While we’re on the subject of raving loons – I think everyone’s been very cruel over the past few weeks, mocking the output of Fox News’ Glenn Beck. They’ve been making fun of the deranged outpourings on his twitter feed and website:
I think you can sense the darkness, the sadness quite honestly that has been in me for the last couple of years and specifically in the last year. We are headed for real destruction, and I have been ‑‑ I feel like I have been a watchman on the tower just as much as you a re, and you know the frustration of just trying to wake your friends up and they won’t listen to you.
Where’s their compassion? It’s actually kind of sad. Have you ever read a more tragic, desperate cry for help? The man is obviously seriously ill, and the Fox network is just exploiting the crazy rather than getting him the help he’s clearly crying out for.
Of course, if Beck were just pointing out that the Republican and Democrat parties are corrupt, that the US version of “democracy” is a sham, and that the corporate lobbyists have an unhealthy and disproportionate amount of influence on government policy – well, he’d have a point. But, disingenuous “I go after the GOP too” claims aside, he doesn’t. He objects to the government providing healthcare to the poor (socialism! An end to freedom!) but he had no objection to the previous regime giving itself special powers to lock people up indefinitely without trial or to go through Americans’ mail without a warrant. He claims to object to the duopoly of the Republicans and Democrats but it’s not like he’s out there advocating for preferential voting and a third party.
There is of course a second possibility – that he’s not mad, just a shameless liar. That he’s not oblivious to the contradictions in the paranoid fantasies he relates – he just hopes his audience will be. A person can, after all, get quite rich by exploiting people’s fears – particularly in difficult economic times, where the real “elites” (hint: it’s not the poor people who want healthcare) have badly screwed the country and many are losing their homes and livelihoods. It wouldn’t take a genius to realise the profit in playing a game like Beck’s – and clearly his network does, whether he’s a fully-aware, perfectly sane co-schemer, or an oblivious loon they’re cynically exploiting.
One thing you’d have to say – if Glenn Beck is a rational man playing a crazy one, he’s doing a disturbingly good job of it.
UPDATE: Nasty sponsors.
I’ve seen a few videos on YouTube featuring Beck and he is one scary, but also sad dude. I really believe he needs some serious psychiatric help.
Each day Beck goes to air, CNN breathe a collective sigh of relief.
This fellow sounds a lot like the ‘conservative’ talkback radio host in Grand Theft Auto.
He goes absolutely nuts in this clip http://bit.ly/1O9HxA It’s like they gave that crazy guy who yells nonsense at street corners his own TV show.
I agree with THR 100%. Beck wouldn’t have even realised that the GTA guy was a parody.
I often think of Beck when I walk past those crazy guys in the street shouting out quotes from the Bible. You know, people like Steve Fielding
In all seriousness I do believe he needs some form of mental help. I almost feel sorry for him – but then I remember what these nutters mean for the world at large.
Pleased that you had something to say about Glenn Beck, particularly since Murdoch owns the Fox News network. The scary part of this is that if you read (well – scan – too much reading of this stuff is likely to make you ill) some of the American far right’s blogs they take him quite seriously. Comedian Stephen Colbert has done a couple of devastating takes on Beck – thoroughly worth watching.
Democracy died in the USA when the patriot act was passed, only the nutters seem to be able to spout without fear of being locked up.
Also, Regan getting rid of the fairness doctrine didn’t help.
In addition..here is Mr Glenn Beck talking about his desire to kill Michael Moore: http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=629_1198132966&c=1
Quite creepy.
Confessions:
Nah. They just look at the ratings and weep.
Bilko:
You mean nutters like Olbermann or Kos or Ted Rall (racist cartoons about Condi) or Leunig? Or maybe Letterman’s sex jokes about Palin’s 14yo daughter.
My favourite is Ann Coulter:
Andrew, the fairness doctrine was just an attempt by the left to colonise the one area of the MSM they didn’t already control.
And Michael Moore – incapable of telling the truth, incapable of putting a balanced argument, and naturally, a true hero of the left.
“, and naturally, a true hero of the left.”
Is he fuck! He’s a Left wing fringe lunatic, you know, the other end of the spectrum to the likes of Bolt and Akerman (just more famous). You’re full of it SB.
SB – I’m interested in whether you are taking the piss with that Coulter remark or you belive that what she said should be followed through?
Rob J Moore was given an Academy Award by the entertainment establishment, which hardly makes him ‘fringe’.
Skeptic I was merely quoting my favourite deranged statement in case people thought I was just picking on the left. I agree that Beck is crazed. The point of my comment is that Beck is not alone, and the left is not immune from this sort of thing.
“Rob J Moore was given an Academy Award by the entertainment establishment, which hardly makes him ‘fringe’.”
And Bolt is Australia’s most popular blogger. I disagree.
SB – OK but on this thread we have nutty comments by Beck and Coulter – can you provide an equally nutty comment from an equivalent figure on the Left? Moore would be just fine.
it doesnt feel pre-planned…more likely he’s just a garden variety right-wing crank..
Michael Moore:
And while we are at it, don’t forget Crikey’s suggestion to name Obama’s dog ‘Trig the mongrel’.
“the left is not immune from this sort of thing.”
Can’t remember anyone claiming to the contrary, SB. Relevance?
“Crikey’s suggestion to name Obama’s dog ‘Trig the mongrel’”
A commenter on Crikey, SB. As you well know.
SB – Is that the best you can do? I’d hardly rank that alongside looney-tunes talk as often espoused by nutters like Beck, Coulter, Limbaugh, Malkin et al.
Try again.
What is the point, Skeptic. It seems that lunacy is in the eye of the beholder, and you seem to believe that it is exclusively a characteristic those with opposing points of view to yours.
Keri:
Some people here post interesting things which add context and perspective to the point being made. Not everyone is a contrarian.
Not everyone, SB. You tend to be more often than not though, no?
No SB, I’m comparing the quotes who have provided. Coulter’s could be classified as eliminationist whereas Moore’s is what, undergrad? childish? I’m not sure, but I don’t see it whipping up hatred like Coulter and Beck.
So, try again.
Keri, I see it more as talking truth to the power of the elites.
Skeptic, if you can’t see the frothing madness of Moore’s statement, I can’t help you. The fact that the work of this stupidest of white men is filled with hatred and lies is a bonus.
If you have ever watched Glenn Beck, he is neither Conservative nor Liberal, neither Democrat nor Republican. He is a one man army of Founding Fathers Doctrine, he wants strict adherence to the Constitution of the USA and he wants US imperialism to come to an end. Put it bluntly he is Pro USA and anti everyone else. He takes Patriotism a little to far, but he is well recieved and has huge ratings.
He has got one opinion i do agree with and thats the destruction of the US, and this one world citizen shit.
I like that, for everything else he believes he has good and bad points but at least you know were he stands and you cant call him partisan.
I’d hardly call it ‘frothing madness’ and he’s not actually calling for anyone to be killed. Are you seriously equating Moore’s nonsense with Coulter’s? How are they similar in content?
Skeptic, I’m not equating them. they are different species of crazy. Coulter makes her money goading leftists with provocative statements.
Moore makes his money by producing biased documentaries which cater to the idiot prejudices of the left. They reek of hatred and contempt for his targets. He is only able to maintain the rage by telling lies while asserting that he tells the truth.
Moore asserts that his documentaries are truthful, whereas with Coulter you are never quite sure if she believes her more extravagant statements. I expect she will to do a piece on Ted Kennedy this week, which should be fun to read.
Have we been able to confirm whether Glenn is related to JF?
Chris, I can’t believe that you find anything of coherence in Beck’s raves at all. I would have thought that a strict adherence to “Founding Father’s doctrine” (whatever that is!) simply makes him a reactionary conservative. As for not being a partisan – utter crap – he made no major criticism of Republican policy during the Bush years during his tenure at CNN. Check this against the last six months of constant bilge about the Obama administration being marxist, socialist, national socialist, racist, etc etc etc. As for his “huge” ratings – it’s a cable ‘news’ station, sport! Even if he has an audience of 2 million (not likely) it’s a drop in the bucket in comparison to the US population. Most of his audience are Republicans and other right wing loonies that Fox News set out to woo. Nahhhh – I’m with Stephen Colbert on this – Beck’s appeal (usually through tears and spittle) is to desperate shut-ins worried about the vague unnamed enemies (that Beck has conjured up) who have failed them. His program is pure drivel – and entirely ratings driven!
Sorry – forgot something – Beck wants US imperialism to end. Where has he ever said that!
Mal Youtube Becks show during between 2000 and 2008, you will see him constantly attacking Bush for his lack of Conservative credability. Dont be blind he adheres to no side, but that of the American founding Fathers, yes he would be considered more conservative, but he has smashed the Republicans throughout his TV career for being the same as Democrats. He is more Libertarian than anything else, more Akin to Ron Paul then to George bush, Stephen Colbert…what channel is he on again? ohh thats right. Take the time, watch some of his episodes….and forget that it sounds like republican hypocracy, he dislikes both sides of the political spectrum.
But then again if you watch Stephen Colbert for your news….
Beck opposed the PATRIOT Act?
Everyone Beck is a REAL conservative not the fake kind that tell you they want balanced budgets, economic conservatism and all that then spend america into a black hole. Look at his stuff from the Bush years, he bashes republicans all the time. He wants America as the Libertarian party wants it. See Ron Paul for a description of what a republican is. Be Good to have a Ron Paul here to.
You go, Chris! Completely ignore what you were asked!
Yes Beck opposed the Patriot Act, infact last week i believe he was bashing it. Beck opposed it 3 years ago when Bush was in power
That’s a bit late. Did he oppose it when it was passed?
Im not sure about the dates, it seems, or at least it feels though that he is against any and all expansions of government, or at least a cap on spending. The Patriot act, while not an expansion of government in a material sense, does limit personal freedoms to an extent. From what ive seen of him he would be opposed to it on those grounds.
Again he thinks the Republican Party is a Joke, he isnt really a party person,more a one man bandwagon trying to get American back to were it used to be in the 1700′s. Strict adherence to the constitution and caps on government growth.
For the record, I hate Beck, he isnt intelligent, and if you want to here someone who believes what he does but isnt an idiot, listen to Ron Paul, Paul at least understands what he believes.
Maybe that line of opposing both parties would be taken more seriously if
(a) if he didn’t spend most of his time complaining about “the Left”; and
(b) if he proposed solutions to make the US more democratic and reduce the power of the “oligarhy” – like, say, preferential voting.
Jeremy-I agree, I dont actually like or watch a heap of Beck, Usually its just youtube Clips, But a friend of mine pointed out some specific clips of him during the Bush years, and he seemed to do to the Right what he does now to the left. He might have not picked on the right as much as he did of the left, but I dont watch it enough to have a good opinion.
I just know he has previously bashed both parties.
to your second point, again he is not the person you would want to hear espouse Libertarian views, his ideas are both ill thought out and ill defined.
For example he wants small government, yet he wants the border from Mexico completley blocked off. Both cannot be done, Obviously there would need to be a massive expansion of the national guard to do this, resulting in higher taxes thus bigger government. An idiot on all counts.
Again, see congressman Ron Paul for an intelliegnt Libertarian.
Beck is a right-wing crank. His criticisms of Bush are from the far-right. He thinks Bush wasn’t ‘free market’ enough. Most rightist libertarians think the same. His views on Obama are sheer stupidity, and he seems supportive of the Patriot Act, but thinks it needs some minor tinkering:
http://www.glennbeck.com/content/articles/article/196/10360/
Nothing wrong with being far right tho right…..
Chris, I don’t understand where you are arguing from – Paul is a Republican. He seems to be a small government libertarian sympathetic (reactionary conservative like Beck). Why do you think someone of this ilk would be good here? Until I began having a look at US political discourse quite recently I had no idea how mad the right of the Republican Party are – I know that the Liberal Party in this country has taken cues from that Party, but am relieved that the ideas don’t seem to stick here. I couldn’t think of anything worse than a Ron Paul type becoming popular here – it would be like having to confront a more politically savvy Pauline Hanson (Yuck!). Finally, no I don’t get my US news from Stephen Colbert – but he has brilliantly exposed Beck’s guff for the bullshit it is. He and Jon Stewart have done a great job of critiquing conservative media in the US – something that the mainstream media of that country have done very poorly.
Hey, sorry ’bout the poor sentence structure in my previous submission. Chris – just wanted to add – nothing wrong with being far right to the right? What would that make a person? Even more xenophobic, homophobic, misogynistic, genocidal etc etc than the far right? Hmmmm.
Oops signed on as Malky twice there – it’s actually Mal. Can’t resist a commenting on SB’s earlier comment – Olbermann a nutter? I presume you mean a left wing nutter? From what I’ve seen of him he simply espouses small ‘l’ liberal viewpoints. Not exactly your Leninist-Marxist! Leunig a nutter? Why? Because he criticised Israeli government policy through a cartoon? Neither bloke can be compared with the bile emanating from Beck, Coulter, Malkin etc!
Olbermann is a nutter because he presents an extremely one-sided picture of events in a hyperventilating manner. Leunig can probably plead the insanity defense:
His Auschwitz cartoon was sickening to anyone with a brain and a conscience.
And why criticise Coulter to me? You must be agreeing with my earlier criticism of her extremist statement?
The difference is I can see idiocy on both sides of the fence, whereas some here are stuck on stupid, believing that only the other ‘side’ carry on like hateful idiots. You need to get a balanced perspective.
It’s everyone else who’s crazy, not Glenn …
… no, it’s most definitely Glenn.
http://videocafe.crooksandliars.com/heather/glenn-beck-obamas-czars-are-our-new-robot
Malky, see if you have not been around US politics for a while you won’t have seen many Intelligent Libertarians, especially Paul. Paul ran for president twice i think, for the Libertaraian party, then as advised by some friends he was encouraged to remain a member of the libertarian party and then run as a republican congressman. Then obviously a presidential nominee. His thinking he could return the republican party to its true conservative roots. As you rightly point out the republican party is homo and xenophobic, but this is a relatively recent chapter in this great parties history. Untill the about 30 years ago it was a relatively non religous party whom ran on small government principals.
you correct the republican party is now a mess, religeous fundies have taken the rains, but it wasnt always like this. The libertarian party best shows what a right wing party should look like, all encompassing behind common goals of more individual responsibility and less government in our lives. the republican party is certaintly not this.
paul is nothing like Beck, check his youtube clips of the 2008 republican presidential clips, he would have chomped obama in the debates, he is an awsome intelligent debater, and someone who pushes the rights message of small government with facts, figures and intelligence.
there is a place for the right wing, if people like paul are in charge, but with the republican party as is now, he has no chance.
Beck is an idiot, but Paul is a genius, seriously look at his work on the gold standard, economic liberalism ect. He is truly an intelligent, non imotive right wing thinker.
Ron Paul is a gold standard idiot.
he would chomp anybody in a debate from our country, if you think he is an idiot, maybe use his correct title, Dr Ron Paul. and he would fuk u up on all subjects.