On his Fox News program, Glenn Beck compared the healthcare reform bill to 9/11. He claimed that his 9/12 Project is working to derail healthcare reform which they think would be like another 9/11. Beck said, “The 9/12ers are willing to stand in line and take our shoes off before the plane actually hits the tower.”

Here is the video from Media Matters:

Beck said, “On 9/11, we experienced a feeling we had never had before, when the buildings and the markets and our economy came falling down around our ears, we realized, “Oh, my gosh, our country isn’t unsinkable.” We came, on that day, to the understanding that this republic is fragile. And here we are now, a decade later, I’m on the air again, warning you that America cannot sustain our government’s massive spending. The system will collapse if they continue down this progressive path.”

He continued, “Ten years ago, I could have shouted every single day about Osama bin Laden and his wacky, crazy threats to kill Americans in New York and no one would have been willing to stand in line two hours while some security officer made grandma taker her shoes off. No one would have done it. But don’t you see, while the government is still not willing to do these things, today America is different. America has changed. Washington, we’re not going to let you get away with it anymore. Look, fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.”

Beck wrapped it up with a 9/11 comparison, “Conservatives are awake — 9/12ers are willing to do the hard things. We know what this means! We’re taking time out of our busy lives, taking time away from their families. They’re attending town hall meetings. Do you think they want to do that? They are calling their representatives. How many times do we have to be yelled at by your people in Washington? They are reading 2,000-page health care bills on the weekend. The 9/12ers are willing to stand in line and take our shoes off before the plane actually hits the tower.”

Beck has finally resorted to the ultimate right wing desperation tactic, invoking 9/11. His comparison is an insult to all of the people who were victims of the terrorist attacks. Healthcare reform has nothing in common with 9/11. Beck and his followers want to believe that giving people more access to healthcare is the equivalent to terrorists flying planes into buildings.

If the Republican Party takes the wrong message from today’s election results, and falls into the trap of believing that Beck’s extremist point of view is the way to go, they will be setting themselves up for a catastrophic failure by the time 2012 rolls around.