Beck falsely claimed Anita Dunn "worships" "her hero" Mao Zedong
Throughout most of his October 15 Fox News program, Glenn Beck falsely claimed that White House communications director Anita Dunn "worships" and "idolizes" "her hero" Mao Zedong. In fact, in the video that Beck aired as evidence to support his claims, Dunn offered no endorsement of Mao's ideology or atrocities -- rather, she commented that Mao and Mother Teresa were two of her "favorite political philosophers," and based on short quotes from them, she offered the advice that "you don't have to follow other people's choices and paths" or "let external definition define how good you are internally."
Dunn did not praise any of Mao's ideology or atrocities in video Beck aired
Dunn cited anecdotes about Mao and Mother Teresa to counsel that "[e]verybody has their own path." In the video of a speech to high school graduates earlier this year, Dunn cited Mao's response to skeptics who pointed out that their party was facing steep disadvantages while fighting the Nationalist Chinese: "You fight your war, and I'll fight mine." After asking the audience to "think about that for a second," she said, "You know, you don't have to accept the definition of how to do things, and you don't have to follow other people's choices and paths, OK? It is about your choices and your path." Likewise, Dunn cited Mother Teresa's response to a young person who wanted to work at her orphanage in Calcutta: "Go find your own Calcutta." Dunn then reiterated: "Go find your own Calcutta. Fight your own path. Go find the thing that is unique to you, the challenge that is actually yours, not somebody else's challenge."
From the video Beck aired:
DUNN: A lot of you have a great deal of ability. A lot of you work hard. Put them together, and that answers the "Why not?" question. There's usually not a good reason.
And then the third lesson and tip actually come from two of my favorite political philosophers, Mao Zedong and Mother Teresa -- not often coupled with each together, but the two people that I turn to most to basically deliver a simple point, which is, you're going to make choices. You're going to challenge. You're going to say, "Why not?" You're going to figure out how to do things that have never been done before. But here's the deal: These are your choices. They are no one else's.
In 1947, when Mao Zedong was being challenged within his own party on his plan to basically take China over, Chiang Kai-shek and the Nationalist Chinese held the cities, they had the army, they had the air force, they had everything on their side. And people said, "How can you win? How can you do this? How can you do this against all of the odds against you?" And Mao Zedong said, you know, "You fight your war, and I'll fight mine." And think about that for a second.
You know, you don't have to accept the definition of how to do things, and you don't have to follow other people's choices and paths, OK? It is about your choices and your path. You fight your own war. You lay out your own path. You figure out what's right for you. You don't let external definition define how good you are internally. You fight your war. You let them fight theirs. Everybody has their own path.
And then Mother Teresa, who, upon receiving a letter from a fairly affluent young person who asked her whether she could come over and help with that orphanage in Calcutta, responded very simply: "Go find your own Calcutta." OK? Go find your own Calcutta. Fight your own path. Go find the thing that is unique to you, the challenge that is actually yours, not somebody else's challenge.
Beck distorts video to suggest Dunn "idolize[s]" and "revere[s]" Mao
Beck: "This is her hero's work!" After commenting that Mao "killed 70 million people," Beck falsely claimed of Dunn: "It's insanity! This is her hero's work! Seventy million dead!"
Beck suggests Dunn "idolize[s]" Mao. After asking, "America, how many radicals is it going to take?" Beck stated: "[W]e're not just talking about progressives now, we're talking about revolutionaries that idolize Mao."
Beck: Dunn "worships Mao Zedong." Beck falsely claimed that Dunn is the "latest -- the latest -- on the list that now worships Mao Zedong."
Beck commenting on Jones: "He also loves Mao." After claiming that former White House green jobs adviser Van Jones is "a committed communist revolutionary," Beck claimed that Jones "also loves Mao." Beck continued: "Look at how many people we have already in -- have in common with good old Mao. You feel comfortable with the government of the United States being run by people who idolize and look to ... this man most often?"
Beck: Dunn and other White House officials "seem to love a communist revolutionary dictator." Beck asked, "[I]s it a concern to any American that so many people now in and around this administration and this president seem to love a communist revolutionary dictator? Here's our White House communications director, Anita Dunn, standing in front of a group of graduating high school students and praising him."
Beck suggests Dunn "revere[s]" Mao. After stating that Mao "took away the freedom of hundreds of millions of Chinese," Beck exclaimed, "and now he's being revered? How did we get here?"
Transcript
From the October 15 edition of Fox News' Glenn Beck:
BECK: It's a video that just might explain why that phone hasn't rung all this week when I said, "Look at these people." Again, this is Anita Dunn, June or -- is it May or June? June of this year. Here it is.
DUNN [video clip]: A lot of you have a great deal of ability. A lot of you work hard. Put them together, and that answers the "Why not?" question. There's usually not a good reason.
And then the third lesson and tip actually come from two of my favorite political philosophers, Mao Zedong and Mother Teresa -- not often coupled with each together, but the two people that I turn to most to basically deliver a simple point, which is, you're going to make choices. You're going to challenge. You're going to say, "Why not?" You're going to figure out how to do things that have never been done before. But here's the deal: These are your choices. They are no one else's.
In 1947, when Mao Zedong was being challenged within his own party on his plan to basically take China over, Chiang Kai-shek and the Nationalist Chinese held the cities, they had the army, they had the air force, they had everything on their side. And people said, "How can you win? How can you do this? How can you do this against all of the odds against you?" And Mao Zedong said, you know, "You fight your war, and I'll fight mine." And think about that for a second.
You know, you don't have to accept the definition of how to do things, and you don't have to follow other people's choices and paths, OK? It is about your choices and your path. You fight your own war. You lay out your own path. You figure out what's right for you. You don't let external definition define how good you are internally. You fight your war. You let them fight theirs. Everybody has their own path.
And then Mother Teresa, who, upon receiving a letter from a fairly affluent young person who asked her whether she could come over and help with that orphanage in Calcutta, responded very simply: "Go find your own Calcutta." OK? Go find your own Calcutta. Fight your own path. Go find the thing that is unique to you, the challenge that is actually yours, not somebody else's challenge.
One of the things that we see the Obamas, both of then, Michelle and Barack, came out of backgrounds as community organizers, working --
BECK: Stop. I wanted to make sure that we at least played the -- there's more -- but I wanted to make sure that we didn't take it out of context. We showed you the nice things she said about Mother Teresa, OK?
So, the reason why this phone hasn't run all week is because the most important political philosopher for her is Mao Zedong -- oh, and Mother Teresa. The guy responsible for more deaths than any other 20th-century leader is her favorite philosopher? How can that man be your favorite anything? He killed 70 million people. That would be like me saying to you, "Oh, you know who my favorite political philosopher is? Adolf Hitler. Have you read Mein Kampf? Just fight your fight, like Hitler did." It's insanity! This is her hero's work! Seventy million dead!
She thinks of this man's work all the time? That was a quote. Could you please put the gulags back up here? Could you please put the images back up here of China, please, while I remind you the gulags -- not that picture. Give me the picture of the Chinese and the brutality, the gulags, the re-education camps. And he's your favorite?
America, how many radicals is it going to take? How many radicals surrounding our president will it take before you understand that when the president says he wants to transform the country, well, he wants to transform it, all right. Progressives don't care what you think. They will drag you to reform if they have to. But we're not just talking about progressives now, we're talking about revolutionaries that idolize Mao.
You tell me the difference between these phrases. Castro: "Revolution first, elections later!" Mao: "People who try to commit -- don't commit suicide, don't save them. China is so populous that we can do without a few people!" What is the difference between that and the clip I'm going to play for you next? Next.
[...]
BECK: Two people -- I can understand Mother Teresa. The two people that I turn to most. Somebody that -- Mao Zedong, 70 million dead.
Let me put these things together. Che: Our kids don't know who he is. Cold-blooded killer.
Anita, the latest -- the latest -- on the list that now worships Mao Zedong.
Then we have Valerie Jarrett. Valerie Jarrett -- do we have the Valerie Jarrett sound, please? Here's Valerie Jarrett. You getting it? Just to put it into --
[begin video clip]
JARRETT: I don't know how many of you guys know Van Jones. Van Jones is --
UNIDENTIFIED MAN: This is his house, apparently.
JARRETT: Van Jones, all right. So, Van Jones -- we were so delighted to be able to recruit him into the White House. We have been watching him, really, for -- he's not that old -- for as long as he's been active out in Oakland and all of the ways that he has -- creative ideas that he has --
[end video clip]
BECK: Stop. Stop, stop, stop, stop, stop, stop. Anytime she tells you that she didn't know who she was, you remember that. "Oh, I don't know. I didn't know who he was." "I've been watching him ever since he's been in Oakland."
This man is a committed communist revolutionary. He also loves Mao. Look at how many people we have already in -- have in common with good old Mao. You feel comfortable with the government of the United States being run by people who idolize and look to this man -- where is he -- this man most often?
[...]
BECK: The only one that we don't have really on record yet of whether he believes all this stuff is this man. But he sure has surrounded himself with an awful lot of Marxists that are in love with Mao and Chavez and Castro. Could we find one, one in the White House that idolizes George Washington, Ben Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, Sam Adams? One? America, how did we get here?
[...]
BECK: America, things are tough right now. They're -- we're -- I'm asking you to consider things that sound insane. But they're true. And we're Americans, and when the tough gets going, that's when we usually arrive.
You know, I said last night when I put up all these people on the board, I said, "It's not a crime to admire the work of Chairman Mao" -- it's not. But is it a concern to any American that so many people now in and around this administration and this president seem to love a communist revolutionary dictator? Here's our White House communications director, Anita Dunn, standing in front of a group of graduating high school students and praising him.
DUNN [video clip]: Two of my favorite political philosophers, Mao Zedong and Mother Teresa -- not often coupled with each together, but the two people that I turn to most.
BECK: Mao Zedong, one of the worst murderers in mankind's history, probably the worst. We don't even know how many people he actually killed. The usual number is between, what, 50 and 70 million. To put that into perspective, that would be 10 to 12 times as many people that killed -- that were murdered by Adolf Hitler in the Holocaust. Ten to 12 times.
Would you be a little alarmed if somebody in the White House had cited Adolf Hitler in a speech to high school students as the person they turn to the most? What is the difference? Mao was worse. Plus, he took away the freedom of hundreds of millions of Chinese, and now he's being revered? How did we get here?
Use your brain.
In instances like this Beck strikes me as a poorly educated man who has probably never even seen the inside of a college classroom. He doesn't grasp the concept that one can be interested in certain subject matter or people on an academic level, or find favor in one aspect of an historical character's life without endorsing everything else about that historical character. Beck is simply a goober preaching to a goober audience. Plus, he's dishonest...obviously.
I don't care if he lied about his mother's death. But I do care about his academic background. Beck says he's not a journalist. Okay, so what is he...a commentator? What qualifies him to comment about anything? Did he study political science or history in college? No...he never went to college. Has he ever held public office...or even run for office? No...? Then how can he try to pass himself off as a person of superior knowledge, wisdom and judgment who lectures everyone about government, history and politics?
I got my first thumbs down just a day or so ago.. I suspect yours will get a few
/private OFF
BTW, I've been listening to Beck for years. His lunacy has become increasingly obvious since he got a group of low-information folks like you watching and praising him.
Have any of the right-wing trolls noticed the long, boring transcripts and lists of citations that follow any of the MediaMatters research articles? I'm sure they aren't much fun to compile, but those of us who value arguments that rely on factual support (as opposed to volume of rhetoric) really appreciate it. Why doesn't one of you right-wing wannabe media critics try to copy MediaMatters and produce a right-wing media criticism site that actually documents its accusations? (You know, instead of just throwing an unfounded accusation out there and waiting for the other online knuckleheads to give it 'legs'.)
Also, while we're on the subject, equating Glen Beck, a meagerly talented broadcaster whose only real qualifications are a talent for promulgating conspiracy theories and a political worldview parallel with Rupert Murdoch's, with the greatest entrenepeneur in the history of the entire human race, now that's got to be a record for most stoopid statement evar.
How about being elected resoundly by voters exercising their constitutional right. That is what qualifies him!
I admired very little about GWB, but it wasn't because of the (R) behind his name as I had never voted for a (D) for president before they nominated GWB [and I've been voting since 1972]. GWB is what he is . . . an incompetent, intellectually lazy frat boy. He should never have held ANY public office.
I think the fact that you think using the term British is an attack should tell us alot about you.
"So according to your logic we could find favor in aspects of Adolf Hitler's life or philosophy as long as we don't endorse that whole killing the six million Jews thing? Wow. Really?" - libertycop
Of course. This is what adults have ALWAYS done. Are you unaware of this? If anyone throughout history was a bad person they are no longer allowed to be used for any aspects of their teachings or philosophies? Really? You wanna go with that? Think that through for a minute. Do you really not think that military and political leaders have always studied Hitler and admired some aspects of what he was able to achieve? Did you make it through high school yet? No offense, I am actually serious with that question.
"We don't judge the character of a person by the totality of their actions? So what did you admire about George W. Bush?" - libertycop
This doesn't really make sense. We are not using Mao's character. We are using aspects of his philosophy. Do you really not see the difference. I admired G-Dub's philosophy concerning aid to Africa. I never supported his invasion of Iraq. See the difference there? I sincerely hope so, or you are going to have a very difficult life.
"Oh and you are a psychic as well? You must be, how else would you know Beck is dishonest?" - libertycop
What? You don't think we can prove that Beck has been dishonest without going into the future? You really have to stop using Fox News as your only source of information. Read a book. Read a newspaper. For your own sake.
There is a subtle but important difference between "using" or studying philosophy and them being your personal "favorite political philosopher". I have read Mao as well, I wouldn't call him a "favorite" political philosopher especially in light of the human carnage his philosophy left in it's wake. I wonder if you believe the the ends justify the means? If that's the case I have a solution to all of our nation's problems social, political and economic.
"Did you make it through high school yet? No offense, I am actually serious with that question." - IRONY 101
Really? No offense taken in light of your enormous intellect. I must seem so under educated to your elite mind. This is the typical attack by persons like yourself who fancy themselves intellectuals.
"You don't think we can prove that Beck has been dishonest without going into the future?" - IRONY 101
No. Psychic as in "mind reader". How is Beck dishonest? You think he doesn't believe what he's saying; that he is intentionally lying? I wonder. Beck may see the boogeyman in these people, and maybe he is crazy, but actually by your own logic on Hitler and Mao, that doesn't mean he is wrong or dishonest.
Here is the real difference between you and I: I don't see myself as somehow superior, I just know that my view of things is different from yours and I have a vision of America defined by it's founding documents and principles not by the philosophies of Marx, Lenin or Mao. Yes, I've read them. I do know that as long as I am capable, I will fight for and defend the principles of our Constitution against all enemies both foreign and domestic and I have been, and still am, willing to put myself in harms way to that end.
MikeHuck 1976 Do you always inject yourself in coversations and answer questions meant for others? Of course you do, and that tells us a lot about you.
Glen Beck uses hyperbole and you jump up and down throwing a faux intellectual tantrum, but then step up and claim "...Many military leaders, especially those on the right, admire Forrest" where is your data on that?
I won't stoop to your level and call you stupid but your assertion is at the very least unsupported.
The man killed 70,000,000 people. Let thet # sink in for a while. Any words other than he was a madman are way off base. To say he is one of my 2 favorite political philosophers is nuts....She needs to go along the lines of Van Jones....
Think about this number. 70 MILLION DEAD....
Reasonable people understand that when someone describes another person as their "favorite" that the word connotes approval and admiration.
As an interesting aside, Anita Dunn is probably taking anti psychotic drugs as she shows signs of tardive dyskensia. So go ahead you left wing communist wackos who now, after 8 years of bashing GW Bush and dreaming of his demise, want to tone down the rhetoric: Fire away. Hypocrites. Now Media "Matters".
To the slow kids in class, socialism is when the government controls the means of production. The VA is socialism, the national parks are socialism - see the difference. In the VA and the national parks the employees work for the government. The Department of Education is socialism. Get it? As soon as you guys come out against the VA and the National Parks, we may start listening to your insane, ill-informed rants.
How am I doing for a slow kid?
I love National Parks, about the only thing you mentioned that halfway works. Whew, I'm going to have to get better informed and start taking antipsychotics, thanks!
Liberal defense against things they don't like: "Stupid, slow, crazy, insane, uninformed" did I cover them all?
But how could that be when the their standard of living has declined and the gap between rich and poor has grown to the size of a canyon. Socialism? CEO's make 400x's more than their employees. Workers labor more hours for less pay and security while the goal of owning part of the American dream becomes just an illusion for most of them(no matter how hard the work) while luxury car sales soar, and the bailed-out Goldman Sachs reek record profits. Socialism...hardly. Those lucky enough to have a job are not working longer hours with less pay are doing so because of the greed of Wall St. not mainstreet. Two parents need to work today with less job security not because of the needs of mainstreet but the profit motive of Wall St. In almost every economic category the working class has seen their share of the pie shrink while the share going to a smaller percentage of the population grows. The top 1% have more wealth than the combined...combined wealth of the bottom 50% of the populace. Be real that is not socialism,learn to think for yourself and turn Glenn Beck off. Well here is one of my favorite Glenn Beck episodes enjoy:
http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/thu-august-13-2009/glenn-beck-s-operation
It also makes me chuckle how none of these guys seem to oppose the most controlling, collectivist, bureaucratic, and authoritarian branch of the federal government, the branch that history suggests is the most threatening to liberty in any nation: the Army. Au contraire, with the exception of a few Ronpaulians, their theory and practice tend to differ on that subject.
Of course, if you really want to talk about collectivism, the first fifteen words of the US Constitution's preamble are straight up socialism. Written by Goveneur Morris of New York City, "We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union..." puts the interests and the power of the People before any other institution, interest or insanity. But you didn't really want to know about the actual Constitution, did you? You wanted to keep referencing the imaginary Constitution that's continually informed the fascist right-wing agenda that constitutes your only realy loyalty in this world.
What makes you crazy is that you think you are informed but you do nothing but mouth the same drivel of people like Glenn Beck, Rush limbaugh and all of Fox news and you speak of others being collectivist. Your crazy because you are boring pretending you know something no one else does except you and your other hiveminds. Guess what we heard your trash before. Sarah Palin tried it during the election as did McSame and people of different shades and backgrounds in more numbers than we have ever witnessed in this country exercised their constitutional right and voted for Barack Obama. Now you losers are trying to deligitimize a constitutionally elected democratic president and overturn a presidency with more of your nonsense. President Obama is not a socialist anymore than Geroge Bush was.
Yup, the empty suits always need some badazz macho name to try to make up for their lack of thought. Check the gravatars too. The (mostly liberal) veterans here don't feel the need to pump up their pictures, but when I see an American flag, tank, helicopter, fighter plane, I know it's a right wing chickenhawk video game w4nker.
But hey, I have a lot of fun imagining these congenital chickenhawks out in the real world, rendering their breathless pronouncements of fearful symmetry between America's present and Russia's past with the same ALL CAPS NO PUNCTUATION style. I imagine they only do it once, then it's off to the ER to get that broken nose set....
"go ahead and believe that they are benign" -- It depends on the individual and where they are placed. A Maoist in the Office of Helping Poor People is fine. A Maoist in charge of media relations, as Dunn is, might do a very good job. A Maoist in State or DoD might be cause for concern depending on the person, but let them prove themselves.
"You people are too [blah] to admit that Obama is a progressive socialist" -- You say that like it's a bad thing. He's not socialist enough for my liking.
"redistribution of wealth" -- prevents economic stagnation and centralization of power
"social justice" -- think about why you put this one in a list of things you oppose
"socialized medicine" -- it sure beats capitalist medicine if you're poor
"I prefer the principles espoused in the U.S. Constitution to anything that Communism has turned out." -- Me too, so let us know if Obama ever does anything against the Constitution. Be sure to cite the relevant text and Supreme Court decisions.
Now, ask yourself, how sad is that? And what does that tell you about yourself? Do Mao's ideas of populism come anywhere close to Beck's own ideas? Clearly. What does that tell you about Beck? What does that say about you, an adult that clearly hangs on his every word? Since Mao's ideas of populism come very close to Beck's own do your ideas come anywhere close to Beck's? How sane is Beck? What does this say about an individual that thinks so much of Beck to go out of your way to listen to his every idea? Should your judgement be questioned as well? Again, let that sink in for a moment.
I know, I know...you have no idea what populism is.
Who bestows the privilege on the elite?
Would Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reed, George W. Bush, Barrack Obama, George Soros, Edward Kennedy or any other wealthy political figure be defined as privileged elite?
We don't,or shouldn't, have to struggle with the privileged elite as we have a Constitution, which if adhered to would make such a struggle unnecessary because the powers of the Federal Government are restricted as enumerated and Freedom and Liberty are considered the natural state of man.
There was and is a reason for this and if you read the great democratic philosophers you might understand that. I realize that the concept of a Democratic Republic based on the principles of Liberty and Freedom aren't very popular with you leftists but I and a few other people still feel that it is the best hope. America is supposed to be a Nation of States based on Liberty and Freedom. Now that might give you the right to call people who disagree with your ideology "stupid" or uneducated but it doesn't mean you are correct.
If you came into my home and under threat to my liberty or life, took my property or the fruit of my labor for yourself or for others, that would be theft. Why does that concept elude you leftists and socialists? Is it because you view yourselves as being somehow intellectually superior and therefore more qualified to define in the context of society what is right or wrong? Both the political Right and Left have their own hypocrisy and I don't care for either; I simply wish to live as our Constitution guarantees and be free from the privileged elite in the Federal Government confiscating the fruits of my labor on behalf of others. Pretty simple.
Some retard website must have tipped them off, I see a bunch of thumbs down for all of the posts that make sense, and a lot of thumbs up for incoherent Beck-style ranting.
If you want to debate ideas (from all points along the spectrum) that is fine - it is actually needed. Most reasonable people have ideas that fall at different points all along the political spectrum. At least, this is what I have found in my political discussions in my life.
But, to be so led by entertainers disguised as political leaders to actually believe that we are not allowed as adults to consider any philosophies of Hitler, Mao, or whomever is so anti-intellectual it makes my brain hurt. It is detrimental to the progress of society to promote such ignorance. And then to take this most ridiculous idea and use it to pretend to speak down to the rest of us I find particularly disturbing. I can only hope that some of these posters have not yet graduated high school. There is nothing more dangerous to intellectual progress than the inability to hold two competing thoughts in your mind at one time. It is essential to complex thought.
Sounds like Anita admires Chairman Mao to me! Replace Mao with Hitler - still want to find excuses for Anita?
Anita is toast.
Beck scores another win. Dunn is done within 30 days.
"My 11 year-old is smarter and more rational than this idiot. It really does say a lot about the people who tune in to this twit daily on Fox News." - rkcomments
"Bet you are one of those smart American family-value patriots who tune into his show daily." - rkcomments
How intellectual of you not to offer any real substance.
Dunn never said she worshipped Mao -- simply that this ole' mass murdering devil is one of her favorite political philosophers.
I certainly didn't see any 'worship' of Mao from Dunn in this clip. Just a healthy dose of respect and admiration for the guy that murdered 40,000,000 - 70,000,000 Chinese and Tibetans from 1946 - 1975.
Heck-Beck, a few of my favorite political philosophers are Stalin, Hitler, Pol Pot, & Kim Jong-il. But hey, I don't worship them so give me a break.
Beck - what a moron.
If someone is your favorite actor, then you admire their acting.
If someone is your favorite singer, then you admire their singing.
If someone is your favorite philosopher ... then perhaps it's because you admire their philosophy.
Another distraction for Obama!
Another speed-bump for the Obama-bus!
Poor liberals just don't get it... you're love affair with Socialism/Communism/Marxist ideology is REJECTED by most Americans (who also vote).
Keep spinning your liberal lies. Dunn (aka. Dung) is a worthless commie, just like Van Jones and the other of their ilk that will fall.
Liberalism is a mental disorder!
vile. totally.
See, this is a perfect example of exactly what Mao achieved. He convinced peasants that the only way to defeat their own government and take back control is with "blood in the streets". He used the terms of populism just as Beck does - even though neither he nor Beck were really populists. But, they used those terms to attack their own government. And convince them that the only chance they had was to attack and go to war with their own people. See, how easy it is. Mao must have had something in his political philosophy that worked. Beck is using it right now, and it is working masterfully on you.
What more do you need to hear?
This is a very interesting up close view of the typical Beck fan. I don't know who sent you simpletons over here, but thank them for me. You pinheads are a hoot.
Then she goes on to extol the virtue of doing things YOUR way, the way Mao did. Seems pretty complimentary to me.
At no point does she say, hey, this guy slaughtered tens of millions of people, so his way pretty much sucked.
Seems to me she's a fan.
Thought not.
I would recommend not using your friends as the survey sample any more.
I just saw another thread where one of the dittobots began a post " Fact !...(followed by ridiculous opinion)". It would be insulting that they think non-wingnuts are as easily misled, if it weren't so adorable.
her husband, robert bauer is the president's personal lawyer.
question: is her " i turn to mao tse tung" speech to high school students the most reckless speech ever made by a top white house official?
During his Fox News show yesterday, Glenn Beck declared that the members of his radical blackboard — including various Obama administration officials, SEIU, ACORN, and Center for American Progress CEO John Podesta — all support “social justice, environmental justice, REDISTRIBUTION OF WEALTH!” Watch it:
Beck says he gathers his inspiration from political philosopher Thomas Paine. The title of Beck’s bestselling book is Glenn Beck’s Common Sense: The Case Against an Out-of-Control Government, Inspired by Thomas Paine. Think Progress has unearthed startling evidence that Paine also held radical notions about social justice and wealth redistribution.
In his 1796 tract, Agrarian Justice, Paine writes:
It is a position not to be controverted that the earth, in its natural, cultivated state was, and ever would have continued to be, the common property of the human race. In that state every man would have been born to property. He would have been a joint life proprietor with rest in the property of the soil, and in all its natural productions, vegetable and animal.
Paine then goes on to claim that in order for the dispossessed to earn their rightful part of this common inheritance, it is necessary to charge wealthy landowners ground-rent that would be used to…
[C]reate a national fund, out of which there shall be paid to every person, when arrived at the age of twenty-one years, the sum of fifteen pounds sterling, as a compensation in part, for the loss of his or her natural inheritance, by the introduction of the system of landed property. And also, the sum of ten pounds per annum, during life, to every person now living, of the age of fifty years, and to all others as they shall arrive at that age.
http://thinkprogress.org/2009/10/16/beck-thomas-paine/#comments
Oops!
her husband is the president's personal lawyer.
If Beck is so concerned about people with ties to China, why isn't he doing a show about Rupert Murdoch. Well, he might already have done it, but Murdoch suppressed it.
What part of "two of my favorite political philosophers" and "two people I turn to the most" don't you people understand? Beck is just pointing out the obvious - the Left's love affair with brutal communist dictators and murderers like Mao, Che and Castro, IN THEIR OWN WORDS.
She might as well have cited Hitler's electoral success through his oratorical skills after 5 years in prison and battles with depression and suicide as an inspiration to us all!
I will bet you a dime to dollar that Dunn will be gone in less than 30 days.
If anyone would like to take my bet please let me know.
XL
I strongly fear that he, along with his fellow professional liars, will succeed in driving enough knuckledraggers to the polls in 2010 and the Troglodytes will take back Congress. Their first order of business will be to impeach Obama for not having a "valid" birth certificate. Hide and watch.
My free welfare checks
My subsidized housing
My free wide-screen TV
That said, it is interesting (though not surprising), Bekkky and the right-wing echo chamber has had nothing to say about idols of the cabal at the C Street house in Washington. You remember C Street? That's the house where Mark Sanford and John Ensign were enabled because, according to the "Christian" philosophy of the cult's spiritual adviser, "if you're one of the Chosen, normal rules don't apply." But the sexual peccadilloes are small change.
This guy preaches that Hitler and Uncle Joe Stalin understood the New Testament better than bleeding heart Christians. It's all about power. How the jerk, named Coe, deals with the Beatitudes would be interesting, and probably nauseating, to see.
Of course, all that passed under the radar, as the MSM went all tabloid and followed the johnsons. The real story, the danger posed by a bunch of Christianists in powerful positions, who think they're chosen by God to rule, (not all Republicans, by the way) has been ignored by everyone but KO and Rachel.
"If the Family men who stood over John Ensign as he wrote a baldly insincere breakup letter to his mistress were naive about hearts that want what they want, they don't claim ignorance about the strongmen with whom they build bonds of prayer and foreign aid. They admire them. Counseling Rep. Tiahrt, Doug Coe offered Pol Pot and Osama bin Laden as men whose commitment to their causes is to be emulated. Preaching on the meaning of Christ's words, he says, "You know Jesus said 'You got to put Him before mother-father-brother sister? Hitler, Lenin, Mao, that's what they taught the kids. Mao even had the kids killing their own mother and father. But it wasn't murder. It was for building the new nation. The new kingdom."
Italics and emphasis added
Also, I think she was actually kidding when mentioning both Mao and Mother Theresa. I could be wrong, but it sounds like she was joking with her audience - who actually laughs along with her.
See, part of your problem is that you don't understand context. Ms. Dunn took a part of a quote and used it as the basis of her speech. While others might have avoided Mao's words simply because of his deeds, she didn't. And those on the Right are running with it because she's apparently on Beck's list of people he wants to besmear with a trumped up charge of being anti-American, when all she was really showing is that she's well-read...even of people she may not politically agree with.
And I guess that some on the left who may consider "Mao a worthy philospher" may be "just a little nuts" in the same way that those on the Right who believe that George W. Bush was a real cowboy would be "just a little nuts" too.
Hi USPatriot (great screen name, btw. Bet that was a good solid weekend of brainstorming)-- your prediction of what you imagine might happen in the future cannot, by definition, be a fact.
Once you start to understand simple concepts like this, you'll be closer to weaning yourself off of weak propaganda like Glenn beck.
'You're welcome.
"Stay where you are - find your own Calcutta. Find the sick, the suffering, the lonely, right there where you are - in your own homes and in your own families, in your workplaces and schools."
Aren't there better choices for political philosophers? I could list dozens. She's a scary person to have in the White House, but that is typical of the people Obama surrounds himself with.
Home with a sick child, I too turned on Glen Beck to see first hand (and for the first time) what the brouhaha was about. I could only take the first 15 minutes or so, when, thankfully, my daughter threw up. At least in tending to her mess, I was pulled away from the train wreck that was this segment at least. And her vomit looked better than his.
Listen, this is a guy who believes that if he procreates enough here, if he proves he gives enough money to his church, if he wears his garments, he'll get his own planet. He'll become a god. This is a guy who believes that a man went into a cave with a magic hat and came out a prophet of God. I'd love to see Saturday Night Live riff on that...Have their Beck get all sappy and melodramatic on polygamy and that Blacks are cursed by God and that there's a "Mother God" and...all the other tripe his religion believes.
So, it's one thing to tune in to watch the kook do his schtick, although I'd never mark it down on the Neilson rating card I sometimes get. Sometimes we all need some idiot television, I guess. But it's another thing entirely to believe him. Those who are weak in mind and spirit, and who are, therefore, afraid... will swallow his vomit and call it ambrosia.
I agree that this guy is a little off his rocker, no doubt about it. But what concerns me more than how sane he is, is the fact that the focus is on Beck and not the fact that people who are close to the president are quoting and agree with the political phylosophies of someone like Mao. In the low-end estimates, this man is responsible for the death of over 7 million people, high-end you're looking at over 50 million. These were his own people. I won't get into how or why these people were killed, there is plenty of information out there.
Why aren't more people concerned with the people that have the presidents ear? Van Jones, Valerie Jarrett, Cass and the others that have a admiration for people like Mao, Castro, Chavez and others.
I am not against Obama and I believe in supporting my president, I do not however believe in being a blind sheep that just accepts because the president says it's OK.
Look at the context of the argument. Let's not attack folks for religious beliefs. If I knew your faith I could probably make it sound absurd as well. So let's deal with the context of what is actually going on here. If you don't like Beck, don't watch. There are plenty of folks for you like Olbermann, Matthews and Maddow.
Hope your kid feels better.
That we can never mention anything Hitler, or Pol Pot, or Mao, or Stalin, or Lenin every said? We cannot allow the possibility that they were transformative figures in history and that there are things we can learn from their political and/or military achievements? How infantile can the American public become?
What Glenn Beck is doing and what the easily led are falling for his the classic red-bait used by McCarthy in the 50's. A tactic that was used to disract away from an issue onto someones personal beliefs. A citizen upset about school board policies e.g.,is labeled a communist by the board thus deflecting attention away from the failed policies of the school board onto the person protesting. The issue becomes one of communism not the bad test scores or teacher apathy. The issue at hand is Becks distortions and Foxes role as an information and research arm of the Republican Party. Don't fall for the okie dok, this ain't about socialist and communist in the government(WTF)this is about trying to destroy and deligitimize a elected President because he's a Democrat and because he's black. Anita Dunn is not a communist nor was Van Jones don't fall for the hype. There are too many examples of conservatives quoting ,admiring Mao for this to be a legitimate issue.
First, Socrates is pretty universally regarded as as a great philosophical mind. He also pursued sexual relationships with teenage boys. Does this mean that anyone who says that Socrates is one of their "favorite philosophers", approves of adults having sex with teenage boys? Obviously not.
Second, one of my close friends is a history major, and Hitler is one of her favorite subjects for study. She finds him fascinating. Does this mean that she thinks Hitler is awesome and that everything he ever did was awesome? Again, obviously not. Yet, Hitler is one of her favorite historical subjects to study.
Come on, people. Use your brains.
leseuer, I think you missed the point. What you saw as an "attack" on Beck's religion was intended, deliberately, to show the absurdity of Beck's statements. Litwiz was only trying to help those confused by Beck's rhetoric see that his propaganda tactics can easily be used against him.
Was she joking? I listened to the whole tape and she was quite serious. Not a funny lady to be sure.
She criticizes Fox and Beck, but where is the phone call?
We should stop looking at the clown Beck, and start asking ourselves "what if what he is saying has any truth to it"? It may not, but if it does, we all have something to worry about, dontchthink?
Hmmmm.
My father was a life-long Democrat. I remember him telling me (I know this was not original, but he adopted it and certainly meant it),"I may disagree with what you believe, but I will lay down my life to defend your right to express your views." When did the Golden Rule become smear your enemy and do unto others before they do it unto you?
He's not a jounalist. He's the host of a show just as Keith, Rachel, Chris and Ed. Why aren't you attacking them? Why aren't you fact checking their out and out lies?
If you are truly out for the truth then why are you only targeting FOX News?
Have you investigated The Ed Show on MSNBC? They change the transcripts of what Big Mouth says so to make him look better but they change the transcript. Will you please look into that?
It amazes me how "God" Obama has the power over every other media outlet out there but doesn't like FOX because Bill, Glenn, and Sean don't just fawn with glee every time "God" Obama speaks.
Why is the White House so afraid of one little ole' Network?
When you start fact checking and calling out CNN, MSNBC, ABC, NBC, CBS for their treatment of President Bush then you might be seen as a real news group.
Why haven't you attacked and made your rude comments about the G20 protestors? They destroyed property, caused riots in the streets and many were arrested but for some reason you don't have a problem with them. Why is that?
Glenn isn't going anywhere so you might as well get used to it. Take a look at his ratings and you will see that the bullied advertisers who've pulled their ads isn't hurting him at all.
With Glenn's ratings do you honestly think that it is the crazy right-wing (as you refer to them) are the only ones watching Glenn? NONONNONONO.
Grow up and get over yourself.
and then you invoke mao and the chinese gulag's, the re-education camps and somehow linking that to some poor woman from the obama administration who had to the nerve to stand up for her president and speak on behalf of the lies and smears against him. and what do those gulag's have to do with dunn believing in mao's philosophies? did she say that she likes that he killed millions of people? no... maybe she liked his words and the philosophical background of what he said.
i hate to stress this, as much as other people are, but this guy is getting dangerous. his words will motivate somebody to do something stupid so they can make a statement against the obama white house. now, thanks to this idiot, jennings is a rapist, van jones is a communist 9/11 truther, dunn is a mao-ist, and at the top of the food chain, obama is a racist. unbelievable.
Wake up people! It is right in front of your eyes and ears but yet you refuse to believe it! There are people at the top levels of the Unites States Government that want to destroy it!