We have been covering Glenn Beck and his madness for years, but have noticed that he began exhibiting an unusual streak of reasonableness ever since his preferred candidate, Ted Cruz, dropped out of the Republican presidential race earlier this year. After the man who Beck repeatedly insisted was God's chosen candidate ended his bid for the White House, Beck essentially became a man without a party when he made it clear that he would never vote for Donald Trump, nor could he support Hillary Clinton.
Being trapped in this political purgatory seems to have granted Beck a moment of clarity and allowed him to re-examine not only the flaws in our political system but also his own role in it. While the fever has not completely broken, Beck has displayed far more objectivity and sensibility in recent months than we have ever seen from him before and he has repeatedly publicly pledged to dedicate himself to bringing the country together.
While we have no idea how long Beck's change of attitude will last, we thought it was at least worth taking note of the monologue he delivered on his radio program today, calling on the nation to take steps to unify now that Trump has been elected president by learning from the mistakes that he has made in recent years.
Beck urged those on the Right not to dismiss the fears that those on the Left have about a Trump presidency, beseeching them to assure their fellow Americans that they will stand with them against any threat Trump may pose to the Constitution or to the rights of their fellow citizens.
"Many on the Left are truly afraid today," Beck said. "They need reassurance from reasonable people on the Right."
"Don't dismiss their fears," he added. "Learn from my mistakes."
As for the Left, Beck urged that they stop calling Trump and all of his supporters "Hitler" or racists or sexists because doing so only makes them defensive and then "you won't get anyone on our side to listen to you if you do what you did to George W. Bush or what we did to Barack Obama. It will only get worse, which will cause the Right to push the pendulum even further and dismiss you and say, 'You're a bunch of kooks anyway, I'm not listening to you.'"
"Out of everybody in the country, I'm the guy who knows these things because I've learned them firsthand," he said.
People on the Left, he said, must try to control their anger while people on the Right must resist the temptation to now use the power of the government to punish their enemies and unilaterally impose their will upon the nation.
"I understand your fear," Beck said. "But as a guy who has learned firsthand, you're gonna survive ... We have a chance to change things, but if we engage in vindictiveness and anger on any side, our children lose. Let's be better people, please."
