Beck asked, "[Y]ou ever just pictured Ted Kennedy naked?"
Discussing Sen. Ted Kennedy's endorsement of Sen. Barack Obama, Glenn Beck asked Republican strategist Amy Holmes, "[Y]ou ever just pictured Ted Kennedy naked?" Beck added, "[Y]ou know, that picture with him with his shirt off just kind of pops into your head. And you're like, 'OK, I won't have children now.' "
On the January 28 edition of his CNN Headline News program, while discussing Sen. Edward M. Kennedy's (D-MA) endorsement of Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL), Glenn Beck asked Republican strategist Amy Holmes, "[Y]ou ever just pictured Ted Kennedy naked?" Holmes responded, "Is that when you're supposed to be talking to a crowd? I thought you were supposed to picture yourself naked." Beck continued: "I don't know when but sometimes, you know, that picture with him with his shirt off just kind of pops into your head. And you're like, 'OK, I won't have children now.' "
Beck began their discussion of Kennedy's endorsement by asking, "How much weight does an endorsement from Ted Kennedy carry? Wow, that was a cheap joke." Holmes later referenced this comment, stating: "And so throwing his weighty support, as you put it, behind Barack Obama is actually meaningful in a practical sense."
Beck introduced Holmes as "CNN's contributor," but she is also a Republican strategist and former speechwriter for former Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-TN).
From the January 28 edition of CNN Headline News' Glenn Beck:
BECK: Well, in the history of American politics, there is nothing quite like the Kennedy mystique. JFK made such a large impression on many people, especially young women, that even his relatives, as unimpressive as they may be, still -- still wield a certain amount of power, surprisingly enough.
So it was big news today when Ted Kennedy, heir to the liberal monarchy, threw his full support behind Barack Obama, even though Hillary apparently practically begged him not to. But exactly how much weight does an endorsement from Ted Kennedy carry? Wow, that was a cheap joke.
For answers now, let's check in with CNN's contributor Amy Holmes. Amy.
HOLMES: Hello.
BECK: How are you?
HOLMES: Good. How are you doing?
BECK: Good.
HOLMES: Good.
BECK: You ever -- if you're trying just to get through something, you ever just pictured Ted Kennedy naked?
HOLMES: Is that when you're supposed to be talking to a crowd? I thought you were supposed to picture yourself naked. I don't know.
BECK: I don't know when, but sometimes, you know, that picture with him with his shirt off just kind of pops into your head. And you're like, "OK, I won't have children now."
HOLMES: I try not to think about that.
BECK: OK. Is Ted Kennedy -- I tried to figure this out on Friday with The New York Times. When they endorsed John McCain, was it kind of like an actual endorsement for Mitt Romney? Were they like, "I know this will piss them off, so we're actually wanting Mitt Romney to run"?
HOLMES: Right.
BECK: Same with Ted Kennedy. Is there anyone -- is there anybody that goes, "Oh, Ted Kennedy is for Obama. Sign me up."
HOLMES: Well sure, in the case of Ted Kennedy, the Democratic primary -- the Democratic Party members who elect him. He's still --
BECK: Come on, the Democrats don't really like him. They just tolerate him.
HOLMES: Oh, no, no, oh --
BECK: He's a Kennedy. He's like, whatever.
HOLMES: Glenn, you have to remember that Ted Kennedy is chairman of the very powerful Health, Education, and Labor -- Labor, underlining that word -- Committee [sic: Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee].
BECK: Because he's a Kennedy.
HOLMES: And so throwing his weighty support, as you put it, behind Barack Obama is actually meaningful in a practical sense.
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I'm reminded of that great comedy scene in the film "AIRPLANE!", where Peter Graves played Captain Oveur.
A young boy is invited to visit "the cabin" and see how the airplane was piloted, and the kid was thrilled. In the cockpit, we find Capt. Oveur has a creepy secret. Out of nowhere, Oveur asks the kid, "Have you ever seen a grown man naked?"
Instantly, we know we're dealing with a pervert and possible pedophile.
Creepy, weird, and perverted comments coming out of nowhere can trigger "Oh, my God!" laughter in a comedy movie. Peter Graves was playing a part, and going for laughs.
Beck is not playing a part. He's the REAL Capt. Oveur, a creepy, weird, and perverted HOST of a supposedly current-event based "news" show.
Apparently, Peter Graves' "art" was realistically imitating "life".
I saw Kennedy at LAX. I could not believe how corpulent he was. He could only stumble towards his plane with the assistance of a cane in each hand.
Teddy Kennedy broke his back in a plane crash back in 1964. That might explain the canes - I know I have trouble walking sometimes, and I have four herniated discs from car accidents. And I'm 20 years younger than Teddy.
It could. I know first-hand how hard it is to be active with a back injury. And it gets harder as we age.
Funny how people who think nothing of criticizing Ted Kennedy's appearance get SO-O-O-O bent out of shape when any of us liberals criticize Rush Limbaugh or Ann "The Man" Coulter.....
Never mind.
Nor is Howard Stern a political pundit. I guess news agencies having porn stars on every night would be ok in your (Johnny's) book. Of course we all know that Beck is no better than the average shock jock. But if CNN is going to legitimize him with his prime time slot then he needs to be slightly more responsible with his choice of words.
I just imagined being the doctor who performed Beck's hemmeroid-oscopy.
Now excuse me while I throw up.
Off topic, kind of ... this Scientific American article, "The overblown obesity epidemic", is a great read.
http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?articleID=000E5065-2345-128A-9E1583414B7F0000
By exaggerating the risks of fat and the feasibility of weight loss, Campos and Oliver claim, the CDC, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the World Health Organization inadvertently perpetuate stigma, encourage unbalanced diets and, perhaps, even exacerbate weight gain. "The most perverse irony is that we may be creating a disease simply by labeling it as such," Campos states.
The three surveys--medical measurements collected in the early 1970s, late 1970s and early 1990s, with subjects matched against death registries nine to 19 years later--indicate that it is much more likely that U.S. adults who fall in the overweight category have a lower risk of premature death than do those of so-called healthy weight. The overweight segment of the "epidemic of overweight and obesity" is more likely reducing death rates than boosting them.
it is much more likely that U.S. adults who fall in the overweight category have a lower risk of premature death than do those of so-called healthy weight.
Thanks for the link. That is a good article. The dissident researchers quoted are a political scientists and a lawyer but they make a good argument. The quote above is probably why Scientific American stated;
"a careful look at recent epidemiological studies and clinical trials suggests that the critics, though perhaps overstating some of their accusations, may be onto something."
Here is another quote not from the dissidents. "If you really look at the medical literature and think obesity isn't bad, I don't know what planet you are on," says James O. Hill,"
The interpretation is that mild obesity isn't nearly as bad as was expected because... "It may be, Gregg suggests, that better diagnosis and treatment of high cholesterol and blood pressure have more than compensated for any increases from rising obesity.
Extreme obesity is still bad but mild obesity can be OK if you get medical attention for any related problems.
Extreme obesity is still bad but mild obesity can be OK if you get medical attention for any related problems.
IF any problems exist. Some obese people have zero health problems.
Btw, the latest Utne Reader has a great article, "Love Your Fat Self", that addresses the obsessive hatred of fat people.
http://www.utne.com/2008-01-01/Politics/Love-Your-Fat-Self.aspx
Political scientist J. Eric Oliver, an expert in obesity, argues in his 2005 book Fat Politics: The Real Story Behind America’s Obesity Epidemic that the health risks of obesity have been grossly exaggerated. Being fat, he maintains, is not equivalent to being unfit. Fitness, not weight, is actually the most accurate measure of a person’s health and life expectancy. Even a group of researchers at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention acknowledge that “evidence that weight loss improves survival is limited.”
And I saw pasty-face, dough boy Dick Morris up close...
But anyway... how much creepier can Glenn Beck get? Picturing Ted Kennedy naked...?
I admit it...
I've often pictured Glenn Beck with his head stuffed in a toilet. ...And then he takes a deep breath. ...Oh, never mind.
Nasty, nasty, nasty!!!!
I'm old and I don't like to look at myself let along imagining someone else naked. Ewhhhhhhh
Beck added, "[Y]ou know, that picture with him with his shirt off just kind of pops into your head. And you're like, 'OK, I won't have children now.'"
Sounds like Kennedy has done this country a great service then!
WOOKIE:
Brilliant analysis. Bravo.
"The right ... calls it the marketplace of ideas."
Absolutely. Then there's the right's "insanity pleas". Gore's insane, Dean's insane, Richard Clarke's insane. Edward's a sissy. Kerry's a Frenchman.
The right's marketplace of ideas is more like a school playground.
All Cons are not as sophisticated as you Bruce.
I think that's pretty well documented.
"these are the kinds of questions that the right-wing pundits ask that have caused Republicans to do so well over the past 30 years. "
You're right. Beck's unoriginal brand of red-meat, hate-mongering demonization (a spinoff of Limbaugh's, just like all the other hate-talk wannabes) actually appeals to the right-wing. Therein lies the attraction. The right-wingers love it, eat it up and parrot it. And come back for more. It fires-up the base, boosts ratings, and earns Beck more dollar$.
Like it or not, 98% of the electorate vote primarily from the gut, not from any alignment of policy issues. So yeah, this kind of stuff is definitly an effective form of manipulation. If people truly voted on policy and position they would not have voted for the party of big business like they have for the last 30 years. People like Beck and Limbaugh and Boortz have been very successful using these tactics to convince working people that their interests are the same as billionaires.
And if this stuff didn't work in turning public opinion, do you think the partisan pundits would continue to implant these kinds of images?
Fortunately, MMFA is here to show people what an embarassment is Beck and expose his ways. Frankly, I see your diminishment of MMFA on this matter as a tacit endorsement of Beck's junk punditry. Say it ain't so.
One thing about Glenn's lame shtick that gets me is that he expresses all these ridiculously distasteful and immature statements day after day..
But then every once in a while, he'll put on the reading glasses, while wearing the 'serious' face and use the somber tone.. and now all of a sudden he's supposed to taken seriously?
To give you the proper frame of reference:
http://fatboy.cc/fatboyscrapbook.htm
No, it's someone else's site. And it IS creepy.
I'm the owner of a couple of Harleys, and several years ago was looking for info on the Fat Boy motorcycle and found this site. This site was nothing like what I had expected...
Hmmm,...
This man is sick. This is now the "Media?"
I'm heartbroken for America. This is the "Media?" This man is sick...twisted.
Beck is a disgrace to America. I thank Media Matters for highlighting it. We've got to look at it.
How are his comments crude or base? he was trying to b cute, and he succeeded. I think that your problem is that you hate him so much, If anyone of you is a real human you would have experienced that when one is pissed or hateful, attempts by others at being cute are not taken well.
That was a Freudian slip. I bet you Beck pictures a lot of liberals naked. It's a conservative thing. You wouldn't understand.
finarfin,
"I really do not understand where the misinformation is. Is it that Kennedy was never imagined naked by Holmes?"
The misinformation was in digressing from the subject of Kennedy's political support of Obama into a fantasy observation about his naked body.
Germaine? No. Why bring it up?
If Rush Limbaugh comes out supporting candidate "X" do you anticipate Beck will also discuss Rush's "naked torso glistening in the moonlight?"
Ah, my eyes! My bloody eyes! It burns!
Thanks for that truely distrubing image.
How many times do you have to be told that this was no actual fantasy about Kennedy’s body? He is referring to the saying that 'people who intimidate you should imagine naked', but of course you know this you just like to make fun of Beck.