Glenn Beck Has A Dream

[BVS]

Tea Partiers, this is your king. You still think you're informed?

[deep]

Every now and then I tune in Glenn Beck, it seems he holds me for the whole hour.

Fascinating stuff he puts out there, the excited and passionate writing on the chalk board is really quite a show

I missed the Springsteen episode, but I did catch this one last week

Here's the latest land grab and we only know this because of a memo that was leaked: The Obama administration is pursuing 13 million acres through 11 states in the West in the name of "national monuments." Maybe we'll get one of Chairman Mao? How about Stalin? He was good at controlling the lands, I hear. And they are doing this without telling anyone. It's executive order. They don't care about what you think about it.

Here's another one: Do you like to fish? Well, enjoy it while you can because it looks like special interests once again are trumping common sense and the voice of the people. A new report says it's a move to appease environmental groups and, just like before, without the consent of the people and by executive order.

We told you he would do this. Heck, The New York Times said he'd do it. The report claims that Obama will "no longer listen to the public" as he tries to prohibit U.S. citizens from fishing on some of the nation's oceans, coastal areas, Great Lakes and even some inland waters. So, because a couple of environmentalists want to save the fish, people could lose rights.

Do you remember the song, "This Land Is Your Land"? Here are the last couple of verses:

As I went walking I saw a sign there
And on the sign it said "No Trespassing."
But on the other side it didn't say nothing,
That side was made for you and me.

In the shadow of the steeple I saw my people,
By the relief office I seen my people;
As they stood there hungry, I stood there asking
Is this land made for you and me?

The song was originally written in 1940, by the way, by Woody Guthrie — communist. It's a song about a progressive utopia land with no ownership of property. Because some have it and some don't. And we all think of this as an American song.

The song goes to indoctrination, but that's another story — land grabs are where we are at. It's grab all the rights you can. Health care — the Soviets used to call it maintenance. It sounds so tender, so loving that way, doesn't it? I can almost picture the caring hospitals in the Soviet Union, where they perform "maintenance" on the human body. It's like a Jiffy Lube for people.

[Vincent Vega]

With him, I think the Völkischer Beobachter is not just a comparison.

[deep]

ah yes,

now I get it.

[Vincent Vega]

Wow, that's big.

Yes, he is not a Nazi in that sense, but his style of rhetoric is very similar to that paper.

[deep]

after watching Beck for awhile

he make's Joseph McCarthy sound well spoken and reasonable.

[deep]

here is an interesting article on Beck

A Network Divided: The Glenn Beck Factor

By Howard Kurtz
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, March 15, 2010; 11:01 AM



NEW YORK -- In just over a year,Glenn Beck's blinding burst of stardom has often seemed to overshadow the rest of Fox News.

And that may not be a good thing for the top-rated cable news channel, as many of its staffers are acutely aware.

With his celebrity fueled by a Time cover story, best-selling books, cheerleading role at protest rallies and steady stream of divisive remarks, Beck is drawing big ratings. But there is a deep split within Fox between those -- led by Chairman Roger Ailes -- who are supportive, and many journalists who are worried about the prospect that Beck is becoming the face of the network.

By calling President Obama a racist and branding progressivism a "cancer," Beck has achieved a lightning-rod status that is unusual even for the network owned by Rupert Murdoch. And that, in turn, has complicated the channel's efforts to neutralize White House criticism that Fox is not really a news organization. Beck has become a constant topic of conversation among Fox journalists, some of whom say they believe he uses distorted or inflammatory rhetoric and that undermines their credibility.

Ailes has occasionally spoken to Beck about the negative tone of his 5 p.m. program. And Beck, in turn, sometimes seeks Ailes's advice.

Despite Beck's ascendance, Bill O'Reilly and Sean Hannity remain marquee names at Fox, with "The O'Reilly Factor" still the highest-rated program, drawing 3.7 million viewers. O'Reilly has embraced Beck, showcasing him as a weekly guest. Despite strong resistance from Fox management, O'Reilly has joined forces with Beck on the so-called "Bold & Fresh Tour" (named for an O'Reilly book), speaking to sold-out audiences from Los Angeles to Tampa.

Publicly, there is plenty of praise. Although Beck declined to be interviewed, Chris Balfe, president of Beck's company, Mercury Radio Arts, says that "Glenn and Roger have a fantastic relationship. That's the reason he went to Fox, because of Roger." He adds: "Roger definitely gives Glenn advice on a lot of different things he thinks Glenn could be doing better or differently."

Fox responded by arranging an interview with Bill Shine, its senior vice president. Shine says that last fall a vice president was assigned "to help keep an eye on that program" and review its content in advance -- a full-time job. "We see Glenn as an investment and we wanted to help him out even more," Shine says.

Shine dismisses the notion that Beck's prominence may be a liability for Fox, even while noting the left's "hate" for the host: "I don't perceive it to be a problem. . . . Glenn Beck is popular and controversial? Well, almost everybody here has been popular or controversial at some point in the last 13 years." For the channel's journalists, Shine adds, "sometimes it might make their job a little more difficult."

* * *

Television analyst Andrew Tyndall calls Beck an "activist" and "comedian" whose incendiary style has created "a real crossroads for Fox News."

"They're right on the cusp of losing their image as a news organization," he declares. "Do they want to be the go-to place for conservative populist ideas on television, or do they want to be a news organization? Ailes has done a good job of doing both."

The internal tensions are fueled by two views of Beck's success. He is either a self-promoting independent operator, as some at Fox believe, or a team player who regularly talks up his new colleagues, as the Beck camp sees it. Some journalists and other staffers who are upset about Beck's language declined to be identified criticizing a fellow employee.

Before launching his Fox program in January 2009, Beck had a popular radio show and Web site, as well as a magazine (called Fusion) and a thriving career as an author. These ventures -- Beck doesn't even work at Fox's Sixth Avenue headquarters -- give him an outside base that his team believes doesn't sit well with some Fox executives.

There is no question that the Fox exposure has transformed his career. When Beck had a show on CNN's Headline News, he averaged 367,000 nightly viewers in 2008, according to Nielsen figures. His Fox program is drawing 2.8 million viewers so far this year, slightly more than Hannity's.

"What Glenn does is so unpredictable," says Mercury's Balfe, "that it gives people something to write about, chat about, blog and Twitter about."

Some Fox insiders say Ailes and his staff deserve much of the credit for Beck's new prominence, both by giving him a platform suited to a conservative audience and granting him the freedom to say what he wants. But with that freedom has come constant controversy.

More than 200 companies have joined a boycott of Beck's program, making it difficult for Fox to sell ads. The time has instead been sold to smaller firms offering such products as Kaopectate, Carbonite, 1-800-PetMeds and Goldline International. A handful of advertisers, such as Apple, have abandoned Fox altogether. Network executives say they believe they could charge higher rates if the host were more widely acceptable to advertisers.

Beck, who travels with a bodyguard and retains his own publicist, Matthew Hiltzik, has also clashed with Fox over media opportunities. Last fall Beck wanted to accept an invitation from Jay Leno's prime-time show, but Fox management was opposed. Beck kept pushing and finally got permission to appear on the program in December. A Fox News spokesperson says the network simply wanted Beck to wait until the reverberations from his racism charge against Obama had faded. The executive suite was also rankled last week when Beck spent two minutes of airtime to promote his one-man show at Broadway's Nokia Theater on Tuesday.

Fox staffers note that veteran producer Gresham Striegel left the network after clashing with Beck and say the host has surrounded himself with loyalists from Mercury, some of whom remain on that company's payroll. (Striegel did not respond to a request for comment.) When Fox covers breaking news during Beck's hour, some journalists say, they are flooded with angry e-mail from viewers about the preemption.

Friction between opinionated cable personalities and journalists has also flared occasionally at MSNBC. But Beck has caused such anguish at Fox that some of its journalists celebrated the failure of last week's interview with embattled ex-congressman Eric Massa, which Beck pronounced a waste of time.

* * *

Love him or hate him, Beck is a talented, often funny broadcaster, a recovering alcoholic with an unabashedly emotional style. Yet even that has caused grousing. Some staffers say they have watched rehearsals, on internal monitors, in which Beck has teared up or paused at the same moments as he later did during the show. Asked about this, Balfe responded sharply: "Glenn reacts the same way to issues whether he knows people are watching or not, and is proud to show his emotions, unlike the cowardly, two-faced critics who hide behind anonymity."

Beck sparked criticism from some Christian leaders last week when he urged parishioners to leave churches that promote "social justice" or "economic justice," saying these are "code words" for communism and Nazism.

He has also stirred controversy within conservative ranks. In a speech last month at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), Beck took pains to criticize the Republican Party as "addicted to spending and big government." That puts him on very different turf from Hannity, who champions the party and is headlining a fundraiser this month.

Rush Limbaugh and Mark Levin, two radio hosts friendly with Hannity, criticized Beck's CPAC remarks. Levin told Beck to "stop dividing us" and "stop acting like a clown." Limbaugh questioned why "the only people who can stop Obama should be excoriated for being just as bad."

In a recent online interview, CBS's Katie Couric asked Beck about critics who say he "resorts to inflammatory, unfair, despicable, hateful rhetoric." Beck's response: "Did they say that when I was saying the same things about George W. Bush, or is this new?" (Beck has criticized Bush, but not with the harsh language he employs against Obama.)

Asked whether he regretted saying the president has a "deep-seated hatred for white people or the white culture," Beck said: "I'm sorry the way it was phrased." But he would not respond when Couric read a Twitter user's question on what he meant by white culture, saying: "I'm not going to get into your sound-bite gotcha game."

One thing is beyond debate: Beck provides a strong lead-in for the network's evening lineup. "The significance of Beck to Fox's bottom line cannot be underestimated," says Tyndall, the industry analyst. "Getting an audience that size at 5 p.m. is absolutely unheard of."

But that growth has come at a price, at least for those at Fox who believe that Beck is beginning to define their brand. Glenn Beck is a media phenomenon married to a phenomenally successful network, but away from the cameras, theirs is a troubled relationship.

[Edge_Orchestra]

Originally Posted by MrsSpringsteen

You should go to the march and spy on it and report back to us.

I think Glenn Beck is a whackadoodle. And having it on that date is just so pretentious (not to mention inappropriate).

On a good day, he's merely a whackadoodle. On most other days, he's an ultra-crazy whackadoodle.

Assuredly he's a tattoo that says "Craftsman" as he is undoubtedly a Fox-Right-Wing-Propaganda Tool.

[melon]

The more I think about Glenn Beck, the more I'm reminded of the populist demagogues of the 1930s. There's one, in particular, that comes to mind.



Charles Coughlin - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Interestingly enough, it appears that Beck actually invoked him in the last few days, as part of his newfound hatred of "social justice." Ironic, really, because I think that both men are equally incoherent and irrational.

[deep]

yeah, when I wrote McCarthy, I was thinking about Coughlin, but people are more familiar with McCarthy

[solemole]

YouTube - Jon Stewart Impersonates Glenn Beck. Countdown MSNBC.

[corianderstem]

That was awesome.

[BVS]

Here's the full version:

Video: Conservative Libertarian | The Daily Show | Comedy Central


Absolute brilliance

[MrsSpringsteen]

Hollywood Reporter

James Cameron trashes Glenn Beck

'Avatar' director wants to debate Fox News host

By Alex Ben Block

March 24, 2010, 12:36 AM ET


"Avatar" director James Cameron lashed out at Glenn Beck at a news conference Tuesday, offering to debate the Fox News personality on environmental and political issues.

Asked what he thought about Beck during a junket appearance in support of the "Avatar" home video release, Cameron said: "Glenn Beck is a fucking asshole. I've met him. He called me the anti-Christ, and not about 'Avatar.' He hadn't even seen 'Avatar' yet. I don't know if he has seen it."

Cameron was apparently referring to Beck's reaction to his 2007 documentary, "The Lost Tomb of Jesus," which casts doubt on the resurrection of Jesus Christ and makes the case that the ancient "Tomb of the Ten Ossuaries" belonged to Jesus' family.

After blasting Beck (audio at left), Cameron, surrounded by journalists inside a West Hollywood hillside mansion, seemed to reconsider: "I think, you know what, he may or may not be an asshole, but he certainly is dangerous, and I'd love to have a dialogue with him."

What makes Beck dangerous, THR asked Cameron at the junket.

"He's dangerous because his ideas are poisonous," Cameron answered. "I couldn't believe when he was on CNN. I thought, what happened to CNN? Who is this guy? Who is this madman? And then of course he wound up on Fox News, which is where he belongs, I guess."

Asked by THR if he felt the right wing's attacks against him were continuing, Cameron replied: "They're not attacks. They're just people ranting away, lost in their little bubbles of reality, steeped in their own hatred, their own fear and hatred. That's where it all comes from. Let's just call it out. Let's have a public discussion. That's what movies are supposed to do, you know, you can have a mindless entertainment film that doesn't affect anybody. I wasn't interested in that."

The "Avatar" director was equally unsparing in his comments about those who don't accept global warming as fact.

"That's right," Cameron said. "I want to call those deniers out into the street at high noon and shoot it out with those boneheads."

Turning more serious, he added: "Anybody that is a global warming denier at this point in time has got their head so deeply up their ass I'm not sure they could hear me."

By making the environment the theme of his home video release plan, Cameron is sending a message.

"Look, at this point I'm less interested in making money for the movie and more interested in saving the world that my children are going to inhabit. How about that? I mean, look, I didn't make this movie with these strong environmental anti-war themes in it to make friends on the right, you know.

"They're not on my Christmas card list," Cameron added. "It's not going to change my lifestyle at all if they don't talk to me. But, you know, they've got to live in this world, too. And their children do as well, so they're going to have to be answerable to this at some point."

Fox had gathered nearly 100 journalists from around the world for a press junket that included a screening of four vivid video clips from the movie to show the quality of the conversion.

Cameron and "Avatar" producer Jon Landau opened the program by pledging an environmental theme to the release of "Avatar" into the home video market. The video release of "Avatar" is now set for April 22, which is not insignificantly Earth Day, as Beck is likely to notice.

While still working for CNN, Beck teed up an on-air interview with Cameron regarding "Tomb" with the following comment, according to a CNN transcript: "Many people believe James Cameron officially has tossed his hat in the ring today and is officially running for anti-Christ."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2CMffJcHi58

[corianderstem]

Beck's response today had some aweome line about Avatar being about "murdering Smurfs" or something.

For that and that alone, I will give Glenn a and a

[INDY500]

I thought Obama was the antichrist.

[PhilsFan]

Originally Posted by INDY500

I thought Obama was the antichrist.

Clearly big budget filmmaking is the real problem with this country.

[solemole]

Haik U Glenn Beck

[BVS]

Is this part of Glenn's dream? I'm pretty sure "social justice" doesn't show up in any of their literature.

At least 7 arrested after raids in 3 states - CNN.com

I dug around on the Hutaree website a little, pretty scary stuff.

[deep]

Being Hutaree is to stay the Testimony of Christ alive, and follow a motto, John15:13, “Greater love hath no man than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.” We are hoping that through this website we can reach out to those who have not the word of God and those who are lost in there ideas of Christ. Many of the things Christ said would happen have happened and some things are still in the works of happening.

We all must know that we all carry a cross and a soldiers cross is just as heavy as any other. Just as Jesus did we must also carry our cross to our destination our life abounds us to. All people are givin a destination by God’s will and have to continue there walk to there own golgotha. But many people, even christians don’t agree with the things we do but all we have to say is, we will not argue over the Bible, read it for what it is. We believe only what the Bible says and not on only philosophy, as many christians of this day do. Christ is our king of kings and top general of all things, for we are not of this world but we live in it.

their website is interesting

but, in all fairness, when I did watch Beck last, the whole program was devoted to not doing any violence, he was saying the 'Left' wanted the Tea Bag party to be caught in some unlawful behaviour and not to accommodate them,
he said the place to win was at the ballot box.