Right-Wing Media Use Egyptian Protests To Foment Fears Of Revolts In U.S.

Beck: “The Coming Insurrection” Will Happen “In The Middle East...In Europe...And On This Side Of The Globe.” Glenn Beck spent much of his January 31 radio show laying out his theory that the Egyptian protests are “the beginning of the coming insurrection” that “will happen in three parts, I believe: it will happen in the Middle East, it will happen in Europe, and it will happen on this side of the globe.” [Premiere Radio Networks, The Glenn Beck Program, 1/31/11]

Beck: “This Is Not About Egypt -- This Is About Your Hometown.” Later, on the January 31 edition of his Fox News show, Beck again claimed that the Egyptian protests are a preview of “the coming insurrection” in the U.S. and around the globe. At one point, he claimed that the protests in Egypt are “the story of everyone who has ever plotted to -- or wanted to -- fundamentally change or destroy the Western way of life.”

Later, Beck said, “This is not about Egypt. This is about your hometown and your lifestyle. If you don't become educated on this, you're going to be susceptible to this kind of nonsense,” before playing a clip of Egyptian opposition leader Mohammed El-Baradai comparing the Muslim Brotherhood to evangelical Christians in the U.S.

Near the end of the episode, Beck referred to large maps of Europe and the Middle East with pictures of various countries “on fire” and again repeatedly referred to the “coming insurrection” that could “make us collapse financially.” He concluded by predicting that an alliance of Marxists and Islamic radicals will “implode” the “whole world.” [Fox News, The Glenn Beck Show, 1/31/11, 1/31/11, 1/31/11]

Big Gov: Does Obama Realize “Just How Close America Is To Facing A Similar Crisis” To Egypt? A January 31 post on the conservative blog Big Government, titled, “What Will Obama Do if Egyptian-Style Crisis, Unrest and Revolt Hits America?” attempted to use the Egyptian protests to suggest that similar unrest could be “fast approaching.” From the post:

Barack Obama and the U.S. government have called for a “peaceful transition” in Egypt, in response to massive protests, riots and escalating anarchy. But I wonder if President Obama is taking notes? I wonder if he realizes just how close America is to facing a similar crisis that could result in riots, revolt in the streets, and economic paralysis. I wonder if President Obama would act much different than President Mubarak in Egypt. So far, small signs hint that Obama might turn out to be just as intolerant to dissent as Mubarak.

Think it couldn't happen here? Think again. Let's review the economic crisis that America faces at this very moment. Just in the days since Obama's State of the Union speech there have been numerous signs that the U.S. faces an economic Armageddon. Dark storm clouds are fast approaching.

[...]

Our “real” U.S. unemployment may in fact be close to 20%. Among youth and minorities unemployment may be well over 30%. For the first time in modern history, there are few jobs for millions of new college graduates, while they each face education debt of $100,000 or more. There are seemingly no jobs at all for minority youth without college educations. All at the same time that prices are exploding for basic essentials. Sound familiar? Those are the exact same incendiary ingredients that led to revolt, revolution, and anarchy in Egypt.

[...]

Is Obama taking notes in Egypt? He had better. Because Egypt's crisis could eventually be coming to a city near you. [Big Government, 1/31/11]

Allyn Root: “Could An Egypt Crisis Happen Here?” In a Feburary 1 Newsmax.com column, titled, “Could an Egypt Crisis Happen Here?” Wayne Allyn Root wrote:

President Barack Obama and the U.S. government have called for a “peaceful transition” in Egypt, in response to massive protests, riots and escalating anarchy. But I wonder if Obama is taking notes?

I wonder if he realizes just how close America is to facing a similar crisis that could result in riots, revolt in the streets, and economic paralysis.

I wonder if President Obama would act much different than President Hosni Mubarak in Egypt. So far, small signs hint that Obama might turn out to be just as intolerant to dissent as Mubarak.

Think it couldn't happen here? Think again. [Newsmax.com, 2/1/11]

Conservative Media Routinely Claim Revolution Is Coming To the U.S.

NRO's Foster: Angle's “Second Amendment Remedies” Referred To Coming Revolution. In a January 19, 2011 post on National Review Online, blogger Daniel Foster attempted to defend former Nevada Senate Candidate Sharron Angle's famous “Second Amendment remedies” line by saying she was only warning that “we're a few awful bills away from folks starting to seriously consider revolution.” [National Review Online, 1/19/11]

Wash Examiner's Owens: “We Stand At The Brink.” In a July 31, 2010 post on the conservative blog Confederate Yankee, Bob Owens, who now works for The Washington Examiner, wrote that “either the American people--not extremists, but good and decent patriots like your neighbors and yourselves--will revolt and destroy the ruling class and reform our government based upon first principles, or the United States we know as our forefather [sic] conceived it is dead.” From the post, which was titled, “A Nation on the Edge of Revolt”:

Our would-be ruling class has abandoned the principles that founded this nation. They are attempting to establish a state of affairs where the people serve the government and the government determines your success or failure. Corruption no longer matters. Sovereignty no longer matters. The rule of law no longer matters.

They have won in a bloodless coup.

Or so they would like you to think.

Whether they actually win or not depends upon how much you love your family and your nation and the principles that made this nation great. Our founders themselves believed in the right of revolt, and knew better than any of us that governments must be replaced from time to time. They were wise enough to provide us with a constitutional framework that will outlast any government, including this one. We can dispose of this government, and restore the Constitution that has served us and the rest of the world so well for so long.

We stand at the brink.

We are on the right side of history. Our would-be rulers, fat on self-appointed largesse and drunk on their own purloined power, imagine us subjects, not free men and women.

Revolution is a brutish, nasty business. Innocents will fall along with patriots and the corrupt, and success is not assured.

[...]

The question for you, my fellow Americans, is simple.

Will you fight, or will you surrender your liberties?

I pray for peace. [Confederate Yankee, 7/31/10]

Palin Tells Tea Party Convention That “America Is Ready For Another Revolution And You Are A Part Of This.” During her February 6, 2010 address to the National Tea Party Convention, Palin told her audience, “America is ready for another revolution and you are a part of this.” [Fox News' live coverage, 2/6/10]

Beck Regularly Warns Viewers Of “The Coming Insurrection,” U.S. Revolution. As Media Matters for America has previously documented, Glenn Beck routinely claims “revolution” or an “insurrection” is coming to the U.S. [Premiere Radio Networks, The Glenn Beck Program, 3/24/10, Fox News, The Glenn Beck Show, 6/9/10, 10/27/10, 12/9/10, 12/14/10, Fox News, The O'Reilly Factor, 2/13/09]

Beck Openly Encourages Listeners To Get “In The Streets” And Revolt. Beck has also openly encouraged his listeners to start a revolution. On the July 22, 2010 edition of his Fox News show, Beck said, “What is wrong with us, America? Why are people not in the streets? Your republic is over!” [Fox News, The Glenn Beck Show, 7/22/10]