Allen West to Glenn Beck: Obama’s speech was ‘weak and whiny’

September 07, 2012

Writer

What did Allen West think of President Obama's speech last night at the DNC? Let's just say he was less than impressed! Watch the interview in the clip above from radio!

Transcript of interview is below:

GLENN: We're actually having this ‑‑ Allen, are you there?
WEST: I'm here.
GLENN: Okay.
PAT: There he is.
GLENN: You're not going to kill me for saying that, are you?
WEST: No. I'm such a peaceful person.
GLENN: I know you are.
WEST: You know really I'm a passivist.
GLENN: No, I know.
WEST: And I'm running for the Nobel Peace Prize.
STU: (Laughing.)
GLENN: I know you are.
WEST: What I should potentially do, for what I could potentially do.
GLENN: You are such a wallflower lately. I don't really know if you've said what you really mean.
WEST: I think that's why the liberals don't like me.
GLENN: What did you think of the speech last night? What did you think of the whole mess?
WEST: Well, I have to tell you that I think it was a very weak and whiney attempt for, you know, President Obama to get another four years when everything about him from the economic security, energy security, and national security aspect, his policies have been a failure. When you think about what he said early on, that if he could not turn this economy around in four years, then he's a one‑term proposition, the fact that he gave us an almost trillion dollar‑plus stimulus and said that it will keep our unemployment, you know, below 8% and promise right now that it will be about 5.6%, it's just more falsifications and more deceit and just trying to get us to continue to trust him when I don't think he has any type of ability whatsoever. We elected a community organizer and this is what we get.
GLENN: You know, I was struck last night that he used the word "divine providence." He talked about ‑‑
WEST: Oh, he was quoting Thomas Jefferson left and right.
GLENN: Oh, my gosh. He actually, for the first time in his presidency, I think he actually got it right when he said all men are created equal and endowed by their Creator.
WEST: Yeah, but, you know, Glenn, come on. This is the day after the little fiasco on the delegate floor when we found out that they had taken out, you know, reference to God in their platform and also recognizing Jerusalem is the rightful capital of the modern day state of Israel and, of course, we all saw what happened when they tried to have the floor delegate debate based upon the amendment by Governor Ted Strickland. So for him to all of a sudden, you know, find the godly heritage of our constitutional republic was ‑‑ I think it was more of a show than anything else.
GLENN: Let me ‑‑ let me play just a clip of Cardinal Dolan from last night. I mean, I think this guy has, has a made right out of steel. Listen to this prayer.
CARDINAL DOLAN: Grant us the courage to defend it, life without which no other rights are secure. We ask your benediction on those waiting to be born that they may be welcomed and protected.
GLENN: I mean, you've got NARAL on the docket to speak and then he gets up and he says this.
WEST: Well, yeah. And I'm sure Sandra Fluke was not very happy with that, either: But you have to understand that one of the reasons why you just have to love Cardinal Dolan is that he stands by his principles and hopefully we can get more people in the Catholic church to, see that, you know, this was really not about contraception. This was about an intrusive nature of government going against the free exercise of religion thereof and having a government that would then be able to redefine or define what a religious organization or institution is.
GLENN: You know, people will ‑‑ people like Barack Obama and they haven't married in to Mitt Romney because, "You know, I don't really know what he's going to do or I don't really know if I trust him." Can you, can you put this in context of what this election is really all about?
WEST: Well, I think this election is about style versus substance. I think that this election is about a cult of personality versus someone that has a proven character and proven leadership. When I was at the RNC, I found it just incredible that people were asking me, you know, how do we know who Mitt Romney is and how does Mitt Romney, you know, tell us who he is. Well, four years ago he's the same guy that was running for president. He's been the governor of a state. He recovered our Salt Lake City Olympics which was, you know, right after 9/11, and he's been very successful in the private sector, in the business field. But yet you think about in 2008, we were pretty much forced to accept and vote for someone that we couldn't even say his middle name. And so now we're starting to discover, you know, who really you Barack Hussein Obama is and we're starting to see now his record and his policies which I think reflect the inner sanctum of the man, and these things that he believes in is inconsistent with the, you know, constitutional conservative values of this great republic. And I can say he can continue to channel, you know, Reagan or Lincoln or Thomas Jefferson or whoever, but he's just regurgitating quotes. I don't think that that's something he is truly inculcated.
And you brought it up earlier when I was listening to the show is that, you know, your formative years in life is from 0 to 10 years of age and, you know, what really is the background. I think it's a different type of background that, you know, opposed to someone like myself that was going to Atlanta Braves baseball game to look at a Joe Torre, Hank Aaron, and Rico Carty and, you know, I was there when the Atlanta Hawks first started their basketball team. So, you know, Fourth of July, having a father who served in World War II, a brother in Vietnam, it's about your experiences. And I think that's what we're starting to see, someone that really does not understand the American experience, but he can give a great speech.
GLENN: There's a story that's breaking this morning. The White House is circulating a draft of a new executive order on cyber security. This is what was kicked out by the Republicans before.
WEST: Yeah.
GLENN: It looks like he's just going to start regulating the Internet.
WEST: Yeah.
GLENN: Through executive order.
WEST: And this is what I'm talking about. When you understand what our Founding Fathers created in our government, they created a system of checks and balances and separation of power and what you're starting to see is a president that if he cannot get what he wants through the legislative process, he just does it by executive order Fiat. I mean, we are really not being governed. We're being ruled by edict. And it's interesting that this is being floated, like many other things, you know, kind of happen when we're not in session. We get back in session next Monday, but we had a very good cyber security bill that had bipartisan support. Mike Rogers from Michigan is sharp on this stuff, but it's voluntary, and we cannot start to have a government which is going to start dictating what has to happen in the Internet. And I think I just forgot the legislation that was killed that was trying to come out of the Senate that had to deal with regulating the Internet and, of course, Google and other people started to shut themselves down because of it. We can't go that path.
GLENN: The gas prices are $2 more than they were under George W. Bush.
WEST: Yeah. Remember how they were screaming? It was like $1.84 I think when the president was inaugurated and people were screaming about George W. Bush. And you're right. This is the all‑time high at this time of the year, around Labor Day, $3.79 to $3.83 depending on where you are for the average price of gasoline. And to hear the president last night talk about all the great things he's going to do for coal, well, I can tell you we have a coal generation plant here in Indiantown in Martin County and they are scared like you know what because they see what's happened in Kentucky, West Virginia, Virginia, which is their supplier. I think you've seen about a 40 to a 44% decrease in the coal industry in some of these areas up there. Ohio is also included in that. And that's all EPA regulation. And that's going to affect the middle class as far as electricity prices.
And, you know, the president last night, you keep hearing liberals talk about the middle class and all this, but think about the commodity prices in the grocery store, think about the gasoline prices, think about the fact that in these three and a half years you've seen a 2.6 to 4% decrease in the median family income which is for the middle class, 38,000 to about 110,000. But even worse, in the black community it's 11%, Glenn. So these are the truths, these are the facts that have to get out there which the president's not going to talk about. Definitely he's not going to talk about $16 trillion debt which hit at the start of this convention.
GLENN: Allen, thank you very much. Thanks for speaking the truth and we'll talk again.
WEST: Take care, Glenn.
GLENN: You bet. Bye‑bye. Allen West.

Washington Post EXPOSED: How Watergate editors almost published a fake Pulitzer Prize-winning story

Episode 6 of Glenn’s new history podcast series The Beck Story releases this Saturday.

This latest installment explores the history of Left-wing bias in mainstream media. Like every episode of this series, episode 6 is jam-packed with historical detail, but you can’t squeeze in every story, so some inevitably get cut from the final version. Part of this episode involves the late Ben Bradlee, who was the legendary editor of the Washington Post. Bradlee is legendary mostly because of the Watergate investigation that was conducted on his watch by two young reporters named Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein. Bradlee, Woodward, and Bernstein became celebrities after the release of the book and movie based on their investigation called All the President’s Men.

But there is another true story about the Washington Post that you probably won’t see any time soon at a theater near you.

In 1980, Washington Post editor Ben Bradlee wanted to expand the Post’s readership in the black community. The paper made an effort to hire more minority journalists, like Janet Cooke, a black female reporter from Ohio. Cooke was an aggressive reporter and a good writer. She was a fast-rising star on a staff already full of stars. The Post had a very competitive environment and Cooke desperately wanted to win a Pulitzer Prize.

Readers were hooked. And outraged.

When Cooke was asked to work on a story about the D.C. area’s growing heroin problem, she saw her chance to win that Pulitzer. As she interviewed people in black neighborhoods that were hardest hit by the heroin epidemic, she was appalled to learn that even some children were heroin addicts. When she learned about an eight-year-old heroin addict named Jimmy, she knew she had her hook. His heartbreaking story would surely be her ticket to a Pulitzer.

Cooke wrote her feature story, titling it, “Jimmy’s World.” It blew away her editors at the Post, including Bob Woodward, who by then was Assistant Managing Editor. “Jimmy’s World” would be a front-page story:

'Jimmy is 8 years old and a third-generation heroin addict,' Cooke’s story began, 'a precocious little boy with sandy hair, velvety brown eyes and needle marks freckling the baby-smooth skin of his thin brown arms. He nestles in a large, beige reclining chair in the living room of his comfortably furnished home in Southeast Washington. There is an almost cherubic expression on his small, round face as he talks about life – clothes, money, the Baltimore Orioles and heroin. He has been an addict since the age of 5.'

Readers were hooked. And outraged. The mayor’s office instructed the police to immediately search for Jimmy and get him medical treatment. But no one was able to locate Jimmy. Cooke wasn’t surprised. She told her editors at the Post that she had only been able to interview Jimmy and his mother by promising them anonymity. She also revealed that the mother’s boyfriend had threatened Cooke’s life if the police discovered Jimmy’s whereabouts.

A few months later, Cooke’s hard work paid off and her dream came true – her story was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for feature writing. Cooke had to submit some autobiographical information to the Prize committee, but there was a slight snag. The committee contacted the Post when they couldn’t verify that Cooke had graduated magna cum laude from Vassar College. Turns out she only attended Vassar her freshman year. She actually graduated from the University of Toledo with a B.A. degree, not with a master’s degree as she told the Pulitzer committee.

Cooke’s editors summoned her for an explanation. Unfortunately for Cooke and the Washington Post, her resume flubs were the least of her lies. After hours of grilling, Cooke finally confessed that “Jimmy’s World” was entirely made up. Jimmy did not exist.

The Pulitzer committee withdrew its prize and Cooke resigned in shame. The Washington Post, the paper that uncovered Watergate – the biggest political scandal in American history – failed to even vet Cooke’s resume. Then it published a front-page, Pulitzer Prize-winning feature story that was 100 percent made up.

Remarkably, neither Ben Bradlee nor Bob Woodward resigned over the incident. It was a different time, but also, the halo of All the President’s Men probably saved them.

Don’t miss the first five episodes of The Beck Story, which are available now. And look for Episode 6 this Saturday, wherever you get your podcasts.

UPDATED: 5 Democrats who have endorsed Kamala (and one who hasn't)

Zach Gibson / Stringer, Brandon Bell / Staff | Getty Images

With Biden removed from the 2024 election and only a month to find a replacement before the DNC, Democrats continue to fall in line and back Vice President Kamala Harris to headline the party's ticket. Her proximity and familiarity with the Biden campaign along with an endorsement from Biden sets Harris up to step into Biden's shoes and preserve the momentum from his campaign.

Glenn doesn't think Kamala Harris is likely to survive as the assumed Democratic nominee, and once the DNC starts, anything could happen. Plenty of powerful and important Democrats have rallied around Harris over the last few days, but there have been some crucial exemptions. Here are five democrats that have thrown their name behind Harris, and two SHOCKING names that didn't...

Sen. Dick Durbin: ENDORSED

Chip Somodevilla / Staff | Getty Images

High-ranking Senate Democrat Dick Durbin officially put in his support for Harris in a statement that came out the day after Biden stepped down: “I’m proud to endorse my former Senate colleague and good friend, Vice President Kamala Harris . . . our nation needs to continue moving forward with unity and not MAGA chaos. Vice President Harris was a critical partner in building the Biden record over the past four years . . . Count me in with Kamala Harris for President.”

Michigan Gov. Whitmer: ENDORSED

Chip Somodevilla / Staff | Getty Images

The Monday after Biden stepped down from the presidential VP hopeful, Gretchen Whitmer released the following statement on X: “Today, I am fired up to endorse Kamala Harris for president of the United States [...] In Vice President Harris, Michigan voters have a presidential candidate they can count on to focus on lowering their costs, restoring their freedoms, bringing jobs and supply chains back home from overseas, and building an economy that works for working people.”

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez: ENDORSED

Drew Angerer / Staff | Getty Images

Mere hours after Joe Biden made his announcement, AOC hopped on X and made the following post showing her support: "Kamala Harris will be the next President of the United States. I pledge my full support to ensure her victory in November. Now more than ever, it is crucial that our party and country swiftly unite to defeat Donald Trump and the threat to American democracy. Let’s get to work."

Rep. Nancy Pelosi: ENDORSED

Anna Moneymaker / Staff | Getty Images

Former Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who is arguably one of the most influential democrats, backed Harris's campaign with the following statement given the day after Biden's decision: “I have full confidence she will lead us to victory in November . . . My enthusiastic support for Kamala Harris for President is official, personal, and political.”

Sen. Elizabeth Warren: ENDORSED

Drew Angerer / Stringer | Getty Images

Massasschesets Senator Elizabeth Warren was quick to endorse Kamala, releasing the following statement shortly after Harris placed her presidential bid: "I endorse Kamala Harris for President. She is a proven fighter who has been a national leader in safeguarding consumers and protecting access to abortion. As a former prosecutor, she can press a forceful case against allowing Donald Trump to regain the White House. We have many talented people in our party, but Vice President Harris is the person who was chosen by the voters to succeed Joe Biden if needed. She can unite our party, take on Donald Trump, and win in November."

UPDATED: Former President Barack Obama: ENDORSED

Spencer Platt / Staff | Getty Images

Former President Barack Obama wasted no time releasing the following statement which glaringly omits any support for Harris or any other candidate. Instead, he suggests someone will be chosen at the DNC in August: "We will be navigating uncharted waters in the days ahead. But I have extraordinary confidence that the leaders of our party will be able to create a process from which an outstanding nominee emerges. I believe that Joe Biden's vision of a generous, prosperous, and united America that provides opportunity for everyone will be on full display at the Democratic Convention in August. And I expect that every single one of us are prepared to carry that message of hope and progress forward into November and beyond."

UPDATED: On Friday, July 26th Barack and Michelle Obama officially threw their support behind Harris over a phone call with the current VP:

“We called to say, Michelle and I couldn’t be prouder to endorse you and do everything we can to get you through this election and into the Oval Office.”

The fact that it took nearly a week for the former president to endorse Kamala, along with his original statement, gives the endorsement a begrudging tone.

Prominent Democratic Donor John Morgan: DID NOT ENDORSE

AP Photo/John Raoux

Prominent and wealthy Florida lawyer and democrat donor John Morgan was clearly very pessimistic about Kamala's odds aginst Trump when he gave the following statement: “You have to be enthusiastic or hoping for a political appointment to be asking friends for money. I am neither. It’s others turn now . . . The donors holding the 90 million can release those funds in the morning. It’s all yours. You can keep my million. And good luck . . . [Harris] would not be my first choice, but it’s a done deal.”

How did Trump's would-be assassin get past Secret Service?

PATRICK T. FALLON / Contributor | Getty Images

Editor's Note: This article was originally published on TheBlaze.com.

Former President Donald Trump on Saturday was targeted in an assassination attempt during a campaign rally in Pennsylvania. It occurred just after 6:10 p.m. while Trump was delivering his speech.

Here are the details of the “official” story. The shooter was Thomas Matthew Crooks. He was 20 years old from Bethel Park, Pennsylvania. He used an AR-15 rifle and managed to reach the rooftop of a nearby building unnoticed. The Secret Service's counter-response team responded swiftly, according to "the facts," killing Crooks and preventing further harm.

Did it though? That’s what the official story says, so far, but calling this a mere lapse in security by Secret Service doesn't add up. There are some glaring questions that need to be answered.

If Trump had been killed on Saturday, we would be in a civil war today. We would have seen for the first time the president's brains splattered on live television, and because of the details of this, I have a hard time thinking it wouldn't have been viewed as JFK 2.0.

How does someone sneak a rifle onto the rally grounds? How does someone even know that that building is there? How is it that Thomas Matthew Crooks was acting so weird and pacing in front of the metal detectors, and no one seemed to notice? People tried to follow him, but, oops, he got away.

How could the kid possibly even think that the highest ground at the venue wouldn't be watched? If I were Crooks, my first guess would be, "That’s the one place I shouldn't crawl up to with a rifle because there's most definitely going to be Secret Service there." Why wasn't anyone there? Why wasn't anyone watching it? Nobody except the shooter decided that the highest ground with the best view of the rally would be the greatest vulnerability to Trump’s safety.

Moreover, a handy ladder just happened to be there. Are we supposed to believe that nobody in the Secret Service, none of the drones, none of the things we pay millions of dollars for caught him? How did he get a ladder there? If the ladder was there, was it always there? Why was the ladder there? Secret Service welds manhole covers closed when a president drives down a road. How was there a ladder sitting around, ready to climb up to the highest ground at the venue, and the Secret Service failed to take it away?

There is plenty of video of eyewitnesses yelling that there was a guy with a rifle climbing up on a ladder to the roof for at least 120 seconds before the first shot was fired. Why were the police looking for him while Secret Service wasn't? Why did the sniper have him in his sights for over a minute before he took a shot? Why did a cop climb up the ladder to look around? When Thomas Matthew Cooks pointed a gun at him, he then ducked and came down off the ladder. Did he call anyone to warn that this young man had a rifle within range of the president?

How is it the Secret Service has a female bodyguard who doesn't even reach Trump's nipples? How was she going to guard the president's body with hers? How is it another female Secret Service agent pulled her gun out a good four minutes too late, then looked around, apparently not knowing what to do? She then couldn't even get the pistol back into the holster because she's a Melissa McCarthy body double. I don't think it's a good idea to have Melissa McCarthy guarding the president.

Here’s the critical question now: Who trusts the FBI with the shooter’s computer? Will his hard drive get filed with the Nashville manifesto? How is it that the Secret Service almost didn't have snipers at all but decided to supply them only one day before the rally because all the local resources were going to be put on Jill Biden? I want Jill Biden safe, of course. I want Jill Biden to have what the first lady should have for security, but you can’t hire a few extra guys to make sure our candidates are safe?

How is it that we have a Secret Service director, Kimberly Cheatle, whose experience is literally guarding two liters of Squirt and spicy Doritos? Did you know that's her background? She's in charge of the United States Secret Service, and her last job was as the head of security for Pepsi.

This is a game, and that's what makes this sick. This is a joke. There are people in our country who thought it was OK to post themselves screaming about the shooter’s incompetence: “How do you miss that shot?” Do you realize how close we came to another JFK? If the president hadn't turned his head at the exact moment he did, it would have gone into the center of his head, and we would be a different country today.

Now, Joe Biden is also saying that we shouldn't make assumptions about the motive of the shooter. Well, I think we can assume one thing: He wanted to kill the Republican presidential candidate. Can we agree on that at least? Can we assume that much?

How can the media even think of blaming Trump for the rhetoric when the Democrats and the media constantly call him literally worse than Hitler who must be stopped at all costs?

These questions need to be answered if we want to know the truth behind what could have been one of the most consequential days in U.S. history. Yet, the FBI has its hands clasped on all the sources that could point to the truth. There must be an independent investigation to get to the bottom of these glaring “mistakes.”

POLL: Do you think Trump is going to win the election?

Kevin Dietsch / Staff, Chip Somodevilla / Staff, Kevin Dietsch / Staff | Getty Image

It feels like all of the tension that has been building over the last four years has finally burst to the surface over the past month. Many predicted 2024 was going to be one of the most important and tumultuous elections in our lifetimes, but the last two weeks will go down in the history books. And it's not over yet.

The Democratic National Convention is in August, and while Kamala seems to be the likely candidate to replace Biden, anything could happen in Chicago. And if Biden is too old to campaign, isn't he too old to be president? Glenn doesn't think he'll make it as President through January, but who knows?

There is a lot of uncertainty that surrounds the current political landscape. Trump came out of the attempted assassination, and the RNC is looking stronger than ever, but who knows what tricks the Democrats have up their sleeves? Let us know your predictions in the poll below:

Glenn's Show Prep

Allen West to Glenn Beck: Obama’s speech was ‘weak and whiny’

Washington Post EXPOSED: How Watergate editors almost published a fake Pulitzer Prize-winning story

Readers were hooked. And outraged.

UPDATED: 5 Democrats who have endorsed Kamala (and one who hasn't)

Sen. Dick Durbin: ENDORSED

Michigan Gov. Whitmer: ENDORSED

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez: ENDORSED

Rep. Nancy Pelosi: ENDORSED

Sen. Elizabeth Warren: ENDORSED

UPDATED: Former President Barack Obama: ENDORSED

Prominent Democratic Donor John Morgan: DID NOT ENDORSE

How did Trump's would-be assassin get past Secret Service?

POLL: Do you think Trump is going to win the election?

Is Trump going to win the election?

Did the assassination attempt increase Trump's chances at winning in November?

Did Trump's pick of J.D. Vance help his odds?

Did the Trump-Biden debate in June help Trump's chances?

Did Biden's resignation from the election hand Trump a victory in November?

Do the Democrats have any chance of winning this election?