Glenn Beck - Our Modern Day Father Coughlin

In the depths of the Great Depression FDR initiated wide sweeping programs to stimulate the economy and put people back to work.  His programs were praised by his supporters and railed by his opponents, often describing him as a socialist, Marxist and Communist.  Father Coughlin had a massively popular radio program.  He and his followers were the tea party of the 1930s, staunchly anti-communist, and because “the enemy of my enemy is my friend”, Father Coughlin befriended fascism and was sympathetic to Hitler and Mussolini.  He even fomented their anti-Semitic campaign and blamed the Jews for atheist communism.

Today we have a Great Recession.  President Obama has attempted to put people back to work while private industry continues to throw people overboard. Unemployment stands at 9.5 %.  Some experts say that without the stimulus package unemployment would be closer to 11.5% . He has also taken unprecedented action to correct the flaws in our system that allowed disgraceful exploitation and ruined the lives of millions of people.

Our problems all came on the heals of unbridled growth under President Bush when the FDA, FAA, EPA, FCC, SEC, BLM, BMM and countless other agencies that were established to protect Americans and the environment were told to “get big government off the backs of industry” and went on an eight year sabbatical. 

With nobody watching over our interests we got shoddy oil rigs, shady investments, robbed pension funds, mountain top removal, two wars, unsafe airplanes, unprecedented employment of illegal aliens, drugs that cause heart attacks, unsafe cars, cell phone- wireless network interference, E-coli in our beef, and salmonella in a half billion eggs.

Now after all that has happened, Glenn Beck wants to “Restore Honor” by desecrating the Lincoln Memorial on the anniversary of the MLK “I have a dream speech” by parading his racist, anti-Semitic, homophobic, tea party zealots on hallowed ground.  If he were protesting the disgraceful actions of President Bush to restore our honor, it would almost make sense.  But I don’t think that’s what our modern day Father Coughlin has in mind.