If you don't listen to Glenn Beck, you should....

[CoffeeCat]

I couldn't believe what I was hearing and seeing on Glenn Beck. I'm not asking you to watch, to
become a fan. I'm asking you to watch, so you can understand the perverted information that is
happening--so we can counteract it.

The lies and the insidious misrepresentation of basic history and reality---are truly astounding. Beck's show is
the political equivalent of yelling "Fire!" in a crowded theater.

Beck is creating something beyond division. He seeks vitriolic hatred of the left--and he spends most of
his time convincing his audience, with bizarre lies, to fear and hate the left--and to see Progressives as traitors
to our country who will "destroy you".

During the 20 minutes that I watched Beck's show, he said these things:

1.) The Progressive movement has been trying to take over this country, via an insidious coup, since the
early 1900's and Woodrow Wilson was a very evil man who started much of it.

2.) FDR made horrible policy because he most likely had a malignant melanoma that metastasized in his
brain, causing damage. Beck had close-ups of FDR's face, and what he said was a melanoma above
his eyebrow. There was no proof that this was a melanoma, but Beck used this no-proof diagnosis as the basis for this
"brain damage" theory.

3.) Joseph Goebbels, the Nazi propagandist, perfected his techniques by watching the United
States and their tactics, in particular, the Progressives.

4.) Beck claimed that Progressives "will destroy you" and he said that Nazi eugenics and concentration camps have their roots
in Progressive dogma and beliefs. He said many times that the Progressives are "out to destroy you"--meaning the
Fox audience members.

5.) The current healthcare plan that we see was written by a Democrat who was a felon--and the plan was written from his prison cell.

That's just 20 minutes.

This is not entertainment-talk radio. It is cobbled-together lies wrapped in fear that is damaging this country and
choking off our ability to unite as a nation and stop the Fascism. If they can divide us, and make us hate and fear
each other--"We The People" are fractured, powerless and weak.

Beck should not be ignored.

[niyad]

1. sorry, but my accountant has told me that throwing things through my tv is a very expensive hobby

not to mention that my kitties, as well as my neighbors, get upset when I start yelling.

I hear all I need to from beckerhead on KO and Rachel and Ed. I don't need to fill my mind with his kind of garbage.

[jmondine]

56. Especially when you chew your own arm off just to have something to throw

[liberal N proud]

2. That is what I come to DU for and watch the Daily Show

I can't stand anything on FAUX. I have banned it in my house and deleted the channels from the TV.

:puke: and :nuke: is all I get from turning on FAUX.

[spanone]

3. and this network spews vile mis-information 24/7 without any repercussions

and little blowback

[CoffeeCat]

4. I guess I feel that our country needs to be united...

...against the corporatism that has swallowed both parties.

I think Beck and others are a tool of these neocons and corporatists--designed to keep "We The People"
from uniting and fighting against them.

I think, to some extent, it is good to know the arguments--so the lies can be refuted and these
sicking tactics diffused.

We can't defeat what has taken over our country unless we are united against it.

Beck and other traitors ensure corporate and neocon power.

[jwirr]

19. I have always wondered if he takes his marching orders from Limpballs

and the GOP, the corporate world or the Mormon Church. Probably all three.

[CJCRANE]

28. I wonder if Rove helps him write some of the scripts?

They seem too similar in temperament and propaganda techniques not to be cooperating.

[sharesunited]

5. He even hates THEODORE Roosevelt. I don't think I have ever heard that one before.

Be warned Mount Rushmore.

[proud2BlibKansan]

6. I am on our local teabaggers email list

So I get a Beck talking points recap on a regular basis.

You make a great point. Even though I have followed these idiots for years now I am still stunned by their hate and their ignorance. And I keep thinking good hearted people will eventually reject them. I'm still waiting.

What distresses me more is the number of anti-war activists who have swallowed the Beck koolaid and are now firmly anti-Obama. Some of these people stood by us in Crawford, TX with Cindy Sheehan as we were literally across the road from future teabaggers who were supporting Bush and his war. And barely 5 years later, they have joined the enemy camp. It's very disheartening.

[tex-wyo-dem]

54. Sorry, but are you claiming that anti-war activitsts present in...

Crawford are now in the loony Beck camp? I'll have to call you on that one.

[samrock]

7. I sorry, but I do not have the time or inclination to worry about that clap trap...

If there are enough people in this country who actually listen to this Bozo, then we are damned... I have a life and family and my time is better spent with them.. I would hope people like that would hang themselves with their own rope.. My time on this earth is limited.. wasting ANY OF IT due to efforts of people like Glenn Beck is a sin..

[The_Commonist]

8. Thank you, no...

I'll let you do it for me.
You can report back here.

[billybob537]

9. These are just the agonizing

death throes of the GOP, Dying, Delusional, and desperate attempt for a place in the future.
While the intelligence level of Americas younger generations increases, the chances for a GOP comeback decreases. BA BYE GOP
Pass the popcorn!!!!:party: :toast: :toast: :bounce: :nopity: :beer: :hi: :loveya: :yourock: :fistbump: :popcorn:

[Berry Cool]

10. I would rather watch what Keith Olbermann says about him than watch him.

At least KO's reaction to it all will make me laugh and help me reassert my sanity.

KO watches so I don't have to.

[highplainsdem]

12. +1. Countdown, The Daily Show, and the Colbert Report.

[MiniMe]

11. The doctor told me it would be bad for my blood pressure

[Fumesucker]

13. You cannot counter it..

The people that listen to Beck and believe him are immune to logic and facts, indeed they are more than immune, they are positively allergic to those things.

http://home.cc.umanitoba.ca/~altemey/

OK, what’s this book about? It’s about what happened to the American government after "conservatives" gained control of Congress in the 1990s and the White House in 2000. It’s about the disastrous decisions that government made, which have created the enormous problems we face now. It’s about the corruption that rotted the Congress. It’s about how traditional conservatism has nearly been destroyed by authoritarianism. It’s about how the “Religious Right” teamed up with amoral authoritarian leaders to push its un-democratic agenda onto the country.

“Well,” you might be thinking, “I don’t believe any of this is true.” Or maybe you’re thinking, “What else is new? I’ve known this all along.” Why should a conservative, moderate, or liberal bother with this book? Why should any Republican, Independent, or Democrat click the “Introduction” link on this page?

Because if you do, you’ll begin an easy-ride journey through some relevant scientific studies I have done on authoritarian personalities--one that will take you a heck of a lot less time than the decades it took me. Those studies have a direct bearing on all the topics mentioned above. So if you think the first paragraph is a lot of hokum, or full of half-truths, I invite you to look at the research.

For example, take the following statement: “Once our government leaders and the authorities condemn the dangerous elements in our society, it will be the duty of every patriotic citizen to help stomp out the rot that is poisoning our country from within.” Sounds like something Hitler would say, right? Want to guess how many politicians, how many lawmakers in the United States agreed with it? Want to guess what they had in common?

Or how about a government program that persecutes political parties, or minorities, or journalists the authorities do not like, by putting them in jail, even torturing and killing them. Nobody would approve of that, right? Guess again.

Don’t think for a minute this doesn’t concern you personally. Let me ask you, as we’re passing the time here, how many ordinary people do you think an evil authority would have to order to kill you before he found someone who would, unjustly, out of sheer obedience, just because the authority said to? What sort of person is most likely to follow such an order? What kind of official is most likely to give that order, if it suited his purposes? Look at what experiments tell us, as I did.

If, on the other hand, you’re way ahead of me, and believe the extreme right-wing elements in America are still working to take over the country despite the recent election--nay because of it--I think you can still get a lot from this book. The authoritarians aren’t going away.


The studies explain so much about these people. Yes, the research shows they are very aggressive, but why are they so hostile? Yes, experiments show they are almost totally uninfluenced by reasoning and evidence, but why are they so dogmatic? Yes, studies show the Religious Right has more than its fair share of hypocrites, from top to bottom; but why are they two-faced, and how come one face never notices the other? Yes, their leaders can give the flimsiest of excuses and even outright lies about things they’ve done wrong, but why do the rank-and-file believe them? What happens when authoritarian followers find the authoritarian leaders they crave and start marching together?

I think you’ll find this book “explains a lot.” Many scattered impressions about the enemies of freedom and equality become solidified by science and coherently connected here.

You think I’m pulling your leg? Push the button.

[Mojorabbit]

61. I agree with this

I have members of my family who are otherwise very intelligent people but no amount of facts or logic gets through when it comes to right wing talking points. It just amazes me.

[underpants]

14. Some old playbook- play victim AND be the conquering hero against liberalism at the same time

you are right he should not be ignored. He should be publicly ridiculed

the Nazi thing is my favorite-The New Deal was being implemented and the Dems were in charge, does anyone really expect the leaders of another movement to comment on the minority party? Especially one that had been completely exposed as naive and based on horrific lies (only to return later under Reagan/Clinton/etc.)?

[fascisthunter]

15. he's a full-blown nazi

I bet he secretly reads Goebbels for reading pleasure, and I am not joking.

[Cirque du So-What]

16. If Blecch says anything particularly nasty, it'll show up here in no time anyway

Why in hell would I waste a moment of my time watching that dickheimer? Every time he pulls down six pounds of foreskin to his neck & spits chunks of smegma in front of the camera, 50 DUers logon immediately & inform us how it smelled.

[keroro gunsou]

51. that mental image alone

was worth the price of admission.... :D

[ldf]

62. HEY! quit denigrating...

foreskins.

mine is worth its weight in gold.

:-)

[Cirque du So-What]

64. I only denigrate those

who wear theirs around the head that sits atop their shoulders.

[shraby]

17. I wouldn't want to make my brain ache by watching him.

[State the Obvious]

18. Yes, you must listen to the opposition...

in order to bring their lies into the light (And yes, it is difficult to listen to Glen Beck....but necessary).

Many Germans thought Hitler's rantings were harmless as well.

[CJCRANE]

20. Beck recycles fringe conspiracy theories and puts a RW spin on them.

It's part of the old Rove tactic of projecting your own weaknesses onto your enemy: if you're a nazi, call your enemy a nazi etc.

[Starry Messenger]

21. That much crazy gives me a rash in under a minute.

Anyone who wants to believe his crap already does I'm sure.

[Gregorian]

22. Thanks, I needed that.

I've finally matured enough politically to heed your advice. I can't complain until I know what to complain about. If no one does, he'll go unopposed.

[mdmc]

23. I've only seen him mocked on TDS and somewhere else...

Jon Stewart ... who was the other mocker.. South Park perhaps?

[backscatter712]

25. Colbert has mocked him a few times, and SNL's mocked him a couple times.

[mdmc]

29. yesyes

I've seen Stewart and Colbert.. I thought there was a Chartman as Beck South Park, but I might be wrong..

[jonnyblitz]

34. Glenn Beck was parodied on South Park in November and it

was the "Dances with Smurfs" episode according to my google research.

http://www.southparkstudios.com/guide/1313/

[mdmc]

36. thank you

I thought so..

[Odin2005]

24. I've ran into the "Progressive Eugenics" BS before.

Basically the BS reasoning is that Margret Sanger and other early leaders of family planning had some Eugenicist sympathies, thus family planning is Eugenics, and so Progressives support Eugenics. It's totally crap, fallacious logic.

[Quantess]

41. That's right.

Margaret Sanger felt that poor women should have the same access to family planning as wealthy women already had. I fully support her agenda.

[Dappleganger]

26. No wonder the world thinks we're nuts.

[Danascot]

27. I think he's just making shit up

It's all about the money. He made $22 million last year and will probably make more this year.

The wilder the stuff he comes up with is, the bigger and more enthusiastic his audience. He's discovered a goldmine and he's working it for all it's worth. I doubt he actually believes much of what he comes up with.

And if Beck left the stage for some reason, there are dozens of Beck-wannabes waiting in the wings for a shot at that kind of money.

[CJCRANE]

31. But it's funny how during the Bush era

these Alex Jones style paranoid conspiracy theories were totally ignored by the MSM.

Now suddenly the right can't get enough of them.

[badgerpup]

30. I forget where I saw it...

...but Beck himself was "diagnosed" as being in third-stage syphilis...you know, where your cognitive functions sort of go out to lunch before the entire CNS shuts down and says "I'm outta here".

Think about all the historical figures you've heard/read about who "...died insane from syphilis".
Think this "diagnosis" is much more likely than him having raped and murdered somebody in 1990, don't you?

I'm using the term 'diagnosis' with as much respect and seriousness as was used in his 'diagnosing' of FDR's supposed 'brain damage' from a malignant melanoma. :evilgrin:



I've seen brain damage from cancer (my dad died from it).
Believe me, you can NOT function anywhere near that level of complexity for your own personal ADLs (Activities of Daily Living) without assistance, let alone have energy left over to come up with 'evil policy' for an entire country...:eyes::banghead:

End-stage syphilis, on the other hand...:shrug:

[TorchTheWitch]

32. You couldn't be more wrong

The only way to get rid of these nuts is to NOT tune in. Most of the people that DO pay attention to him are the ones that hate him, and that's what keeps him on the air. Make him irrelevant and he goes away. That's the only way he'll go away. Nobody needs to know exactly what he says about anything because it's a given that it will be wrong and crazy. The only people who believe his insanity are those people that WANT to, and you will never ever ever be able to change that. Tuning into that that loon and others like him and trying to counteract their insanity only gives them relevance they doesn't deserve which in turn keeps them on the air and ensuring that their lunacy spreads.

It's your attitude that keeps these freaks on the air spreading their insanity farther and wider.

Beck absolutely SHOULD be ignored and if he was by the people that that think he's a nut and are offended by him DID ignore him he'd have been off the air long ago.

[Initech]

33. Beck is an insane, crazy lunatic.

[anonymous171]

35. #1 is actually correct. Woodrow Wilson was a fucking asshat.

He and his ilk were the intellectual ancestors of today's elitist neoliberal "left."

[State the Obvious]

37. I'd guess Beck is a classic example of a "manic-depressive"....

...who could be dangerous to ignore.

Instead of seeking HELP, he is seeking a following. Watch him.

(Reminds me of an unhinged "nut" named Adolph)

[glowing]

38. Its sad... My husband's grandparents are in their 80's.. Poppa has Alzheimer's and Grandma

has rheumatoid arthritis (walks with a cane and is in lots of pain). They live in Ocala, FL (old people capital of the world). Their days as retired people are spent watching t.v., going to Dr's, church on Sunday, and going out to early bird specials. Grandma is sooo frightened of a terrorist threat she's ready to sign over ever last right she has to stay safe. I looked at her and said, "honestly, you are more likely to be in a car accident or slip and fall in your home (which she has) than to be killed by some terrorist plot." (these people will never be on an airplane the rest of their lives.) The one thing I did notice is that Fox is on more often than MSNBC and I think its because Fox uses big bold graphics and easier to read texts.. where as the other's go for fancy high-tech looking stuff, but make it harder for the old gullible people who vote and have money to see.

The constant terra, terra, terra shit on all of the news and networks is disgusting. I said to Grandma, everyone knows that car accidents kill lots of people every day of the year all year every year, but they haven't banned driving. You are more likely to be hit by lightning than you are to be in a plane and have it become part of a terrorist plot.

[Edweird]

39. He should be monitored, but I can't stand 10 seconds of it.

He makes me bloodthirsty.

[Tuvok Obama]

40. Is any of this really so crazy? Is it? Is it? IS IT???

Or is it all SO insane that it's all traveled FULL CIRCLE until every bit of this insanity becomes PERFECTLY SANE???

:silly:

[varelse]

42. I can't do it, sorry

The first (and last) time I ever "watched" Glenn Beck was on a flat=screen TV mounted over the eliptical machines at the gym. One of the reasons I no longer frequent that gym, in fact, is that one of those TV's was always tuned in to his fat, smug, pale face with those dead fish eyes. A half hour of that several times a week was more than enough to make me want to put a fist through that self-righeous, sneering countenance.

And then I'd read the subtitled "dialogue" as he "interviewed" his guests.

Ugh.

[Fatima]

43. Beck

I don't watch him. I have a pretty good idea of what he spews on a daily basis, because I hear it echoed and commented on by the people I do listen to: Mike Malloy, Jeff Farias, Bob Kinkade, Karel Bouley, etc.


I choose not to waste time worrying about the nonsense he spews because doing so would give him the attention and money he wants.

[bridgit]

44. If Beck thinks that as a recovering substance and alcohol abuser...

This is...what? The 13th step?






Then he may as well start smoking tar opium, he may even start making some sense

[bullwinkle428]

45. Yet, some here continue to claim that Beck and Olbermann/Maddow/Schultz/etc.

are just two sides of the same coin! :eyes:

[alphafemale]

46. #4 actually is true to a certain extent...I'm sorry to say

Margaret Sanger founded Planned Parenthood largely on eugenics. Nazi's just made the horrifying leap to extermination from the already horrifying idea of forced sterilization.

You have to face the truth of the past sometimes.

I have to state that Beck is still about as over the edge crazy as I've seen anyone. The character in the movie "Network" seems reasonable and sedate by comparison.

But if you throw a scattershot of crazy into the air there is an outside chance something is going to be at least partially accurate.

He is right about eugenics beginning with progressive American thought.

[Marr]

47. Woodrow Wilson? That's bizarre.

Wilson would've been a mainstream Republican these days. A racist, hostile, arrogant jackass. "Progressive"... lol.

[backscatter712]

48. I can tolerate him in small doses.

After all, somebody's gotta keep an eye on the enemy...

He's gone waaaaaaaaay off the deep end with his conspiracy theories, attacks and demonization. He's completely batshit.

[aikoaiko]

49. I started listening to conservative radio during the 2006 midterm elections --

Its really remarkable what they say so effortlessly -- like they believe it.

[equinedemocrat]

52. as painful as it is

I will watch Beck on occasion- or Hannity or BillO- but can usually only manage for a few minutes. It's generally when I've already hit the MSNBC/CNN shows and now they're rerunning what I've already seen.

He is absolutely insane. I don't know where the hell he gets some of this stuff- I end up sitting here saying "Whaaatttt?"... but the reason I do this is simple. I think you do need to know what "the other side" is spreading- because if you don't know, you can't counter it. And I'll admit there is a sector (a far too large sector) who is way down the rabbit hole, but there are people out there who just don't know any better. At first it's a fringe idea, and the next thing you know, the moderates are getting swept in, and it's becoming mainstream. These right wing terrorists (and yes, with their lies and hate and fear that they spread, I consider that they are terrorizing segments of the population) have to be challenged... Ignoring them, in theory, is the best idea, but we don't live in a theoretical world, and I fear that without knowing what their argument is and presenting a unified, contrasting talking point- we miss the bigger picture. They DO win, because if they are saying things, UNOPPOSED, it becomes "fact"-

But most nights, it just gets my blood pressure up too high before bed. Then I have to come to DU, or check in with Keith, to be able to know that there are SANE people in this world.

[dysfunctional press]

50. when i blocked faux noise on our cable system- i closed my eyes as i input the lock code...

i couldn't watch it even if for some unforseen & masochistic reason i'd ever want to.

[cherokeeprogressive]

53. "Beck should not be ignored". Yes, he should.

Keep his name at the forefront and you keep his message at the forefront.

It's not so hard to understand... If his audience disappeared, so would he.

[equinedemocrat]

57. Agree but we can't stand by and ignore the virus

I completely agree with this- in theory. The problem is, his teabagging followers (well, in general, if you're crazy enough to watch GB, you're pretty much a goner in my book) don't live in a bubble. Even if progressives completely ignore Beck, he WILL continue to exist. He WILL have a following. AND those fanatical followers who do NOT live in a bubble talk to their moderate and independent friends, neighbors, family, etc. The people at risk for believing even parts of his insane message are NOT progressives but all of those apathetic people, the middle of the roaders who can be swayed.

Now, do I think we should be out screaming his name on every talk show? No, but I think that the progressive COMMUNITY, within itself, needs to keep a close watch on him and NOT ignore the movement that follows him. The danger is not the people in that movement- they aren't going to vote for a progressive regardless of Beck- but of that movement beginning to make sense to others.

I've got friends out there- good people, not idiots, but not much into politics past presidential elections. They are generally pretty apathetic, and guess what, all of the sudden some GB viewer gets them to think that maybe <insert Fox talking point>. You talk to these people, you ask them about their beliefs, you are able to combat the talking point- they GET IT. They are the ones that we can save. My roommate's father had him believing that McCain was the way to go because of things he had seen last year on FOX. The father- complete lost cause. Probably a teabagger by now. But the son? He wasn't lost yet- I got him to vote for Obama.

I think this is the difference- sometimes- between the nutjobs on the right and progressives. Let's face it- we're reasonable, we're by and large more educated- and as a result, we do have beliefs like cherokeeprogressive- beliefs that I can definitely stand by. But the right doesn't think that way- they are out there, screaming louder and louder- and we can live in a bubble and pretend that GB doesn't exist- but that won't actually give an opposing viewpoint to those "middle of the roaders" that says, "I'm sorry, but you think WHAT?"

Within the community, we need to study him, we need to know HOW he gets into heads, WHY he appeals, HOW to combat his messages- if we don't pay attention, that's fine, I suppose, but don't be surprised when more and more people fall for his line of utter crap.

[cherokeeprogressive]

58. "study him" means you have to "tune in". "Tuning in" means he gets ratings.

Getting ratings means he never disappears.

It's quite simple, really.

[LeftyMom]

55. I know what he has to say, he's been on my radar for years.

A few years ago I was changing planes in Atlanta and of course the TVs there are on CNN since they're local. Anyhow, every 5 minutes for the whole time I was in that airport, I heard ads for Glenn Beck's upcoming special on CNN Headline News about... End Times prophecy. The idea that crap like that was getting treated like serious news on a real news channel got my attention.

He's gone further off into batshit crazy land since. The funny thing is, I'm not sure how the fundies love him so much since he's a freaking Mormon.

[Doctor_J]

59. I sort of wish you Beck addicts would stop trying to recruit others

We all know that he and the rest of his ilk are lying, traitorous psychopaths. Tuning in does nothing but boost his ratings. When you're ready to take them on please let me know and I'll help. But I won't become one of his nutjobs.

[democraticinsurgent]

60. You are off base

Re-read the OP. This is not posted by someone who's a Beck nutjob or trying to recruit others to Fox. This is someone who's doing us all a favor by reporting "from the front".

My 78 yr old mom, a Beck disciple, has been blathering on lately about Woodrow Wilson beng a Progressive and how it all started with him. Now I know more about the context of her brainwashing.

Thanks, Coffeecat, for going to the trouble to let us know what's being said.

[spiritual_gunfighter]

63. I watched him for about a month or so

this summer. The world Glenn Beck and his followers minds inhabit is a very scary place and I could actually see someone who gets no real news and watches Fox all day (which is a lot of people)could get warped by this toxic worldview.

Beck's type of thing has existed for years but the really amazing thing about his popularity is in the past it was on the far fringes of society, hidden away from rationality and thinking peoples lives. The fact that this is now so mainstream is what is scariest about Glenn Beck.

[The Wizard]

65. If Beckkk's

followers saw the pictures of him pleasuring horny farm animals would they continue to believe his insane blathering?
The only ones who believe him are the frightened, the stupid, the bigoted, the foolish, the insane or the Republican base.
Beck needs to be sucker punched.