Glenn Beck's double standard on convicted felons
December 07, 2009 7:41 pm ET by Brian Frederick
On Monday, Glenn Beck unveiled his latest smear campaign - which he credited to serial smear merchant Andrew Breitbart - on Robert Creamer, the author of Stand Up Straight! How Progressives Can Win who pled guilty to federal bank fraud and tax charges in 2005 due to his handling of Illinois Public Action. Creamer had been "writing checks on accounts without sufficient funds to cover them while moving money between accounts and playing the so-called float to prevent the checks from bouncing," but doing so in order to keep the nonprofit from failing, not in order to steal from it.
It turns out Creamer attended the November 24 state dinner at the White House with his wife, Democratic Rep. Jan Schakowsky of Illinois.
"I understand that's exceptionally rare for a felon to attend something at the White House," Beck said in the middle of his falsehood-ridden attack on Creamer.
It's probably even rarer for one to attend the White House and receive a presidential medal.
Yet, that's exactly what George W. Bush did in December 2008. Bush awarded the Presidential Citizen Medal to Chuck Colson, who "pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice for devising a scheme to get and disseminate derogatory information about Pentagon Papers Defendant Daniel Ellsberg" and was sentenced to one to three years in prison.
Here's the AP's report:
Bush recognized Charles Colson, the first member of the Nixon administration to serve prison time for Watergate-related offenses. After being released from Maxwell prison in Alabama, Colson founded Prison Fellowship in 1976, which conducts outreach to prisoners, former convicts, crime victims and their families.
"For more than three decades, Chuck Colson has dedicated his life to sharing the message of God's boundless love and mercy with prisoners, former prisoners and their families," the White House said in the citation. "Through his strong faith and leadership, he has helped courageous men and women from around the world make successful transitions back into society."
Somehow, in Beck's world, attending a state dinner at the White House is something more than attending a state dinner at the White House. So much so in his mind that his latest conspiracy theory is that the Salahi's were used as a distraction for - or by -- the media so that nobody would pay attention to Creamer's attendance. (You know because Creamer's comments to fellow diners over "Green Curry Prawns" were tantamount to setting policy in the Obama administration.)
Moreover, Beck's own network is home to at least one convicted felon. Mark Fuhrman -- who pled guilty to perjury charges -- is a Fox News "forensic and crime scene expert." And Beck's show accepts advertising money from gold-hawking G. Gordon Liddy, who has also made appearances on the network.
To remind you, here's Liddy's litany of offenses, which Beck would have a field day with if he didn't have a double standard:
Liddy served four and a half years in prison in connection with his conviction for his role in the Watergate break-in and the break-in at the office of the psychiatrist of Daniel Ellsberg, the military analyst who leaked the Pentagon Papers. Liddy has acknowledgedpreparing to kill someone during the Ellsberg break-in "if necessary"; plotting to kill journalist Jack Anderson; plotting with a "gangland figure" to kill Howard Hunt to stop him from cooperating with investigators; plotting to firebomb the Brookings Institution; and plotting to kidnap "leftist guerillas" at the 1972 Republican National Convention -- a plan he outlined to the Nixon administration using terminology borrowed from the Nazis. (The murder, firebombing, and kidnapping plots were never carried out; the break-ins were.) During the 1990s, Liddy reportedly instructed his radio audience on multiple occasions on how to shoot Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms agents and also reportedly said he had named his shooting targets after Bill and Hillary Clinton.
Referring to the state dinner, Beck said: "I'm pretty sure convicted felons are usually barred from such events."
They're obviously not barred from appearing on Fox News.
Mr. News
Let's just read that Stupid Quote & then let's Read it again because it's a Squeaker.
Close your Eyes & go back in time to Thursday Afternoon January 19, 1863 and Imagine Abraham Lincoln giving the Gettysburg Address.
Now imagine Glenn Beck shouting "Hey Man You're a Horrible Public Speaker" Do you think History would need a Redress?
Speak truth to power.
Mr. News
Guess that makes him an unconvicted felon.
I see you aren't disputing ANYTHING else Glenn has to say about Mr. Creamer. Guess what - Obama's house will fall, because of people like Beck & Breitbart. Hooray - why don't you look further into what Beck has to say instead of defending the criminals.
Why not? Scared? I dare you
Uh, yes they are. Beck accused Creamer of stealing from the non-profit, while MMFA disputes it by saying that Creamer floated checks to keep the non-profit operating. MMFA's assessment is supported by the reporting of the judge's sentencing. The only defense I see of this criminal is against the lies of right-wing professional liars like Beck. Reporting the actual facts of the crime just isn't sexy enough for Beck, so he has to crank up the crazy in his audience by lying about it.
Funny how a large number of Obama's circle of friends and administration can't seem to pay their taxes but they sure can find trillions of ways to spend our tax dollars.
It's Beck who is the hypocrite, not us.
We're not scared. Why are you apparently so scared of the truth?
If somebody's stealing my money -- and any time money is stolen, it's stolen from SOMEBODY -- I don't particularly care why they stole it.
Real life isn't like Kramer's world, where stole money is just "written off." It's stolen from somewhere/someone.
The bigger issue here is if it's true that Creamer's book is being used as the blueprint to pass health care. It would seem so based on Axelrod's comments and the steps they have taken thus far.
If true, according to the book, passing health care isn't about health care at all, it's about becoming a permanent majority.
Based on his book, if h.c. passes, this will hook millions of Americans on another federal program, and they will depend on―and vote for―Democrats to grant them more benefits.
Same thing for amnesty to illegals.
From the book:
“If the Democrats continue to stand firmly for immigrant rights, the issue will define immigrants’ voting loyalties for a generation. If we are successful, a gigantic block of progressive votes will enter the electorate over the next 15 years―a block that could be decisive in the battle for the future.”
In the interest of understanding I started listening to him and reading his books. While Beck is sometimes insane and inane, he is SPOT ON on his facts. I do believe he carried the 'convicted felon' issue to far in his argument, but the rest of his argument is scary, not because he said it, but because it is true.
How can anyone pretend to be an intellectual if you refuse to understand both sides of the argument. I dare you to try.
Futhermore, socialism is slavery. It is not a crime to aqurire wealth, otherwise many of your liberal leaders would also be criminals. I find it extremely odd that the people who are preaching about redistributing the wealth are some of the wealthest people in America. You do understand that these people are talking about redistributing yours and everyone else wealth, not theirs right?