Why do Glenn Beck and BigGovernment hate Missouri law enforcement?
November 05, 2009 12:49 pm ET by Eric Boehlert
And why are Beck and BigGovernment, as well as the rest of the right-wing brigade, now clearly suggesting that Missouri law enforcement officials are covering up a crime? The fact-free crowd is impugning the integrity of Missouri prosecutors because they have the nerve to not go along with the right-wing fantasy that SEIU "thugs" savagely beat a man (nearly to death, according to some breathless reports) outside of a health care town hall forum in August. And yes, Andrew Breitbart claimed the thugs were sent directly from the White House.
That's a pretty serious accusation to make against the defenders of the law. So on what basis do Beck and BigGovernment make the claim? What facts do they present to suggest that Missouri law enforcement is covering up a crime? Um, did I mention it's Glenn Beck and BigGovernment?
Answer: Zero facts.
The right-wing's beloved tale of Kenneth Gladney has been dubious from the get-go. (See here, here, here, here, and here.) But now that it's been nearly three months and no formal charges have been filed in a case that was supposed to be an open-and-shut case of a brutal beating (it was caught on tape!), Beck and company have fallen back to their predictable Plan B: conspiracy theory!! i.e. The cops are in on it, too!!
"Why haven't charges been filed?" Beck demanded this week. "I would like to know what game is being played."
Specifically, the far-right, anti-law enforcement crowd suggests that because Buffy Wicks was part of Barack Obama's campaign in Missouri, and because Buffy Wicks now works in the White House, and because Buffy Wicks is kinda/sorta associated with the NEA, and because the Obama Missouri campaign once had a press conference where law enforcement officials were supposedly in attendance (Beck's still searching for the tape), that means Missouri law enforcement is now covering up the Gladney beating as a favor to Buffy Wicks. (Talk about a Superwoman!)
Conspiracy stenographer Matthew Vadum types up the nonsense for David Horowitz's Newsreal.
For the record, I have no idea if any charges will ever be filed. It's completely possible law enforcement authorities will ignore Gladney's rather odd tale for the simple reason that no provable crime was committed. But even if charges are filed some day, that means SEIU defendants will, of course, have a chance to clear their names, regardless of how Glenn Beck and BigGovernment wished our justice system worked.
What I do know is that the right-wing's selfish, and often comical, attempt to turn Kenneth Gladney into a political martyr continues to be a sad spectacle to watch.
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BOO-HOO Eric. Nobody cares what you think.
Congratulations.
I call some of the posters here and some rightwing pundits traitorous and unpatriotic at times, and it's behavior in public like this that makes me do it!
We have laws, and rules, and judgments, and none of those, given the evidence we've had for months, supports criminal charges against those who 'attacked' Gladney. Common sense tells you that the 'charges' are nonsense, and they shouldn't get more credibility than they deserve!
The disrespect being shown here to law enforcement is obscene - we have to have confidence in them, and the rightwing pundits are sowing disrespect.
Sometimes, it is necessary to address "trolls." [Cheney's no troll, btw, he/she is just a poster who disagrees with most folks here with no real facts to back up his disagreement. That doesn't make him/her a troll, just makes him/her a pain in the backside.] We're all grown ups, we can figure it out.
As for the post . . . there is no evidence to support Gladney's claims, there has never been any evidence to support them and, in fact, there has been video evidence which seems to indicate that nothing happened to Gladney at all. Beck, et al, really don't care about anything except their own bottom line and their own press. They are "trolls," if you will. They know they are full of crap, but like all trolls, they will continue to throw it out there just to see what will stick. Most of us try really hard to show that what they are throwing out there is crap . . . . just like we do all trolls.
And I believe strongly that just like we need to point out that FoxNews has no credibility and why they aren't a legit news organization, we need to do the same for troll posts.
And no, there are many here who can't/don't/won't figure it out. On top of that, if others have figured it out, and I tell people that they need to figure it out, that duplication does no harm. However, if I clue some people in, and stymie the efforts of the troll post, then some good has been done.
And Cheney's post was clearly a troll post. It was not intended to discuss the topic at hand. It was intended to draw attention to his 'point', which was a personal attack and only a personal attack on Eric.
A few days later he's in a wheelchair, having survived a brutal beating.
Then "I am Kenneth Gladney" became a website.
Then the website got turned off because his attorney didn't pay the light bill.
I presume his contingency attorney. So if that gentleman gave up on the case, why would we continue to believe it has any merit whatsoever?