Post columnist Kreck quoted Beck on “Islamic extremism,” failed to note Beck's history of anti-Muslim remarks

Writing about conservative radio and talk show host Glenn Beck's upcoming “Christmas tour,” Denver Post media columnist Dick Kreck quoted Beck on “Islamic extremism” without mentioning that Beck has a history of making derogatory statements about Islam and Muslims.

Claiming in his November 28 column that conservative radio personality and CNN Headline News talk show host Glenn Beck “makes me laugh,” Denver Post media columnist Dick Kreck quoted Beck regarding “Islamic extremism,” but he failed to note Beck's numerous derogatory statements about Muslims and American Muslims.

According to Kreck, “Glenn Beck and I couldn't be farther apart politically. But he makes me laugh.” In his column -- promoting Beck's upcoming "Christmas tour" -- Kreck further stated that Beck is “fed up with politics, preferring to pound away at our blind spot in the Middle East.” He then quoted Beck as saying:

I'm a one-issue guy. The one issue is war on Islamic extremism. We are being lied to and used by our media, by our politicians, for our money, for our ability to give them ratings, for our ability to give them power.

Iran is the point. Debate all you want about abortion, gay marriage, whatever. You ain't gonna make it to health care if you don't stop militant Islam.

However, Kreck's column did not note the fact that Beck has repeatedly made derogatory statements regarding Islam and suggested on numerous occasions that American Muslims are aligned with Muslim extremists.

As Media Matters for America has noted, during a November 14 interview with Rep.-elect Keith Ellison (D-MN), who in the November 7 election became the first Muslim ever elected to Congress, Beck said to Ellison, “I have been nervous about this interview with you, because what I feel like saying is, 'Sir, prove to me that you are not working with our enemies.' ”

Beck also has declared that “Muslims who have sat on [their] frickin' hands the whole time” rather than “lining up to shoot the bad Muslims in the head” will face dire consequences.

During a November 15 CNN special on Islamic extremists, Beck -- despite his repeated calls for Muslims in the United States to “step up to the plate” and condemn terrorism -- called a September 10 letter by Islamic Society of Nevada director Aslam Abdullah condemning Al Qaeda in Iraq “surprising,” precisely because “the man who wrote it is a Muslim.”

On the July 12 edition of his CNN Headline News program, Beck, referring to the war on terrorism, declared that “whether you like it or not, this is a religious war. Radical Muslims want to wipe everybody else off the face of the earth.” On the same program, Beck cited violence in the Middle East and India as evidence that “we've got World War III to fight,” while also warning of “the impending apocalypse.”

And on his July 24 CNN program, Beck said of the Shiite clergy in Iran, “I truly believe these mullahs are far worse than Hitler. I mean, Hitler was crazy evil. I believe these guys are biblically evil.”

From Kreck's November 28 Post column (an online version appeared November 27), “Conservative Beck liberal with laughter on Christmas tour”:

Glenn Beck and I couldn't be farther apart politically.

But he makes me laugh.

The conservative voice of radio and TV is going live with a nine-city Christmas tour, including a stop Monday at the Ellie Caulkins Opera House.

Don't look for much about politics during his appearance. “It's a mix of stand-up comedy and inspirational speaking,” Beck said by phone from New York. “It's hard to explain. It has a little Garrison Keillor, a little Seinfeld in it. It's not a speech; it's inspirational for Christmas.”

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He's fed up with politics, preferring to pound away at our blind spot in the Middle East. “I'm a one-issue guy. The one issue is war on Islamic extremism. We are being lied to and used by our media, by our politicians, for our money, for our ability to give them ratings, for our ability to give them power.

”Iran is the point. Debate all you want about abortion, gay marriage, whatever. You ain't gonna make it to health care if you don't stop militant Islam."