Wednesday, May 19, 2010

#17: Glenn Beck

This guy needs no introduction. A non-comprehensive list of his travesties can be found here:

Beck has, among other things, written the book “Arguing with Idiots” - an apt title. Also suffers from Nazi Tourette's.

Diagnosis: Idiot. Has a lot of fans, but the hope is that his influence might in the end be self-undermining.


  1. I like the diagnosis offered here:

  2. MediaMatters has put together a Glenn Beck's fifty greatest hits. It's rather amusing, or whatever you wish to call it.

  3. Task for today: Make sense of this claim (in fairness, I don't think Beck intends people to make sense of it, just nod in agreement).

  4. This video displays the empty idiocy of Glenn Beck rather well.

  5. If you want to see how Beck comes to the conclusion that Mitt Romney is a modern-day George Washington who is being guided by God, you can go here. The method is not reasonably called “justification”. He goes on to disown America here; after all, although Beck is an arch-patriot, his patriotism is conditional upon America doing what Beck want’s America to do, and Americans acting in the manner Beck wants them to act, which is exactly the kind of patriotism you would expect from the religious right.

  6. An Election Special from Beck:

    Glenn Beck was not particularly happy about the reelection of Barack Obama, calling it “the worst choice in the history of our planet”. He admitted that “the body of America is even sicker than I thought it was” and that America deserves to be destroyed for electing Obama, which is not a particularly reasonable reaction. How, though, could America end up here? According to Beck the election shows that half of the population of the US is “utterly and completely lost in darkness. So what does Beck recommend us do in response? Apparently we should “buy farmland and guns, for the next few years are surely going to see us deteriorate into some sort of Mad Max situation. Strangely enough: I have a hard time imagining Beck following his own advice and turning to farming.

    On a slightly different note, Beck has also weighed in on the Petraeus “scandal”, claiming that it is a conspiracy to discredit the military. Obama is behind it, of course. The motivation is less clear.

    Finally, for something really breathtakingly stupid, you can see Beck and Marco Rubio try to understand and explain the age of the earth here.

  7. You can read how Beck will save the world here. And that is surely needed, for according to Beck, noted prophet, a dictator will seize power in America within the next five years. This one, however, beggars belief in its epic irony and lack of self-awareness.

  8. Beck tries to explain the Sandy Hook shootings and the fiscal cliff, and his explanation would be hilarious if it wasn’t so sad.

    He has recently suggested Going Galt, and his presentation of his ideas beggars belief, even for those of us who are used to Beck's ramblings.

    At least, one might think, he showed a glimpse of sanity when he went after Alex Jones after the latter had revealed how crazy he actually is in a by now famous discussion with Piers Morgan. With a straight face, Beck said – referencing InfoWars – that “you have to be careful of who you get your news from” because “their agenda makes a difference.” In addition, Jones was only on the show with Morgan to make conservatives look bad – it’s all part of the conspiracy. A few days later, Beck seems to have decided that he could not be outdone by Jones when it comes to paranoia, and decided to share with his audience his thoughts on the brewing civil war in America.

  9. Beck elaborates on the forthcoming civil war.

    In a rather ironic turn of events, Beck is chastizing conspiracy theorists, calling them untrustworthy – before launching his own conspiracy theory conspiracy theory.

    And despite the untrustworthiness of conspiracy theorists, it is surely a conspiracy in the media to ruin his reputation.

  10. This one should be read in light of Beck's recent attempt to denounce conspiracy theorists. In the same vein, Beck apparently thinks it is reasonable to believe that John Brennan has converted to Islam. But of course, Beck himself is only "asking questions", exactly like a true conspiracy theorist never would.

    And did you really doubt that Beck is a misogynist? Or that his understanding of technology is, uh, somewhat incomplete?

    As for gun control, Beck has, well, a firm belief that Obama is trying to start a new civil war. He even has "proof" that the left promotes violence. Actually, come to think of it, gun control is not only an attempt to start a new civil war but, somewhat, an effort to impose slavery.

  11. Beck's latest efforts have primarily been concerned with conspiracy theory mongering, making seem almost pale by comparison (well, no - doesn't really pale in comparison). Here, for instance, is his rather remarkable "system x" conspiracy, which pretty much says that system x is upon us and will destroy freedom as we know it. It is unclear what exactly system x is, but it'll sure destroy freedom, since to paranoid maniacs like Beck, that's what it's all about.

    Most significantly, he has been promoting his Common Core conspiracy. According to Beck, Common Core is designed to train us to be a serf state ruled by China and Islam - it's, in short, the biggest story in American history, and it is, apparently, the reason Beck won't be sending another child to college.

    Here is a discussion of Beck's meta-conspiracy theory, and here he produces the mother of all conspiracy theories.

    As expected, Bachmann's ethics investigation is a conspiracy as well, or more precisely a Muslim brotherhood plot.

  12. Like it or not, he called the "Arab Spring" for what it has turned out to be. Unless you think that endemic sex assault is "liberation".
    His final shows on Fox about the "Arab Spring" were themed "World on Fire" and he was astoundingly accurate about what was to come, especially in light of the gush-fest that emanated from CNN, MSDNC, and the usual gaggle of CFR cronies who infest the "official" policy discussions on C-Span. Beck predicted that the entire region would melt into chaos soon after the first "uprising" in Tunisia. How did Noam Chomsky do? (Or was he too busy with George Soros trying to rustle up some spare organs from China that aren't infected with Hepatitis?)

  13. Ignore "Unknown." He's clearly a retarded troll.

  14. Beck has gone full Marathon bombing truther, and even given the government a deadline for coming clean about the bombing (and the theory seems to be ever expanding. Here he tries to argue that the burden of proof is on the federal government to refute his conspiracy theories. He is, in other words, getting tough with the government, just as he is getting tough with Satan. Not that tough, however, since there is little he can do - apparently God must destroy us to set things right.

    It is, of course, not only the Boston bombing that is part of a government conspiracy. Here he attempts to show that the Houston airport shooting is a set-up (his evidence seems to be that he can "guarantee you" that it is). (And here he wonders whether the shooter ever attended any occupy wall-street event.

    Beck has also recently announced that he is clairvoyant.

  15. Beck is losing it. No, seriously. He really is. You probably think he was crazy before, and he was, and you might even have thought he had maxed out his craziness level. Well, he clearly hadn't. His attempt to claim that the putative IRS scandalwas a government ploy to cover up Benghazi is really setting a new standard for crazy. Similarly for his claim that the CNN interview with an atheist tornado survivor in Oklahoma was staged by the nebulous anti-Christian powers that be. Of course, given his familiar level of self-awareness, he really, truly seem to wonder why he's being called a conspiracy theorist. So for good measure, he concludes that there is a concentrated effort to have him labelled as a conspiracy theorist to ... smear him, I suppose. You can't fake that. After voicing his grievances, he promptly returned to conspiracies, demanding to see records of Obama's Blackberry to determine his involvement in allegedly whitewashing Muslims after the Benghazi attack. He hasn't given up his battle against Common Core either.

    Here is Beck on Bachmann's decision not to run for office again.

    And Here is another "lesson" from Glenn Beck.

    As for the putative IRS scandal, Beck has tried to argue that it shows that America is becoming worse than Nazi Germany and is headed toward being the most evil nation in history, since it is just a small step now before the totalitarian regime will begin rounding up Tea Party members (the "new civil rights movement") and put them in concentration camps. And the downward trend appears to be more or less worldwide. After all, as Beck so convincingly argues, "whether we know it or not" the world is engaged in Moloch/Baal worship, though he doesn't consider the most obvious explanation for why this is not general knowledge. Here he warns that we are "at the end", citing the book of Mormons.

    One thing that seems to have become a recurring feature on his show is him promising to break news that will rock the nation and take down the entire power structure, and he will break those news within 24 hours or so. We are still waiting.

    Here is a review of his latest novel.

  16. Maybe it’s time for an apt reminder that we are getting closer to the day the Constitution dies? That prediction is, of course, based on possible immigration reform legislation. But there are plenty of other sources for the end of America as well. For instance, you have the “evil, satanic, Islamic, communist conspiracy” that is Obamacare, poised to unleash chaos in America. No wonder Beck pushes food insurance in the spirit of the Revolution. Wonder, by the way, if the Founding Fathers back then were aware that America was created for Israel? For a full history lesson with Glenn Beck, you can go here, but I suspect you already have a sense of where it’ll be going.

    Here he tries to make a claim that his own website, The Blaze, debunked months ago. It probably doesn’t matter.

    Other than that, Beck has been busy with some reorganizing and imposing new guidelines and rules various places. You may want to see his reasons for banning video games in his household. He has also declared that if anyone employed in his company does anything motivated by concerns over global warming they’re fired. It’s all about freedom, you see.

    That's what apparently motivates Beck. What motivates other people is more sinister. Military action against Syria, for instance, would be designed to cover up Benghazi (which in reality hardly would have been needed even if there were something to cover up). Or perhaps it would be a progressive plot to establish a One World Government. Probably both, Glenn.

  17. Is it just us, or is Beck getting increasingly over-the-top delusional? Not that he was particularly well hinged, but the last few months has witnessed such an onslaught of hyperbolic, internally inconsistent ranting that it tops most of the shit he has done before. We won’t go into detail, but among the things that Beck describes as “simple facts” is the claim that Obama can get away with murder because he is likeable and he is black; that’s why the “George Soroses of the world” chose him for president (he wasn’t elected by the people, i.e. Beck). But he is really evil. According to Beck both Obama and Christie would totally bomb America if it served their purposes. Evidence? Hah. But in the world of Beck Obama has already started his Marxist revolution, and is just about to kill millions. And personally, Beck can’t take any more of dictator Obama’s “Marxist propaganda bullcrap”; indeed Obama has “all the earmarks” of a Marxist dictator, which is what wingnuts like Beck say when they mean “I disagree with his policies”.

    Here he reveals the progressive dishwasher, cursive handwriting conspiracy theories, emphasizing that failing to teach children cursive writing in this digitalized age ”enslaves children”. The causal mechanism is a bit mushy, but then again Beck seems to think yelling at people until they comply is equivalent to rational persuasion (and is the technique he recommends to parents so that they can convince their kids that their liberties and rights come from God; he has repeatedly emphasized that the laws of the US come from God and nowhere else, for instance).

  18. At least there are few grey areas in Beck’s views on politics. Since he agrees with Louie Gohmert, he has convinced himself that God has told him that God wants him to run. Similarly, when it comes to policies he disagrees with, he has convinced himself that future generations will recognize that he stood firm against systems that he recognized would become enemies of all humanity. Indeed, our dystopian nightmare is “definitely less than two years away”. His stances take on a particularly peculiar light when you realize that he tends to base it on (and repeat multiple times) false information that his own organization has already debunked.

    It’s all the usual stuff, really. According to Beck, people who call Ted Cruz and Mike Lee extremists are Nazis, because, well, because Beck doesn’t like that (also here). Indeed, according to Beck Cruz “may be our Reagan” (although Beck is presumably here thinking about the wingnut caricature of Reagan, not the real guy, whose politics would be far to the left of communism as far as Beck is concerned). Then there are the usual conspiracies – Here is his newest NFL conspiracy, for instance (surrounding the Redskins, of course). And over-the-top Obama rants - Here is his claim that Obama is responsible for the murder of a family. In China. By a guy who doesn’t speak English. Apparently because, in Beck’s mind, he has been urged on by Obama’s alleged talk of class warfare, of which Beck could cite no examples. In China. Furthermore, he has tried on (we’ve encountered it before) the line that Obamacare is a violation of the separation of church and state, as opposed, it seems, to forced participation in prayers in public schools.

    Or creationism. According to Beck, and memorably so, science guy Bill Nye is to creationists as the Catholic church was to Galileo. So, one might think, is reality.

    Indeed, Beck’s toying with fundie religious crankery is rather bizarre. He has, for instance, claimed that he thinks demonic forces are the reason cable providers are refusing to host his show. Because, one thinks, it is because his show is really all religious. Or Messianic. One can, indeed, only wonder why Beck is sometimes accused of delusions of grandeur.

    There is a nice summary of Beck’s 2013 antics here.