For the past week or so Fox News TV personality Glenn Beck has been doing a series of shows examining the current crisis in Egygt. From the start the shows created controversy that led some critics, including a few trusted sources among conservatives, to charge Beck with 'fear mongering.'
It was to be expected that among the Leftwing the usual suspects, Joe Klein at Time Magazine, Chris Matthews and Rachel Maddow at MSNBC, and others, would take the opportunity to blast Beck with the common vitriol to which many have become all-too-accustomed from liberals.
One Leftwing commentator referred to Beck as a 'kook' for merely suggesting that the situation in Eqypt is ripe for Islamic extremists to seize control in their goal toward establishing a global 'caliphate.'
This is to be expected from the individuals involved, even from the White House, who in tandem have worked around the clock to destroy the Fox TV host.
But when National Review editor Rich Lowry and Weekly Stardard editor Bill Kristol began to join in the chorus of hypersensitive voices condemning Beck, it was time to take a fresh look at the host's shows over the past week to ascertain whether or not there was any merit to the criticism.
Conservative Examiner had already published an expose of the Muslim Brotherhood, which has become key to the uprising in Egypt, depicting a highly dangerous Islamist organization dedicated to extremist goals. This is without question. The group's own public statements and written documents prove the point.
However, the vitriol with which Lowry and Kristol heaped their criticism on Beck prompted a fresh look. Had Beck veered off course? Had he made claims that could not be backed up with facts?
Upon reviewing Beck's programs on the subject, which can be found on his website, it can be safely concluded that the Fox News host did not make any claims that could not be corroborated.
At the heart of Beck's charges are 2 simple facts.
One, in the Middle East it is only natural that citizens would long for more liberty. This is due to the highly oppressive nature of Islam, even in those countries where so-called 'moderate' Muslim dictators rule. Thus, from time to time ciitizen discontent will reach a fever pitch, prompting the simmering anger to boil over into open protest. Such a thing has happened in Iran on several occasions, even in the years after the Shah of Iran was deposed in 1979 and a more severely oppressive government under the Ayatollah came to power with the heavy-handedness of extremist Islam.
Two, these citizen uprisings are usually doomed to failure due to the nature of Islamic societies. Extremist Muslim factions, such as the Muslim Brotherhood in Egpyt, or that which was represented by the Ayatollah in Iran, quickly mobilize to use citizen discontent for their own oppressive purposes. The vulnerability of citizens in Islamic nations only complicates the issue, given that in Egypt, for example, over 80% of citizens believe that anyone who defects from Islam should be executed and that any woman caught in adultery should be stoned to death.
These facts make it impossible to justify the claim that the Egyptian uprising is a 'cry for liberty and democracy.' Democracy as it is defined by the American experience is directly antithetical to the oppression that most citizens in Islamic societies appear to endorse.
And this makes the harsh criticism of Beck by conservatives such as Lowry and Kristol even more diffiult to comprehend.
Far from engaging in fear-mongering, Beck appears to be merely laying out the facts concerning Islamic nations and the extremist factions with Islam that seek to use social upheaval for their own benefit.
In Part 2 we will delve further into this issue by examining the claims that Egypt is demanding 'democracy.'
Be sure to catch my blog at The Liberty Sphere.
Subscribe by clicking the subscribe box beside my picture at the top of the page, or below, and an email will be sent to your inbox each time a new article is published.
Comments
If you go back to the Russian Revolution of 1917, you'll find a scenario that today is playing out all over again.
Exactly...
Who did the German's put on a train to Cairo for this?
It is THEIR country. Do we want others telling us how to run our country? We should butt out and let them decide what they want and let them have the consequences of that decisions. We should be doing that all over the world.
A rather naive point of view, but one that many hold. Do you also, then, support withholding all foreign aid? If the multi-billions we have sent to Egypt does not give us a role in their future, then we should give them no money at all.
so the money France invested in our Independence gave them the right to call the shots in our choice of government?
AWESOME ARTICLE!
They can try to make Glenn Beck look bad, But only the very Dumb will believe it. Mr. Beck has done more than anyone to help the public to do their own research. I truly Believe Glenn Beck is our Earth Angel. Before he came along, I wanted to do something, But I did not know where or even how to get the information he get's. The Bad Guy's are just afraid of Mr. Beck because they know Glenn will tell us news and where to look it up. And they know we are learning from this. I adore this young man. I'm very ashamed I couldn't figure out for myself, how to do this. But Now I Know so look out all you Socialist, I am starting to teach others now. And they will teach and so on.
Glenn, quit posting about yourself in the third person.
walrus, quit posting
This is shameless. You defend Glenn Beck because he hasn't made any factual assertions that were wrong. That's not the issue. His reasoning is wrong. He keeps pointing to tenuous connections between a few left leaning organizations and the Muslim Brotherhood. Then he asserts that "the left" as a whole is working with "Islamic radicals", drawing in the Founder of Acorn, Van Jones, and the Tides Foundation. He implies that they are willing to work with Islamic Radicals to establish a caliphate, but never gives any evidence to show that they are directly involved with the Muslim Brotherhood. To Beck, if one Islamic radical works with one Communist, then everyone on the left is willing to work with Muslim extremist to build a world-wide caliphate. And then he tells us where it all leads:
"I believe that I can make a case in the end that there are three powers that you will see really emerge. One, a Muslim caliphate that controls the Mideast and parts of Europe. Two, China, that will control Asia, the southern half of Africa, part of the Middle East, Australia, maybe New Zealand, and God only knows what else. And Russia, which will control all of the old former Soviet Union bloc, plus maybe the Netherlands. I'm not really sure. But their strong arm is coming. That leaves us and South America. What happens to us?"
This is why people are mocking Glenn Beck. Do really want to stand by his theories? Do you really think his hypotheticals are rooted in fact?
If SOMEHOW, you can justify the rule of an autocratic dictator, over the will of the people forming a democratically elected government, then go to hell my friend. If "security" is more important, then you certainly do not deserve security in any form. Naive? HA! It's the basis of our incredible Country!! Glenn is clearly not rooted in reality, not even CLOSE. Fledgling democracies do have inherent risks, but if the actual will of the Egyptian people is realized, then their government will be a modern secular democracy,...and if that is a risk to American security, then perhaps WE are the ones doing something wrong. Think of the other options...supporting an autocratic dictator, or installing another. If that sounds like an American ideal to you, then you are clearly misguided about what America stands for. Individual freedom isn't something that should be monopolized, or "protected" by restricting the right of others in some other parts of the world. Hell, if we just had a decent energy policy, we might not have a reason to support dictators in the area to begin with. This argument is so ass backwards, it's incredible to even suggest that democracy anywhere is something we NEED to restrict. Perhaps I'm missing the point, but it seems very obvious to me, damn the consequences.
Got something to say?
Examiner.com is looking for writers, photographers, and videographers to join the fastest growing group of local insiders. If you are interested in growing your online rep apply to be an Examiner today!