Warning: some adult subject matter.
Jon Stewart does a real good Glenn Beck. You have to watch out for that social justice!
| The Daily Show With Jon Stewart | Mon – Thurs 11p / 10c | |||
| Conservative Libertarian | ||||
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Is it just me or does Jon Stewart’s spoof make more sense than Glenn Beck?
I have decided Beck is just dangerous. His audience is too wide and there are just too many people who buy into this crap. Is this a cult?
Loved this! I always knew Ernie was the progressive counter to Bert’s conservative tendencies…I wish you all peace, love, rubber duckies, and freedom from the dreaded ovals!
I guess you have to be familiar with Glen Beck to appreciate this segment.
As a student of history and politics, and a Glenn Beck fan, no, it’s not a cult. Beck is one of the most astute political watchers out there and the only one presenting the “why” certain political actions are taken. While his hyperbole sometimes gets overwrought, his basic message and his information tend to be accurate.
And his predictions these past few years about what would happen if we went down this path have bee accurate. His analysis of the structure forming in the Executive wing and the corruption/laziness of Congress has been accurate too.
Has he been wrong? Sometimes. Has he been right? More often than not. The basic principles that he espouses should be right up your alley. He wants honest, constitutional government run by people with honor.
What’s wrong with that?
I have found his cause and effect relationships faulty.
I consider anyone who makes a habit of whipping up people into a frenzy darn close to being a cult leader.
I am curious as to what he has been right about.
That’s the BEST explanation of Glen Beck I’ve ever seen!
Moon, ever consider the possibility that the people who tune into Beck may do so because they are already unhappy with and more than a little frightened of the direction they see the country taking? The polls I’ve seen of late show a pretty steady 60 percent plus of the population which believes the country is going in the wrong direction. Could it be that Beck is not the leader of a “cult” as you opine but perhaps just an outlet for those who are angry and do not have access to a microphone and televison camera? In other words, Beck is saying many of the things they were already thinking while lacking the means to reach a larger audience themselves.
Yes, I will agree that Beck can get more than a little rambunctious in his presentations and does provide some fodder for the likes of Jon Stewart. Beck has changed much in that regard from what his radio show used to be. But I have the feeling that he has become more of a vicarious means of self-expression for those with few outlets of their own to command and not necessarily a Svengali to the millions. You cannot get around the fact that the ratings for Beck and those like him continually swamp the competitors of the opposite persuasion. That tells me that Beck, for one, has tapped into a lucrative vein of already existing discontent, not that he created the vein and that those millions follow him like lemmings because he is presenting something new and unique to his audience. He may just be the voice those millions do not have because they have lesser access to the alarm bells and perhaps lack the talent for persuasive discourse.
I could turn this around and point to the President himself. I never personally considered Obama to be a magical Svengali of sorts with the ability to lure all those millions into following him without thinking for themselves. I will be among the first to admit that George W. Bush himself was causing some concern and discontent among an increasing number of Americans, including even fiscal conservatives, and that Obama tapped into that discontent and swung it in his direction. He got an unexpected ally in the sudden downhill slide of the economy. To me Obama’s success was not unlike the current success of Beck in some ways, only now the shoe is on another foot. In neither case do I consider the bulk of the Americans involved to be stupid. In both instances, in my opinion, they found an outlet for the expression of their concerns and they jumped at it.
Wolverine,
For me, the difference is the grand canyon. Obama’s message was one of inclusion, that we must all work together to solve our collective problems, that in the end we are ALL Americans. Glenn Becks message could not be further from that. I find Glenn Beck someone who picks at low lying fruit because to get into a thoughtful exchange of ideas would be too difficult for him. I think what Glenn Beck likes is hearing Glenn Beck talk. He scares me, he really does. For him, its all about finding the “others” to demonize. It’s the places of worship where they talk about “social justice” and “economic justice”. His paranoia is not rational in my opinion. His fear infects other people. He is part of the reason you see people like this at TEA party rallies.
How is calling for a more constitutional government and no corruption divisive? Beck has been right in his analysis of the government in building political structure to gain more power. He was right in predicting this recession. He was predicting it in 2006. He was right in showing that Obama is a progressive of the old school and not a typical Democrat. His explanations of history are….mostly accurate, though he does get obsessive about the motives of Ted Roosevelt without putting Teddy into context. He is RIGHT ON in his depiction of Wilson and the motives of the progressives of that time. I do believe that he is right in that Obama, etc are using the political theory called Cloward and Piven to overload the system and the electorate. I believe that this s partly why Pelosi and Obama are trying to do so much, so quickly. The citizenry gets tired of fighting the fire hose of bills and programs that they object to. You say that his fear infects other people. No. The people are already afraid as is he. Some I will admit, are afraid because of his warnings. Wouldn’t you be afraid if you were told of an oncoming storm that you could not avoid.
Obama is already over 1.2 TRILLION in deficit spending in ONE year and that’s without whatever spending programs he will want to add to these.
He is right that this spending is UNSUSTAINABLE. He is right that spending and attitudes like this are very similar to the Wiemar Republic and its downfall. And he is right in that, while Obama is not a dictator, his power structure is getting him more and more power through his czars. And Congress allows it so that they don’t have to take the blame when policies go bad. They can blame the czars and regulatory agencies. All czars are unconstitutional, including Republican ones. And Beck says that . He attacks both parties for corruption.
Obama talked a good game and those that wanted to believe that Obama was different, did so. He did not fool me. I knew some of his history and nothing that I knew of him led me to believe him. None of his actions have backed up his pretty lies. Except for wanting to “fundamentally transform” America, that is. He told the truth then. If you believe that those “who makes a habit of whipping up people into a frenzy darn close to being a cult leader.” must then believe that Obama is a cult like leader. He routinely whipped up crowds to follow him. His whole campaign was a cult of personality unlike any we’ve seen for Presidential politics.
Btw, Beck probably recorded that bit for himself. No one mocks Beck like he does to himself.
Elena, Obama may have campaigned with a message of inclusion; but, when he sat down with Republican congressmen almost immediately after his inauguration and stated “I won”, I just knew we were in for a non-bipartisan ride. I’m going to be quite frank here. I think Obama blew it six ways to Sunday when a smarter attack plan would have gone a long ways toward avoiding the national divisions we now see. He got on his ideological horse and tried to ride over the opposition, claiming that every move was necessary or the nation would immediately sink in flames. Some of the economic problems did need a quick fix, but not everything under the sun. And then he goes and gives us a crisis stimulus plan, which we find out does not kick in for the most part until a couple of years down the road and clearly featured some freebies for political favorites. This guy seemed to think he could operate behind the curtain and get away unscathed. I will tell you that visions of Tammany Hall started to float through my own mind. And I am not one who is very quick to come down on presidents because I’ve seen up pretty close how tough that job is.
In my opinion, the President had a great chance to include but he went the other way by shutting us out, except if we would agree to rubber stamp everything HE wanted. It is one thing to exercise the power and push the platform which accrue to you because of an electoral victory; but to act suddenly like you have the power and authority of a Louis XIV does not sit well with a whole lot of Americans. Cajole me. Flatter me. Persuade me. Listen to what I have to say. Give me some things in an honest trade-off. But don’t shove it down my throat and expect me to be part of your cheering section.
One of the biggest mistakes Obama made, in my view, was to abdicate on the health care reform issue and leave it in the hands of the most notorious ideologues on the Hill. I tell you, if he had kept that thing in the Oval Office and attacked it more piecemeal with full consultations across the board, he might have had several very nice and helpful bills signed already and far fewer protesters on the streets of Washington and other towns. This guy would do himself, his party, and all the rest of us a big favor if he would get off that ideological horse and start working sincerely throughout the political spectrum. I’m getting tired of the implication of the “Party of No.” If you simply ignore my views and do everything your way, just what do you expect my reaction to be? Talk to me honestly and do some honest and beneficial horse trading and maybe you will hear me say “yes” sometimes.
Wolverine,
You’ll have to find me the exact quote where Obama said “I won”. Don’t you remember what happended when Clinton tried to draft healthcare reform from within the Oval Office? I do, it was a fiasco, Obama chose to the let the legislative branch do what they do, legislation! I don’t see the similarites to Louis, sorry, don’t see it. Beck and the uber conservatives were in a frenzy about Obama before he was even elected. I found their tactics pretty disgusting. Just like I found the robo calls against John McCain disgusting and the attacks agains John Kerry and his service disgusting. George Bush, with his infamous you are either with us or against didn’t just resonate for to foreign influences, it resonated here, in my own country. In the early days, if you dared speak out againt the Iraq war you were labled a traitor. Where was the first amendment then? However, I digress, I will stay on topic. I have found Obama to be more interactive with this congress than his predecessor. Once again, I will go back to Medicare, tax cuts, the war in Iraq, where was the respectful dialogue then? Or when Dick Cheney said F you to Senator Leahy on the Senate floor.
There has been horse trading, plenty of it, I would say that getting rid the public option was a huge ONE, especially as the base of the demorcratic party really believed in that as part of insurance reform. There are plenty of other concessions, but the reality is, the republican plan would only give, based on their numbers, additional health care to 3 million people. The plan by the democrats is not perfect, by far, and I am hopeful that, like with any other huge initiative, there will be changes made in the future.
Beck is nothing like Jon Stewart and they function in totally different capacities in the world of entertainment. Stewart is a comedian whose specialty is political satire. I don’t know what Beck is. A scary person?
Many people aren’t political. It bores them. There are all sorts of people out there who wouldn’t touch a blog and who leave the room if the subject of politics come up. They aren’t all that unhappy with the country, no more than usual.
I don’t usually buy into political statistics. I find what Beck is doing reprehensible. What does he hope to accomplish?
This entire conversation on Obama feels like one of those questions like ‘When did you stop beating your wife?’ I don’t feel there is an answer. Some people like Obama, some hate him and some are luke warm. Some absolutely are indifferent. I wanted to give the guy a chance. I still do. Of course, the attack started long before he took office. It’s one of the reasons I hate politics.
If you dislike Beck and don’t watch him, you, of course, will not know or understand what he is doing. In a nutshell, he is teaching history to his audience. He is explaining the connections between different organizations and politicians, some of which are self-admittedly anti-American. He tries to explain dry,difficult and complicated subjects simply. Sometimes he oversimplifies, but given his topic and time constraints, that is necessary. Beck is the only one trying to put the current political leaders in historical context.
Moon, if you feel someone is dangerous, would you give them “a chance?” Would you give Beck a chance if he was President or would you oppose him? If one already understands Obama’s goals and techniques, and finds them inimical to the American way of life, that person should oppose him. I oppose Obama to the best of my ability because he and his allies are danger to the Republic. I’m just glad I retired from the military so I don’t have to have him as my CINC. That way I won’t be at cross purposes to my oath to support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic. I believe that Obama, Pelosi, and many others in Congress to hold the interests of their party and their political goals higher than the interests of the United States.
Socialism, Progressiveism, Communism, and Fascism are all inimical to the American way of life as based on the Constitution. Every advance of government restricts individual freedom. Corruption in Congress is the biggest problem. What they call wheeling and dealing is bribery with tax money.
Cargo, I try to watch him every day. Watching something does not indicate I approve. I feel I have to watch him because he is so dangerous. My husband doesn’t understand it.
How long do I have to give him a chance? I have watched him almost since he came on the first time. I would say I watch 3 days a week on average. No deprogramming necessary yet.
Cargo, I think you and I will agree on maybe 10-15% of the issues out there. There rest there is probably just no hope for. We can’t agree on the original premise to the argument doesn’t stand a chance.
I am not positive about the President nor was I about the last one. I try to give them a chance. America has survived some real turkeys.
I just don’t agree with Beck on much of anything and I think he stirs up the masses into a frenzy. Just out of curiosity, how did you feel about the last 8 years? I was very protective of Bush. I knew who was next in line!
Beck was particularly virulent today. He was almost scary. I see Beck as an entertainer getting extremely wealthy ($400,000,000??? a year) off of scaring the daylights out of people with his sky is falling rhetoric.
I am far more afraid of him and the potential mind warping he can do to susceptible people than I am of any politician.
http://www.glennbeck.com/content/articles/article/198/38271/
I saw the clip and read that transcript. What is virulent about it? You are more worried about one self-professed clown that is illuminating history and political connections than you are of politicians that actually control major portions of you life, can rouse even more people (see the last Presidential election), can put you in jail for not buying insurance, and can bankrupt the country?
About Bush, I am ambivalent. I supported his Iraq campaign. I applauded that he put principle over popularity, in defense of the country. I supported and applauded his support of the American ideals and his refusal to kowtow to European criticisms. I hated his liberalism and his inability to veto statist programs. Dept. of Homeland Security, Medicare Drug plan, NCLB, TARP, etc were horrible. The Patriot Act, as a comprehensive act, is a terrible affront. Parts, however, I like. Mostly, however, I feel we could have had the same protections through specific legislation. But we did not need an omnibus bill. His use of czars, like the other presidents, I was also against. I did not like him before his first election, but, the alternative was horrifying. The phrase “compassionate conservative” is an insult. It implies that conservatives in general have no compassion and HE is different.
As to Cheney, I had no problem with him. He was VP. He had no authority. Influence, yes, but no authority. He is a very competent individual and I liked his approach to things.
I loved it when anti-war protesters would seek the impeachment of Bush. Their faces, when I told them that their success would result in President Cheney, was absolutely priceless. One must seek out the small joys in life……
@cargosquid
Cargo, So you were the one who supported Bush’s Iraq Campaign. Were you also ambivalent about his corporate friends making a fortune on the war? As for Cheney having no authority, nobody did anything in national defense without his input and ok
But you’re correct about one thing the thought of Cheney as President scares the Hell out of me!