Day: 8/17/2011

Glenn Beck’s New Internet Venture Is Running Out Of Time

Posted by on August 17, 2011 at 6:16 pm. 5 Comments :

Glenn Beck BrokeThings must be getting pretty bad over at Glenn Beck’s place since he lost his Fox News pulpit. On his radio program today, Beck had to resort to begging his listeners to stave off his demise. It adds a whole new meaning to the title of his recent book: Broke. Beck begins his appeal by declaring that he opposes common free market methods of financing business:

Beck: I do not want outside investors. We have talked about it. We have had outside investors come to us. We have had hedge funds come to us. People want to invest in my business because we are creating jobs and creating wealth. I do not want outside investors because I do not want to have to answer to anyone else.

If he is creating so much wealth, then why is he forced to pass the plate to his radio disciples in order to stay afloat? And is he so inept that he can’t form a business relationship that preserves creative control of his programming? And if outside money is so repugnant to him, why does accept it in the form of advertising on GlennBeck.com and TheBlaze (although there are very few ads on either one)? Has he abandoned his control and principles on those sites by taking outside money. Apparently things are pretty dire, indeed.

Beck: But I will tell you that I believe we are running out of time. The truth has to be told. My model is to go directly to you and ask you for GBTV – if you would sign up for GBTV.com. I’m not asking you for charity. This isn’t PBS. I’m not gonna take it from you. If we have provided $5.00 of information to you a month, Would you please consider supporting us.

Beck’s remarks about not being PBS because his venture is not charity and he isn’t “gonna take it from you,” stretch the bounds of reason. First of all, PBS doesn’t take anything from anyone. It IS a charity and you are free to donate or not. And if you decline to donate you can still watch. GBTV, on the other hand, demands payment from you and prohibits viewing if you fail to comply.

One thing Beck gets right is that his GBTV is certainly not PBS. I have yet to see rodeo clowns telling fart jokes and deliberately lying to viewers on PBS. The PBS NewsHour has never speculated on an Arab Islamic/American Leftist coalition to bring about a global Caliphate. Frontline does not broadcast documentaries comparing the President to Hitler. And Masterpiece Theater hasn’t booked Ted Nugent as an economics analyst.

I don’t know if Beck is running out of time or not. Either he’s telling the truth and his business is floundering, or he’s lying and this is just a scam to fleece his followers. Either way he’s a slime ball. Some things never change.

[Flashback] Whining about protesters who were organizing a successful campaign to persuade advertisers to withhold their ads from Beck’s Fox News program, Beck boasted that no matter what happened he would rise like a phoenix – or the Messiah – or whatever:

“They can take my job and they can take my wealth but that’s okay – even if the powers to be, right now, succeed in making me poor, drum me out, and I’m just a worthless loser – which I’m just about that much above that now – I will only be stronger for it. I will use American ingenuity and my ingenuity to pull myself up, and I will find another way to get my message out on a platform that will be a thousand times more powerful!”

A thousand times? But you still have to beg for money and cry that time is running out?

Fox Nation Exists Solely To Bash Obama

Posted by on August 17, 2011 at 3:36 pm. 13 Comments :

Fox Nation, the Internet community of Fox News, has completed its transition into a nearly 100% Obama Bashing Internet destination. Visit the site at any random time and you are likely to see something like this:

Fox Nation Obama Bashing

That’s 19 separate articles, all from just this morning, disparaging the President. They consume nearly all of the space on the site’s home page. Despite the fact that the Fox Nationalists assert that they aspire to fairness and balance, it is clear that they are engaged in non-stop propaganda to effect the political outcome they desire. It makes a mockery of their claim that…

“The Fox Nation is committed to the core principles of tolerance, open debate, civil discourse, and fair and balanced coverage of the news.”

How brain damaged does one need to be to believe that BS? And if your stomach is strong enough to venture into the community comments, you will be repulsed by a collection of racists and advocates of violence and even assassination.

Obviously the folks at Fox are escalating their campaign of hate. With the election season heating up they are redoubling their efforts to malign the President and every other Democrat. Perhaps their desperation is due to the pathetic field of candidates they are saddled with promoting. They are in the embarrassing position of having to support Tea Bagger Bachmann, Perp Walk Perry, and Corporate Mate Mitt.

What’s more, the conservative/Tea Party wing of the GOP is suffering a dizzying decline in popularity.

“[T]he Tea Party ranks lower than any of the 23 other groups we asked about — lower than both Republicans and Democrats. It is even less popular than much maligned groups like ‘atheists’ and ‘Muslims.'”

No wonder Fox Nation is ramping up their war effort. They have a steep hill to climb and they are convinced that their only prayer for victory is to smear the enemy and to do so harshly and repeatedly. Steady your nerves – there is going to be much more of this to come. It will include accusations of socialism and treason, as well as naked fear mongering. It will probably backlash against them completely, but it will still be an ugly spectacle.

The Superiority Of The Super Committee: Women And Minorities Snubbed

Posted by on August 17, 2011 at 11:39 am. NO Comments :

The brand new Congressional Super Committee that is charged with pulling America’s butt out of a fiscal fire is sorely underrepresented by major groups of the American people. In addition to the disturbing associations that members of the committee have with wealthy campaign contributors, they are also notably homogenous in terms of race and gender.

Republicans appointed an entirely white male panel of members. At least the Democrats included one woman, one African-American, and one Hispanic. Still, that ratio is a long way from proportional representation.

When large groups of citizens are excluded from participating in the democratic process, the result is bad policy, uneven playing fields, and a disheartened and/or outraged electorate. Take for example the representation of women in American political life (or rather, lack thereof) that has produced a legislative War on Women:

War on Women

These inequities are generally unaddressed by the media. Unless that changes there will be continued division and a failure to resolve the most pressing issues of our time. We need to include everyone in the effort to right the nation’s course. And we must not be afraid to embrace the fight for progressivism, civil rights, feminism, and liberty and justice for all.