I hate Glenn Beck again. (Short Rant)

[Perd Hapley]

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.

I see what you mean. It's a good thing you and I have been perfect our entire lives, so we can have valid opinions. 

I did find this interesting bit about Beck supporting marijuana legalization, though.

http://stopthedrugwar.org/speakeasy/2009/mar/11/are_republicans_turning_against


I don't think it does much good to be treat traditional conservatives as the enemy on matters like this. If you find yourself having a disagreement with someone like Beck, it's much more helpful to explain why drug legalization is the small-government, pro-liberty position. You know, finding common ground and all that. Looks like Beck might be starting to come around on the drug war issue. I've come around myself. Just don't alienate the conservatives; you need us.

[Jamisjockey]

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. 

No no no. Beck said George Soros is evil, so you must overlook all that.

[TommyGunn]

   What is the point in quoting a entry in a thread and making no comment about it?  Inquiring minds want to know ......

EDIT:  OK I see what you did, you put your response inside the /quote mark.  Confusing.

[Strings]

and he did it on purpose, just to confuse you

[Perd Hapley]

Stop it

you bunch

of weirdos.

[TommyGunn]

[longeyes]

Beck--and he's not alone--believes that the answer is a moral and spiritual re-awakening in America; that you cannot build a strong nation on pharmaceutical escapism of the magnitude we now tolerate.  This is not about a neo-Cromwellian return to Prohibtion but about recognizing the limits of escapism, in all forms, in our social existence.

[MicroBalrog]

Beck--and he's not alone--believes that the answer is a moral and spiritual re-awakening in America; that you cannot build a strong nation on pharmaceutical escapism of the magnitude we now tolerate.  This is not about a neo-Cromwellian return to Prohibtion but about recognizing the limits of escapism, in all forms, in our social existence.

And yet America exists, and it is strong. The warnings of the near-term American collapse are not based in fact.

[longeyes]

So you keep telling me.  I think America is a mixed bag right now, and it could go either way.  That so many voted for Obama isn't what I'd call a good sign, would you?  Obama, though, isn't the problem, it's the people in high places who orchestrate what people are permitted to know and think.  I'm hoping America's innate ornery streak prevails, but loo, for example, what is going on with the imminent crackdown on the internet.

[MicroBalrog]

So you keep telling me.  I think America is a mixed bag right now, and it could go either way.  That so many voted for Obama isn't what I'd call a good sign, would you?  Obama, though, isn't the problem, it's the people in high places who orchestrate what people are permitted to know and think.  I'm hoping America's innate ornery streak prevails, but loo, for example, what is going on with the imminent crackdown on the internet.

Tell me more about this imminent crackdown on the internet. In what form do you think it is going to occur, and when?

[longeyes]

Start here:

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2011/12/internet-inventors-warn-against-sopa-and-pipa

[brimic]

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.

Yes.
Its my understanding that he has ADD or ADHD and it really shows in his work. That type of personality grates on me.
I've tried reading a few pages of one of his books in the local walmart, but even that gives me a headache within a few seconds. He does have a lot of guts for the positions he takes, but his delivery sounds like some sort of obnoxious Dr.Suess contraption.

[longeyes]

His tv show was disciplined; his radio show is not.  The jokey triadic format doesn't play well.  Acknowledged.

I don't know what Beck's earlier life--he's an admitted recovering alcoholic--has to do with the viability of his ideas.  

[41magsnub]

His tv show was disciplined; his radio show is not.  The jokey triadic format doesn't play well.  Acknowledged.

I don't what Beck's earlier life--he's an admitted recovering alcoholic--has to do with the viability of his ideas. 

For me, it is because I do not believe he is even remotely sincere about his professed beliefs and the holier than thou attitude on top of it makes it worse.  I think he is just pandering to a market niche.

[longeyes]

What market niche would that be?  Are you saying that the picture he paints of creeping Progressivism is off the mark or that the people he zeroes in on as critical movers and shakers in that movement are not?

Thing is, I don't remember anyone on TV, EVER, delving into this previously verboten area, do you?

[41magsnub]

My point, that you skipped right over, is that he is a fraud.  He is a radio personality hitting for reactions under a veneer of being some sort of conservative prophet, not somebody who should be taken seriously.  It is a sad state of affairs that some folks do take him seriously.

[longeyes]

You're entitled to your opinion, but I don't have to take it seriously.  And I don't.  He is a fraud because...?  What that he has said is wrong and how is it wrong? 

[41magsnub]

You're entitled to your opinion, but I don't have to take it seriously.  And I don't.  He is a fraud because...?  What that he has said is wrong and how is it wrong?  

Good for you.  Believe me, your comical predictions make the feeling mutual.  My point, that you keep glossing over trying to earn internet debate points, is that in listening to him I do not believe he is sincere in his beliefs.  It is an opinion, not something I can go and gin up a citation or something for.  You can take it or leave it, but it is what it is.

[longeyes]

Yes, it's an "opinion," and as such deserves fair scrutiny.  Well, I've scrutinized it and found it baseless.  Neither of us know whether the man is "sincere," but we can certainly evaluate his views on America's political predicament, its outline and its sources.

As for my "comical predictions," most of what I've believed would happen over the last several years has, and this isn't because I'm a seer but because it's pretty obvious to anyone paying real attention to the big picture.  Perhaps you are specifically referring to my allegedly "apocalyptic" remarks about the possibility of secession and civil war in our future.  Yeah, I've made mention of that grim scenario for a while now, and I see nothing to change my mind.  I'm not a pessimist by nature, just, alas, a realist.  Beck has, charlatan that you believe he is, laid out the lineaments of that big picture, and it's sad that you don't appreciate his unique use of the medium for a couple of years in the best interest of his nation.

[41magsnub]

Again, good for you.  We can just go on not taking each other seriously then.

[longeyes]

The point is...you still haven't revealed where you think the man is wrong.  I understand you believe he's a mountebank.

[41magsnub]

Please find the word wrong in my posts.  Is reading comprehension a problem for you?

Edit:  Actually, what you are doing is trying to put words in my mouth to turn the argument.  I won't debate with a person dishonest enough to do that.  Feel free to post long diatribe of an indignant reply.

[longeyes]

Now it's not Beck who's dishonest but I am too by wondering why you think the man is insincere and misleading us.

No, I'm not trying to put words into your mouth, I want you to put words into your mouth and simply tell me where he has gone wrong.  I'm beginning to suspicion you can't, but surprise me.  Can it be that he's both a fraud and correct at the same time? 

[41magsnub]

Why is this hard for you?  What I keep saying is that he is a performer, he says what he thinks folks on the right want to hear incorrect or not.

I do disagree with what he says frequently in the rare occasion I listen to the radio show anymore, especially when he goes off on a religious rant where it is so over the top he can't possibly believe what he is spouting.  I find him to be overly self promoting to the point of ridiculousness and his radio show is mostly spent on Glenn Beck talking about Glenn Beck with his sycophants helping.  Admittedly, I have never watched his TV show or so much as browsed to his new web network deal nor do I have any desire to.  Based on what I have heard, I believe the only thing Glenn Beck believes in is the promotion of and bank account of Glenn Beck.

If he would dial down the arrogance and self promotion/vague "I told you so's", then focus more on actual content and actually let a guest on the show finish a sentence, I might be more charitable.

[TommyGunn]

My point, that you skipped right over, is that he is a fraud.  He is a radio personality hitting for reactions under a veneer of being some sort of conservative prophet, not somebody who should be taken seriously.  It is a sad state of affairs that some folks do take him seriously.

I don't think Beck is a fraud, but I do question his bonafides when he lumps Teddy Roosevelt "progressivism" in with the modern type of progressivism and anything (basically) after the 1920s era or thereabouts.
I agree with him that we're in some deep kimshee in so far as economics and politics are concerned  I just think he needs to get some better info about history before he concocts his Alex Jonesian.... er, Beckian theories.....