Glenn Beck's New Movement: The 912 Project

Fox News' new hire, Glenn Beck, recently began the 912 Project. Announced last month on his highly-rated 5PM weekday program, it seeks to facilitate individual Americans in returning to pre-911 principles and values. According to the website, the effort currently has about a quarter of a million members.

As I watched a few weeks ago, Beck revealed an ordinary-looking kitchen-type table on his set and began talking with Chuck Norris via video link. Norris, at his ranch, had gathered a large group of individuals to observe and participate. Hearing Beck describe this next step in his group's development, that of gathering together with like-minded neighbors around kitchen tables, I immediately recalled Frank Capra's famous movie, Meet John Doe.

Here are two YouTube clips about it. The first is the original trailer, and the second is a scene from the movie.

In the film, "John Doe Clubs" are formed across the nation. Beck's 912 Project seems to emulate this, although he's made no mention of the parallel. Nor, to my knowledge, has anyone else. But the similarity is unmistakable.

Unlike the movie, where the character played by Eward Arnold attempts to hijack the movement, I don't think Beck has any intention of leading the project. He genuinely seems to be attempting to provide a skeleton for a self-organizing, truly grassroots citizen movement to retake government at any and all levels. Especially, I would think, Congress.

I've spoken with my partner about this a few times, speculating on what might ultimately result from the Project.

While, as I noted above, I don't expect Glenn Beck to attempt to control the movement, I do expect him, at some point in the near future, to suggest that the local groups consider demanding that candidates for office in 2010 take a pledge to uphold the 912 Project's principles and values, or face opposition from one of the group's members in that locale or district.

Can you imagine what would happen if 40 or 50 sitting, partisan House members were defeated by party-independent members of the 912 Project? It's not hard to envision the group demanding that one of their own be elected Speaker, with the party first succumbing to their demand gaining more representation on various committees.

Further, one could imagine the 40-50 independents being content to leave the House leaderless until their demands are met. It's unlikely that either party would or could compromise around them and select a partisan Speaker in that environment.

Who knows what could happen in the Senate, where an uprising that took, say, 10 seats could cause havoc with Wonderboy's programs.

I remain very interested to see where Beck's efforts at providing support for this type of movement lead.