On radio this morning, Glenn explained what he believes to be the two most important stories out of Egypt: the persecution of Christians and the potential economic fallout in America as a result of rising gas prices. Both issues have received little coverage from the mainstream media, but, as Glenn explained, the United States now finds itself in a situation very similar to that of the 1940s. President Franklin D. Roosevelt ultimately chose to forego the New Deal for capitalism – will President Obama do the same?
“Egypt is going to affect you, whether you know it or not, because of our blessing of the
Muslim Brotherhood, and what they are now doing to the Coptic Christians,” Glenn said. “And this is a story that media just does not care about. You're going to need to pay attention to it, and share the information with your friends and with your church, and let people know what's really happening. There's a purge going on that is akin to the Night of Broken Glass in Germany. It is a frightening situation, if you are a Christian in Egypt.”
On Friday’s Glenn Beck Program, guest-host Laurie Dhue spoke to Erick Stakelbeck about the persecution Coptic Christians have faced in the region, and Erick specifically called out the media for failing to cover the story.
Meanwhile, we are still sending aid – to the tune of $1.5 billion annually – to the Egyptian military. While it may be becoming more and more difficult to justify the enormous aid check, but Glenn found himself conflicted on the topic.
“I did a lot of thinking and praying on this over the weekend, and I don't think that we have a choice at this point. My feeling is that we shouldn't be sending aid over to Egypt, but if we cut the aid off in Egypt, it will spiral that nation out of control even faster than it is,” Glenn explained. “We should not be sending aid over to Egypt, however, we are in a position now, because of our behavior and because of the choices we already made, that if we don't fund is military, which will be the hardline crackdown – if we're lucky, it will become the new Mubarak. If we don't support them, then we are look at an all-out civil war between the Muslim Brotherhood and something even potentially more dangerous.”
So what would Glenn do if he were in President Obama’s position?
“If I were president, I would get our ducks in a row right now and start drilling for oil and I would open up absolutely every oilfield we could possibly open and I would take the shackles off of our energy developing companies and I would say, ‘Go get it, boys. And do it quickly. You are running out of time,’” Glenn said. “If I were president, I would use the aid we are doing to buy us time, but I would make it very clear… I'm taking all shackles off our oil companies on anything they want to produce here because we have to be energy-independent right now.”
In 2008, the U.S. economy collapsed with gas prices at $140 per barrel. Today, oil is at $107.46, and many are speculating that the devolving situation in Egypt could drive prices close to $200 a barrel and beyond.
“There will come a time that the world will have to get involved in the Middle East and will have to get involved most likely in Egypt because of the Suez Canal. If they close the Suez Canal, prices of oil immediately skyrocket, probably to $180 a barrel. That adds ungodly amounts of money to be able to get oil,” Glenn explained. “So whatever you are paying for gas today, I want you to look at that gas price and realize that unless we find some way to put the genie back in the bottle or… we uncap those resources and start going for our own resources, we are done.”
Glenn liked the situation we currently find ourselves in to that of the 1940s. Prior to entering World War II the economy was in shambles and not getting any better, as President Roosevelt continued to implement the New Deal. Ultimately, however, even FDR realized the value of capitalism in troubled economic times. But will President Obama see things the same way?
“There is the possibility that things get so bad that this president realizes we are done as a nation, unless we go to the capitalists and turn this engine back on. Oil is going to go through the roof, I fear. If it does, we're in deep, deep trouble,” Glenn said. “The question is, do you believe in the end that this president is a patriot that doesn't want to see America completely destroyed. Because there are many of our grandparents… that felt the same way about FDR as we do about this president – the government is getting out of control, we are starting to head towards tyranny, this guy doesn't know what he's doing, and he doesn't love the country. In the end, FDR showed that yes, he did want America to survive. Let's pray that this president is exactly like FDR, that in the end, he does love the country and he will do the right thing, and when we have our back up against the wall, he shows us that yes, yes, this system can produce, and watch us produce.”