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The broken chain at Lady Liberty’s feet: What it really means to be a patriot

When most think of the Statue of Liberty, they picture her halo-like crown — the seven rays symbolizing a beacon of hope to the rest of the world. Or they think of the torch held aloft in her right hand, a representation of enlightenment and liberty lighting the way to freedom and progress.

But as our nation nears its 250th birthday this Independence Day, many Americans still overlook one of her most powerful symbols: the broken chain and shackle partially hidden under the hem of her flowing robes.

This chain and shackle, says Glenn Beck, represent a crucial piece of the American identity.

In this powerful monologue, Glenn takes us beyond the usual symbols to reveal the profound story hidden at the Statue of Liberty’s feet — and what it truly means to be an American patriot.

“France didn’t give [the Statue of Liberty] to us because they liked us. They were fighting Marxism in their own country, and they were trying to show America has the best idea,” Glenn recounts.

The reason for the broken chain and shackle around her foot, he explains, is to show that America “broke the chain of slavery.”

“And how did we do it?” Glenn asks. “Here’s a tip: With what’s in her [left] hand.”

In Lady Liberty’s left hand sits a rectangular tablet inscribed with “JULY IV MDCCLXXVI” — July 4, 1776, in Roman numerals. It represents the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence and emphasizes that liberty rests on principles of law and order.

The idea of “independence” and that “all men are created equal” is what “breaks the chain of slavery,” Glenn exclaims.

“And what makes man man? The ability to invent, the ability to dream, the ability to do. That’s the torch!” he continues.

Put them all together, and you get a striking picture of what America is and who she is for: the “free man … under the law” who can turn “dreams” into reality and thus “light the entire world.”

Believing in this is what true patriotism is about.

“Patriotism is not about red hats. It’s not about waving flags or chanting slogans at rallies. It’s not about God bless the USA. It’s not about any of that stuff,” says Glenn, calling these surface-level expressions “sugar highs.”

“Real patriotism is deeper. … It’s the steady, bone-deep love of the country that raised you even when it didn’t get things right.”

To hear more, watch the video above.

Want more from Glenn Beck?

To enjoy more of Glenn’s masterful storytelling, thought-provoking analysis, and uncanny ability to make sense of the chaos, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.

​Glenn beck, The glenn beck program 

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Rare Declaration of  Independence copy goes on display — 250 years after the British intercepted it

On the night of July 4, 1776, as delegates of the Continental Congress dispersed into the Philadelphia darkness, a printer named John Dunlap got to work.

The assignment was urgent. Congress had just approved the Declaration of Independence and needed copies immediately. Through the night, Dunlap and his assistants set type and printed roughly 200 broadsides carrying the astonishing news that Britain’s American colonies had declared themselves free and independent states.

By early 1778, copies of the Declaration were being debated in Parliament itself.

These first printings were never intended to become museum pieces. They were meant to travel — by horseback, by ship, and by express rider — to army camps, city squares, and eventually, to foreign governments whose support the fledgling republic desperately needed. Some were pinned to walls and read aloud to soldiers. Others were folded, carried, and eventually discarded.

Most were lost, damaged, or simply thrown away.

In enemy hands

Just 26 of the original Dunlap broadsides are known to survive. One of them took an especially unlikely journey.

Barely five weeks after it rolled off Dunlap’s press, the document fell into British hands. Captured during the Revolutionary War and sent back across the Atlantic, it arrived in London accompanied by a dispatch from Vice Admiral Richard Howe and General William Howe, the brothers leading Britain’s military campaign in North America.

The Howes occupied an unusual position. They were not only commanders tasked with defeating the rebellion but also King George III’s peace commissioners, charged with seeking some form of reconciliation with the colonies. Ironically, they were among the last senior British officials who still believed the breach might be repaired. Lord Howe would later suggest that, had his peace commission arrived only days earlier, independence might have been avoided.

Instead, it was the Howes themselves who sent London one of the first printed copies of the Declaration of Independence, informing ministers that the colonists had declared themselves “absolved from all allegiance to the British Crown.”

A decisive break

For many on both sides of the conflict, the Declaration marked a decisive break. The quarrel with the colonies had become something altogether different: the birth of a new nation.

In that sense, this was the copy that told Britain the American crisis had entered an entirely new phase.

Now, nearly 250 years later, that same sheet of paper is on display as the centerpiece of the America 250 celebrations at the American Museum and Gardens in Bath.

The broadside’s story has acquired another twist in recent years. Although it had long been held by Britain’s National Archives, it was only identified in 2009 as a surviving Dunlap Broadside, making it the most recently discovered of the 26 known copies.

RELATED: America’s founding is an inheritance purchased with blood; we owe it our remembrance

David Jones III. Chris Hondros/Getty Images

Philadelphia freedom

More recently still, historians traced the document’s origins to Jonas Phillips, a Jewish merchant and patriot who lived just doors from John Dunlap’s Philadelphia print shop. Research suggests that Phillips mailed the broadside to his cousin and business partner in Amsterdam in hopes of spreading the news of American independence abroad.

To evade British searches, he enclosed a note written in Yiddish referring only to “a declaration of that whole country.” The precaution failed. The letter, the Declaration, and the accompanying papers were seized by the British and eventually filed away in government archives.

What survives, then, is not merely one of America’s founding texts but also a rare piece of wartime intelligence — a document that crossed an ocean, vanished into the British state papers, and remained hidden there for more than two centuries.

The annotations on the reverse are striking for their banality. Officials in the colonial secretary’s office simply logged the Declaration and its accompanying papers as part of the ordinary business of government. One of history’s most consequential political texts was processed like routine correspondence.

Talk of the town

Yet the document did not simply disappear into an archive. By early 1778, copies of the Declaration were being debated in Parliament itself. Charles Lennox, 3rd Duke of Richmond, a leading critic of Lord North’s government, read portions of the text aloud in the House of Lords and argued that Britain might ultimately have no choice but to recognize American independence.

In that sense, the Declaration became more than an American founding document. It also became part of Britain’s own argument over the war and the future of its empire.

The document also illustrates the tyranny of distance in the eighteenth century. News from North America often took six to 10 weeks to reach Britain, and any instructions sent in response required an equally long journey back across the Atlantic. By the time officials in Whitehall learned of dramatic events in the colonies, those events had already become history.

​America at 250, Declaration of independence, Great britain 

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The 10 best movies to watch on Independence Day

Some movies impress you, and some entertain you. A very small number remind you why you are proud to be an American. They celebrate courage and patriotism and the undying frontier spirit of the American people. They understand that patriotism is not propaganda. It is affection for a place, gratitude for those who built it, and admiration for ordinary people who rise to extraordinary moments.

These 10 films span 50 years and many genres: Westerns, war epics, historical dramas, science fiction, aviation adventures, and action thrillers. They understand that patriotism is strongest when expressed through individuals who quietly do difficult things.

That may explain why audiences continue returning to them. They do not merely entertain. They remind us of the people we hope we would become when history asks something difficult of us.

This is not a list of the greatest American films ever made. It is a list of 10 movies that understand the American character better than almost any others.

10. ‘Independence Day’ (1996)

Directed by Roland Emmerich

Few blockbusters have ever embraced unabashed American optimism with such infectious fun. The premise is straightforward: Humanity faces annihilation by an alien invasion, and the United States ends up leading the resistance, because of course we would. Together with a ragtag group of scientists, fighter pilots, immigrants, drunks, and the president, they all find common cause. Jeff Goldblum and Will Smith turn in incredibly charismatic performances.

The film’s famous presidential speech has become part of American popular culture because it appeals to something larger than nationalism. It celebrates the belief that free people, when cornered, refuse to surrender. It is loud, funny, unapologetically sentimental, and surprisingly sincere.

9. ‘Air Force One’ (1997)

Directed by Wolfgang Petersen

Harrison Ford understood something many action stars forgot: A hero becomes interesting only when he is willing to sacrifice something.

As President James Marshall, Ford gives us an American commander in chief who is less politician than a reluctant cowboy. Terrorists seize the presidential aircraft, and rather than escape to safety, he stays behind to rescue his family, his staff, and his country.

The movie is gloriously implausible. That hardly matters. Petersen directs with absolute confidence, and Ford’s quiet determination grounds every impossible moment. When the terrorists seize Air Force One remains one of the best staged action scenes ever filmed. The result is one of Hollywood’s great star vehicles.

8. ‘The Patriot’ (2000)

Directed by Roland Emmerich

History professors have spent years debating the liberties this film takes with the American Revolution. Fair enough. But movies are not textbooks.

Mel Gibson plays Benjamin Martin as a man who desperately wants peace but discovers that peace sometimes requires terrible violence. The film captures something timeless about the Revolution: ordinary farmers becoming soldiers because they decide some principles cannot be negotiated away.

Its emotional center is family and what men are willing to do to save the ones they love. Just don’t come between Mel Gibson wielding an axe and his son.

7. ‘Jeremiah Johnson’ (1972)

Directed by Sydney Pollack

Some movies whisper instead of shout.

Sydney Pollack’s mountain epic is among the finest American Westerns ever made because it kicks melodrama to the curb in exchange for raw. Robert Redford disappears into the Rockies, learning that nature rewards patience while punishing arrogance.

The landscape becomes another character. Mountains are magnificent but indifferent. Civilization feels impossibly distant. Johnson survives through competence, resilience, and quiet determination.

Few films understand self-reliance so completely.

6. ‘Top Gun: Maverick’ (2022)

Directed by Joseph Kosinski

Sequels rarely are worth your time. This one is the rare one that is better than the original.

Tom Cruise returned not to relive the 1980s but to remind audiences why practical filmmaking still matters. The flying sequences possess genuine weight because real aircraft performed real maneuvers. Every dive and climb has physical consequence, and you can see it in every frame.

More importantly, “Maverick” celebrates American excellence. It argues that mastery comes only from discipline, repetition, and experience. In an era fascinated with irony, the film believes competence is heroic. Audiences responded by making it one of the defining theatrical experiences of its generation.

5. ‘Gettysburg’ (1993)

Directed by Ronald F. Maxwell

Four and a half hours can feel intimidating until you realize this film never wastes your attention.

Based on Michael Shaara’s “The Killer Angels,” “Gettysburg” treats both Union and Confederate soldiers as complicated human beings trapped inside history’s greatest American tragedy. The performances possess uncommon dignity, particularly those of Tom Berenger as James Longstreet and Jeff Daniels as Joshua Chamberlain.

Rather than glorifying battle, Maxwell reveals its terrible cost. Heroism exists alongside exhaustion, confusion, and grief. The result remains perhaps the finest Civil War film ever made.

4. ‘Apollo 13’ (1995)

Directed by Ron Howard

The most exciting lines in the movie are not shouted. They are spoken calmly by engineers surrounded by coffee cups, slide rules, and impossible deadlines.

“Apollo 13” is a celebration of these brilliant men.

Ron Howard understands that intelligence can be cinematic. Watching engineers solve one impossible problem after another becomes more thrilling than almost any gunfight. Tom Hanks, Kevin Bacon, Bill Paxton, Ed Harris, and Gary Sinise create an ensemble defined by professionalism.

The movie reminds us that America once solved enormous problems because thousands of ordinary experts quietly refused to fail.

3. ‘True Grit’ (2010)

Directed by Joel Coen and Ethan Coen

The Coen brothers respected Charles Portis enough to trust his words. What results is a superior movie to the previous John Wayne version.

Jeff Bridges gives Rooster Cogburn tremendous personality, but the film truly belongs to Hailee Steinfeld’s Mattie Ross. Her determination never feels modern or revisionist. It feels timeless. She believes promises matter. Justice matters. Character matters.

Roger Deakins photographs the frontier as both beautiful and unforgiving, while Carter Burwell’s score lends every scene a mournful grandeur.

This is less a Western than an American morality play.

2. ‘Saving Private Ryan’ (1998)

Directed by Steven Spielberg

The Omaha Beach sequence changed war movies forever.

Spielberg strips combat of glamour without stripping soldiers of honor. Every explosion is awful because every death belongs to someone. Tom Hanks gives perhaps the defining performance of his career as Captain Miller, a schoolteacher tasked with an almost impossible mission.

The film asks what one human life is worth. It never fully answers the question, because perhaps no answer exists. Instead, it argues that sacrifice creates obligations for those who survive.

Few films have honored the generation that fought the Second World War with such honesty.

1. ‘Red Dawn’ (1984)

Directed by John Milius

John Milius understood myth better than almost anyone working in Hollywood.

“Red Dawn” imagines an occupied America where high school students become guerrilla fighters. The premise is fantastical. The emotions are not.

The Wolverines are frightened kids forced into adulthood overnight. They fight because their homes have been taken from them. They lose friends, family, and eventually themselves. Milius never suggests war is glamorous. He suggests freedom is expensive.

The film became a cultural touchstone because it speaks to something deeply American: the conviction that liberty belongs to ordinary citizens as much as to armies or governments. Patrick Swayze gives the performance that anchors the entire story, balancing youthful confidence with quiet despair.

Viewed today, “Red Dawn” feels almost old-fashioned in the best possible sense. It assumes courage exists. It assumes sacrifice matters. It assumes some causes are worth defending even when victory seems impossible. WOLVERINES. WOLVERINES.

​Best movies, Lifestyle, Culture, Entertainment, July 4th 

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How to party like it’s 1776 — and honor the founders’ memory in 2026

The most remarkable aspect of the American Revolution is how ordinary — even mundane — the initial grievances were that drove our founders to rebel and form a new government.

The level of government control over our lives today, even in the freest parts of the country, is tyrannically officious compared with the reach King George III wielded over the colonists in the early 1770s. That solemn thought should infuse our celebrations with a fiery dedication to reconstitute what is rightfully ours.

We have failed to ‘keep’ the republic the founders bequeathed to us.

Yet even as we celebrate the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, most self-identified patriots will not contemplate pledging “our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor” — or even using the constitutional tools still available to rectify today’s “long train of abuses and usurpations.”

How hollow will this anniversary ring if we celebrate a document we ignore when its moral logic applies more urgently now than when Thomas Jefferson’s mighty pen etched the shot heard ’round the world?

Tragically, 250 years after declaring independence from a monarch, we have embraced the “elective despotism” Jefferson feared. We have allowed every sector of our economy to be distorted, manipulated, and monopolized by government and its allies. We have allowed them to surveil and track our lives. We have allowed them to transform our demographics and culture. We have even allowed unelected judges to hand out citizenship to invaders.

In short, we have failed to “keep” the republic the founders bequeathed to us.

All we have left is the flickering ember of the spirit of 1776 still burning within a significant minority. From that ember, we must rebuild, reconstitute, or chart a new path.

But the threat no longer resides across an ocean. It is embedded in our law, culture, government, body politic, and economy. So we are left with a critical question: Do we still possess the wherewithal — or even the desire — to “provide new Guards for [our] future security”?

Or will we continue to suffer while evils remain sufferable until the burden becomes impossible to bear and impossible to defeat?

Elective despotism replaced monarchy

How did we reach a point at which nearly every aspect of the Constitution has been abrogated, except for those clauses debased by courts and political elites to prevent the public from repairing the very holes they tore in our social compact?

George Washington foresaw the danger in the republic’s earliest days. In his farewell address, he warned that political parties would turn public policy into “the mirror of the ill-concerted and incongruous projects of faction” rather than the “organ of consistent and wholesome plans.”

Instead of political branches and layers of federalism checking one another, we got unified divisions through political parties owned by special interests rather than by the common good.

Jefferson warned Madison that “factions get possession of the public councils,” that bribery corrupts them, and that personal interests lead them away from the general interests of their constituents.

The modern dysfunction crystallized in the decades after World War II. Fueled by the expansion of the administrative state, the growth of welfare dependency, and cultural balkanization, both parties reoriented themselves toward monied donors and specialized factions at the expense of the nation.

Despite the manufactured theater of division between liberals and conservatives, the true divide lies between the bipartisan donor class — allied on most critical issues — and the everyday citizens they govern.

RELATED: America’s founders risked the gallows. What are we risking?

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Ordinary citizens can rarely reach real governing power in meaningful numbers. Winning requires war chests of cash, which are readily available only to those willing to serve special interests.

Today, a single congressional district contains roughly 761,000 people, far more than any individual colony in 1776. Even state Senate races in large states routinely exceed $1 million in campaign expenditures. Running for governor, senator, or president requires astronomical resources. Candidates are forced into an insatiable quest for campaign funds, making them reliant on the forces undermining the common cause.

With rare exceptions, our political system is bought and paid for by narrow donor interests. We pride ourselves on holding free elections, but our actual choices are often scarcely more divergent than those found in openly totalitarian regimes.

Madison’s warning in Federalist No. 10 was prophetic: “Men of factious tempers … or of sinister designs” may “first obtain the suffrages, and then betray the interests, of the people.”

Our modern factions have effectively merged into a monopolistic cartel. We now suffer the disadvantages of a small, easily corrupted republic without the dilution and accommodation Madison hoped would temper faction in an extended republic.

The result is a breakdown of representative government.

Grievances worse than 1776

What has this half-century duopoly wrought?

We now have government-created monopolies in every major industry, from tech and medicine to food and banking. This tyranny largely operates on autopilot. It is decentralized and largely unaffected by elections. It is embedded in crony capitalism — a form of “private” venture socialism that evades our laws, corrupts public policy, and monopolizes the capital required to win office.

Meanwhile, we have a government surveillance state strong enough to monitor, deter, and punish those who organize against its tyranny but somehow too weak to confront violent crime, open borders, Antifa communists, and the threat of Islam.

Anarcho-tyranny at its finest.

Rather than the legislature predominating, as Madison envisioned, we are ruled by an unelected judiciary that has been wrongly accorded the status of final arbiter over every constitutional, political, and social question.

Even if citizens in deep-red states successfully navigate the political process, unelected federal judges claim final authority over every political question, including whether the children of illegal invaders are citizens. And while those judges are nowhere to be found when authentic constitutional rights are violated — remember COVID? — they swoop in whenever states try to interpose against federal tyranny or address illegal immigration.

The grievances against the king cannot hold a candle to the 10-alarm fire we face today.

The grievances against the king cannot hold a candle to the 10-alarm fire we face today. Our modern tyranny is more encompassing and embedded within our own institutions, wielding more power than a distant monarch ever could.

John Adams warned us to “nip the shoots of arbitrary power in the bud.” Responding to the claim that he was stirring up rebellion over a threepence tax on tea, Adams insisted that “Obsta principiis” — resisting beginnings — was the only maxim that could preserve liberty.

He understood that tyranny grows like a cancer. When the people give way, he warned, “their deceivers, betrayers, and destroyers press upon them so fast” that later resistance becomes impossible. Corruption grows, dependents multiply, and “virtue, integrity, public spirit, simplicity, and frugality” become objects of ridicule.

That is precisely the corruption that has consumed our demographics, government, legal system, and economy. Worse, it has hollowed out the people’s desire to resist.

Patrick Henry warned of the fatal consequences of acting too late. “It is natural to man to indulge in the illusions of hope,” he said, but he wanted to know “the whole truth” and “the worst” so he could provide for it.

He pressed the urgency: “When shall we be stronger? Will it be the next week, or the next year?” Would the people gain strength “by irresolution and inaction,” or by “hugging the delusive phantom of hope”?

God blessed the founders’ bold preemptive strike on tyranny while they still had power. With it, they built a prosperous and just civilization.

As late as the 150th anniversary, Calvin Coolidge could boast that despite “the welter of partisan politics,” Americans could still turn to the Declaration and Constitution with confidence that those “great charters of freedom and justice remain firm and unshaken.”

A century later, after at least 50 years of duplicitous leadership and feckless controlled opposition, we find ourselves inside Henry’s nightmare. We are rapidly losing both the resolve and the practical ability to resist.

So what do we do now, years too late and trillions of dollars short?

Nonresistance is slavish

The most vexing question of our time is this: How do we morally and practically apply the Declaration’s principle of the right to revolution in the modern era?

We extol the famous lines about inalienable rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. We praise government by consent of the governed. But what happens when a citizenry suffers radical social transformation without representation — a transformation that inhibits life, liberty, and property in a way that would make King George blush?

We often gloss over the Declaration’s central justification for revolution: When faced with a “long train of abuses and usurpations,” the people have the right and duty “to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.”

To the founders, this was not metaphor. The Maryland Declaration of Rights stated plainly: “The doctrine of non-resistance, against arbitrary power and oppression, is absurd, slavish, and destructive.”

RELATED: America’s founders deserve better than AI slop

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Yet this doctrine of nonresistance is precisely the posture the modern political right has adopted. Part of this stems from an ethos that venerates law and order and opposes political violence. Part is practical calculation in an age when even local governments possess coercive force beyond what entire armies wielded in the 1770s.

No rational citizen wants violent rebellion or hot civil war. But we cannot even muster a unified vision among Republican leaders for peaceful resistance to unconstitutional laws, policies, and court orders.

Where are the local officials with the spine to refuse enforcement? Where are the state leaders willing to interpose on behalf of their constituents? Need we be reminded of the COVID mandates? How does that overreach compare with the relatively ethereal touch of King George?

Voting Republican every two years, trapped in a perpetual political Groundhog Day while remaining passive in between, will not save the republic. Such complacency is a betrayal of the people and principles we claim to celebrate.

Madison’s final hope

Had the founders established a single consolidated national government, we would be out of time and options. At this late hour, after Adams’ “shoots” of arbitrary power have matured into thickets of tyranny, it is virtually impossible to abolish a centralized leviathan so powerful amid a deeply balkanized population.

Yet one bulwark remains: Madison’s federalist design.

The structural defenses are badly weakened. Nevertheless, we still have 50 state governments and thousands of layered county and local jurisdictions that retain sovereign authority. In a substantial portion of America — perhaps 40% — these jurisdictions are populated by strong majorities who still have the principles of 1776 pulsing through their veins.

If we consistently elected representatives in these regions who reflected the people’s will — treating leaders like Florida Republican Governor Ron DeSantis as the bare-minimum standard rather than as an anomaly — we could use the 10th Amendment and state institutions to interpose on behalf of the people.

Red-state America, or at least defiant pockets within it, can become the last “asylum on earth for civil and religious liberty,” as Samuel Adams envisioned after the signing of the Declaration.

Isolated citizens acting alone cannot topple systemic tyranny. But if the people reclaim control over one state government, and then a few more, those sovereign institutions can become the shield necessary to resist.

Party conventions can beat elective despotism

None of this will happen under our current electoral system.

No prominent Democrats share our values, and no more than 10% of Republicans share them and are willing to fight for them. That percentage shrinks the higher one climbs the political ladder.

This returns us to elective despotism. The only viable way to reach voters under the current system is through torrents of cash, supplied by the venture-socialist interests subverting our government, society, and economy.

That brings us to a pragmatic solution: the state party convention system.

Ironically, we can weaponize the party apparatus — one of the mechanisms that fueled this crisis — to dismantle it. Changing the general election system would require near-impossible constitutional reform. But the process for nominating candidates is governed by private party rules.

In more than 40% of the country, the Republican nominee is virtually guaranteed to win the general election. The problem is that GOP nominees are often corrupted by the establishment. In direct primaries, the corrupted candidates with enough money win 95% of the time.

But who says we must hold primaries?

Red-state America, or at least defiant pockets within it, can become the last ‘asylum on earth for civil and religious liberty.’

Unlike easily manipulated mass-primary voters, Utah’s convention delegates, while imperfect, are vastly more discerning. They frequently disregard establishment financial advantages and support underdogs over entrenched incumbents. Unfortunately, figures like Mitt Romney maneuvered to gut the convention as the final determinant of nominees in Utah.

Imagine if every red state selected candidates exclusively by convention. It would instantly neutralize the donor class. No amount of special-interest cash could force a thousand informed grassroots delegates to unsee a candidate’s weak record.

Even if a compromised candidate secured the nomination once, he would be kept on a short leash, knowing he would face those same delegates again.

Victory would require convincing 1,000 principled activists rather than raising $5 million — or $100 million in statewide Texas races — for mass television buys. That would spark grassroots candidate recruitment from the very leaders we have ignored: smart, godly men with the tenacity to understand the times but without the money to present themselves in a high-cost direct primary.

Critics may dismiss conventions as smoke-filled rooms. But each delegate is elected at a neighborhood precinct meeting of registered local Republicans. This is hyper-local, decentralized civic engagement — exactly the type of organizing our founders modeled through Committees of Correspondence.

In an era of financial and institutional monopolies, this remains the most viable path to electing a critical mass of patriots in red America within one or two cycles.

Interposition is your friend

Once we establish a mechanism to elect real patriots and reclaim state sovereignty, we must use the doctrine of the lesser magistrate to interpose against external tyranny.

The founders did not fail to imagine federal usurpation. They failed to imagine that all 50 states would genuflect to it like servile puppy dogs.

A rogue district judge ruling? An unconstitutional presidential order? Even a law of Congress? The founders never doubted that states, pressed by homogeneous populations united under a common cause, would refuse to comply.

Even Alexander Hamilton, the great champion of national power, recognized limits. In Federalist No. 33, he wrote that federal acts “NOT PURSUANT” to constitutional powers are “merely acts of usurpation” and “deserve to be treated as such.”

The founders fought a bloody war to create a federalist system so we would not have to. If we asserted the constitutional authority already vested in the states, we could neutralize many tyrannical policies without firing a shot.

That requires reforming nominations, electing leaders with clear marching orders, and finally translating rhetoric into action when faced with unconstitutional mandates.

Naturally, once patriots secure governing control in red regions, they should not rule capriciously, unmoored from constitutional restraint like the French Revolution. But patriot leaders must understand that the Constitution cannot become a one-way street or a suicide pact.

We want to preserve constitutional order. We have no obligation to preserve the usurpations of the other side. Nor must we “amend the Constitution” to reverse decades of unconstitutional laws, policies, and court opinions.

RELATED: America turns 250 with a broken heart

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Immigration offers the clearest example. The only reason we have so many illegal aliens is that the government has violated the immigration laws passed by Congress. Much third-world legal immigration also arose from visa-program abuses not pursuant to law.

The federal government does not get to violate state sovereignty and then insist that states cannot enforce their sovereignty. Strong red states should reclaim control over immigration, remove illegal aliens, and bar employment in visa categories that have been abused, including H-1B.

The same principle applies to the ravaging of red-state lands. Corporate takeovers of farms and ranches through wind, solar, and data centers exist because of government favors. Although conservatives generally oppose heavy-handed regulation, states have a right of self-defense and may use regulatory power to stop takeovers created by government distortion.

The Constitution cannot be treated as strong enough to prevent us from rectifying grievances but too weak to stop the violations that created them.

Where is our modern ‘Common Sense’?

How do we fortify elected officials with the composure and courage to interpose and protect red-state economies, cultures, and quality of life?

We cannot expect one or two courageous leaders to go out on a limb without support from the people. Contrary to the right’s obsession with celebrity saviors, Hillary Clinton was partly correct: It takes a village.

During the Revolution, Thomas Paine’s “Common Sense” and the Boston Gazette helped galvanize colonists into a revolutionary mindset. They helped the people support local patriots over the British.

Where is our Thomas Paine?

The good news is that the internet allows almost anyone to become one. National politics is saturated with commentary, much of it empty calories. But an ordinary patriot can gain prominence locally by doggedly covering state and local issues and officials.

In less populous parts of the country, focused media attention on wayward local officials and praise for patriotic initiatives can build support for the institutional and party changes we need to party in 2026 like it’s 1776.

The public must be activated to treat every day like Election Day. We need a permanent activist class, akin to the Sons of Liberty, willing to create political kill zones for anti-American policies in red America.

We have more guns than ever and fewer liberties than ever.

Day after day, pressure must champion social and economic policies aligned with our founding principles and root out leaders who betray them.

Benjamin Rush understood the power of media. A newspaper in the present crisis, he wrote, would be “equal to at least two regiments.

Today, we need high-quality, hyper-focused patriot media to awaken red America. Our mission must be to evangelize those who already claim to be patriots but remain passive on the sidelines — and turn them into active reformers.

Preaching to the choir is exactly what we need, so long as it produces revolutionary-minded activism rather than the political fentanyl ravaging conservative media.

Declare independence from federal subsidies

True fortitude requires declaring independence from an abusive relationship. The greatest reason red-state politicians and policies fail to reflect their majority culture is that state governments are addicted to federal funds.

The most dangerous place in government is between a Republican politician and his federal grant.

Whether the issue is Medicaid, education, energy, or environmental grants, follow the money if you want to understand why liberal policies such as solar and wind land-grabs are pervasive across red America despite public opposition.

The people and their leaders must say no to federal funds as fiercely as they say no to unconstitutional mandates and rogue judicial rulings.

You cannot achieve political independence without severing the financial ties that bind you to the mother ship. You cannot enjoy independence from the queen bee’s stinger if you crave dependence on its honey.

Make militias great again

Many conservative Baby Boomers boast that their arsenals of expensive pistols and AR rifles will neutralize tyranny. Yet we have more guns than ever and fewer liberties than ever.

I am not disparaging the Second Amendment. But in its current individualized application, it no longer functions as “the true palladium of liberty,” as St. George Tucker described.

Even a small local law enforcement agency has more firepower, surveillance capacity, and legal authority than any individual citizen can realistically confront. Ask January 6 defendants who did little more than walk into a public building after barriers were removed. Despite whatever firearms they owned at home, they were dragged out by FBI SWAT teams. No one was there to help.

We should not ignore the Second Amendment. We must rediscover its forgotten clause.

Because we spent decades convincing the legal system that self-defense is an individual right — not solely the right of a state-sanctioned militia — we forgot the importance of the militia clause itself.

It is time to make militias great again.

Not ragtag armed hobbyists in the woods, easily infiltrated by federal agents. Rather, as part of red-state and county interposition, we must bring the militia under color of law.

Former Pinal County, Arizona, Sheriff Mark Lamb had the right idea with a pilot “citizens’ posse” to train local patriots as adjuncts to deputies. Ostensibly, the purpose was to protect the community against anarchy and natural disasters. But it also buttresses the doctrine of the lesser magistrate.

By syncing local officials, law enforcement, and the populace under a common cause, the community builds a legally sanctioned shield against tyranny.

RELATED: The common-sense case for nationalizing US elections

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If federal or state government installs unconstitutional surveillance cameras, a local militia backed by law enforcement could protect citizens who dismantle them and enforce local laws against such intrusions.

If a future Democrat president deploys the FBI to arrest political opponents for speech or beliefs, a local militia operating under the sheriff and county officials could ensure that the FBI is not welcome.

Democrats effectively did this in Minneapolis against ICE, uniting citizen groups, local law enforcement, judges, and elected officials against a legitimate federal power. Why should we shy away from using the same unified prescription to protect fundamental American rights against illegitimate federal power?

Make Exodus 18:21 leadership great again

Leaders who cheat on spouses and families will not remain loyal to constituents. Nor will God bless a morally bankrupt movement with success.

Over the past decade, the alleged patriot right has become saturated with figures who espouse biblical virtue on camera while privately living lives often more debauched than those of the secular left. I have lost track of how many Republican officials, candidates, and influencers have engaged in rampant fornication — and even paid for concubines to get abortions.

Part of the reason we are losing ground on cultural issues is that centrist suburban voters look at the GOP, see through the artificial posturing, and recognize that the private behavior of these leaders contradicts the family and biblical values they preach.

The founders were not perfect men. Neither were their movements free from sin. But we must at least return to a standard that seeks virtuous leaders.

Exodus 18:21 tells us to choose “capable men … who fear God, trustworthy men who hate dishonest gain.”

John Adams understood this. “Public Virtue cannot exist in a Nation without private [virtue].”

Consider our issues today: free and fair markets, sovereignty, ordered liberty, security from crime and Islam, medical freedom, techno-feudalism, life, marriage, privacy. All the special-interest money stands on the other side. Every political temptation will break conservative promises unless leaders have virtue.

Electing transactional fornicators is the surest path to enacting tyranny under the banner of patriotism.

The status quo is not an option. If we fail to innovate aggressively and reconstitute the spirit of the American Revolution in a way that morally and practically confronts today’s tyranny, the remaining options will be dark enough to make the French Revolution look mild.

Let’s choose light, and do it on our own terms, as the founders did.

Our lives, fortunes, and sacred honor must mean something again.

​1776, America 250, Declaration of independence, Founding fathers, Anarcho-tyranny, Covid, Republicans, Trump, Democrats, Alexander hamilton, Thomas jefferson, Opinion & analysis 

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At 250, America’s fate is wonderfully unwritten

America has a habit of bringing ideas — sometimes others’ ideas — to life. This habit breeds a certain culture of meritocratic, independent superiority, understood by self-made elites and commoners alike, that ideas are a dime a dozen: If you don’t get out there and actually do it, you’re just another dreamer.

I think the most powerful example of this dynamic, and its enduring resonance today, is found in a single line from a single film. In the smash hit 1962 epic “Lawrence of Arabia,” our hero sums up the Western ethos of the ennobled individual will by refusing to let his Arab ally die. Confronted with the dismissive, fatalistic belief that the man’s seemingly inevitable death in the desert is foreordained by God, Lawrence famously snaps back that “nothing is written!” Sure enough, he saves the man, through sheer force of personal grit.

The only true choice is one of freely willed action.

The line was written by British playwright Robert Bolt for British director David Lean in a British production of a British tale of a British officer. Yet, casting our eye across the pond on this landmark national anniversary, we are struck by how lonely America seems today in its insistence on not only the Western principle that a man can, through goodness and greatness, personally break the iron grip of circumstances, but on the proactive living-out of that principle, without which it is but a hollow aspiration.

Our uniquely aggressive, defiant, and self-justifying sense of optimism can, of course, be taken too far; at the extremes, it can lead us to deny that God is always in control and to accept the deaths of millions as a price worth paying for greater power, riches, or renown.

Fate, however, is a pagan concept that can fraudulently enchain a whole people; even a whole world. And the power of even the most ordinary and obscure of men to shatter prideful prognostication through freely willed spiritual sacrifice is richly rooted in great godly obedience.

The paradox of these two ways — that our love of enacted independence can either fulfill or default on our relationship with God — weighs extra heavy upon the soul this 250th year of our land. The chaotic circumstances of our fast-accelerating technologies have opened doors to new expressions of both the healing and damaging versions of our national will to do, not just to think, feel, or be.

For many, simply trying to stay abreast of these developments in the field of AI alone is too bewildering, frustrating, and frightening an effort to maintain. Many who manage to keep roughly current are themselves increasingly pushed for the sake of cognitive stability toward one of the two extreme positions — deifying or demonizing the thing.

Yet the actual state of play is not, in fact, reflective of the urge to feel willfully in control by choosing sides in a crisp, clean, complete, and comprehensive war for all the marbles, then determine the fate of America, the world, and humankind.

As disorienting and destabilizing as it may be, the state of the AI art in America is a riot of competing and conflicting trajectories and tendencies. Between the deifiers and the demonizers is a roiling stew of wildly different factions: open-sourcers, both for and against Chinese tech; closed-sourcers, some pragmatic, some principled; groups in favor of nationalization; groups opposed; groups opposed depending on how much nationalization is on the table; groups opposed depending on who is doing the nationalizing. There are interests pushing for federal preemption of the states, others hammering away at state-level laws either to restrict or enshrine the right to compute, and still others focused simply on playing politics with the issues in the most effective and enriching ways.

RELATED: The backlash against AI reveals it’s a terrible scapegoat

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A farrago of federal bills jostles together with a flotilla of regulatory efforts, some but not all flowing from the administration’s executive orders and broader agenda. The Supreme Court is now in the mix. Foreign countries and administrative bodies are striking at American companies, imposing fines and rules of their own. The list goes on.

No single political authority is in control of our national technological situation. No one spiritual authority is recognized as our shared guide. We exist in a moment indescribable as simply democratic, oligarchic, technocratic, fascist, communist, socialist, capitalist, nationalist, populist, anarchic, despotic, or, frankly, anything else. We have the Declaration, we have the Constitution, we have federalism, and we have each other. The rest is remarkably, almost stunningly, up in the air.

We can all sit around and wait for the shoes to drop, and for many, beset by the universal cares of life and the hypnotic glare of tech’s pulsing power, paralysis can seem the only sustainable option. But for many more, even those inclined to choose silence and self-exile over wading into the melee, the only true choice is one of freely willed action. Interpreting technological acceleration as the unfolding of fate itself is a choice, not a cosmic requirement, one that is often made reactively, as cope, rather than proactively, as will to power. What presents as prediction is often actually a bet on the overwhelming power of the past, one that denies human agency and life-bringing newness more than it enables people with skin in the game to manifest their plans.

Rather than freaking out over the AI chaos, we ought to take this memorable opportunity to put our actions where our principles purport to be. Don’t try to game out the scramble of the factions. Don’t try to win prediction roulette, scrying, soothsaying, and scheming a way to strength or safety. Decide with discernment where you can forge a path in a manner that allows you to meet your own gaze in the mirror in the morning. And trust that what is written about us is written on the heart, where we still may pledge our honor, and all that is sacred within, to freely make good on who we have been given to be.

​United states, Artificial intelligence, America 250, Tech 

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Glenn Beck REACTS to foreigners LOVING their visit to America

Foreigners across the globe have flooded the United States for the World Cup — and according to videos they’ve been posting to social media, what many of them are finding is freedom, opportunity, abundance, and a culture that still allows people to be different.

One man posted a video of himself walking around a neighborhood with driveways for planes, commenting on how that would never be allowed in the U.K.

Another man posted a video of himself excited about free soda refills, while a woman posted a video of herself wearing a Buc-ee’s hat, excitedly talking about the mindset of Americans: “We don’t care; do whatever you want.”

“If you want to dress a certain way, go for it. If you want to start a project, go for it. If you want to pass a car on the right, you can do it. And it’s something that personally is helping me to heal, because when you’re used to shrinking yourself, and you arrive in the U.S., and you discover this space to just be yourself and do whatever you want,” the woman said.

“It’s so refreshing,” she added.

“Share these things. I’m telling you: All we need is to believe that we are worth saving. That’s the first step. Listen to what people from all around the world are coming here and experiencing and saying about you,” Glenn says.

“You could be overseas and say they just hate people. They are bigots or whatever. They just hate foreigners or they don’t want, you know, brown people or whatever the lie is. It’s not true,” he continues.

Glenn points out that as long as you treat America with respect, you’re welcome here.

“That is America. Again, I don’t need you to look like me. I don’t need you to dress like me. I don’t need you to listen to the same kind of music. I don’t need any of that. I just want you to respect the basic idea that all men are created equal,” he says.

“Endowed by their creator with certain inalienable rights: life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. And governments are instituted among men to protect those rights. And that’s what makes us different,” he continues.

“It’s not our wealth,” he says.

“It’s a total mindset that you can be different because we can all come together on one idea: that we are all meant to be different and the government is to enforce the freedoms that we have.”

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​United states, World cup, The glenn beck program, Uk, Glenn beck 

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Trump has been normalized — which means American greatness has too

Sorry, leftists. Despite a decade of screeching demands that we refuse to “normalize” Donald Trump, the concept of Trump as president of the United States and the most powerful man on earth is now the norm.

Thank goodness.

Even some of Trump’s fiercest critics have softened.

As we celebrate our country’s 250th birthday and our exceptional heritage, it’s nice that the cultural focus on politics in general and on Trump in particular has waned.

The Trump obsession has not been healthy for America or our relationships with one another. Deep familial divisions that Jesus predicted would result from resistance to God’s truth instead have occurred because of a fleeting political landscape.

Though communists are on the rise in the Democratic Party and some in America love hating Trump too much to stop, the overall mood in the media and in pop culture has shifted since the beginning of Trump’s second term.

Gone are the days of Jim Acosta and his ilk badgering the president during press briefings with constant interruptions and inflammatory accusations. The “walls” that were always “closing in” on him during his first term somehow decided to stay put in the second.

Even some of Trump’s fiercest critics have softened.

RELATED: Spencer Pratt 2.0? Actor Michael Rapaport eyes run against NYC Mayor Mamdani

Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani and President Donald Trump in the Oval Office in November 2025; Demetrius Freeman/the Washington Post/Getty Images

Joy Behar, for instance, seemed to forge a genuine connection with Vice President JD Vance during his appearance on “The View” last month. Without any trace of her trademark snark, Behar afterward characterized Vance as “intelligent” and funny, while Vance complimented her tough persona and joked good-naturedly that they are now “best friends.”

Americans in deep-blue cities like Memphis and D.C. have thanked Trump for cleaning up crime in their area and for restoring beautiful fountains and statues. Meanwhile, the No Kings rallies have made little impact, while attempts to cancel celebrities for participating in Trump-adjacent events have failed miserably.

In fact, respecting the office appears to be back en vogue.

For the first time under a Trump presidency, a championship NBA team has accepted an invitation to the White House. Trump’s hometown team, the New York Knicks, will reportedly travel to the White House to mark their first title in more than half a century.

Jack Hughes, who scored the game-winning overtime goal against Canada to bring home Olympic gold in men’s hockey, indicated back in February the power of sports to unite the country:

“Everything is so political. We’re athletes. We’re so proud to represent the U.S., and when you get the chance to go to White House and meet the president, we’re proud to be Americans and that’s so patriotic.”

It turns out that endlessly hating Trump, and by extension, America itself, is exhausting. Even certain Democrats had to admit in an election autopsy that “anti-Trump sentiment alone was insufficient to motivate voters” in 2024.

By contrast, falling in love with the U.S. is easy. Just ask the thousands of World Cup visitors who have been surprised by the kind welcome they have received and the unique culture they have experienced in America’s heartland.

America and American greatness are much bigger than any one person, and though a larger-than-life figure, Trump is just a man — a man who, to paraphrase basketball legend Michael Jordan, still has to use the bathroom just like we all do.

The era of treating Trump as an “existential threat,” an enemy, or even a proxy for all of America’s faults, real or perceived, is over. For nearly six of the past 10 years, Trump has been the president of the United States, and the sun has still risen in the east and set in the west.

In other words, all is normal. Thank goodness.

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​America, Politics, Donald trump, Opinion 

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Olympian indicted for allegedly vandalizing Lincoln Memorial reflecting pool — and faces STIFF sentence

A U.S. Olympian canoeist who was arrested for allegedly vandalizing the reflecting pool at the Lincoln Memorial has been indicted by a federal grand jury, according to U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro.

David Hearn, 67, willfully and “violently” damaged a 2-square-foot section of the sealant at the pool on June 19 after it was renovated by order of President Donald Trump, according to Pirro.

‘By the time I realized what was going on, I was being put in handcuffs.’

“Today a grand jury has returned a felony indictment against a defendant, David Hearn, for felony destruction of property for which he faces 10 years in prison,” Pirro said in a media briefing.

She said Hearn admitted to reaching down into the pool and that National Park Service employees observed him forcefully pulling up and removing the bottom liner “with both hands.”

A National Park Service employee reportedly told Hearn to stop what he was doing.

“Hearn reacted by shouting at that Parks employee, saying that she cared too much about the reflecting pool,” Pirro said.

The witnesses described Hearn’s behavior as “belligerent, rude, and disrespectful.”

Hearn denied damaging the liner in comments to the Washington Post.

“I didn’t vandalize anything,” he said. “I didn’t destroy or break or peel anything. By the time I realized what was going on, I was being put in handcuffs.”

The renovation of the reflecting pool has been mocked by many on the left, but others say it was a necessary and reasonable effort to clean up the monument for the 250th anniversary celebration.

Hearn competed for the U.S. in the 2000 Olympics.

RELATED: Trump greets crew that restored Lincoln Memorial reflecting pool in visit to the White House

“This was a deliberate act to damage the Reflecting Pool at the National Mall that members of the National Park Service actually have worked hard to restore and have witnessed,” Pirro said.

She added that there are about six other similar cases being investigated.

“Some of them will be misdemeanors, and some of them could be less, like a violation, but we’re reviewing every case based upon the evidence and reviewing all of the reports, and right now it’s about another half dozen misdemeanors,” Pirro said.

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​Lincoln memorial, National mall, President donald trump, Reflecting pool, Politics, National park service 

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California city council members voted out in a landslide refuse to leave office

Elected officials in California are carrying on with business as usual, even after their constituents voted overwhelmingly to send them packing.

An election was held on April 28 in the California city of Avenal in Kings County, where the mayor, Alvaro Preciado, and three city council members — Leticia Gamez, David Reynosa, and Pablo Hernandez — were recalled with at least 76% of voters backing the ouster in each case. The Kings County Registrar of Voters certified the recall election.

‘I’ve never seen a city so deflated.’

The driving force behind this electoral housecleaning — which the council members unsuccessfully attempted to stop with a lawsuit in April — was principally voter concerns about transparency and the council’s previous decision to cease contracting with the county fire department.

Preciado, Gamez, and Hernandez voted on June 11 to reject the will of the electorate and remain in office. They even approved a new city budget despite recall advocates producing a restraining order, reported the SF Chronicle.

Those officials clinging to power, including Reynosa, maintain that the recall election was conducted unlawfully by Kings County and without the council’s authorization.

Preciado told the SF Chronicle last month that he was staying in office until a judge decides on the recall’s legality.

California Democrat Attorney General Robert Bonta cleared the way for legal action against the recalled officials on June 11.

RELATED: Gov. Pritzker says he’s one of the good billionaires, not the ones vilified by socialists

In his opinion, Bonta noted that “if the Relators are correct on the merits, then the Defendants are not lawfully occupying office. It would not be in the public interest to permit elected officials to disregard election results.”

Days after Bonta granted the recall campaigners’ application for leave to sue in quo warranto, residents served Preciado and the other recalled officials a lawsuit and an earful at an Avenal city council meeting.

Dalila Barajas, a resident of Avenal who is one of the recall proponents, told KGPE-TV, “It just seems that the more meetings they have, the more money that they’re spending illegally, the more our citizens are getting frustrated and the more we’re asking for them to step down.”

While Bonta cleared lawsuits against the recall officials, King County District 2 Supervisor Richard Valle criticized the state attorney general for his apparent disinterest in the scandal, telling KMPH-TV on Wednesday, “I believe that if these were MAGA republicans who were refusing to leave office, someone in California would have done something about that.”

“We were hoping he would take some action,” added Valle.

“I’ve never seen a city so deflated in my time of being around in public service. The people feel like nobody’s coming to help,” added the King County supervisor. “Why is it being allowed to take place here in the state of California, in the county of Kings, in the city of Avenal? It’s embarrassing.”

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​California, Robert bonta, Recall, Election, Politics 

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‘37 years left’: Seth Gruber’s chilling warning for America’s 250th birthday

Pro-lifer warrior Seth Gruber has a chilling message for Americans celebrating the nation’s 250th birthday: “To celebrate America, this 250th, while simultaneously doing nothing to tear down the high places of weird, gay sex stuff and baby killing would merely be the decoration of a coffin.”

On this enlightening episode of “Relatable” with Allie Beth Stuckey, Gruber warns that America has “37 years left” before she fails — unless Christians are willing to rise up and be “the last stand.”

Gruber begins by sharing two facts that should alarm anyone who cares about America’s longevity:

In a 2025 interview with Noema Magazine, celebrated historian Niall Ferguson said, “My sense is that history has always been against any republic lasting 250 years.” J.D. Unwin’s 1934 book “Sex and Culture” — a massive study of 80 primitive societies and six major civilizations across 5,000 years of history — found strong positive correlation between a society’s level of sexual restraint (especially premarital chastity and monogamy) and its cultural energy, creative flourishing, and societal achievement in art, science, architecture, literature, etc.

Given America’s age and modern culture’s celebration of all things sexually depraved, Gruber believes the nation is a ticking time bomb.

According to Unwin’s research, “Societies that adopted and … codified total sexual freedom collapsed within 90 to 100 years,” he explains.

He pinpoints 1973 as the year America embraced “total sexual freedom” thanks to three landmark events: Roe v. Wade that made abortion a constitutional right, the Supreme Court’s ruling in Miller v. California that effectively opened the floodgates for widespread, legal pornography distribution, and the passing of the Endangered Species Act that gave more legal protections to animals than unborn children.

These developments put a “demonic trinity” on America’s throne, says Gruber: Molech, the god of child sacrifice, Ashtoreth, the goddess of sexual immorality, and Baal, the god of animal worship.

“That should be a little bit of an Old Testament alarm bell for the church in America that maybe we came into something of a demonic trinity and agreement in ‘73 that codified total sexual freedom,” he tells Allie.

“That’s why I think America began its 90- to 100-year clock in ‘73, which means we could be approaching the third and final chapter of Western civilization in this republic as we understand it today,” he warns. “That should be a sobering wake-up call.”

To hear the full interview, watch the episode above.

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Machete-wielding male drags woman down Texas street, goes after man who told him to stop — but Good Samaritan also has a gun

A machete-wielding male who dragged a woman down a Texas street Sunday night went after a man who told him to stop — but the Good Samaritan also had a gun on hand.

Fort Worth Police said officers were called to the 2900 block of Ross Avenue around 10:20 p.m. regarding a male with a weapon, KXAS-TV reported.

‘If you see a lady that’s in danger, I mean, what would you do in that situation?’

When officers arrived, they found a male with an apparent gunshot wound, the station said, adding that officers and Fort Worth firefighters provided medical care before the wounded male was taken to a hospital, where he later died.

Witnesses told investigators that before the shooting, the male in question had been involved in a verbal argument with a woman that turned physical — specifically, he was “dragging the female down the street with a machete in his hand,” KXAS reported.

A neighbor who heard the woman screaming came outside and saw the male dragging the woman and told him to stop, the station said.

Police were told the male with the machete approached the man confronting him, KXAS said, adding that the intervening man shot the machete-wielding male at least once.

Police said witnesses called 911, the station said.

The man who shot the machete-wielding male remained at the scene and cooperated with investigators, KXAS reported, adding that homicide detectives interviewed him.

RELATED: Machete-wielding females beat up homeowner in robbery try, cops say. But victim ends attack with single shotgun blast.

The Tarrant County Medical Examiner’s Office will determine the man’s identity, as well as the official cause and manner of death, the station said.

Officials did not say if the woman had been injured, KXAS said.

No arrests have been made in the case, the station added.

Nicole Flores told KXAS that the male with the machete has caused issues in the neighborhood before.

KXAS interviewed another witness who said, “If you see a lady that’s in danger, I mean, what would you do in that situation?”

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​Fatal shooting, Defending others, Texas, Fort worth, Machete, Armed male drags woman, 2nd amendment, Gun rights, Good samaritan, Crime 

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‘Kill your local Republican’: Trans former volunteer for trans Democrat appears to call for ‘trans jihad’

A transgender-identifying former volunteer for a transgender-identifying democratic socialist congressional candidate in Wisconsin allegedly made numerous extremist calls for violence against Republicans.

Teha Delaruelle allegedly posted the videos and messages on Instagram, TikTok, and other social media accounts, and they were reposted on social media by outraged conservatives.

‘We’re gonna make it so that they will be the ones that have to walk down the streets in fear, anxiety, and worry.’

In one post, Delaruelle appears to speak in front of a dry-erase board that seems to read, “Kill your local Republican,” and points at the message.

“We’re going to make this the moderate position for the state of Wisconsin,” Delaruelle says, according to one video. “But I need your help, because we have one month do to this, so let’s do it.”

Delaruelle, who identifies as a female, appears to call for a “trans jihad” to fight against “the oppressor, the bigots, the animals that make up MAGA” in another post.

“For decades, everyone else, all of the marginalized in-house minorities, we’ve had to be the ones that walk down the streets with anxiety, with fear, but no, no more,” the activist says, according to the video.

“No more, folks. We’re gonna do the reverse. We’re gonna make it so that they will be the ones that have to walk down the streets in fear, anxiety, and worry. And we’re not gonna make this, like, oh, they gotta do this for like a week or something where they get really scared. No, this is their new reality,” Delaruelle continues, according to the video.

In a response to a request for comment, Delaruelle told Blaze News: “No, I don’t wish violence, and I post satire of what the right posts. I was too edgy, and it hurt people, and I’m sorry. I just want to be left alone.”

The bio in Delaruelle’s TikTok account says, “I never advocated for anything hurtful.”

Katrina deVille, the candidate that Delaruelle volunteered for, responded to a request from the New York Post and said Delaruelle was only a volunteer for a brief period of time and was removed after it became clear that Delaruelle was “deeply troubled.”

DeVille added that Delaruelle was later blocked from the campaign’s social media pages and accounts because “they were actively creating a dangerous situation around my campaign.”

The deVille campaign platform includes a $22 minimum wage and the impeachment of President Donald Trump.

RELATED: Teen transgender-identifying substitute teacher allegedly made online threats to Loudoun County school

Messages posted last month on an X account linked to Delaruelle say, “I’m trans,” and, “I’m trans fem.”

The Republican Party of Brown County condemned the violent messages in a post on Facebook.

“This kind of violent rhetoric is unacceptable and dangerous,” the statement reads.

“The Republican Party of Brown County rejects all political violence and threats. We will continue working for a safer, more civil Wisconsin.”

As of Thursday afternoon, Delaruelle still has social media posts endorsing deVille for Congress.

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​Political violence, Socialist democrat, Tiktok, Transgender activist, Politics 

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Rep. Raskin melts down after Republican gets real about Democrat policies that led to teen’s murder by illegal alien suspect

A congressional hearing about the fallout of sanctuary cities went sideways this week when a Republican elaborated on the failures that led to an American teen’s murder, allegedly by an illegal alien, setting off Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.).

The House Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration Integrity, Security, and Enforcement held a hearing on Tuesday regarding victims’ perspectives on the fallout of Democrats’ sanctuary policies in states such as California and Illinois.

‘You should get the hell out of here!’

Though not a member of the subcommittee, Rep. Mike Lawler (R-N.Y.) was permitted to participate for the purpose of introducing one of his constituents, witness Jessica Gorman.

Gorman’s daughter, a Loyola University freshman named Sheridan, was murdered while walking with friends in Chicago on the morning of March 19. The man suspected of walking up to the 18-year-old American, pulling out a gun, and shooting her in the neck is Jose Medina-Medina.

The Justice Department stated that 25-year-old Medina-Medina — who was charged with murder, attempted murder, three counts of aggravated discharge of a firearm, and aggravated unlawful possession of a weapon — is an illegal alien from Venezuela.

According to the criminal complaint, Border Patrol encountered Medina-Medina in the El Paso Border Sector area in May 2023, and he was set loose on America the following May.

“Jessica should not be here today. She should not be testifying before Congress. She should be back in New York with her daughters Madeline and Sheridan, enjoying a quiet Tuesday afternoon in the summer,” Lawler said in his introduction.

RELATED: The Supreme Court puts border judges back in their lane

After Lawler suggested that a failure to enforce America’s immigration laws set the stage for the teen’s death and that Congress owes the bereaved mother an apology, he was asked to confine his remarks to the introduction.

The Republican proceeded to highlight instances when Medina-Medina could have been deported before allegedly murdering Sheridan, at which point Raskin interrupted.

“This is not an introduction. It’s a speech,” said the Democrat.

“You should be ashamed of yourselves,” Lawler responded. “It is disgraceful. Her mother is here precisely because you have failed to do your jobs. You wonder why we had four hearings? It’s because you don’t understand the consequence of sanctuary policy.”

A fleeting calm fell on the room following this initial exchange; then Lawler turned things up a notch, laying into Raskin and the subcommittee’s other Democrat members.

“While some of my colleagues may not want to hear the truth, the same outrage you feel about Renee Good and Alex Pretti, you should feel about Sheridan Gorman and Laken Riley and every angel family in this country,” said Lawler.

Raskin bellowed, “I do feel that outrage!”

“If you did, you would not support sanctuary jurisdictions!” Lawler yelled back.

“You don’t belong in this committee! You should get the hell out of here!” said Raskin. “… You’re full of it!”

Subcommittee ranking member Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) condemned Lawler’s “outrageous outburst,” claiming it violated an agreement Republicans made with Democrats to allow Lawler to speak.

Gorman stated in her written testimony, “My Sheridan would be alive if the man accused of killing her had not been allowed to come into this country by the previous administration and if Chicago’s sanctuary city policies hadn’t allowed him to remain on our streets to kill. Congress needs to act.”

In closing, she wrote, “If the people who failed her would rather look away, then I am asking the rest of you to look right at her. Say her name. Tell her story. Demand better.”

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​Jamie raskin, Mike lawler, Sanctuary cities, Murder, Sheridan gorman, Angel families, Chicago, Jose medina-medina, Immigration, Politics 

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BILL PILLED: Maher warns fellow Democrats that they’re headed for woke-tastrophe

It finally happened. We’ve grown tired of those mush-mouthed Minions.

At least a little.

Walz just pardoned an illegal immigrant who previously sexually assaulted a 10-year-old. It appears he did so to prevent the man’s deportation.

“Minions and Monsters” opens wide this weekend, and the early box office results are good … not monstrous. The film should pull in $75 million or so over the five-day holiday weekend.

Great numbers, no doubt. Yet “Minions: The Rise of Gru” brought in $107 million over three days in 2022. These silly supporting creatures have milked their yellow-powered shtick for longer than anyone expected.

Now, at last, the gravy train may be slowing. That means we’ll only get three to five more sequels before Hollywood calls it a day …

Minion minimum

You can’t say Bill Maher didn’t warn his fellow Democrats.

No liberal comedian has been tougher on his own side than Maher, the newest Mark Twain Prize winner. He’s blasted his fellow progressives over the woke mind virus, campus anti-Semitism, and more.

Now, after telling Vice President JD Vance his vote might be in play for 2028, he’s warning his fellow Democrats. Again. Maher said the election of three far-far-left Democrats in New York signals a party shift that could cost them the White House.

“So, how are they going to blow [retaking the White House in 2028]? I don’t know, but they seem to be well on their way.”

The left hasn’t listened to Maher yet, even though he’s trying to save them from themselves. Here’s betting they’ll tune him out anew …

Charity case

What do you get the couple that has it all? How about the address of the nearest charity?

Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce are tying the knot soon, and the happy couple just cut checks totaling $26 million to various charities to honor the moment.

The 20 charities include nine food banks, an animal cruelty organization, seven educational programs, and three children’s hospitals.

In lieu of gifts, please don’t judge us for our opulent bank accounts …

RELATED: VEEP TV: JD slays in ‘View’ ratings coup

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The doctor is in

Deadline is furious that President Donald Trump has a sense of humor.

The president just shared a “deepfake” AI video where he plays a doctor addressing the celebrity rise of “Trump derangement syndrome.” It’s a farcical clip featuring TDS victims like Robert De Niro, Rosie O’Donnell, and Whoopi Goldberg.

The visuals are inconsistent. The De Niro imitation is all but perfect, while the others are clearly not the real deal.

It’s instantly fake and funny, and it’s not intended to convince anyone it’s real. Yet Deadline calls it a “deepfake” and suggests it could be banned under new legislation. Except in the next breath, it admits those rules wouldn’t likely apply to the clip.

The No Fakes Act … gives individuals the right to authorize the use of their voice and likeness in digital replication. It’s unlikely, though, that the type of video that Trump posted would be restricted, as there are exclusions for news, documentary, and sports, as well as biographical works, or for purposes of comment, criticism, or parody.

So, never mind, we suppose …

Last Walz?

Justine Bateman is the celebrity activist we didn’t know we needed.

The former “Family Ties” star has raged against AI, supported free speech, and defied her industry’s rigid groupthink.

Now, she’s taking on Gov. Tim Walz (D-Minn.) in a way none of her higher profile peers might. Walz just pardoned an illegal immigrant who previously sexually assaulted a 10-year-old. It appears he did so to prevent the man’s deportation.

She dubbed Walz “grotesque” on social media for his actions. It’s even worse than “knucklehead,” the moniker he gave himself in his disastrous VP debate two years ago. It’s a perfect coda to the new documentary “Minnesota Mao,” the Alpha News production that skewered Walz and his inept leadership.

The better Walz nickname is coming soon: ex-governor …

Turn on the dark

You don’t say no to Spidey.

Actress Sadie Sink is part of “Spider-Man: Brand New Day,” but we have no clue about her role mere weeks before its July 31 release. Turns out she was mostly in the dark too.

The actress admits she didn’t even get her hands on the film’s script until she was en route to the set for the first time.

“I knew that Marvel was a big deal and had a big brand, especially Spider-Man.”

At least she knew Supergirl was nowhere to be found on the set. Phew!

​Toto recall, Bill maher, Justine bateman, Sadie sink, Tim walz, Taylor swift, Travis kelce, Minions 

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Florida dad went to pick up 18-month-old from day care — what he found was horrifying

A Florida family was completely devastated by the tragedy that unfolded on Monday after a father went to pick up a child at day care in Plantation.

The man, who was not identified publicly, believed he had dropped off the child in the morning and went to work. At the end of the day, he went to the day care and let out a scream after finding his horrific mistake.

‘He opened the door, then slammed it shut. … And he let out this scream.’

The child was found dead in the back seat of the car.

Leslie Novoa, the owner and director of A World of Discovery Academy, explained to the South Florida Sun Sentinel why the staff didn’t react when the child wasn’t dropped off that morning.

Novoa said the man and his wife would alternate dropping off two kids at the day care. On that day, they called to inform them that they would not be dropping off the older child.

When they didn’t drop off any child, Novoa said no one found it suspect.

“This is a tragedy that happened to them and to all of us,” said Novoa, who said the family had been very caring and very loving in their interactions.

Novoa said the man had expected to pick up the child and only realized what happened when he opened the back door of the car.

“He opened the door, then slammed it shut,” Novoa said. “And he let out this scream.”

Plantation Police said they were called to the day care on a report of “a deceased child in a vehicle.”

Firefighters responded to the emergency and confirmed the child had died.

RELATED: Michigan parents charged with murder and torture after their 7-year-old boy dies with disturbing weight

The National Safety Council said about 37 children under the age of 15 die each year on average after being left in a vehicle.

“Nearly every state has experienced at least one death since 1998,” the group added. “In both 2018 and 2019, a record number of 53 children died after being left in a hot vehicle.”

About half of the hot-car deaths result in charges against a parent, and of those, about 80% result in convictions.

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​Child death, Daycare death, Florida, Hot car deaths, Crime, Hyperthermia 

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From Jerusalem, a prayer for America

Every Fourth of July, I think about the country where I was born — a nation built on faith, courage, and the belief that every person is created in the image of God.

Independence Day is about fireworks, parades, and time with family. But it is also a reminder of the miracle of America and the values that have shaped this nation for 250 years.

From Jerusalem to every corner of the United States, may this Independence Day be a celebration of gratitude, unity, and hope.

As an American-Israeli, this holiday carries special meaning for me.

I grew up in the United States, where freedom is woven into daily life. Today, I raise my children in Israel, a country whose very existence is a miracle of biblical proportions. Each year on July 4, I am reminded how blessed I am to belong to two nations rooted in faith, resilience, and hope.

America and Israel are different in many ways, but their foundations are strikingly similar.

Both nations were built by people who believed in something greater than themselves. They trusted God, longed for freedom, and sacrificed for a better future.

America’s founders risked everything to establish a nation where liberty could flourish. Israel’s founders rebuilt a homeland after 2,000 years of exile, guided by ancient promises and unshakable faith.

Both nations understand that freedom is never guaranteed. It must be protected, nurtured, and passed to the next generation.

And both nations know that a country’s greatest strength lies not in its power, but in its values.

On Independence Day, I often think about the men and women who have served in the U.S. military — those who fought in World War II to defeat evil, those who stood against tyranny in the decades that followed, and those who continue to defend freedom around the world.

As a Jewish woman, I will never forget that American soldiers helped liberate the concentration camps. They brought hope to a world drowning in darkness. They saved lives — not only the lives of Jews in Europe, but the lives of my own family members.

Both my grandfather and my father-in-law survived the Holocaust, thanks in no small part to the sacrifice of American service members. Their courage is part of the reason the Jewish people are alive today.

As an Israeli, I see that same spirit of courage in the young men and women who serve in the Israel Defense Forces.

America and Israel both understand the cost of freedom. Both nations honor those who protect it. And both nations know that not every hero comes home.

Living as both an American and an Israeli has taught me that miracles are not only ancient. They are happening right now.

RELATED: America turns 250 with a broken heart

Erik McGregor/LightRocket/Getty Images

America is a miracle: a nation founded on biblical values, where people of every background can pursue their God-given purpose.

Israel is a miracle: a nation reborn from ashes, thriving against all odds, and standing as a beacon of hope in a troubled region.

To belong to both is a privilege I thank God for every day.

As America approaches its 250th anniversary, this Independence Day feels especially meaningful. It is a moment to reflect on the values that built this nation — faith, freedom, courage, unity — and to rededicate ourselves to living them.

These are the same values that sustain Israel. The same values that bind Christians and Jews together. The same values that light the way forward in uncertain times.

This Fourth of July, my prayer is simple:

May God bless America with peace and protection. May He strengthen the families who build this nation every day. May He guide its leaders with wisdom and humility. And may He remind all of us that freedom is both a gift and a responsibility.

From Jerusalem to every corner of the United States, may this Independence Day be a celebration of gratitude, unity, and hope.

Happy Fourth, America.

​America, America 250, Christians, Faith, Gratitude, Independence day, Israel, Jews, Liberty, Opinion & analysis, Prayer, Unity 

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The surprising history behind ‘Take Me Out to the Ball Game’ — the anthem of America’s pastime

Everyone knows the song.

It’s a warm summer night, the top of the seventh inning has just concluded, and the organ begins to ring throughout the stadium. It’s time to whip out the singing voice for one of America’s most iconic tunes — “Take Me Out to the Ball Game.”

At a time when baseball fandom was overwhelmingly male-dominated, the character of Katie stands out as an unusual creation for the era.

Yet few baseball fans, let alone Americans at large, know the true history behind the 118-year-old symbol of our country’s pastime.

To get to the beginning, we must travel back to the time of President Theodore Roosevelt. The year is 1908: The Ford Model T makes its debut in the automobile market; New York City drops the very first New Year’s Eve ball in Times Square; and the Grand Canyon is declared a national monument.

The story goes that Jack Norworth was riding a New York subway train when he was inspired by a sign he saw that read, “Baseball Today — Polo Grounds.” Norworth quickly developed the lyrics to the song, with Albert Von Tilzer composing the music.

The irony? According to reports, neither of these men had ever been to a baseball game. Norworth did not attend a game until 32 years later in 1940.

Norworth and his then-wife Nora Bayes would go on to debut the tune during a vaudeville act at the Amphion Theater in Brooklyn. The song was quickly recorded by multiple different groups, with both the Edward Meeker and the Haydn Quartet versions finding mass success.

Although only the chorus is sung at baseball games today, the original song contains multiple verses that tell the story of Katie Casey (later changed to Nelly Kelly by Norworth) — a “baseball mad” fanatic who would rather have her boyfriend take her to the ballgame than to the theater.

At a time when women did not even have the right to vote, let alone the fact that baseball fandom was overwhelmingly male-dominated, the character of Katie stands out as an unusual creation for the era.

The earliest documented instance of “Take Me Out to the Ball Game” being played at a baseball game was during a Los Angeles high school game in 1934. The song made its Major League debut later that year during Game 4 of the 1934 World Series.

Stadium bands began regularly performing the tune during games in the mid-20th century. However, the way baseball fans engage with the song today — singing it during the seventh-inning stretch — was popularized by Chicago White Sox announcer Harry Caray in the 1970s. Caray later brought the tradition to the Chicago Cubs when he became their announcer in 1982.

In 2001, “Take Me Out to the Ball Game” was ranked #8 on the “Songs of the Century” list, and later in 2010, Edward Meeker’s recording was inducted into the Library of Congress’ National Recording Registry.

So next time you find yourself indulging in America’s pastime, remember to buy some “peanuts and Cracker Jack” so that you can “root, root, root for the home team” — but never forget: “For it’s one, two, three strikes, you’re out, at the old ball game.”

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​Baseball, History, Song, Politics 

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‘Miracles happened’: This Gold Star wife’s Memorial Day story is BEST thing you’ll hear all week

A simple Memorial Day request turned into a powerful reminder of the American spirit after Sharrell Anne Shaw sent a message to anyone visiting Arlington National Cemetery.

“This is probably a long shot, but if anybody happens to be in DC this weekend and plans on visiting Arlington, I would love to see a fresh photo of my husband’s grave in Section 60,” Shaw wrote in a post on X.

“There’s just something about knowing people still stop by, still say his name, still remember,” she added.

And the response was far more than she dreamed of.

“So people started asking, ‘What was he like? Tell me about him.’ And then I think just miracles happened,” Blaze Media co-founder Glenn Beck comments, before speaking to Shaw.

“I thought reaching out to people who would be in the area was a good idea. I thought maybe, might get one or two people to stop by and just say hello and snap a quick picture for me. And the unbelievable happened from there,” she tells Glenn.

“People from all over the world have responded to that post with prayers, pictures, pictures of their loved ones as well as pictures of Alan’s final resting place in Section 60,” she says. “It has been absolutely heartwarming to see.”

Even Tulsi Gabbard stopped by the grave, writing in a post on X, “It was an honor to visit your husband’s grave today on your behalf, and to pay my resorts. It was wonderful to see the beautiful flowers representing many others who did the same. Our nation owes a debt of gratitude to those who made the ultimate sacrifice, and to the loved ones they left behind. Thank you for your service and sacrifice.”

Going into the weekend, Sharrell Anne didn’t anticipate what would happen, but she did want to “remind everybody that it was okay to have their barbecues and their celebrations and their fireworks,” as long as they “remember why we’re able to do that.”

“Remember that these freedoms we’re enjoying come at a very high cost. So celebrate, but be grateful,” she added.

Want more from Glenn Beck?

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​The glenn beck program, Fourth of july, Arlington national cemetery, Tulsi gabbard, Glenn beck, Veterans 

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America is squatting in its own ruins

Modern people tend to see knowledge as something humanity achieves collectively and then keeps forever. Once a scientific advance or moral truth is discovered, we assume it becomes part of the species’ permanent inheritance.

That is false.

Tradition is not a museum display. It is not a costume we wear on patriotic holidays. It is a discipline.

Truth may be eternal, but our knowledge of it is not. Knowledge can be lost when a civilization stops practicing it. As America celebrates its 250th anniversary, we must understand that remembering our traditions and values is not enough. To keep them alive, we must embody them in what we do.

Ancient Rome is remembered as one of the most powerful civilizations in history and also one of the most technologically advanced. The Romans developed special concrete and engineering techniques that allowed them to build extraordinary structures and civic infrastructure.

When Rome fell, those techniques still existed in one sense. They had been discovered. But they were lost to time because the people who possessed the knowledge could no longer practice it or pass it on. The scientific truth remained objectively real, but without the civilization that had maintained it, the knowledge faded as if it had never existed.

People lived in the ruins of ancient wonders, taking shelter in buildings they could not build or maintain. Without the continuity of tradition, science had no practical meaning.

Moral truth faces the same danger.

The Old Testament shows a repeated cycle of Israel receiving divine revelation and then forgetting what had been handed down by God Himself. Again and again, the nation falls away from the commandments of the Lord until a prophet pulls an old scroll from its rack and reminds the people of what they once knew.

The Israelites cry out and rend their garments in repentance. They practice the truth for a time. Then, the practice fades, and knowledge fades with it.

RELATED: A real nation knows who is in and who is out

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Despite receiving direct divine revelation, Israel — and humanity itself — could not maintain the practice of God’s truth. That is why the Lord sent his Son as a perfect example and living sacrifice, an eternal embodiment for all nations to see what the righteous life looks like in practice.

This weekend, America will celebrate its 250th anniversary. But saying that we honor our traditions and culture is not enough.

Most Americans have spent little to no time reading what the founders actually wrote. Their understanding of our national traditions comes from a heavily curated version of history they learned in school. There will be plenty of talk about celebrating the country’s past. What we need is a revival focused on living that tradition in the present.

Sentimentality is nice. It will not save the country.

Today, most Americans, including many conservatives, say the religious liberty guaranteed by the First Amendment means Muslims cannot be prevented from moving here and building entire cities dedicated to their way of life. The average American believes Hindus have a First Amendment right to immigrate and build giant statues of their demonic gods in Texas.

This is absurd.

States often required public officials to be professing Protestant Christians well into the 1840s, decades after the Bill of Rights was adopted. Even Catholics were often considered too foreign to hold office. None of this was viewed at the time as a violation of religious liberty. The idea that religious liberty was intended to allow Muslims or Hindus to control the public square is a lie.

The entire “tradition” of religious liberty many people think they are honoring is false.

The Supreme Court recently provided another example by ruling that the 14th Amendment guarantees birthright citizenship for the children of illegal aliens. The 14th Amendment was one of three amendments added to the Constitution after the Civil War to address the legal framework for freed slaves.

Its purpose was to clarify that people born into slavery became citizens once they were free. That intent was made clear by the people who authored the amendment. It did not create citizenship for American Indians, for example, or other groups added later through law and policy.

The idea that birthright citizenship for illegal aliens is some grand American tradition is entirely false. Yet a conservative Supreme Court just enshrined it in the Constitution.

This is what happens when a people inherit words without preserving the practices and assumptions that gave those words meaning. They recite “religious liberty” and forget the civilization it was meant to protect. They invoke “equal citizenship” and forget the specific injustice the 14th Amendment was written to remedy. They honor the shell while abandoning the substance.

A nation does not preserve itself by remembering slogans once a year. It preserves itself by forming children, families, churches, neighborhoods, and leaders who know what those slogans demand when they collide with power, fear, comfort, and fashion. Otherwise, July Fourth becomes pageantry without inheritance.

RELATED: The birthright ruling leaves Trump one clear move

Samuel Corum/Sipa/Bloomberg/Getty Images

A tradition no longer practiced becomes decoration. A truth no longer defended becomes trivia. A people who forget how to live their inheritance eventually become squatters in their own ruins. That is us.

Tradition is not a museum display. It is not a costume we wear on patriotic holidays. It is a discipline. It is a set of habits, loyalties, judgments, and practices that must be taught, defended, and lived.

As we gather with family and friends this weekend, we should enjoy the patriotic festivities. Fireworks, barbecue, and loud renditions of “Take Me Home, Country Roads” are all fantastic, and we should embrace them fully.

But we should also commit to learning the true history and traditions of our nation and living them in our daily lives.

Read the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution with your children. Read the Federalist Papers and the Anti-Federalist Papers. Read George Washington’s Farewell Address and the letters of the founders.

Most important, live these traditions by becoming the virtuous people those men believed the country could not survive without.

The 250th anniversary must be more than a nostalgic celebration. It must become a renewal of our covenant as Americans.

​Tradition, Rome, America 250, Old testament, 14th amendment, Christians, Supreme court, Birthright citizenship, Illegal immigrants, Constitution, Declaration of independence, Opinion & analysis 

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MS Now’s Donny Deutsch MELTS DOWN over socialist takeover of the Democratic Party: ‘It’s a DISASTER!’

Liberal MS Now commentator Donny Deutsch lambasted the socialist takeover of the Democratic Party in comments on the progressive cable news network.

The panel was discussing whether Democrats would be able to find their footing while the president is facing criticism over the Iran war and high inflation, when Deutsch went on a tirade about the party’s focus.

‘Right now every Republican strategist is salivating on what these people have said in the past, and they’re going to wallpaper with it.’

“Well, Democrats have gone off the rails. … What matters to people is affordability. And Democrats right now are focused on two things. They’re focused on anti-Semitism and socialism,” Deutsch said.

“Not all Democrats,” host Stephanie Ruhle objected.

“Not all, but that’s where the energy of the party is, when you look at the two candidates that got elected in the last week,” he responded. “One of them talks about that there was not — that firebombing in Colorado was not anti-Semitic. I mean, would not acknowledge that, when it was a firebombing of people holding a vigil for hostages by Hamas.”

He was referring to Melat Kiros, who won the Democratic primary for Colorado’s 1st Congressional District, and then cited Darializa Avila Chevalier, the winner of the primary in New York’s 13th Congressional District.

“Another candidate in New York, who has been well documented, was at an October 8 rally, a pro-Hamas, pro-Palestinian rally,” Deutsch continued.

“This is ridiculous, and they’re both running on anti-American, socialistic, ‘Let’s blow up — let’s abolish ICE, let’s abolish prisons, let’s abolish everything, let’s abolish the police.’ It’s insane,” he added.

“And the Republicans are going to tar them with this. This is the problem. Even though they are a small sector of the party, right now every Republican strategist is salivating on what these people have said in the past, and they’re going to wallpaper with it,” Deutsch said.

RELATED: ‘They’re animals’: Trump UNLOADS on ‘godless Communists’ taking over Democratic Party

“Democrats are going down a bad path. They’re electing these democratic socialists,” he concluded. “It’s a disaster. No matter what you think of it, wherever your politics are, it’s bad strategy.”

Video of Deutsch’s comments were posted to social media, where they were widely circulated.

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​Democratic socialists, Donny deutsch, Ms now, Republicans, Socialism, Socialist takeover, Politics