That’s not the point. Is he telling the truth? Seems to me that he is.

You must have an odd definition of truth. Take a look here to see Glenn Beck’s “statements of truth”.

All you have to do is reference back to the sources that he oftens points out. Or just use your memory from high school history. He may be an asshole, but he is a truthful one.

I really wonder what course of high-school history that would be. A person with Glenn Beck’s view of history would most definitely get a solid F. What references and sources are these, really? I’m curious.

Fox news is just as credible as CNN and MSNBC.

Hardly. FOX goes out of its way to bash the left. Of course, MSNBC does the same (to the right), but for some reason they aren’t as malicious. CNN is definitely better than both, although nothing really compares to the BBC as far as objective journalism.

Does Fox news put a conservative slant on the volcano in Iceland? No any more than CNN puts a liberal slant on it.

Strawman argument. FOX puts a conservative spin on almost everything. FOX goes out of its way to distort news. Perhaps you aren’t aware of FOX vs. Akre where FOX won the case saying that the FCC does not prohibit the intentional distortion and falsification of news.

Instead of opening your pieholes and pretending that you have ever watched more than one segment of Glen Beck or any segment at all on Fox news, why do you guys educate yourselves.

I hope you do realize the irony of that statement. The reason that I cannot sit through more than five minutes of Glenn Beck’s show is that my brain tries to kill itself from the obscene and gratuitous display of wanton idiocy, vitriol, and hyperbole. I can’t say that Glenn Beck is an idiot; one could conclude that from watching his show, because it is beyond me how an rational human being can say the things he says. I would suspect that it isn’t one, because one needs a certain measure of cunning to create such trash and then portray it as truth. Maybe it’s easier for people without a conscience or maybe when large sums of money are involved. I don’t have any solid figures or statistics, but I am willing to bet money that I am way more educated and well-informed that the average Glenn Beck fan.

To actually understand why what Glenn Beck says is pure trash, take a look at this very wonderful Jon Stewart parody. He spends half his show showing exactly why Glenn Beck is such a douchebag.

Oh, another thing. These “references” you speak of. Glenn Beck consistently quotes Thomas Paine. Now maybe it’s because Glenn Beck took the same history courses that you speak of, which would explain why he is so off-base… see, the thing is Thomas Paine has rather left-leaning sentiments. Is this intentional? Maybe not if he is a genuine idiot. But I think it’s far worse than that. He thinks his audience is full of idiots and that they will not fact-check or verify what he says. This is because he says what they like to hear. That’s very dangerous. You have to question everything and not take anything idiots like Glenn Beck say as fact.

This is also why I rarely watch opinion shows and stick to news (BBC or NPR).

Fox news is just as credible as CNN and MSNBC. (I won’t bother including HLN because they folks there seem to think that the Taliban do not want to take over Afganistan or Pakistan, and are equally ignorant on many other subjects.) Fox tends to be conservative, CNN and MSNBC are certainly liberal. If you’re watching the news programs (as opposed to opinion editorials like Glen Beck’s program) it doesn’t make a difference. Does Fox news put a conservative slant on the volcano in Iceland? No any more than CNN puts a liberal slant on it.

Instead of opening your pieholes and pretending that you have ever watched more than one segment of Glen Beck or any segment at all on Fox news, why do you guys educate yourselves.

Another issue that is not being addressed is that of the Repblican’s agenda of seeing to it that President Obama fails at EVERYTHING he trys to do. Even on policies that they agreed with at one time, if Obama takes it up they immdeiatly oppose it. Too many such issues like this to list here. I belive that they are doing this based on race. Most of these good old boys are backroom racists and they can’t stand the though of a black man coming into their territory so they are going to make sure his legacy is one of total and utter failure. The first black Presedency being an abject failure will teach the American voter never to do that again! When, before a black man took the oath of office, has a member of Congress shouted out “you lie” during a presidential address to that body? Never! And from whom did this appalling disrespect come from? Why, a good old son of the south, that’s who. Was he censured? Of course not. I have no doubt whatsoever that when these Senators and Representatives meet behind closed doors they are referring to our President as that damned N—er. Those that think I’m way off base probably aren’t old enough to have seen these guys in action before the Cival Rights Movement and the Cival Rights Act. The tiger can’t change it’s stripes and I’m not so niave to think these former avowed racists have suddunly changed theirs. Think about…the Republican party is voting no on everything. EVERYTHING! But, that’s just my viewpoint…

Sorry for taking so long to respond! After I got back from my vacation, I was busy with work. Thank you for the wishes, by the way!

I completely agree with you, and especially with your insightful comments about the quality (or lack thereof) of education in this country. I mean, when you have a state school board (Kansas) that wants to put Creationism in the curriculum, you have a problem. I don’t have a problem with Creationism per se. It’s no different from any other Creation Myth. As such, it falls in the domain of faith and has no place in science. Now “Intelligent Design” on the other hand is simply a political term. I mean, at the end of the day Creationists and backers of Intelligent Design aren’t concerned about Science. They’re concerned about religion. $HOLY_BOOK says life began a certain way, and evolution seems to contradict that. Sorry, I went off on a tangent!

I’m glad you liked my piece about Communism, Socialism, and Fascism. I was prompted to write it when I realized that most people (indeed, even I wasn’t aware of the subtle differences between Socialism and Communism) didn’t know the difference, and used all three terms interchangeably.

I believe that this behavior can be traced to the dumbing down of America. I made the comment to a friend that we progressives have not been engaging in protests like we did in the sixties and seventies. At that time the intellectuals were very vocal and we didn’t let the right get away with anything unchallenged. He reminded me that most of us had cut our hair and joined Corporate America. Without the challenge coming from the intellectual, educated people of reason the right has become a radicalized group of hate mongers. Because the American public is sliding down into ignorance they fail to be independant thinkers and therefore are unarmed in this battle against those who would subjugate them for profit. We must never forget that the Republican Party is the party of big business and it’s easier to control the masses who do not posses independence of thought.

I laugh when these idiots accuse the media of being controlled by liberals. Rupert Murdoch controls most of the media and he’s no liberal.

I worry about the quality of education in America. Your piece about the comparison of facism, socialism and communism was excellent. That’s how I found your website. I was researching the history of facism and your website came up in my google search. The interesting similarity about these ism’s appears to be that they take hold in populations that are in a state of social decline of one type or another. I believe what we are experiencing now is a decline in the intellectual enrichment of the population in general. Just look at American TV. It’s hard for me to believe the statistics but the majority of the U.S. is regularly watching reality tv. Right wing radio has a huge following and the fact that Glen Beck has any air time is outrageous. I remember the British headlines after G Dubya was reelected. ” How can 50 million Americans be so stupid?” And now it seems these mental midgits have fallen in love with that fool Sarah Palen. You do know she can see Russia from her back porch. I was educated in the public school system in Nassau Co. New York. At the time I wasn’t aware that it was one of the best public school systems in the country. I moved to Southern Az in ’77 and was shocked at the pathetic condition of the public schools here. We just can’t allow this inequity to continue. Wherever the citizens have not received an adequate education we can not possibly have fair representation in Government. This is because and adequate education must have at it’s core the teaching of independant thinking. To think rather then to follow. The right is pandering to the lowest common denominator and they are getting away with it.

I agree with you that we must have opposition to the Party in the majority for the sake of balance and that bias is part of the human experience. With the knowlede that Fixed News is just a mouthpiece for the radical right we shouldn’t be surprised by their wanton deception, rampant speculation, half-truths and fear mongering.

Oh, by the way, congratulations on your engagement! All the best to you and your lady.

In any political system you will have people that oppose the ruling party. This is definitely necessary because a viable opposition keeps the ruling party on its toes. But opposition for the sake of opposition achieves nothing (this is something even the Democrats are guilty of). But even worse is when you have something like FOX News, which rather than being news, has turned into a propaganda mouthpiece for the far-right.

I enjoyed reading your comment. You have a refreshingly intelligent style. I listened to the clip of GB’s insults of the entire Indian nation and was absolutely disgusted. His ignorance is astounding. I beleive that India is on a fast track to overtaking the U.S. in scientific discovery and implementation. The Indian people seem to have more respect for education then do the average Americans. Just take a look at the Kansas State Board of Education and their attitude toward Darwin’s Theory of Evolution.

I look forward to reading your next comments…keep up the good work!