Glenn Beck Compares Himself To Galileo, Gets Galileo’s Significance Wrong
Reported by Ellen - December 14, 2009 -
Glenn Beck, never at a loss for self-importance, reached a new height today as he compared his climate-change skepticism to the "basic, rudimentary history" about Galileo's struggle “to enlighten mankind that the earth wasn’t flat.” The only problem? Besides the jaw-dropping arrogance of comparing his own skepticism to Galileo's science, Beck got his history wrong. Mankind already knew the earth was not flat in Galileo's day. Beck did go on to correctly say that Galileo also fought because he supported the belief that the sun, not the earth, is the center of the solar system. With video.
Beck said cockily, “If you know history, I mean the basic, rudimentary history, you know the word ‘Galileo,’ the man who fought against the power structure of his own time to enlighten mankind that the earth wasn’t flat and that the sun, not the earth was the center of the solar system”
Apparently, Beck is the one who doesn’t know “basic, rudimentary history.” Galileo lived from 1564–1642. As most American schoolchildren know, Columbus sailed the ocean blue in 1492 when he set out for India by going west from Spain.
Full of himself as ever, Beck continued, “It was those who held power that tried to shut him down, just as those who are in power now try to shut up all who disagree now. Galileo is in the tower again. You would think that the scientists would understand their own history."
Will Beck lead with a correction of his own misunderstanding of history tomorrow? We'll see.
You can contact the Glenn Beck show at glennbeck@foxnews.com.
Video via Media Matters.
