The Top 20 Blaze Magazine Stories of 2013

It has been a busy year at TheBlaze Magazine. We've been covering everything from Ted Nugent and energy independence to foreign policy and the pro-life movement to gun rights and education. Of the hundreds of stories we've published in the magazine, here are our Top 20. Subscribe today and get a FREE issue.

#20: Snuffed Out

October 2013: Grisly late-term abortions and the murder of babies that survive abortion. Increasing gang violence. Bizarre killings. Überviolent video games and movies. The devaluation of life in America is having its toll.

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#19: Sean Hannity, Hopeful Conservative

April 2013: Sean Hannity’s name is synonymous with conservatism. The radio and TV talk-show host agreed to sit in The Hot Seat this month, but we never realized how literal our request would become. During our telephone interview, Mr. Hannity spotted a burning car with a man in it on the side of the road. The interview was cut off as Sean rendered aid and comfort to an elderly man who had just wrecked his car. The next day we completed our interview—discussing the future of the GOP, what it will take to fix the country and the possibility of him ever running for office.

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#18: Control Crusaders

April 2013: The anti-gun Left is using the media, exploiting tragedy, strong-arming banks, intimidating businesses and spending taxpayer money to subvert the Second Amendment.

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#17: Top 5 Non-Defense Defense Spending Areas To Cut

January/February 2013: The primary responsibilities of our Defense Department are to defend our nation and protect the inalienable constitutional rights of every U.S. citizen. With an annual budget of more than $600 billion, most Americans likely believe that should more than cover our military needs; however, billions of dollars are being spent every year on programs and/or missions that have very little—or even nothing—to do with national security. Many of those functions are either unnecessary or are already being served by other government agencies. In a new report titled “Department of Everything,” Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., identifies several areas and programs that have no business sucking nearly $70 billion in funding from areas the DOD actually needs in order to do its job. As Coburn's report notes, “These areas are merely a starting point for reviewing Pentagon spending that is unnecessary, duplicative, wasteful or simply not related to defense.” Here are five areas that could be cut immediately, as reported by Sen. Coburn.

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#16: Path to Tyranny

July/August 2013: The many scandals currently swirling around the Obama administration are revealing to Americans that following the out-of-control, Big Government progressive road is a threat to liberty. This is a chance for lovers of freedom to take down the agenda of those who have historically rejected the truth behind the Constitution and the genius of our Founding Fathers.

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#15: Rebels With a Cause

March 2013: Conservatism has become the new counterculture—but without all the bad habits of the left-wing hippies of the 1960s and wannabe rebels in the Occupy Wall Street movement.

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#14: Committed to a Hero

January/February 2013: Too many of our military veterans come home from war without hope, but the story of Keaton Nielsen is different. After this Michigan police officer lost use of his hand while serving as an Army reservist in Afghanistan, his hometown showed America how to take care of those men and women defending our freedoms.

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#13: Nothing New: Decades of U.S. Media Deceit, Cover-up and Propaganda

July/August 2013: No one should be surprised by the state of U.S. mainstream journalism today. They have spent decades carrying water for Fidel Castro and his Communist regime. Their refusal to tell the truth about the murderous dictator and his cronies—and decision to act as missionaries for the Stalinist cause—hurt America and damned millions of innocent Cubans.

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#12: Drilling To Save America

May 2013: Tapping our vast resources—especially our incredible oil fields—could answer many of our problems in the economy, on the job front and with our national security. So why won’t the government just get out of the way?

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#11: Obama Declares War

September 2013: Though he leads from behind in foreign policy and tries to seem hands-off in his failed domestic policy, the president has been actively engaged in warring with the American media. It ought to be telling to journalists that they are the only enemy he is willing to name.

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#10: In the Hands of God and Men

May 2013: Israeli independence did not come cheaply or easily. The life of Joseph Gabbay—an elite Jewish freedom fighter—tells the world exactly what it took to ward off an enemy determined to exterminate a nation.

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#9: Fanning the Flames

December 2013: The Obama administration’s foreign policy in the Middle East, North Africa and South Asia has led to complete chaos in a region already fraught with instability. Choosing to “lead from behind” and failing to recognize the danger of Islamic radicals is costing the world dearly.

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#8: Gov't Mommies to Citizen Children: 'Don't Eat That!'

January/February 2013: Busybodies in government are pretty sure they know exactly what Americans—young and old—should and shouldn’t eat. And they’re ready to make sure that everyone follows their rules.

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#7: Takeover

November 2013: The progressive movement has blurred the distinctions between the Republican and Democratic Parties. Who represents the small-government movement now?

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#6: A Real Civil Rights Leader

September 2013: Dr. Kenneth L. Hutcherson is many things—an author, NFL veteran (he played for the Seattle Seahawks, Dallas Cowboys and San Diego Chargers)—as well as a cancer survivor. “Hutch,” as he is called by most, is also the senior pastor and co-founder of Antioch Bible Church in Bellevue, Wash. We caught up with Hutch in Salt Lake City during this summer’s “Man in the Moon” event and realized that we had to get this force of nature in The Hot Seat. We’re thrilled that he agreed with us.

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#5: Godfather of Gun Control

September 2013: New York's mayor has launched a massive campaign to undermine the Second Amendment and rid America of guns. He's using shady connections and taxpayer dollars to do it.

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#4: Media Jihad

April 2013: American journalists and the rest of the American Left have made assaulting and demeaning Christianity a daily ritual. But they’ve chosen to embrace Islam and defend it to the hilt against any perceived form of defamation—even when the criticisms are of radical Islamists who seek to destroy the West. Why?

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#3: Sweetest Comeback

October 2013: The death of Hostess sent Twinkie-loving Americans reeling. But all was not lost: The iconic snack cakes have returned under new ownership. This revival story serves as a powerful lesson in economics—one that many unions and the progressive Left won’t understand, appreciate or admit. What caused the collapse in the first place? And how did the amazing recovery happen?

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#2: All-American Amps

March 2013: The Left fears him. The media hate him. The nation needs him. In an exclusive interview with TheBlaze, gun-owning rocker and patriot Ted Nugent explains what makes him tick, where our rights are headed and how we fix America’s woes.

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#1: Government Rule vs. Home-School: Parental Guidance Not Suggested

June 2013: Even though America’s home-schooled students have proven that they are accomplished and successful, the Left continues to wage a battle against home education. And these attacks aren’t new. Progressives first made the case in the early 20th century that government control trumps the rights of parents. What will the assault look like in the 21st century?

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