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TERMS OF USE | PRIVACY POLICY

Live

Glenn's Show Prep

Morning Brief 2025-12-11

December 11, 2025
Chris Brady

TOP OF HOUR 2
GUEST: Erika Kirk
TOPIC: Charlie Kirk's final words to the world.

TOP OF HOUR 3
GUEST: Miles Sundeen
TOPIC: Canadian woman considers medically assisted suicide after years of living in pain.

Glenn Beck...

Glenn Beck works to save pain-racked Canadian woman left at euthanasia dead end by broken socialist health care system
A woman unable to receive treatment for her painful disease was contemplating state-facilitated suicide — then Glenn Beck stepped in.

Canada's health care system planned to kill a woman. America's will save her (with help from Glenn Beck).
It took less than a decade for Canada's Medical Assistance in Dying program to go from a compassionate means for terminally ill patients to end their lives to a full-blown euthanasia program that kills the poor, veterans, and people with depression.

CBC: Health policy expert says Glenn Beck's focus on Canadian woman's medical case distracts from the real issues
“Whatever kind of foolish opportunism that Glenn Beck is demonstrating for his own purposes, we, I think, should try not to be distracted by that,” McIntosh told Canada’s state-funded broadcaster. McIntosh said that while Beck can pay whatever the surgery may cost, it’s not what most Americans can afford.

News...

Trump backs Senate GOP bill to give Americans $1,500 checks for health care
The bill, which had been on track to receive a vote in the Senate this week, is an attempt to reduce mounting costs for the 24 million Americans on Obamacare.

Trump sinks anonymous reports by reaffirming support for Hegseth, Noem
“I think my Cabinet is fantastic. I read the same stories that I’m unhappy with, this one or that one, and I’m not. I think the Cabinet has done a great job,” he said. He detailed his support for both Hegseth and Noem, specifically.

Erika Kirk furiously rebukes conspiracy theorists peddling garbage about her dead husband
In the weeks that followed the brutal gunning down of her husband, conspiracy nuts such as Candace Owens have spewed unfounded claims about his death and raised questions about the funeral arrangements.

Devine: Mystery deepens as to why it took the FBI nearly 5 years to finally bust the suspected J6 pipe bomber
In the wake of Biden’s insane racial pandering following the BLM riots, it would have been most inconvenient if a black man were the pipe bomber. Maybe the answer to the mystery is as simple as the fact that Wray’s FBI just didn’t want to look too closely at a suspect who would wreck the Biden White House’s narrative.

Federal judge blocks Trump's National Guard deployment in LA
In a ruling on Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer, a Clinton appointee, determined that the deployed members of the California National Guard must return to the control of Gov. Gavin Newsom.

Man stabbed by illegal alien on NC train was good Samaritan trying to help other riders: Authorities
Prosecutors said Honduran national Oscar Solarzarno was swigging booze and yelling at riders when Kenyon Dobie stood up and told him to stop on the Friday night train. Solarzano knifed him in the chest for his efforts, prosecutors said at a hearing Monday.

If your state didn’t receive a failing grade on this left-wing test, call your governor
The Giffords Law Center released its annual State Gun Law Scorecard, which grades states on their “gun safety” policies. Unsurprisingly California was ranked at the top, with an “A” score. Meanwhile states like Wyoming or Mississippi were given an “F.”

Documents: Wisconsin judge in Trump electors case didn’t write his own ruling
Newly unsealed filings allege the Dane County judge used a retired colleague with a long-standing grudge to craft a key ruling against Trump-aligned defendants, raising questions of bias and impropriety as Democrats push the case toward a midterm-season trial.

Flashback: Boston raised Somali flag over City Hall to symbolize 'conquering colonialism'
Democratic Mayor Michelle Wu celebrated the event and said the city declared July 1, 2025, as Somali Independence Day.

Politics...

House GOP defections boost Democrat effort to restore power of federal unions
A bloc of 13 Republicans helped Democrats move a bill to overturn the president’s executive order curbing collective bargaining for federal workers, setting up a final House vote before the measure heads to the Senate. The push, led by a Maine Democrat, aims to roll back limits on roughly a million federal employees.

Congressman reveals secret weapon in defense bill: Bureaucracy bunker buster
Rep. Glenn Grothman says NDAA cuts up to 19% of civilian jobs, saving an estimated $30 billion.

Horowitz: Liz Warren hustles Trump with a housing bill from hell
The Massachusetts senator’s bill shoves more buyers into overpriced homes, expands federal control, and turbocharges demand — the perfect setup for a crash blamed on the White House, not Congress.

Illinois Gov. Pritzker threatens retaliation over Indiana map fight despite his own partisan redraw a few years ago
As Indiana weighs a new congressional map, Pritzker is warning he’ll “take action,” even though he signed Illinois’ heavily gerrymandered maps in 2021 — graded an “F” by Princeton.

Jasmine Crockett stumbles when confronted with her past comments that Latino voters who support Trump have a 'slave mentality'
"Around a million Latino voters in Texas were voting for Trump, do they all have slave mentality?" asked Jake Tapper. Some say Tapper was only going hard on Crockett because he knows she has no chance in the general election, and he wants to sabotage her before she gets the Democrat nomination. Some say that, not me, just some.

Rachel Maddow regrets not pressing Kamala Harris more during puff piece interview about ‘107 Days’ memoir
Maddow said the former VP was far sharper off camera and regrets letting a “safe” interview stand, especially after Harris’ memoir aired her doubts about Pete Buttigieg and took shots at Josh Shapiro — who later called her claims “complete and utter bulls**t.”

Dem House rep moves to impeach RFK Jr.
The Republican-led House is not expected to approve the articles.

Affordability...

White House deploys JD Vance to bolster affordability messaging
According to a Politico poll published last week, 46% of Americans said the cost of living in the U.S. is the worst they can ever remember.

CNBC panel says Biden owns the affordability crisis: ‘Full stop’
"The affordability issue is from the 22% increase in prices under Biden — full stop."

Ben Shapiro: Is ‘affordability’ a Democrat hoax?
Trump has alienated an awful lot of Hispanic Republicans with some of the more public-facing ICE actions. And a lot of Hispanic Republicans, who were driven away from the Democratic Party by its social radicalism and DEI, have been moving back because Democrats have been moving away from those discussions and back toward “affordability.” This is the issue of the day: “affordability.”

Blue-state energy mandates drive higher power bills as Trump spotlights affordability
New analysis shows states with aggressive renewable mandates facing steeper electricity costs and bigger rate-hike requests, while fossil-fuel-heavy red states keep prices lower. Utilities admit decades of chasing green subsidies helped push rates up, leaving consumers stuck with the bill.

Economy...

A divided Fed cuts interest rates again, as concerns about the job market outweigh fears of tariff-fueled inflation
Powell said the central bank believes that there has been an “overstatement” in recent jobs numbers of about 60,000 jobs. In his view, data showing that payrolls have been pacing at about 40,000 jobs added per month are, in fact, really pacing at 20,000 jobs lost per month.

Mortgage-rate projections for the next 5 years
Forecasts show mortgage rates sticking in the mid-6% range as long-term Treasury yields stay above 4%, with no credible outlook for a return to 3% rates and only major economic turmoil likely to push them much lower.

Immigration...

'A direct path to Citizenship': Trump announces official launch of Trump Gold Card visa program
On Wednesday, Trump announced the launch of the Trump Gold Card, an expedited pathway to U.S. residence and even citizenship for a premium price. Applicants still have to pass vetting in addition to fees that start at $1 million.

Northern states saw record illegal border crossings under Biden admin
Several states posted record highs earlier in the surge.

DHS secures deal for its own fleet of 737 jets for deportations in effort to save Americans millions
The deal is worth nearly $140 million and is being covered by some of the funds the department received in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act earlier this year.

Somali student in Minnesota threatens to ‘pop’ ICE agents in expletive-ridden, viral rant
“ICE, I actually heard you guys pulled up to Owatonna, the big O, and you pulled up when I was not there? Y’all so p**s-ass s**t, boy. You’re gonna get popped next time I see you,” he raged in the clip. “Bring the whole cavalry. Yeah, boy, you guys are scared.”

WAR news...

Trump says US military has seized an oil tanker from Venezuela: 'Largest one ever seized actually'
"Today, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Homeland Security Investigations, and the United States Coast Guard, with support from the Department of War, executed a seizure warrant for a crude oil tanker used to transport sanctioned oil from Venezuela and Iran," Pam Bondi wrote on X.

Trump warns Colombian President Gustavo Petro is 'going to be next' in drug trafficking crackdown
“Colombia is producing a lot of drugs,” Trump said, according to Politico. “So [Petro] better wise up or he’ll be next. He’ll be next soon. I hope he’s listening, he’s going to be next.”

World...

Thomas Massie introduces resolution to withdraw US from 'Cold War relic' NATO
"We should withdraw from NATO and use that money to defend our own country, not socialist countries."

White House says ‘no change’ to policy on Taiwan despite wording in National Security Strategy
The new Trump security strategy document stressed the importance of deterring China's aggressiveness, but a small wording shift over Taiwan raised questions. The White House says nothing has changed.

Inside Ukraine’s daring ‘operation spiderweb’ drone attack that crippled Russia's bomber fleet
Ukrainian intelligence smuggled armed drones into Russia using fake cabin structures, then remotely opened the roofs and launched more than 100 strike drones at four air bases, blasting parked bombers in a coordinated hit that stunned Moscow’s security services.

Entertainment...

Matt Walsh: The real reason Hollywood keeps turning villains into heroes
Hollywood wants your children to believe they live in a world without villains.

'Zootopia 2' teaches kids they have trauma and it’s their parents’ fault
Now Disney seems to be pushing the message that the happiest place on earth is as far away from your family as possible.

Russell Crowe blasts ‘Gladiator 2’ for lacking ‘moral core’ that made the first one great
The actor won an Oscar for his portrayal of Maximus in the first “Gladiator.”

Hilary Swank apologizes for lashing out at mom taking terminally ill sons on Make-A-Wish trip
Swank snapped at a woman for seemingly taking her picture at the airport — but the woman says she was just taking out her phone in an effort to find her two Make-A-Wish sons and her husband.

Comedian Andy Dick turned blue during apparent OD, says strip mall security guard
Andy Dick had some bystanders convinced the infamous actor had died right in front of them when he suffered an apparent overdose on Hollywood Boulevard — one of Los Angeles’ most famous tourist attractions.

'Jeopardy!' champion arrested on felony secret-peeping charges in North Carolina
Deputies say two-time winner Joey DeSena planted a hidden bathroom camera to record someone without consent, leading to his arrest.

Media...

Trump says he wants a new owner for CNN as part of any sale of Warner Bros. Discovery: ‘A very dishonest group of people’
Streaming giant Netflix has agreed to buy WBD’s Warner Bros. studio and its HBO Max streaming service, leaving CNN’s current management intact. But Paramount Skydance wants to buy all of WBD, including CNN — and put the latter under the news chief of its CBS subsidiary, Bari Weiss.

LGBTQIA2S+...

DC appeals court upholds Trump’s prohibition on ‘trans’ soldiers in the military
A divided panel paused a lower court’s injunction and affirmed the Pentagon’s judgment that the policy strengthens readiness, cohesion, and cost control, pointing to a prior Supreme Court ruling that already signaled the administration is likely to prevail.

DOJ moves to enforce Trump order keeping male inmates out of women’s prisons
The administration directed PREA auditors to stop enforcing Obama-era identity-based housing rules, pushing prisons back to sex-based placement.

Newsom reveals he wants ‘to see trans kids’
He said there is “no governor that’s done more pro-trans legislation” than he has.

Education...

'It's such a shame that your people survived': Columbia report details 'disturbing' anti-Semitism from instructors at Ivy League school
Some instructors smeared Israeli and Jewish students as colonists, occupiers, and murderers. One used an introductory astronomy class to rail against "genocide" in Gaza.

Harvard ousts director of human rights center targeted by Trump admin over rampant anti-Semitism
Mary T. Bassett accused Israel of "potential genocide" in a message to students and faculty.

Health...

Medicare prescription drugs could cost $500 billion more than expected over the next decade
A blog post by Congressional Budget Office staff dropped a bombshell: Spending on Medicare prescription drug coverage has exploded.

AI...

Dear, parents: What to tell your kids about work in the age of AI
Every technological revolution in history has created more opportunities in the long run, even if the transition was bumpy. Research finds that the least automatable tasks are those that rely on uniquely human qualities: empathy, ethical judgment, creativity, critical thinking, interpersonal communication, and leadership.

Sports...

Michigan coach arrested shortly after being fired
Sherrone Moore was in custody in the Washtenaw County Jail on Wednesday night as a suspect in an alleged assault, just hours after he was fired as Michigan's football coach for having what the school said was an "inappropriate relationship with a staff member."

Philly high school football players miss championship game after arrest in Florida
Deputies say the eight teens actively carried out a coordinated theft at a Dick’s Sporting Goods, stuffing more than $2,000 in merchandise into bags before their championship game, leading to arrests, charges, and a public scolding from Sheriff Grady Judd as their team later lost 26-6.

Dec. 11, 2019 - Key Ukrainian official blows up Democrats’ impeachment argument... Time's Man of the Year is Greta Thunberg... Glenn says Trump should make the Senate hearings into a literal circus...

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.

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.