This is a rush transcript from "Glenn Beck," August 23, 2010. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.
GLENN BECK, HOST: Hello, America.
Coming to you from the nation's capital, Washington, D.C., all week. We're getting ready to do the 8/28 event at the Lincoln Memorial this coming Saturday. And it is all about this -- the Purple Heart, but it wasn't what it is now. When George Washington first gave this, he gave this to the common everyday guy for doing something of honor and merit.
We must restore honor to be able to fix ourselves. We'll give you more information on that as the week continues and a little more tonight.
But every time I'm here in Washington, D.C., I can't help but feel the history. Last night, I was in Mount Vernon. And if you are coming to Washington, D.C., you must send your kids to Mount Vernon, you must go with them. It is the best museum I think in the city. Not a single government dime has been spent on it and that's why it's so good. They did it right.
When you're here in the city, you can't help but reflect on the Founders and the miracle that is America. But sometimes, I wonder by the actions here in this city, if they feel the same way. I don't think a lot of people here have the same level of appreciation for the city. In fact, it seems quite the opposite.
There are many in the city now that want to undo everything and fundamentally transform America. They're doing it in several different ways. But tonight, for a few minutes, I just want to concentrate on the mosque and our current stance on Israel.
We are taking a friendship, that is really, our only like-minded friend in the Middle East and we are flushing it down the drain.
So, you know, 10 years ago, I was probably an awful lot like you. I mean, we were shlubs 10 years ago when it came to what we knew about the Middle East. Most of us -- at least I was.
Ten years ago, I would have read this news about what's going on and go -- oh, gee, the Arabs and the Jews are fighting. The Jews and the Arabs, who would have -- I wonder what Garfield and Odie are up to today? I wouldn't have known anything that was going on in the Middle East. Nor did I care.
Then, 9/11 happened and we had to care.
I went and did my homework. I got into a plane even with my wife and we went overseas. I wanted to see things firsthand. I wanted to have some sort of understanding if I was going to talk to America about it. If I was going to be a responsible adult and parent, I had to understand it.
If you haven't done your homework yet, what is it going to take? I urge you to catch up on it and catch up on it fast. It's kind of important
-- for a couple of reasons.
One: The whole end-of-time thing and the tiny dependency on foreign oil detail. We must as a country, as citizens -- forget about your representation in Washington. Do you think they represent you anymore? This is your country. You have to understand it. You lead the way. What is coming our way is not good.
I hope I'm wrong on this. But I think there is a bad conflict coming our way soon in the Middle East. And it's been going on for thousands of years, but it matters to all of us in America today.
Here is the latest from just this weekend. Israel has called up the fueling of the Iran nuclear plant totally unacceptable and they are practically begging the international community to apply some pressure on Iran to stop any uranium enrichment. It's not going to happen.
The time to do this was years ago under Bush, but he didn't do it either. Why? Well, some people like me thought we should have put pressure and helped the people in Iran because an air strike isn't going to be good.
But does Israel have a right to do it? Would we do it?
If we were sitting in their position and Canada was doing what Iran is doing, do you think we'd strike Canada? Do you think people would be clamoring for it? Especially if the Canadian prime minister came out and said what President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has said -- he denies the Holocaust and then calls for Israel to be wiped off the map. Can you imagine sitting there doing nothing if that's what Canada said about America and then said they would burn in the fires of the Islamic fury?
I don't know. I think Israel might have an understandable position here. Right now, they're calling for help. But the options are dwindling because we're wasting time.
Where does our administration stand on the issue? I'm not really even sure.
The powering up of the nuke plant gets a shrug of the shoulders. Huh, who would have seen that one coming? Maintaining now that the plant is not a proliferation risk. How? How exactly? Do you feel better?
So, now, you have the tension building. You have Israel with fewer and fewer friends and that includes, I believe, us, unfortunately. That increases the likelihood that Israel -- Jews have a right to live. Israel and Jews have a right to live.
What do you think they're going to do? What would you do? They are going to take the plant out.
Now, you have the Israelis informing the United Nations that they're going to use force to stop the new aid flotilla that reached the blockaded Gaza Strip. They said, this time, we're going in. What would you do? Wouldn't you?
I mean, let's play this out. If you could even get Jimmy Carter, because I mean, he was -- he's a man of peace. If you could get Jimmy Carter to put the peanut farm down for a second and draft another wonderful peace agreement that was so good the first time, does anyone believe that that would last?
Do you really think in our arrogance that we can miraculously get these two sides together that have fought for 5,000 years to suddenly stop and go, You know what, yes, we just got -- we just got to get together and have snacks?
And whose side are we on?
Brzezinski, he's the guy who was Jimmy Carter's national security adviser, he said just last year that not only should Obama not support an Israeli strike on Iran's nuclear sites -- and I want to be very clear: that's insane. To strike is insane. To not strike is insane. That's why I said five years ago, we're going to be backed into a corner and it's not going to be good. But he said, to stop them, we should actually shoot down Israeli jets if they try to do so.
Here is how he responded to a question of how aggressive Obama should be in the case of an Israeli air strike. Brzezinski, quote, "We're not exactly impotent little babies. They have to fly over our air space in Iraq. Are we just going to sit there and watch?"
The interview then asked, quote, "What if they fly over anyway?"
Brzezinski, "Well, we have to be serious about denying them the right. And that means a denial where you aren't just saying it. If they fly over, you have to go up and confront them."
So, the United States would confront Israeli jets.
By the way, did anybody notice that we didn't pull our troops out of Iraq? We just changed the names. Did you notice that? We changed the names.
What happens if the Middle East melts down? What does that mean to our troops? What does that mean to the peace in Iran -- in Iraq? Aren't we in the middle of it again?
So, here, we have Jimmy Carter's national security adviser suggesting that we defend Iran instead of Israel when confrontation happens. That's the kind of thinking that permeates this current administration.
The president also has a long record. He has said during his Cairo speech to the Muslim world that, yes, denying the Holocaust is bad, but:
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA: On the other hand, it is also undeniable that the Palestinian people -- Muslims and Christians -- have suffered in pursuit of a homeland. For more than 60 years, they've endured the pain of dislocation.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BECK: Boy, I wish somebody would read a history book from time to time. And then let's see. Six million slaughtered or dislocation? Not really seeing the parallel here. But thanks for stopping by.
After the first flotilla incident, the administration announced that it would be supporting a U.N. resolution against Israel. So you know, America, that's never happened before. This coming from a guy who sat in the pew of a church -- President Obama spent 20 years, called the pastor of this church a great man who said this -- Israel is a dirty word. Listen:
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
REV. JEREMIAH WRIGHT, PASTOR: Last year's conference in Africa on racism which the United States would not participate in because somebody dared to point out the racism which it still supports both here and in Israel. I said that dirty word again. Every time you say "Israel," Negroes get awfully quiet on you because they scared. Don't be scared. Don't be scared.
You don't see the connection between 9/11/01 and the Israel- Palestinian? Something wrong! You want to borrow my glasses?
(END AUDIO CLIP)
BECK: This is the guy who doesn't talk to the president anymore because he says the Jews control him now.
The president has close ties -- he has close ties to people that you and I would not have close ties to. He has nothing but kind things to say about the terrorist-sympathizer Rashid Khalidi. He also has ties with the anti-flotilla organizers Bernardine Dohrn and Bill Ayers.
The deputy national security adviser for DHS, John Brennan, insulted Israel by using the phrase Al-Quds. What is Al-Quds? That's the Arab name for Jerusalem, which Israelis find offensive.
Another Obama adviser, General James Jones, openly making anti-Semitic jokes. The president himself dumped Benjamin Netanyahu so he could have dinner in private. That's -- I've never heard of that happening before. I never heard of the president doing that to any foreign visitor.
And here's the latest: We find out this weekend, the socialist who President Obama appointed to head up the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services, Donald Berwick, is also a prominent figure in Physicians for Human Rights. Physicians for Human Rights is an international organization that has been an outspoken critic of Israel. What a surprise.
The president is either the most unlucky man in the history of the United States with his appointments and his picks or he doesn't exactly consider Israel a friend.
See, I had this crazy belief that this was a Judeo-Christian nation that doesn't discriminate. If you want to build a mosque, I have no problem with you building a mosque -- unless we can't track the money down and you have been tied to Shariah law and terrorist organizations. It's tough to tell by the words and actions of our president now. What are we as a nation?
Here he is at the inauguration:
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OBAMA: We're a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus and non-believers.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BECK: That's never been said before. I don't think that's ever been said before by the president of the United States in that order.
He needlessly throws his hat into the ring to defend the Ground Zero mosque. He hosts Ramadan dinners, which a president can do. But then you just add all of this stuff up, his wife goes against the advice of the advisers, jets to Spain for vacation. What does she do there? She hits up the Alhambra Palace Mosque. Fine, it's a tourist attraction. But is there anything more to this? Are they sending messages?
I don't know. I don't know. I never had to look for messages before
-- until we heard fundamental transformation and we all sat there like bumps on the log, thinking, well, I don't know what that means. It doesn't matter.
It matters! It matters!
It is tough to tell by the actions of our leaders; leaders not just in Washington but Mayor Bloomberg -- he came out strongly in support of building the mosque and giving them incentives to do it, saying this:
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP0
MAYOR MICHAEL BLOOMBERG, NEW YORK CITY: Our doors are open to everyone -- everyone with a dream and willingness to work hard and play by the rules.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BECK: OK. I've no problem with that. He's exactly right.
But now, he's talking about incentives -- incentives for the mosque. But he also doesn't want to give those same incentives to a Christian church -- separation of church and state there.
The city voted nine to zero in supporting the building of the mosque. But it's been nine years since the St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church, which was crushed when the South Tower fell and despite having the blueprints drawn, being ready to build, the bureaucrats in New York haven't even given the green light yet. Why?
Jews, Christian and non-radical Muslims -- which are the majority -- wake up. The world is changing. Who is standing for freedom versus theocracies?
In Canada, the Bible is now hate speech. There are no-go zones in France.
You must open your eyes.
Does anybody remember what happened on our Election Day in 2004, besides Bush being re-elected? Does anybody remember what happened in Amsterdam? The controversial filmmaker Theo Van Gogh was riding his bike to his office. He's in a quite residential street. He's -- he was called controversial because he used mocking -- mockery -- to make his points in a film.
He's 26-year-old radical that didn't agree -- there was a 26-year-old radical that didn't agree with the tactic. He decided to pull out a gun and shoot Theo Van Gogh. Boom! Wounded him.
Theo gets off his bike, stumbles, tries to make it across the street. He's calling for help. No one helped. The attacker ran up, despite the pleas from the filmmaker, urging that we can talk about it. No, no, don't do it, please.
The pleas fell on deaf ears and attacker shot again. And then he went further, he slit the filmmaker's throat in the middle of the street, slaughtering him like an animal in broad daylight. After the life bled out of him in the street, the attacker placed a note on the dead man's chest and then took a knife and plunged it through him.
The note was attached to Mr. Van Gogh by a knife.
The note was not to the victim. The note was to America and Europe and those who were, quote, "terrorizing Islam."
May I ask a question? Do we need a note stabbed through our chest?
Nine-eleven was our wake-up call. It should have woken up us that we have done things in the past that have caused trouble. But it should also woken us up that there are people that are trying to kill us.
Now, let me ask a question: Whose side are we on? Are we a God-fearing nation? Yes. Do you want to build a mosque? I have no problem -- it's great. But build a mosque named after a place that celebrates the conquering of Christianity -- that makes my radar go up. That's what Cordoba is.
The World Trade Center was the church of America, unfortunately. And I say that because they symbolized our new gods -- the god of money and power. By knocking these towers down, it was the radical symbolizing the conquering of America.
If Americans don't find their God and find him soon and then find their voice, you may not be able to find your God or voice in the future.
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