Day: 2/12/2011

Why Does Glenn Beck Hate Young People?

Posted by on February 12, 2011 at 3:39 pm. 18 Comments :

Glenn Beck has a long record of heaping scorn on the youth of America. He has accused them of having been indoctrinated by Marxists in the Obama administration. He has called them “useful idiots” because they are drawn to progress and changing the country for the better. He castigated Al Gore for having the temerity to assert that there are some things that young people know that their parents do not. To me that seems obvious (and necessary), but to Beck it is an ominous omen of doom.

The uprising in Egypt has presented another opportunity for Beck to belittle the passion and aspirations of youth. He spent several minutes of his program highlighting this soundbite from Obama’s speech to students in Michigan:

Obama: We are witnessing history unfold. The moment of transformation that’s taking place because the people of Egypt are calling for change. And they’ve turned out in extraordinary numbers…
Beck (interrupting): Listen to the way he says this.
Obama: …representing all ages and all walks of life. But it’s young people who have been at the forefront. A new generation. Your generation. Who want their voices to be heard.

This is deeply disturbing to Beck. He has a confirmed animosity toward youth that colors his perspective and produces a knee-jerk negativity aimed at young people who care about their society in America and now in Egypt as well. His analysis of the events in Egypt are summed up in this conclusion:

Beck: It will not have a singular ideology, but it will mean revolution, destruction, and change. And it will be led by young people. Because anyone over thirty knows that chaos doesn’t usually lead anyplace good.

Perhaps Beck, the historian and fan of Founding Fathers, would benefit from looking into doddering old revolutionaries like Thomas Jefferson (32 years old in 1775), John Jay (30), James Madison (24), Alexander Hamilton (20), Thomas Paine (38), and that ancient eminence George Washington (43). Are these the sort old fogies whom Beck would prefer over the children like Wael Ghonim, the thirty year old Google marketing chief who helped to organize the Egyptian protests?

Suffice to say, Glenn Beck is an idiot. This week he hollered at the critics on his lawn and told them to “Go to Hell!” because they said he was crazy. I’m not sure “crazy” goes far enough. His psychotic explanations of an imagined cabal that joins radical Muslims with American leftists was repudiated even by Beck’s right-wing pals. Yet Beck dug in his heels and warned his viewers to heed him because…

Beck: I know history. I know what history teaches us. And I know my gut. And I wanted you to see it. I wanted this to be branded on your head. I wanted you to see it and know there was no one else telling you this stuff.

That’s right. Brand it on your head Beckoids. And know that only Brother Glenn has the divine knowledge that he generously imparts onto you, his undeserving flock. What other modern prophet could come up with this analysis of the Egyptian uprising:

Beck: It will be historic because this is an incredibly well organized uprising that was able to overthrow a dictator of thirty years in 18 days. To give you some idea, “shock and awe” lasted about that time. That’s what it took us to grab Baghdad.

It’s important to note that Beck was speaking in disparaging terms about the uprising. His reference to it being “well organized” was his way of connecting it to “community organizing,” which he abhors. But the most absurdly imbecilic part of that commentary was Beck’s negative comparison of 18 days of mostly peaceful protests by Egyptian citizens against their own oppressive government, to 18 days of deadly warfare by an invading force of Americans into Iraq, a nation that had not provoked the attack that was justified by a litany of lies.

The fact that it took 18 days of carpet bombing, and the murder of thousands of innocent Iraqi civilians, for the United States to topple Iraq’s capital city (and commence a war that is still in progress eight years later), hardly compares to 18 days of chanting and banner waiving that removed an entrenched tyrant from power. It is impossible to comprehend what significance Beck is trying to convey with this comparison.

And therein lies the justification for everyone thinking he’s crazy. But in some respects he is crazy like a Fox. His assault on youth is a coordinated campaign to appeal to his base. His audience, like that of Fox News, skews older than any other audience in cable news. And as I wrote nearly a year ago…

While Beck clings longingly to the past, he almost never addresses the future without some allusion to doom. He has predicted the end of America and democracy, the collapse of the world economy, the forsaking of decency and values, and a near-term fate that is nothing short of Armageddon. The present is just a cauldron of misery that must be grudgingly endured until the Rapture. But it is his attachment to bygone years that really defines his world view. And he may actually have a very good reason for this.


The devolutionary posture Beck has assumed is convenient from a ratings standpoint. Beck’s audience (along with the rest of Fox News and the Tea Party crowd) skews to an older demographic than the average of the nation at large. They must take comfort in the familiar icons of an analog world. Blackboards are less threatening than the computer-generated motion graphics that all the kids are into these days. And all the talk of history is just the sort of entertainment that would appeal to people rooted in the past. Add to that a touch of that old-time religion and you have a recipe for corralling the curmudgeon community who wants nothing more than for those damn kids to get off of their lawns.

That is Beck’s fan base. They enjoy reminiscing about how much better things were in their day. And the last thing they want to hear about is a future that they won’t be present to witness. It’s never good business to remind people of their mortality, particularly the people who are closest to it. Beck is adept at accommodating (manipulating?) these folks who have plenty of free time to sit at home and watch his program in the middle of the day. Sure it cuts into the early-bird special at Applebee’s, but what they hunger for is far more fundamental. It’s the solace they get from the passionate young man whose weepy patriotism validates their conviction that they were indeed the greatest generation and, dagnabbit, they’re not gonna let you whippersnappers forget it.

Now, I don’t want to go overboard with generalizations. Most senior citizens are thoughtful, rational people with a wealth of accumulated experience. Just not the ones watching Glenn Beck.

And so youth has become the enemy in Beck’s world. That’s a short-sighted strategy because the one thing we know there will always be more of is young people. And those whom Beck alienates today are not going to become more enamored of him as they grow older. I just hope we don’t have to wait for all the oldsters like Roger Ailes and Rupert Murdoch to shuffle off before we start to see more of the energetic and insightful wisdom of youth play a greater role in the society that will eventually be theirs anyway.

CNN Turning To Andrew Breitbart And Into Fox News

Posted by on February 12, 2011 at 10:57 am. 7 Comments :

CNN Tea PartyIt’s bad enough that America has one Fox News. One network that has mainstreamed lying and abandoned all journalistic ethics in favor of spreading propaganda and nurturing ignorance. Now it appears that CNN has aspirations to out-Fox Fox. They put out a press release announcing some new hires:

“CNN is gearing up for the election season with the addition of political contributors from across the ideological spectrum. Democratic strategist Cornell Belcher, conservative commentator Will Cain, and local Tea Party leader and radio talk show host Dana Loesch will appear across the network’s prime time programs, as well as other dayparts and platforms.”

The first thing that is glaringly askew in this announcement is that CNN is recruiting a single Democratic analyst and two right-wing opponents. Under what tangled, Gordian logic is that a balanced representation of views? Do the Democrats have to invent a phony AstroTurf party in order to get an equal number of seats at the table? Would CNN hire a Progressive Party spokesman to join their panel? Of course not. But because some Republicans are parading around with a different name, CNN gives them parity as if they were a wholly new party deserving their own voice.

Let’s be perfectly clear: There is no Tea Party! They have no platform and no candidates. People who profess to be aligned with this imaginary party are in fact Republicans. They run as Republicans, they vote for Republicans, and their agenda is decidedly Republican. And the stub of the GOP that calls itself the Tea Party is wildly out of touch with mainstream Americans. So CNN is a network that hires two Republicans for every Democrat.

Compounding that problem is the specific selection of Dana Loesch to represent the phony Tea Party faction. Loesch is presently the editor-in-chief of Andrew Breitbart’s BigJournalism.com. That’s the same Breitbart that promoted James O’Keefe’s “pimp and hooker” ACORN smear; the same Breitbart that peddled the dishonest videos that defamed Shirley Sherrod. These and other scams have all been thoroughly debunked. But Loesch, the editor-in-chief of the lying tabloid that produces more junk journalism than any other site on the Internet, was chosen by CNN to be the voice of the Tea Party.

Loesch is just the latest despicable decision by CNN’s new president, Ken Jautz. Jautz was recently promoted from HLN where he will forever be remembered as the man who brought Glenn Beck to television. He is a hack who is more interested in ratings than journalism, and with each new day is proving that he is unfit to run a news network.

Since moving up to CNN, Jautz has formed a partnership with Tea Party Express (TPE), a corrupt political action committee that is reviled by other Tea Party groups. This arrangement called for a them to co-host a Republican presidential primary debate. It also produced Michelle Bachmann’s (R-MN) embarrassing response to the State of the Union address. Those are two more examples proving that the Tea Party is a wholly owned subsidiary of the GOP. But TPE has some dirty laundry that needs to be aired.

TPE’s chief was shamed into resigning for repeatedly making racist comments. That was followed by TPE being banished from the Tea Party Federation. TPE’s finances are racked with fraud. The Republican PR firm that created TPE, Russo Marsh, directs nearly half of the money they raise from citizen supporters to the firm. TPE recently reported receiving thousands of dollars from a donor who has been dead for four years. This is the racist, dishonest, reprehensible gang of con artists with which Jautz has associated CNN.

CNN already employs RedState’s Erick Erickson, who called Supreme Court Justice David Souter a “goat fucking child molester.” Now Jautz brings aboard Dana Loesch who said that a demonstrator who got her head stomped on by a Rand Paul supporter should apologize for the incident. These developments put CNN’s credibility at stake. Are they really so desperate for attention that they would sully themselves with known liars and agitators for the most extremist faction of the right? Are they really so stupid that they think that trying to emulate Fox will reverse their ratings debacle?

Sadly, the answer to those question is “Yes.” CNN is both desperate and stupid. They never learn. Fox viewers are not going to flip over to a Fox look-alike when they have the real thing just down the dial. Glenn Beck’s audience would not watch him on HLN, where his program was the lowest rated on the channel. But the minute he moved to Fox he was an instant hit. This proves that Fox viewers are hypnotically dialed in to their media master, and they will not wander off. Not for Beck, and certainly not for Loesch. So the only thing that CNN achieves by stumbling down this path is that they become an accessory to the disinformation that these rightist goons disseminate, while simultaneously destroying what’s left of their reputation.

Good work, CNN. You must be so proud. Ken Jautz is turning the network into an embarrassment that is destined to continue its ratings collapse. Everyone who who cares about ethical media should let CNN know that this direction is inappropriate and unprofessional. You can use this form on CNN’s web site to tell them that they are hurting themselves and the practice of journalism by associating with Dana Loesch and the Tea Party Express. Tell them that Ken Jautz isn’t fit to run the Home Shopping Network. And tell them that the last thing this country needs is another right-wing pseudo-news outlet that manufactures partisan controversies and contributes to mass ignorance.