Beck responds to criticism: "We joke a lot about ... the Hollywood crowd living in Southern California"
On the October 23 broadcast of his nationally syndicated radio show, while responding to criticism of his recent comments about some victims of the California wildfires, CNN Headline News host Glenn Beck lashed out at "a few liberal bloggers" who, he said, "claim that I'm serious when I'm joking and try to cause trouble, and then they say I'm joking when I'm serious and try to cause trouble."
As Media Matters for America first documented, Beck said on his October 22 radio show: "I think there is a handful of people who hate America. Unfortunately for them, a lot of them are losing their homes in a forest fire today." Beck added, "There are a few people that hate America. But I don't think the Democrats are those. I think there are those posing as Democrats that are like that."
Addressing his radio audience on October 23, Beck said, "[L]et me tell you, so you know, so you can tell those who want to make me into an evil supervillain. Who do you have to be to think that it's a good thing that anybody's house burns down? Who do you have to be?" Beck further explained, "When you listen to this program -- I hate to break it to, you know, those who don't listen to the show, but if they ever would listen to the show, let me give you a little piece of advice: You have to engage what I like to call 'your brain.' You actually have to think. I might be making a joke. I might be serious." Beck added, "We joke a lot about, you know, the Hollywood crowd living in Southern California. For example, I believe I have advocated Hollywood building giant air conditioners so they can fix the global-warming problem. I'm pretty sure I was joking then." He further stated, "But you wouldn't know that if you hadn't engaged your brain. So let me be serious for a minute. Let me extraordinarily clear. I clearly do not want anyone's house to be burned down."
Beck also defended his comments by saying, "Unfortunately -- and that's weird because that word sometimes is important in a sentence -- unfortunately, some people want to think the worst. But thinking the worst doesn't make it real. Thinking the worst doesn't change an illusion into reality." This appeared to echo a statement made to USA Today's On Deadline blog by Chris Balfe, the producer of Beck's radio program. On Deadline reported: "A spokesman for Beck expressed surprise that bloggers are seizing on this quotation as an example of incivility. 'To most rational people, unfortunately still means unfortunately,' Chris Balfe, the show's producer, tells On Deadline through a spokesman."
From the October 23 edition of Premiere Radio Networks' The Glenn Beck Program:
BECK: Let me get to your phone calls here in a second. I want to have a -- I want to have a frank and open conversation with you here for a second. Apparently, I have upset a few liberal bloggers. Woe is me. And I need to be extraordinarily clear on one thing. Not with you. And I'll explain in a second.
These people -- they're amazing. They're incredible. They claim that I'm serious when I'm joking and try to cause trouble, and then they say I'm joking when I'm serious and try to cause trouble. There's no way -- if you disagree with any of these people -- there's no way that you can ever win. And here's the interesting thing: Even if you agree with these people, there's no way you can ever win.
I shouldn't have to say this, especially in the United States of America, but for the benefit of the bloggers only, I will. The wildfires in California are a tragedy. I don't want anyone to lose their home. I don't care what their political stripes are. I don't want a soul to lose their home, and anyone who doesn't want to make me into an evil supervillain would understand that. You understand that. You've listened to me for years. In fact, you've got to look at the calendar every year and say, "Oh, jeez, there's a wildfire. Glenn's going to pop a blood vessel again."
If you've listened to me for years, you know wildfires are deeply personal to me. Wildfires make blood shoot out of my eyes. But for the bloggers, it doesn't matter what I really think. It doesn't -- they're not trying to convince you I'm a bad guy. You know. You know who I am. What they're trying to do is convince people who don't watch the TV show, who don't listen to the show. They're trying to convince them that I'm an evil supervillain.
Because those people can be convinced. So let me just -- let me tell you, so you know, so you can tell those who want to make me into an evil supervillain. Who do you have to be to think that it's a good thing that anybody's house burns down? Who do you have to be?
Let me put -- let me put this into perspective. I'm a dad of four kids. Put yourself into the situation that you go to sleep at night or, you know, it's nighttime, but you ain't going to sleep because you're the dad, you're the mom, and you see over the hill behind your house, you see a strange, red glow. You know what that glow is caused from. You've spent all day telling your kids, "Don't worry, kids. Don't worry. It's not coming here." You imagine how freaked out your kids are. Then imagine going to bed and your wife -- what she would say to me and I would be saying it to her, "Honey, just get some sleep. Just get some sleep. It's all going to be OK."
But you --neither of you sleep because you know the red, that glow, is starting to creep back over the hill. So at some point, you have to have the conversation, "Honey, what do we grab? What do we take? Do we take that book? Do we take that memento? Do we take those pictures? How about the computer? What can we shove into the trunk of our car? Our whole life might be gone."
Put yourself into the shoes of the firefighters, who do this every single year. These guys are heroes. So, please, who do you have to be? What kind of monster wants that to happen? When you listen to this program -- I hate to break it to, you know, those who don't listen to the show, but if they ever would listen to the show, let me give you a little piece of advice: You have to engage what I like to call "your brain." You actually have to think. I might be making a joke. I might be serious. We joke a lot about, you know, the Hollywood crowd living in Southern California. For example, I believe I have advocated Hollywood building giant air conditioners so they can fix the global-warming problem. I'm pretty sure I was joking then.
But you wouldn't know that if you hadn't engaged your brain. So let me be serious for a minute. Let me extraordinarily clear. I clearly do not want anyone's house to be burned down. Now, some people may want to interpret what they think I mean, but that's what I mean. Some people want me to have said that I'm seriously happy about people losing their homes or that I somehow or another believe that they deserve to have their house burn down. What kind of KKK-Nazi combination do you have to [inaudible] to actually believe that?
Unfortunately -- and that's weird because that word sometimes is important in a sentence -- unfortunately, some people want to think the worst. But thinking the worst doesn't make it real. Thinking the worst doesn't change an illusion into reality.
I just can't believe that I live in a country where I have to explain that.
Isn't Beck just friggin' hilarious the way he can just yuk-it-up over the deaths and destruction of others? Gosh, what a really swell and funny guy...
So keith Olbermann is correct in assigning the comedian label to these clowns ?
As opposed to "journalist" maybe, but comedians should actually be funny... so maybe not.
CNN, please bring back classy ladies with slit skirts. Whole lot better than this clown. This batch of journalistc talent has run its course and will disappear into historic anonimity.
"Isn't Beck just friggin' hilarious the way he can just yuk-it-up over the deaths and destruction of others? Gosh, what a really swell and funny guy..."
Did you even READ the article above? How difficult is it to understand what he says over and over again? He is NOT yukking it up... sheeze.
Then why did he call it a joke? Duh?
Joke in poor taste...no apology. Very bad form...
Ever get the impression Beck never outgrew being an awkward teenager?
Did you actually listed to the audio of what he said?
I thought the transcript was pretty insulting, but then when I listened to the audio I realized..........it's WORSE!!
He was NOT joking AT ALL. There was pure hate and venom in his voice throughout the entire rant (from education and health care all the way to those posing as Democrats)!!
Someone should remind Beck that those are REPUBLICANS who are losing their homes, not Democrats. Only the tiny-by-comparison Malibu fire is in liberal country.
Northern San Diego County and Arrowhead are as moss-back Republican as it is humanly possible to get. He's an idiot.
Someone should remind Beck that those are Republicans losing their homes, not Democrats. That's Republican country that's burning.
Yeah!! (jk-- double post...)
I love all that Hollywood crowd burned out of their homes in Rancho Bernardo and Fallbrook. All those 900,00 simpering Hollywood types who have to evacuate their neighborhoods tonight. Yeah.
What an ignorant buffoon Beck is-- a complete moron.
So, wanna see an even bigger goof? Check this out, Fox news speculates it was Al Queda who started the fires!
Righties are gonna have their heads explode, cause if they believe terrorists started the fires, that means fighting them over there didn't keep them from attacking us here after all! It would mean Bush's policies and homeland security were an utter failure! Oh, the pain...
and this occurred without any interference from the Repuke crowd's crowning achievement ... illegally listening in to US citizens' phone conversations ... or bombing LA ...
I guess then that the old mantra - "There hasn't been another terrorist attack since 9/11!" - doesn't hold true any more ...
Does Glenn want us to engage our brains because he's incapable of doing so? I do love the "Hollywood crowd living in Southern California" joke, though. I had no idea that the Hollywood crowd actually lived here, I just assumed they flew into work every day on their own planet destroying private jet (painted in patented "Al Gore Earth Tones" to make themselves feel better) from some country only rich people know about. But since Mr. Beck informed me that these Hollywood people (over here in Culver City) do live in this area, I think I should share the guffaws. In fact, I'm going to walk outside of the movie studio office I'm working in right now and yell out, "Hey, American hating Hollywood types! You live in Southern California and Southern California is burning! You and your Hollywood friends are losing everything! Too bad for you! Har har har! Get it?"
Hilarious.
No, no no, PSP... You must say "UNFORTUNATELY you and your Hollywood friends are losing everything!"
That's called being civil...
Irony:
On my way out of work, I said that very thing and for some reason my pointing out that friends and family of the said "Hollywood crowd" were losing their homes and personal possessions didn't go over too well. I pointed out that I said how unfortunate it was, and that any rational person should be able to see how civil I was being, but those Hollywood people apparently hate America so much that they hate Americans too!
I then said that I was joking and asked, "Why can't you America haters take a joke? I'm just saying that you guys live around here, and your things happen to be going up in flames in a horrible natural disaster, and I'm just saying, you know, that you hate America, and it's unfortunate, but, you know!" That didn't go over well either. I just don't get it. It seems clear as day to me.
PSP, I feel for you, man. America haters just have no sense of humor...that's how you can spot them. (Thay smell different, too. Well, actually they smell like smoke right now...) You see Glenn Beck...funny guy. So you know he's gotta love America. Hang in there, man.
The real problem here is that you DFH liberals are too ignorant to understand a really funny joke when you hear it.
Beck said "unfortunately for them..." implying that "them", the liberal Homeland-haters, were getting a bad deal from mother Karma. As we all know, karma can be dealt by proxy, by a Sadguru ("teacher"). And as you all remember, in the Guru Gita, Shiva says to Parvati (in part):"By whose mere Darshan, one attains calmness...". It doesn't take a genius to figure out that - because Darshan means, in elementary terms, "sight", or more accurately, an epiphany - beck was of course referring to the type of epiphany that comes directly from a god, or Theophany. And what is one of the most well-known theophanies in history? That's right - when Zeus appears to Semele. And what happens next? Come on, liberals - say it with me: "The appearance of Zeus in his full glory is more than any mortal can stand, and she is burned to death by the flames of his power". Ergo, the atheist liberals in So-Cal are being burned to death by the appearance of a god delivered by a liberal teacher, and the historical parallels are hilarious.
Whimsical irony from Mr. Beck, and you dirty effin' hippy liberals are too stupid to see it. Pitiful.
There was nothing funny at all in what Glenn Beck said, no matter how much you righties attempt to spin it. Admit it - your side is filled with hate-filled losers, and Glenn Beck is just one of them.
OOooooh.... All right.
I admit it.
I see. We leftists are "Homeland-haters", or "America-haters", yet who are the ones LAUGHING and JOKING about AMERICANS losing their homes and lives???
This is the same crap we heard after 9/11. The sad truth is, many of the supposedly "patriotic" right-wingers were glad those NY liberals were getting hit. Fallwell and Pat Robertson blamed the attacks on America when they said God caused the attacks because of Americans support of the "gay agenda" and abortion. Conservative commentators even wish Al Qaeda would attack places like San Francisco.
Right-wingers play the patriotism card when it suits their purpose, but the fact is, they hate most of America.
I believe it was Jerry Falwell who attributed the destruction of New Orleans by Hurricane Katrina to the fact that Ellen Degeneres, who is gay, is from New Orleans.
I believe it was Jerry Falwell who attributed the destruction of New Orleans by Hurricane Katrina to the fact that Ellen Degeneres, who is gay, is from New Orleans.
And today, Ellen Degeneres has a very successful daytime talk show, and Jerry Falwell is burning in hell, along with his roommate D. James Kennedy.
Uhm, I'm pretty sure he was being sarcastic.
Uhm, I'm pretty sure he was being sarcastic.
And I'm pretty sure he was being a hate-filled buttmunch.
Sarcasm, dude. Neon is true blue.
"I think there is a handful of people who hate America. Unfortunately for them, a lot of them are losing their homes in a forest fire today."--Beck 10/22/07
"We joke a lot about, you know, the Hollywood crowd living in Southern California."--Beck 10/23/07
So, in case there was any doubt about where that handful of people live who hate America--there it is.
According to Beck, it's the Hollywood croud who are America haters. He's no different than any of the RightWingHateTalkers. When all else fails, try the old 'I was just joking' trick. Seems like these guys stupidity is backfiring more often lately.
He sounded soooo desperate.
Also, I'm having a real hard time distinguishing the funny part?!?
Must've been the delivery.
Well, to be fair, I've heard the albums that Bruce Willis and Steven Segal put out, and they had to have been hating America when they released those aural disasters.
"According to Beck, it's the Hollywood croud who are America haters."
So Therick, tell me where the error in this statement is. Hollywood is constantly trashing America. Spokespeople like Sean Penn and Danny Glover are cavorting with American-hating Socialist leaders like Chavez; Michael Moore is spending lots of money spinning out of context quotes into a multi-million dollar revenue stream; Sarandon is hanging out with psycho Sheehan... the list goes on.
Where am I wrong?
You are wrong in that you confuse criticism of policy with criticism of country.
So wildfires make blood shoot out of Beck's eyes? What is it that makes all that bulls**t shoot out of his mouth?
His ever failing quest for ratings.
Be a man Glenn, own your words. Don't flake out on us with that I was only joking heap.
It's too bad that most Dems have better things to do than stand in front of CNN headquarters shouting "Botched Joke" until he is taken off the air. With the level of whining they conjure up from reasonable criticism, I can only imagine the scene if the likes of Beck were actually forced to take a dose of their own medicine.
Jawill, can YOU tell me what is the funny part of this "botched joke"?
I mean, a joke is supposed to have a punch line, right? Or at least some element that is humorous.
Can you point out the funny part in "Some America haters are losing their houses?"
See, I'm a sort of student of comedy and I always like to understand the new and cutting edge approaches. Thanks.
Maybe he's waiting for something he can auction on eBay so that he can siphon off millions of dollars while claiming it's going to charity ...
I am confused: Is he a commedian or a journalist? He is on CNN and yet we need to understand that this is funny somehow. Why is he on CNN and not commedy central?
Notice that this is like the lindbobo phoney soldiers fiasco. He didn't say anything wrong. Nope - it is impossible for him by definition. Instead we need to be the ones to figure out when he is serious and when he is causing trouble . I think this is a problem for these "know it all" one hour plus commentators: They can never be wrong because their whole shtick is about how they have it all figured and how they are so deft at setting the tone of right and wrong in politics. Its always all about them.
Notice how real journalist can retract. They can admit error because it is more about what they find out and report and less about who they are and how they are the answer to everthing.
Now here is what is really funny: Notice how so many of these "know it alls" are complete clowns like beck. I swear rush sounds like ted baxter sometimes. THeir who thing is that its all about them and yet when you look into it, there really isn't much there.
Yes, as you say, they project themselves as always right. (not Beck alone, Limbaugh for example is the Master). They are like the street level confidence trickster who fleece people through their extraordinary self confidence, which engenders confidence in their victims that they are being told the truth. The mark would likely smell a rat otherwise. But since he/she is unfamiliar with people who can lie so boldly and yet maintain a very relaxed and self confident manner, he assumes they’re on the level. If the con-man falters and shows any lack of self assurance, the swindle is in grave jeopardy.
The context is also vital to the success. The street con-artist may rely on a uniform to gain access to the victims' home or have personal/financial identification information willing revealed, etcetera. ... The right-wing broadcaster uses the uniform of being a TV or radio host which unfortunately still gives a level of legitimacy in the minds of many. (As you've indicated, by the legitimacy afforded Beck by appearing on a network like CNN.)
They are also never wrong because they are good people. As you imply, they convey they are better people relative to the political opposition regularly. But most insidious is the implications by those such as Limbaugh, that they are real Americans (as opposed to many the Democratic party represent: Blacks, browns, Catholics, Jews, immigrants, 'interlopers' of every stripe, (non-WASPS), by dint of their ethnic/religious/class status---and by extension all those who are like the hosts in their audience are also real Americans.
(In contrast, the beauty of having non-'real American' hosts like Catholic-turned-Mormon Beck, Irish-Catholics O'Reilly and Hannity, a brown like Malkin, and Jews like Savage and Medved, is that they implicitly will better appeal to those who might be more suspicious of a 'real American'. They can also say things that real Americans wouldn’t try to get away with. And they provide something of a built in defense for their employers against charges of bigotry.)
But when their verbal commentaries are transcribed and analyzed coldly, the falsehoods, nativist attitudes, and logical inconsistencies become readily apparent---both within any given single commentary and between commentaries given at other times by each of them.
Hence we see the desperate retractions or 'explanations' of Beck, O'Reilly, and Limbaugh. This analysis is the broadcast right-wingers Kryptonite (and they know it!).
I wish they were clowns as you believe. I see them as skilled propagandists (in tandem with the best psychologists/sociologists/advertising men money can buy) working for the military/industrial complex, fomenting racial/ethnic/religious/class strife to distract all of us from what's really important, and electing their public relations firm in the form a political party.
Very good analysis Eddy
Glenn Beck sodomizes small boys while snorting the ashes of his cremated mother. He uses the American flag to wipe himself after he has used the toilet, and he also likes to kick homeless people in the kidneys when he walks by. Glenn Beck is a Grand Master of the Klu Klux Klan who believes that Jews and other Infidels are sent by Satan to control the media and run American down. He believes that he has a "final solution" to this problem.
What? You say those are hateful, vile things to say about a person? C'mon. Engage your brain. I was making a joke.
Your twice as funny as Beck!!! :-)
You my friend are very troubled. Move to a Country that does not allow free speech. You will have your head chopped off.
Glen Beck may have worded his previous commentary about the fires in California incorrectly, but he corrected them today.
Only a Moron like you would say what you said. And Media Matters for America should be ashamed of themselves for posting it.
Looks like someone forgot to engage his/her brain. Lighten up. It's just a joke.
: )
You're right. I should have only made a comment about how he hates America, how it is "unfortunate for him" that his house and all of his personal possessions are destroyed, and how his dog was run over by a car and killed.
THAT would have been hilariously funny.
http://z.about.com/d/politicalhumor/1/0/f/f/get_a_brain_morans.jpg
YOU my friend are VERY stupid. He said what he said. It is clear to anyone that can read. YOUR ignorance doesnt define actual reality
If you had written that stuff about a Democrat, you could get a job as Ann Coulter's ghost writer.
:-)
Isn't it AMAZING how when so many of those on the right are caught saying outlandish things, they claim "it was only a joke"???? Like when Ann Coulter suggested the poisoning of a Supremt Court justice???
Good point. It is obvious in the first few words FlimFlam is making a point with his outlandish and darkly funny post.
If Ann can do it, so can Flim. I for one appreciate the post and exemplifying through an outrageous example, the idiocy of Beck's comment.
Beck should simply admit to himself, "Imus'd it."
Dreck.
Rhymes with "Beck".
:-)
Oh, I get it. "I wasn't talking about peoples' houses getting burned down--I was joking about peoples' houses getting burnt down!"
Much better, Glenn.
Actually, he was taking the OCCASION of houses burning down, in an area he believes to be inhabited by "America Haters", and so he thought it important to tell his audience, for whatever reaction they might have, that the houses burning were owned by "America Haters".
It's like the JOKE about "mixed emotions": Your new Mercedes going over a cliff, with your MOTHER IN LAW at the wheel!"
Get it? EVERYONE hates their mother in law, right? It's about HATE, and HATE makes the joke FUNNY. Mixed Emotions, sad about losing the car, but HAPPY about that mother in law getting killed in a fiery wreck, a plunge down a cliff.
So, this is the "mixed emotions" JOKE, only without the mixed emotions. The emotions are all POSITIVE when destruction is befalling America Haters. It's OK to hate them back, and to believe their destruction to be their just deserts. Funny stuff!
Spot on Tex. Here's the joke before it got edited for airtime.
Did you hear the good news bad news? Bad news today in California, there is a big fire in Malibu, but the good news is Sean Penn's house was the first to burn, and then next was Sarandons! He he, ha ha!!
Now you can see how what he said on air seems "civil" to the Beck and producer.
Beck, I'll grant that you're no evil supervillian (those guys are smart). I'll even grant that, now that you've thought about it, you don't really want anyone's house to burn down. But you did casually slur people whose houses are burning because you disagree with their politics.
"I'm not a racist, I just tell racist jokes."
Exactly. Beck attempts to distance himself from the truly vile thing he said by claiming it merely a joke. But that is a dishonest response. Beck believes he can say the most vile things in the world and all under the protection of the frame "joke." Well what exactly is funny about people's houses burning down? What exactly is funny about that? Beck is a vile piece of dung and his defense, that we need to "engage our brains" is both arrogant and dishonest. What Beck said was vile, regardless of whether it was "joke" or not, because the underlying presupposition is vile and hate-filled.
Now Beck, maybe you should engage in your brain and quit fear-mongering, quit lying, and quit spouting vile and hate-filled "jokes." I have no idea Beck's educational background, but judging from his fear of science and his knee jerk reactionary views, I am going to guess he does not have much of a college education. In other words, Beck is not qualified to offer informed opinions on most of the topics he "covers" (like dung); he does not have the ability to evaluate complex arguments. Instead, he makes vile "jokes" and lies about science and people. Beck has yet to engage his brain. He is merely an ignorant loudmouth; an old profession in this country--but not terribly respected.
When you say that someone's house is going to burn down, what is the joke?
"for them"
Beck clearly isn't joking if you listen to the clip. Further, he doesn't say that it is an unfortunate incident that innocent people's homes were burned, he says it's unfortunate "for them".
That's an important distinction. People use the universal "unfortunate" too describe things that they and everyone else agree are bad things like illness or death.
"Unfortunate for them" is the language you use to describe criminals that get caught or the opposing team that fumbled on the goal line. It's used to express schadenfreud rather than regret or sympathy.
He's using the phrase the way the narrator uses it when speaking over a "stupid criminals" video clip. "This guy thought he could dash with some quick cash, unfortunately for him, the police had other ideas"
Orwell's "1984" is coming true in 2007.
It's ironic that it's the left-wing that wants to control thought and opinion. The 'tolerant' left is anything but.
In YOUR world of complete delusion that might be true. In the reality based universe its nonsense.
Controlling thought and opinion? Where did you pull that from?
There is very little thought involved in Beck's "jokes". His opinion seems to be based on some hallucination that anybody who's not a right wing religious nut like him hates America.I don't think anybody wants to control him, but others have the freedom to notice his stoopidity and comment on it.
Or do you want to control that?
"Controlling thought and opinion? Where did you pull that from?" Huntingtonbeachlefty
HBL
Are you kidding me? Look at the MMfA 'Action Center' at the top of this page. This site encourages the firing of Limbaugh, O'Reilly, Beck, Savage and other talk hosts on the right.
Like it or not, the opinions they espouse resonate with millions of people - including me. Again I ask the question: does our opinion not count? Am I not smart enough to listen to and accept or reject those views? Look...it's one thing to have a site like this to point out perceived misinformation in the media...But I think it crosses a line when mmfa feels the need to promote "Action Items" which are nothing more than boycotts with the ultimate goal of silencing of those with which they don't agree. Its wrong when left does it, and its wrong when the right does it.
Am I not smart enough to listen to and accept or reject those views
So do you accept or reject this view?
"So do you accept or reject this view?" - Si_W
Some I accept - some I reject. In this particular case with Beck's comment about the California fire: I listened to the clip and his comment was clearly a reference to the far left Hollywood elite who happen to live in an area currently being devastated by fire. Listen again...nowhere in the statement does he wish harm on anyone.
Poorly worded? Perhaps - I'll give you that. But not worthy of the all out attack from MMfA.
Here's one that SHOULD be attacked: Where is the outrage over this comment from Rep. Pete Stark: "You don't have money to fund the war or children," Stark declared. "But you're going to spend it to blow up innocent people if we can get enough kids to grow old enough for you to send to Iraq to get their heads blown off for the President's amusement."
Where is this on MMfA? Oh - he's a democrat so he gets a pass.
You still havent graped the concept that MMFA only covers conservative media in the same way that MRC and AIM only cover liberal media? Are you as upset that THEY specialize on the other side of the aisle? There is nothing wrong with that as long as they are upfront that is what it is.
Stark apologized. Beck didn't. Next?
So we criticize your opinion and you criticize ours. I don't see how you can claim anyone is trying to "control" you (or Beck) when both sides are doing the same thing. It just looks like you are being selective in a pretty obvious and self-serving way.
"This site encourages the firing of Limbaugh, O'Reilly, Beck, Savage and other talk hosts on the right."
Absolutely false.
The site encourages accountability. The site encourages taking action--writing letters, emails--rather than sitting idly by (which is what you would like us to do) and let people like Beck get away with claiming people "hate America".
Nowhere in the Media Matters Action Center does it call for anyone to be fired or boycotted.
"Nowhere in the Media Matters Action Center does it call for anyone to be fired or boycotted. " dave_chicago /
From the MMfA Action Center:"Contact advertisers. If a news outlet has a habit of presenting conservative misinformation, contact companies that financially support or advertise on it and request they withdraw their support. Identify the companies whose advertisements appear most often, or visit the news outlet's website to determine who provides financial support."
That is a BOYCOTT.
"That is a BOYCOTT."
No -asking people to contact advertisers is NOT a boycott.
Media Matters does NOT call for a boycott (or for someone to be "fired", which was your second, false claim).
Suggesting people NOT buy products from the advertiser --in protest--, with the idea the advertiser will notice, that is a boycott.
Consult a dictionary:
"Withdraw -or refuse to buy or handle goods-as punishment or protest."
We understand tho how you would rather we sit on our hands and not write or call Beck's show or his advertisers, so that Beck can continue to say that "people hate America".
Dave Dave Dave...
Look at the definition: "Withdraw -or refuse to buy or handle goods-as punishment or protest."
Look at the MMfA Action Center suggestion: "contact companies that financially support or advertise on it and request they withdraw their support"
They are suggesting that we encourage advertisers to "withdraw their support", which means to not buy advertising time.
That is a boycott - by your definition.
Now - on to your closer:"We understand tho how you would rather we sit on our hands and not write or call Beck's show or his advertisers, so that Beck can continue to say that "people hate America"." Dave_Chicago
This is laughable. Some people DO hate America. Is Beck not allowed to point that out? What do you care what Glenn Beck says? Turn the channel - listen to Air America. Leave my shows alone! It reflects MY opinion and I get annoyed when people try to get them pulled off the air.
Look, I think Olberman is an idiot - I can't stand to listen to his show...So I don't. But I would never advocate writing to his sponsors and advertisers to get him taken off the air. The free market will take care of that. It's interesting that NONE of the mainstream conservative sites like NewBusters.org, Townhall.com or Little Green Footballs have a similar "Action Center" to encourage boycotts of advertisers of liberal media outlets.
Having been proven that your "Media Matters wants to get people fired" claim is a lie, you are now desperately trying to twist the definition of "boycott" to get you out of your second lie.
There is no call by Media Matters for anyone to "refuse to buy goods"--the definition of "boycott". THAT would be a boycott.
There is no call by Media Matters to "punish or protest by not buying goods.
There is no call to "boycott" advertisers. Just as there was no call to "fire" anyone, which was your other bogus claim (that you now have conveniently and quickly brushed off).
There is however a call to contact advertisers and ASK them to withdraw support---and for good reason, such as a broadcaster who calls soldiers against the war "phony soldiers".
Both of your idiotic claims about "firings" and "boycotts" are false. The one about the call to have people fired, and the one about boycotts. Neither of those are in the Action Center.
Delude yourself all you want. What's one more self-delusion to a right-winger. But your attempts to spin your way out of admitting you were wrong is even more pathetic than Beck's.
So now I'm a LIAR and an IDIOT.
Thanks for the nice discourse DAVE.
You were wrong. That is without dispute.
"Having been proven that your "Media Matters wants to get people fired" claim is a lie,..."I missed that - where was anything proven?
"...you are now desperately trying to twist the definition of "boycott" to get you out of your second lie." I don't need to twist the definition. It is very clear.
Yes the definition is quite clear and in NO WAY covers contacting corporate sponsers to give them you your opinion about who they are supporting with their advertising dollars
He is right that is not a boycott even though I am fine WITH boycotts. GIVING YOUR OPINION to corporations is not calling for a boycott. Here is a huge difference. Fine its a show you like, then enter the dialogue on his side. There is no question we have a right to a say in how OUR RESOURCE is being used. So enter the dialogue no one is saying you shouldnt but YOU are saying we have no right TO that dialogue. It is YOU trying to silence us. No one else is advocating anyone be silenced. Beck has no RIGHT to the airwaves. No more than I do. It is a public and democratic decision. Not YOURS alone. Not mine alone. So enter the dialogue. As for hating America that is such nonsense. That is the ignorant ploy of the brainwashed psychophants who tarnish the ACTUAL tradition of dissent in this country. I certainly didnt like the hate Clinton rightwing crowd but I never claimed they hated America just because they hated Clinton and what he was doing. Clinton isnt America. The whole thing is stupid. Only brainwashed morons buy into it. I am sure those Clinton haters loved the country. They didnt like Clinton or his policies. Fine. Bush isnt American either. Criticising him is NOT hating America. You wingnuts need a braincell.
Not to mention the right has refined the "boycott" to the nth degree!
Lorelei
Please explain this. Give me an example of a boycott or even a similar 'Action Center' from the right.
hmmm, just google Walmart, and boycott....and any similar christian "republican" right boycotts.
That would be the LEFT that's behind any Walmart boycott
Nope. As usual, you are incorrect.
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=47330
Backup link cut and paste:
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=47330
http://www.creationists.org/boycotts.html
here's a few...lol.
Hmmm...That's the best example of a "main stream" conservative site advocating a boycott? I'm sure I can find ANY nut-job website that will say and do anything.
I assumed we were talking about mainstream websites, as I consider MMfA.
Hmmm...That's the best example of a "main stream" conservative site advocating a boycott? I'm sure I can find ANY nut-job website that will say and do anything.
I assumed we were talking about mainstream websites, as I consider MMfA.
Wasn't one of the Baptist conventions boycotting Disney because they provided same-sex benefits to their employees, and had "Gay Days" at their theme parks?
"Wasn't one of the Baptist conventions boycotting Disney because they provided same-sex benefits to their employees, and had "Gay Days" at their theme parks?"- wzwriter
Probably true - and I would disagree with such a boycott.
Again, where is an example of a mainstream right-leaning media site that encourages its readers to pressure advertisers and affiliates into silencing those with whom they don't agree - Such as the MMfA 'Action Center'.
Bill O'Reilly has advocated boycotts, and says his boycotts have been very effective and changing attitudes.
I think boycotts are a perfectly valid tool. We no longer have a say in what gets put on OUR airwaves. The only way we can affect the programming is to tell advertisers what we will and won't watch. If it goes as far as a boycott (which it never has to -- a few letters usually do the job) then so be it.
Its better than YOUR example since MMFA wasnt calling for a boycott at ALL.
And boycotts are direct democracy. That is participatory democracy in action. What is your problem with that?
So ... you say that MMFA calls for someone being fired ... and then you define it by giving the statement of "they call for a boycott" ... ahh, always the great mind-reader ... "when they say boycott, they mean ..." ... ha ha ha ... very funny ...
Goodfella,
Even though I think MMFA's stated purpose is not their real purpose. (And on top of that many times feel they are more biased and misleading as those whom they take issue.) I feel they have the right to have action items just like anyone else.
All in all, it is good to have watchdog groups out there. They do influence the debate and help keep public figures accountable.
If one happens to buy into the extremist views posted here, (Reid's Limbaugh letter is a good example,) it eventually shows up for what it is.
Yeah because Reid is the extremist not Libaugh. What color is the sky on Planet Wingnut anyway?
"Like it or not, the opinions they espouse resonate with millions of people - including me."
If you want to share joy with Beck that people are losing homes and lives, that's your filthy business. Fortunately, even of those who think these talking heads speak to them, there are millions who recognize that cheering on a fire is uncalled for, and does not represent their values.
"If you want to share joy with Beck that people are losing homes and lives, that's your filthy business"BLR.
Good Lord - Beck never said that and neither did I. And what's this about talking heads speaking directly to me...wait...wait...Glenn? Is that you?
gotta go..
No, the airwaves belong to us. It is up to us collectively to say how they are used. Boycotts are participatory democracy. That is direct democracy in action. That is how it SHOULD work. Yes your views count. Weigh in on the dialogue. It is YOU not MMFA that is trying to silence people by saying we dont have a right to the dialogue. That direct democracy like boycotts are wrong. You are definitly smart enough to enter think for yourself. Your posts show a strong bias, which is no different than me but when you get beyond your snarky posts usually well thought out positions. So ENTER the dialogue but its silly to say there is no right to HAVE the dialogue and that by participating in direct democracy we are trying to silence someone. THAT is a very elitist and hierarchial view. That those with power have a SPECIAL right. And those of us with little power have NO right at all. There is no free speech issue here. No one is saying that they have no right to speak their minds in EXACTLY the same way we do. On a streetcorner, in a public park. YOU are saying they have a RIGHT to an audience, in effect that they have a right to the megaphone that is PROVIDED by the government only to some people and WE have no right to say anything about that megaphone which WE have no right to. Look at it again. The free speech issue here that REALLY exists is OURS, not theirs. They wont be silenced if enough people think they should be off the air that they are taken off. They can still express themselves in the same way everyone else not given a national audience does. YOU on the other hand are trying to silence us by telling us we shouldnt express our views about how OUR resource is used and that is what it is a public resource management issue NOT a free speech issue.
Okay..Hold on a minute because you're making sense. It's going to take several posts to respond because there is much to absorb.
On Boycotts: I don't think they are inherently wrong or should be illegal in any way, but the libertarian in me finds them abhorrent because it has the ultimate goal of stifling the free exchange of ideas and viewpoints. As I said before, I don't agree with anything that comes out of Keith Olbermann's pie hole, but I recognize that some people obviously do find him compelling. I just choose not to watch the show - and I don't begrudge anyone who does.
I comment here because MMfA needs to be held accountable. I comment here because MMfA doesn't just post misinformation or items with which they disagree. They also encourage its members to contact advertisers, employers and affiliates with the ultimate goal of silencing those with differing viewpoints. Then try to deny that they're doing it!
Would you agree that a person losing his show because people contacted the advertisers to complain is a product of the free market?
Where is MMFA denying it? Posters here on this site aren't MMFA, to my knowledge. If you get your information about what MMFA is doing from MMFA, how is MMFA denying what they're doing?
Well you are WRONG. When MMFA calls for getting these guys arrested for what they say THAT will be silencing. The resource used is a public trust. In effect the government by giving the license is putting megaphone in a SPECIFIC hand and the deal REQUIRES a public benfit be derived. We dont ALL have access to that megaphone. So it is a PUBLIC issue whether that megaphone is being misused. A public dialogue about that is appropriate. Feel free to join it. I encourage that but YOU saying the dialogue itself is wrong is in effect the ONLY attempt to stifle any opinion that is seen here. Glenn Beck will always be free to write books, or get himself a soapbox and say whatever he wants in public THAT IS THE ONLY FREE SPEECH GUARANTEE THAT EXISTS.
I was not a fan of the media pre-Murdoch (and I do realize his mothers' heritage also was Jewish.) and pre-Limbaugh. The domination of a single small minority, the Jews, was wrong. And it still remains wrong to a significant degree, with the additional problem of them now being handcuffed by the GOP's clever support for Israel. (The domination of the various news collecting and attitude influencing mediums by any non-majority group would be equally wrong, by the way.)
But when you look at the past growth of our countries' economy and its' general success in most areas prior to the depolarization of media influence on politics, as compared to the political and economic disasters foisted upon us in large part because of the reactionary structural media realignment in talk radio and cable news that we see today, one has to conclude the previous arrangement was better by a long shot.
The GOP, and through them big business, taking advantage of the popular disgust with the media are out only for themselves and have used the unrest to gain power and corrupt the government for their own venal desires"prior to the depolarization of media influence on politics"
I meant "polarization" or better said, "prior to the creation of a second signifigantly competitive media faction"
Eddy,
Am I detecting an anti-semitic tone to your post?
What exactly do you mean by "he GOP's clever support for Israel." ???
Hey, c'mon now. He realizes that Murdoch has Jewish heritage on his mother's side. That... means... something.
"I was not a fan of the media pre-Murdoch (and I do realize his mothers' heritage also was Jewish.) and pre-Limbaugh. The domination of a single small minority, the Jews, was wrong. And it still remains wrong to a significant degree, with the additional problem of them now being handcuffed by the GOP's clever support for Israel. "
What the hell does having a Jewish Heritage have to do with anything?
I smell some good ol' anti-Semitism in the air.
Starting a post with anything so detached from Beck's comments about the California fires, and clearly bigoted questions the credibility of anything else that you may have to say.
I was replying to the following comment not long after it was made, but now over 40 comments back:
Orwell's "1984" is coming true in 2007.
It's ironic that it's the left-wing that wants to control thought and opinion. The 'tolerant' left is anything but.
- - Goodfella57 / Tuesday October 23, 2007 11:26:43 PM EST
The relevance of Mr. Murdoch's ancestry is that I was pointing out that Murdoch is now a big part of the the reaction to the Jewish domination of the media. By bringing it up myself, I was stating that I realize that it really is not as sharp a change as it would otherwise be.So we are supposed to be silent and laugh when someone tells an offensive joke? We are supposed to suppress our speach right. Are the only people with freedom of speech those who spew hate on our airwaves? I have the right to try my dardenst to take Glen Beck and the rest of the trolls of the air. Just like you have the right to defend them.
BECK JOKING... ;>)
BECK: Two Hollywood liberal Jews walk into a burning wine bar in Malibu...
BYSTANDER: <interrupting> I can't believe you just said that...
BECK: <exasperated> Okay...UNFORTUNATELY...two Hollywood liberal Jews walk into a burning wine bar in Malibu...
If people cannot tell whether you are being "funny" or serious maybe you are not very funny.
John H
Maybe 38 people that have commented should learn that life is not easy. And sometimes people word things improperly.
But then you wouldn't be perfect MMFA commenters would you. Soon to be the former Media Matters for America.
Wake up you nuts... Life is too short to attack everything you don't like. Sometimes you just have to let it go.
if you think you are getting the last word, forget it. here is # 49 to tell you : let go of my eggo!
If you are paid to commentate, is it just unfortunate that you happen to be really bad at it?
It would be one thing if Beck admitted he wasn't perfect and that his "joke" was distasteful. I think everyone would be fine with that. However, that isn't what he did.
Beck blamed everyone who found his remarks extremely distasteful. So much for this conservative meme about taking personal responsibility for actions and words.
The reason Beck gets hammered for this is because he does this all of the time. Beck is quite simply an idiot.
The sad demise of a Beck apologist
Maybe 38 people that have commented should learn that life is not easy.
True, but none of the 38 ever indicated otherwise. One dead strawman.
And sometimes people word things improperly.
True again, but irrelevant. The point is not that Beck said something improperly, it's that he said something offensive, and came up with a pathetically weak response to excuse himself.
But then you wouldn't be perfect MMFA commenters would you.
You're rapidly sliding from foolish to unhinged. Name one person here who thinks he's perfect. Yeah, I thought not.
Soon to be the former Media Matters for America.
I wish! It would be so nice if the media simply did its job and reported the news--or, when it provided opinion, it did so based on facts and rational thought--but this utopia doesn't exist, so MMFA needs to.
Wake up you nuts...
Excuse me, but which one of us is actually defending Beck? Nuts, indeed.
Life is too short to attack everything you don't like.
So stop doing it.
Sometimes you just have to let it go.
Fine. Take your own advice. We won't miss you.
Life is too short to attack everything you don't like. Sometimes you just have to let it go.
Tell that to the 92% of talk radio that's dominated by Right Wing victimized whiners.
Hey moron. Why dont you just let US go, that is go about doing what WE think best instead of criticising us. Are you too stupid to see the irony of your post?
RE Life is too short to attack everything you don't like.
And you're here then, because.....why again?
Life is to short to let idiots like Glen Beck make millions of dollars spewing hate that helps divide us. Life is to short to defend and buy the products that advertise on such show. Life is too short to stand here while our democracy is destroyed by misinformation and personal attacks instigated by right wing comminators who don't give a damn about our constitution and our civil rights. They care about making money. Why should we continue to let them profit?
Can anyone tell me what it is in Beck's background that qualifies him to have his own national "political" show?
If you're hiring someone to take care of your business's books, you look for someone with SOME experience in accounting. At the very least, you look for someone who has taken math classes in an institute of higher learning, and done well.
If we look at Beck (or Limbaugh, or Hannity), we see people who have NO qualifications for ANY job related to politics, because they have NO experience or education or special knowledge to recommend them. All they have is their OPINION, and that OPINION happens to be of the hate-filled, liberal bashing, RIGHTWING smearmongering kind. Their only "skill" seems to be the ability to absorb rightwing talking points.
By having that single "talent" that requires no OTHER qualifications, these otherwise barroom bloviators are making MILLIONS telling America what to think, how to interpret world events, and which neighbors are ENEMIES of America (Liberals, Democrats, feminists, college professors, you get the picture).
These people are not smart, the have no insight, they cannot analyze their way out of a wet paper bag, the are neither fair nor balanced, they have no clue as to what constitutes morality or Christianity ... they are simply hired assassins, HIT MEN who have one skill: the ability to spew hateful divisive language 24/7. That's it, the totality of their "worth".
The "market" reality of Corporations has allowed the wealthy owners to buy the radio and TV outlets, as forums for sending out their own propaganda, the messages which they believe will maintain America's status quo of total favoritism to the already very wealthy. This means electing Republicans who will do the bidding of the corporations at the expense of the rest of the American People. To acheive this, the Corporations have hired these assassins as their "on air personalities", to chant the rightwing (corporate) talking points and to interpret all events as indicating that Democrats and Liberals are evil, anti-American, and bad.
This is their job, their ONLY job.
If you need somebody to shovel crap out of animal stalls, you don't need a rocket scientist or a philosopher. You need someone who can reliably shovel crap all day, and it helps if they ENJOY it. True, you are looking for a "special" kind of person. The Corporate Media has found such people in Beck, Limbaugh, Hannity, and so many others. Know-nothing haters who shovel crap all day.
I might be making a joke. I might be serious." Beck added,
It's just too precious. He says we have to guess, to deduce whether he is joking or telling the truth about his true feelings. It's hard enough to get the facts without Beck making a game of it. But of course it is a lie often used by reich wingers to cover up their hateful comments. Then he adds the strawman "I clearly do not want anyone's house to be burned down."
I still want to know who are these America haters who pretend to be democrats (as he claimed). Or is that's the joking part also??
And that was today's edition of... It Was Just a Joke & Here's What I Really Meant!
Tune in again tomorrow. And the day after tomorrow. And next week. And...
"We joke a lot"
While his comments about people who "hate America" and "are losing their homes in a forest fire" were not funny, they were also so very clearly not even an attempt on his part to be funny.
Maybe Glen Beck's attempt at humor is his frustration with the fact that more and more Americans are finally seeing that hatred, bigotry and war mongering are not in style anymore. The times they are a changin', again.
I have lived in the deep south and in Los Angeles. The hype that can be generated by one group about the other is pure fantasy.
In LA I live down the street from a Baptist church, we don't all eat sprouts and most locals deplore the state of local media that continually hypes movie stars and violent crime to the exclusion of all else.
My relatives in Florida do not intermarry, speak in tongues, wear overalls, work on a farm or walk barefoot to school.
The villification of people of an entire region as the "Hollywood Elite" by the right, particularly Fox in the context of recent fires, is not only pure fantasy but attempts to capture a vite and nasty resent of others, formed from inaccurate stereotypes and reinforcing the very worst in human nature.
How many are now unable to clearly see what a low-life, racist, and manipulative organization Fox News has become?
A very passionate speech, Glen. So, tell me. Why did you even make the comment in the first place?
Let's say, for hypothetical sake, your wife survived breast cancer. Would you then make a "joke" that you wished Pelosi would get breast cancer? Once you live through something so horrible, the one thing you take from the experience is that it is no laughing matter.
You shouldn't have made the comment in the first place, Beck. Apologize like a man and move on.
Since when is hate speech a joke?
Okay, I get it now -- he wasn't being mean and hateful about people's homes burning; he was making a joke of it.
That's much better.
Oh come on.
It was perfectly obvious he was talking about Jesse McBeath.
Ford Boycott continues to be effective; Sales drop 21% in September
Join">[link to www.boycottford.com">Join] the 753,434 who have signed the BoycottFord.com pledge.a few more boycotts the RIGHT have been involved in.
Look for Beck's contract to not get renewed. Apparently Headline News mgt types don't have the testes to fire him and pay what ever severance he is entitled too, but his lack of ratings and track record of smug, arrogant transgressions will do him in.
Another thing, the crazy celebs who are always getting publicity doing things like having a H Chavez birthday party, are like the batpoop crazy cousins to So Cal residents. They may be batpoop leftys, but they are OUR batpoop leftys. You can mess with my dog, you can mess with my wife, but you better stay away from my batpoop crazy celebs!!
We as consumers have the right to express our opinion about the products we consume. I like many are not happy with a majority of the media that is out there on T.V. and the Radio. I have the right just like MMFA have the right to challenge this media. You challenge those on T.V. through their sponors. Goodfella, you have the right on MMFA to express your views in an open forum. If I called Glen Beck's or Rush L. radio show, would i be aloud to express my ideas in an open forum? Of course I would not. If anything these people are limitiing our free speach rights by limiting open and honest discourse on the radio and even on the television.
The MONSTROSITY of the Neo-Fascist so-called "Right" is showing ever more viciously. Folks, we are a very short stretch away from open violence instigated by these creatures of the Beck perspective. They will start something and blame the liberals and progressives.
All we need is an economic meltdown and a trigger.
BTW whoever it was who posted the link to the Anti-Gay Anti-Ford Boycott fools...
check out what Conservative Judaism is now saying about homosexuality! Remember kids, it was the Jews who gave us Leviticus...
http://www.uscj.org/The_Conservative_Mov7075.html
A joke? Maybe someone should spend an hour on Beck's show talking about being a drunk. COvered in vomit, wetting themselves uncontrollably, and causing great emotional stress to his kids, friends and others.
Maybe bring on a few of his ex-friends who he so thoroughly offended, in his drunken rages...to ridicule and humiliate coast-to-coast.
A drunk joke is a common theme, and maybe Beck could do a show allowing folks to relly dig into his past...and avoid any talk of his rehab(s), or finding a supposed God who promotes his facist hate.
Let's all tell drunk jokes on Beck.
"...A Rabbi, a Priest and Glen Beck walk into a bar....
The problem with Glenn Beck telling people who watch his show that they need to "use their brains" is that nobody who watches his crappy show have a brain. Oh now don't take me serious there. I'm just "joking".