Glenn Beck is feeling the heat from his repulsive commandment that his you should leave your church if it advocates social justice. Church leaders from across the religious spectrum are renouncing the ravings of His AssHoliness™. But there is another factor in this affair that ought not to be ignored.
When it suits his purpose, Beck will not hesitate to embrace Martin Luther King. Beck has even included King’s picture and words in the opening credits of his TV show (but no more). On the many times that Beck is accused of being racist he will cite King in an attempt to inoculate himself from the invariably correct criticisms. But that hasn’t prevented him from also calling King a radical and questioning whether there should be a day honoring him. And on the subject of social justice, which Beck is currently castigating as some sort of Da Vinci coded proxy for Marxism, King once said…
“[W]e will be able to go this additional distance and achieve the ideal, the goal of the new age, the age of social justice.”
Contrast that with Beck’s twisted view on the matter. It begins with a warning that when you see the words social justice you should…
“Run, and don’t listen to anyone who is telling you differently. […] It is a perversion of the Gospel.”
I’m not sure where Beck acquired his theological training. Perhaps it was when he was an alcoholic drug abuser. Or maybe it was after he sobered up and became a Mormon because, as he admits, if he didn’t his then-girlfriend wouldn’t sleep with him. In any case, he now considers himself so authoritative on spiritual matters that he, and only he, warrants your attention and observance.
The distinction between Beck and King is important because Beck has appropriated an anniversary that is cherished by Americans who revere King and his works. Beck is holding a rally on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, DC, on the anniversary of King’s “I Have A Dream” speech, which was delivered at the same location. The dark irony of Beck pontificating on that platform, on that day, is purely revolting. As is the prospect of his all-white army of paranoids desecrating the historical significance of King’s oratory there almost half a century ago.
Beck demonstrated his commitment to his version of social justice when he appeared on Bill O’Reilly’s show last week. The discussion turned to whether the government could regulate unhealthy behavior like excessive consumption of junk foods. Setting aside the fact that no one in government is proposing that, O’Reilly nevertheless asked Beck how he would deal with someone who had a heart attack due to such a lifestyle and who did not have insurance. Beck’s prescription? “Sucks to be him.”
Beck continued by saying that he would not pay for this person’s health care or treatment in an emergency room. O’Reilly, acting in the unfamiliar role as the voice of reason, told him that he was already paying for that. Whereupon Beck changed his tune and came out as an advocate of government regulation of personal behavior. Not just once, but three times:
“If you don’t want to work, or if you can’t work, well then you are on government assistance, well then I can now regulate your life.”
“If you are taking money. . .if you want to be a slave to the government, then they have every right.”
“So here is the deal, if you don’t have insurance and you need to take the government insurance, then the government has the right to regulate every aspect of your life. But leave the rest of us alone.”
To which O’Reilly responded, “I like that.”
There is so much wrong with this that it’s hard to know where to begin. Let’s start with the cruel insensitivity of Beck’s initial response that it “sucks” to have a heart attack and that’s just too bad for you. Go away and die. That isn’t just a denunciation of social justice, it’s sociopathic.
Then Beck mentions something about a “need to take the government insurance.” Of course, there is no such thing. When a patient is unable to pay for emergency treatment the cost is transferred to the medical facility and eventually to future patients in the form of higher rates for treatment and insurance. The current debate over health care reform has proposed a “public option,” but Beck opposes that (and everything else in the pending legislation) as socialism. What’s worse, he takes the utterly detestable position that anyone on public assistance surrenders his liberty to the state. He even uses the word “slave” to describe the status of such a person. Somehow, I don’t think that was an accidental racial reference.
What makes this particularly disgusting is that Beck has fiercely criticized the federal bailouts of banks and auto companies. Then, when the administration tried to assert some control over how those funds can be used (for instance, prohibiting the banks from using the taxpayers’ money for extravagant, undeserved bonuses), Beck complained that the government was interfering with a private business. So in Beck’s warped mind it is wrong to tell troubled corporations how to spend money they get from the government, but if you’re a private citizen undergoing an economic hardship the government can take ownership of you and “regulate every aspect of your life.”
I really can’t fathom how Beck justifies his contemptible callousness and hypocrisy. Corporations get billions in tax credits, trade subsidies, development incentives, etc., and all of that was before the bailouts. But they have no obligation to the taxpayers who provide it. Your Uncle Andy gets a few bucks for groceries and shoes for the kids and he is obliged to be the government’s slave. And even then he gets no medical care for himself or his family. Of course not. How could the government afford it after giving all those billions to the corporations and trillions more to pay for illegal and unnecessary wars?
That’s Glenn Beck’s version of social justice. It’s compassionless, hollow, and inhumane. Beck doesn’t deserve to walk the same earth as Martin Luther King, much less desecrate King’s memory by usurping the anniversary of his historic address. It was an address that spoke specifically of the obligation America owes to its citizens as promised in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. It was an address that foresaw liberty and justice for all:
King: “[W]e refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt. We refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity of this nation. So we have come to cash this check — a check that will give us upon demand the riches of freedom and the security of justice.”
That’s the difference between King’s full-hearted grace and Beck’s hardhearted arrogance. King had a positive vision of the goodness in humanity and a belief in what we can achieve together. Beck has faith only in self-interest and the privilege of the fortunate. Let’s hope that King’s vision prevails.
Addendum: Beck has generously supplied us with his definition of Social justice:
“Forced redistribution of wealth with a hostility toward individual property rights, under the guise of charity and/or justice.”
That explains a lot. If I defined kittens as blood thirsty killing machines, you can bet I would lead the opposition to kittens. Of course, I would be insane to have that definition, right Glenn? Glenn?
The national embarrassment to honest journalism that is Fox News continues to contaminate our country’s airwaves with false and misleading information designed to promote a conservative Republican agenda and to demonize Democrats and progressives. Almost a year ago I wrote an article that asked the question: “Who’s Afraid Of Fox News?” My answer was: “The Rest Of The Media!” It was an examination of how Fox aggressively attacked their competitors and how their competitors simply rolled over, apparently afraid to fight back. Now, a year later, not much has changed.
Sure, there have been a few disjointed, lucid moments. For instance, Rick Sanchez of CNN, who called out Fox for a thoroughly dishonest report that claimed that no one but Fox covered a Tea Bagger event in Washington. However, not only did CNN cover it, Fox used photos from CNN’s coverage to make their false claim that there wasn’t any coverage. Another example was when former White House Communications Director, Anita Dunn, honestly told Howard Kurtz that Fox News operates as “the communications arm of the Republican Party.” Her remarks were seconded by Rahm Emanuel and David Axelrod. It was a promising trend.
But overall, there is still a deafening silence from most of the press. They still seem to be skittish and reluctant to offend the mighty Fox. That is, when they aren’t trying to emulate it. One voice that has arisen is that of Howell Raines, the former executive editor of the New York Times. He has written an op-ed for the Washington Post that is far more insightful and combative than anything he produced when he was at the Times. The article asks some questions that ought to have been asked long ago by every member of the media who values journalistic integrity:
Why don’t honest journalists take on Roger Ailes and Fox News?
Why haven’t America’s old-school news organizations blown the whistle on Roger Ailes, chief of Fox News, for using the network to conduct a propaganda campaign against the Obama administration — a campaign without precedent in our modern political history?
Why has our profession, through its general silence — or only spasmodic protest — helped Fox legitimize a style of journalism that is dishonest in its intellectual process, untrustworthy in its conclusions and biased in its gestalt?
Why can’t American journalists steeped in the traditional values of their profession be loud and candid about the fact that Murdoch does not belong to our team?
Why indeed? And why has it taken so long to ask these questions? And why aren’t all of Raines’ colleagues signing on to his rebuke of Fox, Murdoch, and Ailes? It shouldn’t take much courage for responsible journalists to defend their honor, but courage is in short supply in today’s press corps.
The sooner the rest of the media come to grips with the fact that Fox is NOT a news organization, the sooner they themselves can return to the business of news. Fox is in an entirely different category. It is a hybrid entertainment/soap opera/televangelist network. It is just as unnecessary for the media to worry about competition from Fox as it is to worry about competition from Nickelodeon (which, ironically, is a better source for news than Fox, and plays to a smarter audience).
It will be interesting to see if the questions Raines raises are taken up by others. And more importantly, will they provide answers? American media is in dire condition, and part of the reason is that news consumers do not perceive value in the product. That is going to have to change before things improve. And the most fruitful change would be to start behaving as real journalists and not tabloid sensationalists. In other words, abandon the Fox model and expose it for the phony, divisive, disinformation factory that it is. Of course, that would take real reporting and, at present, there is precious little of that in evidence.
In the wake of Glenn Beck’s admonishment to his viewers that they leave their church if it engages in “social justice,” the Christian community is rising up to condemn his heresy. This could spell trouble for TV’s most famous conspiracy-obsessed, cult-minded, race-baiting, rodeo-clown, crybaby. In fact, it may exacerbate his already severe persecution complex to the point that he envisions these critics as the coming of his tormentors with a giant wooden cross and a crown of thorns.
For a little background, Beck asserted on his TV program that social justice is just a code word for communism, or fascism, or both. And then he added…
“I’m begging you, your right to religion and freedom to exercise religion and read all of the passages of the Bible as you want to read them and as your church wants to preach them are going to come under the ropes in the next year. If it lasts that long it will be the next year. I beg you, look for the words ‘social justice’ or ‘economic justice’ on your church Web site. If you find it, run as fast as you can. Social justice and economic justice, they are code words.
Now, am I advising people to leave their church? ….. YES!”
The unambiguous message Beck is imparting is that you ought to abandon all churches that advocate for the welfare of the poor, the hungry, the sick, people enduring hardships and looking for answers. In other words, renounce any parish that practices the teachings of Jesus.
The Reverend Jim Wallis, president of Sojourners, has taken particular offense to Beck’s apostasy. He points out that many denominations regard social justice as a fundamental component of Christianity that goes back to the Mosaic law of Jubilee. And Wallis goes further to advise all Christians to stop watching Glenn Beck:
“Beck says Christians should leave their social justice churches, so I say Christians should leave Glenn Beck. I don’t know if Beck is just strange, just trying to be controversial, or just trying to make money. But in any case, what he has said attacks the very heart of our Christian faith, and Christians should no longer watch his show.”
Rev. Wallis’ speculation as to whether Beck is strange or greedy leaves out one potential explanation for what Beck hopes to accomplish. He actually wants you to leave your church so that you can follow him. He literally begs his viewers to watch every episode. To record it and study it and learn from his sermons. He is preparing to embark on a national tour that he has dubbed “The American Revival.” And although he has accused Al Gore of wanting to replace God with the planet earth, it is Beck who wants to replace God – with himself.
Beck has already lost over 100 advertisers since calling President Obama a “racist with a deep-seated hatred for white people.” Now he has sparked a spiritual battle that could eat right into the heart of his evangelical demographic. Believers may be put off by Beck’s meddling in their relationship with their God. And this is what Rev. Wallis is counting on with his response to Beck:
“Glenn Beck recently told his listeners to leave any church that teaches social justice, and to report its pastor to church authorities. Since Sojourners’ mission is ‘to articulate the biblical call to social justice,’ we thought we’d better turn ourselves in.”
It is fairly likely that Beck will dismiss Rev. Wallis’ appeal. After all, Wallis is a well-known progressive pastor whose humanitarian work stretches back for decades. Unlike Beck, whose selfish commitment to personal wealth and adoration has been the all-consuming centerpiece of his brief public persona. But it will be harder for Beck to dismiss the leaders of his own church who have also come out against his ravings.
Kent P. Jackson, associate dean of religion at Brigham Young University, said in an interview:
“My own experience as a believing Latter-day Saint over the course of 60 years is that I have seen social justice in practice in every L.D.S. congregation I’ve been in. People endeavor with all of our frailties and shortcomings to love one another and to lift up other people. So if that’s Beck’s definition of social justice, he and I are definitely not on the same team.”
Philip Barlow, the Arrington Professor of Mormon History and Culture at Utah State University, said:
“One way to read the Book of Mormon is that it’s a vast tract on social justice. It’s ubiquitous in the Book of Mormon to have the prophetic figures, much like in the Hebrew Bible, calling out those who are insensitive to injustices. A lot of Latter-day Saints would think that Beck was asking them to leave their own church.”
Actually, Barlow missed a key point. By demanding that Christians leave any church that practices social justice, Beck is asking himself to leave his own church. And from the sound of it, I don’t think the rest of the congregation would mind terribly much if he did.
[Update:] On his radio program this morning, Beck had a response that affirms his persecution/Messianic complex. As I predicted, he began by dismissing Rev. Wallis as an Obama supporter and a “dedicated foe of capitalism.” Then he goes on to reveal the plot against him by his ever-present, invisible horde of enemies:
“They must separate me from my base.”
“They’re trying to get in, twist my words and rot my core.”
“They are going to try to separate you from me, and that’s fine. And if I don’t survive, I don’t survive, That’s OK.”
Then Glenn went with them to a place called Gethsemane, and He said to His disciples…
“Sit here, while I go yonder and pray. […] Are you still sleeping and taking your rest? Behold, the hour is at hand, and the Son of Rupert is betrayed into the hands of sinners. Rise, let us be going; see, My betrayer is at hand.”
Michael Moore has announced that the DVD of his documentary “Capitalism: A Love Story” is now available. On its own, that wouldn’t really be enough to interrupt an episode of Law and Order:SVU with a special report. What makes this release interesting is that it is being carried by Wal-Mart, which is featured prominently in the film in a not particularly flattering manner. As Moore says on his blog:
The fact that Wal-Mart is carrying this movie — a movie that specifically exposes Wal-Mart’s past practice of taking out secret “dead peasant” life insurance policies on its employees and naming itself as the lone beneficiary should the employee meet an “untimely” early death — well, my friends, need you any further proof that Corporate America is so secure in its position as the ruler of our country, so sure of its infallible power that, yes, they can even sell a movie that attacks them because it poses absolutely no threat to them?
Moore contends that Wal-Mart is simply unafraid of any negative publicity due to their market dominance. They are too big to be hurt by a little documentary. I would go a step further. I believe that Wal-Mart is expressly aware that they can make a bundle off of this. And since their mission is to make money and increase shareholder value, that goal takes precedence over any potentially bad PR. They are demonstrating a principle articulated by the anti-consumerist artist Banksy, who said:
“I love the way capitalism finds a place – even for its enemies. It’s definitely boom time in the discontent industry.”
Modern marketing philosophy long ago adopted the position that the counter-culture was cool and, in order to attract contemporary consumers, you have to be willing to bash whatever is considered to be the establishment, even if it’s you. That strategy has led to progressive radio stations, who are owned by giant conglomerates, to explicitly insult their corporate parents. It has led to graffiti being embraced by staid art galleries. It has led to television commercials with music that is notably inconsistent with the product being advertised. Some of my favorite examples of the latter:
Jaguar’s use of “London Calling” by confirmed leftists The Clash.
Fidelity Mutual Funds use of David Bowie’s “Changes,” which contains the lyric “Don’t want to be a richer man.”
Carnival Cruise Lines use of Iggy Pop’s “Lust for Life,” which is about heroin use, not partying on yachts.
This self-deprecating brand of promotion is kind of like McDonalds opening up a health food restaurant and imploring people not to poison themselves on the crap at those golden-arched fast-food joints. And now Wal-Mart is selling Michael Moore’s Capitalism. What a world.
Posted by Mark NC on March 10, 2010 at 12:34 pm.
NOComments :
Ed Brayton at Science Blogs has caught a classic example of hypocrisy from a member of the class that made an art of it: the Bush administration.
Former Bush press secretary Dana Perino was on Fox News this weekend and commented on a video produced for the White House web site. She was appalled that the administration would post videos in support of its own agenda and implied that it represented some kind of affront to a free press and democracy:
[T]he White House decided through its own media — they have a robust new media shop and they’re creating their own news and they’re posting it, and all the networks said that they’re not going to show it. But creating your own news is something that happens in repressive regimes. And a democracy is — it is critical to have a good, strong free press in a democracy.
Let’s dissect the idiocy of this comment. First of all, you cannot accuse the White House of “creating your own news” in the sentence following your observation that “all the networks said that they’re not going to show it.” If no news network is showing it then it is simply an informational video available only to visitors to the White House web site.
Secondly, if anything, this affirms the strong free press Perino is lamenting. Obviously they are making up their own minds with regard to what they consider news. If they they don’t want to broadcast the President’s video, they don’t have to. And according to Perino, they aren’t.
But most importantly, Perino has deliberately withheld her own complicity with assaults on the free press as a member of Bush’s press team. It was the Bush administration that repeatedly packaged phony news reports that they distributed to television stations with the intent that they be broadcast in whole. These pseudo-news reels were produced with a fake “anchor” and were aired by many stations without disclosing that they came from the Bush propaganda studio.
Under the Bush administration, the federal government has aggressively used a well-established tool of public relations: the prepackaged, ready-to-serve news report that major corporations have long distributed to TV stations to pitch everything from headache remedies to auto insurance. In all, at least 20 federal agencies, including the Defense Department and the Census Bureau, have made and distributed hundreds of television news segments in the past four years, records and interviews show. Many were subsequently broadcast on local stations across the country without any acknowledgement of the government’s role in their production.
This sort of deception was routine in the Bush years. They were also caught paying Armstrong Williams under the table to write glowing reviews about their education policy, “No Child Left Behind.” The Bush Pentagon was entangled in a scandal wherein they paid editors of Iraqi newspapers to publish articles secretly written by American soldiers praising the war effort and the occupation of Iraq. And let’s not forget Jeff Gannon, the right-wing mole who was planted in the White House Press Corps under Bush. Or the irrepressibly corrupt Kenneth Tomlinson, who chaired the Broadcasting Board of Governors which oversees the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
Then there was what may be the worst episode of propaganda aimed directly at Americans in our nation’s history: SPINCOM. This was a program run out of Bush’s Pentagon that served up former generals to news networks as military analysts. They were trained by the Pentagon to promote the administration’s agenda and were rewarded with access and contracts for the defense companies they represented. And none of this was disclosed to viewers, or even to the networks.
The abuse of an independent and unfettered press under Perino and her bosses was unparalleled. For her to criticize the current administration for posting some videos online, while ignoring her own participation in a full-blown propaganda operation, specifically targeting the media and the American people, is the pinnacle of hypocrisy and dishonesty. Add to that the fact that she made these assertions as an employee of Fox News and it is at least evidence of the following: She and Fox are bona fide experts on repressive regimes and propaganda.
This morning in Washington, DC, at the Ritz Carlton Hotel, there was a rally held to protest the insurance companies and lobbyists responsible for abusive increases in insurance rates and opposition to health care reform. America’s Health Insurance Plans (AHIP), an industry lobbying organization, were meeting at the Ritz.
The rally actually got a little coverage on Fox News. Megyn Kelly’s program showed live streaming video of the health care protest with reporting from Jake Gibson. Suffice it to say that it was something less than fair and balanced.
During the segment Kelly and Gibson made suggestions that the crowd was potentially violent. They talked about arrests and worried aloud about what was going to happen when the health care executives and lobbyists meeting inside the hotel came out. The chyron said
“Police Concerned Protesters Might Storm Ritz Carlton in D.C.”
Of course there was no evidence presented that the police had any such concern and there was no interview with the police. There also were no arrests, contrary to Gibson’s reporting. The protest ended without incident and Kelly failed to note that no storming of the hotel took place.
This is typical of the blatant bias exhibited by Fox News. During months of protests at town hall meetings where Tea Baggers were overtly hostile, loud, rude, and aggressive, Fox News never insinuated that they presented any sort of threat whatsoever. That was true despite their signs that promised they would “come armed next time.” And some were even observed carrying guns.
However, when a couple of thousand people gather peacefully to advocate on behalf of humane health care policies, Fox portrays them as thugs who are preparing to storm the defenseless executives and lobbyists who are just trying to have a quiet meeting in a luxurious hotel.
Fox Nation is at it again. Today they featured a story about President Obama’s determination to see health care reform implemented. But in their inimitable way, they twisted the message to reflect negatively on the President. Even worse, they aroused the natural inclinations of their readers to bask in a frenzy of assassination fantasies.
The Fox Nationalists ran with a headline that read: “Obama Invokes His Death in Health Care Talks.” Of course, Obama did no such thing. The article that Fox Nation linked to was an Associated Press piece on Yahoo! News. The sound bite that Fox latches onto was nothing more than a humorous aside:
“Obama joked that the political battle has contributed to the recent rise in his cholesterol…and the president noted how ironic it would be if health care drove him to his grave.”
So Obama did not “invoke” his death as a substantive part of the ongoing talks. But Fox Nation did. And the result was a rush of comments by Fox Nationalists who were only too happy to see the President dead.
“ironic it would be if health care drove him to his grave”.
This would be the best thing that could happen to the USA.
wow that’s something that we can only dream about
HEY MR. PREZ. PROMISE TO TELEVISE IT ON YOUR LAME STREAM MEDIA STATIONS,,,,, THE RATINGS WOULD GO THRU THE ROOF,,,
Promise?! Whatever it takes. I’m running out of pins for my nobama chia pet.
Many Americans wish we could grant you your wish
The progressives are so desperate to shove down our throats that which we DO NOT WANT.
They think they are so close, yet IF they pass it, it very well could be the literal de.ath of Obama, for TREASON.
He KNOWS there is NO Constitutional authority for this take-over of healthcare.
Go ahead, Obama, make America’s day.
OBAMA SHOULD KNOW THAT HIS THREAT WOULD ONLY ANSWER OUR PRAYERS….
So go ahead – do America a favor
Frankly I would call it irony if he went to his grave because of health care! Couldn’t happen to a nicer guy!
So it is not Obama who invoked his own death, but Fox Nation and its clan. And it isn’t only the bloodthirsty, racist, hate mongering, denizens of Fox’s blogosphere who are expressing their opinions in terms that imply Obama’s demise, it is also members of Congress and rightist pundits:
Sen. Lamar Alexander of Tennessee said the president and House Democratic leaders are asking their colleagues to “hold hands, jump off a cliff and hope Harry Reid catches them.”
In a post on Andrew Breitbart’s Big Journalism website, Frank Ross wrote: “Mark Steyn is always right, whether he’s writing about Andrew Lloyd Webber or, in this case, the suicide-bomber-in-chief, Barack Obama.
Is it any wonder that the FBI has reported more threats against this president than any before him?
America’s number one televangelist, Glenn Beck, has consistently been an advocate of traditional values. So much so that he formed a movement he calls “The 9/12 Project” based on the nine values and twelve principles that he has deemed critical for righteous living.
The second of Beck’s holy principles (following “America Is Good”) is: I believe in God and He is the Center of my Life.
I’m not going to speculate as to why America’s goodness trumps the Lord, but second place is still a pretty respectable finish for God. Obviously Beck considers worship to be a fairly high priority. However, it must be the right kind of worship. And to assist you making the proper spiritual choice, Pope Beck has declared a new edict for you to follow: Avoid any church that espouses “social justice.” Beck asserts that it is just a code word for communism, or fascism, or both.
“I’m begging you, your right to religion and freedom to exercise religion and read all of the passages of the Bible as you want to read them and as your church wants to preach them are going to come under the ropes in the next year. If it lasts that long it will be the next year. I beg you, look for the words ‘social justice’ or ‘economic justice’ on your church Web site. If you find it, run as fast as you can. Social justice and economic justice, they are code words.
Now, am I advising people to leave their church? ….. YES!”
The Glenn Beck Radio Program, March 2, 2010:
Did you hear that? Beck is begging you to run as fast as you can from any religious institution that embraces social justice. Flee now from churches that advocate for the welfare of the poor, the hungry, the sick, people enduring hardships and looking for answers. In other words, renounce any parish that practices the teachings of Jesus. Beck should recall the words of Dom Helder Camara, Archbishop of Recife:
“When I give food to the poor, they call me a saint. When I ask why the poor have no food, they call me a communist.”
It’s not enough that Beck passes such judgments on compassionate believers, the urgency for his advice is clearly and frighteningly articulated. Religious freedom is under attack and you may have only a year left to worship as you choose. So you had better start to worship as HE chooses. And how does Beck know that the end to religious freedom is so near? He doesn’t say. He doesn’t even hint at any lurking threat. It must have been revealed to him in a vision – or from the voice of his German Shepherd, Victor. [How appropriate is it that Beck has a pet that is “German” (like him) and a “Shepherd”?] And that vision probably included the figure of a haloed Kenyan Muslim floating over a dilapidated White House with hammer & sickle flag waving above the Chinese-made solar panels.
Update: Christian leaders are responding to Beck’s call to leave your church with a call to leave Beck: Tell Glenn Beck: I’m a Social Justice Christian. That seems like something a compassionate spiritual advisor would have been calling for all along. Better late than never.
Psychology Today has published one mental health professional’s diagnosis of the pathology of the Tea Bagger. Dr. Michael Bader provides an astute examination of a serious emotional malformation, complete with clinical examples and prognosis. Bader’s conclusion is that the victims of this brewing epidemic of acute paranoia warrant our sympathy and understanding.
Bader begins by describing some of the causes of paranoia as the mind’s attempt to “make sense of and mitigate feelings of helplessness and worthlessness.” The goal is to manufacture redemption and absolution. In some cases that goal takes precedence over objective reality, which is frequently more frightening and less forgiving than the paranoid inventions.
“…the tea party folks find in their paranoid views about politics a narrative that ‘explains it all,’ that reduces their sense of helpless confusion, and that channels their feelings of victimization into ones of self-righteous militancy. They go from passive victim to active agent, from guilty to innocent, but all at the price of distorting reality into one full of malevolent conspiracies.”
Many Americans have been burdened with hardships that are testing their capacity to cope. The loss of jobs, homes, and security, threaten their sense of self-worth and provoke feelings of guilt and failure. For some, the discomfort of these conditions compels them to find alternative explanations that render them innocent victims of some other more powerful, irresistible force. And, as Bader notes, the vulnerable are getting help in constructing their emotional defenses:
“For new tea-party members, however, the drift toward paranoia is facilitated by the right-wing media machine that offers several ready-made narratives perfectly designed to help its consumers clear up their confusion, understand their helplessness, absolve them of any blame, and offer a way out. The conspiratorial alliance of business and government, a growing tyranny intended to disenfranchise, disarm, and exploit ordinary citizens, secret pacts to overthrow the constitution, etc. all currently led by an un-American, godless, colored, elitist, contemptuous, foreigner – Barack Hussein Obama. A grim and frightening picture of the world to be sure.
Fox News, of course, is the foundation of this electronic therapy. They happily feed the conspiracy-primed psyches of people whose barriers to irrationality are already severely weakened. The loss of tangible assets like property and work leads to a fear that more significant intangibles like liberty and faith are also at risk. They are convinced that the human values that have been present in society for centuries are under assault and are losing the war. So they invent explanations that soothe their conscience, even while creating new dangers and anxieties. Why would they do this, Dr. Bader?
“Psychologically speaking…it offers relief from helplessness and a sense that things are falling apart. It offers a sense of cohesion and identity based on certainty, a commonality of interests, innocence, and even martyrdom. While the world of the tea-party’ers is filled with danger, it is a danger mitigated by moral certainty, clarity of purpose, and a definable external enemy.” […]
“The ‘problem’ is that tea-party activists move from legitimate feelings and normal longings to paranoid political positions that are dangerous and cruel. But because these positions serve an important psychological function, because they resolve an emotional dilemma, they can’t be changed by rational argument.”
That level of certainty, combined with delusional foes lurking behind every acorn, is a formula for fiasco. And recent events in the news bear this out in the most horrific way. The gunman at the Pentagon. The suicide pilot in Austin. The murder at the DC Holocaust museum. The shooting at the Arkansas recruiting station. The assassination of Dr. Tiller. All of these tragedies were the result of diseased minds convinced that their actions were required to right some perceived wrong on the part of entities too large to confront any other way.
Just try arguing rationally with them – or with Tea Baggers who want the government to keep it’s hands off of their Medicare. They are a perplexing group of activists who actually advocate against their own interests. They reside in a world that can’t be reached from the real one the rest of us inhabit.
The same warped reasoning is the inspiration for birthers, patriot militias, and gold hoarders. It produces contrived plots like FEMA building concentration camps, and health care being a secret plan for reparations or total control of every citizen’s body. Liz Cheney’s McCarthay-esque campaign against the imaginary Al Qaeda 7 in the Justice Department is exactly the sort of media red meat that fuels these delusions (both liberals and conservatives are now rebuking Cheney). And Fox News’ repeated misrepresentation of “reconciliation,” a conventional parliamentary procedure, as a “Nuclear Option” is purposefully designed to invoke anxiety.
Glenn Beck is the acknowledged master of delusion. He is still peddling economic Armageddon, treasonous government moles, and the fear of Obama’s clandestine army of progressives (or fascists, or communists, or Raelians) perverting our principles and our children. Just this week he aired a special he titled: “The Indoctrination of Our Kids: An American Epidemic.” He ascribed all manner of evil (his actual word) to the most mundane social interactions and studies. One book he spoke of was so abhorrent that he wouldn’t even utter it’s name, or that of the author. He called it “Eric’s Book,” and sought to portray it as another link in the chain of villainy that the government (or progressives, or teachers, or the overlords) are tightening around our throats.
For the record, it was Eric Greenberg’s “Generation We.” Beck played clips from this companion video in which he saw an assembly of depraved young Americans. What do you see?
Ghastly isn’t it? These kids, who are concerned about the future of the nation and the world that they will inherit, are obviously puppets of Obama’s robot dictatorship.
But you can’t slip this past Glenn Beck. No, he knows what’s going on:
“What’s going on? Well, there’s a battle for the hearts and minds of your children. While you’re busy trying to make a living and navigate through the daily madness piling up all around you, progressives are working on indoctrinating America’s youth, your kids.”
Beck’s paranoia is operating at full steam. There doesn’t seem to be much hope for restoring whatever sanity he may have started out with. But Dr. Bader appears to be more optimistic about the prognosis for the Tea Baggers. Perhaps it is his experience with patient care and analysis that gives him this perspective:
“It would help if we found ways to get into relationship with them, to demonstrate a genuine curiosity not about their paranoid theories but about the underlying pain and fear that is the source of them. In this way, perhaps we can figure out how to speak to that pain and fear in ways that are both authentic and comforting. Perhaps we can figure out what experiences they might need to have in order to feel safe enough to at least listen to another narrative – ours.”
That’s a worthwhile strategy, but I can’t say that I’m as hopeful as the good doctor. After all, Fox News and talk radio are still around to fire up the crazy. How will the Tea Baggers heal when they are still being fed contaminated slices of unreality? How do you replace the paranoid narrative when Beck and O’Reilly and Hannity and Cavuto and the rest of Rupert Murdoch’s messengers of malignancy are churning out fractured fables that reinforce the Baggers’ dementia?
The Murdoch cartel is explicitly designed to keep weak souls strung out and gasping for another fix. Murdoch is the pusher and the Baggers are addicted to the phony melodramas that bring them the comfort of having an enemy onto which they can project their gnawing guilt and shame. It doesn’t matter that it’s all a litany of lies. The more outlandish the falsehood, the stronger the rush and, in the end, the more tragic the consequences. To these poor suckers anything is better than facing the harshness of reality and taking responsibility. Particularly if it involves sacrifice and charity and other scary socialistic notions of fellowship. It’s much better to be distracted and confused by nefarious forces from the outside.
That’s where Rupert Murdoch comes in with his international media empire, devoid of national allegiances or personal conscience. This paranoia factory could only be run by such an entity. It requires massive resources and ambition. It works because Murdoch is a man of wealth and (dubious) taste. And what’s puzzling you is just the nature of his game.
On August 28, 1963, Martin Luther King spoke to over 200,000 people from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, DC. He gave what is regarded as one of the most inspiring speeches on behalf of brotherhood, liberty, and the peaceful struggle for equality. He said in part…
I say to you today, my friends, that in spite of the difficulties and frustrations of the moment, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream. I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: “We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal.”
Later this year, on the very same steps, on the anniversary of that historic speech, Glenn Beck will lead his congregation of predominately white followers at a “Restoring Honor” rally to launch his next book, “The Plan,” a 100 year blueprint for undoing the progress made by people like Dr. King on behalf of equality, justice, and peace.
Subsequent to Beck’s original announcement of this event, he has latched onto a military charity to mask his profiteering with a facade of moral gravitas (and gain a tax write-off). But he has made no mention of the date’s prior association with Martin Luther King. And why would he be expected to? This is the man who recently called King a “radical socialist” and questioned whether there should be a holiday in his name. This is the man who called President Obama a “racist with a deep-seated hatred for white people.” This is the man who calls progressives (like King) “the cancer in America.” The thought of Beck usurping this cherished occasion to further the goals of his Tea Bagging 9/12ers is insulting and unacceptable.
So where is the outrage? Where are the guardians of Dr. King’s legacy? Who will organize an event in our nation’s capital on that day to honor the real meaning that it represents? Will Beck be permitted to tarnish this anniversary with his exclusionary fear mongering and conspiracy brigades?
I don’t expect Beck to endure in his crusade. He has already launched numerous campaigns that he leaves to gather dust when his attention is drawn away by some new, shiny dementia. In just the past couple of years he has announced the following TV jihads:
We Surround Them
The Re-Founding
In or Out 2010
Watchdogs
9/12 Project
The Plan
Beck’s conspiracy theories erupt quickly and fiercely and they burn out the same way. This is also true for his allegiances to principles. For several months the opening credits of his TV show included a picture of King or a reference to his words. Those are gone now. It was fine when Beck wanted to exploit the reverence for which most Americans hold King, but now Beck finds it more important to insult him and suppress his legacy.
This may be just one day in summer, but it is a day that should be reserved for uplifting recollections of our better nature – not the Apocalyptic negativity of racists and enemies of the poor and huddled masses yearning to breathe free. The anniversary of King’s “Dream” deserves better than to be desecrated by the detestable likes of Glenn Beck and his dark and divisive hordes. It would sure be nice to see King’s supporters show up in DC in greater numbers than Beck’s disciples.
On the many times that Beck is accused of being racist he will cite King in an attempt to inoculate himself from the invariably correct criticisms. But that hasn’t prevented him from also calling King a radical and questioning whether there should be a day honoring him. And on the subject of social justice, which Beck is currently castigating as some sort of Da Vinci coded proxy for Marxism, King once said…
Ed Brayton at Science Blogs has caught a 
Then there was what may be the worst episode of propaganda aimed directly at Americans in our nation’s history: 
America’s 
