Sep 15 2009
What Is It With Glenn Beck?
Clarification: As anyone can see in the comment sections those feathers are ruffled. The main point seems to be leave Beck alone, he exposes the demons on the left. Well, if all he did was expose foul play we would be OK. I was happy to leave him to his own devices (no matter how much I cringed) if the public was getting the full picture.
But Beck is transforming himself into a quasi-Messiah, full of melodrama and clear attempts to define ‘good America’ for all of us to be measured by. That is the line he crossed and needs to uncross ASAP. If he begins to try and shape America to fit HIS 912 parameters (and he is), then he is just another Obama from the right.
I send this warning flag up now so that all those people who are rightfully outraged by the liberal hubris and arrogance in DC are not simply getting another version of the same in turn. DC does this to people. Fame does this to people. Power does this to people. All of a sudden they think it is THEIR time to fix the world! Beck can get back into his role in exposing wrong doing. The question is will he. – end update.
I know this post is going to ruffle some feathers on the right, but I have to say Glenn Beck has become too painful to watch anymore. I was looking for some news around 5:45 PM Eastern and couldn’t stomach the Wolf & Cafferty duo and tried Beck. He was on one of his weird melodrama queen swings, talking about fixing the country with some patriotic imagery and syrupy music playing.
It was vomit inducing. The guy over does it when he gets into these bizarre moods where he wants to save America (one of these days the political industrial  complex – left and right - will realize we don’t need saving from ourselves). He lays it on so thick it is embarrassing to watch.
Beck just leaves me cold. He comes off condescending, in a warped paternal way, like he is trying to right a child’s bad behavior. I am not good with clowns trying to talk down to me.
I Â understand he has a lot of followers and I suspect each and every one of them could impress the hell out of me any day of the week all on their own. So this is not aimed at Beck fans. You just may see something in him I don’t. You may find him cute where I see him full of himself and putting on the concerned citizen schtick way too thick.
I think the risk here is conservatives backing someone to the hilt who is not universally admired. If the conservative movement is to knit together another governing coalition, it will need to span the views of center left to far right. It will need centrists, which means absolutist will absolutely not get their way on all things.
Beck’s 912 project is a classic example of mixing good ideas with serious overreaching into areas government/politics should not go. For some reason the fringes think it is their role in life to tell the rest of us how to live just like them. It is a recipe for political disaster.
Beck’s 912 project is all self promotion. I looked over the site and I can find rerun after rerun of his show – but no where the 9 principles and 12 values the project supposedly promotes. I had to go to another website to find out how The Great Beck has determined I should live my life. First the 12 sanctioned values:
The 12 values Glenn Beck is telling Americans they must embrace are:
- Honesty
- Reverence
- Hope
- Thrift
- Humility
- Charity
- Sincerity
- Moderation
- Hard Work
- Courage
- Personal Responsibility
- Gratitude
Reverence? For who or what? Gratitude? For who or what? Thrifty? Why – is this The Boy Scouts? Is he sure he is going to be promoting ‘moderation’ and ‘moderates’? Â I can do “hope”! I hope Beck gets off his God/Dad/Savior kick. It’s a nice list of a modern commandments, but do we need a political movement which demands we pay homage to these great words?
And now the ‘9 principles’:
1. America is good.
2. I believe in God and He is the Center of my Life.
3. I must always try to be a more honest person than I was yesterday.
4. The family is sacred. My spouse and I are the ultimate authority, not the government.5. If you break the law you pay the penalty. Justice is blind and no one is above it.
6. I have a right to life, liberty and pursuit of happiness, but there is no guarantee of equal results.
7. I work hard for what I have and I will share it with who I want to. Government cannot force me to be charitable.
8. It is not un-American for me to disagree with authority or to share my personal opinion.
9. The government works for me. I do not answer to them, they answer to me.
As for number 1, Duh! – and America is actually “Great”, “Kewl”, “Bitchin”, “Fearless”, etc. A ‘principle’ would be more like “America is, on net, a positive force in the world”. Number 2 is out of line and Ayatollah Beck has seriously crossed a line here. Thank God he included Number 8 so I can feel safe in challenging this as a premise for a political movement (or a PR project).
Number 9 is naive and silly. The government works for We The People, and We The People decide democratically what government will or will not do, and how it will do it. This “me” crap sounds like a petulant liberal wanting endless health care.
The rest are clearly American ‘values’, some a bit sappy [I will be ‘more honest’ today? – that tells me something about Beck; As for me, folks wish I would be ‘less honest’ or blunt, trust me]. But the fact is this so called 912 Project is a promotional gimmick, and a pretty boorish one at that. I can find positive words in the dictionary too.
America, there are much better role models and leaders in this country than Beck. I would take any one of the millions of brave Americans who fought in the World Wide War On Terror over Beck any day of the week. I am not afraid of Beck, but I do feel he is the kind of person that can make Pelosi, Reid and Obama look sane and thoughtful in comparison. And that is something this nation cannot afford right now. Beck can be one of many positive influences, he just is not ‘standard bearer’ material.
We have a Congress that needs a clean house sweep of all the dead wood. Don’t confuse that mission with establishing a nation according to Beck.
I watched Beck on the internet once. I felt he was too emotional for my tasts but as long as he exposes these bozos in government, more power to him. Just because you don’t like the messenger is no reason to kill the message. I will not criticize him other than that.
Barbara,
He is not ‘the one’ exposing the bozos. Lot’s of people are doing that. He does air the material, and I can give him credit for that.
But exposing bozos and then defining proper American behavior? He took a step too far. If he dumps the paternal crap you are right, he is tolerable.
There are plenty of people exposing the bozos.
Others may have discovered the secrets about the likes of Van Jones. But when they report, nobody’s paying attention to them. But when Glenn Beck starts to cover the secrets on his show, people pick up on the information, people can no longer ignore what’s being publicized, ACORN had to respond, Van Jones had to respond, and so on.
So far, it’s working so let him do the reporting because nothing before him seemed to work.
Until he goes back to his extreme dramatics in survivalism and populism, let’s give him the support. Or when he starts attacking a conservative president, I’ll stop my support for him.
In the last few weeks, the format changed. He’s been focusing on himself so he needs to go back to the previous format where he brings people in to interview. That’s when things get very interesting.
You caught Glenn at the wrong time.
I admit that I can’t really bear to watch him for more than 5 minutes either.
But I also have to admit that I enjoy all the trouble he’s causing, and frankly, a sane, balanced person just wouldn’t ever be crazy enough to actually think they could get away with the things he’s getting away with, plus a sane balanced person would never get the attention Beck is getting. And because of all the attention he’s grabbing, he’s turned himself into a nexus for a large part of the oppositional energy flowing these days. It’s strange, but that’s how things work in this weird world.
Why him? Because he was the only one crazy enough to really jump out there in front of the public when no one thought it would work. Now Rush has his own deal, but generally people have long ago hardened into whether they’ll listen to him or not, so he wasn’t in position to inspire a new wave of people becoming politically active for the first time. Neither was anyone else that I know of – they were all either pigeonholed or playing it safe. But Beck started screaming like a man on fire at the same time that this movement began catching on fire – he’s the man of the hour, whether we like it or not. Like any force of nature, it’s pointless to fight it, and better just to ride the wave and be ready to jump off when it plays out and shifts to someone else – which will happen, sooner or later. (Just as on the other side of the coin, the Obama wave which swept the country a year ago is petering out as we watch)
I’m reminded of a line from a movie (I think it was Soap) where someone is complaining that a star should be fired because she’s, well, crazy. The reply from the producer, slightly paraphrased, applies to Beck:
“Crazy? Of course he’s crazy!!! That’s what people pay to see!!! Look at me, I’m normal, I go to work, I go home at night, I never yell or carry on – do you see people lining up around the block paying to look at me? Hell no!!! Normal is what they got at home already – Crazy is what they want!!!!”
Glen Beck is in the libertarian mode of Ron Paul I think. Is he over the top, yes, but he is getting heard, why? Because he is over the top.
ACORN, SUEI, Van Jones and others are a big worry for a Democratic Republic and our financial foundation, capitalism. It appears, Beck is building the case, that they have an intimate relationship to Obama and an inside track (maybe even wrote the legislation we are and have voted on). I think he is exposing the underbelly of American politics and that is a good thing.
“You lie”, got heard around the world, Glen Beck is too.
I agree that Glenn Beck has been able to get the information out about people who are exposing corruption. And I think that is awesome! We definitely needed an outlet on MSM to spread this information. But I also agree with my dad, stick to the exposing part and not the patronizing part.
I there are many people who need to revisit values. But I don’t really think that Beck’s audience is among them. We know all about the values that he lists. And most of us incorporate them into our lives already. So its unnecessary.
What he should do is use these 12 values and 9 principles as an EXAMPLE. He should say “these are MY 12 values and 9 principles. I think it would be beneficial if everyone thought about and created a list of their OWN 12 values and 9 principles that they follow. And they should encourage their friends and families to do the same and be examples and role models for other people.”
I don’t need him to tell me what 12 values and 9 principles to believe in and live my life by. I’m a big girl! I can do it all by myself.
P.S. Dad if you are going to use “Bitchin” make sure you take the “g” off or you sound like the parent trying to be cool. 🙂
DJ,
We was using Bitching long before you folks dropped the ‘g’!
How does one spell that in txt?
I’m not the person to ask about texting lingo…I spell everything out. You will want to ask your son.
I would, if I could txt the q?
AJStrata
I usually prefer the more serious, positive, and calm voices out there. But, I actually like Beck. He is a breathe of fresh air in so many ways. He is expressing his views in the 9/12 project….it is just one voice.
However, I trully respect that he has given the biggest voice to the tea party movement. I don’t mean “him” either. I mean the exposure and voices of all those tea party people across the nation. I also think he has his finger on the pulse of what this movement is about.
I wouldn’t knock him too much, AJ…..his ratings keep climbing. He is now beating Hannity in the ratings more and more…..and not too far behind O’Reilly. I bet he overtakes O’Reilly eventually.
His presentation is a bit over-dramatic. Easy to see why some can’t stomache him. But, my spouse, who is not even political watches two shows on a regular basis:
O’Reilly
Beck
Beck has something to offer a lot of people. But, don’t worry….he is not the “voice” of “we the people”. He is clearly “one voice” though.
Frogg1,
My only concern is he becomes the hero of the ‘true conservatives’ on the far right and then repulses the moderates required to dump the Dems from power.
It’s easy to win the ratings war for the far right base, it means nothing nationally.
Like we need another round of that mess!
My gut feeling is that he changed his format in order to lead to or reveal something huge. This is based on my observation over the last few months of watching him.
Glenn continues to remind us that this is not for him and keeps telling us that it is up to us to do something more than complacency. Nothing was working to get the American Public slightly more interested in politics than complacency.
I understand that not all Americans need to hear the principles and values like DJ and myself but I find it hard to believe the lack of education on principles and valuse to be common in the American Public.
After all, the American Public isn’t objecting to Charlie Rangel, continue to re-elect the corrupted politicians like Barney Frank, Chris Dodd, Jack Murtha.
They were indoctrinated through the school system to embrace moral relativism.
Perhaps, we DO need Glenn Beck to teach us. Whatever works, I’ll accept it for now.
Check Powerline blog. Another video will be released on Glenn Beck’s show and this one is supposed to be explosive.
“bitchin” – LOL! I think the last time I heard that in context would have been something like “Wow, that Boss 302 Mustang with the police interceptor heads is Bitchin, man”!!!
But I am really looking forward to being able to mine this decade for a long time to come. For example, I see myself in a few decades (no really, I got some good years left) standing on the front porch of the retirement home, banging my cane and saying:
“Why, let me tell you somethin, I remember back in Ought Nine, when that Obammy thought he was somethin’ hot, why we showed him a thing or two!!! Why, you young kids today don’t know nothin, I tell you, you got it too easy, I say!!! (now where’d I put my teeth?)
yep, I got it all planned out.
I watch Glenn Beck everyday. I listen to Rush everyday. I read AJ Strata everyday among many others.
Like many distinct personalities in the media, I think you have to watch them more than a few times to know who they are. Glenn Beck, imho, is about Power to the People, not himself. If you just watch a small blip of him, you won’t know that, imho.
He brings in people who have done excellent research on very important subjects as well. Like him or not he is getting many, many people to pay attention to him. And I like it that he has been through tough times and come out stronger, it appears to me.
He is but one of many, imho. who are speaking out for America. 🙂
ivehadit,
like I said, I know I would be impressed by those who follow him without question.
There is just something wrong with his delivery which defeats his accomplishments.
Beck suffers from Rush syndrome. It is very hard to do bombastic and outrageous. Rush has a unique talent, a gift to be a bomb thrower without it blowing up in his face.
Hannity used to and the last few times I’ve caught his show he has been tame. O’Reilly used to be my favorite until he caught Rush syndrome.
There must be some media consultant out there who tells these people if you want to be big like Rush you have to be like Rush. Bad advice.
While we were in D.C. at the march and rally, we were taping Beck’s 2 hour show Saturday back home on our DVR. Hubby and I watched about 30 mins. of it so far but had to turn it off. We are not regular Beck watchers though we truly appreciate what he made possible for so many of us on 9/12. In interviewing 2 good conservative Republicans, DeMint and Pence, he starting talking about himself and his alcoholism. This was shockingly unprofessional in our opinion when interviewing 2 Congressman who actually are greatly respected by us Tea Partiers (we respect few Congresscritters). DeMint and Pence needed to be allowed to speak. We actually DO want to hear THEM.
Beck does good work but seems consumed with self-promotion; during an event like the 912 Project march and rally, that is just wrong. When I listened to Rush’s opening monologue yesterday, he also pointedly criticized those who were stating that this movement and the march/rally had nothing to do with politics, left/right, Dem/Republican. Beck started Saturday’s show with this point, with which (before ever hearing Rush say it) we totally disagreed. While everyone who was there was fed up with Congress and the administration, it is just silly and incorrect to state that the majority of folks involved are not conservative or conservative-leaning libertarians, including we former lifelong lefties (plenty of our type were there also). I think Rush was targeting Beck in his criticisms. I’m a huge fan of Mark Levin, also, and I’m positive he’s been making veiled cracks at Beck as well, over the past months. After watching Beck’s show a number of times and this display on TV during the rally Saturday, I understand why.
I agree basically with ivehadit just above. I watch Beck most days, some of his stuff I don’t like, but I like what he’s doing.
I don’t understand why you, AJ, want to deny him credit for 912. In my opinion, having watched him regularly since he came to Fox, he was the driving force behind the Washington demonstrations being organized 6 months ago. But anyhow, he is causing things to happen in exposing the bad people in the admin. Nobody was listening til Beck started saying it.
You have to watch him for more than 5 minutes to really know what he’s about. He’s certainly not ‘right wing’ and he doesn’t claim to be. He was just as sick of the bad things he thought Bush did as he is of Obama. I personally stuck with Bush through thick and thin even though I now realize that his tremendous unpopularity is largely responsible for the election of Obama.
Bush was not fiscally conservative enough, but Obama wants to totally blow spending off the charts, I feel deliberately, to bankrupt the country and I believe he is determined to do it for ‘his’ greater good (not the country’s) even if it means he is a one term president, because he would end up even more powerful(outside the government).
Somebody has to expose this mess. Others may have been ‘exposing’ the bozos, but nobody was listening. Now they are.
Watch Beck for more than 5 minutes and I think you will have a somewhat different opinion. I’m surprised you had to search so hard for his 9 and 12, I’ve seen them several times on his show.
Fair enough, AJ! Imho, variety is the spice of life. Glad *you* are here! 🙂