Top This, Fox: Reading the News in Libya...With an AK-47

I'm not saying that the news on Libyan State TV is far from "fair and balanced", but this fellow seems to out-do even Mr Glenn Beck for a unique perspective on events. In the middle of the news, he pulls out an AK-47 and declares, "In the name of Almighty God, I pledge to you, my Dear Leader, that I will sacrifice my last breath, my last bullet, my last drop of blood, last baby and child for you."

Egypt Uprising Explained: It's a Socialist-Communist-Islamist-Obama-Google Conspiracy (Mr G Beck)

It is now almost a month since President Hosni Mubarak resigned, sparking a celebration by millions of people across Egypt. As the country goes through post-Mubarak discussions and clashes, you may be struggling to understand what is happening.

So let me turn it over to Mr Glenn Beck, who interpreted the events only hours after Mubarak was ousted, in this two-part video. I cannot hold an intellectual candle to this leading international commentator, so I can only stay with him up to these points: "They have toppled Mubarak. Now what?" and "I have been called a madman....I have been called a nutjob."

Apparently, however, the protests and resistance in Tahrir Square, throughout Cairo, and in other Egyptian cities were all part of a plot which ends in the takeover not just of the Presidential Palace but of the United States of America.

I am still waiting for Mr Beck's explanation of how events in Libya fit into this conspiracy.)

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Egypt Special: Fox TV's Bill O'Reilly and Glenn Beck Teach You How To Analyse the Crisis

Really, who needs Al Jazeera? Bill O'Reilly and Glenn Beck of the American outlet Fox TV give you all the historical knowledge you need --- from the opening sentence linking to World War I, "This is an Archduke Ferdinand moment" to the conversion of Egypt 2011 into Iran 1979 to blaming everyone on the "Progressive movement" to "We told England to sink [its own] ships" --- to interpret current events in Egypt.

In the end, it comes down to this: Which is worse --- the "jihadists" or the "Communist/Socialist movement"?

US Politics: Leaf-Peeping and Re-thinking the Freedom of Speech (Matlin)

EA's US Affairs correspondent John Matlin checks in from the US Northeast:

For the past few days, I have enjoyed the privilege of “leaf peeping,” the annual ritual of looking at the fall colours in New England.The trees provide a cornucopia, shades of green, some verging on blue, as well as oranges, yellows, bronzes, golds, silvers and reds of every hue.

The season is almost over, so the hordes of motorists are gone. Those who remain have been courteous and polite. The whole experience has been rewarding, to put it mildly. 

However, all is not right here. Trying to match the beauty of this fall in New England and the US political scenie is an impossible task.

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US Politics: One Progressive Nation Marches on Washington

In the past few months, US media have commented extensively on the "enthusiasm gap" among liberal voters that is threatening the chances of Democrat candidates in the forthcoming elections for Congress. This Saturday sees the progressive base of the party fight back. Over 150 local, state, and national organizations will unite under the banner "One Nation Working Together" and descend on Washington to demand "Jobs, Justice, and Education For All".

This will offer a strong indication of how far the "enthusiasm gap" has affected the progressive core of the Democratic Party. The march has been planned for a long time, marking a month to go before the elections, and it involves most of the major organizations on the Left of American politics. The Democrat’s greatest hope for avoiding the sweeping defeats in November, predicted by many, is for their voters to put aside their disillusionment with the progress made in Washington and realise that the protest of abstaining from voting will ensure Republican control of Congress. This march marks the beginning of concerted efforts by activists to convince those wavering voters that the politics of hope and change must not be defeated by what they see as the politics of hate and fear.

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