This Canuck receives an education on the qualities that make Glenn Beck
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Glenn Beck is America's saviour -- according to Tom, Dick and Harriet
One promise I made to myself was that I would not write about Glenn Beck. I would not join the chorus of those that a) despise the man and all he stands for or b) consider him a modern day prophet and spokesperson for those of the extreme right (meaning both a political position and the opposite of wrong.) I would never do this one thing.
Well, the old axiom of never say never holds true again, because I simply must write about my recent experience and it involves Glenn Beck.
Friday evening I received an invitation to the home of a friend who had arranged a gathering of her acquaintances and thought it a good opportunity for me to meet more people. Naturally, I accepted, feeling a little forlorn and alone at the time. As is my habit, I showed up precisely at the time given, only to find myself the first and only invitee there. This turned out to be fortunate, as it provided opportunity to chat with my friend and enjoy her company before the insanity began.
“Insanity?” you ask. Yes, and it arrived in the form of a small group of people fresh from attending the Glenn Beck rally at The Villages here in Florida.
Time for a little background. First, I must describe these people – two men, probably in their early sixties, and one was an ex-marine and Vietnam vet, the other – I’m not sure, but he did wear a jacket with the American eagle on the back and the words “Live free or die,” printed there, and a woman. I would guess her age at mid-fifties, and she too sported a thought provoking tee shirt -- a picture of Glenn Beck and a slogan – “Follow me and do all you can for America.”
For the purposes of this article, I will name them Tom (the ex-marine), Dick (the live free or die guy) and Harriet.
Harriet sat across from me. “Oh, you should have been there. It was awesome. Don’t you just love Glenn Beck?”
Some inner instinct told me to keep my views to myself.
The truth is I can’t watch Glenn Beck. I tried once and had
to turn it off. On this particular broadcast he put a picture of President Obama up on a board, then one of
Mao beside him and said, “This is the real connection, but they don’t want you
to see this.” He put a picture of another African American man of some repute,
whose name and fame I don’t know and said, “So they put this person in between
– but you know what, they don’t want you to see this either.” And he put up a
whole string of photographs in between the picture of the President and Mao,
all the time describing how the “truth” was disguised, but “We should never
forget the original connection,” as he moved President Obama’s
likeness back to sit beside Mao. This was repeated several times.
I found the whole thing disrespectful -- to me – an insult to my intelligence. His delivery was based on simple repetition and the visual aids of the photographs, the basest kind of low level manipulation to those with little brain power – propaganda at its lowest form. I recognized the type – snake oil salesman. So now, you know where I sit opinion-wise.
Now, back to the story.
“Not a lot,” was the answer I ventured as one possibly vague enough to escape wrath. The expression on her face, shocked disapproval, let me know I was in for it, so I added, “Well I’m Canadian, and we don’t see a lot of him in Canada.” Thank God, was my silent addition.
It got me off the hook. Though Tom felt compelled to ask, “You’re a Canuck?” using the term in a depracating tone, letting me know he doesn’t admire us much. “What do you think about all those dot-heads moving in up there?”
“Dot heads?” I was bewildered by the phrase.
“Yeah – Pakkies and such.”
He meant Hindus, I finally understood, and tried to give him a thoughtful response. “While the massive immigration of the past decade has certainly changed the complexion of our country, most of the new arrivals bring high level skills to our economy, and …”
“They’re all terrorists,” said Dick.
“No they’re not.” I couldn’t let it pass. Oh how I wish I could keep my big mouth shut, sometimes.
“You don’t know what I know.” Dick spoke in an ominous voice. “They are here to take over. It’s all part of their plan.”
“Oh.” A Hindu plan to take over Canada? Or does this man have them confused with Muslims? And do the Muslims have a plan to take over? Not the ones I know. Thankfully, I was able to bite my tongue. I turned my attention back to Harriet. “You were telling me of the rally at The Villages. What is that place, anyway – a town?”
“No,” she said, all enthusiasm. “Well sort of. It’s houses built all around golf courses. Everyone drives golf carts instead of cars. And it’s so beautiful. When we arrived we went to get drinks – and instead of the usual Styrofoam cups, it was in real glasses. And no kegs of beer – beer in bottles, now that’s class.”
“Indeed.” I was intrigued and pictured the backdrop – one of those gated communities built on golf courses for well-to-do retirees. You see them all over Florida, little enclaves tucked away from the harsh reality of life. Good place for a political rally, I supposed, or at least for a Glenn Beck type of audience.
“He [Glenn Beck] was over an hour late,” she went on, while I pictured the crowd getting happily inebriated on all the freebies. “And when he arrived – what an entrance! At first, they showed us films of him driving around in a golf cart – lost, but it was just a joke.”
“He didn’t arrive on a golf cart?”
Harriet laughed at my question. “No, on his tour bus. The crowd went crazy when he showed up.”
“He got right to it,” Tom added. “He’s got a plan. He’ll get us out of this mess they got us into.”
“A plan for what?”
“To save our country. If they don’t listen to what we want -- even the President and his lackeys -- we’re going to get rid of them. All of them. And anyone else who stands in our way.”
Dick, the ex-marine piped up. “And if they court martial those guys in Iraq – you know – the guys that gave some damn Iraqi a bloody lip, after what they did to us – we’ll hang Obama, too.”
I was a little shell-shocked by this time. “What do you mean get ‘rid of’?”
“Exactly what I said.” Tom glowered at me. “All those that stand in our way – they go. They’ve corrupted capitalism, made it a travesty of what it should be. Glenn Beck has a plan to get us back on course.”
“What course is that?”
“To the ideals this country was founded on.” Tom was impatient with me. Perhaps he saw my questions as opposition, when, in truth I was only trying to figure out what they mean. “The ones they’ve trampled. Our real values that they’ve taken away.”
I don’t know why I asked. It was already obvious I wouldn’t get a clear, intelligent answer, but I did it. “What values are those, specifically? I ask, because as a foreigner (gag) I don’t have the benefit of an American education.”
“Freedom!” Dick yelled. “Every man free to look out for himself.”
“You don’t have freedom now?” I inquired.
“They’ve taken our freedoms away. They shipped all our jobs overseas. They put us in debt. They’re trying to make us a socialist state.”
“You’re referring to the health care issue?”
This time it’s Harriet who spoke. “It will never happen in this country – socialized medicine. Never! And if they try, we’ll get rid of them. Just like Glenn Beck said.”
“But 40 million Americans are without health care,” I began, to get no further.
“They’ve taken
the most medically advanced nation in the world and made it a mess. They want to bring us down to everyone
else’s level. That’s what they
want.” Tom shouted me down. “And now they’ll
send anyone to jail who doesn’t buy their scheme. I dare them to come and get me. I have a few surprises waiting for them.” He added, angrily, "I exercise my right to bear arms."
Harriett tried to calm Tom by putting a hand on his arm. She addressed me. “Glenn Beck says Obama is like Hitler and we should be ready to fight all the way. He says real Americans should be ready to sacrifice everything to get this country back on track.”
“That’s right,” said Dick. “We’re gonna go to his camps and get trained.”
“His camps?” But my question went unanswered.
Harriet continues her explanations. “Glenn Beck says America is like the Titanic, and they are shoving us onto the iceberg.”
“And Glenn Beck wants to change that?”
“He’s the man. We’re going to get rid of them, the ones that don’t listen, the ones that don’t act for what’s best for this country. We’re going to get rid of them all.” This was Dick.
“Violently?” I was appalled at what I’m hearing and seeing. The three are practically foaming at the mouth in their passion.
“If necessary. Glenn Beck has a plan and he’s going to lead the way.”
Glenn Beck said that? Isn’t calling for the violent overthrow of the government called treason?
“You’re one of those liberals -- aren’t you?” Tom stared at me with narrowed eyes and a red face.
I pretended I didn't understand what he’s asking. “At home I’ve voted Liberal once or twice, Progressive Conservative a couple of times and once even New Democrat. Depends on the platform, the candidates and the issues.”
They stared at me as though I spoke in ancient Sanskrit.
“Well, read my platform.” Tom stood and slipped off the live-free-or-die jacket, revealing a yellow tee shirt underneath. “I bought this at the rally. It says it all.” He turns revealing a message printed on the back:
I’m exercising my First Amendment and if you don’t listen, I’ll exercise my Second Amendment.
I stood ready to leave. It was enough. “Nice to meet you, Tom, Dick and Harriet. Let me say one thing. You may have the First Amendment right to speak your mind, but that doesn’t mean I or anybody else is obliged to listen. “
I turned to my hostess. “Thanks for a lovely evening.”
You’re all nucking futs, played across my mind as I left. I’ve met fruitcakes and political yahoos, survivalists and conspiracy theory wackos before, but these folks were right off the chart.
My mind was a jumble of questions on the drive home.
First, who are they, the shadowy ones responsible for all the ills of the nation the three kept alluding to?
Second, I couldn’t believe my friend , who I’ve known casually for two years, and whose daughter just bought a house on the President’s rebate program, and whose son is going back to school with a grant from the President’s education grant program, that she bought into this – this – this poisonous crap. Nor could I believe she thought I’d enjoy meeting these people. I didn’t. They scared me.
Third, I couldn’t believe that even a snake-oil salesman like Glenn Beck actually advocated violent overthrow of the government and “getting rid” of all those who didn’t agree with his politics. I vowed I’d find out what he did say on November 21.
So began one of the weirdest research projects I’d ever undertaken. Sifting through the rantings of those who love and those who hate this man, is a trip into la-la land, the like of which I’ve never experienced. Eventually, I found all I was looking for, and then some. Finally, an acquaintance of a friend surfaced, who’d been there and taped the whole thing, and loaned me her video.
I watched it. I drove for an hour to pick up a home-made DVD, put it in my player and sat and watched Glenn Beck. Me. I suppose stranger things have happened, but I can’t think of any off-hand.
Here’s what really went down.
First, there’s a picture of the crowd, maybe a thousand or two strong, and not terribly diverse in appearance, if you get the drift. They are all standing, drinks in hands when suddenly there is a disturbance, and the crowd breaks into applause, cheers, rebel yells and screeches.
He has arrived. He bounces up to the platform and holds up both hands, a la Richard Nixon, nods his head repeatedly, flashes a big grin and then pulls down his hands. After a few mumbled thank yous and welcomes, he abruptly announces:
“I am, and so are all of you, everyone here are America’s constitution czars.” A constitution czar – what the hell is that?
While I was wondering about that, Beck moved on to climate change.
“The science is not settled. We will not sit down. We will not shut up. We will stand!”
The crowd is screaming in approval, clapping and hooting. Over what? His words don’t mean anything. Sit down, stand up, twist yourselves into pretzels – who cares? Does anyone truly believe controlling polluting emissions to be an evil thing?
Then came a lot of talk about the national debt – the entirety of which is the responsibility of the Democrats in general, and President Obama in particular. Then, Beck calls on everyone present to live within their means.
“We must change our lifestyle, because our lifestyle is unsustainable.” That’s why this rally is held in this wealthy little artificial place. “We are enslaving our children and our grandchildren.” Right, like anyone expects this debt will ever be or could ever be paid. There isn’t enough wealth in the world to cover it, let alone in this industry-barren country. It’s just numbers – meaningless numbers, and anyone with half a brain knows that.
“The corruption must stop.” Beck goes on – once the frenzied crowd had finished their applause – to enumerate instances of corruption – all Democrats – of course. Everyone knows there’s no such thing as a corrupt Republican.
He pays homage to that great American, Ronald Reagan. Then, produces another analogy, comparing America to the Titanic. Of course, Beck states that it is the current administration that is "ramming it into the iceberg" with "health care, cap and trade, and stimulus." Beck uses this analogy as a vehicle to get to the point of this whole rally, announcing that his plan for America will be like the lifeboats of the Titanic.
Then, the whole thing slips into a psychotic state. Beck announces he has formed a “shadow cabinet” to advise him on various issues including defense, energy, health care – as though he were head of state, or a duly elected member of the government. He announces:
“I will spend the next year with my shadow cabinet to create” – are you ready for this – “a 100-year plan for America.”
Talk about an ego! A hundred year plan for America – authored by Glenn Beck. And the crowd is wild with approbation. My mind cannot comprehend what my ears hear and just when I think I’ve heard the utmost in empty stupidity, it gets worse.
“We need to start thinking like the Chinese…” If you think Americans should be more like the Chinese, then you obviously haven’t toured that country, Mr. Beck. I suggest you do so, and make sure you get beyond the wealthy industrialists, and see the entire country. You’re in for a shock.
This is what you want for your country? Is this what Americans want?
He has a hundred year plan – even the Chinese take it ten years at a time.
“I have a plan,” he says, and whether it is deliberate or not, his tone and cadence is reminiscent of Dr. Martin Luther King, and his famous “I have a dream.”
He then goes on to say he plans to organize a series of conventions in seven regions of the country, where his supporters can go to learn about self-reliance, community organizing, the economy and how to be a political force in your own neighborhood and country. These conventions will lead to a new book – by Beck of course, entitled “The Plan.”
“All of the above will culminate in "The Plan" a book that will provide specific policies, principles and, most importantly, action steps that each of us can take to play a role in this Refounding.”
And he asks:
“On August 28, 2010, I ask you, your family and neighbors to join me at the feet of Abraham Lincoln on the National Mall for the unveiling of "The Plan" and the birthday of a new national movement to restore our great country. “
This is to be followed by a march on the capitol.
Beck then promises the crowd that if they follow him, they would be able to tell their children they did all they could for America. To do this, they could go to any of Beck's seven "education conventions" to learn "everything we need to know" such as an alternative history of the Statue of Liberty, and even community organizing and of course Beck will "teach you how to be a politician" if you really want to run for office.
Then he spends some time talking about those who stand in the way, and he does say, “We will remove them.”
He says, if what he demands leads to the destruction of the two-party system, "so be it, they should be destroyed."
He discusses his fears that all those in debt will be enslaved and pleaded with his followers to get out of debt, and to not use violence, and to be “as religiously devout as the pilgrims, back when they landed.”.
He asks, “Is everyone present prepared to sacrifice everything for their children, to lose their jobs, their homes, to live like their grandparents lived during the Great Depression?”
Every hand in the crowd shoots up – jewels, Rolexes and all.
So, that’s what he said. But that’s not what Tom, Dick and Harriet heard.
I hadn’t noticed anything about President Obama being like Hitler, and wondered if Harriet made that up. So I dug deeper.
On an August 2009 radio program, after claiming that President Obama was lying about his health-care plan, Beck told his audience to read Hitler's Mein Kampf. Beck said that Hitler told Germans what he was going to do but no one listened. Beck then urged his audience not to make the same mistake with Obama: "Please America, take this man for what he says."
Beck brings Hitler to mind more than Obama does. I think of old newsreels of HItler's addresses to crowds where he rants on, repeating empty slogans in ever more strident tones, calling on the wounded patriotism of a mindless crowd, who screamed and swooned over every meaningless phrase.
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BHO moderate? I just threw up in mouth a little.
Nicomp -- it's called acid reflux and is easily controlled with a nice minty little tablet.
Hi pgrundy -- I have nice friends -- these people aren't among them. I don't know what bothered me more -- what Beck did say or what these people thought he said.
I just hope those poor people won't have too much trouble living within their means. I enjoyed the statement warning them of becoming like their grandparents of the depression, HOMELESS!
Hi Papajack -- yes, they all volunteered to sacrifice everything, including their homes to follow Glenn Beck's plan and put the country back on track. Of course, didn't I read somewhere that Beck earned in the vicinity of $30 million a year? Maybe he'll use some of that to build a shelter for his disciples.
Lmmartin - Folks seem to get all worked up about one person or another. We had a nasty-mouthed talk show guy here on the radio who went to work with Beck a month or so back. That told me all I needed to know about both of them. Gus
Hi Gus -- where ya been? Yes, history is loaded with 'false prophets' and folks are happy to be sheep -- easier than thinking for themselves.
lol! First of all, lmmartin, you take a real bummer and make it hilarious! It's a gift and I love it! Second, your story is priceless - it is a first hand account of what is going on with these fringe groups nationwide. You are writing expose and we need it - we need to call it out - ignoring it doesn't make it go away. Keep me laughing while I'm crying and I won't stop reading! One of my favorites! Oh, and by the way, is your life always so interesting? - I would love to just follow you around for a while!
Hi Kartika, Glad you enjoyed the article. Yes, my life is always this interesting because I keep myself open to everyone who crosses my path. You can come visit me in Florida and follow me around if you want, though I'm sure it won't be as interesting as you expect. Let me add one thing -- I'm in Florida for the climate. It doesn't matter much to me who's in charge, but if people like this ever succeed in getting power, I'll have to move my winter home to somewhere with freedoms. Cuba maybe?
The scariest thing was these folks didn't even understand the ramifications of what they said. Getting rid of those who don't agree in the name of freedom? Isn't that like whoring for chastity?
Yes, it is extremely frightening - to be honest, I really am surprised (although I shouldn't be) by how extreme it is and how irrational it has become. And, I wish you had your piece in a column in some newspaper there in Florida (or elsewhere). At least you have a place like Canada to call home--you Canuck, you!
I came across "Color Of Change" on the internet, and as I understand it, this is a site where you sign a petition to try to get advertisers to back off of Glenn Beck's show. I confess, this didn't seem to be a good thing to me, as in freedom of speech in the USA (including any nut), etc. Then I caught a Glenn Beck show the other night and wondered if the people were his puppets, or is he their puppet?
This show was a group of mothers. One discussion was "mandatory" swine flu vaccines for children. Beck never would say, only stating he had made his decision, but implying he would not let his children be "forced" to take the vaccine. One mother pointed out that vaccines had always been mandatory before children could go to school. Then quickly, before the rest of the mothers could digest this, he dramatically stated, "but at what point do we say enough is enough?". His followers quickly rallied behind him, some stating they would pull their children out of school before they would be "forced" to take this vaccine.
Beck, of course, didn't say, but the assumption here is that this is all Obama's doing and another part of his socialistic agenda. Watching this was jaw dropping, in that any mother would risk their child's health or life, in order to follow Glenn Beck, in a mistaken attempt to thwart President Obama!
Later in the show another mother stood up and stated that the fate that was befalling our country was all her and her friends and family talked about. A year ago, she stated, they talked about new movies or current fashions, but now their only topic had become the horrible condition of our country. My first thought was that a year ago our country had lost all respect in the national community, the housing bubble had popped, and the stock market had nose dived, but all they talked about then were new movies or current fashion? And NOW, all they can talk about is the current condition of our country under President Obama? I HATE to bring up race yet again, but when you hear such a bizarre statement, you have to wonder the motivation of all this fear under the Obama administration, when no problems were worthy of note a year ago.
Is Beck their puppet or are they his? Both I think. Beck gives these people the support and platform to work themselves up into a frenzy, and he clearly directs their thoughts. However, they wouldn't be his followers if they weren't already filled with hate, and are quite pleased to have someone leading that hatred. Tom, Dick and Harriet sound like the same kind of people that I saw on this program. They are already filled with hatred and are so happy to have someone like Beck who justifies their feelings.
Then the question is, which is more dangerous, Color of Change and scensorship, or Beck stirring up people who are already so full of hate, that some of them could become violent? AND if one child dies because Beck worked these mothers up into a frenzy about "mandatory" swine flu shots, that was one child too many, and something I'm sure that mother would regret for a long time to come!
I don't believe in censorship -- of any kind, really. But what I find disturbing is the number of people who take whatever he dishes out as accepted without thought. Further, this man gets so much attention, that alone is enough to give him validity. The sad truth of the matter is he's out to get rich and doesn't much care about any consequences, and he plays on people's base emotions and fears.
It's really not that big a step from "we will remove them" to "we will get rid of them" for a certain type of mind. I notice that much of his drivel is directed to the ignorant, those who haven't thought beyond what he tells them about the issues.
The level of hysteria abundant in this society is amazing. If the people want a prophet to follow, can't we find someone of some substance? Certainly, anyone who claims to put together a hundred year plan for America is definitely not playing with a full deck.
What would the reaction be if President Obama announced even a ten year plan -- he'd be labelled a communist so fast it would make your head swim. But, Beck can say "I have a plan for the next hundred years" and the folks go crazy with approval.
However, having said all that, if sponsors refuse to have their product associated with this man, and if people want to approach advertisers and say, "I won't buy your product if you support this man" -- that is not censorship, it is democracy.
Of course, Beck will claim it to be censorship and blame it on the left -- to be sure.
"I don't believe in censorship -- of any kind, really."
???
Really. But if someone comes to my home and is rude, I will throw them out.
When speaking of the hatred already in the hearts of Beck's "followers", I failed to mention the mother who was home teaching her children and took exception to the Government's curriculum for her, which included teaching tolerance for gays. I can only suppose this was opposed to the hatred of gays she wanted to teach her children. In that way they could possibly grow up to commit a hate crime (or commit suicide if they happened to have been born gay)!
You can be sure that these people are searching Glenn Beck out, and he knows how to manipulate they're already deluded thoughts and fears to enhance his fortune. As far as "censorship" goes, if they get him off the air, this is not going to stop him or his followers. He, after all, has more money to make, and his followers will still need a leader in their quest to get Obama impeached for his imaginary crimes.
You are probably right on all counts, but I think he creates as much hatred and misunderstanding as he collects from those around him.
And I'm willing to bet, should they succeed in defeating Obama one way or another, they'll be at the next leader's throat.
If he was taken from the airways, particularly from Fox News where his very presence on a "news" network gives him some credibility, at least his voice is diminished.
Call me a blind optimist.
I think if he were to leave Fox for any reason, he'd be replaced - there seems to be no shortage of extremists who can gather together the hate mongers and urge them to prepare for their own version of a "holy war."
Patrice, I also think it's absurd that when Bush was trashing the country these people sat back and bought it, and then turned around and voted him in again.
I think if Beck didn't have a sizable audience he wouldn't be such a prominent part of popular culture. I see Beck and people like Limbaugh as capitalizing on the fears and frustrations of a group of people who used to keep silent because they knew their views were considered hateful and crazy. In a very disturbing way, Beck is legitimizing hate and hysteria and fueling a long standing racism that had been (somewhat) contained before Obama.
A noisy group of people in the U.S. sees the country as being overrun by brown people and this scares them. They are already a minority and will become more so, but that doesn't mean they aren't dangerous and creepy. I mean, their fears are somewhat warranted--their period of automatic privilege based on skin color and politics really is ending. But the U.S. has always been a melting pot, so really, their resistance is Anti-American, not patriotic.
And I don't know about you ladies, but I'd rather hang myself than live as devout and pure as the Pilgrims when they landed. And live under those rules? And call that freedom? From what I've read, a woman may as well live under the Taliban as the rule of those "devout" men.
Think "Scarlett Letter", the dunking stool for scolds, and the right to beat a disobedient wife.
Your story was interesting to read, and a little scary. I have lived with fanaticism and know how easily it is to get people worked up - even when the fanatics themselves don't make any sense.
You do meet some interesting people!
Hi Duchess, Yes, there are fanatics everywhere -- people without enough purpose in their lives and who need the validation of following someone, I guess. It's interesting the people who claim to be the protectors of free thought make the most devout followers. Thanks for commenting.
More symptoms of an empire in the last stages of collapse. We ignore history and are therefore condemned to repeat it.
Yes indeed. We are. "There are none so blind as those that will not see," someone wrote. Was there ever a better truism?
Yes.
“None are more hopelessly enslaved than those who falsely believe they are free.”
--Johan Goethe
Good one, and thanks.
Wow....I'm new to hubpages and saw one of your posts about the Hubpages score on the homepage. Way to go by the way! I then read your post about dog breeding, which I am a little hesitant to agree with, however I do feel for you and your pup, because I am a dog owner myself and completely understand the loss. I love him more than anything in this world. So when I happened to see an article about Glenn Beck, I thought to myself, "Oh here we go, this should be good. A Canadian Glenn Beck fan." To my suprise you wrote EXACTLY what I want to tell the ignoramouses of the world. The language and arguments you have are just brilliant and I am sorry that you had to actually deal with people like that. Unfortunately Florida has an ABUNDANT supply. Keep up the good writing!
PS Glenn Beck is the epitome of a waste of a human life.
Thank you Hella for the compliment, and welcome. About your hesitaton on the dog breeding -- a lot of people think breeders just turn out puppies, and there are some that do. In 25 years I've maybe had a dozen litters of puppies and my breeding was more to maintain and improve the breed I love than make money. I doubt I ever broke even, and all pups went to good people.
About Glenn Beck -- I can't believe people take him seriously.
I'm off to check out your site now, and thanks for coming by.
I enjoy Glenn Beck, but not because I am a fanataic, I promise! I think there are times where he has something interesting to say, and I just enjoy listening to what he says.
To me, it's important to listen to as many sides as possible, even if it isn't always the right side. Read most of the comments, and agreed with most everyone.
I agree, Sablirab, everyone deserves a hearing. But once you've listened and find all you'll hear is more the same, it's up to you now to sit and think on the message. That is the problem. Too many people don't think for themselves, and grasp on to someone who instructs them not in the art of thinking, but how they should think.
One of my favorite ever movie scenes is in the Monty Python film "The Life of Brian" a regular Joe who is mistaken for the messiah. At one point, Brian turns to the crowd of followers and says "Go and think for yourselves. You are all individuals."
The crowd chants in unison. "We are all individuals."
I commend you on your well-written and interesting hubs.
Thank you Gawth.
Beck according to Wikipedia is a reformed pot head, reformed drunk, a born again Mormon and conspiracy theorist. The only time I've ever seen him on t.v. was in Oklahoma and I changed the channel LOL I thought he was just another Okie Politician. He and his ilk are proof enough to me at how far down our educational system has dropped.
Yes, dumbed-down indeed to be a Beck follower. Perhaps it's reverse evolution. Well, at least we don't hear as much of him these days as we once did. Now, if we can only lose RL. But wait, don't I hear SP warming up in the wings?
No, the world has no short supply of idiots and those willing to lead them.
"(CNN) -- An evangelical leader is calling for a boycott of Glenn Beck's television show and challenging the Fox News personality to a public debate after Beck vilified churches that preach economic and social justice.
The Rev. Jim Wallis, president of Sojourners, a network of progressive Christians, says Beck perverted Jesus' message when he urged Christians last week to leave churches that preach social and economic justice.
Wallis says Beck compared those churches to Communists and Nazis."
The world according to Glenn Beck -- what a truly frightening idea. Don't you just love these people who decide whatever they believe is what we all should believe -- or else!
Communists and Nazis -- because they see a more just and equitable world? Wow. This truly is the time of the brain dead.
Just read the article, and thanks for the link and the heads up.
I've always believed that the extreme left and extreme right put out their craziest nuts to draw attention; I don't think the majority of these people mean to shoot anybody. I think it's a horse and pony show to get people on board with their way of thinking...they plan on getting a large number of people to vote against the Dems during 2012. Or so I understand it from my father n law.
Hi Shelah,
I agree, but can you point out to me someone from the extreme left as a contrast for me? Yes, I know -- some say President Obama is extreme left, but I've seen extreme left in other countries, other place and trust me -- he is a moderate. You say THEY plan of getting a large number of people vote Rep in 2012 -- so who are they?
Thanks for the comment, Lynda
Hello Lynda, OMG... I think I just lost my mind... thank you for steering me into your hub on Beck, I think! I really hate this man... he is one of the most insidious and dangerous proselytizers to show up in generations.
He doesn't care about what he says... it is all about greed and extortion... he is extorting the minds of people who are seriously looking to change their lives, but I don't think they are prepared to drink the kool-aid that Beck is concocting.
I need some pepto-bismal before I upchuck breakfast...
thumbs up and awesome because we don't have an excellent rating.
Hi Kkalmes -- thought you might 'enjoy' it. Lynda
Ms. Martin,
How I wish we lived near each other. You seem like someone I would love to meet over a cup of coffee and engage in that precious rarity: intelligent discourse!
I'll have to be satisfied with reading your articles, which is the next best thing.
All the best,
JB
Yes, would be nice. I guess I'll have to keep on writing then. Thanks so much. Lynda
From one Canuck to another Canuck...great hub :)
Thanks, and glad you came by to comment.
pgrundy 2 years ago
This stuff is really toxic. I don't know what will happen but there is quite a hearty strain of fascism developing in the U.S. and the economy looks likely to get worse, which will only fuel it. It's hard not to see parallels to pre-Nazi Germany, but it's Beck and his ilk who are the stand-ins for the National Socialist Party, not the lame Democrats, and not terminally moderate Barack Obama. Scary stuff. You need some new friends down there.