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TERMS OF USE | PRIVACY POLICY

Live

Glenn's Show Prep

Morning Brief 2025-12-10

December 10, 2025
Chris Brady

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

News...

Musk says DOGE was only 'somewhat successful,' wouldn't do it again
"Instead of doing DOGE, I would have ... worked at my companies, essentially, and they wouldn't have been burning the cars," Musk said, in reference to a spate of vandalism at Tesla dealerships in the wake of the government spending cuts.

Trump administration moves to jump-start a nuclear renaissance with financing for up to 10 new reactors
The Energy Department’s revamped loan office will back early projects with low-interest financing as the president pushes to quadruple nuclear capacity, aiming to cut red tape, revive stalled innovation, and meet surging energy demand driven by AI and manufacturing.

Justice Gorsuch exposes attorney’s illogical defense of unchecked bureaucracy
"There is no such thing in our constitutional order as a fourth branch of government that’s quasi-judicial and quasi-legislative," said Justice Gorsuch.

Trump implores Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito to remain on Supreme Court
Politico’s White House bureau chief Dasha Burns asked Trump during an interview if he would like to see Alito or Thomas retire so he can appoint a younger conservative to the Supreme Court.

Georgia Democrat refers to United States as ‘world’s number one bully,’ ‘the great Satan’
Hank Johnson first became a household name when he suggested that Guam might "tip over" if the military stationed too many troops there.

Somali fraud scandal exposes clash between assimilation and America’s patience
A billion-dollar welfare scheme in Minnesota has reignited the debate over whether the U.S. can defend its own citizens and demand assimilation without being smeared as xenophobic.

Comer warns alleged fraud seen in Minnesota is likely more widespread than initially believed
Comer said his committee is investigating several areas and that revelations from whistleblowers counter Democrat claims that illegal aliens are not on welfare programs and that there is no fraud or abuse within the welfare system.

As federal investigation expands, MN Gov. Walz tells Seattle crowd he'll welcome more Somalis
“We have in Minnesota per capita wise, more refugees than any other state. Right now our neighbors are being demonized. Our neighbors are being terrorized and literally picked up off the streets.”

Treasury Dept. tells Erika Kirk Turning Point USA not under investigation, following social media rumors
The Treasury Department sent a letter last week to conservative influencer Erika Kirk with findings that contradict fraud allegations about the finances at Turning Point USA and could help her refute those claims, sources told CBS News.

Charlotte City Council slammed for shelling out millions on PR following train stabbings
The Democrat-run city’s latest action comes after two widely publicized stabbings, including one that ended fatally on Charlotte’s train system and sparked a national conversation on rising crime and lax prosecution in urban areas of the country.

Plane crash-lands on top of Toyota on busy Florida freeway following engine trouble
The aircraft crash-landed right on top of the unsuspecting driver on I-95 on Monday night ... and the whole thing was captured on camera. Everyone survived with only minor injuries.

NYC Chipotle customer allegedly ‘bit into a rodent’ inside burrito bowl ordered through DoorDash: Lawsuit
The woman claims she chomped down on a dead rodent delivered in her order, causing physical and emotional harm, while Chipotle insists the object was just a piece of chicken.

Politics...

Trump to focus on economy during Pennsylvania rally as cost-of-living worries persist
The economy has come back to the forefront of the political debate ahead of the midterms.

Susie Wiles says Trump will 'campaign like it's 2024 again' during next year's midterms
The White House chief of staff said most administrations try to localize midterm elections and keep federal officials away. However, she intends to do the opposite.

Conservatives seethe over Mike Johnson and a broken promise
In July, Johnson promised a group of conservatives that the Anti-CBDC Surveillance State Act would be attached to the NDAA.

Senate GOP unites behind health care proposal as chamber prepares to vote Thursday on ACA subsidies
The Senate is expected to vote on the dueling proposals on Thursday, but neither is expected to pass.

Gavin Newsom laughs after Tim Walz claims he's too masculine
"I think I scare them a little bit. That's why they spend so much time on me." Newsom erupted in laughter at the notion that Walz's masculinity was alienating young men from the Democrat Party. "No, I'm serious!" Walz said. "Because I can fix a truck, they know I'm not bulls**tting on this."

Inside the left’s push to reshape 2028 with ranked-choice voting
States and cities already using ranked-choice voting show how marginal candidates gain leverage. In a Democrat primary, that means more influence for the party’s far-left wing.

Governors’ ‘unity’ forum turns into swipe at Trump
The National Cathedral event was billed as a bipartisan look at political violence, but Gov. Shapiro used it to lecture about “moral clarity” and blame the president's rhetoric for the rise in political violence — all without acknowledging that Trump himself was literally shot in an attempted assassination.

Jasmine Crockett’s vain Senate run already tearing Democrats apart
Democrats immediately turned on each other after her announcement, with allies of rival candidates blasting her record, activists predicting a quick defeat, and party voices rejecting her habit of crying “racism” whenever she’s criticized.

Democrat wins Miami mayor’s race for the first time in nearly 30 years
Higgins spoke frequently about Trump’s immigration crackdown, claiming she has heard of many people in Miami who were worried about family members being detained.

Georgia Democrat indicted for alleged pandemic relief fraud
State Rep. Sharon Henderson is accused of fraudulently receiving nearly $18K after claiming to have worked as a substitute teacher in 2020. Prosecutors said she had not worked the job since 2018.

Fonts...

Rubio stages font coup: Times New Roman ousts Calibri
Rubio on Tuesday ordered diplomats to return to using Times New Roman font in official communications, calling his predecessor Antony Blinken's decision to adopt Calibri a "wasteful" diversity move. The department under Blinken in 2023 had switched to Calibri, saying this was a more accessible font for people with disabilities.

Economy...

Instacart is charging different prices to different customers — on the same grocery items in the same stores, bombshell study reveals
“Instacart is a black hole for the retailer,” an industry executive said. “The classic rub in the scenario is, ‘Whose customer is it — Instacart’s or the grocer’s?'”

Boomers wanted grandkids. The Fed helped price them out of existence.
Relentless price spikes in housing, health care, and education — powered by years of cheap money and Fed intervention — have pushed marriage and birth rates to historic lows while propping up home values for older generations.

Immigration...

ICE locks up pedophiles, other violent illegal aliens as DHS launches ‘worst of the worst’ searchable site
"Americans can see for themselves the criminal illegal aliens that we are arresting and removing from their communities."

NYT tries to rescue Democrats on border chaos with a laughable ‘Biden just misjudged it’ excuse
The Times attempted to spin open-border policies as mere political blunders, ignoring Biden’s early shutdown of enforcement, mass releases, and amnesty pushes — all of which created the crisis Democrats now pretend to misunderstand.

WAR news...

Hegseth: AI autonomous warfighting systems are the future, and they’ll be made in America
The Federalist traveled with Hegseth over the weekend where he delivered the keynote address outlining the forthcoming National Defense Strategy. But before he gave that speech, the secretary was briefed on the latest in military technological innovation and toured some industrial facilities.

War Department confirms 87 narco-terrorists killed, blasts 'scummy reporting' of major news site
"If you are a narco-terrorist, no matter what country you're from, if Venezuela or another country, and you wish to poison the American people, we will hunt you, and we will kill you," Pentagon press secretary Kingsley Wilson said.

Israel...

Soros, Ford Foundation fund European nonprofit targeting US companies for doing business in Israel
The official Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement has relied on the Centre for Research on Multinational Corporations' work.

Europe...

Europe sidelined as Trump and Xi cut rare-earth deal that leaves the EU begging for scraps
The latest trade talks showed Washington and Beijing setting the terms while Europe — dependent on China for critical minerals and lacking the muscle for confrontation — can do little but complain as Macron pleads for relief from a crushing trade imbalance.

Brigitte Macron slammed after calling feminist protesters ‘stupid b***hes’ in backstage video
Activists disrupted a Paris show to protest comedian Ary Abittan over past rape allegations, and backstage Brigitte Macron told him that if they caused trouble, “We’ll toss them out,” calling the demonstrators “stupid b***hes.”

Asia...

Porn star Bonnie Blue faces up to 15 years in jail after being detained over ‘Bangbus’ stunt in Bali
Indonesian police detained the British OnlyFans creator after seizing cameras, condoms, and loads of erectile drugs during a raid tied to alleged porn production with tourists. Ms. Blue gained fame for having sex with 1,057 men in 12 hours in a documentary about her career.

Entertainment...

Nearly half of Netflix kids’ shows expose children to LGBT propaganda: Report
While Netflix and Warner Bros. lock horns over a possible merger, some parents are worried it will expand the LGBT messaging seen in nearly half of Netflix’s children’s programming to other programs that would come under its umbrella.

Netflix recasts Cinderella’s villains as victims in latest fairy-tale rewrite
The streamer’s upcoming 2026 film flips the stepsisters into the heroes, sparking backlash from viewers who say Hollywood keeps pushing the "misunderstood villain" trope instead of writing anything new.

Gwen Stefani blasted by activist for promoting Christian prayer app during Christmas season
Internet trolls claimed the Catholic singer is pushing a political agenda.

David Spade slams mall for omitting ‘Christmas’ from tree-lighting ceremony
The comedian mocked a Michigan mall for refusing to say the word at its own tree-lighting ceremony, calling it “bulls**t” and pointing out that even non-Christians aren’t offended by a holiday everyone knows is Christmas.

Media...

Bari Weiss poaches ABC News’ Matt Guttman who said Charlie Kirk’s alleged assassin’s texts were ‘touching’
Matt Gutman is now set to become a chief correspondent for CBS News as the network praises his “fearlessness” and prepares to feature him across flagship shows.

Environment...

Supreme Court to decide this week whether to take up 'climate' case allowing oil company to be sued
The left wants to use oil companies as a piggy bank to fund its big government policies, much the same way the government did with the "big tobacco" lawsuits in the 1990s.

LGBTQIA2S+...

Florida AG launches sweeping RICO case against medical groups over child sex-changes
James Uthmeier accuses leading organizations of pushing harmful sex-change protocols on minors through deceptive guidelines, seeking fines, dissolution, and bans on future claims as the state targets what it calls a lucrative, ideology-driven industry.

Education...

School district trampled due process in criminal probe of student for Charlie Kirk message: Lawsuit
The student got permission from the front office to honor the slain activist on "spirit rock," but officials accused her of criminal vandalism, coerced a confession, searched her phone without a warrant, and never informed her of her rights, the lawsuit says.

California high school hosted adult livestream with drag queens, foot-licking, and a mock crucifixion
A top San Diego high school rented out its gymnasium to a production company that filmed a 24-hour livestream for an adult content site. The school district now claims that the company violated the terms of the agreement it had signed, while the company says it did not.

Health...

How Trump’s latest drug deal could save lives in America and Britain
The agreement pushes the U.K. to pay more for new medicines while easing its strict rationing rules, giving drugmakers room to lower U.S. prices and expanding access for British patients long denied treatments under the single-payer system.

AI...

Viral video shows priest tossing ICE out of his church and mocking Trump — and, of course, it's not real
Opponents of ICE are thrilled over a viral video showing a priest publicly condemning ICE agents from his church. The priest stands defiantly outside of a church bellowing against ICE and mocking Trump before his supporters applaud and clap at his speech. Only one problem ...

NY Times: Why the AI boom is unlike the dot-com boom
Silicon Valley is again betting everything on a new technology. But the mania is not a reboot of the late-1990s frenzy.

WSJ: Wall Street is shaking off fears of an AI bubble. For now.
The valuations of some artificial intelligence companies are approaching those of the dot-com boom. But investors worry that pulling money from today’s market risks future gains.

US bank executives say AI will boost productivity, cut jobs
JPMorgan Chase's consumer and community banking chief Marianne Lake said at the Goldman Sachs financial services conference the bank has doubled productivity to 6% with AI, from a previous 3% without it.

Wells Fargo expects more job cuts, will roll out AI gradually in 2026
CEO Charlie Scharf said that AI was extremely significant, both in terms of the efficiencies it can drive and "what it is going to potentially do to headcount."

Technology...

Hipsters want to bring back rotary phones
If it weren't annoying enough to deal with records and CDs coming back, now they want to bring back rotary phones.

Related flashback: Hitler’s rotary phone, ‘the most destructive weapon of all time,’ sold for $243,000
The phone was presented to Hitler by the Wehrmacht and was used by the Nazi leader to send millions of men to their deaths.

Dec. 10, 2008 - Illinois Gov. Blagojevich has 4% approval rating… Big 3 bailout… Unions… 'The Christmas Sweater' story… One of the best calls in program history... Caller hangs up on Glenn... Palm reader analyzes Glenn’s hand...

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.

The Crisis of Meaning: Searching for truth and purpose

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.