Glenn's 2008 Message About Barack Obama Should Ring True for the Left in 2016

November 10, 2016

Lori Hanes

Writer

When Barack Obama was elected in 2008, Glenn went on air with a word of advice to Americans on both sides of the aisle. Hindsight being what it is, his message might be even more applicable today than it was back then.

From 2008:

He's going to be the President of the United States. Let's give the man the respect that the office deserves. Let's be better people than they were to George W. Bush, be better people than the left was to us. Let's treat them the way we would them to treat us.

And I believe that's by saying, congratulations, President-elect Barack Obama. You have the toughest job in the world. And in any way that I can, I will help you and support you. I am not going to sell out my values, but I think any man of honor, any man of integrity, any man who deserves to be in the Oval Office can appreciate that.

You're not their president. You're not the president of the left. You're the President of the United States. You're our President. You're my President.

In any way I can, without selling out my principles, we will help you.

Glenn reflected on this pivotal moment from the past during his radio program on Thursday. Echoing his own message from 2008, Glenn urged Americans --- and Republicans in particular --- to move forward with kindness.

"Let me give the advice on both sides: Republicans, please, do not push this pendulum. Do not go for revenge. Do not go for vengeance," Glenn said. "Dismantle the pendulum. Do not swing it so far, because as I said in 2008, it will swing back as far, if not farther than you push it."

He went on to call for Americans to reach out to those who did not vote for Donald Trump with decency and respect.

"It is our job to reach out now to our friends, our friends who didn't vote for Donald Trump," he said. "I know we had all kinds of words. Let's forget about that. Let's move forward."

Read below or listen to the full segment for answers to these pivotal questions:

• What did Glenn say in 2008 about the pendulum swinging?

• Why is it dangerous to concentrate too much power in one individual?

• Exit polling showed that 27 percent of voters want what?

• Why should we not dismiss the fears of those on the left?

• Should we treat liberals with more compassion and understanding?

Listen to this segment from The Glenn Beck Program:

Below is a rush transcript of this segment, it might contain errors:

GLENN: I want to play something that I said on this day in 2008, when Barack Obama -- and I want you to listen to this, especially if you didn't vote for Donald Trump or if you're on the left. I want you to listen what I said in 2008 on the day they announced that Barack Obama would be President-elect Barack Obama.

(audio starts)

I give the same warning to the Democrats that I gave to the Republicans in George Bush shortly after 9/11: Be careful how far you push this pendulum up. Because if you take this pendulum and try to swing it so far up, the pendulum always swings back. And when it does, it goes back as far, if not farther than you just swung it. That's what gave us Barack Obama.

What gave us Barack Obama was the pushing of that pendulum so far. The wrapping of America in the flag and everything else, and not really standing for anything, as they push this pendulum up. It's going to swing. Mark my words, Democrats. It will swing just as far the other way. And what I said was the danger after September 11th: You interject hunger and fear, that pendulum can stop. And it depends on who is in power that grabs that pendulum.

So while you may be happy today about Barack Obama, be careful what you do. Because we don't want an extremist on either end to grab the pendulum. We've got to -- we've got to bring the pendulum and stop it swinging so far and bring it closer to the center. We're not that different.

(audio ends)

PAT: That might be the truest best callback we've ever played of one of those clips, of something you said in the past.

GLENN: So that was 2008. So now let me issue an update on that.

We know that to be true now. We know that to be true.

PAT: Uh-huh.

GLENN: And one of the things we saw last night in the exit polling is that 27 percent of those who voted wanted a strong man. Wanted a strong man. That is the interjection of fear and hunger of -- it could be a million different things for a million different people. The pendulum swung too far.

If anybody was worried about the power of the government, like we were, if you weren't worried about that, during the Obama administration, we kept saying, "Somebody is going to come in that you're not going to like. You don't want to give them that much power."

So let me give the advice on both sides: Republicans, please, do not push this pendulum. Do not -- do not go for revenge. Do not go for vengeance. Do not take the IRS -- de-weaponize the IRS. Do not even allow it to continue to be weaponized. Dismantle the pendulum. Do not swing it so far -- because as I said in 2008, it will swing back as far, if not farther than you push it.

Now, let me give -- let me give some advice to the left that comes not from knowledge, but from wisdom. Because I've lived it.

Last night, I heard Donald Trump called everything. Everything. I realize -- I realize, as I pointed out under Barack Obama, there are echoes of 1933.

Now, you didn't want to hear that when I said that about Barack Obama. Too much power is being concentrated in one guy. Be careful. That's what happened in 1933. Okay. You didn't like it.

Last night, I heard so many comparisons of Donald Trump to Hitler. And we, on the right must not dismiss their fear.

For instance, people who are saying, people are going to be scooped up in the middle of the night, blah, blah, blah, blah. You may not believe that. You may say, "That will never happen." But instead of saying, "Oh, stop it. He's not going to ban all Muslims. Stop it." That's a real fear. Remember the fears that you had under Barack Obama. They could tell you a million times it wasn't going to happen, that he wasn't going to suspend the election, but a lot of people still had that fear and wouldn't let go of it.

And every time they said, "Oh, please," that's ridiculous, what happened? Did you feel better?

We have to say: Look, I don't believe he's going to scoop up Muslims. I don't think that's going to happen. He's not going to ban all Muslims.

But let me tell you something, if he does, I'm on your side. I'm on your side. I will stand against anyone who does anything against a man because of their religious beliefs. I'm for the Constitution. Don't worry about it.

And if we cross that bridge, we're going to cross that bridge together. Take that attitude instead of dismissing their fears because many on the left are truly afraid today. They need reassurance from reasonable people on the right.

STU: And that's what Trump tried to do in that speech.

GLENN: Exactly right.

STU: That's what he did.

GLENN: Exactly right.

STU: That was his point in the speech, I think.

GLENN: Yes. So we need to make an effort. It is our job to reach out now to our friends, our friends who didn't vote for Donald Trump. They don't have to be on the left. They could be people who didn't vote for Donald Trump. And they're on the right. And they're constitutionalists.

You need to tell them today, "Don't worry about it. I know we had all kinds of words. I know we had all kinds of words. Let's forget about that. Let's move forward."

Listen, if he would do something like that -- which he's not -- don't dismiss their fears. Please. Learn from my mistakes from 2010.

The other thing, to the left, every time you call him Hitler, believe me, because my job -- I see my job as using history to teach. That's not what you're doing.

When I'm using it, I'm taking a historic piece and saying, "Look at this piece. This piece looks exactly like 1934." But what you're doing is you're saying, "He's Hitler." No, he's not. Only Hitler is Hitler.

But you -- when I said that about Barack Obama --

PAT: I don't believe you ever said Barack Obama is Hitler.

GLENN: No. No, I didn't. Never did. Never did.

But I did say, "These earmarks happened at that time."

PAT: Yeah.

GLENN: And this could be very Hitler-esque.

PAT: Yeah.

GLENN: This is how it started. The seeds are very important to point out. So I will listen to you on the seeds. When you say, "Glenn, look at this," I am going to say to you, "I know. I know. But I'm with you if we continue down that road. I'm not going to dismiss that warning." But don't -- I'm telling the left, do not call people sexists, racists, Hitler.

PAT: Hmm.

GLENN: Don't do it?

PAT: Too late.

GLENN: It's not too late.

PAT: But they were doing it last night. All night long.

GLENN: I know. But today, we have to have a period of forgiveness. They're scared. And we also have to have -- please, I am the guy out of everybody in the country, I'm the guy who knows these things because I've learned them firsthand. You won't get anyone on our side to listen to you if you do what you did to George W. Bush or what we did to Barack Obama. It will only get worse, which will cause the right to push the pendulum even further and dismiss you and say, "You're a bunch of kooks anyway. I'm not listening to you."

Please, please, the left has a --

PAT: And they feel justified because that's what they did to the right in 2008.

GLENN: Correct. And we felt justified. We felt justified.

PAT: Uh-huh.

GLENN: They will feel justified too. We must be better. They -- we have to listen to them. Please. Listen to them.

Anybody who is on the left, don't be angry. Please don't be angry. It won't get you anywhere.

I will fight by your side. I hope I have gained some credibility with people on any side, that I am a constitutionalist. And I will stand next to any man who stands for the Constitution. I will stand by your right for religion, for speech, political, abhorrent speech, I will stand by your side. But I will tell you this: I understand your fear. But as a guy who has learned firsthand, you're going to survive, to the right, don't punish. Please, don't punish.

2020 is going to look very, very different than 2016. If we are lucky, Donald Trump will be the president of all of our dreams. We have a chance to change things. But if we engage in vindictiveness and anger on any side, our children lose.

Let's be better people, please.

Featured Image: US President Barack Obama waves as he arrives on the South Lawn of the White House March 6, 2009 in Washington, DC. Obama was returning after making remarks at the Columbus (Ohio) Police Graduation Exercise earlier in the day. (Photo by Ron Sachs-Pool/Getty Images)

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"We really need to look at the economy and be prepared for what is coming," Glenn said. "I feel like my job is to warn you of the things that are coming and, when I can, give you ways to navigate around. But at least so you can hear the warning and decide yourself what you're going to do with that."

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"We are creating this perfect storm, right now, where universal basic income is going to be embraced by people," Glenn warned. "It's just this nasty cycle that we're beginning, and we're watching it unfold right in front of us."

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"So these corporations, they're going to act as a — what? A secondary government? ... I don't know. I didn't elect the CEO of Merck. Did you?" he said.

"Corporations [are] openly meeting and coordinating efforts to change laws," Glenn added. "This is fascism, guys! Fascism is when government and corporations work hand in hand. That is fascism."

Watch the video clip below to hear more from Glenn:

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On Glenn TV this week, Glenn Beck exposes how some teachers are being instructed to "cash in on kids' inherent empathy" in order to train them to become "activist intellectuals," starting as early as first grade.

CRT is an absolute toxin to America and Glenn warns that in just one generation the Constitution, freedom, and true equality will be totally destroyed. Yet, any opposition to the spread of this disease is shouted down as racism and bigotry. If Critical Race Theory is not already in your local school curriculum, it will be soon.

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Watch the full episode below:

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Video clips show officers making remarks about the "Jew" reporters and calling Rebel News "Jew media." Reporters are pulled out of crowds, handcuffed, slammed against vehicles and arrested. Some have been fined "thousands and thousands" of dollars "because they had cameras pointed at the police," said Levant.

Another video clip shows Canadian police demanding entrance to a rented Airbnb houseboat without a warrant.

"They the claimed it was an illegal gathering. It was just a B and B," Levant explained. "I told them to get a warrant. I went out there ... and they wouldn't let me back in.... It turned into a ten-hour standoff. They couldn't find a judge willing to give them a search warrant, so to punish us, they called the whole thing a crime scene. They actually wouldn't let any of my team off the boat unless they submitted to a personal search, which is illegal. And the craziest part, is that they arrested one of my guys, took him to jail, and they said this to us: We will hold him in jail until you let us search the Airbnb without a warrant."

Levant said nearly all Canadian media have ignored the insane attacks, warrantless searches and seizures, and the jailing of journalists, and warned Americans to take note and protect our First Amendment rights.

"If you do not protect your First Amendment, if you do not hold those hard-won freedoms, you will be like what we are," he said. "This is your future if you don't protect your First Amendment."

Watch the video below for more details:

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