Glenn Beck

[masterofsparks]

His crying act might be more believable if there were any tears.

[buffcoat]

I've always had a certain sense that he was, deep down, the worst of the lot.  And I've spent a good amount of time watching and reading stuff by these folks.  Mostly to keep me from getting pissed off enough at the Democrats to vote Republican, and to make sure I know what I'm talking about when I say what jerks these people are.

I'm something of a political centrist, which probably makes me the extreme right-winger on the board, but Glenn Beck is a repulsive asshole with a demogoguic, us-vs-them to the point of murdering "them" vibe that makes Limbaugh, Coulter and Malkin look like David Broder.  And those three are still awful.

If you're not paying attention, all these folks are more and more calling for their "us" to hate and want to kill you guys' "them."  Keep yourselves safe, folks, especially if you are an easily identified member of "them."  Or an AIG executive, if any happen to frequent this board.

[jbissell]

I caught a little bit of this as it was airing live and they showed people gathering at bars to watch Glenn Beck and celebrate American ideals.  My favorite was the shot of Chuck Norris at his ranch with a bunch of people.

[Steve of Bloomington]

True story: I checked out the White Power website 'stormfront' just out of curiosity to see how they're handling the whole 'President Obama' thing.

Actually they seem to be taking it better than Glenn Beck is.

They are still all racist scum. I'm just saying: he's alarmist and ridiculous.  Also, I say without facetiousness: he's hurting America.

I've always had a certain sense that he was, deep down, the worst of the lot.  And I've spent a good amount of time watching and reading stuff by these folks.  Mostly to keep me from getting pissed off enough at the Democrats to vote Republican, and to make sure I know what I'm talking about when I say what jerks these people are.

I'm something of a political centrist, which probably makes me the extreme right-winger on the board, but Glenn Beck is a repulsive asshole with a demogoguic, us-vs-them to the point of murdering "them" vibe that makes Limbaugh, Coulter and Malkin look like David Broder.  And those three are still awful.

If you're not paying attention, all these folks are more and more calling for their "us" to hate and want to kill you guys' "them."  Keep yourselves safe, folks, especially if you are an easily identified member of "them."  Or an AIG executive, if any happen to frequent this board.

[Matt]

I dunno, I think he's kinda cool.

[nec13]

About as cool as a root canal without anesthetic.

[Andy]

About as cool as a root canal without anesthetic.

good one

what you guys fail to realize is that by allowing yourself to believe that this grandstanding douche is being genuine, you're just as guilty of the "us vs. them" mentality as the people who legitimately watch his show.  Nobody with a brain watches Fox News, CNN, MSNBC, etc... and thinks that they are anything more than entertainment.  A lot of dumb people do think it's news.  A lot of dumb people also use it to point out why the other side is evil.

In a world full of carnies and rubes, it always makes me chuckle when one rube points at another and laughs.

[buffcoat]

About as cool as a root canal without anesthetic.

good one

what you guys fail to realize is that by allowing yourself to believe that this grandstanding douche is being genuine, you're just as guilty of the "us vs. them" mentality as the people who legitimately watch his show.  Nobody with a brain watches Fox News, CNN, MSNBC, etc... and thinks that they are anything more than entertainment.  A lot of dumb people do think it's news.  A lot of dumb people also use it to point out why the other side is evil.

In a world full of carnies and rubes, it always makes me chuckle when one rube points at another and laughs.

Yeah, absolutely true.  Because there's no chance that any idiot would take the words of a demagogue guy getting paid tremendous amounts of money to be entertainingly provocative and actually do something really damaging because of those words.  Like, just to pick a random example, blow up a federal building.  Maybe one named after a famous local lawyer and judge.

What state did you say you're from, Andy? 

[Andy]

I'm not saying that there aren't some real bags of shit out there, there obviously are.  Crazy people are crazy. 

[Fido]

Andy, CNN isn't serious news? 

**gulp**

ok, after the 24/7 Terri Schiavo vigil, and the ruckus about that poor kid who fell down the well, I gave up my last remaining hope that CNN might be something better than just infotainment. My remaining illusions were shattered. MSNBC and Fox = infotainment + ideological cheerleading.

[Lothar_Brightblade]

Let me preface this by saying that I love Countdown and Rachel Maddow.

While I agree that the programming on both stations is geared toward a specific audience, I think there's a difference between MSNBC and FOX.  What I see is on FOX there seems to be an attack in the name of party advancement, on MSNBC I feel like it's more "lets point out what's wrong, and lets speak to several people who might know how to fix it or know something about it." Rachel Maddow regularly interviews Republican lawmakers, and does so in a civil way. O'Reilly and Beck, in the times I've watched them, have people of opposing viewpoints on mainly, it seems, to make them the object of the night's ridicule instead of being someone they can at least learn to appreciate the other side's point of view from.

[Andy]

they present their entertainment differently because they're selling to different audiences. Fox sells with fear because for the most part their audience is dumb; MSNBC sells with smug superiority to the people who look down on those idiots who watch fox news.

either way, I think that trying to censor the message of either because of a lunatic who acts as a reaction to something said on a cable talkshow is wrong and scary.

did I use that semicolon correctly?

[Andy]

also, my parents have a cat named Lothar.

[A.M. Thomas]

Andy in this thread = dead on.

Cable "news" is just a symptom of the old, dying media.

However, I do find it disturbing that we go to our news sources for entertainment (e.g. Fox News, MSNBC) and to our entertainment sources for news (e.g. the Daily Show, the Colbert Report).  No wonder irony is so prevalent in my generation.

[Matt]

ok, after the 24/7 Terri Schiavo vigil, and the ruckus about that poor kid who fell down the well, I gave up my last remaining hope that CNN might be something better than just infotainment. My remaining illusions were shattered.

Yes, but have you seen CNN International?

I can only assume that I've shamed you. Good day, sir!