O is for Obama, and by the way he’s black
L is for the leftists who will stab you in the back
I is internationalist, ‘cause foreigners are scary
G is politicians’ graft of which we should be wary
A the Acorn organizers meaning death camps for us all
R the revolutionaries who want me first against the wall
C is for the commies, who hide under my bed
H for hidden agendas; oh! The secrets in my head!
Y you ask? I’ll tell you straight; my answer fills the void
It’s very clear my friends, I am a hopeless paranoid!
What is he talking about?! Nothing I've ever heard Glen Beck say makes any sense whatsoever. So he's saying that liberals are wrong for thinking oil companies are bad, and the reason we're wrong is because Rockefeller was a secret communist? Or is he saying that when we poo-poo oil companies we're really dissing on our own people because Rockefeller was a communist, which means all oil companies are communist, and since all liberals are communists, we're hypocrites for hating oil companies? Whenever I see Glen Beck, I feel like I'm on drugs. #dailyshowglennbeck
@pepe-silvia: While communism is on the tail end of spectrum of liberalism, fascism is on the tail end of what? Conservatism. Yes, so while Glenn Beck can call us crazy commies, we can call his side crazy fascists. #dailyshowglennbeck
Did anyone else notice that Beck said "you've seen this if you or your wife watch the Today show." So he assumes that everyone who watches his show is a married heterosexual man? Sure, that makes sense demographically speaking, but I think it indicates that Beck doesn't think women watch or care about political analysis. (Although in his case, "analysis" is certainly relative). #dailyshowglennbeck
It's upsetting that no one here has watched a full episode of Glenn Beck. Watching clips online doesn't really frame his ideas correctly.
He's playing a character, trying to stress his ideas. Sure, he comes across as manic, passionate, and a bit crazy, so most liberals dismiss him. But he makes some good points. Some of his logic stretches the truth, but not all. Some are things that need to be said.
I love Jezebel, but I think most readers are too liberal, too passive, and too idealogical to respond accurately to Glenn Beck's arguements.
Perhaps it's my Russian boyfriend's fears that the US is turning into a country that he can't be proud of, but I really believe that we are all too cynical to listen to what people have to say. We just automatically dismiss anything that sounds a little off, and we never question what we are told by the media. (I also fall into this category.)
( BTW I'm not a conservative. I'm just someone who is always in the middle of all these arguements. My friends and family fall into both extremes. And I'm always torn between my love of Stewart/Colbert and "liberal news"; and my understanding of Glenn Beck and real news programs on Fox.)
I think everyone should watch Fox News occassionally and NBC etc. to get different perspectives. Nothing is one way or the other. Too bad most people I know make fun of Fox News. Why? Because of the clips they've seen on Stewart and Colbert. Not because they've actually watched Fox news for themselves. #dailyshowglennbeck
@thespaceygirl: I actually have watched Beck on TV and listened to his radio show, for exactly the reason you state - I'm in the media and I constantly urge people to check out other news sources and perspectives, on the airwaves, in print and on line.
I think Beck has carved out a very nice niche for himself with people who feel they have no voice in democracy and government right now. But the more I watch and listen to him, the crazier he sounds to me. He often talks about how "they" are trying to shut him down or how "they" are against him. He says the sole job of Anita Dunn - the White House Communications Director - is to monitor his show. He says things that are blatantly inflammatory and possibly slanderous, and then says he was just "asking questions". And if he's not crazy, then he's just a performer. I don't know if that's better or worse for the people who believe what he says. #dailyshowglennbeck
@thespaceygirl: I've watched a full episode of Glenn Beck. Actually, my husband and I listen to conservative radio almost every day, because we like to hear what's going on from their perspective. I've always been liberal, but all my life I've said that I'm not biased. In recent years, though, it's been more and more difficult, and I've gotten to the point where, yeah, I'm biased. As a person who listens to Beck and Hannity frequently, I can say they what they spout is out-and-out garbage. I admire your ability to remain open-minded, but I just can't. The reason I make fun of Fox news personalities is because I pay attention to what they say, and it is laughable. #dailyshowglennbeck
@thespaceygirl: this argument has been hashed out before on the site re: glenn beck. most responses to you will be: yes, i've seen glenn beck's show and fox and bill o'reilly and, no, i don't have to take any of them seriously. i don't get all my news from stewart/colbert because npr is awesome.
i also don't think it's fair to characterize jezebel readers as passive: only a small portion of them actually comment and, even then, i don't think any of them sound particularly passive. i don't know what "too liberal" means.
glenn beck is crazier the more you watch him not less (clips on the web).
@thespaceygirl: But the problem is, that there is a great number of people who watch him who don't understand that he is exaggerating his character (just as Bill O'Reilly arguably does). I've watched FOX at length and it is quite hard to parse it out at times.
To use an anecdote: I've had my cousin legitimately tell me that he thinks - from watching Glenn Beck - that Obama is going to make every family in the US pay $116,000 in taxes on top of their other taxes, and when I tried to refute that my uncle (not cousin's dad, to be clear) called me a communist. He went on to state all the ways in which Glenn Beck is right and communist and socialist policies are evil and are destroying America; this particular uncle is on unemployment, welfare, food stamps, and is applying for Section 8 housing. And he doesn't see his ideas and actions as being at all discordant - he just has no real idea of what socialism actually is.
Glenn Beck is too unclear about where the news and facts end and where his persona starts, and that's where I have an issue with him. He's promoting radical - and sometimes, untrue and harmful - ideas in a radical fashion that many of his viewers are taking at face value*. Unfortunately, I kind of assume the worst of Fox News; they know who their target market is and cater to it with these crazy ideas and misinformation. To perpetuate stereotypes and blatant lies about Muslim beliefs, or the idea that a real American is the kind that carries guns in the direct vicinity of the president.... that's horrific, in my opinion. Beck in particular is using his persona and the unclear nature of his hyperbole to mix fact and opinion, and that is, quite frankly, dishonest.
*NB: Not to say this, or the essence of it, is only a problem with Glenn Beck. Too many people are allowing the analysis of pundits to form their ideas for them rather than thinking critically for themselves.
Dictator for Life promoted this comment
Edited by lalie (apologetic mess) at 11/06/09 12:42 PM
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@thespaceygirl: I respectfully disagree. My dad is super liberal and watches Fox News non-stop "to keep up with the enemy" and when I'm at home, I watch it too. And I find it ridiculous and revolting. Bill O'Reilly talks about lesbian gangs indoctrinating people (an internet urban legend). Why, exactly, should I take them seriously? #dailyshowglennbeck
@thespaceygirl: A bit crazy? He's a paranoid, hate spewing lunatic. I think the only thing this old lefty lesbian has in common with GB is we both need air to breathe. Aside from that, nada.
You understand Beck and Fox News? Congratulations. You are one up on me since I can't understand why they are taken seriously when they misrepresent facts and promote lies.
@thespaceygirl: Actually, I grew up watching Fox daily (unintentionally; my mom has it on all the time) until I was 19 and moved out of the house. I still see it everytime I go home. So I would say that I'm very aware of what Fox has to offer. Sometimes I do see grains of truth peeking out somewhere, but not all that often, and the sensationalism and hate overshadow them.
I don't watch CNN or MSNBC (well, I do watch Rachel Maddow sometimes) either, though, because I think they lean too conservative, don't challenge favorable politicians enough or on the most pressing topics, and tend not to report on things I care about. However, I don't see the hate speech that I see on Fox, so I hold these networks in slightly less contempt.
Anyway, I wouldn't be so quick to dismiss us as too liberal or idealogical to question what's told to us in the media. The brand of "liberalism" I see on Jezebel (most of the time) is the kind that helps us to deconstruct what we're told, regardless of the source. That's what I love about it. #dailyshowglennbeck
@thespaceygirl: I actually tried to watch Glenn Beck last night after Jon Stewart had me rolling on the floor laughing, but regretfully his show was not airing due to the coverage of the Fort Hood tragedy.
Of course, the coverage of that was so despicable that I still had to change the channel. I listened for five minutes to a general ranting about how the gunman was educated with American money, and this is how he repays us??? Oh god, man, seriously? I think he repaid us by serving in the military for years and it sounds like something snapped in his brain, man. He was trying to make it sound like the dude had been planning it since he was in med school or something. I'm terrified as to how this is going to translate for other Arab-Americans.
@thespaceygirl: I don't watch the news. It's useless, brainwash propaganda/entertainment packaged as "news".
Too liberal? No offense but hogwash! No-one is completely liberal or conservative. I think most people (if they weren't so rigid and caught up in labels) would see value in the ideas of both sides and fall somewhere in the middle.
Bottom line MSNBC, FOX and CNN are pathetic and shouldn't be watched by anyone. You're better off getting news from international outlets. If you're not sure which ones to read, Google News is sort of cool, they link to multiple outlets for each story and a lot of their links are to foreign outlets. #dailyshowglennbeck
@thespaceygirl: I find it hilarious that you assume "no one" here has watched a full episode of Glenn Beck because many of the commenters think he is nuts. We think he's nuts BECAUSE we've seen the full episodes.
What the hell do you think I watch at the gym when I need to get my heart rate up? Either Beck or O'Reilly, I seriously burn at least 20% more calories when I watch O'Reilly, and maybe 25% more when I watch Beck. Thanks to them, I'll be running a half-marathon in no time at all. Rachel Maddow can't make me look that good in a bikini. #dailyshowglennbeck
I made it about 4 minutes into that Glen Beck video. That man is a raving lunatic. Which I knew, but I'd never seen in action quite like that before. I'm dumbfounded. #dailyshowglennbeck
@Dictator for Life: I watched both clips in their entirety and now I feel like I'm on drugs. I kept waiting in vain for a cogent point to be made (as I always do with Glen). No, there is no point. They just gave a mentally ill man a public outlet for his crazy. #dailyshowglennbeck
I am so thankful that I don't know if his impression is spot on because I've never watched Glenn Beck. I suppose I should watch the GB clips you have above but I kind of like living in my naive world of not knowing his mannerisms/craziness. #dailyshowglennbeck
I think if he had a chance (and was a real person), Fox Mulder would have to shake Glenn Beck really hard and tell him to chill the fuck out with his conspiracy theories. #dailyshowglennbeck
Is it not common knowledge that Diego Rivera was a proud Communist? Apparently, Glenn Beck doesn't pay much attention to famous Mexican artists... #dailyshowglennbeck
The authorities cut out my gallbladder in 2007 and I'm now wondering if it was used to support socialism. Communists could have pelted my gallstones at voters to force them to elect Obama, and here we are now, all forced to become Nazis and grow rectangle mustaches. #dailyshowglennbeck
@Newsgirl: Now I understand why the surgeon asked about my policy positions before telling me I could keep my gallbladder. I guess I was socialist enough. #dailyshowglennbeck
@Newsgirl: They took my gallbladder out when I was SIXTEEN. Which was during the CLINTON administration. It all makes so much more sense now. #dailyshowglennbeck
@Newsgirl: "They" took my tonsils during the Carter years. See, just like Glen said, it's been in the MAKING FOR YEARS!!!! How could we all have been so blind?
*hides face in hands with shame* #dailyshowglennbeck
@Newsgirl: I had my tonsils out during the first month of the Obama administration, but I made the appointment before Obama was elected. What does it all mean? Who took my tonsils, liberals or conservatives? I don't even know! #dailyshowglennbeck
11/06/09
O is for Obama, and by the way he’s black
L is for the leftists who will stab you in the back
I is internationalist, ‘cause foreigners are scary
G is politicians’ graft of which we should be wary
A the Acorn organizers meaning death camps for us all
R the revolutionaries who want me first against the wall
C is for the commies, who hide under my bed
H for hidden agendas; oh! The secrets in my head!
Y you ask? I’ll tell you straight; my answer fills the void
It’s very clear my friends, I am a hopeless paranoid!
11/06/09
So amazing. #dailyshowglennbeck
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He's playing a character, trying to stress his ideas. Sure, he comes across as manic, passionate, and a bit crazy, so most liberals dismiss him. But he makes some good points. Some of his logic stretches the truth, but not all. Some are things that need to be said.
I love Jezebel, but I think most readers are too liberal, too passive, and too idealogical to respond accurately to Glenn Beck's arguements.
Perhaps it's my Russian boyfriend's fears that the US is turning into a country that he can't be proud of, but I really believe that we are all too cynical to listen to what people have to say. We just automatically dismiss anything that sounds a little off, and we never question what we are told by the media. (I also fall into this category.)
( BTW I'm not a conservative. I'm just someone who is always in the middle of all these arguements. My friends and family fall into both extremes. And I'm always torn between my love of Stewart/Colbert and "liberal news"; and my understanding of Glenn Beck and real news programs on Fox.)
I think everyone should watch Fox News occassionally and NBC etc. to get different perspectives. Nothing is one way or the other. Too bad most people I know make fun of Fox News. Why? Because of the clips they've seen on Stewart and Colbert. Not because they've actually watched Fox news for themselves. #dailyshowglennbeck
11/06/09
I think Beck has carved out a very nice niche for himself with people who feel they have no voice in democracy and government right now. But the more I watch and listen to him, the crazier he sounds to me. He often talks about how "they" are trying to shut him down or how "they" are against him. He says the sole job of Anita Dunn - the White House Communications Director - is to monitor his show. He says things that are blatantly inflammatory and possibly slanderous, and then says he was just "asking questions". And if he's not crazy, then he's just a performer. I don't know if that's better or worse for the people who believe what he says. #dailyshowglennbeck
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i also don't think it's fair to characterize jezebel readers as passive: only a small portion of them actually comment and, even then, i don't think any of them sound particularly passive. i don't know what "too liberal" means.
glenn beck is crazier the more you watch him not less (clips on the web).
11/06/09
To use an anecdote: I've had my cousin legitimately tell me that he thinks - from watching Glenn Beck - that Obama is going to make every family in the US pay $116,000 in taxes on top of their other taxes, and when I tried to refute that my uncle (not cousin's dad, to be clear) called me a communist. He went on to state all the ways in which Glenn Beck is right and communist and socialist policies are evil and are destroying America; this particular uncle is on unemployment, welfare, food stamps, and is applying for Section 8 housing. And he doesn't see his ideas and actions as being at all discordant - he just has no real idea of what socialism actually is.
Glenn Beck is too unclear about where the news and facts end and where his persona starts, and that's where I have an issue with him. He's promoting radical - and sometimes, untrue and harmful - ideas in a radical fashion that many of his viewers are taking at face value*. Unfortunately, I kind of assume the worst of Fox News; they know who their target market is and cater to it with these crazy ideas and misinformation. To perpetuate stereotypes and blatant lies about Muslim beliefs, or the idea that a real American is the kind that carries guns in the direct vicinity of the president.... that's horrific, in my opinion. Beck in particular is using his persona and the unclear nature of his hyperbole to mix fact and opinion, and that is, quite frankly, dishonest.
*NB: Not to say this, or the essence of it, is only a problem with Glenn Beck. Too many people are allowing the analysis of pundits to form their ideas for them rather than thinking critically for themselves.
11/06/09
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You understand Beck and Fox News? Congratulations. You are one up on me since I can't understand why they are taken seriously when they misrepresent facts and promote lies.
To each her own, eh? #dailyshowglennbeck
11/06/09
I don't watch CNN or MSNBC (well, I do watch Rachel Maddow sometimes) either, though, because I think they lean too conservative, don't challenge favorable politicians enough or on the most pressing topics, and tend not to report on things I care about. However, I don't see the hate speech that I see on Fox, so I hold these networks in slightly less contempt.
Anyway, I wouldn't be so quick to dismiss us as too liberal or idealogical to question what's told to us in the media. The brand of "liberalism" I see on Jezebel (most of the time) is the kind that helps us to deconstruct what we're told, regardless of the source. That's what I love about it. #dailyshowglennbeck
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Of course, the coverage of that was so despicable that I still had to change the channel. I listened for five minutes to a general ranting about how the gunman was educated with American money, and this is how he repays us??? Oh god, man, seriously? I think he repaid us by serving in the military for years and it sounds like something snapped in his brain, man. He was trying to make it sound like the dude had been planning it since he was in med school or something. I'm terrified as to how this is going to translate for other Arab-Americans.
11/06/09
Too liberal? No offense but hogwash! No-one is completely liberal or conservative. I think most people (if they weren't so rigid and caught up in labels) would see value in the ideas of both sides and fall somewhere in the middle.
Bottom line MSNBC, FOX and CNN are pathetic and shouldn't be watched by anyone. You're better off getting news from international outlets. If you're not sure which ones to read, Google News is sort of cool, they link to multiple outlets for each story and a lot of their links are to foreign outlets. #dailyshowglennbeck
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What the hell do you think I watch at the gym when I need to get my heart rate up? Either Beck or O'Reilly, I seriously burn at least 20% more calories when I watch O'Reilly, and maybe 25% more when I watch Beck. Thanks to them, I'll be running a half-marathon in no time at all. Rachel Maddow can't make me look that good in a bikini. #dailyshowglennbeck
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*hides face in hands with shame* #dailyshowglennbeck
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