After mocking a bill he doesn't understand, Glenn Beck now ridicules acronym that doesn't exist
SUMMARY: On his Fox News program, Glenn Beck reported as true the idea floated on Forbes.com that a program the Obama administration is reportedly considering should be called the "Bad Asset Repository Fund." Without noting that the reported program has not in fact been named, Beck then ridiculed the creators of the nonexistent name for failing to recognize that the acronym is "BARF."
During the January 30 broadcast of his Fox News program, Glenn Beck falsely suggested that the Obama administration has named a program it is reportedly planning to establish to purchase toxic assets from private banks the "Bad Asset Repository Fund -- BARF." Beck later stated: "When you got a group of people that can't figure out the acronym bill would be BARF, I think maybe we should change the name. Don't you think that, really, we should stop listening to these people?" Beck offered no source for his statement, but on-screen text accompanying that segment read: "FORBES: 'BAD BANK' = BARF; BAD ASSET REPOSITORY FUND." But the January 29 Forbes.com article that referenced the acronym BARF did not attribute it to the Obama administration, as Beck suggested. In fact, in the article -- titled "Here Comes the BARF" -- reporter Liz Moyer specifically noted that "[t]hey haven't named it yet" before going on to write that it "would be truth in advertising" to call "a federal 'bad bank' to soak up toxic assets the Bad Asset Repository Fund."
Beck repeated the false suggestion later that evening on Fox News' The O'Reilly Factor, informing host Bill O'Reilly that "the acronym -- I'm not kidding you -- the acronym is BARF that they're working on, OK?"
From the Forbes.com article:
First there was TARP. Get ready for BARF.
They haven't named it that yet, but calling a federal "bad bank" to soak up toxic assets the Bad Asset Repository Fund would be truth in advertising at least. Despite Washington's renewed enthusiasm for the idea, there is a strong case to be made against it.
As Media Matters for America previously noted, on January 28, Beck mocked the economic recovery package for including "$2.4 billion for carbon capture demonstration projects," adding, "I don't even know what the hell that is." In fact, that provision funds the development of technology that he has previously criticized "liberals in Congress" for "block[ing]."
From the January 30 broadcast of Fox News' Glenn Beck:
BECK: I want to go to Neil Cavuto, who is here. And, Neil, I just want to get this right. We are talking now about the bad bank. It is the Bad Asset Repository Fund -- BARF.
BECK: Is there anyone in Washington that gets it? I mean --
CAVUTO: Kind of thought -- kind of thought that acronym --
BECK: Is there anybody in Washington --
CAVUTO: -- through, yes.
BECK: When you got a group of people that can't figure out the acronym bill would be BARF, I think maybe we should change the name. Don't you think that, really, we should stop listening to these people?
CAVUTO: Well, you know, that's the next push, Glenn. They're looking at a way to solve the financial problem by finding a home for all the bank problems, and a place to house all their so-called "toxic assets" and --
BECK: Yeah.
CAVUTO: -- hope that maybe a financial island of misfit toys will fare as well --
BECK: OK.
CAVUTO: -- as that Christmas cartoon.
BECK: I talk to -- nobody wants a Charlie-in-the-Box. OK.
CAVUTO: No one is going to want any of these in a box.
BECK: OK, but -- but here is the key. If we actually put them in a box -- an Al Gore lock box -- if we put them in a box, OK, and then we hired some really, really smart guy that was trustworthy, unlike [Treasury Secretary Timothy] Geithner, and we had him oversee them, all right? But then you put like a double prison fence around it. The first fence is to stop all of the banks from putting anything else toxic in it. "You're on your own. We took your toxic stuff. You make any more bad loans, sucks to be you, doesn't it?"
The other fence is to keep people like [Rep.] Barney Frank [D-MA] and [Sen.] Christopher Dodd [D-CT] from saying, "Oh, no, wait a minute, now you can't do that with those toxics, or you need to take some of these loans, et cetera, et cetera." But neither one of those things are going to happen. So this toxic bad bank, BARF, continues to make us barf.
CAVUTO: Well, that's what would likely happen.
From the January 30 broadcast of Fox News' The O'Reilly Factor:
BECK: Look, you know and I know -- what is it -- they're trying to bail out these banks now. They're going to set up this little, what is it -- the banking --
BILL O'REILLY (host): Bad bank.
BECK: Right, the bad bank thing.
O'REILLY: The bad -- to buy the bad paper.
BECK: And the acronym -- I'm not kidding you -- the acronym is BARF that they're working on, OK? So, they're going to have these bad banks. What are they going to do? I would buy into the bad bank thing if they would seal that bank off and say, "Citibank, Bank of America, no more bad loans from you. This is all we're taking. There's a fence, and you're never to cross it."
O'REILLY: All right, so --
BECK: Wait, wait, wait --
O'REILLY: That's OK.
BECK: But then, put another wall, almost like a prison, a double fence, and say, "And politicians, you stay away." This bank has to try to get this bad loan and fix it.
O'REILLY: I don't -- I don't object to that.
BECK: But they'll never do it.
As if we needed further proof that the Troglodytes are intellectually bankrupt.
And bankrupt in the humor department as well. Then again... humor and intellect seem to go hand in hand - no wonder cons are terminally unfunny.
Well, all those fired writers from the "Half Hour News Hour" needed work, so they've been reassigned to Glenn Beck. He now calls them his "researchers".
To be a Repug requires that you have had a humorectomy.
do you have a cite for that
That was funny, if you meant it to be. Otherwise, it's pathetic.
You want funny?
Maybe fmbanker will tell us one of his "Tales of the Rich & Famous" stories like he used to do when he was HSTYBUF6553
what would you like to hear?
Name drop like you used to. That was always funny.
Come on, he's already dropped his own name.
That may be one of the fringe benefits of the past election. The Republican Party has a power vacuum, and the Talking Head Troglodytes like Limbaugh and Beck are emerging as their defacto "leaders".
More and more, these douchebags are being presented as the voice of the GOP, and, with any luck, the public will finally realize how pathetic and mean they really are.
Speaking of intellectual bankruptcy, it seems that a majority of Republicans want their party to move in the direction of Simple Sarah:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/02/02/poll-majority-of-republic_n_163166.html
Oddly enough, Simple Sarah is supporting the Stimulus Bill, since her state will receive a chunk of the money.... which won't stimulate the economy, according to the GOP Flying Monkeys.
It's their stimulus plan to keep Tina Fey employed.
Otherwise she might be a only a one term hit (fall 2008).
Clearly Beck needs to do more research. To help him out I am including links to various acronym generators. Since his research usually consists of, well, making stuff up these might come in handy:
Acronym Generator
Acronym Generator2
Bile Machine (sounds like an excellent Beck tool)
Just trying to help Glen. You are so inept that it embarasses even your critics.
You know the real acronym for Barf is Beck Always Repeats Falsehoods! At least he is now on Fox. So only the ditto heads are listening to his garbage.
The most surprising thing about this article is that Cavuto, O'Reilly and Beck even know what the word "acronym" means.
Ha, I was thinking the same thing, though reality gets restored a bit when Beck tries to use it in a sentence and utters "...the acronym bill..."
I hope Beck gets hit with an acro-bat...
or JuliaJane starts writing acronyms in the form of limericks.
Well, I don't have a limerick. But another acronym to contrast with BARF.
Glenn Beck is a PUKE......Perpetually, Unrepentent, Know nothing, Eejit.
I think Beck is retarded.
That's the only explanation I can think of.
No this is humor, Republican style, aimed at the lowest intellect level. I'd say about 3rd grade. It's spells barf. Ain't that funny to you? And worthy of network news?
Guys, Glenn Beck's show is on FOX. FOX doesn't do the news...FOX only does comedy and reality shows. Unfortunately there isn't much of either comedy or reality in their shows. Does FOX exist in another dimension...otherwise, how could you explain its existence in the real world?
Speaking of Fox News, since it's quite mild in New York City today, I'm looking forward to their retraction of its false report last week where they implied that there is global warming on account of it being cold in January.
crap... meant to write: they implied that there is no global warming on account of it being cold in January.
Yeah, but it snowed the most it has since 1991 in London this week. I'm sure we'll see a big headline of"
"Global Warming? Record snow in London!!!"
Or something of that nature.
That is, of course, a more likely Fox News question-head-line. By the way, did you hear that Rupert Murdock failed to see his reflection in the mirror this morning? Fox is reporting at least six more weeks of lies.
"Global Warming? Record snow in London!!!"
At exactly the same time, Australia and Antartica have record heat wave. Right now while it is snowing in London.
Yeah, but isn't it "summer" in those parts of the world? I'm just sayin'...
You are supposed to forget that in the denier world. Hot don't count if it ain't here.
And that may be why the "hockey stick graph" is labeled Nothern Hemisphere.
BECK: "And the acronym -- I'm not kidding you -- the acronym is BARF that they're working on, OK?"
Well it's not like he claims to be a professional journalist or gets paid to broadcast "Fair & Balanced" news on a national level... oh wait, sorry.
He doesn't claim to be a journalist but he does work prime time at FOX News, who do clim journalistic core competency.
Did you hear O'Reilly claim to be a teacher a couple days back ? I googled him and there is no record of him ever to plan, and execute a class lesson anywhere.
5 PM is prime time? Jeez, Wolf, you aint't that old, are you?
I am retired from the industry so prime time is what i want.
You mean, they'll go With Inert kNuckleheads?
Beats Ford's Whip Inflation Now of 1975-76.
Appalled by the pervasive hate in MSM? This site is tailor-made for you. http://hateonme.com/
Don't let him hear about the Bad Lending Assets General Oversight Joint Elected Voluntary Investigation Congressional Hearings!
What about when his "belief" is a total lie, like in this case?
It's not just a matter of him saying something anyone here disagrees with. Making the claim he did is either blatantly dishonest or remarkably stupid.
If Beck is the only type of person that conservatives can put on the air to represent their side, it is worth noting that. Otherwise, we should be able to request a higher caliber of pundit. That's not about "silenc(ing)" anyone, that's about having a reasoned and informed public discourse.
You do realize that by suggesting that people can't criticize him, you're advocating the silencing of his critics, right?
You can pretty much say anything you want. The obscenity filter can be strange at times. Flagging happens and extreme trolling can get you banned. We do have a number of sane conservatives and generally they are appreciated. We do have a number of straight out neocons. You knock down their points and they often return the next day with the same argument. This does create a degree of heat towards them. Its not for me to point them out. Read a few threads and make up your own mind.
Oh yea, we do get into some pretty intense arguments at times. Treat folks with some respect and it will usually be returned in general and usually in detail.
Welcome, make of the place what you will. :)
The TRUTH can be spkoen by those on the "right" and it can be spoken by those on the "left". The TRUTH can not be negotiated as if it was some opinion. The TRUTH is that Beck is plain wrong about what he says here. This doesn't mean the TRUTH is in the middle.
Change will not come by calling people names. If what they say is wrong; then state that. If you don't agree with them, then say that. But what will we accomplish by labeling a whole group of people with foul names and put downs? I thought this site "Media Matters" was about getting the "truth" out, not alienating those who don't agree with us.
REPEATING what others have said and SHOWING with facts and research that their words are UNTRUE is what this site does- and very well, also.
It's (MMFA) about getting Liberal Truth out.
But they don't deal in liberal missinformation. Bob Somerby's The Daily Howler is good for that. He does take a number of liberals to the wood shed, Usually about a lack of spine, ethics, or brain. Crooks and Liars, and Firedoglake cut liberals no slack either.
I love the smell of a concern troll burning in the morning.
Kilgore (not to be confused with Kilgore Trout).
"I've seen horrors... horrors that you've seen. But you have no right to call me a murderer. You have a right to kill me. You have a right to do that... but you have no right to judge me. It's impossible for words to describe what is necessary to those who do not know what horror means. Horror. Horror has a face... and you must make a friend of horror. Horror and moral terror are your friends. If they are not then they are enemies to be feared. They are truly enemies."
At least he flat out states he is not kidding. So we know he says this because he's an idiot.
Exactly. The irony, if you will, is that these people (who are devoid of moral character) somehow get their own soapbox from which they can reach millions of people and they use that outlet to constantly make judgements about others.
For the life of me I can't understand why it is so hard to destroy the credibility of these idiots. Seems to me the easiest thing to do is to play them against each other. Let's face it, they are all narcissistic maniacs. All one would have to do is create some discord between the lot of them and simply sit back and watch them devour each other. These watchdog groups would do better if they focused on and reported instances in which they snipe at each other or disagree with each other. Look at the unease it caused when the GOP members in the house chastized Limbaugh for wanting Obama to fail. Divide and conquer.
What? or should I say WTF?
I find it reprehensible for Beck to first publicly comment about his church preference , he states he is an LDS member (a Mormon), and then we hear him swear all the time. On top of that, he seems incapable of reading plain language or he just intends to lie about stuff because there is NO BARF since the program is not even officially named yet. But most of all, I can tell you that Mormon believers do NOT talk like that. How sad it is to hear him on that sort of rant.