Supposedly nonpartisan Beck: "If Democrats are elected, we are in for two years of investigation, God forbid, impeachments, while the world is set on fire"

On the October 17 edition of his CNN Headline News program, host Glenn Beck used his opening monologue to claim: "If Democrats are elected, we are in for two years of investigation, God forbid, impeachments, while the world is set on fire." Beck added that "[w]hat you won't see when the Democrats take over: leadership and good ideas," and added that "if we allow the politics of destruction to continue ... then we will fall, and it will be our own fault." During a portion of his monologue, an on-screen graphic read: "Let The Bad Times Roll!"

Beck's assertions came less than a week after he pleaded with his audience: "This November, please, don't vote for a Republican. Don't vote for a Democrat. Don't vote for an independent. Vote for an American." Since September 25, Beck has asked his television audience to "vote for an American" three times and has repeated the catchphrase on his radio program. As Media Matter for America noted, Beck previously purported to explain why his "show doesn't talk more about politics" moments before announcing that he "like[s] George W. Bush" and that "stupid people" vote for Sen. John Kerry (D-MA).

Beck's warning of the threat posed by a Democratic victory in the midterm elections echoed recent comments by right-wing radio host Michael Savage, who claimed that a Democratic victory "could lead to the breakup of the United States of America, the way the Soviet Union broke up."

From the October 11 edition of CNN Headline News' Glenn Beck:

BECK: We have got to cut through all of the noise and the rhetoric that does nothing but confuse and divide us, and find people who are there to lead us. This November, please, don't vote for a Republican. Don't vote for a Democrat. Don't vote for an independent. Vote for an American.

From the October 17 edition of Glenn Beck:

BECK: If Democrats are elected, we are in for two years of investigation, God forbid, impeachments, while the world is set on fire.

[...]

BECK: If they win, the politics of destruction will not stop after the election. It's the only thing that united them and they will use it to distract you again.

So here's what I know tonight. I know that if the Democrats gain power, you will see independent counsels. You might see impeachment. You'll see investigations, surely. But it's the only thing that the party can unite on, and that's why they will use it.

If you think I'm wrong, let me -- let me tell you what happened June 16, 2005. [Rep.] John Conyers [D-MI] held a make-believe impeachment hearing in the Capitol basement. I ain't kidding you.

What you won't see when the Democrats take over: leadership and good ideas. I mean, don't get me wrong. Democrats actually do have some good ideas and I'm sure I could find one someplace if I looked hard enough. Nobody in the party, however, can agree on them. And so those ideas won't see the light of day.

I also know that as -- at a time as critical as this, the last thing we need to do is feed on ourselves. After 9-11, I said -- I got so many phone calls on the radio show. And people were freaked out. And I remember telling people, don't fear. The only way we can be destroyed is if we're destroyed from within.

Well, if we allow the politics of destruction to continue, which it has been going on for years, then we will fall, and it will be our own fault.

We need to unite on, geez, at least who the enemy is. It's not George Bush, Halliburton and Dick Cheney. It's also not Alec Baldwin or Howard Dean. Our enemies are extremist Muslims who want to kill all of us.

—R.D.