TAKE AWAY THE CHALKBOARD
Glenn Beck is dangerous, argues Media Matters' Eric Boehlert in The Huffington Post. Since 2009, the Fox News host has used his bully pulpit to foment fears of a "nefarious cabal" of progressive organizations that are supposedly "determined to destroy democracy in America."
Earlier this month, Beck's rabble-rousing rhetoric led Byron Williams, a "government-hating, gun-toting nut," to stock a pickup truck with guns and ammo, and set off on a crusade to "open fire" at the offices of the Tides Foundation, a California non-profit. Fortunately, Williams was pulled over by the state police en route. But if Beck's "unequivocal" calls for a right-wing insurrection aren't quickly silenced, says Boehlert, it's only a matter of time before innocent blood is spilled. An excerpt:
The sad truth is we're going to see more like Byron Williams. We're going to see more attempts at vigilante violence during the Age of Obama simply because the right-wing media, led by Beck, promoted on FOX VIEWS, NOT NEWS, continue to gleefully (albeit irresponsibly) stoke dangerous fires with the kind of relentlessly incendiary rhetoric that has no match in terms of modern day, mainstream use in American politics or media....
NEW YORK TIMES PROFILE
According to a new profile, Beck is terrified that one of his listeners will "do something stupid." Just weeks after Glenn Beck's enormous 8/28 rally in Washington, D.C, the New York Times has published an 8,000-word profile of the Fox News host. Writer Mark Leibovich followed Beck around for several weeks, speaking to his fans and detractors, and interviewing him several times. What Leibovich reveals, says Chris Good at The Atlantic, is "key to understanding what Beck is all about."
Many people at Fox News are embarrassed by Beck. Even though Beck is probably Fox News' biggest name right now, his relations with the network are frayed, discovers Leibovich. Fox News boss Roger Ailes is reportedly displeased at Beck's continuous "hawking of his non-Fox ventures" on air, and feels he "does not fully appreciate the degree to which Fox News has made him the sensation he has become." Beck's name tends to provoke "either a sigh or an eyeroll" when mentioned to Fox reporters and staff members. A precipitous fall in his show's ratings, and a boycott by 296 former advertisers haven't helped.
On his TV show, Beck invokes Hitler roughly 9 times a month . Beck's rhetoric is full of "Nazi, Hitler, and Holocaust comparisons," says Leibovitch. How full? The writer quotes a forthcoming book byWashington Post writer Dana Milbank that has discovered "in the first 14 months of Beck’s Fox News show, Beck and his guests mentioned fascism 172 times, Nazis 134 times, Hitler 115 times, the Holocaust 58 times, and Joseph Goebbels eight times."
While such comparisons "inevitably offend a lot of people," writes Leibovich, "Beck seems not to care." Some suspect he is either an agitator of sorts against the media much of which is owned or managed by those who are Jewish or he is a closet Nazi.
BAILED ON YALE
The conservative firebrand has founded his own online university, despite never having received a college degree. But that could have been different, says Leibovich. Beck enrolled at Yale when he was in his early 30s, on the back of a recommendation from alumnus Sen. Joe Lieberman, but quickly dropped out. Lieberman, how did he get involved with Beck? He admits to spending "more time trying to find a parking space" than studying. Truly spoken by a first semester flunkout.
His art imitates his life. Leibovich pays a visit to Mercury Studios, from which Beck broadcasts his daily radio show and plans his media operations. The Times writer pays particular attention to the art on its walls. Portraits of Orson Welles, Ronald Reagan, and Walt Disney vie for space with a "massive red-and-blue 'Capitalism' poster ... hand-painted by Beck" himself.
The offices "evoke the self-image of a multimedia entrepreneur and would-be titan," writes Leibovich. In the broadcaster's own office, a "yellowed copy of the Boston Post" announcing Woodrow Wilson's death is displayed on the wall. Beck is no fan of the "father of the Progressive Era" — he is quoted saying, "I hate him ... I hate that guy."
He keeps stored food — but doesn't have a bunker. Beck is often teased for his dire prophecies that society is unraveling, says Leibovich. The Fox News host even makes reference to a personal "bunker." But there is no such hidey-hole, Beck reveals in the article. He does keep a "great deal of food in reserve," but insists this is a "tenet of his Mormon faith ... for when tough times come." Asked if he is engaged in survival training, he replies: "No. Should I be? Maybe."
WAR WITH HIMSELF
The central conflict within Beck, says Leibovich, is whether he should be "the face of Honor Restored" or "the voice of a Great American Freakout." He wrote a letter to fellow conservative Sarah Palin recently asking if he was "doing more harm or more good. I don't know any more." Friends say he is terrified of one of his listeners "doing something stupid."
He often wears a bulletproof vest, and wants to install a 6-foot barrier around his Connecticut estate. "He is fragile, on the edge," concludes Leibovich. "There is no template for him or where he is headed.
GLENN BECK UNIVERSITY
In the latest attempt to make more money and power than Rush Limbaugh, Fox News Anal-ist Glen Beck once again is making a strong push to convert the world to his level of thinking. Only he will be doing the thinking and you will be privileged to attend these sacred offerings by paying the paltry sum of 75 or so dollars per year. Beck's chalkboard scribbling, and reading suggestions, his Fox News broadcasts seem like University lectures. He loves that limelight… and the money.
It will be a series of online lectures and discussions which promises to "explore the concepts of Faith, Hope and Charity and show you how they influence America's past, her present and most importantly her future."
The "University," which we call “ Beck State” does refer to his state of mind is complete with a Crest symbolically and promises to be hung in a very conspicuous place. One of the suggestions was to place it over the door to the men’s room on the second tier at Daytona’s famous racetrack. If you have been their you know what it's like.
TRI-CORNERED HATS ON SQUARE HEADS
His courses may be varied and subject to his whim thus we might see as suggested by Mother Earth "Semantics of Tri-cornered Hats"; "Psych 301: Paranoia as Therapeutic Alternative"; and "Underwater Conspiracy Weaving." We had suggested his excellent treatise “Mental Masturbation As A Cure for Complacency in Government”, or “How I Spend My Time Whizzing On OZ”.
Scott Jaschik at Inside Higher Education, writes Beck has signed up at least one "traditional academic" — Louisiana State University political science professor James R. Stoner, who brings both "strong scholarly and conservative credentials" to the course. The laughing that followed was deafening.
THE ACADEMIA TURNED MACADEMIAS
Nuts, his crew is composed of a few nuts so as a public service we are explaining the value of edible nuts versus nut cases. Nuts are one of the best plant sources of protein. They are very high in dietary fiber, phytonutrients and antioxidants such as Vitamin E and selenium. Nuts are also high in plant sterols and fat - but mostly monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats. This has nothing to do with the staff nuts at Beck U.
Its faculty features such luminaries: as a free-market economist whose degree is in psychology. A Texas Republican Party bigwig (has to be a friend of George the giant killer) who hates, hates, HATES church-state separation. and lastly the schools Latin motto;
"Tyrannis Seditio, Obsequium Eng; "Revolution against tyrants, submission to God".
FOLLOW THE MONEY
Beck's media company, Mercury Radio Arts, which earned an eight-figure profit last year, according to Forbes. $32 million Total profit made by Glenn Beck's Mercury Radio Arts media company in the past 12 months. He has a staff of 34. He has authored, (might be construed as with most celebrities ”co-authored, plagiarized, made up, concocted, or straw purchased) seven books since 2007.
It will cost you $66 Cost of a two-year subscription to Glenn Beck's Fusion magazine (motto: "Enlighten and entertain") which nets $13 million annually. revenue from book and magazine sales. It will cost you $55.00 to join "Insider Extreme" subscription to GlennBeck.com (including access to "exclusive documentaries") $50 million dollars is the sum guaranteed to Beck by his 5-year contract with Premier Radio Networks. He makes Kevin Trudeau's jailhouse scams look clean by comparison.
GLENN BECK’S FAVORITE TARGETS
James Cameron
Rep. Anthony Weiner
Liz Curtis
Bruce Kelly
PETA
Joe Ruddner
Daniel Ruth
The Terry Schiavo right-to-die debate,
Al Franken
...
The GOLD SCANDAL
Conservative talk show host Glenn Beck has come under fire from media watchdogs and his employer, Fox News, for simultaneously endorsing gold as an investment on his TV show and pitching gold coins for an advertiser,