Well, we waited all week for it. Glenn Beck had promised that, after going through "chalkboards full of questions," he would tell us the solutions to the vexing crisis in Egypt - a crisis he revealed could lead to Muslim domination of Europe, Asia, the Middle East, and the United States. (Note: Apparently South America will be spared, so you may want to brush up on your Spanish).
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Beck waited until Friday to disclose his solutions, presumably to build up his faltering ratings. He has lost 40% of his audience in the past year. Unlike Beck, I won't make you wait to learn what brilliant plans he has for the troubled region. Here is his introduction to the solutions that he and his guests presented:
Beck: We spent an hour here trying to talk about what is happening in Egypt, and we haven't - and we'll get into this more next week - but we haven't talked about a solution yet. Real quick, off the top of your head, Because I don't think we agree on a solution...your solution to what is happening in Egypt now.
Wait a minute. After building up to this for a week he wants a solution off the top of his "expert" guest's head? And they don't even agree on it? This better be good.
Joel Rosenberg: Well, two things for me. First the political side. The President needs to not go with the Muslim Brotherhood. He cannot play with gasoline in front of an open flame. Because if he allows...if he encourages the Islamacists to take over, this is a worst case scenario.
That's not really a solution. It's just a couple of things that he advises against doing. And they are things that the President is already not doing. He doesn't suggest any action that he would affirmatively recommend, although he later says something about a spiritual plan. Perhaps he hopes to convert all the Muslims to Christianity. Next...
Zhudi Jassar: I think the solution is to come back to American principles so that we're consistent, and we say what we mean, and we mean what we say about freedom and humanitarianism, and what we are, and to defend those entities in the Middle East. And to stand by them. And to have a long term strategy, Glenn, to start to transform the Middle East. This is the first step.
That should do it. Mean what we say and be who we are. The State Department should call this guy right away. How come Hillary Clinton didn't think of that? At least he went on to advocate that the Muslim Brotherhood should be permitted to be legal and that their rights should not be suppressed, even while we oppose them. Next...
Damon Vickers: For solutions, we have to start walking our own talk. We need to be the change that we want to see in the world. We need to transform our own hearts, and our own minds, and be living examples in a country that is able to project the right ideals and the right values that will influence the world.
This is a profound expansion of the previous expert's analysis. In addition to meaning what we say, we should walk our talk as well. Where have these geniuses been hiding? And what could be a more effective method of influencing Egyptian revolutionaries than offering ourselves as shining examples for them to follow. I'm sure that's all they have been waiting for.
So far we have solutions that span the intellectual gamut from platitude to slogan. But next we have the foreign policy guru himself. The man who thinks that Bill Ayers and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad are in cahoots; who likens English students angry about higher tuition fees to Egyptians fed up with three decades of dictatorship; who fears a coming insurrection inspired by a French pamphlet no one has ever heard of, much less read. Make me proud, Glenn...
Beck: I will tell you, I honestly don't know...If I were president of the United States, I think...I wouldn't want the Muslim Brotherhood in. I think I would just let it play out, and then just...just let it play out. And then just pull my money and support and do what you say. Go in and...ah...and...ah...make sure you're speaking out against it. But I don't think we have any credibility in the world anymore. Because we don't have values and principles anymore.
You don't know? After making us wait all week you don't know? After berating President Obama for five days your advice is to "just let it play out?" Doing nothing? And after that continue to do nothing but speak out against it? Against what? And how can you call yourself a patriotic American if you think our country has no credibility, values, or principles?
Beck summed up his "solution" by advising his viewers to store food and find alternative sources of energy. I'm not sure what that has to do with Egypt, but it probably made his survivalist advertisers happy. He also came out in favor of rebuilding our communities. But not with community organizing. He must have some secret method of disorganized, chaotic community rebuilding he is saving for his next book. I can hardly wait for that.
