Has anyone heard of Glenn Beck?

[rh67]

Because he's now my favourite moron of the week, probably this year and possibly of all time as well, and bless him, (actually, I mean **** him and I hope someone runs him over and then stops and backs up over him just to be sure) he has has appeared out of nowhere and become some kind of monument for the conservative movement in the US. He has his own show of Fox News and just recently set up his own website.

Now he wants government to back the **** off, and has, found the perfect way of moving our country forward, together, by looking back at the past. He set up a website called, and I **** you not, the 9/12 project. Now what on earth does that mean, well just you wait for this head****. According to Glenn Beck the government didn't tell the American people how to act, what to do or how to feel the day after the WTC collapsed on 9/11, they just knew. Therefore we have irrefutable proof that the federal government is just a bloated waste of money, rife with corruption and conspiracies, oh and they want to murder babies as well, don't forget that one.

But to solve this, the solution is the American public should live every day as if just need to act, think and feel every day as if it was the day after 9/11... I mean **** me.

You can find his pretty little website for it: www.the912project.com

I got as far at the mission statement before I completely lost my ****. It states that the founding fathers espoused 28 powerful principles, I know what you're thinking because Glenn Beck thinks so to, who has time to read 28 principles I mean that seems like an awful lot, do we need that many?

Well thankfully Glenn has distilled them down to a helpful and easily digestible 9 simple principles (I mean what were you thinking Thomas Jefferson with your declaractions of independecies you aloof, verbose, liberal commie socialist *******), which surely must now form the essence of this mans philosophies once you take all the complicated and unnecessary jargon away.

Well, in a word, no. His mission statement goes on to state "If you believe in at least seven of them, then we have something in common". I mean, I'll restate this because I believe it needs dwelling on for just a second or two. After all that distillation there are clearly still 2 principles that Glenn Beck himself can take or leave at the end of the day.

I think I'm just going to sit in the corner and cry now...

[Jonnyrepp]

Originally Posted by rh67

I think I'm just going to sit in the corner and cry now...

Good idea

[Kryten]

Originally Posted by rh67

He has his own show of Fox News

That is all you needed to know really!

[R-T-C]

WTF? Any post with that many bleeped expletives doesn't warrant reading in my experience.

[DeadYankee]

Thankfully this isn't America so I don't really care what they get up to on their own turf

[DanWilde1966]

Glenn Beck is my favourite right-wing loonie on Fox News. He is car-crash TV - an alcoholic who turned conservative evangelist (alarm bells already). He rants to the camera, addresses "America" and occasionally becomes so passionate that he sheds a tear. "The election is over," you want to shout at the screen. "Get over it!" But he can't. He makes Sean Hannity look reasonable.

[AdminSpod]

Nope, never heard of him before. Looks like I wasn't losing out.

[rh67]

Originally Posted by R-T-C

WTF? Any post with that many bleeped expletives doesn't warrant reading in my experience.

I'll just abbreviate them in future like your good self.

Whilst I agree that all the ****'s aren't necessary he just got me angry and at what point did we just decide to ignore them?

Oh he's on Fox News, it doesn't matter... This man has a (inter)national platform and the longer anyone with a modicum of common sense sits there dismissing them like that the more people they are allowed to infect with this kind of talk.

[cervaro]

Fox News should be sharing the airwaves with the Comedy Channel at times give the number of comedic programmes they broadcast dressed up as news! Still, I enjoy watching it for entertainment value periodically

[daveyb]

I have watched clips of Glenn Beck, on tinternet, probably like many.

I guess the concern is that there a lot of people in both the US and UK who are feeling disenfranchised with the current political establishment. This always happens during recessions.

People will gravitate to those who spell out simple messages and soundbite solutions.

[CS]

My head hurts...

[DanWilde1966]

Originally Posted by daveyb

I guess the concern is that there a lot of people in both the US and UK who are feeling disenfranchised with the current political establishment. This always happens during recessions.

Well.... Did people on Fox bleat about disenfranchisement under Bush? Did the millions who congregated for the inauguration of Obama feel that they hadn't had a say? I think that "disenfranchisement" describes the sentiment of certain pockets of the US rather than others. I would doubt that it characterises mainstream thinking over there.

[daveyb]

It might not characterise mainstream thinking at the moment Dan I agree. But things can change and a lot of U.S people will be in for a hard time. Time will tell of course.

[rh67]

Originally Posted by daveyb

I have watched clips of Glenn Beck, on tinternet, probably like many.

I guess the concern is that there a lot of people in both the US and UK who are feeling disenfranchised with the current political establishment. This always happens during recessions.

True but the current populist disenfranchisement is directed sqaurely at the feet of the staff and execs in AIG recieving $165 million in bonuses yet Glenn Beck makes the case for those people to keep their bonuses on his show. His two arguments for that were; the government has already thrown billions at AIG, of which many billions have been sent funnelled overseas (funny what with them being a multinational corperation) so whats a another $165 million. Why worry about 16.5p when you've spent £165 I believe was what he said.

The second, is that these people have contracts that the federal government cannot overturn. In america we honour our contracts we don't allow Washington to stick their noses in and meddle in matters between workers and their employees.

So he is currently swimming against the populist tide yet still has a massive core conservative audience.

I found the clip on the YT:

[rh67]

Originally Posted by DanWilde1966

Well.... Did people on Fox bleat about disenfranchisement under Bush? Did the millions who congregated for the inauguration of Obama feel that they hadn't had a say? I think that "disenfranchisement" describes the sentiment of certain pockets of the US rather than others. I would doubt that it characterises mainstream thinking over there.

When they argue about the current failures of government to deal with the fincial crisis the only names the mention are Senators Chris Dodd and Barney Frank, Treasury Sec Tim Geitner and Barack Obama. The latter two have only been in office for about 6 weeks.

No mention of any Republican names and while there might be a case to make that the current tactic of bailing out these financial institutions, whilst not nationalising or taking any kind of stake that gives the governement any oversight may not be the best long term solution, to ignore not just the last 8 years but the fact that the bailout started under Bush really stifles all proper debate.

But then again, thats Fox News, they'll turn revisionist faster than Jesus can turn the other cheek. Whereas the level of absurdity for what Glenn Beck is doing on Fox News shocked even me. He's amped it way, way up.

[daveyb]

It's interesting watching the clips from the UK.

Is the common view in America that things will get really bad? - regardless of who is to blame etc.

(Btw. I counterbalance my Glenn Beck quota with healthy doses of Jon Stewart )

[DanWilde1966]

Originally Posted by daveyb

It's interesting watching the clips from the UK.

You don't have to put up with just clips. You can catch his whole show, live, over on the FNC at 9pm tonight. It's really absurd, as rh67 rightly points out.

As a contrast to this place, check out Sean Hannity's forum on his website. Now that is a really scary place. There simply is no way to get through to those people.

[ozric99]

Originally Posted by rh67

Because he's now my favourite mormon of the week, probably this year and possibly of all time as well

Fixed that for you

He had a radio show I would occasionally listen to on the drive to work - it was awful but strangely compelling. I caught some of his breakdown the other night. Stunning. Here are a few videos of him fake-crying on his FOX TV show.

http://www.poetv.com/video.php?vid=55427
http://www.poetv.com/video.php?vid=55580


Sheppard Smith's awesome take on the whole Glenn Beck thing:

[Masanevre]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=if3wVXSMw4M
bit of a fruit cake

[BigH]

I really wish Virgin Media would start carrying Fox News