Glenn Beck Owes Geert Wilders a Public Apology

Thomas Jefferson wrote “When angry, count ten before you speak; if very angry, a hundred.”  I had to count well past a hundred before I could write this blog post about Glenn Beck’s recent error.  The time has allowed my anger to mellow into deep disappointment and sadness.

Over the last few years, I have come to very much appreciate Glenn’s love for the U.S. Constitution and his diligent efforts to educate Americans regarding our unique Constitutional heritage.  This makes Glenn’s slander of Geert Wilders extremely painful.

Here’s a transcript of the troubled segment:

In France, polls have this guy, the president, Nicolas Sarkozy, he is center-right. He’s hitting now new lows. Look out, because whoever is ruling now in any country no matter what, as this economy tanks and they spend all this money and it doesn’t matter if they’re right or left, as they tank, they’re going to become extraordinarily unpopular. So his approval rating is down to 36 percent. However, this guy, far right, Villepin (sic) — he’s at 57 percent.

Also, you have far right Dutch M.P. Geert Wilders. Last year, he was banned from the U.K. They said his presence could threaten community a harmony and therefore public safety. Last week, not only was he allowed into England, he was at the House of Lords, where he screened a film on the Quran.

The right and left are growing again in Europe. The left — listen carefully — the left in Europe is communism. The right is fascism, in Europe.

Europe is making the same mistakes that they made at the turn of the century. Mark my words — watch, please, do me a favor. We don’t have enough staff to watch this and nobody else is looking for it. Please, watch the crazy fringe groups over in Europe and e-mail. Tweet them to me at Glenn Beck on Twitter. Please, watch them as a watchdog, because they’re headed down the wrong tracks and we have to be prepared.

I want to let Glenn off the hook as simply misinformed on this issue, but I can’t.  Here’s the absolute proof that Glenn Beck should know better:

What the heck? Geert Wilders isn’t a fascist. The only thing Geert Wilders is intolerant of is intoleration. Geert is standing up for the rights of people not to be oppressed and he is doing it at the risk of his own life. Glenn Beck owes Geert Wilders a public apology, and he owes the same thing to all of his viewers.

Another sign that something is wrong with Glenn is that he confused two French politicians, Jean Marie Le Pen and Dominique de Villepin. I don’t know what happened, but I do know that this is so embarrassing that FoxNews had the video of the segment pulled from YouTube.

Here’s a video of the segment, via The Right Scoop:

More background data and opinions at The Right Scoop,  iOwnTheWorld, Powerline, Atlas Shrugs, and News Real.