The Walt Blackman Show

The Citizen Defender: How to Protect America's Constitutional Foundation

• Walter • Season 1 • Episode 2

Share episode
SPEAKER_00:

This is the Walt Blackman Show, where truth doesn't whisper. It lands like thunder. Your host isn't just another voice in the crowd. He's a decorated combat veteran who led troops on the battlefield. A trail-blazing lawmaker who broke barriers in the Arizona State Capitol. And a relentless defender of the Constitution who refuses to bow the political correctness or party lines. Here, you won't get watered-down talking points. You'll get unfiltered truth, unapologetic courage, and the grit of a warrior who knows freedom is never free. So buckle up, because this isn't just commentary, it's a mission. And the fight for America's future starts right now. This is the Walt Blackman Show. You're listening to The Walt Blackman Show, where truth lands with force, and every conversation is rooted in experience, not opinion.

SPEAKER_01:

I'm Walt Blackman. I don't speak from theory. I speak from the front lines. I'm a combat veteran who led soldiers through war, a current state legislator who fought for Arizonans in the trenches of policy, and a voice that refuses to bend to the winds of political correctness or party allegiance. I stand for the Constitution, I stand for America, and I stand for you. Now let me be transparent and honest because you deserve that. In Iraq, my vehicle was hit by an IED. I lived, but I came back changed. I suffered a traumatic brain injury that altered how I think, process, and speak. It didn't silence me, but it made certain parts of communication harder. So yes, I use AI to help produce this show. Not to replace me, not to write my thoughts for me, but to keep me in the fight, to help me structure, sharpen, and speak with clarity. Every idea, every conviction you hear is mine, my experiences, my values, my voice. AI is a tool, not a substitute. And unlike many in this space, I won't hide behind a filter or a machine. You deserve transparency. And I owe it to you. Let's speak plainly, fight boldly, and stand firm in truth. The collapse of a nation doesn't come from one bad law. It doesn't start with one corrupt president. It begins when citizens stop caring, when silence replaces courage, when people believe liberty is automatic, not earned. Throughout our history, when the Constitution was under stress, it wasn't politicians who saved it. It was the people. Farmers stood up during the revolution, abolitionists stood tall against slavery, veterans marched for equal treatment, citizens, the not parties, upheld the republic. Today, the danger isn't a tyrant on a throne. It's comfort, distraction, apathy. We face executive orders written in the style of legislation, a Congress that performs for cameras instead of legislating for citizens, courts that now carry the weight of nearly every political decision. States are clashing with Washington over the core of federalism and justice weaponized for political aims. We are at a constitutional crossroads. Look at history. Lincoln suspended habeas corpus. FDR threatened to pack the Supreme Court. Nixon claimed executive privilege to protect himself. Each of those moments tested the Republic. But it didn't break because the people fought back. So I ask you plainly, do we still have the will to fight for what's right? Or have we become so comfortable, so distracted, that we'll hand over liberty in exchange for convenience? Let me say this as directly as I can. If you think the Constitution will defend itself, you're mistaken. If you think someone else will carry your burden, you've already surrendered. If you think liberty is a permanent feature of this country, you don't understand history. But I haven't surrendered, and I don't believe you have either. This republic, our republic, the survives only if we demand it survives. It thrives only if we act. I served 21 years in the United States Army, leading soldiers in combat in Iraq. I was awarded the Bronze Star and the Meritorious Service Medal. I know what tyranny looks like, and I know what sacrifice feels like. After retiring, I founded a firm to advocate for victims of sexual assault and harassment because justice matters everywhere, not just in war. Then I ran for office and became the first black Republican ever elected to the Arizona State Legislature. I've fought for school choice, rural development, pro-life values, constitutional rights, and common sense governance. I now serve District 7 in the Arizona House. I chair the government committee and serve on the appropriations and commerce committees. I've worked across the aisle, but never across my convictions. So when I speak about liberty, I'm not talking from the sidelines. I've lived this, you know, in war zones and state houses, but more important than my background is the moment we're in. This isn't abstract theory. The fight is real, and it's happening now. Presidents now rule by pen. Executive orders replace the legislative process. Emergency powers become permanent habits. This isn't leadership where it's monarchical behavior dressed in democracy's robes. Too many in Congress don't read the bills they vote on. Lobbyists draft legislation. Oversight is a joke. The people's house has become political theater, and the people suffer for it. We now treat nine unelected justices as political referees. Everything abortion, elections, speech, guns, lands in their lap. And when faith in the court erodes, so does the rule of law itself. The Tenth Amendment is alive and well, but the federal government acts like it's dead. States are fighting back on immigration, on life, on education. Washington doesn't like it. But that tension is necessary. It's what keeps liberty local. DOJ, FBI, special counsels, they all risk becoming tools of political retribution. Indictments leak before evidence is weighed. Investigations feel timed to elections. That erodes trust. And once trust is gone, everything falls. We're not just losing rights, we're losing meaning. Platforms censor, agencies monitor, truth becomes a moving target. When free speech dies, the republic doesn't need a funeral. It's already over. All of these flashpoints share one trait: power moving away from the people and into the hands of the few. So what happens when the government won't fix itself? The Constitution gives us a tool. Article 5. It allows states to call a convention of states to propose amendments, not through Congress, through us. Imagine 34 states say enough is enough. Delegates convene, everything's on the table, congressional term limits, judicial term limits, the balanced budget mandate, limits on executive orders, oversight of federal agencies. Such a convention could rebalance the system. But it's not risk-free. Open the door, and you might not like what walks through. That's why we need more than the law. We need culture, civics, virtue, vigilance. Because as the founders warned, liberty isn't sustained by parchment. People with character sustain it. This is not my movement. This belongs to you. Here's where it starts. Read, know the Constitution, know the Federalist Papers, know your local laws, teach, pass this on, and your home, your church, your community, engage, run for the school board, speak at the city council, vote in every election, vote for principle, not personality, not a party. Principle, I've carried comrades off battlefields. I know the cost of freedom. I won't let it slip away as people scroll past in silence. Now it's your turn. This isn't a call to violence. It's a call to virtue, to vigilance, to citizenship. If we one day call a convention of states, we'd better be ready, not just with arguments, but with integrity, because no amendment can save a corrupt culture. But a courageous culture, that can save everything. Let's talk about what this actually looks like. In our towns, our schools, our states. The battle isn't some far-off political spectacle. It's right here. It's your school board voting on curriculum without transparency. It's your city council adopting zoning rules that quietly erode your property rights. It's your governor issuing executive orders that carry the force of law without a single vote from your representatives. And it's your neighbors, good, honest people who are too overwhelmed or too exhausted to push back. That's how it happens, not in one thunderous collapse, but in a slow fade of attention. While we're busy, distracted, or discouraged, the machinery of unchecked power grinds forward. The Constitution becomes a reference book, not a restraint on power. But here's the thing: it still works if we use it. If we remember that our rights don't come from government, they come from God, and government's only legitimate role is to protect them. Let's get real about executive orders. They were meant to manage the executive branch, not replace the legislature. Yet today, they're wielded like legislative hammers. A governor can shut down businesses, close churches, and mandate behavior, often doing so without explicit sunset provisions or legislative input. That's not balance, that's unilateral control. In Arizona, for example, the Emergency Management Act grants the governor broad authority during declared emergencies. But how often is that power reviewed, debated, or repealed? Rarely. And we've seen what happens when emergency powers go unchecked. It becomes the new normal. This isn't a partisan issue. I've served under both Republican and Democratic leadership. Power has one direction. It seeks more of itself. If we fail to confront that truth, we will lose the delicate balance our founders established. And that's why I support structural reforms, not just political swaps. Article 5 isn't just a theory to me, it's a roadmap to restore balance. Imagine a country where Congress actually had term limits, where judges knew their power had a clock, where the budget couldn't bleed red ink indefinitely. That's not fantasy. That's federalism sharpened. But let's not stop at Washington. Your state constitution is just as important. Most people are unaware of the powers their governor holds, or their state legislature, or their local mayor. They know what's trending, they know the headlines. However, they don't know who writes the rules that govern their daily lives. That's the crisis. We have liberty, but we've stopped guarding it. And here's the cost. When power is consolidated in DC, in Silicon Valley, in executive offices, the people become spectators, not participants. That's not just dangerous. That's un-American. Because spectators didn't find this nation, citizen leaders forged it. People who knew how to read, how to debate, how to dissent, and how to build. We don't need a revolution of rage. We need a revival of civic responsibility. Now I know some of you are tired. The noise wears you down, the division, the labels, I get it, but here's what you need to hear. Silence is not neutrality. Silence is surrender. And the longer we stay silent, the louder tyranny gets. So speak even if your voice shakes, even if they label you, even if they try to cancel you because truth, absolute truth, doesn't need permission. It just needs courage. I didn't start this podcast to win likes. I started it to win back the republic. I've walked through war zones. I've stood on the floor of the legislature, and I've stood in front of grieving families trying to explain what freedom costs. So don't tell me this fight isn't worth it. Don't tell me the system's too broken. We are not broken. We are battle-tested. We are not victims. We are defenders. And defending means engaging. That might mean confronting your school board, running for office, and joining a constitutional study group. It might mean getting uncomfortable and staying there because liberty is always inconvenient. That's why it's precious. Now, let's talk about faith because all of this, all the civics, all the law, all the government, it means nothing without a moral foundation. The founders didn't separate faith from freedom. They anchored one in the other. A nation without virtue cannot be free. And a citizenry without moral clarity cannot sustain a republic. That's why every constitutional crisis is also a cultural one. So what do we do? We build. We build families that talk about liberty around the dinner table. We build churches that preach truth with courage. We build businesses that resist woke pressure and stand for principles. We build communities where people know each other, trust each other, and speak the truth to each other because that's where the real republic lives. Not in the marble halls, but in the homes of principled citizens. And if we don't build that now, we will lose it, not all at once, but in pieces, in policies, in precedents, in silence. Because when we lose it piece by piece, we don't even realize it's gone until we look around and nothing feels American anymore. One day you wake up and can no longer speak your mind without fear of losing your job. You can't question authority without being labeled an extremist. You can't discipline your children without being watched. You can't go to church without being regulated. And you certainly can't trust the news to tell you what's real. Because it's no longer about reporting truth, it's about controlling narrative. And this, my friends, is what the founders feared: not a foreign army invading our shores, but a quiet corrosion from within. A nation that still flies the flag but forgets what it stands for. A people who chant liberty but trade it for comfort. A government that talks about democracy while governing by mandate. But it doesn't have to go this way. We can still turn this around, but not by hoping for the next election cycle, but by becoming the kind of citizens who can carry this country through any storm. That starts with discipline, personal discipline, civic discipline, moral discipline, because a free society doesn't function on feelings, it functions on virtue. I'll tell you what virtue looks like today. It's a mom who stands up at a school board meeting and reads the Constitution. It's a pastor who refuses to close his doors when the government says worship is non-essential. It's a sheriff who won't enforce an unlawful order. It's a legislator who votes no, even when the pressure says yes. It's a citizen who teaches their children about freedom, not just with words, but with action. And if you think one voice can't change the trajectory, think again. History was changed by individuals who said no to tyranny and yes to truth. Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King Jr., William Wilberforce, Harriet Tubman, and the farmers of 1776 who left their fields to fight for a country not yet born. They didn't have social media, they didn't have trending hashtags, but they had fire, they had grit, they had conviction. So ask yourself right now, like what kind of ancestor are you going to be? Are you going to be the generation that handed over liberty because the battle was uncomfortable? Or will you be the generation that stood firm, pushed back, and reignited the flame of the republic? I know where I stand. I'm not here to be liked. I'm not here to be invited to the cocktail circuit. I'm not here to play nice while the country burns. I'm here to defend the Constitution. I'm here to speak for the people who feel forgotten. And I'm here to raise a generation that's not ashamed of American values. We still have time, we still have power, we still have each other. But only if we stop scrolling, stop waiting, stop outsourcing our responsibility and start acting like the self-governing people our founders designed us to be. Now is the time. Not next year, not after the midterms, not when it's more convenient. Now. And if you're listening to this, that means you've already taken the first step. You care. You're paying attention. You feel that fire rising in your chest. Don't let it go out. Fan it. Fuel it. Follow it. Because the Republic doesn't need more influencers. It requires more defenders. And that starts with you. Let me go one step deeper, because it's not just about what we do, it's about what we believe. Do we genuinely believe that liberty is sacred? Do rights come from God, not government? That the Constitution is not a suggestion? It's the law of the land? If we believe that, then our actions have to reflect it. Not just in the voting booth, but in our everyday lives. That means when you see a child being told they can't pray in school, you speak up. When your local officials push radical agendas into your school district, you show up, stand up, and don't sit down until the truth is back on the table. When a business is targeted for standing on principle, you don't just cheer quietly. You support them loudly and publicly, because courage is contagious, but so is silence. And I'm not talking about partisan politics. This is bigger than red or blue. This is about right and wrong. This is about preserving a nation where our children can speak freely, worship freely, defend their homes, build a business, raise a family, and sleep at night without wondering if some bureaucrat will decide they no longer have that right. Freedom is not just an abstract idea. It's deeply personal. I've seen it in war, I've seen it in legislation, and I've seen it eroding in the very communities I love. You feel it too, the tension, the fear, the confusion, the sense that we're being managed instead of represented. But that's precisely when patriots rise, not when it's easy. When it's necessary, we are living in a pivotal moment, one that demands every ounce of strength, every word of truth, and every act of resolve we have left. So I don't care how tired you are, I don't care how discouraged you feel, I don't care how small your influence seems, you matter. You were born for this time, you were born to stand. And no, it won't be easy, it never is. But I'd rather walk through fire with conviction than sit in comfort with compromise. Because at the end of the day, we won't be judged by how convenient our lives were. We'll be judged by how courageously we lived them. And the next generation, they're watching. They're watching how we handle this moment, whether we give in or whether we rise. And I'll be damned if I hand them a nation weaker than the one I inherited. So we press forward, not because it's popular, not because it's easy, but because it's right. Because this is the fight worth having. And every time you speak up, every time you engage, every time you choose principle over passivity, you make a crack in the wall of tyranny. And with enough cracks, the whole thing collapses. Keep pushing, keep praying, keep fighting because we're not done yet. Not by a long shot. And here's what comes next: the real work, the day-in, day out discipline of being a citizen, not just a spectator. That means knowing your local officials by name, not just the president. That means showing up at school board meetings, city council hearings, legislative town halls, even when nobody else does, because Liberty doesn't live in DC, it lives on your street, in your zip code, at your kitchen table. We often discuss saving America, but the truth is America isn't lost in some far-off capital. It's being lost in the spaces where we're silent. And it's in those spaces we have to replant the seeds of the Republic. Teach your kids civics before TikTok gets to them. Pray out loud at your dinner table, even when the world calls it offensive. Hang that flag on your porch, not just on holidays, but every day, because that flag still means something. It means sacrifice, it means duty, it means you inherit something sacred and you have to pass it on, undiluted, uncompromised. And when the opposition comes, and it will, don't fold. Don't apologize for loving your country. Don't water down your values to fit someone else's comfort zone because truth is not a PR campaign. It's a fixed point. It's immovable. And when you stand on it, no storm, no slander, no smear campaign can knock you off. And let me tell you something personal. I didn't survive combat. I didn't fight through traumatic brain injury. I didn't serve my community to blend into the background. I'm here because I believe this country is still worth every ounce of fight in me. And if you're listening, I think it's still worth the fight in you too. We don't need everyone. We need the committed few. The remnant that won't be moved, the lions who roar when the rest of the world whispers, the builders who lay bricks while others throw stones. That's how nations are restored, not by miracles, but by men and women with grit in their bones and fire in their souls. So step into the fire. And if it gets hot, good. That's when you know you're close to the truth. And the truth is precisely where we need to be, because the mission isn't over, and neither are we. Let's keep going. This is Walt Blackman. Stay vigilant, stay principled, stay unbroken, and never stop defending the Republic. That's when you know you're close to the truth. And the truth is exactly where we need to be, because the mission isn't over, and neither are we. The Constitution is under attack, not just by enemies abroad, but by apathy at home, by those who distort its meaning, ignore its limits, or treat it like a relic instead of a roadmap. They chip away at our freedoms under the guise of safety. They silence dissent and call it progress. They rewrite history hoping we forget who we are, but we won't forget because we've read it, we've fought for it, and we're still fighting. So let them come for the Constitution. We'll stand in the way. Let them mock virtue, we'll live it louder. Let them try to divide. We'll unify around truth, principle, and courage. Let's keep going. This is Walt Blackman. Stay vigilant, stay principled, stay unbroken, and never stop defending the Republic.

SPEAKER_00:

You've been listening to the Walt Blackman Show, where truth meets courage, and every conversation carries the weight of principle. Remember, this podcast drops every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. And you can join me live every Saturday for a broadcast that brings it all home. You can download and listen to this show on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, YouTube, iHeartRadio, Podcast Index, Podchaser, Pocket Casts, and PlayerFM. Don't forget, hit like, subscribe, and share this show with your family, your friends, and your community. Because this isn't just about one voice, it's about building a movement that refuses to surrender the Constitution. Disclaimer.

SPEAKER_02:

Walt Black lives with a service-connected, traumatic brain injury, and AI technology helps him deliver his message with clarity, consistency, and purpose, ensuring that his voice remains strong and his mission stays focused.

Podcasts we love

Check out these other fine podcasts recommended by us, not an algorithm.