RADIOJune 11, 2024

The REAL Reason Why Glenn is On a US-Funded Ukrainian 'Enemies' List

Glenn Beck and The Blaze were both placed on a list calling out Americans who DON'T want to endlessly fund Ukraine without oversight. The list, compiled by a Ukrainian NGO called "Texty" or the "Data Journalism Agency," features hundreds of individuals and companies, including U.S. politicians. But why would Glenn — who is no fan of Vladimir Putin — be on the list? Well, Glenn has a good idea why he might be: He recently exposed the U.S. government's long history with fueling color revolutions around the world, including in Ukraine, and how America might be next. And Blaze Media managing editor of RETURN, Peter Gietl joins to expose how all the usual suspects from previous color revolutions are funding this NGO as well...including Spooky Dude himself, George Soros.

Transcript

Below is a rush transcript that may contain errors

GLENN: So let me just give you this story first.

Ukrainian publication with the editor-in-chief who has ties to the US State Department, has placed dozens of American politicians, activists, and media outlets, including Blaze media and Glenn Beck, on a list of those allegedly known to have shared Russian disinformation or otherwise made anti-Ukrainian statements.

On Thursday, texty.org, an independent media outlet. That fuses data journalism projects, with traditional journalistic genres.

This is according to their website. They published an article entitled rollercoaster entitled, From Trumpist to Communist. The forces in the US, impeding aid to Ukraine. And how they do it.

Now, there's 75 of us on this list. But nearly 400 entities, that have opposed sending aid to Ukraine, in its war against Russia.

We were mentioned. Blaze media, and myself. Mentioned on Pages 34 of a 47-page list. The anti-Ukrainian Blaze media links are all from 2023.

They include one which Blaze news article. There's one Blaze news article. Two tweets. One of which is just showing a clip and a tweet from Tucker Carlson. Who is also on the list.

And then three segments with Blaze media's Glenn Beck.

Okay. Okay.

Now, what were the clips?

Well, the first -- the first clip that they had a problem with was that I had said, that the plan to go into Russia, or to have Ukraine fight Russia and us to back them up, was in the works in 2016.

And texty came out and said, that is an absolute lie.

He's just making this stuff up.

Well, the reason why I said that is because we found a clip, that I had never seen before.

This is Lindsey Graham with John McCain in the background. During election 2016 in Ukraine, talking to the general and the troops, listen to what he said.

VOICE: Your fight is our fight.

VOICE: 2017 will be the year of offense.

VOICE: All of us will go back to Washington, and we will push the case against Russia.

VOICE: Enough of a Russian aggression. It is time for them to pay a heavier price.

Our fight is not with the Russian people, but with Putin.

Our promise to you, is to take your cause to Washington.

Inform the American people of your bravery.

And make the case against Putin to the world.

GLENN: Okay. Isn't that what happened in 2020?

Isn't that exactly -- or 2021?

Isn't that exactly what happened?

Now, Russia did invade.

You know, I -- I am not going to make a case for Vladimir Putin being a good guy.

Because he's an absolute monster.

However, you know, when you have the State Department, doing a Colour Revolution in 2014 in Ukraine, to get rid of the Russian, that they say was running Ukraine.

And then you have Lindsey Graham, and John McCain, during the election. Saying 2017 is the year we go on offense.

It's time they pay a -- a heavier price.

Well, I would say, that that kind of sounds like, you know, we're for going right after Russia.

Our fight is not with the Russian people. Just Vladimir Putin.

That sounds like regime change. Does it not?

Now, why didn't it happen in 2017?

Because the unthinkable happened.

Donald Trump was elected.

That's what happened. Donald Trump was elected. In 2017. He became the president of the United States.

And what happened? He all of a sudden was painted as a guy who was for Russia. And the Russian interference.

Forget the Chinese. Just the Russian interference alone. So the enemy of Hillary Clinton and the State Department and everybody else. The enemy became Russia and Donald Trump, tied closely together. So the offense had to wait for four years.

But they continued to smear Donald Trump with Russia. That was the whole case. Okay. So now let me go on. Let me tell you about a show we did a few weeks ago. Regime change.

It's been United States' policy for a very long time. Covert CIA operations. We go in.

We manipulate the foreign media. We meddle in elections. We topple governments. And then, you know, we go back to saying, we didn't do that. What are you talking about?

This started with the Cold War. But nothing the CIA pulled off comes even close to what their successor began doing.

Who was the successor to the CIA? Covert ops? Well, it was the United States government.

That includes the CIA. Along with NGOs. Trade unions.

And people like George Soros.

Colour Revolutions. The first one that was really successful was the Middle East.

The Arab spring.

Right?

I told you, the Arab spring, was -- had its roots in communists.

The European spring. Back after the Communist Manifesto was written.

They tried to overthrow all of Europe.

And it was called the European spring.

How could this peaceful union, suddenly have the roots in revolutionary Marxism.

Well, Colour Revolutions. Middle East.

Then Latin America.

And eastern Europe.

Ukraine is one of them.

And here's what they do.

The United States. So they can keep their distance. Goes through NGOs. And trade unions.

They train and mobilize street movements.

Kind of like, let's see if I can think of a street movement that seems like it wasn't actually real. BLM. Or the Palestinian street movements.

By the way, as we've shown you, funded by these same kind of people.

So we showed you, all of the evidence on a Colour Revolution. And how it was done.

And they did it all out in the open.

And they even bragged about it. I showed you the people, and the organizations at the top of the Colour Revolution spear.

I also showed you some of these people. NGOs. Trade unions. Are now active here in the United States.

And they seem to pop up every four years. Totally coincidentally.

Their money and their actions usually come at a time of massive civil unrest, right before an election. Now, there's usually some kind of government element at the top. Could be the CIA. Most likely, it's the State Department and USA ID.

But ultimately it's the office of the president.

So we did a chalkboard on this. We showed that that has to happen. You have to have those in the government. That are wanting to overthrow the government.

Then the operation is privatized to give it distance from the government. This is where the NGOs like the National Endowment for Democracy come in. Okay.

The NED is composed of four different entities. The National Democratic Institute, the International Republican Institute, the American Center for International Labor Solidarity, and the Center for International Private Enterprise. You see what's happening?

You have both sides. So it looks fair. Republican and Democrat.

Plus, you have labor. And private enterprise. Everybody coming together.

So this is a bipartisan kind of cover story. Next, on the food chain, you have to have the multibillion-dollar financiers, and their organizations, that partner in the entire radiation.

This is where George Soros comes in. The Open Society foundation. The Tides Foundation.

Then there are the people that spread the message. Demonstrate in the streets. And the media to report what the government wants you to report. Wants them to report.

To the masses. This is the blueprint. We've done it over and over and over again.

And I make the case, that these same people are doing it here in America.

So why is the Blaze -- why am I on this list?

I'm on this list, because I believe I'm telling you exactly what's happening.

We have a Color Revolution happening within our own government, within the NGOs and George Soros and all those people.

This is what they're doing. And there's a possibility this time, they succeed, because you have to have a, quote, illegitimate president. You have to have street movements. That are not only saying that it's illegitimate. You also have the media saying it's illegitimate.

And it doesn't work if Donald Trump is the one saying that he stole the election.

It has to be their side saying, the election was stolen.

Now, let me go back to the outlet, and who these people are.

The ones that put this miss, dis, and dangerous information out. You'll be surprised to hear that there's some of the same exact connections, to Colour Revolution.

Okay. So texty.org. That has provided this list, they do note that they couldn't establish direct proven ties between most of the people and outlets on its list. And the Russian government. Or known Russian propagandist.

Instead, they say, it just gathered evidence that these people same people and outlets have spread Russian advertise information by echoing key messages of Russian propaganda in their arguments against ending Ukraine further aid.

Okay.

So who is -- who is the -- who are the people behind texty.org. Texty.org, the cofounder is Antoli Bonde -- I could say it earlier. Bondenero (phonetic). Still wrong.

Anyway, who is he?

Has he ever been involved in anything?

Well, yeah. He was involved in the tech camp.

A public diplomacy program established by the Bureau of Educational and cultural affairs at the US Department of State.

What is the tech camp?

The tech camp is when they go into these countries, where they'll do a Colour Revolution.

And they find all these tech savvy people. And they show them how to build movements dependence their government.

That's what our State Department is doing.

Okay!

Do they -- would they like to clarify this?

Would anybody like to make a public statement on why we're there?

And, you know, curious why the editor-in-chief, and the cofounder, was trained by the State Department!

I mean, it's -- it's really interesting, that this organization has ties to the State Department and USAID.

Their founder was part of the tech camps.

I mean, it's weird. It's almost like we're -- we've been outed for saying bad things about the State Department, and the US government, perpetrating Colour Revolutions.

And saying, this is how they do it. And so then they have a Shell organization, that they themselves have created. To what?

Prove me right. Is that what's happening here. In hopes that you will never understand why names are on this list.

They say it's not a kill list. It's not an enemies list. It's just a list demonstrating the evidence supporting the thesis presented in the article. The article is not an accusation, but a study of the political and media context that influences government decisions regarding further support, for the Ukraine and the Ukrainian/Russian War. They don't deny, condemn, or dispute the right of American citizens, media, or institutions to express any opinions or hold any political beliefs.

Well, that is so great of them!

I wonder which State Department class, or USAID class they learned that one from.

Telling you, go back, it was last month. It was on the 29th of last month.

Look for my Thursday night special. It was all about Colour Revolution. And I urge you to watch it.

Because this -- you understand this. It was like -- you remember when I first said, if you understand Woodrow Wilson. You'll understand the progressive movement. And you'll see what they're after. And everything will start to come in clear?

It's the same thing with color revolution.

And I think texty. Just proved that. At least gave me enough -- enough of a nudge to remind you, you should watch that special.

Why would -- I mean, really.

Why -- why would we be on that list?

Hmm. Why would so many be on that list?

Now, some are just really anti-you know, Ukraine.

I'm not. You know, they put -- they put, what was it?

Ten people on the list. That were Congress men and senators, that were just calling for an accountant to be sent.

That's Russian disinformation?

You want an accountant -- you know what that says to me?

If you want to make that person an enemy of your cause, you're doing something with the money that we should know about.

If you're just asking for -- I mean, want accountability.

We'll send the money. I mean, want accountability.

If you call them an enemy. I think they're right. We should have accounts. You know what I mean?

Maybe it's just me and more disinformation.

Peter Gietl is the Blaze media managing editor for return.

And he has been looking into the -- the story that we were just telling you about. That this texty.org, put a list together. Of people that, you know -- I don't know, Peter, what -- what do they even say their motivation is? If it's not an enemies list?

PETER: They're trying to claim that, oh, this is just compiling information of people repeating Russian disinformation or propaganda.

But it's clear, they're -- they're conflating, you know, Russia today. With Blaze Pennsylvania and Tucker Carlson.

Anyone else who has any sort of questions about the funding, including left-wing organizations like Code Pink.

GLENN: Yeah. So I've been talking about Colour Revolution.

And I don't know where you stand on that.

But I really believe that that's what's happening in America and the left. And George Soros. And everybody else are doing what they've done in country after country for the last 20 years.

They've just perfected it. Examine now they're doing it here, to the United States. To topple her.

And make her into a democracy, instead of a republic.

But it -- it's interesting to me, that the -- the cofounder, is a guy who has deep ties to the State Department.

And to Colour Revolutions by hosting tech camp.

In one of those countries.

Am I far off base on that?

PETER: No. Absolutely not, Glenn. I completely -- completely agree with you on that.

And I found this weekend, originally, that we had been placed on that list. Along with you, and Blaze media.

But last night, I was able to dig deeper and uncover some pretty interesting stuff about this organization.

GLENN: Okay.

PETER: First of all, texty.org, they also go by Data Journalism Agency. Same board. Same email. Same address. And through the data journalism agency, they're funded by the global investigative journalism network. Which, in turn, is funded -- has been given $2 million, by the Open Society Soros Foundation.

So they're tremendously tied in.

GLENN: Right. Right.

PETER: But there's more. So then once you dig deeper. They openly admit.

Again, this organization that has placed dully elected members of Congress.

Media members.

Across America.

This foreign organization. Is also funded by the Eurasia Foundation.

Which is a United State government funding apparatus, including the transparency and accountability in public administration services.
And the US agency for international development.

And those are --

GLENN: On USAID. And those are always -- they're known by anybody who pays attention, as CIA fronts.

This is -- you know, the USAID comes into a country. They start doing things.

And next thing we know, we have a revolution on our hand. Because that's the CIA. Correct?

PETER: Absolutely. Well, and they were also funded by the National Endowment for Ten months. Which is absolutely -- it's also --

GLENN: Also. Also on that list of everybody who has participated in a Colour Revolution.

This is crazy!

PETER: So all the usual suspects were here. Funding this organization.

GLENN: Right.

Welcome to Torch. EVERYTHING is about to CHANGE...

Everything changes January 5th

Torch.

Light the Way. Seek Truth. Choose Life.

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But there is another way.

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Could Trump’s “warrior dividends” CHANGE the economy?

President Trump has announced he is giving our troops “warrior dividends” of $1,776 each from the money raised by his tariffs. Glenn and Stu debate whether this is a good idea. Also…what are the odds that the Republicans will cave on Obamacare subsidies?

Transcript

Below is a rush transcript that may contain errors

GLENN: So something the president said yesterday, that I thought was really, really good. Because it will make a difference. And it's not a redistribution of wealth. He talked about his warrior dividend.

He said, every -- the 1.45 million military personnel are going to receive $1,776 before Christmas. And he says, it's recognition for their service and sacrifice.

He says, it's one time. It's coming from tariffs because of the big, beautiful bill. Tonight, I'm proud to announce, more than 1.45 million service members will receive a special we call warrior dividend. Warrior dividend in honor of our nation's founding in 1776. We're sending every soldier $1,776. The checks are already on the way.

I think this is better than choosing another group of people. You know, who is poor? And let's give them the money. I don't like when the government hands out money. But if anybody -- I mean, they're already on the payroll, and they're underpaid. And if anybody can use it, it's the military. $1,700 is a huge amount for most people in the military. Gigantic amount. That will make an actual impact in the people's lives, who I think actually deserve. You know, we -- we don't do enough for our military. And so it's the best kind of -- I don't know. Stimulus package I've ever seen. Although, this isn't a stimulus package, I don't think. Even though, these people are going to pump it into -- I can guarantee you, they will get it, and they will use it on their family for Christmas. Which, you know, will stimulate the economy so much.
Warrior Dividends. How did you feel about that, Stu?

STU: A bit conflicted for a few reason. I obviously 100 percent agree with you that our military members deserve more money, and I'm excited they're going to get it. And I have no -- my feeling on that from a general perspective is very, very positive. Like, if we're going to give money to anybody.
GLENN: Likewise.

STU: Our military is great.

GLENN: Yep.

STU: So that's obvious.

But I had a couple of concerns. One being, you know, we're not exactly at a place where we just have tons of extra money lying around to -- you know, to throw around to people.

I know the argument is with tariffs that we have enough. But, of course, that only pays for a slight amount of our deficit, right know

So we still -- this is all money that we don't actually have. Number one. And number two, my -- I don't really understand. Maybe you have a better understandings of this. But like my understanding of the mechanism of how we spent money as the government is that Congress passes a bill to allocate money.

When you're talking about a policy like this. And I think the president's heart.

GLENN: You got rid of that under Obama.

STU: I don't think.

Well, I didn't get rid of it.

GLENN: You did. Congress. I know. It's still the law of the land.

But nobody is paying attention to it anymore.

Congress doesn't even pay attention to it anymore.

They don't seem to care.

STU: And the other thing with this part of it, particularly, Glenn. Is quite obviously, there would be very little resistence to a bill that did this.

If you put a bill in front of Congress that said, we're going to give a bonus of $1,776 to all our military members. I would love to do it, just to dare the Democrats to vote against it.

Take all the concerns out about spending. This obviously would pass. Because no one would have the balls to vote against it. Outside of Rand Paul, and Thomas Massie.

Like, there would be a couple people. But it would be pretty limiteds.

GLENN: Right.

GLENN: So it could have gone through the normal processes. I don't know if Trump is saying, I want to be -- I want to dare someone to try to stop me here.

Or if it's just, look, there's a pile of money in a military budget somewhere. That he can move around. And he has control of it, because he's commander-in-chief.

I don't really understand the mechanisms.

So I have some questions of that. Generally speaking, when you're thinking of the most offensive things that the government does, giving our military more money is nowhere near the top of that list.

GLENN: It's not one. It's not it. Not it. Not it. They deserve it. They deserve it.

Now, the Republicans pass something. I love this. They just passed their health care plan.
Which is just staying with Obamacare without re-upping the insurance part of it. So they're not for the subsidies. It's not going to pass. It's not going to pass.

This is just something that they pass in the House. It will not be passed in the Senate. Not going to go to the President's desk.

Here's what's going to happen: You're going to see the House and the Senate. No. No, no. Let me rephrase that.

I started that with a lie. While you're not paying attention this Christmas, you will not see, but it will happen, anyway, the House and the Senate will re-up the insurance subsidies, and they will pass this health care thing while nobody is paying attention. And then it will be over.

I mean, that's exactly what's going to happen. There's not a chance we come back and on January 5th, and we say, oh, my gosh. Look! Wow. They're going to close down the government. Because they didn't pass this health care thing.

Well, good for the Republicans for having a spine and standing up!

No! Not going to happen. Not going to happen

STU: It does appear, the chance of the Republicans folding here, is approaching 1 trillion percent.

I don't know. We're having major inflation numbers.

GLENN: I would say 38 trillion. 38 trillion percent.

Yeah.

STU: There you go. I don't know. Because basically what has happened is enough Republicans have already folded on this, for a three-year extension of the subsidies. Which again, is a giveaway on top of the normal Obamacare to make it Obamacare turbo and lock in even higher subsidies because the old Obamacare plan failed. So that's what we're talking about here. So going back to Obamacare as passed is now the worst thing in the world to even the Democrats. Fascinating!

But they have enough Republicans who have changed sides on this. And they are now -- the Democrats have enough votes to force a vote on this bill, which almost definitely will pass the House. Because they already have the votes, and others Republicans will want to now change sides, if there's a public vote. So it will likely pass there.

It's the possible, obviously, that they stop it in the Senate. They could stop it in the Senate.

I don't know. I don't think there's much appetite to stop this, honestly, at the end of the day.

You know, you probably will have a chance of doing it, at the Senate. That's the best chance.

My guess is, what happens. Once the pressure is there, they find a way to maybe adjust it and do a year or something like that, that gets them past the election.

But, of course, what happens this a year. We all know what happens in a year. It's the same thing that will happen this year.It the same thing that happened four years ago, when the first part of this bill went away.

In 2022. Or 2021. They came in and said, okay. Let's extend it for four more years. My guess is, there will probably be some adjustments to this plan. I don't expect at all, for Republicans to hold the line this. Not only do they not want to get rid of Obamacare. They don't even want to get rid of Obamacare turbo. They passed this thing yesterday, which does give them the argument to say, hey. We did pass some of it.

We do have a plan, it's right here. But that's all of it.

GLENN: Stu. Understand the reality. Understand the reality.

We can't get things done unless we have the House and the Senate and the White House and the Supreme Court.

So we just have to wait until we have a time when -- what?

STU: Glenn, I have breaking news.
We've got all that! We've got all of that right now.
GLENN: Well, but it's not. Yeah. It's not as big as we need it, really.

STU: Oh, yeah.

GLENN: We have to have the House, the Senate, the White House, and the Supreme Court. But we have to have more than what we said, when we said those things.

We just need those -- you know, all three branches of government. We need all three branches of government, but more.

It's like we need -- we need that turbo, kind of like Obamacare turbo.

It's never quite enough to get the job done.

STU: Never is, Glenn.

I really do expect, if we have a nine-zero Supreme Court, the presidency, and 534 combined Congress men and senators, we can't do this with this guy over here. There's one Democrat in Congress. We can't do this! That's exactly what I would expect.

GLENN: Stand in the way.

STU: It's pathetic. But it reminds you that your goals are not their goals.

You know, that's what -- I keep coming back to. Forever, Glenn when we started this show. I started the show very young. I was in my early 20s. Didn't really understand lots of things. I was unfortunately running from you, which obviously turned into a catastrophe.

But, you know, as I learned here, at the beginning, my thought was, us as conservatives, as Republicans, as the right, agree on a lot of different things. And there are disagreements as to how we get there, right?

There are sometimes people think we need to kind of fold, or we need to compromise. And we have to move slowly.

And some other people there, saying, we have to go all the way right now.

And there's that disagreement. You remember this from going back in history. Right? Slavery was like this.

There were some people who were like, abolish, abolish, abolish. And others were like, gosh, I don't think we can do that. We have to finagle. We have to work around the edges.

Every big debate has had that.

What I've learned is that actually the goals are the same. When we are saying, hey, we need to make sure government is more -- is smaller, more limited. That's not the goal of most of the people. On, quote, unquote, our side in Washington.

GLENN: Nope.

STU: They don't share those goals. So they're working for something completely different.

They're not going to what we want, as -- as a typical American conservative.

We're inching towards some of those goals.

But also, when we need to give up on them. They go the opposite direction to keep these guys in office for a couple of years. Fine!

And that's what's really frustrating here.

GLENN: So let me give you some good news. And then I'll -- and I'll spoil it for you.

But some good news. The House has just passed legislation that makes performing transgender surgeries on minors a felony. Now, here's the bad news: It passed 216 to 211.

That means, really, there are 211 Democrats that actually in their heart of hearts think that cutting into minors, cutting the breasts off. At this point, now that we have all the data that we have gathered over, you know, five years of doing this to children. At this point, there's 211 that firmly believe, yeah, no. Damn it. We should cut off the breasts. The healthy breasts off of a healthy minor. We've got to make those -- we've got to make those decisions. And a 12-year-old make that decision. A 15-year-old should make that decision.

Really? No!

It's just politics. And if they do think they believe it, they believe it because they've been party brainwashed. You know, how many of us, on any -- on any and all sides, how many of us actually believe something and have thought it through, and how many of us are just kind of zombie following the crowd?

I contend most people are just zombies following the crowd.

Whether -- that might be a crowd now of, you know what, Charlie Kirk was killed by his wife!

There's all kinds of zombie crowds. And they don't require you to think at all.
They just require you to sign up for the team. And that's -- that's my biggest problem with the Republicans. Is I'm not on a team.

You know, when I left Fox, Roger Ailes said to me, you know what your problem is? And I said, no. But I know you're going to tell me.

What's my problem?

He said, you won't play the game. He said, you know, there's -- there are well-established rules. If you need a pound of flesh, you take a pound of flesh from me.

But then you owe me a pound of flesh. So when I need a pound of flesh, I'm going to come and take it out of you. And then we go out, and we have dinner with each other.

And I was just astounded that that was actually spoken out loud. And I said, see, here's the problem: I don't believe it is a game.

I actually believe in something. And -- and I thought more people believed in something.

Don't you feel like you just want somebody to go in, like Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, and actually believe in something!

And then when they find out, wait a minute. I've been duped like Mr. Smith Goes to Washington.

They stand up and say, this is wrong!

And I'm not playing that game. And I don't want to play that game. And you kind of, again, there's so many hoops you have to jump through, for this to happen.

Then you actually have to believe that there are other people in the Congress and the Senate, that are like, you know what, he's brave enough to say it. I'm going to stand up next to him.

I mean,, oh, I remember when I was young and naive. And I believed those things would happen.

I still believe they can happen.

But only when the American people return to common sense and demand it.

"It’s a Wonderful Life" - The Amazing UNTOLD Story of the Classic Christmas Movie

It’s a Wonderful Life wasn’t always a beloved classic — in fact, it was a complete failure that nearly destroyed the careers of Frank Capra and Jimmy Stewart. Glenn Beck reveals how a forgotten film, resurrected only because its copyright lapsed, became one of the most meaningful stories in American culture. Through George Bailey’s quiet sacrifices, the movie teaches us that the true measure of a life is often invisible, discovered only through the small acts of faithfulness and love we give along the way. This timeless reminder — that ordinary people can change the world without ever seeing the ripples — is why the film still breaks our hearts, heals our spirits, and reassures us that we mattered.

Transcript

Below is a rush transcript that may contain errors

GLENN: Let me tell you a story that you think you already know. It's about a movie that feels like it's been there our whole lives. It's like a tree in the town square and the hymn. You don't remember learning, but somehow you know it by heart. But this particular movie hasn't been around forever, it just seems like it. It was actually born out of failure. It was born out of exhaustion.

And it was born out of people who felt just like its lead character, George Bailey.

It's a Wonderful Life has a fascinating story behind it. And it speaks volumes about us, our hopes, our fears, our desires.

The movie was made by Frank Capra, and it was right after World War II. Frank Capra had just come back. He didn't come home triumphant. He came home a changed man.

He had spent the war making film for the United States government. The war department.

About why the west is worth saving. This film series. They're fantastic. It's called Why We Fight.

And when he returned, his old style of doing things, the old machinery just didn't fit Hollywood anymore. So he started his own studio. He bet absolutely everything on it.

And It's a Wonderful Life was supposed to be the movie, that proved Frank Capra is still Frank Capra. And it nearly ruined him. The movie lost money. Critics really didn't like it. They mocked how schmaltzy it was. Audiences stayed home.

Jimmy Stewart, this was his first movie that he made, when he came back home from the war. And this was his start. And between Frank Capra and Jimmy Stewart. Oh, my gosh, you've got a massive hit, right?

Nobody came. Nobody watched it. Jimmy Stewart, the most beloved man in America gave a really raw, shaken, almost too real performance for people at the time. He wasn't the cheerful hero that is coming out of war as a victory.

This was a man that was cracking under the weight of responsibility. A man who did everything right, but he still felt like he was a failure.

Any of this sound familiar?

It was a story about what happened during the Depression and the crash of '29. Well, America had been living that forever!

They had been living that since '29. They went through the long Depression.

Then they went through the war. The first thing, out of war, they don't want to watch a movie about how depressing life can be. Okay?

So it was a total failure. Film disappears. Goes into a vault. It's a noble misfire.

Good idea. It just didn't land. Maybe wrong time. Eh. Maybe too schmaltzy. Then something weird happened, everybody forgot about it. And so the rights lapsed. There was no grand relaunch. There was no marketing genius, just a legal oversight that let the rights lapse.

Enter Ted Turner.

Ted Turner and Super Station TBS. Remember Super Station TBS when he bought a bunch of stations across the country, and he tied them all together.

And then cable came in, and Super Station TBS became TBS. Turner, while he was looking on super station TBS. They needed some holiday programming. And they needed it cheap. And when I say cheap, what they -- what Ted really meant was tree. We need a bunch of free programming, that we can run all Christmas.

Okay?

No rights. No royalties.

What is out there?

The vaults opened up, and lo and behold, they find It's a Wonderful Life.

Suddenly, it appears in our life, and I don't know about you. I always thought it had been around forever. It did seem like it was a new relaunch.
It was like, hey, did you hear about this new movie?

It was just there and on. We thought everybody knew about it. Nobody knew about it. Our grandparents probably didn't know we knew about it, because it was a massive failure. It's on afternoons, late nights. It's on mornings.

It's everywhere. It's everywhere. Black and white snow flickering on the living rooms. As we are playing on the floor. We as the adults are half listening, half watching. And slowly, slowly, its message found us.

It found us this time, because America had changed.

We weren't fresh from it despair. And we weren't fresh from victory anymore.

We weren't those people. It wasn't so close to us, that we didn't want to look at us!
Yes, we were tired. We were busy. We were stretched thin.

But we were also a group now that measured our lives in promotions. And in square footage. And bank balances.

We were starting to become a little Mr. Potter-like. And we didn't want to be Mr. Potter.

And there on the screen is George Bailey, standing on the bridge, wondering, would the world be better without me? He's not a villain. He's not a loser.

He's actually a really good man.
He's the best of us. And that's why it still works.

Think of all the happy endings and all we have, and everything else. And all of the stories that we tell ourselves.

This movie doesn't tell you, that life will turn out the way you planned.

This one tells you something much, much harder. That the measure of your life is probably going to be invisible to you, while you're living your life.

Because Clarence ain't coming down in his 1800s clothing, and having a hot toddy with you.

So you probably won't know the real measure of your life. And the biggest victories in your life don't come with applause. And the sacrifice, it usually doesn't feel heroic at the moment. It just feels like sacrifice. And crap. Why me. Why me?
Why don't I ever get the adventure that I planned my whole life? Remember, George never left Bedford Falls. He never becomes famous. He just stays. And he shows up. And he keeps his promises. And he holds people together.

What is the real -- what's the real miracle of the film?

Because it's not Clarence. It's not the bells.

It's not him getting his life back. The real miracle is the ledger. That's the miracle. The names, the faces, the small kindness, you all stacked you up, one on top of each other, until you realize, oh, my gosh. All of those little acts, they amount to a life that actually mattered. We're all looking for the big splashy -- he didn't get any of those. He didn't get that.

And that's why he felt like he was a failure. That's why when the town shows up in the end, and they're all giving just a few dollars, it breaks us every single time. Because deep down, we're not watching George Bailey. Deep down, we're checking our own books, our own ledger. Did I? Do I matter to anybody? Would I be missed? Do the things I gave up -- the things I really wanted to do in life, but because something else came up. I had to serve, I had to do this for my kids. Or I had to do this -- the things I gave up, does it mean anything?

This film answers it with a whisper. It doesn't shout it. It whispers.

You'll never fully know the good you've done. I can't give you an answer. You'll never know it. You'll never see the ripples while you're standing in the water.

But they're there. Believe me, they're there.

So this year, when you either just have it running, while you're all in the kitchen. And you're watching time to time. Oh, I love this part. I love this part.

And everybody gets quiet and you just curl on the couch and watch it again, remember, you're not watching a Christmas movie.

What you're watching is a reminder that life doesn't have to be loud to be important.

That staying can be braver than leaving. That loving your family and your neighbors and your town, imperfect as it is, that's not settling.

It's choosing. And whether Ted Turner knew it or not, I can guarantee you, that Jimmy Stewart did. And Frank Capra certainly did.

That every time you see that, why we, year after year, when the snow starts falling in that old piano theme play as we comes back. Not for the nostalgia. But for the reassurance.

Because every once in a while, all of us need somebody just to look us in the eye and say, you're here!

You mattered.

And it is a wonderful life.

How Trump TRICKED the media with his presidential address

President Trump recently addressed the nation about his administration’s many accomplishments over its first year. Glenn Beck reviews the best moments of the speech, as well as some moments he doesn’t believe will age well. Plus…did Trump trick the media into playing his highlight reel by making them think he would declare war with Venezuela?

Transcript

Below is a rush transcript that may contain errors

GLENN: So last night, the President spoke, and, you know, he started out.

It was -- it was -- let me give you the overall first. I've never seen him more disciplined.

I think the speech was like, I don't know. It was over by 20 minutes after. And I think he ran six minutes late. I mean, I've never seen -- he doesn't say hello in less than 20 minutes.

He stayed on script the whole time. He was extraordinarily disciplined. He was forceful with it. And he explained what has been done in the last year. And he started out saying, a year ago, our country was dead. Now we're the hottest country. We're the hottest country in the world right now. Nobody has ever seen anything like it.

He said, you know, when he took -- when he took over, inflation was the worst in 48 years.

Caused prices to be higher than ever. Making life unaffordable for millions of Americans. And he said, over the past 11 months, we brought more positive change to Washington than any administration in American history.

Never been anything like it.

He talked about successfully negotiating $18 trillion of investments into the country.

And he said, but the real problem for most Americans was under Biden, car prices rose 22 percent in many states. He said, 30 percent or more. Gasoline rose 30 to 50 percent.

Hotel rates raised 37 percent. Airfare rose 31 percent. And he said, they're all coming down. They're coming down fast. Faster than anybody expected. Drugs, brought by ocean and sea are now down by 94 percent. He said, we broke the grip of sinister woke radicals in our schools.

I restored American strength, settled eight wars in ten months, destroyed the Iran nuclear threat. And ended a war in Gaza, bringing for the first time in 3,000 years, peace to the Middle East.
Then he talked about, you know, what's coming next!

Now, here are my thoughts on this: You know, everybody was speculating, he's going to say we're going to war. What would give you that impression?

I mean, he doesn't -- that is the very last resort. And we are not out of tricks with Venezuela.

I don't think we're going to war with Venezuela.

I think he's making it look like we're going to war, to freak Venezuela out.

And to get Maduro out.

I don't think we're going into war.

I hope we're not. I could be wrong.

But I just don't think that's his deal.

Everybody is speculating, he will announce we're going to war.

No. He's not.

However, is it possible that they were leaking this?

Because I saw this as the kickoff of the campaign. I saw this as okay. This is the message for 2026 for the Republicans.

And it was so disciplined and -- and so tight. You know, he gets -- when the president calls a speech at night and says, he wants to address the nation be, the networks are asked to carry it.

Sometimes they don't. They don't have to. But if he said, look, I only need 20 minutes, I'm sure that everybody at NBC. I mean, I did. Rolled my eyes. Yeah. It will be 20 minutes.

It will be an hour and 20 minutes. But it was tight and focused in 20 minutes.

I wonder if the war thing wasn't a way to get them to cover this.

If -- if it wasn't a leak from the White House. You know, I think he might. I think he might announce war tonight. Then everybody will cover it. I don't know.

Maybe that's me being too sinal. I don't know. Can you be too cynical at this point?

Here's the thing. He said a couple of things that I didn't think will serve him well. And it's only because -- and I think you feel the same way.

I know I'm sick of it. And I've been reporting on it since the beginning of Obama.

And I hated it when Obama was doing it. And he did it for eight years. Biden did it for four years.

And here's the line: I inherited a mess. I inherited trouble. I'm cleaning up somebody else's mess.

True. It's absolutely true. It wasn't with Biden.

It kind of was with Obama, at the beginning.

But, you know, when you're seven years into it. You haven't cleaned that up yet?

I mean, you've got to get a bigger mop. But it's definitely true under Donald Trump. However, people have heard that now from the last three presidents.

And they're tired of it. It has no meaning anymore. Even though it's true.

And I want to go back to truth here in a second. The other thing that I don't think will serve him well is the economy is doing better than ever.

You're going to love it. It's great. People are not -- that might be true!

In my opinion, it's not. It is doing much, much better.

I mean, you know, you -- you had -- what was it?

Twenty-five percent. Thirty percent inflation added to everything? You've got to go into negative inflation to be able to get those prices down. They're going to be up there. And what's happening is, we still are adding 2 percent inflation. And that's the target. I don't know why we put up with that target, but that's the target.

So you'll have 2 percent price increases every year. Now, we're at 3 percent. We get the numbers out today.

It might go into the twos. Are they out yet?

STU: Yeah. 2.7, the number out today.

GLENN: 2.7 that's great.

STU: Yeah, it's better. It's going the right direction. They say part of that might be because the government shutdown, so we're not sure how long that lasts, but positive movement anyway.

GLENN: Yeah, so that's fantastic! So coming down to 2.7. Remember, we were at 9, and it was compounding year after year after year.

So he is bringing things down. And the price of some things like gasoline and eggs. And some of the stuff you get at the grocery, are way down. They're not back to where they were in 2016. Or 2020.

Because, I mean, he's just trying to stop the inflation.
So what's happening, and this is what I say, will serve him well is, there was this great marketing book out in the '80s called Positioning the Battlefields of Your Mind -- or, Battleground of Your Mind.

And it was a book that led to the Cola Wars. It was the understanding of the Cola Wars and how Pepsi could beat Coca-Cola.

They had to change the perception. And the perception was, that Coca-Cola was it!

And Pepsi had to change it, and that's why they became the choice of a new generation. And for a while, Pepsi was -- it may have even beaten Coke.

But there was this real Cola War back and forth the whole time. They didn't change the flavors. They didn't change anything.

Pepsi was what Pepsi always had been. Coca-Cola was what Coca-Cola had always been.

They needed to change the perception, okay? Because perception, whether it's true or not, perception is reality.

Whatever people perceive, and feel, is their reality.

So it's the reality that you have to deal with.

People don't feel the relief yet. They see the prices coming down. But they're still paying out the same amount of money that they were paying out under Joe Biden.

It's not getting worse. Except, by 2.7 percent overall.

But it's -- it's not getting better to them. You know, certain categories are.

But overall, you're still struggling with your rent and everything else!

And so people's perception is: It -- it's not what I expected. Because what I expected was 2019!

I expected to have jobs and the economy rolling. And the price of housing coming down. And everything else.

And it's not.

So what's not going to serve him well is saying, "Your perception is wrong." He might be right! It doesn't matter! You can't tell people their perception is wrong. You have to change that perception.

And the only way to really change it is to demonstrate it, or through ads, you know, back in the Cola War era, they just changed slogans and do ads and everything else. But people don't buy slogans anymore. They don't buy ads anymore. They don't even trust logos anymore. So that won't work.

You actually have to change people's lives to change their perception. Now, 25 percent last month said that they felt that their personal finances were doing better. That was last month. Or the month before last.

This last month, it's up to 27 percent.

So he's moving that in the right direction. But to win, you've got to be over 40 percent.

Easy over 40 percent have to feel like their personal finances are getting better. 27 percent is not enough. But it is moving in the right direction.

So when the president says he's got to relate to the people who steal -- who have defended him, liked him, and believe in him, he's got to say, I know you're feeling the pinch.

You know, one of the things he said last night. But I don't think it's connected yet to people.

And it's because it's absolutely true. Why do you think that you are spending more every month for your rent?

Why?

You're spending more on rent, because there's too many people chasing too few houses and apartments.

You cannot add ten to 15 million people in four years, while you're not building things. You can't add 10 million people into your country and say, oh, by the way. Go get housing.

Where are they going to get the housing?

The housing, you're going to have a shortage, which will cause the prices to go up.

So until you get rid of those 10 million people. You're not going to lower the price.

And especially if the government is subsidizing them.

Because, I mean, look at the NGOs. If people know, the government will pay. They will keep the price up. What would happen with NGOs. Look what's happening with universities. Why do you think universities are so expensive?

They weren't like that. Until the government said, we will guarantee the loans. Once the government said, we'll guarantee the loans, prices went true the roof because everybody could get a loan!

That's the problem. He's got to connect this, and I think he started last night. He's done it a few times. But somewhere or another, it's really got to connect with the American people.
You cannot solve the housing crisis and not solve the immigration crisis. You have to send people back home, or you're going to have to wait five years, as we build new apartment complexes and new buildings. And we stabilize under these ten million new homes that were needed.

That's not popular. And nobody is going to wait that long. Somehow or another, he's got to make that point. And it's got to connect with people, to give him more time to turn things around, on the housing.

Now, he also was really strong in saying that he was appointing -- wait until you meet the guy to appoint the head of the Fed.

Well, I would like to meet that person too. I would like to know who that is. He said he will do it right after the first of the year. Because our Fed chair is leaving, after the first of the year in February. And he said he's a guy who understands low interest rates. And, you know, low mortgage rates, looser money. That could be really dangerous with -- with inflation, but we'll see.

But that could be a turning point, one way or the other, a new Fed chair will be a new turning point.

And hopefully, Trump and this new Fed chair know what they're doing, and it won't make things worse.

But I don't know how you can with the Fed. I mean, they've already made everything so bad.