My grandfather wasn’t a wealthy man. He didn’t have much in the way of material things. So when he died, there wasn’t a whole lot of stuff for the family to decide who gets this or that. But there was one thing I did ask for: a chair.
He used to tell us stories in that chair.
The chair was falling apart. My wife just had it completely refurbished. How much was it? I don’t know and I don’t want to know — probably cost much more than the chair was ever worth.
You have to decide, is it worth saving? You have to assess the damage. Is it even possible to repair?
You have to repair the major structural flaws; strip the layers of paint that covered up its natural beauty — seal it, protect it and restore its natural finish.
That chair is America.
It’s getting old; it’s been around. A lot of people have tried this chair out; a lot of people have painted over it, altered it, banged it up a little bit. And it’s become pretty weak and wobbly.
So what do we do? We have to decide: Is America worth saving? Do we want to go back to the founding principles of the country?
If we believe it’s worth saving, we’ve got to assess the damage. What are the structural flaws?
There are massive federal agencies; corruption; out-of-control spending; career politicians; special interests; a nanny state mentality, and progressivism.
OK, so there are the weak points; things that have turned this beautiful chair into a rickety, old, damaged chair. Now comes the hard work of fixing the damage done before it’s beyond repair. You have to restore it.
But in order to fully restore it, you have to know what the chair looked like when it was first created.
You know, people are still running to politicians. But this election will mean nothing at all if we don’t go back and learn or relearn what this old chair looked like when it was made. Because guess what? Politicians on both sides of the aisle have been piling on coats of ugly paint to this chair over the years.
I told you late last year that my show was going to change. And it has, I hope you noticed. While other shows will focus on the political games and the Rs and Ds, we won’t. We’ll give you the news of the day, but we aren’t looking to fix the country through a politician. I happen to believe that to fix it we have to know what it originally looked like — know our history.
And that’s why I know it in with every fiber in me that what we are doing is exactly the right thing to do. Because if your solutions aren’t centered in the principles of the founding of this country, guess what? They aren’t going to work. You know that to be true and I know that to be true. But so do those who want to fundamentally transform America, those who want to change this chair into a footstool or firewood.
There were rallies Thursday in California and around the country. They were promoted as “saving education” and stopping California from cutting the education budget. But education wasn’t the real goal. Let me show you a little about who is involved in these protests. This poster was used to promote the event: Education is a human right.
For people who feel so strongly about education, you’d think they’d be educated enough to know that education is not a right. The Constitution doesn’t mention that one. Let me clarify: The United States Constitution doesn’t mention that one. But there are some constitutions that do mention it, like the Soviet Constitution.
Let me help “save education”: Rights do not come from government, they come from God. If governments grant you rights, then you are slave to that government because if they can grant rights, they can also take them away.
In America, you don’t have that “right.” This is what knowing “the chair” is all about. Adding education as a right just adds another coat of paint, another ding, another scratch on the chair. It wasn’t designed to do that. If you want government to start granting rights, then perhaps it’s time to start looking for a completely new chair to buy.
The other element involved in these “save education” rallies comes from the radical left. Already these events have been marred by vandalism and violence. On Friday, we’ll get into this in more detail, but look closely at the poster: “resist — mobilize — transform.”
I’ve showed you a book written by The Invisible Committee. It’s called “The Coming Insurrection.” These are communists. Remember what I showed you this week — the communist groups who said this:
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JED BRANDT, COMMUNIST: We have to help bring this government down, we have to help destroy this system and that requires increasing the alienation that working class and oppressed people feel. The way change is going to happen in this country is through the destruction of what we call the United States of America.
I am opposed to the system we traditionally call imperialism and the idea that some people have rights and privileges that are not granted to all human beings. And the solution to that problem is called communism and socialism and we should put it in our mouths.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
I know it may be a small group, but they are taking your children and colleges and indoctrinating them. And as we move forward, our history gets smaller and smaller in the rearview mirror. They are easily swayed.
I mentioned at the top of the show that this chair was the only thing I asked for when my grandfather died. My wife had it restored. But do you know how it got all old and weathered and broken? It sat on my back porch, out in the rain and the elements. Even though I had wanted that chair and I knew what it was. I got lazy; I didn’t take proper care of it. I guess I just always assumed it’d be there. It always had been. Why would anything change?
It took my wife to see that if it wasn’t taken care of, there wouldn’t be anything left of it. She was right. When it comes to our country, for me, it took Sept. 11.
To see the real meaning of freedom, really appreciate it and understand that if I just leave it out on the porch and just always expect it to be there, it will be lost as well. Since I woke up to that fact, I’ve averaged 2 to 5 hours sleep a night, because I’m reading.
And I know you are tired. You’re busy with the kids and the family and work. And now you have to try and stop government from taking health care and turning it upside down. They are attacking our core values and principles every day it seems. They’re either turning this chair into a footstool or firewood.
The right way to restore America is to stop the transformation. The only way you can do it is to learn history, know who you are, where you came from, why these documents were written the way they were.
I can ring the warning bell every single day, but unless you act on a local level, at home with your own children, in 10 years your kids may not know who Daniel Boone is or David Crockett or Neil Armstrong. They’ll probably know Mary Kay but maybe not Christopher Columbus and they will learn that America is an imperialist nation. But it won’t matter because they’ll be a global citizen. How do I know that? Because the argument and the debate is going on right now for our children’s future textbooks.
History is important. It always has been. The reason I am the man I am today, is because I not only remember the boy I was in this picture, but my grandpa, a Democrat, who loved his country and wouldn’t recognize it today. He may be gone but he taught me well to preserve those things that are real and important and to protect them. He did his best and now it is time for me to do my best and you to do yours. With any luck our children and grandchildren with think of us the way I think of him.
— Watch “Glenn Beck” weekdays at 5 p.m. ET on Fox News Channel
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