'Circling the drain': California has become a warning to the nation



California once stood as the symbol of American innovation and unity — but today, it has become the warning sign for a nation in decline.

Harmeet Dhillon and BlazeTV host Nicole Shanahan both live in California, and while it remains one of the most aesthetically beautiful places to live, policy and unity-wise, it is anything but beautiful.

“Some younger folks may not remember the time when people would be giving speeches on the opposite sides of something in Congress, and then they would play basketball together afterwards,” Dhillon tells Shanahan.


“That doesn’t happen any more in D.C., and it doesn’t happen any more in Sacramento. I mean, Sacramento has become like the paradigm of, you know, just sclerotic inefficiency over there. It’s just a one-party state, with terrible results for the consumers because of that,” she continues.

“If we had a vibrant two-party state here, we would have some compromise, and we would have some solutions,” she says, noting that instead the state is just “circling the drain” and has become “unlivable here for most people.”

And despite the way Silicon Valley and other densely populated areas of California may vote, Dhillon points out that when “you look at the map, California is a red state.”

“There’s a thin slice of blue on the coast, where there’s a population overload, but most of the state ... you just drive an hour into the interior of our state, and there’s Trump signs everywhere, and there’s people working with their hands, and there’s people involved in their communities, and there’s nature, and there’s beauty,” she says.

“It is really two states in that sense. … But, you know, it’s sort of with self-interested line-drawing and the so-called independent commission, which isn’t independent. It really defines a ceiling for Republicans right now, until that system changes,” she continues.

“We’ve had Republican leaders in the state when the state was great, and I don’t think other states want to emulate California’s infrastructure, its schools, its, you know, health care system,” she says, adding, “We are not a paradigm of anything positive right now, and that should change.”

Want more from Nicole Shanahan?

To enjoy more of Nicole's compelling blend of empathy, curiosity, and enlightenment, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.

Ex-Green Beret’s fatherhood lessons that shape strong daughters



The current state of American culture ultimately leads young girls down a path that chases independence at all costs — but fathers have the power to stop it.

“You think you’re a tough guy, and then you have a little girl, and you find out what an absolute sap you really are,” ex-Green Beret and Virginia delegate Nick Freitas tells BlazeTV host Allie Beth Stuckey on “Relatable.”

And Freitas explains that he learned three things raising daughters, which is “somewhat unique to them.”

“You need to tell your daughters that you love them,” he says. “A lot of times what fathers don’t seem to understand is we do things like go to work, provide, protect, we work, you know, 70-hour weeks. And we think that’s translated in their minds as love, but it isn’t necessarily.”


“And so it does have to be verbalized as well as acted out in your day-to-day life,” he says, recalling an interaction with a man he calls one of the biggest “man-whores” he had ever encountered.

“I had asked him, I said, ‘How do I keep my daughter from ever falling for a guy like you?’ And he said, ‘Tell her you love her, because if you don’t, someone like me will, and she’ll believe him,’” Freitas explains.

“Another thing, too, that I would say, and this is true with all of your children, the relationship and the bonds you build start when they’re infants,” he continues, noting that a lot men have the idea that as their kids get older, they will share more of the responsibilities for them.

“No, from the time that they’re little, you need to be holding them and building those connections. Your daughters need to know that you will tell them the truth, but you tell them the truth from the position that you love them,” he explains.

However, no one is perfect, and Freitas tells Stuckey that “there’s going to come a moment in every father’s life where your child catches you not living up to the standard that you told them was the standard.”

“And in that moment, what you do is very, very important. Because if you aren’t able to look them in the eye and say, ‘You’re right, I’m wrong, and I’m sorry,’ then what you’ve taught them is not a standard of moral conduct. You haven’t taught them objective morality. What you’ve taught them is an authority structure,” he explains.

“So take the time to form those bonds, because they will pay massive dividends,” he continues.

And one of the most important tips Freitas has is that your daughter will “watch how you treat her mother.”

“And if you treat her mother with the sort of love and respect that she deserves, that will be all the standard that she needs for when the other guy comes around that doesn’t behave that way, or there’s something slightly off,” he says.

“You will be the reason why she rejects him,” he adds.

Want more from Allie Beth Stuckey?

To enjoy more of Allie’s upbeat and in-depth coverage of culture, news, and theology from a Christian, conservative perspective, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange predicted the surveillance state we currently live in



A decade ago, Julian Assange warned that “we are the last free generation.”

Now, Americans are living in the dystopian reality he once predicted.

And Gabriel Shipton, the brother of Assange, is continuing to sound the alarm, sitting down with BlazeTV host Nicole Shanahan to discuss what has turned into a nearly full-blown surveillance state.

“We are at a tipping point now where it’s not even being hidden,” Shanahan tells Shipton. “It’s actually in clear daylight that the government has every intention to rip away our civil liberties, our constitutional rights. Julian’s watching all of this go down. What does he think?”


“You can look back to his writing, you know, even from 10 years ago, and he was predicting all this, predicting this surveillance even before the Snowden leaks. They knew it existed, but they didn’t have confirmation in black and white from actual leaked information about this NSA spying,” Shipton explains.

“But he’s written about this and, you know, said things like ‘we are the last free generation.’ You know, soon we’re going to be manipulated in more and more subtle ways that we don’t even understand,” he continues.

“And I think this FISA bill, combined with things like, you know, the potential for AI integration with all this surveillance,” he says, before Shanahan chimes in, “Well, it’s already happening.”

“We are very well aware that many government agencies are using AI for censorship and surveillance. I mean, they go hand in hand. They’re not even truly even hiding it after the pandemic,” she says.

“I think generally there’s awareness, but I think there’s an outcry that is being limited and almost herded. I feel like everyone who’s stepping out there and trying to show everybody what’s going on and what’s at stake is being quieted and herded,” she continues.

However, while Assange predicted the surveillance state we currently reside in, he is optimistic about some things.

“I believe he is excited about those independent journalists that are out there doing work. I know he, you know, engages with a lot of independent journalism as much as he can given his limited connection to the outside world,” Shipton says.

“You know, you can draw a line from Wikileaks’ work to this flowering of independent journalism, the loss of confidence in corporate media. And I think that is due to a lot of Wikileaks' work,” he continues.

“They exposed the corporate media for what it actually was,” he adds.

Want more from Nicole Shanahan?

To enjoy more of Nicole's compelling blend of empathy, curiosity, and enlightenment, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.

Psychology vs. scripture: What’s really behind depression?



Medication may be able to stabilize symptoms, but BlazeTV host Allie Beth Stuckey and Dr. Greg Gifford believe the real healing when it comes to depression and hopelessness is in looking to God — not at ourselves.

“No one should hear this, watch this, listen to this, and think I’m saying depression doesn’t exist, because I’m not saying that. And no one should hear this, watch this, listen to this, and think I’m saying anxiety doesn’t exist, because I’m not saying that,” Gifford tells Stuckey.

“I’ve never said those things. What I’m saying is let’s start to uncover what’s going on in depression,” he continues, using physiological issues, vitamin deficiencies, and thyroid issues as examples that can have an effect on the mind.

Another example Gifford uses is some sort of cyst or growth on the brain that could be affecting mood regulation. However, physiological issues aren’t the only causes of depression or anxiety.


“So if I don’t have any known physiological problems, doctors can’t find anything, there’s nothing going on in the organ of my brain. Thyroid looks great. All my bloodwork comes back, and it looks nice. Then maybe, just maybe, I should be open to what’s happening in my mind,” he explains.

“What am I thinking about? What am I putting my hope in? Why? Why? Am I disappointed and so discouraged? Did something change in my life recently that was not physiological but was circumstantial and that’s what triggered this depression? Then you’re not talking about a biological problem at all. You’re actually talking about a spiritual problem,” he continues.

The solution, Gifford says, is taking “you back to the nature and the character of God and His promises.”

“We want to set you free that God is faithful. 2 Corinthians 1, He’s the God of all comfort. That His mercy is unending for you, that even in the low point, if someone’s watching this in bed, right, even in that low point, God draws people out of the mud and the muck and the mire and He sets them on a firm rock, which is Himself,” he says.

“That is the hope that people need. An antidepressant can’t touch that. We need to behold the glory of God, not behold the glory of our problems, not behold the glory of ourselves, not behold the glory of psychotropics,” he continues.

And while many people struggling with depression will turn to therapy over the Bible, the former often only makes it worse.

“One of the key features of depression is often just a constant dwelling on your own problems,” Stuckey says, pointing out that author Abigail Shrier made this point well in her book “Bad Therapy.”

“She says start class every day by asking your students how they feel, and you’re actually going to make them feel worse,” Gifford agrees. “And it’s like, Shrier’s not arguing for a biblical worldview, but there is something correct about that, which is a self-centered worldview makes me more miserable.”

Want more from Allie Beth Stuckey?

To enjoy more of Allie’s upbeat and in-depth coverage of culture, news, and theology from a Christian, conservative perspective, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.

Despite terrorist designation, Antifa still runs wild — and conservatives want real action



Antifa radicals have been causing chaos throughout America for years and have finally been designated as a terrorist network by the Trump administration.

However, they’re still getting away with crimes.

“Antifa radicals in Berkeley, California, disrupted a Turning Point USA event outside of UC Berkeley, punched a conservative in the face. The conservative gets arrested,” BlazeTV host Christopher Rufo tells co-host Jonathan “Lomez” Keeperman on “Rufo & Lomez.”

“But our policy prescription is, the administration has to dismantle the left-wing terror networks, whether it’s Antifa, other organized militant groups. They have to actually get mugshots, case numbers, inmate numbers,” he continues.


“The tangible evidence that these left-wing terror networks, which are essentially saying that we can control the streets in places like Portland, we can veto peaceful conservative speech in places like Berkeley — we have to ensure that they can no longer do so and can no longer exert control through violence,” he adds.

While Rufo points out that Antifa is still out there disrupting whatever it can, Lomez notes that it was a “huge step in the right direction” that it has at least been designated as a terrorist network.

“The administration is making the right moves and/or saying the right things. What’s missing is the conspicuous action so that your average American, let alone Trump supporter, but just your average American goes, ‘Yeah, I don’t like Antifa, and the administration is doing something about it, and that’s good,’” Lomez says.

But the next step is taking the terrorist designation and doing something with it.

“Let’s just take this case at UC Berkeley, this recent event. The attorney general, Pam Bondi, released a great tweet,” Rufo says.

“Antifa is an existential threat to our nation. The violent riots at UC Berkeley last night are under full investigation by the FBI-led Joint Terrorism Task Force. We will continue to spare no expense unmasking all who commit and orchestrate acts of political violence,” Bondi wrote.

“Under President Trump’s leadership, and pursuant to his Executive Order designating Antifa as a domestic terror organization, the Department of Justice and our law-enforcement partners are dismantling violent networks that seek to intimidate Americans and suppress their free expression and First Amendment rights,” she added.

While Rufo is glad to see Bondi using such strong wording, he’s skeptical.

“Why hasn’t UC Berkeley been defunded? Just say, ‘Hey, we’re withholding funds until you can establish a basic environment of civil discourse,’” Rufo says.

“You have to make sure that the directive that comes from the, you know, FBI director’s office, the attorney general’s office, you have to make sure that it means something at that regional level, at that agent level,” he explains.

“And I am not convinced that the current leadership, that the current structure, the current techniques that they’re using has sufficiently done that,” he adds.

Want more from Rufo & Lomez?

To enjoy more of the news through the anthropological lens of Christopher Rufo and Lomez, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.

Country music's MOST popular song is AI-generated



The number one country song in America isn’t sung by a human. Instead it was generated entirely by AI — which may have devastating implications for music, creativity, and the very definition of humanity.

The song “Walk My Walk” is by AI artist Breaking Rust and features lyrics like, “Every scar’s a story that I survived / I’ve been through hell, but I’m still alive.”

“They say slow down, boy, don’t go too fast / But I ain’t never been one to live in the past,” croons the AI artist.

“If you look at some of the lyrics of this song, I mean it talks about how he’s been dragged through the mud. He’s, you know, had to really stand. I mean, it doesn’t know any of this stuff. None of it is real. And yet it is assembling it in a way that is so appealing, it’s number one on the Billboard country music chart,” Blaze Media co-founder Glenn Beck says on “The Glenn Beck Program.”


“The whole world is about to change,” he continues. “You know, I just heard Elon Musk say that in five years, there’s not going to be phones or apps. It will just be some sort of a box or device that you kind of carry around with you and it’s listening. It’s anticipating. It’s AI.”

“And it will know what you want to hear, what you want, and it will create the music you want to hear. It will create the podcast you want to hear. It will do all this stuff for you. So we will be in our own universe even more than we are right now,” he adds.

This has led Glenn to ask some serious introspective questions like, “If AI can fake being a human and sing soulfully while not having a soul, what does it mean to be human?”

“I think a lot of people won’t care,” BlazeTV host Stu Burguiere chimes in. “Like, people won’t care if it is made by humans or not if they like it. And they seem to like it.”

While both Glenn and Stu agree AI will likely take over the arts, Glenn believes that “handmade is going to come back into style at some point.”

“Human-made will come back into style,” he says. “But ... we’re going to go through a period where it’s going to get really scary.”

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.

Exposing the dark truth: Communism, Satan, and government power



The government has one biblical purpose: to protect the innocent and punish evil. But America’s leaders have abandoned this duty, as many have done in the past.

And Dr. Frank Turek points out to BlazeTV host Allie Beth Stuckey that instead of protecting the people from evil, corrupt governments often wield evil.

“It’s interesting, Allie. Our mutual friend James Lindsay is an agnostic atheist, and about a year before Charlie died, he texted Charlie and he said, ‘Charlie, I’m starting to believe in Satan,’” Turek tells Stuckey.

Turek recalled Lindsay explaining that this happened when he dove into the history of communism.


“And so Charlie texted him back, ‘If Satan, then God,’ and James texted back, ‘That would follow,’” he says.

“In other words, it’s the point that if there’s evil, there has to be good because evil is not a thing in itself. It’s a lack in a good thing. It’s like cancer,” he continues.

And in order to prevent evil from rapidly spreading and hurting them, people trust the government to help stop it.

“We need a force to protect innocent people from evil and to punish wrongdoers,” he says. “And when governments cease to do that, they cease to become legitimate governments.”

Want more from Allie Beth Stuckey?

To enjoy more of Allie’s upbeat and in-depth coverage of culture, news, and theology from a Christian, conservative perspective, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.

CNN destroys Jasmine Crockett for ‘Jeffrey Epstein’ smear



Democratic Rep. Jasmine Crockett of Texas very confidently claimed on the House floor that Republicans, including EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin, had taken money from Jeffrey Epstein. However, that Jeffrey Epstein was not the Jeffrey Epstein.

Crockett boomed into the microphone that Mitt Romney, the NRCC, Lee Zeldin, George Bush, WinRed, John McCain, Sarah Palin, and Rick Lazio took money from a man named Jeffrey Epstein.

And in a segment on CNN, Crockett tried to spin her mistake when Kaitlan Collins asked about her defense of Democrat House Delegate Stacey Plaskett, who had been exposed for texting Jeffrey Epstein.


“You mentioned Lee Zeldin there. He’s now a cabinet secretary. He responded and said it was actually Dr. Jeffrey Epstein, who’s a doctor that doesn’t have any relation to the convicted sex trafficker. Unfortunate for that doctor, but that is who donated to a prior campaign of his,” Collins said.

“Do you want to correct the record?” Collins asked.

“I never said that it was that Jeffrey Epstein,” Crockett responded. “Just so that people understand, when you make a donation, your picture is not there, and because they decided to spring this on us in real time, I wanted the Republicans to think about what could potentially happen because I knew that they didn’t even try to go through the FEC.”

“So, my team, what they did is they Googled. And that is specifically why I said, ‘a Jeffrey Epstein.’ Unlike Republicans, I at least don’t go out and just tell lies, because it was not the same one,” she continued.

“But when Lee Zeldin had something to say, all he had to say was it was a different Jeffrey Epstein. He admitted that he did receive donations from a Jeffrey Epstein. So at least I wasn’t trying to mislead people,” she added.

Blaze Media co-founder Glenn Beck is not buying it.

“You clearly were smearing,” Glenn laughs.

“She’s trying to say, ‘Well, I didn’t lie,’” BlazeTV host Stu Burguiere chimes in. “Like that’s your defense in theory, right?”

Burguiere also points out that Crockett was proud of adding an “a” in front of “Jeffrey Epstein,” but she shouldn’t be.

“She knew she was lying. She knew there was a good chance this wasn’t Jeffrey Epstein,” he says.

“She’s insane,” Glenn adds.

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.

Liz Wheeler warns students of Soros’ ‘plot to overthrow America’



George Soros has long been an advocate of open borders (against sovereignty), and BlazeTV host Liz Wheeler has always wondered why. But it wasn’t until she stumbled on old interviews of Soros, where he admitted that he did not believe in God, where she understood.

“Open borders is just a tool. It’s the means,” Wheeler tells students while speaking at Hillsdale College, before asking, “But what is the end?”

“Well, once you do dilute the culture, once you do destroy the institutions and the norms, then suddenly the country begins to change,” she explains, using Dearborn, Michigan, as an example.

“The Muslim mayor of Dearborn, Michigan, Abdullah Hammoud, he has mosques with loudspeakers attached to the top, and they play Muslim prayer hours publicly in the city, changing the culture of that area,” Wheeler says, noting that the reason he’s able to do this is because “our culture has been diluted.”


“It’s been under assault. The underlying hatred of those on the left who claim to just hate capitalism, they claim to maybe hate our definition of liberty. That’s not the underlying cause of it. It’s the hatred of our creator, hatred of the true founder, or the founder of the truth on which our nation is based,” she continues.

“And when you recognize that, the plot to overthrow America that is happening as I speak to you tonight becomes chillingly clear,” she adds.

Wheeler explains that this “plot to overthrow America” is made up of four pillars.

“The first pillar is diluting a culture through an attack on borders, through an attack on sovereignty. Opening the borders, letting hordes of people with no intention of assimilation coming into our country and changing the fabric, changing our norms and our traditions and our institutions,” she explains.

“The second pillar is electing radical politicians who hate our nation and for what we stand. The third pillar is changing the voting electorate,” she continues, pointing out that the voting electorate is changed through indoctrination.

“If you walk through the doors of a traditional four-year university in this country, you are very likely, if you walked in politically apathetic, to walk out a hardened Marxist revolutionary because that is the purpose of most universities in this country,” she adds.

The other way to change the voting electorate is through importing voters who “do not love the country to which they have been allowed to live.”

“And then the fourth pillar,” she says, “is fomenting violence in the streets of America in order to condition people for a violent revolution.”

Want more from Liz Wheeler?

To enjoy more of Liz’s based commentary, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.

Joy Reid flips the script, wants men OUT of women’s locker rooms



Leftists have infamously fought for men infiltrating women’s spaces — including locker rooms and bathrooms — despite it making women feel unsafe.

And until now, most left-wing talking heads have maintained the talking point that transgender women, or biological men, deserve to share women’s spaces. And which woman broke the trans-positive trend on the topic is shocking, to say the least.

“There would be women walking around with their boobies dangling, swinging in the breeze. And it’s not even, like, perky boobies, just boobies drooping to their knees. They kicking their boobies down the street and then want to walk up and have a conversation with you,” ex-MSNBC host Joy Reid began on her show, “Reid This Reid That.”


“And I’m like, don’t walk up to me with no clothes on and talk to me. I don’t want to talk to you. I would be disturbed. I’m telling you, I would be alarmed. I’m alarmed enough when I see a woman with her dangling boobies,” she continued.

“If I saw a penis in the ladies’ locker room, I would freak out too,” she said.

“This is nothing against trans anybody. What it’s saying is, if I turn around and I see a pee-pee, a penis, in front of me, inside of the room, I would probably go to management and say, ‘Wait a minute,’” she added.

Reid pointed out that it would be concerning from a “safety standpoint” and a “privacy standpoint.”

“This is what we’ve said a million times,” BlazeTV host Pat Gray says, astonished. “Why are the women’s sensibilities completely discounted here? It doesn’t make any sense for people who purport to care about women. It’s unreal.”