Day: 8/10/2010

Glenn Beck Admits That He Is A Terrorist

Posted by on August 10, 2010 at 4:09 pm. 7 Comments :

A few minutes ago Glenn Beck made a declaration that ought to cause some consternation in the executive suites of his employer, Fox News. It ought to, but it probably won’t. They have already dismissed his declarations concerning…

  • The President being a racist.
  • A Jewish leader being the cause of Nazi death camps.
  • A major News Corp shareholder (Saudi Prince Alwaleed) being involved in 9/11.
  • The Jews killing Jesus.
  • The only hope for America being Osama Bin Laden deploying a weapon of mass destruction in the U.S.

That’s a long (and incomplete) list of astonishing and repulsive commentaries that Beck has gotten away with to date. The only conclusion is that Rupert Murdoch and Roger Ailes and the rest of the Fox News hierarchy agree with Beck. So presumably they agree with this as well:

Beck: “Terrorism, in its broadest form, is just designed to scare you into changing your way of life.”

That makes sense to me. And it works pretty well too. After 9/11, Americans, through fear, accepted changes to their way of life that included having their phones tapped without warrants; abandoning habeas corpus; restrictions on travel; and engaging in apparently endless wars that have nothing to do with national security.

But if you were to select someone in the American media that conforms best to Beck’s definition of terrorism, it would be none other than Beck himself. His program is a daily rant on fearsome policies, politicians, and prospects for the future. Beck believes that President Obama should be feared as a Marxist bent on destroying the country. He believes that Congress should feared for their alleged efforts to usher in Socialism. He believes progressives should be feared as a cancer that will “eat the Constitution.” He believes that the economy portends a future so frightening that you must liquidate your investments and buy gold and guns with the proceeds. He fervently believes that America is in grave danger, as are you and your family and all the values and principles you hold dear.

Beck’s entire raison d’etre is to incite fear and persuade his viewers to change their way of life. It goes far beyond his investment advice. Beck wants to shape your spiritual development. He warned his disciples to “run as fast you can” from any church that espouses social justice. He regularly condemns churches for abandoning what he regards as their mission. He even accuses them of perverting their faith. This may be the most terrifying example of Beck’s scare tactics because he is exploiting people’s fear of their relationship with God and eternity.

In pursuit of that goal, and in his role as a wannabe-Messiah, Beck is promoting a new event that promises to “heal your soul.” Is this some new ability he has acquired? Perhaps you can touch the hem of his robe if you buy his latest book. The event will be held on the evening before his DC rally on August 28, and is called “Glenn Beck’s Divine Destiny.” Seriously! This is a play for worship or martyrdom. Beck is plainly moving closer to becoming a full-fledged televangelist, or more accurately, a cult leader in the vein of Jim Jones or David Koresh, religious figures who also used fear to subjugate their followers. The pre-8/28 event is being advertised by Beck as…

“…an eye-opening evening at the historic Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C that will help heal your soul. Guided by uplifting music, nationally-known religious figures from all faiths will unite to deliver messages reminiscent to those given during the struggles of America’s earliest days. The event will leave you with a renewed determination to look past the partisan differences and petty problems that fill our airwaves and instead focus our shared values, principles and strong belief that faith can play an essential role in reuniting the country.”

I wonder if these “religious figures from all faiths” will include Muslims or Buddhists. And it will be interesting to see how Beck transcends “the partisan differences…that fill our airwaves” when his rhetoric is so weighted down with hatred for progressives and others with whom he disagrees. The notion of Beck placing himself in the position of “reuniting the country” is nothing short of surreal.

Glenn Beck is the archetypal fear monger. He has adapted the fire and brimstone model of spiritual revivalists to his brand of theo-political crusades. He routinely warns that if we do not quickly change our course, our way of life, we are doomed. If that doesn’t fit the profile of the terrorist that Beck spoke of today on his program, I don’t know what does.

Blaming Bush For The Economy Is About The Future

Posted by on August 10, 2010 at 12:47 pm. 1 Comments :

Republicans, and their PR agency Fox News, are infuriated that President Obama and other Democrats continue to lay the blame for the economy on the shoulders of former President Bush. Their apoplexy centers on the notion that at some point Obama must assume some responsibility for the current state of affairs.

That would be a fair argument if sufficient time had elapsed to make a judgment about Obama’s economic policies. Most economists agree that a recovery from the sort of economic collapse that this nation just suffered takes several years to accomplish. It has only been a year and half. And even in that short time there have been notable achievements, including stemming the rate of job loss and injecting billions of dollars of stimulus funds into the economy.

But that isn’t what’s ultimately wrong with the complaints by Republicans. Blaming Bush for the economy isn’t a function of looking backward. First of all, Obama’s criticism has not been directed at Bush personally, but at his policies.

Obama: The policies that crashed the economy, that undercut the middle class, that mortgaged our future, do we really want to go back to that, or do we keep moving our country forward?

It seems inconceivable that anyone could defend the Bush plan knowing what we know today. Yet Republicans in the House and Senate are offering nothing new in the way of solutions. In fact, the only initiative they will articulate out loud is to preserve the Bush era tax cuts for the wealthy that are about to expire.

Republicans are so adamant about carrying water for the rich that they appear to be willing to allow taxes to rise for the 98% of Americans who are not so privileged. What’s more, they also appear to be ready to abandon their concern for deficits since the tax cuts for the wealthy will balloon the deficit by more than $700 billion.

It is not surprising that Republicans should defend themselves and their former leaders. But the media should not be carrying their banner. The criticism of Obama for “bashing” Bush is thoroughly misplaced. If Republicans were offering a new set of solutions that deserved consideration, then they should be accommodated. But if all they are offering are the same ideas that came from the Bush administration, then the debate ought to be over. We already know what that would accomplish.

Therein lies the fallacy of the “blame Bush” complaint. Obama is not reaching backwards to assign responsibility for current conditions to the past president. He is forecasting the future consequences of repeating those mistakes. It is the Republicans who are bringing the Bush era back to the table by proposing nothing but what the Bush administration did. So the Obama administration has no choice but to rebut those proposals. That is not an attack on Bush. It is an attack on the current crop of Republicans who are parroting Bush.

Note to the media: While Obama has every right to remind the nation that the Bush policies got us where we are, that isn’t what he is focused on today. He is merely responding to Congressional Republicans who are advocating the failed Bush policies of the past. It is the Republicans who are reaching back to define a course for the future. Obama is looking forward to chart a course that avoids past mistakes and learns from them.