The New York Times released a story yesterday about an Egyptian television host, Tawfik Okasha, who is being referred to as the ‘Egyptian Glenn Beck.’
“Have you seen the video of what is being called the Egyptian Glenn Beck,” Glenn asked on radio this morning. “That's what they're calling him over in Egypt, the Egyptian Glenn Beck. He's called the Egyptian Glenn Beck because he's on Egyptian television and he's been saying, ‘the Muslim Brotherhood, they're Islamic extremists they are in bed with the leftists here,’ and ‘Egypt, stay away from these guys.’”
The Times refers to Okasha as “the host of a popular television program known for his embrace of conspiratorial thinking and hatred of leftists and political Islam,” who “railed against Egypt’s Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, or SCAF, on live television.” And in true New York Times fashion, the video that accompanies the story on their website mocks Okasha as some sort of bumbling idiot:
“That's the way they're reporting on the guy who said, ‘Hey, by the way, this is an Islamic extremist group, they're going to take hold and they're in bed with the left,’” Glenn said frustrated.
As they mock this man for his ‘conspiracy theories,’ they fail to report on the speech given by newly elected Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi, who just so happens to be a leader of the Muslim Brotherhood.
Morsi’s words roughly translate to something like:
The Quran is our Constitution. The Quran was and will continue to be our constitution. The prophet Muhammad is our leader. Jihad is our path and death for the sake of Allah is our most lofty aspiration. Above all, Allah is our goal. I take an oath before Allah and before you all that regardless of the actual text, Allah willing the text will truly reflect Sharia.
And somehow Okasha is the crazy conspiracy theorist?
“That is Morsi himself,” Pat said. “That is the new Egyptian President saying he will follow Sharia law.”
Morsi and his advisors have also made claims that a caliphate is coming (looks like the media owes Glenn an apology on that one), and Jerusalem will be the center of the Muslim caliphate. Doesn’t really sound like Egypt is planning to respect that peace treaty with Israel, huh.
Clearly Secretary of State Hillary Clinton wasn't listening to the same speech from Morsi because all she seems to be able to do is talk about how positive all of this is:
We've heard some very positive statements coming from Morsi so far. We'll have to wait and judge by what's actually done.
Sure.
“That's crazy,” Glenn said. “This is an Egyptian broadcaster [Okasha] saying a caliphate is coming, they're in bed with the left, and the Muslim Brotherhood are extremists. Listen to what he says. And what is [the media] doing? Mocking him and trying to drive him out.”
“I am standing up for what [Okasha] said – what I read about in the New York Times – that a caliphate is coming, these are Islamic extremists that you've got to be away from and the left is in bed with them,” Glenn concluded. “I stand with him on that. What he says elsewhere, I have no idea.”