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Glenn Beck: There’s a Coup Going On. A Stealing of America.
James Joyner | Monday, August 31, 2009

Glenn Beck continues to impress in his ability to top himself with zaniness. Today, he explained how “they” have all manner of plans to destroy America and make it more like Cuba. And “they” may be getting away with it because “they” are so far ahead of us.



For those who can’t view the video or hear the audio, MediaMatters provides the transcription:

If I could just — if we could just be like Cuba. Let me give you the last piece of evidence that there is a revolution going on, and it is coming. It is — there is a revolution, and they think they can get away with it quietly.

They think they — and they — they — you know what? At this point, gang, I’m not sure, they may be able to because they are so far ahead of us. They know what they’re dealing against; most of America does not yet. Most of America doesn’t have a clue as to what’s going on. There is a coup going on. There is a stealing of America, and the way it is done, it has been done through the — the guise of an election, but they lied to us the entire time.

Some of us knew! Some of us we’re shouting out, you were: “this guy’s a Marxist!” “No, no, no, no, no, no.” And they’re gonna say, “we did it democratically,” and they are going to grab power every way they can. And God help us in an emergency.

I’m not sure who “They” are but I’m scared of them.

Seriously, to borrow from George Will, no serious person nowadays takes Glenn Beck seriously anymore. While I was lamenting Barack Obama’s skill at running a presidential campaign without actually saying anything two years or more ago, it’s hard to argue that he didn’t make it clear that he wanted a government-run health care program. (Although he’s likely to settle for something much, much less than that out of political necessity.) What, precisely, is it that “they” are doing — through the guise of an election — that was hidden from us?

For that matter, even aside from the Cuba hyperbole, it looks as if the Republican minority, through a combination of the hesitancy of the Blue Dog Democrats to go along with their party’s leadership and having successfully mobilized public fear of the the Democrats’ plans, will prevail in stemming the worst of it. So what is it that Beck’s talking about?