RADIOOctober 26, 2023

The ONE THING you need to know about House Speaker Mike Johnson

Most people don't know too much about the new Speaker of the House, Rep. Mike Johnson. He's gone mostly under the media's radar during his time in Congress. So, Glenn finds it odd that the corporate media immediately started attacking him. But that might be "a pretty good sign," Glenn argues. "Be cautious," he warns, but we might finally have a good speaker. And his first test, the next government spending bill, is right around the corner.

Transcript

Below is a rush transcript that may contain errors

GLENN: Oh, my gosh, the new speaker is here. You are excited?

STU: Mike Johnson.

GLENN: He's the one who we've been looking for. He's the one.

Now, let me tell you a little bit about what I know about Mike Johnson. Okay. Now that we have that covered, let me tell you how I view this.

The media loves Mike -- or hates Mike Johnson.

STU: Today.

GLENN: Hates him. Yeah. Hates him.

STU: Passionately hate him.

GLENN: Remember when McCarthy was Hitler.

STU: Oh, yeah. He was the most right-wing Speaker in history.

GLENN: Yeah, this is Hitler's Hitler. This is the one who Hitler looked up to. Oh, my gosh. That guy is bad.

STU: I noticed that in the coverage. All of a sudden, Kevin McCarthy is a moderate guy. This guy, he's crazy.

GLENN: Oh, he's nuts.

Okay. So here's the thing.

I'm just going to give you. I want you to do. I want you to view this in a different way.

I remember being on the air, when the -- I don't remember, white or black smoke came out of -- of the Vatican. And we were like, got a new pope.

And the media was like, oh, we're going to hate all these popes. All these popes, they're bad popes.

This pope is going to be a really bad pope. They're so bigoted. And then Francis, they pulled out the name.

I mean, immediately, within ten minutes. Everyone on CNN, MSNBC, was like, oh, he's a good pope. He's one of the best popes ever.

He's going to be, wow.

We love this guy. And I remember looking at Stu saying, uh-oh. There's something really wrong with this guy. Okay?

STU: Uh-oh pap.

GLENN: So what did we do?

We didn't know. We had a pretty good indication, because the media loved him.

Seeing that the media does not love Johnson, I think that's a pretty good sign.

But just like this pope, I didn't want to say, uh-oh. More than, be cautious.

So I'm going to say the same thing here. Be cautious.

But maybe, we have a good pope. Or, I mean, a good speaker.

Unlike, I said, be cautious. This guy could be a nightmare.

Be cautious.

This guy might be good.

STU: Yeah. Look, it could be good.

His voting record, isn't all that much better than McCarthy's. Pretty much the same.

GLENN: But McCarthy was not that bad.

STU: It seems like a catastrophe.

The question was, is the risk worth it, for this type of outcome?

As we said in the beginning, most likely, what will happen, is someone similar, like McHenry, or McCarthy or Scalise. Is the guy that will get through. And that's probably what will happen.

He is conservative. Like, he's very good on issues like pro-life. He didn't have that problem with McCarthy really either.

And, of course, they're not going to ban abortion. Well, they only have the House. Like, that won't happen.

GLENN: Right. So here's the thing.

We will know quite quickly, because we have the spending bill coming up.

And what a surprise, it happens right before the holidays. Happens right before Thanksgiving. Huh.

Nothing bad ever happens in Congress. When we all go away, for Thanksgiving and Christmas.

STU: Right. We have our holiday parties. And they have their holiday parties. And their holiday parties are much better than ours. They spent trillions of dollars.

GLENN: Right. So we'll see. With this first holiday party.

If we --

STU: He's already indicated, Glenn, by the way, he will support a spending deal to go forward.

So this is not like a guy who will reverse the things like Matt Gaetz said, for example. He was opposed. He was upset about. This is a guy who he outwardly said, he wants to sign a short-term spending deal, to get us through these times, so the government doesn't shut down.

So, again, I think you'll get similar -- that's not the worst thing in the world.

GLENN: How long is the short-term thing? Like, if you give it to February. I'm not thrilled with this, by any stretch.

Because something will come you up. And they will be like, you know what, we need a little more time.

Short spending bills is not the answer. However, a -- a CR is really bad. And if he gives us another continuing resolution, where they don't -- they don't -- they don't even try to put spending, back where it belongs, there's trouble.

STU: I mean, look, they're going to spend some sort.

They will get some sort of spending package through. It might be short-term. It might be more of a continuing resolution.

They're going to do it. The question is whether there will be any concessions. You may get a few concessions to conservatives.

Of course, with those concessions, always come concessions to the left.

So you might say, well, we will not spend this many dollars on this thing, that conservatives don't like.

Maybe you cut some of the Ukraine spending out. Whatever the issue of the day is.

Of course, at the same time, to get this stuff through, what usually happens is there's little gifts to the moderate side of the Republicans.

And in this case, because you have to work with the Senate and the president on it, you wind up giving concessions to people on the left too.

There's only so much of what a Speaker can do, which is part of the reason why the last few weeks didn't make all that much sense. Right? They can't do much.

Hopefully at the very least, and it seems like he will be. He will be good on these investigations. He won't be Jim Jordan on them.

But he at least can be someone who is aggressive, and hopefully allows the truth to come out, and that's the main thing that the House can do right now.

Shocking train video: Passengers wait while woman bleeds out

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

Transcript

Below is a rush transcript that may contain errors

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

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

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

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

GLENN: Yeah, they are.

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

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

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

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

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

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

But she might do it anyway.

GLENN: How pathetic, but how true.

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

GLENN: Uh-huh.

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

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

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

Unfortunately.

But would I want her to step in?

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

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

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

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

Hmm. No.

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

Yeah.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

GLENN: Yeah. And tried to give her CPR.

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

Do you know off the top of your head?

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

STU: Yeah.

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

STU: Right.

GLENN: In reality.

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

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

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

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

Maybe I'm -- I hope --

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

STU: Yeah. I mean --

JASON: They did not respond.

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

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

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

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

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

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

GLENN: Yeah. Well --

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

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

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

In that situation.

THE GLENN BECK PODCAST

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

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

THE GLENN BECK PODCAST

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

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