Beck to repeat comparison of global warming consensus

In preview of special, CNN host allowed Beck to repeat comparison of global warming consensus to Hitler eugenics
http://mediamatters.org/items/200705020012?src=item200705020012

On the May 2 edition of CNN Newsroom, while previewing his May 2 special, "Exposed: The Climate of Fear," CNN Headline News host Glenn Beck told host Don Lemon that he is doing the special because "the scientific consensus in Europe in the 1920s and '30s was that eugenics was a good idea," adding: "I'm glad that a few people stood against eugenics." Those comments recall remarks Beck made on the April 30 broadcast of his nationally syndicated radio program, in which he likened former Vice President Al Gore's fight against global warming to Adolf Hitler's use of eugenics as justification for exterminating 6 million European Jews. On that program, Beck stated: "Al Gore's not going to be rounding up Jews and exterminating them. It is the same tactic, however. The goal is different. The goal is globalization. The goal is global carbon tax. The goal is the United Nations running the world. That is the goal. Back in the 1930s, the goal was get rid of all of the Jews and have one global government."

Beck continued: "You got to have an enemy to fight. And when you have an enemy to fight, then you can unite the entire world behind you, and you seize power. That was Hitler's plan. His enemy: the Jew. Al Gore's enemy, the U.N.'s enemy: global warming." He added: "Then you get the scientists -- eugenics. You get the scientists -- global warming. Then you have to discredit the scientists who say, 'That's not right.' And you must silence all dissenting voices. That's what Hitler did."

Later in the interview, Beck addressed Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who called Beck "CNN's chief corporate fascism advocate." In response, Beck said: "[P]eople who question global warming, they're called Nazis. They're put right up next to Holocaust deniers." However, Lemon did not note Beck's own invocation of Hitler to describe Gore's global warming campaign. In addition to his April 30 comments, as Media Matters for America noted, on the March 22 edition of Glenn Beck, Beck likened Gore to Nazi propagandist Joseph Goebbels for Gore's statement, during his testimony before the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, that he would initiate a "mass persuasion campaign" to urge Congress to act on climate change.

Further, on the June 7, 2006, broadcast of his radio program, Beck compared Gore's documentary film, An Inconvenient Truth (Paramount Classics, May 2006), to Nazi propaganda. Beck dismissed many of the conclusions drawn from the documentary, stating, "[W]hen you take a little bit of truth and then you mix it with untruth, or your theory, that's where you get people to believe. ... It's like Hitler. Hitler said a little bit of truth, and then he mixed in 'and it's the Jews' fault.' That's where things get a little troublesome, and that's exactly what's happening" in An Inconvenient Truth.

From the 1 p.m. ET hour of the May 2 edition of CNN Newsroom:

LEMON: Glenn Beck -- boy, are you asking for it. He joins me now from New York. Listen, I got to start right out. If the scientific consensus says, Glenn, that global warming is a reality and we need to move past the debate into action, why even do this hour-long special? Why are you asking for it?

BECK: There's a couple of reasons: First of all, the scientific consensus in Europe in the 1920s and '30s was that eugenics was a good idea. I'm glad that a few people stood against eugenics. The global consensus is fractured in several different areas. Some people believe that global warming is happening. It's pretty easy to tell, you know, all you have to do is check the thermometer. Then there are those who say, yes, but man caused it; others say man didn't. Those who say either way, yes on that one, then you have to say, how do we solve it? And it is fractured all across, and we're talking trillions of dollars.

I am doing this special mainly because it frightens me that we that live in a world where I'm called by RFK Jr. a fascist, and when The Washington Post asked him, "Why did you call Glenn Beck a fascist?" he said because I heard him question global warming a couple of weeks ago.

LEMON: But Glenn, do you think that that is a general consensus, that one person said it, not everyone is saying or calling you a fascist in all of this.

BECK: No, no, no. You could -- has RFK Jr. called you a fascist? There are people that call global warming deniers -- that's an interesting quote, because I don't even deny global warming is happening -- but people who question global warming, they're called Nazis. They're put right up next to Holocaust deniers.

LEMON: And then -- but there are people, Glenn, who are going to say you're not denying that global warming is happening. There is not one consensus about why it's happening -- some people say it's greenhouse gases and all the pollutants we're putting in the air -- but Glenn, wouldn't you agree that it takes people a lot to change?

BECK: Sure.

LEMON: Don't we have to scare people a little bit that maybe you shouldn't drive, you know, your SUV so much? Maybe you should take the train or take public transportation --

BECK: No, I think we should --

LEMON: -- or use a hairspray so much? Don't you think that we need to scare people a little bit so that we do get back on track with the earth?

BECK: You know what? I got to tell you something: The world is a scary enough place with just the truth. I think we should start telling people the truth. You know, I'm perfectly willing -- I watched the Al Gore movie, and I looked at it and I said, "You know what? If these things are true, then we do need to change. I'll drive a Prius gladly. I just want to know what the truth is. And that's all we're looking for.

You know what? This is a bookend to the Al Gore movie. On the website at cnn.com, where it talks about the special, we've provided the link to the Al Gore movie. You should watch both sides. When have we said, ever in America, ever in the world, that we should only have one side of an argument? We should listen to all of them.

LEMON: So, you believe folks should watch that, but you're not saying it's necessarily they should take that as whole. They should look at the other side, correct?

BECK: It's one side.

LEMON: And just -- you know you mentioned the Al Gore movie. Did you hear about the removal of Bibles from this one hotel?

BECK: I think this is the most appropriate thing --

LEMON: What do you think of that? They're putting Al Gore's book over the Bible?

BECK: Science has become religion for some people, and it is amazing -- many politicians -- Al Gore is one of them, the U.N. is another -- we should just have them get out of the suits and put a collar on -- a priest's collar on -- because I think we are entering the Dark Ages where these new priests are saying, "Science cannot question -- no one can question what the current belief is today."

LEMON: Yeah, and I think some people would say -- and I think there is a general consensus on this, that we've gone too far when we think that science is bad, because science actually has made major influences and has helped diseases and cured all kinds of things.

BECK: There's -- science is great.

LEMON: Yeah.

BECK: We just have to keep in perspective they're the butter is bad, butter is good people.

LEMON: Yes. Sometimes, there's nothing wrong with preservatives, sometimes. It helps you keep the -- all right. Glenn Beck, always a pleasure to have you.

BECK: Thank you, sir.
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