Who Is Stupider: Glenn Beck Or His Viewers?

[babylonsister]

http://www.newscorpse.com/ncWP/?p=2761

Who Is Stupider: Glenn Beck Or His Viewers?
Posted by Mark on September 21, 2010 at 4:07 pm.


Today’s episode of the Glenn Beck program on Fox News was one of the best examples of the celebration of ignorance that defines his show and his appeal. It is downright mind-boggling how anyone can take this garbage seriously.



From the very beginning he reaches for the most egregious numbskullery. He begins the program by calling Delaware senate candidate Chris Coons a Marxist. He doesn’t bother to explain the genesis of that insult, but I happen to have heard his explanation previously. It concerns an article Coons wrote twenty years ago in college that described his return to the U.S. from a humanitarian trip to Africa. Here is what Coons wrote:

“I spent the spring of my junior year in Africa on the St. Lawrence Kenya Study Program. Going to Kenya was one of the few real decisions I have made; my friends, family, and professors all advised against it, but I went anyway. My friends now joke that something about Kenya, maybe the strange diet, or the tropical sun, changed my personality; Africa to them seems a catalytic converter that takes in clean-shaven, clear-thinking Americans and sends back bearded Marxists.”

Every rightist media outlet, including Fox News, jumped on the last few words of that excerpt to twist it into what they called an “admission” from Coons that he was a Marxist. Of course, it would require someone with the comprehension skills of a fern to arrive at that conclusion. Coons clearly stated that it was his friends who were joking about his change of heart and ultimate reemergence as a Democrat. Neither he nor his friends regarded him as a Marxist. Nevertheless, that’s the demonstrably false accusation with which Beck opened his show.

snip//

The sad part of all this isn’t that Beck is an ignoramus. After all, he’s made a fortune on his asininity. It’s his viewers for whom I sympathize. The poor slobs actually believe everything he spews. They will repeat it to their friends. They will thump their chests with pride as they disgorge his factless bromides, never realizing that they are making asses of themselves.

In the end, the question in the headline of this article isn’t really important. What matters is who is hurt most by this festival of feeble-mindedness? The answer is that the cumulative effect of this mass dispersion of nonsense is ultimately harmful to the country, to the practice of democracy, and to the very people who suffer from the greatest exposure to it – his viewers.

[marmar]

1. Those who feast at a buffet of bullshit are dumber than the server.

nt

[opihimoimoi]

4. Its a CULT and brainwashed Followers..pity they would be so many of them

but then...out of 339 mil in our Nation...We gatta have a few

[Drunken Irishman]

2. Beck's viewers. Beck is riding their idiocy to the bank.

[MH1]

3. Easy question. The viewers who are making him rich.

[obxhead]

5. His viewers. Beck just says what has to to line his pockets.

Not to say he doesn't believe some or even most of it, but overall he's just another act on the TV and radio.

[onehandle]

6. Are his viewers part of the 2% that the Obama/Democratic tax cuts won't go to?

No.

They are part of the 98% we want to give tax cuts and are clearly stupider.

[babylonsister]

7. You win a cookie, as does everyone in this thread. Poor saps, but

scary for the rest of us.

[VioletLake]

8. Glenn Beck is the lie machine's "truth teller".

He is the ringmaster of Murdoch's show, not just the star clown.

[Cal33]

9. If there weren't so many people who are almost totally ignorant

about what's going on in the world in general, people like Beck & Limbaugh would
be out of jobs -- either that, or change their tunes. But the 90% Republican-owned
news media deliberately make sure that little, if any, important information is
being disseminated. The less the people know, the easier they can be made use of
and fooled.

[babylonsister]

10. Thus Jimmy Carter's statement...

Pres. Carter: I think the number one factor is Fox News. It’s totally distorting everything possible concerning the facts. And I think their constant hammering away at these false premises about our incumbent President has a major impact on the consciousness of America. A lot of well-meaning people, including many of those in the Tea Party movement, believe what is said in this constant hammering away by Glenn Beck and by others who have no regards for the truth.

[Bitwit1234]

11. His viewers overwhelmingly

Glenn Beck is out to make money. He does these outrageous things because he knows, above anything else, the people who watch and believe him are the most stupid bunch of humans to ever people the earth. And the more he can play into their stupidity the more will watch him, and he gets more money.

[VioletLake]

13. "Stupid" may explain the majority of cases,

but I know intelligent people who watch Glenn Beck. He plays their prejudices and fears like a virtuoso.

Edit to add: And he offers the legitimacy and comfort of traditional conservative power: nationalism, racism, religionism, and hegemony.

[babylonsister]

18. How are these acceptable, to anyone? I don't doubt it is,

but I could never wrap my head around these thoughts coming from supposedly intelligent people. My brother is a diehard rethug and kisses the ground Hannity walks on, but he even thinks beck is over the top, and my brother is not highly educated.

[VioletLake]

20. One of the most learned and knowledgeable people I know

is a fan of Glenn Beck. He's not swayed by religion or nationalism, but he is a racist and believer in Western hegemony. It probably is not insignificant that he was a fascist youth in Spain.

[HysteryDiagnosis]

12. The GB motto should read, "No vexation without misrepresentation" n/t

[formercia]

14. It's a co-dependent relationship. n/t

[Caliman73]

15. His viewers hands down.

At least the sick asshole is getting paid handsomely for pushing his filth and craziness. His viewers get nothing but a stroked ego and a head full of garbage. They pay him for the privilege of watching the idiocy by supporting his endorsers and buying the crap he peddles.

[Initech]

16. This is your brain:

This is your brain on Glenn Beck:



Any questions?

[Mist]

17. Beck = "entertainer." Those who admire him = "morans." nt

[tavalon]

19. Glen Beck is not stupid. In fact, he's scary smart. Almost Karl Rove smart.

The only thing that gives me hope that Glenn Beck falls apart as his mental illness crests. I'm unsure if he has bipolar disorder or some kind of psychosis but I see the mental illness. But that doesn't make him stupid by a long shot.