Citing new G.I. Joe movie, Glenn Beck warned of a possible "one-world-government nightmare"

Media Matters
Nov. 02, 2007

Video: QT | WMV

Summary: Citing films such as Happy Feet, Superman Returns, and the forthcoming G.I. Joe, Glenn Beck stated, "I believe some are trying to indoctrinate our kids into hating their own country, turning us into some one-world-government nightmare; hating America, turning it into a dirty word." He later added, "We must preserve our symbols of national pride and power, be they a flag, a cross, characters like Superman or G.I. Joe."

During the October 30 "The Point" segment of his CNN Headline News show, Glenn Beck denounced the forthcoming Paramount Pictures movie G.I. Joe, claiming that the character G.I. Joe -- based on the popular toy from Hasbro -- "has now been discharged from the American military, and Hollywood now has him answering to some bullcrap international force like the U.N. We all know that the U.N. is a toothless bunch of pansies. They don't deserve somebody like Joe, even the little plastic version." He later asserted: "I believe some are trying to indoctrinate our kids into hating their own country, turning us into some one-world-government nightmare; hating America, turning it into a dirty word."

Beck referred to the producers of G.I. Joe as "butchers" and said that in the film, "G.I. Joe" stands for "Global Integrated Joint Operating Entity." He asked: "What? When did entities stand for anything but evil? I'm just saying." He later stated: "We must preserve our symbols of national pride and power, be they a flag, a cross, characters like Superman or G.I. Joe."

The Internet Movie Database page for G.I. Joe, which is still in production, contains this plot outline: "A European-based military unit known as Global Integrated Joint Operating Entity (G.I.J.O.E.), a hi-tech, international force of special operatives, takes on an evil organization led by a notorious arms dealer."

Beck introduced the segment by asserting:

We're being attacked someplace else in the cover of night and if we lose this battle, we lose it all. Here's "The Point" tonight. G.I. Joe is the latest casualty in the war against the American way and I know, I know, Glenn, it's just a toy, a little hunk of plastic, a cartoon. I know. And that makes it easy to dismiss this. But I believe that would be a huge mistake.

Beck also aired a clip from Happy Feet, an animated film about a dancing Emperor penguin, which Beck previously described as an "animated version of An Inconvenient Truth," as Media Matters for America has documented. While showing the Happy Feet clip, Beck stated: "You remember that penguin cartoon? I love that. Look at this clip in the end. Who saves the penguin in the end? Oh, yes. You're about to see it. It's the United Nations. Wow. Believing the United Nations could save anyone takes more imagination than believing penguins can tap dance."

Additionally, Beck criticized the 2006 film Superman Returns, and aired a video clip of Perry White -- editor of the newspaper that Clark Kent, Superman's alter ego, works for -- asking if Superman still stands for "truth, justice, all that stuff." Beck asked: "All that stuff? All that stuff? What the hell happened to 'the American way'?" He continued: "Put aside for a second that they hacked apart one of the greatest taglines in popular culture. I believe there's more to this. I believe some are trying to indoctrinate our kids into hating their own country, turning us into some one-world-government nightmare; hating America, turning it into a dirty word. How will our kids ever have the courage to stand up to their college professors if they've been raised to think that there's something wrong with the American way or the American way never existed?"

From the October 30 edition of CNN Headline News' Glenn Beck:

BECK: Well, hello, America. I know I'm beating a dead horse, but this horse has just got to get up, because our nation is under attack. It is being taken from us in the cover of darkness. There are American hostage crisises [sic] going on right now, worse than the American hostage crisis we experienced in 1979, and it is happening at our border. I'll have more on that, coming up in just a second.

But first, there's something else. We're being attacked someplace else in the cover of night, and if we lose this battle, we lose it all. Here's "The Point" tonight. G.I. Joe is the latest casualty in the war against the American way, and I know, I know, Glenn, it's just a toy, a little hunk of plastic, a cartoon. I know. And that makes it easy to dismiss this. But I believe that would be a huge mistake.

We cannot lose sight of the fact that G.I. Joe was a real guy and he is something more, as well. He's -- he is a symbol, and when you attack a symbol, you strike a blow against everything it represents. And here's how I got there.

Let me start with Happy Feet. You remember that penguin cartoon? I love that. Look at this clip in the end. Who saves the penguin in the end? Oh, yes. You're about to see it. It's the United Nations. Wow.

Believing the United Nations could save anyone takes more imagination than believing penguins can tap dance.

But wait, there's more. Look at this clip from the last Superman movie.

PERRY WHITE [video clip from Superman Returns]: Health -- has he gained weight? What's he been eating? Business -- how is this going to affect the stock market? Long term? Short term? Politics -- does he still stand for truth, justice, all that stuff?

BECK: All that stuff? All that stuff? What the hell happened to "the American way"?

Put aside for a second that they hacked apart one of the greatest taglines in popular culture. I believe there's more to this. I believe some are trying to indoctrinate our kids into hating their own country, turning us into some one-world-government nightmare; hating America, turning it into a dirty word. How will our kids ever have the courage to stand up to their college professors if they've been raised to think that there's something wrong with the American way or the American way never existed?

Now, let me go back to that little hunk of plastic we call G.I. Joe. He's been known as a real American hero. For kids my -- you know, when I was a kid, G.I. Joe was it.

Now there's a new movie from the butchers over at Paramount. They're trying to change all that. For starters, he's no longer Government Issue Joe. G.I. Joe used to stand for that. Now it stands for -- and I'm not kidding you -- Global Integrated Joint Operating Entity.

What? When did entities stand for anything but evil? I'm just saying.

Poor Joe has now been discharged from the American military, and Hollywood now has him answering to some bullcrap international force like the U.N. We all know that the U.N. is a toothless bunch of pansies. They don't deserve somebody like Joe, even the little plastic version.

So tonight, here's what you need to know, America. When we kill our icons, when we destroy those icons, we destroy everything they stand for. Our heroes of fiction, cartoon and otherwise, represent what we can be, our very best. It's an ideal, one worth striving for and should be revered.

America has always been a divinely inspired nation. The red, white, and blue has liberated more people on this planet from tyranny than anyone else in the history of God's green earth. We must preserve our symbols of national pride and power, be they a flag, a cross, characters like Superman or G.I. Joe. Parents, don't let this slip away. We've got to teach our children to respect the values that this nation is founded on.

And whether it's the promise of Ronald Reagan's shiny city -- shining city on the hill or a Metropolis kept safe by Superman, we must never let our children lose sight of the nobility in truth, justice, and the American way.

—S.N.J.