Conservative host Beck: We should all be leaders
PROVO - Times may be bad, but America will pull through if its citizens do their part, Glenn Beck said Sunday.
Beck, the conservative radio and cable television talk-show host, said Americans have beaten themselves up to the point of forgetting who they are.
"At a time when everyone is begging for a leader, people are shouting out, 'Where is the leader, when will he step forward?' I am here to say, 'You are the leader,' " Beck told an audience of 17,000 at America's Freedom Festival at Provo's Community Patriotic Service. "The leader we need has always been you."
Beck, whose voice broke with emotion several times during his speech, acknowledged that America is going through a rough time with flooding, high oil prices, war and an uncertain economy. But he also noted that America has been a land of achievement and freedom, and many people around the world still recognize it as such. If it weren't, he said, undocumented immigrants wouldn't be risking their lives to cross deserts to get a piece of the American dream.
"We cannot buy into the belief that this country is not a special place, that we are not a special people," Beck said. He said the Pilgrims and the signers of the Declaration of Independence, who knew they faced execution as traitors if the American Revolution failed, succeeded because they were humble and understood the special nature of this country. And, he said, today's Americans need to make a similar commitment of their lives, fortunes and sacred honor to help the country over its current problems.
He stressed that people should look within, not to Washington, for help. He pointed out that the first three words of the U.S. Constitution are "We The People."
Carol Walker, Freedom Festival spokeswoman, said Sunday's turnout was a record for the patriotic service. Beck will also serve as master of ceremonies at Friday's Stadium of Fire, which also features tween pop sensation Miley Cyrus and The Blue Man Group.
Good catch — looks as though it is the reporter for the Deseret News who screwed up, not Glenn Beck.
Wouldn’t expect too many reporters to know the difference, considering the abysmal state of education nowadays....