I hate Glenn Beck again. (Short Rant)

[Perd Hapley]

Well OK, I don't hate him, because I try not to hate human beings. But I used to really despise him for being a half-wit, who happened to be on the smart side of politics. Then I decided that the country is in too bad a mess to fight so much amongst ourselves, and he was on the right side of things at least, and I even began to respect him for taking seriously how bad things are getting and might get. And even if the history lessons he tries to teach on "Progressives" like Wilson and Roosevelt are probably not exactly scholarly, at least he's getting conservatives to look farther back than the 1960s for the source of our nation's woes. This is important.

Well, now I can't stand him again. Have you heard this gag on his radio show, where he mocks historical writing about George Washington for being too boring, and pushes for some silly historical novel approach? "This is how you SHOULD learn about George Washington."    I'm sorry, Glenn. Sorry that fighting a revolution and founding a country was about more than action scenes and lofty rhetoric. I'm sorry there were prosaic details involved, and that exciting interchanges between Washington and Hamilton are only speculative recreations and not actual history. We'll do better the next time we found the country. We'll record the video for you.

I'm sorry for being such a nerd about this. It's my fault, of course.

[longeyes]

History is just one more profit center, my friend, whether it's manipulated for propaganda effect by academic progressives or turned into a B-movie by a talk radio host.  The culture has been dumbed-down and contused for a long, long time.

[AZRedhawk44]

I don't know the exact book you're talking about, but I assume it's Beck's Being George Washington?  Haven't read it and have no opinion on that particular book.


But, I've read David Hackett-Fischer's pair of books on the Revolutionary War... Paul Revere's Ride and Washington's Crossing.  They are both well referenced and written in a very scholarly fashion... but they do a service to the time period by portraying the events with just a hint of cause-effect, chronology and storyline.  Not novelized by any stretch... but infinitely better than dry history books.  

If Beck's book mimics the style of Hackett-Fischer, then I imagine it's pretty good.  If, however, it attempts a first-person narrative of Washington, then it's a bit presumptive to be called "history" and should properly be classified as historical fiction, bordering on fantasy.

[Jamie B]

Glenn Beck is a twit and a hypocrite.

Anything that he does or says is based solely on hawking some bullshit that puts money in his pocket.

*expletive deleted*ck him, and his TEOTWAWKI / Doomsday crying.

[gunsmith]

I have not been able to keep up with what Glenn Beck is up to, I'm not going to pay 5 bucks a month for a tv show.

I was glad to hear though that he is raking in probably ten times the money he used to make on Fox. That was a smart move.

I used to listen to his radio show before he ever got big, he was hilarious & I enjoyed his fox news show immensely and miss it.

I heard he called Newt a progressive.

I'll have to take fistfuls  word on his book, I might read it next yr if it available in the library. The only books I read are free or under 3 bucks.

[BobR]

I have tried to listen to his show on satellite radio more times than I can count and I just can't make it more than a few minutes each time. Don't ask me why, just something about him that just makes me want to shut him off.

bob

[Perd Hapley]

I don't know the exact book you're talking about, but I assume it's Beck's Being George Washington?

I don't either. He just reads this stuff on the radio. I don't have a problem with his book, or historical novels, just so long as they don't take the place of actual history.

I heard he called Newt Gingrich a progressive.

Oh yes.

[Tallpine]

We'll do better the next time we found the country.

Yeah, maybe next time we can include a bill of rights to protect liberty. 

[longeyes]

Glenn Beck is a twit and a hypocrite.

Anything that he does or says is based solely on hawking some bull*expletive deleted* that puts money in his pocket.

*expletive deleted* him, and his TEOTWAWKI / Doomsday crying.

If he's making money connecting dots that should be connected more power to him.

He's named names and overturned rocks.  Who else in big electronic media has?

[Jamie B]

If he's making money connecting dots that should be connected more power to him.

He's named names and overturned rocks.  Who else in big electronic media has?

Even a blind pig occasionally finds an acorn.

[slingshot]

I used to watch his show on Fox if I was home.  I liked him overall.  Now I mostly miss his radio show and I don't pay for GBTV, so I'm pretty much Beck-less.  Of late I think he has said some fairly stupid things.  For example, I think he is way too harsh toward Newt Gingrich.  He says he's a progressive which is another name for a liberal.  Newt is not a liberal, so I dismiss much of what Beck says about him. That is not to say that Newt has always acted as a pure conservative either. 

[Waitone]

I've always looked at Beck through yellow lenses.  He lost me when he asserted a progressive is a progressive is a progressive and then claimed racism accounts for supporting one progressive as opposed to another progressive.  Simplistic to an extreme.  I was put on alert when he pulled his hit on Debra Media.  Now I consider him to be a well-paid, entertaining idiot.

[Zardozimo Oprah Bannedalas]

I used to watch his show on Fox if I was home.  I liked him overall.  Now I mostly miss his radio show and I don't pay for GBTV, so I'm pretty much Beck-less.  Of late I think he has said some fairly stupid things.  For example, I think he is way too harsh toward Newt Gingrich.  He says he's a progressive which is another name for a liberal.  Newt is not a liberal, so I dismiss much of what Beck says about him. That is not to say that Newt has always acted as a pure conservative either. 

Newt is much touted as a historian. He speaks of his admiration for FDR and Teddy R, both progressives, both big-government guys. Beck's big thing is history - so when somebody professing to be a historian says how awesome those two were, he gets ticked off and says so.
This last debate really seemed to showcase Newt's big-gov't positions.

Interesting note, don't know if Beck has picked up on it - Newt made a speech when he entered this race, and mentioned "bringing American back to full employment." Full employment is pure Keynesian Economics. That was one of its main selling points - the idea that, with the proper spending of money by the gov't on programs and investments, there could be zero unemployment.

[MicroBalrog]

Newt is much touted as a historian. He speaks of his admiration for FDR and Teddy R, both progressives, both big-government guys. B

This shouldn't be a surprise. Newt is a self-identified Rockefeller Republican, they're known fans of Presidential power.

[Jamisjockey]

Newt is much touted as a historian. He speaks of his admiration for FDR and Teddy R, both progressives, both big-government guys. Beck's big thing is history - so when somebody professing to be a historian says how awesome those two were, he gets ticked off and says so.
This last debate really seemed to showcase Newt's big-gov't positions.

Interesting note, don't know if Beck has picked up on it - Newt made a speech when he entered this race, and mentioned "bringing American back to full employment." Full employment is pure Keynesian Economics. That was one of its main selling points - the idea that, with the proper spending of money by the gov't on programs and investments, there could be zero unemployment.

This.  Beck can hit the nail on the head pretty well when he's not crying. 

[longeyes]

What Beck has done is to provide a sound and light show to showcase the mouldering edifice of Progressivism--how it began, who's been involved, who its current operatives are, how it's laying the groundwork for power--and for this I can forgive him his evangelical excesses and, to me, his naivete' about what it will ultimately take to fully confront the problem.

[Perd Hapley]

What Beck has done is to provide a sound and light show to showcase the mouldering edifice of Progressivism--how it began, who's been involved, who its current operatives are, how it's laying the groundwork for power--and for this I can forgive him his evangelical excesses and, to me, his naivete' about what it will ultimately take to fully confront the problem.

But can you forgive him for the string of dopey theme songs he's committed over the years?

[longeyes]

Prophets come in all manner of disguises.  Even if they are riding on a calliope we should listen.

[Jamisjockey]

Prophets come in all manner of disguises.  Even if they are riding on a calliope we should listen.

You misspelled "profit".

[Lee]

Beck = another doped up DJ who preaches to everyone else about how grand the conservative lifestyle is.  OK... so formerly doped up, he claims.  
"Don't do as I did -do as I proclaim it should be, and crush the people who are like the person I used to be. After all, I'm rich now and people love to hear me babble about stuff."
 I'm OK with that, a former anything might have learned a lot from a previous lifestyle or belief system.  I'm a former Beck and Limbaugh fan...so I completely understand.  

[Jamie B]

You misspelled "profit".

OOoooh - that is a solid thread win!

[Perd Hapley]

Beck = another doped up DJ who preaches to everyone else about how grand the conservative lifestyle is.  OK... so formerly doped up, he claims.  
"Don't do as I did -do as I proclaim it should be, and crush the people who are like the person I used to be. After all, I'm rich now and people love to hear me babble about stuff."
 I'm OK with that, a former anything might have learned a lot from a previous lifestyle or belief system.  I'm a former Beck and Limbaugh fan...so I completely understand.  

Wait, you have a problem with Beck being a former alcoholic, and you think he wants to crush alcoholics? 

[gunsmith]

Beck = another doped up DJ who preaches to everyone else about how grand the conservative lifestyle is.  OK... so formerly doped up, he claims.  
"Don't do as I did -do as I proclaim it should be, and crush the people who are like the person I used to be.  

?? what people is he proposing be crushed?? I'm not sure where he stands on legalization but many people oppose it.

I've been clean & sober roughly the same amount of time as Beck, I feel as if I'm a Conservative but I am strongly in favor of legalizing all drugs.

Anyway, I used to listen to him all the time I can't recall anytime he said anything like crush/kill/destroy any drug users

[seeker_two]

And just when we got rid of Perry....

http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/cutline/glenn-beck-eyes-texas-megachurch-home-gbtv-website-184615311.html


 

[Lee]

What I have a problem with is, he is a guy who spent 30 years being as high as a kite...he get's a gig as a radio host, and now claims to hold the conservative wisdom to save the country from the evil liberal forces that seek to destroy it.  By "crush" I am referring to the belief by nearly every conservative pundit and politician that drug addiction programs and metal health programs in general do not deserve much funding, and that drug/alcohol problems exist mainly on the other side of the political fence.  And, that we're better off spending billions on drug enforcement and prison than on education and treatment. 
Thomas Jefferson would roll over in his grave if he knew that possession of hemp meant that the government could throw you in jail and take possession of all that you own...and that we'd be willing to pay billions in tax dollars to do that.  But then, Beck is a patriot genius, while Jefferson is long dead, organic farming trouble maker.