I come to you tonight with a warning: Last call, America, last call…
~Glenn Beck, Courageous Conservatives Rally for Ted Cruz, February 29, 2016
MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA Super Tuesday Eve, The Blaze Founder and talk show host Glenn Beck rallied an estimated 1200 supporters of presidential candidate Ted Cruz at the Minneapolis Hilton. Dressed casually in jeans, a sweatshirt and baseball cap, Beck utilized his on-air storyteller style that has made him one of the most popular radio personalities in the US to captivate the (mostly) friendly audience and implore them to vote for Ted Cruz at the Super Tuesday (March 1) caucuses.
Weaving historical lessons from George Washington and other historical events with references to the classic movie, “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” into the 2016 election season and the issues Americans are facing today, Beck presented his reasons for endorsing Ted Cruz for President and criticized Cruz’s opponents.
Wasting little time, Beck hit Cruz’s biggest opponent, Donald Trump, saying, “We have a guy, we have a guy in Donald Trump…Man is he a piece of work…Politifact came out and said…’73% of what he says is untrue’….and he says it with such conviction…” Beck then discussed a story about the New York Times having a confidential tape containing a discussion between NYT editorial staff and Donald Trump where Trump allegedly told the NYT, “Don’t worry about anything I’m saying about illegal immigration; don’t worry about it because I’m not really going to do it…” Stating that both he and Ted Cruz have asked Donald Trump to allow the tape be released by the NYT, and reminding Trump that if the story isn’t true, then he should sue the NYT; Beck said that either the NYT is lying or Trump is, either way, the people deserve to know.
Beck went on to outline what he sees as America’s four choices: Socialism, The Status Quo, Authoritarianism and the Constitution.
According to Beck Bernie Sanders is the “socialism” choice. Conceding Americans’ attraction to Sanders and his brand of socialism results from a failing educational system and people feeling lost and angry with the current politicians, Beck added another explanation: “the language of socialism” – the theory built on “fairness” – sounds much like the Founders’ “All men are created equal and are endowed by their Creator with the inalienable Rights of Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness” and “equal justice under the law.” Using that line of reasoning, Beck expounded: “Was justice blind when we bailed out the banks?…If you go and break the law, are you going to jail?…Equal justice demands that Hillary Clinton goes to prison…That’s what it should be in a system of equal justice: if I go to jail, you must go jail…if you’ve done something wrong, and the establishment will say ‘You can’t do that because then the other side will do it…’ I personally think it sends a great message to the world when the people stand up and say, ‘I know other countries don’t send their leaders to jail, but here in America we DEMAND equal justice and we DO send our leaders to jail…I think that’s why socialism and Bernie Sanders are resonating with a lot of people: the idea of fairness, equal justice and, of course, there’s a lot of free stuff, too.”
Hillary Clinton and Marco Rubio represent “The Status Quo” choice, with Clinton as “the (current corrupt system of power) is working for me…I’m going to give you all the crumbs off my table”-type, and Rubio representing something more harmful: the “I’m just like you, you elect me and I’ll fight for you…until I stab you in the back”-type. Beck hypothesized the anger felt by Americans comes from a feeling of betrayal by the leaders sent to represent the people’s interests in Washington DC. That feeling of betrayal is leaving Americans “hungering for some one who will stand on principles and say, ‘here are my principles. I’m not going to lie to you and try and buy your vote…” According to Beck, The Status Quo “leads us to revolution because we cannot continue to play this game…unless we begin to demand that the game is not rigged, we’ll have revolution because you can only step on peoples’ throats so many times…”
Beck continued: “You can’t continue to disenfranchise people. You can’t continue to rub their face in the dirt. They’re going to reach out…the top has made things so intolerable for the people that the bottom will rise up and say ‘Somebody has to make this stop’. And in every case, every time there is somebody who will say, ‘Oooh, I’ll make it stop; I’ll help you…'” and that sentiment gives rise to the third choice: Authoritarianism and Donald Trump.
Pointing to recent statements made by Donald Trump about “changing the libel laws” (from TheHill.com: Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump on Friday vowed to “open up” libel laws in order to sue media outlets that write “purposely negative” and “horrible” articles about him.) Beck states Trump is “getting into the First Amendment – there are libel laws to protect you if people lie about you…but purposefully negative? What kind of a standard is that?…(Trump) destroys anyone who disagrees with him…” Relating back to Americans’ anger and feeling of betrayal, Beck reminded the crowd that “Authoritarianism usually comes about in countries when people are desperate and angry…”
To combat the third choice Beck implored the people to remain reasonable and follow the examples of Ghandi and MLK: “Malice toward none and charity toward all,” asking, “What makes America great? America is great because America is good.” Arguing that when faced with the troubles of our times and the possibility of a leader who would take America down the path to authoritarianism, that “the wise and the honest would know to run back to the Constitution,” America’s Fourth Choice, and the two candidates who represent or represented that choice were Rand Paul and Ted Cruz.
Stating that the election is not a “personality contest” and acknowledging “we don’t have the flashiest guy, but we have the guy who, when he raises his hand he says, ‘I will protect and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies foreign and domestic’…that’s the President’s job.” Urging the crowd to stand on Principle over Party, Beck reminded the people of how Cruz went to DC and has consistently stood for the Constitution even while being attacked by the media, Democrats and Republicans, saying:
I come to you tonight with a warning: Last call, America, last call…we have the solution right in front of us – we have a guy who was raised for this time. We needed somebody like Rand Paul or Ted Cruz, who lived and breathed the Constitution…(who) will not move without the Constitution. I know Ted Cruz well…(but) we don’t need friends in DC – we send you there to protect and defend the Constitution…
After a question and answer session, Beck used the analogy of the character, Charlie Bucket in “Charlie and Chocolate Factory,” to illustrate America today being like Charlie: a poor loser with little hope for a better life until he discovered the final Golden Ticket in a Wonka candy bar. Pulling a clear envelope off a table, Beck held high the original “Golden Ticket” from the movie and said, “What is our Golden Ticket? Our golden ticket is the Constitution of the United States…if you play by the rules…don’t lose hope. We need one man just to stand up…stand up on your principles…if we do that, we win. We need one man to stand on the principle that he will protect and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic, and that one man is Ted Cruz.”
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Beck at Cruz Rally “live video” here (missing the last ten minutes or so). Beck’s full video will be posted on Alpha News’ YouTube channel soon.
