Thursday, July 31, 2008

Beck’s Dreck Taints “The Most Trusted Name In News”

I guess CNN believes that they must cater to some truly demented audience demographic out there and give page space to Glenn Beck, though why any adult with a double-digit IQ would bother to take Beck seriously is a never-ending mystery to me.

My instincts got the better of me, though, and I actually read some of his opining today along the lines of “gee, I just don’t know who I’m going to vote for in this election, because no candidate is ‘conservative’ enough for me…I only know that BARACK OBAMA IS A DIRTY LIBERAL (whisper, whisper, threatening, uppity Negro, wants to $#@! your white sister, whisper, whisper, really a SCARY MUSLIM!!, whisper, whisper), and I’ll NEVER vote for him and neither should you” (whisper, whisper, SCARY, ELITIST MUSLIM!!, whisper, whisper).

Well anyway, Beck ticks off the list of candidates and rambles about them, but as I looked over his drivel (and did a search just to make sure I was right), I noticed that Beck omitted a highly notable name.

And that would be Alan Keyes (gee, you’d think Beck would at least do a bare minimum of research before he decided to “gather his source material” by apparently gazing at his navel for an extended period of time).

As you can read here, Keyes has a pedigree that would be attractive to Beck. Under The Sainted Ronnie R, Keyes served as deputy chairman of the delegation to the 1984 World Population Conference in Mexico City, and in that capacity, he negotiated the language of the Mexico City Policy to withhold federal funds from international organizations that support abortion. And when he ran for the U.S. Senate for the state of Maryland, he took a $8,463/month salary from his campaign fund.

Even better is the notion of a “revenge factor” in supporting Keyes, since he was defeated in his run for an Illinois U.S. Senate seat (the Washington Post called Keyes a “carpetbagger” since he’d never lived in Illinois) by none other than (you guessed it) Barack Obama.

Now it’s true that Keyes isn’t really officially sanctioned by a political party at this point, but he apparently is trying to drum up support in California (kind of an odd strategy for someone who was once an avowed conservative), but I’m sure an endorsement by Beck would help that along. After all, a tortoise moves faster than a snail, doesn’t it?

And finally, I present as evidence this interview Beck conducted with conservative scholar (tongue firmly in cheek here) and writer Mark Steyn, who said conservatives should “get behind Alan Keyes or shoot ourselves.”

So please allow me to do here what Glenn Beck should have done, and that’s to help drum up support for Alan Keyes.

I believe this would have the effect of weeding out and neutralizing some of the mental misfits who give credence to Beck’s opinions by ensuring that they vote for Keyes, thus making it more likely that the most important election of our lifetimes will be decided by actual grownups voting for the most legitimate candidate instead.

Update 8/1/08: As a mea culpa of sorts, I should point out (as noted in the comments) that Beck doesn't have a recent history of spreading Obama smears about wanting to $#@! your white sister, or words to that effect (though, as Josh Marshall noted here, that narrative is clearly emerging from people who are kindred spirits to Beck).

However, Beck entertained Mann Coulter here and allowed her to refer to Obama as a "Manchurian candidate" without a word of protest, and Beck himself referred to Obama as "the antiChrist" here. Also, Beck referred to Obama as "colorless" here, which, while maybe not too offensive, was pretty dumb anyway, and Beck pulled a sneak attack against Dem Rep. Keith Ellison here, accusing him of being a "scary Muslim." So basically, anyone defending Beck barely has a leg to stand on.

Update 1 8/6/08: He's at it again - can a whole, fresh cycle of trolling comments be far behind?

Update 2 8/6/08: By the way, jarabefull left the following comment that I approved; don't know why it didn't show up...

"All I am really trying to get across is a point that Mitt Romney made. He said that bias is shallow thinking. Read widely, particularly from people who disagree with you. Argue to learn rather than to win. If you don't respect, I mean really respect, the views of people who disagree with you, then you don't understand them yet. There are smart people on both sides of almost every important issue. Learn from them all.

You can't do that when you just categorize people as clueless and bullies and unpatriotic. When you do, YOU are the one putting up a wall of misunderstanding that makes it hard to create any real progress.

Glenn Beck, Al Gore, Reverend Sharpton and even Ron Paul all have something we can learn from."
To which I replied...

"Hard for me to respect someone who threatened to kill a person he disagreed with, which apparently is fine with you, but otherwise your point is well taken."
That was being overly kind as far as I'm concerned (and quoting The Mittster??); as this point "uppity Negro who wants to $#@! your sister" is the only negative thing Beck HASN'T said about Obama.

16 comments:

Anonymous said...

"uppity Negro, wants to $#@! your white sister"

You really do find some of the best leftist belching on no-traffic blogs. Like this one.

Anonymous said...

Beck states, "John McCain somehow wins; the major problems we're likely going to face regardless of who is elected kick in; McCain gets blamed; and conservative ideals take the fall for McCain's decidedly nonconservative policies..."

Uh, newsflash Glenn Beck, you are already taking the fall due to your decidedly neoconservative ideals and policies.

Quit whining...you had your shot and the bad guys lost. Obama now has the excruciating task of fixing the last 8 years of your mess.

doomsy said...

You got it, Anon.

And as far as my "no traffic" blog goes, I'll tell you what I tell everyone else; I get a report every Monday morning from Sitemeter, and I know exactly how many page reads and views I get. And the only thing I'll say about the numbers is that I wouldn't bother to do this if they were actually going down.

Oh, and welcome to the beautiful borough of Yardley, PA. Now go away.

Jen D. said...

You are featured on CNN. That's how I found this blog.
That other poster seems as clueless as his buddy Beck.

Your listed under "from the blogs"
http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/07/30/beck.election/index.html

Anonymous said...

Wow! I have no idea how much crystal meth the "new to yardley" poster is on but it must be A LOT. What a freak!

This blog is featured on CNN. I found it under the cover story. http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/07/30/beck.election/index.html

Anonymous said...

Wow! I have no idea how much crystal meth the "new to yardley" poster is on but it must be A LOT. What a freak!

This blog is featured on CNN. I found it under the cover story. http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/07/30/beck.election/index.html

doomsy said...

Sweet Mother Of Abraham Lincoln! Must be a slow news day for them.

Thanks for letting me know.

Jen D. said...

Wow! I have no idea how much crystal meth the "new to yardley" poster is on but it must be A LOT. What a freak!

This blog is featured on CNN. I found it under the cover story. http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/07/30/beck.election/index.html

jarabefull said...

Because you don't agree with a guy you say he has a double digit IQ and put racist words in his mouth? Why are you so threatened by him? Why can't you treat everyone with respect and instead of calling names have a real discussion? It's people like you on both sides of the isle that make it near impossible to improve the state of affairs in our country.

doomsy said...

Sorry if my rhetoric towards Beck is unduly harsh, but that’s exactly what he deserves. He’s made a nice, comfortable living out of demonizing liberals and people who disagree with him, and offering no insight into any important issue we face in the process.

Oh, and did I mention that Beck once thought aloud on the air about killing Michael Moore and then asked, “Is that wrong?” Even when I strenuously disagree with Republicans and conservatives, as I often do, I don’t advocate violence against them.

http://mediamatters.org/items/200505180008

Jen D. said...

Surprising someone would cry "leave him alone" for poor old Glenn Beck...

Glenn Beck is almost as divisive of a commentator as Rush Limbaugh or Bill O’ Reilly (Lie-ly)and they all serve as a neo-conservative mouthpiece for an administration and a set of policies that hurt the majority of Americans and benefit the privileged few.

I find blowhards like Beck difficult to treat with respect because of their ignoranance and bravado.

How can you have a "real" discussion with someone who has no respect for the common man and who has continued to sell out our country at every turn.

Beck, Limbaugh and O'Reilly are not patriots, nor are they men who really care about this country.

Beck and the other Neo-clones like him have been the loudest cheerleaders for an administration which has laid waste to the economy and the middle class with their selfish neo-conservative greed.

Sorry if I love this country and I cannot sit by and make nice with the people who have tried to ruin it.

doomsy said...

Absolutely, Jen D. - well said.

And gee, New To Yardley, I can’t imagine why you’re so surprised that I rejected your comments on my “going nowhere” blog. Could it be because of your angry, dismissive tone generally towards this blog and those of the “New Left” (?) in general? Could it be because I offered you what I thought was a reasonably clear explanation to indicate that there are other means to measure site traffic than the number of comments, but you ignored it and continued your rants? Could it be that you insist on beating the same tired points to death?

Oh, and as long as you’re looking for “right-wing blogs” with “open comments for all,” I suggest that you go to phillyburbs.com and seek out J.D. Mullane’s blog. He engages in the typical propaganda that should be of interest to you, and he NEVER blocks comments…yep, that NEVER happens – not much.

jarabefull said...

Hahaha. Of course you don't post my other comments. Can't handle a rebuttal huh? Of course not. This is what I'm talking about real discussion. You and Jen d simply will not discuss with the other side because you categorize them all as "cheerleaders for [the] administration" who don't care about the country. Most people actually do care about the country. I'm sure you do and I know I do. And yet you categorize people and refuse to try to understand where they are coming from.

doomsy said...

Jarabefull, I disallowed your prior comment because it really p*ssed me off that I told you that Beck had threatened to kill Michael Moore on the air (legally actionable) and then wondered, “Is that wrong?,” but you had no reaction to that except to go off on how I say I advocate a dialogue on issues but (as far as you’re concerned) don’t (there may be hope for at least intelligent discussion with you, whereas New To Yardley is too far gone).

I updated the post today with a comment; you’re right that Beck’s piece doesn’t sneak in the very latest anti-Obama bile (and please don’t mention his comment about being different from presidents on the money, or whatever – it was probably wrong, but he didn’t start that nonsense, McCain and his people did), but I emphasized that that sort of demagoguery is part of Beck’s repertoire, and he uses it frequently and encourages like-minded fools who do also.

More than that, though, Beck communicates no serious information of any kind in that post (possibly his ridiculous remark about Obama, Hillary Clinton and Karl Marx, but not much else). Actually, I fault CNN more than anyone else for allowing him the space and also cutting him a paycheck for it.

I welcome an intelligent discussion with someone who professes to be a conservative, actually; never forget that, despite all of this, we all have more in common than that which divides us (for real). Unfortunately, I see no way that Glenn Beck can ever be part of such a discussion.

Jen D. said...

I am happy to discuss whatever...I do not balk at listening to conservatives. Most of my family is conservative.

My specific problem is with Glenn Beck.

He never offers facts or substantive insights.

Most of the time all you get are mean spirited rants and I personally think that he is a very confused yet oddly confident little man.

For example, in the article I was replying to, Beck worries that conservatives will be blamed for future political failures...come on...Bush has the worst approval rating ever. People obviously are already very upset.

Besides being clueless...He is the worst kind of talking head because he doesn't care about facts or other guidelines towards journalistic integrity.

Most importantly, his lack of compassion for his fellow man disturbs me.

He is so jovial and yet this eerie form of callous elitism radiates from his puffy little body.

I'm sorry. I’m just not ready to make nice with bullies. And I can’t help it. I guess it could be because I believe in fairness and equality or maybe because I am college educated and I try to actually understand and change the world around me.

Maybe it’s because I refuse to only care about my family and those who look just like me. I won’t stick my head in the sand and let some sycophant like Beck tell me what to think.

I won’t apologize for my lack of tolerance for someone so intolerant.

Besides, every time I hear Beck speak I am reminded that a village somewhere has lost its idiot…it’s just hard not to make fun of the guy.

doomsy said...

Hard for me to respect someone who threatened to kill a person he disagreed with, which apparently is fine with you, but otherwise your point is well taken.