Of late a garden industry has developed amongst some alleged conservatives and all variety of squishes — they seem to be calling themselves “thoughtful conservatives” to distinguish themselves from the rest of us — criticizing Glenn Beck. Why alleged political pundits would worry about Beck’s show I haven’t any idea. He’s an entertainer with a significant business, they aren’t. In the interests of full disclosure I will own up to listening to about 20 minutes of his radio show every day and my mother-in-law watches his television show. I find Beck to be without doubt the funniest man on radio today. So I’m not an authority on him, though I suspect his critics aren’t either. I am, however, at least conversant with his shows.
The criticism is apparently that Beck’s listeners aren’t discerning enough to listen to Beck without being psychologically damaged and anyone who goes on Beck’s show is a big poopy-head who should be denounced.
Peter Wehner, writing in Commentary, dubs Beck the “most disturbing personality on cable television” and follows it up with David-Brooksesque analysis:
It’s hard to tell how much of what Beck says is sincere and how much is for show. Whatever the case, and even taking into account the entire MSNBC lineup, Glenn Beck has become the most disturbing personality on cable television. One cannot watch him for any length of time without being struck by his affinity for conspiracies and for portraying himself as the great decoder of events. Political movements are not just wrong; they are infiltrated by a web of malevolent forces. Others see the shadows on the wall; Beck alone sees the men casting them. The danger when one paints the world in such conspiratorial terms is that it devalues the rational side of politics. It encourages a cast of mind that looks to expose enemies rather than to engage in arguments. Few things, after all, are as they appear.
Beyond that, of course, is the sense of impending doom, of the coming Apocalypse, of our world being on the edge of calamity. If taken seriously, this has the effect of creating fear, hopelessness, and feelings of helplessness.
All this is quite troublesome in its own right. But what ought to worry conservatives in particular is that Beck not only has the unusual capacity to discredit virtually every cause he takes up; he also confirms the worst caricatures of the right. What was true before is doubly true today. It looks to me like it’s only a matter of time — and I suspect not much time — until he blows apart professionally. If and when that happens, one can only hope that conservatism as a movement will have created enough distance from Beck to mitigate the damage.
I don’t know if Wehner has noticed this but Beck is fairly successful. Arguably, he’s one helluva lot more successful as a radio host than Wehner is at most anything. I don’t intend to go into a lengthy exegesis on Beck’s pronouncements but 1) his Apocalyptic message resonates with a lot of Americans for a reason, 2) his exposure of Van Jones and the other various “czars” has been on the money, and 3) Beck had the moral courage to carried the exposé of ACORN into the MSM, something allegedly “conservative” critics failed to do. So while he exaggerates for effect and some of the things he said can leave one scratching their heads one has to keep in mind that, unlike Wehner who struggles to hold our attention for a couple of hundred words, Beck has to keep an audience entertained — and advertisers kept happy — for several hours per day. And he does it.
What is sort of incredible about Wehner’s analysis is that he finds Beck’s schtick more disturbing than the clown show on MSNBC during the Bush Administration. This leads one to believe that Wehner is either clueless about MSNBC prior to 2008 or he’s simply dishonest. I emphasize the years because to expect MSNBC to be their usual unhinged selves with their man in office is just an exercise in self-beclowning.
Today the usually rational Jennifer Rubin, the tame, house conservative on the Washington Post’s editorial pages, takes it a step farther. Apparently a few days ago Beck, for reasons I can’t completely fathom (see reference to head scratching above), decided that it would be okay to make the analogy of Islam : Radical Islam :: Judaism : Reform Judaism.
[Transcript] OK, you have to — hang on just a second. When you talk about rabbis, understand that most — most people who are not Jewish don’t understand that there are the Orthodox rabbis, and then there are the Reformed rabbis. Reformed rabbis are generally political in nature. It’s almost like Islam, radicalized Islam in a way, to where it is just — radicalized Islam is less about religion than it is about politics. When you look at the Reform Judaism, it is more about politics. I’m not saying that they’re the same on –
In response, Rubin completely jumps the shark:
Each time I write a post critical of Fox News host Glenn Beck, scores of conservatives e-mail or comment that he’s “not as bad” as the left portrays him and that, besides, there are worse figures on the left.
The “left is worse” argument doesn’t fly. And I, for one, am never shy about pointing out hypocrisy by the left – as I did in response to an anti-Beck letter organized by Jewish Funds for Justice. But the argument that “the other side is worse” does not justify Beck’s conduct, either.
[...]
And if that’s not bad enough, Beck had to apologize for comparing Reform Judaism to radical Islam.
So what should thoughtful conservatives do? Police their own side. Rather than reflexively rising to his defense when questioned about Beck, why don’t conservatives call him out and explain that he doesn’t represent the views of mainstream conservatives? Conservative groups and candidates should be forewarned: If they host, appear with or defend him, they should be prepared to have his extremist views affixed to them.
Fox News has every right to have whomever it wants on the air, but, likewise, conservatives have every right to and should disassociate themselves from his brand of rhetoric.
Taken at its worst, it is exactly what it seems to be: a tone deaf analogy that Beck seems to realize is a bad idea before he doggedly continues to shovel towards China. To take this nonsense to the pages of the Washington Post simply demeans our collective intelligence.
Seriously. I appreciate Rubin’s iddy biddy feelings being hurt but as a Roman Catholic I have encountered worse crap than that in a front page post on RedState this week. She needs to either grow up and develop a sense of perspective, or get the hell out of this line of work.
I have some demands of my own. I think Rubin should apologize for the intemperate and sensationalized coverage the Washington Post has given to issues such as the Catholic Church, Evangelicals, gun control, the Sandinistas, unilateral nuclear disarmament, race relations, the Tea Party movement, and Barack Obama. I think she should apologize for every Tom Toles cartoon during the Bush Administration. I think she should apologize for the daftness of Dana Milbank and Harold Meyerson. I think she should commit seppuku in atonement for taking employment at the Washington Post. And my demands are every bit as rational and likely to happen as hers.
This is just a stupidly ridiculous statement. Beck reaches several million people every day, people who are politically engaged and generally part of the conservative base. Anyone who wishes to speak to the conservative base is eventually going to be a guest on one of Beck’s broadcasts.
William Kunstler, who is now comfortably retired to either Dante’s Eighth or Ninth Circles — depending upon your views of the man — probably did as much as any single man could to damage the United States. For those old enough to remember, everytime a lunatic or terrorist sprang up there was Bill Kunstler, and later his mini-me Ron Kuby, to defend them. His defense strategy seemed to only rarely address the facts in the case. Instead at every opportunity he put the US government on trial and made government actions, and indeed American history, the issue.
Once he was called out on his relentless attacks on the United States and his deafening silence on Prague Spring, the suppression of Solidarity, oppression in Cuba, etc. His answer was, “I don’t believe in criticizing socialist governments.”
Those are words to live by these days. If Wehner and Rubin and other than holier than thou benchwarmers want to condemn our side, knock yourself out. You’ll get nothing but richly deserved contempt and ridicule from those of us in the fight.
Moe Lane
Erick Erickson
Jeff Emanuel
Steve Maley
Caleb Howe
Dan Spencer
Great piece. nt.
earlgrey (Diary) Friday, February 25th at 2:04PM EDT (link)Kunstler as our role model?
bantamwait (Diary) Saturday, February 26th at 2:42PM EDT (link)Maybe I’m missing something, but should we take the country’s most extreme, corrupt, and ineffectual leftist lawyer as our standard of conduct? I have to say I’m troubled by that idea, both as a matter of principle and as a matter of tactics.
Let’s send the Marines to evacuate refugees from Libya and shut down the drug gangs in Mexico–and make the Marine hymn relevant again.
Good Piece!
annas Friday, February 25th at 2:25PM EDT (link)I have actually never found Beck to be wrong on anything–unless he apologized and said so. That is 100% more than I can say for any liberal, anywhere, anytime!
I don't know about that
streiff (Diary) Friday, February 25th at 2:30PM EDT (link)I certainly don’t want anyone thinking that I think he’s right a significant amount of time. The man is an entertainer. He’s not an elected official.
“What keeps me here is the reek of beer, the ladies and the craic”
There's a difference?
Carolyne Friday, February 25th at 2:51PM EDT (link)Actually Beck probably is more informed than most politicians. And his radio and tv shows are quite different. I think his radio show is more entertainment while the tv show delves into more topics and much more detail on a subject. I rarely listen to the radio show any more, but then I don’t listen to Rush often either. I do try to catch Beck’s tv show when the topic interests me. When he uses research he is on the mark.
I listened to the show the day he refered to Radical Islam and reform Judaism
Michael Dugas (Diary) Friday, February 25th at 3:20PM EDT (link)his reference was simply that radical Islam and Reform Judaism share a similar trait in that both are more about politics than faith. That was it and that was all it was. Might have not been the bast examples to use but I’m not going to fault him for that while doing a live show.
Otherwise Beck uses entertainment and humor to bring a message to his listeners and he is very good at it. He has been on the air here in Bradenton Florida from the beginning of The Glenn Beck Show, before he went national. He is right more than he is wrong and he isn’t nearly as wrong as his haters would have you think. He has ALWAYS said that if you don’t believe him or are not sure then do the research for yourself…find out for yourself. He has NEVER demanded that you take what his says as gospel.
Considering the lack of quality mouthpieces we have in the conservative movement we can’t afford to start eating our own….especially just to comfort the Left and out of touch bureaucrats.
Intro to Federalist Papers; section 5;
paragraph 4.
“…dangerous ambition more often lurks behind the specious mask of zeal for the rights of the people than under the zeal for a firm and efficient government.”
Remember: A Citizen on the dole is a Liberal Vote at the Polls.
END ENTITLEMENTS!
Si Vis Pacem, Para Bellum !
But, Strieff
DefendUSA (Diary) Saturday, February 26th at 10:16AM EDT (link)Therein lies the problem. If indeed, you have heard his radio show…and I have been listening since 2004, (when he was one of a few who broadcast as Reagan’s caisson was rolling toward the Rotunda and I was on my way to pay my respects) then you would know that much of what he says *is* true.
Yes, he is an entertainer who uses the medium to inform. But I, too. have yet to find him wrong on much of what is going on and he does report what the MSM refuses to do.
And that you said he’s not an elected official means what? That he cannot be trusted or that all elected officials are smarter? I know I am projecting there but It’s because that is a pretty shallow way to think.
And to that end I ask you: When you were in school, was there a teacher whom you loved above all others? Why? Was it because they were funny, smart, engaging? Beck is all of those things to those who do watch him and he even tells you to do the work if you are a skeptic. How does what he says become any less true because he is labeled an entertainer and not a politician?
*starred thought*
To be a leader is to do the uncomfortable thing. Man up, Mr. President.
Entertainer vs. politician
bantamwait (Diary) Saturday, February 26th at 2:46PM EDT (link)You ask, “How does what he says become any less true because he is labeled an entertainer and not a politician?”
I think the point is that politicians are supposed to be held to account for their opinions, while entertainers are not expected to be taken seriously. I’m not sure I buy that distinction.
Let’s send the Marines to evacuate refugees from Libya and shut down the drug gangs in Mexico–and make the Marine hymn relevant again.
Okay
DefendUSA (Diary) Saturday, February 26th at 3:14PM EDT (link)I can see your point. But the standards are not the same and Beck is more truthful than any elected official and willing to be called out when wrong.
You know he wants the best for the Country and he is willing to tell the truth. Unlike the political machines doing it for power. Beck’s benefit in this case is that he has entertainment and marketing value. I would be willing to wager he’d give it all up if he thought he could stop the madness in our current leadership and bring us back to a place where integrity, honesty and a a hard day’s work matter.
*starred thought*
To be a leader is to do the uncomfortable thing. Man up, Mr. President.
I'm not sure I agree
streiff (Diary) Saturday, February 26th at 7:05PM EDT (link)I think he’s sensationalist and is wrong as often as he’s right but he has been critical in pushing some stories into the mainstream when the “real journalists” were ignoring him.
I also don’t think he’ll be on our side if we win the White House in 2012 because it is hard to sustain an audience in his style by supporting the party in power.
Having said that, I find him very funny. I think his radio show is masterful though I’m not a big fan of his TV show.
The fact is that the standard to which we hold elected officials is different than that of radio/TV personalities. As it should be. My point is that it is ridiculous for people to see Beck as a threat to our political system regardless of which side you’re on.
“What keeps me here is the reek of beer, the ladies and the craic”
Absolutely!
DefendUSA (Diary) Sunday, February 27th at 9:42AM EDT (link)You are correct in that people should not be threatened by someone labeled as an entertainer or consider him a threat politically. The actual threat is the truth!
And you might also be right about the party in power thing, too. Although as a Limbaugh fan too, he was not affected in the way Beck could be and I suspect if holding feet to the fire still counts and people stay engaged, it will not be a problem for him when a conservative enters the WH, again.
*starred thought*
To be a leader is to do the uncomfortable thing. Man up, Mr. President.
agree 100% - nt
Mike gamecock DeVine (Diary) Sunday, February 27th at 9:55AM EDT (link)Mike DeVine’s Examiner.com and Charlotte Observer columns
“One man with courage makes a majority.” – Andrew Jackson
WHAT?
edingerb Monday, February 28th at 9:44AM EDT (link)I can accept the fact that you have an opinion about Beck that is not the same as those criticizing him. I also respect your opinion that is, at least, a bit different than some of those more supporting of him who have commented here.
But “…the standard to which we hold elected officials is different than that of radio/TV personalities,,,” comment reveals just how little you really appreciate what Beck is about.
First, what standard is there for each of the two groups? Politicians routinely lie and steal to promote their agenda. What do they get in return for their efforts? Re-elected, and the affirmation that what they are doing is OK. They then proceed to give themselves untold numbers of benefits that the electorate never intended that they have. They justify it by pointing to the fact that they won the election (ie., Barack Obama.) When enough of the electorate finally wakes up and votes them out of power, they refuse to listen and, like Wisconsin and Indiana, refuse to take part in the political debate because they are going to lose some of their ill-gotten gains. The same is happening in Washington, but, unfortunately, the Democrats have not decided to leave the country. Instead, they want to shut down the government. Again, what standard? Who is holding them accountable for their actions? After all, THAT is how you define “standard.” It is people like Beck who point out the deception and the hidden connections between the politicians and their backers.
What standard is there for “radio/TV personalities?” I would argue it is, in the case of conservatives, far higher than that of ANY politician. If a conservative entertainer (ie., Beck) is wrong about something, no matter how insignificant, there is a long line of people out there ready to jump all over it and burn him/her at the stake. In that line are virtually all of the liberal fruitcakes, MSM, and – yes – the politicians. In addition, many conservatives do the same, thinking they need to crucify one of their own in order to separate their “movement” from that mistake.
But let’s look at it a bit more objectively. Let’s use Mr. Beck as an example. If he were to tell us the Obamacare health plan would save taxpayers money, he would be lying. He would lose credibility. He would then lose audience share and sponsors. Very quickly, he would be a forgotten name in the history of political entertainers. He would pay for his iniquities. THAT is the standard. CONSEQUENCES FOR YOUR ACTIONS.
If a politician says he/she will go to Washington and ” _________ ” (Go ahead and fill in the blank,) Then the politician proceeds to do what almost all of them do (lie, steal, and generally do no good,) most of the time they are rewarded for their actions by kick-backs and other spoils from the very groups that the “entertainer” Beck is pointing out. So, to what “standard” are the politicians being held?
On second thought, I guess “…the standard to which we hold elected officials is different than that of radio/TV personalities…”
Tell me I am wrong.
My post was a reply to the
edingerb Monday, February 28th at 9:48AM EDT (link)streiff “I’m not sure I agree” post.
Somehow, it was posted after “Mike gamecock Devine’s” post
Follow The Blue Lines
edintexas Monday, February 28th at 2:37PM EDT (link)When lots of folks are commenting, it gets sort of confusing. But if you follow the line up from your comment, past all the other comments about Streiff’s post, you will find that you did comment on Streiff.
And no, I sure won’t tell you that you are wrong. Great comment.
News will never be the same
mine Friday, February 25th at 6:02PM EDT (link)For many of us news will never be the same. The same tired old superficial stories just doesn’t wash anymore. We want to know who is behind the news, what the agenda is, who is doing the financing. We just don’t get this from the MSM. Thanks Glenn Beck.
Glenn has honor
missyjanie Sunday, February 27th at 11:17PM EDT (link)Liberals have never let truth nor logic enter their thought patterns. Glenn Beck and the TEA Party’s scare the he’ll out of the libs.
5, I challenge anyone to show Beck isn't at least 80% 'our' friend
Common_Cents (Diary) Friday, February 25th at 2:26PM EDT (link)Attacks on Beck by our side proves that the leftist PC mentality is working on us. Conservatives distance themselves in order not to be called out be the leftist media? Beck is “ewww” to many, why? I have no idea other than people being afraid of an uncool reputation. Does he threaten the establishment Republicans?
Do we want another Ed Schultz or Katie Couric for cryin out loud? LOL.
Beck has brought millions of people out of their silent majority caves to take a look around realize they are not alone. I’d say he’s done more for conservatism than anyone in the last couple years. He’s tapped a new audience that includes waking up more of the silent majority and independents that are exactly in our wheelhouse.
This energy has to be tapped, not shunned. These people are motivated! Let’s get them involved. I manage to watch his show here and there, maybe a show a week. As long as Beck doesn’t promote a third party he will continue to help our cause.
What a great guy Beck would be to highlight and champion ColdWarriors precinct committeeman project.
“Fathom the hypocrisy of a Government
that requires every citizen to prove
they are insured…. but not everyone
must prove they are a citizen.” -Ben Stein
“In individuals, insanity is rare; but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule.”[especially in DC] – Friedrich Nietzsche
that's exactly what is going on
streiff (Diary) Friday, February 25th at 2:33PM EDT (link)Beck doesn’t present an intellectual argument. His argument style is much more like what you find in a bar, at the family table, at the water cooler. They find him icky because he’s not talking to them, but he is talking to people they’d like to lead and influence.
“What keeps me here is the reek of beer, the ladies and the craic”
It's not just Beck, Streiff...
acat (Diary) Friday, February 25th at 2:49PM EDT (link)But, yeah. Beck’s style is much more conversational and anecdotal, many more appeals by emotion than appeals by reason. I suppose dinner-table conservatism is a good way to put it. … and I can’t stand watching him.
Emotional appeals do not work on me – like many of my generation, we had enough guilt trips in our youth (Iron Eyes Cody, forex) that attempts to use emotional appeal now cause the opposite reaction. Makes buying a car fun too .. the more the sales drone tries to make me comfortable, the more nervous I get.
I don’t, though, make the mistake of dismissing him just because he’s not talking to me. He’s talking to people who I could never persuade to get off the couch, and that’s a Good Thing. We’re going to need all the foot soldiers and all the voters we can find in 2012. I’m not about to tear him down, or miss the significance.
One thing those alleged conservatives are missing, by the way, is that because Beck presents an emotional argument, he also builds an emotional bond with his audience. Same thing is true of Sarah Palin. Same thing is true of Vassar Bushmills, for that matter…. and because there’s an emotional bond, these attacks will boomerang .. badly.
Even my statement above that I don’t care for Beck’s style is going to set some people off…
I’d take a close look at those “conservatives” knocking Beck. Scratch deeply enough, and I’d expect to find a “ruling class” or “country clubber” type – those who would rather lose with principle than win with uncomfortable allies….
Mew
——
Caveat Suffragator
Good point on emotional appeal
Common_Cents (Diary) Friday, February 25th at 3:29PM EDT (link)People are emotional, more than they admit. Conservative arguments tend to be more factual and sterile IMHO, appealing to reason. Emotions are powerful and need to be engaged.
Look at owebama, he got in the white house by having half the country vote for him based on emotion and ZERO substance. Zero reason. All hope and change.
We need more of that on our side.
“Fathom the hypocrisy of a Government
that requires every citizen to prove
they are insured…. but not everyone
must prove they are a citizen.” -Ben Stein
“In individuals, insanity is rare; but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule.”[especially in DC] – Friedrich Nietzsche
Exactly, Common...
acat (Diary) Friday, February 25th at 4:41PM EDT (link)and conservatives can do this pretty well, when they’re not being dry-as-tinder bean-counters.
I offer as evidence:
Reagan’s “Morning in America” ad.
Reagan’s “Bear in the woods” ad.
Both ads contain a logical message, but with an emotionally component.
Mew
——
Caveat Suffragator
really?
bantamwait (Diary) Friday, February 25th at 9:18PM EDT (link)“emotion and ZERO substance. Zero reason.
We need more of that on our side.”
Really?
Sigh.
Let’s send the Marines to evacuate refugees from Libya and shut down the drug gangs in Mexico–and make the Marine hymn relevant again.
I know happy hour reduces comprehension
Common_Cents (Diary) Friday, February 25th at 10:43PM EDT (link)I said we need a little more emotional appeal, you know, the substance of my post.
Obama has the market cornered on zero substance you know. We have plenty of substance and reason already.
“Fathom the hypocrisy of a Government
that requires every citizen to prove
they are insured…. but not everyone
must prove they are a citizen.” -Ben Stein
“In individuals, insanity is rare; but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule.”[especially in DC] – Friedrich Nietzsche
Let's change that preposition:
rickbull Friday, February 25th at 11:04PM EDT (link)“We need more THAN that on our side.”
We need more substance than style; we need reason rather than emotion; we need steel and concrete rather than slogans.
There is nothing wrong with emotion and style and slogans, but if that is all you have, it falls apart like a tissue paper house. Reagan’s “Morning in America” evoked great emotion, especially in young voters like myself at the time. But it had a foundation–something sadly lacking in “hope & change.”
WE ARE THE 53% (who actually pay taxes).
We already have the More Than,
edintexas Monday, February 28th at 2:45PM EDT (link)We have lots of logic and reason already. What we usually don’t have is the ability to get the message across in ways that anyone other than a devotee of Bill Buckley can quickly grasp.
Common-Cents was suggesting that we need to add to our logical and reasoned arguments the ability to get the citizen engaged.
Cat
DefendUSA (Diary) Saturday, February 26th at 10:22AM EDT (link)Great perspective. I like and dislike Beck’s approach, depending on what he is discussing.
And you are correct about how he moves to get people off the couch. My mother being one of them! And not to mention those who attended 8/28.
Love him or hate him, there is something to all he is and does and I think in the end, I am thankful.
*starred thought*
To be a leader is to do the uncomfortable thing. Man up, Mr. President.
Beck uses common sense
NickDeringer (Diary) Friday, February 25th at 4:14PM EDT (link)I watch people get seduced by the “philosopher kings” of our society. The more elaborate the rhetoric the more of a thrill they get up their leg. It’s all mental masturbation.
Reagan was a great communicator because he never talked down to anyone. Beck does the same.
As a famouse man once said: Intellectuals spend most of their lives inside their own minds.
Of so true.
NickDeringer
Bingo
Common_Cents (Diary) Friday, February 25th at 4:49PM EDT (link)When i find myself referring to a dictionary multiple times while reading an article/diary I wonder the same thing. And I was a 5th grade speling bea champp! Who the heck are people thinking their audience really is? Is it to educate and inspire people or to impress fellow pseudo think-tankers?
If a teenager can’t read your piece and understand at least half, you have failed, IMHO.
“Fathom the hypocrisy of a Government
that requires every citizen to prove
they are insured…. but not everyone
must prove they are a citizen.” -Ben Stein
“In individuals, insanity is rare; but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule.”[especially in DC] – Friedrich Nietzsche
Hey, champ...
bantamwait (Diary) Friday, February 25th at 9:20PM EDT (link)Good think you never got the word “spelling bee” in your contests.
With regard to the substance of your post, I offer Einstein:
“Make everything as simple as possible, but not simpler.”
Let’s send the Marines to evacuate refugees from Libya and shut down the drug gangs in Mexico–and make the Marine hymn relevant again.
Yeah it was a good think. nt
Common_Cents (Diary) Friday, February 25th at 10:40PM EDT (link)“Fathom the hypocrisy of a Government
that requires every citizen to prove
they are insured…. but not everyone
must prove they are a citizen.” -Ben Stein
“In individuals, insanity is rare; but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule.”[especially in DC] – Friedrich Nietzsche
Looks like both of you need to exercise your fingers more:
rickbull Friday, February 25th at 11:08PM EDT (link)Don’t you ever drive during rush hour?
LOL!
WE ARE THE 53% (who actually pay taxes).
Double LOL /nt
bantamwait (Diary) Saturday, February 26th at 2:51PM EDT (link)Let’s send the Marines to evacuate refugees from Libya and shut down the drug gangs in Mexico–and make the Marine hymn relevant again.
Beck is the Jon Stewart of the right.
bjwilson83 (Diary) Friday, February 25th at 2:31PM EDT (link)He discusses the events of the day with a good bit of humor thrown in. He engages the culture, which is something that it’s high time the right did more of.
Oh it's far more than that
NickDeringer (Diary) Friday, February 25th at 4:18PM EDT (link)If you look closely at the photo or the video of his Washington event you can make out the outline of a Kevlar vest. He has at least 14 credible threats on his life at any given time. He spends more than a million bucks a year on personal security. the FBI showed up at one of his events sand said that they had info that someone was planning to shoot him on stage.
How many “entertainers” have to do that?
NickDeringer
Amen
Viator Friday, February 25th at 2:32PM EDT (link)Sometimes, with the friends the right has, who needs enemies?
Beck is, by and large
aesthete (Diary) Friday, February 25th at 2:43PM EDT (link)a stand-in for what leftists would consider “ugly America”: he’s coarse, much of what he says is spontaneous and not completely developed, he’s earnest, and he says what he thinks. The bar that they hold Beck up to is a bar that is really more appropriate for content that is explicitly intellectual in nature; a man who self-describes as a “rodeo clown” and a recovering alcoholic really doesn’t fit that bill. Sure, there are conservatives out there who take him a bit too seriously, but 10% of any given group is going to be composed of the UFO believer types. I am unaware of a serious trend towards considering Beck to be either an intellectual, or as anything other than a source of entertainment. Bjwilson’s comparison to Jon Stewart is apropos, in that regard.
“It is a popular delusion that the government wastes vast amounts of money through inefficiency and sloth. Enormous effort and elaborate planning are required to waste this much money.”
-P.J. O’Rourke
to me one of the most important thing about Beck
streiff (Diary) Friday, February 25th at 2:50PM EDT (link)is that he drives the left freakin nuts.
For that reason alone I cut the man a lot of slack
“What keeps me here is the reek of beer, the ladies and the craic”
Same here Steiff
remnant60 (Diary) Friday, February 25th at 6:23PM EDT (link)exactly, the Left's definitions for "ugly" matter not a whit - nt
Mike gamecock DeVine (Diary) Friday, February 25th at 8:03PM EDT (link)Mike DeVine’s Examiner.com and Charlotte Observer columns
“One man with courage makes a majority.” – Andrew Jackson
This pigeon holing Beck
Common_Cents (Diary) Friday, February 25th at 3:00PM EDT (link)I say who cares whether Beck is accepted as a conservative intellectual or not. This is the same discussion as Obama/Evil. Yet on one hand people are saying its not productive to say obama is evil and yet saying Beck is conspiracist, entertainment, etc….Kind of contradictory.
I would rather ask, what outcomes are Beck delivering? That is the main point and is he helpful to conservatism and waking new audiences up to the fact something is wrong. I think it’s up to “us” to channel that energy in the proper direction.
I see Beck as a marketer delivering new potential customers and if that isn’t valued I don’t know what is.
It depends on the lens one is looking through. Looking through the intellectual conservative intellectual lens is one thing and looking through real world moving the needle in the right direction lens is another.
But to compare him to John Stewart? really? Beck and staff are head and shoulders much more studied and researched, laying out facts and history in presentations. Stewart is a comic who uses politics as a subject. Beck is more of an instructor/commentator that uses comedy in his delivery. A big big difference IMHO.
“Fathom the hypocrisy of a Government
that requires every citizen to prove
they are insured…. but not everyone
must prove they are a citizen.” -Ben Stein
“In individuals, insanity is rare; but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule.”[especially in DC] – Friedrich Nietzsche
Yes, you do have a point.
bjwilson83 (Diary) Saturday, February 26th at 8:05PM EDT (link)Beck is 10 times smarter than Stewart for sure, and is more explicitly political. I just meant that he fills a similar role in engaging the popular culture.
On the money!!!
edingerb Monday, February 28th at 10:12AM EDT (link)I agree with your take on it.
It is very unfortunate, however, that most of the Jon Stewart audience is so mentally decrepit that all he has to do is make one of his far left political jokes and they consider him some sort of intellectual political commentator.
One difference in Beck’s audience. They want the dots connected. Beck does that, and then tells them “Don’t believe me, do your own research.” Stewart says something about a Bush misquote and his audience gets on their knees and and begins to worship.
Also, Stewart’s staff doesn’t research anything, they are comic writers who look for things that conservatives have said and ridicule the quotes with some kind of sarcastic joke.
If only some comics would listen to some of the things the Dem-wits are saying and make a few jokes.
Great piece
scipio62 (Diary) Friday, February 25th at 2:43PM EDT (link)I wish I could watch Beck more often than I do (perhaps once a week). I find him intelligent, knowledgeable, and thoroughly entertaining.
He sometimes seems to come off as a conspiracy theorist, but many of his premises are quite accurate. Especially when it comes to Islam and Islamism.
I don’t know why some conservatives make it a point to, pardon the phrase, “eat their own”. Beck isn’t the problem, but these conservatives are making him a problem instead of battling against the real problem, the left (people who, by the way, live by conspiracy theories).
A just war leads to a just peace and freedom. An unjust peace leads to death.
Cross-posted at Scipio the Metalcon.
One of the requirement of being conservative
rickbull Friday, February 25th at 11:13PM EDT (link)is knowing the answer to the riddle.
What’s the difference between a liberal and a cannibal?
Cannibals don’t eat their friends and family.
WE ARE THE 53% (who actually pay taxes).
Beck is a problem
kurtz Friday, February 25th at 2:43PM EDT (link)Peter Wehner’s analysis is spot-on. Glenn Beck’s bizarre conspiracy theories portraying George Soros and Van Jones as masterminds behind both the unrest in the Middle East and the union protests in Wisconsin are not just weird, but a real embarassment to conservatives. He undermines the credibility of our cause and our most important media outlet: Fox News.
The problem so-called “thoughtful conservatives” have with Beck is not that he is too radical or too conservative, but that’s he too weird–too much of a conspiracy theorist.
It is ironic that a front-page article on Red State would complain about those who “condemn our side”. The best thing about Red State is it’s willingness to call out Republicans when they stray from core conservative principles. Well, Beck has strayed.
he's not an embarrassment to me
streiff (Diary) Friday, February 25th at 2:53PM EDT (link)it’s a free country.
I don’t understand your last paragraph at all. Frankly I think it is as silly as taking a screenname from a Joseph Conrad novel.
“What keeps me here is the reek of beer, the ladies and the craic”
Last time I checked, kurtz, Beck doesn't call himself a conservative...
acat (Diary) Friday, February 25th at 2:54PM EDT (link)It has been a while… but last time I checked Beck calls himself a libertarian.
Keep in mind, we’re going to need the libertarian vote in about 18 months, so ..
Mew
——
Caveat Suffragator
exactly right. He's not a Republican
streiff (Diary) Friday, February 25th at 2:57PM EDT (link)he’s not a conservative so what he says only affects me at the margins.
“What keeps me here is the reek of beer, the ladies and the craic”
As long as Beck brings voters to the polls ...
acat (Diary) Friday, February 25th at 3:00PM EDT (link)and to the Tea Party rallies…I’m willing to, as you say, cut him quite a lot of slack. Especially since I see precious few of the so-called “conservatives” attacking Beck who could bring in more than a tithe of the supporters Beck brings in.
Mew
——
Caveat Suffragator
Hmmm...
Carolyne Friday, February 25th at 3:04PM EDT (link)Exactly what show did Beck say Van Jones is responsible for the unrest in the Middle East?
My understanding was that Beck referred to the American Dream concept Van Jones had posted recently as though it was a new idea. But that it had originated back in 2008 at a netroots conference and was about unions. So he speculated that it wasn’t an original idea of Van Jones. Of course if you have more on that I’m certain you’ll post it.
And actually it’s the union protesters and their supporters in WI carrying signs comparing Cairo it Wisconsin.
I’m not a fan of Beck’s but he really doesn’t say anything worse than Rush or any other talking head.
Question
Viator Friday, February 25th at 3:23PM EDT (link)Kurtz, are you a troll?
that is a rhetorical question
streiff (Diary) Friday, February 25th at 3:24PM EDT (link)right?
“What keeps me here is the reek of beer, the ladies and the craic”
Re: Beck is a problem
kurtz Friday, February 25th at 4:55PM EDT (link)I am not a troll. I am a committed conservative who has been deeply troubled by the content of the Glenn Beck show, both TV and radio, over the past five weeks or so.
There are a lot of people here saying, “I don’t really listen to him but…..” and then equate his show to Limbaugh/Hannitty/etc. Beck’s program can not be compared to Rush or “conservative talk” in general. He is off the deep end linking events in the middle east to the coming of the anti-Christ, the 12 imam, tying in George Soros and Code Pink, and wrapping it all up in a vague but definitely right-around-the-corner apocalypse.
If you're a "committed conservative"
streiff (Diary) Friday, February 25th at 7:16PM EDT (link)who is “deeply troubled” by an entertainer who isn’t a conservative then I suggest you get a life.
“What keeps me here is the reek of beer, the ladies and the craic”
There's nothing vague about it.
Racist (Diary) Friday, February 25th at 8:35PM EDT (link)It’s explicit and it’s happening as we speak.
Uh, oh! Back up a little, Kurtz
merryj1 Saturday, February 26th at 5:26AM EDT (link)There’s a BIG difference between “linking events in the Middle East to the coming of the Anti-Christ,” and explaining what Ahmadinejad and the “twelvers” believe about the “return of the Mahdi.”
None of that had anything to do with the separate issue of Soros’ funding of all kinds of mischief, and/or Code Pink (along with Bernadine Dohrn Ayers & other radical elements) bragging about their “security protection” from Hamas while agitating on the Flotilla to circumvent Israel’s defenses against terrorists smuggling weaponry into their country.
Frankly, from my observations...
uselogic Monday, February 28th at 5:10PM EDT (link)Beck’s been very accurate at pointing out the associations between the Middle East uprisings, labor unions, socialist/communist groups and Soros funded groups. Throw in Wisconsin and it kind of reminds me in that sense of our own vaunted Labor Union Reports.
Sensible folks would be blind not to see the hand of the Muslim Brotherhood and Iran in the Middle East mix. After all we haven;t had too many secular rebellions in that part of the world.
Not directly comparing LUR....
uselogic Monday, February 28th at 5:11PM EDT (link)with Beck, mind you. Just the extensive info in this instance.
No People like You and Wehner are a problem
Racist (Diary) Friday, February 25th at 4:26PM EDT (link)Perhaps if you actually take an honest look at the evidence Beck lays out and then research it yourself, instead of relying on Liberal media view of Beck personally, you’d see that he is right way more than he is wrong. The analogy of the political aspect of Reform Rabbis and Islamists was correct if uncomfortable. And I challenge you to provide specific examples of anything that he has said wrong that was presented as fact. Like Sarah Palin, his biggest threat to so called conservatives if his unwillingness to kow tow to liberals in exchange for personal comfort. What I see from Palin and Beck critics is an intellectual laziness to verify the facts to the point of allaying fear of being branded crazy or racist by people who are going to do that no matter what we do or say.
Romans,
remnant60 (Diary) Friday, February 25th at 6:31PM EDT (link)You might have something there…Beck has repeatedly told his audience to not take his word for what he says, but to look it up themselves…and people being what they are, are lazy.
End times?
bantamwait (Diary) Saturday, February 26th at 3:17PM EDT (link)Romans, would I be mistaken in presuming you’re an evangelical Christian? My wife assumed that Beck was too. She was very surprised to learn that he is a born-again Mormon. I have no problem with Mormons, but Mormonism is not Christianity. When Beck starts riffing on the Apocalypse and the Book of Revelations, he’s treading on territory that has specific meaning for Christians–and very different meaning for Mormons.Is he trying to make converts? I would like to know what his religious agenda is. I’m perfectly willing to listen to people who say that he doesn’t have one and that there’s no theological content to his arguments. If you argue that, though, you’re arguing that there’s no coherence to his claims. Frankly, that’s what it looks like to me. God bless him, I’m glad he gave up the booze, but he sure hasn’t given up the kind of boozy, rambling rant you hear in the bar room, as streif observed. On a whole lot of levels, Beck doesn’t speak for me, and I see no need to defend him.
Let’s send the Marines to evacuate refugees from Libya and shut down the drug gangs in Mexico–and make the Marine hymn relevant again.
I love this, great job Streiff nt
Cheryl (Diary) Friday, February 25th at 2:57PM EDT (link)“A general dissolution of principles and manners will more surely overthrow the liberties of America, than the whole force of the common enemy.” –Samuel Adams
“The administrative state has inserted its big paws into our houses, from the toilet bowl to the light socket. Now if it would just stretch those paws from the one to the other at the same time, we might begin to recapture the spirit of ’76.” –Scott Johnson, Powerlineblog.com
Glenn Beck Has An Uncanny Way of Predicting Current Events
jaybo (Diary) Friday, February 25th at 3:07PM EDT (link)If you simply take his predictions of coming trends (with dates) and then check them against what actually happened you see that his accuracy rate much higher than any other talking head in the media.
The recent events in the Middle East now seem to be playing out exactly the way he predicted that they would. Did you hear today that protests have started in Iraq? This movement is really not about deposing dictators. It is about stirring up chaos in that region.
What is truly troubling is the involvement of the current administration in encouraging what is now an uncontrollable wildfire.
It's not hard to see what's going to happen.. when you take off the blinders... [nt]
acat (Diary) Friday, February 25th at 3:08PM EDT (link)——
Caveat Suffragator
Maybe that's Becks job acat...helping remove blinders
Michael Dugas (Diary) Friday, February 25th at 3:34PM EDT (link)just a thought. I live in Tampa Bay area of Florida and he’s been on the air here since day one. Yes he does get a bit emotional at times but he does an enormous amount of research on the stuff he covers and his method of sharing his message is very successful.
woof
Intro to Federalist Papers; section 5;
paragraph 4.
“…dangerous ambition more often lurks behind the specious mask of zeal for the rights of the people than under the zeal for a firm and efficient government.”
Remember: A Citizen on the dole is a Liberal Vote at the Polls.
END ENTITLEMENTS!
Si Vis Pacem, Para Bellum !
Different roles for different people...
acat (Diary) Friday, February 25th at 11:19PM EDT (link)Some people have blinders on, they think America will keep puttering along just fine without their involvement.
Some people are apathetic. They see the problems, but don’t think they can do anything.
Some people want to be involved, but aren’t sure where to start.
Beck seems to deal with the first two groups… less so with the third. And that’s *fine*. That’s *good*. It doesn’t mean Beck is for everyone, but he’s doing good.
Mew
——
Caveat Suffragator
I don't understand why conservatives are so quick to throw him under the bus
victrola Friday, February 25th at 3:07PM EDT (link)The criticism from the Right just doesn’t make much sense, and if anything I’m probably considered to be on the moderate wing of the party. Talk radio is the single biggest reason for conservative ascendancy in the last 20 years, we shouldn’t be so quick to condemn it in order to get pats on the head from the cocktail circuit.
I rarely listen to him, but when I have, I consider him to be pretty common sense, I’m amazed he’s such a polarizing figure.
He’s been painted as “John Bircher” type with wild conspiracy theories, but most of what he’s alleging seems to be pretty tame. That Islamic Fundamentalists are trying to take over the world in order to establish a Caliphate (how can anyone argue this?), that Soros funds all sorts of shady political activity behind the scenes (again, how can you argue this, the man has funneled hundreds of millions of dollars into his kooky causes?)
I’m not saying we have to walk lock step and defend everything he’s ever said, but as a whole, I think he does the conservative movement far more good than he harms.
I think it boils down to trust
Goldwater_Conservative (Diary) Friday, February 25th at 3:18PM EDT (link)he may not be off the deep end right now, but would you want to put your creditiblity on the line with him? You dont know what he is going to do tommorow, therefore you must be able to distance yourself from him in case.
I think you have to keep that positon
streiff (Diary) Friday, February 25th at 3:23PM EDT (link)with any personality.
You don’t want to tie yourself to anyone or anything to the extent that your credibility rests on their actions.
“What keeps me here is the reek of beer, the ladies and the craic”
There's plenty of room between politely ignoring Beck...
acat (Diary) Friday, February 25th at 3:28PM EDT (link)and mocking him as a conspiracy nut.
The former keeps his audience as at least neutral toward a given person, the latter almost guarantees some backlash.
Mew
——
Caveat Suffragator
He's not an elected leader, much different standard
victrola Friday, February 25th at 3:28PM EDT (link)If Glen Beck were running for elected office, I’d say absolutely not. I also understand Republican leaders not tying themselves to him (or shows like his) but for conservatives to throw him under the bus seems petty for his “sins”. I think there’s enough distance that even if Beck crossed the line on an issue, I don’t see the Republican Party being hurt in a meaningful way.
I do understand conservatives say throwing Palin under the bus because she’s potentially running for the White House and there’s a much different standard in play. It’s also a MUCH bigger symbol and impact for the Republican Party and elected leaders as a whole. If Palin’s aspirations were only as an entertainer/activist like Beck’s, she would get 99% less criticism for her style from the Right.
Anyone remember when Limbaugh first broke big?
acat (Diary) Friday, February 25th at 11:12PM EDT (link)There were quite a few Repubs at the time – before the Dittohead caucus – who didn’t want anything to do with Rush…
Mew
——
Caveat Suffragator
Ratings Envy Involved
chihank Friday, February 25th at 3:08PM EDT (link)These “Thoughtful” conservatives, who bash Beck, must be having a case of ratings envy. For example, fake conservative, Kathleen Parker’s, CNN show has horrible ratings.
Beck’s Fox show is okay. He looks like someone who drinks too much caffeine.
There's Nothing Wrong with Beck
jamo (Diary) Friday, February 25th at 3:22PM EDT (link)You may not agree with him, but if you think he is some sort of existential danger to human life, it’s because you’re threatened by his logic.
There is two things wrong with Beck./ He isn’t cute, like he thinks he is. And he doesn’t apply his mantra of ‘question boldly’ when it comes to Obama’s birth place.
jamo Must Not Be a Regular Listener
jaybo (Diary) Friday, February 25th at 3:29PM EDT (link)“There is two things wrong with Beck./ He isn’t cute, like he thinks he is. And he doesn’t apply his mantra of ‘question boldly’ when it comes to Obama’s birth place.”
If you were, you would know that he has been very vocal about the above “controversy” being a useless waste of time.
Great post Streiff
fpete13527 (Diary) Friday, February 25th at 3:53PM EDT (link)Fully agree with your points.
I also like Beck.
hoosierteacher (Diary) Friday, February 25th at 3:55PM EDT (link)And I am in agreement with this post that Beck takes a lot of hits. But this also goes back to a point I made with Leon. Look at our tone on this site.
Rubin (who was writing for Reason and Weekly Standard before going to the Post, so she isn’t a token conservative) being to get the “hell out” and “iddy biddy feelings” and “stupidly ridiculous” is lowering the bar of the conversation. It grants the “grown up” status you are writing about to the other side right off the bat.
I agree that Beck’s detractors are pretentious, and I agree with the post. But using a snarky tone to make the point feeds the kind of comments we get in the posts and the diaries, and sets the tone we use with each other.
Just consider it, and talk about it in a staff e-mail or something. Maybe some self-relfection at the leadership level can help the membership out too.
Thanks!
: )
“Greater is an army of sheep led by a lion, than an army of lions led by a sheep” – Defoe
I want to make a point
streiff (Diary) Friday, February 25th at 4:06PM EDT (link)1. Rubiin is the toke conservative at the Post. I don’t know why you don’t believe that is the case. I further don’t know why writing for Reason would indicate a person was ever a conservative. It isn’t a conservative publication.
2. You aren’t my editor. If you don’t like my tone, don’t read my stuff. Can I be any more clear? If not, let me know.
“What keeps me here is the reek of beer, the ladies and the craic”
No, I'm not.
hoosierteacher (Diary) Friday, February 25th at 4:12PM EDT (link)I’m just a member / reader of yours. I thought that counted for something. It certaintly wasn’t an attack on you, and you remain (as I’ve written recently) one of my favorite front pagers.
I just hope that folks aren’t going to complain about the tone in the comments sections when we don’t set the bar ouselves. That’s all.
“Greater is an army of sheep led by a lion, than an army of lions led by a sheep” – Defoe
I stand corrected Streiff.
hoosierteacher (Diary) Friday, February 25th at 4:16PM EDT (link)I wrote Reason, when I should have written “Commentary”.
Commentary, Human Events, Weekly Standard, and National Review. Four pretty moderate publications.
That still isn’t the point. We agree that she is pretentous.
“Greater is an army of sheep led by a lion, than an army of lions led by a sheep” – Defoe
this is the deal
streiff (Diary) Friday, February 25th at 4:18PM EDT (link)I have no intention in revisiting the past weekend’s fun. But I’m sure you can see the difference in this article…. focused on people who aren’t RS members…. and actions taking place between RS members.
I do polemics. I don’t do impartial. I write for activists not for “no labels” or “common ground” folks. So my style is my style and it isn’t going to change. Sorry.
“What keeps me here is the reek of beer, the ladies and the craic”
5 nt
Aaron Gardner (Diary) Friday, February 25th at 4:23PM EDT (link)conform and celebrate diversity….or else!!!
“We’d be much better off if We The People had desired small government enough to keep it.” acat
Follow @Aaron_RS
And that's fine.
hoosierteacher (Diary) Friday, February 25th at 4:43PM EDT (link)I don’t want impartiality either; its only our tone that I sometimes disagree with.
I appreciate you taking the time to respond, and hope that my comments don’t rise to a bannable offense. I certainly didn’t intend to sound like I was attacking you. It just seems a shame that people have to even worry about “bans” or offending anyone for trying to bring up civility.
I continue to wish you the best.
“Greater is an army of sheep led by a lion, than an army of lions led by a sheep” – Defoe
555!
remnant60 (Diary) Friday, February 25th at 6:41PM EDT (link)We is who we is
and you is who you is too
that’s how it should be
Glenn Beck's predictions usually come true
NickDeringer (Diary) Friday, February 25th at 4:07PM EDT (link)2 years ago Beck held up a little book called the “Coming Insurrection” and said there would be riots in the EU and around the world. He turned out to be right.
In 2007 when the market was at 14,000 points he told people to get out because it was artificially high and was going to crash.
5 years ago he predicted food shortages because of Ethanol. Today, Bill Clinton seems to agree with him.
Beck is no genius, he just uses common sense.
NickDeringer
The Coming Insurrection...
merryj1 Saturday, February 26th at 5:36AM EDT (link)…is Schizophrenia writ large. Unfortunately, it has that pseudo-intellectual ‘feel’ that has a lot of likely appeal to the young-adult set who “want to be part of something important,” like the radicals of the 1960′s.
I'll'll never forget watching Peter Jennings one night.
Melody Warbington (rwm52) (Diary) Friday, February 25th at 4:14PM EDT (link)He reported whatever story it was and then proceeded to say something along the lines of “Now, let me tell you what that means to you.” I remember yelling back at the TV, “That’s not your job.” I can make up my own mind about what the news means to me. Same goes for Beck. I don’t watch him regularly, but I sure don’t need some elitist commentator who’s not getting his share of the audience to tell me what to think about him.
The woman saith unto him, I know that Messiah cometh (he that is called Christ): when he is come, he will declare unto us all things. (John 4:25)
very interesting
claude5 Friday, February 25th at 4:16PM EDT (link)Beck has always seemed to me to be the best at connecting very wispy threads of leftist conspiracy. The wheels within wheels of the Establishment, so to speak. The others don’t want to admit that Mubarak was toppled by communists and Beck embarrasses them.
"Thoughful Conservative" ...I have a sneaking
throwback59 Friday, February 25th at 4:33PM EDT (link)suspicion that’s a lot like “Compassionate Conservative”.
Beware of anyone who uses a qualifier to describe their brand of conservatisim.
How do you feel about "Goldwater Republican?" nt
bantamwait (Diary) Saturday, February 26th at 3:23PM EDT (link)Let’s send the Marines to evacuate refugees from Libya and shut down the drug gangs in Mexico–and make the Marine hymn relevant again.
when I read that phrase I think "Ronbot"
streiff (Diary) Saturday, February 26th at 7:09PM EDT (link)nt
“What keeps me here is the reek of beer, the ladies and the craic”
Random Thoughts: Beck, rubber, road
Greg Garrison (Diary) Friday, February 25th at 4:37PM EDT (link)I think that the criticism is over the top, but what Beck said asinine and offensive, and I suspect that he doesn’t know much about Judaism.
It’s an unfortunate analogy, but in fairness, he has to fill a lot of unscripted hours every day, and everybody says stupid things. If I had a talk radio show, it would likely be 95% boring, stupid, or both. The remaining 5% would be intro music and the producer (or announcer).
Overall, I think that Beck is a net positive for the conservative movement because he attracts more people than he repels. I’ve tried to enjoy him, but he’s not my cup of tea.
Having said all of that, here’s a question: How would the Directors and mods at RedState view a diarist if s/he drew conspiratorial connections as frequently as Beck?
http://www.thejoyofreason.com
“The art of compromise, which is central to a successful democracy, is not something that people learn overnight.” – Donald Rumsfeld
You're right about Beck's ignorance of Judaism.
bantamwait (Diary) Saturday, February 26th at 3:26PM EDT (link)If he knew anything about it, he would realize that Conservative Judaism is just as political as Reform. I suspect he just can’t find it in him to criticize anything called “conservative” (or approve of anything called “reform”).
Let’s send the Marines to evacuate refugees from Libya and shut down the drug gangs in Mexico–and make the Marine hymn relevant again.
Um, no.
Greg Garrison (Diary) Saturday, February 26th at 5:14PM EDT (link)The fact that he didn’t mention Conservative Judaism does demonstrate that he’s just sort of making it up as he goes and didn’t research the topic, but neither the Conservative nor the Reform movement is political in the way that radical Islam is. Supporting Israel is a big part of my synagogue (Conservative) and most Conservative synagogues, so I suppose that that’s political, but the nature of the Jewish religion is different than Christianity and Islam because it is not about belief, but identity and observance.
Judaism is not a faith-based faith, but that doesn’t make it equivalent to Islamist ideology in any way. Converting to Christianity is a matter of placing your faith in the saving nature of Jesus’s sacrifice. Converting to Judaism involves (among other things) learning Hebrew, learning prayers, studying history, going through a number of initiation rituals, and making a commitment to be a part of and to support the Jewish people; it is not, fundamentally, an issue of belief. (I am too ignorant of Islam to attempt to describe it, but my understanding is that it is essentially faith-based.)
At any rate, except for the fact that he is a big gun rights supporter, my rabbi isn’t overtly political at all. Getting him to talk politics (American politics, at least) is not an easy task, and there are many things related to religion, interfaith cooperation, education, charity, etc that he would rather discuss and work on.
http://www.thejoyofreason.com
“The art of compromise, which is central to a successful democracy, is not something that people learn overnight.” – Donald Rumsfeld
Greg, I find this description of Judiasm re faith as quite interesting. Never have heard this
Mike gamecock DeVine (Diary) Saturday, February 26th at 5:22PM EDT (link)analysis before. I think you may well have very accurately nailed the lesser role fo faith in terms of the mechanics of converting to Judaism. But what about the what the OT books teach about faith?
Mike DeVine’s Examiner.com and Charlotte Observer columns
“One man with courage makes a majority.” – Andrew Jackson
Hey Mike, it's not that belief doesn't play a role...
Greg Garrison (Diary) Saturday, February 26th at 5:54PM EDT (link)It’s just not the defining characteristic of being Jewish. The declaration of faith that I signed when I converted begins, “I hereby declare my desire to accept the principles of the Jewish religion, to follow its practices and ceremonies, and to become a member of the Jewish people.” It’s a page long, but this first sentence captures the gist of it. My conversion is only considered valid by Conservative and Reform, btw. Orthodox Jews generally only accept Orthodox conversions as valid, and there are lots of variants in the Orthodox tradition, so there’s not even universal acceptance there.
The fact that I’m doing this on a Saturday shows that I’m not as observant as I probably should be. Many Jews see computer use between sundown on Friday night and sundown on Saturday as a violation of the Sabbath (called Shabbat).
The OT (not a super-popular term with many Jews, but I use it b/c people know what it means better than Torah) is broken into weekly portions, and a good chunk of weekly services is dedicated to reading (or singing) them aloud, in Hebrew (Reform does a lot in English, I think), as well as saying (singing) prayers. There’s also a sermon, and if it’s someone’s bar mitzvah (or bat mitzvah, for girls), then a 12- or 13-year-old leads a lot of the service.
Anyway, the belief of Abraham, Isaac, etc is important, and many Jews stress individual faith. It’s certainly not a non-theistic religion, and they teach the kids that the 613 commandments were given by God, which is why we are supposed to keep them. But it’s keeping the laws and traditions and celebrating Jewishness that are central. Faith isn’t an afterthought, but it’s not the core of the religion. Eternal damnation isn’t a Jewish teaching (I think), so avoiding it via salvation isn’t the focus of the religion.
I could be wrong on 99% of this. A rabbi would be a much better source.
http://www.thejoyofreason.com
“The art of compromise, which is central to a successful democracy, is not something that people learn overnight.” – Donald Rumsfeld
interesting and I love the disclaimer! - nt
Mike gamecock DeVine (Diary) Saturday, February 26th at 6:01PM EDT (link)Mike DeVine’s Examiner.com and Charlotte Observer columns
“One man with courage makes a majority.” – Andrew Jackson
I have mixed feelings about Beck.
runner12 (Diary) Friday, February 25th at 5:14PM EDT (link)One the one hand, I loved it when he took down ACORN and when he set the record straight with American history. This is where he shines and does much to educate people. Exposing Soros was not bad either.
However, I think at times he is over the top with his conspiracy theories and often uses fear and emotionalism to make his points. I have quit watching him because of it. I would personally like to see him abandon these tactics because do not think he needs them to get people to listen in. Some of the things he has been saying lately are just over the top, IMHO.
That being said, I can agree that some people’s obsession with attacking him is disturbing to say the least.
I agree.
hoosierteacher (Diary) Friday, February 25th at 7:51PM EDT (link)I love Limbaugh. Hannity is just ok, and not in Limbaugh’s league.
But Beck is… different. He is definately on our side, and he doesn’t just talk, he acts (rallies, etc). But he loses me on the conspiracy stuff. The 12th Imann and apocolypse stuff is a little over the top for me as conspiracies go. I’m a Christian, and I believe that a time of end time judgement is coming. I’m just not sure that I buy the version that Beck puts out there.
Still, I’m with Streiff (even if I’m on his bad side right now). The people that talk down about Beck and dismiss him or his show are snobs. Like Limbaugh, Beck is an entertainer and is going to use some humor and some off the wall schtick.
Limbaugh is to the 90′s and 00′s what Buckley was to the late 50′s and 60′s. I don’t elevate Beck that high, but he’s in the same category of conservative representatives. He takes the policy and proceedure wonkish crap and serves it to us commoners so it can be understood.
“Greater is an army of sheep led by a lion, than an army of lions led by a sheep” – Defoe
Hannity and Belle
bantamwait (Diary) Monday, February 28th at 1:59PM EDT (link)I’m sorry, whenever I watch Hannity all I can think of is Gaston from Beauty and the Beast.
Let’s send the Marines to evacuate refugees from Libya and shut down the drug gangs in Mexico–and make the Marine hymn relevant again.
Beck is, in many ways, necessary.
randy streu (Diary) Saturday, February 26th at 3:36PM EDT (link)Not to put too fine a point on it, but you need somebody at the fringes who can call shenanigans. Even if he’s wrong 80% of the time, he gets people looking in those directions. And then, sometimes, he’s right.
Without Beck throwing his handfuls of darts, we’d never hit those bulls-eyes, because nobody else is even throwing.
Blogging also at
SLC Republitarian
The Minority Report
Beck, Marilyn et al and Halley's Comet
Mike gamecock DeVine (Diary) Saturday, February 26th at 5:27PM EDT (link)I think some people that are great in certain areas in sports, rhetoric, acting, leadership etc that reach heights that others can’t, are able to do so, often, only because of the coping skills that are negative…more later
Mike DeVine’s Examiner.com and Charlotte Observer columns
“One man with courage makes a majority.” – Andrew Jackson
80% wrong is not a great percentage.
bantamwait (Diary) Monday, February 28th at 2:01PM EDT (link)I have a clock with a dead battery that tells the right time about that often.
Let’s send the Marines to evacuate refugees from Libya and shut down the drug gangs in Mexico–and make the Marine hymn relevant again.
Natural progression
doncorleone Friday, February 25th at 6:01PM EDT (link)One man threw the liberal “news” media on it’s ear, Rush LImbaugh, he has constantly said over his career that one of the main jobs of conservatism is to educate. Rush had the testicular fortitude to educate and take the fight to liberals w/ a smack to the jib, virtually unheard of at the time. Beck, is merely doing the same thing on t.v., these terrible threats to this great republic are supposed to make you uncomfortable, and he’s giiving us a long & sorely overdue, civics, sociology, history, and ideological dissertation on a nightly basis. Something the state-runs in all of their forms haven’t done in quite some time if ever.
Speak truth to power
Renascent (Diary) Friday, February 25th at 6:07PM EDT (link)I agree with the general tone of these comments. Beck can be quirky &/or paranoid at times, but no commentator that I know does more actual research and then presents the results to his audience, often in an on-air dialog with the authors he has been consulting. And he consistently encourages his audience to research topics for themselves.
It also should be said that, ever since the demonization of Joe McCarthy (which he partially brought on himself), it has been verboten to speak frankly about the role of the extreme left in American politics. The left has “no enemies to the left”, and the right has been intimidated against taking domestic positions that are openly anticommunist. Beck breaks that constraint, which is one reason he catches so much heat. He’s not perfect, but I appreciate this post defending him against feckless conservatives.
I challenge all of you that think GB is off base
johnnyd (Diary) Friday, February 25th at 6:36PM EDT (link)to watch his series on George Soros. Then get back to us on how much you did not know about Soros and his connections.
Any one person, who says that it is a game to play with people’s lives like Soros admits to doing, is not a friend of mine. Anyone who says that he has a God complex, and that he is a “messianic billionaire”, is no friend of mine. Anyone who says that the dollar needs to be reduced to the point it is no longer the world currency, is no friend of America. Anyone who says that America is the only country in the way of his “New World Order”, is no friend of America.
If you have not seen his shows on George Soros and many others, then you are not fully informed. GB uses their own words, many of which cannot be taken out of context. GB does his homework and expects every viewer to do the same, he says this every show. GB has liberal people on his staff and has made comments on how they were very unsettled by what GB has uncovered.
http://www.watchglennbeck.com/video/2010/November/glenn-beck-show-november-9-2010-the-puppet-master-revealed/
http://www.watchglennbeck.com/video/2010/November/glenn-beck-show-november-10-2010-the-puppet-masters-plan-for-america/
http://www.watchglennbeck.com/video/2010/November/glenn-beck-show-november-11-2010-puppet-master-the-final-chapter/
How many times do we need to listen to a man that wants to destroy America as we know it, before we do something?
It really amazes me that conservatives let the progressives dictate who they can get their information from. Does it not tell you something when the progressives attack GB so ravenously? It also amazes me that conservatives are afraid to mention that they have listened/watched GB. Once again the progressives win.
If we continue to let the progressives dictate the narrative like they have the last 50 years we are doomed.
Just like GB says, how can he get away with exposing all of these people on Fox if he is not backing it up with facts?
FYI, here is his apology from his earlier comments this week:
“Glenn has always said that if he made a mistake he would always admit it and own up to it.
“I have always told you that if I make a mistake, I’m going to lead with it,” Glenn said on radio this morning.
“I made a mistake on Tuesday and I want to make sure that you understand that I was wrong on this and I also apologize for it.”
“I do this because I’ve always told you to do your own homework and in this case I didn’t do enough homework. I also tell you that you have to guard your word. You have to guard your honor and your integrity because people have to be able to believe you. The only way people will believe you is if when you get it wrong, you do apologize and you point it out.”
“I lead with my mistakes because I think it’s important as a human being to demonstrate to other human beings that we can be stronger if we correct our mistakes and flaws and move on.”
On Tuesday, Glenn made a comment regarding a group of political activist rabbis that turned out to be inaccurate. He also made “one of the worst analogies of all time” when he started to draw comparisons between reform Judaism and Islamic extremism.
“It was just, it was a nightmare,” Glenn said of the comment which he knew was inaccurate.
“I’m on the air for four hours every single day, four hours every day. Live, without a script. That is a recipe for disaster,” Glenn joked.
Glenn explained that sometimes the unique relationship between you, the listener, and the host of the show can be a casual one where mistakes can be made.
“I’ve told you to guard your credibility. There’s no way you’re never going to be wrong. There’s no way you’re never going to say something stupid.”
“When you make a mistake, for honor’s sake, you correct it and you don’t hide from it and you go, man, was I stupid, and I was ignorant, and I apologize,” Glenn said.
“Abe Foxman brought [the mistakes] to my attention,” Glenn said. “I don’t agree with Abe Foxman on really, I don’t think anything.”
“But on this one he’s right. And to Abe and everybody else, if I offended you, it was not my intent. I see how I did that, and I apologize for the action and the words.”
Sorry if my post is too long.
Remember when Air America was still on the Air in America?
kowalski (Diary) Saturday, February 26th at 10:10AM EDT (link)Air America had people on the radio every day (while not paying their bills) and I used to listen to them on my way to and from work in my Teenage Moonbat era. Certainly nothing anyone on Air America ever said was any more distored than anything Beck says, and often less.
It’s just that Air America was never *popular* enough to pay their bills and stay on the air, and liberals despise that because they can’t understand why they’re not popular, when they try as hard as they can to be popular. Air America was supposed to be the ultimate “cool kids” radio destination just as Current TV was supposed to become the ultimate “cool kids” alternative internet media destination, and none of that worked, outside a very small hard core of fervent supporters. Both of them are money-losing enterprises. Air America was too raunchy and coarse for the wine-sipping liberals to listen to on their way to work, so they tuned it out in favor of their local NPR station.
Even if the Republicans are successful in defunding NPR at the federal level, NPR will continue on. They have a very dedicated and large group of people who donate money to them. They might have to roll back a few of their really unjustifiable expenses but what organization in America isn’t having to do that right now?
But liberals don’t need to worry: Arianna Huffington just got $300 million dollars for her liberal/leftist extravaganza, dahling, and the Daily Show on Comedy Central along with Bill Maher’s program are still popular tourist spots for liberals who need to laugh. Despite the departure of Keith Olbermann, MSNBC is still several clicks to the left of CNN, which is several clicks to the left of anyone whose name isn’t Jane Fonda. And when they get serious, they can always read the Newspapers of Record in the form of the New York Times and the Washington Post.
They just don’t like *anyone* not agreeing with them and being popular while disagreeing with them. Rush Limbaugh is the Most Wanted Man in America and he knows it very well.
Liberals and liberal perspectives either overt or slightly sugarcoated are still, by far, the dominant media and entertainment voices in this country. They just can’t stand any competition, because it means that somewhere, someone doesn’t like them better, and they can’t stand that, because they’re perfect!
Defend Liberty — Join the NRA | Live in Massachusetts? Join GOAL.
Why my Stars....
kowalski (Diary) Saturday, February 26th at 10:15AM EDT (link)The Washington Post this very morning through their corporate website is helping to promote the cause of publicly-funded National Public Radio. Go look!
Defend Liberty — Join the NRA | Live in Massachusetts? Join GOAL.
By the way I left off the ;) after the 1st graf. (nt)
kowalski (Diary) Saturday, February 26th at 10:18AM EDT (link)Defend Liberty — Join the NRA | Live in Massachusetts? Join GOAL.
Yes, and I actually met one of the 15 people that tuned in - nt
Mike gamecock DeVine (Diary) Saturday, February 26th at 10:19AM EDT (link)Mike DeVine’s Examiner.com and Charlotte Observer columns
“One man with courage makes a majority.” – Andrew Jackson
And to think, he's an actual U.S. Senator now (nt)
kowalski (Diary) Saturday, February 26th at 11:01AM EDT (link).
Defend Liberty — Join the NRA | Live in Massachusetts? Join GOAL.
ROFLMAO - 5555555555 - nt
Mike gamecock DeVine (Diary) Saturday, February 26th at 4:55PM EDT (link)Mike DeVine’s Examiner.com and Charlotte Observer columns
“One man with courage makes a majority.” – Andrew Jackson
I know this is 12 yrs l8r but...
wethepeoplevstheprogressives (Diary) Monday, February 28th at 2:27AM EDT (link)I don’t comment often so I surely wouldn’t proclaim that which wasn’t….therefore I want to thank u the creator of this fine post in helping me finally convince my mother of alot of issues facing this country and that it doesn’t matter that Glenn is of a different religion because “I just don’t understand that”(REALLY PLEASE DON’T REPLY TO THIS PART, ITS MY BATTLE NOT URS, even Atheist have some versions of their own “crosses to bare” GUYS BUT I WASN’T GONNA LIE IN MY THANK U HAD TO TELL IT ALL) and he is friends with Sarah Palin…………after going through what you wrote above and following all the links with her and the video I already had I finally have a convert in spirit and soul not just because her boy believes it!!!
MANY MANY THANKS and I am still working on the other stuff :>)
my apologies to Webster
wethepeoplevstheprogressives (Diary) Monday, February 28th at 2:31AM EDT (link)and its generally a fine idea to proof read a post before hitting send especially after a longgggggg weekend! Many apologies for the GRAMMatical (or as i might have typed in the original grammmmatacall) errors in the cluster above!!!!
Liberals have a HERD mentality
gumbeaux Monday, February 28th at 7:43AM EDT (link)Liberals function and operate with HERD mentality. A few know why they are stampeding over something and the rest follow instinctively. The problem with this is that the HERD thinks the few that are leading the stampede know why they are stampeding. Big mistake. It is questionable as to whether the ones leading the stampede know why they are doing it and are oblivious to the fact that stampede is not the answer. Liberals are driven by emotion and have a knee-jerk reaction to everything so if it feels good at the time, DO IT! They have dumbed-down their minions to a point that independent thinking has gone out the window and they are told what to think. The unions work the same way and they want all of us to be part of the HERD. If the word Liberal does not work for you, substitute the words Socialist or Marxist.
Conservatives need a Beck
bikerpatriot Monday, February 28th at 8:19AM EDT (link)Conservatives by definition work hard do their part and sit on the sidelines. We need a Beck to stir us to action!!
If you look at his track record you will find he has done the research and is right most of the time.
The left is afraid of the truth because they know the average American when informed will revolt against their agenda.
Anyone that pays attention will have to agree with Beck about the current criminal executive branch. The president is in bed with radicals and union thugs.
Beck and Palin are the best thing to happen to the conservative movement. They have awakened the sleeping dragon.
Lefties if you don’t like what Glen Beck says DO YOUR OWN RESEARCH you will find if you like America and your way of life he is spot on it is coming to an end.
Appeasers of the left
Plumb_Bob (Diary) Monday, February 28th at 9:11AM EDT (link)The moderates who refer to Beck as anything remotely like that which the left pretends him to be, are those who genuinely fear the left and still hope they can earn a reputation as “good” Republicans. They are appeasers, and they are the dupes and slaves of the tyrannical left. Note them carefully, stay far, far away from them, and NEVER allow one of them to lead anything for conservatives — their fearful mentality will poison us and make us slaves.
—-
We will not have a righteous government again until we become a righteous nation again.
(A collection of my political essays from 2008-2010 can be found at www.plumbbobblog.com. All visitors welcome.)
Can't equate him to Limbaugh...
lakecrazy Monday, February 28th at 9:29AM EDT (link)As Becks popularity began to grow, and he moved to Fox, I listened to the other radio shows to see if they were commenting on anything Beck was doing. Levin, Limbaugh etc would make comments re the amount of books Beck was releasing or the time his tv show came on (Five o’clock) etc. Now, I hear them talk about Van Jones, George Soros, the Democrat Socialist of America and others. These names were brought to the conservative talk shows,commentators and the American Public by Glenn Beck.
I’ve read all of the comments and I still don’t see anyone commenting on where he has been wrong. You all say he is wrong a certain percentage of time but can’t or won’t name what he is wrong about. Please educate us. Tell us what is wrong. Don’t let us walk around with incorrect information. If possible use their own words to tell us where Beck got something wrong.
Beck is emotional, that is what makes some conservatives uncomfortable
silkywiley Monday, February 28th at 11:12AM EDT (link)I retired from investment banking in 2002. A friend told me to listen to Beck’s TV show when he was on CNN. He was succinctly describing the coming collapse on Wall Street. I knew he was telling the truth. I didn’t want to know it, but I bet the people who woke up with a rider outside in the dark, yelling “The British are Coming, The British are Coming” weren’t so happy either, but were glad they prepared and hid all the barnyard animals and their daughters. As far as his popularity during a Republican administration, he had no problem increasing his audience during Bush, Bush who never say a spending program he didn’t like. Beck will hold conservatives feet to the fire. Maybe that is why the Republicans would like to neutralize him.
I don’t listen to radio, don’t know a thing about his radio show, but his analysis and research on his TV show are excellent. Tell me where he has been wrong, Inflation? Are you paying more for everything, is the fed printing money? Has Obama cut off and attempted to destroy all the oil, coal and gas business in the US? Are windmills and solar panel, dim sources of power and white elephants? Should you invest in commodities? A lot of smart investment people are doing that. Conflating Islam radicals with communist radicals, they have a long history of supporting each other in Europe. The radical communists in Germany got their explosives and armor form the Islamists. They had some bloody falling outs but they have the same aim, destruction of the Western Civilization, they will fight each other over the spoils later.
Come on the guy is right. He just comes in a cuddly and adorable package, and conservatives like those plastic rock jawed or those back room old boys.
Further, the insiders in the conservative movement and the Republicans better find a candidate or see Obama recrowned in 2012.
GREAT points 'wiley! Yes, most Republicans rightly emphasize reason and eschew "feelings" BUT
Mike gamecock DeVine (Diary) Monday, February 28th at 11:17AM EDT (link)most all of us choose choose conservative policies because they work and we care about the lives of ourselves and we the people. Beck also has reasoned this stuff out but is like a lot of us that were raised on Phil Donahue..smile. I will say that my conversion from dem to gop in 2001 was fueled also by emotion as in caring about the poor and middle class and that dem policies hurt them.
Moreover, I have also subscribed to David Horowitz’s argument that the way to beat Dems also includes making moral arguments against them and that requires some emotion.
Mike DeVine’s Examiner.com and Charlotte Observer columns
“One man with courage makes a majority.” – Andrew Jackson
Okay, back to my hobby horse, universal service
bantamwait (Diary) Monday, February 28th at 2:09PM EDT (link)Weren’t the people who heard Paul Revere supposed to do more than just hide their livestock and daughters? I seem to recall something about keeping arms at the ready and riding toward the fight. I know that most of the people on this site feel very strongly about the “voluntary” part in an all-volunteer military, but…
Let’s send the Marines to evacuate refugees from Libya and shut down the drug gangs in Mexico–and make the Marine hymn relevant again.
bantam', I guess you'll have to connect the dots between Beck and
Mike gamecock DeVine (Diary) Monday, February 28th at 4:40PM EDT (link)universal service for me to get on that horse
Mike DeVine’s Examiner.com and Charlotte Observer columns
“One man with courage makes a majority.” – Andrew Jackson
5 Silkey, its good to get your experienced perspective
Common_Cents (Diary) Monday, February 28th at 11:52AM EDT (link)I totally reject the comparisons of Beck to Stewart, totally off base.
I am referring to his TV show as his radio show seems lighter and more entertainment driven.
Beck has done more in the last couple years than nearly any conservative anywhere in waking up new audiences to what is going on. He reaches a demo that no other conservative has really tapped. Love Rush, but he could never tap this audience. Look at Beck as a new marketer to reach a new audience. His audience will then be more than likely open to giving Rush and others a shot as well. They are a heckuva tandem.
Remember your own personal journey. You start out somewhere, real green, just getting the feeling that something isn’t right and progress from there. It’s a continuum. Beck appeals to those people who now realize they aren’t alone in thinking something is very wrong, but they can’t put their finger on it.
Instead of harnessing and welcoming those new motivated people, many are poo pooing him for not being in the traditional conservative club. He is definitely at least 80% our friend as he really tries to base most of his material on the constitution, and IMHO deserves 100% support in moving the needle.
He doesn’t label himself as a conservative but I have to ask, do labels mean much anyway? Especially self imposed labels? Charlie Crist was an R? How many Rinos are now wrapping themselves in the conservative cloak, does that make them any more conservative? I could go on and on. It’s about beliefs, actions, and what results one delivers is what really defines them, not some self imposed label.
As far as supporting a Republican in office. Beck will be fair as he has demonstrated in the past, but importantly he will hold anyone’s feet to the fire. Had the rest of Republicans/conservatives held members of our own party more accountable in the past we wouldn’t be nearly in this mess either.
He’s the first that highlights his mistakes and is upfront and unconditional in his apology and corrections. Show me anyone, anyone in the media that even attempts to do this.
Some discount him for being vocal about his alcoholism. (they are always in recovery, never ‘recovered’ BTW). Many of those people who follow the plan of AA in continuous recovery get stripped down to nothing and rebuilt to come out the other side, real, in touch w/ their feelings(ewww), much more honest, nothing to prove. I have personal experience w/ my own father who hasn’t missed more than a handful of weekly meetings in 40 years. Rock solid, real, I tell ya.
I’ve watched a show or so a week and because of this thread and comments, I realize I should and will be recording it and watching many more. Anyone else here should watch it for 1 or 2 weeks and then form an opinion. Also record John Stewart and watch both of them back to back to see there is no comparison. Beck always says don’t believe him, do your own homework, that includes watching him for a couple weeks instead of forming opinions from media reports and others etc…
“Fathom the hypocrisy of a Government
that requires every citizen to prove
they are insured…. but not everyone
must prove they are a citizen.” -Ben Stein
“In individuals, insanity is rare; but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule.”[especially in DC] – Friedrich Nietzsche
Beck's show
lakecrazy Monday, February 28th at 12:16PM EDT (link)His shows are on You tube and other places if you want access to any of them. He gets some of his information from a great guy in New Zealand. Trevor has a blog called newzeal.blogspot.com. Look up his Obama Files, there are well over a hundred and its all documented research… it will scare you.
crucial points make common sense - nt
Mike gamecock DeVine (Diary) Monday, February 28th at 4:53PM EDT (link)Mike DeVine’s Examiner.com and Charlotte Observer columns
“One man with courage makes a majority.” – Andrew Jackson
What I find interesting about the left. . .
patriotaz Monday, February 28th at 11:34AM EDT (link)is when Glenn Beck presents something and backs it up with a multitude of facts and real videos showing the words coming from the source the left comes out “SCREAMING”. That tells me that Glenn Beck has hit a nerve and is really, really close to home. This outrage about Glenn Beck and the attempt to marginalize him is coming from the people who most want him to “shut-up.” And, I wouldn’t be surprised if George Soros is behind all this rancor on the left. I have watched Glenn Beck’s show now for almost a year and the amount of information he presents with credible facts is amazing. What is more amazing is that people are willing to turn a ‘blind eye’ to facts that have turned out to be true and his predictions have turned out to be correct. It’s frightening to me because this is exactly what people did with Hitler–they ignored the signs and actually stood up for Hitler and we all know how that turned out.
I also find that people who ‘bad mouth’ Glenn Beck actually don’t watch his show and their opinions are based on what they hear from the left-wing media. To me, those are the people that are idiots and are going to get us killed.
Glenn Beck and the Left. . .
patriotaz Monday, February 28th at 11:41AM EDT (link)when Glenn Beck presents something and backs it up with a multitude of facts and real videos showing the words coming from the source the left comes out “SCREAMING”. That tells me that Glenn Beck has hit a nerve and is really, really close to home. This outrage about Glenn Beck and the attempt to marginalize him is coming from the people who most want him to “shut-up.” And, I wouldn’t be surprised if George Soros is behind all this rancor on the left. I have watched Glenn Beck’s show now for almost a year and the amount of information he presents with credible facts is amazing. What is more amazing is that people are willing to turn a ‘blind eye’ to facts that have turned out to be true and his predictions have turned out to be correct. It’s frightening to me because this is exactly what people did with Hitler–they ignored the signs and actually stood up for Hitler and we all know how that turned out.
I also find that people who ‘bad mouth’ Glenn Beck actually don’t watch his show and their opinions are based on what they hear from the left-wing media. To me, those are the people that are idiots and are going to get us killed.
Great post, Az. Post it again.
bantamwait (Diary) Monday, February 28th at 2:19PM EDT (link)nt
Let’s send the Marines to evacuate refugees from Libya and shut down the drug gangs in Mexico–and make the Marine hymn relevant again.
Emotion vs. Reason, false, not mutually exlusive
Common_Cents (Diary) Monday, February 28th at 12:02PM EDT (link)I get the feeling some are pitching emotion vs. reason. That is just not true, they are unique and different.
Reason provides impetus on what to do, how to do it
Emotion provides motivation, when to do it(now), how hard and passionately to do it, how to persevere etc….
“Fathom the hypocrisy of a Government
that requires every citizen to prove
they are insured…. but not everyone
must prove they are a citizen.” -Ben Stein
“In individuals, insanity is rare; but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule.”[especially in DC] – Friedrich Nietzsche
well stated Cents and
Mike gamecock DeVine (Diary) Monday, February 28th at 12:21PM EDT (link)see above
http://www.redstate.com/streiff/2011/02/25/the-goofy-attacks-on-glenn-beck/#comment-7176
Mike DeVine’s Examiner.com and Charlotte Observer columns
“One man with courage makes a majority.” – Andrew Jackson
I subconciously stole your comment
Common_Cents (Diary) Monday, February 28th at 1:22PM EDT (link)I apologize. Hat tip GC!
“Fathom the hypocrisy of a Government
that requires every citizen to prove
they are insured…. but not everyone
must prove they are a citizen.” -Ben Stein
“In individuals, insanity is rare; but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule.”[especially in DC] – Friedrich Nietzsche
DeVine Law can easily get you acquitted - nt
Mike gamecock DeVine (Diary) Monday, February 28th at 4:08PM EDT (link)Mike DeVine’s Examiner.com and Charlotte Observer columns
“One man with courage makes a majority.” – Andrew Jackson
Matters of Perspective
KingstonJW (Diary) Monday, February 28th at 1:15PM EDT (link)One lesson conservatives have trouble with is understanding or even appreciating matters of diverse perspective and audience. Liberals seem to tolerate their own messiness better and as a result appear less likely to knee-cap their own. Opinions can be an ugly business.
As an entertainer and educator, Glenn Beck uses his talents to give us an appreciable perspective but I have to admit it, he wears thin on me at times. His own goofy behavior will jump my perspective on how high the shark is allowed to go, which is probably different than someone else’s opinion on that. On the other hand, he doesn’t wear on me nearly as much as… let’s say, Michael Savage. What they have in common however, is far more interesting that what they differ on in both style and analysis.
One great thing I like about Beck, is that he actually apologizes. This seems a rare element in opinion politics. One might argue that he apologizes only to keep market share, but I choose to believe that he recognizes his exuberance and is genuine.
Another Beck quality is that he doesn’t require that I believe him or call me stupid if I don’t. Indeed, he often reminds his audience to not believe him and do their own research.
Jennifer Rubin and Peter Wehner also have perspectives uniquely generated to their audience. My perspective is that they are actually at a disadvantage to contribute in the modern era. Print media and opinion writing doesn’t allow for the same kind of conversation that radio talk and TV allows for. Because writers have to put there entire point in a limited word count, their perspective of thoughtful conservatism has different criteria. We should get that.
So here we are. I like to think I was thoughtful here and I am certainly some flavor of conservative. But one of you are absolutely going to hate some of this. We simply see something differently in perspective. With more than 300 million people in the United States, is that a surprise?
Should we decide to focus more on the integrity of our best ideas instead of personalities, it probably doesn’t matter.
@KingstonJW on Twitter
Partially true, completely a lie
markinidaho Monday, February 28th at 2:29PM EDT (link)It is true that if you listen to Glenn Beck without engaging your brain, you could become worried about an apocalypse. Then, on the other hand, if you engage your brain, the inevitability of an apocalypse happening happening may still be there, but the timing is by no means certain – which is why he is talking about it in the first place (to delay it as long as possible!)
Those that would shut him down because he worries people are nuts. You don’t shoot the messenger that tells you the Huns are just over the hill, you listen to the messenger and take appropriate measures to repel the Huns. If you don’t believe the messenger, then you either a) ignore him and get slaughtered if he is right, or b) check out what he has to say for yourself. The left does a) very well.
The writers are following Bill Kristol's move to criticize
Juggernaut (Diary) Monday, February 28th at 6:59PM EDT (link)Glen Beck, as Kristol interviewed on pMSNBC shows like Morning Joe the momentum grew and apparently we have a few brave alleged conservatives. Never heard of either writer but clearly they are cowards who watch MSNBC and lie or they are ignorant of the lies msnbc spews. Google “Bush war criminal” and msnbc as search terms and you’ll get all the lies and fear mongering.
http://www.weeklystandard.com/articles/stand-freedom_541404.html
If Fox moved Beck show to a later time slot the loony left would rant more due to greater exposure. I don’t care about the Caliphate story because no one knows the outcome of middle east protests nor the future gov changes, so its a coin toss.
Fact is these so call conservatives are trying to get attention yet they have failed to comprehend that Beck is a Libertarian, not a mainstream conservative as they wish people to think of him. And Beck isn’t mainstream LP either.
Remember Bill Kristol is a Neocon which means he was taught by his father aka godfather of neoconservatism, Irving Kristol. Or like other neocons perhaps Kristol was a liberal before switching sides which means his demeanor shall be wishy washy at times.
On the other hand, Beck does need to sharpen his message as many of his stories are thinly tied together and at times have little relevance. Other Beck epsiodes are if A then B = C meaning they could become true if Obama goes unwatched which is why Beck has slowed liberals down and they don’t like it.
RomneyCare is Right Wing Socialism –
Romney “severely conservative”? That’s the opposite of a “compassionate conservative” like George W. Bush? Actually, we know what a severely conservative is. It’s Dick Cheney and Mitt Romney is no Dick Cheney.
Confusing at best
airfredd22 (Diary) Monday, February 28th at 10:37PM EDT (link)I must say that at best I was confused as to your position on Beck. At some points you were in agreement with the critics and at others you defended beck.
You seemd to be quoting people with quotation marks and jumped all over the place.
It was difficult to find any cogent points.
The bottom line as far as Beck is concerned is that he always cautions his listeners and viewers to check the information he offers for themselves. He is offering opinions based on his study of history and what he considers to be mistakes made by Americans in recognizing the signs of repetition.
History has shown us time and again that monstrosities were committed in the past and are still being committed today around the world. Please don’t forget that Germany with its’ highly educated population and a great culture committed the atrocities of the Holocaust. The the Germans see that coming, of course not. They could not imagine such an event. Did the Russians of 1917 see the future for what it would be? It fell in1991 and may now be on it’s way back into the darkness. Did the chinese anticipate the future under Mao? The Cubans under Castro? No, none of them thought the events that followed the rise of these dictators were possible.
Glenn Beck is the canary in the coal mine. He is warning us of the possible events that may lay in our future.
I for one am grateful for the caution he is bringing to those willing to listen study what is happening every day.
Fred Speckmann
commonsenseforamericans@yahoo.com
Wrong about both Judaism and Islam
scarletb Tuesday, March 1st at 7:05PM EDT (link)I haven’t read the whole stream, but Beck is wrong about both Reform Judaism and Radical Islam.
Reform Judaism is a spiritual path and not a political forum, although social justice is an important component. Reform Jews are usually less religiously observant than the Orthodox, meaning, they usually don’t observe kosher laws and the dictates of the Sabbath.
Radical Islamists are highly observant people who use their faith to justify their destructive actions.
Although, to be fair, so do fundamentalists of all stripes (Christian, Jewish, and Muslim).
Clarify for me
PowerToThePeople (Diary) Tuesday, March 1st at 7:23PM EDT (link)what you meant by your last line before I take issue with it. You know, the whole newtone thing would be hard to keep if you are stating that fundamental Christians are in the same boat as radical Islam. Or for that matter fundamental Islam, Judaism, or Christianity. If I misunderstood your point, let me apologize upfront, but I must and will take issue with your statement if you are trying to equate the head chopping off, plane into building flying, suicide bombing radicalism of the Islam faith with those of us who are staunch Christians/Jews/Muslims.. Last time I checked no christian/Jew/ were blowing themselves up in order to kill civilians, chopping heads off of those who disagree with us, or any other thing the radicals do. And last time I checked, most Muslims who do not buy into the nonsense of the radicals are not doing any of the above things either.