RADIOMarch 25, 2022

These 4 STEPS to anti-semitism are ALREADY HAPPENING

For the first time in his life, Glenn says, America has become a force for darkness: ‘We are knowingly on the wrong side in so many ways.’ So many Americans, Glenn explains, are DUPED. They’re not properly learning some of the most important lessons from history. But some lessons we must NEVER forget. So, Rabbi Yitzchok Adlerstein, Founding Editor of Cross Currents and Director of Interfaith Affairs at the Simon Wiesenthal Center, joins Glenn to detail the four ‘rungs’ of anti-semitism: how movements against Jews begin and then spread. The last rung, Rabbi Alderstein explains, is ALREADY happening in some places around the United States. He details it all in this clip…

Transcript

Below is a rush transcript that may contain errors

GLENN: Hello, America. I am going to introduce you to a man who changed the course of what I do. Changed my life, and didn't know about it, until about 60 seconds ago, when he walked into the studio. I haven't seen him for six years. He is a remarkable man. And going to talk to us a little bit about Ukraine, anti-Semitism, what is really going on in the world. And your calling, to stand against it.

Rabbi Yitzchok Adlerstein. Welcome.

RABBI: It's great to be here. A little shocked by your intro.

GLENN: Yeah. Well, you sat in my office six years ago.

RABBI: Right.

GLENN: And you shocked me. Because you said, I would like to ask you to -- I appreciate what you've said about Jews and anti-Semitism. But I would like to concentrate a little bit more on the Christians, because they're coming for you guys first this time. And that shocked me. And I know who you are. And, you know, I respect you and your opinion. And I put that into practice. And we have been all over the world, trying to save any persecuted religious minority, that is coming under fire. Because you're right. I mean, it's -- it's going to be all of us. And now, you come to me, and it's interesting. Because now, you're -- you're saying, okay. Maybe it's -- maybe it's time. This is at least what I'm reading in your visit. Maybe it's time to also really start talking about the Jews. Because we're at a critical stage. It's getting bad.

RABBI: It is. I'll stand by what I told you six years ago, that the most endangered religious minority today is Christians and Christianity. Those are the people who venture out of their houses and sometimes within their houses, and are getting picked off. Look what's going on in Nigeria, really. A whole swath of territory, from western Africa.

GLENN: Happening in China too.

RABBI: China.

GLENN: They're rewriting the Bible. I mean, you would probably know this. It took the churches in Germany, about six months, before they started taking Hitler's advice on maybe the Old Testament is a little too Jewish. So we should drop that from -- that's crazy. When people hear that, they don't believe it. But that's what China is doing right now. They're rewriting the Bible.

RABBI: And there are so many people that think you can get away with that. You know, the Soviet persecution of minorities, 70 years, and yet 2006, a poll in Russia, this is post-Iron Curtain Russia showed that 84 percent of Russians claimed they believed in God. How does that happen?

And some people think that that's surprising. But it's not. Because people really can't live without God. Some of them unfortunately don't realize it. But without God, our societies are not stable. Our families are not stable.

GLENN: It's what's happening here in America. It's what's happening.

RABBI: You bet.

GLENN: So can we talk about Ukraine, just a little bit?

RABBI: Sure.

GLENN: I thought of -- I actually thought of you the other day. When I was watching Ukraine, and I thought, for the first time, for the first time really, Jews are escaping a country, not because of persecution, but because the Russians are coming. And they have a place to go. They have a place to go. Israel. Where nobody can stop them from going there. Once they get out of the country. They don't have to worry about what country will take me. That's a miracle. That's a huge change.

RABBI: In fact, Natan Teranski (phonetic), the iconic figure of resistance to Soviet Russia said when he grew up in Ukraine, there were lots of nationalities. Everyone got along. Everybody was equal. Except for one group. If you had Jew on your identity card, you took a lot of garbage. And you didn't get into schools. And you didn't get jobs. And he said, look at God's revenge. Today, it's the opposite. People -- the pictures are horrifying. People are crossing the border, no idea where they go, next, and one group has the privilege of knowing that they have family around the world.

GLENN: Right.

RABBI: There was a time that Christians felt like they were all one big family. And we've lost so much of that.

GLENN: What -- so -- because the president of Ukraine, who is Jewish, said, you know, Israel. You've got to help us out here. Look at what we've done. Look at what we've done in the past for Jews. Now, I'm a student of history. Maybe not that good a student of history. Because Ukraine was a killing field for Jews. Right? World War II.

RABBI: Absolutely. It goes back a lot further than World War II, 17th century. Essentially, the founder of Ukraine killed more than half of all the Jews in the Ukraine.

GLENN: My gosh.

RABBI: 300 communities, totally decimated in World War II. Everybody knows about Bobby R. When Ukrainians watched while the Nazis, and eager Ukrainian volunteers massacred, shot, all those people. And put them in that massive ravine. While they were eating ice cream. And watching.

GLENN: Right. So they're saying that we're -- you know, we're supporting them because -- because they're a good country, good people, et cetera, et cetera. And we deny the existence of the Nazis. But we helped train those people, during the -- right after the last -- the last revolution. This guy now, the president is a Jew. The Nazis do exist. But it's not like the Nazis. It's a small group. Or are there -- is there a real problem of Nazis there?

RABBI: It's a small group, that people in the Ukraine, Jews in the Ukraine, report that they have grown up, without any feeling of anti-Semitism. They feel it may be there beneath the surface. But it's there in every country, including the United States. And critics will point to the Azoff group, which is a paramilitary group, which ties in to neo-Nazi groups. But then on the other side, you have the Wagner group. Putin's own paramilitary private army that is equally named.

GLENN: Yeah. Named Wagner. I love people saying, it's Wagner. No. It's Wagner. Wagner. Named after the composures, Hitler's favorite composer.

RABBI: But at the same time, we do have to appreciate the fact that the vast, vast majority of people screaming out of Ukraine today are innocent people. Are not tied into whatever their grandparents did. These are older people. Younger people whose lives have been disrupted overnight. They certainly, certainly require and should be getting our sympathy.

GLENN: I am -- I am concerned. Well, before we leave Ukraine. There's another controversy. And that controversy is the iron dome. Israel will not give the iron dome to Ukraine. How do you respond to that?

RABBI: You know, I live in Jerusalem. In the valley just below my home, there's an iron dome installation. In -- last -- in the Gaza war last spring, we essentially ran out of iron dome missiles. We had to be resupplied.

GLENN: Unbelievable.

RABBI: You know, a couple of our friends on the squad were against resupplying us. People forget that Israel lives with existential angst every day. There are people out to destroy us. Not the least of which is in Iran, which is benefiting from this war, because somehow our administration is so bent on signing a -- a counterproductive treaty, that is not going to do anything, other than release billions of dollars to them. Israel needs iron dome. It would do relatively little in a country as vast and as big as Ukraine. Iron dome is meant for small areas, where you know the direction of incoming missiles.

GLENN: Right.

RABBI: Not the kind of really modern missiles, that Russia is lobbing in, including hypersonic weapons. And where a vast border means they can come from any direction at all.

GLENN: So let's talk about the Iranian deal. This is horrifying to me. Horrifying. I mean, we were making such progress in the Middle East. Under Donald Trump. And that's all gone. And now, we've hacked off Saudi Arabia, by doing this deal. They're not happy with us. In fact, they're not even returning our president's phone call. And I think that Israel is going to have to respond, when this deal is done. Because we are allowing the Russians to come in and build more plants for them. This is insanity.

RABBI: Add to that, the fact that Americans, and most of the -- all the free world sees what one madman can do.

GLENN: Yeah.

RABBI: The kind of devastation, that he can bring down upon people, if there's nothing holding him back. Now, add to that, in Iran, where you have in addition to that, religious fervor. People who are not afraid of absorbing nuclear bombs. Because it is part of the mission. It will bring the 11th imam.

GLENN: Yes. Those who -- those who are a part of that 12er sect. Are terrifying. And the average person in Iran, might not be. But, America, think of it this way. Are you for the things that are going on in Washington?

Are you like, yeah. That's what I voted for. They listened to me. Imagine in Iran, you don't have any say, on what they're doing. It could be a crazy sect at the top, which it is. That believe, we're going to hasten the return of the promised one.

RABBI: And one high-ranking official. I don't remember his name, a couple of years ago. Said, Israel is a one-bomb country. Meaning, we can finish it off with just one well-placed nuclear weapon. But -- and Iran will absorb a few.

GLENN: Well, here's what the Iranian revolutionary guard Corp commander-in-chief, general Hussein Salami said yesterday, in Iran. Iran's enemies such as Israel and the United States, have an expiration date, as the New World Order is upon us. That's a little frightening.

RABBI: Just a little.

GLENN: Just a little.

All right. I want to take a quick break. Then I want to ask you, because you did something -- is it the ladder or the rungs of anti-Semitism? And I have been concerned, seeing this grow overseas, but it is growing in a great number of people, who are our neighbors. But I don't think they even understand it, as anti-Semitism. And I want to talk to you about those rungs. And what they are. They are the -- the four rungs of anti-Semitism. Do I have it right? Four rungs of anti-Semitism. We'll go there in just a second.

GLENN: So sitting in my studio is the director of interfaith affairs, at the Simon Wiesenthal Center. His name is Rabbi Yitzchok Adlerstein, and it's a pleasure to have you here.

RABBI: Thank you.

GLENN: So let's talk about what's happening. First in -- in Europe. How bad is it getting in Europe?

RABBI: Anti-Semitism?

GLENN: Yes.

RABBI: It's pretty bad. Jews are not so comfortable walking around in the street with anything identifying them as Jews. Not true of everyone, of course. But people are increasingly conscious of it. The attacks on religious institutions. Something we've never talked about in the United States. How many churches have burned in the year in France. But it's worse with synagogues. By grandchildren in Berlin attend a school, where they are guarded by German police. Which is kind of ironic.

GLENN: Yeah.

RABBI: And when -- when you have a continent, where people have -- people show -- people stated years ago, that the single biggest threat to peace, not Iran. Not China. But Israel.

GLENN: Uh-huh.

RABBI: Then you know something is going on beneath the surface. Europeans never liked Jews too much to begin with. It's not like the United States. And things are getting bad.

GLENN: The United States though, I think is -- I mean, policy-wise. I don't know what our friendship is with Israel, or -- it seemed -- it seems to be a little anti-Semitic, on the left now. In fact, a lot of anti-Semitic on the left. And anti-Semitic lighter, if you will, in the Democratic Party.

RABBI: There's still a lot of bipartisan support of Israel. Perhaps the threat to that is that so many young people are listening, not to anything Jewish. But to what they hear from professors on campus. That they've swallowed. They've swallowed the whole -- the whole theory out there, that the -- that the Jews are the last colonialist power conceived in sin, and the world will not be a safe place until we get rid of it.

GLENN: That's crazy.

RABBI: It is crazy.

GLENN: You know, it is -- I never understood -- I'll get to this in a second. But I never understood how Jewish people could live in Germany, with all of the things that were being done. Led up to just the mass slaughter. And how they would always say, yeah. But it's not going to get worse than this. It's not going to get worse than this. And how so many people said, look, I'm a patriot of this country. They're not going to do that to me. I never understood it, until recently. Because some of the same things are being said about Christians. And people who vote differently. They're saying crazy things, but you're like, yeah. But that will never happen here. And there's this disconnect -- there's just this like -- I don't know where the bridge is. But there's a bridge somewhere, to where that becomes real. And I don't know what the last signs are. I don't know what it is, that makes you go, you know, I don't think I should be here. Do you know what I'm saying?

RABBI: Absolutely.

GLENN: Can you help me with that?

RABBI: Well, of course, there's a human reticence to believe that their whole world and everything that they are in, could fall apart. So you avoid even listening to news that works in that direction.

GLENN: Right.

RABBI: But I don't know how many more years Jews have in America, how many years Americans have in America.

GLENN: That is -- that is terribly frightening. Okay. We're going to -- he's going to compare and show us, where we are, and where Europe is, the rest of the world, on the ladder of anti-Semitism. And it is pretty shocking. We'll go there, in just a minute. Stand by.

GLENN: So Stu and I were just having a chat here, off -- you know, off-air. We were talking to a guy who truly changed my life. He's the director of interfaith affairs at the Simon Wiesenthal Center. He's also the founding editor of Cross Currents. He's Rabbi Yitzchok Adlerstein. And I just said to Stu a minute ago, that for the first time in my life, I feel that America is a force for darkness or evil. I just think, we are knowingly on the wrong side in many ways. And that scares me because God's protection leaves us. But also because so many people are duped. There's a lot of people that just don't -- I mean, I've read enough history. And if you read enough history, you can see -- it's like reading the Bible. You read the Bible, and you're like, what? Three pages ago, you guys learned this lesson. What happened? It's that. It's, you -- somehow or another, we forget, and we make exactly the same mistakes. I want to talk to you about the Abrahamic Accords. But first, can you give they the rungs? The anti-Semitic rungs?

RABBI: Sure, this is something we observed starting a number of years ago. The anti-Semitism of the left was progressing in a -- in a given direction. Anti-Semitism on the right, we sort of know how to deal with.

GLENN: It's pretty obvious. They come in brown shirts.

RABBI: Right. And they are marginal. They're never going to attract the majority of Americans. They're not going to have a recreation of Hitler's brown shirts in the US. The left is a different matter. It started, the first rung was we are going to boycott the settlements. Not Israel, mind you. Israel is a Democratic state. It has a lot of support, so we can't get away with that. So it's just settlements. And that became popular with main line Christian churches, who have now dwindled to about 36 people collectively. But -- but another historic force. And especially on campus. The second rung was, well, of course, it's the settlements, which is the real problem there. Ignoring about 100 years of history, in the region, including attempts to drive Israel into the sea, before there was anything.

GLENN: Right.

RABBI: But now we have to talk about boycotting Israel in general, because Israel supports it is settlements. Now, we're still talking about Israel. And we're talking about Zionist expansionism, and things like that. Whatever they can get to stick to the wall. And some churches got into that. Even doing things like changing the literature, to make it clear, that all Biblical references to Israel, have nothing to do with the modern state, which, of course --

GLENN: Did they actually do that?

RABBI: Than three nominations.

GLENN: Really? That's what they did in Nazi Germany.

RABBI: Well, different -- different motives.

GLENN: Yeah. Wow.

RABBI: But the third rung -- and a lot of people are still -- are still there. You know, that's what Ben & Jerry's was.

GLENN: Yeah.

RABBI: Ostensibly, they said, pull out of the settlements. Knowing that you can't pull out of the settlements, without pulling out of all of Israel. So effectively, they were boycotting all of Israel.

GLENN: And divesting.

RABBI: Yeah. So the third rung, things get even scarier. Then the assumption is, we're not talking about Israel anymore. But the assumption now is that Zionists are a fair target, no matter where they are. People started coming after Hillals (phonetic) on campus. Hillals are a pro-Zionist group, although pretty left-wing and always willing to consider both sides of the argument. They're not rah-rah rightest groups. But Zionists became a fair target. All Zionists. And you have groups including I think the last one Tufts. Asking to ban all student groups, that won't take a -- an oath that they don't support Zionism. Because Zionism. Because Zionism, per se. So now you have like crossing --

GLENN: Yeah. Now it's not a country.

RABBI: Right.

GLENN: It's closer to the individual.

RABBI: And the fourth rung, which some groups have, the Bay Area spokeswoman for CAIR. Which we consider to be a full terrorist organization.

GLENN: Yes. So do I.

RABBI: Said a couple of weeks ago, warned the members of CAIR, that you have to watch out for synagogue groups. Now, not Zionist groups. But synagogue groups.

GLENN: Well, what -- who belongs to a synagogue group?

RABBI: I wonder.

GLENN: I'm usually not put into that category.

RABBI: It's a Greek word. So maybe it has something to do with ancient Greece. But what happens here is that Jews, per se, the average Jew in the street becomes a target. So you see the targeting of Jews who look like Jews. In Brooklyn. Daily.

GLENN: I bet. We're seeing this cross a lot of lines. And the same thing happened in the past. Where, first it was, oh, you're a conservative. You're a Republican. Oh, you were a voter for Donald Trump. To, oh, you're a person that won't support this, this, and this. And it is directly targeting the person.

RABBI: The person. The person.

GLENN: That's when it gets really scary.

RABBI: And the assumption contrary to everything that America stood for. For 200 years.

GLENN: Yeah. I know.

RABBI: That you don't teal with group identities. But you consider the person a person. That now, at least in terms of Jews, pushed by groups on the left, and by Nation of Islam. Farrakhan. Which is -- who has done a lot of harm, in inner city black communities.

GLENN: And Karl Marx. You know. And Karl Marx. Karl Marx is -- his philosophies -- I mean, socialism doesn't usually lead to -- I mean, you could be socialist, and not anti-Semitic. But when you're Karl Marx socialism. When you are aiming for pitting groups against each other, it's almost always socialist.

RABBI: I think I'll have to disagree with you. Because Karl Marx talked about actively pitting them. He said the forces of history would do that. It was inevitable. And they would -- they would conflict with each other. But here you have people, who are prodding young Americans. Americans on campus.

GLENN: Right.

RABBI: And urging them to think with groupthink. And reject certain people and certain identities. Especially starting with Jews.

GLENN: So we were -- I thought headed in the right direction. Making progress like I've never seen in my life. I mean, the Abrahamic Accords were literally, I think a miracle. Never thought I would see that in my life. You were part of that, weren't you? You were for ten years on those accords.

RABBI: Correct.

GLENN: And it was Trump that was the last piece that put it over the top?

RABBI: Trump was the last piece that put it over the top. It was the support of a lot of people in -- in the Emirates, and in -- in Bahrain.

GLENN: Right.

RABBI: Bahrain, which has its critics, nonetheless had a history of over 100 years of genuine religious tolerance. They have a street in the capitol, in which you can find the Catholic Church, the Protestant Church, a Hindu temple, and a mosque, on the same street. And this is not since the Abrahamic Accords. This is something they used to capitalize on in creating the Abrahamic Accords. And people in the region discovered, you know, United States under Obama, did not prove to be such a reliable ally. Things are changing. Iran is this big Specter, that is looking for domination. I'm going to turn this thing into a Shiite/Sunni War. And if there's anything they hate worse than Jews, it's the other side in that.

GLENN: Yeah. I know.

RABBI: So what it led to is people who had naturally gotten along, to -- to a large extent. Wasn't perfect. But anti-Semitism in the Islamic world was not -- certain times, was not anywhere as intense as it was in Europe. And people do get along in those regions. And they were tired of the Palestinians, kind of crying to the world, about we're the most oppressed people out there. Got other people out there. Got to worry about Iran. And we have to think of a new -- a new collaboration here in the Middle East.

GLENN: So is it still holding together?

RABBI: It is holding together beautifully.

GLENN: What happens when Saudi Arabia turns east, and Iran toward -- points north and east? Or Moscow and China?

RABBI: That -- you know, there's -- there's no predicting where that will lead to. But I can tell you one thing that will be very hard to change. The Abraham Accords led immediately to the opening of doors of two peoples with each other. So now it's not so uncommon to find Muslim visitors to Israel. Who are accepted, and then treated warmly, in the streets of Israel.

GLENN: Is it true -- is it true that one of the big players, a state player went undercover to Israel?

RABBI: Somebody who had been working on it. On behalf of the government in Ukraine. Decided with the permission of the -- of the highers up. That he wanted to see Israel for himself. This was about five years ago. It was before the Abraham Accords. But at one point, I was doing a draft for the king on what became called the Bahrain Declaration. Together with our mutual friend Johnnie Moore, we were working on the first draft.

GLENN: He's a good man.

RABBI: And this person surprised us, told us he had recently came from Israel. He said, I only had time to visit two cities. I went to Tel Aviv. He said, that was cosmopolitan!

GLENN: Oh, it is. It's New York.

RABBI: Urbane. And then he said, and then I went to Jerusalem. And my heart fell. And I said, oh, I'm going to have to defend my city.

GLENN: It's the religious part --

RABBI: Before I could get the words out, he said, you know, Tel Aviv, I just found to be another concrete jungle.

GLENN: Yes.

RABBI: He said, in Jerusalem. Practicing Muslim. He said, in Jerusalem, I could feel the presence of God walking in the street.

GLENN: I am telling you, that is true. The first time be with the Temple Mount actually is like a -- is like a pulsar. Where you can feel it. You get anywhere in Israel, at least I can -- you can feel it. You know why everything happens around Israel. It's almost like the world spins with Jerusalem as the center. Or the North Pole, if you will. Because it is God's seat. And you feel it, when you get there. It's amazing.

RABBI: And the Jewish version, on that, always was, that my house will be a house of prayer for all of the nations. This was the Jewish dream. It wasn't to convert the -- the rest of the world. Neither by the sword, nor by persuasion to Judaism. It was to convert the world to -- to a belief in the one God. And incorporating his presence in our lives, at all times. And the place where you can feel the potential for that, is Jerusalem. And it doesn't matter if you're Jewish or you're a Christian or you're a Muslim.

GLENN: No. Yeah. You can feel it. You can feel it. You can feel it. Rabbi, thank you very much. God bless you. The director of the interfaith affairs at the Simon Wiesenthal Center. The founding editor of Cross Currents. You can find that at cross-currents.com.

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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.