Today another tragedy occurred when a gunman took the lives of two innocent people in the course of doing their jobs. Reporter Alison Parker and cameraman Adam Ward were shot by a former colleague, Vester Lee Flanagan (aka Bryce Williams), as they were conducting an interview. And predictably the media has sprung into action with blanket coverage that is mostly comprised of repetition, speculation, and sensationalism.
The other predictable response comes from self-interested parties who seek to gain attention and support by exploiting the pain and grief of the victims. Already Breitbart News has published an article with a belligerent headline that baselessly declared the crime to be a “Race Murder In Virginia.” Rush Limbaugh used the story to advocate for arming all reporters as if there is a raging war on journalists. Never mind that all the evidence currently shows that this was a workplace dispute where the workers just happened to be in local television reporting. And Fox News anchor Gretchen Carlson, in the early hours of confusion following the murders, complained that they haven’t been designated a hate crime.
However, what appears to be the most perverse and far-fetched take on the matter so far came from Glenn Beck (video below). I know, try to contain your shock. Beck sees something far more consequential than the sad reality of lost lives due to a disturbed individual with access to a deadly weapon. For Beck this was a message direct from God to him:
“I think God is giving me one final warning. He’s telling us, ‘You got one more chance, this is it.’ I’m telling you this is it … This is God saying, ‘Last chance.'”
Beck went on to remind his radio disciples that fifteen years ago he said that if…
“…you ever start to hear me reading right from the Scriptures, you know we’re at the end. I’m reading today right from the Scriptures … I’m telling you, as we watch things like a shooting on television and a shooting in the street, this is the beginning of sorrows. This is the beginning!”
Setting aside that Beck can’t seem to make up his mind as to whether this is the beginning or the end, he is plainly convinced that the shooting in Virginia was the work of God who did it to warn Beck of impending doom from the Heavens. The fact that a disgruntled ex-employee killed his former colleagues, something that unfortunately happens with a fair degree of frequency, is proof to Beck that the Lord is losing patience with the human race and is about to condemn us to eternal damnation. Of course, Beck has made predictions of The Perfect Storm that would herald the End Times in the past so often it is more like a running joke than a prophecy.
The depressing inevitability of opportunists taking advantage of tragedy is a sorry statement on the nature of our society. But it is a constant that can be predicted with near total accuracy. What is sometimes less predictable is just how low these callous vulgarians can sink.
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You know what’s worse than Beck’s self-serving swill? RW media has decided that (1) there were no murders, and (2) that Obama set this up to take their guns. That is sick stuff. Please, America, vote out the pretend Christians, the warmongers, the evangelicals, and the rest go the GOP, who have done nothing but set this nation back 100 years in the past decade. They still aren’t satisfied…they want women home and pregnant, horses and buggies so they never have to deal with road problems, and everlasting war so they can ship off the uneducated nonwhites and never think bout them again.
I thought Hillary set it up to distract from email “scandal.”
Who is saying these murders were faked? You didn’t post a source. Let me guess: Alex Jones, right?
If that’s the case, I have news for you. Alex Jones is not a right winger. He is a conspiracy nut, nothing more.
Absolutely right – but Beckie has a tendency to report Jones’ crap as news. At least, when Beckie believes Jones absolutely. Otherwise, Beckie condemns Jones as a crazy leftie. Actually, Beckie is an idiot…
The vast majority of rightwingers are delusional conspiracy nuts too, so there’s naturally a lot of overlap.
huh? What are you smoking? Guess what, if you had everything the way you wanted, your world would look lik Chicago, Detroit, Baltimore, etc. blue cities that are nothing but welfare trash!
Yup
I think Glenn Beck needs to free himself from the burden of believing in the god myth. He may feel a lot better.
True, but their are so many other myths & superstitions for weak minds to latch onto… Beck will always find some absurd nonsense to believe in. Remember, he is a convert to Mormonism! It bears repeating – Beck converted to that krazy kult, unlike the pitiful fools who were born into it and don’t know any other way. Boggles the mind.
I know – converting to that belief system is more ridiculous than most – only scientology would be more insane.
Yup. Mormons are like Scientologists, but with more Jesus.
Wow – Steve’s on our side for once. 🙂
Yes, Beckie really needs to divest himself of his delusion that God talks directly and solely to him, and everyone else is crazy for asserting the same belief. Although, we really have to wonder about God’s fondness for morons and dumbasses since She seems to have made so many of them…
I don’t stand behind nonsense I don’t support – even if it’s supposedly conservative. Freeing people of that nonsense is a positive in my book.
In the end, I would prefer to see today’s conservative movement divest itself of the control imposed by organized religion. It’s anti-intellectual and just plain dumb – and if we really want to maintain greater freedom, religious control must be curtailed.
You all would know this story is bullshit if you opened your minds up a little bit,. Hillary… that’s right HILLARY was the first to politicize the incident… Of course being the sheep you all are you would not know this…
The things said here, the article & the comments, are just plain BS……nothing more I can say.
Well, most of the comments anyway!
You started early on in this article with, “The other predictable response comes from self-interested parties who seek to gain attention and support by exploiting the pain and grief of the victims” and ended it by advertising your all new 2nd volume…blah, blah, blah, available at Amazon.
Soooooo, yeah.
Credibility shot.
This story twist the fact of what Glen Beck was saying – we live in evil times with people who see no limits on what they can do -they have no understanding of what is right or wrong. The Bible says people lose the understanding of right/good and evil/wrong. We need a change of heart and outlook in this country or things will only get worse.
If any of you idiots actually listened to the show, as I did and do, he was saying that he was drawn to study the Bible earlier in the week. And had intended on sharing the story at the #alllivesmatter event this weekend in Birmingham. But after this story broke during his radio broadcast he decided to share it then. You liberals love to spin everything against the conservatives.
You listen to Glenn Beck and you call US idiots???
Hahahahaha…
p.s. I provided the video so everyone could see and hear it for themselves. He is a hysterically delusional wannabe prophet who has been saying for years that “This is the end.” Eventually he will be right for himself.
You are a liar. You have taken this out of context.
Liars are the reason we are in the predicament we are in
Articles written by uninformed single digit I.Q points douche bags always amuse me . How does one discount the shooting as a hate crime? Let me see, in the shooter’s 23 page manifesto he states his actions was a result of the charleston hate crime shooting . Now let’s see if the author can follow simple logic : if a crazed black man shoots up nice white folk as retaliation for a crazed white guy shooting up some nice black folks .. Does that make for a hate crime on both sides of the equation ?? And work place violence ?? He wAs fired in 2013 .. Sounds like he has been out of the work firce for a couple of yeArs . It’s a bad day when Gretchen Carlson is smarter than you ..
Mike, your “equation” is balanced and correct – but it doesn’t take into account this leftist authors unshakable bias and inability to deal with those actions that don’t fit his world view. Don’t try to make sense of it. Glenn Beck is still nuts though – he’s got that right.
The man was mentally ill and a racist. He walked thru life with a big chip on his shoulder and looking for trouble. He evidently was unable to hold a job… and not the type employee anyone wanted to keep long It’s sad.
Glenn Beck is not going to end well…the guy has some serious psychological problems….I’m guessing like Bachmann, Palin, & others…he is gonna end up a suicide, one way or another.
Breitbart was right.