Glenn Beck showing a picture of Chairman Mao

On his show yesterday, Glenn Beck ran through a series of photographs from the Chairman Mao regime and read from Mao’s “red book.” Beck said that several people working in the White House are Maoists because of a speech White House Communications Director Anita Dunn gave in June when she said Chairman Mao was one of her favorite philosophers.

“We’ve found all kinds of crazy people that work at the White House,” Beck said. “I think we found two or three that worship Chairman Mao.”

He didn’t say who the other alleged Maoists are, but Beck’s certain that Dunn is one of them. However, according to Dunn, her reference to Mao was an attempt at irony.

Here’s what she said to a high school graduation class at St. Andrews Episcopal School in Potomac, MD:

A lot of you have a great deal of ability. A lot of you work hard. Put them together and that answers the why not question. There is usually not a good reason. And then the 3rd lesson and tip actually come from two of my favorite political philosophers. Mao Tse-tung and Mother Teresa, not often coupled with each other, but the two people that I turn to most to basically deliver a simple point which is you’re going to make choices, you’re going to challenge, you’re going to say why not. You’re going to figure out how to do things that have never been done before. But here’s the deal, these are your choices, they’re no one else’s.

In 1947, when Mao Tse-tung was being challenged within his own party, on his plan to basically take China over, Chiang Kai-shek and the nationalist Chinese held the cities, they had the army, they had the air force, they had everything on their side and people said how can you win, how can you do this, how can you do this against all the odds against you, and Mao Tse-tung said “You fight your war and I’ll fight mine.”

Think about that for a second, you don’t have to accept the definition of how to do things and you don’t have to follow other people’s choices in the past. OK. It is about your choices in your path, you fight your own war. You lay out your own path. You figure out what is right for you. You don’t let external definition how good you are internally. You fight your own war. You let them fight their’s. Everybody has their own path.

And then Mother Theresa who upon receiving a letter from a fairly affluent young person you asked her whether she could come over and help with that orphanage in Calcutta responded very simply, “Go find your own Calcutta.” Go find your own Calcutta. Fight your own path. Go find the thing that is unique to you. The challenge is actually your’s – not somebody else’s challenge.

Glenn Beck showing a photo of a man being tortured

Clearly Dunn used Mao and Mother Theresa to make her point that these young high school graduates should not be discouraged by what others are saying, but to pave their own path regardless of the difficulties they may face. Beck is purposely being intellectually dishonest by pretending Dunn is a Maoist. Referring to Mao in a speech does not mean that Dunn is a Maoist – she also mentioned Mother Theresa. Does that means she worships at the altar of Mother Theresa too?

In his show, he ran through a series of photos of the Mao regime trying to make his point that the Obama administration wants to implement a Maoist communist plot to overthrow the US republic.

“I thought, you know, if you want to see the future, let’s look at the past. Who are these people idolizing? And I came up with a few pictures. Words? Come on. I just decided to look at some of the pictures first,” Beck said.

The photos were of Mao firing a gun, Mao celebrating Stalin’s 70th birthday, Mao replacing workers’ names with numbers and a Mao torture technique. Beck ended this segment by showing a photo of a party at the White House and saying, “This is just a picture of a party at the White House the other night.”

Beck then read from Mao’s “red book,” which says, “Oppose extravagant eating and drinking and pay attention to thrift in the economy.”

So wait, the Obama administration is filled with Maoist – who are opposed to extravagant eating and drinking – and yet, there’s a photo of an extravagant party at the White House?

Here’s the video segment from Beck’s show Oct. 21, 2009

Fox News Bill O'Reilly

For some reason the White House has picked a fight with Fox News. On Sunday, White House Communications Director Anita Dunn said that the cable news network was not in fact a news organization but rather an extension of the Republican Party.

“The reality of it is that Fox News often operates almost as either the research arm or the communications arm of the Republican Party,” Dunn told CNN’s Howard Kurtz. “Take their talking points and put them on the air. Take their opposition research and put them on the air, and that’s fine. But let’s not pretend they’re a news network the way CNN is.”

Fox News commentators jumped at the chance to strike back at the White House.

Fox News Glenn Beck

Glenn Beck blew Dunn’s remarks way out of proportion. On his show, he took out a tourist map of Manhattan, drew a circle around Fox News headquarters, he then played army with military toys, putting a fence around the Fox building and encircling it with tanks and missiles.

“We’ve got the missiles pointed right a Fox,” Beck screamed into the camera. “And let’s make sure that everybody understands this is the enemy America. Everything that’s going wrong with the country – happening right here.”

Dunn didn’t say that Fox News is responsible for everything that’s going wrong with the country. What she said was that Fox News is a “wing of the Republican Party.” In true Beck fashion, he’s creating the illusion that the White House is actively seeking to destroy Fox News – to get them off the air. Dunn didn’t say anything about stopping Fox News from broadcasting.

“Free speech under attack. Sure. In the coming days,” Beck assured his audience. “I’m going to show you how this administration is consolidating power, and that you’re right to speak out, and your right to hear simply opposing voices – people who are asking legitimate questions – all under assault.”

Bill O’Reilly chimed in during his Talking Points Memo segment. He said the White House is attacking Fox News because they’re the only cable news network willing to ask tough questions. O’Reilly said that Fox News is “fair and balanced” and he challenged anyone to prove him wrong.

The other news networks, such as CNN and NBC, O’Reilly said “clearly favored” Obama over McCain during the election and NBC continues to give the president good coverage. O’Reilly demanded evidence that the network’s hard news is anything but honest, objective and fair and balanced.

Well, it just so happens, that last month, Fox News producer Heidi Noonan was caught on tape rallying the crowd while reporter Griff Jenkins delivered some of that “fair and balanced” hard news coverage O’Reilly was bloviating about.

Oh and the 9/12 rally was sponsored and promoted by Fox News and Glenn Beck in particular. The network’s commentators over-reported the turnout, and even ran a newspaper ad chastising the other news networks for not covering the event, even though they actually did.