Where do I start? Glenn has the third highest rated syndicated radio talk show in the country along with a one hour show on Fox News. This combines for 20 hours of some of the looniest entertainment this side of a Warner Bros. cartoon.
I've been grappling with this post for a couple days. The main reason is I want to approach Beck from at least a somewhat original position. Pointing out that Beck is nuttier than a fruitcake is all well and good, but it's been done ad inifinitum and with more eloquence than I could ever muster at sites like Media Matters or The Huffinington Post.
Anyway, for the uninitiated, Glenn is a radio and television host. His t.v. show gets the most attention and to be fair, Glenn comes across much better on t.v.. On radio he sounds much like his conservative brethren with the exception that he often makes poor or offensive jokes then laughs his ass off. As a humorist, he's compared himself to Jon Stewart, but doesn't come close. Crafting good jokes just doesn't seem to be in the conservative bailiwick.
He doesn't have a set format. Sometimes he has guests, often it's just him. When he wants to appear serious or intelligent he wears glasses. He seems to really only have two staples: the chalkboard and crying on screen. The chalkboard has become an icon for him. He uses it to draw flow charts to illustrate whatever conspiracy theory he's concocted this week. The chalkboard also lends credence to the notion that Beck is educating his audience. The crying? Maybe it's done for dramatic effect. Maybe he's mentally unstable. I don't know. A tear every now and then would convey passion better than turning on the waterworks seemingly on cue.
Like Michael Savage, Beck is not content to attack the left's policies. Beck isn't satisfied unless he's painting Obama as some subhuman monster, spat straight from Hell, bent on transforming the citizenry into Godless commies. Also like Savage, Glenn fancies himself a history wonk.
Glenn separates himself from the pack for a couple reasons. One is the conspiratorial nature of much of his shows, using his trusty chalkboard to show us the nefarious connections between people and organizations. Another is Glenn's obsession with philanthropist George Soros. He went so far as to devote a series of three shows to Soros. Among the bullshit Beck hurled was the gem that Soros, himself a Holocaust survivor, was actually a Nazi sympathizer. Oh my fucking God.
Beck considers Obama appointee Cass Sunstein "the most dangerous man in the country." He slandered another Obama official Van Jones so thoroughly, Jones stepped down (if it was me, I would've called a press conference and gave Glenn the finger).
But I'm getting ahead of myself, Beck's cause celebre was calling Obama a racist with a "deep seated hatred for white people".
Glenn is also distinguished for nearly having his own bodycount. It started with Glenn him shining his chalkboard on the Tides Foundation. They're an organization dedicated to socially progressive and philanthropic issues founded in the 1970's. Glenn started hammering them as part of his relentless attack on progressives, pointing out that *shock* *horror* George Soros had donated money to them.
Enter Byron Williams: an unhinged nutcase with a pile of guns. After Beck repeatedly attacked Tides on his show, Williams set out for San Francisco to kill Tides employees. Luckily he was stopped by police before getting to his target. Unfortunately he got out of his vehicle and started firing. Also unfortunately, his body armor prevented police bullets from saving us the cost of his trial and incarceration.
I don't hold Beck responsible for Williams' actions, but he never would have heard of Tides had Beck not vilified them on his show.
So where does that leave us? We've got a guy who spouts more bullshit than a cattle ranch, connects his harebrained theories on a chalkboard and occasionally plays with puppets on air.
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