Janice Shaw Crouse -- a speechwriter during the first Bush Administration who currently serves as a senior fellow for the Concerned Women for America and blogs regularly at the American Thinker -- wrote in a January 25 American Thinker post that President Obama's 2011 State of the Union address contains a “subliminal bow to Mecca” because it reportedly focuses on five points, or “pillars”:

According to the White House, President Obama is planning to focus on “five pillars” during his 2011 State of the Union address -- innovation, education, infrastructure, deficit reduction, and reforming government. Poor choice to focus on five points and call them “pillars.” As the president surely knows, there are “five pillars” of Islam which are the foundation for the Muslim life. Is this subliminal bow to Mecca worth opening that “can of worms” at the same time Obama is making a head-fake towards center? [emphasis added]

On the January 25 edition of his Fox News show, Glenn Beck said: “You'll never guess how many pillars the President is going to focus on tonight. Yeah, five. Five. The five pillars.” He added, “Has anybody ever heard of the five pillars of Islam? ... Five pillars of Islam -- Mr. President, I mean, c'mon, now you're just poking people, because they know it has nothing to do with that, but you're just poking people.”