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Beck's Show Weathers Blow
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Advertisers have deserted The Glenn Beck Show in droves, outraged by his race-baiting remarks. But the exodus won’t slow the conservative juggernaut.
Progressive blogs have been atwitter this week with the news that Glenn Beck's program is hemorrhaging advertisers—thanks to the host's infamous comment that President Obama is a “racist” who harbors a “deep-seated hatred for white people."
The ad exodus was sparked by an anti-Beck campaign led by an activist group called Color of Change, an Internet-based organization dedicated to amplifying black America’s voice in the political arena. The group circulated a petition asking companies to withdraw their ads from the program; thus far, it’s garnered more than 280,000 signatures. To date, the group says 80 companies have dropped their ads from the show—many of which explicitly condemned Beck in announcing their decision. Among them: Procter & Gamble, Geico, and AT&T. Recently, several sponsors of Beck’s broadcasts in England have joined the campaign—including Tanqueray and supermarket giant Waitrose.
Fox is unlikely to worry too much about Beck’s viability unless or until he starts losing viewers as well. “If there are high ratings and it’s a good buy, some advertisers will migrate toward the program anyway,” Marquette University Professor Lawrence Soley said.
The campaign’s success has stirred hopes in liberal circles that it might actually might cripple Beck commercially—and force his show off the air. Huffington Post blogger Ben Cohen predicted Monday that Rupert Murdoch “is probably crunching numbers to see how viable Beck is to Fox News in the long run” and would eventually decide to cut him loose.
But several media experts interviewed by The Daily Beast suggest that the Beck boycott is unlikely to do much long-term damage. Nor does Color of Change expect Beck to be fired thanks to its campaign—at least not any time soon.
The principal reason: Beck's gangbuster ratings. They've only gone up since the controversy began in August, as his ultraconservative audience, spurred by encouragement from fans like Sarah Palin, has rallied to his defense. A similar boycott campaign against Dr. Laura Schlesinger—for remarks seen as hostile to gays—succeeded in scaring off advertisers and eventually knocked her off the air in 2000. But the radio host's TV show was already suffering from weak numbers. In another case with similarities, Rush Limbaugh was forced to resign his ESPN commentator post in 2003 after racial remarks about football star Donovan McNabb. But unlike ESPN, which caters to an ethnically and politically diverse audience of sports lovers, Fox News has a much more homogenous audience, with few liberals who might threaten to change the channel over Beck's controversial words.
According to Marquette University Professor Lawrence Soley, author of Advertising Censorship, Fox is unlikely to worry too much about Beck’s viability unless or until he starts losing viewers as well.
“If there are high ratings and it's a good buy, some advertisers will migrate toward the program anyway,” Soley said. “And if it is a highly rated program, some of the advertisers who withdrew probably will contemplate going back at a future time and don't want to burn their bridges with Fox.”
Still, observers are watching to see whether Beck’s show starts attracting a different sort of advertiser. As Gawker recently noted, Beck's sponsors lately are not exactly the Fortune 500 types, featuring instead such businesses as Extenze penis-enlargement pills.
“If you don’t see the GMs and the Sprints and the big movie companies [advertising on Beck] and you see Cash4Gold.com instead, that's bad. But with Fox you can carry a lot, especially if the numbers are up,” MediaPost Communications' West Coast editor, Wayne Friedman, told The Daily Beast.
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Paul Schrodt is a writer living in New York City. He has contributed to New York magazine, Radar, and Esquire.com.
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As vice chairman of Public Strategies and president of Maverick Media, Mark McKinnon has helped meet strategic challenges for candidates, corporations and causes, including George W. Bush, John McCain, Governor Ann Richards, Charlie Wilson, Lance Armstrong, and Bono. McKinnon is co-chair of Arts & Labs, a collaboration between technology and creative communities that have embraced today's rich Internet environment to deliver innovative and creative digital products to consumers.
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AzureTexan
The headline on the homepage - "Beck Weathers Blows" - is really, really unfortunate. There's a guy in Dallas named Beck Weathers, famous for his role in the 1996 climbing disaster on Mt. Everest. The dude lost his nose and four fingers to frostbite, so you, dear Beast, might want remove the salt from the wound.
fred88
Why no mention of Van Jones's relationship with Color of Change? Beck attacked Van Jones long before Color of Change boycott even started....
johnnyapplecd
"In the meantime, Beck can do damage of his own. Just ask Van Jones, Color of Change's co-founder...."
Last paragraph in the story, just above these comments.
greengirl
I will not support, with my money, any company advertising on Glenn Beck's frighteningly insane tv show. Try bringing America together, not tearing her apart. The time for that has passed.
rstacyusa
What Glen is talking about is true asshole. Do your research in Mr. Obama's background. The company he kept in college, after college right up to the elections speaks volumes of his Marxist and racist agenda. Are you an over educated fool or just a freaking idiot?
dandelion28
It's always amusing when Glenn Beck fans proclaim that he tells the truth ... then use his "facts" as supporting evidence.
co-intheknow
And rstacyusa does the BecKKK-like classy thing by calling another poster an asshole. Maybe stacy has a crush on Glenny-poo and can't stand someone criticizing his addled antics.
Stay KKKlassy, stacy
idicula1979
It is unfourtunate in a country like ours you could hide behind free speech and just lie your ass off, but fear is innate to all of us and people like Glenn Beck apeal to that aspect of our character. I like you can't stand Glenn Beck and his hate mongering but people like him are sadly hear to stay.
Granite
It doesn't matter. Even with no advertisers Fox would run Bonkers Beck because the wingnuts love him!
The only hope is an across-the-board boycott all of Fox's advertisers.
Campbell62
Glenn Beck is telling the truth. It may not be the truth you want to hear, but the administration has yet to prove him wrong. Or even to challenge him. Today Beck had a great show on the history that most of us never learned. It was shocking. Any Che t-shirts around your house....the truth may shock you!
greengirl
Correction, there never was a time for deliberately tearing apart the country.
Ottoheinz
Beck is a "morning zoo" personality...the kind of guy that is employed to get the ignorant motivated. Whether it's to drive to work or to spread lies, there is a minority of the masses that will advocate his positions.
Hi Diamondgirl! What was your old username?
This comment has been removed by The Daily Beast's editors.
dandelion28
Yes, I'd much rather put the fate of my country in the hands of "regular" folks than those who are educated, enlightened or exceptional.
bryanlevi
Making Van Jones quit was a cowardly move by the Administration. I wish they would show some b**ls.
johnnyapplecd
Amen.
idicula1979
If their is one thing wrong with this adminstration is it does not have any balls. The president seems to me to be a man of conviction but evry time the republicans push-back this administration (along with the demaocrats) seems to always cave in.
Mauiboy
Just wait until health care is passed. Notice that there aren't any stories about Bush administration abuses. After the passage of health care, the long swords will come out. Wait and see.
RomeoHotel
By "show some b**ls", we must assume you mean that Obama should have FIRED Van Jones rather than just "making him quit". Oh well, he has another chance now with confessed child-sex advocate and administration "Safe Schools Czar" (omg) Kevin Jennings -- although I hope he won't show them off literally. I think Jennings would like that.
MOZART
The interesting fact is that the swinging dicks of the Republican Party, men who pride themselves on being able to confront Iran, Russia, and North Korea eyeball to eyeball, are
(1) afraid of contradicting the crazies within their own party,
(2) don't think Limbaugh and Beck are crazy, or
(3) think that if they get into office, the crazies won't matter.
In point of fact, the whackjobs are no longer the fringe of the GOP. They're the center. This dynamic has been in the works for quite a while and a lot of it is "grass roots."
It started when Reagan threw the door open to the religious right, when bible humpers started infiltrating local school boards, and when big dollar televangelists started founding their own "universities" and cranking out born again lawyers.
If a person seriously believes that Jesus and the angels are about to pop out of the clouds and set planet Earth on fire, the notion that Barak Obama is really a Muslim from Kenya kind of pales in comparison doesn't it?
The Lunatic Fringe is alive and well. The rest of us need to take these terrorists very seriously.
Brendino
Quite a rant.
I do hope that you realize that not all Christians are in bed with the GOP and that Limbaugh, Beck, Hannity, and Coulter are NOT torch-bearers of my faith.
There are a ton of problems with the Republican party, but I think that the pro-life lobby and other 'Christian' causes aren't the cause of all of the vitriol that comes off of these networks.
scott1607
It's funny, everyone condemns moderate Muslims for not standing up and publicy denouncing the radical fundamentalists. Why aren't the moderate Christians in this country making any major effort to denounce the Republican "Christians" who are making themselves the defacto representatives of Christianity?
co-intheknow
@scott1607 - bingo! Where are all of the 'good' Christians standing up to the likes of BecKKK, O'Reilly, Hannity (Sunday church, my ass), Limbaugh and even that psycho pastor praying for Obama's death?
I want to know what 'their' bible says differently from mine that allows them to worship false gods (all of the crazies listed above); gives them a pass on helping the poor and downtrodden, etc?
Maybe it's a super fightin' rightie version of the bible that can only be translated by their dog-whistle words.
donquijoterocket
OK whatever you say, but for coming from a bunch that practically sheds beckian tears in demanding tht each and every Democrat or liberal apologize for any remark by anyone the wingnuts deem as belonging to one of those two groups which some wingnut or the other finds offensive or insulting, I've not seen any prominent wingnut take on either the gopers or any of the individuals you name at least not without an abject apology following usually within hours.
joncarl
the reason the republican pussies find it so easy to confront foreign countries is because they are sending OTHER peoples kids to die, for the most part.,..
its easy to start a fight when someone else handles it for you...
Olbermannisstupid
Speaking of other people's fights aside from Bush 41 and 43, lets look at Dems sending innocent kids in for other people's fights, Can we say LBJ? You liberal hypocrite.
Olbermannisstupid
Speaking of the lunatic fringe, why don't you mention leftist close-minded bigots such as Keith Olbermann at MSNBC? You see that is the trouble with you left wing zealots. You don't recognize the hypocrisy, bigotry, and lunacy within your own ranks. How many idiotic things does Olbermann say in a minute? 60
Embers
ad hom attack. Do a google search for ad hominem attack, Olbermannisstuupid. Any comment filled with phrases such as "you left wing zealots" or "you liberals" is illogical.
AusLib
Care to put forth any examples?
Or do you want to continue trolling?
dandelion28
"You don't recognize the hypocrisy, bigotry, and lunacy within your own ranks."
Wait a minute, it's liberals who aren't recognizing hypocrisy?
SeaTheStars09
References to Glenn Beck continue to use the terms "conservative" and "Republican". As one who has recently began to watch the Beck show, it appears to me that in many ways and on numerous occasions GB has eschewed both labels.
Anyone who's listened carefully to the GB would long have discovered that Glenn is philosophically libertarian & NOT registered Republican nor Democrat..
This of course, does little to diminish the magnitude nor intensity of anti-Beck criticisms. But honest debate requires accuracy to be truly meaningful.
dreaday19
Beck's socially conservative ideals are FAR from libertarian.
meglon978
Libertarians are people who believe personal liberties are the paramount issue. If all the asshat republicans who called themselves libertarians actually were, there would be no debate on abortion or gay marriage, as both of those are personal liberties with no need for government intervention.
Unfortunately, most libertarians now are simply republicans who are too cowardly to admit they voted for Bush twice.
RomeoHotel
The trouble with the radical Leftists that now control the Democratic Party is that they are entirely incapable of empathy -- and irony.
MOZART is a good example, as most normal voters can see that his rant applies far more to his own party than to the GOP.
whipmawhopma
MOZART - I seriously believe that Jesus might just pop out of the clouds and set planet Earth on fire (thus completing Global Warming) but I don't entertain the notion that Barak Obama is really a Muslim from Kenya. I think he's from Hawaii and has had an interesting life so far, and have every hope he continues to do so.
Just between you and me, and everybody here, I have some doubts about people that claim to be Christians and then spend a lot of time condemning people for committing sins that the Bible claims we ALL commit, while at the same time they are committing the same said sins in 'secret' just like their Bible claims they do, while the God they claim to believe in knows about it even as it happens. There's a word for it, but it escapes me. Maybe two words.
A Christian by definition cannot hate other people, because Christ did not hate other people, and Christians are supposed live their lives as it they were Christ himself, which is a lot harder than you might imagine.
Setting aside the sheer horror and injustice of it all it doesn't matter how many 'Christian' people have killed other people in the name of Christ, or burned them as witches or heretics or whatever. These 'Christians' were either all liars, or conned by liars, or making Christ himself to be a liar by putting words in his mouth. Or maybe all three.
Like that whack-job family that shows up at the funerals of American soldiers to shout that the deceased will burn in hell because of America's toleration of gays. A pack of liars who if Christ is exactly who he claimed to be are going to be in for a great shock if indeed there is an afterlife. I almost hate them. I get pissed just thinking about them.
BTW - I really like your music. I got to see the Seattle Symphony do the Requiem live. Fantastic.
scott1607 - Not everybody condemns moderate Muslims for not standing up and publically denouncing radical fundamentalists, because...
a) They have - but they don't have a loud voice here in the USA. No one media outlet sends a reporter to report on an imam who preaches against religious violence any more than will it send a reporter to interview a man who doesn't beat his spouse.
b) The chattering class isn't particularly interested in knowing much anything that moderates of any religious persuasion have to say about anything at all. They seem to be more interested in the loudmouths and self-righteous since it makes for better copy. Us moderates are boring and lack entertainment value, which is what half the MSM seems to be about.
Which is why you don't hear much about what moderate Christians think. But I guess you can read it here...
Limbaugh, Beck, Hannity, and Coulter are bad for America. They are a cancer in the body politic. They are not alone, nor does it seem to be an exclusive property of the Right, though I really don't think they are part of the Right, any more than cancer cells in my right arm would be part of my right arm.
dreaday19
it's called self-righteousness, and it is as un-Christlike as you can get. makes me sick thinking about it.
DNVigerJr
Hilarious! That is why God sent his Son to earth, because he knew that this is the only place where being a good guy would you killed! He knew he could count on Liberal stiff-necked jealous Rabiis to use the Romans to do the job!
Beck, Hannity, Limbaugh, Mark Levin all want small Government, lowest possible taxes, and maximum personal freedoms. If that is considered treasonous, being a "wack job", "wing nut", God help us!
Since when does being a Christian, a religion upon which this Nation was founded, whether a conservative or moderate one make you a bum, a bad American? Love your Neighbor, Don't Steal or Lie, Don't have sex outside of marriage, Don't Shed Innocent Blood...are these bad for America?
Can you see where it is a sad day when a child's life is terminated in the womb because of selfishness, as a method of birth control, when so many childless married couples would give anything to have that child? I am not talking about rape or incest, or when it threatens the life of the mother. As Reagan so perfectly retorted, where are the rights of the unborn child protected?
If Obama's real life story is that he is a natural born citizen contrary to what his own grandmother says, who says she saw him born in Africa, why would he be so reluctant to produce a truly valid birth certificate? You can see mine, my footprints, the hospital, the doctor! If it is important, why the fuss in producing one? He states in his own book that when all is said and done, he is a Muslim. That's not good or bad, just fact. Don't try to soft pedal it, or cover it up.
We have witnessed him humiliate America and put us down, apologize, in spite of the generous supply of blood we have shed for other country's freedoms, and our most generous outpouring of our hard earned tax dollars to other nations in need. Apologize, you say?
Cap and Trade, printing trillions of dollars, hyper inflation, health care reform that includes the platform for health rationing now or in the future, the Government competing with any private industry, putting it out of business, setting the stage for a system that has failed Brittons and Canadians, especially the older folks who really need the help. All these things eventually take away our freedoms, weaken us. Allowing unions to force their organization on members by eliminated the secret ballot, unions that have driven most of our once powerful industries overseas, and brought down our auto industry, is that freedom enlarged?!
Obama's plan for "completely changing America" is to take away our freedoms, make us completely dependent on the almighty government and its rulers over us. There is even a more sinister plot, to weaken us to the extent that we are forced into a one-world government, one-world currency, and complete loss of our sovereignty. Do you think that our forefathers wanted this to happen, fought for this to happen? If believing in the Constitution and the principals of freedom that our forefathers fought for makes me a wing nut, a wacko, then thanks for the compliment. I am in good company! God bless Beck and others courageous enough to speak out, and tell us Emperor Obama has no clothes...something some of his czars may just love!
whipmawhopma
DNVigerJr - Not sure who you're replying to. If it's me, then...
Paragraph # 1 - I suspect God could rely on humanity to murder, via proxy, his son, and it has nothing to do with being Liberal or Conservative. Christ would have been threatening to any religious establishment. Murder is often committed by humans for more minor reasons, some quite silly. Directly connecting Man to God tends to cut out the guys in fancy robes, hence the motive.
Paragraph # 2 - I didn't mention anything as being treasonous. Cancerous, most certainly.
Paragraph # 3 - "Love your Neighbor, Don't Steal or Lie, Don't have sex outside of marriage, Don't Shed Innocent Blood...are these bad for America?"
I didn't say anything to the contrary. I was talking about 'christian' sinners throwing stones at other sinners. But if you yourself are without sin, by all means, feel free to start throwing stones at whatever sinner comes your way. Christ himself endorsed that idea.
Paragraph # 4 - I didn't mention abortion. However, if you want to stop abortion, with whatever restrictions or allowances you want to have put in place, I suggest that you make it immoral in the mind of the public, rather than making it illegal, otherwise it will continue on and on. Much like it already has.
Paragraph # 5 - Fascinating. One would have thought a creditable whistleblower would have already popped up if Obama was truly not a natural born citizen of the United States. I just can't imagine the GOP and the various conservative think tanks not finding someone that knows something, if there is something to know, with their combined resources.
Paragraphs # 6, # 7 and # 8 - You're on your own in starting that conversation. But I will tell you that we've been on the road you're describing, or at least your interpretation of it, for a couple of decades now.
Whatever Obama is doing now, or attempting to do, might speed it up, might slow it down, might turn it around. I really don't know and personally believe that only time will tell, but I do know that I no longer believe it makes much of difference whether or not a Republican or a Democrat is POTUS.
Both seem to be big spenders, and the government grows - because the people ask for more things, the debt grows to pay for these things, the dollar weakens as more are created to be spent, yet even with real wages slipping jobs are shipped overseas to benefit the corporations and their stockholders (disclaimer, I have a 401K and ESPP), the cost of healthcare rises higher than inflation, and our infant mortality rate is still worse than Cuba's.
https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/rankorder/20 91rank.html
Are you yourself a member of Westboro Baptist Church?
elldeen
I think that Beck might take himself out. His lunacy and paranoia could spell the end to his show, if he winds up being hospitalized in a nut ward somewhere!
Olbermannisstupid
Speaking of nut jobs, Keith Olbermann is teetering dangerously close to the line of lunacy.
elldeen
And speaking of nutjobs - it seems that we have a new one on DB! Ugh.
AusLib
Again, examples please?
donquijoterocket
Surely you'll supply us all with examples.
retired-army-1SG
These guys (Beck, Rush, Levin, Church, Hanniety, et.al.) are nothing more than political shock jocks, and should be treated as such. In another time, nearly everyone would recognize them for what they are, but in this manufactured hate environment way too many take these guys seriously. A woman told me the other day that she thought Rush was one of the most intellectual men in America - this from a woman with a MBA. I was shocked...
We can only hope that people wake up before the Beck zombies start prowling the streets looking for blood...
Olbermannisstupid
Speaking of shock jocks, what about the plethera of idiots at MSNPC? Incidentally, MSNPC was no typo. Do you think that Keith Olbermann and Rachel Maddow are objective? If you do then you are in sad shape.
Embers
What the heck are you so on about MSNBC, olberman? Have you been up all night smoking meth and watching MSNBC?
AusLib
Easy to say, harder to prove.
Do you think GB or Bill-O would EVER have anyone like Rick Berman on their show without it descending into a incoherent screaming/crying match?
Didn't think so.
DNVigerJr
Obviously, Sargeant, you learned little in the Army. The left wing said you were pathetic, spit on you, marched against you. I would have hoped you learned something from that. Those whom you listed love the military and the likes of those that wore the uniform you wore.
They called the "shock jocks" in the 1700's Paul Revere, Minutemen, patriots. Maybe before you put on that uniform and assumed a typist or other position, you never took the time to read about those who wore uniforms hand made to fight for the freedoms our current president and congress seem to ignore and want to easily throw away. Did they fight to see our beloved Country take over private industries, owned by every day citizens? Did they fight to see their beloved Country want to punish people who choose by their own free will not to have health insurance? Even throw them in prison for not paying the fine? Shouldn't people have the right to choose whether they want protection or not. When you come to Vegas, does the Government have the right to tell you which number to bet on?
These people you speak of are taking a risk every day of being killed or assasinated for their outspokenness. All those so called nut jobs that assembled in Washington DC, over a million of them, were called names, and yet they were all assembled lawfully, by leaders of Congress. Is that the Country our forefathers fought for?
You don't need an MBA to have good sense, and you don't have to have some sort of label to speak on TV and champion your causes, if allowed. Your buddy, Obama's communications czar says from his own lips, something I would not have heard, if not for Beck, that Government should own and control the airwaves. Is that what our forefathers fought for? I am grateful for the LImbaughs, the Becks, the Hannities, the Mark Levins who have the guts to speak the truth, in the midst of all the left wing chatter that has been the norm from all the controlled speach of the other networks who are always fawning for the left, because the Dems control the FCC, and licensing...duh!
You would have been a torey back in Revolutionary War times, would have called Washington, Revere, Franklin a bunch of zombies, shock jocks, wing nuts. You will be the first to whine when your VA benefits are cut, and you have to be treated at a rat infested hospital, and are told to take pain pills as substitutes for a new hip, knee, or lung. When you are suffering a medical emergency you will be the one to whine when you have to wait for all the illegals to be treated with runny noses, stab wounds from bar fights, or the flu, first. Have fun, Obama man! Big Brother will love your zombie like support and bobbling head, even though you may lose your finally paid for house that you have to abandon for too high utility costs Obama's cap and trade by his own admission will "soar"!
MOZART
Fox is Propaganda - if any of you do not understand that, I feel sorry for your brainwashed soul.
They are what Goebbles and Hitler did to lead a small crazy minority to such disasters that the Fairness in Broadcasting Doctrine ... this was written - so a small, rightwing extremist nutwing party, couldn't "sway" a mislead populous whom live in fear and hate - i.e., FOX. Reagan's gift to the GOP is a cancer on democracy.
The truth bears out - Our government isn't a Zionist cult - although if you watch the GOP and their witch doctors and "use of Patriotism and Religion as "reasons" to ignore the world, history, science and fact - you can understand why real Americans should be concerned.
Any posts supporting Beck/Hannity/Limbaugh/Fox is propaganda from a radical right wing fanaticism that make Bin Laden seem like a saint.
Please see links below:
Conservatizing the Bible - Crunchy Con
Oct 1, 2009 ... The eager young men at Conservapedia are po'd that the Bible might be seen as too liberal. So they've come up with the Wiki-style ...
blog.beliefnet.com/crunchycon/2009/10/conservati...
http://jonswift.blogspot.com/2007/02/conservapedia.html#
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/omni-pr/1002925-conservapedia-folks-rewri te-bible-conservative-ideals.html
Conservapedia Folks to Rewrite Bible to "Conservative Ideals"
This is not a joke... you owe it to yourself to
know what is really going on in this country.
reardongalt
Mozart, I think it might have been better if you stuck with the piano. The opening of his Symphony No. 40 in G minor, the slow movement of his Piano Concerto No. 21 was simply devine.
TomSawyer
Mozart, for God's sake read a little history. Hitler and Goebbels did not ...Goebbles(sic) and Hitler did to lead a small crazy minority to such disasters... they led a willing nation into catastrophe. You couldn't find a single Nazi the day after Germany surrendered, but they sure as hell were filling up stadiums in the '30s. The only other peoples who have come close to the absolute, snakebit insanity of the Germans then were the Rwandans of the 1990s.
A firebrand speaker like Glenn Beck is not going to lead us down the path to totalitarianism and racial slaughter. He's a guy who is very well compensated for his ability to bring in advertisers and sell products. Period. If big radio ratings equaled behavior changes then we would all be assholes like Howard Stern.
Take a deep breath. You won the election. Relax and enjoy it. Let the Republicans enjoy acting bug-fuck crazy for the next four years, just like you got to for the last eight years.
progressiveaggressive
"they led a willing nation into catastrophe'
Hitler never got more than 27% of the vote.
Hitler did manage to twist nationalistic fervor into a holocaust, by using a SMALL but vicious minority to terrify others, to keep them from standing up and fighting back.
Very similar to what the right wing machine is doing today.
TomSawyer
Sorry progressiveaggressive but you're wrong. You woke up in May 1945 and couldn't find a single Nazi. The nation was behind Hitler and his policies. Serious opposition did not crop up until after the war was clearly lost. The Germans of that era were, thank God, a unique people. They wanted to go Hitler's way. The "...SMALL but vicious minority..." is the bandage history has placed over Germany's Nazi past. Sorry, but nothing like today.
whipmawhopma
progressiveaggressive - Although lacking a majority Hitler and the Nazis found willing partners in some of the other political parties (and with the military leadership) who were quite willing to work with the Nazis to restore law and order to Germany, contain the Communists, protect industry, strengthen the military, make Germany strong, and so on.
Germany didn't have a two party system like we do. It was parliamentary, so having a majority in order to rule was not a requirement, as long as a coalition government could be put together.
And as TomSawyer said above, 'the Germans of that era were, thank God, a unique people', which is not to say something like it can't happen here, though it would most likely require nuclear war or a natural disaster like the Yellowstone supervolcano going off. Germany in the 1920's and 1930's was a very iffy place to live.
DNVigerJr
Good one, Sawyer!
dakealo
I believe that the proper role of the state is negative, not positive; defensive, not aggressive. It is to protect, not to provide; for if the state is granted the power to provide for some, it must also be able to take from others, and that always leads to legalized plunder and loss of freedom. If the state can give us everything we want, it also must be powerful enough to take from us everything we have. Therefore, the proper function of the state is to protect the lives, liberty, and property of its citizens, nothing more. That state is best which governs least.
Will someone please tell me why anyone who seemingly has the ability to read and really cares about our country can subscribe to this nonsense? The Fabians are winning their war to gradually transform the world into a socialist state to the chagrin of all liberty-loving peoples of the world.
Why would anyone want a political system that restricts personal freedom instead of enhancing it; denounces personal responsibility instead of promoting it; surrenders personal sovereignty instead of honoring it; attacks the philosophical foundations of liberty instead of defending them; encourages government dependency instead of self-reliance; and undermines the character of the people by making them wards of the state?
The obvious answer is the power it gives them to corrupt the system, bleed the lower and middle-class through the hidden tax of inflation and control the minions. Any debate we may have that doesn't begin with and end with abolishing the Federal Reserve is a waste of time. Everything else is just manufactured distractions.
It is very apparent that the goal of people like Mr. Rucker and his organization, political elites, as well as the so-called Black leadership in our country, is not the unity of Americans to fight against the corrupt American government. Rather their goal is to gain the power to control the government in order to oppress everyone else. As well as to get all the privileges government can freely provide to them. That is what the unions, ACORN, etc. and the Black Power movement has always been about. The Black expectation was that Obama was going to do just that. Obama actually did make those promises to get the black vote. There is a racial divide, for sure, and it is coming from the Black leadership. Not all blacks support this movement, but the real black power is in those very influential leaders. They have been fed on and have been feeding victimhood and white hatred among blacks for generations. Even the most intelligent and rational black writers discussing the issue are espousing racism,even while admitting Obama deserves the criticism he is getting. Pure hypocrisy, but a good example of racial brain-washing.
Educate yourself; stay focused, don't let the statists devide us. We are in this mess together and only the truth will unite us.
Seek it @ freedom-force.org
DNVigerJr
Eloquently said! Hope many will read and understand your well-stated comments and wisdom!
I am not a racist, nor do I judge people by their color, but it seems interesting that all the programs Obama is commiting our cash and the cash of our children and grandchildren to seem to favor the blacks more than any other group of people in America.
What is really sad is that the Government's obsession with entitlement programs for the inner city folks, to buy votes and power, is only enslaving those people there even more. They have gone from one slavery to another. Too much welfare just makes people so dependent and lazy that they become paralyzed emotionally, less sufficient, less free, less confident, having less personal initiative, ambition, and seem to stay right where they are, or worse, and few ever rise up out of that and take the reigns of their own lives and stewardship over their future.
DNVigerJr
OH, Mr Mozart, you favor a "fairness doctrine" that takes anyone off the air that the Government doesn't like, and you insinuate Beck and the boys are Nazis? That's a good one! You need to pack your bags and get all of your wishes to come true by moving to lovely Communist China. Chavez would probably love you, too! Sounds like your life would be so heavenly there. The perfect place for lazy people, who like to be told everything to do. I understand, there are a lot of people in the world who hate to make decisions for themselves, who hate to be responsible, who just love being taken care of, bossed around. If you are single, I know there must be some heck-pecking women who would love to have you to boss around! Go for it, comrade Chung King!
reardongalt
You would have thought the Left would have learned its lesson with Rush. Everytime they try to attack him it blows up in their face.
The Left is clueless as the day is long. They will never defeat either Beck or Rush.
There are more of us them them.
foodmike
Actually, there aren't. More than twice as many people have a negative view of Rush, than have a positive view, and most of them have a strongly negative view:
http://www.fivethirtyeight.com/search/label/beck
reardongalt
Mike, you did a two-step. What I'm saying is Rush's audience gets bigger when he's attacked. The people with a negative view are irrelevent to his bottom line. It's like saying Ford has to worry about how many people don't like Fords. Nobody runs a business like that, they cater to those that do like them, and try to make that grow by bits and pieces.
Well, everytime Carville, Begalia, and Podesto come up with a plan to skewer Rush, Rush's audience grows.
The bottom line.
johnnyapplecd
Rear dong is right. Most Conservatives are much more motivated by their opposition to progress than by their support of Conservatism. This is why American politics always ends up moving in favor of progress-- if the Conservatives manage to get 12 years of unfettered majority rule, all of their ideas involve some permutation of turning back the clock, and once people realize how much that fucks up everything good about America, even some conservative voters eventually vote for libs and moderates to get the country back on track again.
America--233 years of moving forward.
urbancowgirl
reardon - everyone slows down to check out the car crash on the side of the road. Just because ratings grow when there's controversy, doesn't mean all the listeners are drinking the kool-aid. I, for one, am a liberal who enjoys getting my daily laugh from glenn beck, though the effect his words are having on certain Americans really isn't all that funny.
Desertpenguin
I can't think of anything more entertaining lately, than watching the slow painful death of right-wing America.
The lies, ignorance, blame, and insults are the death throes of a wounded, writhing monster.
I'll be wearing bright colors at your funeral.
Soonchurcher
It still amazes me that liberals can march, malign, protest, call for resignations, etc. and it is seen as pure. As if ordained by God. But let someone take a different position or, God forbid, question their beliefs or motives, and all hell breaks loose! I am not a liberal or conservative, nor am I devoted to Glenn Beck, but what I am is tired of the hypocrisy of the liberal left and the Democratic Party. They are no different from The GOP, they just sing the same song in a different key. So people, the day Glenn Beck is silenced you had better get ready because at some point it will be your turn!
reardongalt
Soon, you are right. And the only conclusion that can be drawn from that is that they are the enemy. Obviously, the enemy doesn't want you to even fight the war. They just want you to do what they want. Regardless of which side you come down on, this is an incontrovertable fact. The two sides are enemies.
It's like: "Give me your money."
When a criminal puts you in that position, they're not really there to talk or negotiate. We need to recognize it for what it is.
Watch out for censorship. That's the canary in the mine.
Olbermannisstupid
Amen. Do you think that MOZART could understand this or is he going to be led along by Keith Olbermann and Rachel Maddow?
johnnyapplecd
wow, you are relly OBSESSED with Olbermann! You must have a crush on him. It's okay, lots of women do. And if you're a man, well, that's okay, too. We liberals love gay people. No judgement.
Embers
I agree, johnnyapple. O-stupid is OBSESSED.
inesison
I had glenn on the other day. I can see how he feels the NEED to use 20 props to explain is "point". He knows his listeners are not smart enough to figure it out so he uses props. He had different currencies, a couple piles of money, baskets, and a bunch of other stuff. If i didn't know better i'd think he was trying to teach a economy class to 3yr olds. When you have to go to such lengths to explain things to your listers your basically saying they're too stupid to get it without using stick figures and flash cards.
Caradog
If you get canned 'cause your show ain't making money, that's not censorship - that's Capitalism. Handing out pamphlets for a cause on a street corner doesn't pay too well - ask Lee Harvey Oswald.
After years of bong hits and Morning Zoos, Beck has found God and learned prevaricate like Pagliacci to make big money - lotta angry folk out there to sell stuff to, and it's aaaaall the fault of this guy Obama. (He's Black. That helps.)
Glenn Beck = Mormon Downey, Jr. This, too, shall pass.
dandelion28
Agreed. Glenn Beck is one phony skinhead "attack" away from obscurity.
BC2009
Glenn Beck is truly one of the biggest idiots on TV today. I could accept him even though I don't necessarily agree with him, if he actually had an intellect. But he doesn't. His knowledge of world affairs is really limited, and he is basically just a big-mouthed bullshitter.
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