|
My writing about Glenn Beck brings out the best in people. Angry comments. Incoherent comments. E-mails like this: Not so
Hughes for Hughes, maybe, but not for America. Hughes=a so-called intelligent person who is really just another form of intolerant bigot himself.
One who's self-righteous views of his own way of looking at things and his own condemnation of all who are conservative or Christian shows that he can't even play by so-called liberal ideas.
This site is about promoting Hughes, not America. How ridiculous. So many people defending the likes of Beck, fighting tooth-and-nail to somehow prove that Beck isn't an intolerant, bigoted partisan whose brand of rhetoric has only cheapened the debate. Apparently, people forget. So, just in case, here are some of Beck's greatest hits: Beck said he was "thinking about killing Michael Moore, and I'm wondering if I could kill him myself, or if I would need to hire somebody to do it. No, I think I could. I think he could be looking me in the eye, you know, and I could just be choking the life out - is this wrong?"
Beck said "it took me about a year to start hating the 9-11 victims' families", adding of the victims of Hurricane Katrina, "And that's all we're hearing about, are the people in New Orleans. Those are the only ones we're seeing on television are the scumbags".
Beck called Cindy Sheehan "a pretty big prostitute", adding that Sheehan was "pimping out the tragedy of her own son's death for her own agenda." He's also referred to Sheehan as a "tragedy pimp".
Beck asked, "Is there a bigger waste of skin than Jimmy Carter?"
Beck said, of the reasons undocumented workers come to the United States, "Really, three reasons: One, they're terrorists; two, they're escaping the law; or three, they're hungry. They can't make a living in their own dirtbag country." He's also said, to Mexico, "We're taking rapists out of your country, and you've got a problem with that, and you're shipping killers to us? Please."
Beck asked, "Why did God put all of the oil under dirtbag countries?"
Beck said that Mahmoud Ahmadinejad "sounded to me a lot like Michael Moore". He's also said, of Ahmadinejad, "This guy is Howard frickin' Dean."
Beck said, of "An Inconvenient Truth", "See, when you take a little bit of truth and then you mix it with untruth, or your theory, that's where you get people to believe. You know? It's like Hitler. Hitler said a little bit of truth, and then he mixed in 'and it's the Jews' fault.' That's where things get a little troublesome, and that's exactly what's happening." He also said, of a scene in the movie depicting the possibility of a Shanghai under water, "Does anybody really care? I mean, come on. Shanghai is under water. Oh, no! Who's gonna make those little umbrellas for those tropical drinks?"
Beck said that people of different races were afraid to associate with each other because, "we're afraid that, you know, somebody's gonna sic the NAACP on us, or somebody's gonna sic an attorney on us." He later added, "I mean, drop the Ebonics crap. There's times that I've gotten into conversation with people, and I don't know what they're saying to me, because it's Ebonics, and I don't wanna say, 'What the hell are you even talking about? What?' And it - I don't wanna say anything because I just don't want - that's the whitest white guy ever. Like that's a slam. Let's speak the same language."
Beck said, "I work at Radio City in midtown Manhattan, and up by the doors, you know, like where the - you know - the office kitchen is, in Braille, on the wall, it says 'kitchen.' You'd have to - a blind person would have to be feeling all of the walls to find 'kitchen.' Just to piss them off, I'm going to put in Braille on the coffee pot - I'm going to put, 'Pot is hot.' Ow!"
Beck warned that, if Muslims don't do more to fight terrorism, they "will be looking through a razor wire fence at the West." He's also said, "The Middle East is being overrun by 10th-century barbarians," adding, "... we're going to have to nuke the whole place."
Beck said, to the first-ever Muslim congressman, Keith Ellison, "... you are a Democrat. You are saying, 'Let's cut and run.' And I have to tell you, I have been nervous about this interview with you, because what I feel like saying is, 'Sir, prove to me that you are not working with our enemies.'"
Beck said, of Vermont electing Bernie Sanders to the U.S. Senate, "I believe we should take the ice cream factory without the two fat guys, and we should vote them out of the union. I think you should have a renewal period on every state. I think the rest of the country should vote whether you're a state or not anymore." Alright, those defending Beck. Consider that his platform. Is that your platform? Do you agree with everything he said? Does that represent the intellectual rigor with which you discuss current affairs? Is that line of thinking indicative of your mindset? Because, if so, Beck isn't the only one of which we should be wary. You are, too. Am I in any way saying that Beck and the wrongheaded rhetoric he spews represent the most pressing problems we as Americans face? Of course not. But let's not confuse ourselves by thinking that Beck's philosophies aren't at the core of what plagues the political debate in this country. That black/white, good/evil, shout-first-think-later behavior isn't reducing our discourse to an uncivil shouting match. How can we approach the actual pressing issues in the proper manner when Beck and people like him throw verbal grenades? What's more, since when does simply pointing out Beck's irrational, prejudiced statements become somehow worse than his original words? It clearly isn't, and the sooner we can put people like Beck behind us, the better. Now, have I played a part in keeping the Becks of the world afloat? Sure, but you reach a point where people need to see the lies and bigotry being spread over the airways. The more people know about what's being said and done in our name, the sooner we can marginalize those saying and doing it. And when the people spoke at the ballot box earlier this month, they helped cast a vote for change. Change not only from the course as charted by the Republican Party, but also from the beliefs voiced by its mouthpieces, people like Beck. |
Printer-friendly format
Email this thread to a friend
Bookmark this thread
(504 posts)
Send PM |
Profile |
Ignore
