Glenn Beck

The Unmitigated Hate of Fox News

Posted by on January 27, 2011 at 9:58 pm. 20 Comments :

In response to a long and repulsive record of anti-Semitism and insensitive allusions to Nazis and the Holocaust on the part of Fox News, a coalition of 400 rabbis published an open letter calling on Rupert Murdoch to sanction Glenn Beck and demand that Roger Ailes apologize for their atrocious behavior. The letter was printed in a full page ad in Murdoch’s own Wall Street Journal, and said in part…

“We share a belief that the Holocaust, of course, can and should be discussed appropriately in the media. But that is not what we have seen at Fox News. It is not appropriate to accuse a 14-year old Jew hiding with a Christian family in Nazi-occupied Hungary of sending his people to death camps. It is not appropriate to call executives of another news agency ‘Nazis.’ And it is not appropriate to make literally hundreds of on-air references to the Holocaust and Nazis when characterizing people with whom you disagree.”

Rather than take the responsible path and accept that the criticism of hundreds of independent rabbis is sufficient evidence that Fox has stepped way over the line, Joel Cheatwood, senior vice president of development for Fox News, took a confrontational stance that proved once again that Fox News is committed to an agenda of hate. He said…

“We haven’t seen the ad, but this group is a George Soros backed left-wing political organization that has been trying to engage Glenn Beck primarily for publicity purposes.”

Really? The 400 rabbis who signed the letter are from a diverse spectrum of congregations, from reform to orthodox. They include liberals and conservatives and they have no organizational affiliation other than their common faith and a shared disgust for those who tarnish the memory of their families and heritage. But Cheatwood insults them by accusing them of being publicity seekers. And worse, he asserts that they are but minions of the “puppet master,” as Glenn Beck dubbed George Soros, thus recycling the same sort of vilification that Jews were subjected to in Hitler’s Germany.

There is simply no excuse for this overt hostility and insensitivity. This is no longer confined to the brutish ignorance of a few television hosts. It extends to the network management from Cheatwood, to Ailes, and all the way up to Rupert Murdoch himself. These people have no respect for others who have suffered under the most horrendous circumstances. They are only concerned with their own obsession for spreading hate and division. Ironically, Glenn Beck spoke of this on his program today:

“We can’t treat everyone as an enemy. We need to stop focusing on the things that divide us, but the things that unite us. […] Do you know why you can shoot a cop or beat somebody at Wendy’s; why you can call neighbors – neighbors – enemies because they voted for a different person? Because we no longer see people as human beings.”

If that wasn’t so sick coming from someone who spends every waking hour demonizing his ideological foes, it would be a laugh riot. Beck is the man that has likened progressives to cancer and warned that they can only be dealt with by shooting them in the head. And now he wants to deliver sermons on unity and respect for fellow Americans?

Glenn Beck has spoken more about the Nazi affiliations of Democrats and liberals than anyone on radio or television. It is an obsession with him. Hardly a day goes by that he doesn’t make some comment about the Holocaust. Which is interesting because today was one of those rare days when he never brought it up at all. He completely ignored the subject of the Holocaust today – the International Holocaust Remembrance Day. On this day Beck remains silent on the subject. A silence that speaks volumes.

No Wonder Glenn Beck Is So Stupid. He Hates Teachers

Posted by on January 26, 2011 at 12:06 pm. 6 Comments :

This morning Glenn Beck took to the radio to bash President Obama’s State of the Union speech. As usual, his rambling screed was littered with lies. But it wasn’t enough to merely hurl baseless insults at the president, for some reason he felt compelled to disparage teachers and come out in favor of America producing offspring who are as intellectually vacant as he is.

Glenn Beck

The President spoke at some length about the need to focus on education and the value of teachers. Beck’s response to this was to shriek “Don’t talk to me about a teacher sir. That’s indoctrination, Talk to me about parents.” He continued…

Beck: “Last night, I don’t know how many people picked it up, he said the solution came from China. They have their kids in school much longer for the year, and they also keep them in school a much longer day. And teachers are known as nation builders. And I wish we could just give them the respect they deserve.”

Where to begin. Let’s set aside Beck’s bizarre opinion that teaching is synonymous with indoctrination. Obama never said that “the solution came from China.” He merely noted that nations like China and India were devoting more resources to education than we are, which happens to be true. This is what the President actually said:

Obama: “Meanwhile, nations like China and India realized that with some changes of their own, they could compete in this new world. And so they started educating their children earlier and longer, with greater emphasis on math and science. […] Over the next 10 years, nearly half of all new jobs will require education that goes beyond a high school education. And yet, as many as a quarter of our students aren’t even finishing high school. The quality of our math and science education lags behind many other nations. America has fallen to ninth in the proportion of young people with a college degree.”

But don’t bother Beck with facts or aspirations to improve ourselves in a competitive world. Beck also erred when he said that it is communist China where teachers are know as “nation builders.” As was stated clearly in the President’s speech, it is actually our democratic ally, South Korea. Beck has as little regard for truth as he does for teachers, whom he seems reluctant to show any respect. But it just gets worse from there.

Beck: “I don’t know anybody that talks down about a teacher, I really don’t. I’ve never heard a teacher introduce himself and say ‘I’m just a teacher.’ I’ve never heard that. I have heard ‘Well, I’m just a mother.’ The greatest teachers are our mothers and our fathers, period.”

So Beck thinks that teachers in this society are treated with equal esteem as say, architects, or doctors, or pop stars? And he also thinks that motherhood is frowned upon? I really have to wonder what country Beck is living in. And while parents are obviously an important part of the life of any child, to say that they are our “greatest teachers” is missing the point. Of course our parents teach us values and shape our character, but how many of us learn astrophysics, or mechanical engineering, or medieval literature, or neurosurgery from our parents? That’s what the dialogue on education is about, and anyone with any sense knows that.

Finally, Beck demonstrated his own sorely deficient comprehension skills. This may explain why he is such a bad student and so ill-informed on so many subjects.

Beck: “He said last night the teacher, the one in front of the classroom, is the one that affects the child the most. Well, there’s your problem, President Obama.”

No, it’s your problem, Glenn, because he distinctly did not say that. Here is what he did say:

Obama: “That responsibility begins not in our classrooms, but in our homes and communities. It’s family that first instills the love of learning in a child. Only parents can make sure the TV is turned off and homework gets done. We need to teach our kids that it’s not just the winner of the Super Bowl who deserves to be celebrated, but the winner of the science fair. […] Let’s also remember that after parents, the biggest impact on a child’s success comes from the man or woman at the front of the classroom.”

Glenn Beck gets the simplest things so perversely wrong that you almost feel sorry for him. He is obviously suffering from a severe learning disability. He would have benefited immensely from the sort of teaching he now belittles. But the people for whom I feel most sorry are his listeners. They are being barraged on a daily basis by untruths and delusional analyses. And the damage that does to our society is tangible and dangerous. He is creating a congregation of frightened, hostile, idiots. That can’t end well.

[Addendum] On his TV show today Beck reprised his attack on the State of the Union speech. In doing so he provided another example of his pathological dishonesty:

What Beck Said: I actually feel bad for teachers. I mean the good ones. We should fire the bad ones. Which he wouldn’t say last night.
What Obama Said: We want to reward good teachers and stop making excuses for bad ones.

And there was also this charming thought:

“Last night was all about unity. I didn’t get my little ribbon, but it was all about unity.”

That little ribbon was worn in honor of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and the other victims of the Tucson shootings. How nice of Beck to mock that tribute and laugh at the the suffering of others.

Glenn Beck Guns For More Money

Posted by on January 23, 2011 at 12:33 pm. 10 Comments :

If there is one thing you can say about Glenn Beck it’s that he is the consummate capitalist, practiced in the arts of Snake Oil salesmanship and Apocalypse Marketing. He has parlayed those skills into a commercial exploitation empire that spans television, radio, Internet, publishing, theater, merchandising, and of course, advertising.

As the survivors and victims of the Tucson massacre are still mourning and healing, Beck has reached out to new clientele in the pursuit of higher profits:

Note that this is not an advertisement for sporting gear or self defense. It is an ad selling “revolution.” As any marketing professional will tell you, the words and images in ads are deliberately chosen and tested to produce a desired response from their target audience. It is plain that Beck is seizing upon the recent tragedy to fatten his wallet. At the same time he is advancing his mission to arm his congregation for the approaching battle.

This new sponsor fits in well with the Apocalypse Marketing strategy Beck has forged. After acquiring your Food Insurance, stashing your valuables in Liberty Safes, and hoarding coins from Goldline, don’t forget to stock your armory.

It would be naive to assume that the timing of this is coincidental. Beck and his sponsor are taking advantage of current events to commence, not an ad campaign, but, as the ad says, a new revolution. In fact, Beck has already declared explicitly that…

“The revolution has begun – I never thought I would say those words, but I understand that it has today. […] You must understand, you are in a revolution, a global revolution whether you like it or not and the rules of the games have changed.”

This is the same man who recently said that the only way to stop the progressives in Washington is to “shoot them in the head.” This man is an imminent danger to society. It is the pinnacle of irresponsibility for Rupert Murdoch and Roger Ailes to continue to allow him this platform that he uses to foment hate and violence. And it only makes it worse when they brazenly profit from this madness.

Keith Olbermann To Launch Internet Venture?

Posted by on January 22, 2011 at 1:45 pm. 6 Comments :

Not 24 hours has elapsed since Keith Olbermann shocked the cable news world by announcing that Countdown has reached ignition and been lifted off the MSNBC schedule. And due to the vague explanations offered by the principals, the public is left to their imagination as to what happened.

Today The Wrap is reporting that the move was entirely driven by Olbermann’s desire to become an Internet media baron:

“With two years left on his $7 million a year contract, Olbermann was seeking a full exit package but he really has his eye on creating his own media empire in the style of Huffington Post.”

Why not? It seems like everybody’s doing it.

Back in the day Matt Drudge, a small-time scandal monger, began publishing his conjecture-laden tabloid, The Drudge Report. Then his spawn, the terminally choleric Andrew Breitbart, followed with his BigWhatever network of outright lie sites. Tucker Carlson, the Biggest Loser (who may hold the Guinness record for the number of times he’s been canceled) launched his Daily Caller. Former MSNBC chief Dan Abrams founded Mediaite. Even Glenn Beck jumped on the bandwagon and lit up The Blaze, an appropriate masthead for a purveyor of incendiary rhetoric.

Still the leader in this parade of personality-driven press is The Huffington Post. If Olbermann chooses this model for an online presence it could be profoundly rewarding. He has a built-in following that already resides in cyberspace. He would have no problem attracting investors. He could cover the issues that interest him most and would be free to appear on any television network to discuss the stories he breaks online.

One minor point, last year Tucker Carlson boasted that he had acquired the domain name, keitholbermann.com. It was a typically puerile act on Carlson’s part that was also brazenly hypocritical. Read the whole sordid story here. Olbermann may have to retrieve his name from Carlson, but that shouldn’t be difficult under the current regulations of the World Intellectual Property Organization, the agency governing such matters.

I, for one, would be thrilled to see the launch of the Olbermann Observer Online. But as with everything else that has been written about his future since the surprise announcement, this story is not verified by any authoritative source. Howard Kurtz is saying the separation was the inevitable result of frayed relations between Olbermann and MSNBC management (i.e. the reprehensible Phil Griffin). And the suggestion that Olbermann initiated the departure doesn’t square with his statement that he was “told” that last night was “going to be the last edition” of his show.

MSNBC has already announced schedule changes to shore up the Olbermann hole. Lawrence O’Donnell is moving up to Olbermann’s 8:00pm slot. Ed Schultz will go to primetime to replace O’Donnell at 10:00pm. And Cenk Uygur will fill in for Schultz at 6:00pm.

If it were up to me I’d make additional daytime adjustments as well. There is no reason for two episodes of Chris Matthews’ Hardball in the afternoon. His ratings certainly don’t warrant the real estate. I’d let him have 7:00pm and give the 5:00pm slot to recently retired congressman Alan Grayson, where he would be on opposite Glenn Beck. That’s a ratings war I’d love to see.

Keith Olbermann Quits MSNBC, Joins Fox News

Posted by on January 21, 2011 at 10:21 pm. 10 Comments :

* * * Psyche! * * *

Keith OlbermannA cable news bombshell was dropped this evening, but not the one in the headline above. And anyone who clicked on this article thinking it might be true should take a minute or two to have a little chuckle at your own expense.

The actual breaking news is that Keith Olbermann closed his program tonight with the announcement that it would be his last. That’s pretty shocking in and of itself. Countdown is the highest rated program on MSNBC. It has been the launching pad for the rest of the network’s primetime lineup and its ratings cornerstone. It isn’t often that a network will jettison its top fare without some compelling justification. Although it should be noted that MSNBC did it once before when they canceled the number-one-rated Phil Donahue Show. At that time it was conservative politics that precipitated the cancellation. One can only hope that it is not the same case here.

There has already been rampant speculation as to the reason for this split, most of it centering on the just-approved acquisition of NBC by the notoriously conservative folks at Comcast. I find it unlikely that the new management stepped in to abruptly set Olbermann adrift before they have even moved into their offices. But since speculation is the special of the day, I’ll add mine. Olbermann’s au revoir began with him noting that…

“I think the same fantasy has popped into the head of everybody in my business who has ever been told what I’ve been told: That this is going to be the last edition of your show.”

Keith Olbermann has always been an artful author who chooses his words carefully. In saying that he was “told” that this show was his last, it is fair to say that the decision to leave was not his own. So what sort of issue could get a popular news anchor canned on such short notice? Generally it is either something he did recently, or something he was about to do. And since there doesn’t appear to be any event in the recent past that might have gotten him in trouble, it is more likely that there was some conflict with where Olbermann wanted to go in the future. My guess is that he wanted to cover a major event in the world of television news: The Comcast acquisition of NBC.

If Olbermann were to produce a report on this merger, I would expect that he would insist on addressing the passionate opposition to it. Most progressive media reformers have been lobbying mightily to prevent the merger from going through. Coincidentally, today happens to be the one-year anniversary of the Supreme Court’s disastrous support for corporations over people in the Citizen’s United decision. There may have been an irresistible temptation for Olbermann to comment on the loss of rights for average Americans resulting from the CU case in the context of a media merger which puts even more power into the hands of a giant corporation. And if Olbermann pitched this story to his bosses who are presently jockeying to keep their jobs post-merger, they may have forbade him to do the report. And that could possibly have led to a heated disagreement and a parting of ways.

[NOTE: Sign this petition from MoveOn to Support a Constitutional Amendment to Reverse Citizens United: Corporations Are Not People]

Phill GriffinOf course, this is just conjecture. No one will know what the real low down is until the parties involved spill the beans and, as of now, no one’s talking. However, it would be in line with the management philosophy of Olbermann’s boss, Phil Griffin, who is an admirer of Roger Ailes, the CEO of Fox News.

The biggest unanswered question after why is where. What will happen to Olbermann going forward. CNN stands as the biggest potential beneficiary. If the 3rd place network were able to snap him up it would deliver another million or so loyal viewers. But the hardest part of this to understand is how Olbermann, a caring, passionate, honest, progressive voice has lost his job, while Glenn Beck, a hostile, lying, egomaniacal, rodeo clown remains employed even after telling his viewers that to stop progressives “You’re going to have to shoot them in the head.”

The Smoking Gun: Here Is Why Glenn Beck Should Be Fired NOW!

Posted by on January 17, 2011 at 2:45 pm. 30 Comments :

Glenn BeckI have documented numerous examples of right-wing advocacy of violence, as have many others. But nobody crosses further over the line, or more often, than Glenn Beck. And here is the ultimate display of deliberate hostile intent. It is an overt call for violence and an instruction to viewers:

“Tea parties believe in small government. We believe in returning to the principles of our Founding Fathers. We respect them. We revere them. Shoot me in the head before I stop talking about the Founders. Shoot me in the head if you try to change our government.

I will stand against you and so will millions of others. We believe in something. You in the media and most in Washington don’t. The radicals that you and Washington have co-opted and brought in wearing sheep’s clothing — change the pose. You will get the ends.

You’ve been using them? They believe in communism. They believe and have called for a revolution. You’re going to have to shoot them in the head. But warning, they may shoot you.

They are dangerous because they believe. Karl Marx is their George Washington. You will never change their mind.” ~ Fox News, June 10, 2010

This cannot possibly be justified as acceptable political discourse. This is not merely an expression of opinion. It is not metaphorical. It is a call to arms. And Beck’s audience is listening. They have heard him say that “The country will be washed with blood.” They have heard him warn that he may have to speak in code:

“I fear that there will come a time when I cannot say things that I am currently saying. I fear that it will come to television and to radio, and I will stop saying these things. Understand me clearly. Hear me now. If I ever stop saying these things, you will know why. Because I will have made a choice that I can only say certain things, and I haven’t lost all of the rights. But know that these things are true. And if you hear me stop saying these things, it’s because I can no longer say them to you. But hear them between the sentences. Hear them, please. I will be screaming them to you.“

One of those to whom Beck was screaming was Byron Williams who was apprehended following a police shootout as he was on his way to San Francisco to kill people at the ACLU and the Tides Foundation. In a prison interview he said…

“Beck is gonna deny everything about violent approach and deny everything about conspiracies, but he’ll give you every reason to believe it. He’s protecting himself, and you can’t blame him for that. So, I understand what he’s doing.”

That’s right, Byron understands what Beck is doing, and so do I. A new poll by Public Policy Polling reports that 13% of Tea Partiers say the that violence against the current American government is justifiable. While that may sound like a small percentage, there are two things to keep in mind: 1) It’s more than three times the percentage of non-Tea Partiers who say violence is justifiable. And 2) It only takes one lone nut to wreak havoc. One lone nut like Byron Williams or, perhaps, Jared Loughner, as we learned in Tucson a week ago.

Let me be crystal clear. I am not associating Loughner to Glenn Beck. There has been no evidence (yet) to link the two. However, there have been other lone gunmen in addition to Williams who were indisputably linked to Beck.

It is because of statements like the one above that Beck has forfeited his privilege of hosting national broadcasts. His language is brazenly irresponsible and he knows it. He cannot escape accountability for the tragic consequences it produces. And neither can Roger Ailes or Rupert Murdoch.

In addition to his hostile streak, Beck also has demonstrated a flagrant prejudice against blacks and Jews. I previously noted that a rather large proportion of Beck’s targets are black, beginning, of course, with Barack Obama. Media Matters recently made note of Beck’s program on “The Big Lie” wherein Beck cited nine individuals whom he implicated in a tyrannical plot to control the minds of Americans in order to advance a socialist agenda. Was it just a coincidence that eight of them were Jewish?

This racist, anti-Semitic, provocateur must not be be permitted to conduct his terror campaign on America’s airwaves. Now that does not mean that he should be subjected to censorship or suppression of his First Amendment rights, but the First Amendment does not guarantee everyone a television show. Radio and television networks, and the advertisers and audience that support them, must be persuaded to act responsibly. And that is our job.

You can go to Glenn Beck Unhinged and click on “Take Action” for a list of organizations that are working to hold the media accountable. Then pass the links around to spread the word.

The quote above is not an isolated incident. The results of such rhetoric are predictable. His disciples believe that he is giving them covert directions, and he encourages that belief. So we have to redouble our efforts to make people like Glenn Beck pay for the harm they do to our nation. And we have to do it before there is further violence or loss of life.

[Update to Inquire] Eric Fuller, a victim of the Tucson shooting, was arrested and involuntarily committed to a mental facility for psychiatric examination. This occurred after he attended a town hall meeting and said “You’re dead,” to a Tea Party leader while snapping his picture. That’s it. Just words. He had no weapon and made no threatening gestures or movements toward anyone. If that warrants arrest and commitment then why isn’t Beck undergoing a similar examination after explicitly advising his viewers to shoot their political adversaries in the head?

[Glenn Beck Responds] On his radio program Friday he complained bitterly that his remarks were taken out of context. That’s a pretty gargantuan heaping of irony from the reigning king of contextual misrepresentation. Without out of context references Beck’s show would be shorter than his commercials.

Beck’s contextual explanation is that he isn’t telling his viewers to shoot people in the head, he is telling people in the administration (and the media) to shoot people in the head. Is that really better? He’s advising government officials to murder American citizens. Thanks for clearing that up, Glenn.

However, the broader context of these remarks has to include Beck’s warning to his viewers that they have to “listen between the sentences,” as Byron Williams did. So Beck is still narrowing the context to fit his demented vision.

Glenn Beck’s Top Ten Reasons To Kill Your Congressman

Posted by on January 12, 2011 at 7:20 pm. 17 Comments :

Glenn BeckYesterday Glenn Beck introduced a petition that he described as a challenge to America. In truth it was nothing more than a self-serving stunt that enumerated a bunch of repetitive calls to denounce violence. This sets Beck apart from the millions of people in America whom he seems to think are clamoring for more of it.

Today Beck spent almost the whole hour whining that only 14 members of congress signed his silly petition. That’s a pretty dismal showing of support. Considering that congress now has 289 Republicans (House and Senate), Beck only managed to snare about 5% of his ideological allies. He was obviously devastated at having been snubbed so brutally. He heaped scorn on those who rebuffed him, blaming them for playing politics. He went on ad nauseum about not being able to understand how anyone could refuse to sign the farce that he regarded as so well-intentioned.

Other than Beck, no one should be surprised that his petition was so universally dismissed. It would be like McDonalds circulating a petition denouncing junk food. Beck is perhaps America’s foremost purveyor of violence-soaked hate speech and has no intention of changing. His history of incendiary language is rich with examples that are indefensibly bloodthirsty. And despite his denial, this sort of rhetoric can motivate the weak, the gullible, and the paranoid. So without further ado I present Glenn Beck’s justifications for political assassination.

Glenn Beck’s Top Ten Reasons To Kill Your Congressman

  • January 19, 2010: The progressive movement is sucking the blood out of each of the parties. This is their opportunity to finally win and progressives will, admittedly, do anything to win. They’ll lie, cheat, steal. Do you really think you can pull them off your neck with a ballot box? You must drive a steak through the heart of this movement. … [Obama]’s not a Democrat. He is a progressive.
  • June 10, 2010: Shoot me in the head if you try to change our government. I will stand against you and so will millions of others. We believe in something. You in the media and most in Washington don’t. […] They believe in communism. They believe and have called for a revolution. You’re going to have to shoot them in the head. But warning, they may shoot you.
  • November 13, 2009: Barack Obama and Congress are selling you a bill of goods. It is only when you take down the mask of sunshine and lollipops that you will see the real thing – the real image. Destruction. These bills are creating the path to America’s destruction.
  • July 23, 2010: They’ve already taken over health care. Is there any greater control than that of deciding the fate of someone’s life?
  • July 23, 2010: The financial regulation that the president signed into law yesterday is an unprecedented assault on our economy, our ability to do business and, quite honestly, the republic as we know it.
  • October 30, 2009: When you pull back the curtain, you will see that free speech is being eradicated for controlled speech: Control over the media; control over the Internet; control over you.
  • March 8, 2010: There is an effort to indoctrinate [our kids]. … Even President Obama, in his own Web site, targeting our children. … Get the kids out of this indoctrination or our republic will be lost.
  • April 24, 2007: I have been telling you for months now that illegal immigration is creating a new civil war in this country.
  • September 2, 2009: I’m going to show you the beginning of something that should scare the living daylights out of you. It is propaganda in America. The National Endowment for the Arts is now holding conference calls.
  • December 14, 2009: The climate cult wants more than just your recycling bin. … what they want is total submission.

Glenn Beck has assembled a pretty comprehensive list of things that will doom the republic. They include health care, religion, financial regulation, education reform, Network Neutrality, immigration, art, global warming, cap and trade, the census, cash for clunkers, and even food safety. Did I leave anything out? Yes I did. How about…

People that don’t attend his rallies?: There are people now who are saying: I don’t know if I am going on 8/28. I don’t know if I’ll go to another Tea Party. Well, if you’re done, then the republic truly is done. If you’re done, they will take your liberty as well.

And how about…

Sarah Palin? Sarah, as you know, peace is always the answer. I know you are feeling the same heat, if not much more on this. I want you to know you have my support. But please look into protection for your family. An attempt on you could bring the republic down.

As it turns out, our republic must be pretty weak. Almost anything can bring it down according to Beck. I wouldn’t sneeze too hard if I were you. But one risk that Beck stubbornly refuses to acknowledge is that inflaming people’s fears about the end of the world that they know and cherish could drive certain individuals to take extreme measures in what they regard as the protection of their family and country. If you believed that our government were actually behaving in the manner described by Beck, that it was deliberately steering toward slavery, tyranny, and ruin, you might consider it your duty to take out a congressman or two in the name of patriotism. Beck fails to acknowledge this even though it has already happened on a number of occasions; even though he has been warned; even though he caters to advertisers whose products are dependent on such fears; even though his boss Roger Ailes told him to “shut up, tone it down, make your argument intellectually.” And that may be where Beck gets tripped up.

There has been a lot of debate lately about rhetoric and imagery. I think some of it has concentrated too much on trivialities. I don’t think Beck or Palin are responsible for the shooting last Saturday. I don’t think that maps with crosshairs are going to motivate anyone to commit murder, although they may seem horribly inappropriate after a tragic event like the one in Tucson. However, repeatedly using irresponsible language that dehumanizes rivals and casts them as mortal enemies and foes of goodness and Godliness is tempting fate. It is fomenting a hatred and/or fear of government and fellow citizens. That can turn an ideological opponent into an imminent threat. That is what Beck does every day and it has to stop.

If our republic is to survive (now I’m doing it) we need to be able to have partisan divisions that don’t devolve into civil malignancies. All people in public life need to reflect on this in pursuit of their political goals. And if Beck won’t stop out of a sense of moral decency, then it is up to those who have such morality to counter his repugnancy and work to evict him from the public platform that he does not deserve.

Glenn Beck’s Challenge To America: Play Nice

Posted by on January 10, 2011 at 5:03 pm. 2 Comments :

Glenn Beck: Armed and DangerousOn his Monday Fox News program, Glenn Beck complained that he had not seen any leaders emerge in the wake of the Tucson Slaughter who would stand up and say “Stop it!” He must not have been looking very hard because dozens of Democrats and progressives in the media did just that, even as their counterparts on the right dismissed them.

Now, after taking 48 hours to make any statement at all, Beck thrusts himself into the role of leader with this challenge:

I challenge all Americans, left or right, regardless if you’re a politician, pundit, painter, priest, parishioner, poet or porn star to agree with all of the following.

  • I denounce violence, regardless of ideological motivation.
    Does that include fantasizing about choking the life out of Michael Moore or beating Rep. Charles Rangel to death with a shovel?
  • I denounce anyone, from the Left, the Right or middle, who believes physical violence is the answer to whatever they feel is wrong with our country.
    Does that include your guest Michael Scheuer who said that the only hope for America was for Bin Laden to attack again?
  • I denounce those who wish to tear down our system and rebuild it in their own image, whatever that image may be.
    Does that include yourself who has said that “progressivism is a cancer in America, and it’s eating our Constitution” and that America needs to be “re-founded?”
  • I denounce those from the Left, the Right or middle, who call for riots and violence as an opportunity to bring down and reconstruct our system.
    Does that include Rush Limbaugh who said “Screw the world – Riot in Denver” in an attempt to sow unrest at the Democratic Convention?
  • I denounce violent threats and calls for the destruction of our system – regardless of their underlying ideology – whether they come from the Hutaree Militia or Frances Fox Piven.
    Does that include Sharron Angle who advocated “2nd Amendment remedies” and Joyce Kaufman who said that “if ballots don’t work, bullets will?”
  • I hold those responsible for the violence, responsible for the violence. I denounce those who attempt to blame political opponents for the acts of madmen.
    Does that include yourself who even today blamed political opponents for politicizing Tucson simply because they called for toning down the rhetoric?
  • I denounce those from the Left, the Right or middle that sees violence as a viable alternative to our long established system of change made within the constraints of our constitutional Republic.
    Does that include accepting an administration that campaigned (and won) on a platform of “fundamental change” within the constraints of our constitutional Republic?

If Glenn Beck will acknowledge that he and his rightist cohorts bear significant responsibility for the hostile environment in our nation, then his challenge is reasonable, even if it is obvious and represents the common sense approach that has always been advocated by the majority of Americans. I’m not sure where Beck gets the idea that the issuing of this challenge is either unique or demonstrative of leadership. It is more akin to a kindergarten decree to play nice.

If Beck is serious he will acknowledge that threats are not merely direct assertions of imminent harm. They are also implicit in language that dehumanizes rivals and casts them repeatedly as mortal enemies of goodness and Godliness. If he is serious he will apologize for (and stop) his campaign of vilifying his political opponents like Van Jones, George Soros, Cass Sunstein, Nancy Pelosi, and Barack Obama, and the long list of others he hates with such ferocity. He will cease to trivialize violence as he did just last month when he joked that an attempted murderer must have been a liberal because “The guy is a really bad shot.”

Today, in an interview with music impresario Russell Simmons, Fox News CEO Roger Ailes said…

“I told all of our guys, shut up, tone it down, make your argument intellectually. You don’t have to do it with bombast. I hope the other side does that.”

Color me skeptical. I find it hard to believe that someone with Ailes’ record of bombast has suddenly become a disciple of Gandhi. This is the man who recently called the executives at NPR Nazis. This is the man who said of the infamous Willie Horton ad that…

“The only question is whether we depict Willie Horton with a knife in his hand or without it.”

Time will tell if Beck and his colleagues on the right are genuinely seeking to restore civility to public discourse, or are engaging in the rank hypocrisy that has come to define conservative politics. For the sake of people who may become future victims of political violence, I have to retain some hope. But I’m not holding my breath.

Glenn Beck Finally Comments On The Tucson Slaughter

Posted by on January 10, 2011 at 12:46 pm. 7 Comments :

It took 48 hours, but Glenn Beck, arguably the worst offender at being offensive, has finally commented on the slaughter in Tucson that killed or injured 19 people including a federal judge, a nine year old girl, and Rep. Gabrielle Giffords.

Glenn Beck: Armed and DangerousFor the most part his message was a compulsory expression of condolences and a call for non-violence. This from someone whose daily sermons of apocalyptic terror have already inspired murderous acts by unstable individuals. It is notable that he only spoke to actual acts of violence and made no mention of the hostile rhetoric from which they can spring. That is if you don’t count his defense of right-wing media by characterizing criticism of the vilification in civic discourse as politicizing the tragedy. What’s more, his web page with this message featured a rotating gallery of images that includes the one to the left wherein he brandishes a firearm. Now, that’s perfectly legal, of course, but perhaps a bit insensitive considering recent events and the very subject of the page on which it appears. Even Palin felt compelled to remove her “Hit List” from her web site.

[Note] Beck has since removed the image of him brandishing a gun. That is a tacit admission that it was inappropriate, but I don’t expect that he will make an explicit admission, nor apologize.

Also included in his message was a bizarre defense of Sarah Palin that also served as an advertisement for his security provider. He introduced his remarks as being excerpted from his letter to Palin.

“Sarah, as you know, peace is always the answer. I know you are feeling the same heat, if not much more on this. I want you to know you have my support. But please look into protection for your family. An attempt on you could bring the republic down. Please call Gavin De Becker in Los Angeles. He is the guy that protects me. They are, bar none, the best.”

According to Beck it is Sarah Palin who is feeling the heat. She is the victim of Saturday’s massacre, poor thing. And if Glenn Beck thinks that an attempt on Palin could bring down the republic, his opinion of the republic is that it is pretty damn weak. Of course an attempt on Palin, or anyone, would be horrible, but our nation was strong enough to withstand a civil war; strong enough to lose four sitting presidents to assassination and numerous attempts on others; strong enough to endure the loss of 3,000 people on 9/11. It is stupid to suggest that an attempt on a former half-term governor/reality TV star would bring us down when those other events did not.

Beck should refrain from glorifying his elitist class of politicos as the foundations that keep our nation from crumbling to the ground and instead speak to the need for civil discourse in our country. We ought to be able to regard our political adversaries as people with whom we disagree, not mortal enemies. It does not help to call the President a racist or a fascist. It does not help to vilify people like Cass Sunstein as the “most dangerous man in America” or George Soros as a “puppet master” bent on destroying our economy and our nation. It does not help to fantasize about choking the life out of Michael Moore or beating Rep. Charles Rangel to death with a shovel. Nor does it help to announce that he is starting a revolution against those he vilifies as progressives, but who are really his fellow Americans. If he really believes in peace and love, he should practice it – for God’s sake.

As an aside, I was fully prepared with a knee-jerk condemnation of the product placement Beck included in his suck-up to Palin. However, Gavin de Becker & Associates, Beck’s security firm, has an article on their site titled: Media Fear Tactics. It is actually a pretty useful and entertaining commentary on the sensationalism of television news. Ironically, it describes pretty accurately the way Fox News presents their tabloid alternative to journalism. The article was clearly meant as a cautionary guide to shoddy reporting, but the Fox editors seem to have adopted as a style guide.

Hostile Intent: Right-Wing Media Doth Protest Too Much

Posted by on January 9, 2011 at 7:39 pm. 3 Comments :

Rarely have I seen such a desperate attempt to evade reality as has occurred since the shooting rampage in Tuscon. It would seem to be a fairly non-controversial notion that when a politician is targeted for assassination, the language that contributes to hostile discord ought to be carefully considered and avoided. The last thing anyone should want is another Jared Loughner. However, just raising that issue has caused politicians and pundits on the right to stiffen their backs and go on offense. They are taking such talk very personally. Could it be because they are harboring a latent guilt?

While the left has been responding to an horrific act of violence with calls to tone down the rhetoric, many on the right have assumed an attack posture. Keith Olbermann delivered a commentary yesterday wherein he included himself amongst those who have crossed the line. He apologized. There has been scarce reciprocation on the right. In fact, they have dug in their heels to assert that they will continue as if nothing has happened. Sarah Palin’s camp even contends that their notorious “Hit List” didn’t represent a gunsight’s crosshairs, but those on map. That might have been a little more plausible if Palin herself hadn’t referred to it as a bullseye.

So it should come as no surprise that Fox News would employ their propaganda web site, Fox Nation, to muddy the waters and absolve the right of any wrongdoing while tarnishing the left for observing the obvious. The Fox Nation presently has eleven articles that place the left in a bad light and/or polish the right’s reputation. Methinks they doth protest too much.

The Headlines:

  • Durbin Using Tragic Shooting to Silence Conservative Speech
  • A Colossal Failure of Journalism: Jared Loughner is crazy
  • Tucson Shooter and the Violent Rhetoric in the “Communist Manifesto”
  • AZ Dem Blames “Afghan Vet” for Shooting
  • DESPICABLE: NYT’s Krugman Blames Republicans For Giffords Shooting
  • NOW Blames Shooting on ‘Extreme’ Conservatives Opposing ‘Progressive Solutions’
  • PATHETIC: James Clyburn Blames Sharon Angle for Giffords Shooting
  • Tuscon Sheriff Politicizes Press Conference, Blames Talk Radio
  • Journalists Urged Caution After Ft. Hood, Now Race to Blame Palin After Arizona Shootings
  • Kurtz: Don’t Drag Palin Into this Horrific Mess
  • Dems Urge Obama to Pin Shooting on Tea Partiers

And it doesn’t stop there. On Andrew Breitbart’s BigGovernment, Jim Hoft, one of the most ignorant writers on a web site heralded for its ignorance, makes the ludicrous claim that “Democrats Plotted to Blame Tea Party for Slaughter.” Hoft’s justification for this “breaking” news flash was this paragraph from an article on Politico:

“One veteran Democratic operative, who blames overheated rhetoric for the shooting, said President Barack Obama should carefully but forcefully do what his predecessor did. ‘They need to deftly pin this on the tea partiers.'”

Did I mention that Hoft was ignorant? He is inferring from a single, anonymous source that a “plot” was in progress. And his inference is based on an opinion, not a plan. The source is suggesting what he thinks Obama ought to do, not what Obama, or any other Democrat, is actually doing. So there is no plot, just one guy with an opinion. And if this “operative” actually had access to the White House, or any group that could carry out this alleged plot, he would have given this advice to the President instead of a reporter from Politico.

What Hoft left out was the part where Politico reported this analysis from a senior Republican senator:

“There is a need for some reflection here – what is too far now?” said the senator. “What was too far when Oklahoma City happened is accepted now. There’s been a desensitizing. These town halls and cable TV and talk radio, everybody’s trying to outdo each other.”

The vast majority of tea party activists, this senator said, ought not be impugned.

“They’re talking about things most mainstream Americans are talking about, like spending and debt,” the Republican said, before adding that politicians of all stripes need to emphasize in the coming days that “tone matters.”

“And the Republican Party in particular needs to reinforce that,” the senator said.

I wonder why Hoft didn’t accuse this GOP senator of engaging in a plot to tone down the rhetoric as advised by most of the left. However, he did make the flat assertion that Loughner was “hardly a tea partier.” Apparently Hoft was unfamiliar with Loughner’s anti-government views, his opposition to immigrants and immigration reform, his advocacy of guns, and his opposition to the “2nd Constitution,” a rightist theme that regards the 14th Amendment’s securing of equality and birthright citizenship as unconstitutional. These are all views consistent with the Tea Party.

The truth is that the right is the only side that could plausibly be characterized as plotting anything. Hoft’s own column for Breitbart is evidence of that. And did the Fox Nationalists really need eleven articles to push their narrative? Then there is Judson Phillips, founder of the Tea Party Nation, who explicitly urged his followers blame liberals for the attack on Rep. Giffords. He wrote to his followers that…

“The hard left is going to try and silence the Tea Party movement by blaming us for this. […] The left is coming and will hit us hard on this. We need to push back harder with the simple truth. The shooter was a liberal lunatic. Emphasis on both words.”

The right is on a mission to wash their hands of any accountability for violence that is all too predictable. It would be much easier if they were to take the position of the GOP senator above who understands that this is the time to be thoughtful about what we say and the impact it may have on the mentally wobbly. Unfortunately, that is not the path the right is headed down.

It has been over 32 hours since the shooting in Tuscon and Glenn Beck, arguably the worst offender at being offensive, has not made a single public statement. There is nothing on his web site – no tweets – not even an expression of condolences. And you can rest assured that he will return to the air Monday with a delusional conspiracy theory for what he thinks happened in that Safeway parking lot. I can hear it now…..

Beck: Over the weekend there was a horrible crime committed against a United States Congresswoman. She is still clinging to life, but a judge, a young girl, and several others were killed.

Now, if you were watching the liberal media you may have come away thinking that this was the work of a conservative or a Tea Party member. I can assure you that nothing could be further from the truth.

Here’s the truth. Here’s what only I have been able to uncover through dogged research. Here’s what the media is afraid to tell you. Rep. Giffords was killed in order to silence me and other conservative broadcasters. That’s right. This was a liberal plot to create an environment where people would be calling for harsh rhetoric to be stopped.

Top down, bottom up, and inside out. The progressives are thinking all the time about how to stifle our message, and they know that by making a martyr of Rep. Giffords they can demand that we shut our mouths and crawl off into a corner. They can accuse us of inciting people to violence. And they think that will cause us to keep quiet about their plans to destroy America and demolish our moral culture. That’s why they sent their mole, Loughner, to the supermarket on Saturday. Some of my voices…I mean sources…are telling me that Loughner was seen with Van Jones and Cass Sunstein going over plans to take over the media.

But we aren’t going to let that happen, are we? We will remain strong because we know that only by eliminating our enemies can we live in peace.

Now, remember, I don’t want anyone to engage in violence. Even though the progressives are determined to see your future, and that of your children, blown apart and ruined for all eternity, you must not react violently. That’s what they want you to do. So even though they are going to put an end to the American Dream and cause our society and our economy to break down so badly that we will be praying for death rather than live in the socialist hell they want to create, do not become violent. Got it. Just get ready to suffer and prepare your kids for suffering like they have never known. Watching the whole world sink into depression and slavery is certainly no reason to resort to violence, is it? Well, is it? If you believe, like I do, that America is exceptional and worth preserving, then you know what to do.

And by the way, be sure to pick up a copy of my new book, “Reading Between the Lies.”

You read it here first.

[Update] Beck lived up to my speculation. On his Monday Fox News program he said:

“The solution, in this case, is to silence the opposition […] shut down the right […] How do you shut them down? You say it’s hate speech.”

As I suspected, Beck exploited the massacre to whine about the tragedy as a conspiracy to silence him and his rightist comrades.

[Update II] The right is now openly defending hate speech. Jack Shafer, editor at large of Slate.com, posted an article titled: In Defense of Inflamed Rhetoric
The awesome stupidity of the calls to tamp down political speech in the wake of the Giffords shooting.

Shafer’s article is really a demonstration of his own awesome stupidity. He argues that there haven’t been enough episodes of violence to justify the criticism of incendiary language. He is ignoring the numerous examples – from Dr. Tiller to Byron Williams to the Holocaust Museum to the Marine recruiting station to the gas line tampering at a congressman’s home. How many examples does Shafer need before he becomes concerned? But the real stupidity in his column is this passage:

“Any call to cool “inflammatory” speech is a call to police all speech, and I can’t think of anybody in government, politics, business, or the press that I would trust with that power.”

Nobody – repeat NOBODY – has suggested that inflammatory speech be criminalized. This is an invention of Shafer’s twitchy imagination. The matter is in the hands of the speakers, politicians and pundits, to be responsible and/or accountable. Free speech is not a shield from criticism of what is said. It extends to the critics as well. And when Shafer says that “violent imagery is a good thing” he illustrates just how idiotic and counterproductive right-wing hate mongers (like himself) can be.

[Acclaim for News Corpse] Keith Olbermann tweeted: “Deft and accurate summary of Right Wing Media in full-fledged panic and utter denial.” Thanks Keith.