I know many of my readers are more fond of Mr. Back than am I. It isn't that I really dislike him, I just think the man's got a lot more Huey Long -- or P.T. Barnum -- to him than he has Ayn Rand. I'll take my Becks Billy and my Glenns Reynolds, if you don't mind, and if I want to be entertained, I'll read a book.Unfortunately, as much as I yell "Keep your eye on the ball!" at, say, Neil Boortz's voice emanating from the radio speaker, the political entertainers actually have their finger located on the pulse of the voting public a lot more accurately than I do: Elections are far more likely to turn on issues like who hates them some mosks the most or which politician is gonna punish Big Oil the hardest than they are on anything actually substantive.
Sunday, August 29, 2010
QotD: New Media Edition.
My roomie on Glenn Beck:
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
16 comments:
Was Glenn Beck discussing the Ground Zero Mosque? I thought that was Hannity's pet issue?
Beck is just a radio DJ huckster. He is no Ayn Rand and would not claim to be--he is actually doing something rather than sitting around the apartment smoking cigarettes all day.
He is an activist, not a salon sitter. Takes all kinds.
Shootin' Buddy
I have a hard time watching him, it gets a bit much sometimes, but I totally like what he is doing, getting people to think, including the ones that would never read Rand.
But I get you on reading the book part, I am thinking of just getting rid of the TV cable altogether when I finish the downsize. Just keep a small set so I can watch Gladiator :-)
"Was Glenn Beck discussing the Ground Zero Mosque?"
Actually, I was referring to Boortz wasting half his show on it... Monday? ...morning.
Oh, Beck discusses the Mosque alright! And Rand, and the Founders, and Civil Rights, etc. He just does it on his TeeWee Show at 5:00 pm Eastern. But don't doubt his effectiveness! Preliminary reports say the his rally at the Lincoln Memorial yesterday had the biggest crowd since Barry was sworn in, beating Rev."Tawana Brawley" Sharpton's counter-rally by a mile. Even Palin came down from the Great White North to speechify. But Beck claimed that the Rally was to "replant the seeds of America's Religious Foundation" or some such hyperbole. But for one of those who take inspiration from the writings of the late Robert A. Heinlein (PBUH), the name "Rev. Nehemiah Scudder" keeps growing and growing in my thoughts.
Of, course, this is all Bush's Fault.
I agree with Beck on a lot but he's just so obnoxious. He makes me want to eat arugula and get married to a gay Muslim Mexican and give all my money to poor people.
I can think of no greater compliment than to be compared unfavorably to that pustulent whore rand. Unfortunately, Beck is very much like her, full of good ideas mixed with fantasy bullshit, and surrounded by a cult of personality who waits with nose pressed between cheeks for the next flatulet emission so as to praise it. Beck is probably, arguably, the Rand of our generation. At least he's entertaining. His interview with Bibi is a hoot. As you say, though, beck, savage, medved, and even that annoying pinworm hewett are doing more for the cause than I am, certainly. So I'm happy they're doing their schtick. beats just having CNN.
Frankly I get real nervous when people like Beck start making that big a deal about their faith for the cameras. I put one hand on my wallet and another hand on the remote.
I see all these nice people holding hands praying and all I can think of of is the carpenter's son telling his people:
"And when you pray, don't be like the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen by men. Listen, I'm saying to you, they have their reward. But you, when YOU pray, go into your closet, and after you've shut your door, pray to your Father in secret; and your Father that sees secrets will reward you openly."
Matt 6:5&6
Another thing, Do "the troops" ever get tired of being trotted out as stage props?
signed,
Cranky in California
I don't know about Gbeck - no t.v. and I don't listen to a radio at work, but I do kind of like the idea of politicians being limited strictly to trivial matters to be settled by screaming and arm waving (and maybe chainsaw duels) - while those more substantive issues fall strictly under the purview of the citizenry affected.
Sort of the the inverse of the 70's feminist credo. In this case "The personal shall not, and shall never be the political."
I don't listen to talk radio, or watch talk TV. But if they don't entertain people, they don't get the chance to energize them. So I'm not going to talk smack about Beck or Limbaugh or Hewitt or any of the other conservative hosts. They reach people who otherwise wouldn't get involved, because face it, many conservatives self censor and keep to themselves in a hostile environment, which is what leftists always strive to provide.
So hearing another voice loudly proclaiming what they secretly think, or asking the questions they dare not articulate, makes them realize they are not alone in the wilderness. You'll notice that the conservative pundits lefties show respect for are the ones already embedded in the coastal elites, who write for opinion outlets that will never energize the bitter clingers in flyover country.
That's why these guys drive the left barking batshit insane - they are connecting with people, and energizing them, and getting them off their butts. Look at the attendence for the repsective MLK rallies. The left is panicking because their grip is weakening and all they can do it the standard foaming at the mouth insults, condescencion, and contempt.
Oddly enough, it's not working as well as one might expect.
I have to agree with Steve on this one. I generally like Beck and Boortz, though both can be a bit over the top at times. Limbaugh goes over the top a little too often for me, but even he has valid points often.
I for one am glad I live in a country where Glenn and Al can have a rally to speak their mind, Rush can have a radio show and Jon can have a TV show...and that we as a people can choose what we want to see, hear, read and watch. Cause from what I heard, state radio sucks.
Best,
McVee
PS, RE Matt 6:5&6, prayer in public... it all depends on your motive. As believer's I don't think were to retreat into the shadows, but be a light to the world. Just don't be tacky. ;)
I will have to defend Beck on the ""read a book" front, because he is the only person in history to ever have #1 debut on all four NYT bestsellers lists.
Beck is also very good at selling other peoples books. In fact it is comical how he can mention a obscure book and make it #1 on Amazon. A lot of his fan are buying the source material.
http://www.mediaite.com/online/glenn-beck-makes-anti-socialist-book-from-1944-a-topseller-in-24-hours/
I like Beck. Is he an entertainer? Of Course. If Ad revenue must be generated in order to be viable, entertainment must necesarily be a component. But his core message seems to be, "WARNING AMERICA, DANGER AHEAD." I totally agree with that message. I must also plead guilty to experiencing luxuriant schadenfreude last night watching huckster/racemonger Rev. Al squirm on Geraldo's show. I mean, with GERALDO! praising every aspect of Beck's rally, poor Al wasn't left with much wiggle room. Good clean fun.
If one includes all the statements of the commenters as well as Ms. Tam's idea, then it is apparent why we are TOAST! This country no longer has a common culture to bind us together. And any other concept (like patrotism, for instance) is just a stage curtain that hides what is going on in the preparation for a tragic play that is about to be presented for our "amusement".
Bruiser
I have to disagree with Bruiser on one point. As a country we've never had a "common culture". Seriously, how much has someone from the deep south ever had in common with someone from Vermont or California ? Yes, as a country we share a common history and language, but I really doubt you could take a boy from Brooklyn and drop him in a cornfield in Iowa and expect him to fit in very well. Due to the advent of mass media, in some ways we're probably closer to a common culture then we've ever been. But that same mass media also highlights the vast differences that exist.
"Beck is also very good at selling other peoples books. In fact it is comical how he can mention a obscure book and make it #1 on Amazon."
Because he says, much like Boortz, "Don't believe what I say: check it out for your ownself-here's what *I* found....."
"Seriously, how much has someone from the deep south ever had in common with someone from Vermont or California ?"
Ummmm.... errrrr... re: Vermont and Deep South: "live free or .... go to war?"
Post a Comment