RADIOJanuary 06, 2025

THIS Made Glenn HATE Daylight Saving Time

Donald Trump has said that he will try and finally end Daylight Saving Time. But where did it even come from? For his whole life, Glenn believed that it was about helping the farmers. But recently, he discovered the shocking – and infuriating – truth. As with everything annoying in our country, you can trace it back to … Woodrow Wilson. Glenn reviews the real history of Daylight Saving Time, from Benjamin Franklin to the Germans in World War 1 to Wilson and FDR. So, can Trump do away with yet another pointless progressive legacy?

Transcript

Below is a rush transcript that may contain errors

GLENN: Yesterday, we were kind of having this argument, I think, off-air, of Daylight Savings Time.

And I was like, okay.

I seem to remember, it has something to do with farmers. Okay? They have too much.

They need more sunlight. Or, I can't remember. And I'm like, it's farmers!

I'm sure it's farmers! And so I've got to check this out. Because if it's about farming, I'm for it.

STU: That's a good stance.

That's how we get a giant 500 billion-dollar farm bill every year. Is it about farming? So here is the -- I said to you yesterday, I'll do my homework.

Let me look into where it started.

STU: I'm interested to know where it landed on this.

GLENN: Oh, you won't believe.

Okay. So if you start looking into all the dark corners of human history, you find a man named Benjamin Franklin.

STU: That's not a dark -- he's my favorite founder.

GLENN: Right. Founding father. Inventor.

Love of lightning. Lover of libraries. Pretty good guy, right?

So he's in Paris.

And in 1784. He writes, now, remember in America, he wrote an op-ed, under a pseudonym.

A non deplume. And it was all just comedy, basically.

He was just ripping things apart, comedically.

Okay?

Well, he does this in the Journal de Paris.

And he writes this letter, because he -- he thinks the Parisians are lazy.

Now, who would have thought --

STU: Where did that come from, jeez?

GLENN: How things have changed, huh?

So he said, I've got an idea.

First of all, I can save you a fortune on candles.

And candles, if you woke up a little earlier, you wouldn't need the candle at night.

Because you would be tired.

And you would go to bed.

So in this, he said, and we should tax shutters.

Because if you don't have a shutter, the light would come in, and you would wake up, and you would go to work!

Okay.

And if that doesn't work.

We should fire cannons at sunrise.

Get out of bed!

Okay?

So he's writing this about basically making fun of the French about being lazy and laying in bed.

Okay!

He didn't mean it, but a seed had been planted. So now we have to go 100 years into the future.

Another guy who becomes very serious about the clocks. Is George Vernon Hudson.

He's an entomologist in New Zealand.

Okay? And he's like, you know, Benjamin Franklin was right!

Why?

Because this guy collected butter flies after his job, and it got dark too early.

STU: For his butterfly collection?

GLENN: For his butterfly collecting. I mean, this is insane. So he stirs up a big deal.

He's like, we have to drop our clocks back. But he didn't say an hour.

He said like 20 minutes.

20 -- 20 minutes!

What are you talking about?

You know how screwed up everything would be if we set our clocks.

I want to set them back 16 and a half minutes.

STU: We can't handle the most basic of tasks.

Imagine that.

GLENN: All right. So he's doing this, because, again, he's collecting insects.

All right.

1895, is when he did that.

It didn't come back again, until William Willett in 1907.

He was a wealthy English man.

He said, just like Benjamin Franklin, except he was sincere about it.

Nobody's working anymore. Why can't -- now, this is -- you have to remember, this is a wealthy English man. Why aren't my workers on the plantation early in the morning?

I should be woken up by the sound of hard work.

He said, this is a waste!

And he writes a pamphlet. A waste of daylight.

He also suggests we only turn the clocks back 20 minutes.

All right?

So he lobbied parliament. Nobody listened to him.

Okay?

1916.

1916, the beginning of the great war.

All across Europe, countries are desperate to do what?

What are they doing? They're fighting, right? If you're fighting, what do you need? Don't think daylight. What do you need?

STU: Night.

GLENN: No. No. Forget the time.

What is valuable? What's valuable is armaments! Okay. And how do you make armaments back then!

Coal.

STU: Okay.

GLENN: They want the light to last as long at night as possible.

So the coal plants can -- are taking all the coal, instead of giving it to people for energy in their houses. So they can turn on all their lights.

They can make armaments. So they have a shortage of fuel, of coal. All right?

STU: It's a winding road. I would not have gotten that.

GLENN: This is why I did this dusty, dusty work yesterday.

STU: Yeah. It is.

GLENN: Okay. Suddenly, Germany is like, hey, wait a minute. Remember that guy that was -- Germany did this, not England. Germany said, remember that guy, who was in parliament. Who said, you should set the clock back?

Yeah. Twenty minutes.

And so a German said, how about a full hour?

Would that save things?

April 30th, 1916, Germany was, nothing good comes from Germany.

Sorry. Really good desserts. Really good desserts. Other than that, nothing good -- okay. BMWs are pretty nice. Mercedes, pretty nice.

But other than that, nothing comes out of Germany, that is good.

STU: Aren't you German?

GLENN: There's a few exceptions. Okay.

So all across Europe, the war is raging.

Germany sets their clocks back. So they can have the daylight. So they're not -- they're not wasting coal.

And England is like, hey. Wait a minute.

Six weeks later. England joins in.

Then Europe joins in.

Everybody is doing this, for the war effort.

And Wilson.

Then Wilson comes in. And he does it, as well.

In the United States. So the first time it ever happened. Was under Woodrow Wilson.

I could end the story there, and that explains why I'm now not for Daylight Savings Time.
I could end it there!

So after Wilson, because of the progressives, this is so amazing. Think about this, in history.

The progressives in 1919, were -- became very unpopular.

Because Woodrow Wilson had had a stroke his last year in office.

Was absolutely incapable of running anything in the White House.

He wasn't in charge, his wife was, does any of this sound familiar. And he had taken America and pushed it into socialism.

And we had -- we had lost freedom.

And it scared the American people, because at that time, they knew the Constitution, and it happened in eight years, and they were like, we've got to get away from this. So they reversed it. And all the things he did, they reversed. Including Daylight Savings Time.

And then World War II happened.

And FDR came in. And he called it wartime.

And he did it for the same reason. To save on coal.

Save energy.

So to conserve resources, again, we put in wartime.

And then we never let it go. So 70 countries, now, still observe Daylight Savings Time. That's a third of the world!

Across Europe, the clouds spring forward, fall backward, like clockwork. Pun intended. Over in Europe, it's called summertime.

In North America, United States, Canada, and Mexico, we're still dancing to this tune. Except, Mexico is starting to opt out.

Parts of Australia and New Zealand still observe it. But in Asia, Africa, and most of South America.

They are like, these guys are stupid. What are you doing?

They're like, yeah. That's -- that's not really -- I mean, we don't have candles anymore.

Or coal.

So, you know, I think we're -- you know, I think we're pretty good with this.

And it messes with our bodies. And doctors show, that the time change increases. Heart attacks.

Strokes. Car accidents. And grumpiness. The one thing it is, it's on a Saturday. And you're like, oh, I missed church. Gosh darn it, I didn't set my clock. Now, that's not a very good -- that's not a good reason to be against it. Wilson is.

Your kids miss buses. Anyway, so that is what happened.

Now, if we don't -- if Donald Trump comes in and says, we're getting rid of Daylight Savings Time.

That means, the sun in Boston, will come up at 4:07 a.m.

Like 4:11 in Minneapolis. Around the same in Seattle.

That is significant! 4:20, I think, in Los Angeles.

But it's still light until 7 o'clock at night. 8 o'clock at night.

I'm pretty cool with that. I'm pretty cool with that.

I don't like it when it -- you know, the problem is, in the winter, it gets dark so early.

You -- you kind of like.

Wait. I don't need it to be darker.

You know, at three in the afternoon.

I went to -- where was it? Copenhagen, I think. It was in Sweden. And I was doing a deal on the Muslim uprisings over there. This was years ago. And like the sunrises at like 9:30. 9:45. And goes down at 3:00. You know, 2:45. And it never gets past like the sunset.

It's never above 20 degrees horizon. And so it just kind of circles the edge. It always looks like dawn or dusk. I think I would kill myself!

I don't care how good the chocolate is, or whatever. I think the Swiss Miss would be fashioning a rope for me, really quickly.

Oh, my gosh. I don't think I could handle it. So, anyway, that's the story. Donald Trump, right again!

STU: He is right. On this one.

GLENN: Anything that goes against Woodrow Wilson! And FDR.

I fully 100 percent back!

Shocking train video: Passengers wait while woman bleeds out

Surveillance footage of the murder of Ukrainian refugee Iryna Zarutska in Charlotte, NC, reveals that the other passengers on the train took a long time to help her. Glenn, Stu, and Jason debate whether they were right or wrong to do so.

Transcript

Below is a rush transcript that may contain errors

GLENN: You know, I'm -- I'm torn on how I feel about the people on the train.

Because my first instinct is, they did nothing! They did nothing! Then my -- well, sit down and, you know -- you know, you're going to be judged. So be careful on judging others.

What would I have done? What would I want my wife to do in that situation?

STU: Yeah. Are those two different questions, by the way.

GLENN: Yeah, they are.

STU: I think they go far apart from each other. What would I want myself to do. I mean, it's tough to put yourself in a situation. It's very easy to watch a video on the internet and talk about your heroism. Everybody can do that very easily on Twitter. And everybody is.

You know, when you're in a vehicle that doesn't have an exit with a guy who just murdered somebody in front of you, and has a dripping blood off of a knife that's standing 10 feet away from you, 15 feet away from you.

There's probably a different standard there, that we should all kind of consider. And maybe give a little grace to what I saw at least was a woman, sitting across the -- the -- the aisle.

I think there is a difference there. But when you talk about that question. Those two questions are definitive.

You know, I know what I would want myself to do. I would hope I would act in a way that didn't completely embarrass myself afterward.

But I also think, when I'm thinking of my wife. My advice to my wife would not be to jump into the middle of that situation at all costs. She might do that anyway. She actually is a heck of a lot stronger than I am.

But she might do it anyway.

GLENN: How pathetic, but how true.

STU: Yes. But that would not be my advice to her.

GLENN: Uh-huh.

STU: Now, maybe once the guy has certainly -- is out of the area. And you don't think the moment you step into that situation. He will turn around and kill you too. Then, of course, obviously. Anything you can do to step in.

Not that there was much anyone on the train could do.

I mean, I don't think there was an outcome change, no matter what anyone on that train did.

Unfortunately.

But would I want her to step in?

Of course. If she felt she was safe, yes.

Think about, you said, your wife. Think about your daughter. Your daughter is on that train, just watching someone else getting murdered like that. Would you advise your daughter to jump into a situation like that?

That girl sitting across the aisle was somebody's daughter. I don't know, man.

JASON: I would. You know, as a dad, would I advise.

Hmm. No.

As a human being, would I hope that my daughter or my wife or that I would get up and at least comfort that woman while she's dying on the floor of a train?

Yeah.

I would hope that my daughter, my son, that I would -- and, you know, I have more confidence in my son or daughter or my wife doing something courageous more than I would.

But, you know, I think I have a more realistic picture of myself than anybody else.

And I'm not sure that -- I'm not sure what I would do in that situation. I know what I would hope I would do. But I also know what I fear I would do. But I would have hoped that I would have gotten up and at least tried to help her. You know, help her up off the floor. At least be there with her, as she's seeing her life, you know, spill out in under a minute.

And that's it other thing we have to keep in mind. This all happened so rapidly.

A minute is -- will seem like a very long period of time in that situation. But it's a very short period of time in real life.

STU: Yeah. You watch the video, Glenn. You know, I don't need the video to -- to change my -- my position on this.

But at his seem like there was a -- someone who did get there, eventually, to help, right? I saw someone seemingly trying to put pressure on her neck.

GLENN: Yeah. And tried to give her CPR.

STU: You know, no hope at that point. How long of a time period would you say that was?

Do you know off the top of your head?

GLENN: I don't know. I don't know. I know that we watched the video that I saw. I haven't seen past 30 seconds after she --

STU: Yeah.

GLENN: -- is down. And, you know, for 30 seconds nothing is happening. You know, that is -- that is not a very long period of time.

STU: Right.

GLENN: In reality.

STU: And especially, I saw the pace he was walking. He certainly can't be -- you know, he may have left the actual train car by 30 seconds to a minute. But he wasn't that far away. Like he was still in visual.

He could still turn around and look and see what's going on at that point. So certainly still a threat is my point. He has not, like, left the area. This is not that type of situation.

You know, I -- look, as you point out, I think if I could be super duper sexist for a moment here, sort of my dividing line might just be men and women.

You know, I don't know if it's that a -- you're not supposed to say that, I suppose these days. But, like, there is a difference there. If I'm a man, you know, I would be -- I would want my son to jump in on that, I suppose. I don't know if he could do anything about it. But you would expect at least a grown man to be able to go in there and do something about it. A woman, you know, I don't know.

Maybe I'm -- I hope --

GLENN: Here's the thing I -- here's the thing that I -- that causes me to say, no. You should have jumped in.

And that is, you know, you've already killed one person on the train. So you've proven that you're a killer. And anybody who would have screamed and got up and was with her, she's dying. She's dying. Get him. Get him.

Then the whole train is responsible for stopping that guy. You know. And if you don't stop him, after he's killed one person, if you're not all as members of that train, if you're not stopping him, you know, the person at the side of that girl would be the least likely to be killed. It would be the ones that are standing you up and trying to stop him from getting back to your daughter or your wife or you.

JASON: There was a -- speaking of men and women and their roles in this. There was a video circling social media yesterday. In Sweden. There was a group of officials up on a stage. And one of the main. I think it was health official woman collapses on stage. Completely passes out.

All the men kind of look away. Or I don't know if they're looking away. Or pretending that they didn't know what was going on. There was another woman standing directly behind the woman passed out.

Immediately springs into action. Jumps on top. Grabs her pant leg. Grabs her shoulder. Spins her over and starts providing care.

What did she have that the other guys did not? Or women?

She was a sheepdog. There is a -- this is my issue. And I completely agree with Stu. I completely agree with you. There's some people that do not respond this way. My issue is the proportion of sheepdogs versus people that don't really know how to act. That is diminishing in western society. And American society.

We see it all the time in these critical actions. I mean, circumstances.

There are men and women, and it's actually a meme. That fantasize about hoards of people coming to attack their home and family. And they sit there and say, I've got it. You guys go. I'm staying behind, while I smoke my cigarette and wait for the hoards to come, because I will sacrifice myself. There are men and women that fantasize of block my highway. Go ahead. Block my highway. I'm going to do something about it. They fantasize about someone holding up -- not a liquor store. A convenience store or something. Because they will step in and do something. My issue now is that proportion of sheepdogs in society is disappearing. Just on statistical fact, there should be one within that train car, and there were none.

STU: Yeah. I mean --

JASON: They did not respond.

STU: We see what happens when they do, with Daniel Penny. Our society tries to vilify them and crush their existence. Now, there weren't that many people on that train. Right?

At least on that car. At least it's limited. I only saw three or four people there, there may have been more. I agree with you, though. Like, you see what happens when we actually do have a really recent example of someone doing exactly what Jason wants and what I would want a guy to do. Especially a marine to step up and stop this from happening. And the man was dragged by our legal system to a position where he nearly had to spend the rest of his life in prison.

I mean, I -- it's insanity. Thankfully, they came to their senses on that one.

GLENN: Well, the difference between that one and this one though is that the guy was threatening. This one, he killed somebody.

STU: Yeah. Right. Well, but -- I think -- but it's the opposite way. The debate with Penny, was should he have recognize that had this person might have just been crazy and not done anything?

Maybe. He hadn't actually acted yet. He was just saying things.

GLENN: Yeah. Well --

STU: He didn't wind up stabbing someone. This is a situation where these people have already seen what this man will do to you, even when you don't do anything to try to stop him. So if this woman, who is, again, looks to be an average American woman.

Across the aisle. Steps in and tries to do something. This guy could easily turn around and just make another pile of dead bodies next to the one that already exists.

And, you know, whether that is an optimal solution for our society, I don't know that that's helpful.

In that situation.

THE GLENN BECK PODCAST

Max Lucado on Overcoming Grief in Dark Times | The Glenn Beck Podcast | Ep 266

Disclaimer: This episode was filmed prior to the assassination of Charlie Kirk. But Glenn believes Max's message is needed now more than ever.
The political world is divided, constantly at war with itself. In many ways, our own lives are not much different. Why do we constantly focus on the negative? Why are we in pain? Where is God amid our anxiety and fear? Why can’t we ever seem to change? Pastor Max Lucado has found the solution: Stop thinking like that! It may seem easier said than done, but Max joins Glenn Beck to unpack the three tools he describes in his new book, “Tame Your Thoughts,” that make it easy for us to reset the way we think back to God’s factory settings. In this much-needed conversation, Max and Glenn tackle everything from feeling doubt as a parent to facing unfair hardships to ... UFOs?! Plus, Max shares what he recently got tattooed on his arm.

THE GLENN BECK PODCAST

Are Demonic Forces to Blame for Charlie Kirk, Minnesota & Charlotte Killings?

This week has seen some of the most heinous actions in recent memory. Glenn has been discussing the growth of evil in our society, and with the assassination of civil rights leader Charlie Kirk, the recent transgender shooter who took the lives of two children at a Catholic school, and the murder of Ukrainian refugee Iryna Zarutska, how can we make sense of all this evil? On today's Friday Exclusive, Glenn speaks with BlazeTV host of "Strange Encounters" Rick Burgess to discuss the demon-possessed transgender shooter and the horrific assassination of Charlie Kirk. Rick breaks down the reality of demon possession and how individuals wind up possessed. Rick and Glenn also discuss the dangers of the grotesque things we see online and in movies, TV shows, and video games on a daily basis. Rick warns that when we allow our minds to be altered by substances like drugs or alcohol, it opens a door for the enemy to take control. A supernatural war is waging in our society, and it’s a Christian’s job to fight this war. Glenn and Rick remind Christians of what their first citizenship is.