My post tonight is written in response to a comment posted below in a previous diary. I had charged (and continue to charge) the nationally syndicated cable TV "news" talk show host, Glenn Beck, with unrestrained and unabashed bigotry.
The video clip that I had posted below drew criticism from one who, like Rick Perry, stands by Glenn Beck.
Cross posted on Texas Kaos.
The Beck supporter demanded that I show proof of Becks' bigotry and unfiltered racism.
At first I thought the Beck supporter was joking because one only has to view the Beck show on FOX cable TV for 10 seconds to understand the obvious. One can also view the you tube clips of Beckian bigotry and racism that pervade the Internet, many of which are uploaded on a vast number of blog sites, including those that shine a bright light on the cable and mainstream media hosts, pundits and their invited guests.
If none of the above could prove my point, I thought, surely Jon Stewart's renditions of the Glenn Beck show should have done the trick.
Wrong.
Jon Stewart cannot help a group that does not do nuance, indirect language or political satire.
We learned from the teabagging hate fests last summer that there are a handful of folks who believe every word coming out of Beck's mouth as if it were the gospel truth.
Of the 18% of the Americans who identify as teabaggers, most are Republicans that claim their main source of information and "news" comes from the FOX cable TV channel, and Glenn Beck.
Today a friend and diarist over at Daily Kos posted a piece that might be helpful to the fierce defenders of Beck speak. It may also provide a glimpse into a deranged far right for those who are unaware of the racist and divisive undertones and not so silent dog whistles that pervade our local, state and national political debates.
Sneak preview:
"The hate is flowing in America"
~ Quoth Glenn Beck, who has no idea how that hatred started, and only sees it when it is possibly aimed at Conservatives. Brown people, poor people, women and anyone who is not white do not count.
Translation: the hate is flowing because Beck flows it.
Ladies and Gentlemen, let me introduce Mr. Glenn Beck, our nation's leading bigot and Fox New's chief racist and hate talk host.
Meet one of Governor Rick Perry's dearest and closest friends.
Video I: Beckian hate and racism flows.
Shame on Rick Perry.
Video II: Glenn Beck claims that Markos, founder of Daily Kos, progressive blog, is a Nazi and/or a communist. Or maybe Markos is a fascist, too.
GOP/Beckian psycho babble.
Beck talks a lot about Nazis in order to distract his viewers from the obvious fact that the Republican Party has no agenda other than one based on divisiveness and fear. Glenn Beck does not want his groupies to know that the GOP is the party by, for and of wealthy fat cats. Everyday members are useful only during election seasons. The base must be fed the red meats of fear and hate frequently to ensure everyday Republican believers are held in line.
Why is Beck so fixated on Nazism? I've always had a suspicion about Republican messaging and its Atwater/Rovian scorched earth politics. The more the party screams loudly about something the more likely it is that 1. Republicans are doing whatever they are howling about themselves or, 2. They've done it in the past and don't want to be busted for it, or 3. They are fixing to do it and therefore the spin masters attempt to distract the masses by focusing on a fabricated "evil" target.
Raging about lost freedoms while passing legislation that does just that.
Beck also wants his groupies to forget that it was the Bush Administration that enabled the legal wiretapping of American citizens, for no reason, no questions asked. It was the Bush Administration that hired a couple of political hacks as White House lawyers whose sole purpose was to find a way to legally torture political prisoners. I guess this means American political prisoners can be tortured as well, for no reason, no questions asked. And then there is the recent Arizona police state law, passed by none other than the party comprised of mostly grumpy old white men, that claims it worships freedom more than anything else. When the Arizona police round up the usual suspects, grumpy old white men will not be included.
Let's not even bring up the Wall St. financial fiasco enabled by guess who?
The American people ate shitty deals made on Wall St. thanks to an enabling Republican majority rule and it's fixation on deregulate baby, deregulate it all, from St. Ronald the Great through the Bush II Administration.
The American people will continue to eat Wall St. shitty deals until, ahem, the U.S. Congress re-regulates Wall St. The Republican Party's response: filibuster the bill, baby, filibuster the bill.
The Republicans penchant for authoritarian rule remains strongly intact. Governor Perry's failure to openly investigate and stand accountable for the execution of a potentially innocent man renders the governor as morally and ethically bankrupt as those in the Bush Administration, as well as the rip off bankers on Wall St.
One has only to check out Governor Perry's questionable history of ethics to appreciate the level of Republican political, ethical and financial corruption.
Back to the Beckian part of the toxic brew.
Glenn Beck invokes Nazis to attack Worker ID cards.
Shame on Rick Perry. For it is the Texas Republican Party that has tried, time and time again, to disenfranchise the minority population from its inherent right to vote. In fact, the Texas Republican Party has been on a crusade to require that all Texans must produce a photo ID in order to exercise our right to vote.
Beck invokes Nazis comparing Fox to Jews during the Holocaust.
During the October 13 edition of his radio show, Glenn Beck likened the Obama administration's treatment of Fox News to Nazi persecution of Jews, telling other media outlets: "When they're done with Fox, and you decide to speak out on something," it would be like "[t]he old, 'first they came for the Jews, and I wasn't Jewish.' Beck has a long history of invoking the Holocaust, the Nazi Party, and Adolf Hitler to smear the Obama administration, other progressive individuals and organizations, and the media; indeed, the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) previously criticized Beck for comparing Al Gore's efforts to raise awareness of global warming to the Holocaust.
Shame on Rick Perry for making Glenn Beck an honorary citizen of Texas.
Godwin's Law should be called Glenn Beck's law.
In recent weeks, Fox News' Glenn Beck has displayed an utterly shameful amount of disrespect toward Jewish people. Yesterday, Beck compared Fox News to Jews during the Holocaust, imploring journalists at other news networks to "[a]sk yourself this question: When they're done with Fox, and you decide to speak out on something. The old, 'First they came for the Jews, and I wasn't Jewish.'" He went on to add: "Do you really think that this man is then not going to turn on you? That you and your little organization is going to cause him any hesitation at all not to take you out?"
Media Matter continues to expose Beck's extremist and racist views.
In fact, Beck's use of Nazi analogies occurs so frequently -- and on such a large stage -- that Godwin's Law ought to be renamed in Beck's (dis)honor.
Among Beck's greatest Nazi hits misses:
* Comparing Obama's call for a "civilian national security force" to "what Hitler did with the SS."
* Suggesting that health care reform would lead to the sort of eugenics programs undertaken by the Nazis.
* Saying that he "fear[s] a Reichstag moment," or "another 9/11" which will "turn this machine on, and power will be seized and voices will be silenced."
* Comparing Obama's statement that he would consider "empathy" in choosing a Supreme Court nominee to Hitler's "empathetic" decision that led to a Nazi euthanasia program.
Beck apparently has no sense that drawing such analogies on a regular basis diminishes the very meaning of the Holocaust and thus the meaning of those who were victimized by it. Has it never occurred to him that his use of these analogies might offend Jews? Or does he just not give a damn?
I'd wager that Beck does not give a damn about "others" as long as his hate talk brings in the big bucks.
Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh and other right wing hate talkers claim no responsibility for their reckless and hateful rhetoric. All will cop out by insisting they are not "news" but "entertainment." I do not know of any entertainers that have the fear mongering clout and racist dog whistles at their disposal to make their fans wear t-shirts that boldly include the entertainer's commandments on the back. Normally entertainers entertain. They don't go around fomenting hate talk all of the time, day in and day out.
Finally, I stand by a comment I posted on the thread mentioned above in response to a demand for proof of Beck's bigotry.
There are more than a few you tube video clips that capture Glenn Beck's bigotry. You know where to find them and you know what they contain. The fact that you don't see the hateful and racist rhetoric as hateful and racist rhetoric says a lot.
Why don't you go hang out with your soul mates at Red State? The Dallas blog also has its fair share of right wing racists. Some of them post racist comments unabashedly. The moderators obviously don't have a problem with it b/c they rarely ban it. I am sure there are an abundance of Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh worship groups at both of the above blogs.
I have another question for you, not that you will answer it. Can you tell me why the teabaggers are not storming Wall St. with their AK47's and assault rifles given what 6-7 fat cat banks have done to our economy? As we have learned, these banks are responsible for the loss of millions of jobs in the U.S. economy, the devastation of middle class American's retirement pension funds and for thousands of mortgage foreclosures. Where is the teabagger outrage? All should be frothing at the mouth over this. I am surprised the group has not firebombed Wall St. by now. Did Glenn tell the tea party people that it is OK for the fat cat banks to kill our economy?
Why was the teabagger outrage focused solely on health care reform? Is it b/c Dick Armey and Fox "News" told you all to get mad about HCR? God forbid should some undeserving uninsured minorities be able to finally afford health insurance.
Did Glenn and Rush say it is OK that Goldman Sachs could mislead and rob its investors blind b/c all are a bunch of seriously wealthy and white and therefore deserving men?
You people should be ashamed of yourselves for allowing your heads to be filled with a bunch of garbage from a bunch of self-serving, racist, morally bankrupt and intellectually dishonest men who are still living in an era of Richard Nixon's southern strategy.
So, where are the teabaggers on the Goldman Sachs heist? Is the angry party seriously OK with having to eat shitty deals fed by 6 or 7 Wall St. banks?
Off I go to take a long and hot shower. Hopefully there is some serious disinfectant in the soap as well as a tad of brain bleach in the shampoo. I'll need it after viewing far too much Beckian political pornography.
But not before throwing a hug and blowing a kiss to Ministry of Truth for his excellent work and passionate dedication to the progressive agenda.