Archive for category Glenn Beck
Glenn Beck is the Justin Bieber of American Public Discourse
Posted by Glenden Brown in Activist groups, American People, Conservative, Conservative Sell-Outs, Glenn Beck, This Blog on August 30, 2010
Ezra Klein once shrewdly described Dick Armey this way: “He’s like a stupid person’s idea of what a thoughtful person sounds like.” Tweaking his sentence, I would say that Glenn Beck is a stupid person’s idea of what an ethical public figure sounds like. (Just like Justin Bieber is a tweener’s idea of what a good singer sounds like.)
I forced myself to listen to Glenn Beck’s speechifying at Whitestock this past weekend. Beck’s entire shtick is based on presenting a character who is earnest and earnestly distressed by what he perceives as the harmful direction of the nation he loves; everything about his style – his relatively unassuming attire, his sincere sounding delivery, even the addition of his slightly professorial eyeglasses is designed to create the impression of an honest, trustworthy figure. Even in his interview with fellow Fox news propaganadist Chris Wallace, Beck portrayed himself as a humble, trustworthy, ethical man, someone who is just so pained by what he sees going wrong in America. (Here’s a link to part of that interview.) Watch Beck’s body language throughout the interview, listen to what he says. He has created a persona that is (at least superficially) very humble and almost achinginly earnest: Read the rest of this entry »
How Do You Define ‘Non-Political’?
Posted by Richard Warnick in Activist groups, Bigotry, Conservative, Free Speech, Glenn Beck, National Politics, Sarah Palin, Tea Bag Party, This Blog on August 29, 2010
Yesterday’s Beck-a-thon at the Lincoln Memorial was billed unconvincingly as a “non-political” event, and “not a Tea Party rally” in order to circumvent National Park Service rules. But somebody forgot to tell the participants to leave their right-wing partisanship at home. Which is OK by me because, you know, free speech is as American as apple pie.
h/t Scott Keyes at Think Progress, Talking Points Memo, Gawker, and Associated Press.
Incidentally, if anyone is serious about restoring the honor of America then how about calling for prosecutions of torturers and torture conspirators — as required by the U.N. Convention Against Torture?
More info: BuzzFeed: The Best Anti-Glenn Beck Signs At The Glenn Beck Rally
Glenn Beck vs. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Posted by Richard Warnick in Activist groups, American History, Bigotry, Civil liberties Infringement, Conservative, Glenn Beck, Human Rights, Hypocrisy, Martin Luther King, National Politics, Racism, Tea Bag Party on August 26, 2010
Glenn Beck is Not Martin Luther King, Jr.
On Saturday, Glenn Beck wants to “reclaim the civil rights movement” for right-wingers. Huh? The right was always against equality, and still is.
August 28th is an important day in American history. On that day, forty-seven years ago, Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his famous “I Have a Dream Speech” at the Lincoln Memorial. His message gave voice to the voiceless and his vision promoted a just, equal, diverse and compassionate country.
This year, a very different message is going to be spread from the very ground on which King once stood. Glenn Beck and Sarah Palin will hold a rally at the Lincoln Memorial.
The racist, raging and hate-filled tenor of Beck, Palin and the Tea Party movement is in direct contrast to the noble vision of Dr. King. We cannot sit idly by and let King’s vision and legacy be hijacked for political purposes.
Dr. King once declared that “Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.”
We will not be silent on this matter. Honor the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr’s struggle for a just and equal America.
It’s almost impossible to think of two well-known Americans who could be more opposite than Glenn Beck and Martin Luther King, Jr. Unlike the 1963 March on Washington, Beck’s event is a purely partisan affair (how did he get a National Park Service permit for a political event?) Unlike MLK, Beck says he won’t have a prepared speech. He says he’ll be channeling The Almighty. God speaks to Beck, Beck tells the people!
More info:
Martin Luther King, Jr. “I Have a Dream” from American Rhetoric.
UPDATE: Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) will also speak along with Beck and Sarah Palin at Saturday’s all-Republican “non-political” event. Which is technically being sponsored by a veterans’ charity to get around National Park Service rules.
UPDATE: JM Bell: Martin Luther King, Jr. and Glenn Beck – A Comparison
UPDATE: REPORT: Glenn Beck’s Philosophy Is Opposed To Everything Martin Luther King, Jr. Stood For
It’s difficult to find two people whose philosophies are so distinctly different than Glenn Beck and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. While King fought for all people to be able to live a decent life, championed a compassionate version of Christianity that sought to create a better world, and established dialogue with those who disagreed with him, Beck shows little compassion for those worse off, has derided the social gospel, and has viciously smeared and attacked his political opponents. As Media Matters writes, “Martin Luther King would have been on Glenn Beck’s chalkboard.”
UPDATE: John Nichols: No, Glenn Beck Is Not a Civil Rights Icon
Glenn Beck’s Daffy Political Mormonism
Posted by Glenden Brown in American History, American People, Glenn Beck on May 30, 2010
From the Campaign for America’s Future, Sara Robinson interviewed Alex Zaitchik, author of Glenn Beck’s Common Nonsense. One part of the interview jumped out at me. Here’s how Robinson summarized Beck, based on Zaitchik’s book:
Who is this guy? A precocious former Top 40 deejay with a longstanding drug problem, no discernible book learning, and a mean streak a mile deep. A “morning zoo” radio host known for his ruthlessness in ratings wars, yet unable to keep any job for more than a couple of years. A Mormon convert who immediately gravitated to the farthest edges of that faith’s orthodoxy. The hottest host on cable TV. And soon, if all goes according to “The Plan,” America’s next great spiritual leader, stepping boldly forward to guide the Tea Party faithful in a complete re-making of this nation.
Emphasis added.
Here’s the part that jumped out at me:
SR: What influence do you think his conversion to Mormonism had on Beck? And how do Mormons view him?
AZ: Mormonism has, I think, had a pretty big impact on Beck in a couple of ways. First, he didn’t have much of a political education before he went to talk radio. There was a big void that needed to be filled. He sort of poured the liquid from right-wing Mormonism, in the form of this guy Cleon Skousen, into this empty vessel. That’s what formed the bedrock of his political education.
Cleon Skousen’s this very right-wing Mormon involved with the [John] Birch Society and later got more and more into conspiracy culture. In the 50s, 60s, 70s and into the 80s, he was a very influential guy in Mormon circles.
SR: Although he was also something of an embarrassment to the Mormon elders as well, wasn’t he?
AZ: He became so, yes. He became too extreme, and he was causing problems for the church. But he did manage to drag the church fairly forcefully to the right, and now you have this orthodox Mormon culture that is in many ways the product of Cleon Skousen. And it’s the same Mormon culture that embraces Beck. So that’s one way that the conversion deeply influences his development.
Another thing: I have a chapter in the book where I talk about this very Mormon ritual known as “bearing testimony,” which involves members of the ward house getting up and telling what amount to radio monologues. They talk for a couple of minutes about some sort of gut knowledge that they have, and very often they get emotional and tear up. It’s very stylized. If you look at video of church leaders doing it off the LDS website, often they look like they’re imitating Glenn Beck. It’s a very Mormon thing.
So it seemed that he sort of embraced that aspect of Mormonism, and it’s informed his persona, which is very much tearful, and has this sense of having direct access to spiritual truths.
For the Record
Posted by Cliff Lyon in Glenn Beck, Laugh, This Blog on May 2, 2010
What fun. I’ve been targeted by Glenn Beck.
Posted Sans Comment
Posted by Shane Smith in 4th Estate (Media), Conservative Sell-Outs, Conservatives, Glenn Beck on March 9, 2010
Part whev in a never ending series.
“I beg you, look for the words ‘social justice’ or ‘economic justice’ on your church Web site. If you find it, run as fast as you can. Social justice and economic justice, they are code words…. ‘Communists are on the left, and the Nazis are on the right.’ That’s what people say. But they both subscribe to one philosophy, and they flew one banner…On each banner, read the words, here in America: ‘social justice.’”
– Glenn Beck
Searching:
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&newwindow=1&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla%3Aen-US%3Aofficial&as_q=&as_epq=social+justice&as_oq=&as_eq=&num=100&lr=&as_filetype=&ft=i&as_sitesearch=lds.org&as_qdr=all&as_rights=&as_occt=any&cr=&as_nlo=&as_nhi=&safe=images
Dispatches From CPAC (2)
Posted by Richard Warnick in Activist groups, Conservative, Glenn Beck, Impeachment, National Politics, Party Politics, Republicans on February 20, 2010
Glenn Beck did not disappoint tonight. He even brought his chalk board. He was not afraid to criticize Republicans by name, and named one: Teddy Roosevelt! Via HuffPo:
“I have not heard people in the Republican Party admit yet that they have a problem,” he said. “I haven’t seen the Come-To-Jesus moment from Republicans yet.”
All we’ve heard, the Fox News host complained, is “we need a big tent. We need a big tent. Can we get a bigger tent? How can we get a big tent? What is this the circus? America is not a clown show. America is not a circus.
…Said the guy who describes himself as a “rodeo clown.”
Ron Paul won the straw poll with 31 percent (!). Holly on the Hill reports: “Out of 2400 people who voted, almost 1/2 were students…”
The pro-torture crowd has taken over modern conservatism. People at the CPAC convention are firing themselves up with cries of “waterboard them” and cheering wildly as speakers advocated locking political prisoners away forever at Gitmo. Republicans are embracing a movement that trafficks in secessionism, birtherism, and making threats about armed revolt.
UPDATE: Glenn Beck Tells Republicans Exactly What They Want to Hear at CPAC, Media Call It Brave Criticism
Rep. Chaffetz Wants to Know If 9/11 Was An Inside Job
Posted by Richard Warnick in 9/11, Activist groups, Bush Administration, Glenn Beck, Jason Chaffetz, Michelle Malkin, National Politics, Terrorism, Utah Politics on February 17, 2010
Via Think Progress, Rep. Jason Chaffetz was interviewed by a 9/11 “truther” from a group called We Are Change, and had this to say:
Q: A reopening into the investigation of 9/11?
CHAFFETZ: Well there’s a lot we still need to learn. Of course we want to look into that issue, look at every aspect of it. [...] Who was the BYU professor? [...] Steve Jones, yeah I’ve met with him. He’s done some interesting work.
Q: Have you given much thought to the possibility it was a false-flag terrorist attack on 9/11?
CHAFFETZ: Well I know there’s still a lot to learn about what happened and what didn’t happen, we should be vigilant and continue to investigate that, absolutely.
Q: Appreciate that. We at We Are The Change believe it was a false-flag terrorist attack, that the buildings came down with internally placed demolition.
What’s Glenn Beck going to say? He once told Michelle Malkin, “9/11 Truthers are truly disturbed people.”
From the group’s website:
We Are Change is a citizens based grassroots peace and social justice movement working to reveal the truth behind the events of September 11th, as well as the lies of the government and corporate elite who remain suspect in this crime.
…We reject the official explanation of the events leading up to, during and after the attacks of September 11th, 2001 as well as the fear-based politics and state mandated propaganda being disseminated by the Corporate Media which has facilitated the cover-up of 9-11.
UPDATE: Rep. Chaffetz has issued a clarification regarding his views on the 9/11 attacks.
“I am not sympathetic to claims that 9-11 was a government conspiracy. I have never believed the government was in any way complicit or responsible for those attacks. When asked on February 16 during a
town hall meeting about the need to investigate the attacks, I answered truthfully that we should always continue to investigate new information. The 9-11 attacks were the biggest terrorist attacks in the history of the United States of America. We should always be asking questions, looking for answers, and learning from that experience, but I have no reason to believe claims that the government was responsible for the attacks.”
UPDATE: The Salt Lake Tribune interviewed Rep. Chaffetz, who said, “I haven’t followed these folks very close because I think they are in part nuts.” Chaffetz said he was attempting to give a “very benign generic answer” because he didn’t understand the term “false-flag.”
Free advice for Rep. Chaffetz: If someone asks you if you’ve given much thought to the possibility the Moon is made of green cheese, do not say NASA ought to investigate the matter.
Glenn Beck: ‘They are taking you to a place to be slaughtered!’
Posted by Richard Warnick in 4th Estate (Media), Barack Obama, Genocide, Glenn Beck, Lying, National Politics, Republicans, This Blog on February 2, 2010
Arriving at Auschwitz
Last night, Faux News viewers saw this exchange between Time Magazine’s Joe Klein and Bill O’Reilly.
KLEIN: I think that your pal Glenn Beck is peddling a lot of hateful crap. I mean, you know —
O’REILLY: But he’s funny. He’s doing it in a funny way. What’s hateful about it? [...] Look, he is every man sitting on a bar stool. Why shouldn’t every man have a show?
First of all, if recovering alcoholic and drug addict Beck has been sitting on a bar stool lately, somebody ought to tell his AA sponsor.
Second, Beck is peddling hateful crap all the time. It’s not funny. Then, he lies about it. Media Matters:
In November, Glenn Beck said on his Fox News show: “We will thrive — as long as these people are not in control. They are taking you to a place to be slaughtered.” Since Arianna Huffington highlighted the comment on ABC’s “This Week,” Beck has offered shifting explanations about who or what the comment was referring to, at one point even denying he made the comment at all.
So, to review the ever-changing explanations: Beck never used the word “slaughter” — until it was proven that he did. Then he only used it in reference to Mao, Stalin, or Hitler — until it was proven that this wasn’t the case. Then, when he used it, he wasn’t referring to the Obama administration, he was referring to Andy Stern. Then he was referring to Obama — but didn’t mean it literally.
Got it? You might need to use Beck’s trademark chalkboard to keep track.
The crux of the matter was never whether Glenn Beck really believes Barack Obama is planning to actually slaughter Americans. It’s the damage being done by the inflammatory rhetoric and imagery he constantly uses.
Republicans are watching Beck’s show. A Research 2000 poll of 2,000 Republicans tells us that 63 percent of them think Barack Obama is a socialist, and another 16 percent are not sure. Asked if the President is a “racist who hates white people” (as Beck said last July), 31 percent said yes, and 33 percent are not sure.
If you can stand to watch Glenn Beck, there is a video of his “taking you to be slaughtered” rant in the continuation of this post.
Read the rest of this entry »
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