Glen Beck is an Idiot...

[jedweber]

I'd say the only remotely comparable counterpart to Fox News is several hours of evening programming on MSNBC, essentially Olbermann and Maddow. ("The Ed Show" is probably even closer to a Fox opinion hour, since it also features a loudmouth cartoon-like blowhard who distorts facts to push his ideology, but unlike Fox, almost no one watches it.)

But MSNBC fails badly in rivaling Fox as a reliable propaganda outlet. They don't use their news content to constantly reinforce the narratives invented on their opinion shows. They allow actual conservatives on frequently, even turning over their entire morning to a conservative host. These sometimes include real conservatives, unlike the stable of "Fox Liberals," who are either wishy-washy moderates, borderline crackpots, or obscure "Democratic strategists" who no one ever heard of outside Fox.

While there are occasional exceptions, Fox News generally brings on this parade of sorry-ass clowns so they can concede on most issues, and occasionally throw out weak, feeble parodies of liberal arguments which can then be destroyed by the line-up of right-wing heavyweights. This is how Fox is "fair and balanced."

[xphobe]

I've been told that there are a number of very entertaining liberal talk show hosts on XM radio.  Unfortunately I don't have one so I've never heard them.

In the Houston area, most of the radio stations are owned by Clear Channel, which is notoriously conservative.   To get any semblance of relief from Glenn Beck and his crowd, I have to listen to NPR (which was never actually liberal and has gotten even less so over the past decade) or Pacifica, most of which is so amateurish and badly produced that it's embarrassingly painful.

[Gimpy]

I've been told that there are a number of very entertaining liberal talk show hosts on XM radio.  Unfortunately I don't have one so I've never heard them.

In the Houston area, most of the radio stations are owned by Clear Channel, which is notoriously conservative.   To get any semblance of relief from Glenn Beck and his crowd, I have to listen to NPR (which was never actually liberal and has gotten even less so over the past decade) or Pacifica, most of which is so amateurish and badly produced that it's embarrassingly painful.

I've had satellite radio for years. I believe (though I could be mistaken) one of the first actual channels that was solely dedicated to left leaning talk was called AirAmerica.

Al Franken was a long-time player on that station, and then moved to AmericaLeft (which is what I think AirAmerica evolved into a bit later).

Ed Schultz is on the XM/Siruis Left station, as is Thom Hartmann, Stephanie Miller, of course Rachel Maddow began in Left/Progressive Talk Radio, then there's Randi Rhodes, Bill Press, Mike Malloy, The Young Turks, Alex Bennett, and I'm sure many more that I'm forgetting right now.

[jedweber]

I used to pop on Air America in the car once in a while, before my local affiliate folded altogether...

Nothing against most liberal talkers, but to be honest, I don't WANT to spend too much time listening to them. I don't want to isolate myself in a bubble where I only hear like-minded views until I become detached from reality, like conservatives do with their Fox News/talk radio axis. If I'm forced to listen to radio, I guess I'd have to settle for Lady Gaga or NPR.

As for Pacifica, LOL. Its schedule is totally Balkanized, obscure ethnic music one hour, radical feminists another, crackpot health shows pushing "alternative medicine", underground left-wing hip-hop, then some opera or jazz - you never know what's going to be on, and most of it sucks. 

Plus, my local affiliate was involved in some kind of leadership struggle which involved people squabbling on air and locking each other out of the studios at one point, in a desperate battle to dominate their 0.1 Arbitron rating. Radical lefties can be absurd, if you put 5 of them in a room, chances are you'll have four of them dissenting and stomping off to start new factions before they leave.

[Gimpy]

Nothing against most liberal talkers, but to be honest, I don't WANT to spend too much time listening to them. I don't want to isolate myself in a bubble where I only hear like-minded views until I become detached from reality, like conservatives do with their Fox News/talk radio axis.

I call that phenomenon "smoking their own exhaust."

It happens in the corporate environment a lot, too.

[xphobe]

"smoking their own exhaust."

Good one!  I'll have to remember that. 

I didn't mean that I want to listen only to liberals, but a break from the incessant yammering of the Clear Channel Crowd would be a welcome respite.

I try to read BBC news online to get some idea of what the rest of the world thinks is important, and occasionally I'll even scan <horrors> Al Jazeera (don't tell the gummint, they'll think I'm a terrist).

[velkyn]

^^^^ then i'm on that list with you, xphobe and probably more since I also look at Xin Hua's website.

[Hatter23]

I don't know of a single person who rejects the idea of personal responsibility

No one does, unless you count the exceptions they make for themselves and people they like.

[jedweber]

LOL, somehow I missed this one last month:

Glenn Beck Claims God Spoke to His 8-28 Rally with Flying Geese

Do you remember when Glenn Beck promised a miracle from God at his 8-28 rally? On his Fox News program today Beck unveiled the power of the Lord through flying geese. A flyover by some geese is what Beck is citing as his miracle. Beck called it “God’s flyover.”

“I want to show you first that miracle that happened... At 9:59, what happened was there was a flock of geese. It was a flyover if you will. ... This was happening just as the opening music was starting. ... It was perfect coordination and perfect timing. Coincidence? Maybe? I think it was God’s flyover. It was not supposed to happen."
...
http://www.politicususa.com/en/beck-geese

I wonder if the geese dropped any "blessings" on Glenn and the assembled Teabaggers?

[velkyn]

geese flying over DC isn't supposed to happen? Someone should tell the geese since it's one of their major migration paths. 

Beck is such a pathetic idiot. 

[jedweber]

geese flying over DC isn't supposed to happen?

Beck said the "miracle" is that he was denied permission for an Air Force flyover, then the geese flew over in a V-formation just as the rally started. So I guess God was showing them they don't need no stinkin' Air Force!

[velkyn]

i rather think he was denied a fly-over, not permission for one.   and yep, shatting geese are a replacement for FA-18 Hornets  

you'd think that God could have sent at least one "real" angel.

[Agamemnon]

Oh! Oh! God shoulda sent a Blue Angel!!

That woulda been PERFECT. All those Teapartiers would have had a freakin' orgasm.

[Nick]

The geese should have let go of a butt load on Beck...that would have been a miracle.

[Azdgari]

Oh! Oh! God shoulda sent a Blue Angel!!

That woulda been PERFECT. All those Teapartiers would have had a freakin' orgasm.

Blue angels while teabagging seem...dangerous.

[Agamemnon]

Lol, you mean 'blue angels' as in people who drive in formation on freeways?

[Azdgari]

No, but the combination of both types of blue angel with both types of teabagging would be the most dangerous of all.

[Agamemnon]

lol, indeed!

[jedweber]

Here's another article claiming that Glenn Beck speaks in coded messages to religious believers. This one deals with the "White Horse Prophecy," in which Joseph Smith predicted that a Mormon elder will save the country when "the Constitution hangs by a thread."

Mormon Prophecy Behind Glenn Beck's Message

In one of his first appearances on Fox News, Glenn Beck sent a coded message to the nation's six million Mormons -- or at least those Mormons who believe in what the Latter-day Saints call "the White Horse Prophecy."
...
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dana-milbank/post_996_b_749750.html

Assuming that Glenn doesn't believe it refers to himself, we should probably watch out for photos of Mitt Romney riding a white horse. (Or maybe they'll accept a white SUV.)

[xphobe]

He did say this morning that Westboro Baptists are crazy.  So, that's a good thing, right?

[Agamemnon]

I would say it is hypocritical coming from a guy that believes the early Israelites came to America via wooden submarines.

I wonder if he was wearing his magic underwear when he said that?

[cheezisgoooood]

I'm at odds politically with my entire family now.  Every evening my dad turns on Fox News.  I despise Fox News and its rampant religious fanaticism.  Glenn Beck and Bill O'Reilly and everything else.

[Nick]

Here's another article claiming that Glenn Beck speaks in coded messages to religious believers. This one deals with the "White Horse Prophecy," in which Joseph Smith predicted that a Mormon elder will save the country when "the Constitution hangs by a thread."

Mormon Prophecy Behind Glenn Beck's Message

In one of his first appearances on Fox News, Glenn Beck sent a coded message to the nation's six million Mormons -- or at least those Mormons who believe in what the Latter-day Saints call "the White Horse Prophecy."
...
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dana-milbank/post_996_b_749750.html

Assuming that Glenn doesn't believe it refers to himself, we should probably watch out for photos of Mitt Romney riding a white horse. (Or maybe they'll accept a white SUV.)

Well, you know it had to be a white horse.  I wonder if the white hat comes along with the prophecy

[jedweber]

Here's a rare effort by a mainstream columnist to actually look at some of Beck's ideas and rhetorical tricks in detail, revealing how deeply crazed they are. (Not that it will do much good...)

Glenn Beck is obsessed with Hitler and Woodrow Wilson. (I'm just saying.)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/09/30/AR2010093005267.html

Conspiracy theories? Glenn Beck's "not saying ..."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/09/30/AR2010093005268.html

[pingnak]

http://www.infowars.com/warning-to-glenn-beck-dont-drink-diet-coke/

Apparently he's falling all to pieces, losing his vision, and even losing his voice. 

Guess his 'god' wants him to talk like Ned from South Park, and not be able to see the teleprompter.

[pingnak]

Oh, and that reminds me... NEW SOUTH PARK EPISODES!!!
http://www.southparkstudios.com/full-episodes/s14e08-poor-and-stupid#w=10.06.2010

[jedweber]

In the case of the fire department that let a family's house burn down (with pets inside) over a delinquent $75 fee, Glenn's taking the fire department's side:

Glenn Beck Mocks Fire Victims, Reaches New Depths of Awfulness
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/bob-cesca/glenn-beck-mocks-fire-vic_b_753193.html

[monkeymind]

This is a new low even for Beck!

[Nick]

His thinking must be along the lines of the Puritans...you don't work you don't eat.  Compassion is for the weak.