There’s an old saying: If they didn’t make you, they can’t break you.

But when you start living for the applause or fearing the critics, you have already lost your way. Eric Swalwell used to love the spotlight and ignore the noise, but eventually, that borrowed protection always falls apart.

Now, he’s standing there on his own, having to answer for it all. People don’t just wake up and decide to ruin their lives. It happens through tiny, bad choices that feel like no big deal at the time — mostly because nothing seems to go wrong immediately.

Judas didn’t just end up where he did by accident. It started with small compromises he thought he could handle.

If you think you’re above a fall like this, you’re already kidding yourself. This isn’t just about one man’s mistake; it’s a pattern. These things build up long before anyone sees them. By the time the truth comes out, the damage is already done.

We live in a world that loves the idea of “my truth” or “your truth,” but reality isn’t that flexible. The truth doesn’t care if you’re ready for it; it just is. When it hits, everything changes. The room gets quiet, confidence turns into defensiveness, and things start to unravel fast.

Most people see this happen and think one of two things: “That’s what you get for living that way” or “I’m just glad I’m not that guy.”

Both of those look like safe responses, but they aren’t. Those thoughts show up quietly, sounding like common sense or discernment rather than pride. That’s why we trust them. But if we think this is only about someone else, we’ve missed the point. It’s easy to judge and say he deserved it, but the Bible warns us not to celebrate when an enemy falls — not just to be polite, but because it reveals our own hearts. Wanting justice for him while expecting mercy for ourselves is exactly what keeps us from seeing our own need to make things right.

RELATED: Democrats’ ‘Sergeant Schultz strategy’ on Chavez and Swalwell

Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call Inc./Getty Images

This isn’t just something to gossip about; it’s a warning. Judas didn’t just end up where he did by accident. It started with small compromises he thought he could handle. That’s the big lie: that you can manage guilt without it costing you anything.

I’ve seen crowds scream the lyrics to AC/DC’s “Highway to Hell” like the whole idea is just a joke. The music feels good, and the moment hides the reality. Until it doesn’t.

Eventually, the music stops, and the voices fade. There comes a moment when you can’t shout over the truth any more. The Bible shows us that when that first happened, no one needed an explanation.

They knew. They tried to hide. Nothing has really changed since then. When that moment comes for us, there won’t be any point in comparing ourselves to others. We’ll just stand there as we are — covered, or not.

There’s no spin and no audience to back you up. If we’re just relying on our own efforts, we’re completely exposed. But there is hope: Jesus Christ.

He doesn’t argue that we are innocent. Instead, He invites us to turn around and trust Him. He gives us His own goodness to stand in. There really isn’t a middle ground.

​Jesus christ, Eric swalwell, Common sense, Christian living, Opinion & analysis 

Alabama police are investigating the brutal murder of a mother, her pregnant daughter, and her son, who were all found tied up in separate rooms of their home in Wilmer.

Mobile County Sheriff Paul Burch said officers responded to the residence at about 2:30 a.m. Monday and found the “brutal scene” of murder.

‘I hope and feel comfortable we’ll have this animal or animals off the streets soon.’

Lisa Gail Fields, 46, was stabbed, her 17-year-old daughter Keziah Arionna Luker was shot, and her 12-year-old son Thomas Cordelle Jr. had his throat cut and was nearly decapitated, according to Burch.

“It was a brutal scene,” Burch said. “If you’ve got a beef with an adult … there’s nothing worth killing over, but to murder two children brutally. … I hope and feel comfortable we’ll have this animal or animals off the streets soon.”

Police also found an 18-month-old baby in the home who was unharmed.

“At this point, we don’t suspect any kind of domestic or family-type situation,” Burch said.

He went on to say the home was in a state of disarray, which could mean the perpetrators were searching for something. Police also believe there was more than one suspect involved because the three people had been subdued.

“It tells me that they had a plan coming in to bring zip ties or flex cuffs with them, so they had a plan,” Burch added.

A family member found the horrific scene after the father of the unborn child could not reach Luker. The victims were all found with their hands tied behind their backs.

Police said they have some positive leads in the case.

RELATED: Homeless man found tied up in vacant home was brutally beaten with signs of torture, police say

“It’s a senseless murder,” Luker’s father said to WALA-TV.

“She was a bubble of sunshine. A person that makes you smile,” he added, “a person that’ll make you laugh whenever you’re down. She had empathy for everybody. She loved her brothers; she loved her mom; she loved all of us.”

He added that she had just gotten her GED equivalent.

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​Alabama family murdered, Pregnant woman murdered, Brutal murders, Crime, Wilmer quadruple homicide 

For years, Glenn Beck has called for the abolition of the Federal Reserve, arguing it’s nothing more than a private banking cartel that enables endless government spending, devalues the dollar through inflation, and secretly steals wealth from Americans via corrupt monetary policies.

But new evidence that just surfaced proves the problem is even worse than he thought.

To explain what’s been happening behind the American people’s back, Glenn gives an analogy.

“Imagine the U.S. economy is like one giant, never-ending house party that’s been raging for years, and the Federal Reserve is the bartender in charge of the punch bowl. The punch bowl, that’s liquidity, easy money flowing through the banks and the markets and the businesses,” he begins.

For years, the “punch” was overdistributed, making partygoers drunk and willing to make poor decisions. “This is when stocks and houses get wildly overpriced. Companies borrow stupid amounts … and everybody starts to do stupid things,” Glenn says.

That’s exactly what happened in 2022 when the Federal Reserve “just printed a whole buttload of money,” he says.

But when things “got ugly,” it suddenly reversed course and announced an initiative called “quantitative tightening,” which essentially “drained the whole punch bowl.”

The Federal Reserve “needed to get rid of $2.3 trillion worth of bonds that they owned, and they said, ‘We’re just going to let them expire,”’ Glenn explains.

“In theory, this drains the money out of the system, makes it harder for you to get loans and everything else. Borrowing is more expensive. The bubbles will pop. It forces the economy to sober up.”

But this was just a ruse, Glenn says.

Instead of actually stopping the flow of “punch,” the Federal Reserve during the COVID-19 pandemic quietly redirected it instead.

“A lot of it ended up in a giant backroom keg called the overnight reverse repo facility. … These are money market funds, big investors, big banks,” Glenn says, “and they parked about $2.5 trillion in for safekeeping, and they were earning a safe interest rate from the Fed.”

But then the backroom keg finally ran dry.

“By 2023, something had changed. The short-term Treasury bills (super safe government IOUs) started paying higher interest than the keg in the back room, so the big investors said, ‘Why are we letting all the alcohol sit in the keg? We can have a party elsewhere,”’ Glenn says. “So they started draining the backroom keg $100-$200 billion every single month, and they poured that money right back into stocks and bonds and lending.”

What was the result?

“More punch than we started with in the first place!” Glenn exclaims.

“That’s why the Dow Jones keeps hitting new highs, government keeps funding huge deficits. … The bartender was pretending to cut off the drinks while secretly letting the elite guests go into the back room and get the hidden stash.”

These still-drunk elites, Glenn says, continue to “make stupid, dumb bets,” which just makes the “hangover worse” for the normies.

“Look out, gang — you’ve been lied to yet again,” he cautions, calling the Federal Reserve a “criminal organization” that is “stealing from the American people.”

“End the Fed,” he pleads.

Want more from Glenn Beck?

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​Blaze media, Blazetv, Bonds, Criminal organization, Dollar devaluation, Dow jones, End the fed, Federal reserve, Glenn beck, Government spending, Inflation, Interest rate, Loans, Money market funds, Repo facility, Stocks, The glenn beck program, Treasury bills, Wealth theft 

“Dozens of bystanders” reportedly were recording video while a 15-year-old boy was mercilessly beaten and then fatally shot at a New York City playground last week.

Former Mayor Eric Adams posted video on X showing Thursday’s deadly altercation, and the New York Daily News reported that the clip shows “dozens of bystanders … recording” while the beatdown took place.

‘They treated it all as entertainment. He was already beat up. He was helpless, and they shot him.’

The Daily News added that the video shows at least three individuals repeatedly punching and kicking victim Jaden Pierre as he tries to protect himself amid the attack.

The paper said one of the attackers is seen grabbing Pierre’s hoodie and throwing him to the ground. After Pierre gets back up, one of the attackers pulls a gun and pistol-whips Pierre, and gunfire rings out, the Daily News said, adding that Pierre collapses to the ground, and the crowd runs away.

The paper said Pierre suffered a gunshot wound to the chest.

The day after the fatal shooting, New York City Police posted images of an individual they said is wanted for the homicide of the 15-year-old victim.

On Tuesday, the NYPD said 18-year-old gang member Zahir Davis is the individual being sought in connection with the shooting at the Nautilus Playground inside Ray Wilkins Park in Queens, according the the Daily News.

However, police sources told the paper the shooter has connections to the Caribbean nation of Jamaica and may have fled there after the deadly altercation.

There are conflicting reports regarding why a crowd gathered at the playground that day. The Daily News said Pierre was attending a water-gun fight he helped organize over social media. WPIX-TV also said it was a water-gun fight. However, WABC-TV said the gathering was for a water-balloon fight.

The Daily News said an unidentified associate of Davis recognized Pierre from a previous brawl, after which Davis and the unidentified associate cornered Pierre against a fence, where they were caught on video beating the teen as dozens of bystanders stood by recording the attack.

Soon the shooting took place, the paper said, adding that police said forensic investigators will determine if the shooting was accidental.

“When you watch the video, he strikes him in the head with a gun, and as he comes down, the shot rings out,” NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny said, according to the paper.

Kenny said the man who incited Thursday’s attack jumped Pierre in January, and Pierre’s friends retaliated by beating that same man, the Daily News reported.

Kenny also noted that Davis is part of the BG4 crew — short for Blitz Gang 4 — which operates in southeast Queens, the paper said.

At a Monday evening vigil for Pierre, New York Attorney General Letitia James said detectives had identified the shooter and urged the suspect to surrender himself, the Daily News said.

RELATED: Blaze News original: 10 times bystanders failed to help victims of brutal violence — and often recorded video instead

“I want everyone to know that the police know who shot Jaden,” James said as she stood with the victim’s family and hundreds of mourners just steps from the scene of the crime, according to the paper.

The attorney general added, “I would urge this gentleman to turn himself in, to surrender as soon as possible, before the NYPD gets to you. They know who you are,” the Daily News reported.

Gardy Pierre, the victim’s father, added the following during the vigil, according to the above WCBS-TV video: “I know how tough he was. They knew, man. That was the only way to put him down. ‘Cause they know he’s gonna stand up tall on 10 toes every time, man.”

The victim’s older sister, 17-year-old Nellie Pierre, had harsh words for those recording video of the attack on her brother, telling the Daily News that “everyone there recording did nothing. They treated it all as entertainment. He was already beat up. He was helpless, and they shot him.”

The paper, citing relatives, said Jaden attended ninth grade at Eagle Academy and was looking forward to starting a new job through the city’s Summer Youth Employment Program.

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​Fatal shooting, Boy fatally shot, New york city, Playground, Physical attack, Suspect named, Suspect at large, Bystanders record video, Bystanders fail to intervene, Water gun fight, Queens, Jaden pierre, Zahir davis, Crime 

A controversial referendum that passed Tuesday to redistrict Virginia’s congressional maps has been blocked by a judge.

Virginia has six Democrats and five Republicans currently in Congress, but the redistricted map could lead to Democrats controlling all but one of the seats.

‘This is not saving democracy. … This is a sham.’

The Tazewell Circuit Court judge blocked the state from certifying the results of the vote and claimed that the process had broken several Virginia state laws. Republicans have filed several lawsuits against the redistricting effort.

Virginia Attorney General Jay Jones said the state would appeal the decision.

“Virginia voters have spoken, and an activist judge should not have veto power over the people’s vote. We look forward to defending the outcome of last night’s election in court,” Jones said.

While Republicans objected vehemently to the redistricting, Virginia Democratic Gov. Abigail Spanberger argued that it was merely a “response to what we’re seeing in other states that have taken extreme measures to undermine democratic norms.”

Critics have pointed out the biased wording of the referendum that would mislead otherwise uninformed voters.

“Should the Constitution of Virginia be amended to allow the General Assembly to temporarily adopt new congressional districts to restore fairness in the upcoming elections,” the measure reads, “while ensuring Virginia’s standard redistricting process resumes for all future redistricting after the 2030 census?”

RELATED: ‘Maximum warfare’: Democrats celebrate after Virginia decides to disenfranchise GOP voters

“The Democrat Party is ruthless, and what they did, you know, they wrote a ballot initiative that was completely disingenuous,” Republican Rep. Derrick Van Orden of Wisconsin said about the vote.

“This is not saving democracy,” he added. “If you look at the actual vote totals by county, which I did this morning, it proves that the 6 to 5 ratio was accurate. This is a sham.”

“House Democrats have crushed Donald Trump’s national gerrymandering scheme,” U.S. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) claimed. “Maximum warfare, everywhere, all the time.”

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​Judge blocks va referendum, Tazewell circuit court judge, Democrats gerrymander, Va redistricting vote, Politics