Beck On Family's Whose Home Burned Down As Firefighters Watched

[Joanne98]

Run time: 04:51 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7jrWEdeGGvw   Posted on YouTube: October 05, 2010 By YouTube Member: ThinkProgress2 Views on YouTube: 51   Posted on DU: October 05, 2010 By DU Member: Joanne98 Views on DU: 2731

 

If this doesn't ruin him nothing will.

[jobycom]

1. Could you summarize it? There's no way I'm watching that clown for four minutes at work. nt

[Orrex]

2. Or anywhere else, for that matter

[jobycom]

3. Dat 2.

[Sanity Claws]

4. he had a sidekick make fun of the fire victim

by mocking his accent and making him sound dumb.

Of course, no compassion.

[jobycom]

8. He's been doing that forever. The first time I heard Beck was on the radio

mocking a Civil Rights advocate by doing the vocal equivalent of a black-faced minstrel show while reading a speech the man gave. I thought he was a local San Antonio host so I emailed the station in San Antonio, and got a snarky "Next time I see him I'll let him know your concerns." Last time I listened to that station.

If being a racist asshole doesn't hurt him, I doubt being a southern-bashing asshole will. Hell, it will probably make him more popular around here.

[AmericanMan1958]

5. Nice Accent!!!

Making fun of his supporters.
Guess if someone can't afford to pay $75
well he can't buy Gold, so piss on him...

[Ozymanithrax]

6. Glen Beck feels the fire department and the mayor were justified in letting...

the house burn down. Capitalism in action and all that rot. Since I've seen this same feeling expressed here in other places, I assume he posts here under an assumed name. I don't think he understands the concepts of greater good or civic virtue.

[Cognative_Dissonance]

7. Sounds Like

He is making the argument for increased taxes to pay for socialist programs...like fireman.

[RKP5637]

9. Beck is a F'en fool and the situation is ridiculous. The $75 should just be part

of the tax structure. I wonder if the family was republican... This stuff is so insane it gets difficult to wrap ones head around it...

Well, I guess in RW mind-thought the family was punished. I would move out of that area so fast if I could the door couldn't possibly hit my ass.

[SnakeEyes]

12. It can't be part of the tax structure

They don't live in the city and therefore aren't (and can't be) assessed taxes by the city.

[RKP5637]

16. Is this incorrect in what I read then or am I misunderstanding it... maybe they

were outside of the county?

"Union City Fire Department Chief Kelly Edmison objects to the new expansion, saying that “the best option is a true fire tax. It eliminates this having 911 or whoever check to say, ‘Are they covered or not covered?’ The last thing a firefighter wants to do is to not be able to help when they’d like to.” According to documents prepared by the county in 2008, a paltry 0.13 cent increase in property taxes on each household would be all it would take to fund fire services for the towns within the county."

http://thinkprogress.org/2010/10/05/after-firefighters-obion-expands/

[PSzymeczek]

24. They pay taxes in the county.

It was determined that for the rural areas of the county to create their own fire department, each household's property taxes would go up by the staggering amount of $0.13. Nevertheless, the county commissioners voted not to establish a separate fire department, and to go on a subscription basis to the town's department.

[Sheepshank]

10. I find it ironic Beck has a huge poster behind him with large lettering "CHARITY"

..in clear view, while he is blathering on about no pay no spray.

[cannondale]

11. Here's to hoping Beck's accountant forgot something

Can you imagine if Beck's house was on fire, and he found out that his accountant did not pay?
-- Or that those fundraiser tickets sent to his house were required for service?
-- Or that the "rules" changed and you were required to volunteer one day a year?

Beck, like all unfeeling hypocrites would DEMAND that they put it out or he would sue.

[teknomanzer]

13. These jackholes are missing the goddamned point...

Rather than relying on a voluntary fee a contract between the county and municipal governments should have been in place to provide for fire protection. This is about public safety not whether or not we are protecting a single individuals property. Do these assholes not realize that the fire department had to be called out ANYWAY? Why? Because the fire spread to the nieghbor's property. And the fire will keep spreading until someone puts it out or the flames run out of fuel. We are becoming an nation of fucking idiots.

Oh and take notes here folks - people on the right really think people in the south are yokles. Just give his douchebag producer a listen. Yeah, they think highly of y'all.

[Just One Woman]

14. I couldn't watch it either.

I just cannot stomach old foxy. But I live in Tennessee, in Chattanooga. It is common around here for property owners to have to pay a yearly fee just to be protected. Most of these fire departments in the rural areas are volunteer. Ironic aye? I don't agree with the concept but that is the fact. Just recently when our illustrious mayor was trying to annex out into the county, the fire department situation came up. It was figured into the cost of annexation because the county does not automatically have fire protection service. This really stinks, and when you rent you don't know if the fire department will come or not.

[Weird Liberal Head]

15. Beck is a liar, a hypocrite, and an a-hole...

... we need to make sure he loses his job for this. Let's see what happens if HIS house burns down. Did you pay your $75 Mr. Beck?
I expect to see Beck as the Worst Person in the World for this, and I hope Keith Olbermann, other liberals, and decent people in general call on Fixed Noise to fire Glenn Beck.
Might do my next video on this...
Glenn Beck and his guest (who is he) were so rude, mean disgusting, I could barely watch the entire video. His house burned down! His pets died! Stop blaming the victim!

[AlbertCat]

17. They don't know any history!

Or they'd know about the fire dept rivalries in 19th century NYC. Making it so one dept couldn't get water... literally hiding or blocking hydrants....watching building burn down....

The Repugs....taking us back 2 centuries!


Practically every privatization scheme the Right Wing wants to "try" now has already been done in the 18th and 19th centuries. None of them worked, which is why they were eliminated in the 20th century!

[sulphurdunn]

18. "We're going to start to have to have

these kinds of things" Glenn Beck

Hey dip shit, we've already had these kinds of things. The conclusion was that public health and safety are not well served by pay to play, private for profit contractors. You've got to be a brain dead fucking Libertarian zombie ideologue to seriously entertain such nonsense. :dunce:

[Hyper_Eye]

19. I wonder if they would have stood there and watched if there were people inside.

Or what if the pets that burned inside were a neighbors pets and the neighbor had paid?

[DWinNJ]

22. If there were people inside

They would have died.

keep in mind they didn't even come out to see what the situation was when they got the call

[TheEuclideanOne]

23. The house next door would not have caught fire if they put the first house out

Personally, I think that any city that can have a policy like this should be ashamed of whoever set these policies. I also think that any individuals who support this are scum. Just my own humble opinion. :)

[DWinNJ]

20. What have we come to

I think my own living situation illustrates on the problems with beck’s attitude. I rent in a house that is a two family rental property. The owner does not live in the area. Every once in a while I get a notice posted on the door saying that a service like water or trash collection isn’t paid. Once I let the owner know about the notice he pays it before the service is terminated. If one of the services was a critical service like fire fighting and the house catches fire I’m screwed.

Now that I’ve given that example one has to ask what kind of mindset do you have to have that this kind of thing even becomes a topic of debate? It takes a bitter, selfish mind.

[Old Time Pagan]

21. I live in a rural area outside of an incorporated town

This is one of those situations where knee jerk reactions make liberals look foolish.

I live 10 miles away from the nearest town. Homeowners in that town pay an assessment each year to provide funds in order for the town's volunteer fire department to function. I don't. The only fire protection I'm entitled to is the state's Department of Natural Resources which is responsible for looking out for forest and wildfires.

If my house catches on fire and the town's volunteer fire department comes out to fight the fire I am benefiting from a system that I don't help pay for, just like the family in this story.

The problem in this instance is that the neighbor had paid to help support the system so the department had to come out to protect that dwelling. It may seem cruel to those of you who don't live in a rural community but in fact it's just the way it is.

There used to be a give and take between rural and urban areas. We can't afford to foot the bill for our infrastructure, too low a population density and too much of the land is owned by the state and federal governments. But we used to provide urban areas with agricultural and natural resource products so urban populations subsidized our transportation, utilities and EMS networks. That relationship has been allowed to go by the wayside and now many communities are forced to make hard choices like this one.

Sorry, in this case the homeowner took their chances and basically choose to go without fire insurance, they screwed up. Look at it this way, would you be happy if you knew that your homeowners insurance company was charging you higher rates because they were paying for losses that homeowners who chose to not have insurance incurred?

Until we change our financial priorities in this country there will be tragedies like this one. Blaming the city's fire department for working under the constraints imposed on them is unfair and inappropriate.

[Plucketeer]

26. Thanks for cutting thru the bleeding heart emotions here

NO ONE loathes Beck more than I do. NO ONE! And that ass hat faux hillbilly he has for an echo has to have been hired on the strength of his being provably stupider than Beck.

Now, ALL THIS SAID......... if you don't pay, you don't play. It really couldn't be any simpler. This ho-down home owner now understands as good as anyone on this planet, the understanding of the phrase: Penny wise and pound foolish. Even Beck (in as much of it as I could stand to watch) understood the pay-to-play situation that played out here. Maybe ho-down figgered he could get more water hoses for his $75 bucks than he'd need if his house lit up.

Living in California, I buy an annual policy for earthquake protection. NOBODY makes me! I can simply not pay the premium each August and with luck, save myself $200 bucks that year. But if and when we have a good shaker here, who would I point a finger at if no one wanted to rebuild our home? Who? Jimmy Carter maybe?

Fire houses are being shut down around here, left and right. Yet we have dumped tons of money to build new structures in Iraq and Afghanistan. Many of which are condemned even before the first tennant moves in. But such travesties are OUR FAULT for not forcing the hands of the federal government to do the will of the PEOPLE. Even tho I do MY part to change that, too many of my fellow Americans are too apathetic to really change things. Not thru "2nd amendment means, but thru educating themselves so they DO NOT put the wrong folks in Washington DC.

[jonthebru]

28. If I heard correctly,

during Keith's interview last night the guy said his Boys house burned a year or so ago and the fire Dept accepted payment on the spot to quash the fire. Maybe his family has a habit of doing this.
Its a problem with medical care also; healthy people not paying into the system for insurance until they get sick. Then they scramble to get coverage until they are better again. That is why the new med coverage has a tax for medical coverage for everyone whether you need it or not at this time... Eventually you will, guaranteed.

I will bet no one in that area "forgets" to pay that $75.00 in the future. That is a real bargain actually. I am also surprised his insurance company didn't require the payment. If they did and he "forgot" then the insurance company could leave him cold and in the rain.

I don't want to argue with anyone but something is just not right here.

[Old Time Pagan]

29. Lots of rural homes are not insured

Many of us in the hinterlands either chose not to or are unable to afford/even get homeowners insurance. In our area if we have a fire, the town's mayor or city council can authorize on a case by case basis sending the fire department our way. Historically they've been pretty lenient about that but with funding being what it is these days that policy may haven't tightened up.

I think what's not right here is the use by both sides of events to support their point of view. In my part of the state liberals are vilified as bleeding heart, impractical, nanny state lovers. When this sort of spin is put on an event like this, well that viewpoint is simply reinforced. There are plenty of real events that uncover the true agenda of the corporate loving, humanity squashing interests of those currently in control of the Republican party.

Nothing to be gained and a lot to lose by shooting ourselves in the foot and not really understanding the circumstances behind an event like this one.

[neobeetle]

25. GAWD!!!! I wanna pimpslap TaliBeck

This is a PREVIEW of a teabagger country, plain and simple!

[AmandaMae]

27. sickening. I couldn't watch past the point his assistant started the mocking accent

[MisterGamut]

30. The real problem

is that the fire department is basically privatized. They're basically on retainer. But Beck can't make that criticism now can he?

[Devil_Fish]

31. Beck makes a starting point, but fails to find a good conclusion.

I understand the reasoning beck is trying to make, but he fails at connecting the dots on this. The man offered to pay. I would think that since he did not pay the $75 then he should be responsible for the full cost involved in putting out the fire. Just like insurance. If you buy the minimum assuming that you will never get into an accident then run your suburban into a corvett, and puh it into a BMW, that runs into a Jag, your on the hook for the diffrence because you know it's gonna take more then $10k to fix all that dammage.

In a situation like this, the fire dept. should come and put out the fire and bill the home owner the full cost of putting it out. if the home owner has a problem with that, well then he should have paid the $75 at the beginning of the year.