It's pretty clear, to people who are rational, that Glenn Beck is crazy. He truly believes the crap he is peddling, and that's the reason he can sell it. Historically, leaders have always conviction in common, regardless of their cause or the debatable sanity of said cause. Leaders come in all shapes and sizes; from your playground bully, to the local PTA, to the crazy bastard with his own show on Fox, regardless of what you lead, if you lead, SOMEONE will follow you.
Who do we want our leaders to be (most of us)? Most basically a "good" leader would ideally be someone stable, someone of sound mind and emotional health,- qualities which would make them reliable and reasonable people. So who is this leader, Glenn Beck, that anyone should follow him?
With a striking list of tragedies in his biography: mother and brother committed suicide, losing another sibling to a heart attack, school dropout, divorce due to struggle with substance abuse, a self-described recovering alcoholic, and a daughter with cerebral palsy, we see high evidence for the emotional instability we all know drives this "phenomenon" and the fanatics it excites. Clinically speaking, the guy's very likely a nut case.
We all have demons. We all have issues. But we are not all crazy. We all know crazy people, though,- people who don't operate in reality, people who've never dealt with their demons, people who have a LOT of demons.
Glenn Beck is one of those people, but sadly, inexplicably, this crazy guy has been given a voice. And his voice, like his wing-nut conviction, resonates with other like souls and excites the dangers of the lunatic fringe. Does everyone deserve to be heard? How long should Chicken Little stay on the air? Until there is another Oklahoma bombing? We lock up people for crimes against society. Isn't exciting violent rebellion a crime against society? I'm a firm believer in free speech, but I also think that to earn the right to have free speech, you have an obligation for that speech to be responsible.