...within the span of a few minutes, Beck implied that there are no quality medical schools in India; implied that medical care in India is a shoddy imitation of real health care; implied that the entire nation is an undeveloped backwater without even so much as indoor plumbing; and compared the Ganges River, a holy body of water for one of the world's oldest and largest religions, to a disease...
I guess the only reason Glenn Beck is popular is because there is apparently a marketable-segment of idiots in America. You know, the morons that watch Fox News and actually believe what they hear. Glenn Beck, you are an asshole. You are an ignorant bigot and a douchebag. There are a few people that I know, that oppose the health reform. But the strange thing is that they have rather valid arguments, and even though I may not agree with them, I find them rather intelligent and well thought-out. I mean, Mr. Beck. I realize that by being an ignorant douchebag it's beyond you to form coherent arguments but seriously... do you have to stoop to the level of offending an entire nation? Or what about the entire community of Indian-Americans?
Usually when people make arguments or counter-arguments about a topic, they usually know what they're talking about because they've researched the topic thoroughly. Oh wait. That's only if they have a proper show that actually discusses political topics with valid arguments instead of gleefully bending over for the lunatic far-right and being their sockpuppet. Hell, I probably shouldn't blame you. You are making money after all, even if you have to sell your soul for it. No, your show is a circus and your arguments are bullshit. Even still, I find it appalling that you would denigrate an entire nation and community. You may not think much about Indian doctors, but they seem to be a successful and well-respected bunch in India, with a large number of satisfied customers. In one fell swoop you've insulted the cultural and religious sentiments of Indians, you've made light of the sweat, blood, and tears of her doctors that strive to serve their nation (and who have migrated to other nations, including *gasp* the United States and serve Americans), and you've implied that India is some backwater country without any sort of facilities. Sure, India is no United States and it has a long way to go, and even though you may have the right to say whatever the hell you want, it's really, really bad form to make fun of a country and her people. You xenophobic, ignorant, douchebag. I find it surprising that even you would stoop this low for ratings.
You sir, are an asshole.
As apposed to the ignorant people like yourself that watch MSNBC and believe it.
@White American
I notice that you didn’t address any of the issues at hand and instead stated something completely irrelevant. How very Glennbeckian of you. By the way, I watch the BBC. I said it before and I’ll say it again. Fox News is not news. It’s called crap. If you want a mature and reliable Republican viewpoint, read the WSJ. As long as it’s halfway decent and before that idiot Rupert Murdoch ruins it.
So very well said. Glen Beck is the asshole of all assholes. Oh wait a minute…there’s Bill O’Reilly ( Billo the Clown) and of course Rush L.
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!
@MaQ
Thanks MaQ! It’s sad that the voice of the Republican Party has to come from people like Beck. It’s even sadder that FOX News is the viewpoint of the Republican Party. Bias, I can understand. MSNBC is undoubtedly biased towards the Left and the Democrats. I think what distinguishes FOX is wanton deception. One only needs to listen in on FOX News to hear the rampant speculation, half-truths, and fear-mongering. Sad to see that this is what passes for “news” these days.
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.
Very true indeed. My worry is the temperment of the opposition. There is no longer civil, if passionate, discussion. Political discourse has become ugly name calling and outright lies. Now, understand, mudslinging has been around for as long as there has been mud but there was also those who were willing to have intellegent debate. My observation has been that there is overwhelmingly nasty behavior on the part of the Republicans and the religious right. Being the party of conservatism and “Christian Values” how can they be engaging in the most offensive hate mongering. They don’t even try to conceal their racism as domonstrated by Joe Wilson’s “you lie” comment. If President Obama where white he never would have been shown such flagrant disrespect.
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.
@MaQ
MaQ,
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.
Hey – if we can put aside partisan bickering, let’s have one issue where all of us can agree… he IS an asshole. He is not really a conservative or a republican, only an opportunist who saw that there was a rising demand for conservative talk shows. He could have just as easily gone with any political faction – left, right, straight, gay… which makes him NOT a conservative or liberal… just a hypocrite. And an asshole.
@Heath Jay Mannix
I agree, he is an opportunist that makes money off people’s fears. Personally what irks me is not that he is conservative. It’s just that he’s an ignorant douchebag. What I think is really sad is that he’s emerging as some sort of mouthpiece for the right, and that is troubling. The right should go to every length to distance themselves from him.
What really needs to be addressed is the power of Fixed News, er Fox News. That entity is capitalizing on fear and anger. They are hiring types like Beck BECAUSE he insites. They only care about ratings because that translates into revenue. Money drives it all. Expecting quality content from the likes of Rupert Murdock is like expecting a helping hand from the devil and we know where that will lead. ( whether you belive in the Devil or just use him as a metaphore) That power over the airwaves is potent. The liberals and progressives don’t use that power as they should. Fixed News makes money spreading hate and fear. Lets face it those topics seem to resonate with many in the American public. The question is how should it be counteracted with more progressive and compasionate sentiments. Obviously “reason” doesn’t sell newspapers or TV air time. It’s also abundantly clear that since the time of Carl Rove’s influence that the right has learned to pander to the less educated, who also vote, by suppling them with as much hate and fear as can be pumped out by the likes of Fixed News and conservative talk radio. Carl Rove shamefully pandered to the religous right, who traditionly voted Demacrat, with the abortion issue in order to get their votes for GWB. Come on, GWB was a drunk and drug user who suddenly got with God when he entered politics, Please!
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…
“Glen Beck is an asshole” Okay, whatever. That’s not the point. Is he telling the truth? Seems to me that he is. 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.
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.
@Gary
EDIT: Why don’t you educate yourselves?
@Gary
You must have an odd definition of truth. Take a look here to see Glenn Beck’s “statements of truth”.
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.
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.
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.
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).
Glenn Beck is definitely NOT an asshole. Assholes are useful and necessary to excrete waste, Beck just does it gratuitously.