America, Trust Your Gut: Something Isn't Right

You know what, America? I have to tell you: God bless the people who are actually trying to do their job and get to the answers, to get to the bottom of what's really going on in the world. But as I watch television, like you, I sat at home, I didn't have a voice and I just watched.

I mean, that speech the president gave last week — and I'm sorry, I've been in the hospital, so I've got to get this off my chest — where he was talking about, you know, something else besides the tragedy; something was wrong. I felt it in my gut and you felt it in your gut, but I don't think anybody has explained it.

Well, let me do so.

You know what? Some people may have just dismissed it: "Oh, you know, gee, Glenn, last time, you said there were anti-free market people associated with the president of the United States or Marxists."

Yes, that was crazy, huh?

When you saw the president go nearly two full minutes before mentioning Fort Hood and then giving a shout-out before getting to the point, your gut alarm bells went off; something is wrong.

What other president in history has ever started his remarks out dealing with a national tragedy of death and terror with a shout-out or anything other than what happened, the appropriate expression of sympathy for and solidarity with the victims, the families, and then wrapping up the marks by expressing — oh, I don't know — "This will never happen again, and I'm going to do everything to get to the bottom of it to make sure."

Can you imagine FDR, the patron saint of the progressives, meandering around babbling about anything, you know, but Pearl Harbor on December 8th, 1941?

"Mr. Vice president, Mr. Speaker, members of the House of Representatives, first, I want to say a big fat howdy to my buddy Bob Hope! Yes, I just — I watch his movies all the time and he dresses up like a woman, and these road movies, they make me chuckle all the time. Oh, by the way, also, I want to let unemployed Americans know I'm working very hard on creating jobs for you right now. Soon, we're going to find a road that you can patch or potholes you can fill up with rocks or something, and I also wanted to mention that something, well — oh, yes, December 7th, 1941, was the day that live..."

It didn't make sense. It wouldn't have made sense then and it doesn't make sense now.

The first thing that hit me as I was watching television just like you were and I saw President Obama talking about native American rights in the middle of a tragedy at Fort Hood — I couldn't believe it. I mean, it sounded almost like maybe, possibly, would there be some reparations involved?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA: Few have been more marginalized and ignored by Washington for as long as Native Americans, our first Americans. We know the history that we share. It's a history marked by violence and disease and deprivation. Treaties were violated. Promises were broken.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

Let me say this right off the top of the bat, nobody can question that Native Americans were mistreated, treaties were broken, promises not kept. Yes. You got it. We've definitely heard fairly recently about Native American rights and what we owe them. What we owe them. What we owe them.

As I'm watching this spill out of my television, I'm thinking — wait a minute, this language he just used, I heard this before:

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VAN JONES, FORMER GREEN JOBS 'CZAR': No more broken treaties! No more broken treaties! Give them the wealth! Give them the wealth! Give them the dignity! Give them the respect that they deserve.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

So, Van Jones was quietly moved out of the spotlight, but not his passionate plans for Native Americans — no, no, they live on in the calm reserve tones of Barack Obama's policies. Obviously, what he had in mind goes far beyond giving them casino licenses and free government health care.

So, I'm watching Barack Obama say these things and that's the first thing I thought — oh, my gosh, look at this: Van Jones policy is happening right there and nobody is even aware of it. It bothered me.

We can't seem to shake the radical influence of former green jobs "czar" Van Jones. Or is it just a coincidence that Obama brought up Native American rights at such an inappropriate time — and it also just happens to be a pet issue of Jones? Maybe. But something else has been bothering me,that ties in here. A story we haven't had a chance to talk about. It was election night.

While we were all focused on district 23, the sideshow between the Republican-endorsed-Democrat and the previously unknown accountant, there was a little known unpublicized amendment to the New York Constitution that was on the ballot. It passed with almost no opposition. It was a proposal to allow the state prison inmates to work outside of the prison walls for non-profit organizations; convicts serving time in prison can now be part of Barack Obama's volunteerism agenda.

Well, gosh, how convenient.

They could, I suppose, work for a non-profit like — oh, I don't know, pick one — maybe AmeriCorps. But hold on here, what a coincidence? Getting criminals out of jail and back into society working for community organizations — that also happens to be a huge for — say it with me — Van Jones.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JONES: Let's start taking money away from incarcerators and the polluters, and giving money to community-based people who are trying to bring forward new jobs, clean energy and stabilizing neighborhoods so that we don't have to have crime and over-incarceration. That's the way forward.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

Because of his advocacy for prison inmates, Jones is somewhat of a hero to those serving time. We were following a story and then he was just brushed out at night so we moved on. It sat on my desk until my appendix was about to explode, watching the president giving a wildly inappropriate talk about what just happened in Fort Hood. And then I called up my staff and I said, "Hey, can you dust off that San Quentin stuff we were working on?"

Last March, Van Jones told a group of inmates: "We need genius. We need entrepreneurial brilliance, people who can re-imagine possibilities. We need you."

We were getting help from San Quentin on this story until they found out who we were and what we were doing, and then, all of a sudden, we couldn't get any help — any help from a federal prison on anything that Van Jones has said. And, by the way, Van, if they were genius or brilliant, would they be in prison? Maybe they, you know, would have used instead of resorting to crime, or if they applied it to crime, maybe they would have gotten away with it.

Anyway, the whole point of that speech was to give jobs to people in prison, to let them work. But naturally, that's where our focus for recruiting entrepreneurs should be, in prison. Not colleges, not tech schools, no the geniuses in prison that are going to fix our economy.

But guess who else is focused directly on prison inmates for the recruiting efforts? Al Qaeda. The feds have been working to stop this for years. President Obama is even aware of it:

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: I will address the problem of our prisons where the most disaffected and disconnected Americans are being explicitly targeted for conversion by Al Qaeda and its ideological allies.

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So now, Van Jones, a guy who doesn't like our system and is an avowed communist wants to get these people into the workforce and then New York changes the constitution. He wants to fight all of this by giving inmates jobs and set them free, I guess. That sounds kind of risky. It doesn't make sense to me, just like the whole speech made no sense.

Barack Obama meandered around the before addressing the Islamic terrorist slaughter of our men and women in uniform on a military base right here at home in Texas. Thirteen people with murdered by a homegrown terrorist who was shouting "Allahu Akbar!" How does the president react to that?

Now, he tells us, don't jump to any conclusions. Well, that — you know what? Actually, that's good advice. Maybe the president should follow his own advice. Do you remember this?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: The Cambridge police acted stupidly in arresting somebody when there was already proof that they were in their own home.

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The police acted stupidly, but don't you dare jump to the conclusion that this guy is an extremist. He may have, you know, been picked last on the playground as a kid. We don't know.

Your gut says something is wrong. I think we have a president that is stuck in perpetual campaign mode. Maybe — maybe — that's the best way to look at this.

This was a chance to lead the country to heal in a time of shock and horror; to rally Americans. That's what we do best, really: Help, pray, unite, move forward, better than we were before. But instead, we get a shout-out and a case for redistribution of wealth. Really?

Let me ask you this: What do you think people would say if Ronald Reagan would have spoken about lower taxes before he gave the Challenger speech?

How about if George W. Bush grabbed that bullhorn and said: "By the way, first, let me save Social Security reform. And then, by the way, the other people that did this are going to hear from us real soon."

Shout-outs? America, trust your gut. Something isn't right.

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