ADL Says Glenn Beck's Outrageous Holocaust Comparison Part Of Troubling Epidemic On The Airwaves

[RestoreGore]

http://www.adl.org/PresRele/HolNa_52/5037_52.htm

ADL Says Glenn Beck's Outrageous Holocaust Comparison Part Of Troubling Epidemic On The Airwaves

New York, NY, May 2, 2007… The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) today denounced remarks by radio personality Glenn Beck where he compared efforts to raise awareness about global warming to Hitler's plans to exterminate Jews during the Holocaust, saying his remarks are part of "a troubling epidemic on the airwaves, where comparisons to Hitler and the Holocaust are becoming all-too facile."

On the April 30 edition of his nationally syndicated radio show, Beck said: "Al Gore's not going to be rounding up Jews and exterminating them. It is the same tactic, however. The goal is different. The goal is globalization. The goal is global carbon tax. The goal is the United Nations running the world."

Abraham H. Foxman, ADL National Director and a Holocaust survivor, issued the following statement:

Glenn Beck's linkage of Hitler's plan to round up and exterminate Jews with Al Gore's efforts to raise awareness of global warming is outrageous, insensitive and deeply offensive. Unfortunately, his remarks are just the latest example of a troubling epidemic on the airwaves, where comparisons to Hitler and the Holocaust are becoming all-too facile.

It has become almost commonplace for talk-show pundits to use comparisons to the Holocaust and Nazi imagery to attack people whose views they disagree with, whether the issue is global warming or immigration, as we witnessed when CNN's Lou Dobbs recently suggested on his program that immigrant rights groups use tactics similar to those of Nazi propagandists.

The six million Jewish victims and millions of other victims of Hitler deserve a measure of respect. Their deaths should not be used for political points or sloganeering. Every time a radio or television personality takes that unique event in history and twists it for their own political agenda, it cheapens the public debate and distorts and trivializes the Holocaust.

The Anti-Defamation League, founded in 1913, is the world's leading organization fighting anti-Semitism through programs and services that counteract hatred, prejudice and bigotry.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I was going to write to Glenn Beck, but considering I already did so on this a while ago I considered it a waste of my time. I'm now writing to the sponsors of his show instead. He is one of the many political hacks on the airwaves who thinks nothing of spewing garbage for their political agenda and grudges. The networks who carry such garbage like this need to know that and that there are people out here who know what BS he is spewing and that it is misleading in regards to global warming as he is a complete and utter idiot on the topic and proves it everytime he opens his mouth. It is then good to see him being called on his hatemongering.

[Tandalayo_Scheisskopf]

1. Well.

It's about farging time they got up off their asses and said something about this sort of thing.

[RestoreGore]

2. Yes, we need to see more of it. n/t

[sharp_stick]

3. Now lets see if they can get something going like Sharpton did

and get that asshole off the fucking air. Beck makes Imus look like a choir boy when it comes to being a pure dick.

[RestoreGore]

5. I only turned his show on once while surfing...

And turned him right back off.

[orwell]

4. Couldn't agree more...

...Hitler comparisons are frequently the first indicator of a lost argument.

[gipper66]

6. global warming denial

If the U.S. continues to delay reductions in CO2 we will all be fried and crispy just as if we had come out of the "ovens" of Auchwitz.

[dave_p]

7. Pots & kettles

This wouldn't be the same ADL whose Director penned this piece 15 months ago, would it?

"extremist parties like Hamas always know that they can't win a majority in a democratic election solely on an extremist platform. Like the Nazis in 1932, they broaden their campaign to appeal to public discontent on social and economic issues; once in power, they are in a position to implement their bloodthirsty programs."

I'm sure that must have been an entirely unrelated ADL. What a relief.

[regnaD kciN]

8. Yes, and...

...since the supposed goal of the ADL is to fight against religious discrimination and prejudice whereever it occurs (i.e. not just against Jews), I'm wondering what their position has been concerning Beck's attacks on Muslims as all being murderous enemies of Americans...to the extent of suggesting that a Muslim Congressman was in league with our nation's enemies because of his religion. Strange that we never heard anything against Beck's rantings back then, isn't it?

:shrug:

[RestoreGore]

10. I agree with you there n/t

[Raksha]

11. I can't speak for Foxman or the ADL ,

but I truly HATE all the anti-Muslim rhetoric I'm hearing from right-wingers lately. To me it sounds EXACTLY like the kind of hate speech the Nazis used to whip up hatred against the Jews. I can't believe the ADL hasn't noticed, but I haven't been on their website lately so I don't know what they're saying (if anything).

So Glenn Beck is the latest incarnation of Fr. Coughlin? I've never watched his show, so the only time I know what he says is when one of his outrages gets posted on DU.

[Tom Joad]

22. The ADL promotes people like Daniel Pipes, who uses that language

Daniel Pipes was an advisor to Bush. (he once promoted the idea of sending military aid to Saddam)
He is really big on anti-Muslim rhetoric, and the "inferiority" of Muslims and Arabs. Didn't stop the adl from promoting Pipes though.
http://www.tomjoad.org/pipes.htm

So yeah, they have noticed. and used it to promote their political agenda.
A real tragedy for an organization that has done so much good.

[Lurking Dem]

15. I don't remember if they said anything

about Beck at the time but they did issue a public lambasting of Prager. They have also called for investigations into suspicious mosque fires and called them hate crimes.

[Behind the Aegis]

24. Read...

Our Mission
"The immediate object of the League is to stop, by appeals to reason and conscience and, if necessary, by appeals to law, the defamation of the Jewish people. Its ultimate purpose is to secure justice and fair treatment to all citizens alike and to put an end forever to unjust and unfair discrimination against and ridicule of any sect or body of citizens."
ADL Charter
October 1913

http://www.adl.org/main_about_adl.asp

Perhaps, you should read the number of actions the ADL has taken on a VARIETY of issues. Ya think?! :shrug:

[Raksha]

9. Nazi and Hitler analogies are not invalid

if there is some basis for comparison. I compare Bush and the neocons with the Nazis quite frequently, and so does my e-mail friend who grew up in Germany during the Nazi period. He's faster to spot them than anyone I know. But there has to be some valid basis for comparison. I can understand why Fox said what he did about Hamas, because I've read the Hamas manifesto and it's extremely anti-Semitic.

But carbon credits??? Even if the U.N. had a goal of imposing worldwide carbon credits (which it doesn't) there is still no basis for comparison.

[Jim Sagle]

21. Hamas IS like the Nazis. Get a fuckin' clue.

[Poiuyt]

12. What angers me is that CNN will put all of its marketing power behind Beck

CNN is exacerbating the ignorance of people regarding climate change by promoting fringe elements in the debate.

[RestoreGore]

19. You're right and they need to be told that

By millions of us who are sick and tired of the media's lack of responsibility for what they show.

[wicket]

13. Beck is a such a vile being

:grr: :grr: :grr:

[Adenoid_Hynkel]

14. He gets rewarded with his own glovbal warming special for these remarks

Liberal media, my ass!

---
CNN's Glenn Beck to host hour-long global warming smear-fest


Summary: A CNN press release declared that Glenn Beck's upcoming "special report" will "deflate what Beck perceives as the media hype surrounding global warming" and "question[] the accuracy of Al Gore's claims in the Oscar-winning documentary An Inconvenient Truth." Beck has repeatedly advanced falsehoods related to global climate change, cited debunked scientists to support his doubts that "we're causing" global warming, and regularly attacked Gore.

During the May 2 edition of his CNN Headline News show, Glenn Beck will air an hour-long "special report" titled "Exposed: Climate of Fear" that, according to an April 30 CNN press release, will "deflate what Beck perceives as the media hype surrounding global warming" and "question[] the accuracy of Al Gore's claims in the Oscar-winning documentary An Inconvenient Truth of 20-foot sea level rises and the disastrous effects of increased carbon dioxide levels." As Media Matters for America has noted, Beck has repeatedly advanced falsehoods related to global climate change, cited debunked scientists to support his doubts that "we're causing" global warming and developed a pattern of attacking Gore.

Most recently, on the April 30 edition of nationally syndicated radio show, Beck falsely claimed that "even the U.N. says" Gore is wrong in suggesting sea levels could rise by 20 feet. He went on to liken Gore's climate change awareness campaign to the tactics Hitler used in "rounding up the Jews and exterminating them."

Climate change is a frequent topic on Beck's CNN Headline News show, but a Media Matters search* has found that since the show's inception, Beck has apparently hosted guests who appear to accept the consensus among the scientific community relating to global warming on just two occasions -- compared with at least 17 appearances by guests who have challenged to various degrees the scientific consensus on global warming.

MORE:
http://mediamatters.org/items/200705020001?f=h_top

[spanone]

16. Where do Americans go for honest news?? Lose the media, lose the war.

we may have lost.

[RestoreGore]

18. I could only stomach twenty minutes of this trash

It was nothing more than a partisan political hit piece with no scientific back up at all. He is nothing but a mouthpiece for the gold bars club.

[depakid]

17. The ever expanding reach of Godwin's law

Godwin's Law (also known as Godwin's Rule of Nazi Analogies) is a mainstay of Internet culture, an adage formulated by Mike Godwin in 1990. The law states:

As an online discussion grows longer, the probability of a comparison involving Nazis or Hitler approaches one.

Godwin's Law does not dispute whether any particular reference or comparison to Hitler or the Nazis might be apt. It is precisely because such a comparison or reference may sometimes be appropriate, Godwin has argued, that overuse of the Nazi/Hitler comparison should be avoided, as it robs the valid comparisons of their impact.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Godwin's_Law

[RestoreGore]

20. Link to write to CNN about this trash

http://www.cnn.com/CNN/Programs/glenn.beck/

[The Count]

23. Wow! For once ADL looks at a real outrage! I am shocked! (and pleased)

They tend to react to only liberal "slights"
I didn't know beck compared Gore to Hitler - that's rich!

[Behind the Aegis]

25. Really?

"For once ADL looks at a real outrage!"

"They tend to react to only liberal "slights""

Such liberal slights like...

Letters to the Editor
Newsday
Long Island, New York April 13, 2007


To the Editor:

It is a sad commentary on our society that it took the courageous women of Rutgers University basketball to expose the racism, anti-Semitism and bigotry that Don Imus and his radio sidekicks have been getting away with on his program for years.

The networks essentially gave Imus and his cohorts free reign to make not-so-subtle remarks about Jews, blacks, homosexuals, women and others.

His downfall should serve as a lesson and a warning to shock jocks and their corporate underwriters that there may be limits to, and potential consequences for, engaging in hurtful racial and ethnic stereotypes.


Sincerely,

Abraham H. Foxman
National Director
http://www.adl.org/media_watch/newspapers/20070418-Newsday.htm

Maybe this liberal slight?

Letters to the Editor
South Bend Tribune
South Bend, Indiana

March 12, 2007


To the Editor:

I am writing in response to Nancy J. Sulok's commentary, "Some say KKK is growing, others say it's shrinking" (Tribune, Feb. 18).

The Anti-Defamation League used several factors to judge the growth of Klan activity nationally in 2006, including the frequency and size of rallies and demonstrations; new recruitment efforts; the scope of literature distributions and other propaganda campaigns; the formation of new Klan groups and the expansion of existing ones; and the Klan's presence in parts of the country that had not seen much KKK activity in recent years.

The Ku Klux Klan's resurgence can be attributed, in large part, to its anti-immigrant message. Unfortunately, that message seems to have a more receptive audience in today's climate.


Sincerely,

Lonnie Nasatir
Director, Midwest Region

http://www.adl.org/media_watch/newspapers/20070317-SouthBendTribune.htm

Or, I know...it was this liberal slight!

Letters to the Editor
New York Jewish Week January 5, 2007


To the Editor:

In an attempt to fend off the barrage of bad press and criticism of his indefensible remarks on the swearing in of the first Muslim American elected to Congress, Dennis Prager asserts that America is suffering from a moral decline due to a "disappearing" emphasis on the Bible and "Judeo-Christian values" ("Worried About the Bible's Place in U.S.", Jan. 5).

One may agree or disagree with those sentiments. Yet it is still outrageous for anyone to suggest that one elected representative's decision to be sworn in on the religious text of his own tradition – in this case, the Koran – could somehow do damage to the moral fabric of America, or undermine the Bible's importance as a sacred religious document.

Jews, Muslims and other religious minorities have thrived in America not because of the primacy of any one religious faith or book, but because America's Founding Fathers had the prescience to make the separation of church and state a bedrock principle. It is the Constitution – not the Bible, the Ten Commandments or any other religious text – that provides the foundation for true religious pluralism in America.

A most fitting response to Mr. Prager's ugly and intolerant words came last week with Rep. Keith Ellison's being sworn in as a member of the 110th Congress using a Koran once owned by Thomas Jefferson.


Sincerely,

Glen S. Lewy
National Chairman

http://www.adl.org/media_watch/newspapers/20070105-JewishWeek.htm