Glenn Beck - Plagiarist?

By way of explanation:

1) Sometimes, I get insomnia. Usually, when this happens, I read until I fall asleep. Usually, this does not work. I do it anyway. A few nights ago, I got insomnia, and chose to read From Beirut to Jerusalem, by Thomas Friedman, a 526-page book that I got for my birthday and have barely begun to read.

2) In high school, when I had really boring summer jobs, the highlight of my day would be to sit in my car and listen to Glenn Beck’s talk radio show. Glenn Beck may be many things, but unlike Sean Hannity and Rush Limbaugh, he rarely takes himself too seriously (at least back then), he always seems genuine, and he never fails to be entertaining. I would laugh myself to tears, just sitting in my car, and my coworkers would give me weird looks from the loading bay. For a while, I became a big fan of Glenn’s, and followed him closely on the radio and the internet. But it’s been a long time since I’ve had the time to follow his radio or TV shows, and nowadays, almost everything I hear about him just sounds crazy or ridiculous.

Anyway, back to point 1): I was reading Mr. Friedman, and came upon a passage that sounded awfully familiar. And, having insomnia, I went to my computer to check it out. Sadly, my suspicions were confirmed.

Here’s a segment from Glenn’s CNN talk show, entitled, “The History of the Middle East...in a couple of minutes.”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HelIHTveKQw

My transcript of the last half of that video:

On May 14, 1948, the Zionists declare their own state, along with the United Nations. The next day, the Palestinians, aided by the armies of Jordan, Egypt, Syria, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia and – whoa ho! – Iraq (gotta love them), launched a war to prevent Jewish independence and to secure control of all of the land.

Unfortunately, in that war, the Zionists not only managed to hold all the areas assigned to them by the United Nations but seized part of the land designated for the “Palestinian” state as well. In other words...They. Kicked. A$$.

Here’s the thing everybody always leaves out of the history books: The other areas designated for the Palestinians by the United Nations were taken. Not by the Israelis, but by Jordan and Egypt. Jordan annexed the West Bank, while Egypt said, “Hey, Gaza District? You’re ours!” But don’t worry. In the next episode we’re gonna find out that neither Arab state allowed the Palestinians to form their own independent government in either of these areas. Those wacky Arabs! Ho ho ho.

And here’s Thomas Friedman in From Beirut to Jerusalem, pg. 15:

Just before the British completed their withdrawal on May 14, 1948, the Zionists declared their own state, and the next day, the Palestinians, aided by the armies of Jordan, Egypt, Syria, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia and Iraq, launched a war to prevent Jewish independence and to secure control of all of Western Palestine.
In the course of that war, the Zionists not only managed to hold all the areas assigned to them by the United Nations but to seize part of the land designated for the Palestinian state as well. The other areas designated for the Palestinian state were taken by Jordan and Egypt; Jordan annexed the West Bank, while Egypt assumed control of the Gaza District. Neither Arab state allowed the Palestinians to form their own independent government in these areas.

Say it ain’t so, Glenn. Say it ain’t so.

Other notes: The Palestinians are actually Syrians? I know about 9 million people who would disagree with that.

Irony, Thy Name Is HAMAS

Here is Ismail Haneya, Hamas’ Prime Minister, speaking about a revolt in Rafah led by a radical anti-Hamas imam that led to the deaths of 22 Palestinians last week:

“After the failure of the war and the siege on Gaza, some side exploited young men and fed them with strange ideology to regard killing as lawful.”

No way! Are you for serious?

Young kids being taught that killing is lawful. What is the Levant coming to these days?

Here comes the future

Welcome to my new blog! As I embark on this latest online journaling venture, I am about to enter my senior year at Dordt College in NW Iowa. I move back up there on Monday, and I'm pretty psyched to see all my old friends again and settle in.

Last year, one of those friends said, "You know what Joel? You should have a blog." Since this friend is quite a good writer, I took it as a compliment. This friend may or may not know that this is the fifth blog I have started. The first fizzled out fairly quickly after I got busy at school. The second, at the Des Moines Register's website, was fun for a while, but after about two years, the cost/benefit ratio failed to compute. The third and fourth were travelogues of a kind about my experiences in Washington DC and the Middle East. This blog, I hope, will be a little more permanent.

It's been said that having a blog is a sign of narcissism - that to blast your thoughts and opinions all over the interweb is a sign of a dangerously high regard for your own thoughts and opinions. Let me assure you all, this is not the case. I have no desire to force my thoughts on anyone. If ever you find these scrivenings the least bit boring, go somewhere else. I will post here for four reasons and four reasons alone: 1) to vent, 2) to keep friends and family updated on my life's goings-on, in case they are interested, 3) to pass on amusing things, and 4) so that if, years from now, I ever want to remember the things I thought when I was in my early 20s, I can come back here and read what I thought.

That's about the long and short of it. Hopefully this will be an enjoyable enterprise. Thanks for stopping by!

مح السالمة

(Go with peace)