Glenn Beck, Resentment's Cheerleader

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Bill Moyers Makes Newt Gingrich Look Like an Idiot

Right's Stupidity Spreads, Enabled by Too-Polite Left

FOCUS | Madonna, Like a Man, and Hated for It

FOCUS | Why Democrats Fracking Suck

Glenn Beck delivered the keynote speech at the CPAC conference over the weekend. He spoke for almost an hour, and I watched so you don't have to.

Glen Beck whipping up the FOX News crowd, 03/29/09. (image: FOX News)

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Comments

-83 # Guest 2010-02-27 11:30

You must be a socialist progressive, so you have to make Glenn Beck look bad or otherwise you would have to admit he's right. Progressism is a cancer to America's Constitution and obviously you've been infected, but don't fret, the cure is coming.

+41 # Guest 2010-02-27 13:21

Without progressive people, we'd be living still in underground caves ... sorta like Dick Cheney.

+25 # Guest 2010-02-27 15:34

chaplain michael,
I suggest you read Hitler's last speech
delivered to German people on Jan 30th 1945.
The tone and content of the speech is very much like Beck's. And of course the GERMAN PEOPLE "KNEW" Hitler was "right"! I mean you didn't have to research anything, it was just "COMMON SENSE" !
Hitler's audiences loved him too and screamed cheers at him too !
While others who thank GOD had a "SENSE" far deeper than "COMMON" saw easily thru him. I do suggest you read HITLER'S last speech, or his early ones as well.

+28 # Guest 2010-02-27 15:51

Quoting

You must be a socialist progressive, so you have to make Glenn Beck look bad or otherwise you would have to admit he's right. Progressism is a cancer to America's Constitution and obviously you've been infected, but don't fret, the cure is coming.

Hmmm; and that cure would be...Facism? Regressive oppression? Brown Shirts, mobs with sledgehammer handles and bicycle chains? Lovely, just lovely. By the way, haven't heard of "Progressism" before.

0 # Guest 2010-03-01 16:05

Sorry Zac. I'm not sure what the bicycle chains are for (other than propelling bikes. (I'm serious. I really don't know.)

+9 # Guest 2010-02-28 12:57

Michael Chaplain should learn how to spell "progressivism" if he's going to obediently parrot his hero, Glenn Beck.

Chaplain appears to have about the same level of education as Beck. It figures.

Beck is a demagogue. He preys upon the less intelligent, the less schooled, the fearful and the paranoid among us, filling his pockets along the way.

In the world of Glenn Beck and his robotic followers, there would be no laws prohibiting child labor or slavery. Women would have no right to vote. There would be no public education for all children. The very rich would pay absolutely nothing in taxes, while making the rest of us work six days a week, 18 hours a day for survival pay.

You see, the only reason the above conditions don't exist is because of Progressives and Progressivism. No wonder an obtuse, mendacious shill like Beck would try to stir up his followers to hate anything that might actually improve their lives.

+11 # Guest 2010-02-28 21:00

Perhaps we should rid ourselves of 'progressivism'. Then we can all educate our own children, put in our own wells for water and windmills for electricity, and put out our own fires when our houses catch fire, operate on ourselves on the kitchen table if we can't afford to pay our own doctor and hospital. Plus our spoiled little kids could get a good job in a factory and read until the wee hours before work so that they can educate themselves to the level of Glenn Beck!! And we can't own a car unless we drive it on our OWN property because only socialists get together to build roads for common usage. DOWN WITH PROGRESSIVISM!

0 # Guest 2010-05-05 05:51

I don't think it's necessary for anyone else to try to make Glenn Beck look bad; he's doing an excellent job of that all by himself. Anyone with an open mind and a sense of fair play can see right through him and what he's trying to do. Just another ranting bomb-thrower, bully, and scapegoater like Rush Limbaugh.

+56 # Guest 2010-02-27 11:56

Nuts who inspire ought to be the central theme of C-PAC They should take responsibility for the shape America is in, for they, Conservatives have been in charge for the past 40 years, so when they blame Progressives for the demise of the economy, they are simply Lying.

+37 # Guest 2010-02-27 12:11

I have to think that Beck is the way he is because the other kids beat hell out of him after school.

+30 # Guest 2010-02-27 13:48

...or should have. The perpetration of lies as the truth and the chronic recreation of history for their own purpose is the hallmark of “Fear Mongers” like Beck who in this historical perspective look and sound very much like the Fascist of the 1930's.

+35 # Guest 2010-02-27 13:37

Glenn Beck is a traitor to the American people and their Constitution. He is the internal terrorist that would rather have people die on the streets, shouting out names like "progressivism" and idiotic name-calling epitaphs of hate and ignorance. The dumber of the Americans like him.....as they dont' know how the elite rich corporations, like media, use us and spit us out minute by minute. He's an evil idiot.

-17 # Guest 2010-02-27 13:40

Wow, what trash, I expected better from the NYer. The sad reality is that if "journalists" did their jobs competently, people like Beck and Rush would be poor and unknown instead of famous millionaires. I'm surprised Packer put his name on this.
Another thought - you know things have gotten pretty bad when Rush starts making sense!

+10 # Guest 2010-02-27 20:50

"you know things have gotten pretty bad when Rush starts making sense!"

If he ever did, yes, things would be bad. However, that day has not yet arrived.

-29 # Guest 2010-02-27 13:46

Funny. Before I started reading this, I said to myself "I bet he either mentions that Glenn Beck is homely, or that he is overweight, or that he didn't graduate from college, or that he is an alcoholic." Nice going.

+5 # Guest 2010-02-28 13:08

Quoting

Funny. Before I started reading this, I said to myself "I bet he either mentions that Glenn Beck is homely, or that he is overweight, or that he didn't graduate from college, or that he is an alcoholic." Nice going.

And he should have left out the truth? Is that what you're complaining about---that Packer tells the truth about Beck? Strange criticism.

+2 # Guest 2010-03-01 07:43

[quote name="Rock"]..."I bet he either mentions that Glenn Beck (1)is homely, or that (2) he is overweight, or that (3) he didn't graduate from college, or that (4) he is an alcoholic." Nice going."

1.) He really is.
2.) That's for sure...
3.) Sad but true.
4.) A fat, uneducated alcoholic, true.

What's incorrect about any of the above statements. They are a fact or not. In this case, they are all fact.

-50 # BBFmail 2010-02-27 14:14

Now...pls, pls, pls, pls watch Obama...so I don't have to watch him! If I had to make a choice between which one I had to watch...Glenn Beck wins hands down!!!

+32 # Guest 2010-02-27 14:45

The poorly educated in this country truly frighten me. I swear to God they do. If this was the 1930's we'd know exactly who Glenn Beck is and those who defend him in this thread are nothing more than malcontented brown shirts. And, for the record, "Progressives" are nothing more than people who are too damn afraid to call themselves Liberals. You have nothing to fear from Progressives. I, on the other hand, should scare the holy Hell out of you, because I am teaching your children to question and analyze...

+15 # Guest 2010-02-27 14:47

These comments are so scary. I KNOW there have always been people attracted to self-righteous, moralistic ,finger wagging uninformed hucksters, but have there been so MANY? I fear for my granddaughters.

+21 # Guest 2010-02-27 14:50

BBFmail - you're just being a racist. Beck is just using people to line his own pockets, just as Rush Limbaugh is doing. Why instead of making jokes about progressives, why doesn't the GOP and the neo-cons, etc. come up with some good answers to the country's problems. All you do is complain. Sorry but I'm tired of all the complaints with no solutions offered. Just like Beck, who is a recovering alcoholic, he continues to make excuses for himself and the rest of the group of "NO". It easier to blame someone else, than see your own faults.

+9 # Guest 2010-02-27 15:04

Thank God for the progressives and their communist allies that provided Glen Beck the opportunity to go to socialist libraries to read and learn what he knows. Public socialist libraries must be and will be eliminated from the face of the earth.

+9 # Guest 2010-02-27 15:22

You have to realize that us older folks are already so used to being patted on the head and screwed from behind by every major corporation and the government too that Beck et. al. fit right in there. Tell us what to think and not. It's comfy. Don't challenge me and stay the hell off my lawn!

+6 # Guest 2010-02-27 15:42

"... Harding’s death must have been an act of God."

Among some historians, believed more likely an act of Mrs. Harding.

FWIW.

-3 # Guest 2010-02-27 16:11

who helps him and the rest of you with the big words?

+5 # Guest 2010-02-27 16:18

Wow. All I see is fear here, on both sides of the aisle. We create our forms and social structures with our thoughts and emotions. When are we going to stop bickering and begin creating our world together focusing on our similarities, rather than our differences?

+2 # Guest 2010-03-01 09:04

In 2008 I ran for public office as a Dem in a hugely R district. Lost, but not by much, but gained a huge amount of insight after knocking on over 5500 doors and talking with people about the state of our state/country. One thing I learned is that "conservatives" operate from a position of fear..fear of change mainly. Liberals (progressives) operate from a position of discontent with the status quo and a belief things can become better. Most of us live somewhere in the middle incorporating a mix...Fearful about change in some areas and courageous about change for the better in others. Sadly, what "sells" whether politically or in the media is characterizatio n of the extremes of the two ideologies such as Beck represents. Why? Because in the end none of us are really satisfied and feel powerless to unbind ourselves from the yoke of big business and those who run the money machine. The only difference is the buzzwords and catchphrases we use which are what really work to separate us.

+12 # Guest 2010-02-27 16:30

The shame of Beck is that there are adults who watch him with their children, who are learning The Animal Farm's style of the Constitution.
I hope that when Glenn and Rush and others look at themselves in the mirror they know to spit on the mirror.

+9 # Guest 2010-02-27 18:14

Early in this presentation Beck writes on his blackboard and professes that revolution is the root definition of Marxism and progressivism. I have to wonder if he and his applauding followers can remember the defining action that gave birth to this nation was called a revolutionary war?
Beck is a con man for the unquestioning, prejudiced, and overtly selfish masses. The adulation of a guy like this s a sad commentary on how little humanity has "progressed".

+13 # Guest 2010-02-27 18:29

The Cure or Change we need is to fix CONGRESS which IS BROKEN and WE THE PEOPLE must CHANGE it. VOTE:

NO to Congress Persons with over 12 or 18 years.
NO to Congressional retirement & perks.
NO to Congress having DIFFERENT Health Care & Retirement Plan than they give us.
NO to lobbyists.
NO to Congressional greed & corruption.
NO to bailout of banks & corporations.
NO to CEO bonuses on taxpayer money.
NO to Derivatives & money laundering.
NO to lending money not in hand.
NO to brokers selling & repackaging mortgages.
NO to credit card interest >10%.
NO to tax breaks for overseas manufacturing & out sourcing.
NO to foreign oil.
NO to unequal Money Base. Compare cost top 100 items; bread, meat, milk, small car, small house of each country.
NO to FCC control of internet.

YES TO VOTER POWER.
TELL YOUR FRIENDS In EVERY election VOTE: “NO CAREER CONGRESS PERSONS”

+3 # Guest 2010-03-01 09:15

David of HA, you forgot to include NO to the federal Reserve who prints and then loans us our own money...at interest.

+7 # Guest 2010-02-27 19:37

Glen's got me scot-in-tone, begorah and I must say that this toy-of-a-man, this-oh-I'be'th'smartiest-man-aboot-town
-am-here-ta-brrriinnngg-the-hoose-down-with-me-smartier-than-your-pants-are-smart-am-here-showin-to-all-fer-the-squat-of-a-pea-brain-I-truly-be, which I'll deny to me dyin' breath!!! Gasp!

+11 # Guest 2010-02-27 20:34

I guess if I was a Beck follower I wouldn't be curious enough to check out his historical facts. The "Wizard of OZ" and Plato's Allegory of the Cave both come to mind when I read about the control Beck has on his followers. If there is a similarity to Beck's followers and Hitler's it has to do with how powerful fear-mongering is. After all, Hitler could talk about an Aryan super race signified by being tall, blonde and blue-eyed coming from a short, brown eyed, dark haired person who looked like the sub-humans he also described and killed. Ignorance and fear make for a toxic public elixer.

-2 # Guest 2010-02-28 05:49

No doubt Beck is a fear monger, but that being said he is accurate on the federal deficit. Prior to BHO coming to power he was preaching about social security and medicare running out of money by 2020. Is he wrong? He explains things that people do not want to hear. To compare Beck with HItler is just silly.

+4 # Guest 2010-02-28 09:59

Quoting

N To compare Beck with HItler is just silly.

The comparison is to the methods used by both and how they were able to mesmerize their followers with them. Beck reads is not as important as to where he gets his information. Objectivity is the best path to discovering what is true and facts are the best tools for that mission. How one interprets facts is mitigated by one's dedication to objective analysis. We are safer and better when people do that. From what Beck says, it is clear these are not the principles that guide Beck's inquiry.

+1 # Guest 2010-02-27 22:10

One thing really bothers me about this article: By saying that Mrs. Stout "knew that 911 was an inside job..." you imply that anyone who understands that the official 911 story is bogus and cannot be ture, and that as such it almost certainly means that elements of our govt. were involved in executing 911, must be an uneducated nutcase, who is irrational and who is not capable of logical analysis. ON the contrary, I believe that most of the people who are trying to get a real investigation of 911 to be conducted, are about as far from McCarthy and the other examples you cite as one can be. Most of the members of the 911 truth movement are couragous, very smart and well educated people, dedicated to bringing the most corrupt and brutally imperialistic government in recent history's murderous misdeeds, genocidal lies and rampant abuse of power to the light of day. Why do you lump them in with the followers of the likes of McCarthy? I do not get it.

+2 # Guest 2010-02-28 16:01

Jeff Bell tells us he "does not get it". I agree with him. He does not get it and cannot understand what he is talking about. No wonder the likes of him think Beck, Limbau and Hannity are the lead for this country. I for one do not want to ever be governed by these idiots.

+6 # Guest 2010-02-28 05:24

To paraphrase the late, great Molly Ivins; I'm sure Beck's speech sounded better in the original German. Heil Beck!

-7 # Guest 2010-02-28 05:43

Who does Glen Beck think he is, just because he reads far too many books then the average American he thinks he is right. Just because he pulls out that silly chalkboard and makes sense of the wrong direction this country has been heading for too many years, who does he think he is.
I would much rather follow BHO, Nancy Pelosi and Handsome Harry Reid, they promise me free healthcare, higher wages a new house, even if I can't afford it. God Bless the progressive movement who cares if our federal deficit is over a trillion $$ every year Communist China will take care of our debt forever, won't they??

Two laws of economics the Glen Beck tries to explain.
1. There is no such thing as a free lunch.
2. You can't have your cake and eat it too.

Many citizens of this great country have had a free lunch for way too long on the backs of the people that work hard everyday.

Peace Be With You.

+9 # Guest 2010-02-28 13:26

Where does one begin with an opinion this obtuse and confused. Let me try:

1) President Obama, Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid, never promised "free healthcare", "higher wages" and "a new house". That's a lie. And only someone like Beck or one of his unhinged followers would believe such nonsense.

2) The federal deficit is a big problem, but not as big as conservatives would like us to believe, now that they're out of power. And the conservatives are mainly responsible for the federal deficit, due to off-the-charts Pentagon spending and the Bush and Reagan tax cuts.

3) Of course "many citizens of this great country have had a free lunch for way too long on the backs of the people that work hard everyday." You're absolutely right. Those people are the very richest 1% of the population who live off of family money---wealth that is ultimately produced from the hard, honest, unglamorous labor provided by those of us who do the Real Jobs every single day.

-4 # Guest 2010-02-28 07:48

Obama is simply and soley a house niggah for vested interests. Beck is simply and solely a house niggah for mayhem.

+1 # Guest 2010-02-28 10:40

Are you from Ghana? Terrific place.

Owen Franken

+9 # Guest 2010-02-28 08:46

The deficit and debt clearly deserves attention. Cutting social safety nets is looking at the wrong culprit. Take away Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid and the middle class is killed in a second. Free lunches? The ones going unnoticed by the angry mob and who Beck and Limbaugh want to distract us from are the real pigs at the trough: corporations and their lobbyists. Pay a small fee called a political contribution and billions go to the company. The military-industrial complex continues to gorge itself this year wanting 20 percent more for asymmetrical warfare while keeping obsolete war systems for Cold War purposes. We could save billions if we ended the free lunch of corporations. Instead Beck and Limbaugh draw our attention to iconic images of welfare mothers and lazy you-know-who. Bullying the powerless will not get the federal budget under control. It will continue to pay Beck and Limbaugh handsomely, though. Free lunch? Free banquet is more like it.

+9 # Guest 2010-02-28 12:15

As Robert Uttaro notes, the military industrial complex spending is incredible! It is actually higher than all of the other military budgets in the world... Dwight Eisenhower had it right when he warned of collusion between the military and industrial complex... Unfortunately, Beck and Limbaugh easily critique complex issues and provide simplistic, formulaic solutions that would never work, but appease the less informed citizenry.
No taxes and big government? Who will rebuild our infrastructure, pay for education and research? Want to eat salmonella tainted food? Live and work in unsafe buildings? Have no defense? We are the only country of the so called First World with no national health care. Our Congress has been bought and paid through lobbyists, serving big business, not our people. Where is collaboration for common good? Go back to school, Beck!

+6 # Guest 2010-02-28 13:15

Fox News, Sinclair Broadcasting, Clear Channel, etc have provided a mainstream forum which pushes right wing propaganda as "fair and balanced" journalism. Many of their loyal dupes, ahhh ...followers, don't bother to seek alternative sources of information. Instead they use Beck and Limbaugh to confirm their prejudices, fears, and misconceptions. Part of the cause of this cancer involves media deregulation and the eradication of the Fairness Doctrine. One root cause is that we live in age of corporate oligopoly in media as in elsewhere. This type of media propaganda serves the pecunairy interests of these self-interested oligopolies, who would like nothing better than laissez faire and other economic conservative polices while blaming the government for everything. Pam Stout is a disempowered victim who has become a pawn of these self-interested forces. She is right to rebel, but wrong about what is causing her victimization. She is a dupe. Glenn Beck is a dope. Creepy too.

+4 # Guest 2010-02-28 18:49

I'm beginning to feel like I'm taking too much space on this board but one thing that seems to be missing in all this blabber from Beck and Limbaugh is a disdain and anger over the recent Supreme Court ruling regarding corporations unlimited giving to political campaigns. Makes you wonder why, doesn't it? It suggests that possibly CPAC/Beck and Limbaugh aim only to have us tear each other apart so we won't notice who really has taken over this country. (See Phil and Dr. Wallace above.) Beck and Limbaugh are corporate shills with silver tongues. They have the working people at each others throats while the man behind the curtain pulls the levers that are bringing down our democracy.

+3 # Guest 2010-02-28 22:55

Well Mr. Uttaro, you are quite right. The recent Supreme Court decision is very probably the final nail in the coffin and I confess to being frightened. And indeed, the right has us all at our throats via media misdirection far more fantastic and successful than they are given credit for. I would say now that our democracy has, in fact, been brought down. Were I to recomend in even this media venue that perhaps a revolution is in order, that the oligarchy ruling us needs to be destroyed by any means possible, would this (as has previously) result in my post here being eliminated?
When it becomes impossible to expect that our government will not ever honor serving the common good, and the plight of the majority continues to deteriorate faster and faster, what would you recommend? I mean, since the masses can't outspend the corporations, what action would you recommend the people take? I am honestly very curious and I would like to read your views on this.

+3 # Guest 2010-03-01 03:50

Everyone should watch/listen to "Democracy Now" and to get the program on their local public access tv station or local pbs station.Amy Goodman cannot be beat..

+2 # Guest 2010-03-01 09:11

How many of you anti-progressives want to give up the weekend concept? Weekends, days off, and paid vacations were fought and won by labor unions. Many of you don't have paid vacations. Why? Progressivism is on the skids. Let's bring back Progressivism!

+2 # Guest 2010-03-01 09:15

Until we are ready to hold Mrs. Stout responsible for her part in this, and call her out when she repeats the information she gets from Glenn, we aren't going to get far.

+2 # Guest 2010-03-01 13:20

Thank you Mr. Fletcher. We may be backed into a corner and the ground is giving way under our feet, but we are not dead. A grass roots movement that represents an alternative power structure elected Obama and he abandoned us for the Washington power structure. we-that grass roots movement - are still here and rumbles of discontent are starting to sound like a mighty roar to me. Let Obama know that he can come back to us, and if he does, he will see that we can give him the steel for his spine! This movement could take over the Democratic Party. Become Party committee members and take over the Democratic Party, throw the moderate and conservatives out and become the Party of the People once again. Before we let this age of disillusionment settle the issue, let's reinvigorate the idealism and hope with action. Maybe our champion will hear the battle and come back to us.

+1 # Guest 2010-03-01 19:21

Thank you Mr. Uttaro. We are indeed backed into a corner and the ground is giving out from under our feet, but as you state, we are still here. The rumbles of discontent are growing by the day. I take inspiration in your words because I realize now that we either take up the fight yet again and keep fighting, or we surrender to disillusionment . For the cynics who have given up I would ask that they reconsider as I find now that I must. I have spent the day wondering where best to express my discontent and you remind me where it should go.
I hereby express my committment to becoming a Party committee member, to committ to participation in the party and strive to add my voice to the rumble of discontent. The progressive movement is the last bastion of hope for a government of, by and for the people. The Glen Becks of our nation, the Faux News fools, the corporate whores and hacks that rule us require a response. I endeavor to give it and be a voice in this rising tide of discontent.

0 # Guest 2010-03-02 09:35

Glenn Beck is a self-styled evangelist dabbling in the promotion of a Plutocratic type of government. To make that successful he must stir the masses to which he speaks into a frenzy of disenchanted knuckle draggers whose basic concept of the American Constitution is that it protected white folks from the kind of "equality" their "Suffering" from today. He and his ilk are doing their damnedest to tear the country in half. What is the definition of treason? Where's my chalkboard?

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