Glenn Beck Program, December 17, 2010

Celebrating America’s first Christmas in Wilmington, OH.

When DHL closed down their hub in Wilmington, 8,000 jobs were lost out of a population of 12,000.  The people banded together.  They supported each other.  They turned helplessness into hope.

Glenn performed a stage show last night and tonight’s program rotated between;

• His performance on stage.
• Video clips featuring townspeople who told their stories on camera.
• Glenn on the set back in New York.

Stage Show – Glenn appears dressed as Santa with a sack of pretend, gift-wrapped presents.  The stage had a number of Christmas related props, e.g., Christmas trees, plants with red ribbon bows, etc.  More details are at www.glennbeck.com.

On the Santa spectrum

• On one end you are a kid. 
• On the other end, you are Santa. 
• The problem comes when you are in the middle.  Sometimes you feel that you have given too much or that you have given too little. 
• Glenn feels that this is where we are as a country – consumed with toys.

A chalkboard was rolled out onto the stage.  Glenn wrote the following:

            Elves à Slaves

            Workß 365 days

Boss Works à 1 Day

Red Suit

Toys 4 Free  à Marxist

Then he wrote

Santa = Obama

This got a chuckle from the audience.

When Glenn was young, his grandmother would make pajamas and every year for Christmas Glenn would get pajamas for Christmas.  Strangely, they looked like his grandfather’s old flannel shirt.

Switch to video clips of townspeople telling their stories.

Colton County, where Wilmington is located, went from full employment to having the highest unemployment rate in the state of Ohio (as a result of DHL closing down their transportation hub).

Wilmington is not waiting for someone to save them.  They are going to save themselves.  Together.

Switch back to the stage show.

1. Glenn says he is tired of being Paul Revere.
2. We don’t have to be like every other culture in history that had a shot at greatness and came onto hard times.
3. There is no bad experience.  It is how you react to that experience that determines if it is good or bad.
4. Life in Wilmington is not the same as it was 5 years ago.  It is not better or worse, it is just different.

Next year, Glenn is changing the focus of the program to his “4e”.

1.      Enlightenment

2.      Education

3.      Empowerment

4.      Entrepreneur

More video clips of townspeople.