Glenn Beck doesn't "know why we're not having real conversations"

Beck asserts we're not having "real conversations"

Beck: "I don't know why we're not having real conversations." On his June 1 show, Beck lamented that the country is in a crisis but that Americans nonetheless are not "having real conversations" about the state of the nation.

From the June 1 edition of Fox News' Glenn Beck:

I got to tell you something -- I raised my hand halfway through and I said, can we use real-life application here? Where are we in this cycle? And is there anybody that has thought: Has it ever happened that you can go from freedom to this stage? Because I think we're in between these two stages -- that have gone from this stage to this stage. Is there a way to short-circuit the system?

I was upset because I care. And I don't know why we're not having real conversations. The ship's taking on water, man. Do you see the headlines?

This is the story of America. These are all -- have you watched, have you, like, clicked on the Drudge Report? Like every weekend I'll click on the Drudge Report and I'll be looking at it and I'm like -- this is like, if I would have told you that all of these stories would be happening at once in the last three weeks, you would have said I was insane.

It's like a -- it's like the Book of Revelation, quietly honestly. I saw the sinkhole and I thought that can't be real. That's got to be a Halliburton thing or something. What is that?

Beck compared the state of the nation to the biblical Moses story, cited Star Wars and Robin Hood, and created Apollo/Woodstock split

Beck: "It always is the same cycle," and "then there's the Moses moment." Beck recounted a conversation he had in church, discussing the cycles of civilization and how after people are "led into bondage, to where they humble themselves, then there's the Moses moment." Beck questioned, "Where are we in this cycle?"

From the June 1 edition of Glenn Beck (from the Nexis database):

I was in church yesterday. I was upset in church. We were talking in the second hour -- I go three hours on Sunday. Good God, Almighty.

So, I go to church. And in the second hour, we were talking about the circle; it's a cycle that happens every time. It happened with the Roman Empire, the Ottoman Empire, the British; I guess the Soviet doesn't really fit. And it will happen to us.

We were just talking about Moses and the Jews and how they got out to freedom. And it always is the same cycle. There's freedom, then there's an apostasy, an un-pegging from the truth, and it's usually coupled with apathy. Nobody really cares. They're happy. They're free. You know, everything is great.

That leads them into bondage, to where they humble themselves, then there's the Moses moment. And then there's a restoration of the truth and they become free again.

I got to tell you something -- I raised my hand halfway through and I said, can we use real-life application here? Where are we in this cycle? And is there anybody that has thought: Has it ever happened that you can go from freedom to this stage? Because I think we're in between these two stages -- that have gone from this stage to this stage. Is there a way to short-circuit the system?

Beck suggests there are "parallels" between plot of Robin Hood movie, current events. Beck stated that the movie Robin Hood chronicles when "Richard the Lionheart died after bankrupting his country" and the "new king comes along" who "doesn't care" and has fallen into an alliance with enemies of his own country. He concludes: "I thought -- whoa, there is no parallels here, huh?"

From the June 1 Glenn Beck (via Nexis):

I've never seen a good "Robin Hood" movie and I heard, if he thinks about this, I liked this movie. This is pre-Robin Hood story. It's time when Richard the Lionheart died after bankrupting his country.

Then his brother, the new king comes along. He doesn't care. He's fallen into an alliance with enemies of his own country. And that alliance is turning everybody in England against each other. OK?

I thought -- whoa, there is no parallels here, huh? It's a best version of the story I've seen. Long story short, towards the end -- I'm not going to wreck anything -- he turns into Robin Hood. OK, I wrecked it.

At one point, the King of France who was, you know, working on dividing the whole country, he's sailing over and landing his soldiers on the beaches of Great Britain. In the time that he launched the ship, and arrived over to Great Britain, Robin Hood had brought his people of England together as one. And the king of France is on the ship and he releases all the soldiers and everybody else, and they're all just slaughtered on the beach.

And the king feels he's been misled and he knows he's going to lose. So, at this point, he says, send the signal. Turn the ships around. Because he knows soldiers can't win against the united England. He then says this: This doesn't look like a country that is fighting against itself. We'll have to return another day.

Beck compared the story of Luke Skywalker from Star Wars to what "I think a lot of people in America are going through." Beck compared Luke Skywalker's fictional fight against the Dark Side in theStar Wars films to what he "think[s] a lot of people in America are going through."

From the June 1 Glenn Beck (via Nexis):

But last week, I noticed that I was using foul language. People would come up to me in the street and I'd actually say something back to them. And I was shocked at the time the words were coming out. And I was like, wow, that's not you -- but, wow, that felt good.

I felt justified. I felt they deserved it. And so, I did it.

I should have known, because I've seen "Star Wars" enough. Do you remember -- do you remember that scene where the emperor is sitting in the big spooky chair and Luke is, you know, he's fighting his father? And the emperor just goes, "Yes, give in to your dark side. Release your anger and the transformation to the dark side will be complete. Good. Good." Do you remember that?

That is the scene that I think a lot of people in America are going through. I thought it was really -- I went back and I watched it and I thought it was really interesting that he said, transformation, not restoration -- transformation. "Your transformation will be complete."

Beck claims "there were two major camps in America": "those whose imaginations were captured by ... the Apollo Project" and the "mud people of Woodstock." Without citing any evidence, Beck claimed there were two distinct groups in America in 1969, those whose "imaginations were captured" by the Apollo mission to the moon, and the "anti-establishment mud people" who went to Woodstock later that summer.

From the June 1 Glenn Beck (via Nexis):

I mean, anybody who is old enough to remember this knew that it was nine years before that we didn't even think it was possible for a man to go to the moon. And just a couple of years removed from sending monkeys in space. And at the time of JFK's moon project announcement, we could barely get a man into orbit.

And suddenly, now, less than a decade men -- Americans -- were walking on the surface of the moon. And NASA was sending us pictures of it into our living rooms. Television was new. We saw their footprints on the moon. It was unthinkable.

Forty years later, if we decided to do this again, do you think we could get the done in nine years? That's half the country that watch and said, my gosh, look what man in America with freedom can accomplish.

But three weeks later, this was happening at a place in Upstate New York, Woodstock. It was sex in the mud, drugs, rock 'n' roll, no values, no morals, no rules. For three days, 500,000 people hedonistically celebrated everything that the people who are watching the moon landing thought was bad in life. And they did all under the banner of love. "Whoa, man, you're harsh my mellow with the love thing." Yes, it was groovy at Woodstock.

Maybe it's just me, but I don't know, I don't think the orgies in the mud with people you met 15 minutes ago, you know, as the country, you know, Joe is screaming the "F" word on stage is the basis for anything that's lasting in the happiness department.

But this was the summer that led us here. There were two major camps in America: those whose imaginations were captured by the spirit of adventure, innovation, ingenuity, the Apollo Project; and those who were the sex, drugs and anti-establishment mud people of Woodstock.

Which person are you? Which of the two events was the most important to you? Which one was the most important to America?

Beck's un-"real" history: Grand conspiracy theories

Beck's radio and Fox News shows often feature intricate conspiracy theories. For example, in May 2010, Beck detailed a web of conspiracies involving the SEIU, AFL-CIO, Van Jones, Jim Wallis, the White House, Rep. Anthony Weiner, and Media Matters seeking to "destroy" him, his family, Fox News, Christianity and the Founding Fathers. In April and May, Beck described a vast conspiracy linking together President Obama, Al Gore, Goldman Sachs, Van Jones, various unions, the Joyce Foundation, Franklin Raines, Fannie Mae, and various other progressive individuals and organizations in a plot to pass cap-and-trade legislation in order to generate profits and redistribute wealth.