Time's David Von Drehle wastes no time in following the media's rich tradition of writing puff pieces about incendiary conservative demagogues. Here's Von Drehle discussing the crowd size at this weekend's 9/12 protest in the first paragraph of his Glenn Beck cover story:
If you get your information from liberal sources, the crowd numbered about 70,000, many of them greedy racists. If you get your information from conservative sources, the crowd was hundreds of thousands strong, perhaps as many as a million, and the tenor was peaceful and patriotic.
Personally, I get my information from liberal sources like Fox News' Bill O'Reilly.
And FoxNews.com:
The tens of thousands of protesters marched to the U.S. Capitol chanting various slogans and waving posters that voiced a rather broad array of grievances against big government and the leaders, particularly President Obama, who the protesters blame for its size and scope.
Or CNN.com, which, like Time, is owned by Time Warner:
On the final stop of the Tea Party Express, thousands marched to the U.S. Capitol on Saturday to protest health care reform, higher taxes and what they see as out-of-control government spending.
Damn liberal media.
So, who are the “conservative sources” placing the crowd estimates much higher? Well, there's cover boy Glenn Beck, citing a variety of university “studies,” depending on the day. Then we have Michelle Malkin, using imaginary ABC News reports. Then there's Pam Geller and Thomas Lifson, repurposing quotes about Obama's inauguration and citing random people who overheard the police talking.
It's hard to know who to trust.
And, to answer the title question “Is Glenn Beck Bad for America?”