Glen Beck

[chris_gerrib]

In reply to a post at The Usual Suspects:

The “fear” I feel about Beck (and Palin) is the same as the fear I would have of a 5-year-old left alone in the control room of a nuclear reactor. It’s a fear that somebody clearly out of their depth gets put in a position of responsibility.

What irritates me about Beck’s attempt to re-claim the civil rights movement is that, in the real civil rights movement, people died. Blacks and whites who helped them were beaten and/or killed. The biggest threat facing Beck is tripping on a microphone cable.

In short, Beck is uninformed and taking no personal risks, trying to claim a mantle of leadership from people who were exceedingly well informed and constantly risking their lives.

Comments

[jordan179.livejournal.com]

Your argument works as well against Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton, though, since they too face no particular physical threat in claiming to stand up for civil rights.

[chris-gerrib.livejournal.com]

Jesse Jackson - you mean the man standing next to Dr. King when he was shot?

[jordan179.livejournal.com]

... and who hasn't been in any particular danger since then, yes. For that matter, at the time the only real danger he was in was that one of James Earl Ray's shots would go wild and hit Jackson instead of King.

[chris-gerrib.livejournal.com]

So race-based violence ended in 1968? Or, we shouldn't respect those who faced down physical violence, even if they are not immediately threatened with it?

None of which explains what physical violence or discrimination that Glen Beck has faced.

[jordan179.livejournal.com]

Oh, and you haven't demonstrated a single way in which Glenn Beck is "uninformed" or "out of his depth." Not saying he isn't, since I know little of the man or his beliefs. Merely pointing out that you're making an unsupported assertion.

[chris-gerrib.livejournal.com]

You mean the man who says the government will have to nationalize Walgreens drug stores (http://chris-gerrib.livejournal.com/244789.html)?

[daveon.livejournal.com]

You left out his belief that there's secret archeological relics that show that the Book of Mormon is all true and it's being covered up. (http://anthroslug.blogspot.com/2010/08/glenn-becks-pseudo-archaeology-part-1.html)

I *wish* I was making this stuff up

[daveon.livejournal.com]

Not saying he isn't, since I know little of the man or his beliefs. Merely pointing out that you're making an unsupported assertion.

Thanks for that, it's been a crappy day and I needed a chuckle.

[daveon.livejournal.com]

I think you've caught most of my feeling. I actually have a suspicion having watched some of Beck's weirder rants and positions - not to mention those he's pulled back on - that we're watching somebody struggling with a few actual real problems in the brain chemistry department.

He reminds me daily of a guy we had in the UK called David Icke (worth Googling) who went a similar way and now writes books showing how 9-11 was caused by the Alien Lizards.

[chris-gerrib.livejournal.com]

Icke is probably a few cards short of a deck. I think Beck is just ignorant and credulous.