Fox Nation vs. Reality: Mitt Romney’s Chinese Jeep Myth Revisited

Posted by on January 15, 2013 at 1:47 pm. 6 Comments :

When Fox News grabs hold of a blatant and self-serving lie, they just won’t let go no matter the cost to their credibility (assuming they had any). The latest of example of this destructive tenacity is a story on Fox Nation that unbelievably declares that “Romney Was Right: Chrysler CEO Announces Plans to Build More Jeeps in China.”

Fox Nation

Umm, no, Romney was not right. In fact he was so outrageously, horrendously, desperately wrong that his craven assertions about Jeep manufacturing were awarded “Lie of the Year” for 2012 by Politifact:

“Even though Jeep’s parent company gave a quick and clear denial, Mitt Romney repeated it and his campaign turned it into a TV ad. And they stood by the claim, even as the media and the public expressed collective outrage against something so obviously false.”

Of course, the Romney campaign had explicitly castoff any respect for truth when they introduced their Etch-a-Sketch strategy and declared that facts had “jumped the shark.” But for the Fox Nationalists to reach back to last year’s most notorious falsehood and feature it on their news feed is an act of the purest chutzpah.

The Washington Examiner article to which Fox Nation linked provided no new information relating to Chrysler’s Jeep production plans. Chrysler has always maintained that there would be jeep facilities in China and elsewhere for foreign consumption, but that the U.S. would be the “backbone of the brand,” and that American jobs would not be transferred to other countries. That is still the case and was merely reiterated in the recent news from Chrysler.

Nevertheless, Fox is dishonestly advancing a lie that was soundly debunked long ago, and with a smug, ersatz satisfaction that they were proven right, even though they were not. The only explanation for this departure from reality is that Fox is attempting to set new records for pathetic idiocy. Luckily for them, their editors are already the reigning record holders.

[Update 1/19/13] Talk about tenacious… Not four days since the Fox Nationalists posted this nonsense, they have repeated the falsehood with another posting headlined “Politifact’s ‘Lie Of The Year’ Is Actually True.” This time they sourced their sloppy pseudo-journalism to the Weekly Standard. But it is no less a lie now than it was the first time they proffered it.

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Lust For Strife: ‘The Citadel’ And Glenn Beck’s ‘Independence’ Are Betting On Catastrophe

Posted by on January 15, 2013 at 10:29 am. 6 Comments :

The geniuses who form the brain trust of the far right are trampling all over each other as they scamper for high ground to avoid the Commie Tsunami they imagine is bearing down on them. The fear is palpable as these whimpering Apocalyptoids rush to save themselves from what they are certain is a world-ending crush of progressive tyranny being orchestrated by the evil forces of self-government known as democracy.

Since the extreme righteous-wing was unable to thwart American voters last November, returning Satan’s Lieutenant Obama to the formerly White House, they are now intent on demonstrating their patriotism by advocating acts of treason and aspiring to secession.

That is the theme embodied in the quixotic blueprints being drawn up for utopian conclaves by folks like Glenn Beck and the architects of The Citadel. These would-be nation-states peddle phony promises of security and liberty to rubes who are convinced that those principles are so fragile under our current Marxist, Muslim, Kenyan president that they are certain to disappear by lunchtime. And the panic produced thereby is a market opportunity for Armageddon profiteers.

Glenn Beck’s version of this Exodus is a city/theme park that he calls Independence, USA. That also happens to be the name of the city that his Mormon faith teaches will be the place that Jesus will choose when he returns to usher in the end of time. Beck doesn’t have any plans for how he will raise the $2 billion he says the project will cost, but it will almost certainly come from the hides of his sheep. As I wrote last week…

“The development includes all the necessities that a demented doomsday prepper could desire. There would be farming land where residents could till the soil and produce their own food. There would be a mall with shops populated by craftsmen who would also teach the young’uns how to make their own rocking chairs and crossbows. He also plans a media center where he would produce entertainment “that would challenge viewers without resorting to a loss of human decency.” It is in that area that he would train new journalists in his techniques of lying and fear mongering. There would be a research facility for…God knows what. Recognizing the need for diversions from all of this ecstasy, Beck plans to include a theme park. And of course, centrally located, would be a church for his parishioners to worship.”

Now it appears that Beck has competition. Another contestant in the Doomsday Bonanza Sweepstakes is a project called the Citadel. Its backers are a mysterious cabal centered around what appears to be an arms manufacturer located in somebody’s garage. Some reports cite the founder as Christian Hyman (aka Sam Kerodin), a convicted extortionist who, in 2004 was sentenced to 30 months in federal prison for setting himself up as a security consultant in order to “shake down shopping malls by publicizing that they were especially vulnerable to terrorist attacks unless they paid him not to do so.”

The Citadel’s terms for residency are a maze of contradictions. They boast that there is “No credit check. No background check. Zero down payment. Zero interest. Zero property taxes,” but you still have to pass an application review and sign their “Citadel Patriot Agreement.” The agreement is described as “a voluntary set of conditions to which every single Patriot who accepts a residence in the Citadel must agree, in writing.” But it’s not really voluntary if you are required to agree. The Citadel claims it “will be built as a fortified bastion of Liberty.” However, The terms “fortified” and “liberty” sort of contradict one another. Plus, to the Citadelians, liberty also means being forced to own a rifle, a handgun and an AR-15 assault weapon, and be trained in their use (you have to pass a test). How convenient that a community founded by a gun dealer requires its residents to purchase guns.

This bastion of liberty also has some pretty severe exclusionary policies. First and foremost is their open antagonism to “Marxists, Socialists, Liberals and Establishment Republicans,” whom they discourage from applying on their home page by warning that they “will likely find that life in our community is incompatible with their existing ideology and preferred lifestyles.” What’s more, anyone who is, or becomes disabled such that they cannot pass the firearms test will not meet their standards and will be denied or expelled. Blind patriots, or even those with severe arthritis, would be unable to pass the marksmanship tests. Also, felons and others not legally permitted to possess firearms would be unable to comply with the requirement to own such weapons. (Wouldn’t that include the founder who is a convicted extortionist?)

The one angle these hucksters appear to have missed is the tax exemptions they would have if they registered these properties as churches. While The Citadel does not seem to be overtly religious, Beck has long cast himself as a televangelist with tearful entreaties to his Lord and sermons on society’s abandonment of Him. Beck famously declared that he has seen “the finger of God” and frequently regales his flock with assertions that God has anointed his path. However, Beck never explains why God later permits him to discard those previously divine projects. Beck’s God may have a touch of ADHD. Consequently, no one will be surprised if none of these projects ever come to fruition.

Not to be left out, Fox News has jumped into the fray with not one, but two promotions for The Citadel. Their Fox Nation web site featured the project in separate postings of the very same article from CNSNews, which is owned by the uber-rightist Media Research Center.

Fox Nation

Notice that the Fox Nationalists present these stories in an overtly partisan manner. One headline touts the operation as “Patriotic” despite its inherent separatist and exclusionary policies and the criminal background of its founder. The other headline brags about the “Live and Let Live” lifestyle – unless you are a liberal. The cognitive disconnect required to put both of those concepts into that single headline and image is almost painful.

The natural affinity between Fox and these Last Chance boondoggles is readily apparent. They both devote much of their energy and resources to spreading horror stories about a worldwide collapse of civilization. They both profit from the irrational fear that such stories generate. They both employ propagandists whose job it is to incite terror and suspicion amongst the paranoid yokels who are their target audience/consumer. And they both market a brand of Armageddon that is uniquely designed to enrich their leaders.

It is astonishing, and somewhat depressing, that there are so many misfits who are susceptible to this con game. But if Jim Jones could get nearly a thousand disciples to follow him to the jungles of Guyana (and take their own lives), the far better financed and media savvy successors to his model of salvation have the potential to cause much greater damage. The only prospect for apocalypse is the one being shaped by these false prophets. Let’s hope the flock will pull the wool away from their eyes in time to avoid something tragic.


Fox Nation vs. Reality: Gun Lobbyists Don’t Shoot People – Their Kids Do

Posted by on January 14, 2013 at 1:33 pm. 2 Comments :

Today Fox Nation went after Joe Biden’s Gun Violence Prevention Task Force by reporting that one of the members is the father of a young man who was convicted in 2008 of plotting a Columbine-style attack at his school. But that was only half of the story.

Fox Nation

Thomas Nee was president of the Boston Police Patrolman’s Association. He was selected to be a member of the task force due to his life-long career in law enforcement and his 30 year association with Biden. Unfortunately, he also happens to have a son who ran afoul of the law.

Joseph Nee was a teenager when he reportedly conspired with his friend, Tobin Kerns, to commit an assault on the students and faculty of his Marshfield, MA, school. He was convicted and sentenced to nine months, with another two years of probation. The defense noted that it was Joseph who went to the police to report the plot, which resulted in his arrest and that of his friend. Consequently, due to Joseph’s renunciation of the activity and cooperation with law enforcement, no one was ever actually threatened or harmed.

The article posted by the Fox Nationalists featured the sensationalist headline “Member Of Biden’s ‘Gun Control Task Force’ Has Son Convicted Of Planning Columbine-Style Attack.” The clear intent on the part of Fox was to tarnish the task force’s reputation in order to bias public opinion against its work. None of the details were included by Fox or the Breitbart News column which was its source.

Also not included was the fact that the President of the NRA has also had family problems with regard to criminal gun use. David Keene’s son was convicted of shooting at another man in an incident of road rage. The younger Keene was sentenced to ten years in prison for attempted murder.

To the extent that Fox desires to discredit Biden’s task force by publicizing the actions of a single member’s family, the NRA should be similarly liable for the actions of the spawn of its president. If anything, these kids are a warning sign of the potential risks associated with growing up in families where firearms are revered. Both of these fathers were ardent gun advocates and users, and they raised their kids in households where such weaponry was commonplace.

However, neither of these fathers can reasonably be prohibited from involving themselves in the public discourse on gun violence because of the actions of their sons. And this one-sided effort by Fox to impose a form of censorship via smear tactics is unconscionable, unethical, and further evidence of their unfitness to be regarded as a credible news enterprise.


He’s Baaack! James O’Keefe’s Latest Exercise In Lame: The Gun Free Episode

Posted by on January 14, 2013 at 4:48 am. 3 Comments :

See the update to this story here.

James O'KeefeRemember this guy: James O’Keefe, a self-styled citizen journalist whose shenanigans have been financed by the likes of Andrew Breitbart. O’Keefe is best known for producing videos that have been deliberately edited to smear his victims and deceive his audience.

Among his most notorious adventures were: His attacks on ACORN, an organization that was later proven to have done nothing unlawful; His attempt to seduce a CNN reporter aboard his “Love Boat” that blew up in his face when his accomplice exposed him; His unlawful trespassing into a Senator’s office disguised as a telephone repairman, which resulted in his conviction for that criminal activity; His effort to demonstrate the existence of voter fraud wherein the only evidence of any fraud was that he engaged in himself; His misrepresentation of NPR officials that was so bad that Glenn Beck’s web site debunked and denounced him; And let’s not forget his alleged drugging and harassment of a female colleague who claims to have been held against her will at a barn in his New Jersey home.

Now choirboy O’Keefe is teasing his latest deception, a project he promises will make journalists angry. Of course, actual journalists have always been angered by charlatans who disgrace their profession. O’Keefe’s current publisher, the conspiracy web rag WorldNetDaily (has Breitbart ditched him?), has more details:

O’Keefe’s crew asked journalists working for CNN, MSNBC and others whether they would put a sign in their lawn that says “Citizens Against Senseless Violence. THIS HOME IS PROUDLY GUN FREE!”

“No journalist wanted the sign,” he says. “Many journalists had armed guards.”

“We also showed up at Eric Holder’s house,” O’Keefe added. “Authorities came to protect him.”

O'Keefe Gun Sign

What O’Keefe is trying to prove is completely unfathomable. It makes no sense that a public person like a journalist would ever consider advertising private information like their home address or security arrangements. Journalists often work under circumstances that put themselves at great risk. There is no rational scenario in which their private life is analogous to that of ordinary citizens. Consequently, the revelation that a journalist would decline the absurd offer to post such a sign should be of no surprise to anyone with a functioning brain.

The obvious intent of O’Keefe is to fabricate a situation in which he can attempt to embarrass the target of his childish scheme. It has nothing to do with journalism, and everything to do with the politics of gun worship. What’s more, it completely misrepresents the concept of gun-free zones, which are not efforts to brag about the absence of firearms, but are intended to alert law-abiding citizens that such weapons are not permitted and that bringing them into the designated area would subject them to criminal prosecution.

The gun worshiping crowd is fond of whining that regulations are ineffective because criminals would simply ignore them. However that would also apply to any law, including rape and murder. So their argument is that no laws prohibiting anything should ever be enacted. Clearly that would be insane. Laws do deter people from engaging in the behavior they are intended to inhibit. And for those who are not deterred, laws provide a mechanism to punish the offender. No one has ever suggested that the mere presence of a law would eliminate crime, but any sane person knows that laws are an essential part of the justice system and that they have a legitimate purpose and a demonstrable effect.

O’Keefe has promised that his videos of journalists declining to accommodate his prank will be released soon. If history is any guide they will be severely mangled in the editing room to give the most disparaging possible impression of the subject. But the good news is that, at this point, his reputation has been so shattered that he has been relegated to aligning himself with the bozos at WorldNetDaily, as if Breitbart wasn’t already low enough. Thus, fewer people will be exposed to his dishonest and puerile antics, and this charade will dissolve away without much notice. Because if there’s one thing the world needs less of, it’s O’Keefe’s smug mug heralding more deceitful excursions into pseudo-journalism.


Is Glenn Beck’s Independence, USA The Next Jonestown?

Posted by on January 12, 2013 at 2:35 pm. 11 Comments :

On his webcast this week, Glenn Beck unveiled yet another publicity stunt intended to buy him some attention, at least from his congregation of disciples. This time it comes in the form of his “vision” of a utopian community where rich and poor will live together in harmony while shopping and farming and riding holy-roller coasters to Valhalla.

Glenn Beck Independence

This new society of egalitarian pilgrims would amass in Beck’s planned city of Independence, USA. He admits that there is no such place mapped out as yet and that the whole concept exists only in his imagination which is, to say the least, fertile. The development includes all the necessities that a demented doomsday prepper could desire. There would be farming land where residents could till the soil and produce their own food. There would be a mall with shops populated by craftsmen who would also teach the young’uns how to make their own rocking chairs and crossbows. He also plans a media center where he would produce entertainment “that would challenge viewers without resorting to a loss of human decency.” It is in that area that he would train new journalists in his techniques of lying and fear mongering. There would a research facility for…God knows what. Recognizing the need for diversions from all of this ecstasy, Beck plans to include a theme park. And of course, centrally located, would be a church for his parishioners to worship.

Perhaps most notable is Beck’s provisions for living space. He says that he will build “a residential area where people of different incomes could all come together and be neighbors.” Sounds a little socialist to me. But so does much of his concept that relies on all the people contributing to one another and to the greater good of the community.

What’s troubling is the notion that Beck wants to create a segregated community of followers who believe in his vision and will strike out on their own to build a self-reliant, communal society based on his twisted brand of evangelism and with him as its leader. Sound familiar? It is precisely what Jim Jones, a pastor from California, did when he assembled his flock in Guyana to form what he called Jonestown. That ended in tragedy with more than 900 disciples succumbing to poison-laced Kool-Aid.

Already Beck’s flock is getting excited about his new city proposal. They are leaving comments on his web site declaring their loyalty and wondering when they can move to the imaginary Independence. It’s sad to see that there are people who regard independence as fealty to a hate-filled, fear mongering, tele-prophet, who is only interested in his own fame and considerable fortune. Hopefully people will see through this charlatan before it’s too late, because it is difficult to see any good coming from this.


Fox News Psycho (Analyst) On The Health Benefits Of Gun Ownership

Posted by on January 12, 2013 at 11:18 am. 13 Comments :

The Fox News Medical “A” Team’s Keith Ablow is notorious for his unethical practices and opinions. He has made public diagnoses of people he has never examined (or even met), including President Obama. He has praised marital infidelity as evidence of strong moral character that would enhance America’s leadership. And now he he has published an editorial for Fox News that extols the “benefits” of gun ownership.

Keith Ablow

Ablow begins his rambling departure from reality by building a foundation for his argument that guns are not a problem in American society at all, despite the statistics. He cites examples of mass killings in which guns played no part, like the bombing of the Oklahoma City Federal Building in 2001, and the Tylenol poisoning scare in 1985. However, his suggestion that gun safety advocates are off-base because determined madmen “could have chosen other lethal means to cause just as many deaths,” ignores the glaring fact that in all of his examples measures were taken to control the means by which they were carried out and, consequently, it has been decades since there have been any similar bombings or product tampering. That’s actually an argument in favor of limiting access to certain firearms.

Then Ablow swings for an even more rationally distant fence by asserting that there is “potential widespread psychological harm that disarming Americans could cause.” That statement is absurd on its face as it implies that all Americans who do not own guns are already psychologically impaired. In addition, Ablow is deceitfully implying that there is an effort afoot to “disarm” all Americans. He elaborates on that fabrication by shockingly asserting that this imaginary disarmament would result in “a population that has completely ceded the power to defend its homes against local, state or federal authorities.” Apparently Ablow is one of those lunatics who believes that the right to bear arms is intended as a means to equip treasonous citizens with weapons they can use against fellow Americans.

Ablow continues on this theme of a disarmed nation by seemingly advocating for a police state, saying that “The same people who passively pay taxes that put tanks on the streets and fighter jets in the skies over our enemies’ nations can cringe at the idea of owning guns themselves.” Is he really suggesting that deploying soldiers in war zones is analogous to stockpiling arms on Elm Street?

Next Ablow joins the Hitler-thumping crowd by conjuring up a debunked rendition of history in which gun control was a factor in the rise of Nazis in Germany, but the opposite is the truth. Alex Seitz-Wald of Salon provided the facts about this commonly repeated falsehood. The truth is that Hitler signed into law a bill that “completely deregulated the acquisition and transfer of rifles and shotguns, as well as ammunition.” So if anyone, it’s conservative gun worshipers who are seeking to emulate Hitler.

Ablow closes by regurgitating the position of the NRA that more, not fewer, guns is the panacea to our national crisis of violence. He argues that it would “immunize the population from feeling like potential victims,” and he reiterates the nonsense that it would protect an otherwise docile citizenry from their government. To the extent that any threat exists from the federal government, there are no currently available weapons that could match the firepower of the American military. It would be suicide for a citizen armed even with an AR-15 to challenge troops with tanks, grenades, missiles, gases, and impeccable training.

If Americans ever actually have to face the fictional scenario of a tyrannical regime in Washington, they will have a lot more to worry about than what type of rifle they carry. But since the prospects of such a catastrophe live only in the diseased minds of right-wing paranoids and Fox News “doctors,” the whole discussion is merely the neurotic nightmare of an Alex Jones inspired schizoid. So good night, children, and sleep tight.

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Rush Limbaugh: Flu Epidemic Is “Trained Media” Making Excuses For Obama

Posted by on January 11, 2013 at 4:35 pm. 2 Comments :

In an epic rant that abandons all semblance of sanity, Rush Limbaugh today blasted media outlets that have been alerting the public to the serious nature of this year’s flu season. Already dozens of Americans have died and thousands have been hospitalized across the nation. But Limbaugh sees a conspiracy in the press to use this “phony” flu epidemic as a preemptive explanation for the coming economic collapse. He says…

“The purpose of this story is to give everybody in Washington an excuse before the flu outbreak even hits. I know that the reports of the flu outbreak are starting to trickle in now. But we do not have an epidemic yet. We may, who knows? But what’s being established now is that if and when we have a flu epidemic, that’s why the economy slowed down.”

The news that set Limbaugh off was a story published by CNBC that noted that a “Major Flu Outbreak Threatens to Slow Economy Further.” Limbaugh declared that “This headline is a made-to-order, built-in excuse to cover for slipshod economic policies out of Washington.” The article on CNBC stated correctly that…

“On average, seasonal flu outbreaks cost U.S. employers $10.4 billion in direct costs of hospitalization and outpatient visits, according to the Centers for Disease Control. That doesn’t include the indirect costs related to lost productivity and worker absenteeism.”

Apparently, amongst the news outlets that are serving as “trained media” for Obama is Fox News. All day they have been broadcasting warnings about how serious the flu is, including its potential cost to the economy. Neil Cavuto’s business program featured both Fox Business Network contributor, Charles Payne And Fox’s senior medical contributor, Dr. Marc Siegel, to specifically discuss the flu’s impact on business.

If it weren’t already clear that Limbaugh had degenerated into an incoherent nut case spewing delusional tales for his dimwit followers, this nonsensical commentary should remove all doubt. And his dittoheads would do well to recall what he said on election day back in November:

Rush Limbaugh


Fox News Hypocrisy Over Al-Jazeera Hilariously Exposed By Jon Stewart [Video]

Posted by on January 11, 2013 at 4:18 am. 4 Comments :

As reported here last week, Fox News went on a loopy and hyperbolic panic over the news that Current TV was purchased by Al-Jazeera. They railed against what they called an anti-American network with ties to terrorists when, in reality, Fox News is more closely associated with terrorists than Al-Jazeera.

Last night Jon Stewart weighed in on The Daily Show with another of his hallmark smackdowns that revealed the brazen hypocrisy of Fox News. The segment features ludicrous condemnations from the likes of Sean Hannity, Bill O’Reilly, Stuart Varney, and Steve Doocy, as they sought to demonize Al Gore, while blithely ignoring the fact that their own boss, Rupert Murdoch, was deeply aligned with repulsive rhetoric from a Saudi-based network (Rotana) of which he has a 20% stake. Stewart noted that…

“Rotana is the same network that aired “Valley of the Wolves,” a movie in which American soldiers are the bad guys, massacring Iraqi civilians and stealing Arab organs to sell them to Jews.”

This is further evidence that Fox has no genuine interest in the pseudo-patriotism with which they plaster their airwaves. It is just a sleazy and phony operation aimed at advancing the political agenda of right-wing extremists, and enriching the network’s owners and the celebrities posing as journalists.

It’s too bad that the humor-deprived conservatives who need to see Stewart’s piece most are unlikely to do so. They already regard the program as liberal propaganda and dismiss it out of hand. But if they knew that they were being conned by Fox while the company is embracing some of the very same villains they pretend to oppose, viewers would revolt in a big way. Perhaps some of them already have, because Fox’s ratings have been in a steep dive for the past couple of months.


Fox News Escalates Pro-Gun Campaign With Help From Ted Nugent

Posted by on January 10, 2013 at 10:03 am. 25 Comments :

True to form, Fox News is rolling out a massive PR blitz in favor of the NRA’s “Guns Everywhere” agenda. It’s a free advertising bonanza for gun nuts and rightist politicians who exploit the controversy as a wedge issue. This morning there were fourteen separate stories on Fox Nation in addition to those airing on multiple programs on the Fox News Channel. And in every case the tone mirrored gun worshipers who are willing to tolerate mass murder every so often in order to hang on to their assault weapons.

Ted Nugent

Much of what is giving them their latest case of the willies is an off-hand remark by Vice-President Joe Biden. Speaking about bipartisan meetings with people and groups concerned about the subject, he told reporters that “There are executive orders, executive action that can be taken.” That was all it took to heat up the right to boiling, even though the reality is that there are very few and limited measures that can be implemented in that manner. Biden was merely referencing the fact that his review would be comprehensive, as any responsible approach to such a serious subject should be.

The resulting outrage echoed across the mediasphere with lunatics like Alex Jones threatening an armed rebellion, and NRA board member Ted Nugent comparing gun nuts to Rosa Parks. An item on Drudge made comparisons to Stalin and Hitler. Of course the usual suspects in the pundit and political classes immediately began inciting fears of a tyrannical Obama confiscating all guns and abolishing the Constitution. Among those were Fox’s Charles Krauthammer, who declared any regulation of guns was unconstitutional and would lead to an insurrection, and newly minted Tea Party senator Ted Cruz, who concurred.

It really is impossible to have a rational, productive discussion with hair-trigger crackpots like these inflaming their followers and distorting the facts. They disregard the actual legal precedents with regard to regulation, as well as their own saner associates (i.e. Gen. Stanley McChrystal), and even recent polls that show that majorities of NRA members favor stricter controls on certain types of guns. In this environment it will require lawmakers to focus on the facts and the people’s will, rather than the lobbyists and political opportunists, if we hope to make our country safer.


Glenn Beck Desperately Struggling For Relevance With Yet Another Re-Invention

Posted by on January 9, 2013 at 11:06 am. 10 Comments :

When rumors first emerged that Glenn Beck was likely to lose his perch on the Fox News Channel, he responded with the confidence of a Messianic warrior saying “I will find another way to get my message out on a platform that will be a thousand times more powerful!”

Glenn Beck Messiah

Well, the rumors proved to be true and Beck was cast off of Fox and hurled into the cacophony of the Internet. Since then he has frantically stumbled around searching for an identity and grasping at phantom opportunities to keep his movement humming. He began by launching GBTV, a subscription Internet video blog that he delusionally described as a television network. Despite his assertions that it was a huge success, he submerged it into his web “news” site The Blaze.

Now Beck is making another u-turn with the announcement that he is re-branding his entire operation as a “global Libertarian news network,” whatever that means. He claims that he will be opening three foreign bureaus in cities that are “important to America” (presumably that nixes Paris, Caracas, and Beijing), and will relocate his staff to a new facility in Manhattan that “will piss everyone off” (He must have found space at 30 Rock between MSNBC and Chuck E. Cheese).

Beck, one of the most hostile and divisive characters in modern media, now says that he wants to distance himself from the left/right squabbles of cable news saying that “We’re not gonna play in that crazy space.” Apparently he has a whole new crazy space that he’d like to pioneer. But it’s hard to see where he would fit in the Libertarian realm. With his overtly evangelical appeals to religion, he is more aligned with theocracy than the secular oriented individualism of Libertarians. And after spending the last several years bashing liberals as “a cancer on America,” it’s unlikely that a rational, centrist audience is going to find him credible.

It is telling that Beck says that “I’m a lot closer to Penn Jillette than I am to Chuck Hagel.” So Beck is confessing that he is more like an entertainer whose specialty is to create illusions, than he is like a mainstream Republican legislator and veteran.

Beck has had so many public personalities it is difficult to keep track of them all. When the Tea Party was new Beck introduced his own version that he called the “912 Project.” Then he attempted to recruit followers to join his “Watchdogs.” Then he unveiled an ambitious bit of lunacy he called “The Plan,” a 100 year blueprint for the restoration of an America. Then there was his pitch for political activism, “In or Out 2010,” aimed at lobbying the politicians in Washington he had previously dismissed. And there was something he called the “Refounders,” an homage to America’s founding fathers whom he had elevated to the status of saints. And who could forget his “E4 Solution” that he promised would “chart a course boldly into the future.” All of these excursions were launched with a glorious fanfare, and all were later abandoned in the trash heap of discarded publicity stunts.

So now Beck is dressing up in new costume that, like all the rest, is designed to capture media attention and boost his publicity and bank account. If he is able to scare up any support from Libertarians, it will only be those of the most shallow (and gullible) variety who aren’t put off by his insistence that all rights are granted only by God, and that Armageddon is upon us so ye had better purchase over-priced gold coins from his sponsor. However a more likely scenario is that, when this scheme fails, he will ditch it and get out the trumpets to announce another re-invention in hopes of drawing in few more suckers.