Thursday, November 19, 2009

Required Reading: Why Glenn Beck's an asshole & why America loves him



I cringe every time I turn the channel to Fox News. More so when Glenn Beck's on. The former drug fiend, alcoholic turned Mormon conservative talkshow host is just what America doesn't need. He talks about being the voice of the common man, but there's nothing common about Glenn Beck. He's not down to our level. He's an asshole. Yet, no matter how much I hate him - how many holes I can find in his arguments and statements - no matter how angry I get watching his program, I can't seem to tear myself away from watching it. I don't do this every day. Hell, I don't even do this every week, or every other week. It's all by chance. The moment I see his shit-eater's smile, my focus just sticks to him and his lies. Is it possible to say his lies are more absurd than Sean Hannity's? His radicalism fundalmentalism does exheed that of his Catholic counterpart. It sickens me that people like Beck would rather watch this once great country fall apart than to support a plan that might save it because it sounds too socialist. The very people who call themselves patriots might just be the downfall of their beloved country, their beloved illusions.

In December's Playboy, Thomas Frank takes a gander at Glenn Beck's holy war and what exactly might be going on in that insane mind of his:

Beck’s books are boring stuff. If you’ve read much conservative literature, you’ve heard it all before. Beck reproduces standard-issue conservative talking points, bemoaning crazy lawsuits or the 1992 House banking scandal in precisely the same way you have seen crazy lawsuits or the House banking scandal bemoaned a dozen times already. He is given to preposterous numerology, reminding us how patriotic we all felt on September 12, 2001 and then insisting that 9/12 actually stands for “Nine Principles” and “12 Values,” the latter of which turn out to be a virtue list in the manner of the Boy Scout law. All of which might lead a fan to conclude it was lucky the 9/11 terrorists attacked when they did instead of, say, February 24, because then they wouldn’t have affirmed our nation’s timeless principles and values. (via)



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