Fox News, bless its shriveled, twisted, black little heart, has the transcript from this June 9, 2010 Glenn Beck Show segment. On 1/13/2011 DailyKos poster KingOneEye posted an excellent collection of inflammatory Glenn Beck rhetoric which included the text of Beck's statements, below, but I think the actual video in this case merits a look.
Notice, from my transcript excerpt below (longer than the video clip) that Beck says "shoot... in the head" three different times, suggesting that not only "radicals" and "communists" but also people who do not stay true to the original intentions of America's founders should be shot in the head. It's a bit garbled but Glenn Beck's repetition of "shoot... in the head" is bizarre and deeply disturbing.
Beck states, "Tea parties believe in small government." He then includes himself in the Tea Party movement, with,
"We believe in returning to the principles of our Founding Fathers. We respect them. We revere them. Shoot me in the head before I stop talking about the Founders. Shoot me in the head if you try to change our government."
He then addresses a nefarious "other" behind an implied plot which has brought "radicals" into Washington:
"I will stand against you and so will millions of others. We believe in something. You in the media and most in Washington don't. The radicals that you and Washington have co-opted and brought in wearing sheep's clothing — change the pose. You will get the ends."
Still addressing the implied evil cabal supposedly behind the alleged plot, Beck continues,
You've been using them? They believe in communism. They believe and have called for a revolution. You're going to have to shoot them in the head. But warning, they may shoot you.
So, per Mr. Beck, Washington is infested with unnamed "radicals" and communist revolutionaries who should be shot in the head. As Political Research Associates Analyst Chip Berlet writes, in his ongoing series at Talk To Action, in Can Vitriolic Vilification Provoke Violence?,
"The idea that vitriolic political rhetoric can lead some people to carry out acts of political aggression or violence against the demonized targets is hardly controversial among social science scholars. The first step is to identify an enemy "Other." That's the function of the becking of America on radio and television by right-wing demagogues."
Chip Berlet's piece includes a resource section of suggested writing on hate speech.
Here's a longer transcript excerpt, from the June 9, 2010 Beck Show segment.
"Tea parties believe in small government. We believe in returning to the principles of our Founding Fathers. We respect them. We revere them. Shoot me in the head before I stop talking about the Founders. Shoot me in the head if you try to change our government.
I will stand against you and so will millions of others. We believe in something. You in the media and most in Washington don't. The radicals that you and Washington have co-opted and brought in wearing sheep's clothing — change the pose. You will get the ends.
You've been using them? They believe in communism. They believe and have called for a revolution. You're going to have to shoot them in the head. But warning, they may shoot you.
They are dangerous because they believe. Karl Marx is their George Washington. You will never change their mind. And if they feel you have lied to them — they're revolutionaries. Nancy Pelosi, those are the people you should be worried about.
Here is my advice when you're dealing with people who believe in something that strongly — you take them seriously. You listen to their words and you believe that they will follow up with what they say.
Didn't we learn that lesson from Usama bin Laden? I heard his warning in 1998. I said on the air at the time, listen to him. We didn't listen. We didn't listen to the revolutionaries in Germany, the revolutionaries in Russia or Venezuela or Cuba — no, no, no. They all have one thing in common. They have all called for revolution.
They want to overthrow our entire system of government, and their words say it. Why won't you believe it?