Trump
That was then, this is now: Dems even specifically identified Venezuela, where Trump has focused most of his pressure, as a hub for drug trafficking linked to such terrorist groups.

Ukraine - Russia...

NY Times: Zelenskyy’s Government Sabotaged Oversight, Allowing Corruption to Fester
Ukrainian leaders blame independent advisers for failing to prevent graft. A Times investigation found that Zelenskyy’s own administration removed guardrails.

US Envoy Says Ukraine Peace Deal Is Close, but Moscow Wants Radical Change
The two main outstanding issues, Kellogg said, were on territory — primarily the future of the Donbas.

China...

Chinese jets point radar at Japanese aircraft, Japan says
The encounters near islands claimed by both Japan and China are the most serious run-ins between the two militaries in years and are likely to further escalate tension between the two East Asian powers.

Europe...

Musk delivers blunt message to EU officials who slapped giant fine on X
He blasted regulators for hitting not just X but him personally with the $140 million penalty, calling them “woke Stasi commissars” and vowing to retaliate against the individual officials who pushed the action.

Entertainment...

Trump warns Netflix-Warner Bros. mega-merger ‘could be a problem’ over market power
The president said the proposed $72 billion deal will face tough scrutiny as he weighs antitrust concerns, even after meeting with Netflix’s CEO, noting the combined streamer’s massive share would draw Justice Department review despite industry efforts to win his support.

Trump takes over Washington’s most glam night, hosts Kennedy Center Honors: ‘A big event’
A tuxedo-wearing Trump hosted Sunday evening’s feted 48th Kennedy Center Honors ceremony — marking the first time a sitting president has led one of the glitziest nights of the year in D.C. The event will air on CBS and Paramount+ on Dec 23.

Ken Burns forced to fix false claim after ‘woke bomb’ criticism of Revolutionary War series
His PBS documentary is getting hammered for inserting debunked race- and gender-driven narratives, including a false allegation that hero Margaret Corbin received half pay due to sexism — a claim producers have now removed — while other disputed stories about Native American influence and a dubious Washington anecdote fuel broader backlash.

Sydney Sweeney expresses regret for silence over jeans ad
"I’m against hate and divisiveness. In the past my stance has been to never respond to negative or positive press but recently I have come to realize that my silence regarding this issue has only widened the divide, not closed it." The response doesn't seem to be a woke statement, she's just basically saying she's not a Nazi.

Rosie O’Donnell’s therapist told her to ‘detach’ from Trump for 2 days — she lasted only hours
The former talk show host’s deranged “fixation” on the president was put on blast in a Washington Post piece profiling her new life in Ireland — a move she made just five days before Trump’s inauguration.

‘Elf’ costume worn by Will Ferrell sold for over $319,000 at English auction
Propstore, an auction house based in Hertfordshire, England, featured the iconic Christmas suit donated by “Elf” producer Jon Berg’s personal collection in its Winter Entertainment Memorabilia Live Auction.

Media...

Prediction wagering giant Kalshi strikes deals with CNBC and CNN to give them data
The company’s real-time forecast feeds will be built into major news platforms starting in 2026 as it raises $1 billion and pushes deeper into mainstream finance, even while state regulators and lawsuits challenge whether its booming prediction markets amount to unlicensed gambling.

Nuzzi’s comeback collapses as Vanity Fair cuts ties amid renewed scandal
Olivia Nuzzi's fall from grace continues as she parts ways with another magazine, while all the controversy around her has not resulted in book sales.

Environment...

Trump adds birthday as free park day while MLK and Juneteenth removals ignite backlash
The Trump administration is reshaping when Americans can enter national parks for free — adding Trump’s birthday as a fee-free day while eliminating Martin Luther King Jr. Day and Juneteenth in a move already drawing criticism from civil rights leaders.

Education...

Inside the radical pipeline turning America's teachers into activists
A DOJ probe into Berkeley unrest highlights how BAMN-linked educators and union power brokers are using classrooms, protests, and statewide union posts to push a hard-left agenda, turning public schools into ideological training grounds instead of places where kids actually learn.

Health...

RFK Jr. panel ends recommendation of hepatitis B vaccine for newborns
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s influential vaccine advisory panel has voted to no longer universally recommend the first dose of the hepatitis B vaccine for newborns within 24 hours of birth, a sweeping overhaul of vaccine policy.

GOP senator calls CDC's hepatitis B vaccine change 'a mistake' that will make America sicker
"As a liver doctor who has treated patients with hepatitis B for decades, this change to the vaccine schedule is a mistake," Sen. Bill Cassidy wrote in an X post on Friday. "The hepatitis B vaccine is safe and effective. The birth dose is a recommendation, NOT a mandate."

Religion...

Scholar warns feminism has become a ‘megachurch’ replacing faith, family, and Christian virtue
"Feminism actually is not a subset of Christianity. It's actually a rival to Christianity."

AI...

There's a new face in Hollywood, generated by AI
At the dawn of this century, Al Pacino starred in "S1m0ne," a satire about a down-on-his-luck director who creates a computer-generated "star" that conquers Hollywood. Fast-forward nearly 25 years, and it appears that real life has caught up with the movies.

The power crunch threatening America’s AI ambitions
OpenAI and other AI giants are signing multi-trillion-dollar infrastructure deals that demand unprecedented electricity, but decades-old grid bottlenecks, long interconnection delays, equipment shortages, and stalled generation projects threaten to slow the entire sector.

Scores of UK parliamentarians join call to regulate most powerful AI systems
Campaign urges PM to show independence from U.S. and push to rein in development of superintelligence.

Putin Wanted AI Supremacy. Now Russia Is Struggling to Stay in the Race.
Moscow finds itself even more dependent on China as war and sanctions curb artificial-intelligence efforts.

Technology...

Charlie Kirk revealed as top trending Google search of 2025
Google announced that Kirk beat out other search queries such as Democratic mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani of New York City, the Netflix film “K-Pop Demon Hunters,” the iPhone 17, and the 43-day fall government shutdown.

Sports...

President Trump honored as ‘very first winner’ of FIFA Peace Prize at World Cup 2026 draw in DC
World soccer’s governing body had announced last month that it was introducing the annual award — officially known as the FIFA Peace Prize – Football Unites the World.

AP: FIFA gives Trump a peace prize in a departure from its traditional focus on sport
Note that the AP is suddenly worried about politics in sports.

Dec. 8, 2004 - Politically correct Christmas news... Truth behind candy canes... Is Islam endangering 'Europeanness?'... America vs. Europe on immigration... Hollywood pushes European views... Mother distracts team of 11-year-olds by flashing...

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.

The Bubba Effect erupts as America’s power brokers go rogue

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.

Grim warning: Bad-faith Israel critics duck REAL questions

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.