In an ongoing search for validation of his claims that the Egyptian uprising signals the beginning of what will be a new Islamic caliphate stretching across the Middle East and into Europe and Asia, Fox News' Glenn Beck continues to hammer on the threat of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt. Tonight he highlighted a statement by the leader of the Brotherhood, Mohamed Badi, who comes from “the Brotherhood's conservative wing,” according to the Wall Street Journal. Beck suggested that Badi's remark was cause for concern, but oddly, it sounds a lot like something Beck himself recently said.
Beck took issue with Badi's statement that “a nation that does not champion moral and human values cannot lead humanity, and its wealth will not avail it once Allah has had His say.” Badi was reportedly referring to the United States.
Badi likely has views that any liberal democrat finds repulsive but it's peculiar that Beck singled out this remark, given that if you swap out “Allah” for “God,” Beck has said pretty much the same thing about the United States' relationship with Hosni Mubarak.
From the February 1 edition of his Fox News show:
BECK: We have made this bed for ourselves, and it's a bad one. Thomas Jefferson talked about slavery and he said -- and I'm paraphrasing here -- I tremble for my country when I realize God is just. We were in bed with a brutal dictator and we did it. We were sold this load of goods because it would be good for Israel.
And from his February 3 show (via Nexis):
BECK: Imagine my surprise to the reaction to Hosni Mubarak, all of a sudden, from the left. They're like whoa! What's up with that? Don't get me wrong. I am not a fan of Hosni Mubarak.
If I may quote Jefferson -- that's Thomas Jefferson for the left, he was a founding father. Anyway, it's a long story. Let me quote Jefferson, “When I realize that God is just, I tremble for my country.” Or something like that. I pulled that one out from the seat of my pants.
I think it's worth discussing that we have real problems in America. We shouldn't have been doing that kind of stuff in the first place. But can we have the discussion of who and what will replace him?
If it's something worse, which is all too likely of a scenario, seeing that the framework seems to already be in place, I have don't think we are going to celebrate. How come the left is celebrating?
On his January 31 broadcast, Beck stated quite clearly that he believed the United States failed to champion moral and human values in its foreign policy (via Nexis):
BECK: Second, and I think a more prevalent cause, and she kind of touched on it - we're hypocrites. We say that freedom is on the march, but then why are we supporting dictators? Which is it?
It can't be both. You can't say that man should and can be free and yet make someone as brutal as Egypt's president, Mubarak the second largest recipient of U.S. foreign assistance in the last three decades.
That doesn't make any sense to me at all. This guy is a monster. Who are we supporting? Who else besides this guy? Mubarak has kept Egypt under emergency rule for 30 years.
He has the power to tap all the telephones at will, intercept mail, search people in places without warrants, detain suspects without a charge - just to name a few. Egypt is ranked 98 out of 178 countries on the corruption perceptions index.
To give you an idea how bad that is, China is 20 spots ahead of them at number 78. Keep reaching for the stars. They fixed elections. There have been attacks on the opposition voters by security forces in 2005.
Mubarak agreed to a multi-candidate presidential election only to trump up fraud charges on his opponent, who then spent three years - there he is - in jail. There is no freedom of the press there. The state dominates the broadcast media, not a lot different here.
The three leading newspapers are state-controlled. Editors are appointed by the president. And then, you'd have to ask yourself, how can anyone think we actually care about human rights?
How can anyone who is oppressed and hungry see the American flag and feel like it stands for freedom when you see your relatives - well, I tell you what. You see the American flag as a symbol of freedom. I do as well.
But I'm going to show you a couple of pictures of some human rights abuses under Mubarak, who is second in our aid. And you ask yourself, man, if I didn't know better, I'd think America was on the wrong side.
If there's some confusion about Beck's position on Mubarak and the protests, that's understandable. Beck certainly recognizes that there were countless reasons for the people of Egypt to rise up against their dictator. But for some bizarre reason, the protests couldn't have been about all that.
Beck claimed on February 1 that the fall of Egypt is “not about freedom. It's not about democracy.” Rather, he said it is part of a global movement coordinated by leftists and radical Muslims to destroy Israel and the “Western way of life” and establish a caliphate and/or new world order. He rolled out this theory as soon as the protests in Egypt began and he's been trying to vindicate himself ever since.